Tag Archives: holy spirit

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End

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Read: Revelation 21:6 7, 22:12 14

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (22:13)

Believers can celebrate that there is no beginning or ending without God. He is never absent from our pain or rejoicing. In fact, he promises in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” What a comfort to know that the loving hand of God is holding, supporting, and carrying us through the beginnings and endings and each moment in between. From a child’s first cry to a parent’s final breath. From the moment we say “I do” to the point a marriage ends. From the first day of school, the start of a new job, and the blooming flowers of spring to the day we graduate, retire, or feel the cold winter wind. If we have repented of our sin and trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, our Savior’s words hold true: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

The end of a relationship, season, dream, or life brings sorrow. The end of guilt and shame brings peace. As hard as the endings are, we serve a God who restores and makes all things new (Rev. 21:5). In times of change, remember new life and fresh starts. Until that glorious day when we come to the new heaven and new earth, may you follow the Alpha and Omega and devote yourself to serving him in every season of life.

PRAYER:

Thank you, Lord, for loving and upholding me through the beginnings and endings I face in life. Amen.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Preparing the Way

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But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?—Romans 10:14

In the years before I became a Christian, I don’t ever recall anybody engaging me with the gospel. I often would hang around down in Newport Beach, leaning against a wall with a tough-guy look on my face. I remember seeing the Christians walking around and handing out their religious tracts. In my heart, I was saying, Please, come and talk to me. But I was too proud to ask.

I noticed they would engage other people in conversation, but when they came to me, they would sort of look at me and just thrust the tract in my hands. But I didn’t throw it away. In my room at home, I had a big drawer that was filled with religious literature. And every now and then, I would pull out that drawer and read through this stuff, trying to make sense of it all. I needed someone to show me the way, but I don’t remember anyone doing that.

The way that I ended up hearing the gospel was by going to a Christian meeting I wasn’t even invited to. I saw this girl on my high school campus that I found attractive, and I wondered why a cute girl like her would be a Christian. So I went to the meeting to check it out. The last thing I ever planned on doing was becoming a Christian. But I heard the gospel for the first time in a way that I understood, and I gave my life to Christ.

As I look back on my life, I see there were unsung heroes who helped prepare the way for my conversion. And we can all identify people who made a contribution—people whom God used in our lives. Will you be that person for someone today?

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Delights in His People

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“He delivered me because He delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19b; 2 Samuel 22:20b)

When Arouna was a small boy, he was very, very sick. Some medical missionaries wanted to take him to a big-city hospital, but his parents did not have enough money and could not let him go there. So Arouna got sicker and weaker as time went by. He had to be put in a small hospital that was run by the Tanzanian government. There, he did not have very good medical care, but it was better than no medical care at all. Arouna kept getting sicker and weaker, and his suffering became more and more painful and dangerous.

One day, the doctor told Arouna’s parents that he would need a blood transfusion. Arouna’s father had the same type of blood as Arouna had. The doctor asked Arouna’s father if he would be willing to give some of his blood, and he explained that Arouna would probably die very soon if he did not have a transfusion for the blood he needed.

Arouna’s father was a little scared, because he had never given blood before, and he was afraid that losing his blood would make him weak for the rest of his life. But he loved Arouna very much, and he had been too poor to pay for Arouna to get better in a nicer hospital. So this was something Arouna’s father could do for him – he could give him some of his blood.

Because of his father’s willing sacrifice, Arouna was able to get better. His father was fine again after a few hours, and Arouna was almost completely healthy again after only a few more weeks in the hospital. The blood transfusion with his father’s blood was what saved little Arouna’s life. And why was his father able to follow through with the blood transfusion? Because his affection for his little boy was far greater than his fear and concern for himself.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Delights in His People →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Never Directly

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 10:19

“We have confidence to enter the holy places by the bloo

d of Jesus. ”

Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they’ve earned God’s blessing through their behavior. Guilt-laden believers are sure they’ve forfeited God’s blessing through disobedience or lack of discipline. Both have forgotten the meaning of grace—God’s unmerited favor to those who deserve only his wrath.

Most of us probably entertain either of these attitudes on different days. On a good day (as we perceive it), we tend toward self-righteous pharisaism. On a not-so-good day, we allow ourselves to wallow in a sense of failure and guilt. Either way we’ve moved away from the Gospel of God’s grace, trying to relate to God directly on the basis of our performance rather than through Christ.

