Tag Archives: Bible

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Enough with Fear!

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Today’s Truth

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

Friend to Friend

Recently I experienced a flare up of my old Lyme symptoms. One doctor told me years ago that I no longer deal with an active disease, just the residual effects of the disease. I have daily joint pain and occasional neurological flare-ups. I’ve come a long way in my healing and health since those sick years, and my struggle through that valley has left a lasting imprint on my heart.

On one hand, I took countless spoils from that battle. My trust in God has deepened over time. I now understand how fragile and fleeting this life can be. I’m quicker to see things from an eternal perspective.

However, I also carry with me the baggage of fear.

Crawling through that valley, battling sickness and the financial hardship that accompanied it, all while trying to care for three little boys, sent me in a tailspin of fear from time to time. Even now, with my kids grown and a full plate of ministry duties, I pick up fear when remnants from my past reappear.

Can you relate?

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Bread of Life

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“Jesus replied, ‘I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to Me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in Me shall never thirst'” (John 6:35).

What would it be like never to be hungry – never to be thirsty?

Even in affluent America, you and I – and perhaps most people – have felt pangs of hunger and thirst, if only for a brief period. Jesus is telling us here that, spiritually speaking, we need never be hungry or thirsty again.

But how is that possible?

As the bread of life – the support of spiritual life – His doctrines give life and peace to the soul.

In Eastern countries, especially, there are vast deserts and often a great lack of water. By nature, the soul is like a traveler wandering through such a desert. Thirsting for happiness, seeking it everywhere and finding it not, he looks in all directions and tries all objects – in vain.

St. Augustine expressed this hunger for God in the following prayer, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – God’s Servants

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Read: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Paul is writing of the true view of ministry and ministers, and he does not mean by ministers only the apostles, or only a select group called the clergy, the pastors. This is a devilish idea that has possessed the church. It sees the clergy as different people, with a special pipeline to God. That idea is never found in Scripture. No, in Scripture all Christians are in the ministry, everyone without exception. All are given gifts by the Spirit. All are expected to have a function, a service that God uses. It does not have to be in the meeting of the church. It is out in the world, anywhere you are.

But how are we to view one another? As big shots striving to see who can get the most recognition, as dignitaries with special dress to indicate our rank and style of life? Are we to be the heavies, the bosses, the brass? No, Paul says we are servants; that is all. Everyone, servants of Christ. That is the highest rank possible in the church, and everybody has it to start with. Therefore, there is no need for competition or rivalry in any sense at all. We are all servants of Christ. Jesus himself told us what our attitude is to be: The Son of Man, he said, came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and give himself a ransom for many, (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45 KJV). Now that is serving, it is not being ministered unto.

How do you think of yourself when you come to church? What is your reason for coming to church? Is it to be ministered unto? Do you judge the purpose of our assembly together in order that you might have a blessing, or is it that you might be a blessing? The attitude of a servant is always, What can I do for another? In the process you will find yourself abundantly ministered unto. But we hear so much of this cult of the self-life today that insists that everything has to meet my needs. That is pre-eminent. Now that is the world’s thinking, isn’t it? The apostle is telling us that this thinking will be nothing but trouble in the church; it creates divisions and factions. We must come to see each other as servants of Christ, mutually living and ministering to one another as God gives opportunity to do. This is what the Lord Himself demonstrated for us. Are we in competition? No, says Paul, we’re in cooperation. I planted; Apollos watered; but God gave the growth. We are doing different things, but we need both of them.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – A Raging Fury Remembered

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Read: Acts 26:1-18

I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. (v. 9)

Paul never stopped hoping for his release, even as he is bounced from corrupt Felix to feckless Festus and then from Festus to visiting dignitary Agrippa. Paul’s speech of self-defense before Agrippa clearly shows the causal connection between the account of his life, conversion, and subsequent ministry. As we’ll see tomorrow, even Agrippa was not immune to its power.

What strikes me about the speech, though, is its great humility. In verses 8-11, Paul lists those features of his own past that made him almost exactly like his accusers. Out of misguided zeal he too locked Christians up in prison, voted to give them the death penalty, and attacked others in the synagogues. Paul also “persecuted them even in foreign cities”—like the city in which Paul was making this very speech.

