Tag Archives: faith

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – His Great Love for Us

November 17, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

A dear friend and Christian leader from another country hated and resented his father, who was an alcoholic. Through the years, my friends had been humiliated and embarrassed by his father’s conduct. He wanted nothing to do with him.

As he grew more and more mature in his faith, and the Christlike qualities began to develop in his life, he began to realize that his attitude toward his father was wrong. He knew well that God’s Word commanded him to love and honor his mother and father, with no conditions.

Then he began to comprehend and experience the truth of loving by faith after a message which he had heard me give. As a result, he went to his father and, as an act of the will, by faith – because at that point he did not honestly feel like doing so – he expressed his love.

He was amazed to discover that his father had been hurt for years because he had sensed that his son despised and rejected him.

When the son began to demonstrate love for him – to assure him that he cared for him, whether he drank or did not drink – it prompted the father to commit his life to Christ and to trust Him to help him overcome the problem which had plagued him most of his life.

Through this new relationship with the Lord, my friend’s father became a new creature and was able to gain victory over the addiction to alcohol several years before he died – a dramatic example of the power of love.

Bible Reading: Romans 5:9-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Knowing Christ’s great love for me, I will claim His supernatural love for others today

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Today’s Blessings

November 17, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

It’s hard to be saved if you’re not first lost. Similarly, it’s difficult to be thankful if you don’t understand the gift that’s been given to you. When you are self-centered, you tend to be oblivious to everyday blessings and focus on the wrong things.

When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body…Do this in remembrance of me.”

I Corinthians 11:24

The apostle Paul reprimanded the Corinthians for abusing the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. They had turned the remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice into a potluck dinner where the rich served themselves but left the poor in their congregation hungry and wanting. It was a time to remember what Jesus had done for them…a time for spiritual growth and blessing for all.

Christ came and died for you; it was not His life or His teachings that saved the sinner from sin, but His death and resurrection. In response, the believer should approach the Communion service with an unselfish heart and with great thanksgiving.

The tendency to concentrate on issues that bother you instead of looking to Jesus and seeing today’s blessings – spiritual, physical and material – makes for an ungrateful person. Pray for that not to be true in your life or in the lives of those who lead this nation.

Charles Stanley – Guilty No More

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

Romans 5:8-9

How can we say that the Lord has declared us “not guilty” of our sin? The first thing we have to understand is that this act was completely God’s doing. We can do absolutely nothing to remove the stain of our own sin. It is for this reason that the Father sent His Son into the world.

The one satisfactory payment for sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and because God wanted to spare us that punishment, He provided the only way out. He gave the perfect sacrifice: His son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:8).

What did this loving act accomplish? It enabled us to approach almighty God as clean, pure, and holy men and women. Our purity is not related to anything we ourselves have done; it is due exclusively to the fact that we have been purified in Jesus’ blood. That’s why we can say we have been “washed in the blood,” which is the only way the stain of sin can be removed.

When we come into a saving relationship with Jesus, the first thing to happen is that we are justified—in other words, God declares us “not guilty.” This means that as believers, we can stand in the presence of a perfect, holy God, because He now sees us as His own children.

Am I saying we’ll never sin? No. However, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, the penalty for all of our sin—past, present, and future—has been paid, and we will never face God’s condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Thank your heavenly Father today, not only for forgiving your sin, but also for freeing you from the burden of guilt.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — To Whom It Is Due

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Romans 13:1-10

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. —Romans 13:7

My husband and I live in a rural area surrounded by farms where this slogan is popular: “If you ate a meal today, thank a farmer.” Farmers definitely deserve our gratitude. They do the hot, hard work of tilling soil, planting seeds, and harvesting the food that keeps us from starving to death.

But every time I thank a farmer, I also try to remember to offer praise to God, for He is the One responsible for producing the food we eat. He gives light, sends rain, and creates the energy within the seed that gives it the strength to push through the soil and produce fruit.

