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Our Daily Bread — The Right Jesus
Bible in a Year:
If someone . . . preaches a [false] Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, . . . you [wrongly] put up with it.
Today’s Scripture & Insight:
2 Corinthians 11:1–4, 12–15
The buzz in the room faded to a comfortable silence as the book club leader summarized the novel the group would discuss. My friend Joan listened closely but didn’t recognize the plot. Finally, she realized she had read a nonfiction book with a similar title to the work of fiction the others had read. Although she enjoyed reading the “wrong” book, she couldn’t join her friends as they discussed the “right” book.
The apostle Paul didn’t want the Corinthian believers in Jesus to believe in a “wrong” Jesus. He pointed out that false teachers had infiltrated the church and presented a different “Jesus” to them, and they had swallowed the lies (2 Corinthians 11:3–4).
Paul denounced the heresy of these phony teachers. In his first letter to the church, however, he’d reviewed the truth about the Jesus of Scripture. This Jesus was the Messiah who “died for our sins . . . was raised on the third day . . . and then [appeared] to the Twelve,” and finally to Paul himself (1 Corinthians 15:3–8). This Jesus had come to earth through a virgin named Mary and was named Immanuel (God with us) to affirm His divine nature (Matthew 1:20–23).
Does this sound like the Jesus you know? Understanding and accepting the truth written in the Bible about Him assures us that we’re on the spiritual path that leads to heaven.
Reflect & Pray
How do you know that you believe the truth about Jesus? What might you need to investigate to make sure you understand what the Bible says about Him?
Dear God, help me to walk in the light of Your truth.
Grace to You; John MacArthur – The Importance of Humility
“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:2).
Humility is fundamental to spiritual growth and blessing.
It’s no secret that family problems are on the rise. Husbands and wives can’t get along. Children rebel against their parents. Unfortunately, most of the proposed solutions deal only with the peripheral issues instead of the central issue, which is pride. There will never be unity or happiness in a family without humility.
Humility is not only essential in families; it is also a basic ingredient for all spiritual blessing. The book of Proverbs is rich with such teaching. “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom” (11:2). “Before honor comes humility” (15:33). “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor and life” (22:4). James tells us, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (4:6). Too often we forget how important humility is.
Did you know that pride was the first sin ever committed? An angel named Lucifer tried to exalt himself above God: “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa. 14:13-14). He said “I will” five times, and God said, “No, you won’t” and cast him out of Heaven. Lucifer, “son of the morning,” became Satan, “the accuser.”
Every sin—whatever it is—has pride at its root, because all sin is defiance of God. What could be more prideful than saying, “I won’t follow God’s standard”? So in trying to overcome sin, we must also deal with our pride. It is impossible to be saved without humility. God isn’t impressed with credentials; you must come to God and say, “I am a sinner, and I realize I am worthy of nothing.” There’s no other way into God’s family and no other way to walk once you’re there.
Though you may have read your Bible, prayed, gone to church all your life, or even founded churches, if you aren’t walking in humility, you aren’t walking a worthy walk. The worthy walk begins with “all humility.”
Suggestions for Prayer
Consider how pride manifests itself in some areas of your life, confess those to God, and ask His forgiveness.
For Further Study
Read Luke 18:9-14. Compare the attitudes of the tax collector and the Pharisee. Which one pleased God and why?
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur
Joyce Meyer – God Has Gifted You with Talent
Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them….
— Romans 12:6 (AMPC)
God has given you the gifts, talents, abilities, and grace you need to do His will in life. God’s grace is actually His power, and He will not only give you grace but promises grace and more grace (see James 4:6). God gifted you for a reason; He has a powerful plan for your life. Whatever He has planned for you to do, He will empower you to do it. God never runs out of power—and His power is available to you!
If you don’t keep the right mindset, the enemy can defeat you with thoughts of inadequacy, but if you make up your mind that you are gifted by God and that you can do what you need to do, you’ll enjoy victory—not in your own strength, but with the strength, gifts, and grace God gives you.
Prayer of the Day: Father, I am thankful for the gifts and talents You have given me. Help me to use them to Your glory, amen.
Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Spiritual Paralysis
Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord; she does not draw near to her God.
Some Christians walk straight toward spiritual paralysis. It’s never something we choose. No one consciously opts for stagnation and impairment. But there is a path down which disaster awaits. What could cause this sort of malady and wreak this havoc on a soul?
Such a devastating debility is often caused by hearing the voice of God in His word but then disobeying Him. It’s like looking Him straight in the face through Scripture but choosing to ignore Him. It is to be confronted with truth from your Creator and to claim, as His creature, to know better.
In the prophet Zephaniah’s day, the Spirit of God confronted the people of God with “woe”—with a warning of captivity and bondage. The “oppressing city” was Jerusalem itself—the city of God’s people. What was true for Jerusalem in a physical sense will be true of us in a spiritual sense if we refuse to listen to the voice of God and accept no correction from Him. There can be no blessing, no life, and no vitality where His word is neglected or disobeyed.
It is wise, then, to ask ourselves some difficult questions, rather than assuming that these kinds of warnings are only for others. Has God been speaking to you about a sinful habit in your life that you’ve decided you will hold on to and not break? Has He been speaking to you about a holy habit that you should establish, and you know that you should but you never actually do so? Has He been speaking to you about an apology that needs to be made, but in your pride you are avoiding doing this? Has He been speaking to you about a reconciliation that needs to take place with a loved one in your physical family or in the family of God?
Thankfully, God always receives His children with open arms when we turn to Him and heed His voice again. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”—all on account of Christ (1 John 1:9). When we are humble enough to listen to His voice and put our trust in Him, then we enjoy the experience of nearness to God once more. How is the Spirit prompting you as you read this passage today? There’s no better time than now to step off the path to spiritual paralysis and find grace in the arms of your Savior.
GOING DEEPER
Zephaniah 3:1-17
Topics: Backsliding Conviction of Sin God’s Word
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,
Denison Forum – The latest on Damar Hamlin: Why I agree with religious skeptics
“When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you 3x’s as much. The Love has been overwhelming, but I’m thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out. We brung the world back together behind this. If you know me you know this only gone make me stronger. On a long road keep praying for me!”
This was how Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin thanked the world on Instagram for praying for him after he nearly died last Monday night during a game with the Cincinnati Bengals. His progress bolstered his team as they wore a special “3” patch on their uniforms yesterday. In “a play that seemed plucked from a movie,” they returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in front of a packed house and went on to defeat the New England Patriots. Hamlin’s jersey was the most purchased among all athletes across all sports.
In my opinion, Dallas Cowboys chaplain Jonathan Evans, the associate pastor of NextGen Ministry at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, sounded the most enduring note from Hamlin’s near-death crisis. Quarterback Dak Prescott quoted Evans’ message to the team last week: “Your age, you’re not old or young off of your birth date but off your death date.”
An “irrational atavistic impulse”?
Barton Swaim began his Wall Street Journal editorial on Damar Hamlin by referencing “the question of when prayer on public grounds is and isn’t permissible.” He noted that “Americans, especially American liberals, have been obsessed with the question for more than sixty years.”
However, he added, “The idea that prayer is improper at big-time sporting events was forgotten on Monday night.”
After Hamlin collapsed on the field, Swaim writes, “Suddenly prayer was back on the list of things anybody could talk about or do on camera.” Signs and social media posts called for the nation to “pray for Damar.” ESPN commentators actually prayed for him on air. In the days following, NFL players across the league prayed for him and for each other.
Is this unequivocally good news? Swaim sounds a cautionary note: “I’m not entirely comfortable with so many ecumenical pleas for the favor of an undefined deity. Are all these thousands of social-media posters urging their followers to #PrayForDamar actually praying and, if they are, praying to the one true God? I’m not so sure.”
Grieving over calls to prayer
What are critics of religion thinking about this national response? According to Swaim, “They will consider the whole pray-for-Damar episode a mass expression of some irrational atavistic impulse. . . . Let the fans ‘pray’ if that’s what gives them comfort, but it changes nothing.”
In one sense, I agree with them.
