Tag Archives: Bible

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – March Madness and the anxiety of our age

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Are you feeling less productive this morning? A little more stressed? You might blame March Madness, the annual college basketball tournament whose participants were announced yesterday. (Villanova, last year’s champion, is this year’s top seed.) Americans will waste at least 84.8 million hours of work fixating on the games, costing us $2.2 billion in lost productivity.

Or you could turn to a medical explanation. The hour’s sleep we lost Saturday night because of Daylight Savings Time has been linked to reduced worker productivity and an increase in heart attacks, strokes, and car accidents.

From the mundane to the esoteric: perhaps the problem is tiny visitors from outer space. Micrometeorites barely the width of a human hair rain down on our planet continuously, covering our planet with ten tons of cosmic dust every day. According to one scientist, “We inhale this stuff. We eat it every time we eat lettuce.” That’s a stressful thought.

Or maybe the problem is that aliens are bombarding us with fast radio bursts (FRBs). These strange radio waves have perplexed scientists since they were discovered ten years ago. Now a Harvard professor is suggesting that they might be leakage from planet-sized transmitters that are powering interstellar probes in distant galaxies. Whatever is generating the FRBs is powerful enough to push around something weighing a million tons, twenty times heavier than the biggest cruise ships ever built.

Continue reading Denison Forum – March Madness and the anxiety of our age →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –How God Reveals His Presence

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Psalm 16:7-9

If you have never experienced the presence of God, you may wonder how He reveals Himself to believers. The Lord has many different ways of reaching out to His children, so the following is certainly not a complete list. But if you desire to know that the Father is always near, He will choose the best way to connect with you.

God speaks. I have never heard the Lord’s audible voice, but I have experienced Him speaking clearly and forcefully to my heart. His communication is so unmistakable that those who hear Him remember the message and the reverent excitement long after.

God sends a message. Sometimes the Lord lays on a person’s heart the need to get alone with Him. When this happens to me, God is usually saying He’s ready to give me Sunday’s sermon. It is unwise to ignore such urgings or even to delay until a more “convenient” time—I have made the mistake of putting off listening only to discover that when I finally did slow down, the message was harder to receive outside of the Father’s perfect timing.

God makes His presence known through His Word. I meditated for a month on a recent sermon’s Bible passage. Every day I wanted to go back to the same verses because God kept giving me new truths and insights. I knew I was in His presence because His Word was speaking specifically to my heart.

The Lord is real and present in this world. He wants to share Himself with us so we can draw contentment, courage, and joy from His presence. To know what He’s saying, we must be willing to slow down and listen.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 23-24

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — It’s Not Me

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Read: 1 Peter 4:7–11

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 17–19; Mark 13:1–20

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.—1 Peter 4:10

While on vacation recently, I gave my razor a rest and grew a beard. Various responses came from friends and co-workers—and most were complimentary. One day, however, I looked at the beard and decided, “It’s not me.” So out came the razor.

I’ve been thinking about the idea of who we are and why one thing or another does not fit our personality. Primarily, it’s because God has bestowed us with individual differences and preferences. It’s okay that we don’t all like the same hobbies, eat the same foods, or worship in the same church. We are each uniquely and “wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Peter noted that we are uniquely gifted in order to serve each other (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Jesus’s disciples didn’t check their characteristics at the door before entering His world. Peter was so impulsive that he cut off a servant’s ear the night Jesus was arrested. Thomas insisted on evidence before believing Christ had risen. The Lord didn’t reject them simply because they had some growing to do. He molded and shaped them for His service.

When discerning how we might best serve the Lord, it’s wise to consider our talents and characteristics and to sometimes say, “It’s not me.” God may call us out of our comfort zone, but He does so to develop our unique gifts and personalities to serve His good purposes. We honor His creative nature when we permit Him to use us as we are. —Dave Branon

Thank You, Father, for the great individuality You have built into us. Thank You for my personality and for my abilities. Guide me in using them for You.

