Keep a close watch on all you do and think.
Stay true to what is right . . .
—1 Timothy 4:16 (TLB)

In searching for ways to bridge the generation gap, there is no doubt that we, as parents, will have to practice what we preach, by striving more and more to bring our conduct into line with our code of beliefs.

No mother can demand that her daughter abstain from sleeping around when she herself is flirting and on occasion compromising her own moral conduct. No father, who wavers between heavy social drinking and occasional binges to the edge of alcoholism, and who can’t speak a pleasant word in the morning until he has had a cigarette, can yell incessantly at his son to get off marijuana, the route that often leads to hard drugs.

Consistency, constancy, and undeviating diligence to maintain Christian character are a must if the older generation is to command respect, or even a hearing, from the young.

Why is it so hard to be a good parent? Billy Graham answers.

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Prayer for the day

Younger eyes see my errant behavior, Lord. Help me to be the right example—one which will draw them to You.

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Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 2:5

It is impossible to live pure lives until we have pure hearts. Many people today are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are teaching purity of motives, desires, and actions to old, deceitful hearts! No wonder we have ended up such moral failures, in spite of our vaunted knowledge and psychological approaches.

Pure motives, desires, and actions stem from pure hearts. Pure hearts will be Christlike. It is God’s desire that we be conformed to the image of His Son. If Christ lives within us and our bodies become the abode of the Holy Spirit, is it any wonder that we should be like Him?

Read: How to Shine Your Light for Christ

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Prayer for the day

Cleanse my heart and make it the home of Your Spirit, Lord.

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Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
—2 Corinthians 12:5

Dr. Edward Judson, in speaking of the life of his father, Adoniram Judson, at the dedication of the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, said, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.”

Happy are they that mourn. They can be happy because they know that their pain, their distress, and their privation are the travail of a new creation, the birth pangs of a better world. They can be happy if they are aware that the Master Artist, God, is employing both light and shadow to produce a masterpiece worthy of divine artistry.

They can also glory in their infirmities, smile through their tears, and sing in the midst of their sorrow, because they realize that in God’s economy, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.”

Why does God allow suffering in the world? 

Read more in depth about what suffering is.

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Prayer for the day

In suffering I will learn to praise You, loving Savior.

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. . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
—Joshua 24:15

The basic unit of any society is the home. When the home begins to break, the society is on the way to disintegration. Thousands of homes are almost on the rocks. Many couples are fearful lest their home, too, will be broken some day. There is one great insurance policy that you can take out, in order to guarantee the unity and happiness of your home. It is simple: Make Christ the center of your home.

A home is like a solar system. The center, the great sun, holds the solar system together. If it were not for the sun, the solar system would fly to pieces. Unless the Son of God is put at the center of your home, it, too, may fly to pieces.

Read these 4 Biblical reminders about tough relationships.

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Prayer for the day

How easy it is to push You to one side, Lord, and superficially remember Your blessings. May we always keep You at the center of all that we do in our homes.

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I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world . . .
—1 Peter 2:11 (TLB)

We all know there is no such thing as absolute freedom. We cannot drive down the street at 100 miles an hour. You can’t swing your fist at me, because your freedom stops at the end of my nose. We can say that we want freedom to publish pornography, to push harmful drugs, to have unrestricted sex, to lie, to cheat; but if we continue with that kind of permissive freedom, we shall destroy ourselves.

Man can remain free only so long as he has the moral power to restrain his appetites. Basically, our problem is heart trouble. Our hearts need to be changed … peace will never come until we have changed human nature, until people begin loving each other instead of hating each other.

Read: “How to Find Victory Over Sin”

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Prayer for the day

I need Your guidelines in my life, Lord. Loving You frees me from the bondage of my carnal appetite.

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In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
—John 16:33

You should not expect the easy way, for if you do you are certainly destined for disappointment. Any person who knows the Bible knows that the Christian life is likened to an athletic contest or to warfare, and neither one is easy. Jesus warned His followers to count carefully the cost, and that certainly does not speak of an easy way. But there is no good thing that comes without cost.

The Christian life is the most satisfying, but only when we actually go all out and all the way. It is the Christian who tries to compromise who finds life miserable, for he has all the problems, without the fellowship that comes through surrender. For every trial and test, Christ supplies an abundance of grace with which to bear it, and in our weakness we are made strong.