God never intended that we relate to him directly. Our own performance is never good enough to be acceptable. The only way we can relate to him is through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Only the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from a guilty conscience and give us confidence to enter into God’s presence (Hebrews 10:19-21).

The Gospel, applied every day to our hearts, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of his total forgiveness through Christ’s blood means we don’t have to play defensive games anymore. We don’t have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame others for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, however ugly and shameful it may be, because we know Jesus bore that sin in his body on the cross. We have no reason to hide from our sins anymore.

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – God’s Care for His Children

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Today’s Scripture: Exodus 16-18

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19

When the Israelites’ supplies ran out, they accused Moses and Aaron of leading them out in the wilderness to kill them. Their complaint was really against God, for He was the one who had brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.

Now, you’d think they would quickly learn the lesson of the bountiful provision of God! But here they are, putting on a repeat performance and forgetting the long chain of miracles whereby God had delivered them, served them, and fed them. God didn’t forget His people, and once again He met their needs.

In addition to God’s provision of food and water, He sent them a management consultant in the person of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro watched Moses in action and saw that he was overworked and needed to delegate some responsibilities. He gave Moses some sound advice: “You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him” (Exodus 18:19). Then he said, “Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.” He had to teach them the Word of God and then lead by example.

So in these three chapters, we see the God who provided food to eat, water to drink, and leadership to help meet their spiritual needs.

What is the greatest need in your life today? Maybe you need more money to meet the obligations of life. Or maybe you need a companion, friend, or advisor to help you through a time of aching loneliness or critical decision making. Whatever your need, let me encourage you to depend on God to meet it.

Prayer

Lord, I trust You to meet all my needs. Amen.

To Ponder

God doesn’t deal with us as we deserve. God is love.

 

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint – A Symphony for Reformation Day: Mendelssohn’s Fifth

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Given that today is October 31st, you might be expecting a commentary about Halloween. Well, we covered that on Friday. Instead we want to talk about another celebration that takes place today, and that is Reformation Day.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther wrote a letter to the archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg protesting the sale of indulgences. In the letter he enclosed what he called “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” which came to be known as his “95 Theses.”

Today also kicks off a year-long commemoration of that momentous event that will culminate next October 31st in the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Lots of ink, both actual and digital, will be expended in telling us what it meant and continues to mean, and by the way, I’m writing a biography of Martin Luther right now—stay tuned.

But for today, I want to turn your attention to the art inspired by the events of that day. Specifically I want to tell you about Felix Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, better known as his “Reformation Symphony.”

The occasion of its composition was the 300th anniversary of another milestone in the Reformation, the Augsburg Confession, which defined Lutheran beliefs.

As the program notes to a recent performance of the symphony by the Los Angeles Philharmonic tells us, “As a devout Protestant himself and a boundless admirer of Bach … Mendelssohn felt drawn by the idea of a symphony that symbolized the Protestant Reformation not with a grand choral work on a sacred text, as might be expected, but with a four-movement symphony without words.”

So despite being ill, Mendelssohn spent the winter of 1829-30 composing a symphony whose fourth movement is built around Martin Luther’s great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” exactly three hundred years after Luther composed his hymn.

The first movement wordlessly “carries the notion of conflict, at first in the slow introduction where clarion figures seem to call out for reform over the aspiring counterpoint in the lower strings.” What follows is a musical reference to the six-note sequence known as the “Dresden Amen.”

Continue reading BreakPoint – A Symphony for Reformation Day: Mendelssohn’s Fifth →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – GOD’S SALVATION IN THE LAST DAYS

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Read 2 PETER 3:15–18

In 1972, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission began requiring child-resistant packaging for medicines in response to the number of children who were accidentally poisoned by ingesting aspirin, medications, or other household products. After the requirement, the number of child deaths plummeted, from 216 deaths in 1972 to 29 fatalities in 1999. These prevention measures have saved many lives.

Peter is also urging his readers to take preventive measures to inoculate themselves against the poison of the false teachers. The core ingredient of their poison was misrepresentation of the Word of God. These blasphemers were not ignorant of God’s commands; rather, they distorted and twisted Scripture—including the teaching of Jesus and the apostles—to justify their own immorality (v. 16). Satan in the Garden of Eden had questioned the nature of God’s command to not eat from the tree; now the false prophets questioned the nature of God’s character, arguing that their lives of lust and greed proved that God’s judgment was an empty threat.

Not so, says Peter! They’ve misconstrued the evidence. The delay in God’s judg- ment doesn’t reveal His impotence—it is evidence of His patience! His grace and mercy abound, giving sinners opportunity for repentance (v. 15). Judgment will come, but so will God’s salvation.

