Tag Archives: current events

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Religious Formalism

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They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

John 9:13

The great tragedy of John 9 is not that a man had been blind for years until he met Jesus, but that a group of men were left spiritually blind despite having seen the work of Jesus.

The healing and transformation of the life of the man born blind caused a great stir in his community. Presumably he had been so much a part of people’s surroundings that it was easy to disregard him. Yet suddenly their normal daily experience was disrupted. The man who was once blind could now see perfectly well, and he was no longer asking for money (John 9:8-10).

Unable to solve this mystery, they presented the formerly blind man to the religious leaders, the Pharisees, to see if they could shed some light on what had occurred. What followed was not a conversation between the man and the Pharisees so much as an interrogation. Instead of rejoicing in his story, they challenged his testimony.

The reason for the Pharisees’ harsh reaction, at least on the surface, was that the man had been healed on the Sabbath (John 9:14-16). The religious leaders were unable to rejoice in the restoration of his sight because they were blinded by their religious formalism. The forms and structures of religion that they boasted in were the very things that proved to be a barrier to their faith in Jesus. They kept their lists of what was acceptable, and so they were unable to recognize the work of the God they claimed to worship, even when the evidence was quite literally (and miraculously) looking them in the face.

Religious formalism cannot face the dramatic impact that Jesus makes when He takes a person and turns him or her upside down—which is actually to turn them the right way up! Unwilling to acknowledge their own need for transformation—and the truth that only a radical internal transformation gives significance to the religious life—religious formalists hide behind maintaining appearances. Nothing challenges the religious formalist more than coming face-to-face with someone who has had their eyes opened to the salvation that is found in Jesus.

The Pharisees’ reaction to the blind man’s healing teaches us, then, to beware of the dangers of religious formalism. A blind commitment to religion has the potential to keep us from Jesus, just as it did with them.

Have your eyes been opened to the salvation found only in Jesus? Or has your focus on religious performance prevented you from rejoicing in the wonder of God’s amazing grace? Are you weighed down by religion’s burden or rejoicing in the awesome, often surprising work of the Lord Jesus? Look to Him alone for salvation and accept that He will not be constrained by your assumptions, for then you’ll find a joy, a transformation, and an excitement in the gospel that no amount of rule-keeping could ever provide.

GOING DEEPER

Philippians 3:1-11

Topics: Jesus Christ Judgmentalism Legalism

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Heals Broken Hearts

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“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

What is a “broken heart”? Have you ever had one? We use the expression when we talk about the deepest kind of grief a heart can feel. Broken hearts are often caused by a hurtful change in a relationship with another person. If someone you love dies, or if you have to say good-bye to a friend, or if someone close to you does something to hurt you deeply, you might say that you have a broken heart. But those are just the surface causes for a broken heart. Do you know what really causes broken hearts? All of the grief, death, and sadness we experience came into our world as the result of human sin.

Jesus’ heart was broken once too. Psalm 69:20 looks ahead to the time when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness.” Jesus’ heart was not broken because of His own sin; He never sinned. It was broken because of ours. All the sins of the whole world were laid on Him when He suffered and died. During those hours on the cross, He endured the awful wrath of God the Father in our place. The precious relationship Jesus had with His Father, closer and more satisfying than anything we could know, was broken while He bore our sin.

Does your God understand what your broken heart feels like? He not only understands, but He also knows how to heal it. Through Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, He made a way for you to come directly to Him with your broken heart. Your grief may be the result of your own sin or someone else’s. Or it may be the result of sin’s effects on our fallen world. Whatever the cause, God promises to gently care for your hurting heart.

The God whose heart was broken for sin will heal your broken heart.

My Response:
» Have I brought my broken heart to God for healing?

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John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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James 4:2

You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

You know that God can do more for you in a moment than you could do for yourself in ten lifetimes. But what if He is waiting on you to participate in the process? You may know exactly what you want God to accomplish in your life and believe that He has the power to do it. The problem is not that the provision isn’t made. The problem is you’re not reaching for the provision and doing what God has asked you to do.

Here’s what I mean. God will not answer prayer until you pray. God “will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” until you are giving (Mal. 3:10). God will not “forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” until we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). But the moment that you do, the moment you reach out to Him in faith believing, suddenly all of heaven and earth begin to move on your behalf because that’s just how much God truly wants to bless you. Take the step that God is asking you to take, and you’ll move in the faith that overcomes the world.

Today’s Blessing: 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you. And may the Lord be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you celebrate in the joy and the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May He remove the pain of the failures in your past. May He remove the criticisms in your life that have scarred you by persons of influence. May you walk with divine victory because heaven is on your side, and God has given you all things for your life to be totally blessed. Go with this blessing and live a life of victory rejoicing in Jesus Christ. And all of God’s children said, “Praise the Lord.”

