Tag Archives: human-rights

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Left as Witnesses

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Acts 1:6-8

One of the biggest problems in the church today is that many Christians do not see themselves as servants of the Lord. However, it isn’t His will that we simply come to church and listen to sermons. He wants us to go out and be witnesses for Christ wherever we are or wherever He sends us.

The roles and methods by which we carry out this task will be different, but each believer has a vital role to play (1 Corinthians 12:4-20). Individually, you may feel as if your efforts have little impact, but the Lord can work wonders through a willing servant. No one is too “messed up” to be used by Him—He specializes in taking broken people and making them whole. Nor does anyone reach an age when he or she is no longer useful. You can be sure that as long as you’re still alive, the heavenly Father isn’t done with you.

The question isn’t whether or not we are adequate to be His witnesses, but whether our hearts are willing. The Lord has promised the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish His purposes through our life, but if we won’t use His divine strength, then we waste opportunities for impact. Earthly responsibilities have a way of stealing our attention and limiting our obedience to the Lord. However, nothing in life is more important than doing the will of the Father.

Have duties and pleasures of this world lured you away from your responsibility to tell others about the Savior? Salvation is not just an experience to be enjoyed; it’s a gift to be shared. You don’t need a theology degree. Just tell what Jesus has done for you, and the Spirit will do the rest.

Bible in One Year: Esther 1-5

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — When Words Fail

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Read: Romans 8:22–27 | Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 10–12; John 11:30–57

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22

Not long ago I sent my wife, Cari, a text message using only voice prompts. I was on my way out the door to give her a ride home from work and intended to send the words, “Where would you like me to pick you up, old gal?”

Cari doesn’t mind my calling her “old gal”—it’s one of the affectionate nicknames we use around the house. But my cell phone didn’t “understand” the phrase, and sent the words “old cow” instead.

We can come to Him with every need, assured that He understands and receives us with love.

Fortunately for me, Cari immediately understood what had happened and found it funny. She later posted my text message on social media and asked, “Should I be offended?” We were both able to laugh about it.

My wife’s loving response to my awkward words that day makes me think about God’s loving understanding of our prayers. We may not know what to say when we pray or even what to ask for, but when we belong to Christ, His Spirit within “intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26) and lovingly helps us articulate our deepest needs before Him.

Our heavenly Father doesn’t stand at a distance waiting for us to get our words right. We can come to Him with every need, assured that He understands and receives us with love.

Abba, Father, thank You that I can come to You without fear of having to get my words just right. Help me to keep company with You today.

God’s love is beyond words.

By James Banks

INSIGHT

Some of the New Testament’s most important teaching on the Holy Spirit is found in Romans 8. The Spirit is mentioned 21 times in the first 27 verses, with activities ranging from indwelling the lives of followers of Jesus (v. 9), giving us assurance of our relationship with the Father (v. 16), and helping us as we pray (as seen in today’s devotional; vv. 26–27). What a rich and wonderful gift we have received in the Holy Spirit! May we, as Paul says, “not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (v. 4).

Bill Crowder

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Digging Out the Words

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For the past decade, doctors and psychologists have been taking notice of the health benefits of reflective writing. They note that wrestling with words to put your deepest thoughts into writing can lift your mind from depression, uncover wisdom within your experiences, provide insight and foster self-awareness. From autobiography to blogging to the increasingly popular genre of memoir, writers similarly laud the benefits of writing. Whether publically, anonymously, or privately, confessional writing can free the writer “to explore the depths of the emotional junkyard,” as one describes. In my own experience, writing has no doubt been a helpful way to sift through the junkyard, though perhaps most effectively when exploring in good faith and not merely reveling in the messes.

Writing is helpful because the eye of a writer seeks the transcendent—a moment where the extraordinary is beheld in the ordinary, a glimpse of clarity within the chaos, beauty in a world of contrasts. When Jesus stooped over the crumbled girl at his feet and wrote something in the sand, the written word spoke more powerfully than the anger of the Pharisees and well beyond any shame of the young woman. For those of us looking on through story, his words remain unknown but no less powerful. Writing is a tool with which we learn to see ourselves more clearly, a catalyst for which we can learn to see thankfully beyond ourselves.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Digging Out the Words →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Don’t Get Weary While You Wait!

