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From Worship to War – Greg Laurie

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Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.”—Acts 17:6

Wherever the apostle Paul went, something was happening. Usually it was either a conversion or a riot. But there seldom was a dull moment.

In Acts 14, we find Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, preaching to people who turned from worship to war. The Greek culture was filled with many gods. And there was a tradition in Lystra that the gods Zeus and Hermes once came to earth, incognito. When they arrived in Lystra, they asked for food and lodging, but everyone refused them. Finally, an old peasant took in these two gods, and all the inhospitable neighbors were drowned in a flood that was sent by the vengeful gods. The peasant and his wife were blessed by their gods, and their humble cottage was turned into a great temple. After their deaths, they were turned into two stately trees.

This was folklore, but the people believed it. So when Paul and Barnabas came along, and God was performing miracles through them, the people thought Zeus and Hermes had returned. So they began to worship them.

But their worship turned to war: “Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe” (Acts 14:19–20).

G. Campbell Morgan said, “Organized Christianity that fails to make a disturbance is dead.”

I think sometimes that instead of our turning the world upside down, the world is turning us upside down. Instead of us impacting our culture, our culture is impacting us. What we need more of today is a holy disturbance. And if we are not making a disturbance, then something isn’t right.

 

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What Are We Missing? – Max Lucado

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Jesus declared:  “I am in the father and the Father is in me.”  (John 14:10).  It was as if he heard a voice others were missing.

I witnessed something similar on an airplane.  I kept hearing outbursts of laughter.  The flight was turbulent, hardly a reason for humor.  But some fellow behind me was cracking up.  I turned to see what was so funny.  He was wearing headphones. Because he could hear what I could not, he acted differently than I did.

The same was true with Jesus.  Remember when everyone was distraught about Lazarus’s illness?  Jesus wasn’t.  Rather than hurry to his friends’ bedside, he said,  “This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God.” (John 11:4).

Jesus knew something no one else did.  He had unbroken communion with his Father.  Do you suppose the Father desires the same for us?  God desires the same abiding intimacy with you that he has with his Son.

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Solving Problems through Prayer – Charles Stanley

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2 Chronicles 20:1-13

The cultural emphasis on “self “ has bred a prayer crisis. Too many believers focus on a problem or its perceived solution instead of making God the center of their attention. Second Chronicles 20 shows us a better way.

King Jehoshaphat faced a dire situation: “a great multitude” approaching quickly to overthrow him. If he had wrung his hands and wailed instead of concentrating on God’s promises and past provision, Jerusalem might have been wiped out as the Moabites and Ammonites intended.

The king magnified the Lord’s greatness, recalling for himself and his people many divine triumphs. In that way, he was able to bolster the Israelites’ courage and prepare them for whatever solution God proposed.

Through the words of his powerful entreaty, Jehoshaphat revealed his firm belief that no problem—not even three fast-approaching murderous armies—is bigger than the Lord of the universe. The Israelite army was powerless against such an onslaught, but the king refused to give in to his initial fear and despair. “Our eyes are on You,” he pledged. In other words, “We know You have a plan, and we are waiting to hear what to do.” Seeking the Lord’s will and His best way is a priority for those who want to solve problems through prayer.

God doesn’t want us to pray casually, “Lord, please solve my problem. Amen!” and then rush into our day, thinking we’ve done well to unload our difficulty onto Him. If He’s going to solve a problem, we should have our ears and mind open to receive His answer—and our heart ready to obey.

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Our Daily Bread — Wait

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1 Samuel 13:7-14

Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you.” —1 Samuel 13:13

In an act of impatience, a man in San Francisco, California, tried to beat traffic by swerving around a lane of cars that had come to a stop. However, the lane he pulled into had just been laid with fresh cement, and his Porsche 911 got stuck. This driver paid a high price for his impatience.

The Scriptures tell of a king who also paid a high price for his impatience. Eager for God to bless the Israelites in their battle against the Philistines, Saul acted impatiently. When Samuel did not arrive at the appointed time to offer a sacrifice for God’s favor, Saul became impatient and disobeyed God’s command (1 Sam. 13:8-9,13). Impatience led Saul to think he was above the law and to take on an unauthorized position of priest. He thought he could disobey God without serious consequences. He was wrong.