The best way to prevent the deadly poison of apostasy is to continue growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (v. 18). We grow in our knowledge of Him through prayer and the study of His Word, and we grow in grace through our commitment to live in a way that reflects His character of love, humility, and truth. May we stand strong in our faith, and may our lives bring Him glory!

APPLY THE WORD

God’s patience extends salvation to us, His Word guides us, a relationship with Him brings us joy, and we have the promise of eternal life forever in His presence. Make a list of the blessings of God for which you’re thankful, and when you face the temptations from the world, use it as a reminder of who God is and what He has done for you.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – WHAT DO EMAILS, MANURE, AND HALLOWEEN HAVE IN COMMON?

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A truckload of manure was dumped Saturday morning outside the Warren County Democratic Party headquarters in Ohio. The Clinton campaign probably sees this as a metaphor for the FBI’s announcement on Friday that it is reviewing more emails that may be linked to their candidate. Last night, federal investigators obtained a warrant to begin searching a large cache of emails belonging to Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide.

A columnist for The Daily Beast is claiming today that Republicans have “weaponized” the FBI against Mrs. Clinton. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is accusing FBI Director James Comey of breaking federal law by disclosing the new email investigation.

Doesn’t it seem fitting that Halloween comes a week before the election?

Rather than comment on partisan politics, I’d like to turn in a different direction this morning. Consider this Halloween-appropriate item in the news: Families in Puerto Rico are arranging for the bodies of their deceased loved ones to be displayed at the pre-burial wake in real-life poses. One man was embalmed in a standing position with boxing gloves on his hands. Another was embalmed sitting at his mother’s bar and playing dominoes.

Meanwhile, a man in China arranged his own funeral to see who would attend the ceremony. A man in Serbia did the same thing. Like them, you can attend your own funeral if you wish. The New York Times tells us about a South Korean program in which participants sit beside caskets, write their last testaments, don burial shrouds, then lie down in coffins. A grim-looking man dressed in a black robe hammers the lids closed. The participants lie encased in total darkness for ten minutes before they are released back to life.

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHAT DO EMAILS, MANURE, AND HALLOWEEN HAVE IN COMMON? →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s Call to Repentance

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Luke 15:11-24

In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger brother asked for his inheritance early so he might live as he chose. Once the father gave him his share, the young man made many unwise choices that led to hunger and destitution. What happened next illustrates the principles of godly repentance.

After squandering all of his money, the wayward son found work feeding pigs, a bottom-of-the-barrel kind of job. One day he came to his senses and recognized his terrible plight. His repentance began with an awareness of his wrong choices and the fact that his bad situation was due to them.

Knowing that his difficulties came from unrighteous behavior, the prodigal grieved over his mistakes and acknowledged his sin (Luke 15:18). He declared he was no longer worthy to be his father’s son. Godly sorrow and confession led the young man to leave that place and go home. His repentance was made complete when he turned away from his old ways and returned to his father. The Lord likewise calls us to repent and return to Him.

What a welcome the prodigal son received! Upon seeing him, the father was filled with compassion and ran to embrace him. Forgiveness and acceptance were extended to the son. Both are blessings that God freely offers to whoever asks Him.

The prodigal son did not clean himself up before returning home. He simply left his old life, turned toward home, and trusted in his father’s mercy. The heavenly Father calls us to repent and offers us forgiveness when we turn away from our self-centered ways and move toward godliness (1 John 1:9).

Bible in One Year: Luke 14-16

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Stage by Stage

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Read: Numbers 33:1-15, 36-37

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 12-14; 2 Timothy 1

At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey.—Numbers 33:2

Numbers 33 is a chapter in the Bible we might pass by without reflection. It appears to be nothing more than a long list of places tracing Israel’s pilgrimage from Rameses in Egypt to their arrival in the plains of Moab. But it must be important because it’s the only section in Numbers that follows with the words: “At the Lord’s command Moses recorded . . .” (v. 2).

Why keep a record of this? Could it be that this list provides a framework upon which the Israelites emerging from the wilderness could retrace that forty-year journey in their thoughts and recall God’s faithfulness at each location?

I envision an Israelite father, sitting near a campfire, reminiscing with his son: “I will never forget Rephidim! I was dying of thirst, nothing but sand and sage for hundreds of miles. Then God directed Moses to take his staff and strike a rock—actually a hard slab of flint. I thought, What a futile gesture; he’ll never get anything out of that stone. But to my amazement water gushed out of that rock! A generous flow that satisfied the thirst of the thousands of Israelites. I’ll never forget that day!” (see Ps. 114:8; Num. 20:8-13; 33:14).