Self-righteousness is a continuing temptation for every Christian. It’s especially tempting for the unjustly accused, as Paul was. Paul’s example reminds us how it’s best avoided: by remembering and owning up to your own personal worst. Only when we remember the criminality of our own hearts can we remember and love wrongdoers without condescension.

Prayer:

Lord, you are absolute, but human innocence is relative. Help us to remember that we have all sinned, and that you want for all the same deliverance you gave to Paul on the Damascus road.

Author: Phil Christman

 

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Sticking Together

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Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. —Mark 10:9

When I was a kid, I would build models. However, I was really bad at it, because I would get glue everywhere. So when I decided to build a model as an adult, I thought I would be so much better at it. But I discovered that I was as bad as I always had been. Glue was everywhere.

Then I discovered superglue. It sounded so simple. Only a couple drops here and there would hold things together. But then I got it on my fingers, which the instructions warn against. So my thumb and index finger were stuck together for a while.

When Genesis 2:24 (KJV) uses the word “cleave” to describe the relationship between a husband and a wife, it uses a Hebrew term that speaks of adhering to or sticking together. It is to be attached by some strong tie. The verb suggests a determined action. So it is not that a husband and wife are stuck together, but they are sticking together. They are holding on to one another. There is nothing passive about it.

When we come to the New Testament use of the word, it is a term that means to cement together and stick like glue, so the two cannot be separated without serious damage to both.

This involves constant communication before marriage and during the marriage. In a poll that was taken among people who were divorced, 86 percent cited deficient communication as the number one reason for the breakup of the marriage. There was a communication breakdown.

Every marriage will have its conflicts, and couples need to learn how to resolve this. Cleaving together means putting the needs of your mate above your own. And as Ruth Graham once said, “A successful marriage is made up of two good forgivers.”

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – The LORD Is Everlasting Strength

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“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:3-4)

Have you ever seen an evergreen tree? If you have seen a Christmas tree, or a cyprus tree, or a pine tree, or a cedar tree, then – yes! You have seen an evergreen tree! “Evergreen” trees are called that because they stay green throughout the year, even though other trees change with the changing seasons.

The Bible tells us many times that God is an everlasting Person with everlasting character traits. Like the word “evergreen,” the word “everlasting” has the idea of continuing on and on and on forever. But God is even longer-lasting than an evergreen tree. Even the oldest and strongest and greenest of trees had to have had a beginning. Trees have to grow out of seeds, and one day, they will die off or be cut down. God has always been – He had no beginning. And He always will be! He will never end.

Since God Himself is everlasting, everything about Him is everlasting, too. His grace and His mercy are everlasting. His incredible power is everlasting. And in the verses above (Isaiah 26:3-4), the prophet Isaiah teaches us that God’s strength is everlasting, too. Isaiah says that God IS everlasting strength. He would not be the LORD if He were not everlastingly strong!

Is your strength everlasting? No! No human being could say that he or she has everlasting strength. Even the healthiest and strongest of people eventually get tired or worn out. We have limitations because we have to sleep and eat and exercise in order to keep up our strength, and we can be injured or cut down by diseases. None of those things can limit God. He is almighty. He is all-powerful. And His might and power are everlasting.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – The LORD Is Everlasting Strength →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Destined for Glory

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:17

“This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Paul wrote that our sufferings produce perseverance, which in turn produces character (Romans 5:3-4), and James said that the testing of our faith develops perseverance, which leads to maturity (James 1:2-5). Our ultimate hope, though, is not in maturity of character in this life, as valuable as that is, but in the perfection of character in eternity. John wrote, “When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, NIV). The often painful process of being transformed into his likeness will be over. We shall be completely conformed to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, NIV). I visualize in my mind a pair of old-fashioned balance scales. Paul first puts all our sufferings, heartaches, disappointments—all our adversities of whatever kind from whatever source—onto one side of the balance scales. Then he puts on the other side the glory that will be revealed in us. As we watch, the scales do not balance, but completely bottom out on the side of the glory that will be revealed in us.

This is not to say that our present hardships are not painful. We see from Hebrews 12:11 that they are indeed painful, and we all know this to some degree from experience. But we need to learn to look by faith beyond the present pain to the eternal glory that will be revealed in us.

The God who disciplines us will also glorify us.

