Tag Archives: holy spirit

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – McMaster to NSA: a lesson for Christians

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Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster is President Trump’s choice for National Security Adviser. The president made his announcement yesterday afternoon, calling the general “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience.”

Herbert Raymond McMaster is a 1984 graduate of West Point and holds Master of Arts and PhD degrees in American history. He taught military history at West Point; his book on American strategy during the Vietnam War is on the official Marine Corp reading list. In 2014, Time named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world and called him “the architect of the future U.S. Army.”

In a world filled with military conflict, having the best military strategy is vital. In a world filled with spiritual conflict, having the best spiritual strategy is even more urgent (Ephesians 6:12–13). Here’s the principle I’d like us to consider today: while God uses evil for good, Satan uses good for evil.

Our Lord redeems all he allows. As a result, he uses even our sins and broken world to advance his Kingdom purposes. Conversely, Satan often uses what seems good or pleasurable to tempt us. But as Erasmus observed, the devil hates nothing so much as that he should be used for good. He “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Therefore, the apparent good he offers must lead to even greater sin or he would not offer it to us.

Of course, Satan wants us to ignore this fact. He wants us to think that we can prevent the consequences of our sins, that we will not be caught or our sin exposed, that we are better at handling temptation than he is at tempting us.

This is folly.

Continue reading Denison Forum – McMaster to NSA: a lesson for Christians →

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – People of Purpose

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When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.—Acts 11:23

Psychologist William Moulton Marston surveyed 3,000 people and asked them, “What do you have to live for?”

He was shocked to find that of the people who responded, 94 percent were simply enduring the present while they were waiting for the future. They described this as waiting for something to happen. They were waiting for children to grow up and leave home, waiting for next year, waiting for another time to take a dreamed-about trip. They were waiting for tomorrow.

We can spend our whole lives waiting for something to happen, and meanwhile, our lives are passing by. We have no purpose. We have no direction. We’re throwing them away.

As someone has said, “Some men die by shrapnel, and some go down in flames, but most men perish inch by inch, playing at little games.”

Purpose is vital. It’s an anchor in storm. It’s a base in battle.

We read in the New Testament that when Barnabas visited the believers in Antioch, he “encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord” (Acts 11:23).

Ephesians 2 describes us before our commitment to Christ: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (verses 1–2).

That’s how we lived. But then we found out there was a God. We discovered His Word. We found there were absolutes to live by in life—right and wrong, true and false, black and white. We became men and women of purpose.

Do other people know what you stand for? If you don’t stand for something, you are liable to fall for anything.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Working Out Your Salvation

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Philippians 2:12-13

What does it mean to “work out your salvation”? Many people mistakenly think Paul was telling us to work for our salvation. But the apostle was saying something completely different—that your salvation experience isn’t the end of your spiritual journey. Rather, it’s the catalyst that turned on your “operation mode.”

Once you have trusted Jesus as Savior, you can begin living out what He’s given you, which is His abundant life. If you’ve given your heart to Him, the Holy Spirit now indwells you—He is with you forever. It is God’s Spirit working in and through you that empowers you to live out your salvation. The degree to which you yield to Him impacts the work He’ll achieve through you and the changes He will effect in your life.

Let’s say you start reading the Bible and learning. As your faith and relationship with the Lord develop, you will begin to notice Him moving in your life. When you share your faith and your blessings with others, you’ll notice God working through even more avenues. Keep following Him, and you will see the seeds He’s planted within you flourish (Isaiah 55:10-11). So when Scripture says we’re to “work out [our] salvation,” it means we need to reverently live out what’s already been given to us—and allow the life of Christ to come fully to fruition.

Your salvation should become an expression of Jesus’ life wherever you are. As you work it out among your friends and family, on the job, in school, and even with strangers, God’s Spirit will energize you to make a difference and impact others—in other words, to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).

Bible in One Year: Numbers 33-36

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — River Tree

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Read: Jeremiah 17:5–10

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 26–27; Mark 2

They will be like a tree planted by the water.—Jeremiah 17:8

This was a tree to be envied. Growing on riverfront property, it didn’t have to worry about weather reports, withering temperatures, or an uncertain future. Nourished and cooled by the river, it spent its days lifting its branches to the sun, holding the earth with its roots, cleaning the air with its leaves, and offering shade to all who needed refuge from the sun.

