Tag Archives: Bible

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — I See You

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Read: Genesis 16:1–13

Bible in a Year: Exodus 31–33; Matthew 22:1–22

I have now seen the One who sees me.—Genesis 16:13

“I see you,” a friend said in an online writers’ group where we support and encourage each other. Having felt stressed and anxious, I experienced a sense of peace and well-being with her words. She “saw” me—my hopes, fears, struggles, and dreams—and loved me.

When I heard my friend’s simple but powerful encouragement, I thought of Hagar, a slave in Abram’s household. After many years of Sarai and Abram still longing for an heir, Sarai followed the custom of the culture and told her husband to conceive through Hagar. But when Hagar became pregnant, she treated Sarai with contempt. When Sarai mistreated her in return, Hagar fled far away to the desert.

The Lord saw Hagar in her pain and confusion, and He blessed her with the promise that she would be the mother of many descendants. After the encounter, Hagar called the Lord “El Roi,” which means “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13), for she knew she wasn’t alone or abandoned.

As Hagar was seen—and loved—so are we. We might feel ignored or rejected by friends or family, yet we know that our Father sees not only the face we present to the world, but all of our secret feelings and fears. He speaks the words that bring us life. —Amy Boucher Pye

Father God, just as You saw Hagar in her distress, so You see those who are hurting, fleeing oppression, and afraid. Please send them help and encouragement.

To know that God sees us gives us comfort and confidence.

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – What It Is

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Through winding, trash-strewn roads and poverty-lined streets we made our way to another world. Clotheslines hung from every imaginable protrusion, a symbol of the teeming life that fought to survive there, and a contrast to the empty, darkened world of night. The only light in otherwise pitch-black alleys came from the glow of cigarettes and drug pipes, which for split seconds illumined faces that lived here. It was late and I was sick, discovering after a long flight that I had not escaped the office stomach flu after all. Our van was full of tourists, their resort brochures a troubling, colorful contrast to the streets that would bring them there. Strangers who only moments before wore the expressions of anticipation of vacation now rode in expressionless silence. One man broke that silence, just as the taxi turned the corner seemingly into an entirely new realm and resort. With pain and poverty now literally behind him, he said quietly, “Well… It is what it is.”

These words rung in my ears all weekend, most of which was spent crumpled on the bathroom floor, unable to participate in the destination wedding we had come to “paradise” to enjoy. In the end, it seemed a metaphor for thoughts I wanted to remember physically and not in mere abstractions. You see, typically, when the drowsy, comfortable world I have come to expect is jarred awake by visions of people reeling in discomfort or injustice, the upset that is caused is largely conceptual, immaterial, abstract. Sure, I am momentarily both deeply saddened and humbled by the comforts and rights many of us take for granted in the West. I am aware again of the need to stay involved with humanitarian and relief efforts and perpetual global injustices that take place daily right under our noses. But for the most part, my angst, my theology, my reactions are all abstract, observed mentally, not physically. That is, they remain deeply-felt issues, but not concrete matters of life.

Of course, I am not suggesting that abstract, philosophical ideas are the problem—clearly my vocation is dedicated to the notion that ideas carry consequences, that reflection on questions of truth, beauty, hope, and love are indeed matters vital to the development of fulfilled and finite human beings. What I am suggesting is that the abstract is both hopeless and of no use without the concrete (inasmuch as the concrete is a desert without the infinite).

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – What It Is →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Let God Strengthen You

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My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word. Remove from me the way of falsehood and unfaithfulness [to You], and graciously impart Your law to me.—Psalm 119:28-29

We need to be strengthened and renewed on a daily basis. We need to be strengthened physically, mentally, and emotionally. We need to be strong so we do not fall apart every time we have to face some situation we had not planned on.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He expects us to develop stability in our lives. We can be strengthened and renewed by drawing strength from God, by exercising our faith, and by doing what He tells us to do.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Your Source of Strength

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“……the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b, KJV).

