Tag Archives: christianity

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Love Is Genuine

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“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren….In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 3:16; 4:9-10)

When a man and a woman get married, they give each other rings. The minister at the wedding usually says something like this to the man: “What token do you give to prove your love?” The man answers, “This ring.” The ring that he puts on his wife’s finger is a token, or a symbol, to everyone who sees it that this man chose this woman above all others and that he loves her with all of his heart.

As much as a man might love the woman he marries, no man has ever loved a woman as much as God loves His children. No one you know on Earth is able to love you as much as God can. No one has ever proven his love like God has.

We do not have to wonder about whether God is a loving God. John teaches that God’s gift of His Son is the token, or the proof, to us that He is the loving God He claims to be. Jesus laid down His life for us. What better proof could there be?

These are facts – real, trustworthy reminders that God is love. His love is not fake; God’s love is genuine – the real thing.

When a man and a woman get married, they do not love each other only on their wedding day. They keep on wearing their rings as a symbol that they love each other. And more than wearing rings, they keep on loving each other. Real, genuine love lasts.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – The Inadequate Apostle

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:10

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Paul was conscious throughout his entire ministry of his utter unworthiness to be a servant of Christ. We see him expressing it again to the Corinthians: “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).

Paul freely admitted he didn’t deserve his ministry; he was an apostle only by the grace of God—by God’s unmerited favor. However, in the expression “by the grace of God I am what I am,” the word grace can be taken in the context to mean either God’s unmerited favor or God’s enabling power. Considering his prior acknowledgment of unworthiness, his statement would appear to mean, “I am unworthy to be an apostle, but by God’s unmerited favor I am one.” But looking forward in this passage, to where Paul speaks about the effects of God’s grace on his ministry, it would appear to mean, “By God’s enabling power I am an effective apostle.”

I believe both these meanings of grace are incorporated in Paul’s statement. He wasn’t giving us a technical treatise on grace and distinguishing its finer shades of meaning. Rather, Paul was speaking from his heart, saying that God’s grace was sufficient for both his unworthiness and his inadequacy. He was saying, “I’m an apostle as a result of God’s unmerited favor shown to me and as a result of God’s enabling power at work in me.” (Excerpt taken from Transforming Grace)

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Harvest Time

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 11-13

We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. – Acts 13:32

I remember sitting along a river that flowed quietly through a missionary jungle base in South America. A man was telling me about the many opportunities all around his mission that they could not pursue because the laborers were few. It broke his heart. He was a man with a burden for the lost, but with an inadequate labor force to fully reap the harvest.

A few months later I was with two pastors in downtown London. They were surrounded by some of the most powerful corporations in the world, businesses with global influence. These men echoed the lament of the missionary in South America–a lack of laborers to reach out to the spiritually hungry people in these great corporations.

Jesus said, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). This is also what the writer of Hebrews prayed: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (13:20-21).

God calls on us to co-labor with Him to fulfill the Great Commission through evangelism and teaching new Christians how to grow in faith. And He’s looking for people who will go to the fields early, work hard, and stay late because they are committed to Christ and to the task at hand. This kind of person cannot be produced by human endeavor alone. Will you make the need for spiritual laborers a matter of prayer today?

Prayer

Lord, I want to be a spiritual laborer for You. Show me where You’re working and how I can join You there. Amen.

To Ponder

The fields are ripe, the laborers are few; the solution begins with prayer.

 

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint – Should Christians Support Using Animal and Human Cells Together to Advance Science?

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One hundred and twenty years ago, H.G. Wells wrote a novel, “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” about what happens when a scientist, in a mad pursuit for knowledge, creates human-animal hybrids. In a word—what happens is chaos. Wells called the book “an exercise in youthful blasphemy.” He may have said the same about the National Institutes of Health today.

The NIH, under the leadership of professing Christian Dr. Francis Collins, is proposing lifting a ban on taxpayer funding of experiments that splice human stem cells with animal embryos, creating human-animal chimeras.

Proponents, of course, downplay any ethical concerns related to creating new life forms using human genetic material—for either the humans or the animals involved. They’re committed to the practical benefits of this kind of research, hoping to create animal models of human diseases in order to prevent and treat illnesses. A more ambitious goal is the production of sheep, pigs, and cows with human hearts, kidneys, livers, and pancreases to use in transplants. Proponents assure us that additional restrictions and ethics panels will prevent hybrid horrors, or chimeras, with too-human brains or with the capacity to breed.

“It’s very, very welcome news that NIH will consider funding this type of research,” says Pablo Ross of the University of California, Davis. “We need funding to be able to answer some very important questions.”

However, if you think such research crosses a moral Rubicon, you wouldn’t be alone. Rod Dreher summarized what is happening in an article with the somewhat hyperbolic title, “Christian-Run Agency Embraces Pig-Man.” “It’s pretty clear,” Dreher wrote, “that this is just a prelude to something that’s a fait accompli. Besides, who is going to stand in the way of Science™ over a trivial matter like basic human dignity?”

Continue reading BreakPoint – Should Christians Support Using Animal and Human Cells Together to Advance Science? →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE TRINITY AND THE MISSION OF THE SPIRIT

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Read JOHN 14:25–31

Human memories are not reliable. We might think we remember what happened, or we equate our own interpretation of events with the truth. We might forget inconvenient facts. Our memories are finite and fallible—and very often self-serving as well!

In today’s reading, Jesus promised His disciples that their eyewitness memories would be assisted and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit (v. 26). This means the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ are trustworthy beyond anything based on merely human memory. We can believe He really said the words and did the actions we read in Scripture. God has made sure that His revelation of Himself in Christ is recorded in a wholly true and accurate way.

This is one reason the Spirit was sent by the Father at the request of the Son. As we saw yesterday, the Spirit has come to be our advocate or helper, to indwell and empower us for holy lives (vv. 16, 26). He will be with us forever (v. 17), working out the truth of the gospel in our lives and in the world.

What else do we learn about the Trinity in this passage? The Father is “greater” than the Son in the sense that He is the originator or planner of salvation (v. 28). The Son will obey the Father “to the point of death,” demonstrating complete love and submission (v. 31). In the face of the news of His impending death, however, Jesus also comforted His disciples with the news that He will come again (v. 28). Before that day, Satan will cause suffering and try to oppose the gospel, but he will fail, and Christ will complete His victory over the “prince of this world” (v. 30).

APPLY THE WORD

Go back through John 14 and make a list of the blessings that we are promised through the Trinity. Examples include an eternal dwelling with God, the love of God, and peace that transcends the world’s understanding. As you review your list, praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for His inexhaustible supply of good gifts in your life.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – ‘LORD, IF YOU TAKE ME, MAKE ME A MARTYR’

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Yu Jie grew up in China, where his father was an engineer and Communist Party member. Yu’s wife became a Christian in 2001 and was baptized. She then began a small Bible study in their home. Two years later, Yu came to faith in Christ and was baptized on Christmas Eve.

On December 10, 2010, he was kidnapped by the secret police and taken to the outskirts of Beijing. There he was beaten and tortured for hours. His fingers were broken one by one. For days his wife was under house arrest and did not know if he was alive or dead. God spared his life because he had greater plans for him.

On January 11, 2012, Yu and his family were led out of China to Washington, DC, where he writes on behalf of the oppressed Chinese people. He is now the best-selling author of more than thirty books and has been awarded the Civil Courage Prize by the Train Foundation. He was the first Chinese person to win the award.

Writing for the latest edition of First Things, Yu explains the astounding rise of Christianity in China. When the Community Party came to power in 1949, Chinese Christians numbered half a million. Now they are estimated conservatively to number more than sixty million. If current trends continue, by 2030 China will be the largest Christian nation in the world.

What explains this remarkable growth?

According to Yu, the Cultural Revolution that began in 1966 and the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 led to the deaths of countless innocent people. As a result, “The people’s belief in Marxism-Leninism and Maoism was destroyed.” In Yu’s estimation, “These events opened up a great spiritual void, and the Chinese began searching for a new faith.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘LORD, IF YOU TAKE ME, MAKE ME A MARTYR’ →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Baptism: Identifying With Christ

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Matthew 3:1-17

Christ began his public ministry with baptism. At the time, John the Baptist was calling people to confess their sins and demonstrate repentance through immersion in the river. So why did Jesus, the sinless One, ask to be baptized?

At first, John actually refused, knowing that Jesus Christ was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). But Jesus wasn’t just demonstrating repentance; He was sacrificially identifying with sinful humankind.

As Christians, we’re called to follow His example in all things, becoming more like Him as we grow in our faith. That’s why baptism is so important in following Jesus. As He was willing to identify Himself with us, we publicly identify with Him when we are baptized, which is a symbolic way of declaring, “I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and believe that the debt of my sin is fully paid through His sacrificial death on the cross. I believe that as He rose from the dead, I will also be resurrected through Him. I look forward to walking in accordance with the Lord’s will while I’m on the earth and living with Him throughout eternity. Since He loved me enough to identify Himself with me in my sin, I will show my love for Him by following His example right now, and for the rest of my days.”