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Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.  — Galatians 6:9

The proper time for things is God’s time, not ours. We are usually in a hurry, but God never is. We are often impatient and ready for everything to happen right now, but God, in His wisdom, prepares us first for what He wants to do in our lives, and preparation takes time.

God takes time to do things right—He lays a solid foundation before He attempts to build a building. We are God’s building under construction. He is the Master Builder, and He knows what He is doing.

God’s timing seems to be His own little secret. The Bible promises that He will never be late, but I have also discovered that He is usually not early. The good thing to know is that He is always right on time, and His timing is perfect.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for the good work You’re doing in my life. Help me to wait for Your promises with faith and patience and never give up on doing what’s right. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Walk in the Light

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“Later, in one of His talks, Jesus said to the people, ‘I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path” (John 8:12).

The living room of our home was dark when I quietly slipped a key into the lock and opened the door one night, walking slowly and softly so as not to awaken Vonette and our sons who were very young. Though they had been trained to put away their toys, somehow in the rush to get ready for bed that night they had left cars and a train and other favorite play things scattered throughout the living room.

You guessed it! I stepped on one with wheels that almost threw me to the floor before I could regain my balance. Many a person has broken a leg or an arm under similar circumstances, and some have even fallen and hit their heads on sharp objects, resulting in a fatal accident.

So it is in the spiritual realm. If we insist on walking in the darkness, we will inevitably stumble and take risks that can greatly jeopardize our spiritual health and, in some cases, lead to our spiritual death by cutting ourselves off from God.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.” In the first epistle of John we are told, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not tell the truth. If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses [and keeps on cleansing] us from all sin.”

There is only one person who qualifies to be the light of the world. That is Jesus. So how do we follow Him? What does it mean to walk in the light? Basically, it means that there is no unconfessed sin. It means that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that we are feasting upon the Word of God and obeying His commands which include sharing our love for Christ with others.

Bible Reading:I Thessalonians 4:5-8

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I shall walk in the light with Christ who is the light of the world, and reflect His light in such an attractive way that those who walk in darkness will be drawn to the light as moths are drawn to a burning candle.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Cloak of Love

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

Love always protects! (1 Corinthians 13:6-7). We hide; God seeks. We bring sin; He brings a sacrifice. We try figs; He brings the robe of righteousness. And we are left to sing the song of the prophet, “He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).

Do you own a cloak of love? Do you know anyone who needs one? When you cover someone with concern, you are fulfilling what Paul had in mind when he wrote the phrase, “love—always protects.” A root meaning of the word is “to cover or conceal.” Protect conveys the ideas of covering with a cloak of love; covered with encouragement; covered with tenderhearted care. Ever thought of your Creator as a clothier? He has given you your finest cloak of love!

Read more A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – “Roseanne” cancellation shows we cannot predict the future

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ABC canceled Roseanne after Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet about former President Obama’s aide Valerie Jarrett. (I will devote tomorrow’s Daily Article to this evolving story.) Shares of Walt Disney Co. declined after box office sales for Solo: A Star Wars Story came in below expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 400 points yesterday as a political crisis in Italy affected global markets. Oil prices also fell after reports that Saudi Arabia may lead an effort to pump more crude into the market. And the Wall Street Journal warns that Europe’s new privacy rules are thwarting security researchers and police around the world.

What do these stories have in common? They illustrate the fact that we can neither control nor predict the future. I raise this rather obvious point because it is relevant to two of the most moving books I’ve read in a long time.

Two transformative books

I just finished Kate Bowler’s heartbreaking and hopeful Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved. Dr. Bowler is a graduate of Yale Divinity School and teaches religion at Duke Divinity School. Her new book is transparent, funny, and thoughtful. She is one of the most gifted writers I know.

She is also battling Stage IV cancer.

Continue reading Denison Forum – “Roseanne” cancellation shows we cannot predict the future →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Crying Out to God

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Psalm 34:15-17

When we face a crisis, the Lord is willing and able to help. But before He will become involved and release His divine energy into our situation, He requires one thing: a righteous heart.

This, of course, is not an expectation that we live a perfect life, which our Father knows would be impossible. When a sinner turns to God for salvation, He cleanses the heart of iniquity and gives that person a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet even believers will follow old flesh patterns at times, so the Lord calls us to confess and repent when we miss the mark. Then He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Thankfully, He hears us in our imperfection as long as we desire to walk in His way. The problem arises, however, when a Christian knowingly lives in sin and chooses not to turn from it—the Lord will not hear an unrepentant heart.

Today’s passage shows that the heavenly Father wants His children to cry out to Him. During trials, we tend to pray this way—with increased focus, passion, and sincerity. Hannah is a good example. Heartbroken over her barrenness, she went to the temple and beseeched the Lord with such emotion that the priest thought she was drunk! God answered her plea and opened her womb (1 Samuel 1:1-20).

When a crisis comes, cry out to our almighty God, but be sure you do so with a righteous heart. Then He will hear and answer—either fulfilling your hoped-for request or providing a different solution. Because He is omniscient, loving, and sovereign, you can fully trust that His answer is in your best interest.

Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 11-13

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Gazing at the Horizon

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Read: Hebrews 11:8–16 | Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 7–9; John 11:1–29

We are looking for the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:14

Almost as soon as the ferryboat started to move, my little daughter said she felt ill. Seasickness had already begun to affect her. Soon I was feeling queasy myself. “Just stare at the horizon,” I reminded myself. Sailors say this helps to regain a sense of perspective.

The Maker of the horizon (Job 26:10) knows that sometimes in life we may become fearful and restless. We can regain perspective by focusing on the distant but steady point of our destiny.

Our present troubles are temporary. Focus on God and gain perspective.

The writer of Hebrews understood this. He sensed discouragement in his readers. Persecution had driven many of them from their homes. So he reminded them that other people of faith had endured extreme trials and had been left homeless. They endured it all because they anticipated something better.

As exiles, these readers could look forward to the city whose architect is God, the heavenly country, the city God prepared for them (Hebrews 11:10, 14, 16). So in his final exhortations, the writer asked his readers to focus on God’s promises. “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” (13:14).

Our present troubles are temporary. We are “foreigners and strangers on earth” (11:13), but gazing at the horizon of God’s promises provides the point of reference we need.

Father, in the midst of troubles, help me to focus on Your promises.

Focus on God and regain perspective.

By Keila Ochoa

INSIGHT

Followers of Jesus wait for the day when we will be with Him—the fulfillment of what we’ve spent our lives pursuing. We rightfully yearn to be “home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The troubles we have in this life make our desire that much sharper and earnest. Today’s passage isn’t about forgetting the world we live in and thinking only of heaven; it’s about seeing our present life from the perspective of the life to come. Paul reminded us that our current troubles are not worth comparing to what is to come (Romans 8:18).

J.R. Hudberg

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – World Upside Down

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Early in his ministry, according to Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus preached a very public sermon. This sermon, unlike any other, has not only been a great treasure of literature, but also stands as the foundation of Jesus’s teaching ministry. The introductory illustration of this famous sermon given on a mountainside is a collection of sayings by Jesus about who is blessed in the kingdom of God. They are called the “Beatitudes.”

These Beatitudes spoken by Jesus have been widely admired across religious, political, and social realms. Persons as diverse as Jimmy Carter, Ghandi, and the rock musician, Sting, have all quoted these sayings of Jesus. Indeed, Dallas Willard notes, “[A]long with the Ten Commandments, the Twenty-third psalm, and the Lord’s prayer…[the Beatitudes] are acknowledged by almost everyone to be among the highest expressions of religious insight and moral inspiration.”(1)

The exact nature of this religious insight and moral inspiration has been the subject of numerous biblical commentaries and writings. Biblical commentator, Craig Keener notes that there are more than 36 discrete views about the sermon’s message.(2) Perhaps the difficulties in interpretation lie with the implications of the Beatitudes themselves. As one author notes the Beatitudes are “a statement of the world turned upside down, where those who mourn are comforted rather than abandoned or merely pitied, where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied, not ignored or shouted down, where the meek inherit the earth rather than being ground into dust.”(3) In other words, much is at stake. A world “turned upside down” serves as inspiration to some and bad news for others. Indeed, Luke’s account of the sermon adds a series of four-fold “woes” for those who have contributed to mourning, humiliation, and injustice (Luke 6:17-26).

 

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – World Upside Down →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Testimony Begins with “Test”

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Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.  James 1:2

I’m sure you know people with amazing stories of the way God has worked in their lives. I always love to hear a great testimony, but I also know that behind every extraordinary account of someone’s life lies some kind of challenge or difficulty. No one ever has a testimony without a test.

We must pass all kinds of tests as we go through our lives, and passing them is part of never giving up. It’s vital for us to understand the important role that tests and trials play in our lives, because understanding them helps us endure them and actually be strengthened by them.

Everything God permits us to go through will ultimately be good for us—no matter how much it hurts, how unfair it is, or how difficult it is. When we encounter tests and trials, if we will embrace them and refuse to run from them, we will learn some lessons that will help us in the future and make us stronger.

One reason we must go through trials is to test our quality (see 1 Peter 4:12). Often, we find ourselves wishing we had the faith of Sister so-and-so or Brother so-and-so. I can assure you, if they have a strong and vibrant faith, they did not develop it easily. Just as muscles are strengthened through exercise, firm faith comes from the furnace of affliction.

Sometimes people say to me, “Oh, I wish I had the kind of ministry you have, Joyce.” Well, I did not get it by wishing. These people didn’t see when I was feeling I couldn’t hold on one more second, begging God to help me to not quit or give up. They don’t know the tests and trials I’ve faced along the way.

No one who does anything worthwhile for God has traveled an easy road. Doing great things for God requires character, and character is developed by passing life’s tests and staying faithful to Him through the trials.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to trust You through all of life’s tests. Strengthen me when things get difficult, and help me to never give up so I can develop Your character in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Our Treasuries Filled

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“My paths are those of justice and right. Those who love and follow Me are indeed wealthy. I fill their treasuries” (Proverbs 8:20,21).

“How does it feel to be a millionaire?” someone once asked the maker of Pullman cars, George M. Pullman.

“I have never thought of that before,” replied Pullman, “but now that you mention it, I believe I am no better off – certainly not happier, than when I did not have a dollar to my name and had to work from daylight to dark.

“I wore a good suit of clothes then, and I only wear one suit at a time now. I relished three meals a day then a good deal more than I do three meals a day now. I had fewer cares, I slept better and may add that I believe I was generally far happier in those days than I have been many times since I became a millionaire.”

As Pullman learned, true wealth is not found in earthly riches. The heart can never be fully satisfied with anything of the world; beside, the world passes away. True wealth is found in the knowledge of Christ and of His great salvation, and in the possession of the abiding riches which He bestows on all who believe in Him.

True wealth has to do with spiritual health – inner peace, clear conscience and sins forgiven. That man, woman or young person with abiding faith in Christ, who is yielded to the control of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, has true wealth – the supernatural life.

Bible Reading:Proverbs 8:22-31

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I’ll begin to look more to the “Bank of Heaven” for my true wealth.

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Bore All Things

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

Wouldn’t it be great if love were like a cafeteria line? Endless options to pick and choose what we want. But it wouldn’t be love! Scripture says, “Love. . .bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

But how can we love those we find difficult to love? Such love isn’t easy. Not even for Jesus.  “You people have no faith. How long must I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19). To know Jesus asked such a question reassures us. But to hear how he answered it will change us.  How long?  Long enough for every sin to soak in my sinless soul so that heaven will turn in horror until my swollen lips pronounce the final transaction– “It is finished.” How long? Until it kills me.

Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. Every single one.

Read more A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Two television journalists killed as Alberto makes landfall

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The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have met in the NBA Finals the last three years. Now they’ll meet again, after the Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets last night. The Cavaliers’ LeBron James will be playing in his eighth-straight championship series.

When the playoffs began, these were the teams favored to reach the finals. It seems fitting that they will compete once again for the title.

In other news, however, the world seems anything but fair.

Mike McCormick and Aaron Smeltzer of NBC affiliate WYFF in Greenville, South Carolina, were killed yesterday as Subtropical Storm Alberto swept ashore on Florida’s Panhandle. The storm spread as far as North Carolina, where a tree fell on their vehicle. Forecasters expect heavy rain and flooding today.

In other weather news, Ellicott City, a community of 66,000 in Maryland, is dealing with its second devastating flood in two years. One official spoke for many: “My heart is broken thinking about what people are going through here, and the people’s lives who were devastated two years ago and they rebuilt, and now they’re faced with the same daunting task again.”

And lava from Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano has reached the Puna Geothermal Venture plant. Though officials were prepared, a rupture could set off an explosion, releasing hydrogen sulfide and other dangerous gases into the environment.

Today’s news reminds us that we are not in control of our world—and never were.

“You, O Lord, are God alone” Continue reading Denison Forum – Two television journalists killed as Alberto makes landfall →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Reasons to Pray

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Psalm 25:1-22

What motivates you to talk with God? Throughout the Scriptures, we are commanded to pray. In fact, Jesus—the Son of God—considered prayer so essential that He regularly left the crowds to seek time alone with His Father (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). Any relationship requires communication if it is to grow and flourish, and that includes our relationship with God.

David was a man who knew the Lord intimately. Since he recorded many of his prayers in the psalms, we are able to catch a glimpse of his heart as he poured out his soul before the Lord. Today’s passage shows us five reasons that we, too, should come to God in prayer:

  1. Guidance (Psalm 25:4-5). If we ask, the Lord will lead and teach us.
  2. Forgiveness (Psalm 25:7; Psalm 25:11). Each day we need God’s cleansing for sin and His power to repent and turn back to Him.
  3. Decisions (Psalm 25:12). When we reverentially fear God, He instructs us in the way we should choose.
  4. Trouble (Psalm 25:16-18). When we’re overwhelmed by difficulties, no one can comfort us like the Lord.
  5. Protection (Psalm 25:19-20). God is the one who guards our soul and rescues us from the enemy’s attacks.

When we seek the Lord, He becomes our refuge. God understands our weaknesses and invites us to come to Him with all our concerns. It’s in the intimacy of prayer that we learn to know His faithfulness, compassion, and love. Then we can say, as David did, “O my God, in You I trust” (Psalm 25:2).

Bible in One Year: Nehemiah 8-10

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — he Last Call

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Read: 2 Samuel 1:17–27 | Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 4–6; John 10:24–42

How the mighty have fallen! 2 Samuel 1:27

After serving his country for two decades as a helicopter pilot, James returned home to serve his community as a teacher. But he missed helicopters, so he took a job flying medical evacuations for a local hospital. He flew until late in his life.

Now it was time to say goodbye to him. As friends, family, and uniformed co-workers stood vigil at the cemetery, a colleague called in one last mission over the radio. Soon the distinctive sound of rotors beating the air could be heard. A helicopter circled over the memorial garden, hovered briefly to pay its respects, then headed back to the hospital. Not even the military personnel who were present could hold back the tears.

We honor the Creator when we honor the memory of His servants.

When King Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle, David wrote an elegy for the ages called “the lament of the bow” (2 Samuel 1:18). “A gazelle lies slain on your heights,” he sang. “How the mighty have fallen!” (v. 19). Jonathan was David’s closest friend and brother-in-arms. And although David and Saul had been enemies, David honored them both. “Weep for Saul,” he wrote. “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother” (vv. 24, 26).

Even the best goodbyes are oh-so-difficult. But for those who trust in the Lord, the memory is much more sweet than bitter, for it is never forever. How good it is when we can honor those who have served others!

Lord, we thank You for those who serve their communities as First Responders. We humbly ask You for their safety.

We honor the Creator when we honor the memory of those who honored Him.

By Tim Gustafson

INSIGHT

Second Samuel 1:19–27 combines personal and communal grief. Jonathan’s death was not just a loss for David personally, but along with Jonathan’s father, King Saul, a loss to the entire nation (vv. 19, 17). Although Saul had tried to kill David, David invited the nation to grieve the loss of their king (v. 24).

How can mourning with a community, instead of alone, bring greater healing during grief?

Monica Brands

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Memorial Day Reflection

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On Memorial Day, we remember those who died serving their country and recall that while all gave some, some gave all. One year ago, I reflected on the death of my father and brother-in-arms months apart and how we anesthetize ourselves to such loss. Little did I know, as I penned those words, that I would experience another tough loss within months: My little brother—and only sibling.

Like my father and me, Scott was career military (US Coast Guard). Scott was the consummate servant: He was also a full-time firefighter with a knack for sniffing out fires even when he was off duty. He called in multiple fires, saving property and preventing injury before they grew beyond control. Our country lost a valuable servant when death took Scott.

Last year, I recalled how easy it is to lose hope, and I’ve met more than one person whose anger at God stems from the loss of a loved one. A fellow Marine once told me he was “not on speaking terms with God” since he’d lost his father. Death hits hard, and it hits close to home. But aside from first-hand pain, this time I learned how much pain can be amplified when we see the suffering of others. This time I could not negotiate death on my own terms, because this time others were closer to the loss: Scott left behind three little boys, each of whom needs their father.

I already loved these boys, but since Scott died my devotion to them grew in unexpected ways, comparable only to seeing the birth of your own child. I felt the death of my brother and the horror of my nephews’ loss almost simultaneously, and I’m still trying to figure out how to manage these two distinct losses (my nephews’ loss eclipses my own).

I’m normally comforted by verses like Psalm 34:18 and Romans 8:28. But seeing my nephews and sister-in-law in pain, I’ve turned to the call to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) and to weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15) as more appropriate. Further, I’m reminded that, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). We need to be with those who live with the loss not just today but every day.

My nephews Zack, Ben, and Jake will never be the same without Scott, and neither will Caroline, his young wife. Today, as we honor those we lost, let’s pause to remember the ones left behind, the ones living in the pain.

 

Karl “KJ” Johnson retired from the Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel after twenty years of active duty service. He is the Operations Director for RZIM’s US Ministries.

 

http://www.rzim.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Dealing with Unresolved Issues

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If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  — Romans 12:18

We all have days when we feel more emotional than other days. This can happen for many reasons, but sometimes we feel emotional because something upset us the day before and we didn’t resolve it.

I remember a night when I was unable to sleep. Finally, around five in the morning, I asked God what was wrong with me. Immediately I recalled a situation from the day before in which I had been rude to someone. Instead of apologizing to them and asking God to forgive me, I rushed on to the next thing in my day.

Obviously, my conduct was irritating my spirit. As soon as I asked God to forgive me and made a decision to apologize to the person, I was able to go to sleep.

If you feel unusually sad or as if you are carrying a heavy burden, ask God what is wrong. And when He shows you, be grateful that you have a chance to make the situation right.

Prayer Starter: I thank You, Father, that You want me to live in peace. If there are any unresolved issues that are causing me to feel anxious or burdened, I ask You to show them to me and give me the strength and wisdom to resolve them. I thank You that You will be with me every step of the way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Wisdom Brings Peace

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“Wisdom gives a good, long life, riches, honor, pleasure, peace” (Proverbs 3:16,17).

High up in the Andes Mountains stands a bronze statue of Christ – the base of granite, the figure fashioned from old cannons – marking the boundary between Argentina and Chile.

“Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust,” reads the Spanish engraving, “than Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

Peoples of these two countries had been quarreling about their boundaries for many years, and suffering from the resultant mistrust.

In 1900, with the conflict at its highest, citizens begged King Edward VII of Great Britain to mediate the dispute. On May 28, 1903, the two governments signed a treaty ending the conflict.

During the celebration that followed, Senora de Costa, a noble lady of Argentina who had done much to bring about the peace, conceived the idea of a monument. She had the statue of Christ shaped from the cannons that had been used to strike terror into Chilean hearts.

At the dedication ceremony, the statue was presented to the world as a sign of the victory of good will. “Protect, Oh Lord, our native land,” prayed Senora de Costa. “Ever give us faith and hope. May fruitful peace be our first patrimony and good example its greatest glory.”

The monument stands today as a reminder that only Christ – the Prince of Peace – can bring real peace to the world. And that refers as much to individual peace as it does to national and international peace.

Bible Reading:Proverbs 3:18-23

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Like Solomon of old, I shall seek the wisdom that brings a good, long life, riches, honor, pleasure and the lasting peace that comes from God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God is Love

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

“This is what real love is: it is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10).

When it comes to love, be careful. Take a good look around. Don’t force what is wrong to be right. Be prayerful. Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Ask God to help you love as he loves. “God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5).

Be grateful for those who’ve encouraged you to do what is right and applauded when you did. And isn’t it good to know that even when we don’t love with a perfect love, he does? God always nourishes what is right. He has never done wrong, led one person to do wrong, or rejoiced when anyone did wrong. For he IS love!

Read more A Love Worth Giving

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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