What is grace and what does it do? Read Billy Graham’s answer.

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Prayer for the day

Let me never look for the easy way when You, Lord Jesus, gave everything for me.

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For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
—Romans 8:26

John Knox, with an all-consuming soul-concern for his country, prayed, “Give me Scotland, or I die!” His earnest travail was rewarded with a spiritual rebirth in his land. This is what is termed “praying in the Spirit.” It is the manifestation of a deep spiritual concern for others, and it is instilled by the Spirit of God. This kind of prayer can leap over oceans, speed across burning deserts, spring over mountains, bound through jungles, and carry the healing, helping power of the Gospel to the object of prayer.

That “the Spirit Himself makes intercession” indicates that it is actually God pleading, praying, and mourning through us. Thus we become co-laborers with God, actual partners with Him; our lives are lifted from the low plane of selfishness to the high plane of creativeness with God. John Knox travailed, and the Church in Scotland broke into new life.

Hear this 1-minute audio message about where creativity comes from.

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Prayer for the day

My heart’s cry is heard—thank You, Lord Jesus!

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The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy . . .
—Zephaniah 3:17

The world’s millions could come down to the beach and reach out their hands to be filled with sea water. They could each take as much as they wanted, as much as they needed—and still the ocean would remain unchanged. Its might and power would be the same, the life in its unfathomable depths would continue unaltered, although it had supplied the needs of every single person standing with outstretched hands along its shores.

So it is with God. He can be everywhere at once, heeding the prayers of all who call out in the name of Christ; performing the mighty miracles that keep the stars in their places, and the plants bursting up through the earth, and the fish swimming in the sea. There is no limit to God. There is no limit to His wisdom. There is no limit to His power. There is no limit to His love. There is no limit to His mercy.

Have questions about prayer? Read these 5 answers from Billy Graham.

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Prayer for the day

Almighty God, how glorious are my thoughts of You, for You are everywhere—loving and caring for the minutest details of our lives!

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Let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. . . . And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.
—1 John 4:7,21

If you want to know the measure of your love for God, just observe your love for your fellowman. Our compassion for others is an accurate gauge of our devotion to God.

Some time ago, with some friends, I went through a museum in San Francisco. Among other things, we saw a collection of instruments of torture which were employed by religious people to force other people to believe as they did. History is largely the record of man’s inhumanity to man.

Got some time? Listen to Billy Graham explain the importance of loving your neighbor.

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Prayer for the day

Lord God, fill my heart that I may love with the compassion of Jesus.

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“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . . ”
—Isaiah 40:31

It is an exhilarating experience to live the new life, with Christ inside me enabling me to live it. As a man was riding along in his Ford, suddenly something went wrong. He got out and looked at the engine, but he could find nothing wrong. As he stood there, another car came in sight, and he waved it down to ask for help. Out of a brand new Lincoln stepped a tall, friendly man who asked, “Well, what’s the trouble?” “I cannot get this Ford to move,” was the reply. The stranger made a few adjustments under the hood and then said, “Now start the car.” When the motor started, its grateful owner introduced himself and then asked, “What is your name, sir?” “My name,” answered the stranger, “is Henry Ford.”

The one who made the Ford knew how to make it run. God made you and me, and He alone knows how to run your life and mine. We could make a complete wreck of our lives without Christ. When He is at the controls, all goes well. Without Him, we can do nothing.

Read more: Depending on God

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Prayer for the day

Lord, so often I forget to give You complete control and I fail. Teach me to rely completely on You for my strength and needs.

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“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . . ”
—Isaiah 40:31

It is an exhilarating experience to live the new life, with Christ inside me enabling me to live it. As a man was riding along in his Ford, suddenly something went wrong. He got out and looked at the engine, but he could find nothing wrong. As he stood there, another car came in sight, and he waved it down to ask for help. Out of a brand new Lincoln stepped a tall, friendly man who asked, “Well, what’s the trouble?” “I cannot get this Ford to move,” was the reply. The stranger made a few adjustments under the hood and then said, “Now start the car.” When the motor started, its grateful owner introduced himself and then asked, “What is your name, sir?” “My name,” answered the stranger, “is Henry Ford.”