Baptism demonstrates our connection not only with the Lord but also with our spiritual brothers and sisters—past, present, and future. Joining everyone who’s walked before us in faith, we are saying that we’re members of one body, redeemed and brought to life by the same Lord.

Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 25-27

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Bringing Light into Darkness

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Read: John 1:1–8 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 94–96; Romans 15:14–33

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

In 1989, Vaclav Havel was elevated from his position as a political prisoner to become the first elected president of Czechoslovakia. Years later at his funeral in Prague in 2011, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who herself was born in Prague, described him as one who had “brought the light to places of deep darkness.”

What Havel’s introduction of light did in the political arena of Czechoslovakia (and later the Czech Republic), our Lord Jesus did for the whole world. He brought light into existence when He created light out of darkness at the dawn of time (John 1:2–3; cf. Gen 1:2–3). Then, with His birth, He brought light to the spiritual arena. Jesus is the life and light that darkness cannot overcome (John 1:5).

“Let your light shine before others.” Matthew 5:16

John the Baptist came from the wilderness to bear witness to Jesus, the light of the world. We can do the same today. In fact that is what Jesus told us to do: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

In our world today—when good is often considered bad and bad is seen as good, when truth and error are switched around—people are looking for direction in life. May we be the ones who shine the light of Christ into our world.

Father in heaven, thank You for the light of Jesus that came into the world and for the light He has brought into my life. Help me to remain grateful and to be Your light in the dark world around me.

Shine the Light!

INSIGHT:

Bible scholars call the gospel of John the Autopic Gospel because John looked at the life of Christ in his own unique way. For example, the “I ams” of Christ—such as “I am the way” (14:6) and “I am the vine” (15:5)—are found only in John’s record of the life of Jesus Christ on earth. The other Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are called the Synoptic Gospels because they offer similar viewpoints. Although Matthew, Mark, and Luke each give their own account of the life of Christ, they share many of the same observations and stories about our Lord’s life, death, burial, and resurrection.

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Living Interpretation

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Questions of interpretation—whose interpretation, which interpretation, what interpretation—are at the forefront of discussions about truth. Perhaps best summarized in the familiar saying “I am only responsible for what I say, not what you understand,” our contemporary culture assumes objective and definitive truth do not exist. As such, we are left with suspicion as to whether or to what extent we can access the truth.

Issues of interpretation, of course, are not simply matters of intellectual speculation. For people of faith, these questions are personal. In dealing with sacred texts, there are many familiar questions: What does this particular passage mean? What are its implications? How does it make sense in the world today? And how can there be so many different interpretations for the same text?

Questions of interpretation notwithstanding, many faiths claim to know and to represent the truth. Christians, like other Abrahamic faiths, claim that the truth can be ascertained through what has been written and recorded in the Bible. Yet, Christians still find themselves traversing the murky world of interpretation; how is the truth presented in Scripture apprehended in a way that transcends culture and language? St. Augustine, for example, writing in the fourth century, asked these kinds of questions about the opening words of Genesis:

“Does it mean ‘in the beginning of time’ because it was the first of all things, or ‘in the beginning,’ which is the Word of God, the only begotten Son? And how could it be shown that God produced changeable and time-bound works without any change in himself? And what may be meant by the name heaven and earth? Was it the total spiritual and bodily creation that was termed heaven and earth, or only the bodily sort? And in what way did God say Let light be made? Was it in time or in the eternity of the Word? And what is this light that was made? Something spiritual or something bodily?”(1)

Augustine illuminates just some of the complexities of interpreting the text of Scripture. Yet, Christians like Augustine believe that the Scriptures are alive with truth. As one inhabits the world of the Scriptures, God speaks through a living, breathing narrative. God reveals the truth about salvation in and through the history of Israel for the whole world. The writers of the Old and New Testaments were inspired to give testimony of God’s redemption for future generations. In this way, God saw fit to enflesh the truth in concrete history and action. All those who encounter the written narrative might come to know the essence, nature and character of the God who inspired its writing.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Living Interpretation →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Serving Your Master

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“‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’” (Matthew 6:24).

The believer is to serve God, not riches.

When reading Matthew 6:24, many people say, “I believe that you can serve two masters. I work two jobs.” The reason they say that is they don’t understand the Greek word translated “serve.” It refers not to an employee in an 8-to-5 job but to a slave. A slave is one who is constantly and entirely devoted to his master. Romans 6:17-18 says that though you were once a slave of sin, God has freed you to become a slave of righteousness. You can serve God only with entire and exclusive devotion, with single-mindedness. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus is saying that if you try to serve two masters, God and riches, you will love one but hate the other.

The orders of these two masters are diametrically opposed. One commands to walk by faith, the other by sight; one commands to be humble, the other to be proud; one commands to set your affection on things above, the other on things of the earth; one commands to look at things unseen and eternal, the other at things seen and temporal; one commands to be anxious for nothing, the other to be anxious about everything. You can’t obey both orders, and you can’t serve two masters.

In 1905 Mary Byrne translated an Irish poem into prose, which was then set to music by Eleanor Hull. Today we know the poem as the hymn “Be Thou My Vision.” One stanza of this hymn tells us how to view riches correctly.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise—

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart—

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

May the words of the hymn be the song of your heart and the conviction of your life.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank Christ for being your Master who loves you perfectly and provides for your every need.

For Further Study

Read Exodus 5. How does this picture the conflict between serving God’s interests and man’s? Explain.

 

http://www.gty.org

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Getting to Know Him

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That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.

Philippians 3:10

Recommended Reading

Philippians 3:1-11

In The King and I, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote a toe-tapping little song for Anna to sing about striking up a friendship with the King of Siam and his family. “Haven’t you noticed,” sang Anna, “suddenly I’m bright and breezy? Because of all the beautiful and new things I’m learning about you.” The chorus keeps repeating the thought: “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.”

If that’s true about the King of Siam, it’s much truer about the King of Kings!

As we mature in our walk with the Lord, we’ll learn more about His goodness with every step we take. Our Christian faith isn’t a religion but a relationship. Prayer and Bible study aren’t simply rituals, but conversations. Our God isn’t just a distant force; He’s an ever-present friend. The focus of our faith is getting to know Him better.

The Amplified Bible Classic Edition renders Philippians 3:10 like this: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly].”

Does not every child of God long… to know just as much about his heavenly Father as he can learn?

  1. I. Packer, in Knowing God

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Jeremiah 40 – 43

 

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Living Ordinary Days with an Extraordinary Attitude

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This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.- Psalm 118:24

I believe the psalmist discovered the secret to living ordinary days with extraordinary enthusiasm. He simply decided and declared that since the Lord had made each day, and that it was a gift to him, he would enjoy it and be glad. He made a decision that produced the feelings he wanted rather than waiting to see how he felt.

God’s presence makes life exciting if we have a proper understanding of life as a whole. Everything we do is sacred and amazing if we do it unto the Lord and believe He is with us. Ask yourself right now if you truly believe God is with you even in the midst of very ordinary tasks. If your answer is yes, then you can have an extraordinary day!

Power Thought: I will rejoice in “ordinary” days because God is with me every day.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – A Plan for Anger Management Part 2

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“In your anger, do not sin.”

Ephesians 4:26

Friend to Friend

The people around us want to see what happens when life pushes our buttons and anger puts the squeeze on our emotions. While God created us with the capacity for strong emotions, it is our responsibility to control them instead of allowing them to control us. Yesterday, we looked at four ways to manage anger. Here are four more:

Be focused.

Psalm 37:8 “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath.”

I have witnessed the utter strength and beauty of our daughter and daughter-in-law as they gave birth to our beautiful grandchildren. The pain was excruciating, but both worked through each contraction by doing two things: controlling their breathing and choosing a focus point. We need to do the same when we are angry. Take a deep breath and focus on the peace of God.

Be understanding.

James 1:19 “Everyone should be quick to listen.”

We have two ears and one mouth for a reason—to listen twice as much as we speak. When you find yourself getting angry, take time to listen to what the other person has to say. Make sure you understand their viewpoint. After you have reined in your emotions, offer a reply. Listening for the purpose of understanding plays a significant role in anger management.

Be kind.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – A Plan for Anger Management Part 2 →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Perfect Healing 

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“Jesus’ name has healed this man – and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name – faith given us from God – has caused this perfect healing” (Acts 3:16).

This is another of the great “3:16” verses of the Bible – with a truth and a promise that you and I need probably every day of our lives. Jesus claimed “all authority in heaven and earth” (Matthew 28:18). “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9, KJV; see also 1:15-19).

There is a great power in the name of Jesus. Throughout Scripture that fact is emphasized. And I have seen it illustrated in miraculous ways through the Jesus film, which has been used of God to introduce tens of millions of men, women, young people, and children to Christ in most countries of the world.

The promise, equally clear, is that if we exercise faith in that wonderful name of Jesus – faith that is a gift from God – we can see healing, both physical and spiritual.

I sit in astonishment often as I try to comprehend such great love that would give us the very gifts He requires of us – faith, in this instance. We need not conjure up such faith; it is made available on simple terms: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

And we may appropriate this truth and this promise today.

Bible Reading: Acts 3:12-18

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: “Dear Lord, I dare to believe that You are still the same yesterday, today and forever, so I can trust you to heal, and to enable me to live a supernatural life.”

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Jeremiah’s Complaint

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Read: Jeremiah 20:1-10

You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Jeremiah 20:7-9

Here, in poetic form, we have the thoughts of Jeremiah while he is in the stocks, waiting for what would happen on the morrow. This is a remarkable account of what the prophet thought while he was imprisoned. He was, to say the least, a profoundly perturbed prophet! Here we get another look at the honest humanity of this man, at the way he faced circumstances just as we do, with fear and despair, alternating at times between faith and confidence.

The first thing he feels is that God himself has deceived him. Here is a bitter cry in which Jeremiah charges God with having lied to him, and with having taken advantage of him. Have you ever felt like that toward God? Jeremiah is probably thinking back to the promise with which he began his ministry. God had called Jeremiah as a young man, and Jeremiah had objected. Remembering those words, he is saying, What happened, Lord? What happened to your promise? You said you’d be with me to deliver me, but here I am in these miserable stocks. That is the way the heart can easily feel toward God. Like so many of us, Jeremiah took these promises rather superficially. He read into them assumptions God never intended, and so he charges God with lying. That, of course, is the one thing God cannot do. God cannot lie. Yet Jeremiah feels, as many of us have felt, that God has failed his promise. I do not know how many times people have said to me, referring to the word of God, Well, I know what it says, but it doesn’t work! That is just another way of saying, God has deceived me; God’s a liar! That was the prophet’s predicament.

The second thing he found was that people were mocking him. Though they could not answer the keenness of his logic, they did the only thing they could do — they began to ridicule his person. That is always the refuge of petty minds. When people cannot handle a logical argument they begin to attack the person, and try to destroy him personally. They laughed at Jeremiah, poked fun at him, ridiculed him. Mockery is hard to bear, hard for the human spirit to take, and this was getting to Jeremiah.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Jeremiah’s Complaint →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Trees of Every Kind

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Read: Genesis 1:9-13

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (v. 12)

They are invisible. All too often they are just part of the background, the scenery, the landscape. Rarely do we seem to pay close attention to them. And yet we are, most of us most of the time, in the company of trees. White-barked birch and sharp-needled blue spruce, towering American sycamore and puny poison sumac, scaly-needled eastern white cedar and glossy-leaved swamp white oak. What trees share your home place—providing shade, producing flowers and nuts, serving as habitat for bats and birds and bees?

In the creation story in Genesis 1 (vv. 20 and 24) we are told that God’s speaking brings forth birds in the sky above and sea monsters in the water below, animals domestic and wild. So also in verses 11-12 God’s great “Let there be” empowers the earth to bring forth seed-bearing plants and trees of every kind. The Hebrew verb suggests a God who enables the earth to be fertile and give birth to trees. And so the earth brings forth trees of all kinds—a plethora of species about which we are still learning today.

And God saw that it was good. Trees of every kind, in all their variety and beauty. A gift from a gracious God.

Prayer:

God, Maker of heaven and earth, we thank you for the gift of trees, indeed, for all green plants, without which we could not exist.

Author: Steven Bouma-Prediger

 

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Go and Tell Jesus

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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. —Psalm 46:1

When crisis hits, when we are facing hardship, when we are sick or in need, we should call on the Lord.

When the Israelites criticized and turned against Moses, we read that he “cried out to the LORD” (Exodus 15:25). When King Hezekiah received a threatening letter, he “went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD” (Isaiah 37:14). When John the Baptist was beheaded, we read that his disciples “came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus” (Matthew 14:12).

That is exactly what we ought to do when hardship comes our way. We should go and tell Jesus, because “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Paul had his “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t know what it was, but he asked the Lord three times to take it away. God didn’t answer those prayers as Paul wanted Him to. Rather, He gave him the grace to get through that time of difficulty. There are times when God has a purpose in suffering, a plan through the pain. We always want to leave that option open. And, it is okay to pray about it. In fact, James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask.”

Paul prayed about his difficulty more than once, and we can pray about our problems more than once. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). This could be translated from the Greek, “Keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking.” The Bible encourages persistence.

We don’t necessarily need to tell God what He should do, but we should call on Him. Bring your troubles to Jesus.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Far Better

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 16:11

“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The period between our death and the still-future resurrection of our bodies is usually called the intermediate state. The Bible actually tells us little about this period, but what it does say is very encouraging. In 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul said that he “would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (NIV), and in Philippians 1:23 he said, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

Taking Paul’s statements along with Hebrews 12:22-24, we can say that in the intermediate state we’ll be with Christ; we’ll be in the presence of thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly (perhaps still hearing those seraphs of Isaiah 6:1-3 who call out antiphonally, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty”); we’ll be with all believers of all ages; we’ll be perfectly conformed to Christ in our spirits; and we’ll be in a state that is far better than anything we can imagine.

It’s difficult for us to visualize an existence in heaven without the benefit of our physical senses; or, for that matter, a physical brain. Yet we need to remember that God has existed eternally without a physical body. And even the angels apparently exist only in spirit (though some have assumed a physical body at times for specific purposes). Though we cannot understand how these things will be, we need to submit our minds to the teaching of Scripture and look forward to the time when we also will be with Christ, when our spirits will be made perfect, and when we’ll be in a state that’s far better than our best conditions on earth.

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Maintaining Life Support

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5

Pray continually. – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Years ago the only means of going to the bottom of the ocean was in a diving suit. It was made of thick canvas and was complete with weighted shoes, a heavy metal headpiece with a window to look out, a long rope to jerk if something went wrong, and most important of all, an air hose that supplied oxygen.

Everything about the environment into which the diver went was hostile–there were a thousand things that could go wrong and cost the diver his life. For that reason, the crews constantly monitored the air hose to make sure everything was okay.

Friend, that’s an exact picture of your situation every day. The environment in which you and I live is hostile to our Christian growth and development. The world is always trying to squeeze us into its mold, the Devil is trying to lure us off track, and the inner corruptions of our own fleshly desires are constantly trying to sap our spiritual strength.

How do you get through this hostile environment? You keep the connection with your life-support system above. I guess you could say, “You keep your air hose connected with heaven”–a strong avenue of prayer by which you keep in constant touch and receive strength and wisdom from God.

The apostle Paul understood this key to an effective Christian life. When he wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, he ended with an exhortation to pray without ceasing. Why? Because he knew prayer would help these people maintain a daily fellowship with God, and thus, a powerful Christian witness in a hostile world.

Prayer

Lord, teach me the discipline of praying continually. Amen.

To Ponder

The Christian who fails to keep his prayer connection intact runs the danger of spiritual disaster.

 

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  A Temporary Win for Religious Universities in California: Resistance is Not Futile

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It can seem to us that each day brings news of yet another setback or some new ominous cultural development that’s concerning to Christians, each one another straw on the back of an already overloaded camel.

But as recent events in California demonstrate, these trends can be resisted and, if not reversed, at least held at bay.

In late June, Eric Metaxas told us about California’s Senate Bill 1146. The bill, as its author, Senator Ricardo Lara, admitted, targeted Christian colleges and universities that adhered to traditional Christian teaching on human sexuality, including same-sex erotic relationships.

The bill would have required schools receiving religious exemptions from state or federal anti-discrimination laws to disclose this fact publicly. This alone would have created a state-mandated “hit list” that would have facilitated harassment and worse from LGBT activists.

But S.B. 1146 didn’t stop there. It would have limited the above-mentioned exemptions to seminaries and “religious vocational training schools.” Thus, Christian colleges and universities—schools such as Biola and Azusa Pacific—who offer programs in say business or education or the sciences, would have had to choose between eligibility for state grants-in-aid and fidelity to Christian morality. As the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities pointed out, this would have a potentially devastating effect on low-income students who depend on Cal Grants—75 percent of whom are ethnic minorities.

But wait: there was more. The bill also would have created a private right for LGBT people to sue if they felt discriminated against. Even if the person didn’t prevail in court, the potential for damage awards and the accompanying legal fees and bad publicity would have created a significant burden on schools that often struggle to keep the doors open in the first place.

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