. . . believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead . . .

—Romans 10:9

It is impossible to believe anything into existence. The Gospel did not come into being because men believed it. The tomb was not emptied of Christ’s body that first Easter because some faithful persons believed it. The fact preceded the faith. We are psychologically incapable of believing without an object of our faith. The object of Christian faith is Christ. Faith means more than an intellectual assent to the claims of Christ. You are not called upon to believe something that is not credible, but to believe in the fact of history that in reality transcends all history. Faith actually means surrender and commitment to the claims of Christ. We do not know Christ through the five physical senses, but we know Him through the sixth sense that God has given every man—the ability to believe.

Is your faith struggling? Read Billy Graham’s advice on how to pursue Christ daily.

Put your faith in Christ today.

Prayer for the day

As I keep my eyes on You, Lord, my faith does not waver. Too often I look down and stumble. Let me comprehend today afresh the power that raised You from the dead.

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. . . he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

—Matthew 23:12

In almost every instance in the Bible, as well as in life, pride is associated with failure, not success. We hear a great deal about the inferiority complex, but the superiority complex of pride is seldom spoken of. It was pride that caused the fall of Lucifer, and he became Satan, the devil. It was pride that led King Saul down to a shameful and untimely death. It was pride that caused Peter to deny his Lord.

The greatest act of humility in the history of the universe was when Jesus Christ stooped to die on the cross of Calvary. And before any man can get to heaven, he must kneel at the foot of the cross and acknowledge that he is a sinner, that he has broken the Ten Commandments of God, and that he needs the grace of God in Christ. No man can come proudly to the Savior.

What’s wrong with a little pride? Read Billy Graham’s answer.

Prayer for the day

Lord Jesus, You suffered such humiliation and pain for me on the cross. I ask You, humbly, to forgive my pride and errant ways that nailed You there.

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. . . light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light . . .

—John 3:19

The world’s difficulty is summed up in the words, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness understood it not.” The light of Easter is shining, but men refuse to turn to its healing rays for forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. Thus Christ is being rejected by the overwhelming majority of humanity today. As a result, men stumble on in spiritual darkness blindly toward destruction, judgment, and hell.

In the midst of the darkness and “void” at the creation of the world, God said, “Let there be light.” In your own mind-darkened, will-paralyzed, conscience-dulled soul, God can make the light penetrate and turn the darkness of your own life into day, if you will let Him. Many of you are living in spiritual darkness, confused, frustrated, disturbed, and fearful. Let the Light come into your heart by faith.

Prayer for the day

At Easter time, as nature breaks through into glorious re-creation, I am reminded of the glory of Your resurrection! I praise You, Lord Jesus, for Your light which shines through the dimness of my soul.

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If a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love.

—1 John 4:8 (TLB)

Jesus wept tears of compassion at the graveside of a friend. He mourned over Jerusalem because as a city it had lost its appreciation of the things of the Spirit. His great heart was sensitive to the needs of others. To emphasize the importance of man’s love for men, He revised an old commandment to make it read, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself.” This generation is rough and tough. I heard a little boy boasting one day about how tough he was. He said, “On the street I live on, the farther out you go the tougher they get, and I live in the last house.” Until you have learned the value of compassionately sharing others’ sorrow, distress, and misfortune, you cannot know real happiness.

Prayer for the day

Lord Jesus, sensitize my heart with Your compassion so that I may truly love.

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But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God.

—John 1:12 (TLB)

Who can describe or measure the love of God? God is love. But the fact that God is love does not mean that everything is sweet, beautiful, and happy, and that God’s love could not possibly allow punishment for sin. God’s holiness demands that all sin be punished, but God’s love provided a plan of redemption and salvation for sinful man. God’s love provided the cross of Jesus Christ by which man can have forgiveness and cleansing. It was the love of God that sent Jesus Christ to the cross.

No matter what sin you have committed, no matter how black, dirty, shameful, or terrible it may be, God loves you. Yet this love of God that is immeasurable, unmistakable, and unending, this love of God that reaches to wherever a man is, can be entirely rejected. God will not force Himself upon anyone against his will. It is your part to believe. It is your part to receive. Nobody else can do it for you.

Take three minutes to see how much God loves you.

 Prayer for the day

Your love overwhelms me, Father. In spite of my sin, Jesus’ death on the cross can cleanse me from all the past. Humbly I accept this gift, Lord.

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I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

—Psalm 17:15

Is it not logical to believe that the only one who can recreate us is the One who created us in the first place? If your watch were out of order, you wouldn’t take it to a blacksmith. If your car needed overhauling, you wouldn’t go to a machine shop. Our spiritual problems can be solved only by the God who created us originally. He created us in His own image and likeness; today, by the grace of His Son, He can recreate us in the likeness of His resurrection. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are recreated and become partakers of His life.

Go Deeper: Find out how to renew your relationship with God

Prayer for the day

There is so much that is out of order in my life, Lord. Remake all the parts that need the infinite healing of your re-creation.

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So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.