I grieved in Israel last week as I heard the Adhan broadcast from minarets calling Muslims to pray to Allah rather than to Christ. I know that Jesus alone is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The power of faith resides not in its act but in its object. We can take the wrong road in faith that it is the right road, but we will still be lost. We can take the wrong medicine in faith that it is the right medicine, but our faith will not make it so.
At the same time, our instinctive response to pray when confronting a crisis we cannot solve with human resources reveals something important about us.
The nation does not pray when a football player sprains an ankle or suffers a concussion since our doctors can treat such injuries. We do not flood sanctuaries for prayer meetings when an airplane crashes. But when terrorists flew airplanes into buildings on 9/11, we packed church buildings for prayer. After we began learning the identity of our enemy and gained confidence in our ability to prevent further attacks, crowds in churches returned to normal.
A “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers”
One of Satan’s most subtle ploys is to focus us on what we can do rather than on what we cannot do.
We do not fear death since medical science can often postpone it, but medical science cannot prevent it. Our technological capacities exceed anything known to human history, as the advent of the iPhone on this day in 2007 demonstrated, but we cannot stop the “relentless parade of atmospheric rivers” pounding California. According to a new survey, 3.3 million US adults were displaced by natural disasters last year. None of us can prevent the disasters sure to come this year.
Here’s my point: every one of us, every moment of every day, is Damar Hamlin.
Jonathan Evans is right: “You’re not old or young off of your birth date but off your death date.” Each of us is one heartbeat from eternity. Each of us needs help and hope beyond ourselves. We were made to depend on our Maker, not just on Sunday or in a recognized crisis, but every moment of every day.
“When you don’t see the whole staircase”
So begin your day with your Lord as Jesus did (cf. Mark 1:35). (Our ministry’s morning devotional, First15, is designed to help you experience God each day.)
End your day with your Lord. (To this end, I highly recommend my wife’s new resource, Wisdom Matters, a devotional word of biblical encouragement you can read or hear at the end of each day.)
Turn every challenge to God in prayer (for help, see my latest blog, “How to live victoriously in Christ”).
And have faith that the one true God hears you and will always do what is best in response. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was right: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
What staircase will you begin to climb today?
Denison Forum
In Touch Ministries; Charles Stanley – Idols in the Life of the Believer
To View the Daily Devotion from Charles Stanley please click on the Link below;
Our Daily Bread — More than Conquerors
Bible in a Year:
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Today’s Scripture & Insight:
Romans 8:31–39
When my husband coached our son’s Little League baseball team, he rewarded the players with an end-of-year party and acknowledged their improvement over the season. One of our youngest players, Dustin, approached me during the event. “Didn’t we lose the game today?”
“Yes,” I said. “But we’re proud of you for doing your best.”
“I know,” he said. “But we lost. Right?”
I nodded.
“Then why do I feel like a winner?” Dustin asked.
Smiling, I said, “Because you are a winner.”
Dustin had thought that losing a game meant he was a failure even when he’d done his best. As believers in Jesus, our battle is not confined to a sports field. Still, it’s often tempting to view a tough season of life as a reflection of our worth.
The apostle Paul affirmed the connection between our present suffering and our future glory as God’s children. Having given Himself for us, Jesus continues to work on our behalf during our ongoing battle with sin and transforms us to His likeness (Romans 8:31–32). Though we’ll all experience hardship and persecution, God’s unwavering love helps us persevere (vv. 33–34).
As His children, we may be tempted to allow struggles to define our worth. However, our ultimate victory is guaranteed. We may stumble along the way, but we’ll always be “more than conquerors” (vv. 35–39).
By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
When has your confidence in God’s love helped you press on? How has He affirmed your value as His beloved child even after a great loss?
Father, thank You for helping me rise up through trials in victorious praise.
Grace to You; John MacArthur – Divinely Chosen and Called
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).
We didn’t choose God; He chose us.
What is “the calling with which [we] have been called”? It is simply the position we have now as Christians. Paul said the Christians at Corinth were “saints by calling” (1 Cor. 1:2). Peter instructed his readers to make certain about God’s calling and choosing them (2 Peter 1:10). Our calling is a high calling (Phil. 3:14), “a holy calling” (2 Tim. 1:9), and “a heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1).
Who called us? Jesus has the answer: “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). Jesus also said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (15:16). Those “whom [God] predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). God called out to us, we responded in faith, and He saved us.
Suppose after investigating all the different religions of the world, a person chose Christianity. If Christianity were nothing more than a simple, personal choice to be saved, this person would have a certain level of commitment—that is, “Since I’ve decided to do it, it’s worth doing.” But if I’m a Christian because before the world began, the sovereign God of the universe chose me to spend eternity in His presence, that creates a much greater level of commitment.
If a single woman approached a bachelor, told him he had characteristics she admired, and asked him if he would be interested in marrying her, there would be something missing in that courtship. But suppose he approaches this woman first and says, “I have gone from one end of the world to the other, and your character and beauty surpass all others. Will you marry me?” We know then that nothing is missing.
Magnify that illustration by considering God’s perspective. We didn’t ask God if we could get in on a salvation deal. Out of all the people in the world, He chose us to receive His mercy! That’s a high, holy, heavenly calling. Such a calling demands a response of commitment, doesn’t it?
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for His grace in choosing and calling you.
For Further Study
Read Romans 8:29-39.
- How did Paul respond to the knowledge of God’s calling for his life?
- How should God’s calling affect your attitude?
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur
Joyce Meyer – The Right Reward
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
— Luke 6:38 (KJV)
Giving and living selflessly do produce harvests in our lives. There is nothing wrong with desiring and expecting a harvest. Our motivation for helping others should not be to get something for ourselves, but God does tell us we will reap what we sow, and we can look forward to that benefit.
God promises to reward those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6). The word reward in the original Greek text of the New Testament means, “wages received in this life” or “recompense.” In the Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament is written, the word reward means, “fruit, earnings, product, price, or result.” The word reward is used 68 times in the Amplified Bible version. God wants us to look forward to rewards of our obedience and good choices.
If we care about those who are poor and oppressed, God promises that we will not want, but if we hide our eyes from their need we shall have “many a curse” in our lives (see Proverbs 28:27). The writer of Proverbs even says that when we give to the poor we are lending to God (see Proverbs 19:17). I cannot imagine that God does not pay great interest on what is loaned to Him. I urge you to work to bring justice to the oppressed. That simply means that when you see something that you know is not right, you work to make it right.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me today to focus on helping other people, the less fortunate, and anyone who is suffering, rather than the reward, amen.
Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Regular Reminders
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
The good news of the gospel can so easily be forgotten or taken for granted. If we begin to feel that we need to go beyond it, or we find it irrelevant in our lives or affections, we should be concerned, not complacent. Just as young children need regular reminders to keep them from forgetting what they need to remember, we need to recall routinely the transforming power of Jesus Christ in human hearts.
Why? Because the gospel is not just the way in to salvation but the way of salvation; it is not only the ABC of the Christian life but the A to Z. It is the word to which we must “hold fast.”
As Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 4:3, life without the gospel is like living with a veil covering our eyes: we are blinded by our own sin, by our pursuit of comfort or doing “enough” good, or even by our own theology or religious adherence. This clouded vision is common to all mankind; by nature, we all face a No Entry sign at the gate of heaven. The road is flooded, and there is apparently no way through. But the gospel, the glorious news, is this: there is one who stands ready to clear the way. In His living, dying, and resurrection, Jesus lived the life we can’t, died the death we deserve, and conquered death once and for all so that all who believe can have a relationship with God.
On the day we first understood the full weight of this—the day when God’s grace opened our clouded eyes, unplugged our ears, and softened our hardened hearts—we could run no other way than toward Him, crying, “Save me!” As the old hymn says:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.[1]
Now, having run to Him as the gospel bids us, we need to remain with Him as the gospel reminds us. So, where does the gospel find you today? Are you living in this freedom? Or are you still occasionally living as though imprisoned, trying, trying, trying with all your might to find the freedom only Christ gives?
To the Christian, the gospel is and must be as water in a dry land. It is the priceless, payment-free water that the Lord Jesus offers—it is the water of life (Revelation 21:6). Be sure to rehearse to yourself the simple gospel today, and every day, so that it never grows cold to you and so that you live in the freedom that Christ died to win for you.
GOING DEEPER
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
FOOTNOTES
1 Charles Wesley, “And Can It Be, That I Should Gain?” (1738).
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,
Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Is Powerful
“Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
Scientists tell us that there are at least 70 sextillion stars in the universe. Wow! That’s the number 7 followed by 22 zeroes!
Scientists also tell us that the Pacific Ocean holds 192 quintillion gallons of water and that the surface of the sun is 16 times hotter than boiling water.
Have you ever stopped to think that there is always enough oxygen for everyone in the world to breathe every day? In fact, by the time you are ten years old, you’ve taken about 74 million breaths.
So what or who could be more powerful than these facts? GOD! Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” God is so powerful that in one week and with one voice He made the world. He made the sextillion stars, the quintillion gallons of water, and the sun that is hotter than you can imagine. Nobody helped Him or told Him how to do it. He just said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3).
God is powerful. He has more power than all the people in the world combined. So who do you go to for help? Why not go to your powerful God! He wants to help you.
God has the power to help you; nothing is too difficult for Him!
My Response:
» In what ways do I need God’s help?
» Do I trust God to help me and answer my prayers?
DDNI Featured News Article – A third of Americans have stopped going to church: survey
A new study on how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns impacted church attendance in the United States has found that roughly one in three Americans now say they’ve stopped attending religious services.
The pandemic lockdowns disrupted religious participation for millions of Americans, notes the study, titled “Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion,” conducted by the Survey on American Life, a project of the American Enterprise Institute.
In the summer of 2020, only 13% of Americans reported attending in-person worship services, which increased to 27% by the spring of 2022, but the rates of worship attendance were still lower than they were before the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, it adds.
In the spring of 2022, 33% of Americans reported they never attend religious services, compared to 25% who reported this before the pandemic, as per the survey, which clarifies that only a few among the most religiously engaged Americans are part of that group.
The largest declines in attendance were seen among adults younger than 50, adults with a college degree or less, Hispanic Catholics, black Protestants, and white mainline Protestants, it explains.
However, the largest increases in attendance during these two periods were seen among adults aged 30–49, adults with less than a college degree, and black Protestants.
Conservatives, adults age 50 and older, women, married adults, and those with a college degree were more likely to attend than were other groups in both periods.
“Much of this decline in attendance was due to people completely abstaining from worship,” the survey says.
Nationally, religious identity among American adults stayed largely consistent during the pandemic, with minimal evidence of religious switching during this period, the study adds.
While 19% of adults changed their religious identification during the pandemic, including 6% who were unaffiliated pre-pandemic but reported a religious identity in spring 2022, 5% who reported a religion pre-pandemic were unaffiliated in spring 2022.
Last August’s edition of the “State of the Bible: USA 2022” report from the American Bible Society found that 40% of Generation Z adults ages 18 and older attended church “primarily online.” They were followed closely by 36% of churchgoers ages 77 and older.
However, the report suggested that among Gen Z and millennials who had made a meaningful commitment to Jesus, about 66% did not attend church either in person or online at least once a month.
Last November, Lifeway Research released the results of a phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors conducted from Sept. 6 through Sept. 30, 2022, which showed while churches were resuming the majority of their in-person services, on average, attendance at their churches in August 2022 was 85% of their Sunday attendance levels in January 2020.
Still, those attendance levels marked the highest in over two years.
The average church reported 63% of its pre-pandemic in-person attendance in September 2020. By August 2021, that number climbed to 73% and jumped another 12 points in 2022, according to the study.
“While there are a handful of exceptions, we can definitively say that churches in the U.S. have reopened,” Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement at the time. “While masks began to rapidly disappear in many settings in 2022, churchgoers have not reappeared quite as fast.”
Last March, Pew Research Center released a report showing that the percentage of Americans who said they had attended religious services in the previous month had leveled off as more churches and houses of worship had lifted various COVID-19 meeting restrictions and safety precautions.
Sam Rainer, president of Church Answers and pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Church in Florida, told The Christian Post at the time that he believed “there are times and there are seasons in the life of the church where a plateau is not a bad place to be.”
“If you are holding your own with attendance right now, if you are stable in attendance, I view that as a victory because it’s been harder to draw new people in during this season,” Rainer said.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/a-third-of-americans-have-stopped-attending-church-survey.html
In Touch Ministries; Charles Stanley – Sunday Reflection: The Best Offering
To View the Daily Devotion from Charles Stanley please click on the Link below;https://www.intouch.org/read/daily-devotions
Our Daily Bread — Who Are You, Lord?
Bible in a Year:
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
Today’s Scripture & Insight:
Acts 9:1–9
At age sixteen, Luis Rodriguez had already been in jail for selling crack. But now, arrested for attempted murder, he was in prison again—looking at a life sentence. But God spoke into his guilty circumstances. Behind bars, young Luis remembered his early years when his mother had faithfully taken him to church. He now felt God tugging at his heart. Luis eventually repented of his sins and came to Jesus.
In the book of Acts, we meet a zealous Jewish man named Saul, who was also called Paul. He was guilty of aggravated assault on believers in Jesus and had murder in his heart (Acts 9:1). There’s evidence he was a kind of gang leader, and part of the mob at the execution of Stephen (7:58). But God spoke into Saul’s guilty circumstances—literally. On the street leading into Damascus, Saul was blinded by a light, and Jesus said to him, “Why do you persecute me?” (9:4). Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” (v. 5), and that was the beginning of his new life. He came to Jesus.
Luis Rodriguez served time but eventually was granted parole. Since then, he’s served God, devoting his life to prison ministry in the United States and Central America.
God specializes in redeeming the worst of us. He tugs at our hearts and speaks into our guilt-drenched lives. Maybe it’s time we repent of our sins and come to Jesus.
By: Kenneth Petersen
Reflect & Pray
What guilt are you experiencing or have experienced? How do you sense God is calling or has called you back to Himself?
Jesus, I’ve strayed from You, but I feel You tugging at my heart. Forgive me of my sins, I pray.
Grace to You; John MacArthur – Avoiding a Spiritual Identity Crisis
God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
A true sense of identity comes from knowing that God Himself personally selected you to be His child.
Many people in our society are on a seemingly endless and often frantic quest for personal identity and self-worth. Identity crises are common at almost every age level. Superficial love and fractured relationships are but symptoms of our failure to resolve the fundamental issues of who we are, why we exist, and where we’re going. Sadly, most people will live and die without ever understanding God’s purpose for their lives.
That is tragic, yet understandable. God created man to bear His image and enjoy His fellowship forever. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they violated that purpose and plunged the human race into sin. That created within man a spiritual void and an identity crisis of unimaginable proportions.
Throughout the ages ungodly people have tried to fill that void with a myriad of substitutes but ultimately all is lost to death and despair.
Despite that bleak picture, a true sense of identity is available to every Christian. It comes from knowing that God Himself personally selected you to be His child. Before the world began, God set his love upon you and according to His plan Christ died for you (1 Pet. 1:20). That’s why you responded in faith to the gospel (2 Thess. 2:13). Also, that’s why you can never lose your salvation. The same God who drew you to Himself will hold you there securely (John 10:29).
Don’t allow sin, Satan, or circumstances to rob your sense of identity in Christ. Make it the focus of everything you do. Remember who you are: God’s child; why you are here: to serve and glorify Him; and where you are going: to spend eternity in His presence.
Suggestions for Prayer
- Thank God for choosing you to be His child and for drawing you to Himself in saving faith.
- Praise Him for His promise never to let you go.
For Further Study
Read John 6:35-44; 10:27-30; Romans 8:31-39.
- According to Jesus, how many believers will lose their salvation? What was his reasoning?
- What did Paul base his certainty on?
From Drawing Near by John MacArthur
Joyce Meyer – Jesus Was Perfect FOR You
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
— 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
Perfectionism is fueled with the tyranny of the should and oughts. It is the constant nagging feeling of never being good enough. We think things like, I should pray better, read the Bible more, and be kinder. We instinctively want to be pleasing to God, and we are deeply afraid we aren’t. As a result, we believe God is disappointed with us because we don’t measure up.
