Tag Archives: Jesus

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – God’s Breath Returning

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Read: Romans 8:26-30

The Spirit himself intercedes for us. (v. 26)

Herbert’s second line, “God’s breath in man returning to his birth,” links his poem to a hymn of Charles Wesley’s, written a hundred years later: “O thou who camest from above / The pure celestial fire to impart / Kindle a flame of sacred love / On the mean altar of my heart; / There let it for thy glory burn, / With inextinguishable blaze, / And, trembling, to its source return / In humble prayer and fervent praise.”

The poem speaks of “God’s breath” returning to his “birth,” or source. So we should ask ourselves not what, but who, is returning. Who is the Breath, or as we might say, the Wind? Who is Wesley’s Fire? We know very well: these are divinely given titles of God the Holy Spirit. Here he is at work interceding “for the saints” (v. 27). We should not picture the Spirit starting from our end and giving the prayers that we have dreamed up a kind of divine boost to get them to heaven. The Scripture is quite explicit: “we do not know” even what to pray for, let alone how to pray for it; our prayers have to come from him before he will take them back to the Father for us. He will emphasize one thing and play down another. He will highlight for us the what, rather than the how or the when. He will remind us that all the answers are already there at the back of the Book!

Here is the poem in its entirety:

Continue reading Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – God’s Breath Returning →

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Delays of Love

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When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. —Isaiah 43:2

Have you ever been going through a hard time and wondered where God was? I can tell you where He was: He was right there with you. Not only that, He will be with you tomorrow and the day after. And He will be with you on the day you leave this earth for Heaven.

In Isaiah 43 God says, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (verses 2–3).

The psalmist David wrote, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me” (Psalm 23:4). He is with you. He will be with you. You don’t have to fear evil. God will be with you on your good days and on your bad days. He will be with you at the death of a saint and at the birth of a baby.

You don’t have to be afraid. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Also, the Bible tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Sometimes when we pray, it may seem as though God is late in answering. Sometimes when God comes through for us, it is later than we expected. God is never late. His delays are delays of love. God’s silence even can be a silence of love. He wants us to pour our hearts out to Him. He will enter into that pain with us. He will answer in the way He chooses. Call on Him.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Wants Us To Make Disciples

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“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19)

Lena’s mom was sitting at the kitchen table with twelve cardboard tubes laid in a row in front of her. She was cutting out pieces of felt and gluing them around the tubes. “What are you doing, Mom?” Lena asked.

“I’m making disciples,” said Mom. She laughed. “I really am! I’m teaching my Sunday school class about the twelve disciples. These little cardboard figures represent the twelve men Jesus chose to be His special followers. Would you like to help me glue their faces on?”

As Lena and Mom worked on the cardboard disciples, Mom told Lena about a verse in Matthew that says Christians are to “teach” all nations. “Do you know what the word teach means in that verse? It means to make disciples!”

“Like this?” Lena finished gluing Peter’s yarn beard in place and held him up.

“No, not the way we’re making disciples. The verse means that Christians are to teach other people how to be followers of Jesus – just like these twelve disciples were His followers.”

Lena thought about that for a few moments. “How can we help people be Jesus’ followers?” she asked. “Does that just mean telling people how to be saved?”

“That’s only the beginning of it,” said Mom. “After people get saved, they need other Christians to encourage them and help them grow. Helping somebody might mean praying with him about his problems, taking him to church, answering his questions, or telling him what a verse in the Bible means.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” said Lena.

Mom carefully drew a smiling face on one of the disciples she was making. Then she looked up at Lena with a smile of her own. “It’s not always easy,” she said. “But Jesus promises to be with us always – and all the power in the universe is His. Isn’t it worth putting in a little extra time and effort to serve a Master like Him?”

Jesus wants believers to make disciples of other people.

My Response:

» Do I know anyone who needs encouragement to follow Jesus?

» How can I help that person?

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Praying Against Temptation

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13

“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.”