There are no ordinary people—we were created to be unique.

INSIGHT: Peter writes a lot about how important it is to know who we are. He wrote as someone who knew what it was like to live under a new name and personal history. By natural birth he was Jewish by ancestry, the son of John (Jona), from the Galilean fishing village of Bethsaida. But when he introduced himself in his first letter, he described himself and those he was writing to as those who had been “born again” with a spiritual birth far beyond the life span and giftedness received from our mortal parents (1:3, 23). To go along with this new identity, Peter gives examples of the spiritual abilities God gives each of His children so that we can enjoy what it means to allow God’s generosity to flow through us to others (1 Peter 4:10-11). What are some ways God is using you? Mart DeHaan

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Spirit vs the Flesh

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But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). —Galatians 5:16

Like a horse that has been trained to keep his ear always tuned to the voice of its master, we must be willing to follow the Lord in all His leadings, not just those we feel good about or happen to agree with. We won’t always like what we hear Him tell us to do.

We must realize that in order to follow God, the flesh must be told no at times, and when that happens, the flesh suffers. There are times when we are galloping full speed ahead in one direction when suddenly the Master tells us to stop and instructs us to go in another direction. It is painful to us when we don’t get our way, but ultimately we understand that God’s ways are always best.

In the verse for today, the apostle Paul writes about the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. If we follow the leading of the Spirit, we won’t satisfy or fulfill the desires of the flesh that lead us away from God’s best. This verse doesn’t say that the desires of the flesh will disappear; we will always have to wrestle with them. But if we choose to be led by the Spirit, we won’t fulfill fleshly desires—and the devil won’t get his way.

We will sense a war going on in us as we choose to follow God’s leading. Our flesh and God’s Spirit usually disagree and we are tempted to keep the flesh comfortable. But, we all must learn to submit to God’s Spirit and overcome fleshly desires and temptations. Determine today that you will not let your flesh lead you, but that you will be led by the Spirit of God.

God’s Word for You Today: God wants to give you His best.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Nothing Against You

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“This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now He has brought you back as His friends. He has done this through the death on the cross of His own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before Him with nothing left against you – nothing left that He could ever chide you for” (Colossians 1:21,22).

Have you ever claimed your right to holiness, not by virtue of anything you have done, but on the basis of what Christ has done and is doing for you?

This passage of Scripture explains how holiness is available to every believer. By acknowledging and receiving His gift of eternal life through Christ, we have been brought into the very presence of God. Now we are candidates for the supernatural filling of the Holy Spirit.

After we have claimed our right to holiness, we must confess all our known sins and appropriate, by faith, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, asking Him to give us spiritual insight into the true meaning of God’s Word.

“And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy – the kind He can accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the fashions and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will see from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you” (Romans 12:1,2).

Bible Reading: II Corinthians 5:17-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  By faith I will claim my right to holiness and, on the basis of Christ’s finished work on the cross in our behalf, I will encourage others to do the same.

 

http://www.cru.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Integrity Lost 

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Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.   Micah 3:11

Integrity is not for sale to those who love their Savior, Jesus. There is no amount of money or status that can lure integrity away from someone who values its influence, accountability, and positive outcomes. Integrity is your calling card for leadership and it is evidence of your faith in Christ. Integrity may be your greatest value that is not itemized on your balance sheet, and it is not for sale with serious followers of the Lord. Like Esau selling his birthright (Genesis 25:25-34), you can let your appetites lead you to exchange your integrity for instant gratification. But it’s a lopsided loss to let go of a lifetime of faithfulness for a moment of problematic pleasure.

Moreover, the love of money makes you vulnerable to losing your integrity. Money can maneuver your motives into a less than desirable position, so be sure not to masquerade your good works around a drive for wealth. You cannot reason your way around wrong methods of obtaining money, even for the sake of worthy outcomes. You do not have to compromise your God-given convictions to grow your net worth. Effective leaders in the long run are given respect, trust, and goodwill because of their position, authority, and track record of integrity.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).