But the pathway to God is not perfection. Some people in a crowd asked what they needed to do to please God, and the answer Jesus gave was, …Believe in the One Whom He has sent… (John 6:29 AMPC). More than anything, God wants us to trust Him and believe His Word. You can stop struggling to attain perfection and be thankful that you are righteous before God because of Jesus. You don’t have to buy or earn God’s love. It isn’t for sale—it’s free!
Prayer of the Day: Father, help me to realize that I don’t have to earn Your love or approval. I thank You that I am acceptable in Your sight because the sacrifice of Jesus has given me Your righteousness. I will live my life to please You today, not because I have to earn Your love, but because I want to show my love for You.
Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Truth You Can Trust
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Post-Enlightenment, rationalist, materialist culture has cooked up all sorts of enticing solutions to mankind’s greatest questions and dilemmas. We’re told that science has already delivered a deathblow to religion, and any talk of God or the Bible is dismissed as a superstition of a bygone age. Christian faith is regarded as a leap into the dark—a leap into intellectual oblivion.
One of the great challenges to faith in Christ, then, is whether we will take God at His word and be satisfied with what He says. In our cultural milieu, it’s good for us to periodically ask ourselves: “Do I believe the Bible? Am I actually prepared to trust what it says?”
We can have confidence in the testimony of Scripture for all kinds of reasons. We can consider the undeniable integrity of its manuscripts, its historical reliability down to the details of its claims, or even the way it has engendered faith across cultures for nearly two thousand years. But there’s actually a reason that’s even more fundamental than these or other defenses we could muster: the most essential reason we submit ourselves to the authority of Scripture is because it is a necessary consequence of our submission to the lordship of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ believed the Bible; therefore, so do we. He acknowledged the authority of God’s word; therefore, so do we.
In His High Priestly Prayer on the night before He died, Jesus prayed to His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Notice that there are no qualifications here. According to Jesus, God’s word simply is truth. So then, the pressing question becomes, Do I believe Jesus? And if I believe Jesus, then I believe the words Jesus spoke. Therefore, I accept what He taught about the Scriptures. Therefore, I embrace the Bible, just as He did.
If you have tasted and seen the goodness of Jesus Christ, then refresh your resolve to cherish God’s word daily. In our confused and conflicted world, nothing will steady your life like the truth of the Scriptures. Doubtless, some will try to convince you that embracing the Bible is equivalent to taking a blind leap into the dark. But the truth is that when you read the Scriptures in faith that it is God’s word and that every word is therefore true, you’ll find it to be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105).
GOING DEEPER
Psalm 12
Topics: Authority of the Bible God’s Word Truth
Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,
Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Loads Us with Benefits
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.” (Psalm 68:19)
In Amy’s family, when someone is grumpy or complaining, another family member will suggest playing “the thankfulness game.” When playing this simple game, each family member takes turns naming one thing he or she is thankful for. Amy’s family always starts with the big things: “I’m thankful for my salvation,” for example, or “I’m thankful to have parents.” The only rule of the game is that everyone has to say something new; no one is allowed to name something someone else has already said.
After Amy and her family think they’ve run out of new ideas, they start thinking of silly things. They say things like this: “I’m thankful I don’t have fleas,” or “I’m thankful for toothpaste.” By the end of the game, not only is Amy’s family laughing, but everyone is thinking about the enormous number of ways God has loaded them with blessings – from the smallest things in life (things they take for granted), to the greatest blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ. God is a generous God. He doesn’t give His children just a few pleasures in life. He loads them with benefits every day.
So when you’re feeling grumpy or full of complaints, take out a piece of paper and start writing a list of one hundred things you’re thankful for. It won’t be long before you realize that God has loaded you with benefits.
God loads His children with benefits.
My Response:
» Do I have a complaining spirit or do I realize that God has loaded me with benefits?
In Touch Ministries; Charles Stanley – The Risk of Faith
To View the Daily Devotion from Charles Stanley please click on the Link below;
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