When Samuel arrived, he rebuked Saul for his disobedience and prophesied that Saul would lose the kingdom (vv.13-14). Saul’s refusal to wait for the development of God’s plan caused him to act in haste, and in his haste he lost his way (see Prov. 19:2). His impatience was the ultimate display of a lack of faith.

The Lord will provide His guiding presence as we wait patiently for Him to bring about His will. —Marvin Williams

Tune your anxious heart to patience,

Walk by faith where sight is dim;

Loving God, be calm and trustful

And leave everything to Him. —Chambers

 

Patience means awaiting God’s time and trusting God’s love.

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Wonderful Life – Ravi Zacharias Ministry

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“I know what I’m going to do for the next year, and the next year, and the year after that…I’m going to shake the dust off of this crummy old town and I’m going to see the world.”(1)

Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” is the classic film of Christmas holiday fare. It’s ubiquity on the airwaves belies its dismal performance at the box office when it was first released just after World War II.(2) Capra’s film follows the life of George Bailey in his small town. And while the film has a happy ending, it exposes the creeping despair and bitterness that comes from the loss of George’s dreams. The film offers a powerful visual of the gap that forms between knowing what George will do “the next year and the year after that” and the reality of living that leaves him wondering whether his is a wonderful life.

Despite the film’s often saccharine sentimentality, it nevertheless presents a realistic picture of lost or abandoned dreams. Like the film’s main character, George Bailey, many of us had dreams of “seeing the world” and “kicking the dust off” of our ordinary lives and existence. Our ideal plans and goals called us out into an ever-expanding future of possibility and adventure.

In this sense, “It’s a Wonderful Life” offers all who enter into its narrative a chance to look into the chasm between many cherished ideals and the often sober reality of our lives. This glimpse into what is often a gaping chasm of lost hopes and abandoned dreams offers a frightening opportunity to let go. Indeed, facing the death of ones’ dreams head on forces a moment of decision. Will we become bitter by fixating on what has been lost, or will we walk forward in hope on a path of yet unseen possibility?

For Christians, the journey through Lent offers a visible and living reminder of the fact that life entails death; it cannot be circumnavigated or avoided. Those who follow the path of Lent are presented with a similar decision: will the giving up of aspects we believe essential to our vision of a wonderful life lead us to bitterness or to hope? The discipline of Lent often reveals hands grasped tightly and tenaciously around ideals that must give way to new realities. Author M. Craig Barnes suggests that the journey away from our own sense of what makes for a wonderful life is actually the process of conversion. “It is impossible to follow Jesus and not be led away from something. That journey away from the former places and toward the new place is what converts us. Conversion is not simply the acceptance of a theological formula for eternal salvation. Of course it is that, but it is so much more. It is the discovery of God’s painful, beautiful, ongoing creativity along the way in our lives.”(3)

Lent takes those who seek to follow Jesus on an unwanted journey to the cross, and it extends an invitation to follow his example of willing surrender. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall save it.”  As Jesus prophesied to Peter, this invitation is to a place “where you do not wish to go” (John 21:18). The journey away from “the former place” is hard because we don’t want to abandon the places we think make for wonderful lives.

Yet, if we want to follow Jesus, we will have to abandon many, perhaps even all, of these cherished notions for our lives. We can choose to follow Jesus in his painful, beautiful death march to Golgotha—to die so that we may live—or we can retreat into what appears to be safe and certain ways of life. Significantly, Barnes argues that a wonderful life on our own terms is not a realistic option. “In spite of all our carefulness and hard work, we probably will not achieve the life of our dreams. In fact, our dreams are precisely the things that have abandoned us. But it is then that we hear the invitation of Jesus Christ, ‘Now is the opportunity to step out, walk forward and give your life to God.’”(5) It is a frightening invitation, to be sure, but one indeed that offers the possibility of a wonderful life.

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

(1) Spoken by George Bailey in the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Frank Capra, RKO Productions 1946, 60th Anniversary Edition.