So why not give it a try? Reflect on your life—stage by stage—and remember all the ways God has shown you His faithful, covenant love. —David Roper

Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Johnson Oatman Jr.

For reflection on the faithfulness of God, listen to this Discover the Word program: discovertheword.org/faithfulness.

God’s faithfulness extends to all generations.

INSIGHT: Stage by stage God leads His dear children along. Sometimes (as in Israel’s case), God’s leading in our lives may seem quite mystifying; we may feel we are traveling in circles. Nevertheless, when we trust in the Lord, He will direct us (Prov. 3:5-6). God is faithful to all who put their trust in Him.  Jim Townsend

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Poverty of Words

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I remember the time when my son had to go through a very simple surgery when he was five years old. He was not able to breathe properly, so the doctors had to remove some extra tissue surrounding his nostril and nasal passages. During the hours and days after his surgery, my once-a-chatterbox son had become completely quiet. Because of the fear of being hurt if he spoke, he quit using words for his way of communication. It was overwhelming to see my boy struggling to express himself in that condition.

As I assisted my son get back to talking, I could not help but think of how unexpectedly Zechariah lost his speech after he questioned the angel who brought him such good news about a long-waited child in his old age.(1) In Zechariah’s case, the temporary loss of words was something of an acknowledgement of the promised child he doubted, a child who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Though he knew why he was made silent, I am sure he felt restless until he held his son in his arms and was finally able to describe his emotions properly.

There are spiritual retreat centers in various locations around the world, which offer “Silent Weeks” to those who are over-exhausted from excessive communication. During these weeks, individuals are banned from verbal communication in order to quiet themselves internally. The goal is simply to bring back the core purpose of real interaction: tending to what is being said in reality.

When the words are taken from us either because of the inability to speak or the lack of verbal direction, we become strangely poor, almost incomplete. There are two sides of this poverty: one is internal, losing the comfort of one’s capability to express oneself fully. The other is external, as one finds no real guidance to turn to for wisdom. In my opinion, the latter has eternal ramifications if not satisfied in a timely manner.

Similar to these weeks, biblical history claims there was a time when God stopped talking. Between the periods from the prophet Malachi until the first written words of Matthew’s gospel, we do not read any account of God communicating to his people through words. Humankind experienced a poverty of words, a lack of communication and intervention from the creator. It was a long pause before the grand entrance of God into this silence, fully revealing God’s essence by identifying who God is, as the ultimate Word, Jesus Christ.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Poverty of Words →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Law Arouses Sin

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“But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead” (Romans 7:8).

When confronted with God’s holy law, sinful men are motivated not to obey it, but to break it.

It is a perverse fact of fallen human nature that the surest way to get people to do things is to tell them not to do them. When people see a sign reading “Keep off the grass!” or “Don’t pick the flowers!” their first impulse is often to trample the grass and take some flowers.

The same is true in the spiritual realm. God’s law reveals what is right and what is wrong—and sinful men choose to do what is wrong. In his classic allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan vividly depicts the seemingly paradoxical truth that the law does not restrain sin but stirs it up. In the house of Interpreter, Christian was shown a large, dust-filled room. A man with a broom, representing the law, appeared and began to sweep. The resulting dust cloud nearly choked Christian. Bunyan’s point was that just as sweeping a dusty room does not remove the dust but only stirs it up, so the law does not restrain sin but merely aggravates it.

Does that mean the law is evil? Certainly not. “The Law is holy” (Rom. 7:12) since it derives from a holy God. And it does sinners good by exposing their sin and revealing to them their need for a Savior. The law, then, is not the culprit—sin is.

Continue reading John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Law Arouses Sin →

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Before You Even Ask 

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When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Matthew 6:7-8

I believe the Lord teaches us profound truths about life and faith through our children, especially when they are young. If you are a parent or have spent any time around children, you know this to be true. At times, without even knowing it, in a single sentence they can speak a deeper truth about God than an entire sermon or book on the same topic!

In my own life, my children have taught me a great deal about how to approach God in prayer. Prayer for them is never a display of the sincerity of their piety or the depths of their Biblical knowledge. Prayer is instead the simple request from the heart of a child, offered to a heavenly Father that they believe hears them, loves them, and desires a relationship with them. They also remind me of the profound truth of Jesus’s words in Matthew 6: God knows the needs and desires of our hearts before we ever speak a single word.