How much is your credibility worth? Certainly it is more valuable than anything money can buy (Proverbs 22:1). Indeed, integrity is being true to yourself and to God’s calling on your life, so be who you are in Him. Integrity does not have to prove itself. Rather, it rests in being itself. Align your doing around your being, for this integration is the essence of integrity. Furthermore, if you have lost your integrity, it can be found in Christ. So, go to Him in honesty and humility. Be forthright with your heavenly Father about your failures and blown opportunities. Let Him love you through this time of transition and rebuilding of trust.

It will take time for those who have been hurt to begin healing and reconciliation. But the longer you prove to yourself and others that you are the real deal, the more your integrity will blossom. A track record of faithfulness fertilizes the roots of integrity and produces lasting fruit. Cultivate integrity through prayer and service, then watch it grow. Take the time to do what you say, because follow-through and consistency create credibility.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Integrity Lost  →

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Made Room for Us

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“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)

Before Jesus went to the cross, He spent an evening talking with His eleven closest followers, preparing them for what was about to happen. John 14 records part of what Jesus said that evening. A well-known part of that conversation is John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

There are two things that we need to understand about what Jesus said that night. First, the word “mansion” doesn’t mean “big house,” which is the way we use the word today. “Mansion” in John 14:2 means “room” or “place to live.” The point that Jesus was making is this: Don’t worry; there’s plenty of room for all my followers to live with the Father. I’m not going back to live there alone.

To understand the second important part, we have to remember what Jesus was about to do: He was about to go to the Father. His path to the Father was difficult: He had to die, be buried, and be raised from the dead. Then He would go up in the clouds. So when Jesus said, “I’m going to prepare a place for you,” He didn’t mean, I’m going to heaven to start a building project. He actually meant, I’m about to die. You’ll be upset, but you shouldn’t be. The reason I’m dying is to make a place for you where my Father lives.

Now why does Jesus say first, “There is plenty of room,” and then, I’m going to make a place for you?” Well, even though there is plenty of room for people like us to dwell with the Father, there would be no way that we could join Him, unless Jesus first made a place for each of us–by dying for us.

Jesus’ work is done now. When He died and was raised from the dead, He made a place for all of His disciples, for everyone in the past and the future who would ever believe in Him.

When Jesus died, He made room for us to dwell with the Father.

My Response:

» Am I one of Jesus’ followers?

» Have I said “no” to my sins and made Jesus my Master?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – The Inner Man

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Read: Ephesians 3:14-21 …he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being… (Ephesians 3:16b).

What is your inner being? Many take this to mean the soul, with its faculties of reason and emotion and will. But I don’t think this is what Paul means here, because in 2 Corinthians 4 he gives us a clue about what he does mean when he says the inner being. There he says that our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day (4:16 NKJV). That is, for Christians there is something about us that is getting old, decaying and deteriorating; but there is also something about us that is getting more vital, increasing and becoming richer and deeper and stronger every day we live. And that is what he calls the inner being.

Your soul grows old as well as your body. It is clear that the soul is part of our life linked with the outer person, which is perishing day by day.

But that is not the inner being. The inner being is the human spirit. It is here that God begins the work of recovery. Not in the realm of our feelings, but in what psychologists would call the realm of the subconscious, the deep-seated part of our life, the fundamental element of our nature. When you are really discouraged, really brokenhearted and have given up, your condition is often described as dispirited. That is an accurate term. Your fundamental nature is dissatisfied. It is not merely a question of temporary boredom. That would be in the realm of the soul. But this is something that touches the spirit, right at the deepest level of human life, and you find yourself filled with despair and indifference.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – The Inner Man →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – His Empowering Presence

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Psalm 42:1-5

A woman unlocks her front door and walks into an empty house. She drops her purse and bags onto the couch and immediately turns on some music. Have you ever wondered what impulse makes people want to break the silence of a quiet home? The sights and sounds of TVs and radios temporarily meet our need to feel we’re not alone.