By contrast, the prophet Jeremiah pointed to a shrub (Jer. 17:6). When the rains stopped and the summer sun turned the ground to dust, the bush shriveled into itself, offering no shade or fruit to anyone.

Why would the prophet compare a flourishing tree to a withering bush? He wanted his people to recall what had happened since their miraculous rescue from the slave yards of Egypt. For forty years in a wilderness, they lived like a tree planted by a river (2:4-6). Yet in the prosperity of their promised land they had forgotten their own story; they were relying on themselves and on gods of their own making (vv. 7-8), even to the point of going back to Egypt looking for help (42:14).

So God, through Jeremiah, lovingly urged the forgetful children of Israel, and He urges us, to hope and trust in the Lord and to be like the tree—not the bush. —Mart DeHaan

Father, in so many ways You have taught us that You alone can be trusted—even when it seems like You are nowhere to be seen. Please help us to recall today what You have already shown us along the way.

Let’s remember in good times what we have learned in days of trouble.

INSIGHT: Today’s Bible reading contrasts the life of the person devoted to God with the life of one who trusts in his own strength. Jeremiah uses incredibly strong language to differentiate between the two. One is blessed and one is cursed. It’s mind-boggling that we would choose to trust in ourselves instead of God, yet we all choose to do so from time to time. But verse 10 offers hope. It is not what we claim that determines whether we are a tree by the streams or a bush in the desert; it is the Lord who examines and rewards us. Are there any areas of your life you need to ask the Lord to examine? J.R. Hudberg

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The One She Followed

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Mary Magdalene has been given a lot of publicity since her time, and like the tabloids, not much of it is true. Allegations that she was married to Jesus or founded a community steeped in Gnostic belief are unfounded historical claims when looking at the earliest sources. They have no basis in the New Testament and do not seem to have any foundation in traditions before the second century.

What we do know about Mary is that she was possessed by evil spirits—seven to be exact—before she met Jesus. Much speculation has been assigned to what this possession meant. Some have argued that she was a prostitute and thus was deemed filled with unclean spirits, though this is never stated. Regardless of whatever life she had come from, it is clear that everything changed when she met the one who healed her. Mary joined the ranks as a follower of Jesus, and she never left him, even to the end.

Scholars remind us that this says a great deal about Mary, but even more so about the one she followed. “The most striking thing about the role of women in the life and teaching of Jesus is the simple fact that they are there.”(1) Jesus stepped into a world that largely discriminated against women. Women were forbidden to go beyond a certain point in the Temple; they were excluded from conversations in public and restricted to roles as spectators. Jesus not only rejected this practice, he radically acted in opposition to it. He shocked his disciples by talking to those who typically were rejected—a hemorrhaging woman on the road, a Samaritan drawing water at the well. He brushed aside every discrimination and injustice, and received the courageous women who were a part of every event outlined in the New Testament.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which is an unfathomable statement to make about oneself. But it is not the only inconceivable statement he made. To study him, as one might a loose cannon in the crowd, we find one who is entirely countercultural, who affirms those who are rejected and overlooked, who gives women a voice and safe place to be heard, and who calls everyone to transparency, speaking toward a broken world with all its pain and shortfall, sickness and sin. If this is indeed the Son of God, he is a God who not only can handle our unedited stories—but demands them—because he himself did not hold back from standing in the midst of it all.

Mary Magdalene’s is one such story. She left behind the life she knew to follow the one who knew her. To this day, her story of faith and discipleship remains the one God has deemed worth retelling:

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The One She Followed →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Let God Interrupt You

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…And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion? —Esther 4:14

Have you ever noticed that the men and women we read about in the Bible and consider “great” were all people who allowed God to interrupt their lives and were willing to make tremendous sacrifices for Him?

Joseph saved a nation from starvation, but not before God dramatically removed him from his comfortable home where he was his father’s favorite and allowed him to be imprisoned for many years. Joseph probably wasn’t planning a life of hardship and rejection, but God took him through those things in order to position him to be in the right place at the right time. But Joseph could only know that after the fact.

Esther was a young maiden who undoubtedly had plans for her future when suddenly, without warning, she was asked to enter the king’s harem and gain favor with him so she could reveal the plan of wicked Haman, who intended to slaughter the Jews. She was asked to do things that left her frightened for her life, but her wise uncle knew that God had brought her to this point in her life and allowed everything she had endured in the past to prepare her for a moment of greatness.

These people had plans, but they let God interrupt them and they followed Him instead. If you will decide that you don’t mind having God interrupt your life, He can prepare you too, for moments of greatness and use you in awesome ways.

Love God Today:“Lord, interrupt my life for Your purposes at any time and in any way You see fit.”

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Exalting a Nation

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“Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

God’s Word (1 Timothy 2:2) reminds us that we are to pray for those in authority over us, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord.

We should pray daily for all those in authority over us, from the precinct to the White House, and we should seek through the writing of letters and personal appointments to communicate God’s love to each one of them, so that they may contribute to those qualities of godliness that will cause the blessing of God to continue to be poured out upon this nation.

One day I walked into a senator’s office in Washington, D.C. I had never met the man before, but a mutual friend had suggested that I drop by to see him.

Within a few minutes it seemed as if we had known each other for a lifetime. A natural opportunity arose for me to ask him if he were a Christian, and I was able to share the good news of the gospel with him through the Four Spiritual Laws. Before I left his office, the senator said he would like to receive Christ.

Another time, I spoke at a congressman’s home, to which several other congressmen and their wives had been invited. After the meeting, several individuals requested personal appointments.

I went by the office of one of the congressmen the next day.

“Did what I said last night make sense to you?” I asked him.

“It surely did,” he replied.

“Would you like to receive Christ?” I asked. He said that he would and knelt beside his couch to pray.

Down the hall, I shared Christ with still another congressman who had been present the night before. He too said he would like to receive Christ. All three of these men and many others continue to walk with God, seeking His wisdom to help them lead our nation wisely.

Because “godliness exalts a nation,” we feel it is important for every Christian to pray for and witness to all of our nation’s elected officials. Supernatural enablement of the Holy spirit is available to assist us in our communication.

Bible Reading: Psalm 33:12-16

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will pray today for one or more of our nation’s leaders, and I will seek opportunities to witness to them and other governmental leaders personally or through correspondence.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Stop Talking and Listen

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There are times when silence represents the highest respect. The word for such times is reverence. This was a lesson Job learned—the man in the Bible most touched by tragedy and despair. Calamity had pounced on the man like a lioness on a herd of gazelles, and by the time the rampage passed, there was hardly a wall standing or a loved one living.

His four friends came with the bedside manner of drill sergeants. Each had their own interpretation of why God had done what he had done. When his accusers paused, Job spent six chapters giving his opinions on God. Job Chapter 38 begins with these words, “Then the Lord answered Job.” When the Lord speaks, it’s time to stop talking and listen!

From God is With You Every Day

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Human life begins in ‘bright flash of light’

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Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago have documented an amazing fact. According to The Telegraph, when a human sperm meets an egg, “an explosion of tiny sparks erupts from the egg at the exact moment of conception.” Northwestern professor Teresa Woodruff calls the phenomenon “breathtaking.”

When I read the article, I thought immediately of John 1: “In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (vv. 4–5).

Light always defeats darkness. It may take longer than we want to wait. It may happen in ways we can neither predict nor understand. But light wins.

Last Thursday, a panel gathered to discuss the topic, “Biology Isn’t Bigotry.” The five women who participated strongly criticized the notion that self-determined “gender identity” is the same as biological sex. One of the participants calls herself a “long-term leftist” and is on the board of Women’s Liberation Front, a feminist group. She and the rest of the panel warned that “gender identity” views amount to the erasure of women, voyeurism, and practicing eugenics on children.

