Tag Archives: Jesus

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Thought It Would

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Today’s Truth

“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Psalm 9:10

Friend to Friend

My bags were packed. My passport was up to date. My feet were itching to get started.

For more than a year, my husband and I had planned a trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey with six of our closest friends. We had plotted our course, prepared our travel, and saved our pennies. This was a big deal for us—for me. I was going to stand on the very mount in Athens where Paul preached one of my favorite verses: “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). We were going to explore the catacombs where some of our very first brothers and sisters in Christ were buried and walk the very steps of Paul in Ephesus.

When the day finally arrived, we flew to Rome to spend three days before setting sail to Greece. Rome did not disappoint: the Coliseum, the Appian Way, the aqueducts, and the catacombs. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really there.

The night before boarding the ship, I celebrated by eating some local fish that was a little too fishy. In the wee hours of the morning my body commenced rejecting the contents of my digestive system in every unpleasant way possible. I’d experienced this before. I knew what it was. Food poisoning.

Being a good trooper, I crawled into the shuttle van the next morning with our band of explorers, closed my eyes, and proceeded to the ship terminal for the next leg of our journey. We arrived at the dock and joined the throng of other vacationers being herded through the roped check-in lanes. One of the attendants handed me a short form to complete for admittance. And there it was. The question.

“Have you experienced vomiting in the past 48 hours?”

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Thought It Would →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Supernatural Power of God’s Love

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“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39, KJV).

More than anything else, I was drawn to Christ because of His love for me. The Bible says that Christ proved His supernatural love for us by coming “to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Because of that great love, which draws me to Him and causes me to want to please Him and to love Him in return, I learned how to love supernaturally. In more than 30 years of counseling thousands of people about interpersonal conflicts, I do not know of a single problem that could not have been resolved if those involved had been willing to accept and respond to God’s love for them, and to love others as an act of the will by faith, as God commands.

Such a statement may sound simplistic and exaggerated, yet I make it after carefully reviewing in my mind all kinds of conflicts between husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors, friends and enemies.

Think of it! Christ’s forgiveness is so great and compassionate that He will not allow anything or anyone to condemn us or separate us from His supernatural love. Even though He is “holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens,” He still loves and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He gives us absolute assurance that nothing can ever “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Bible Reading: Romans 8:32-37

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I determine to express my gratitude to God for His great love for me by loving Him in return and by loving by faith everyone with whom I have contact today. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I will demonstrate that love by gracious acts of the will.

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Total Wipeout

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Read: Romans 3:1-20

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. Romans 3:19-20

When you read this terrible description of the human race as God sees it, it is almost impossible for us to believe that God is not going to say, Enough! Wipe them out! If all he sees is wretchedness, misery, evil, deceit, hypocrisy, vulgarity, profanity, slander, and all these evil things that are in every heart — every one without exception — our natural instinct is to say, Then God doesn’t want us. But the amazing thing is that across this kind of verse he writes, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, (John 3:16a KJV). God did not send the Law to destroy us (and this is very important); he sent the Law to keep us from false hope.

The worst thing that can happen is to be going down a road to an important destination and think you are on the right track and spend all the time necessary to get there only to discover that the road peters out into nothingness. You find you have been on the wrong track and it is too late to go back. That was what was happening. So God, in his loving kindness, has given us the Law to keep us from taking a false path. Though the Law condemns us, it is that very condemnation that makes us willing to listen, so that we find the right path.

Paul says the Law does three things to us: First, it stops our mouth: We have nothing to say. You can always tell someone is close to becoming a Christian when they shut up and stop arguing back. Self-righteous people are always saying, But — but this — but I — yes, but I do this — and I do that. They are always arguing. But when they see the true meaning of the Law, their mouth is shut.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Total Wipeout →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Soul in Paraphrase

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Read: Romans 8:26-30

The Spirit intercedes for the saints (v. 27)

To paraphrase means to say the same thing in different words. “Hear my prayer, Lord! In other words, listen to what I’m saying, and please do something about it!”

Putting the contents of my prayers through this process is a very worthwhile exercise, not because it makes it easier for God to understand what is on my heart (he already knows that perfectly well), but because it gets things clear in my own mind. It makes me think carefully about what my situation and my needs and my desires really are, and what I think he might want to do about them. Every so often I shall check myself and say, “No, that’s not strictly what I mean”; at other times, I shall say, “Yes, Lord, I really do mean this prayer, every word of it.” I may even say, “Now that I phrase that differently, I realize it’s rather a silly prayer; forget it, Lord!”

These verses in Romans 8 are about another, even more valuable, kind of paraphrase. How encouraging to be told that the Holy Spirit knows my needs and my desires infinitely better than I do myself. How good to know he is keenly aware how costly the fight has been to bring good out of evil (hence the “groans”). And how reassuring to realize the Spirit passes my prayers on to my Father God “in other words” that may not even be words at all, but are certainly past my understanding.

Continue reading Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Soul in Paraphrase →

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – When the Time Is Right

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Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.—2 Chronicles 20:13

Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, was in trouble. There was a force coming after him that was far larger than his armies were. In 2 Chronicles 20 we find his powerful story as he stood with his family and children, praying, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (verse 12).

I love that scene. Humanly speaking, it is a picture of weakness. King Jehoshaphat was saying, in effect, “Lord, here we are. We have the kids. We have an army coming toward us. What am I going to do here? Our eyes are on You.” That is a good thing to pray. God answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer, intervened, and rescued them.

In the New Testament we read of a time when there was a storm at sea, and the disciples were calling out to God for help. Jesus finally showed up, walking toward them on the water. He had arrived during the fourth watch of the night, which is the last part of the night right before the sun begins to rise. Technically, it’s the morning, but it still feels like it’s night.

This means the disciples had been toiling at sea for hours, trying to get through that storm, and Jesus came along at the last possible moment. The point is that He did come to them. And He will do the same for you and me. He always will—when the time is right. We need to just trust Him.

Remember this: He loves us with an everlasting love. That love is not fickle. That love doesn’t change. That love is persistent. That love is consistent. We are loved by God.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Secures Your Steps

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“He…set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” (Psalm 40:2)

Have you ever watched a young child learning how to walk? The child totters and staggers around around while proud parents offer squeals of praise to encourage their little one to take more steps. The cameras flash, video recorders roll, and phone calls are made. The parents quickly clear toys and furniture out of the way to keep the child from getting hurt. Usually the child will fall many times in this process, but eventually get up and try again. Parents are there when the child falls and can help the child get back up. Would good parents knock their child down, or poke or push to make the baby fall? Of course not!

You are not a baby any more, but you still have to learn to walk. Yes; you may already know how to walk on two feet, but there is another kind of “walk” we all need to work on, for the rest of our lives. In the New Testament, Paul compares the Christian’s life to walking. As you probably know by now, becoming more and more like Christ is not an easy walk. We get tempted to sin against God. We face hard things like losing loved ones or moving to a new city. Walking God’s way is hard.

But Christians have a heavenly Father who helps them learn to walk the Christian life. He is beside you with every step. Does that mean that you will never fall down? No! David says in Psalm 40 that he was having difficulties in the Christian walk. But just like a little child learning to walk, you have a wonderful Father beside you to help you up: God. David asked the Lord for help (and you can, too, if you are God’s child), and God responded by helping David. The way David described God’s help was as though He put David’s feet on a solid rock to keep him from slipping. If you are looking for help for the Christian walk, you cannot get anymore security and strength than the kind that God gives!

God is the kind of Father Who will strengthen our steps in the Christian walk.

My Response:

» How am I struggling in my Christian “walk”?

» Have I asked my heavenly Father to help strengthen my steps?

 

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Something to Believe

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 4:8

“Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

We’re free from both the guilt and the reigning power or dominion of sin in our lives. But of what use is this information to us? How can it help when we’re struggling with persistent sin patterns and see ourselves giving in to sinful desires? Here’s where Paul’s instructions in Romans 6:11 can help us: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Paul isn’t telling us to do something but to believe something. We’re to count on, or believe, that we’re dead to sin.

We’re dead to its guilt. God no longer counts it against us. We’re no longer under condemnation (Romans 4:8; 8:1). This is not make-believe. You are indeed guilty in yourself, but God no longer regards you as guilty, because the guilt has already been borne by Christ as your substitute. The sentence has been served. The penalty has been paid. To use Paul’s expresion, you have died to sin’s guilt.

When we’re painfully conscious of sin in our lives, it’s difficult to count on the fact that we’re dead to its guilt. All the more reason to hold steadfast to the promise of God. Just as it seemed incredible to Abraham that he could have a son when he was nearly a hundred years old and Sarah’s womb was dead, so it often seems incredible to us to believe that we’ve died to sin’s guilt when it appears so ugly in our own sight. But just as Abraham did not weaken in faith, but believed the promise of God, so we must believe what God says to us. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We have died to sin’s guilt.

 

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  Observatory Earth: Eclipses and Our Privileged Planet

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In Mark Twain’s classic story, “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” a denizen of nineteenth-century New England named Hank Morgan mysteriously finds himself thrown back into sixth-century England. The resourceful Hartford man, taken for a magician and sentenced to burn at the stake, recalls reading about a total solar eclipse that took place on that date in history. So he warns his captors that if they won’t release him, he’ll blot out the sun. When Arthur and his court won’t cooperate, Morgan dramatically delivers on his promise, terrifying their pre-scientific minds and earning himself a place at King Arthur’s right-hand.

If you happen to find yourself tied to a stake on August 21st of next year, you’ll be glad to know that another solar eclipse is on the way. The so-called “great American eclipse” will plunge viewers from coast to coast into darkness for a dramatic three or so minutes as the moon comes between the earth and the sun—although you’ll have to travel to a narrow strip from South Carolina to Oregon to see the sun fully disappear.

This rare event is more than just an amazing light show and a way of escaping execution by superstitious medievals. It’s also one of the most dramatic pieces of evidence that our planet and solar system were not accidents, but were designed by God.

Sarah Chaffee at Evolution News and Views cites astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and philosopher Jay Richards, who argue that our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery. That’s the subtitle of their book, “The Privileged Planet,” in which they document how vital total solar eclipses are to science.

For example, these phenomena were key in validating Einstein’s theory of relativity, which predicted that gravity bends light. By observing stars that are invisible except during an eclipse, astronomers were able to watch the sun bend their light, making them appear out of place in the sky, and confirming Einstein’s prediction. Eclipses were also how man first observed solar flares and coronal mass ejections on the surface of the sun. These phenomena are normally invisible to the naked eye, but appear briefly around the edges of the moon during an eclipse.

It turns out the conditions for this dazzling display are incredibly rare. The moon has to be just the right size, orbiting a planet just the right distance from its host star. And it so happens that although the sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, it’s also (coincidence?) 400 times further from us, meaning that the two objects appear roughly the same size in the sky. This allows the moon to block the sun in precisely the right way for scientists to study the solar atmosphere.

Continue reading BreakPoint –  Observatory Earth: Eclipses and Our Privileged Planet →

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE ROYAL BEAUTY TREATMENT

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Read ESTHER 2:8–14

Elizabeth Arden opened the first modern beauty salon in America in 1910. In 2016, the cosmetic industry in the United States is expected to earn an estimated $62.4 billion. Today, Americans spend more on beauty each year than they do on education.

Today’s passage is all about beauty. Esther was brought to the palace in Susa, one of many who were selected to compete for a desirable position: becoming the next queen (v. 8). But the road to royalty was not easy. Even though it was clear that Esther was naturally beautiful and had won the favor of Hegai, supervisor of the harem, she still had to undergo twelve months of beauty treatments (v. 12).

The verses describe what sounds like a modern-day exclusive spa. Esther was given treatments with oil, myrrh, perfumes, cosmetics, a special diet, and seven female attendants. Due to Hegai’s favor, she was moved into the best place in the king’s harem.

But while everyone fussed over what appeared on the surface of this young woman, there was one thing they did not realize. Esther was a Jew. She had been told by Mordecai to keep her nationality a secret (v. 10). Mordecai continued to demonstrate his love and care for Esther, making sure she was being treated well (v. 11). He alone knew the truth about who she was.

Imagine twelve months of being judged solely on your external appearance, twelve months of rooming with other beautiful women who want to displace you in the king’s favor. Certainly Esther was getting the royal beauty treatment, but she was also enduring scrutiny and judgment and competition, with life- changing stakes. The road ahead would not be easy.

APPLY THE WORD

Many of us get discouraged when we look in the mirror. The cosmetics industry thrives on these insecurities. But in Scripture, we read again and again that our God looks beyond the physical. What pleases God is a beautiful heart. Ask God today to create a gentle spirit within you, one that He can use to do His will.

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – MEL GIBSON RECEIVES STANDING OVATION FOR NEW FILM

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People are talking today about the new Apple iPhone, congressional debates over legislation to battle Zika, and Gretchen Carlson’s $20 million settlement with Fox. But the news that most caught my eye this morning has to do with a movie that won’t be in theaters for two more months.

Hacksaw Ridge is Mel Gibson’s new film. It tells the true story of Desmond Doss, a World War II army medic who refused to bear arms but received the Medal of Honor after he saved dozens of his fellow soldiers. The movie was shown at the Venice International Film Festival last Saturday. According to USA Today, the audience gave Gibson a ten-minute standing ovation when the film ended.

It was my privilege to see Hacksaw Ridge at a private showing a few days ago, then participate in a discussion with Gibson. I don’t remember ever being as moved by a movie as I was by his film. Looking back, I can identify three reasons for my response.

Part of my reaction was the realism with which Gibson depicts the violence of the battle scenes. Hacksaw Ridge is a cliff-like formation on the island of Okinawa, Japan. It was the scene of a two-week struggle between US and Japanese soldiers. Gibson told our group that he depicted the war violence with such realism in order to demonstrate the atrocities Doss faced and the courage he displayed.

A second reason for my visceral reaction is the fact that my father, a World War II veteran, fought with the Army in the South Pacific. He would not discuss what he experienced with our family. Like so many veterans, he could not put into words what he went through. I have visited several World War II museums and had a sense of what the Pacific theater was like, but the movie brought home my father’s suffering in a way that moved me deeply. It made me realize again the immeasurable sacrifice so many continue to make in defending our nation and our freedoms around the world.

Continue reading Denison Forum – MEL GIBSON RECEIVES STANDING OVATION FOR NEW FILM →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

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Acts 13:1-3

Fasting has two important components. One is abstention, which eliminates distractions. The other is undivided attention on God, which allows connection with Him on a deeper level.

Daniel was living under captivity in Babylon when he read God’s promise to free the Israelites after a certain period of time. He earnestly sought the Lord by means of prayer and fasting (Dan. 9:2-3). Then through the angel Gabriel, God gave the young man greater understanding of what He had previously pledged.

Scripture contains other examples as well. When King Jehoshaphat learned that a powerful army was on the offensive, he called for all of Judah to come together and fast (2 Chron. 20:1-4). God gave encouragement and strength for the future. Fasting was also part of the early church’s preparation for choosing its first missionaries, during which the Holy Spirit directed that Barnabas and Saul be commissioned for the work (Acts 13:2).

Fasting does not bring us a quicker answer from God or persuade Him to follow our plan. Instead, it prepares us to see our situation through His eyes and to act on what we learn. At times I have sought the Lord to get His assessment of how I am doing. This discipline has helped me gain His perspective on my life and work.

Fasting involves a strong desire to hear from God, a period of time to connect with Him, and a willingness to abstain from food or some activity. If the idea intimidates you, remember its purpose is preparation so we might draw closer to God and receive His encouragement and direction.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 32-33

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Graded with Grace

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Read: Romans 5:6-15

Bible in a Year: Psalms 148-150; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.—Romans 5:8

My son’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he showed me a paper he had brought home from school. It was a math test, marked with a red star and a grade of 100 percent. As we looked at the exam, he said he had three questions left to answer when the teacher said time was up. Puzzled, I asked how he could have received a perfect score. He replied, “My teacher gave me grace. She let me finish the test although I had run out of time.”

As my son and I discussed the meaning of grace, I pointed out that God has given us more than we deserve through Christ. We deserve death because of our sin (Rom. 3:23). Yet, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). We were unworthy, yet Jesus—sinless and holy—gave up His life so we could escape the penalty for our sin and one day live forever in heaven.

Eternal life is a gift from God. It’s not something we earn by working for it. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Dear God, Your undeserved favor has made it possible for us to be saved from our sin. You have shown us amazing grace. Thank You for

the gift You gave. Use me to tell others about You and what You have done.

Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.

INSIGHT: A key word in Romans 5 is through. It is used seventeen times in this brief chapter. In today’s passage, we read that through Christ we have been saved from wrath (v. 9), been reconciled to God (vv. 10-11), and have reason to boast in God (v. 11). Christ is the mediator of our salvation (1 Tim. 2:5).

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Of Gratitude and Grief

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Several years ago, I had the opportunity to visit with some friends who live in Colorado. We spent a couple of days hiking in the beautiful San Isabel National Forest. Within this section of the Rocky Mountains are five major mountain ranges that rise from 5800 to over 14,400 feet and have the most mountain peaks above 14,000 feet. The difference in elevation affords one multiple views from different perspectives.

Starting at the tree line populated by various conifers, aspens, and cottonwoods, we climbed to the more barren alpine terrain dotted with scrub brush, alpine wildflowers, and wildlife. Reaching the ridgeline, the vistas of the valleys and trails below took on ever-new perspectives. Climbing higher gave a broader panorama, obviously, but each step taken presented ever-changing views. From my perspective, I thought I had seen everything on the trail, and yet new aspects of the horizon continually became visible.

Like hiking, life often has a way of shifting one’s perspective. While on the hike, I received a text message from a concerned relative. “Was I anywhere near the shootings?” the text read. I hadn’t learned yet about the horrible massacre that had occurred just hours earlier in an Aurora, Colorado theater where 12 people were killed and 58 were seriously injured. From striking beauty and the grandeur of mountain vistas to images of suburban sidewalks spattered with blood, our perspective shifted once again. Now the awe producing vistas of our hike were juxtaposed against the horror and terror of what should have been any other night at the movies in suburbia. While we had been enjoying the landscapes, others were fighting for their lives. While we laughed at marmots at play, others wept over their lost loved ones. While our feet trod lightly without a care in the world, others bore the weight of worry and fear that their loved ones, too, were among those killed. And this grievous juxtaposition of opposites occurs over and over again in contexts all around the world.

How quickly our perspectives changed. Just as our view of the landscape looked differently as we made our way along the trail, so too changed our perspective of our precarious place in the world and the brevity of life. Despite the serene beauty around us, our perspective shifted to dark and deadly forces not two hours away from where we stood. Gratitude gave way to grief over what was lost.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Of Gratitude and Grief →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Reality of the Promise

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“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The unity of the church is the best proof that the Holy Spirit has come.

Many people today look for some kind of evidence of reality—science and technology, New Age thought, Eastern religions, various brands of experience-oriented Christianity, or “seeker friendly” mega-church enterprises. But as I have said and written countless times before, Scripture alone points us toward a genuine, secure spiritual reality.

The fulfilled promise of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring is one of the truest indicators of authentic spiritual activity. And 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us how to recognize that He is truly ministering in our midst. In this verse Paul gives us a near perfect commentary on what occurred so spectacularly at Pentecost and has gone on less visibly ever since—the Spirit placed all believers into the Body of Christ, and all believers now have the same Holy Spirit.

The process of gathering believers into the church is a combined ministry of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit. In using the phrase “by one Spirit” in 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit was Christ’s agent in making us children of God. That means we don’t need to look to other mystical signs and experiences to verify the Spirit’s activity in ourselves or others. Jesus wants us simply to understand His words in John 7:37-39, “‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.”

Whenever we see people being saved and then maturing in Christ, we can be certain that the promised Spirit is at work. The reality of the promise is thus a constant reminder of the faithfulness and consistency of a sovereign God who is working to provide us with life’s greatest sense of comfort, joy, and spiritual assurance.

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that your local church would maintain the unity of the Spirit and thereby testify to outsiders of His working.