(2) “The Making of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life,’” narrated by Tom Bosley on “It’s A Wonderful Life: 60th Anniversary Edition,” Paramount Home Entertainment, 2006.

(3) M. Craig Barnes, When God Interrupts: Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 21.

(4) See Mark 8:27-38.

(5) M. Craig Barnes, 28.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of

Israel, to do it for them.” / Ezekiel 36:37

Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You have found this true in your own personal experience. God has given you many an unsolicited favour, but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great mercy with you. When you first found peace through the blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly interceding with God that he would remove your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the result of prayer. When at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing’s shadow. When the sunlight of God’s mercies rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, he himself shines behind them, and he casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until we have sought for them earnestly.

“Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw;

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;

Gives exercise to faith and love;

Brings every blessing from above.”

 

Evening  “He first findeth his own brother Simon.” / John 1:41

This case is an excellent pattern of all cases where spiritual life is vigorous. As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. I will not believe that thou hast tasted of the honey of the gospel if thou canst eat it all thyself. True grace puts an end to all spiritual monopoly. Andrew first found his own brother Simon, and then others. Relationship has a very strong demand upon our first individual efforts. Andrew, thou didst well to begin with Simon. I doubt whether there are not some Christians giving away tracts at other people’s houses who would do well to give away a tract at their own–whether there are not some engaged in works of usefulness abroad who are neglecting their special sphere of usefulness at home. Thou mayst or thou mayst not be called to evangelize the people in any particular locality, but certainly thou art called to see after thine own servants, thine own kinsfolk and acquaintance. Let thy religion begin at home. Many tradesmen export their best commodities–the Christian should not. He should have all his conversation everywhere of the best savour; but let him have a care to put forth the sweetest fruit of spiritual life and testimony in his own family. When Andrew went to find his brother, he little imagined how eminent Simon would become. Simon Peter was worth ten Andrews so far as we can gather from sacred history, and yet Andrew was instrumental in bringing him to Jesus. You may be very deficient in talent yourself, and yet you may be the means of drawing to Christ one who shall become eminent in grace and service. Ah! dear friend, you little know the possibilities which are in you. You may but speak a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian church in years to come. Andrew has only two talents, but he finds Peter. Go thou and do likewise.

 

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Avoiding Indiscriminate Love – John MacArthur

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I pray “that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment” (Phil. 1:9).

As a Christian, you are a repository of divine love. More than anything else, your love for God and for other believers marks you as a true disciple of Jesus Christ (John 13:35).

In addition to possessing God’s love, you have the privilege and responsibility of expressing it to others on His behalf. That’s a sacred trust. Paul qualifies it in Philippians 1:9, which tells us love is to operate within the sphere of biblical knowledge and spiritual discernment. Those are the parameters that govern God’s love.

No matter how loving an act or word might seem, if it violates knowledge and discernment, it is not true Christian love. Second John 5-11 illustrates that principle. Apparently some believers who lacked discernment were hosting false teachers in the name of Christian love and hospitality. John sternly warned them, saying, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring [sound doctrine], do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds” (vv. 10-11). That might sound extreme or unloving but the purity of God’s people was at stake.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:5-6 after praying for the Thessalonians’ love to increase, Paul then commanded them to keep aloof from so- called Christians who were disregarding sound teaching. That’s not contradictory because Christian love guards sound doctrine and holy living.

Unfortunately, today it is common for Christians to compromise doctrinal purity in the name of love and unity, or to brand as unloving some practices that Scripture clearly commands. Both are wrong and carry serious consequences if not corrected.

Be thoughtful in how you express your love. Abundantly supply it in accord with biblical knowledge and discernment. Excellence and righteousness will result (Phil. 1:10-11).

Suggestions for Prayer:  Thank God for the love He has given you through His Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

Ask for opportunities to demonstrate Christ’s love to others today.

Pray that your love will always be governed by deep convictions grounded in God’s truth.

For Further Study: What do the following passages teach about love? How might you apply them to your life?