The next day, Norma McCorvey died at the age of sixty-nine. She was better known by the pseudonym “Jane Roe.” The 1973 case that bears her name, Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion in the US. McCorvey later became one of America’s foremost proponents of life. In February 2005, she unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the legislation that bore her pseudonym. What changed her mind?

In her 1998 book, Won by Love, she explained:

“I was sitting in [Operation Rescue’s] offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. ‘Norma,’ I said to myself, ‘They’re right.’ I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that’s a baby! It’s as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth—that’s a baby!

Continue reading Denison Forum – Human life begins in ‘bright flash of light’ →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Responding to Persecution

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1 Peter 3:13-18

Persecution has been a common experience in Christianity ever since the apostles first proclaimed the message of salvation. Even in places that have been blessed with a long period of peace and prosperity, there is no guarantee how long that will continue. And though we may never face severe repercussions like imprisonment or death for our beliefs, we’ve probably all felt the sting of rejection or ridicule. Whatever form the harassment may take, we should all be prepared to suffer for Christ.

Peter wrote to a group of believers who were treated harshly because of their faith. His goal was to offer encouragement and a reminder to follow Christ’s example: Though sinless, He suffered in our place to bring us to God. And while the crowd at the cross mocked Him, He never responded harshly. Instead, He patiently suffered in full submission to His Father, “entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Without this perspective, we could quickly descend into self-pity or angry resentment when we’re mistreated. But Peter reminds us that we are blessed when we suffer for the sake of righteousness. Not only will we receive a reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12), but we may also have an opportunity to gently and reverently be a witness for Christ.

A wise response to persecution flows from an accurate understanding of God’s ways. Unfair suffering is sometimes a part of His will for us, just as it was for Christ. But we can trust our Father, knowing that He can work every situation for our good and His glory.

Bible in One Year: Numbers 31-32

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Better Than a Piñata

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Read: Ephesians 2:1–10

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 25; Mark 1:23–45

By grace you have been saved.—Ephesians 2:5

There cannot be a Mexican party without a piñata—a carton or clay container filled with candies and treats. Children strike it with a stick and try to break it, hoping to enjoy its contents.

Monks used the piñatas in the sixteenth century to teach lessons to the indigenous people of Mexico. Piñatas were stars with seven points that represented the seven deadly sins. Beating the piñata showed the struggle against evil, and once the treats inside fell to the ground, people could take them home in remembrance of the rewards of keeping the faith.

But we cannot fight evil on our own. God is not waiting for our efforts so that He will show His mercy. Ephesians teaches that “by grace you have been saved through faith, . . . it is the gift of God” (2:8). We don’t beat sin; Christ has done that.

Children fight for the candies from the piñata, but God’s gifts come to all of us when we believe in Jesus. God “has blessed us . . . with every spiritual blessing” (1:3). We have forgiveness of sins, redemption, adoption, new life, joy, love, and much more. We don’t get these spiritual blessings because we have kept the faith and are strong; we get them because we believe in Jesus. Spiritual blessings come only through grace—undeserved grace! —Keila Ochoa

Thank You for Your mercy, Lord, which is great and free!

We have been saved by grace. Now we enjoy the many blessings that come by grace.

INSIGHT: Today’s reading shows the spiritual condition of those who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. But it also proclaims that new life is freely offered as a remedy to all who believe. In the King James Version, Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” The Greek word translated “quickened” does not appear in the original. However, it appears in verse 5, and many other passages support this concept of quickening or making alive (Col. 2:13; Rom. 6:11-14; 8:10-11). Every member of the human race is dead spiritually and will someday die physically. But through the extraordinary ministry of Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection, all who believe in Him can be “quickened” from death to life. Dennis Fisher

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Holy Spirit Knows What to Do

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But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth)…. —John 16:13

When God sends His Holy Spirit to work in people’s lives, He condemns sin, not sinners. Throughout His Word, we see clear proof of His love for individuals and His desire to nurture people so they can leave their sin behind and move on in His great plans for their lives. We never need to be afraid to let Him show us and speak to us about what we are doing wrong.

The Holy Spirit lives within us. His job is to lead us, teach us, help us with prayer, comfort us, convict us of sin, and lead us as we fulfill God’s plan for our lives.