God desires an intimate relationship with each person, so He created us with a yearning for His presence. Though He alone can fill that void, people attempt to satisfy their longing with all kinds of relationships and activities. But filling that spot with anything other than the Lord is at best a short-term solution.

The Bible urges us to stop our frenzied search for satisfaction in what the world offers and instead recognize that we should turn to Jesus Christ. Yet so many people pursue substitutes for His presence. Friends, hobbies, and busy schedules provide momentary pleasure while using up precious time that should be spent in quietness before God. And all too often, when the amusement of one good thing wears off, we seek a new activity or person to fill the gap.

Nothing besides the Lord can adequately fill the spot in our life that God has reserved for Himself—noise and busyness will satisfy for just a little while. Our Father’s empowering presence is the only genuine solution. For believers, the Holy Spirit is already present within. What we must do is settle ourselves before God, and He will make Himself known to us.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 20-22

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Mayday!

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Read: Psalm 86:1–13

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14–16; Mark 12:28–44

When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.—Psalm 86:7

The international distress signal “Mayday” is always repeated three times in a row—“Mayday-Mayday-Mayday”—so the situation will be clearly understood as a life-threatening emergency. The word was created in 1923 by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer at London’s Croydon Airport. That now-closed facility once had many flights to and from Le Bourget Airport in Paris. According to the National Maritime Museum, Mockford coined Mayday from the French word m’aidez, which means, “help me.”

Throughout King David’s life, he faced life-threatening situations for which there seemed to be no way out. Yet, we read in Psalm 86 that during his darkest hours, David’s confidence was in the Lord. “Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me” (vv. 6-7).

David also saw beyond the immediate danger by asking God to lead his steps: “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (v. 11). When the crisis was past, he wanted to keep walking with God.

The most difficult situations we face can become doorways to a deeper relationship with our Lord. This begins when we call on Him to help us in our trouble, and also to lead us each day in His way. —David McCasland

Lord, even as we call to You for help today, please help us to keep walking with You when this crisis is over.

God hears our cries for help and leads us in His way.

INSIGHT: In today’s psalm, David asks for God’s help in his time of trouble but looks beyond this difficult time. In verse 11, he asks God to teach him His ways, so he can rely on God’s faithfulness. David knew that learning God’s ways would change the way he responded to the situations of life. Spending time with God, learning who He is and what He has done, draws us close to Him and changes us. What situation are you facing for which you need God’s help?  J.R. Hudberg

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Don’t Fret—Rejoice!

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Rejoice in the Lord always…again I say, Rejoice!…Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in…everything, by prayer and petition…with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. —Philippians 4:4,6

Twice in this passage the apostle Paul tells us to rejoice. He urges us not to fret or have any anxiety about anything but to pray and give thanks to God in everything—not after everything is over.

If you wait until everything is perfect before rejoicing and giving thanks you won’t have much fun. Learning to enjoy life even in the midst of trying circumstances is one way to develop spiritual maturity.

Live in the fullness of the joy of the Lord by finding something to be glad about besides your current circumstances. You must learn to derive your happiness and joy from the Lord who lives inside you.

Decide you will not fret or have anxiety about anything but will give thanks and praise to God, rejoicing in Him always.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Thank Him for Answers

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“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7).

Some years ago there was an occasion when my world was crumbling. All that my associates and I had worked and planned for in the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ was hanging by a slender thread which was about to break.

Because of a series of unforeseen circumstances, we were facing a financial crisis which could bankrupt the movement and result in the loss of our beautiful facilities at Arrowhead Springs, California, acquired just a few years earlier.

Already thousands of students and laymen from all over the world were receiving training which would influence millions of lives for Christ. Now we were in danger of losing it all.