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Leviticus 14:1-57

New Testament 

Mark 6:30-56

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 40:1-10

Proverbs 10:11-12

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – He Waited Too Long

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Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.
Acts 24:25

 Recommended Reading: Acts 24:22-27

When we procrastinate in an endeavor or decision, we’re yielding to sluggishness at the expense of change. It sometimes seems impossible to make ourselves move forward. But we must, especially in terms of the Gospel. We learn that from Felix in Acts 24.

Billy Graham once preached, “There never was a more convenient season for Felix. We never read that he ever responded to the Gospel of Christ. He procrastinated too long, and Felix tonight, as far as we know, is in hell.”

Graham continued, “I spoke to a man in Moody Church one Monday night…. He was trembling as he stood there under mighty conviction. And I said, ‘Sir, won’t you give your heart to Christ?’ He said, ‘Not tonight. I’ll give my life to Christ on Friday night’…. On Friday morning, a stray bullet from a policeman’s gun went through that man’s head, and he died and never came to Christ.”4

Don’t allow procrastination to impact your spiritual life. Today is the day of salvation!

To procrastinate the business of salvation is the real madness.
Timothy Dwight

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – It’s Time for Another Jesus Revolution

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Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation. 

—Joel 1:3

Scripture:

Joel 1:3 

Some years ago, I was having a conversation with Pastor Chuck Smith, who has been called the father of the Jesus Movement. He was a man whom God used, someone who was willing to take a risk. And he was at the epicenter of this Great Awakening.

I asked Pastor Chuck if he thought we would ever see another Jesus Movement.

“Greg,” he said, “I’m not sure if we’re desperate enough.”

That was awhile ago. And I think we now may be desperate enough to start seriously praying about it. The psalmist prayed, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6 NLT).

Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, that was then. This is now.”

It’s our responsibility to pass our faith on to the next generation. Speaking through the prophet Joel, God said, “Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation” (Joel 1:3 NLT).

Our prayer should be “Lord, do it again.” My generation has had its day, and now it’s time for the next generation to have their own spiritual awakening.

Amazingly, the Jesus Movement was not a political revolution, although some called for that (and some are calling for it today). It was not a moral revolution. It was a Jesus Revolution, as Time magazine called it. They recognized it was more than a movement.

The word revolution means “upheaval,” “change.” It means “turning around.” And what are we returning to? We’re returning to New Testament Christianity, to the faith the Lord gave us, practiced by the early church.

To his eternal credit, Pastor Chuck Smith stepped out of his comfort zone, and it was an explosive result. Today we need another spiritual awakening. We need another Jesus Revolution.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Be Humble Day

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Bible in a Year:

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:8

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Philippians 2:1–11

I’m often amused by the unofficial holidays people come up with. February alone has a Sticky Bun Day, a Sword Swallowers Day, even a Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day! Today has been labeled Be Humble Day. Universally recognized as a virtue, humility is certainly worth celebrating. But interestingly, this hasn’t always been the case.

Humility was considered a weakness, not a virtue, in the ancient world, which prized honor instead. Boasting about one’s achievements was expected, and you sought to raise your status, never lower it. Humility meant inferiority, like a servant to a master. But all this changed, historians say, at Jesus’ crucifixion. There, the One who was “in very nature God” gave up His divine status to become “a servant” and “humbled himself” to die for others (Philippians 2:6–8). Such a praiseworthy act forced humility to be redefined. By the end of the first century, even secular writers were calling humility a virtue because of what Christ had done.

Every time someone is praised for being humble today, the gospel is being subtly preached. For without Jesus, humility wouldn’t be “good,” or a Be Humble Day even thinkable. Christ relinquished His status for us, revealing through all history the humble nature of God.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What would the world be like if humility was still a weakness? In what relationships can you imitate Jesus’ humility today?

I praise You, Jesus, for being the Humble One. And I desire to humble myself to You today as my only fitting response!

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Being Merciful

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 “‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’” (Luke 6:36).

Since we have received mercy from God, we are obligated to show mercy to those with physical or spiritual needs.

Jesus demonstrated His mercy many times as He went about healing people and casting out demons. Two blind men cried out, “‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ . . . And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight, and followed Him” (Matt. 20:30, 34). He was also deeply moved in spirit and wept when He saw the sorrow that Lazarus’s death caused (John 11:33-36).

His greatest mercy was shown, though, to those with spiritual needs. Not only did He heal a paralytic, but He forgave his sins (Luke 5:18-25). He also prayed for His executioners, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

We can show mercy by our physical acts. John says, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:17-18).

We must also show mercy spiritually. Because we have experienced God’s mercy, we should have great concern for those who have not. We show spiritual mercy by proclaiming the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the unsaved and by praying that God would show His mercy to them.

We also demonstrate spiritual mercy by lovingly confronting sinning Christians: “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourselves, lest you too be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). Sinning Christians bring reproach on Christ and His church and will fall under God’s discipline. In such cases it is wrong to say nothing and let the harm continue.

God has promised us in Matthew 5:7 that we will receive mercy from Him if we are merciful to others. If we have received unlimited mercy from our loving God, if we have been lifted from our poor, sinful, wretched state to become citizens of heaven, how can we withhold mercy from others?

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that you would be sensitive to opportunities to show mercy today.

For Further Study

Read Matthew 23:37-39.

  • What was Jerusalem’s condition in verse 37?
  • How does that intensify the nature of Christ’s compassion and mercy toward His people?

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Can Use the Most Unlikely of People

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 …For God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.

— 1 Corinthians 1:27 (AMPC)

God often chooses those who are the most unlikely candidates for the job. By doing so, He has a wide-open door to show how His grace and power can change human lives.

Each of us has a destiny, and there is absolutely no excuse not to fulfill it. We cannot use our weakness as an excuse because God says that His strength is made perfect in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). We cannot use the past as an excuse, because God tells us old things have passed away and all things have become new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

How God sees us is not the problem; often it is how we see ourselves that keeps us from succeeding. If you’ll see yourself as God sees you, grateful for His transforming power, no obstacle can stop you from His purposes. You are recreated in God’s image and resurrected to a brand-new life. Your destiny is just waiting for you to claim it!

Prayer of the Day: I thank You, God, that You choose the weak things of the world to shame the wise. Thank You that there is no excuse that can keep me from fulfilling my destiny in You. My life is Yours; have Your way through me.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Hearing, Believing, and Acting

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By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

Hebrews 11:30

If we desire to see fortresses fall, to see the gates of hell unhinged and laid in the dirt, to see pagan philosophies dismantled and the rampages of evil in our world torn down, we need to hear God’s word, believe it, and act in obedience to it. In other words, we need to learn from Joshua and the Israelites at the walls of Jericho.

When God’s people crossed into the promised land and reached the strategically vital city of Jericho, it was “shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in” (Joshua 6:1). Jericho was an impenetrable city. But the Lord came to Joshua and said, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor” (v 2). The means by which He would deliver the city to His people were detailed, and peculiar: they were to march round the city for six days and then seven times more on the seventh day, this time with the priests blowing their trumpets. In response to God’s promise, Joshua called the priests and armed men of Israel before him and conveyed the Lord’s word to the people, who then “went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD following them” as they marched around the city (v 8).

Why would anybody in their right mind do such a thing? The only plausible explanation is that the people had heard the word of the Lord spoken, believed that it was true, and acted in obedience. If this plan had been absent the word of God, it would have been nonsensical. If it had been heard by people who lacked real belief, they would never have carried it out. Because, and only because, Joshua and his men heard God’s message and put their faith in Him, they responded in obedience.

God’s way so often is to make a promise and then issue a command that makes no sense without that promise. He promised Noah that a flood was coming and commanded him to build the ark. He promised Abram that He would give him a family and land and commanded him to leave almost everything he had ever known. He promised Moses that He would rescue the people from Egypt and commanded him to make demands of the most powerful monarch in the world. Faith hears the promise, hears the command, believes both, and acts in obedience.

If we want to exercise faith on a daily basis in order that, like a muscle, it may grow to maturity, we have to abide in God’s word. We have to read it and ask, “What am I being promised? What am I being commanded? What will obedience look like in my life today?” This kind of daily communion with the Lord through His word strengthens our faith and produces steadfast obedience so that as we live our Christian lives, as we persevere through trials, as we obey God simply and only because we believe His promises to us, God says, I’ll bring the walls down.

GOING DEEPER

Joshua 6:1-20

Topics: The Bible Faith God’s Word

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God is the King of Glory

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“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle…Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24: 8, 10)

Have you ever imagined that you were a prince or a princess? Have you ever imagined that someday you would rule a kingdom all your own? Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be princes and princesses? Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. We can’t ALL be princes and princesses.

One of the songwriters in the Bible called God the “King of glory.” What do you suppose it means to be the “King of glory”? Doesn’t a king normally have a kingdom and people to rule? How do you rule over glory? The word “glory” means “great honor, praise, or distinction.” The word “king” means “one who is supreme or preeminent.” If you put the two words together, “king of glory” means “one who is supreme or preeminent in great honor, praise, or distinction.”

God is the one and only true King of glory. He is the only One Who deserves our worship and honor. We can praise people and things, but God deserves our highest praise much more than people or things do.

The world does praise movie stars and sports players, talking all the time about how great so-and-so is. Someone who has a unique skill might be called “king” of it as a way of showing that he has earned high honor for himself. A great basketball player might be called “King of Hoops,” or a great baseball player might be called “King of Diamonds.” Usually, when a human being is famous for being good at something, he is only good at that one thing. Some basketball players could never fix their car’s engine. Some movie stars could not swing a baseball bat.

But Whose greatness should believers be constantly talking about? Who is the King Who deserves the highest glory? That is really the question that the songwriter is asking in Psalm 24: “Who is this King of glory?” And both of these verses answer the same way: “The LORD.” Each of the verses gives different characteristics of God. He is “strong and mighty,” “strong in battle,” and “the LORD of hosts.” But the King Who has all these characteristics is just one Person–the one true God.

How should we honor and praise the “King of glory”? We can start by admitting God is Who He says He is, and obey Him and behave toward others as though God really exists. We can sing songs to praise God, tell God we love Him, and tell other people about how God is the one and only “King of glory.” When we do right, we are giving praise to the Lord.

God is the King of glory, and we ought to honor Him.

My Response:
» Am I admitting and acting like God is the King of glory?

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Ukraine and Russia are fighting two different wars

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow would step back from its last remaining major nuclear-arms-control treaty with the US. He also vowed to continue his military campaign in Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden responded: “Our support for Ukraine will not waver, NATO will not be divided, and we will not tire. President Putin’s craven lust for land and power will fail.”

As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine comes this Friday, many are asking if this is a new Cold War or even the beginning of World War III. After a year, what do we now know about the conflict? What can we predict for the future?

One of the most insightful responses to these questions I have found was written for Foreign Affairs by Sir Lawrence Freedman (DPhil, Oxford University), the Emeritus Professor of War Studies at Kings’ College London. Dr. Freedman notes that Russia and Ukraine have been pursuing two very different war strategies and shows how this fact explains much about the conflict.

In reading his article, I was struck by the degree to which it is also relevant to our cultural challenges in America and to the urgency and promise of spiritual awakening.

“Classic warfare” vs. “total warfare”

According to Dr. Freedman, Ukraine has employed the “classic warfare” approach, while Russia has adopted the “total warfare” strategy. In the former, “victory [is] decided by which army occupied the battlefield, the number of enemy soldiers killed or captured, and the amount of equipment destroyed.” In this approach, “battles determined the outcome of wars.”

The latter views the opposing nation as an appropriate battlefield, not just its army. The rationale for targeting population centers is that armies draw on civilian infrastructure to fight. In addition, munitions factories depend on a civilian workforce. Citizens suffering under incessant bombardment might be turned against the war to the point where they demand their nation’s capitulation. To many strategists, bombing cities is a far simpler route to victory than winning battles.

In the decades after the Cold War, Russia has continued to follow the “total warfare” strategy. For example, they deliberately attacked rebel hospitals in Syria and applied brute force to civilian areas and cities in the Chechen Wars.

Ukraine, by contrast, has understandably avoided civilian areas and infrastructure in the present conflict since the war has been waged on Ukrainian soil.

One might think that, given Russia’s enormous size and resource advantage (it is about twenty-eight times larger than Ukraine), its “total warfare” strategy would overwhelm Ukraine and force it to capitulate. However, the opposite has been the case. Once Ukraine survived Russia’s initial onslaught, Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians have made Ukraine all the more determined to liberate its areas and cede none to Russia. The humanitarian consequences of Russia’s brutality have also strengthened Western support for Ukraine.

In addition, Russia’s total-war aims have reinforced Ukraine’s belief that there is no obvious “compromise peace” available. Nor have Russia’s total-war tactics impeded Ukraine’s military operations.

“A car is made to run on petrol”

As evangelical Christians view our secularized society, it seems that our cultural opponents are following a “total warfare” strategy. Every dimension of our lives is now dominated by relativistic ethics and postmodern subjectivism. Popular media constantly reinforces LGBTQ ideology and unbiblical morality. It is easy to feel like Ukraine standing up to Russia’s overwhelming size and force.

But the opposite is actually the case.

We have been discussing recently the outbreaks of revival on college campuses now reaching historic proportions. They are occurring among a population group for whom unbiblical morality is assumed to be especially popular and pervasive.

But we should not be surprised.

The psalmist spoke for us all when he testified, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). “Pants” translates a Hebrew word meaning to yearn passionately and deeply. The author added, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (v. 2). “Appear before God” translates the Hebrew which literally means “see the face of God.”