 

https://www.navigators.org/Home

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – God’s Great Mercy

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Today’s Scripture: Jonah 1-4

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector.” – Luke 18:11

When God told Jonah to go to the great and wicked city of Nineveh and preach to the people, Jonah headed in the opposite direction. Why did he do that? Jonah 4:2 says, “That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

It seems that if Jonah had believed God was going to be harsh and unmerciful, he would have been delighted to go to Nineveh and preach. Jonah wanted this bloodthirsty nation to get what he thought it deserved. But God’s mercy extended far beyond the borders of Israel, and Jonah knew it!

I was in a church once where all the people had a similar heritage and shared the same theological persuasion. They had a very comfortable fellowship, a good preacher, and everything was great. Then their pastor heard Dawson Trotman speak on the need to reach out to the lost. He began urging people to invite nonChristians into their homes and into the church to win them to Christ, but they were too wrapped up with “enjoying the Lord” inside their own congregation.

Christian, are you afraid God wants to use you in the lives of people you think deserve judgment? Afraid God wants you to show kindness where you would rather show resentment and spite? As we have received forgiveness in Christ, let us become His messengers of mercy to others.

Prayer

Lord, keep me from being self-centered. Amen.

To Ponder

Our resistance to being equipped to witness grieves the Holy Spirit.

 

https://www.navigators.org/Home

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE LORD IS GOOD

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Read 1 PETER 2:1–3

Babies love to put everything in their mouths—toys, books, even their own feet! As they are just becoming aware of their senses, babies use their sense of taste to explore the world around them. In addition, a baby’s mouth has more nerve endings per square inch than any other body part, so mouthing objects is the best way for a baby to discover how things feel. This normal developmental milestone usually ends by age three.

Scripture uses the metaphor of taste often to describe our experience of God. The psalmist says, “Taste and see that LORD is good” (Ps. 34:8), and “How sweet are your words to my taste” (Ps. 119:103). The prophet Ezekiel was instructed to eat the scroll of the Lord (Ezek. 3:3), an image repeated in Revelation 10:10. And the book of Hebrews also describes tasting the goodness of God (Heb. 6:4–5). Taste indicates an intimate experience beyond the senses of seeing or hearing.

Peter says that we have had that kind of experience with God’s goodness! We can attest, in a deep and powerful way, that His love and salvation transform and sustain us. These first verses of chapter 2 are connected to Peter’s exhortation in the previous chapter about how we relate to God and others. God’s goodness to us should motivate us to reject habits and practices that destroy community. This list—malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander— describes the deadly poison that can infect relationships when we are seeking our own status and advantage (v. 1).

Instead, we should imbibe “pure spiritual milk” (v. 2). The contrast here is between purity and deceit and between nourishment and destruction. We have already tasted God’s goodness, and now we should continue to drink from His wells of truth so that we can thrive in community and grow in grace.

APPLY THE WORD

Sins like envy and deceit can creep into our lives quietly. We resent the gifts or success of others; we try to present ourselves as better than we are. Proper humility is key: we must remember that our salvation depends on God’s goodness to us, not on our own status. Ask God to root out these sins and give you a renewed taste for His good gifts.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – ‘THIS STORM WILL KILL YOU’

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“This storm will kill you.” That’s how Florida Gov. Rick Scott described Hurricane Matthew as he warned residents to flee the strongest storm system to threaten the US in a decade.

The western eyewall of the hurricane brushed by Cape Canaveral this morning, producing wind gusts of 115 mph. More than 300,000 people are already without power across the state of Florida. Officials are predicting that power will eventually be lost to 2.5 million as further “catastrophic damage” is expected.

Forecasters warn that this storm could be “unlike any hurricane in the modern era.” About 3.1 million people are under mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders in three states. Some areas in the hurricane’s path could be uninhabitable for weeks or months to come.

The region has instituted the largest mandatory evacuation since Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. However, the storm surge is expected to be much larger than the New Jersey shore saw during that tragedy. As the hurricane continues to hug the coast through Saturday, the National Weather Service warns that Matthew could deliver “the strongest, most destructive winds anyone in parts of the northeast Florida coast and Georgia coast has seen in their lifetime.” Catastrophic flooding is predicted as well.

How should we respond today?

One: Obviously, we need to pray.

Pray right now for God to move Hurricane Matthew out into the sea and to protect those in its path. The psalmist said of God, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed” (Psalm 107:29). Ask him to do the same with this storm and to help those facing its devastating power.

