Tag Archives: love

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – True Love Marries 

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On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. John 2:1-2

True love transitions from the thought of living together—to the commitment of living together forever in marriage. It is not a self-centered conditional love, but a Christ-centered unconditional love. There is fidelity of focus on faith in God and each other. Couples with true love see marriage as a reflection of their relationship with Jesus.

Marriage is much more than a contract between couples; it is a covenant before the Almighty. It is a solemn agreement between two God-fearing souls that honors heaven with vows of commitment on earth. Marriage is sacred to your Savior Jesus, because it communicates His love through the most intimate love between a husband and a wife.

“As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5).

What’s holding you back from an unconditional commitment to marriage? Fear of it not working out—fear of losing control, freedom and finances—or is it selfish motivation to have sex and some security without any long-term obligation? Marriage modeled on your relationship with Christ purifies motives and brings joy to Jesus and your life.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – The Yellow River

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For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Matthew 15:19

Recommended Reading

Matthew 15:1-20

Last year the American Environmental Protection Agency allowed an ocean of sludge to pollute Colorado’s Animas River, turning the tributary to a sickening bright yellow. The accident occurred when a crew tried to pump out the polluted buildup of an abandoned mine. The waste overflowed, ruining a hundred-mile stretch of river.

According to Jesus, the human heart is a cesspool of evil, which overflows into our words and deeds. Our world is polluted by the toxic buildup of our hearts. The problem isn’t political, and it can’t be solved by political means. It’s not legal, and all the laws in the world can’t solve it. It’s not educational. If everyone had a doctorate, we’d still have a corrupted culture. It’s not financial; and if everyone were a millionaire, we’d still be in trouble.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Stop Getting and Start Receiving

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And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. —1 John 3:22

We often ask people if they “got” something, particularly when we speak of spiritual matters. “Did you ‘get’ a breakthrough?” we want to know, or “Did you ‘get’ your blessing?” Is the idea of “getting” from God biblical? The Bible teaches us about receiving, not about getting. The difference between getting and receiving is significant. To “get” means “to obtain by struggle and effort.”

When everything in your life requires effort, life becomes frustrating and exhausting—and that’s not the kind of abundant life Jesus came to give us. No, God wants us to live with a holy ease, a grace that keeps us from striving and struggling through life. That doesn’t mean everything will be easy, but it means even difficult things can be done with a sense of God’s presence and help.

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Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – The Best Wife Ever

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And now I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:31

Friend to Friend

Today’s devotion is mainly for the thousands of wives who read GiG each day, but if you’re not married, you’re not off the hook. Take this opportunity to reflect on the way you pray in general. Now, here we go!

Most married women would agree that they long to be the women of their husband’s dreams. But I have a question. Why? Is it so that we can get what we want in the long run? Is it so that when he sees how irresistible we are he’ll magically become the man of our dreams meeting our every need?

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Set Upon a Rock

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“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5, KJV).

Doug and Judy stood at the graveside of their little Timothy – their only child – who had been run over by a drunken driver while riding his tricycle on the sidewalk. It was a senseless, one-in-a-million, freak kind of accident, but their little lad was gone forever from their loving embraces.

As they wept, I consoled them with the promises of God’s Word: “In the time of trouble, He shall hide us in His pavilion, in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide us. He shall set us upon a rock.”

In the words of Jesus, I shared with them His promise, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, KJV). “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27, KJV).

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Mechanical Religion

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Read: Isaiah 29:1-22

The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. (Isaiah 29:13)

Israel’s problem was what we would call mechanical religion, meaningless, external conformity to a performance of religious things. This is a grave danger. When you feel yourself becoming spiritually dull, it is a warning sign that says, Watch out! You are headed for trouble. This happens to all of us on occasion. It is healthy to ask yourself at times, Have I lost my zest for God? Do I sing the hymns mechanically? Do the truths of Scripture appear to me dull and common place? Have I lost the sense of joy in my Christian experience? That is a danger sign. That is what this woe is referring to. God’s provision for this is found in the latter part of verse 5 and in verse 6:

Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. (Isaiah 29:5b-6)

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Blessed to Be a Blessing (Part 2)

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Read: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4

Your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one  of you for one another is increasing. (v. 3)

In Invitation to a Journey, M. Robert Mulholland Jr. points out the temptation to believe that our spiritual growth takes place merely in our personal relationship to God. Once it is sufficiently developed we can “export it into our relationships with others and ‘be Christian’ with them” (p. 43). But in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is clear that growth in faith is linked with growth in love for others. We are spiritually formed in the midst of our relationships; every relationship has the potential to be a transforming encounter with God.

I learned this a few years ago when I began supervising a young man who couldn’t have been more different from me. He is an extrovert; I am an introvert. He told his story to everyone he met; I chose my confidants carefully. He was scattered; I was organized. And yet here we were yoked together in ministry. One of the soul-training exercises I learned while teaching James Bryan Smith’s Apprentice Series was to “pray for those you don’t like.” So I chose to pray for this guy. The experiment went on for months and I began to see a change—in me. I saw his differences as gifts, his enthusiasm as Spirit-filled, and his high energy level as passion. I saw that Christ was dwelling and delighting in him as much as he was in me. I was being spiritually formed!