—Ephesians 6:13 (TLB)

Daniel and his companions were tempted to forsake their godly heritage, but they refused. They even faced a fiery furnace rather than compromise. God honored their faith and mightily used them. Moses was surrounded by the luxury and godlessness of the Egyptian court, but cast in his lot with his own people. Lot lived in Sodom and saw the obscenities of that doomed city. God saved him out of it because he trusted in Him. Every one of our Lord’s apostles sealed their faith with their lives. Since then, history has been replete with the lives of men who have put God and His way of life above all else.

Prayer for the day

Help me to stand by faith in You, when I am tempted, almighty God.

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And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

—Mark 11:22

Dr. Wernher von Braun, the guiding scientist in the development of our great space rockets, has said, “The materialists of the 19th century and the Marxist heirs of the 20th tried to tell us that as science yields more knowledge about the creation, it makes us able to live without faith in a Creator. Yet so far, with every new answer we have discovered new questions. The better we understand the intricacies of the atomic structure, the nature of life and the master plan for the galaxies, the more reason we have found to marvel at the wonder of God’s creation. But our need for God is not based on awe alone. Man needs faith just as he needs food, water, and air. With all the science in the world, we need faith in God.”

Why do we need religion, since so much of the world is explained by science? Read Billy Graham’s answer.

Prayer for the day

Father, man’s incredible inventions are so insignificant when I contemplate Your magnificent creation. Yet, in complete dependence, I realize my need of faith in You for my smallest need.

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Doest thou well to be angry?

—Jonah 4:4

You have a temper. There is nothing unique about that. Most people have tempers, in varying degrees, of course. God does not ask that you get rid of that temper. But He does say that if you are to be happy, it must be brought under control and rechanneled to proper use. God cannot use a man without a temper as well as one with a controlled temper. Too many professed Christians never get “wrought up” about anything; they never get indignant with injustice, with corruption in high places, or with the godless traffics which barter away the souls and bodies of men.

Prayer for the day

Use my anger to help others, Lord. When I see them hurting or Your world decaying, let me be challenged to reach out—instead of merely exploding.

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. . . one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

—John 9:25

I try to explain to you the joy of following Christ: the thrill, the excitement, the exhilaration—knowing where I’ve come from, why I’m here, where I’m going! There’s a reason for existence. There’s a reason for getting up every morning of the year. I try to tell you what I’ve found in Jesus Christ, and in studying the Scriptures and walking with Him, and you say, “I can’t see that!” Of course, you can’t. You are blind. Try to explain television to a blind man. He can understand a little of it, but it doesn’t make sense to him. Try to explain a sunset to him. He’s blind to it. The scales must be removed from your eyes, and only Christ can do that. He can remove them right now and you can start living and seeing a whole new world that you never knew existed, if you will let Him open your spiritual eyes.

Prayer for the day

I thank You for that Power that is able to give sight to the spiritually blinded eyes of each person who trusts in You, Lord Jesus.

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So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.

—Matthew 6:34 (TLB)

King George V wrote on the flyleaf of the Bible of a friend, “The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do.” Too many think of happiness as some sort of will-o’-the-wisp thing that is discovered by constant and relentless searching. It is not found by seeking. It is not an end in itself. Pots of gold are never found at the end of the rainbow, as we used to think when we were children; gold is mined from the ground or panned laboriously from a mountain stream.

Jesus once told His disciples, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The “things” He spoke of were the things that make us feel happy and secure—food, drink, clothes, shelter. He told us not to make these the chief goal of our lives but to “seek the kingdom” and these needs would be automatically supplied. There, if we will take it, is the secret of happiness.

Prayer for the day

Forgive me, Father, for the times when I am anxious. You have promised to take care of all my needs.

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Billy Graham – The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust . . .

—Psalm 18:2

The trouble with our modern thinking is that we have a conception that God is a haphazard God with no set rules of life and salvation. Ask the astronomer if God is a haphazard God. He will tell you that every star moves with precision in its celestial path. Ask the scientist if God is a haphazard God. He will tell you that His formulas and equations are fixed, and that to ignore the laws of science would be a fool’s folly. If the laws in the material realm are so fixed and exact, is it reasonable that God could afford to be haphazard in the spiritual realm, where eternal destinies of souls are at stake? Just as God has equations and rules in the material realm, God has equations and rules in the spiritual.

Prayer for the day

Thank You, God, for Your absolute divine order. Amid confusion, it brings me hope and perfect peace.

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—1 Corinthians 3:1 (TLB)

Some people have received Christ but have never reached spiritual maturity. They have been in church all their lives, and yet they have never become mature Christians. They are still considered “spiritual children” and “babes in Christ.” They know little Scripture. They have little desire to pray, and bear few of the marks of a Christian in their daily living. To say, “I will resolve to do better, I will muster all my will power and revise my way of living,” is noble, but futile. A corpse could as well say, “I will-through sheer effort-rise out of this coffin and be a living man again.” You need a power outside yourself. You cannot get over the habits and chains that are binding you. You need outside help. You need Christ.