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘THIS STORM WILL KILL YOU’ →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Life of Becoming

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2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Probably the greatest obstacle to understanding God’s purpose for brokenness is this: Most believers think of Christianity as something we do. We pray. We read the Bible. We go to church. We sing hymns. We tithe. We do and do—and assume that’s the Christian life. It’s not.

Authentic Christianity is about becoming rather than doing. The life of faith that God designed involves receiving Jesus into our heart and allowing Him to change our habits, mindsets, beliefs, interests, and concerns so we become more and more like Him.

This realization will change our perspective on the heartache we must endure. You see, when we recognize that the Christian life is about Jesus’ persistent work of “re-creation” in us, then the role of brokenness will make more sense. It’s the process the Lord uses to strip us of things that have become—or may one day become—an obstacle to our spiritual growth. He also uses this tool to address issues we may have declared “off limits” to Him, such as unhealthy behaviors or relationships that we rationalize.

God doesn’t want to be Lord of most of your life; He wants to be Lord of all of your life! So He zeroes in on areas of self-will and self-sufficiency to remove everything within us that relies on “self.” He uses brokenness to remove those inclinations so that we can live moment by moment, day by day, in full dependence on Him.

Open your heart, and ask God to reveal any selfish strongholds. Let Him break any unhealthy behavior patterns in your life. He will.

Bible in One Year: Matthew 11-12

 

http://www.intouch.org/

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Praising and Asking

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Read: 2 Chronicles 6:12-21

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 26-27; Philippians 2

The highest heavens . . . cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!—2 Chronicles 6:18

Teen Challenge, a ministry to at-risk youth that started in New York City, was born from an unusual commitment to prayer. Its founder, David Wilkerson, sold his television set and spent his TV-watching time (two hours each night) praying. In the months that followed, he not only gained clarity about his new endeavor but he also learned about the balance between praising God and asking Him for help.

King Solomon’s temple dedication prayer shows this balance. Solomon began by highlighting God’s holiness and faithfulness. Then he gave God credit for the success of the project and emphasized God’s greatness, declaring, “The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (2 Chron. 6:18).

After exalting God, Solomon asked Him to pay special attention to everything that happened inside the temple. He asked God to show mercy to the Israelites and to provide for them when they confessed their sin.

Immediately after Solomon’s prayer, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple” (7:1). This incredible response reminds us that the mighty One we praise and speak to when we pray is the same One who listens to and cares about our requests. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

How would you describe your conversations with God? What might help you grow closer to Him as you pray?

Read more about talking to God at discoveryseries.org/hp135.

Prayer helps us see things as God sees them.

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Art of Dil-Logic

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I was recently in Chennai for two weeks with a class of twenty aspiring apologists from all across the country. There was something peculiar about this bunch that caught my attention from day one. It is not very surprising in such settings to find people who are extremely intellectual and focused, often pulling out a trick or two to impress the others with their academic rigor. But this particular bunch, much to my surprise, was far less interested in impressing one another with their logical skills than they were with their impressive efforts in being dil-logical—‘dil’ is the Hindi word for ‘heart.‘(1) This particular class never let an opportunity to love one another pass by in vain. They jumped in unison at every chance to care for one another.

All of this came powerfully to mind this week in a reading of John 13:34. Mandatum novum, as it reads in Latin. A new command I give you, says Jesus: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Almost all of us have an intense fascination and excitement for most things new: a new day, a new thought, a new essay from A Slice of Infinity, a new phone, a new car, a new home, and so on. Interestingly, the very old thing about our fascination with the new thing is its unbelievably transient shelf-life. The charm of the new is fleeting and sooner than later always fades away.

But as I read these words of Jesus, I was imagining a war-torn nation and its ravaged people who had been waiting for something new for hundreds of years. It had been 1400 years since God had given them the commandments. It had been 400 years since God had last spoken through one of the prophets. A new word from God, a new messiah, a new leader, a new king—a new something, please. To break the monotony of the old, to liberate them from the age-old despair of silence, anything new any day would surely have been most welcome. And here is Jesus with a new command!