We can trust the Holy Spirit because He knows exactly what needs to be done in our lives and the right timing for it. You might say we are broken and He knows how to “fix” us.

I am sure the Holy Spirit is working in and with you on some area of your life just as He is with all of us. I encourage you to submit to Him completely because He knows what He is doing and will do it exactly right. If people try to fix us or we try to fix ourselves, we often only make things worse, but the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. We may not always understand or even like what He is doing, but the end result will be glorious. Relax, enjoy the day, and thank God that He is working in you.

God’s word for you today: Let go, and let God.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Security for the Children

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“Reverence for God gives a man deep strength; his children have a place of refuge and security” (Proverbs 14:26).

Mary, the daughter of African missionaries, recalled how her father – the leader of a large missionary thrust – would on occasion call the family together and share something in his life that he felt was not pleasing to God, which he would confess both to the Lord and to his family whenever they happened to be involved.

This he did for at least two reasons: (1) he had a reverential fear of God, a fear that he might grieve or quench the Spirit by acts of disobedience, and (2) he wanted to be an example to his wife and children, not parading as one who was perfect. Like them, he needed to breathe spiritually, exhaling and confessing his sins whenever he became aware of them and inhaling and appropriating the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit by faith so that he could keep walking in the light as God is in the light.

He would then ask other members of the family if they wanted to share anything in their lives that was grieving or quenching the Spirit, so that together they might pray for each other. This, Mary said, was such an encouragement to her and to other members of the family, helping her to have a greater sense of security and feeling of refuge, knowing that her father was a man of God who was honest with the Lord and with his family.

The example of her father and mother had played an important role in inspiring her to become a missionary as well, and now God is using her in a marvelous way for His glory.

In a day when children and young people lack a feeling of security, perhaps more than at any other time in history, it behooves Christian parents to cooperate with God in helping to provide for their families such a sense of security and refuge.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 14:15-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will begin to pray regularly that God will grant to me an understanding of His attributes as I study His Word so that I will learn to reverence God and thereby provide refuge and security to those who look to me for leadership.

 

http://www.cru.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – How to Become the Greatest 

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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13

Why is love the greatest out of three worthy contenders? It is the greatest because it is God, for He is love (1 John 4:8). The apex of God’s attributes is love. This is why you go to God first for love. He is the lover of your soul, and the love of God far exceeds earth’s limited love. This is the reason you look to Jesus as the supreme example of how to love. He says the two greatest commands hinge on love (Matthew 22:37-39). Love is God’s gold standard; it rises above other compelling character traits such as faith and hope. Love is the theme that covers your character, seasons your service for Christ, and flavors your faith. It gives off a sweet aroma through trust, and gives gusto to grace.

Love adds heat to hope, potency to patience, and spice to selflessness. It brings brilliant technicolor to life, in contrast to our otherwise bland black-and-white loveless living. You can serve, provide for your families, cook a meal, feed the poor, attend church, and even worship; but if these lack love, you lose. You lose the blessing of God and you lose heaven’s reward because your motivation was not for your Master, Jesus Christ. Love is the greatest because it aligns your heart with Almighty God and is not lacking.

You are the greatest when you love because it draws attention to Jesus. Hands down, heaven is happiest over your unconditional and relentless love. So meditate on love as you rise in the morning, work during the day, and eat dinner with your family at night. Your spouse longs to be loved; this is their greatest need from you. So love them lavishly in ways they want to be loved. Think often on love, and your actions will begin to follow your thoughts. What drives you? Is it love?

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – How to Become the Greatest  →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Jesus Sees

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Read: Luke 7:36-50

Do you see this woman? (v. 44)

Jesus had many encounters with people who were profoundly alone. The woman who washed his feet with her tears, as recorded in Luke 7, is such a person. The Bible doesn’t say what sort of sin she had committed, but she was identified as a sinner. To himself Simon the Pharisee said that if Jesus really were a prophet, he’d know what sort of woman she was, but apparently it didn’t actually take a prophet to figure this out.