When the word came to me that everything we had planned and prayed for was in jeopardy and almost certain to be lost, I fell to my knees and began to give thanks to the Lord. Why?

Because many years before I had discovered that thanksgiving demonstrates faith, and faith pleases God. When we demonstrate faith through thanksgiving, as an expression of obedience and gratitude to God, He releases His great power in our behalf so that we can serve Him better. Miraculously, God honored our faith and what could have been disaster and tragedy turned to victory and triumph. The end result was that we were stronger financially than we had ever been.

God fights the battles for those who trust and obey Him.

Bible Reading: I Timothy 2:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  With God’s help, my life will be characterized by praise and thanksgiving to God as an expression of my faith in Him and obedience to His commands. Today I will share the goodness and trustworthiness of God with at least one other person.

 

http://www.cru.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – God Interruption 

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The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”   Jonah 1:1-2

God may be interrupting your plans. He does this from time to time according to His will. You were going in one direction, and He stopped you in your tracks and led you in an about-face. It can be disconcerting and more than a little scary. But do not be surprised if this happens to you. Your current path may be the opposite of what He intended. Maybe you got in a hurry and ran ahead without Him or maybe you have been reluctant to move forward and missed Him.

Either way, the Holy Spirit has now arrested your attention and is leading you into uncharted waters. Like Phillip, you are an agent of God (Acts 8:29). You may be uncomfortable with the assignment because of the novelty in its nuances.  God is moving you out of your comfort zone and into His arena of obedience. If you disobey and stay put, you jeopardize proclaiming Jesus to the fullest.

“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:23).

The consequences of disobedience are not isolated to you alone. They ripple throughout your relationships. Don’t wait for people to be hurt before you say yes to heaven’s directive. God interrupts for a reason and for a season. The reason may be to protect you from a convergence of bad decision-making. You don’t know what’s around the corner in your life, but He does. He is watching out for you, so this severe turn in His will may be to protect you from a pattern of bad behavior.

Do not allow pride to keep you from changing your mind. Promptings from the Holy Spirit make pride uncomfortable because it means giving up control and submitting in humility. If you continue to drive forward in pride, you are destined for unnecessary pain. Take this interruption as a sign from God to slow down, reevaluate, and recalibrate.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – God Interruption  →

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert for Kids – Not Talking

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Job 34:29–30, The Message

In the Old Testament there is a story about Daniel. Daniel was praying to God for help, but none came. God was silent—so it seemed. Daniel prayed and went without food for three weeks. Still nothing. Then one day he was standing on the bank of the Tigris River when an angel named Michael appeared before him. Daniel was scared nearly to death, and fell on his hands and knees. Then the angel spoke to him. “Daniel … consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have been sent to you.” Daniel obeyed, standing but trembling like a leaf in the wind. Then the angel said, “Since the first day … your words were heard.”

God heard Daniel the first time he called out to God in prayer. Even though God didn’t respond right away, God heard Daniel. God hears us in the very same way, always listening to our prayers. He’ll answer when the time is right.

Dear Lord, I’m not always patient when I’m asking you for something I need. Help me to learn that you always hear me—even when there seems to be no answer. Amen.

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – DESIGNED TO WORK

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Read Genesis 3:15-18

Michelangelo, the Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, is remembered for his masterpieces, including the frescoes that cover the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. But his admirers might forget that his art required an incredible amount of painstaking work. Michelangelo said, “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful after all.”

Work can be rewarding, but it can also be just plain hard! The story of creation reveals God’s design for work. God Himself worked at Creation. The text says that God “finished the work he had been doing” (Gen. 2:2). And God also designed that man, created in His image, would work. He placed man in the Garden to care for it (2:15). Adam’s task would be one of caretaking for the garden and he would rule over, or care for, the animals (1:26).

In today’s passage, we see the fall out from the decision of Adam and Eve to disobey God and His design for their lives. Eve would endure the pain of childbirth (3:16). Adam’s curse would transform his work into “toil” (v. 17).