Romans 12:8-10

Romans 5:5

1 John 4:7-10

Galatians 5:22

1 Peter 1:22; 4:8

 

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Gain through Pain – Greg Laurie

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Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow—James 1:2–3

I avoid pain at all costs. That is why I don’t run. I have tried running, and it hurts. People have told me, “Just run a little. Walk, and then run from here to there.” So I do it, and I hate it.

For me, the most ideal workout would be a pain-free one. I don’t want my muscles to be sore the next day. But as the expression goes, no pain, no gain. And what is true of working out is also true of life: no pain, no gain. If you are looking for a pain-free life, then you are not going to gain spiritually. You see, pain reminds us of a deeper need. Adversity teaches us eternal truths that we would not otherwise learn.

I experience a certain kind of pain every day. I don’t know if I would call it pain, but it is a hunger pang. From the moment I get up, I want to eat. And by 10:00, as lunchtime begins to roll around, I am basically hungry. So I wait, and I tell myself that lunch is coming. And that hunger pang reminds me of a deeper need.

When I have pain in my life, it reminds me of a deeper need, which is a need for God. And He will teach us lessons in those valleys that we would never learn on mountaintops: things we need to know and things we need to share with others.

Think about your life and about some of the greatest lessons you have learned. They have come through adversity, haven’t they? Those are the things you pass on and share with others. You remember those times when the Lord came through for you. And that is why we need to understand that God is in control of all these things.

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His Presence Never Diminishes – Max Lucado

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For years I viewed God as a compassionate CEO and my role as a loyal sales representative. He had his office, and I had my territory.  I could contact him as much as I wanted. He encouraged me, rallied behind me, and supported me, but he didn’t go with me. At least I didn’t think he did.

Then I read 2nd Corinthians 6:1:  we are “God’s fellow workers.”  Fellow workers?  Co-laborers?  God and I work together? Imagine the paradigm shift this truth creates. Rather than report to God, we work with God.Rather than check in with him and then leave, we check in with him and then follow. We are always in the presence of God. We never leave church. There is never a non-sacred moment.

His presence never diminishes. Our awareness of his presence may falter, but the reality of his presence never changes!

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Learning to Wait – Charles Stanley

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Psalm 25:20-21

What are we to think when God withholds His answer to a prayer? Most likely, you’ve wondered this at some point. As creatures stuck within time, we can find those ticking seconds very frustrating.

We must realize that God doesn’t see us simply in the here and now; He perceives the big picture all at once—where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. He knows exactly how every little decision, action, or blessing will impact our lives.

Do you think God wants to bring some- thing into your life that would absolutely destroy you? Of course not! He knows that what may be a tremendous blessing for you later could completely wreck your life now. For this reason, though the Lord hears your prayer, He often pauses to give you time to prepare for that blessing.

Learning to wait on God demands at least three things of us. First, we must be sensitive to Him. That is, we must nurture our relationship with the Father so we can hear Him when He says “Wait.” Second, we must trust His judgment. Does God know more than we do? Yes. Then we should trust Him. Third, we must be obedient to Him. If we try to make something happen on our own after God tells us to wait, then we’re heading for disaster. The Lord blesses obedience—even obedient waiting.

God doesn’t operate in a vacuum; He works within His relationship with you, on the basis of His omniscience, omnipotence, and love. Never forget He’s actively walking with you, even when He withholds an answer to prayer. It doesn’t mean He’s not there; it means He’s looking out for you even more.

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Our Daily Bread — The Power Of Demonstration

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1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The kingdom of God is not in word but in power. —1 Corinthians 4:20

For 2 decades, ecologist Mike Hands has worked to help farmers in Central America adopt more effective methods of growing their crops. It’s difficult, however, for them to abandon their long tradition of “slash and burn” agriculture, even though they know it destroys the soil and pollutes the air.

So instead of merely talking to them, Mike shows them a better way. In the documentary film Up in Smoke, he says: “It has to be demonstrated. You cannot preach it. You can’t describe it. People have got to be able to get their hands on it and see it.”