Jesus asked Simon an arresting question: “Do you see this woman?” On one level, Simon had obviously seen her because he was complaining about her. But Jesus was asking something else. Not just did you notice her, but did you really see her? Have you comprehended her? Have you thought one bit about her life, her problems, and her realities? For gaining such insight, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel says the principle is “to know what we see rather than to see what we know” (The Prophets, xxiv). Jesus’ question is along these lines. Do you actually see this woman?

No matter who you are, no matter what your situation, no matter how alone, lonely, misunderstood, isolated, outcast, or forgotten you feel, Jesus sees and knows you. Yesterday we spoke of how Jesus said, “Get up.” Don’t think for a moment his command is harsh. His voice is filled with compassion, forgiveness, restoration, and healing. He sees you and wants the best for you. —Jeff Munroe

Prayer: We thank you, dear Jesus, for seeing us.

 

https://woh.org/

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – FREEDOM IN CHRIST

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Read GALATIANS 5:1

The lyrics of a popular worship song are rooted in Galatians 5:1: “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free, / No longer to be subject to a yoke of slavery. / So we’re rejoicing in God’s victory, / Our hearts responding to his love. / Jesus, we celebrate your victory. Jesus, we revel in your love. Jesus, we rejoice you’ve set us free. Jesus, your death has brought us life.”

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” This means that freedom is at the heart of the gospel. This is not “freedom” in the contemporary North American sense of self-fulfillment or self-determination, but rather freedom from sin and freedom to obey God. This kind of freedom is the gospel’s purpose! The worst response people can make, then, is to allow themselves to “be burdened again by a yoke of slavery,” be it slavery to sin, legalism, works, false religion, or anything else.

Such teaching is irrational. Why would anyone choose to return to a state of bondage or powerlessness? The idea spits in the face of the gospel.

This verse is the summary and climax to this section of Paul’s argument in Galatians. The gospel must be maintained and defended. To add works or anything else is heretical, because that would mean we’re putting our faith in something other than the person and work of Christ. To do so is to regress from freedom to bondage, from truth to falsehood, from adulthood to childhood, from grace to works, and from salvation to sin.

We have every reason and all power in the Spirit to “stand firm”! This is a key biblical phrase, used throughout Scripture to indicate active faith (see, for example, Ex. 14:13; Isa. 7:9; Matt. 10:22; and 1 Cor. 15:58).

APPLY THE WORD

Paul saw true freedom as being slaves to Christ (Rom. 6:22; 1 Cor. 7:22). An interesting book on this topic is A Better Freedom: Finding Life as Slaves of Christ, by musician and writer Michael Card. He explores biblical passages on this topic and reflects on them in light of the history of slavery in America and contemporary race relations.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Unshakeable Faith

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Daniel 1:1-20

Daniel had unshakeable faith. His trust in the Lord sustained him when he was uprooted from his home, taken into captivity, and sent to a foreign country. It strengthened him as he served under several kings and faced many challenges.

Knowing God and trusting Him are the two key elements of deep faith. Daniel, who was part of the Israelite nobility, apparently learned about the Lord from a young age. While he was in captivity, his words and actions demonstrated that he knew the Scriptures and wanted to obey God. When offered a meal that was incompatible with the dietary laws, he took a great risk by requesting other food. In verse 9 of today’s passage, we see that God caused the official to show favor to him. Like Daniel, we are to spend our lives learning and carrying out what pleases our heavenly Father (Col. 1:10).

Not only did this young man know what the Scriptures said, but he also trusted the Lord to do as He had promised. Every time Daniel took a stand for godliness, he was demonstrating his confidence in the heavenly Father. And his friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—had unwavering faith as well. They did not know for sure that the Lord would rescue them from the fiery furnace, but they believed He could and trusted that He’d do what was right (Dan. 3:16-18).

Barriers to unshakeable faith include pride (I won’t admit I need God’s help), arrogance (I know a better way—I don’t have to ask God), and self-sufficiency (I can do it myself without His help). Which of these is keeping you from becoming a person of strong faith? Confess it and turn toward the Lord.