Jesus taught us to pray, “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).

Here we see two requests: that we not be led into temptation, and that we be delivered from the evil one. Because we know from James 1:13 that God does not tempt anyone, the first part must be understood as a request that God will not providentially bring us into the way of temptation. It is the prayer of the believer who sees his or her weaknesses and prays to not even encounter those temptations.

Of course, if we’re praying not to be led into temptation, we should take steps ourselves to see that we do not walk into the way of temptation. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from every form of evil.” He exhorted the Corinthian church, “Flee from sexual immorality” and he told Timothy, “Flee youthful passions” (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22). Flee, of course, denotes a stronger response than abstain, but both are necessary. We can abstain from certain temptations by not turning on the television or picking up certain magazines. But sometimes a temptation presents itself, and then we must flee. This is all part of watching.

The second request Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:13 is “deliver us from evil,” or, in some translations, “from the evil one”—meaning, of course, Satan. We need to pray defensively against the attacks of Satan. Christ did defeat him on the cross (Colossians 2:15), and we must by faith lay hold of that victory as we pray that we will be delivered from his attacks. (Excerpt taken from The Discipline of Grace)

 

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – A Life That Counts

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15-16

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” – John 6:27

I was watching a television program about one of the battles in the South Pacific during World War II. I had been in that particular battle and fought alongside the men shown in the film. As I watched, it brought to mind an official document I’d read several years before. This document analyzed the battle from the moment we hit the beach until the island was secured. When I got to the last paragraph, I read something that made me ill. In fact, I became so shaky I got out of my chair and sat down on the floor.

The government’s conclusion was that the battle had accomplished nothing of strategic importance. It had been a mistake. I could see in my mind those hundreds of slain Marines, as well as hundreds of young Japanese soldiers, who had died in vain in a battle that didn’t really matter.

Right then, the Lord brought a verse to my mind: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

It may seem to you today that you’re banging your head against a brick wall, that nothing is going right in the Sunday school or women’s ministry or men’s brotherhood. But let me encourage you to stay at it. When you put in your eight hours on the job, having worked as unto the Lord, it is not in vain. When you reach out to your friends and family with the gospel, even if they refuse to listen, it is not in vain. Why? Because the Bible says that whatever you are doing for Christ matters.

Prayer

Lord, I rejoice that because of my relationship with You, even the most insignificant task has meaning and purpose. Amen.

To Ponder

Our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

 

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  What Does a Christian Vision for Education Look Like?

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Christian Overman, who directs the Seattle-based Worldview Matters and is a commissioned Colson Fellow, believes—and I largely agree—that we’ve lost the culture because we’ve lost our schools—including, in some cases, important distinctives that make Christian schools, well, Christian. “The shaping of nations begins in the minds of children,” Chris says. “Nation-shaping ideas acquired in elementary and secondary schools are not immediately felt on a national level because it takes time for little acorns to grow into giant oaks. But grow they will.”

In a new, thought-provoking e-book, “The Lost Purpose for Learning,” Chris articulates clearly what has gone awry and offers a systemic, intentional, and repeatable solution for Christian school teachers and headmasters, Sunday school workers, and other church personnel who interact with students between the ages of 4 and 18. Come to BreakPoint.org/free to get a free copy of “The Lost Purpose for Learning” to read and to share. It’s simply “must-reading” for Christians involved in education.

As Christian notes, in the years before the federal government took over teaching our children, education was largely a Christian endeavor—not just in the sense that it was run by Christians, but in that it was founded on Christian assumptions about God, life, the world, and humanity. And the primary assumption was that Christ is Lord of all—not just of so-called “religious” subjects, but of everything, including biology, math, even physics.

When the government took over, some Christians, such as A.A. Hodge, warned that the schools would become indoctrination centers for atheism. Well, that’s not exactly what happened, Chris says. Instead, education became “secular” and officially neutral. God went from being the center of knowledge to the periphery. Education professionals taught their subjects not as if God doesn’t exist—at least not overtly—but as if He doesn’t matter. It’s not atheism but, as one author has called it, “practical atheism,” which included something even more insidious—dualism.