The Lord knows us and loves us more than we even know and love ourselves. The concerns, burdens, bruises, and hurts that we carry with us are already known by a God who deeply desires to wash our wounds and heal us from the inside out. Your connection to God in prayer is never based upon the eloquence or length of your prayers but upon the fact that God is a loving Father who has called you his son or his daughter.

Prayer is never a transactional agreement but is always an exchange of love where we encounter the goodness and faithfulness of God and we in turn respond with a renewed, childlike faith.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Before You Even Ask  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Everyone Has a Plan

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For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Recommended Reading

Jeremiah 29:1-11

Boxer Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.” It’s amazing how easily our plans are derailed. If you’ve ever planned a trip, a church event, a family gathering, or the launch of a business plan, you know to expect the unexpected. Sometimes life punches us in the mouth.

Our Almighty God has a plan for our lives, and His plans are never derailed. In Jeremiah 29, the prophet Jeremiah warned his people of coming judgment and impending invasion. The nation of Judah was about to be punched in the mouth. But God’s plans were undeterred, and Jeremiah reassured them of their eventual return and restoration to the land. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you… plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).

It’s important to plan and prepare for life. But if your plans have suffered a setback, don’t let discouragement overtake your mind. Your heavenly Father loves you, He knows all about it, and His plans will unfold with grace and mercy, in His timing, and for His glory.

Sometimes our plans don’t work out because God has better ones.

Anonymous

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Luke 13 – 15

 

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Heart of Obedience

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But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed- Romans 6:17

Paul wrote that the believers in Rome were obedient with all their heart. This was important because it is possible to have halfhearted obedience—to be reluctantly obedient in behavior, but not be joyfully obedient with all your heart.

Obeying what God says is not just a matter of putting on a show, but a matter of having the right attitude. When you really want to please the Lord, you can’t wait to follow His direction and instructions for your life.

I want to encourage you to come up higher in your obedience. Be quick to obey, radical and joyful in your obedience. Don’t be the kind of person God has to deal with for weeks just to get you to do the simplest little thing. Gladly do what God asks of you.

Obedience is more than a spiritual obligation—it is a spiritual opportunity! Your obedience to God will ultimately be rewarded. Obedience sows the seed necessary to bring another blessing into your life. You can never outgive God; He will always reward your seeds of obedience.

A heart of obedience results in the blessing of God on your life.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Put It In Re-verse

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Today’s Truth

Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Psalm 34:5

Friend to Friend

If you’ve been around Christian believers for any length of time then you have probably heard people talking about their “life verse.” Having a life verse isn’t a Biblical mandate and it doesn’t make anyone sprout wings of holiness, but it’s a thing. A thing that often redirects us to God’s Word. Which is always good.

Back in the day of Joshua, the people of Israel were led through the Jordan River when the Lord made a miraculous way. After they reached the other side safely, God told the leaders to go back into the water and gather 12 large stones, one to represent each tribe, and to place them by the water’s edge. The stones became a visual reminder of the deliverance that they’d experienced at the hands of God.

Life verses are a remembrance stone of sorts. They are usually a verse that reminds people of Biblical promises or of a special time in their lives when they experienced the powerful presence of God. Sometimes a life verse is a scripture that reminds us not to worry, like Philippians 4:6 – or verses that reminds us of God’s inseparable love, like Romans 8:37-39.

I have more than one life verse {overachiever alert.} One is Psalm 105:4, because it instructs my heart of what is most important. “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” Love it. I need to remind my heart of which direction it should face.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Put It In Re-verse →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – You Will Rejoice

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“You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and then you will rejoice; and no one can rob you of that joy” (John 16:22).

Once you and I truly experience the joy of the Lord, no one can rob us of that joy!

That does not mean that we will never experience disappointment, sorrow or grief; but it does mean that deep down underneath it all is the joy that comes as a gift from God, the fruit of the Spirit. And that is the kind of joy that no one can take away.

Underneath the tears, the heartache, lies the calm, sweet peace that God gives tothose who walk in faith and obedience. And that is a part of the joy that He promises.

Jesus’ promise to see His disciples again, of course, refers to after the resurrection. “You will be so firmly persuaded that I have risen,” He says to them, “and that I am the Messiah, that neither the threats nor the persecutions of men will ever be able to shake your faith, or produce doubt or unbelief and thus take away your joy.”