Prayer:

Help me grow for the sake of others.

https://woh.org/

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – National Representation

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Since 1956, the official motto of the United States has been “In God We Trust.” This phrase is from the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner and has been printed on coins since 1864. While some claim the motto violates the First Amendment, the majority feels it represents the nation well.

In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:4

In 2006, the Senate reaffirmed the motto, and the House did the same in 2011. Americans have spoken and they want to trust God. King David had a similar motto, “In God I trust.” He wrote today’s passage while the Philistines held him captive. Comparably, “In God We Trust” was also written during a time of adversity – The War of 1812. King David found relying on the Lord gave him courage.

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Has Not Given You a Spirit of Fear

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“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).

One day when Kelly was in second grade, she flipped a few pages ahead in her math book and saw little clocks all over the pages. She was going to have to learn how to tell time—on non-digital clocks! She was terrified. She was sure that she would never be able to learn that. From that moment on, she worried and worried and worried about the clock lesson.

When the day came to learn about telling time, Kelly was so worried and fearful that she could not even concentrate on the lesson. Just as she had feared, when she got her clock paper back, there were checkmarks next to almost every problem and a sad face at the top of the page! Her fear about that math lesson had taken over her mind and kept her from understanding.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Wrath Revealed

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 1:18, NIV

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.”

Some people like to think that although the wrath of God is a reality in the Old Testament era, it disappears in the teaching of Jesus, where God’s love and mercy become the only expressions of his attitude toward his creatures. Jesus clearly refuted that notion: “Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36, NIV). And he frequently referred to hell as the ultimate, eternal expression of God’s wrath. (See, for example, Matthew 5:22; 18:9; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5.)

In the inspired letters of Paul, we read of God’s wrath being “stored up” for the day of judgment (Romans 2:5) and that God’s wrath is coming because of sin (Colossians 3:6). And the whole tenor of Revelation warns us of the wrath to come.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – To Love Is to Give

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Today’s Scripture: John 17:25-26

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. – Ephesians 5:25

I greeted our youngest boy with, “Son, what did you do in school today?” To my utter surprise, he said the teacher had them write a definition of love.

That sounded more like an assignment for a college-level sociology or philosophy class than a bunch of eight-year-olds. But I controlled my surprise and said, “What did you write?”

“Well, it sure could have been better.”

“But what did you say?”

“Well,” he replied, “it sure could have been longer.”

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – To Love Is to Give →

BreakPoint

BreakPoint – Zika and Abortion, a Tale of Two Viruses

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On February 1, the World Health Organization declared a “global emergency” over the spread of the Zika virus.

The WHO estimates there could be as many as 4 million cases of Zika in the Americas over the next twelve months. The Centers for Disease Control, while saying that Zika is unlikely to cause a widespread problem here in the U.S., is cautioning pregnant women to postpone travel to areas affected by the virus.

While Zika is rarely, if ever, life-threatening, concern about the illness could prove fatal for one vulnerable population: the unborn.

The Zika virus is a member of the same family of viruses as the ones that cause dengue and yellow fevers. Unlike these cousins, however, Zika’s affects, with one notable exception, are usually mild: headaches, fever, joint pains, and some rashes. Most of these symptoms go away within a few days.

The exception, which was first identified in French Polynesia three years ago, is that pregnant women infected with the virus are at a much greater risk of giving birth to children with microcephaly, a “neurodevelopmental disorder” characterized by significantly smaller head size.

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – REST WRECKERS: SLOTH

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Read Matthew 25:14-30

In September 2014, Brooklyn postal worker Joseph Brucato admitted that for nine years he had been hiding mail that he was supposed to deliver to residents of Flatbush. His supervisor became suspicious when he noticed that Brucato’s personal car was filled with letters. The undelivered mail weighed more than a ton.

The servant in today’s parable was entrusted with one talent, and he failed to perform his duty. Instead of acting in his master’s interest, he buried the money entrusted to his care. One talent might not sound like much, but the value of a talent in Jesus’ day was roughly equivalent to twenty years’ wages for an ordinary worker. This fiscal conservatism angered the master, who accused him of dereliction of duty and called him a wicked, lazy servant (vv. 26–27).

This servant’s behavior is a good example of sloth. Although sloth sounds like it might be an extreme form of rest, it is really the opposite. While rest refreshes, sloth drains our vitality and depletes our energy. Rest is a remedy but sloth is injurious, a sin of omission. Sloth fails to do what is right, required, or good. Sloth seems like it will make life easier for us, but Scripture describes it as a path blocked with thorns (Prov. 15:19).

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – AMAZON IS PREPARING FOR ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

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If zombies take over the world, Amazon is ready. The company has written software that will run heart-lung machines and autonomous vehicles if the U.S. Centers for Disease Control declares a zombie apocalypse. The provision is buried within the Terms and Conditions of Amazon’s newly-released video-game development software. As a result, people are talking about a software service most would have ignored.

This isn’t the first time a company has used zombies for publicity. In 2011, the CDC issued preparations for natural disasters and diseases, but their announcements weren’t getting traction. So they released “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” and that got our attention. Now zombies have taken over Jane Austen’s acclaimed work; for more, see Nick Pitts’s review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Zombies are one of the few problems we don’t face these days. Zika-linked birth defects are now known to cause significant brain abnormalities. Boko Haram suicide bombers recently killed fifty-eight at a Nigerian camp. Los Angeles will spend $1.9 billion to tackle the escalating homelessness crisis in the city.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A True Servant

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Read | John 13:1-15

Do you equate success with wealth, acclaim, and power? If we measured by these standards, then Jesus, who was rejected by His community and didn’t even own a house, was a failure. But, of course, we know that’s not the case. So God must use something other than these worldly goals to define success. In fact, Scripture is clear that Jesus is our example—we should strive to be like Him.

So, what exactly was our Savior’s mission? In today’s passage, we see the answer through His actions: He came to serve. Jesus performed the task of the lowliest servant when He took off His outer garment and washed the dirty feet of His followers—the very followers He knew would betray and deny Him. The next day, almighty God was crucified by His own creation. In allowing this, He offered salvation to all—even those who nailed Him to a cross.

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Turn Off the Scoreboard

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Read: Ephesians 4:25-32

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 11-12; Matthew 26:1-25

Forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. —Ephesians 4:32

At his son’s wedding reception, my friend Bob offered advice and encouragement to the newlyweds. In his speech he told of a football coach in a nearby town who, when his team lost a game, kept the losing score on the scoreboard all week to remind the team of their failure. While that may be a good football strategy, Bob wisely advised, it’s a terrible strategy in marriage. When your spouse upsets you or fails you in some way, don’t keep drawing attention to the failure. Turn off the scoreboard.

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Acknowledging Creatureliness

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We don’t need the movies to show us how much of a disparity there is between truth and lies, though the twists in plot and suspense often remind us. We all hold certain values, and if we’re honest, we might admit how often we fail to honor them. And yet, there is something peculiar about how our minds work. We can so easily bracket our own lives from an acknowledgment of how consistently we miss the mark. It is like a built-in avoidance mechanism.

The issues of self-deception and denial are more serious than we care to admit. Tendencies toward self-pity, self-preoccupation, self-righteousness, and self-aggrandizement are intense and dangerous. Or as Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr describes it: “Sin is thus the unwillingness of man to acknowledge his creatureliness and dependence upon God and his effort to make his own life independent and secure.”(1)

One of the most helpful insights I know toward sorting through truth, lies, and deception is in Scripture’s calling us out of ourselves and always towards God. We are reminded often that the human heart is more deceitful than anything else. “Who can fathom it?” asks Jeremiah. “God alone, who searches the heart and tests inner motivation.”(2)

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – God Is Always with Us

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“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).

Understanding God’s omnipresence should encourage us in times of distress and keep us from sinning.

It is a great comfort as a Christian to know that God is always present in me both essentially and relationally. No matter what the trial, He is there. Sometimes He might seem faraway, but He’s really no further away than He’s ever been. His promise to us is, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

God is always with us to support our service to Him. When God called Moses to proclaim His message and lead Israel out of slavery, Moses protested because of his lack of speaking abilities (Ex. 4:10). But God said, “I . . . will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say” (v. 12). Jesus commands us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). If you doubt you have the power to witness, remember that you have the same resource as any evangelist—the presence and power of God!

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – More Than a Feeling 

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See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. Deuteronomy 30:15-16

In Christian circles, we talk a great deal about our love for the Lord. We sing songs of praise that proclaim our affection and desire for Him. We join our hearts with the words of Scripture and declare our devotion to Christ and His Kingdom. Yet, like any relationship, for this love to be true, for this love to be genuine, it must be more than lip service and good intentions. Our love for God must be more than a warm feeling or emotional response that has no connection to the concrete realities of our lives.

When we love someone, we live our lives in ways that show our affection to be true and genuine. We are especially attentive to the needs, concerns, and desires of the one we love. We learn to receive love and love in return, not simply by words of affection but through tangible acts of love, self-sacrifice, and faithfulness.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Be Still

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In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

Isaiah 30:15

Recommended Reading

Matthew 16:24-28

Psychologists are warning we’re losing some basic skills of life by our reliance on mobile devices. People no longer add or subtract, they use the calculators on their phones. We no longer type or keyboard; we punch icons with our thumbs. We don’t worry about memorizing anything; our devices have become our brains. We don’t even think as much because we plug in our earphones and listen to podcasts and music.

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