“A dualist,” Chris says, “is one who… doesn’t make any significant connection between God’s Word and what goes on in the Monday through Friday workplace because … ‘faith’ is a personal, private matter, while the workplace is public, and therefore ‘secular.’”

Continue reading BreakPoint –  What Does a Christian Vision for Education Look Like? →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – MORDECAI THE JEW

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Read ESTHER 2:5–7

The phrase “damsel in distress” describes many female characters in fairy tales. They need to be rescued, preferably by a handsome prince. But when Disney created their updated movie version of the story of Rapunzel, they wanted a different heroine. In Tangled, a tough, independent feminine character could take care of herself.

In today’s passage, we meet an unusual, brave, quick-thinking heroine named Esther, along with Mordecai, her cousin and adopted father. Mordecai and Esther lived in Susa when the decree came from the king’s palace to bring every beautiful, eligible young woman for consideration to be his next queen.

Mordecai was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, and he is depicted in Scripture as a man of courage. His family had been carried into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians (v. 6). In addition to his beautiful cousin, Mordecai himself would play an important role in the rescue of God’s people.

Finally, we learn that our heroine had two names. Her name Hadassah comes from the Hebrew word for “myrtle tree,” known for its beautiful sweet smell. The prophet Isaiah uses the myrtle tree to describe life and abundance instead of drought and death, because the myrtle has deep roots that can find water (see Isa. 55:18). God chose Hadassah for her heart and inner beauty that would stand firm in the face of challenges.

Her second name, Esther, is derived from the Persian word for “star.” This radiant young woman was prized by King Xerxes and the Persian court for her physical beauty, but God had chosen her to shine a light in the darkness of that court in order to provide deliverance for His people.

APPLY THE WORD

Esther, the star, points ahead to Jesus Christ, the “star who will come out of Jacob; the scepter will rise out of Israel” (Num. 24:17) in order to deliver His people forever from the darkness of sin. Her faithfulness foreshadowed His perfect obedience. We can shine the light of the gospel in the darkness around us when we tell others about Jesus.

http://www.todayintheword.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – TWINS TAKE WEDDING PHOTOS WITH FATHER, WHO HAS ALZHEIMER’S

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“We knew our father may not be alive for our future wedding, so we decided to capture the poignant moment before it was lost forever.” This is how Becca Duncan explains the decision she and her twin sister Sarah made to have wedding photos made with their father, even though neither is engaged. Their dad is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, so they staged their wedding pictures with him while they can.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that basketball great Charles Barkley traveled to Craig Sager’s bedside as the broadcaster recovers from a third bone marrow transplant. Sager is battling aggressive leukemia, and Barkley wanted to show his support. This despite Barkley’s recent hip surgery and his doctor’s warning that he should not yet travel. Sager’s wife had a cold and couldn’t be with him in the hospital, so Barkley flew to Phoenix to take her place.

I often encourage Christians to use our influence for the greatest public good. As our culture becomes increasingly hostile to biblical truth and faith, our courageous public witness becomes increasingly vital. We can learn from the Duncan twins and Charles Barkley—their public actions called attention to dread diseases and gave us compassionate examples to follow.

But there’s another side to the story: those who serve far from the limelight are as important as those who make the news. Heroes who are unsung on earth are applauded in heaven.

In 1 Samuel 9, an unnamed servant led Saul to Samuel, who anointed him the first king of Israel (vv. 5–6). Gideon’s three hundred heroes are unnamed in Scripture, but their actions preserved the nation (Judges 7:6–8).

Paul’s unnamed nephew prevented a plot to murder the apostle (Acts 23:16–22). Without his bravery, Paul would have been killed before writing the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and 2 Timothy.

