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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Loving And Knowing

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Our Daily Bread

Romans 5:6-11

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8

In a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, one of the characters, speaking of New York’s Empire State Building, said, “I know this building because I love this building.”

That statement caused me to think about the relationship between love and knowledge. Whenever we love something, we want to know everything about it. When we love a place, we want to explore every inch of it. When we love a person, we want to know every detail of his or her life. We want to know what he likes, how she spends her time, where he grew up, who her friends are, what he believes. The list is endless. But some of us want to be loved without allowing ourselves to be known. We’re afraid that we won’t be loved if we are truly known.

We don’t have to worry about that with God. His love is far superior to ours: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Furthermore, He makes Himself known to us. Through creation, Scripture, and Christ, God reveals His character and His love. Because God loves us in spite of our imperfections, we can safely confess our faults to Him. With God, we need not fear being known. That’s why to know God is to love Him. —Julie Ackerman Link

Be still and know that He is God

For pathways steep and rough,

Not what He brings, but what He is

Will always be enough. —Anon.

There is no greater joy than to know that God loves us.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 6-8; 1 Timothy 5

 

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Mere Wrappings

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Ravi Z

In a study included in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine children were shown to overwhelmingly prefer the taste of food that comes in McDonald’s wrappers. The study had preschoolers sample identical foods in packaging from McDonald’s and in matched, but unbranded, packaging. The kids were then asked if the food tasted the same or if one tasted better. The unmarked foods lost the taste test every time. Even apple juice, carrots, and milk tasted better to the kids when taken from the familiar wrappings of the Golden Arches. “This study demonstrates simply and elegantly that advertising literally brainwashes young children into a baseless preference for certain food products,” said a physician from Yale’s School of Medicine. “Children, it seems, literally do judge a food by its cover. And they prefer the cover they know.”(1)

The science of advertising is often about convincing the world that books can and should be judged by their covers. These kids were not merely saying they preferred the taste of McDonald’s food. They actually believed the chicken nugget they thought was from McDonald’s tasted better than an identical nugget. From an early age and on through adulthood, branding is directive in telling us what we think and feel, who we are, and what matters.

But lest we blame television and marketing entirely for the wiles of brand recognition, we should recall that advertisers continue to have employment simply because advertising works. That is, long before marketers were encouraging customers to judge by image, wrapping, and cover, we were judging by these methods anyway. When the ancient Samuel was looking for the person God would ordain as king, he had a particular image in mind. In fact, when he first laid eyes on Eliab, Samuel thought confidently that this was the one God had chosen. But on the contrary, God said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

The study with the preschoolers is startling because adults can see clearly that a carrot in a McDonald’s bag is still inherently a carrot. Yet how often are we, too, blindsided by mere wrappings? Is the mistake of a child in believing the food tastes better in a yellow wrapper really any different than our own believing we are better people dressed with the right credentials, covered by the latest fashion, or wrapped in the right belief-systems? Covered in whatever comforts us or completely stripped of our many wrappings, we are the same people underneath.

According to the apostle Paul, there is one exception. Paul writes of a kind of clothing that changes the one inside them. “[F]or all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”(2) Clothed in the righteousness of the man Jesus, a person is wrapped in the identity of one without sin. They are given new packaging, new life, new robes worn only by Christ, and thus, like him, they are fitted to approach the throne of God.

Unlike the catch and costliness of well-marketed wrappings, the robes Paul describes are free. The beautiful and difficult word of Christianity is that Christ requires only that we come without costume or pretense. The many robes we collect, the covers with which we judge the world, we must be willing to give him. He takes from tired shoulders robes of self-importance and false security. He tears from determined grasps those garments of self-pity and shame. And then he clothes the needful soul with garments of salvation, arrays us in robes of righteousness, and reminds us that we wear his holy name from the inside out.

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

(1) “Foods Tastes Better With McDonald’s Logo, Kids Say,” Forbes, August 6, 2007.

(2) Galatians 3:27-28.