For Further Study

Make a list from Ephesians 3:14-21 of the privileges and benefits believers should know if they are experiencing Christian unity.

 

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Why You Can Be Set Free from Being Performance Driven

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The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

Are you a performance-driven Christian? Deep down, do you believe you have to work to earn God’s love or His favor? If so, there is good news! As a daughter or a son of Christ, you have been set free from the pressure and burden to perform. Here’s why.

I once heard someone say, “The only way to think about anything is the way Jesus thinks about it.” I instantly thought that the only way that Jesus thinks about me and everything concerning me, is within the context of the cross. It’s always within context of the unbreakable covenant of grace that He made with me and all who belong to Him. If you have accepted Christ, how He thinks about you and responds to you isn’t motivated by your good behavior. It’s motivated by His love and righteousness. He never thinks of you as a child who can be easily thrown away based on your performance. When God thinks about you, He thinks about you within the context of adoption, because that’s what the cross did for you. . . it made you forever His. You are His Son. You are His daughter.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

When you are living in the Lord’s love, and your heart is filled with the reality of the depth of sacrifice He made for you by dying on the cross, you will be motivated to do good works—not because you can earn His favor or love—but in response to the favor and love you have already received.  You’ll be motivated out of gratitude and joy to serve Him. In this there is such freedom! Trying to earn favor through works is death. But doing good works from a place of gratitude is life and joy! You will be able to tell when you start to live like an orphan, rather than a son or daughter, because you will begin to strive and panic. You will feel enslaved as if you aren’t doing enough for the Lord. But life with Christ and a knowledge of His love is liberating! If you feel you must work to earn the Lord’s love, He wants you to know the joy that comes from serving Him with the right motives. That happens when you are convinced that His love is unchanging.

If you are performance-driven, your natural response may be to make a plan or do something to get free from the trap of performance and striving. Maybe you want to read a book or try harder. But you can’t be set free from being performance driven by performing! You can’t work your way out of it. You can only be set free from being performance driven by being delivered. You must be rescued by Love. Jesus Christ will do for you what you can’t do for yourself. This is His grace. Call out to Him today and ask Him to help you.  He will answer.

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18).

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your gift of grace and your unchanging love. Praise you that I don’t have to work to earn your love or favor. You have already given me both. Amen.

Application: Ask the Lord to reveal to you if you are performance driven, then ask Him to reveal His perspective to you, thanking Him for His unconditional love.

Related Readings: John 15:11; John 15:5; Romans 14:17

By Shana Schutte

 

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – God’s Itinerary

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And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

Psalm 139:16b

Recommended Reading

Genesis 22:8-14

If a vacationer can afford it, concierge-type travel services can plan and provide for every day—actually, every hour—of an itinerary. From the moment you are picked up at your door until the moment you return, your trip has been planned and executed in detail. For some, eliminating the serendipitous, unplanned moments from a trip removes all the fun. For others, security and not worrying about details is worth the price.

Life as a child of God provides that kind of security. Psalm 139:16 says that God has written down all the days created for us before a single day has come to pass. And Philippians 4:19 says that “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” That covers the big picture and the details of our trip to heaven. God has arranged the itinerary—the order of our days—and has planned to meet all our needs along the way. So what is there to fear about the future?

Do you know what the future holds? Do you have everything today that you will need in the future? “No” to both questions. But God has already answered “Yes” to both in His Word. We must have faith and courage.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

Corrie ten Boom

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Ezekiel 39 – 40

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Very Valuable Possession

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“But man is freer than all the animals, on account of his free-will, with which he is endowed above all other animals.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

One of the gifts God gives us because He loves us is free will. If we did not have free will, then we would have no responsibility, either. We could wander through the days like robots waiting for the next thing to happen to us. But God did give us free will, and this puts tremendous responsibil¬ity on us. it also opens up to us possibilities of total joy and fulfillment.

God will give you all the tools you need on earth to fulfill the great plans He has for your life. But it’s up to you to take up those tools and use them effectively. We are partners with God. We never have to do anything without His help, but He also expects us to make a willful choice to do our part.

Many are called to do great things, but not everyone is willing to take the responsibility for what they are called to do. God helps us, but He does not do everything for us. My brother died at age fifty-eight in an abandoned building in Los Angeles because he wasn’t willing to take responsibility for his past mistakes and do the work involved in seeing his life restored. As long as someone else did everything for him he was fine, but as soon as he had to make right choices on his own, he always drifted back to living for the moment instead of making hard choices that would produce good results in the future.

I wanted to help my brother, but he would not help himself. God wants to help us, but we must do the part He gives us to do. We have free will, and we can make right and good choices just as easily as we can make bad ones. The choice is ours either way.

Love Yourself Today: “Thank You, Lord, for the gift of free will. Help me to exercise wisdom as I make my choices.”

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – But I Don’t Feel Like Praising God

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Today’s Truth

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7

Friend to Friend

I once saw a refrigerator magnet that said, “I know God promises to never give me more than I can handle, but sometimes, I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” Can you relate?

When trials come and life seems hard, we plead with God to deliver us from the problem when many times His plan is to deliver us in the problem.

Praise does not depend on an understanding of the circumstance or trial. Praise depends on an understanding of who God really is and wants to be in our life, and on our willingness to put our faith in Him.

As humans, we will never fully understand God – this side of heaven. God is holy and without blemish. God is all-powerful and omniscient. He is Creator of the universe and yet lives in you and me at our invitation. He is the only true, living God!

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Happy Are the Mourners

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“Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

During my days of agnosticism and early inquiry into the Christian faith, I was not aware of my sin. I had come to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that He died on the cross for the sins of man but somehow it had not dawned on me that I was that bad. My life-style was not much different from that of the average church member. And, though my life was far from exemplary, in my own estimation I was a pretty decent fellow. As a matter of fact, I had some problems with all the talk about the cross and the shedding of blood. It seemed offensive to my aesthetic nature.

I was willing to believe that Jesus was the greatest influence, the greatest teacher, the greatest leader, the greatest example that man had ever known. And if He had to die on the cross to make a point, I did not think it was important enough to be made an issue. In fact, the thing that was really important to me was the fact that according to the Bible and the historical evidence, Jesus lived a very wonderful life dedicated to helping others. Then one day – I shall never forget the time and place, though I have forgotten the exact passage – as I read the Bible I was suddenly gripped with the necessity of Christ dying on the cross for my sins. I finally realized that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin, that I had fallen short of the glory of God and that I deserved death. I realized that there is nothing in me that merited His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His cleansing. I found myself on my knees in tears, deeply conscious of my unworthiness and, for the first time in my life, understood the true meaning of the cross and the reason He shed His blood for me.

Soon after I was elected to the board of deacons of my church and was called upon to serve communion. I shall never forget that experience. I found myself weeping as I served the wafers representing His broken body and the grape juice representing His blood that was shed for the sins of all men, for my sins, because now his death on the cross meant everything to me. A hymn, which had once been offensive to me, now became one of my favorites: “what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” I believe that this is what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Bible Reading: Jeremiah 31:10-14

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will not ignore my sins but will mourn over them by confessing, repenting, and, through the discipline of spiritual breathing, walking constantly in the light as a model of the supernatural life.

 

http://www.cru.org

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – According to Light

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Read: Romans 2:12-29

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. Romans 2:12-16

Here we are dealing with the question of what to do about the people who have not heard the gospel. What about those who live where the Bible is unknown, or those who are in a different religion where there is no reference to the facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? In this passage Paul says that their problem is that they defile their consciences. These people will be judged by their own standards. God judges men, not according to what they do not know, but according to what they do know.

In Chapter 2, verses 9-10, Paul also says the judgment of God is according to light. God is not going to summon all mankind and tell them they are going to be judged on the basis of the Ten Commandments. But people will be judged according to light. That means that God will say to that individual, What did you think was right and wrong? When the individual answers, God’s question then is, Did you do the right, and not the wrong? By that standard everyone fails. Paul makes that clear: All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law. The fact that such men never heard the Ten Commandments, or anything else that is in the Bible, does not mean they are going to be acceptable in God’s sight. They will perish, not because they did not hear, but because what they did know was right, they did not do.

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