Tag Archives: Jesus

Greg Laurie – When Things Look Bleak

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. —Acts 12:5

Acts 12 opens with a bleak scenario. James has been executed, and Peter has been arrested by King Herod. He was going to be killed next. But then we read that “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church” (verse 5). The church took this seriously and began to pray. So God sent an angel to deliver Peter from prison, and the story has a happy ending.

Then as Acts 12 closes, King Herod, who orchestrated these events, was giving a great speech, and the people began to cry out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” (verse 22). God judged Herod and killed him on the spot.

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Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Spirit Helps Us Know God

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

Gordon’s best friend sometimes keeps secrets that he doesn’t want him to know. Gordon can’t read his mind, so he will never know those secrets. Nobody can know his friend’s mind except the friend himself (and God). Nobody knows God’s mind except for God.

So how are we ever supposed to know what God wants?

God has not given us the spirit of the world. If He gave us the spirit of the world we would never know what we need to know. God has given us the Spirit of God so we can know the mind of God. We will never know everything God knows, but we can know the things that are “given to us” from God. We can know everything we need to know.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Giving You Wings

Today’s Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:9

“You yourselves have been taught by God.”

God administers his discipline in the realm of grace. What does that mean? It means that all his teaching, training, and discipline are administered in love and for our spiritual welfare. It means God is never angry with us, though he’s often grieved at our sins. It means he doesn’t condemn us or count our sins against us. All that he does in us and to us is done on the basis of unmerited favor. To use the words of William Hendricksen, “God’s grace is his active favor bestowing the greatest gift upon those who have deserved the greatest punishment.”

Where the law condemns, grace forgives through the Lord Jesus Christ. Where the law commands but gives no power, grace commands but does give power through the Holy Spirit who lives and works within us.

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The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Marks of a New Life

Today’s Scripture: Genesis 32-36

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. – 1 Peter 4:12-13

You know, a lot of strange and sometimes exciting things can happen to you when you’re traveling. In Genesis 32, we find Jacob traveling back home, and he has an experience that is more than just exciting. Jacob is met by a host of angels. Then he receives word that his brother, Esau, is heading his way with four hundred men, and he assumes he’s in for a battle, which causes him great fear and distress. But the most amazing thing of all happened while he was alone at night. He had a wrestling match with an angel, in which he prevailed, his life was preserved, and God blessed him.

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BreakPoint –  Finding the Pool of Siloam: Another Testament to the Bible’s Accuracy

The Gospel of John chapter nine tells the story of Jesus’ healing of a man born blind. After telling his disciples that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with either the man’s sins or those of his parents, Jesus applied mud to the man’s eyes and told him to wash it off at the Pool of Siloam.

Since at least the fifth century, Christians had identified a spot in Jerusalem as the Pool of Siloam and the site of the miracle. But it was not until a decade ago that archaeologists found what they are certain is the ancient pool of Siloam.

Like so many such finds, it was almost by accident. During construction work to repair a water pipe near the Temple Mount, Israeli archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron found “two ancient stone steps.”

According to Biblical Archaeology Review, “Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived.” The pool was trapezoidal in shape and 225 feet long.

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Moody Global Ministries – FIGHTING SHAME

Today in the Word – Read Psalm 35

Bullies target colleagues and classmates in an endless need to prove their own superiority. As long as they get away with it, bullies will not stop the relentless pursuit to break their victim’s spirit. In light of Jesus’ call to turn the other cheek, what godly recourse is available for a victim of targeted, shaming attacks?

At first glance, Psalm 35 might seem to violate New Testament teachings about revenge. Shouldn’t David simply be content to take refuge in God and wait out the storm? But his enemies were persistent. They would attack him from every angle until they succeeded in completely destroying him.

Their attacks had already successfully caused him to second-guess himself. Was he somehow to blame for the way he was being treated? After reexamining the past, he verified he had loved these people wholeheartedly. His openness toward them made their malicious betrayal more devastating and broke his spirit further.

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Our Daily Bread — Careless Words

Read: James 3:1-12

Bible in a Year: Exodus 12-13; Matthew 16

The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. —James 3:5

My daughter has had a lot of ill health recently, and her husband has been wonderfully caring and supportive. “You have a real treasure there!” I said.

“You didn’t think that when I first knew him,” she said with a grin.

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Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Face that Won’t Go Away

Thomas Grüter has always had trouble putting names with faces. But unlike most of us who might have trouble recollecting the name of the man who just said hello, Grüter’s trouble lies in recognizing the face of the man who just said hello—even if it is his own father’s. His condition is called prosopagnosia or “face blindness,” and until recently the disorder was thought to be exceedingly rare. But new research led by a team that included Grüter himself shows the disorder is surprisingly much more common.

Those affected with prosopagnosia are not forgetful or inattentive, nor are they the social snobs they are often accused of being. When it comes to faces—even their own—they see very little that distinguishes one from another. The part of the brain that signals face recognition simply does not respond. As a result, they may greet acquaintances as strangers, struggle to keep up with plots in movies, and have difficulty finding their own children at school pick-up time. “I see faces that are human,” notes one woman of her condition, “but they all look more or less the same. It’s like looking at a bunch of golden retrievers: some may seem a little older or smaller or bigger, but essentially they all look alike.”(1)

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John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Understanding Your Calling

“I pray that . . . you may know what is the hope of [God’s] calling” (Eph. 1:18).

The hope of your calling is grounded in God’s promises and in Christ’s accomplishments.

In Ephesians 1:3-14 Paul proclaims the blessings of our salvation. In verse 18 he prays that we will comprehend those great truths, which he summarizes in the phrase “the hope of His calling.”

“Calling” here refers to God’s effectual calling—the calling that redeems the soul. Scripture speaks of two kinds of calling: the gospel or general call and the effectual or specific call. The gospel call is given by men and is a universal call to repent and trust Christ for salvation (e.g., Matt. 28:19; Acts 17:30-31). It goes out to all sinners but not all who hear it respond in faith.

The effectual call is given by God only to the elect. By it He speaks to the soul, grants saving faith, and ushers elect sinners into salvation (John 6:37-44, 65; Acts 2:39). All who receive it respond in faith.

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Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Snake Handlers

…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2 Corinthians 2:11

Recommended Reading

James 4:7-10

Last fall, an employee at a museum in Washington State tried to feed Stella, a Burmese python. When the creature smelled its dinner of rats, it became aggressive and struck the woman’s leg. Firefighters had to pry the snake loose. The museum’s owner told reporters the woman hadn’t been properly trained to handle the snake.

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Joyce Meyer – Agreeing with God

Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.  —1 Timothy 6:12

Take a step of faith and no matter how you feel, agree with God that He loves you. You are wonderfully made and have many talents and strengths. You are valuable, and as a believer in Jesus, you are the righteousness of God in Him. You have rightness before God instead of wrongness—be thankful for that amazing gift!

Begin to speak out against feelings of insecurity and say, “I belong to God and He loves me!” (see Ephesians 2:10). We believe more of what we hear ourselves say than what others say, so start saying something good and drown out the other voices that condemn you.

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Girlfriends in God – Be My Portion, Part 2

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

Lamentations 3:24

Friend to Friend

I sometimes run to God as if He’s a celestial Wal-Mart purposed to satisfy my every want…

Change my family.

Fix my job problem, God.

Do it my way!

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – No More Fears

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18, KJV).

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room,” declared Robert Murray McCheyne, “I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me: ‘He ever liveth to make intercession.'”

Is there some fear in your life over which you do not have victory? Whether it is great or small, you can gain victory over that fear through claiming, by faith, God’s supernatural love for yourself and for others, for “perfect love casts out fear.”

That promise makes it imperative that you and I claim God’s agape, the supernatural love described in 1 Corinthians 13, love for God, for our neighbors, for ourselves and for our enemies – for all men. As we do this, we can begin to practice that perfect love, showing it to our families and to friends and neighbors.

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Ray Stedman – The Purpose of Disabilities

Read: John 9:1-39

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1-3)

The disciples had evidently been taught that sin and hurt, injury and handicap are linked together; that human hurt is the result of human sin. Notice that Jesus does not deny that. It is helpful to note right from the beginning that he recognizes there is such a link. However, it is not the one that many people think, as he will make clear.

What that indicates is that we are not living in a world where we can always expect perfection; that God does not try to operate the world in such a way that everything works out beautifully. We are living in a fallen world. The Scriptures declare that we are living in a broken world, a fragmented world, a world which is not what it once was and is not what it shall be. For the present we are afflicted with hurts, injuries, difficulties and hardships.

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Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Our Worst Nightmare

Read: Matthew 7:21-23

Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (v. 23 NIV)

“I want to know Christ.” We began these meditations with those words of Paul in Philippians 3:10. That has been our challenge. Now we come to these words of Jesus: “I never knew you.” That is a believer’s worst nightmare. You spend your life calling on the name of the Lord, working faithfully in the church, and serving bravely in the kingdom, all the while thinking that you know Christ. And then at the end, Jesus says, “I never knew you.”

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Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Light

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

Walking around the garage in complete darkness is a bad idea. If the room is pitch black, you’ll probably hurt yourself. You might bump into the car or trip over a baseball bat or a basketball. And you’ll probably stub your toe or hit your head. That could be painful!

But if you take a flashlight with you, everything will change. You’ll see where you’re going, and you won’t stub your toe or hit your head, because of the light you have with you.

What are some facts about light? Light makes things clear and easy to see. Light shows us where to go and keeps us from getting hurt. Light draws our attention to things. Can you think of some other facts about light?

The Bible says that God is light.

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The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Embraced

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 3:14

“We have come to share in Christ.”

Christ’s work is not effective for everyone because not everyone is in union with him.

We’re united to Christ by faith—that is, by trusting in him as our savior. And the moment we trust in Christ, we become partakers of and beneficiaries of all that he did in both his life and death. We’re united to Christ both legally and vitally. We can distinguish these two aspects in this way: our legal union with Christ entitles us to all that Christ did for us as he acted in our place, as our substitute. Our vital union with Christ is the means by which he works in us by his Holy Spirit. The legal union refers to his objective work outside of us that is credited to us through faith. The vital union refers to his subjective work in us, which is also realized through faith as we rely on his Spirit to work in and through us.

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Charles Stanley – Keeping Your Eye on the Lord

Psalms 25:15

Have you ever tried to make a perfectly straight line of footprints in the snow? It’s not as easy as you might think! Most people would tread slow and steady, heads down, focusing intensely on their feet. Whenever someone faces this challenge with their eyes turned downward, you can be sure that they’ll fail. Those footprints will be as crooked as can be.

When you’re walking with your eyes on your feet, you have no idea where you’re going. The experience is entirely self-centered. There’s no perspective, because you can’t see how you fit into the larger landscape. Genuine focus is missing, since every step treads over the last step’s focal point. You haven’t envisioned yourself as part of a bigger picture. So you simply plod through the snow aimlessly.

The only way to make a straight line of footprints in the snow is to ignore your feet. Instead, look directly ahead and find a fence post, street sign, or tree in the distance. Then, with your eyes fixed on that target, start to walk towards it. If you’ve locked your focus on something other than yourself, the path will be straight every time.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. If we walk through life concentrating inwardly, we’ll fail to see the bigger picture and likely go off course. But when we focus beyond ourselves, fixing our thoughts and spiritual eyes on Jesus Christ, we can trust our path will be straight and trustworthy every step of the way (Isa. 26:3 NLT).

Bible in One Year: Exodus 25-27

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Our Daily Bread — Honoring God

Read: John 15:1-5

Bible in a Year: Exodus 9-11; Matthew 15:21-39

[Jesus said,] “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. —John 15:5

The church service was still in progress, and we had some visitors there that morning. The speaker was only halfway through his sermon when I noticed one of our visitors walking out. I was curious and concerned, so I walked out to talk with her.

“You’re leaving so soon,” I said, approaching her. “Is there a problem I can help with?” She was frank and forthright. “Yes,” she said, “my problem is that sermon! I don’t accept what the preacher is saying.” He had said that no matter what we accomplish in life, the credit and praise belong to God. “At least,” the woman moaned, “I deserve some credit for my achievements!”

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John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Forbearing Love

“. . . Showing forbearance to one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

In order to walk worthy, we must forgive our enemies and love them.

The term forbearance is not often used today and is therefore unfamiliar to many of us. The Greek word translated “showing forbearance” means “suppressing with silence.” It carries the idea of throwing a blanket over sin. First Peter 4:8 says, “Love covers a multitude of sins,” and Proverbs 10:12 declares, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.” A forbearing person doesn’t trumpet other people’s sins but rather forgives them. Forbearance has room for the failures of others. A forbearing person also loves people in spite of the wrongs they might have done to him.

Agape, the word used for “love” in this verse, is the love that gives but never takes. It’s the kind of love that seeks the highest good for another, no matter what the cost. God showed His agape by giving us His only Son (John 3:16). Jesus said, “Greater love [agape] has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (15:13). Agape is unconquerable benevolence and invincible goodness; it is completely selfless.

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