The one who made the Ford knew how to make it run. God made you and me, and He alone knows how to run your life and mine. We could make a complete wreck of our lives without Christ. When He is at the controls, all goes well. Without Him, we can do nothing.

Read more: Depending on God

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Prayer for the day

Lord, so often I forget to give You complete control and I fail. Teach me to rely completely on You for my strength and needs.

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Who so trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.
—Proverbs 16:20

There is much in our nature that perplexes us. Many people are disturbed as they confront the troubling riddle of their own existence. They are bewildered by their proneness to sin and evil. They quake and tremble at the thought of their inability to cope with their own lives.

Christ can give you satisfying answers to such questions as “Who am I?” “Why was I born?” “What am I doing here?” “Where am I going?” All of the great questions of life can be measured when you come by faith to Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Lord. Let Him be your Pilot. He can take away the worry from your life.

Want more answers? Listen to this Billy Graham message about answering life’s moral questions.

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Prayer for the day

I trust You, Lord, to control my life. Knowing You will guide me in the right path gives me joy.

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We started out bad, being born with evil natures. . . . But God is so rich in mercy . . . he gave us back our lives again
when he raised Christ from the dead . . .
—Ephesians 2:3,4 (TLB)

I am reminded of a period when all the agonies that afflict modern minds were felt by another generation, the young people who lived during the first century after Christ. They too sought change, but they directed their efforts at individuals, not at the Roman Empire, not at City Hall. And eventually the whole social and political structure felt their impact. In short, those renewed men and women became filled with a unique dynamic force.

Today this same force is available to all people. Over the centuries it has worked in the lives of millions. I personally have seen thousands of people changed. Jesus called it “a new birth.” The Scripture tells us that you need not continue as you are. You can become a new person. Whatever your hang-up—guilt, anxiety, fear, hatred—God can handle it.

Have you given your life to Jesus? Follow these simple steps to find peace with God.

Read this story about becoming more like Christ.

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Prayer for the day

I delight in knowing, Lord Jesus, that there is nothing in my life that is incapable of being changed through Your redemptive power.

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You don’t understand now why I am doing it; some day you will.
—John 13:7 (TLB)

May I remind you that physical illness is not the worst thing that can happen to you? Some of the most twisted, miserable people I have ever met had no physical handicap. Some of the world’s greatest and most useful people have been handicapped.

“The Messiah” was composed by Handel, who was suffering from a paralyzed right side and arm. Catherine Booth, in the last year of her life, said that she could not remember one day free from pain.

Helen Keller has written, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and God.” Some of the most radiant Christians I have ever met were “wheelchair” saints. May God give you grace to “triumph in affliction.”

Read more about God in the midst of physical illness and pain.

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Prayer for the day

When physical afflictions come into my life, may they draw me closer to You, my beloved Lord Jesus Christ.

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For our citizenship is in heaven; from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
—Philippians 3:20 (NASB)

If you are moving to a new home, you want to know all about the community to which you are going. And since we will spend eternity some place, we ought to know something about it. The information concerning heaven is found in the Bible. When we talk about heaven, earth grows shabby by comparison. Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less, when we have keen anticipation of the future.

In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he can smile. He has a spring in his step, a joy in his soul, a smile on his face. But the Bible also promises the Christian a heaven in the life hereafter.

Find out more on what Heaven will be like.

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Prayer for the day

Father, as I face whatever trials come my way, I will take heart in the glorious promise of heaven—knowing I shall be with You!

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Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . .
—Jeremiah 31:3

As I read the Bible, I find love to be the supreme and dominant attribute of God. The promises of God’s love and forgiveness are as real, as sure, as positive, as human words can make them. But the total beauty of the ocean cannot be understood until it is seen, and it is the same with God’s love. Until you actually experience it, until you actually possess it, no one can describe its wonders to you.

Never question God’s great love, for it is as unchangeable a part of God as His holiness. Were it not for the love of God, none of us would ever have a chance in the future life. But God is love! And His love for us is everlasting.

Read more about God’s love and how to experience it.

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Prayer for the day

Knowing myself as I do, Lord, the knowledge of Your love and forgiveness never ceases to amaze me. In the knowledge of this, help me to communicate to others that this love is theirs too, if they will only reach out for it.

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Let the peace of God rule in your hearts . . .
—Colossians 3:15

When we examine the problems that confront us in our world today, we find that every one of them resolves into a problem of “inner space,” a problem of the dark side of the human spirit. From thousands of letters we receive, it is evident that a large proportion of the population is facing deep personal problems. They vary from person to person, but they do exist, and they are all problems of “inner space.”

Yes, we are the people who have been conquering outer space, but are in danger of losing the battle of the spirit. But there is a solution—for millions it has already been reached—and that solution is in Jesus Christ. He said, “My peace”—my liberty, my freedom—”I give unto you” (John 14:27).

Today if we will turn the searchlight of truth on the dark side of our human spirits and let Jesus Christ become the Master Control of our lives, a new day will dawn for us. Submit the “inner space” of your life to Him.

Listen to this Billy Graham audio message about wrestling with life’s problems.

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Prayer for the day

How often I hurt deep down inside me, Lord, but the knowledge of Your love and compassion brings me hope and peace.

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. . . being knit together in love . . .
—Colossians 2:2

Thousands of young couples go through with a loveless marriage because no one ever told them what genuine love is. I believe we need to read the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, in which the Apostle Paul gives us a definition of love. He says, “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” If people today knew that kind of love, the divorce rate would be sharply reduced.

Learn more about God’s divine love.

Read Billy Graham’s 10 answers on love. 

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Prayer for the day

Lord Jesus, we need Your love and forgiveness in our hearts, if we are to love unselfishly.

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Wait on the Lord, be of good courage . . .
—Psalm 27:14

Discouragement is nothing new. Many of the great Bible characters became discouraged. Moses in the Sinai desert; Elijah when he heard Jezebel was searching for him to take his life; and David when his son Absalom rebelled against him. It is as old as the history of man.

There is often a cause for discouragement. It comes many times when we don’t get our way, when things don’t work out the way we want them to. Discouragement is the opposite of faith. It is Satan’s device to thwart the work of God in your life. Discouragement blinds our eyes to the mercy of God and makes us perceive only the unfavorable circumstances.

I have never met anyone who spent time in daily prayer, and in the study of the Word of God, and was strong in faith, who was ever discouraged for very long.

Hear a 12-minute Billy Graham sermon on the cure for discouragement.

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Prayer for the day

Lord, when I am discouraged, take away the blindness of my wavering faith. You are with me always. Forgive my ungrateful heart.

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Judge not, that ye be not judged.
—Matthew 7:1

The word prejudice means “prejudging” or “making an estimate of others without knowing the facts.” Prejudice is a mark of weakness, not of strength. Prejudice is measured by computing the distance between our own biased opinions and the real truth. If we would all be perfectly honest before God, there would be no prejudice.

Read Billy Graham’s answer on how to replace prejudice with love.

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Prayer for the day

You love each one of us with a love that breaks through all prejudicial barriers, Father. Forgive me for the times I judge others. Purify my heart, that I may be used to draw people together into the bond of Christ’s unifying love.

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I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.
—Luke 22:29

Many people have asked, “Where is heaven?” We are not told in the Scripture where heaven is. Some students have tried to take some Scriptures and put them together and say that heaven is in the north. They quote Psalm 48:2, “The joy of the whole earth is . . . on the sides of the north . . . ” The magnetic needle points north. Perhaps the Celestial City is in the north. We do not know. But no matter where heaven is, it will be where Christ is.

Many people ask, “Do you believe that heaven is a literal place?” Yes! Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” The Bible teaches that Enoch and Elijah ascended in a literal body to a literal place that is just as real as Los Angeles, London, or Algiers! The Bible also teaches that heaven will be a place of beauty. It is described in the Bible as “a building of God”-“a city”-“a better country”-“an inheritance”-“a glory.”

The Bible also indicates that heaven will be a place of great understanding and knowledge of things that we never learned down here.

Read: “5 Answers from Billy Graham on Heaven.”

Listen to Billy Graham’s audio message about Heaven.

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Prayer for the day

Living Lord Jesus, the knowledge that You have prepared a place for me in heaven brings comfort and delight to my soul!

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