Paul took a similar approach to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wrote to the believers in Corinth, “My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4-5). Later in his letter, Paul told them again, “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power” (4:20).

As you live each day, ask God to help you accompany your words with actions. When we allow God to show Himself through us, it’s a powerful demonstration of His grace and love. —David McCasland

Allow us, Lord, to demonstrate

Our faith by what we do,

So that the gospel can be seen

By those who seek for You. —Sper

 

Our words need actions behind them.

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As Sure as the Sun – Ravi Zacharias Ministry

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Although it might be less obvious in some parts of the U.S., spring is around the corner. The crocuses are ready to announce themselves; the trees are whispering of new life. Once clandestine signs of spring are beginning to defy the last attempts of winter to hang on. The seasonal underdog begins to suggest brazenly that it again will triumph. With such optimistic signs abounding, it is strange for some of us to admit we find the season of spring a sobering time of year. The once stoic world around us is about to be in full bloom; all traces of winter are about to fade. Like the thawing of a frozen Narnia, the promise of rebirth announces itself. And there is something about it that spurs reflection, maybe even dismay, every time.

Perhaps it is simply that spring is somewhat shocking after the dead contrast of winter. It comes suddenly and almost scandalously, proclaiming the definitive end of a season that once seemed to have the final word. No matter how accustomed to the dead of winter we may have become, the vigor of spring will not be stopped, and we just might not feel ready for the metaphor. When all has seemed dead or dormant for so long, the possibility of new life is almost too much of a promise to let in—like beams of sunlight unleashed on exhausted eyelids. When one’s spirit feels lifeless within them, the budding hope of a suddenly resurrected forest proclaims a story that we may not be ready to hear.

This is one reason why I am grateful as a Christian for the season of Lent. The time leading up to the promise of Easter and the hope of resurrection is something like the early signs of spring. Indications of new life spring forth all around us, each with the shocking call that we must prepare ourselves for what is coming, reflect on the place of hope via the road of suffering, and face the forces and temptations that come at us along the way. It is not always easy to prepare one’s heart for the Cross of Christ, but the changing of seasons is upon us, and in it God beckons us forward. Henri Nouwen describes the tension eloquently:

“The season of Lent, during which winter and spring struggle with each other for dominance, helps us in a special way to cry out for God’s mercy.”(1)

For forty contemplative days, the season of Lent calls followers of Jesus to the wakeful awareness that we are human, we are dust, and we are falling short, but that there is a story reaching beyond our lifetimes, beyond our deaths, and our shortcomings, speaking new life where death stings and tears flow.

On the scene of a people who had lived with God’s silence for 400 years, this Jesus suddenly and scandalously appeared like a crocus in still-thawing ground. There had not been a word from God since the prophet Malachi. The heavens were cold and silent, and hope remained dormant within time’s wintry grasp. But beneath the frozen ground of apathy, sin, and death, the Spirit of God was stirring.  Spring was on its way. Lent invites us to stay awake to the knowledge that this hope is still so: “Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3). If God is the maker of all creation then every season has a purpose, and today we are waiting for spring.

Of course, the journey to the Cross may take the believer through bleak and despairing seasons that make sanctification seem an unending winter. But we are being drawn to the very Cross that held the harbinger of spring and the hope of resurrection. As surely as the sun rises he will appear—again.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Henri Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 43.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.” / Job 10:2

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never be discovered if it were not for thy trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a glow-worm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star–not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black foils in which God doth set the jewels of his children’s graces, to make them shine the better. It was but a little while ago that on thy knees thou wast saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.” Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?–for how canst thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised? Depend upon it, God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery, real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains his soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long mile with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which thou art passing? Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them grow? Is not this the reason why he is contending with you?

“Trials make the promise sweet;

Trials give new life to prayer;

Trials bring me to his feet,

Lay me low, and keep me there.”