Continue reading Denison Forum – TWINS TAKE WEDDING PHOTOS WITH FATHER, WHO HAS ALZHEIMER’S →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Powerful Practice of Fasting

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Nehemiah 1:1-11

Nehemiah’s brother arrived from Judah with some bad news: The Israelites living in Jerusalem were in great trouble. After hearing about their plight, Nehemiah fasted and prayed to the Lord for several days. During this time, he discovered God wanted him to ask the king of Persia for help.

Fasting is a spiritual discipline that helps us center our attention on the Lord and discover His will so we may act according to it. People fast in different ways: Some abstain from food while others refrain from various activities. The period of time can vary as well. But the focus in each case is to be the same—to seek God and know His will.

When we deny ourselves in this way, several things happen. First, the Holy Spirit will enable us to set aside earthly matters. Relationships, work, and pleasure will take a lesser place in our mind as we concentrate on God and His purposes. Second, our attention will shift from ourselves to the Lord. Thinking will become clearer, and our ability to understand His plans will sharpen because we are not distracted by other things. Third, the Lord is probably going to do some spiritual housecleaning in our life. His Spirit will convict us of sinful attitudes or behaviors. Then, upon confession of our sin, we’ll be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9).

When unexpected news greets us, we—like Nehemiah—may find our emotions in turmoil. He wisely sought God through fasting and prayer. This powerful practice can also help us to hear clearly from our heavenly Father, who knows the best way through every situation.

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 29-31

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — A Bubble Break

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Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Bible in a Year: Psalms 146-147; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.—2 Corinthians 4:18

A young boy showered my husband, Carl, and me with bubbles as he came running by us on the Atlantic City boardwalk. It was a light and fun moment on a difficult day. We had come to the city to visit our brother-in-law in the hospital and to help Carl’s sister who was struggling and having trouble getting to her doctors’ appointments. So as we took a break and walked along the seaside boardwalk we were feeling a bit overwhelmed by the needs of our family.

Then came the bubbles. Just bubbles blown at us whimsically by a little boy in the ocean breeze—but they had a special significance to me. I love bubbles and keep a bottle in my office to use whenever I need the smile of a bubble break. Those bubbles and the vast Atlantic Ocean reminded me of what I can count on: God is always close. He is powerful. He always cares. And He can use even the smallest experiences, and briefest moments, to help us remember that His presence is like an ocean of grace in the middle of our heavy moments.

Maybe one day our troubles will seem like bubbles—momentary in light of eternity for “what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). —Anne Cetas

What gifts of grace has God given to you in a difficult time? How might you be a blessing to others?

Share with us on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/ourdailybread

Jesus provides an oasis of grace in the desert of trials.

INSIGHT: In fulfilling his calling as an apostle (Acts 9:15), Paul endured great suffering. But in the midst of great opposition, persecution, and painful suffering, Paul’s refrain is: “We do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4:1, 16). His confidence is not rooted in himself but in God’s sovereign power, in His sustaining grace, in Christ’s resurrected life, and in the expectation of future reward and eternal glory (vv. 7-18).

Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Explaining Away Fire

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Ballet lost some of its wonder when it was explained. It was a class that was supposed to lift my mind, lighten my spirit, and boost my grade point average. Instead it became a one-credit nightmare—a class dedicated to dissecting moves I could not duplicate, within a semester that seemed to slowly dismember my romantic fascination with dance.

Explanations sometimes have a way of leaving their questioners with a sense of loss. Students note this phenomenon regularly. Expounded principles of light refraction and water particles explain away the rainbow, or at least some of its mystique. Air pressure, gravity, and the laws of physics deconstruct the optical mystery of the curve ball. Knowledge and experience can poignantly leave us with a sense of disappointment or disenchantment.

I recently read an article that scientifically explained the glow of a firefly. The author noted the nerves and chemical compounds that make the “fire” possible, pointing out that it is merely a signal used for mating and is, in fact, far from the many romantic myths that have long surrounded it. As one who delights in the gifts of science but also the gift a sky ignited with bugs, I put the article down with a sigh. And then a thought occurred to me in a manner not unlike the description of the firefly’s glow itself: The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not mastered it.(1) Where nerves and photocytes explain the glow of the firefly, have we come any closer to erasing the miracle of light?

However accurate or inaccurate our explanations might be, they sometimes have a way of leading us to short-sighted conclusions. They have also led us to outright incongruity. Brilliant minds can articulate exquisitely complex aspects of the human person and simultaneously describe it as an accident, an impersonal, adult germ in a vast cosmic machine. We have brusquely described life as a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing, only to claim that this should not lead us to despair. We have declared our appetites and our reason the gods of a better religion, while insisting both God and religion to be an invention of the human psyche. We scoff at the notion of a vicariously human savior who frees captive humanity and revives the creator’s image, while maintaining we live with every qualification for human dignity, distinction, and freedom. Are these even realistic applications of our own philosophies? Do the explanations warrant the conclusions?

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Explaining Away Fire →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Need for the Promise

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“‘But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth’” (John 16-13).

The Holy Spirit has to come alongside believers because they can’t minister by their own strength.

As a Christian, you can be orthodox and correct about every detail of theology. You might even show a certain willingness and ability to minister. But unless and until you rely on the Holy Spirit for all you do, your efforts will be ineffective. Think of a new car that has the most polished exterior and the finest of accessories but no engine. It will look great, but it certainly won’t run.

Unfortunately, that illustration applies all too often to contemporary believers. They tend to overlook or minimize the Holy Spirit’s role—either by overreacting to charismatic extravagances or by focusing most of their attention on man-centered ministry techniques and “innovative” approaches. But the Lord impressed upon the disciples’ hearts and minds on more than one occasion their need for the Holy Spirit’s power and resources—from routine daily tasks like fishing (Luke 5:4-9) to more imposing ministry challenges like casting an evil spirit out of a man’s son (Mark 9:14-29).

Because God has purposefully promised and sent the Spirit within the larger panorama of His sovereignty, we should have the same conviction about the need for the promised Helper as the disciples did shortly after Christ ascended. In conclusion, notice Peter’s confidence in God’s plan, as set forth in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost: “This Man [Jesus Christ], delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again. . . . Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (Acts 2:23, 33).

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Confess any attitudes and actions that may have kept you from seeing the need to rely on the Holy Spirit.
  • Pray that you would walk in greater dependence on Him this week.

For Further Study

Acts 1 marked a time of preparation for the coming of the promised Spirit. Read the chapter, and jot down ways in which the disciples prepared and previewed their faith in the promise.

 

http://www.gty.org

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – God’s Peacekeeper 

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Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. Revelation 6:4

God’s peacekeeper is His son Jesus Christ. His first provision of peace is between God and man. When we trust Christ alone as our Savior and Lord, we are at peace with our heavenly Father. Before we placed our faith in Jesus we were in conflict with the Almighty. Our soul was restless, at odds with its Creator. But once we surrender our selfish ways, we enjoy the selfless way of peace with God. Once we make peace with God, we enjoy the peace of God. We look to Jesus alone as our keeper of the peace.  His gift is to rest in His grace.

The anti-Christ will offer a counterfeit peace that looks good on the surface. It’s alluring and exciting, but only offers a temporary escape. In the days of tribulation on earth, Jesus describes an anxious world obsessed over “wars and rumors of wars” (Mark 13:7). These rumblings of a peace-less people prove to be a harbinger of what’s to come: world war, famine and judgment. A promise of outward control offers a false sense of serenity—only Jesus gives inner peace.

“He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin” (Malachi 2:6).

The peace of Jesus gives us peace with ourselves. The guilt of past sin is gone. If we shame ourselves over issues Christ has already covered by His thorough cleansing—we sin. The demons of depression have no jurisdiction over the Justice of the Peace–Jesus! Trust in Him empowers our tranquil soul. When we behold our Prince of Peace in uninterrupted worship, we receive His radical peace-loving assurance. Our peacekeeper Jesus is our loyal ally. Our flesh mopes around afraid, but we have no need to fear, since Jesus is near. He is our peace!

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Fear God, Not Man

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And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

Recommended Reading

Proverbs 1:7; 9:10

There’s a principle parents sometimes use with their children: “If you can do the hardest thing (ride a bike) then you can do the not-hardest thing (learn to roller skate).” And it’s a good principle for adults as well. Once we conquer the highest mountain, we know we can conquer the not-highest mountain.

We can reverse the principle and apply it spiritually: If we are not afraid of the most powerful “thing,” we shouldn’t be afraid of lesser “things.” When Jesus sent the 12 disciples out to minister, He gave them lengthy instructions (Matthew 10). There was the possibility of persecution and rejection, but Jesus used the greater-lesser principle: As long as you fear God, there is no need to fear man (Matthew 10:28). After all, God can do the worst—He can send “soul and body” to hell. What can any man do that is as fearful? Nothing! So fearing God (respecting Him, honoring Him) is our greatest defense against all other fears.

Is there something you are afraid of? Take it to God. After all, there is nothing that can separate us from His love in Christ (Romans 8:35-39).

I fear not the tyranny of man, neither yet what the devil can invent against me.

John Knox

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Ezekiel 36 – 38

 

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 – It’s No Small Thing

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Today’s Truth

“Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you … to minister to them?”

Numbers 16:9

Friend to Friend

A friend sent this text: “I thought of you when I read Numbers 16:9 today!”

“Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near Him as you serve in the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them?” (Numbers 16:9, NET Bible)

She texted again: “God chose you to serve Him in this tabernacle of flesh, to stand, talk, and to sing before people to minister to them.”

I thanked her and shook my head. No, it’s not a small thing at all. It is an honor: one that I don’t deserve, but for the healing, life-changing, grace of Jesus.

She probably thought of me because I serve on stage, in a visible position. I get it. But I have to tell you this, even though she thought of me, I thought of you.

And you should too.

Why? Because every person who places her faith in Jesus becomes a part of His plan: to know Him intimately and impact others for His glory. No microphone required. No Bible degree needed. You don’t have to be a pastor, ministry director, Sunday school teacher, elder, or deacon.

Several gems rise to the surface of this Scripture as I look it over. As a member of the body of Christ, God’s chosen, I must…

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Mind of Christ

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“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we must have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, KJV).

The first thing I do when I awaken each morning is to kneel before my Lord in humility, meditate upon His attributes, and praise, worship and adore Him.

The last thing I do before I go to bed at night is to kneel in prayer, to praise, worship and give thanks to Him. Thus, my first thoughts are automatically of Him when I awaken, because all night long my subconscious mind has been meditating on Him.

Every morning of every day, I acknowledge His lordship. I gladly surrender control of my life to Him acknowledging my dependence upon Him. Then, by faith, I claim His mind and His wisdom for direction in every detail of my life. I trust Him to influence and control my attitudes, my motives, my desires, my thoughts and my actions.

In different words and ways, I remind Him that I am a suit of clothes for Him and that He can do anything He wants in and through me. I invite Him to walk around in my body. I ask Him to think with my mind, to love with my heart, to speak with my lips, to lead me wherever He wants me to go, to seek and save the lost through me.

We should study the Word of God daily and diligently, determining as an act of the will to pattern our lives according to His commands and His example. We begin to experience the reality and the availability of the mind of Christ when we literally saturate our minds with His thoughts and spend much time meditating upon His Word.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 2:9-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Consciously and deliberately I will begin each day by inviting Christ to walk around in my body, think with my mind, love with my heart, speak with my lips and continue to “seek and save the lost” through me.

 

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Sinful Morality

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Read: Romans 2:1-11

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1

Here Paul talks about those who pass judgment on others. The apostle makes two points about these people. First, he says that these people know the difference between right and wrong; otherwise they would not presume to be judging. Paul’s second point about these people is that they are guilty because they are doing the same things themselves. The judges are as guilty as the ones they have in the dock.

Whenever moral people, those who pride themselves on a degree of righteousness and a standard of ethics, read a statement like this, they are taken by surprise. What do you mean? How could this be? I will use myself as an example, simply because I am such an excellent example of what the rest of us are like. I see three ways by which I try to elude the fact that I am guilty of the things that I accuse others of doing:

First, I am congenitally blind toward many of my own faults. I do not see that I am doing the same things that others are doing, and yet other people can see that I am. We all have these blind spots. One of the greatest lies of our age is the idea that we can know ourselves. We often argue, Don’t you think I know myself? The answer is, No, you do not know yourself. You are blind to much of your own life. There can be areas that are very hurtful and sinful that you are not aware of.

I caught myself the other day saying to someone, Relax! Take it easy! It was only afterward that I heard my own voice and realized that I was not relaxed, and I was not taking it easy myself. Have you ever lectured your children on the sin of procrastination? Then did you barely get your income tax report in on time, or not get it in at all? How blind we are! We are congenitally blind toward many of our own faults. We are indeed guilty of doing the very things we accuse others of doing.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Angels’ Age

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Read: Hebrews 12:18-24

Innumerable angels in festal gathering. (v. 22)

That two-word title sounds even stranger than the previous one, “The Church’s Banquet.” Whatever does “Angels’ Age” mean? Nothing, surely, to do with how many years angels live?

We regularly use the word “age” in a way that has nothing to do with length of life. You remember Fred and Wilma Flintstone? As the theme song tells us, “They’re a modern Stone Age family.” And the cartoons are concerned neither with historical dates nor with how old these characters are, but with life imagined in a world of Stone Age cars and telephones and pets, in a Stone Age suburb.

The Flintstones lived in a world like, yet unlike, ours. In the same way, the New Testament talks about the “age to come” or the “world to come,” which is sooner or later going to replace this one that we see around us. Just as we could look back on the cartoonist’s view of life in the Stone Age world of the Flintstones, so we can look forward to life in the Angels’ Age world of George Herbert’s poem. In that future world, where everything will at last make sense, we shall see angels everywhere, carrying out God’s purposes. The poet’s point is that prayer can admit us here and now to that Angels’ Age view of things, seeing the invisible God working “all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11).

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Where Hope Grows

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And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. —Romans 5:3–4

Years ago I had a friend who was very sick and asked me to pray for him. I did. He got worse. He said, “I don’t ever want you to pray for me again.”

In our estimation, sometimes things go the wrong way. We may pray, “Lord, heal this person. Be glorified through this.”

But the Lord might say, “I will be glorified, but I’m not going to do it the way you want Me to. I’m going to do this other thing instead.”

Sometimes God will remove the affliction. Sometimes God will heal the illness. Sometimes God will take away the cancer. But sometimes the person will get worse.

We don’t usually like that. But it is in these times that God can be glorified. Everyone suffers in life. Christians suffer too. When a Christian is suffering and can still glorify God, that is a powerful testimony to a lost world. When non-Christians see us honoring the Lord through our suffering, it shows them how real our faith is. And guess what? It shows us how real our faith is too.

Do you think your faith would get stronger if everything were easy in life? No, your faith will get stronger through hardship. Here’s something that might surprise you: You even will develop more hope through tribulation. Romans 5:3–4 says, “But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Hope grows in the garden of pain. It doesn’t grow without challenges or difficulty. It grows in hard times. It’s sort of like building muscle. You build it up by breaking it down. Then, as you keep working out, that muscle will get stronger. You develop strength through your weaknesses. This is true of Christians in their spiritual lives as well.

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie