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How Do You Listen to God’s Word? – Charles Stanley

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Matthew 13:1-9

Though it contains essential information for every human life, people approach the Bible very differently. Today’s passage identifies four types of listeners:

• Closed mind. This does not exclusively describe unbelievers. Christians, too, can listen passively, without intending to apply what they hear. The seed can’t germinate because the soil’s surface is too hard. Such believers remain shallow until they decide to pay attention to God and obey.

• Clouded mind. Represented by rocky soil, the clouded mind will hear God’s Word and get excited. But then the person doesn’t take time to study, grow roots, and let the truth sink into his heart. With little doctrinal foundation or knowledge of God’s promises, he has difficulty withstanding the harshness of life.

• Cluttered mind. The worries of life are to the Christian heart what briers, thorns, and thickets are to a garden. A preoccupied mind has little or no room for God’s Word to sprout and thrive.

• Committed mind. God can do great things through someone whose mind is like fertile soil. The most intellectual person in the world, if not teachable, will miss the truth of the gospel, whereas even a young child who is willing to listen and learn will be transformed.

All of us would like to have the blessing described in today’s reading—a huge return for what is sown. For that to be true of our life, we need to take an honest look to see if we approach biblical principles with a teachable Spirit. As Jesus said, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

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Undone – Ravi Zacharias

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The Oxford University Press “Word of the Year” is an honor bestowed on a new or old word that is chosen for its representation of the year’s cultural milieu. Considered for this past year’s awards in the UK or the US were words such as “nomophobia” (anxiety caused by being without one’s mobile phone—from no and mo(bile) + phobia), “YOLO” (an acronym for you only live once) and the related “FOMO” (the fear of missing out on a social event), “second screening” (the activity of watching television whilst simultaneously using a smartphone, laptop, etc.), “selfie” (a picture of oneself taken from a smartphone and uploaded to a social media site), and “bashtagging” (using a company’s promotional hashtag on Twitter to criticize or complain about the company, rather than endorse it). Similarly tech-savvy is the word that was chosen as the US word of the year, an evolving relic of the 1980s that has “never been trendier,” according to Katherine Martin, Head of the US Dictionaries Program at Oxford University Press.(1) “GIF,” an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, pronounced jif, is a compressed file format for images that can be used to create simple, looping animations.

Much has been said recently on the influences of technology, social media culture, twitter feeds, and smartphones; on the ways we obtain, retain, and proclaim information; on the ways we interact with each other and on the ways in which we think as a result of it. Many of the shortlisted choices for the UK and US words of the year demonstrate how we are adapting linguistically; it is perhaps ironic that a dictionary should choose to praise words that are driven by a need to use fewer words—texting shorthand, programming acronyms, and twitter-speak. Studies on information behavior such as one conducted by scholars from University College London suggests that we may well be in the midst of a reprogramming of the way we read and think.(2) Some of their observations are fascinating; others are causing due alarm. However we choose to look at it, technology is unquestionably shaping the way we see the world.

As someone who spends a great deal of time on the computer writing and editing, one of my most cherished and simple technological functions continues to be the ability to “undo” something. With the flip of two fingers—one on “command” and the other on the letter “z”—I can remove the sentence I just added to the page, take back the word that did not quite fit, or reverse the effect of every previous command and restore my document to its original condition. No matter how many actions I have taken on the page, I can undo every one of them—and this is often useful! Technologically, it is a feature to which I have grown quite accustomed—so much so, that I find myself believing haphazardly that nothing is ever really lost, and that everything can be undone, erased, or retrieved. More so, I cannot begin to calculate how many times I have thought about this function when I have needed it in places far from my computer screen. I picture my fingers snapping up scenes in my day as if my life was on a screen being edited.

Of course, reality never takes long to jar me back into a world with vastly different rules of operation. We cannot undo words that have already been said or take back actions that were less opportune than we anticipated. Hindsight, by definition, is a vision that is no longer available to us, no matter how urgently we would turn back time and undo what has been done. Our actions and inactions, words, lies, and blind spots cannot be expunged like a spreadsheet or a document. Here, the Christian resolve that our “yes” be our “yes,” that consequences be weighed, and the cost of our action or inaction be counted at the outset is a far wiser and practical vision. And of course, it is far harder work. “But which of you,” asks Christ, “intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?… Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?”(3)

Warning the crowds to count the costs of following him, Jesus spoke in terms that would cause the faint and the indecisive to run. He also begged them to see that how we live, what we do and say, matters deeply and cannot be undone. We cannot undo foolish words spoken in anger, the regret of a lost opportunity, or the act of walking away from someone in need. Nor can we undo a life that missed the cultivation of a nearby Christ while we had our hands on other plows. But we can choose to live dynamically today. Jesus bids us to fashion our legacy from this day forward, ever looking to the one who is in fact able to undo a life that is anything less.

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

(1) “Word Of The Year 2012: ‘GIF’, According To Oxford American Dictionaries,” Huffington Post, November 12, 2012. See also “Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year 2012,” November 13, 2012, http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/uk-word-of-the-year-2012/, accessed December 1, 2012.

(2) “Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future,” University College London Online Briefing, January 11 2008, http://www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf, accessed October 1, 2008.

(3) Luke 14:28,31.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” / Hebrews 4:9

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is

here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the

immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he finds his

strength unequal to his zeal: his constant cry is, “Help me to serve thee, O

my God.” If he be thoroughly active, he will have much labour; not too much

for his will, but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, “I

am not wearied of the labour, but I am wearied in it.” Ah! Christian, the hot

day of weariness lasts not forever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall

rise again with a brighter day than thou hast ever seen upon a land where they

serve God day and night, and yet rest from their labours. Here, rest is but

partial, there, it is perfect. Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he

feels that he has not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained

the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God.

Higher they cannot go. Ah, toil-worn labourer, only think when thou shalt rest

forever! Canst thou conceive it? It is a rest eternal; a rest that

“remaineth.” Here, my best joys bear “mortal” on their brow; my fair flowers

fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before

Death’s arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the

flood-tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is

immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed,

the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly

absorbed in infinite delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be

swallowed up of life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin.

 

Evening  “He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

/ Luke 24:27

The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had a most profitable journey. Their

companion and teacher was the best of tutors; the interpreter one of a

thousand, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Lord

Jesus condescended to become a preacher of the gospel, and he was not ashamed

to exercise his calling before an audience of two persons, neither does he now

refuse to become the teacher of even one. Let us court the company of so

excellent an Instructor, for till he is made unto us wisdom we shall never be

wise unto salvation.

This unrivalled tutor used as his class-book the best of books. Although able

to reveal fresh truth, he preferred to expound the old. He knew by his

omniscience what was the most instructive way of teaching, and by turning at

once to Moses and the prophets, he showed us that the surest road to wisdom is

not speculation, reasoning, or reading human books, but meditation upon the

Word of God. The readiest way to be spiritually rich in heavenly knowledge is

to dig in this mine of diamonds, to gather pearls from this heavenly sea. When

Jesus himself sought to enrich others, he wrought in the quarry of Holy

Scripture.

The favoured pair were led to consider the best of subjects, for Jesus spake

of Jesus, and expounded the things concerning himself. Here the diamond cut

the diamond, and what could be more admirable? The Master of the House

unlocked his own doors, conducted the guests to his table, and placed his own

dainties upon it. He who hid the treasure in the field himself guided the

searchers to it. Our Lord would naturally discourse upon the sweetest of

topics, and he could find none sweeter than his own person and work: with an

eye to these we should always search the Word. O for grace to study the Bible

with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!

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Proclaiming God’s Preeminence – John MacArthur

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We were predestined “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:12).

Preeminence implies supreme standing, picturing one who excels over all others in a particular quality or achievement. There is no one more preeminent than God.

Ephesians 1:12 underscores that truth. You were redeemed and granted an eternal inheritance that God might be glorified. Certainly you benefit greatly from salvation, but God’s glory is the primary issue.

Our man-centered culture doesn’t share that perspective. Sadly, its self-seeking and self-glorifying mentality has crept into the church, and even the gospel itself has been subjected to its influence. For example sin is often defined by how it affects man, not how it dishonors God. Salvation is often presented as a means of receiving what Christ offers, not a mandate to obey what He commands. Many modern-day evangelists have reduced the gospel to little more than a formula by which people can live a happy and more fulfilling life. The focus has shifted from God’s glory to man’s benefit.

Such a convoluted gospel fuels the fire of self-love and self-exaltation.

As believers we know better than that. We know that the purpose of life is to glorify God. That means living to His glory is to govern everything we do.

What higher or more noble purpose could life afford? “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” Paul said he pressed “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). Keep that goal clearly in mind in all you do today. By doing so your day will be to the praise of God’s glory!

Suggestions for Prayer: Praise God for His preeminence in all things.

Pray for opportunities to speak of His preeminence to others, remembering that they will see Him in your actions as well as your words.

For Further Study:  Read Job 38:42:6

How did God convince Job of His surpassing knowledge and power?

What was Job’s response?

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For Such a Time – Greg Laurie

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“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”—Esther 4:14

When Esther won a beauty contest and ascended the throne in ancient Persia, she was a Jew. But she kept that information quiet. And one day, because of the wicked efforts on the part of a man named Haman, there was a plot conceived to have all of the Jews in the empire destroyed.

But Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, came to her and essentially said, “You are there in the palace. You are in a place of influence. You can go to the king and speak on behalf of your people.” But then he added this telling statement: “If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

The idea behind Mordecai’s statement was this: “God put you where you are for a reason. Now, are you going to leverage that opportunity for God’s kingdom, or are you going to keep it all to yourself? Guess what? If you don’t do it, the Lord will find someone else.”