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Light at evening time

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“It shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” Zechariah 14:7

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 24:13-21, 28-35

God very frequently acts in grace in such a manner that we can find a parallel in nature. For instance, God says, “… as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, … so shall my word be, …it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” We find him speaking concerning the coming of Christ, “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.” We find him likening the covenant of grace to the covenant which he made with Noah concerning the seasons, and with man concerning the different revolutions of the year—“Seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” We find that the works of creation are very frequently the mirror of the works of grace, and that we can draw figures from the world of nature to illustrate the great acts of God in the world of his grace towards his people. But sometimes God oversteps nature. In nature after evening comes night. The sun has had its hours of journeying; the fiery steeds are weary; they must rest. Lo, they descend the azure steeps and plunge their burning fetlocks in the western sea, while night in her dark chariot follows at their heels. God, however, oversteps the rule of nature. He is pleased to send to his people times when the eye of reason expects to see no more day, but fears that the glorious landscape of God’s mercies will be shrouded in the darkness of his forgetfulness. But instead, God overleaps nature, and declares that at evening time, instead of darkness there shall be light.

For meditation: The text has only ever been true on one occasion in a physical sense (Joshua 10:12-14), but God, to whom even the darkness is light (Psalm 139:12), is always repeating the event spiritually in the lives of his people.

Sermon no. 160

25 October (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Heeding God’s Warnings

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John MacArthur

“By [Thy judgments] Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (Ps. 19:11).

Psalm 19:11 concludes David’s hymn on the sufficiency of Scripture. How appropriate that it ends noting the value of God’s warning, because guarding His people against temptation, sin, error, foolishness, false teachers, and every other threat to their spiritual well-being is a major concern to God.

For example, God said to the prophet Ezekiel, “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth, and give them warning from Me” (Ezek. 33:7). The great tragedy of the Old Testament is that Israel rejected God’s “statutes and His covenants which He made with their fathers, and His warnings with which He warned them” (2 Kings 17:15).

The apostle Paul defined his ministry as that of proclaiming Christ and warning “every man and teaching every man with all wisdom” (Col. 1:28). After exhorting the Thessalonian church to maintain sexual purity, Paul added, “The Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you” (1 Thess. 4:6).

He also warned the Ephesian church, saying, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish [warn] each one with tears” (Acts 20:29-32). He did that by declaring to them the whole counsel of God (v. 27).

The warnings of Scripture aren’t intended to frustrate or stifle you. On the contrary, when you heed them they shelter you from spiritual harm and bring the joy of knowing you’re in God’s will. That’s the “great reward” David speaks of in Psalm 19:11. May you earn it as he eventually did through heeding God’s Word in every aspect of life.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Overwhelmed with the sufficiency of God’s Word, David prayed, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14). Make that your prayer as well.

For Further Study:

Reread Psalm 19:7-11, reviewing each characteristic and benefit of Scripture. Think carefully about how they apply to your life.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Find Balance

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Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past [them] and slip away.

—Hebrews 2:1

When Satan finds people out of balance, he has an inroad to destroy their lives. There are people who get out of balance in everything: from not sleeping, to sleeping too much; from not cleaning their house, to trying to keep it so clean that nobody can move in it.

Find balance; balance keeps your day going right. Satan doesn’t much care if you don’t do enough of something, or if you do too much of it, as long as you don’t stay balanced. Take time to examine yourself prayerfully, and ask God to show you how to remain balanced.

 

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Our Great Privilege

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“And don’t you realize that you also will perish unless you leave your evil ways and turn to God?” (Luke 13:3).

Today I sought to share the love and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ with a taxi driver who reacted impatiently when I handed him a book which I had written, entitled “Jesus and the Intellectual.” He flung it aside in contempt. I have seldom met anyone who appeared to be more angry and resentful of God than he was. I felt impressed to say to him what Jesus said to the Galileans, “It is a matter of life and death what you do with Jesus Christ. There is a heaven and there is a hell. God loves you and cares for you. He wants you to come to Him and receive the gift of His only begotten Son through whom you can have forgiveness, life abundant, and life eternal.” From all appearances he could not have cared less.

