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Charles Stanley – God’s Ways: Ordinary and Miraculous

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1 Kings 17:2-7

In Isaiah 55:8, God declared, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” And in fact, one of the biggest frustrations of the Christian life stems from a lack of understanding about God’s ways. There are times when we could really use a miracle, but He does not come through for us the way we think He should. Our unmet expectations lead to confusion, disappointment, and even anger. We might think, Why did the Lord let me down?

Some people don’t believe God performs big miracles at all, while others are convinced that if He’s not doing the miraculous every day, then something is wrong with their faith. Neither belief is true. We need a balanced perspective, which we find in the Bible.

God works in both supernatural and ordinary ways, and He determines the method. Elijah ate food miraculously delivered by ravens, but his water supply from a brook was completely natural. When the water dried up, the Lord could have made more spring from the ground, but He didn’t.

Sometimes God uses ordinary means to move us in a new direction. The curtailment of Elijah’s water supply opened the door for his next assignment. When the Lord withholds miraculous intervention and lets your brook dry up, He has something else planned for you.

Seeing the work of God in the miraculous is easy. But He’s just as involved in the everyday aspects of life as He is in any supernatural event. Look for His fingerprint in the day’s mundane activities. He is there, opening and closing doors, drying up one opportunity but initiating another.

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 43-45

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Professor’s Confession

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Read: 1 John 3:11–18

Bible in a Year: Psalms 60–62; Romans 5

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.—1 John 3:16

Horrified by his students’ poor writing habits, renowned author and college professor David Foster Wallace considered how he might improve their skills. That’s when a startling question confronted him. The professor had to ask himself why a student would listen to someone “as smug, narrow, self-righteous, [and] condescending” as he was. He knew he had a problem with pride.

That professor could and did change, but he could never become one of his students. Yet when Jesus came to Earth, He showed us what humility looks like by becoming one of us. Stepping across all kinds of boundaries, Jesus made Himself at home everywhere by serving, teaching, and doing the will of His Father.

Even as He was being crucified, Jesus prayed for forgiveness for His executioners (Luke 23:34). Straining for every anguished breath, He still granted eternal life to a criminal dying with Him (vv. 42–43).

Why would Jesus do that? Why would He serve people like us to the very end? The apostle John gets to the point. Out of love! He writes, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” Then he drives that point home. “And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).

Jesus showed us that His love eradicates our pride, our smugness, our condescension. And He did it in the most powerful way possible. He gave His life. —Tim Gustafson

Father, we are so prone to look down on each other. Please forgive us. Give us the heart of love Your Son showed to us.

Jesus loved us by serving.

INSIGHT: In today’s reading, John uses the word love six times. He begins his teaching on love by stating the disastrous consequences of not loving each other. It is interesting that John correlates death with hate. His argument seems to go like this: If you don’t love, you hate (and here John means continuing to hate, not just an angry response); if you hate, you’re a murderer; no murderers have eternal life; therefore, if you love, you have life.

What does love look like? Verse 16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” But it’s the practical examples that drive the point home: If we don’t take care of those in need, love is not in us.

People around us have many needs—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. How can you show Christ’s love by serving someone today?

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Imagination Reborn

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Nicodemus was confused. He had come to Jesus under the secrecy of the night professing what he thought he knew: “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”(1) Nicodemus was a Pharisee in the time of Jesus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He was highly regarded, which most likely explains the veil of night by which he sought to meet the controversial rabbi. He did not want to draw unnecessary attention to his consideration of Jesus. Even so, it was perhaps an act of faith to seek out the divisive young man from Galilee, an act of humility to grapple with a message that thoroughly confused him, a message that seemed to call the very basis of his faith into question.

In reply to Nicodemus’s admission that night, Jesus offered one of his own: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” The ensuing conversation is one of mystery and semantics.

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb.”

Again Jesus answered curiously, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”(2)

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – How to Gain Wisdom

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If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. – Proverbs 1:23

We need to pray and obey God’s leading when He speaks to us. Obedience is not to be an occasional event for us; it is to be our way of life. There’s a big difference between people who are willing to obey God daily and those who are only willing to obey to get out of trouble. God certainly shows people how to get out of trouble, but He bestows abundant blessings on those who decide to live wholeheartedly for Him and who make obedience to Him their lifestyle. The only pathway to true peace is obedience to God.

Many people obey God in the big issues, but they aren’t aware that obedience in the little things makes a difference in His plan for their lives. The Bible says plainly that if we are not faithful in the little things, we will never be made rulers over much (see Luke 16:10). There is no reason for God to trust us with a major responsibility if we are not going to be faithful to do the little things He has asked us to do. I strongly urge you to be obedient to God even in the smallest of things. A sixteenth-century monk called Brother Lawrence was well known for walking continually in the presence of God. He said that He was pleased to pick up a piece of trash from the ground in obedience to God and because He loved Him.

In the verse for today, God says He will make known His words to us if we listen to Him when He corrects us. If we follow His guidance and are pleased to do each little thing He asks of us then He will open His wisdom to us, and we will have more revelation than we could ever imagine.

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

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Can Help!

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“O my people, trust Him all the time. Pour out your longings before Him, for He can help!” (Psalm 62:8).

“I have no faith in this matter,” a minister said to an evangelist, “but I see it is in the Word of God and I am going to act on God’s Word no matter how I feel.”

The evangelist smiled. “Why, that is faith!” he said.

The Word of God is the secret of faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We do not attain or achieve faith, we simply receive it as we read God’s Word.

Many a child of God is failing to enjoy God’s richest blessings in Christ because he fails to receive the gift of faith. He looks within himself for some quality that will enable him to believe, instead of “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

In the words of an anonymous poem published by War Cry:

He does not even watch the way.
His father’s hand, he knows,
Will guide his tiny feet along
The pathway as he goes
A childlike faith! A perfect trust!
God grant us today,
A faith that grasps our Father’s hand
And trusts Him all the way.

Bible Reading: Psalm 62:1-7

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will be wise in the ways of God today by looking for help from the One whom I know I can trust.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – His Grace is Sufficient

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You wonder why God doesn’t remove temptation from your life? If he did, you might lean on your strength instead of his grace. A few stumbles might be what you need to convince you: his grace is sufficient for your sin. You wonder why God doesn’t remove the enemies in your life? Perhaps he wants you to love like he loves. Anyone can love a friend, but only a few can love an enemy. You wonder why God doesn’t heal you? He has healed you. If you are in Christ, you have a perfected soul and will have a perfected body.

His grace is sufficient for gratitude. We can be sure of this: God would prefer we have an occasional limp than a perpetual strut. God has every right to say no to us. We have every reason to say thanks to him. His grace is sufficient.

From In the Grip of Grace

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Can North Korea be “handled”?

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Following North Korea’s successful launch of its longest-range missile to date, tensions are once again running high over the volatile nation’s plans to join the list of global nuclear powers. In a recent meeting, President Trump stated, “We will handle North Korea. We are gonna be able to handle them. It will be handled. We handle everything.” This assurance has left many ill at ease regarding the president’s plans for the region.

Sen. Lindsey Graham clarified that the president assured him part of that plan could ultimately include military intervention: “There is a military option to destroy North Korea’s [missile] program and North Korea itself.” Graham then stated his belief that such actions are “inevitable if North Korea continues.”

Kim Jong Un and the North Korean government seem undeterred by the president’s position and the recent increase in sanctions against the country. North Korea’s most recent demonstration was coupled with increased submarine activity, including a test of their ability to launch a missile from a submersed submarine. Taken together, the tests represent two-thirds of the so-called “Strategic Triad,” a military theory arguing that a nation must possess land-, air-, and sea-based nuclear capabilities to prevent an outside attack.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Authority of Our Message

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1 Kings 17:1

After encountering the prophet Elijah, King Ahab may well have thought, Of all the nerve! Just who does this guy think he is? Bursting onto the scene as if out of nowhere, Elijah confronted Israel’s wicked king with a message that would soon disrupt life throughout the region.

The validity of the prophecy rested with the Source, not the mouthpiece. Elijah was a man of great faith who spent time alone with the Lord and listened to Him carefully. The prophet could pass the message on with boldness and authority because he knew and trusted the One from whom it came.

We can’t expect our Father to communicate with us in exactly the same way that He spoke to the Old Testament prophets, but the process of receiving His message hasn’t changed. It starts with being alone in His presence and listening as He speaks through His Word. But it shouldn’t end there.

Prophets had the responsibility of telling the people what the Lord revealed to them. Similarly, we’re to share with others what we learn from God’s Word. Devotional time with the Lord is not just about our own interests and needs. The Father reveals His truths to us so we can share them with others.

Begin each day alone with God in His Word and in prayer, listening as He speaks to your heart. Believe what He says in Scripture, apply it to your life, and then share with someone else what He has revealed. Be bold and remember that the authority of your message comes from Him.

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 40-42

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Nozomi Hope

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Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7–18

Bible in a Year: Psalms 57–59; Romans 4

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.—2 Corinthians 4:7

In 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and a resulting tsunami took nearly 19,000 lives and destroyed 230,000 homes in the region northeast of Tokyo. In its aftermath, The Nozomi Project, named for the Japanese word for “hope,” was born to provide sustainable income, community, dignity, and hope in a God who provides.

Nozomi women sift through the rubble of homes and furnishings to discover broken china shards that they sand and insert into fittings to form jewelry. The jewelry is sold around the world, providing a livelihood for the women while sharing symbols of their faith in Christ.

In New Testament times, it was customary to hide valuables in the unlikely vessels of simple clay pots. Paul describes how the treasure of the gospel is contained in the human frailty of followers of Christ: jars of clay (2 Cor. 4:7). He suggests that the meager—and even at times broken—vessels of our lives actually can reveal God’s power in contrast to our imperfections.

When God inhabits the imperfect and broken pieces in our lives, the healing hope of His power is often more visible to others. Yes, His repair work in our hearts often leaves the scars of cracks. But perhaps those lines from our learning are the etchings in our beings that make His character more visible to others. —Elisa Morgan

Dear God, please show others Your power as I share the treasure of Your gospel in my broken, but beautiful life.

Brokenness can lead to wholeness.

INSIGHT: Paul declared, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30) because he had found strength through reliance upon God. While lamenting his “thorn in [the] flesh” (12:6-9), Paul affirmed, “I delight in weaknesses . . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).

What areas of brokenness in your life can become pathways for Christ’s strength? Bill Crowder

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Upending Fair

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I do not know of many races or sporting competitions in which the last person across the finish line comes in first place. Certainly, getting the lowest time often means the winning performance. But to come in last place means to come in last. For all of us who were picked last for various athletic events in school, how whimsical it would have been if being chosen last was a position of honor! Of course, I could very easily see how unfair it would seem if those with the best athletic ability, those who had trained the longest, worked the hardest, and had come in first place did not receive the honor due that effort. The last being first can be very bad or very good depending upon where one stands.

Jesus once told a story that upends expectations for those who perennially find themselves as last or first. A landowner hires laborers to work in his vineyard. They are hired throughout the work day and all the workers agree to the wage of a denarius for a day’s work. The enigmatic and exceptional punch line to this story occurs when those who are hired at the very end of the day—in the last hour—are paid the same wage as those who worked all day long. The long-suffering laborers cry out, “These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.” Those workers that were hired first are not paid any additional wage. The first are not first, in this story. Instead, the landowner replies with a radical reversal: The last shall be first, and the first last.