God has put you where you are today. You have a sphere of influence. You have a circle of friends. You have neighbors around you. You have coworkers and others with whom you come in contact on a regular basis. Will you go to them? Or will you run from them?

You might ask, “Well, if I don’t go, will the job still get done?”

As a matter of fact, it will get done. The reality is that God doesn’t need you. Certainly God doesn’t need me. But God does want us to participate in the process.

When God says go, what will you say?

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The Basic Principle of Prosperity – Charles Stanley

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Psalm 24:1-2

The basic principle of real prosperity is elementary. In fact, it boils down to four simple words: God owns it all.

Even for mature Christians, this truth can be difficult to grasp fully and put into practice. After all, it runs counter to the thinking of modern culture. However, Scripture repeatedly reminds us that God is the Creator and therefore the one who rightfully holds the deed to everything in creation.

According to Haggai 2:8, the Lord also lays claim to the silver and gold—in other words, all currency is His. Psalm 50:10 puts it a different way, telling us that He owns “the cattle on a thousand hills.”

Since God consistently reiterates that He is the exclusive owner of all creation, we should respond appropriately when using His resources—including money. In other words, we should have exactly the same response as when using something that belongs to our neighbors: ask permission to use it; honor the owner’s instructions and do just as he has designated; take no unnecessary risks; handle it the way we would want others to handle one of our possessions; and return it in a timely manner, preferably in better condition or more plentiful than before.

And then say “Thank You.”

First Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Understanding that God is the rightful owner and we are simply managers of His resources will help us have the proper attitude about wealth—namely, gratefulness rather than entitlement.

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Humans Like Us – Ravi Zacharias

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The 12th of January 2012 saw an India deeply shocked and embarrassed by a certain footage released by the British Newspaper The Observer, which showed half-clad Jarawa tribal women and children enticed to dance and sing for tourists in exchange for food and trinkets. Who are the Jarawas we may ask? The Jarawas are the tribal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands situated a few miles from southeast India. With an existing population of about 250-400 individuals, they are the descendants of one of the four ancient Negroid tribes who were stranded on the Andamans because of rising sea water. Apparently, this particular community still lives in complete isolation, cut off from any education, health care, or development.

Minutes after this footage from The Observer, a huge public outcry followed as newspapers, TV anchors, and people from various walks of life came forward to express their outrage at human beings treated “like zoo animals made to dance for food.” Television channels were abuzz with debates and discussions on this issue of “human safari,” as it was termed. It was interesting to observe the various reactions and responses sparked off by the issue: some NGOs demanded the immediate closure of Jarawas territory to tourists, others wanted the government to ensure that the Jarawas continue to be cocooned in seclusion and isolated from the mainstream population to protect them from disease and cultural degradation.

What is it about this issue that rankles so, and raises such a storm of protest? I think the answer is succinctly put by Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar, a noted columnist who responded with an article in the Times of India: “Jarawas are human beings… just like us.”(1) The Jarawa issue was disturbing simply because it is about “human beings just like us.” Pertinent questions may arise: What is so special about being human? What is so great about being “us”? If we believe that mankind is just another species of animal, then why should we worry ourselves when human beings are treated like one? As for those who believe that everything is maya, or illusion, there is absolutely no reason for protest, for if everything is an illusion, then the Jarawas too are an illusion. They are not real; so the question of how they are treated or mistreated does not arise.

The biblical worldview gives a contrasting response to the Jarawas and the question of what it means to be human. The Bible asserts that human beings are created by God and in God’s own image. This fact of being specially created by a personal God gives humanity both worth and purpose. We recognize somewhere in our very beings that a human cannot be treated like an animal simply because he or she is more than this. He is different! She is special!

As King David reflects on the mystery of being human in Psalm 8:

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned them with glory and honor.

In the outcry heard around the nation and indeed, around the world, I believe there are echoes of the knowledge of this reflection. God has made us a little lower than the heavenly beings. God has crowned us with glory and honor.

Tejdor Tiewsoh is a member of the speaking team with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Shillong, India.

(1) Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar, “Jarawas Are Human Beings…Just Like Us,” Times of India, 15 January 2012.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning  “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.” / Revelation 14:1

The apostle John was privileged to look within the gates of heaven, and in

describing what he saw, he begins by saying, “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” This

teaches us that the chief object of contemplation in the heavenly state is

“the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Nothing else

attracted the apostle’s attention so much as the person of that Divine Being,

who hath redeemed us by his blood. He is the theme of the songs of all

glorified spirits and holy angels. Christian, here is joy for thee; thou hast

looked, and thou hast seen the Lamb. Through thy tears thine eyes have seen

the Lamb of God taking away thy sins. Rejoice, then. In a little while, when

thine eyes shall have been wiped from tears, thou wilt see the same Lamb

exalted on his throne. It is the joy of thy heart to hold daily fellowship

with Jesus; thou shalt have the same joy to a higher degree in heaven; thou

shalt enjoy the constant vision of his presence; thou shalt dwell with him

forever. “I looked, and, lo, a Lamb!” Why, that Lamb is heaven itself; for as

good Rutherford says, “Heaven and Christ are the same thing;” to be with

Christ is to be in heaven, and to be in heaven is to be with Christ. That

prisoner of the Lord very sweetly writes in one of his glowing letters–“O my

Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell;

and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me,

for thou art all the heaven I want.” It is true, is it not, Christian? Does

not thy soul say so?

“Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,

If God his residence remove,

Or but conceal his face.”

All thou needest to make thee blessed, supremely blessed, is “to be with

Christ.”

 

Evening  “And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and

walked upon the roof of the king’s house.” / 2 Samuel 11:2

At that hour David saw Bathsheba. We are never out of the reach of temptation.

Both at home and abroad we are liable to meet with allurements to evil; the

morning opens with peril, and the shades of evening find us still in jeopardy.

They are well kept whom God keeps, but woe unto those who go forth into the

world, or even dare to walk their own house unarmed. Those who think

themselves secure are more exposed to danger than any others. The

armour-bearer of Sin is Self-confidence.

David should have been engaged in fighting the Lord’s battles, instead of

which he tarried at Jerusalem, and gave himself up to luxurious repose, for he

arose from his bed at eventide. Idleness and luxury are the devil’s jackals,

and find him abundant prey. In stagnant waters noxious creatures swarm, and

neglected soil soon yields a dense tangle of weeds and briars. Oh for the

constraining love of Jesus to keep us active and useful! When I see the King

of Israel sluggishly leaving his couch at the close of the day, and falling at

once into temptation, let me take warning, and set holy watchfulness to guard

the door.

Is it possible that the king had mounted his housetop for retirement and

devotion? If so, what a caution is given us to count no place, however secret,

a sanctuary from sin! While our hearts are so like a tinder-box, and sparks so

plentiful, we had need use all diligence in all places to prevent a blaze.

Satan can climb housetops, and enter closets, and even if we could shut out

that foul fiend, our own corruptions are enough to work our ruin unless grace

prevent. Reader, beware of evening temptations. Be not secure. The sun is down

but sin is up. We need a watchman for the night as well as a guardian for the

day. O blessed Spirit, keep us from all evil this night. Amen.

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Praising God for Your Election – John MacArthur

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“Having been predestined according to [God’s] purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11).

In Ephesians 1:4 Paul says that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” In verse 11 he reiterates that marvelous truth by affirming that believers have been predestined to salvation according to God’s own purpose and will.

Many reject the teaching that God chose (predestined) believers to salvation. They think believers chose God. In one sense they’re right: salvation involves an act of the will in turning from sin to embrace Christ. But the issue in predestination goes deeper than that. It’s a question of initiative. Did God choose you on the basis of your faith in Him or did He, by choosing you, enable you to respond in faith.

The answer is clear in Scripture. Romans 3:11 says that no one seeks for God on his own. Unregenerate people have no capacity to understand spiritual truth. It’s all foolishness to them (1 Cor. 2:14). They are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), blind (2 Cor. 4:4), and ignorant (Eph. 4:18).

How can people in that condition initiate saving faith? They can’t! That’s why Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him. . . . All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:44, 37). Paul added, “God . . . has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9).

God took the initiative. He chose you and gave you saving faith (Eph. 2:8-9). Rejoice in that truth. Rest in His power to conform all things to His will. Draw strength and assurance from His promise never to let you go (John 10:27-29). Then live each day as God’s elected one by shunning sin and following after holiness.

Suggestions for Prayer: Praise God for placing His love upon you and granting you salvation.

Pray for the salvation of others and seek opportunities to share Christ with them today.

For Further Study: Read Ezekiel 36:22-32

Why will God one day redeem Israel?

What does that passage teach you about God’s initiative in salvation?

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A Choice in the Matter – Greg Laurie

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And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”—Acts 9:17

After hearing the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul (later to become Paul) was left blind. He was led to the home of a man named Judas in Damascus, and he had no idea what would happen next.

Enter an unsung hero named Ananias. God appeared to him in a vision and said, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight” (Acts 9:11–12).

But Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem . . .” (verse 13).

I can understand the reticence on Ananias’ part. The idea of Saul’s becoming a Christian would not even be believable or plausible.

Yet God was unmoved by Ananias’ protest. He said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (verse 15).

So Ananias obeyed, and Saul received his sight. Everything happened just as God said it would.

Sometimes God will ask us to do something we may be reluctant to do. But we have a choice in the matter. We don’t have to obey God. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them, he went—in the opposite direction. And eventually Jonah ended up doing what God wanted him to do.

So you can be a Jonah, or you can be an Ananias. You can say yes, or you can say no.

Man has his will, but God will always have His way.

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God’s Viewpoint about Money – Charles Stanley

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1 Timothy 6:9-11

God knew how obsessively the issue of money would occupy our minds, so He placed special emphasis on it in His Word.