That warning to the Galileans many years ago applies equally to the nations and individuals today. If one truth in the Word of God is made abundantly clear, it is this: Repent or perish.

“It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

As Christians we have the same awesome responsibility and great privilege to tell everyone who will listen about Christ. Most of us would take great risk to save the life of a drowning child or to snatch up a toddler from the path of an automobile. Yet, most everyone who is living today will be dead in 100 years or less, but all men will live in heaven or hell for eternity. How much more important it is to tell men and women who are perishing without Christ of the loving Savior who cares and who is waiting to forgive if only they will surrender their lives to Him!

We must warn them and if we do not know how, it behooves us to learn how to share our faith. One method of witnessing is the use of the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. Anyone is capable of sharing this booklet with others – if not vocally, at least by handing it to someone.

If you are hesitant to witness vocally why not begin distributing literature like the Four Spiritual Laws booklet?

Bible Reading: Luke 13:1-5

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I resolve with God’s help, to begin to distribute Christian literature, especially the Word of God and materials that will help individuals to make definite commitments of their lives to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – World Power

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In August 2013, many Egyptians were killed in a clash between the Muslim Brotherhood and security forces of the government. Everyone watched to see what side America would take. Other nations recognize the weight of a world power backing it. But President Obama was firm in saying, “We don’t take sides.”

We can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Hebrews 13:6

People assume if America is on their side, they can’t lose. While that’s not necessarily true with this nation, it is true with the Lord. He can win any battle. With God, Daniel was saved from the mouth of the lion. With God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not singed in the fiery furnace. With God, Moses was able to lead the Israelites away from Pharaoh and through the Red Sea on dry ground. “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Whatever you are facing today, whoever your enemies may be – do not fear. When the Lord is your helper, He will provide you with the strength to do what needs to be done. Ask God to cast away fear and help you stand strong. Then ask Him to reveal Himself to President Obama and his cabinet so they know God is the only true world power.

Recommended Reading: Joshua 23:1-10

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Watchman

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“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.”

—Ezekiel 3:17–18

The apostle Paul compared himself to a watchman. A watchman in ancient Israel would stand on a city wall and pay attention to what was going on. If there was an enemy approaching, he would warn the people. His job was to be faithful, not fearful, and consider the people’s safety and security. If he failed to do that, then the blood of those people would be on his hands. In other words, if the watchman did not warn others, then he would be responsible for what happened to them.

Paul told the Ephesian elders, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26–27 NKJV).

It is sort of like what a parent does with a child. The job of a parent is to be a parent; it is not to be a best friend. Be a mom. She needs a mother. Be a dad. He doesn’t need a buddy. Sometimes parents have to sit children down and say, “Don’t do that. It’s wrong. I don’t want you to do that.”

In the same way, as Christians, we need to help each other. We need to be that watchman for someone else. Maybe you are a mature believer who knows some of the dangers out there, and you see a younger believer getting sucked into something harmful. It might be a little awkward, but you say, “Can I just offer a word of advice to you? Be careful in this area. I would hate to see you fall there.”

Maybe they don’t love the fact that you said something like this to them. Or maybe they do. But you are just being a faithful watchman.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Heaven’s Throne Room

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Max Lucado

You sleep alone in a double bed. You walk the hallways of a silent house. You catch yourself calling out his name or reaching for her hand. Good-bye is the challenge of your life! To get through this is to get through this raging loneliness, this strength-draining grief.  Just the separation has exhausted your spirit. You feel quarantined, isolated.

May I give you some hope?  If heaven’s throne room has a calendar, one day is circled in red and highlighted in yellow. The Bible says that the The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder!  God’s trumpet blast! He will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then the rest of us who are still alive will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. (I Thessalonians 4:15-17).

Oh, what a day that will be! We’ll be walking on air! And there will be one huge family reunion. I leave you with this reminder: You will get through this!

From You’ll Get Through This

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Water Reflections

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Alistair Begg

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly.