Not only is the conclusion to this story exceptional and enigmatic, it also seems wholly unfair. For how could those who worked so little be paid the full day’s wage? Yet, this upending of any sense of fairness is a recurring theme in other stories of Jesus as well. Indeed, the familiar parable of the prodigal son functions in a similar manner and upsets our sense of what is fair and right, just as in the parable of the laborers. A careful reading presents an extravagant display of grace towards all wayward sons and daughters, even as it illuminates a human frugality with grace.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Transformation

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So that they [even] kept carrying out the sick into the streets and placing them on couches and sleeping pads, [in the hope] that as Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. And the people gathered also from the towns and hamlets around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those troubled with foul spirits, and they were all cured. – Acts 5:15–16

Peter was a man with a past. He was bold and not afraid of change, but he also had many faults. In Matthew 16:22–23, we see Peter trying to correct Jesus. In Matthew 26:31–35, we see that Peter thought more highly of himself than he should have. In Matthew 26:69–75, it is recorded that Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

Once Peter realized the depth of his sin, he wept bitterly, which showed that he had a repentant heart (v. 75). God is merciful and understands our weaknesses. In John 21, we see Jesus lovingly restore Peter. Peter had been included in God’s plans for the future even though he had a past record of foolishness and failure. Peter had denied Christ, and yet he became one of the best-known apostles. Peter could have spent his entire life feeling bad about his denial of Jesus, but he pressed past that failure and became valuable to God’s kingdom.

Lord, You are a God of transformation. Help me to press past my failures and become a valuable servant of Yours today. Thank You for including me in Your plans for the future. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Does Such Wonders

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“I will cry to the God of heaven who does such wonders for me” (Psalm 57:2).

I cannot begin to count the times, even during just one 24-hour day, that I lift my heart in praise, worship and adoration and thanksgiving to God in heaven. I begin the day by acknowledging His lordship of my life and inviting Him to have complete control of my thoughts, my attitudes, my actions, my motives, my desires, my words; to walk around in my body, think with my mind, love with my heart, speak with my lips and continue through me to seek and save the lost and minister to those in need. Throughout the day I bring before Him the personal needs of my family. I pray for the extended family of Campus Crusade for Christ and staff and their families and for all those who support this ministry through their prayers and finances. I pray for business and professional people, that God will bless their finances as well as their lives so that they can continue to help support this and other ministries for His kingdom.

As I look through the mail, I breathe a prayer to God for some staff member, friend, associate, or supporter who is hurting, needing encouragement, strength and peace. At all of my many daily conferences, I will begin and close with a brief word of prayer claiming the promise of God-given wisdom for the matters we shall be discussing, for supernatural discernment that will enable me to see through all the intricacies of the problems presented. When the phone rings, I breathe a silent prayer and often a vocal one at the appropriate time with that person on the other end of the line who is in distress, whether from family problems or work-related difficulties.

In between, I pray alone and with others for the hundreds of different people, events and circumstances that involve the worldwide ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and the ministry of His Body throughout the world.

Bible Reading: Psalm 57:1-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Recognizing that prayer is as vital to my spiritual life as air is to my physical being, I will pray without ceasing and in all things give thanks to our God in heaven who does such wonders for me.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Free to be Honest

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My high school baseball coach had a firm rule against chewing tobacco and he wanted to draw it to our attention. He got our attention all right.  Before long we’d all tried it! It was a sure test of manhood. One day I’d just popped a plug in my mouth when one of the players warned, “Here comes the coach!” I did what comes naturally…I swallowed.

I added new meaning to the scripture, “I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. . .” (Psalm 32:3).  I paid the price for hiding my disobedience. My body was not made to ingest tobacco. Your soul was not made to ingest sin. Are you keeping any secrets from God…any part of your past or present? Once you’re in the grip of grace, you’re free to be honest! You’ll be glad you did!

From In the Grip of Grace

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Would you trade your present for your future?

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Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed yesterday afternoon, and the outlook for this year’s playoffs remains relatively unchanged. That doesn’t mean it was boring, as the Rangers and Dodgers pulled off a swap for ace pitcher Yu Darvish at the deadline, but the trades are usually defined by the rich getting richer at the cost of future prospects. Teams positioned to win now sacrifice a bit of their future for a better chance at experiencing success in the present.

The Houston Astros, on the other hand, made the opposite decision. They currently have the best record in the American League, but their rotation grows weaker by the day, and many doubt how well it will hold up in the playoffs. Still, they kept their best prospects to safeguard the future, even though it could come at a high price in the present.

Such calculations are not unique to baseball, however. Life requires that each of us weigh these sorts of decisions every day. The difficulty of doing so without knowing their consequences is a large part of what can make our time on this side of heaven so stressful. All we can really do is try to balance what we know of the present with what we expect might happen in the future. Fortunately, we serve a God for whom tomorrow is just as real as today.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –An Ordinary Person

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Matthew 4:18-20

The apostle Peter was an ordinary person who lived in an extraordinary time. His was the generation during which Jesus Christ lived on the earth, died for the salvation of mankind, and rose again.

It was through his brother Andrew that Peter (who was originally called Simon) met the Lord (John 1:40-42). When Jesus invited him to become a disciple, he immediately left his fishing trade and placed himself under Christ’s authority (Matt. 4:20). He became a passionate follower who consistently demonstrated an eagerness to be near the Savior and in the middle of whatever was going on. Whether meeting Jesus on the water during a storm (Matt. 14:27-29) or speaking to Him during His transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-5), Peter was devoted to his Master’s service.

In the beginning, the former fisherman was quick to speak and to act, and this impulsiveness created many problems for him. For example, when Jesus was talking about His imminent suffering and death, Peter objected, as if he knew better than the Lord. Christ’s rebuke was swift and direct (Matt. 16:21-23). The apostle, however, learned from his mistakes. He’s a good example of how we should let go of personal desires, wholeheartedly embrace Jesus’ way, and walk closely with Him (Mark 8:34).

The Lord chooses unexceptional people like Peter, you, and me to build His kingdom. He asks His followers to love Him above all else and fully commit to obeying Him. When we do, He will accomplish more through us than we could ever imagine.

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 36-39

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — A “New Man”

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Read: Colossians 1:3–14

Bible in a Year: Psalms 54–56; Romans 3

Continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.—Colossians 1:23

As a group of teenagers visited a home for the elderly in Montego Bay, Jamaica, one young woman noticed a lonely looking man at the end of the room. He appeared to have little left in this world but a bed to sleep on—a bed from which he could not move because of his disability.

The teen began right away to share the story of God’s love for us and read some Bible passages to him. “As I shared with him,” she would say later, “I started to feel his eagerness to hear more.” Responding to his interest, she explained the wonder of Jesus’s sacrificial death for us. “It was hard for this man, who had no hope and no family,” she recalled, “to understand that Someone he’s never met would love him enough to die on the cross for his sins.”

She told him more about Jesus—and then about the promise of heaven (including a new body) for all who believe. He asked her, “Will you dance with me up there?” She saw him begin to imagine himself free of his worn-out body and crippling limitations.

When he said he wanted to trust Jesus as his Savior, she helped him pray a prayer of forgiveness and faith. When she asked him if she could get a picture with him, he replied, “If you help me sit up. I’m a new man.”

Praise God for the life-changing, hope-giving, available-to-all gospel of Jesus Christ! It offers new life for all who trust Him (Col. 1:5, 23). —Dave Branon

Lord, thank You for the new life we have in Jesus Christ. Help us to share the hope of that new life with others so they can be made new as well.

Jesus offers new life.

INSIGHT: Colossae, the destination of the letter to the Colossian church, was a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). It was a city of some significance commercially in the first century because of its location on a main trade route east from Ephesus. We are not told in the New Testament how this church was founded, but in this letter Paul writes to encourage and instruct the believers there as if it were one of the churches he himself had founded.  Bill Crowder

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Undeceptions

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The well-read collection of essays written by C.S. Lewis and compiled posthumously in the book God in the Dock was originally published in England under a different title. The book was titled Undeceptions.

“Undeception” was the word Lewis used to describe a startling experience of awareness—moments when deception is uncovered and the cause is seen clearly from within, moments when blind spots are replaced with reality. He was taken with these awakenings or undeceptions in many of the characters of Jane Austen. In much of Austen’s work, he observes, “[T]he undeception…is the very pivot or watershed of the story.”(1)

Lewis would unquestionably state the same of our own stories. “Undeception” was no doubt a word that fittingly described his startling experience of being brought into the kingdom of God kicking and screaming, making him “the most reluctant convert in all England.” It was this experience through which he saw himself, the world, and its creator for the rest of his life.

Encountering God, many have noted the recognizing of blind spots. “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it” woke Jacob to his own deception. He didn’t wake up declaring that the God who was once absent had now appeared. He said, “God was here all along and I was the one who didn’t see it.” Some have referred to pivotal encounters like Jacob’s dream as “thin spots”—moments in life where the nearness of God is nearly palpable. Other theologians describe such encounters as openings or baptisms, windows or transcendence. Still others give testimonies similar to the man born blind in ancient Jerusalem. Forced to explain to the Pharisees the unexplainable moment he had with Jesus, he mustered the only words he could think to describe it: “Only one thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.”(2)

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Kingdom Living

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[After all] the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. —Romans 14:17

God’s kingdom is made up of things far greater and more beneficial than worldly possessions. God does bless us with material possessions, but the kingdom is much more than that: It is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is not the result of what we do, but rather what Jesus has done for us (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). He takes our sin and gives us His righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). When we accept this truth by faith and receive it personally, we are free to live and enjoy the life Jesus died to give us.

Peace is so wonderful—it is definitely kingdom living. This is why we pursue peace, crave it, and go after it (see Psalm 34:14; 1 Peter 3:11). The closer we get to God, the more we understand that Jesus is our peace (see Ephesians 2:14). God’s will for you and me is to enjoy His peace that goes beyond understanding (see Philippians 4:7).

Joy can be anything from calm delight to extreme hilarity. Joy improves our countenance, our health, and the quality of our lives. It strengthens our witness to others and gives us a godly perspective on life (see Nehemiah 8:10).

It is clear in the Word of God: Seek God and His kingdom, and He will take care of everything else (see Matthew 6:33).

There is no better life than life in the kingdom of God.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – It All Belongs to Him

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“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10, KJV).

Gently chiding a Christian worker for praying that God might give him a second-hand car to use in his service for the Lord, Dr. A.W. Tozer reminded the man:

“God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the Cadillacs, too. Why not ask Him for the best?”

That same principle might apply to many areas of our lives today. If we truly believe that “according to your faith be it unto you,” then it is imperative that we trust God for greater things than normally we might.

Motive, of course, is supremely important in our asking from God. If the thing asked is clearly for God’s glory, to be used in His service, the motivation is good. If pride or any other motive plays a part in the decision, then we do well to think twice before asking great things from God.

What man owns, we do well to remember, we own under God. And God has never given to man the absolute proprietorship in any thing. Nor does He invade our rights when He comes and claims what we possess, or when He in any way removes what is most valuable to us.

God owns all things – let’s leave to Him the right to do whatever He wishes with the things He owns.

Bible Reading: Psalm 50:7-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Since my receiving is “according to my faith,” I will with proper motive for His glory believe God in a large manner this day – for whatever needs may arise.

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A Solution for Tough Times

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How do you handle your tough times? When you are tired of trying, tired of forgiving, tired of hard weeks or hard-headed people—how do you manage your dark days? With a bottle of pills? Alcohol? A day at the spa? Many opt for such treatments. So many, in fact, we assume they reenergize the sad life. But do they? They may numb the pain, but do they remove it?  We like sheep follow each other off the ledge, falling headlong into bars, binges and beds.

Is there a better solution? Indeed there is. Be quick to pray. Talk to Christ who invites. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to Me! Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus says, “I will show you how to take a real rest.” God who is never downcast, never tires of your down days! Just go to Him!

From Facing Your Giants

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