Did you know there are some 2,350 verses about money—more than any other topic? And did you realize more than half of Jesus’ parables use money as object lessons? Knowing where our greatest interest and temptations would be, God spelled out what we would need to know in order to handle our resources with His wisdom.

The Lord is personally interested in the details of our life, including our financial security. That is why His Word includes instructions about giving and attitudes He wants us to have. We are to give . . .

• Generously. Most likely, you have what some would view as blessing beyond measure. Many who have abundance succumb to a temptation to hoard. Honor God with your first fruits—right off the top—and then bless others with your abundance.

• Cheerfully. We should put the Lord’s monetary principles into effect joyfully, not under compulsion or guilt. Remember that He knows your heart and motives.

• Confidently.God keeps His promises. Malachi 3:10 tells us that when we give to support the Lord’s work, He will open the windows of heaven and impact every area of your life.

See what Scripture has to say about money and its usage, and put into practice biblical principles for handling treasure. God wants His children to take steps to follow Him. When He sees that you are being faithful in small ways, He will trust you in greater ways.

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Surprised by Suffering – Ravi Zacharias

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Gayle Williams was a 34 year-old foreign aid worker serving among the disabled in a country where humanitarian work is both needed and dangerous. Williams was killed as she walked to work, targeted by a militant group because they believed she was spreading Christianity.

Elsewhere, a young medical student at a prestigious university described in detail the hostility he confronts daily as a Christian. He spoke of students and friends who deride the possibility of possessing both faith and intellect, medical professors who actually apologize when the language of design inadvertently slips into lectures on the body, and the isolation that comes from trying to stand in the shadows of this increasingly antagonistic majority.

When confronted by the stories of those who live their faith among people who hate them for it, I am confounded, inspired, saddened, and thankful all at once. The death and murder of Gayle Williams startles those at ease in their faith to reflection. The pervasive opposition in the lives of believing university students awakens even seasoned believers to their own apathy. How courageous is the believer who follows Christ among those who hurl insults and hostility? How treasured is the Bible that must be buried in the backyard for protection? How sacred is the faith of one who is willing to die for it?

For those of us who live in far less hostile environments, news of persecution is foreign, frightening, and difficult to fathom. Their experiences bring the words of the early church to life in a way that many of us have never considered. When the apostle Paul wrote that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ—neither “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword”—he was referring to struggles that were dangerously real to him and the people to whom he was writing. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). Peter, too, encouraged believers in their troubling situations. He urged them to stand firm in their convictions regardless of their affliction; he reminded them that discomfort and suffering was a sacred part of following the wounded one. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

The apostles’ words do not take away the injustice of brutal murder. But they do assuage the shock of its occurrence. Jesus told his followers to expect persecution; in fact, he said they would be blessed by it. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). Peter’s words encourage the suffering not to see their painful trials as strange or out of the ordinary, but as something that further marks them as believers and unites them in even greater intimacy with their leader. Persecution may be always jarring, unfair, or lamentable, but it is not strange when it happens to those who follow Christ. Perhaps it is stranger when it is not happening.

Mark Twain once said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” For those of us who live the faith we profess without challenge, trial, or risk, reflection may well be appropriate. Is it possible that we have so shut ourselves up in Christian circles that we have closed ourselves off from the world and hence any chance of suffering for Christ? Is it possible that we are so at ease among the majority that we avoid venturing out as the minority among those who might hate or hurt us? Certainly we experience hostility and persecution indirectly. But how we are personally interacting with the angry, the lost, and the broken masses Jesus once wept over is another thing entirely. How effectively we live as “the salt of the earth” that Jesus described depends on our place and posture within it. Surely salt that remains content within the shaker has lost its saltiness.

The struggles of Christian students on university campuses, the sufferings of Christian aid workers across the world, and the daily trials of believers who live courageously in dangerous places are stories that frighten and sadden us.  They are also stories that depict what can happen when the salt of the kingdom is allowed to season the earth. Gayle Williams is said to have been the hand of Christ among some of the world’s most forgotten. “Remember the words I spoke to you,” said Jesus to his disciples. “‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). And then he was led away like a sheep to the slaughter.(1)

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

(1) Isaiah 53:7

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “I will help thee, saith the Lord.” / Isaiah 41:14

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: “I will help

thee.” “It is but a small thing for me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I

have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with my blood.

What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater,

will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for

thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee.

I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside my glory and became a man for thee;

I gave up my life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee

now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If

thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou

requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to

need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. Help thee?’ Fear not! If there were

an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to

give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the

door of my all-sufficiency. I will help thee.'”

 

O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the

omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in

the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is

manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher!

Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them

here–thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full

for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy

might. The Eternal God is thine helper!

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay’d!

I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid.”

