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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Cost of Compromise

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Charles Stanley

1 Kings 11:1-8

Our society nurtures a popular misconception that tolerance is the only reasonable worldview to have. But when it comes to the law of God, King Solomon’s life shows that compromise is a destructive choice.

In the early years of Solomon’s reign, he was committed to doing right. But later, when he saw the opportunity to promote himself politically, he ignored Scripture’s command forbidding marriage to pagans (Deut. 7:1-3; 1 Kings 3:1). Though he may have viewed the union as an insignificant deviation, Satan’s strategy is to convince us to compromise small portions of God’s Word, one at a time.

Solomon admired beautiful women of other nationalities, but instead of finding ways to avoid temptation, he permitted himself one relationship and then sought more and more. Surrounded by foreigners, he inevitably became involved in their religions. Eventually he was ensnared by sin, and his heart turned from God.

Solomon’s temptations may differ from ours, but accepting compromise can trap us as well. Unchecked admiration for something beyond God’s will for our life can convince us to pursue it. Though we intellectually know this choice is wrong, it’s easy to harden our heart against the Spirit’s warnings. A preoccupation can deepen until the desired object, person, or activity holds a place of greater priority than our Father. If we allow that to happen, we lose our freedom in Jesus Christ and become caught in a prison of sin. In other words, the cost of compromise is the corruption of our soul.

 

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Joyce Meyer – OK and On Your Way

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And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. —Philippians 1:6

None of us has arrived. We are all in the process of becoming. In Romans 7, Paul said the good things he wanted to do, he could not do; and the evil things he did not want to do, he always found himself doing. He said he felt wretched. You can probably relate to that feeling. We all have a long way to go, and Satan seems to enjoy reminding us daily.

If you struggle with a constant sense of failure, adopt a new attitude. Tell yourself tonight, “I am not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be. I’m okay, and I’m on my way!”

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Our Daily Bread — Show And Tell

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John 13:5-17

I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. —John 13:15

If you take a course on writing or attend a writer’s conference, you’ll likely hear the phrase, “Show, don’t tell.” In other words, “show” your readers what is happening, don’t just tell them. Don’t tell readers what you did; describe doing it.

One of the reasons we tend to tell rather than show is that it’s easier and faster. Showing how to do something requires time and effort. In teaching, it’s easier to tell students what’s wrong with what they did than to show them how to do it right. The latter, however, is more effective.

For thousands of years, the Jewish people had only the law telling them what to do and what not to do. But then came Jesus Christ, who showed them how to live the life God had been telling them about all along. Jesus didn’t just say, “Be humble”; He “humbled Himself” (Phil. 2:8). He didn’t just say, “Forgive others”; He forgave us (Col. 3:13). He didn’t just say, “Love God and your neighbors”; He demonstrated love by His actions (John 15:12).

Christ’s perfect example of love shows how great God’s love is for us and how we are to show His love to others. —Julie Ackerman Link

Bless the Lord for love victorious,

Love that conquered on the tree;

For His grace so great and glorious

Flowing out from Calvary.

—John W. Peterson. © 1958 Singspiration.

Love is God’s will in action.

 

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Charles Stanley – Selfish Christianity

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John 6:22-27

Think honestly about this question: Which interests you more—who Jesus is or what He can do for you? I’m afraid that too many of us are more concerned about what the Lord can give us than we are about getting to know who He is.

But this is nothing new—Jesus had the same problem when He walked on earth. The crowds often sought Him out for what He could do for them. Even though their needs were quite often legitimate, Christ knew their motives.

There is a fine line between selfishly trying to use the Lord to get what we want and humbly coming to Him with our needs and struggles. Some of the issues we bring to Him are so pressing and urgent in our minds that our desire for Him to take action in the way we want becomes greater than our willingness to submit to His will. At times, what we call “faith” is really a demanding spirit.

We must remember that our earthly needs will come to an end, but Jesus Christ will remain forever. If our prayers have dealt only with presenting our requests to the Lord, then we are missing a great opportunity to get to know the One with whom we are going to spend all eternity. Let’s invest time in pursuing intimacy with the great God who created us. Then we can enjoy all the benefits of that relationship forever.

How much of your communion with God is devoted to your needs—even legitimate ones? Are you spending any time getting to know the Lord? Although God delights in our prayers and tells us to pray about everything, He also wants us to come to Him just because we enjoy being with Him.

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Max Lucado – Don’t Settle for Anything Less

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God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself!

And what is the reward?  What awaits those who seek Jesus?  Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 3:18, “And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.”

Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges.

God wants you to have the same!

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Greg Laurie – To Be Like Him

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“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”—Romans 8:29

God loves us, and He is always looking out for our eternal benefit. We are fond of quoting Romans 8:28, which says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” But after verse 28 comes verse 29: “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

If we isolate verse 28, we may get the wrong idea and think that everything always has to turn out nicely. We might think that whatever happens, it will get better, and we can tie it all up with a nice little bow and say, “You see? This bad thing happened, and it turned into a good thing. And now. . . .”

That is true of a lot of things in life. But then there are things that are bad, and they stay bad. And they always will be bad. So even when what we are going through is difficult, the Bible says, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

The ultimate good is not our temporal happiness. The ultimate good is that we are going to be like Jesus Christ. That is God’s objective. As the apostle John reminds us, “But he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

So there are things in life that will make sense. And there are other things that won’t make sense. But just remember this: God loves you, and He is always looking out for your eternal benefit.

 

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The Reason for Resistance – Greg Laurie

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“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”—John 3:19

Why is it that some people never respond to the gospel? They are not necessarily mean about it, though they may be. They are simply not open to it.

Some people will say no with a smile. When you tell them all about your faith in Christ, they will say that is very nice for you. But when you ask them if they would like to become a Christian, they will decline.

Then there are others who are hostile or argumentative. They may point to a problem they have with a certain teaching of the Bible or want to know why God allows suffering. Or, they may say the Bible is full of contradictions or claim there are a lot of hypocrites in the church.

Yet I think their reason for not responding doesn’t have to do with any of these things. Because the moment you start to address the actual issues with an intelligent and biblical response, they will change the subject. It is seldom about any of the issues they raise; it is simply about one thing: they want you to go away.

Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). The bottom line is they don’t want to change. They don’t want to stop doing what they know, deep down inside, is a sin before God. The bottom line is they don’t want to admit their weakness and their need for God. They just don’t want to believe.

So what should we do? We should pray for them. We should ask the Lord to open their eyes and help them see their need for Jesus Christ.