 

Evening  “Father, I have sinned.” / Luke 15:18

It is quite certain that those whom Christ has washed in his precious blood need not make a confession of sin, as culprits or criminals, before God the Judge, for Christ has forever taken away all their sins in a legal sense, so that they no longer stand where they can be condemned, but are once for all accepted in the Beloved; but having become children, and offending as children, ought they not every day to go before their heavenly Father and confess their sin, and acknowledge their iniquity in that character? Nature teaches that it is the duty of erring children to make a confession to their earthly father, and the grace of God in the heart teaches us that we, as Christians, owe the same duty to our heavenly Father. We daily offend, and ought not to rest without daily pardon. For, supposing that my trespasses against my Father are not at once taken to him to be washed away by the cleansing power of the Lord Jesus, what will be the consequence? If I have not sought forgiveness and been washed from these offences against my Father, I shall feel at a distance from him; I shall doubt his love to me; I shall tremble at him; I shall be afraid to pray to him: I shall grow like the prodigal, who, although still a child, was yet far off from his father. But if, with a child’s sorrow at offending so gracious and loving a Parent, I go to him and tell him all, and rest not till I realize that I am forgiven, then I shall feel a holy love to my Father, and shall go through my Christian career, not only as saved, but as one enjoying present peace in God through Jesus Christ my Lord. There is a wide distinction between confessing sin as a culprit, and confessing sin as a child. The Father’s bosom is the place for penitent confessions. We have been cleansed once for all, but our feet still need to be washed from the defilement of our daily walk as children of God.

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A Prayer for Godliness – John MacArthur

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“This I pray” (Phil. 1:9).

As we come to our study of godliness in Philippians 1:9-11, we note that this passage is a prayer. Typically, Paul’s prayers reflected his concern that his readers would mature spiritually. That is impossible without prayer because spiritual growth depends on the Holy Spirit’s power, which is tapped through prayer.

Prayer is so vital that Jesus instructed His disciples to pray at all times (Luke 18:1). Paul commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). Peter said we should be “of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer” (1 Pet. 4:7).

Scripture gives many other commands to pray, but the true test of your spirituality is your compulsion to pray, not simply your obedience to commands. As a Christian you exist in a spiritual realm in which prayer is as natural as breathing is in the natural realm. Just as atmospheric pressure exerts force on your lungs, compelling you to breathe, so your spiritual environment compels you to pray. Resisting either brings devastating results.

The more you see life through God’s eyes, the more you are driven to pray. In that sense your prayers reveal the level of your spiritual maturity. Paul prayed with urgency day and night because he shared God’s love for His people and His concern for their spiritual maturity.

Examine your own prayers. Do you pray from a sense of duty or are you compelled to pray? Do you pray infrequently or briefly? Do your prayers center on your own needs or the needs of others? Do you pray for the spiritual maturity of others? Those important questions indicate the level of your spiritual maturity and give guidelines for making any needed changes in your pattern of prayer.

Suggestions for Prayer:  Thank God for the privilege and power of prayer.

If you have neglected prayer or if your prayers have been centered on yourself rather than others, confess your sin and ask God to give you a sense of holy urgency in praying as you should.

Is there someone for whom you should be praying more consistently?

For Further Study: Read Daniel 6:1-28.

What was Daniel’s pattern of prayer?

What accusation did the political leaders bring against Daniel?

What was the king’s attitude toward Daniel?

How did God honor Daniel’s faith?

 

 

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Custom-Made Faith – Greg Laurie

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I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ

—Galatians 1:6–7

In the age of the iPhone, iPod, and iPad, our culture also has an iFaith. It’s a do-it-yourself divinity that has been customized for an individual’s needs. But this is not the faith that is given to us in Scripture.

I would classify this as another gospel, which the apostle Paul warned about in Galatians 1: “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed” (verses 8–9).

Another variation of a false gospel would be one that promises that God wants us to be healthy and wealthy and always successful. I am not suggesting that I believe in the opposite of this. I don’t believe that God wants everyone to be sick and poor. But I do believe that God wants to be God. He will bless some people with certain resources, but He won’t bless others with the same resources. One person will have good health, while another will have poor health.

God’s bottom line is not to make us happy; it is to make us holy. The goal is not to make Jesus like us; it is to make us like Jesus. Being a Christian is knowing God and walking with Him, no matter what. It means having our faith intact when the sun is shining and the sky is blue as well as when the storm is raging and the journey is difficult.