 

Evening “The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.” / Daniel 9:26

Blessed be his name, there was no cause of death in him. Neither original nor

actual sin had defiled him, and therefore death had no claim upon him. No man

could have taken his life from him justly, for he had done no man wrong, and

no man could even have lain him by force unless he had been pleased to yield

himself to die. But lo, one sins and another suffers. Justice was offended by

us, but found its satisfaction in him. Rivers of tears, mountains of

offerings, seas of the blood of bullocks, and hills of frankincense, could not

have availed for the removal of sin; but Jesus was cut off for us, and the

cause of wrath was cut off at once, for sin was put away forever. Herein is

wisdom, whereby substitution, the sure and speedy way of atonement, was

devised! Herein is condescension, which brought Messiah, the Prince, to wear a

crown of thorns, and die upon the cross! Herein is love, which led the

Redeemer to lay down his life for his enemies!

It is not enough, however, to admire the spectacle of the innocent bleeding

for the guilty, we must make sure of our interest therein. The special object

of the Messiah’s death was the salvation of his church; have we a part and a

lot among those for whom he gave his life a ransom? Did the Lord Jesus stand

as our representative? Are we healed by his stripes? It will be a terrible

thing indeed if we should come short of a portion in his sacrifice; it were

better for us that we had never been born. Solemn as the question is, it is a

joyful circumstance that it is one which may be answered clearly and without

mistake. To all who believe on him the Lord Jesus is a present Saviour, and

upon them all the blood of reconciliation has been sprinkled. Let all who

trust in the merit of Messiah’s death be joyful at every remembrance of him,

and let their holy gratitude lead them to the fullest consecration to his

cause.

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Anticipating Your Inheritance – John MacArthur

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“In [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance” (Eph. 1:10-11).

An inheritance is something received by an heir as a result of a will or legal process. It’s a legacy one receives from family connections.

As a member of God’s family, you are an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17). As such you have obtained an inheritance that Peter called “imperishable and undefiled . . . reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4). It cannot perish, fade away, or be defiled because heaven is timeless and sinless. It is a secure inheritance.

In Ephesians 1:11 Paul refers to it in the past tense (“have obtained”). That’s significant because the fullness of your inheritance won’t be revealed until you are glorified in God’s presence (1 John 3:2). But your inheritance is so sure, Paul refers to it as if it was already in hand.

Although its fullness is yet future, your inheritance has present benefits as well. In addition to inheriting Christ and the Holy Spirit, you also inherit peace, love, grace, wisdom, joy, victory, strength, guidance, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, discernment, and every other spiritual benefit. Paul sums it all up in 1 Corinthians 3:22-23: “All things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

Nowadays many Christians are so preoccupied with acquiring material goods that they miss many of the present benefits of their spiritual inheritance and the joy of anticipating its future fulfillment. Don’t fall into that trap!

Looking forward to your eternal inheritance will help you maintain a proper perspective on temporal things and motivate you to praise and adore God.

Suggestions for Prayer:    Praise the Lord for the incredible inheritance that awaits you in heaven.

Thank Him for the present benefits of your inheritance, which are yours to enjoy daily.

 

For Further Study:   One precious aspect of your eternal inheritance is God’s mercy. Psalm 136 reflects on the mercy God demonstrated toward Israel. Read that psalm, noting the manifestations of mercy that relate to your life.

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Planting Seeds – Greg Laurie

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I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow—1 Corinthians 3:6–7

We don’t read of anyone in Scripture actually sharing the gospel with Saul (who later became the apostle Paul). But God used a number of people to prepare his heart to receive it.

As far back as I can remember in my life, no one ever sat me down and said, “Greg, here is how you can come into a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

I would hang out at the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach and lean up against walls, trying to look tough and cool. I would watch Christians hand out religious materials and engage people in conversation, and I would be saying in my heart, Please talk to me. But they would never talk to me—they just offered me their tracts.

I shoved those tracts into my pocket and never threw one of them away. I had a drawer at home designated for religious material, and I deposited everything that was handed to me into that drawer. Every now and then, I pulled out the drawer, dumped it on my bed, and read through the material, trying to make sense of it all. What I needed was someone to show me the way.

Then one day, I eavesdropped on a Bible study that was being held on the lawn of my high school campus. And that is when I first heard the gospel and became a Christian.

Looking back, there were different people who helped get me ready for that moment. My grandparents were Christians and took me to church. I had the influence of an aunt and uncle who were strong Christians. Even watching Billy Graham on television with my grandparents was one of the many seeds that were sown in my life.

You see, we all have a part to play in God’s kingdom. We all can do something.

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Christ’s Priority for His Church – Charles Stanley

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John 17:1-26

Sin is a divider. That’s what separated mankind from the Lord in the garden, and it has been fracturing relationships ever since. It’s also the reason that God considers reconciliation so important. He wants to re-establish an intimate relationship with fallen humanity. But His desires for His children don’t end with their salvation experience. He also wants His church to be a shining example of unity for all to see.

The last time Christ prayed for His followers before going to the cross, He asked “that they may all be one” as the Father and Son are one (v. 21). Despite the fact that we cannot attain perfect unity with God until we reach heaven, we do have the capacity to walk in harmony with Him by living in obedience to His Holy Spirit within us.