The Bible tells of a bridge of faith which reaches from the valley of despair to the high hills of glorious hope in Christ. It tells where we are, but beyond that-it tells where we may be in Christ. Now, of course, you will not be completely mature until you are in the presence of Christ, but you should be growing every day as a Christian.

Prayer for the day

Lord, work through me this day, that I might be maturing as a Christian and come to know You better, that I might know Your perfect will for me.

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Submit yourselves therefore to God . . .

—James 4:7

You have a tongue and a voice. These instruments of speech can be used destructively or employed constructively. You can use your tongue to slander, to gripe, to scold, to nag, and to quarrel; or you can bring it under the control of God’s Spirit and make it an instrument of blessing and praise. The 20th-century version of James 3:3 says, “When we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we control the rest of their bodies also.” Just so, when we submit to the claims of Christ upon our lives, our untamed natures are brought under His control. We become meek, tamed, and “fit for the Master’s service.”

Prayer for the day

I would be under Your control, Lord Jesus Christ. Take away the pride that keeps me from complete submission.

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. . . not having mine own righteousness . . .

—Philippians 3:9

People go through many doors which do not lead to the Kingdom of God. Some try the door of good works. They say, “I can get to heaven if I only do enough good things, because God will honor all the good things I do.” It’s wonderful to do good things, but we cannot do enough good things to satisfy God. God demands perfection, and we’re not perfect. If we’re going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to be absolutely perfect. You ask, “Well, how will I ever be perfect?” We need to be clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. There is one door to the Kingdom and it’s Jesus. And we will never get to heaven unless we go His way.

What Is “The Gospel” and What Does It Mean for Your Life?

Prayer for the day

Almighty God, there is nothing I can do to be worthy of Your love, and yet You have given me Jesus—my Savior and Lord!

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For salvation that comes from trusting Christ . . . is already within easy reach of each of us . . .

—Romans 10:8 (TLB)

Christ said there is a happiness in that acknowledgment of spiritual poverty which lets God come into our souls. Now, the Bible teaches that our souls have a disease. It causes all the troubles and difficulties in the world. It causes all the troubles, confusions, and disillusionments in your own life. The name of the disease is an ugly word. We don’t like to use it. It is “sin.” All of us have pride. We do not like to confess that we are wrong or that we have failed. But God says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We have failed to live up to the divine standard. We must confess our sin as the first step to happiness, peace, and contentment.

Go Deeper: Read Franklin Graham’s message on sin.

Prayer for the day

Pride kept me so long from acknowledging my need of You, Lord. Each day, help me to realize I am nothing without You.

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If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

—Romans 10:9

The heart is the blood-pump of the body. It is also used metaphorically when we speak of affections and feelings. Since it is the central organ of the body and one of the most vital, the Bible speaks of it as the wellspring of life. Hence, it is used synonymously with “life.” When the Bible says, “Son, give me thine heart,” it doesn’t mean that we are to cut out our actual hearts and give them to God. It means that we are to give Him our lives, our all. When we come to Christ, we are not only to give intellectual assent with our minds, we are to “believe in our hearts.” We can believe in the historic Jesus, but if we have “saving faith” our belief must involve our whole being. When we believe with all our hearts, the will, the emotions, and the intellect are surrendered to Christ.

Prayer for the day

Lord, I believe and rejoice in the knowledge that You are alive and my Redeemer!

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But don’t forget this, dear friends. . . . He isn’t really being slow about his promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent.

—2 Peter 3:8, 9 (TLB)

Many people are asking, “Where is history heading?” A careful student of the Bible will be led to see that God controls the clock of destiny. Amid the world’s confusion, God’s omnipotent hand moves, working out His unchanging plan and purpose. Jesus Christ is coming to earth again. It is Christ who is in control, and He will determine the outcome. George Whitefield, the great English evangelist, said, “I am daily waiting for the coming of the Son of God.” But he did not sit down and do nothing. He burned out his life in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.

Prayer for the day

Father, deliver me from slothfulness, keep me quickened to deliver Your message of salvation to everyone who will listen, until that day I die or You return again.

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He made the world and everything there is.

—Hebrews 1:2 (TLB)

There are many arguments we could marshal to give evidence of the existence of God. There is scientific evidence pointing to God’s existence. For example, whatever is in motion must be moved by another, for motion is the response of matter to power. In the world of matter there can be no power without life, and life pre-supposes a being from which emanates the power to move things, such as tides and the planets. Or there is the argument that says nothing can be the cause of itself. It would be prior to itself if it caused itself to be, and that is an absurdity. Then there is the law of life. We see objects that have no intellect, such as stars and planets, moving in a consistent pattern, cooperating ingeniously with one another. Hence, it is evident that they achieve their movements not by accident but by design. Whatever lacks intelligence cannot move intelligently. An arrow would be useless without a bow and an archer. What gives direction and purpose and design to inanimate objects? It is God. He is the underlying, motivating force of life.

Prayer for the day

Lord, I know that without Your power my life would be useless. Prompt me, by Your Holy Spirit, to glorify You in everything I do.

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