Bearing children and working were both a part of God’s original design. Both of these are intended to be good, intrinsic elements of human flourishing. But now those activities were affected by the Fall. Childbirth became laborious. Work became toil. The ground would be thorny instead of fruitful (vv. 18–19).

After God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, they would need to “work the ground from which he had been taken” (v. 23). Life would no longer be simple and pleasurable but strenuous and often difficult. Work, like childbearing, remained part of God’s design for humanity, but sin made it backbreaking.

APPLY THE WORD

You may work a 9-to-5 job, be part of the new “gig economy,” or be retired. Nonetheless, we are all called to work as unto God (Col. 3:23). Whether or not we have an earthly boss, our ultimate responsibility is to serve God well with everything we undertake. That raises the bar, doesn’t it? Whatever you do today, do it for God Himself.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Effectiveness of Prayer

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James 5:16-18

When you face a problem, is prayer your first response, or do you spring into action mode? God works powerfully through prayer, yet too often we look at it as a last resort: After we are at the end of our rope, then we start praying.

Using the example of Elijah, James reminds us what the effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish. In today’s passage, the subject is healing, but that’s not the only prayer God will answer. Every aspect of life can be impacted by the power of prayer.

Temptation. Jesus told His disciples, “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation” (Mark 14:38).

Praise. After being beaten and thrown into prison, Paul and Silas prayed and praised God, even in the midst of their pain (Acts 16:25).

Spiritual Warfare. Paul teaches us to access God’s power by “pray[ing] without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

Anxiety. We aren’t at the mercy of fear if we pray about everything (Phil. 4:6).

Transformation. When we pray according to God’s desires, He transforms our mind, attitudes, character, and actions (Col. 1:9-12).

Witness. Through prayer, we ask that the Lord open doors for us to spread His Word (2 Thess. 3:1).

Protection. God is faithful to answer requests that He strengthen and protect us from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:2-3).

The next time you face a challenging situation, remember that prayer is more powerful than all your self-efforts. Pray, and watch God work.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 16-19

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Home

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Read: Ephesians 2:11–22

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 11–13; Mark 12:1–27

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people.—Ephesians 2:19

A young African refugee who goes by the name of Steven is a man without a country. He thinks he may have been born in Mozambique or Zimbabwe. But he never knew his father and lost his mother. She fled civil war, traveling country to country as a street vendor. Without ID and unable to prove his place of birth, Steven walked into a British police station, asking to be arrested. Jail seemed better to Steven than trying to exist on the streets without the rights and benefits of citizenship.

The plight of living without a country was on Paul’s mind as he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. His non-Jewish readers knew what it was like to live as aliens and outsiders (2:12). Only since finding life and hope in Christ (1:13) had they discovered what it meant to belong to the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). In Jesus, they learned what it means to be known and cared for by the Father He came to reveal (Matt. 6:31-33).

Paul realized, however, that as the past fades from view, a short memory can cause us to forget that, while hope is the new norm, despair was the old reality.

May our God help us to live in security—to know each day the belonging that we have as members of His family is by faith in Jesus Christ and to understand the rights and benefits of having our home in Him. —Mart DeHaan

Lord, as we remember how hopeless we were before You found us, please help us not to forget those who are still on the street.

Hope means the most to those who have lived without it.

INSIGHT: It’s easy to feel lost. The apostle Paul knew some of his readers felt that way. In his letter to the Ephesians, he wrote to them about being part of God’s family. They were no longer “foreigners” and “excluded” (2:12) but were “fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (v. 19). How does knowing you are part of God’s family help when you feel lost and alone? J.R. Hudberg

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Anatomy of a Journey

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The lections of the Christian celebration of Lent are full of God’s love of journeys: crossings from darkness into light, blindness to vision, the familiar to the unexpected, thirst to a place of provision. We find journeys beside still waters, through dark valleys and green pastures to a table prepared in the presence of enemies, pathways from Tyre through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee to a valley of dry bones, the tomb of a friend, and a well in Samaria.(1) Along the way, we are given constant reminders to keep watch and be alert. We hear in these stories that whatever journey on which we find ourselves, there are surely signs of God stirring, a kingdom emerging, the possibility of unexpected hope rising to life. “[T]he hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live,” says Jesus in John 5:25. God loves the very anatomy of a journey, not for the sake of perpetual motion, but for the sake of guidance and restoration the Spirit brings along the way.