Psalms 104:16

Without water the tree cannot flourish or even exist. Vitality is essential to a Christian. There must be life-a vital principle infused in us by God the Holy Spirit-or we cannot be trees of the Lord. Being a Christian merely in name is a dead thing; we must be filled with the spirit of divine life.

This life is mysterious. We do not understand the circulation of the water, by what force it rises, and by what power it descends again. So the life within us is a sacred mystery. Regeneration is performed by the Holy Spirit entering into man and becoming man’s life; and this divine life in a believer afterwards feeds upon Christ and is in this way sustained by divine food, but how it comes and where it goes who will explain to us?

What a secret thing the water is! The roots go searching through the soil, but we cannot see them suck out the various gases or transmute the mineral into the vegetable; this work is done down in the dark. Our root is Christ Jesus, and our life is hidden in Him; this is the secret of the Lord. The source of the Christian life is as secret as the life itself.

How permanently active is the water in the cedar! In the Christian the divine life is always full of energy-not always in fruit-bearing, but in inward operations. The believer’s graces are not always constant motion, but his life never ceases to palpitate within. He is not always working for God, but his heart is always living in Him. As the water reveals itself in producing the foliage and fruit of the tree, so with a truly healthy Christian, his grace is externally displayed in his walk and conversation. If you talk with him, he cannot help speaking about Jesus. If you notice his actions, you will see that he has been with Jesus. He is so full of Christ that He must fill his conduct and conversation.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Receive Jesus into Your Daily Life

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Joyce meyer

If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]—Galatians 5:25

We ask people all the time if they have received Jesus, without ever really thinking about what that means. If we receive Him, then what do we do with Him? We certainly don’t put Him in a little box marked “Sunday morning,” go get Him out on that day, sing a few songs to Him, talk to Him a little, then put Him back in the box until the next Sunday. If we receive Him, then we have Him with us always.

It is not pleasing to God for people to leave Him out of their daily lives, while going through religious formulas to try to get what they need. Don’t just go through the motions. Either have a real relationship with God that is alive and meaningful, or face the fact that you don’t have one at all and do whatever is needed to get one.

Ask yourself these questions, and you will discover where you are spiritually:

Are you growing daily in your knowledge of God and His ways?

Do you look forward to going to church, or is it something you do out of obligation? Are you waiting for it to end so you can finally go to lunch?

Do you feel close to God?

In your life are you manifesting the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), and self-control (see Gal. 5:22–23)?

Do you have areas of your life that you have not let God into?

If you are not satisfied with your answers to these questions, throw your life entirely open to God and ask the Holy Spirit to get involved in every aspect of it. If you will do that in honesty and sincerity, He will begin to work in you in a powerful and exciting way.

Trust in Him: Are you just going through the motions, or have you fully committed your life to Christ, trusting Him with everything so that He can do a powerful work in you?

 

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Source of Righteousness

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John MacArthur

The Source of Righteousness

“The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether” (Ps. 19:9).

The inability of human wisdom to produce right living was reaffirmed in my thinking as I read a contemporary psychiatrist’s book on how to overcome depression. The doctor’s first suggestion was to shout “Cancel!” every time you have a negative thought. She also recommended playing a tape recording of positive messages while you sleep at night, and listening to positive music during the day.

Cultivating a meaningful spiritual philosophy was another of her suggestions. She said any will do–as long as it works for you–but cautioned against those that speak of sin and guilt. Her final point was to find the spiritual light within yourself.

That kind of advice is foolish because it has no basis in truth. The best it can do is mask a few symptoms. It cannot cure the illness.

Jesus illustrated the hopelessness of searching for truth through such means when He said to a group of unbelievers, “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil . . . [who] does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

“Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. . . . He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God” (John 8:43-47).

Unbelievers don’t see the truth of God’s Word for what it is. But believers hear the truth and receive it. Like David, they acknowledge that “the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether” (Ps. 19:9).

“Judgments” in that context speaks of ordinances or divine verdicts from the Supreme Judge. “Righteous altogether” implies that Scripture produces comprehensive righteousness in all who receive it. Together they emphasize that true righteousness originates from God’s Word and flows through His people.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Praise God for giving you the truth that produces righteousness.