We were made by our Maker for a personal, intimate relationship with him. No amount of cultural secularizing can fill the God-shaped emptiness that resides in our souls.

In one of my favorite statements in Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis observed: “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there.”

“God’s sudden, calming presence”

You and I can capitulate to the culture’s “total warfare” aggression against our faith. Or, like the Ukrainians, we can double down on our resolve to stand fast with courage. For believers, this means that we live in the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), manifest the character of Christ (cf. Galatians 5:22–23), and trust that our King will win the victory for all of eternity (cf. Revelation 19:16).

In his inspirational book In the Eye of the Storm: Jesus Knows How You Feel, Max Lucado writes: “The supreme force in salvation is God’s grace. Not our works, nor our talents, not our feelings, nor our strength. Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God’s goodness. Faith is not an award given to the most learned. It’s not a prize given to the most disciplined.”

The fact is, “We are great sinners, and we need a great Savior. Salvation is God’s sudden, calming presence during the stormy seas of our lives. Death is disarmed, failures are forgiven, and life has real purpose. And God is not only within sight, he is within reach.”

Why do you need such grace today?

Denison Forum

John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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1 Samuel 3:10

Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

Many people dismiss the concept that God wants to talk with them. The devil doesn’t want you to ever believe that God would talk to you personally, so he’ll give you a list of reasons to not listen for God’s voice. But I believe that God talks to a lot of people who either have the mute button on, or they engage in selective hearing. Like my own children, who tend to hear what they want to hear from me, God’s kids tend to turn off what they don’t want to hear and listen for exactly what they want to hear Him say.

You really need to read the story of young Samuel in 1 Samuel 3. What would happen in your life if you took on his attitude of “God, speak to me. I’m listening to You?” And then, what if whatever He told you to do, according to His Word, according to His plan, according to His purpose, you had the faith to do? That’s the kind of communication and relationship God wants with you.

The prophet Jonah heard God’s still, small voice and did just the opposite of what he was told, so God turned up the volume by sending a big old fish. God always has the final word.

Today’s Blessing: 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; giving you His peace. May you walk in the blessings of the cross; may you have spiritual and personal freedom; may you have peace of mind; may you have the confidence that your divine destiny and your purpose on this earth is going to be fulfilled by the help of God; may you know and recognize that through the blood of the cross you are forgiven of all of your sin; that God in heaven sends the joy and the peace that God gives only to the righteous. In Jesus’ name, we pray and ask it, Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Leviticus 13:1-59

New Testament 

Mark 6:1-29

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 39:1-13

Proverbs 10:10

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – What Mysteries!

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But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge.
Psalm 141:8

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 73:25-28

Our meager mind cannot comprehend the bottomless, limitless, measureless reign of Almighty God. His ways are past finding out; His majesty is incalculable; His power is inexhaustible; His lifespan is without beginning of days or ending of ages. He is eternal, Three in One and One in Three, the Source and Sustainer of all that exists, visible and invisible.

That means we have the privilege of living with mystery. We can’t interpret every situation as He knows it to be. Pastor Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) wrote, “What mysteries, Lord, in Thee combine!”

Because we are human, we can’t understand all of God’s plans and ways, but we can trust His sovereignty. In addition to His holiness, His purity, and His power are the attributes of love and goodness. He is good in His essence, and all His qualities are good and loving. He cares! He cares about the details of our life. When things seem to go wrong, we can say, “But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge.”

What mysteries, Lord, in Thee combine! Jesus, once mortal, yet divine! The first, the last, the end, the head, the source of life among the dead.
Philip Doddridge

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – It’s Time to Change Course

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 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? 

—Psalm 85:6

Scripture:

Psalm 85:6 

The United States of America is at a crossroads. Our nation is unraveling before our very eyes because we have rejected what God says in His Word. The closest parallel to today that I can think of would be the 1960s and early 1970s.

I was born in 1952. Elvis was still singing, Marilyn Monroe was on the screen, and Ike was president. Of course, decades have come and gone since then, but when I look at the young generation of today, it reminds me a lot of what was happening during my youth.

We have a drug epidemic sweeping our nation. We have 300 fentanyl deaths every day. This drug revolution started in the 1960s, propagated by the mentality of turn on, tune in, drop out. We basically smoked a lot of marijuana and took LSD.

Ironically, those are also the two most popular drugs right now. Marijuana use is up, so much so that more people smoke pot than cigarettes. And in the wake of many states legalizing it, experts have warned of a cannabis use disorder that causes psychosis and addiction.

Now add social media to all these things our young people are dealing with, and it’s like pouring gasoline on a fire. It amplifies everything. Self-harm among young people is up 334 percent. The suicide rate in the United States has increased 30 percent since 2000 and has tripled for young girls. This generation needs help.

As believers, we should commit to doing anything we can to change this course, call people to Christ, and pray for a mighty spiritual awakening to sweep our nation and beyond.

Now, we don’t decide when a revival happens. God does. We can’t organize it, but we can agonize for it in prayer. We can get our hearts ready. Revival starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with us as the church. And it begins right where we are.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Protect Your Heart

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Bible in a Year:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Proverbs 4:20–27

Hungarian-born mathematician Abraham Wald lent his skills to the World War II efforts after coming to the United States in 1938. The military was looking for ways to protect its aircraft from enemy fire, so Wald and his colleagues at the Statistical Research Group were asked to figure out how to better protect military aircraft to defend against enemy fire. They began by examining returning aircraft to see where they were most damaged. But Wald is credited with the keen insight that damage on returning aircraft represented only where a plane could be hit and still survive. He realized that areas most in need of additional armor would be found on planes that had crashed. Planes hit in the most vulnerable part—the engine—had gone down and therefore couldn’t be examined.

Solomon teaches us about protecting our most vulnerable part—our heart. He instructs his son to “guard [his] heart” because from it everything else flows (Proverbs 4:23). God’s instructions guide us through life, steering us away from poor decisions and teaching us where to focus our attention.

If we armor our heart by heeding His instructions, we’ll better “keep [our feet] from evil” and remain steadfast on our journey with God (v. 27). We venture into enemy territory every day, but with His wisdom guarding our hearts, we can stay focused on our mission to live well for God’s glory.

By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

What is your heart most vulnerable to right now? How can God’s wisdom protect you?

God, please protect my heart from the threats against it. I hide myself in You.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Maintaining Spiritual Integrity

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“In order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10).

Seek to have a life that bears scrutiny.

In our society, those whose lives are marked by moral soundness, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity are usually thought of as people of integrity. However, society’s standards often fall far short of God’s. Spiritual integrity calls for the highest possible standard of behavior and requires supernatural resources available only to those who trust in Him.

Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9-10 outlines the path to spiritual integrity. It begins with love that abounds with knowledge and discernment (v. 9) and progresses to the pursuit of excellence (v. 10). The result is sincerity and blamelessness—two characteristics of godly integrity.

The Greek word translated “sincere” in verse 10 speaks of genuineness and authenticity. It literally means “without wax” and is an allusion to the practice of inspecting pottery by holding it up to the sunlight. In ancient times pottery often cracked during the firing process. Rather than discarding cracked pieces, dishonest dealers often filled the cracks with wax and sold them to unsuspecting customers. Holding a pot up to the sunlight revealed any flaws and protected the customer from a bad purchase.

Following that analogy, biblical integrity requires that you be without wax, having no hypocrisy or secret sins that show up when you’re under pressure or facing temptation.

“Blameless” speaks of consistency in living a life that doesn’t lead others into error or sin. Your standard is the same away from church as it is at church.

Being blameless isn’t easy in a world that unashamedly flaunts its sinful practices. You must guard against losing your sensitivity to the heinousness of sin and unwittingly beginning to tolerate or even accept the sin that once shocked you. That’s when you lose integrity and begin to cause others to stumble.

Diligently pursue integrity with a view toward glorifying Christ in all things until He returns!

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Thank God that He is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in His presence blameless with great joy (Jude 24).
  • Prayerfully guard your heart and mind from the subtle evil influences that can erode your integrity and make you ineffective for the Lord.

For Further Study

Read Genesis 39.

  • How was Joseph’s integrity challenged?
  • How did God honor Joseph’s commitment to integrity?

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Eliminating Excuses

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For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you. Therefore, shall your camp be holy, that He may see nothing indecent among you and turn away from you.

— Deuteronomy 23:14 (AMPC)

If a habit is controlling you, you will not enjoy the best that God offers you. Don’t make excuses for bondages that seem to have a hold on you. Denial and excuses will keep you from enjoying your life.

Whether it is a negative attitude, procrastination, or a bad temper, you cannot blame it on your genes or your family. God makes a way of escape for us and promises a good life for those who are born again. Claim your rights as a child of God. Say, “I am a new person in Christ; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (see Philippians 4:13).

Prayer of the Day: I thank You, Father, that I am Your child, and I am greatly blessed. Today, I choose to think God-honoring thoughts, focusing on Your goodness in my life. I am thankful that you provide a way out of my issues. No more excuses, in the name of Jesus, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Prayer and God’s Sovereignty

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I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

Philippians 1:19

Your prayers change things.

The apostle Paul understood this well. The book of Acts charts the rapid expansion of the church throughout the eastern Mediterranean world, fueled in large part by his three great missionary journeys. Yet it concludes with Paul living under house arrest at his own expense for two whole years (Acts 28:30). From a human perspective, it would seem that by this point his situation was hopeless. The Jews had been trying to kill him for years. He’d been in a series of trials because of trumped-up charges. He’d faced shipwreck, beatings, and hardships. And now he was chained to a Roman soldier, with no freedom to come and go as he pleased. His circumstances seemed to indicate that everything was against him and against what God might accomplish through him.

Yet in the midst of Paul’s difficult circumstances, he was confident in the power of prayer. During his Roman imprisonment, Paul wrote to the Philippian church, “I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.” He also wrote a letter to his friend Philemon that contained the following words: “Prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you” (Philemon 22, emphasis added).

Paul’s letters indicate that he was confident that he would be released from prison, and he believed that his deliverance would come by means of the prayers of his believing friends. And though Acts never mentions Paul’s release, we can be fairly confident, from reading his other letters and Acts side by side, that he was indeed allowed to leave.

Paul was convinced that God was sovereign and that He was working everything out according to the eternal counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). But at the same time, he was not a determinist—he did not believe that nothing we do matters because nothing we do changes anything. That is because he knew that very often God works His plans out through means—through people. So Paul didn’t think that God’s sovereignty made prayer irrelevant, because he understood that God had ordained not only the end to which he was moving but also the means that would bring him there—means that included the prayers of God’s people.

God commands and expects you to pray. In a mysterious way that you cannot fully comprehend, your prayers are enfolded into the great outworking of His purposes. So when your life ceases to make sense and everything appears to be against you, don’t assume that God’s purposes for you have been thwarted. Direct your gaze to Him and ask others to join you in prayer. It may be that their prayers are the sovereign means that God will use to bring about your deliverance—for in His kindness, God has ordained that the prayers of His people really do change things.

GOING DEEPER

Luke 11:1-13

Topics: Christian Living Prayer Sovereignty of God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Delights To Answer Prayer

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“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).

Regular readers, please see a special note for you at the foot of this devotional.*

When Michele was eleven, her best friend left their school to go to a different school. Michele’s class was small, and she didn’t feel close to any of the other three girls in the class. She wanted so much to have a best friend that she could talk to.

That summer before sixth grade, Michele’s mom said, “Why don’t you pray that God will send a new girl to your class next year to be your close friend?” She took her mom’s advice and started praying. But she didn’t have much faith. Where would a new girl come from? And even if a new girl did come, would she really want to be her friend? Michele dreaded the beginning of the new school year, because she didn’t believe God would answer her prayer.

Then in August, a new girl named Kelly and her family started coming to Michele’s church. God had moved her all the way to Kansas from the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean! That fall, Kelly was in Michele’s sixth grade class. She was so cheerful and friendly that it was easy for Michele to get to know her. They quickly became best friends and went through the rest of high school together. They even attended the same college for four years, and still keep in touch today.

Michele would tell you now that God delights to answer the prayers of His children. It brings Him glory when we ask and truly depend on Him for things we need. If we ask for things that are good for us, He is pleased to give them to us at just the right time. But sometimes He goes beyond giving us what we ask for. Often, His gifts are better than anything we could have asked for or even imagined. And His gifts are always the best thing for us.

God delights to answer the prayers of His children.

My Response:
» What am I praying for?
» Am I praying with faith that God will answer in the best way?

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News and Info

DDNI Featured News Article – Kate Forbes: Would a Christian be permitted to lead Scotland?

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With a Hindu as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and a Muslim as the mayor of London, it would seem that the UK is at last fulfilling the promise of a multi-cultural society. Yet events in Scotland suggest that there is one group who are in effect banned from meaningful political leadership – Christians who actually believe what Jesus says!

This week there has been a concerted campaign against the candidature for First Minister of the young Scottish Finance Minister, Kate Forbes, within some of the Scottish media online and even in UK-wide press such as The Guardian, whose headline says what they want – “Kate Forbes’ religious beliefs could stall her bid to succeed Sturgeon”.

Here is the problem: Kate Forbes is a young, intelligent, woman who has already shown she is the most competent politician of her generation. The trouble is that for those who now mainly control the civic elites in Scotland she is not the ‘right sort’ of woman. She is a Christian who belongs to the Free Church of Scotland and is unashamed of her faith.

In an interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson in 2021, she could not have been clearer: “To be straight, I believe in the person of Jesus Christ. I believe that he died for me, he saved me and that my calling is to serve and to love him and to serve and love my neighbours with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. So that, for me, is essential to my being. Politics will pass. I was a person before I was a politician, and that person will continue to believe that I am made in the image of God.”

This week she was asked whether she would have voted for same-sex marriage, and she honestly admitted ‘no’. Everyone from The Times to The Guardian thinks that this has blown up her campaign – although I suspect the wish is father to the thought. Same-sex marriage is not up for debate in the Scottish Parliament. There is no chance it will be voted on in the next Scottish Parliament. It is a non-issue compared with the NHS, the economy, poverty etc. The only reason is to damn Kate Forbes for who she is, not what she will do.

Because of her experience with the poor in India, where her parents were working in a Christian charity, that is Forbes’s big concern. But the SNP establishment has been taken over by the progressives who now enjoy the gravy train that comes along with being in almost total control of Scottish government patronage. They were never going to let that be disrupted by such mundane issues as poverty, the economy, the NHS, housing, drugs deaths and education. According to Toni Giugliano, the SNP’s policy chief, the important issues include legislation on gender recognition, assisted suicide, abortion buffer zones and sex workers’ rights. Forget the poor.

Part of Kate’s concern for the poor is her concern for the unborn. This week some of the Scottish media and Twitterati were up in arms because of a speech she gave in 2018 to a charity run by Stagecoach co-founder Brian Souter. What did she say that was dredged up from the past that was so outrageous? “May our politicians recognise that the way we treat the most vulnerable – whether the unborn or the terminally ill – is a measure of true progress.” Imagine that! Being condemned as unfit to lead because of such a statement!

It is interesting that the only candidate who is being subjected to this kind of questioning and the inevitable Twitter mob abuse, is the young Christian woman. Her main rival, Humza Yousaf, is never questioned about whether he accepts the Quran and its views on polygamy, domestic violence or the treatment of unbelievers. Why? Because nothing else matters to the Woke than their doctrines. To question them is blasphemy.

Which is ironic because Humza Yousaf as justice minister introduced Scotland’s notorious Hate Crime laws in 2021, which in effect brought in a new law of blasphemy for anyone who dared to question the ‘protected characteristics’ determined by the Scottish government. The irony is that this draconian law could and should be used to deal with the hate being poured out towards Kate Forbes because of her religion. But of course, that was not what it was designed for.

In terms of the New Religion which has now become State doctrine, Kate Forbes is deemed to be a heretic. A new Test Act has been introduced into British politics. Accept the approved State dogmas – or you are out. Christian politicians have tried to operate a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy – even to the point of lying or denying their beliefs. But it’s getting harder. We are moving into a world where having the wrong opinion, never mind expressing it, can get you fired. I remember one journalist who interviewed me about transgenderism a few years ago. She told me that she agreed with me but that it would be more than her job was worth to do anything other than write a condemnatory piece about me.

As I watch the hate campaign being poured out from the usual quarters (sadly aided and abetted by some professing Christians) I am saddened that what I saw coming four years ago has now arrived.

Nicola Sturgeon lost her job, partly because of the insanity of her transgender policy, so the initiators of that policy are getting their revenge. But it’s not just the pettiness…which includes jibes about Forbes being a woman with a young family (so much for gender equality!) …it’s the fundamentalistic narrowness of it all. If you do not buy into the new religion, or at least publicly bow the knee, you are out. No matter your skills, abilities, policies or any such political nuances. In the new fundamentalist Scotland, ideology is everything.

Kevin McKenna, one of Scotland’s top journalists has recognised this, calling the targeting of Kate Forbes because of her faith ‘Scotland’s shame’.

In a paragraph worth quoting in full he argues: “Ms Forbes’ views on the sanctity of all human life from conception until death is a fundamental pillar of both Christian and Muslim belief. As is her belief – based on science – that sex is binary. The treatment that she’s already beginning to receive offers further evidence of the poison now circulating at the top of the SNP. That you’re free to be whoever you want to be, just so long as you’re not a Christian.”

Pray for Kate Forbes. In a normal world she would win this contest – her opponent has already failed in three ministerial portfolios. But this is a twisted world where being a Christian who believes what Jesus says is enough to get you cancelled. Who knows but that the world of the Twitterati and Scottish politics may not represent the wider constituency of the 100,000 SNP members who will vote?

However, we know that whatever happens the Lord is in control, Kate is in good hands. She has already won – because her life is defined by Christ and his ultimate victory, not by political victories. Kate Forbes has borne faithful witness to Christ and shown the people of Scotland a better way than the way of hate she is facing. I am thankful for her… and proud of our sister!

David Robertson 

David Robertson leads The ASK Project in Sydney, Australia. He blogs at The Wee Flea.

https://www.christiantoday.com/article/kate.forbes.would.a.christian.be.permitted.to.lead.scotland/139870.htm