The story of Philip in Acts chapter 8 formally introduces us to a word God exemplifies throughout the journey-stories of Scripture. Heeding the command of the Spirit to get up and head toward the south, Philip encounters an Ethiopian man on his way home from worship in Jerusalem. The man was reading from the book of Isaiah, so Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replies, “‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.”(2) The words chosen by the Ethiopian in this exchange are absolutely crucial. He invited Philip not to spell things out for him but to guide him. Eugene Peterson explains, “The Greek words for ‘explain’ and ‘guide’ share the same verbal root, ‘to lead,’ and have a common orientation in and concern for the [scriptural] text. But the explainer, the exegete, leads the meaning out of the text; the guide, the hodegete, leads you in the way (hodos) of the text.”(3) Philip was given an invitation to do far more than explain an ancient text. He was invited to join the journey, to climb into the chariot, spend some time on a similar path, and show the Ethiopian how to walk in it. Philip answered the invitation by coming nearer and sitting down beside the one who asked. How much more does God do so for humanity.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Christlikeness

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For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren.—Romans 8:29

The best goal a Christian can have is Christlikeness. Jesus is the express image of the Father, and we are called to follow in His footsteps. He came as the Pioneer of our faith to show us by example how we can live. We have the chance to behave with people the way Jesus did. Our goal is not to see how successful we can be in business or how famous we can be. It is not prosperity, popularity, or even building a big ministry, but to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual maturity or Christlikeness cannot be obtained without “dying to self.” That simply means saying yes to God and no to ourselves when our will and God’s are in opposition. Jesus told His disciples that if they wanted to follow Him, they would need to take up their cross daily.

To follow Christ and become like Him, we choose to forget about what we want—our plans, having our own way—and instead trust Him to show us what His will is for us. His will always leads to deep joy and satisfaction.

You are God’s Ambassador—represent Him well!

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – His Power to Change

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“But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ is; and we are looking forward to His return from there. When He comes back He will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer all else everywhere” (Philippians 3:20,21).

George Gallup, Jr., a deeply religious and dear personal friend, has just completed a very important survey asking people, in face-to-face, in-depth interviews, key questions about heaven and hell and other aspects about life beyond death.

One result indicated that two-thirds of all American adults – or 100 million people – believe in an after-life. But what was surprising, said Gallup, was that about 15 percent of those surveyed in one poll indicated they had had an unusual near-death experience – seeing figures or objects that beckoned them to a world beyond life on earth.

Dwight L. Moody caught a glimpse of the glory awaiting him a few hours before leaving this earth for his heavenly mansion.

“Earth recedes, heaven opens before me,” he said, awakening from a sleep. “If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”

A son stood by his bedside. “No, no, father,” he said, “you are dreaming.”

“No,” said Moody, “I am not dreaming. I have been within the gates. I have seen the children’s faces.”

A short time passed, then followed what his family thought to be the death struggle. “This is my triumph,” Moody said. “This is my coronation day. It is glorious!”

Nothing in that true story contradicts Scripture in any way. One of God’s choice saints simply had a foretaste of his heavenly home, related for our joy and encouragement and edification.

Bible Reading: John 14:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT:  Realizing afresh that my homeland is in heaven with my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the time of my departure from this earth is unknown but certain, I shall take advantage of every opportunity to encourage others to be ready for their time of departure, as I prepare for my own.

 

http://www.cru.org