The other aspect of oneness that God desires for us is unity with one another within His church. We will always have differences in what we prefer and how we interpret certain Bible passages, but our common identity as Christians is based on the essential truths of the faith as revealed in God’s Word. The unity Christ advocates is possible only when each member of His body walks in submission to the Spirit so that together they can achieve the purposes of God and reflect Christ’s character in their behavior.

Ask the Lord to produce a desire for unity within your heart. When you’re tempted to demand your own way, remember what’s at stake. Accord in a local church allows God to do His work effectively through that congregation, but it’s also an attractive witness that draws the lost world to Christ.

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Timeless News for the Time Bound – Ravi Zacharias

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Most of us, if we’re honest, live by the clock. The alarm sounds and we are off, watching the minutes slip by. Time-sensitive deadlines drive our days. We have appointments and meetings, we eat at a certain time, and the day ends by a certain time. Bound to our timepieces, it often seems our every moment is synchronized and controlled.

In contrast to the “objective” measures of time marking seconds, minutes, and hours, there is also a “subjective” experience of time being “fast or slow.” Another year has come and gone, and it seems for those of us who are growing older that our experience of time passes by more and more quickly. Most of us feel our vacation time as ephemeral and fleeting, while our work week plods slowly by—and yet both are marked by the same objective measurements of time. How is it that our subjective experience of time is so different from what our watches and clocks objectively mark out for us, second by second, hour by hour?

This question of our subjective experience of time is one that ancient philosophers and theologians pondered. Their philosophical and theological musings bequeathed to us many perplexities regarding the human experience of time. Saint Augustine, for example, wrestled with the fleeting character of our human temporal experience. He was rightly perplexed by the experience of apprehending the present at the moment it recedes into the past. He wrote, “We cannot rightly say what time is, except by reason of its impending state of not-being.”(1)

Regardless of the perceptual and philosophical difficulties with understanding the nature of time, what seems most crucial for human beings is the significance of events that happen in time, moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day. Seeking to reclaim this emphasis, theologians have tried to understand the nature of time by what takes place in time—a narrative of unfolding events.(2) These theological discussions involve God’s engagement with time. Is God a wholly atemporal being, outside of time and history? Or is God genuinely engaged with time and revealed through an unfolding story of historical disclosure?

The biblical writers give witness to a God who progressively unfolds saving acts within history as they experienced them. The divine plan of salvation that Christians believe culminates in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is called salvation history. Yet, God did not, for example, reveal every aspect of salvation to Abraham or to Moses. Instead, the biblical writers give witness to the God who works within and through the temporal events of history to reveal the plan of redemption. We see this unfolding in God’s commissioning of Moses prior to the Exodus:

“I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai) but by my name ‘the Lord (YHWH)’ I did not make myself known.”(3)

Within the long ministry of the prophets as well, a God is revealed who gradually discloses what will take place. Isaiah presents the God who “proclaims to you new things from this time; even hidden things which you have not known. They are created now, and not long ago: and before today you have not heard them” (Isaiah 48:6-7).

For Christians, God’s decisive revelatory action in time is in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While there are many glimpses, sign-markers, and hints pointing towards a messianic redeemer in the Old Testament, ultimately God chose to enter a particular time as a human being to live life among the time-bound.

The significance of those time-bound events continues into our time, and indeed into eternity. And through the unfolding of time, humans can grow in their understanding of who God is and what God has done through Jesus, the Messiah. Indeed, as Jesus spoke with his disciples, he suggested that there would be more to learn and more to reveal through the work of the Holy Spirit: “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will disclose to you what is to come.“(4)

The witness of Scripture suggests that the events of our lives reveal this ongoing work of the Spirit. Sometimes, we apprehend the significance of those events in the present time. Other times, it is only through the lens of hindsight as events recede into times past that we understand God’s action. While time might move slowly for some or quickly for others, while minutes and seconds and hours are filled with appointments, meetings, and all the events that make up our time-bound existence, the Spirit invites us to look around to see how God is working through what might appear to be ordinary events in the march of time.

As another year recedes and a new year unfolds, those who follow Jesus declare that God entered time to enact the new creation in Christ’s life, death and resurrection. As we grow in our understanding of that timeless act, the events of our temporal lives act as sign-markers for eternity. And while we often see the significance of our time-bound events “through a mirror darkly,” Christians continue to live each day in hope of that time that will come when “all things are subjected to Him…that God may be all in all.”(5)

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

(1) Augustine, Confessions, XI, 14.

(2) Colin Gunton, cited in John Polkinghorne, Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 120.

(3) Exodus 6:2-3, Italics mine.

(4) John 16:12-13, Italics mine.

(5) 1 Corinthians 15:28.