Bible in One Year: Numbers 28-30

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Lighthouse

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Read: Isaiah 61:1–6

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 23–24; Mark 1:1–22

[The Lord bestows] on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning.—Isaiah 61:3

By its very existence, a ministry center in Rwanda called the “Lighthouse” symbolizes redemption. It sits on land where during the genocide in 1994 the country’s president owned a grand home. This new structure, however, has been erected by Christians as a beacon of light and hope. Housed there is a Bible institute to raise up a new generation of Christian leaders, along with a hotel, restaurant, and other services for the community. Out of the ashes has come new life. Those who built the Lighthouse look to Jesus as their source of hope and redemption.

When Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath, He read from the book of Isaiah and announced that He was the Anointed One to proclaim the Lord’s favor (see Luke 4:14-21). He was the One who came to bind up the brokenhearted and offer redemption and forgiveness. In Jesus we see beauty coming from the ashes (Isa. 61:3).

We find the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide, when intertribal fighting cost more than a half-million lives, mind-boggling and harrowing, and we hardly know what to say about them. And yet we know that the Lord can redeem the atrocities—either here on earth or in heaven. He who bestows the oil of joy instead of mourning gives us hope even in the midst of the darkest of situations. —Amy Boucher Pye

Lord Jesus Christ, our hearts hurt when we hear about the pain and suffering that some endure. Have mercy, we pray.

Jesus came to bring us hope in the darkest of circumstances.

INSIGHT: Jesus announced His mission by reading from this messianic prophecy in Isaiah 61, a text that clearly anticipated His ministry to the marginalized and hurting (Luke 4:18-19). He offers good news, healing, freedom, release, and joy to supplant the heartaches that inevitably come our way. Jesus went to the cross to deal with the root cause of our brokenness—sin—so that one day we could experience an eternity where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Rev. 21:4). Jesus-followers can likewise be involved in important ministries of help and encouragement for the hurting. In what ways has Jesus responded to your own hurts and needs? In what ways can you respond to the needs of those around you who are hurting? Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Sanctification of the Soul

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So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. —James 1:21

Once you are born again, your spirit has been reborn and you will go to heaven when you die. But God is not finished—He is just beginning. You need to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12 KJV). In other words, your soul needs to be saved. The 14 soul is often defined as the mind, the will, and the emotions. Each of these areas needs salvation.

The Holy Spirit works relentlessly to transform the whole man into God’s perfect will. This process is called sanctification. When your soul is renewed with His Word, you think His thoughts and not your own. Submit yourself to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to change every thought and motive.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Is Your Faith Worth Sharing?

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“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18, KJV).

I had just finished giving a message, challenging students and young executives to commit their lives to helping to fulfill the Great Commission when Steve approached me with words that shocked me. I had known him for a long time and believed his life to be totally committed to Christ.

“If I were to respond to your challenge to take what I have to the rest of the world,” he said, “I’m afraid not much would be accomplished, because my brand of Christianity -quite frankly – is not that attractive, exciting or fruitful.”

He went on to share how he was not experiencing the joy of the resurrection in his life. The study of the Word of God had no appeal, his prayer life was nil and it had been a long time since he had introduced anyone to Christ. His outward evidence of being a man of God was just a facade, by his own admission.

What about you? Is your brand of Christianity truly the revolutionary, first-century kind that helped turn the world upside down and that changed the course of history? If not, it can be – and that is what this daily devotional guide is all about.

Every Christian needs to echo daily the sentiments of an unknown poet:

My life shall touch a dozen lives
Before this day is done,
Leave countless marks of good or ill,
Ere sets the evening sun.
This, the wish I always wish,
The prayer I always pray;
Lord, may my life help other lives
It touches by the way.

That goal should reign supreme during my waking hours – to touch lives for eternity. For if the all-powerful God, in the Person of His Holy Spirit, truly lives and reigns and triumphs, surely I can tap into that supernatural power and give evidence of it in my life.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 4:14-19

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Knowing that this dark world desperately needs light, I will trust God to let His light shine through me today. I pray that my life will be so radiant, joyful, attractive and fruitful for Christ that it will demonstrate the kind of Christianity that can be exported to others, to members of my family, neighbors and friends, as well as to people in other countries.

 

http://www.cru.org