Jesus made it clear that storms will come into every life. And when those storms come, it will become evident what kind of foundation we have built on.

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Let God Love You – Max Lucado

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When my girls were little, I’d come home, shout their names and watch them run to me with extended arms and squealing voices.  For the next few moments we’d roll on the floor, gobble bellies, and tickle tummies and laugh and play. We delighted in each other’s presence. They made no requests of me, with the exception of, “Let’s play, Daddy. And I made no demands of them except, “Don’t hit daddy with the hammer.”  My kids let me love them.

But suppose they’d approached me as we often approach God. “Hey, Dad, glad you’re home.  Here’s what I want!”  “Whoa,” I would have to say.  “Why don’t you just climb up on Daddy’s lap and let me tell you how much I love you?”  Ever thought God might want to do the same with you?  How long since you let God love you?

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1).

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Finding Clear Guidance – Charles Stanley

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John 15:9-17

Sleep can elude us when we are trying to make critical decisions. Our minds race over details; we make our lists, evaluate options, and pray, “God, what should I do?” Often we become frustrated because we’re not sure how to get the answer from the Lord.

The key is found in our relationship with Him. The closer we are to God, the easier communication between us will be. Closeness to God means:

• Learning what God likes and dislikes. Certain opportunities can be quickly eliminated because they are contrary to God’s character.

• Knowing God’s Word. When we are familiar with the Word of God, the Holy Spirit can remind us of passages relevant to our situation.

• Confessing our sins. Confession helps our minds be cleansed from the effects of ungodly thinking, which interferes with receiving the Lord’s direction.

• Laying down our desires and taking up His. As we draw closer to Him, we’ll experience the blessings of submission and be willing to do it again.

• Waiting on God. We will allow sufficient time to hear from the Father.

• Standing firm against pressure—external and internal. Receiving clear direction from God will be our priority.

• Praying persistently. We’ll continue to ask the Father for guidance, and we will not give up. The Lord desires our very best. Draw closer to Him, and experience the joy of receiving clear direction.

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Our Daily Bread — Gifted To Serve

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Romans 12:3-13

There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. —1 Corinthians 12:6

It occurred to me one day that my right foot does all the pedal work when I’m driving my automatic transmission car. It alone works the accelerator and the brake. The left foot is idle. What happens if I decide that to be equitable, my left foot ought to replace my right foot half the time when I am driving? If you have never done so, please don’t try it!

If we don’t require such equality of the members of our own body, why is it that we sometimes expect it of people in the church? That seems to be an issue that the first-century church at Rome faced. Some were thinking more highly of themselves than they ought (Rom. 12:3) just because they were doing some things others were not doing. But Paul reminds us that “all members do not have the same function” (v.4). We’ve been gifted according to God’s grace (v.6). He gave us those gifts to serve others, not ourselves (vv.6-13). Our service is to be marked by diligence and fervor, for we are serving the Lord, not man (v.11).

So, let’s not look over our shoulders to see what others are doing or not doing. Look at how God may be able to use you in His kingdom today. He has gifted you just as He has pleased (v.3). —C. P. Hia

 

Lord, lead me today as You see best. Use the gifts You

have given me to encourage others on their journey.

Help me not to compare myself with others

but to be content with who You have made me to be.

 

We can’t all play the same part in God’s band of service, but we should all play in harmony.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.” / Genesis 25:11

Hagar had once found deliverance there and Ishmael had drank from the water so graciously revealed by the God who liveth and seeth the sons of men; but this was a merely casual visit, such as worldlings pay to the Lord in times of need, when it serves their turn. They cry to him in trouble, but forsake him in prosperity. Isaac dwelt there, and made the well of the living and all-seeing God his constant source of supply. The usual tenor of a man’s life, the dwelling of his soul, is the true test of his state. Perhaps the providential visitation experienced by Hagar struck Isaac’s mind, and led him to revere the place; its mystical name endeared it to him; his frequent musings by its brim at eventide made him familiar with the well; his meeting Rebecca there had made his spirit feel at home near the spot; but best of all, the fact that he there enjoyed fellowship with the living God, had made him select that hallowed ground for his dwelling. Let us learn to live in the presence of the living God; let us pray the Holy Spirit that this day, and every other day, we may feel, “Thou God seest me.” May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us, delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well of the Creator never fails; happy is he who dwells at the well, and so has abundant and constant supplies near at hand. The Lord has been a sure helper to others: his name is Shaddai, God All-sufficient; our hearts have often had most delightful intercourse with him; through him our soul has found her glorious Husband, the Lord Jesus; and in him this day we live, and move, and have our being; let us, then, dwell in closest fellowship with him. Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave thee, but dwell by the well of the living God.

 

Evening  “Whereas the Lord was there.” / Ezekiel 35:10

Edom’s princes saw the whole country left desolate, and counted upon its easy conquest; but there was one great difficulty in their way–quite unknown to them–“The Lord was there;” and in his presence lay the special security of the chosen land. Whatever may be the machinations and devices of the enemies of God’s people, there is still the same effectual barrier to thwart their design. The saints are God’s heritage, and he is in the midst of them, and will protect his own. What comfort this assurance yields us in our troubles and spiritual conflicts! We are constantly opposed, and yet perpetually preserved! How often Satan shoots his arrows against our faith, but our faith defies the power of hell’s fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are quenched upon its shield, for “the Lord is there.” Our good works are the subjects of Satan’s attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace which was not the target for hellish bullets: whether it was hope bright and sparkling, or love warm and fervent, or patience all-enduring, or zeal flaming like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to destroy it. The only reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is this, “the Lord is there.”

If the Lord be with us through life, we need not fear for our dying confidence; for when we come to die, we shall find that “the Lord is there;” where the billows are most tempestuous, and the water is most chill, we shall feel the bottom, and know that it is good: our feet shall stand upon the Rock of Ages when time is passing away. Beloved, from the first of a Christian’s life to the last, the only reason why he does not perish is because “the Lord is there.” When the God of everlasting love shall change and leave his elect to perish, then may the Church of God be destroyed; but not till then, because it is written, Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord is there.”

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How to Lose Your Joy – John MacArthur

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“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11).

True joy is God’s gift to every believer, yet many Christians seem to lack it. How can that be? Did God fail them? No. As with peace, assurance, and other benefits of salvation, joy can be forfeited for many reasons: willful sin, prayerlessness, fear, self-centeredness, focusing on circumstances, and lack of forgiveness are the main culprits.

Two of the most common joy-thieves are dissatisfaction and ingratitude. Both are by-products of the health, wealth, and prosperity mentality of our day. It has produced a generation of Christians who are more dissatisfied than ever because their demands and expectations are higher than ever. They’ve lost their perspective on God’s sovereignty and have therefore lost the ability to give thanks in all things.

In marked contrast, when Jesus taught about contentment and anxiety (Matt. 6:25-34), He spoke of food and clothing–the basic necessities of life. But preferences, not necessities, are the issue with us. We’re into style, personal appearance, job satisfaction, earning power, bigger homes, and newer cars. In the name of greater faith we even demand that God supply more miracles, more wealth, and more power.

Amid all that, Paul’s words sound a refreshing note of assurance and rebuke: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11). He made no demands on God but simply trusted in His gracious provision. Whether he received little or much made no difference to him. In either case he was satisfied and thankful.

Don’t be victimized by the spirit of our age. See God’s blessings for what they are and continually praise Him for His goodness. In doing so you will guard your heart from dissatisfaction and ingratitude. More important, you will bring joy to the One who is worthy of all praise.

Suggestions for Prayer: Pray that the Holy Spirit will produce in you a joy and contentment that transcends your circumstances.

Make it a daily practice to thank God for specific blessings and trials, knowing that He uses both to perfect His will in you.

For Further Study: Read 1 Kings 18:1–19:8.

How did Elijah deal with the false prophets of Baal?

How did he deal with Jezebel’s threat?

What caused Elijah’s shift from a spiritual high to a spiritual low?