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning   “Do as thou hast said.” / 2 Samuel 7:25

God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper; he intended

that they should be used. God’s gold is not miser’s money, but is minted to be

traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see his promises put in

circulation; he loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say,

“Lord, do as thou hast said.” We glorify God when we plead his promises. Do

you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches he has

promised? Do you dream that he will be any the less holy for giving holiness

to you? Do you imagine he will be any the less pure for washing you from your

sins? He has said “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:

though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be

red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Faith lays hold upon the promise of

pardon, and it does not delay, saying, “This is a precious promise, I wonder

if it be true?” but it goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, “Lord,

here is the promise, Do as thou hast said.'” Our Lord replies, “Be it unto

thee even as thou wilt.” When a Christian grasps a promise, if he does not

take it to God, he dishonours him; but when he hastens to the throne of grace,

and cries, “Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this, Thou hast said

it;'” then his desire shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash

his own notes. Never let the promise rust. Draw the sword of promise out of

its scabbard, and use it with holy violence. Think not that God will be

troubled by your importunately reminding him of his promises. He loves to hear

the loud outcries of needy souls. It is his delight to bestow favours. He is

more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor

the fountain of flowing. It is God’s nature to keep his promises; therefore go

at once to the throne with “Do as thou hast said.”

 

Evening  “But I give myself unto prayer.” / Psalm 109:4

Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend

himself; he moved the case into a higher court, and pleaded before the great

King himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The

Psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner, he gave himself to the

exercise–threw his whole soul and heart into it–straining every sinew and

muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall

any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there

is no substance in it, even so that supplication, in which a man’s proper self

is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire, is

utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. “Fervent

prayer,” says an old divine, “like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven,

makes them fly open.” The common fault with the most of us is our readiness to

yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving hither and thither, and we make

little progress towards our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not

hold together, but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It

injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a

petitioner, if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing

with a feather or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David

did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was

continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance

work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give

themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we

addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element,

and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and

more prevalent in supplication.

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Resting in God’s Sovereignty – John MacArthur

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God made known the mystery of His will “according to His kind intention which He purposed in [Christ] with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth” (Eph. 1:9-10).

For centuries men of various philosophical schools have debated the cause, course, and climax of human history. Some deny God and therefore deny any divine involvement in history. Others believe that God set everything in motion, then withdrew to let it progress on its own. Still others believe that God is intimately involved in the flow of human history and is directing its course toward a specific, predetermined climax.

In Ephesians 1:9-10 Paul settles that debate by reminding us that Jesus Himself is the goal of human history. In Him all things will be summed up–all human history will be resolved and united to the Father through the work of the Son.

As Paul said elsewhere, “It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness [of deity] to dwell in [Christ], and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:19-20). The culmination of Christ’s reconciling work will come during His millennial kingdom (Rev. 20). Following that, He will usher in the eternal state with a new heaven and earth (Rev. 21).

Despite the political uncertainty and military unrest in the world today, be assured that God is in control. He governs the world (Isa. 40:22-24), the nations (Isa. 40:15- 17), and individuals as well (Prov. 16:9). God’s timetable is right on schedule. Nothing takes Him by surprise and nothing thwarts His purposes. Ultimately He will vanquish evil and make everything right in Christ.

Suggestions for Prayer:     Thank God for the wisdom and insight He gives you to see beyond your temporal circumstances to His eternal purposes.

Live today with that perspective in mind.

For Further Study: Read Revelation 20

What happens to Satan prior to the millennial kingdom?

How does Satan meet his final doom?

What happens at the great white throne judgment?

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The Impact of One – Greg Laurie

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Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other—Romans 12:4–5

When it comes to contemporary heroes of the Christian faith, we are familiar with names like Billy Graham. But what about Edward Kimble or Mordecai Ham?

Edward Kimble was a shoe salesman who worked alongside a guy named Dwight. Edward shared the gospel with Dwight, and Dwight accepted Christ. It was 1858, and Dwight’s last name was Moody. We know him as D. L. Moody, who was one of the greatest evangelists in history.

Years later when Moody was preaching, a pastor named Frederick D. Meyer was deeply stirred, and as a result, he went into his own nationwide preaching ministry. On one occasion when Meyer was preaching, a college student named J. Wilbur Chapman heard him and accepted Christ. He went out and began to share the gospel, and he employed a young baseball player named Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday ended up being the greatest evangelist of his generation.

When Billy Sunday preached the gospel in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was such a great meeting that he was invited back. But when he couldn’t be there, Sunday recommended a preacher named Mordecai Ham. Ham went to Charlotte and preached, but not many people responded to his invitation to accept Christ. But on one of the last nights, a tall, lanky boy who worked on the local dairy farm walked forward. Everyone knew him as Billy Frank, and we know him today as Billy Graham.

So Edward Kimble reached D. L. Moody, who touched Frederick Meyer, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who helped Billy Sunday, who reached businessmen in Charlotte, who invited Mordecai Ham, who ultimately reached Billy Graham. And it all began with the simple witness of Edward Kimble.

Every one of us can make a difference for the kingdom of God. What is He calling you to do?