Although the earth and everything in it belong to God (Ps. 24:1), He has chosen humans to be its caretakers. We are responsible to use the earth’s resources as He would use them—to do His work in the world (115:16). And just as we are stewards of God’s physical creation, we also are stewards of His design for society. We do this by respecting those He has placed in authority, by paying taxes, by giving honor to those who have earned it, and by continuing to pay our debt of love (Rom. 13:7-8). But one thing we reserve for God: All praise and glory belong to Him, for He is the One who makes everything possible (Ps. 96:8). —Julie Ackerman Link

Sing praise to God who reigns above,

The God of all creation,

The God of power, the God of love,

The God of our salvation. —Schütz

God’s unsearchable ways deserve our unbounded praise.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Our All-Sufficient Portion

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul.

Lamentations 3:24

It does not say, “The Lord is partly my portion,” nor “The Lord is in my portion”; but He Himself makes up the sum total of my soul’s inheritance. Within the circumference of that circle lies all that we possess or desire.

The Lord is my portion. Not His grace merely, nor His love, nor His covenant, but Jehovah Himself. He has chosen us for His portion, and we have chosen Him for ours.

It is true that the Lord must first choose our inheritance for us, or else we will never choose it for ourselves; but if we are really called according to the purpose of electing love, we can sing-

Lov’d of my God for Him again

With love intense I burn;

Chosen of Him ere time began,

I choose Him in return.

The Lord is our all-sufficient portion. God fills Himself; and if God is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be all-sufficient for us. It is not easy to satisfy man’s desires. When he dreams that he is satisfied, instantly he wakes to the perception that there is still something more, and his longings remain unfulfilled.

But for the believer all that we can wish for is to be found in our divine portion, so that we ask, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.”1 We can then delight ourselves in the Lord who allows us to drink of the river of His pleasures.

Our faith stretches her wings and soars like an eagle into the heaven of divine love, her proper dwelling-place. “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”2 Let us rejoice in the Lord always; let us show the world that we are a happy and a blessed people and cause them to exclaim, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

1 Psalm 73:25 2 Psalm 16:6

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – God’s barriers against man’s sin

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.” Jeremiah 5:22-23

John MacArthur – Stepping out in Faith

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8).

Abraham is the classic example of the life of faith. As the father of the Jewish nation, he was the most strategic example of faith available to the writer of Hebrews. But the people to whom Hebrews was written needed to understand that Abraham was more than the father of their race; he also was, by example, the father of everyone who lives by faith in God (Rom. 4:11).

Contrary to popular first-century Jewish thought, God didn’t choose Abraham because he was righteous in himself. When called by God, Abraham was a sinful man living in an idolatrous society. His home was in the Chaldean city of Ur, which was located in ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

God’s call to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3: “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Note Abraham’s response: “So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him” (v. 4). He listened, trusted, and obeyed. His pilgrimage of faith began when he separated himself from the pleasures of a pagan land to pursue God’s plan for his life.

So it is with you if you’re a man or woman of true faith. You’ve forsaken sinful pleasures to follow Christ. And as your love for Christ increases, there’s a corresponding decrease in worldly desires.

I pray your focus will continually be on fulfilling God’s will for your life, and that you’ll always know the joy and assurance that comes from following Him.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Ask God for the grace and spiritual fortitude to walk by faith today.

For Further Study:

Memorize 1 John 2:15 as a reminder to remain separate from the world.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Gives the Victory

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57, KJV).

In our busy lives, yours and mine, there are days when victory seems an impossibility. Heartaches, trials, burdens, or just the ordinary cares of the day, all seem foreign to the idea of being victorious.

And yet the fact remains that we are “more than conquerors” even when we do not feel like it. God graciously allows His children to be human and to express our doubts and fears when suffering and pain and testing and trial seem to overwhelm us.

“I have to be very honest,” confessed Joyce Landorf, well-known Christian author and speaker, during a long period of illness. “One of the things I have learned from severe pain is that I have felt totally abandoned by God. I didn’t think he’d let that happen to me, but He has.

“And maybe the feeling of abandonment when pain is at its writhing best..maybe that’s what makes it so sweet after the pain goes and the Lord says, ‘I was here all the time. I haven’t left you. I will never forsake you.’ Now those words get sweeter to me because I know what it has felt like to not feel His presence.”