For Further Study:

What do the following verses say about God’s righteous Word: Psalm 119:89, 128, 137-38, 142, and 160?

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –The Whole Counsel of God

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For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. —Acts 20:27

When I speak I try to keep it interesting. I try to keep it real. I try to keep it understandable. But I am not there to entertain an audience or to make people feel good. My job, if you will, is to exposit the Word of God. Because it really doesn’t matter what Greg Laurie thinks about anything. My opinion isn’t any better than anyone else’s opinion.

For me as a pastor, I have a responsibility to declare the whole counsel of God and feed the flock of God. That is the advantage of expository preaching and teaching. By expository, I mean taking the text and letting it unfold. We don’t impose our views on the text; we let the text impose its views on us. It is not for us to add things to the text.

Sometimes pastors use a text as a point of departure for their messages. A verse will be read, and then whoever is speaking will just tell stories. They might be good stories. They might be good jokes. They might be very entertaining. And as you leave, you might say, “That was so good. I loved that. It was really good.” You have no idea what he said, but you know it was fun.

The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). I think that is the most important thing. We need to get our minds oriented toward what the Bible says.

Too often we build our opinions on our feelings. But it doesn’t matter what we feel. What does the Bible say? Do what the Bible says, because feelings can mislead you. Don’t base decisions in life on mere feelings. Base them on the Word of God.

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Campaign

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Our Daily Bread

Romans 15:1-7

Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. —Romans 14:19

Each year young people in our community participate in a “Be Nice” campaign spearheaded by a mental health organization. In one of the events in 2012, 6,000 students spelled out the words BE NICE with their bodies on their schools’ sports fields. One principal said, “We want students to come to school and learn without the distraction of fear or sadness or uneasiness around their peers. We are working hard to make sure students are lifting each other up, rather than tearing each other down.”

Paul desired that the people in the church at Rome would have an even higher standard of love. Both the strong and weak in the faith were judging and showing contempt for each other (Rom. 14:1-12). They despised one another as they argued about what foods were permissible to eat (vv.2-3) and what holidays they should observe (vv.5-6). Paul challenged them: “Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (v.19). He reminded them that their hearts should be concerned with pleasing others, not pleasing themselves. He said, “Even Christ did not please Himself” (15:3); He served.

Join the campaign that loves others despite our differences—you’ll bring praise to God (v.7). —Anne Cetas

Dear Lord, I want to be a person who is

kind and loving to others. Please help me

to use words that will build others up

and bring praise and glory to Your name.

Kindness is simply love flowing out in little gentlenesses.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 65-66; 1 Timothy 2

 

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Conversation Matters

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Ravi Z

Search the Internet these days and you will find an abundance of entries on the art of conversation. Best-selling books have been written on how to interact with anyone from bus driver to head of state. Whether from the shortened sound bites of “Twitter” to the perpetual conflicts in government, the practice and the art of having meaningful and constructive conversation seems to be the topic of conversation! Sadly, it seems that opportunities for honesty, authenticity, and respectful debate are waning in today’s information-saturated yet disconnected world. When real conversations happen they are a true gift.

In recognizing both the gift of and the need for conversation in my own life, I discovered something very interesting captured by the writers of the Bible. Recorded within its pages are some fascinating conversations between God and various individuals. Far from being the polite, deferential, and circumscribed conversations of a more politically correct age, these conversations are full of questions, challenge, and doubt. These features, in and of themselves, should grab the attention of even a casual reader, for how many of us if given the opportunity to have a close encounter with God would even have the ability to speak? And yet, the writers of Scripture saw fit to capture even the kind of conversations in which the Almighty God engages reluctant and less than willing humans.

Early in the narrative of Genesis, for example, the first time we hear Abraham engage God in conversation, he responds to the promises issued by God to give him great reward with a certain level of incredulity.(1) “O Lord God, what will you give me, since I am childless?” (Genesis 15:2). These are the very first recorded words of Abraham. As far as we are told from the biblical story, Abraham left his country and family of origin without question; he heard God’s great promise of a great nation and blessing without any question or doubt. Yet his first recorded words question God. When visited by God at Mamre prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham bargained with God to spare the city. Lower and lower fell the number of the righteous required to save it until finally God promised not to destroy it if ten righteous persons were found.

Moses also questions God in his encounter with the Almighty.(2) Despite seeing a bush burning with fire but not consumed, despite seeing his shepherd’s staff transformed into a serpent, and despite seeing his hand become leprous and then healed of leprosy, Moses fires back question after question and challenge after challenge to the God revealed specially and uniquely to him: “I AM THAT I AM; I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.” Moses appears not to recognize his conversation partner, the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, as he questions God repeatedly in their dramatic conversation: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). “Now they may say to me, ‘What is God’s name?’ What shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13). “What if they will not believe me, or listen to what I say?” (Exodus 4:1). “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10). “Please Lord, send someone else to do it” (Exodus 4:13).

What amazes me about these dialogues is that they are included in the Bible at all. For on the surface, it appears that these are not examples of great conversations for God. If we simply evaluated them on contemporary conversational etiquette, or persuasive ability, neither party does very well. God isn’t very successful in terms of persuasion and the human conversation partners are better at giving excuses than giving respect. But of course, there is more to the story. As Abraham and Moses continue their conversations with God-as one offers up the child of promise for sacrifice, as the other negotiates with Pharaoh and then shepherds the Israelites in the wilderness-we hear complaint, lament, question, and argumentation that we could hardly imagine, let alone speak before the Almighty. And yet, Abraham is called “the friend of God” (Isaiah 41:8) and Moses beholds the glory of God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 33:18-9). The conversation matters—even conversation that questions and argues—for God values communion. Indeed, Abraham and Moses, Job, the psalmists, and the prophets all provide us with rich and engaging narratives of authentic, challenging, questioning, and even argumentative conversation with God.

Despite Moses’s questioning of God, the Scripture tells us that “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Perhaps the way we talk with God illuminates our willingness to engage in great conversation. Indeed, perhaps the way we talk with God illuminates the depth of our friendship.

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

(1) Genesis 15:1.

(2) See Exodus 3-4.

 

 

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – The Body of Divinity in Miniature

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Alistair Begg

I will love them freely.

Hosea 14:4

This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. Whoever grasps its meaning is a theologian, and whoever is able to dive into its fullness is a learned professor! It is a summary of the glorious message of salvation that was delivered to us in Christ Jesus our Redeemer.

The sense hinges upon the word “freely.” This is the glorious, the suitable, the divine way by which love streams from heaven to earth, a spontaneous love flowing out to those who neither deserved it, purchased it, nor sought after it. It is, indeed, the only way in which God can love such as we are.

The text is a death-blow to all sorts of fitness: “I will love them freely.”

Now, if there were any fitness necessary in us, then He would not love us freely; at least, this would be a hindrance and a drawback to the freeness of it. But it stands: “I will love them freely.”

We complain, “Lord, my heart is so hard.”

“I will love them freely.”

“But I do not feel my need of Christ as I ought to.”

“I will not love you because you feel your need; I will love you freely.”

“But I do not feel that softening of spirit that I should desire.”

Remember, the softening of spirit is not a condition, for there are no conditions; the covenant of grace has no conditionality whatever. So we without any fitness may rest upon the promise of God that was made to us in Christ Jesus when He said, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”1 It is blessed to know that the grace of God is free to us at all times, without preparation, without fitness, without money, and without price!

“I will love them freely.” These words invite apostates to return: Indeed, the text was specially written for such-“I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely.”

Apostate, surely the generosity of the promise will immediately break your heart, and you will return and seek your injured Father’s face.

1John 3:18

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Simple, Believing Prayer

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And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking…. For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.—Matthew 6:7–8

We must develop confidence in simple, believing prayer. We need the confidence that even if we simply say, “God, help me,” He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as our request is in accordance with His will. We should know that He wants to help us because He is our Helper (Hebrews 13:6).

Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, and fancy that we lose sight of the fact that prayer is our conversation with God. The length or loudness or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue; it is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us that is important.

Sometimes we try to sound so devout and elegant that we get lost. We don’t even know what we are trying to pray about. If we could ever get delivered from trying to impress God, we would be a lot better off.

Lord, free me from the belief that my prayers must be eloquent and just right. Keep reminding me that what You really want from me is a heartfelt conversation. Amen.

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – No Longer Slaves

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“And you are My friends if you obey Me. I no longer call you slaves, for a master doesn’t confide in slaves; now you are My friends, proved by the fact that I have told you everything the Father told Me” (John 15:14,15).

How many really close friends do you have? Not many, I think you will agree, for a close friend is one in whom you confide regularly. who knows you just as you are and loves you just the same.

So it is with our heavenly Friend, the one who “sticks closer than a brother.” And how do we earn the right to become that kind of intimate friend? Simply by obeying His commands, “which are not grievous,” but really are necessary to keep us in the straight and narrow path and to give us a happy, blessed life.

In a sense, of course, we are still His bondslaves, His servants, but He deigns to call us His friends if we love Him enough to obey His commands. And He proves His friendship by sharing with us all that the Father has shared with Him. What greater friend could we have?

Jesus not only called His disciples friends, but He also treated them as friends. He opened His mind to them, made known His plans and acquainted them with the plan of His coming. His death, His resurrection and ascension. He followed this proof of His friendship with the actual title of friend.

Oh, that you and I might see Him today truly as our friend – one who sticks closer than a brother or sister or mother or father.

Bible Reading: John 15:11-17

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: As I take inventory of my real friends today, I will especially include the one Friend above all friends, the Lord Jesus Christ, the source of the supernatural life which God has commanded me to live.

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R.- Another Fine Mess

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Film comic Stan Laurel of “Laurel and Hardy” was hugely successful as an actor. As a husband…not so much. Here is the short version of his biography – but be warned: it’s difficult to follow. Stan first married Lois. Then he married Virginia. Then he married Vera, a Russian singer he said had “a terrific temper.” There were questions about whether their earlier divorces were legal, so he actually married Vera three separate times. They divorced after Stan dug a hole in their backyard and tried to bury her alive. Then he married Virginia for a second time, divorced her again, and married Ida.

Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

Psalm 118:4

Laurel and Hardy’s trademark phrase “another fine mess” could certainly describe Stan’s personal life, but really, that’s true for all of us. We live in a fear-filled world filled with messed up and broken relationships. For many people, love is fleeting, not permanent. But thank God, His love “endures forever.” Nothing can ever shake it.

Today, pray for help in loving others faithfully and unconditionally. The state of things in Washington might be “another fine mess,” but with God’s blessings, that won’t be the state of your home or your heart.

Recommended Reading: I John 3:11-23

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Solemn Witnesses

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But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

—Acts 5:29

When there is an accident, police officers will try and locate witnesses to ask them what they saw and heard. A witness’s objective is not to make up something or to try and make the story better than it actually was. No, a witness is simply to state what he or she saw—plainly. Just the facts, ma’am.

That is what believers are to do. We are to give testimony to what we know is true. The apostle John wrote in his epistle, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you” (1 John 1:3).

If you walk in fellowship with God, He will be working in your life. He will be showing you things from His Word that will help you to grow spiritually. You will find that these things will overflow, sort of like wringing out a sponge. When we are full of the things of God, it comes out because we are sharing what we know is true.

There is also a seriousness to it, however. The word testify means to solemnly give witness. As we tell others about Christ, there is a gravity to it. Yes, we want to talk about how God loves us and will forgive us and come into a relationship with us. But the heavy part is the fact that there is a judgment, and there is a hell for the person who rejects God’s offer of forgiveness. We are to share this truth with all seriousness.

Yet in a lot of evangelistic presentations today, there is no message of hell or judgment. We sort of edit out that part because we are afraid we might offend someone. But my concern is that if I don’t include it, then I will offend God. And I would rather offend a person than God.