Tag Archives: John

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Come and welcome

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“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17

Suggested Further Reading: John 6:35-40

How wide is this invitation! There are some ministers who are afraid to invite sinners, then why are they ministers? They are afraid to perform the most important part of the sacred office. There was a time I must confess when I somewhat faltered when about to give a free invitation. My doctrinal sentiments did at that time somewhat hamper me. I boldly confess that I am unchanged as to the doctrines I have preached; I preach Calvinism as high, as stern, and as sound as ever; but I do feel, and always did feel an anxiety to invite sinners to Christ. And I do feel also, that not only is such a course consistent with the soundest doctrines, but that the other course is after all the unsound one, and has no title whatever to plead Scripture on its behalf. There has grown up in many churches an idea that none are to be called to Christ but what they call sensible sinners. I sometimes rebut that by remarking, that I call stupid sinners to Christ as well as sensible sinners, and that stupid sinners make by far the greatest proportion of the ungodly. But I glory in the confession that I preach Christ even to insensible sinners—that I would say even to the dry bones of the valley, as Ezekiel did, “Ye dry bones live!” doing it as an act of faith; not faith in the power of those that hear to obey the command, but faith in the power of God who gives the command to give strength also to those addressed, that they may be constrained to obey it. But now listen to my text; for here, at least, there is no limitation. But sensible or insensible, all that the text saith is, “Whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely.” The one question I have to ask this morning is, art thou willing?

For meditation: Jesus gladly received children and their carers; he rebuked his own disciples, some of God’s children, who tried to get in the way (Mark 10:13-16). Are we helping or hindering others who need to come to Christ?

Sermon no. 279

16 October (1859)

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – “Maybe”

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Recently, I attended the memorial service for a close family member. He was the fourth person to die in this family, and the fourth to die before the age of 70. As the extended family began to gather in the church library prior to the service, the grief was as palpable as if it was a figure in the room. Tears flowed freely, and we embraced one another in an attempt to offer comfort in the midst of the sorrow.

After the service, as we stood in a receiving line and watched people mill about, there were many children and young toddlers in attendance. Unaware of what had brought us all together, they ran around one another playing and screaming with joy and delight. I couldn’t help but wonder at this strange juxtaposition. For in this one space of a funeral where one person had died, new life was playing all around me. How ironic that a place flooded with tears was also a place that held the delightful squeals and joyful play of young children.

Having lunch with a dear friend in the days following, we spoke of her own experience with this ironic juxtaposition of joy and sadness. She had suffered the death of her young husband to cancer. Her eyes filled with tears as she recalled the unfathomable sorrow she felt when he told her how sad he would be to leave her behind, to leave their children, and the life he loved. All of the pain surrounding his death and untimely departure from this earth she carries with her now-even as she enjoys a new relationship with another young widower. They would have never met one another had it not been for death and loss of their beloved spouses; they feel both joy and sorrow as if they are united in their hearts like conjoined twins.

Poet and author Wendell Berry writes of this marriage of joy and sorrow in his poem entitled Sabbaths 2009. He begins with a quote by William Faulkner. “‘Maybe,’ Mr. Ernest said, ‘The best word in our language, the best of all.’” The poem proceeds to describe a bookkeeper tallying all the suffering and pain in one column of his ledger, everything he now knows of grief, pain and loss. He reckons these figures in their great weight, though he has no means of truly weighing them. Then he enters all he knows of the opposite decree—of beauty and love, generosity and grace and laughter. And he weighs these unweighable figures as well, knowing they can never be measured quantities, but simply register on his heart. He closes the book, not able to say which outweighs the other—good or evil, joy or sorrow-though he longs to know. Berry concludes with the bookkeeper’s ponderings:

He only can suppose

the things of goodness, the most

momentary, are in themselves

so whole, so bright, as to redeem

the darkness and trouble of the world

though we set it all afire.

“Maybe,” the bookkeeper says. “Maybe.”(1)

For many, ‘maybe’ honestly reflects the weight of carrying both joy and sorrow in their lives and in this world. And Berry’s poem honestly describes this life that is filled with both joy and sorrow; which outweighs the other we often cannot tell. Eventually, all those we love will die, or we will leave those we love. And yet the joy that comes in loving others overflows this inevitability of death and loss. Around every corner are new lives born or re-born through life transforming events-young and old-that counterbalance the surety of loss and senescence.

While these insights are not novel, it seems we humans prefer to believe we will somehow escape sorrow, pain, and loss. Intellectually, we know that suffering is a very real possibility, but we think it will not touch us. As a result, when life is filled with sorrow or loss we are ill-equipped to cope with it. We see suffering, grief, sorrow or loss as an aberration or a departure from ‘normal’ life, failing to recognize that the journey of earthly life would always include the push and pull between sorrow and joy. For Christians, the focus can easily center on victorious living and resurrection to the exclusion of Jesus’s matter-of-fact instruction to his followers that in this world they “will have trouble, but I have overcome this world.”(2) I had forgotten that many who have gone before me as that ‘great cloud of witnesses’ “did not receive what was promised.”(3) They, too, lived in a land of ‘maybe,’ and in the bittersweet juxtaposition of joy and sorrow.

As I walked out of the church after the funeral, and I felt spent from grieving, I simultaneously felt more alive than I had felt in a long time. Feeling the full range of human emotion and experiencing the tension that exists between joy and sorrow reminds me of what it means to be alive. And while I follow the one who assures me that he “has overcome the world,” his assurance did not come without his own journey to the cross and to the full experience of human sorrow and suffering. The joy set before him accompanied him there in the most beautiful and transformative juxtaposition.

Margaret Manning is a member of the writing and speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

 (1) Wendell Berry, Sabbaths 2009, Sewanee Review, Volume 119, Number 2, Spring 2011, pp. 198-205.

(2) John 16:33.

(3) Hebrews 11:29.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Still Present With You

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“In just a little while I will be gone from the world, but I will still be present with you. For I will live again – and you will too” (John 14:19).

In this one verse the whole gospel story is expressed, for Jesus is speaking on the day before His death, foretelling just what will happen then and thereafter.

And what He has to say should bring renewed joy and comfort and peace to our hearts in the midst of a chaotic world that perhaps includes an element of chaos even in the home or at the office or in the classroom.

Yes, He was gone from the world to assume His rightful position at the right hand of His heavenly Father – after His death and resurrection. Now He is present with us in the person of His indwelling Holy Spirit, who lives within every believer. And to the extent we give Him control of our hearts and lives, He empowers and enables us to live a supernatural, abundant life.

He prophesies His resurrection – “I will live again” – the joyous truth of which makes possible His final promise to His disciples, “You will live too.”

Jesus is saying, in effect that the life of the Christian depends on that of Christ. They are united, and if they were separated, the Christian could not enjoy spiritual life here nor eternal joy hereafter. But He lives! And because He lives, we too shall live – forever, with Him throughout the endless ages of eternity!

Bible Reading: Romans 5:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Because Jesus died, arose and now lives at God’s right hand while at the same time living in me, I can live the abundant, supernatural life today, and forever!

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Knowing God as Our Father

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Charles Stanley

1 John 3:1-3

When we hear the word “father,” what images come to mind? Couch potato or hardworking? Stern or enthusiastic? Available or absent? No matter what strengths or weaknesses our earthly dads may have had, we have a heavenly Father who is perfect.

Jesus’ life provides us with a picture of God as our Father. We see the Savior tenderly holding children, ministering to the sick, and showing compassion to the undeserving. Christ’s words tell us of a heavenly Father who loves people, listens to the prayers of His children, and freely offers forgiveness.

Jesus also revealed that there are two spiritual fathers in this world: Jehovah and Satan. Only those who have been spiritually born into God’s family may call Him “Father.” This rebirth (John 3:3) takes place when a person accepts Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice for his or her own sins. Those that reject Christ—the only way to God (14:6)—consequently choose the Devil as their spiritual father (8:42-45). They have believed the Father of Lies and rejected the one true God as revealed in the person of Jesus. Satan came to steal, kill, and destroy (10:10), but Jesus came that we might have new life and be reconciled to God the Father.

God is aware of every need we have, and He has promised to provide His best for us. He delights in giving good gifts to His children and doesn’t hold our mistakes against us. With Him, we find intimacy, security, and satisfaction. Child of God, how well do you know your Father?

 

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Never Alone

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“No I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm, I will come to you” (John 14:18).

“I feel so alone,” Bev said,” with my husband gone and all my children married. Sometimes I can hardly bear the pain, the anguish. At times its as though I am about to suffocate – I am so lonely!”

Bev was in her late 70’s. Her husband was dead, and the other members of her family had become involved in their own careers and activities. Though they loved her, they were so busy they seldom saw her to express that love.

I shared with her the good news of the one who loved her so much that He died on the cross for her and paid the penalty for her sins, the one who promised to come to her and, once He came, never to leave her.

There in the loneliness of her living room, she bowed with me in prayer and invited the risen living Christ to take up residence in her life, to forgive her, to cleanse her, to make her whole, to make her a child of God. When she lifted her face, her cheeks were moist with tears of repentance and her heart was made new with joy.

“I feel so different,” she said. “Already I feel enveloped with the sense of God’s presence, His love and His peace.”

As the months passed, it became increasingly evident that she was not alone. He who was with her had been faithful to His promise never to leave her.

Do you feel deserted, alone, rejected? Do you have problems with your family, work, school, or health? Whatever may be your need, Jesus is waiting to make His presence as real to you as if He were with you in His physical body.

There are five things that I would encourage you to do to enhance the realization of His presence. (1) Meditate upon His Word day and night. (2) Confess all known sins. (3) Aggressively obey His commandments. (4) Talk to Him about everything as you would your dearest friend. (5) Tell everyone who will listen about Him so that they too can experience with you the supernatural life which comes only from allowing the supernatural power of the indwelling Christ to be reflected in and through you.

Bible Reading: Psalm 68:3-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: In order to enhance the Lord’s presence in my life, I will practice the five recommendations knowing that as I walk in this vital personal relationship with the risen Christ, the supernatural qualities that characterize His life will become more and more apparent in time.

 

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Freedom of the Cross

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Charles Stanley

In these tough economic times, many now recognize the cost of freedom. Perhaps you feel trapped in debt, unemployment, or personal heartache. And even if you are currently fortunate enough to be without trial, there is a bondage we all face: sin.

Breaking free from sin’s penalty and power comes at a great price. Your symbol of true freedom—liberty from the chains of self—is a costly one. It is soaked in the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

The Cross

The agony of Jesus’ crucifixion is well known, even to non-Christians and adherents of other religions. The actual event, however, was far more than mere historic melodrama. Its significance lies not in the emotional experience of the participants and onlookers, but in what God accomplished through His Son’s death.

The cross of Calvary is the extraordinary instrument of liberty where our eternal fate is secured. You see, our freedom cannot be purchased with a social revolution or a majority vote. The source of our oppression is spiritual—not political, economic, or cultural.

Yet many people today dismiss the contemporary relevance of the cross because of its apparent weakness. We are strength-conscious people. Businesspeople meet for “power” lunches. Politicians strive to gain ever-increasing legislative influence. Individuals with common causes group together to wield more clout. The military spends billions to develop and deploy Armageddon-scale weaponry. But there has never been—and never will be—anything that rivals the awesome power of the cross.

The Cost

Despite the world’s skepticism and ridicule, the very core of Christianity is Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is the central truth of Christian doctrine and experience. In the words of Paul, the cross is both “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24).

You see, we are born sinners, separated from the life and liberty of our Creator. We are imprisoned by the darkness of sin, chained by its grip of selfishness and under the influence of Satan. Only Christ’s sacrifice has the power to liberate us from this bondage.

The gospel of the resurrection has the ability to deliver us—body and soul—from the grave. Because Christ paid the penalty of sin and emerged from the tomb, His sacrifice is the only power that can unshackle humanity from the chains of eternal, spiritual death. It is the only thing that can transport you from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of life and light (Colossians 1:13).

The cross is God’s wisdom because there is no other means by which sinful human beings can be reconciled to our holy and perfect Creator. Because God became flesh, He could die as our substitute, bearing the divinely decreed penalty for our rebellion against Him.

The crucifixion has the power to radically alter every aspect of your life. Jesus’ sacrifice empowers you to reorient your life toward selfless giving, loving, and serving instead of self-dominance or self-protection. Christ calls us to follow Him by dying to ourselves—to give up our lives so that we might find them in relationship with Him (John 12:25-26). Doing so transforms the heart and releases evil’s grip on our lives.

Freedom

Our only hope for freedom is to be rescued by the One with the power and right to liberate us from sin’s reign. That is exactly what Christ did at Calvary. Through the cross, the wrath of God the Father was spent on His Son. Jesus paid the supreme price by laying down His life.

Since Christ tasted the bitterness of death and rose again three days later, sin no longer rules over those of us who trust in Him. He triumphed over the grave, and all who place their faith in Him share His victory. The grace of the Lord is marvelous. But it is yours only because Jesus bore the penalty of sin: death (Rom. 6:23). He made it possible for us to be reconciled to the Author of spiritual liberty— Jehovah God.

Is the cross of Christ the center of your faith? There is absolutely no way to God except through the Son (John 14:6). The gift of freedom is available to all who are willing to receive because of His crucifixion—the greatest, eternal sacrifice for the world God so dearly loves.

Adapted from “Enter His Gates” (1998).

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Path of Blessing

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“You know these things – now do them! That is the path of blessing” (John 13:17).

These words of Jesus are as binding on us who follow Him today as they were on the disciples who actually heard Him speak them.

You will remember the setting. Jesus had just washed the feet of His disciples as an example of servanthood that He wanted them to observe and to learn. And that is the lesson we do well to ponder: service for others.

Except for the good we can do others, in the power and with the enabling of God’s Holy Spirit, what really is the purpose of our being left here on earth? And miracle of miracles, when we do that which is right – serve others, in Christ’s name – our own personal problems seem minor and relatively unimportant.

Loneliness and depression have their quickest cure in the realm of helping others. No matter what our problem – physical, spiritual, or material – it is quite likely we can find others whose plights are worse. By giving of ourselves in their behalf, we forget about our own troubles, which are usually resolved in the process.

Simple, is it not, that we are to do those things the Lord commands us to do? When we read and study His Word, we can find our just what they are.

Bible Reading: John 13:12-16

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will not be content with just admiring the example Jesus has set before us, but will seek to obey His commands to be a doer if the Word as well.

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – God’s Self-Disclosure

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John MacArthur

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2).

For decades liberal theologians have misrepresented the Bible as merely a collection of man’s religious thoughts and aspirations. But Scripture is much more than that. It is in fact divine revelation–God’s self disclosure through His Spirit to the human authors. Man could never know God’s identity, attributes, perspectives, or commands if God hadn’t revealed them to him. Nor could man know his own origin, purpose, or destiny.

Paul said, “‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9-10). In 2 Timothy 3:16 he adds, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” God inspired every word of Scripture and speaks on every page.

Hebrews 1 speaks of two general means by which God revealed Himself: Old Testament revelation (“long ago,” v. 1) and New Testament revelation (“in His Son,” v. 2). First He spoke to the Jewish fathers through the Old Testament prophets “in many portions.” That refers to all the books of the Old Testament. “In many ways” speaks of the specific means by which He communicated: visions, prophecies, parables, types, symbols, ceremonies, theophanies, and audible voice.

From the close of the Old Testament to the arrival of John the Baptist, there were approximately 400 years during which God was silent. But that silence was shattered when John announced the coming of Christ. From that time on, God spoke through His Son. The gospels record His life and teachings, the book of Acts shows the propagation of His teachings through the apostles and early church, the epistles apply His teachings to everyday life, and Revelation tells of His triumphant return and the consummation of divine revelation.

Isn’t it wonderful to know God’s perspective on life and history?

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank God that His Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Ps. 119:105).

For Further Study:

According to Deuteronomy 29:29, what is the purpose of divine revelation?

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – See God’s Glory

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“Jesus saith unto her, ‘Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?'” (John 11:40, KJV).

How wonderful to behold the glory of God! And in varying degrees you and I have the capability and opportunity of doing that very thing!

Jesus here, of course, is talking to Martha about her brother Lazarus, whom He was just about to raise form the dead. The message is plain: “Because you believed, Martha, you will see the glory of God in the raising of Lazarus.”

Because you and I dare to believe God today, against all evidence and appearances to the contrary, He will let us see something of His glory. Just what is meant by that?

Most scholars agree that the glory of God in this context at least, refers to the power and goodness displayed in the resurrection. That holds endless possibilities of fulfillment.

Amazing, isn’t it, that the simple matter of believing often is so difficult for the believer, as we are called? “Ye receive not, because ye ask not.” “According to your faith be it unto you.” “Ye receive not because ye ask amiss.”

May our Lord increase our faith by driving us into His Word, since “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by His Word.”

Bible Reading: John 11:35-44

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I truly desire to experience the glory of God in my life. To this end I will, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, live a life of faith and obedience.

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Searching for Truth

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John MacArthur

“Thy law is truth. . . . And all Thy commandments are truth. . . . The sum of Thy word is truth” (Ps. 119: 142, 151, 160).

It amazes me how people can spend so much time searching for truth but ignore the Bible. In his poem Miriam, John Greenleaf Whittier reflected on the same conundrum:

We search the world for truth. We cull The good, the pure, the beautiful, From graven stone and written scroll, From all old flower-fields of the soul; And, weary seekers of the best, We come back laden from the quest, To find that all the sages said Is in the Book our mothers read.

God never intended for truth to be mysterious or unattainable. His Word is a repository of truth, containing every principle we need for life and thought.

But knowing truth begins with knowing God, who is its author. First John 5:20 says, “We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

The psalmist proclaimed, “The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever; they are performed in truth and uprightness” (Ps. 111:7-8).

As Christians, we are those who walk in truth. That’s how Jesus described us when He prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Similarly John said, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). In contrast, unbelievers “suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” thus making themselves targets for the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18).

To love God is to love truth; to love truth is to love the Word. May you walk in the truth of God’s Word today and every day.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank God for the privilege of knowing Him and being able to walk in His truth.

For Further Study:

How does Jesus describe the Holy Spirit in John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13?

 

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – You Will Be Different

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“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV).

A prominent businessman, elder in a prestigious church, was impatient with “narrow-minded, born-again Christians.” “I am a Christian,” he said, “but I have never been born again, and frankly I’m not interested. We emphasize more important issues in my church.”

When I read the third chapter of John with him and explained that there is only one kind of biblical Christian, the one who is “born-again,” and that no other kind of “Christian” can enter into the kingdom of God according to the words of Jesus, the light suddenly went on. With this new insight he readily received Christ as his Savior and Lord.

A caterpillar is an ugly, hairy, earthbound worm – until it weaves a cocoon about its body. Then an amazing transformation takes place. Out of that cocoon emerges a beautiful butterfly – a new creature, able to live on another plane, to soar in to the heavens. So it is with man.

John 3 records Jesus’ explanation of how one becomes a new creature. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who tried to adhere meticulously to every detail of the law, had come to Jesus for counsel.

“‘Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:2,3, NAS).

Puzzled, Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (John 3:4, NAS). Then Jesus explained that physical birth alone does not qualify anyone to enter the kingdom of God. Since His is a spiritual kingdom, we must experience spiritual birth.

Bible Reading: Romans 6:4-14

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will read John’s gospel, chapter three, meditating especially on the first eight verses, and will consider again my relationship with the Lord. If I should die today, I want to be sure I would go to heaven, and through the enabling of the Holy Spirit I want to begin living the supernatural life.

 

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Life Without Bread

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Our Daily Bread

John 6:25-35

I am the bread of life. —John 6:48

In cultures with an abundance of food choices, bread is no longer a necessary part of the diet so some choose to live without it for various reasons. In the first century, however, bread was viewed as an essential staple. A diet without bread was a foreign concept.

One day a crowd of people sought out Jesus because He had performed the miracle of multiplying loaves of bread (John 6:11,26). They asked Him to perform a sign like the manna from heaven that God had provided for His people in the desert (6:30-31; Ex. 16:4). When Jesus said He was “the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32), the people didn’t understand. They wanted literal daily bread. But Jesus was saying that He had been sent to be their spiritual bread; He would supply their daily spiritual needs. If they, by faith, applied and took His words and life into their very souls, they would experience everlasting satisfaction (v.35).

Jesus doesn’t want to be an optional commodity in our diets; He desires to be the essential staple in our lives, our “necessary” food. As first-century Jews could never imagine life without physical bread, may we never attempt to live without Jesus, our spiritual bread! —Marvin Williams

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

What are some ways you can let Jesus, the

Bread of Life, and His words satisfy the

hunger pangs of your soul today?

Only spiritual bread satisfies the hunger of the soul.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 32-33; Colossians 1

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – This Sickness

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Ravi Z

One of the scenes in the Gospels involves a man whose words were never recorded. Lazarus is first introduced in the Gospel of John as one Jesus loves—and one who is sick. The illness had silenced Lazarus to the point where it was Mary and Martha who had to send word to Jesus. “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard the news of his friend’s condition, he immediately replied: “This sickness will not end in death.” A few days later, Lazarus was dead.(1)

There are times when I read this story and I long to say in response, “But it did end in death.”  Before the story of Lazarus was a story fully marked by the scandal of resurrection, it was first a story marred by the force of death. Lazarus still walked through the pain of his illness; he still faced the uncertainty of dying; his loved ones, the sting of grief. Mary and Martha still mourned at the grave of their brother for four days. And Jesus himself wept.

Even for those who are able to see resurrection as their certain hope, death is still a jarring occurrence. The journey toward death was harsh and shocking to Lazarus, his family, and his friends. But it was not the final word. There is a voice that can be heard even through the last shriek of death.

Author and professor James Loder tells the story of his younger sister’s transforming encounter with death and life. From an early age, it was evident that Kay would be a child marked by struggle. Loder describes her as “a troubled young girl living in a middle-class family in which there seemed to be no trouble at all.”(2) Yet off and on throughout her childhood, she would suddenly break into tears and fall into bouts of genuine discontent, such that she was having great trouble both at home and in school.  When she was fourteen, their father was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Nine months later, on the night before he died, Kay and her brother took a walk together in the rain. As they walked quietly together, they came to a lake. Both slowed at the sight of it and its various reflections in the light. On the other side of the lake was a figure that stopped them both completely. Remarkably, there seemed in front of them the silhouette of a Christ-like figure; he was carrying a burden as he walked in the rain. They were both transfixed. “Do you see what I see?” Loder asked. “Yes,” came the hushed reply of his sister.

After that evening life was somehow different for her. Their father passed away, but the vision of Christ in the midst of it was somehow more permanent. Kay’s life took an entirely different turn. She sailed through school and pursued theater with the idea of bringing God into it. Loder explains that it was never easy for her; in fact, “it was very hard,” he said, “but always there was the vision…. [S]he was continually ripped off. Her material was stolen, and she died at the age of thirty-nine. [Yet] even in dying, her great love of God and the power of the vision gave death to death; in love she was married to the Lord for life and for life after death.”(3)

We don’t know how Lazarus reacted to his own death and subsequent resurrection. The gospels do not offer us a single word from the mouth of the one who was raised. In fact, the man at whose grave Jesus wept is known only in the gospels as one who listened. Amidst a crowd drawn by sorrow to a graveside in Bethany, Jesus called out in a loud voice: “Lazarus, come forth!” And the dead man indeed came out, his hands and his feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

There is something about suffering and despair that brings some to strain our ears for the voice of God. Where we have written God off as silent, where we have lived with the suspicion of a distant or demanding ruler, there is a compulsion within our pain that forces us to listen again. There is an image of Christ who carried the same burden. And it is met with the promise of one who speaks: This sickness will not end in death.

Jill Carattini is senior associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) John 11:1-45.

(2) James E. Loder, The Transforming Moment (Colorado Springs: Helmers & Howard Publishing, 1989), 228.

(2) Ibid., 229.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Has Not Deserted Me

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“And He who sent Me is with Me – He has not deserted Me – for I always do those things that are pleasing to Him” (John 8:29).

If we have a conscience free of offense, and if we have evidence that we please God, it matters little if men oppose us or what others may think of us. “Enoch, before his translation, had this testimony – that he pleased God.”

It would not be fair for you or me to profess ignorance in this matter of pleasing God. If we had never known before, we know now that it comes from doing always those things He commands – which of course are the things that please Him.

Jesus is saying here, among other things, that God is with Him in the working of miracles. Though men had forsaken and rejected Him, yet God stayed by Him and worked in and through Him.

In the same way, God has made it possible for us to please Him by giving us His Holy Spirit to indwell, enable and empower us for service. With the available enablement, we are without excuse in the matter of doing the “greater things” He has promised for those who love and serve Him.

What better goal for today, tomorrow and all our coming days than to seek to please Him?

Bible Reading: John 8:25-28

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: So that Christ might be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death, I will seek to do only those things today which please Him.

 

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Radical Convention

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Ravi Z

Author Dorothy Sayers was never one to live by convention. The only child of an Anglican clergyman, she was one of the first women to graduate from Oxford University in 1915. After graduating from Oxford, she made her living writing advertising copy until she was able to publish more and more of her fiction. In the early stages of her career, she fell in love with a member of a motorcycle gang in England, and joined them in their travels far and wide.(1) Had she convinced C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams to ride with her, the Inklings group might have taken on an entirely different character!

Perhaps it was her unconventional life that led her to highlight the more unconventional side of Jesus’s own life and ministry. In a collection of essays published after her death, she wrote:

“He was emphatically not a dull man in his human lifetime, and if he was God, there can be nothing dull about God either. But he had ‘a daily beauty in his life that made us ugly,’ and officialdom felt that the established order of things would be more secure without him. So they did away with God in the name of peace and quietness.”(2)

Indeed, Jesus stormed into the temple—the site of religious convention—consumed by zeal. He upset the tables of the moneychangers and he drove the vendors out with righteous rage. There was nothing dull about this first act John’s Gospel records for us as Jesus entered Jerusalem for Passover. Perhaps it was the last act that finally got him killed. He upended the commoditization of temple worship, driving out those who would prevent prayer by charging a fee. He was anything but dull.

Jesus was disruptive. And his disruption disturbed the status quo. So disruptive was he that the religious leaders of his day feared the entire nation might perish as a result of his advent. As Caiaphas, the high priest warned, “It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish” (John 11:50).

Those who sought to kill him did so because they sought to protect law and order, tradition and teaching. It was not vice and corruption that sought him dead, but piety and due process. After all, wasn’t this man the one who allowed prostitutes and tax collectors into his presence, dining with them? Wasn’t this the man who allowed a pound of the finest perfume to be poured on his feet by Mary who then wiped his feet with her hair? Was this not the one of whom it was said, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax gatherers and sinners” (Matthew 11:19)! He was too much for the status quo to handle; “If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:48). So they did away with God in the name of peace and quietness.

It is a painful irony that the ones who wanted him dead were not the lawless, but the pious and the righteous ones. These are the very ones Jesus argued for his followers to exceed in terms of the standards of righteousness: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” But the righteousness that Jesus espoused looked radically different from the righteousness of the religious leaders who now called for his death. In his upending way, he revealed that those who often appeared to be righteous were really “white-washed sepulchers.” His was a righteousness of compassion and not sacrifice, of reconciliation with offended brothers and sisters, of faithfulness and not lust, of commitment to spouses and not divorce, of keeping one’s word and repaying evil with good.(3) His was a righteousness that pierced straight to the heart where the transformation of mind, body, and action began. His was a righteousness that did not maintain peace and quietness.

As Dorothy Sayers wisely noted in her life and her writing, into every generation and every life Jesus comes to upend and disrupt the status quo. He is not dull. And he calls those who would follow him to forsake self-righteousness and the pride of piety. Like those before us, would we instead do away with God in the name of whatever peace and quietness we now seek to maintain? The journey to Golgotha is lined with the righteous as well as with sinners.

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

(1) “Dorothy Sayers, Writer and Theologian,” Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the Past, 17 December 1957.

(2) Dorothy Sayers, The Whimsical Christian: Eighteen Essays (New York: Macmillan, 1978), 17.

(3) See Matthew 12:7 and Matthew 5:20-48, the Sermon on the Mount.

 

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Trusting Is God’s Gift

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“Because of His kindness you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it.” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Joe had asked Jesus to come into his life many times but was never sure of his salvation. “How can I be sure I’m a Christian and will go to heaven when I die?” he asked.

I explained that it was not enough to ask Jesus to come to live within us and forgive our sins. We must believe that He will do exactly what He promised to do. By faith, we must be able to say, “I know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead and that He will come into my life and change me if I ask Him to. I know that He will make me His child and never leave me because all of these are promises from God’s holy, inspired Word. Therefore, I believe the promise of Ephesians 2:8,9 – that I attain salvation through trust in Christ.”

Through the years I have seen thousands of individuals profess faith in Christ after hearing or reading John 1:12, (KJV) “But as many received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,” and Revelation 3:20, where Jesus promised, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (NAS). But not everyone with whom I have prayed has received the assurance of salvation. The reason? It is not enough to ask Christ into our lives; we must believe His promise, “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8, NAS).

Bible Reading: I Peter 1:3-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Have I been asking Jesus Christ into my life frequently through the years, but am not sure He is there, not sure of eternal life, or that I would go to heaven if I died today? If so, I will pray, “Right now, Lord Jesus, whatever may have taken place in my life prior to this moment, I want to declare that I believe in You as my Savior and wish to follow You as my Lord. So, for the last time, I invite You to come into my life. Forgive my sins; cleanse me; make me the kind of person You want me to be. By faith in You and in the authority of Your inspired Word, I now acknowledge that You live within me, and I believe Your promise, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’* Therefore, I will never insult You by asking You to into my life again, but will hereafter thank You daily that You indwell me, that I have eternal life and that through the enabling of Your power I can live a supernatural life. *Hebrews 13:5, NAS.

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Grateful Heart

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Max Lucado

Some things were not made to co-exist. Long-tailed cats and rocking chairs?  Bad combination. Bulls in a china closet?  Not a good idea. Blessings and bitterness? That’s the mixture that doesn’t go over well with God. Perhaps you’ve sampled it?  Gratitude doesn’t come naturally. Self-pity does. Bellyaches do. Yet they don’t mix well with the kindness we’ve been given.

I attended a banquet where a soldier was presented with the gift of a free house. He nearly fell over with gratitude. He hugged the guitar player in the band, the woman on the front row.  He thanked the waiter, the other soldiers.  He even thanked me and I didn’t do anything. Shouldn’t we be equally grateful?

John 14:2 says Jesus is building a house for us.  Our deed of ownership is every bit as certain as that of the soldier! The grateful heart sees every day as a gift.

From You’ll Get Through This

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Bread of Life

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“Jesus replied, ‘I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to Me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in Me shall never thirst'” (John 6:35).

What would it be like never to be hungry – never to be thirsty?

Even in affluent America, you and I – and perhaps most people – have felt pangs of hunger and thirst, if only for a brief period. Jesus is telling us here that, spiritually speaking, we need never be hungry or thirsty again.

But how is that possible?

As the bread of life – the support of spiritual life – His doctrines give life and peace to the soul.

In Eastern countries, especially, there are vast deserts and often a great lack of water. By nature, the soul is like a traveler wandering through such a desert. Thirsting for happiness, seeking it everywhere and finding it not, he looks in all directions and tries all objects – in vain.

St. Augustine expressed this hunger for God in the following prayer, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

When we drink of the water that is Christ, we become satisfied – and need never thirst again. As we continue to grow in grace, which comes only by feasting on His Word, we find a never-ending pattern of satisfaction with Him and all that concerns Him.

The principle is clear: As you and I feed on the Word of God and its rich truths, we are satisfying a spiritual hunger and thirst that could never be satisfied otherwise. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness, on the other hand, is also a necessity if we are really to grow in grace. The truths are not contradictory, but are complementary.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: My daily manna and drink shall come from the living Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His holy inspired written word, the Bible, enabling me to live the supernatural life.

 

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Never Be Thirsty

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Alistair Begg

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever.

John 4:14

The person who believes in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now and to content him forevermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for lack of comfort and whose nights are long on account of the absence of heart-cheering thought. The believer finds in faith such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon, and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, and he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, and he will meet the “friend who sticks closer than a brother.”1 Destroy all his shade, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; erode the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord.

The heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it, and then it becomes a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fullness in Christ that He alone is the believer’s sufficiency. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the provision of Jesus that he no longer thirsts-except perhaps to drink more deeply at the living fountain.

In that sweet manner, believer, you will thirst; it will not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; you will find it a sweet thing to be longing for a deeper enjoyment of Jesus’ love. An old saint once declared, “I have been lowering my bucket into the well so often, but now my thirst for Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to my lips and drink right out of it.”

Is this the feeling of your heart now, believer? Do you feel that all your desires are satisfied in Jesus and that you have no need now except to know more of Him and to have closer fellowship with Him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much but will always welcome you, saying, “Drink; yes, drink abundantly, loved one.”

1Proverbs 18:24

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Longing for the Word

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John MacArthur

“Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2).

A newborn baby was abandoned in a pile of trash in a city alley. The mother had obviously left it there to die. The infant was near death when someone heard its faint cry and summoned medical help. The child survived, but not until it had received the attention and nourishment it needed.

That situation has a spiritual parallel, which Peter used to illustrate the believer’s dependence on God’s Word. If a baby is deprived of nourishment, it will soon die. Similarly, if a Christian doesn’t feed on the Word, he or she will languish spiritually and become ineffective for the Lord. On the positive side, a believer should long for God’s Word as intently as a newborn baby longs for its mother’s milk.

Scripture draws on the parent/child metaphor in other ways, referring to Christians as being born again (John 3:7; 1 Pet. 1:3), children of God (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 3:1), and adopted sons (Rom. 8:14; Eph. 1:5). Just as it is natural for biological children to grow and mature, Christians also have the capacity for spiritual growth. In fact, we’re commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).

The Word of God is the mainstay of your spiritual diet. It’s your primary source of nourishment. Paul said, “As you . . . have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed” (Col. 2:6-7). “Your faith” in that context refers to the content of Christianity–the doctrines of Scripture. As your knowledge and application of biblical principles increases, you will become more and more grounded in truth and steadfast in Christ.

Suggestions for Prayer:

If you’ve lost your appetite for God’s Word, it may be because of sin (1 Pet. 2:1). If so, ask God to cleanse your heart and give you a renewed longing for His truth. Then commit yourself to daily time in the Word.

For Further Study:

Read Acts 20:32 and 1 Thessalonians 2:13, noting the effect Scripture has on believers.