We do not have all the answers, but we know one who does. And that is where our victory begins – acknowledging (1) that God is a God of love, one who never makes a mistake, and (2) he will never leave us or forsake us.

Bible Reading: Romans 7:18-25

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will consider myself a victor, whatever may transpire, because I serve the victorious one

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Strong Strands

November 16, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Imagine a strand of wire about as thick as the lead of a pencil. It might be strong enough to support the weight of a few hundred pounds…maybe. Now think about the Brooklyn Bridge. It weighs about 15,000 tons, stretches for more than a mile, and has stood for 130 years. You would consider the wire ordinary and the bridge magnificent. But the Brooklyn Bridge is made mostly of those thin strands of wire, thousands of them intricately laid together. “The strength of the finished cable,” wrote historian David McCollough in The Great Bridge, “would depend on getting each strand into its exact, particular position.”

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Christians often overlook the importance of unity, but believers in Jesus are “called in one body.” You are an integral part of God’s plan to bring people into relationship with Him, and others will be drawn to the Savior through you…but only when you are in the particular position God has for you. Your spiritual strength is maximized when you work with other believers as the Lord intended.

May America’s Christian leaders and citizens not be seen as frayed and splayed, but as one body – united and strong!

Ravi Zacharias – Will and Impulse

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Author Daniel Goleman wrote a best-selling book in 1995 called Emotional Intelligence. He begins that book with the heart-stirring story of Gary and Mary Jean Chauncey who were in the Amtrak train that went down over a bridge into swirling waters which swallowed up the lives of many. They themselves were trapped in their compartment as they tried desperately to save their eleven year-old wheelchair ridden daughter Andrea. They succeeded in saving her life, and they did so at the cost of their own.

In describing this noble act, Goleman points out that such emotionally charged moments do not give birth to impulse in a vacuum, but rather it is the outworking of a commitment to certain values and truths already made in one’s life. I believe Goleman is right in this sense. What is most obvious in the love and commitment of these parents to their young one is that passionate commitments never stand alone; they stand on the foundation of a worldview.

I mention this holding thought of many wars and much heartache around the globe, killings, insurgencies, and other manmade devastations. We shake our heads in disbelief that murderous and cruel individuals can masquerade throughout the world as heroes and saviors. They are not. They are destroyers of lives, addicted to hate and power. The truth is that many have wedded hate to their own selfish wills, and once hate lives in the human heart reason dies.

In fact, this is why Jesus said that it is not murder that is the crime; it is hate, the foundation where it all begins. He said that it is not adultery that makes a relationship wrong; it is the lust from where it all begins. You see, our actions do not come just by impulse. They come by a system of values to which our lives are deeply committed. Murderers and masterminds of violence and oppression are rarely emotionally deranged people; they are morally perverted. Their thinking is destructive and their emotions follow.

There is a simple lesson here. We must learn to think righteously if we are to act righteously. We must think justly and honorably and mercifully if we are to act with goodness and honor and mercy. And for this kind of strength, only God’s power is big enough. I hope your life and mine can learn to think God’s thoughts. Only then can hate be conquered and life be lived with truth and love.

Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Stanley – Understanding Guilty Feelings

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

James 2:10

Think about how you feel when doing something you know you shouldn’t. Most likely a stinging conscience makes you realize that you feel guilty.

What is guilt? Perhaps you think of it as a nagging sense that the Lord is out to get you. Or you might feel isolated from God or others because of some dark cloud of regret. Obviously, there are different ways to interpret guilt; identifying exactly what it is will allow us to move ahead on the road to spiritual maturity.

When our behavior is in conflict with guidance from the Spirit of God residing in us, we will experience an emotional response. That’s all guilt is: emotional pain caused by something we have done. Put another way, guilt describes our taking responsibility for doing wrong, whether it be a thought, action, careless word, or something else.

While it is good to have this inner alarm, we have to guard against the inclination to wallow in shame. At times we behave so badly that we’re completely overcome with remorse, and we refuse to let the waves of regret pass by. We might punish ourselves by wading in those troubled waters for a while.

When these times come, we must remember that Jesus Christ has paid the debt for all our sin. This means that He has already paid the price of our wrongdoing, and we have been found “not guilty.” As our sin lies dead at the cross, so does our guilt. While we must always take responsibility for our actions, we have the freedom in Christ to do so without the burden of unhealthy regret.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – By His Sovereign Choice

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

But the Lord’s portion is his people.

Deuteronomy 32:9

How are they His? By His own sovereign choice. He chose them and set His love upon them. He did this completely apart from any goodness in them at the time or any goodness that He foresaw in them.

He had mercy on whom He would have mercy and ordained a chosen company to eternal life; in this way, therefore, they are His by His unconstrained election.

They are not only His by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them completely, and so there can be no dispute about His title.

Not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord’s portion has been fully redeemed.

There is no mortgage on His estate; no lawsuits can be raised by opposing claimants. The price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord’s estate forever. See the blood-mark upon all the chosen, invisible to the human eye but known to Christ, for “the Lord knows those who are his.”1

He forgets none of those whom He has redeemed from among men; He counts the sheep for whom He laid down His life and remembers carefully the Church for which He gave Himself.

They are also His by conquest. What a battle He had in us before we would be won! How long He laid siege to our hearts! How often He sent us terms of surrender, but we barred our gates and built our walls against Him.

Do we not remember that glorious hour when He carried our hearts by storm, when He placed His cross against the wall and scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood-red flag of His omnipotent mercy? Yes, we are indeed the conquered captives of His omnipotent love. As those chosen, who have been purchased and subdued, we know that the rights of our divine possessor are inalienable: We rejoice that we can never be our own; and we desire, day by day, to do His will and to declare His glory.

1 2 Timothy 2:19

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Awake! Awake!

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Suggested Further Reading: Titus 1:7- 2:8

“Let us watch.” There are many that never watch. They never watch against sin; they never watch against the temptations of the enemy; they do not watch against themselves, nor against “the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life.” They do not watch for opportunities to do good, they do not watch for opportunities to instruct the ignorant, to confirm the weak, to comfort the afflicted, to succour them that are in need; they do not watch for opportunities of glorifying Jesus, or for times of communion; they do not watch for the promises; they do not watch for answers to their prayers; they do not watch for the second coming of our Lord Jesus. These are the refuse of the world: they watch not, because they are asleep. But let us watch: so shall we prove that we are not slumberers. Again: let us “be sober.” Albert Barnes says, this most of all refers to abstinence, or temperance in eating and drinking. Calvin says, not so: this refers more especially to the spirit of moderation in the things of the world. Both are right: it refers to both. There be many that are not sober; they sleep, because they are not so; for insobriety leadeth to sleep. They are not sober—they are drunkards, they are gluttons. They are not sober—they cannot be content to do a little business—they want to do a great deal. They are not sober—they cannot carry on a trade that is sure—they must speculate. They are not sober—if they lose their property, their spirit is cast down within them, and they are like men that are drunken with wormwood. If on the other hand, they get rich, they are not sober: they so set their affections upon things on earth that they become intoxicated with pride.

For meditation: The Christian in the pew should aim at the same standards as those which he expects to see in the Christian in the pulpit (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Sermon no. 163

15 November (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Rebuking the World

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

“By faith Noah…condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb 11:7).

Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Before moving in judgment against the most evil and corrupt society in history, God appointed Noah to build an ark, which became a symbol of life and salvation to all who believed God. For those who disbelieved, it represented impending death and judgment.

Concurrent with constructing the ark, Noah preached about coming judgment. Peter called him “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), and every board he cut and nail he drove in was a living illustration of the urgency of his message.

God’s warning was stern and His message horrifying, but His patience and mercy prevailed for 120 years. As Peter said, “The patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark” (1 Pet. 3:20). The people had ample warning of judgment, but they chose to disregard Noah’s message.

As sad as the account of Noah’s day is, perhaps the greatest tragedy is that man’s attitude toward God hasn’t changed since then. Jesus said, “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39).

Like Noah, you are to proclaim righteousness to an evil and perverse generation by your works and your life. Be faithful to do so even if people don’t want to listen. After 120 years of diligent work and faithful preaching by Noah, only eight people entered the ark. But God’s purposes were accomplished and the human race was preserved.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Sometimes you’ll encounter people who scoff at God’s judgment and mock your testimony. Don’t be discouraged. Pray for them and be available to minister to them whenever possible.

For Further Study:

Read 2 Peter 3. What effect should the prospect of future judgment have on your present behavior?

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Overwhelming Love

November 15, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“But despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us” (Romans 8:37).

Today I prayed with a beloved friend who is dying of cancer. As he and his precious wife and I held hands, we lifted our voices in praise to God, knowing that He makes no mistakes, that “all things work together for good to those who love Him,” and that he is fully aware of my brother’s body riddled with pain as a result of cancerous cells that are on a warpath. Together we claimed that victory which comes from an unwavering confidence in Christ’s sufficiency.

The victory comes, of course, through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. Such love is beyond our ability to grasp with our minds, but it is not beyond our ability to experience with our hearts. God’s love is unconditional and it is constant. Because He is perfect, His love is perfect, too.

The Scriptures tell of a certain lawyer who asked Jesus, “Sir, which is the most important command in the Law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

The question may come to your mind: “Why does God want our love?”

From a human standpoint, this could appear selfish and egotistical. But God, in His sovereignty and love, has so created man that he finds his greatest joy and fulfillment when he loves God with all his heart and soul and mind, and his neighbor as himself.

Early in my Christian life, I was troubled over the command to love God so completely. But now the Holy Spirit has filled my heart with God’s love. And as I meditate on the “overwhelming victory” that He gives us, I find my love for Him growing.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:35-39

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: His great love and “overwhelming victory” for me prompts me to respond with supernatural love for Him and for others

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Lessons from My Grandfather

November 14, 2013 broboinhawaii 1 Comment

Deuteronomy 4:9

Every generation is faced with the choice to live morally or immorally. For this reason, parents and grandparents have an awesome responsibility to pass down the biblical truths and principles that have guided their own lives. I can personally attest to the impact my grandfather’s words had in shaping the way I think.

When I graduated from high school at the age of 17, I decided to visit my granddad, whom I had seen only two times in my life. I had an entire week to spend at his home, and all I wanted to do was listen to him. As he spoke to me, the thing that impressed me above all else was hearing him say, “Charles, obey God. If He tells you to run your head through a brick wall, start for the wall. As you go to put your head through, God will make a hole for it.”

He knew a lot about brick walls and how the Lord makes holes in them. Though his youthful passion had been to preach, he’d had so little schooling that this dream seemed impossible—he didn’t know how to begin. But what my grandfather did was to get on his knees. Then he opened his Bible and learned to read well by practicing. And he began to preach by simply crying out to the Lord for help.

From those humble beginnings, my grandfather began to minister, and he eventually established numerous churches as God presented opportunities. That week of visiting and sharing taught me that when you really want to do the Lord’s will, He will move heaven and earth to show you the way.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — On Helping Others

November 14, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

Leviticus 19:9-15

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. —Leviticus 19:9

When snowstorms bury the grazing lands, ranchers must feed their herds by hand. As hay is tossed from wagons and trucks, the strongest animals bull their way to the front. Timid or sickly animals get little or no feed unless the rancher intervenes.

Workers in refugee camps and food pantries report a similar pattern. When they open their stores to those in need, the weak and timid may not make it to the front of the line. Like the ranchers, these human lifelines must take steps to ensure that their services reach the feeble, weary, and sick at the edge of society’s attention.

They are carrying out a principle set forth by God long ago. In Leviticus 19, Moses instructed Israel’s farmers and vintners to leave portions of their crops so the poor and the stranger could have something to eat (vv.9-10).

We too can serve as caretakers to the weak and weary. Whether we’re teachers coaxing quiet students to open up, workers coming alongside a struggling co-worker, prisoners looking out for new arrivals, or parents showing attention to their children, we have ways to honor God by helping others.

As we seek to serve those in need, may the grace of God that reached us in our need move us to reach out to others in theirs. —Randy Kilgore

Father, open my eyes to those struggling to have

enough food, enough love, enough hope; then open my

heart to find ways to help them receive love, using my

hands in service to them—and through them, to You.

By serving others, we serve God.

Bible in a year: Lamentations 3-5; Hebrews 10:19-39

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The evil and its remedy

November 14, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great.” Ezekiel 9:9“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Joyce Meyer – The Gifts of Healing

November 14, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

To another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit.—1 Corinthians 12:9

The gifts of healing work with the gift of faith. Although all believers are encouraged to pray for the sick and see them recover (see Mark 16:17–18), the Holy Spirit does distribute extraordinary gifts of healing to some people, just as He gives other spiritual gifts to certain people.

In our conferences we often pray for people and see many wonderful healings. We have received stacks of testimonies and reports of confirmed physical healings over the years. I pray the prayer of faith during our conferences and on our broadcasts and I believe by faith that God is working.

When a person receives healing through a spiritual gift, that healing may not be evident immediately. Healing can be a process that works somewhat like medicine. It is necessary to receive it by faith and believe it is working. The results often become visible later. I often encourage people to say, “The healing power of God is working in me right now.”

We should trust God in the area of our health. I thank God for doctors and medicine when I need it, but Jesus is our Healer (see Isaiah 53:5).

God’s word for you today: God is your physician and His Word is your medicine. Ask Him to heal you in every way.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Abundant, Supernatural Life

November 14, 2013 broboinhawaii Leave a comment

“Even so, consider yourself to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11, NAS).

My friend Randy had given up on the Christian life. He said, “I have tried, but failed so many times; nothing seems to work. God doesn’t hear my prayers, and I am tired of trying. I’ve read the Bible, prayed, memorized Scripture, and gone to church. But there is no joy and I don’t see any purpose in continuing a life of shame and hypocrisy, pretending I am something that I’m not.”

After listening to his account of his many failures and defeats, I began to explain the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He interrupted me with, “I know all about the Holy Spirit. I’ve read everything I can find, everything you and others have written – and nothing works for me.”

My thoughts turned to Romans, chapter 6. I asked him, “Randy, are you sure you’re a Christian?”

“Yes,” he answered. “I’m sure.”

“How do you know?”

“By faith,” he responded. “The Scripture promises, ‘For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.’ I know I’m saved.”

“Why,” I asked him, “do you trust God for your salvation, but do not believe in His other promises concerning your rights as a child of God?”

I began to read from Romans 6 and reminded Randy that every believer has available to him the mighty, supernatural power of the risen Christ. With the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the believer can live that supernatural life simply by claiming his rights through an act of his will. The same Holy Spirit who inspired Ephesians 2:8 and 9 inspired Romans 6, and, by faith, we can claim that sin no longer has control over us and that the mighty power of the resurrection is available as promised.

That day, God touched Randy’s life, his spiritual eyes were opened and he began, by faith, to live in accordance with his God-given heritage.

Bible Reading: Romans 6:12-18

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today, by faith, I will claim the truths of Romans 6. As an act of my will, I surrender the members of my body as instruments of righteousness unto God, to live that abundant, supernatural life, which is my heritage in Christ. Enabled by the Holy Spirit, I will encourage other believers to claim their kingdom rights, and non-believers to join this adventure with the risen Savior

DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION

Tag Archives: faith

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – His Great Love for Us

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Today’s Blessings

Charles Stanley – Guilty No More

Our Daily Bread — To Whom It Is Due

Alistair Begg – Our All-Sufficient Portion

Charles Spurgeon – God’s barriers against man’s sin

John MacArthur – Stepping out in Faith

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Gives the Victory

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Strong Strands

Ravi Zacharias – Will and Impulse

Charles Stanley – Understanding Guilty Feelings

Alistair Begg – By His Sovereign Choice

Charles Spurgeon – Awake! Awake!

John MacArthur – Rebuking the World

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Overwhelming Love

Charles Stanley – Lessons from My Grandfather

Our Daily Bread — On Helping Others

Charles Spurgeon – The evil and its remedy

Joyce Meyer – The Gifts of Healing

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Abundant, Supernatural Life

Scriptures, Lessons, News and Links to help you survive.