The Jews divided the 613 commandments of the Law into 248 positive and 365 negative commands.(2) Just in case you missed it, this should be read as 248 do’s and 365 don’ts. Only my mother could have come anywhere close to these many number of do’s and don’ts. If you had 613 to remember, let alone 613 to practice, would you not have been most enthusiastic to have received a new one after all those centuries?

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Art of Dil-Logic →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Children of Light

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“If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

God is light, and His children share His nature.

First John 1:5 aptly describes God’s nature as “light” (truth and holiness). Because they partake of His nature (2 Peter 1:4), His children also walk in the light. It must be understood that we don’t become God’s children by walking in the light, but rather we walk in the light because we are His children. The Greek verb describes continuous action and could be translated, “If we habitually or continuously walk in the light. . . .” It’s an indicator of character; a definition of a true Christian, just as walking in the darkness characterizes unbelievers.

Two significant benefits come to believers because they walk in the light. These are privileges granted only to Christians; unbelievers who think they possess them deceive themselves.

First, believers experience fellowship with God. “One another” in 1 John 1:7 does not refer to other Christians. Although it is certainly true that believers enjoy fellowship with each other, that is not what this verse is teaching. The use of the pronoun “his” later in the verse makes it clear that the fellowship in view here is with God. That fellowship is mutual, “with one another.” Believers share a common life with God, experience His presence through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and commune with Him through prayer and the reading of His Word.

Second, believers experience cleansing from sin. “The blood of Jesus His Son” is the agency of that cleansing. Christ’s blood is symbolic of His sacrificial death on the cross, where full payment was made for believers’ sins. Once again it must be noted that walking in the light does not earn forgiveness; rather, forgiveness is freely granted to those who walk in the light (who are Christians).

In view of those glorious truths, I would leave you today with the challenge of the apostle Paul: “Now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God to help you “let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

For Further Study

Look up the following passages, noting what each teaches about forgiveness of sin: Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:14; 10:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 1:5-6.

 

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Seen and Unseen 

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Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:15-16

Do you remember learning the scientific method in school? I remember being utterly captivated by it. It was as if an entirely new way of understanding the world opened up to me. And in countless ways, this is true. Science has ushered in countless gifts. Yet for the Christian disciple, it brings with it one glaring danger. Modernity tells us that if it can’t be observed, measured, or tested, it must not be real.

When we reduce reality and knowledge to the five senses, we shut ourselves off from the very life of God, forgetting what it means to be human. As Christians, we believe we are so much more than the sum of our composite parts.  As the Creed reminds us, we believe in a God who is “maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.” We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14), and our lives and world we live in are sustained and preserved by unseen realities that are no less real than the food we eat or people we love.

I’m comforted by the fact that this isn’t a uniquely 21st century problem! All the way back in the book of Genesis, we see the Lord speaking to Jacob, reminding him of this profound truth: “The LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” Even at times when we cannot see or sense the Lord’s nearness, this passage comforts us in the hope that there is so much more going on at any given moment than we can possibly begin to understand.

As followers of Jesus, we are asked to do something profoundly counter cultural: trust in the unseen. We trust that God’s wisdom animates our world and gives meaning when meaning seems entirely absent. We believe that God’s love is ever present, even in the midst of unspeakable pain and loss. And we trust in a God who has told us he will keep his promises to his people, even when we struggle to understand how he will bring this about.

Join your heart and mind this day with the words of our brother Jacob, and no matter what situation you face or trial you are enduring, take heart and remember, “Surely the LORD is in this place.”

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Seen and Unseen  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – If It Matters to You

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Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

Matthew 10:42

Recommended Reading

Matthew 10:40-42

Kay DeKalb Smith passed a chocolate shop at the airport. She’d been hungering for chocolate all week, but she told herself she didn’t need the calories. She lined up at the pretzel shop instead. The young man ahead of her asked for a sample, but the girl at the counter refused. Kay noticed a cup of hot water in his hand and remembered times she herself had drank hot water from lack of funds and taken advantage of free samples. She ordered two bags of pretzel bites and went looking for the fellow. She found him working behind a counter and handed the pretzels to him, saying, “Remember, if it matters to you, it matters to God.”

Back at the gate, she sensed someone approaching her. It was the young man. He said, “That was such a nice thing you did. I had to bring you this to thank you.” He handed her a bag from his shop and was gone. It contained a small box of chocolates. The Holy Spirit whispered in her heart: “If it matters to you, it matters to Me.”

Small acts of kindness matter to God, even a bag of pretzels or a cup of cold—or hot—water.

They do well and wisely who give the “cup of cold water” whenever they have opportunity…. This is to have the mind of Christ.

  1. C. Ryle, in Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Matthew 12 – 13

 

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Satisfy Your Thirst

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I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time).- John 6:35

We all thirst for more of God, but if you don’t know He is what you are craving, you can be easily misled. Instead, if you set your mind on seeking God—if you give Him first place in your desires, thoughts, and choices—your thirst will truly be quenched and you will not be led astray.

David spoke of this longing for the Lord in Psalm 42:2, saying, My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. You are to search after God like a thirsty man in the desert. What does a thirsty man think about? Nothing but water! He isn’t concerned about anything else but finding what it takes to quench his thirst. Tonight, God is saying to you, “Here I am, seek Me, I have everything you need.”

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – A New Faith Adventure

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Today’s Truth

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Friend to Friend

Pain and crisis are familiar companions in my life. A close friend recently told me our family should do a reality television show because no one would believe what we deal with on a daily basis.

Can you relate?

The reality is that we live in a broken world. Trials and trouble are a byproduct of that broken world. I have repeatedly pleaded with God for an exemption clause, but there doesn’t seem to be one – this side of Heaven. However, I have discovered an amazing truth that makes it easier to face every shattering moment that lies ahead.

Isaiah 45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

God has gone before us and has hidden a treasure at the heart of every trial. He has stored riches in secret places. That treasure can only be found when we go through the trial. Those riches can only be discovered when we walk straight ahead through our fear.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – A New Faith Adventure →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Honors the Humble

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“For everyone who tries to honor himself shall be humbled: and he who humbles himself shall be honored” (Luke 14:11).

At times I am respectfully amused at the repetition of certain themes in the Word of God – repeated over and over again so that you and I will not forget the importance of the message. This is one of those principles.

Many missionaries have given up honor, acclaim, and success at home in obedience to God’s call upon their lives. Perhaps to their surprise, God has honored them in many ways despite the fact that they purposely gave up all rights to such honor.

In every field of endeavor, the principle is true. Most men who seek genuine acclaim are thoroughly humbled along the way. Conversely, most people who humble themselves as a part of their commitment to Jesus Christ and His service are eventually honored.

I have seen this truth fulfilled on numerous occasions in the work of Campus Crusade for Christ to which the Lord has called me. Many young people have stepped into unsung roles of service for their Master. God has honored them not only with fruit for their hire, but also with a measure of acclaim they never would have achieved otherwise.

It is part of God’s plan to abase the proud and raise up the humble. Our goal should be committed service for the Savior. We should let Him take care of the honoring and the humbling.

Bible Reading: Matthew 23:5-12

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I’ll recognize anew today that the only good thing about me – and about any believer – is the reality of my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit.

 

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – God’s Teacher

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Read: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

…these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11

That passage introduces to us how this mighty teacher come from God, the Holy Spirit himself, is designed to instruct us with the Word of God and lead us into the truth of God that will change our lives and expose us to this secret and hidden wisdom of God (v.7). When you discover that, life is going to be exciting and adventurous, like nothing you ever dreamed before, for this line of truth is designed to set us free, to let us be the men and women God designed us to be.

Notice how the apostle first underscores here the spirit’s knowledge: No one understands the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him. Have you ever tried to talk to your plants? We are told that plants can respond to our moods and reflect our attitudes. I know a woman who even prays over each plant. I don’t know what it does for the plant, but it probably helps her a great deal. But it is evident that plants do not talk back. Life is constructed at various levels; the higher can take hold of the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. We have plant life, we have animal life, then human life, then the angelic life, and finally, divine life. The higher can reach down to encompass the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. That is Paul’s argument here. Though no animal can reach into the realm of human relationship and converse with us, other human beings like ourselves can.

Now here is this great Being of God in our universe, this fantastic Being of infinite wisdom and mighty power. How can we know anything about him? Paul’s answer is that we cannot, except he discloses himself to us. You cannot find out God by searching. Man by wisdom does not know God. Man by investigation of all the natural forces of life will never find his way to the heart of God. Only God himself must disclose himself, must open himself to us. That he has done by means of the Spirit of God — the Spirit has come to teach us about God.

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