At a London train station one day, a woman was stopped by an elderly man.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, “but I want to thank you for something.”

“Thank me!” the woman exclaimed.

“Yes’m, I used to be the ticket collector, and whenever you went by you always gave me a cheerful smile and a ‘good mornin’.” You don’t know what a difference it made to me.

“Wet weather or dry, it was always the same, and I thought to myself, “Wonder where she gets her smile from; one can’t always be happy, yet she seems to.’ I knew that smile must come from inside somehow.”

“Then one morning you came by and you had a little Bible in your hand. I said to myself, ‘Perhaps that’s where she gets her smile from.’ So on my way home that night I bought a Bible, and I’ve been reading it, and I’ve found Christ. Now I can smile, too, and I want to thank you.”

As you and I seek to be God’s witnesses today, in dependence on the supernatural power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we should be mindful constantly of the fact that the joy of the Lord can indeed be our strength. That joy inevitably will shine on our faces, regardless of circumstances.

In the words of an anonymous poem:

If you live close to God
And His infinite grace, You don’t have to tell; It shows on your face.

Bible Reading: Psalm 16:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will make a conscious effort to reflect the joy of my indwelling Lord in such a way that it will glow on my very countenance. While it is true that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, it is also true that the reflection of that joy is my responsibility. But I will go a step further. I will tell everyone who will listen about the one who is the source of my joy.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Lord of Heaven

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When tragedy strikes, whether personal; national; or global; people wonder how God could allow such things to happen! Is God really in control? Can we trust him to run the universe if he would allow this?

It is important to recognize that God dwells in a different realm. God said to Isaiah, “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9 NCV). How vital then that we pray armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. And he has chosen to bend near toward earth to see our sorrow and hear our prayers. Though we may not be able to see his purpose or his plan, the Lord of heaven is on his throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives.

From God is With You Every Day

 

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Denison Forum – Trivial reasons Patriots will win the Super Bowl

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Surprising Super Bowl trivia is in the news today. Lining up the facts, you can make a compelling case that the New England Patriots will defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s game. For instance:

The Falcons have never won a Super Bowl. Their quarterback, Matt Ryan, has never won a Most Valuable Player award. Over his career, Ryan has defeated every NFL team except two—the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Patriots.

By contrast, the New England Patriots can secure their fifth title. Tom Brady could win his fifth championship, the most of any quarterback in history. He could also win a record fourth Super Bowl MVP.

Brady has started four games against the Falcons. He won all four. With six Super Bowls, he has more championship experience than the entire Falcons’ roster.

The game pits the league’s leading offense (the Falcons) against the league’s leading defense (the Patriots). This has happened only five times before in Super Bowl history. The team with the league’s best defense won four of the five.

Sunday’s game will be the first time Dan Quinn, Atlanta’s head coach, has competed against New England’s head coach, Bill Belichick. Since 2010, coaches in their first career game against Belichick are 3–22. And the last time the Super Bowl was played in Houston, the Patriots won.

Of course, none of this proves that New England will win Sunday’s game. Predictions, whether they are based on facts or speculation, are just that. Our culture is fascinated by them because they give us the illusion of control in a chaotic world.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Trivial reasons Patriots will win the Super Bowl →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Abraham’s Test

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Genesis 22:1-24

Abraham faced one of the greatest tests of obedience recorded in the Bible: God asked him to slay his son as an offering. It’s hard to imagine the confusion and pain this request must have caused. However, Abraham obeyed the Lord willingly and promptly. His response teaches us some important lessons about yielding to the Lord.

Obedience often collides with reason. After telling Abraham he’d have descendants too numerous to count, God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, who was to be the father of the promised line. Despite the strangeness of the command, Abraham trusted God to keep His word and so set out to obey (Heb. 11:18-19).

Obedience means leaving the consequences to God. Abraham had no idea how the promise could be fulfilled if Isaac was dead. But his words and actions indicate he believed in divine sovereignty. When Abraham took the boy to Mount Moriah, he told his servants, “I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you” (Gen. 22:5). He didn’t say, “I will return” but expressed that both would come back. Abraham went to the holy place as instructed. At the same time, he fully expected that the Lord would somehow restore Isaac in order to keep His pledge. God fulfilled His promise by pro viding a ram in the boy’s place (Gen. 22:13-14).

The Lord already knows how His children will respond to tests of obedience. He challenges people because He wants them to know the truth about how well they submit. A believer’s willingness to obey (or disobey) reveals the state of his or her commitment to God.

Bible in One Year: Leviticus 11-13

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — What’s the Occasion?

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Read: Ecclesiastes 3:9–17

Bible in a Year: Exodus 29–30; Matthew 21:23–46

Everything God does will endure forever.—Ecclesiastes 3:14

Four-year-old Asher’s gleeful face peeked out from beneath his favorite hooded sweatshirt. His alligator-head hooded sweatshirt, complete with plush jaws that seemed to swallow his head! His mom’s heart sank. She wanted the family to make a good impression as they visited a family they hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Oh, Hon,” she said, “that may not be appropriate for the occasion.”

“Of course it is!” Asher protested brightly.

“Hmm, and what occasion might that be?” she asked. Asher replied, “You know. Life!” He got to wear the shirt.

That joyful boy already grasps the truth of Ecclesiastes 3:12—“There is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” Ecclesiastes can seem depressing and is often misunderstood because it’s written from a human perspective, not God’s. The writer, King Solomon, asked, “What do workers gain from their toil?” (v. 9). Yet throughout the book we catch glimpses of hope. Solomon also wrote: “That each of [us] may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all [our] toil—this is the gift of God” (v. 13).

We serve a God who gives us good things to enjoy. Everything He does “will endure forever” (v. 14). As we acknowledge Him and follow His loving commands, He infuses our lives with purpose, meaning, and joy. —Tim Gustafson

Restore to us childlike joy that appreciates Your good gifts.

The Lord who made you wants you to make Him the center of your life.

INSIGHT: Ecclesiastes fits in a larger Ancient Near Eastern literary category called Wisdom Literature. Wisdom Literature uses stories, poetry, proverbial sayings, and songs to convey wisdom about God and the world. The brutal honesty and chronic despair in Ecclesiastes is typical of Wisdom Literature and gives us a clear vision of the writer’s purpose. What may seem like a disconnect with the rest of Scripture is actually an attempt to present the wisdom of living in the moment, enjoying the small joys of life, and relying on the power, presence, and goodness of God to sustain us in a fallen and broken world. Even in the harshness of this life, there is hope. God can and does give meaning and purpose to the meaninglessness that surrounds us. Dennis Moles

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Stepping into the Reality of Suffering

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I recently sat across from a woman I wanted to adopt as a kind of nonna.(1) Originally from Croatia, she spoke with a soft accent and combination of wisdom and kindness. In observing my 5-year-old son with me, she noted, “He has a high sense of injustice.” I nodded in agreement. My little guy has begun that tortured engagement with life—the wrestling of desire to shield our eyes from sorrow with the opportunity to see our part in the larger broken story around us and participate in facets of restoration.

Years ago it was in a broken place where I met Annie. I was nervous as I walked through the streets of Amsterdam’s famous red light district, so different from anything I had seen before. About four hundred windows line cobblestone streets, a person behind each one. There are women of all ages, transgender and transvestite workers as well. Organized by nationality, it is a market of sorts, where the commodity for sale is the body of another. I was with the director of Scharlaken Koord, a Dutch organization that offers assistance to women working in prostitution.

I realized my nervousness was a reflection of my own insecurity. Truth be told, sex workers represented something threatening to me—a reminder of the enough I might never be, a kind of desirable I couldn’t compete with, a kind betrayal I did not want to know. But when we talked with them, I saw them as women. They were girls I would want to be friends with, and what was alike far surpassed our differences. To be sure, if the same things that happened to them had happened to me, I would be standing on their side of the window. They were human beings trying to survive their own choices and those made for them, just like the rest of us.

So it was with Annie. She shared her story with us: a handsome Dutch man often traveled through the airport she worked at in a distant Asian country. He began to bring gifts each time he passed through—attention and interest too. Soon he proposed to her. Her family advised she would be foolish to give up such an opportunity; she would have a much better life than what could be afforded at home. The two married and Annie went to live in his home country with apprehension and hope. Upon arrival, he confiscated her passport, explained he now owned her, and put her up for sale behind a window. She tried to resist, but he only laughed. She didn’t have her documents. She didn’t know the language. Where would she go? Realizing he was right, she succumbed to beatings and abuse and ultimately performed as required.

When Annie learned she was pregnant, she was grateful for this reminder of life inside of her. But after several intentional blows to her belly by her husband, she miscarried. Later came the day she learned her mother had died. Well over her capacity to hold the injustice, Annie spilled over with regret and rage. Only because he was tired of her and had gotten what he wanted, her husband returned the passport and bid her good riddance.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Stepping into the Reality of Suffering →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Receiving Forgiveness

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If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. —1 John 1:9

Many years ago when I was first developing my relationship with the Lord, each night I would beg His forgiveness for my past sins. One evening as I knelt beside my bed, I heard the Lord say to me, “Joyce, I forgave you the first time you asked, but you have not received My gift of forgiveness because you have not forgiven yourself.”

Have you received God’s gift of forgiveness? If you have not, and you are ready to do so, ask the Lord to forgive you for all your sins right now. Then pray this aloud:

Lord, I receive forgiveness for (name the sin), in Christ Jesus. I forgive myself and accept your gift of forgiveness as my own. I believe that you remove the sin from me completely, putting it at a distance where it can never be found again—as far as the east is from the west. And I believe, Lord, that you remember it no more.

You will find that speaking aloud is often helpful to you because by doing so you are declaring your stand upon God’s Word. The devil cannot read your mind, but he does understand your words. Declare before all the principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness (see Ephesians 6:12) that Christ has set you free and that you intend to walk in that freedom.

When you speak, sound as though you mean it! If the devil tries to bring that sin to your mind again in the form of guilt and condemnation, repeat your declaration, telling him: “I was forgiven for that sin! It has been taken care of—therefore, I take no care for it.”

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Using Our Abilities

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“Why is it that He gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God’s Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord – yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ” (Ephesians 4:12,13).

We would be poor stewards if we ignored the special abilities the Holy Spirit has given to us.

We must use our abilities to glorify Christ, not to glorify ourselves, or some other person, or even to glorify the gift itself.

Peter says, “Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God Himself were speaking through you” (1 Peter 4:11). Do you possess musical ability? Share it with the rest of Christ’s family. Peter goes on, “Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies, so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ – to Him be glory and praise forever and ever.”

We have the obligation to use our God-given abilities in a scriptural manner to help equip others for Christian service. The apostle Paul writes that spiritual gifts are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12, NAS).

In order to live supernaturally, it is important for us always to exercise our abilities in the power and control of the Holy Spirit – never through our own fleshly efforts.

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:11-16

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: My motivation for using my spiritual gift(s) and abilities will be solely to glorify Christ through helping to equip other members of His body to be more effective and fruitful for Him.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – But God Said…

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No words written on paper will ever sustain you like the promises of God. Do you know them?

To the bereaved, God promises: “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NIV).

To the besieged, God promises: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19 NIV).

To the sick, God promises: “The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.” (Psalm 41:3 NIV)

To the sinner: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said. . .When doubts arise, But God said. . .When guilt overwhelms you, But God said. . . Search the Scriptures for promises like a miner digging for gold. Once you find a nugget, grasp it. Trust it. There is no greater treasure!

From God is With You Every Day

 

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Denison Forum – Boston bombing survivor to wed rescuer

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On April 15, 2013, Roseann Sdoia watched the Red Sox play at Fenway Park and then went to Boylston Street to watch the Boston Marathon. Two bombs exploded. She was just steps from the second blast and lost her right leg. Fireman Mike Materia comforted her on the ride to Massachusetts General Hospital in a police vehicle. “He’s seen me on my worst day,” she says.

Now they’re engaged to be married.

Air National Guard Sgt. Matthew Noll returned last Monday from a seven-month deployment overseas. Here’s what made his return so emotional: he was reunited with his family at the Boston Celtics game that night. The video brought tears to my eyes.

We can all use good news in the news.

CNN is reporting this morning that two corrections department workers are being held hostage by inmates at a Delaware prison. Violence erupted last night at UC Berkeley hours before a political commentator was scheduled to speak. According to today’s Wall Street Journal, the White House has put Iran “on notice” after its missile launch.

What can we learn from the challenges of our day? Here’s an important life principle: failure is necessary to success.

This headline in Quartz caught my eye: “The experience CEOs want to see in every new hire.” I expected to read about drive, giftedness, and creativity. Instead, I learned about the value of failure. One CEO says, “I ask the question: tell me about when you failed.” Another notes that failure “makes you an executive of some substance.” Richard Branson: “It is only through failure that we learn.”

The best way to deal with problems is to trust them to God’s redemptive purpose. The wicked anti-Semite Haman plotted a holocaust in Persia that became the holy day of Purim (Esther 9). After rising from an Egyptian prison to Pharaoh’s palace, Joseph could say to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Paul’s imprisonment led to preaching before kings (Acts 26).

In each case, good did not just redeem evil—it required it. Without the test, there could have been no triumph. A mountain climber needs a mountain from which he could fall; a swimmer needs a lake in which she could drown; a sailor needs an ocean in which he could sink.

God uses sin to show us our need of grace. He uses pain to show us our need of a Great Physician. Oswald Chambers: “The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the Gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreaks, disillusionments, tribulation, for one reason only, because these things kept him in unmoved devotion to the Gospel of God.”

Where have you fallen? Would you ask God to redeem your failure by drawing you to his transforming grace?

Rhonda Mawhood Lee is an Episcopal minister and very gifted writer. Her latest column is titled, “How I learned to love and raise the child from my husband’s affair.” The daughter she describes has been an instrument of healing for Rev. Lee’s marriage and a great blessing to her life.

A lesson she learned in suffering she now expresses in joy: “Love is the most powerful thing there is.” If you’ll trust your failure to God’s grace, you’ll agree.

Denison Forum

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Abraham’s Lesson on Obedience

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Genesis 16:1-16

The Old Testament gives us the account of Abraham’s life. While the patriarch had a special relationship with God, his faith was not perfect. Over the years, he came to understand the importance of obedience—and how costly it can be to rebel.

Abraham learned the hard way that manipulating circumstances to gain a desired result can bring heartache. God had promised him and Sarah a child, but they were still waiting for that blessing when they were elderly. Already in her 70s, Sarah suggested that Abraham get an heir by having a child with her servant Hagar. The result was jealousy, family strife, and a bloody conflict that still rages today between the descendants of Hagar’s son Ishmael and Sarah’s son Isaac.

Obedience will bring the Lord’s best, but it requires waiting on Him. Abraham was already an old man when God promised him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). This would not be fulfilled until he was 100 and Sarah was well past her child-bearing years, which meant that all the glory for Isaac’s miraculous conception and birth went to the Lord (Gen. 21:1-7). Jumping ahead of God had harsh, long-term consequences. But the good news is that the couple’s mistakes could not prevent Him from carrying out His plan.

The Lord has given us His Word so we might learn from the saints of old. The story of Abraham’s life teaches us that obedience is essential. When we place our trust in a sovereign God and wait upon His timing, He will always prove faithful.

Bible in One Year: Leviticus 8-10

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Always in His Care

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Read: Psalm 32:1–11

Bible in a Year: Exodus 27–28; Matthew 21:1–22

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.—Psalm 32:8

On the day our youngest daughter was flying from Munich to Barcelona, I visited my favorite flight tracking website to follow her progress. After I entered her flight number, my computer screen showed that her flight had crossed Austria and was skirting the northern part of Italy. From there the plane would fly over the Mediterranean, south of the French Riviera toward Spain, and was scheduled to arrive on time. It seemed that the only thing I didn’t know was what the flight attendants were serving for lunch!

Why did I care about my daughter’s location and circumstances? Because I love her. I care about who she is, what she’s doing, and where she’s going in life.

In Psalm 32, David celebrated the marvel of God’s forgiveness, guidance, and concern for us. Unlike a human father, God knows every detail of our lives and the deepest needs of our hearts. The Lord’s promise to us is, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you” (v. 8).

Whatever our circumstances today, we can rely on God’s presence and care because “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him” (v. 10). —David McCasland

Dear Father in heaven, thank You for watching over me in love and guiding me along Your path today.

We are never out of God’s sight and His loving care.

INSIGHT: Psalm 32 is an interesting look into the covenant relationship the believer has with the living God. King David, the writer of this psalm, is aware of his own personal sins and the need for confession and forgiveness. This spiritual connection with the living God is not simply a positive experience but includes God’s chastisement that leads to confession and restoration (vv. 4-5). Yet even within the ups and downs of our walk of faith, we have the assurance of God’s watchful care and provision. For further study on the subject of forgiveness, check out the Discovery Series booklet The Forgiveness of God at discoveryseries.org/q0602. Dennis Fisher

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – One Good Choice After Another

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Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.—Proverbs 4:25 NIV

Are you enjoying the life and blessings of God in your everyday life? Or have you made a series of choices resulting in disappointment, pain, or feeling that everything you do requires great effort and produces little reward? Don’t spend your time and energy mourning all the bad decisions you have made; just start making good ones. There is hope for you!

The way to overcome the results of a series of bad choices is through a series of right choices. The only way to walk out of trouble is to do the opposite of whatever you did to get into trouble—one choice at a time.

Maybe the circumstances of your life right now are the direct result of a series of bad choices you have made. You may be in debt because you have made a lot of bad choices with money. You may be lonely because of a series of bad choices in relationships or in the way you treat people. You may be sick because of a series of unhealthy choices: eating junk food, not getting enough rest, or abusing your body through working too much and not having enough balance in your life.

You cannot make a series of bad choices that result in significant problems and then make one good choice and expect all the results of all those bad choices to go away. You did not get into deep trouble through one bad choice; you got into trouble through a series of bad choices. If you really want your life to change for the better, you will need to make one good choice after another, over a period of time, just as consistently as you made the negative choices that produced negative results.

No matter what kind of trouble or difficulty you find yourself in, you can still have a blessed life. You cannot do anything about what is behind you, but you can do a great deal about what lies ahead of you. God is a redeemer, and He will always give you another chance.

Trust in Him: If you have a situation that is too big for you to solve, then you are material for a miracle. Invite God to get involved, trust in and follow His directions, make one good choice after another, and you will see amazing results.

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – How to Assure Success

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“Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way, Jehoshaphat stopped and called them to attention. ‘Listen to me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem,’he said. ‘Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall have success! Believe His prophets, and everything will be all right!”‘ (2 Chronicles 20:20).

God does the same things for us in our time that He did so often in the Old and New Testament accounts of His power and grace.

I remember an eventful week at the University of California in Berkeley in 1966 when the president of the university was fired by the board of regents during the turbulent days of student revolution. Campuses throughout California erupted in anger and violence.

On the Berkeley campus, however, about 600 Campus Crusade staff members and students had gathered from across America to present the claims of Jesus Christ to more than 27,000 students. During the week, through some 80 meetings in dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, international groups, at athletic banquets and faculty breakfasts and luncheons, in personal appointments and finally at a great meeting of some 8,000 gathered in the Greek theater, almost every student had an opportunity to hear the good news of God’s love through Christ. Literally thousands responded.

When the camera crews from the local television stations rushed out to film the predicted violence, they were amazed to find that the Berkeley campus, fountainhead of the radical student revolution, was remarkably quiet. Music, singing and sharing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ prevailed. Many point to that week as a turning point in the direction of a world-famous university.

Light is more powerful than darkness. Believing God and obeying His commands assure eternal dividends.

Bible Reading: Joshua 1:5-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I resolve to believe God and do those things He directs me to do, regardless of the consequences. Then I am assured of success as, by faith, I live the supernatural life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Invoke His Name

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We are never without hope because we are never without prayer. Prayer confesses: God can handle it. And since he can, I have hope! When we pray in the name of Jesus, we come to God on the basis of Jesus’ accomplishment. Scripture says, “Since we have a great high priest [Jesus] over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:21-22 HCSB).

Some say, “Prayer changes things because it changes us.” I agree but only in part. Prayer changes things because prayer appeals to the top power in the universe. It is the yes to God’s invitation to invoke his name. Prayer moves the world because prayer moves the heart of God.

From God is With You Every Day

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – My response to the nomination of Neil Gorsuch

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Colorado Judge Neil Gorsuch was nominated last night by President Trump to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Antonin Scalia’s untimely death last February. At forty-nine years of age, he is the youngest nominee in twenty-five years. The New York Times notes that Judge Gorsuch’s “conservative bent and originalist philosophy fit the mold of the man he would succeed.”

Ed Whelan, a former law clerk for Justice Scalia, calls Judge Gorsuch “an eminently worthy successor to the great justice.” According to Whelan, “Gorsuch is a brilliant jurist and dedicated originalist and textualist. He thinks through issues deeply. He writes with clarity, force, and verve. And his many talents promise to give him an outsized influence on future generations of lawyers.”

The judge’s story is quite interesting. He grew up in Denver, where one of his grandfathers worked his way through law school as a streetcar conductor. Both his parents were lawyers; his mother became President Reagan’s first head of the EPA. In his youth, Gorsuch worked shoveling snow, moving furniture, and staffing the front desk at a Howard Johnson’s hotel.

He attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School, graduating from both with honors. He then achieved a PhD in legal philosophy from Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the Tenth Circuit in 2006 and was affirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate.

What do we know about his theological convictions?

Judge Gorsuch has written several books opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide. He wrote a concurrence in the Tenth Circuit Hobby Lobby case that supported the company in its fight not to pay for abortion-causing drugs for employees. The Supreme Court later came to the same decision.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –A Living Hope

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1 Peter 1:3-5

Believers are born into a living hope, whereas people without Christ have no foundation for their expectations and desires. Many non-Christians live with a false sense of security. They assume that what is important in this life is the physical and material. But there is no safety in things (1 Tim. 6:9). Those who pursue wealth and health rather than God find that their dreams either go unfulfilled or fail to satisfy.

Christians anchor their hope in the solid rock of Jesus Christ. His words are always true and His promises are never broken. I’ll sometimes hear a person project his or her unfulfilled desires on God and then argue that He came up short. But believers who make a request and submit to God’s will always get an answer: yes, no, or wait.

The Lord does not disappoint those who seek His will. Don’t misunderstand that statement. We might feel temporarily let down when something we hope for is not in God’s plan. But He doesn’t go back on the biblical promise to give His children what’s best (Isa. 48:17; Isa. 64:4). When one door closes, there is another about to open with something better behind it. And remember, the Lord cannot be outdone. We can’t even wish ourselves as much good as God has in store.

The best choice a Christian can make is to fix his or her hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome whatever fits His will for your life, and turn away from all that does not. Circumstances may shift and change, but Jesus never does. He is a living hope who never disappoints.

Bible in One Year: Leviticus 5-7

 

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