Jesus’ prediction, as we know, was remarkably fulfilled, for after He revealed Himself to them following the resurrection, not one of the apostles ever doubted for a moment that He has risen from the dead. No trial or persecution was able to shake their faith – so that their joy remained.

You and I have certainties of faith that are unshakable, and thus they produce joy – joy that will remain forever and ever.

Bible Reading: John 16:20-24

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will remember to praise and thank God for the unshakable joy that He alone gives.

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Of First Importance

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Read: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

There are three elements of the gospel. First, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Isn’t it amazing that he does not mention a word about the whole life of Jesus? That is rather startling, but that is where the gospel begins. He does not even say, Christ died. Ask people today what the gospel is and this is often what they will say, Well, Jesus lived and died. No, that is not the gospel. Everyone believes that Jesus died. Go to any of the modern presentations of the life of Jesus and you will find they all end at the death of Jesus. But there is no good news in that. The good news is Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures . The scriptures tell us that his death accomplished something for us. It changed us, it delivered us, it set us free. That death had great significance in the mind and heart and eyes of God, and that is the good news. As Peter puts it in his words, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, (1 Peter 2:24 RSV). Or, to use the words of Isaiah, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed, (Isaiah 53:5 KJV).

The second element of the gospel is that Jesus not only died for our sins according to the scriptures but he was also buried. Why does Paul include the burial of Jesus? Is it not enough that Jesus died and rose again? The reason for it is that when his disciples came and took the body of Jesus down from the cross, it marked their acceptance of the fact of his death. Did you ever realize how hard it was for them to accept the fact that he died? They did not want to believe it when he himself told them that was what he was going to do. When it happened they went away stunned and unbelieving. But somewhere along the line some realist among them faced up to it and said, We have got to go get his body, and bury him. Joseph of Arimathea came forward and offered a tomb, and with loving hands they took his body down from the tree. They wrapped it in grave clothes, bound it tightly. They embalmed him with spices, and then they placed him in a tomb where he lay for three days and three nights. There is no question that the disciples believed that he was dead. They could never have entertained any idea that he had merely fainted on the cross, or entered into a coma, for they themselves had performed the burial service. That is why Paul adds that here. It marked the acceptance of the disciples that Jesus was truly dead.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Of First Importance →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Beginning of New Life in Christ

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READ: Romans 10:9-15

Savior, thank you for those who have shared the good news with me. Help me to respond to it in a way that brings new life for myself and many others. Amen.

Starting over is possible because of God’s grace. God’s grace enables us to begin a new life in Jesus Christ. We may not get our job back or our marriage restored. However, we can gain a restored relationship with God.

God makes that possible through the gift of Jesus Christ, the one who came to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). This salvation is available through repentance and faith. We must tell God we are sorry for our sin and place our trust in Jesus to forgive us.

If we confess and believe, the Bible doesn’t say we might be saved or we could be saved. It says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Have you confessed your sin to God and asked him to forgive you? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior? Empowered by the Holy Spirit, are you striving to live in a way that shows him to be the Lord of your life?

Through Christ, the lost are found, those dead in sin are granted eternal life, and the perishing are saved. This is the new beginning everyone needs! Have you experienced the beginning of new life in Christ? Are you sharing the good news with others who desperately need to hear it?

PRAYER

Savior, thank you for those who have shared the good news with me. Help me to respond to it in a way that brings new life for myself and many others. Amen.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – A Warped Concept of God

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“And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” —Matthew 25:25

I think somewhere in our minds as believers, we expect serving the Lord or using what God has given us to be drudgery . . . hard . . . difficult . . . unpleasant . . . no fun.

In the parable of the talents, that is what the third servant thought. He had a warped concept of his master. He said to him, “I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours” (Matthew 25:24–25).

So essentially the master said, “All right. You say that I am a hard man, harvesting crops that don’t belong to me. If that is so, then why didn’t you invest my money?”

You see, this man’s concept of his master was wrong. He thought his master was something he was not. In the same way, some people have a warped concept of God. They are afraid to say to Him, “Here is my life, Lord. Here is my future. Here are my resources. Here is my time. It is now dedicated to Your glory.”

They would never say that because they think God would make their lives miserable. That was the problem with this third servant. He had a false concept of his master.

Many of us are afraid of God, but that fear is not a godly reverence for Him. We are afraid of what He will do to us, afraid that He will ruin our lives. It’s time for us to realize that the greatest joy in life is serving the Lord. It is not drudgery; it’s joy. It is life as it’s meant to be lived.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie