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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – You Can Know the Spirit’s Fullness

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“Be filled…with the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him” (Ephesians 5:18).

An enthusiastic, attractive couple traveled from their home in Chicago to Arrowhead Springs to share with me an idea about which they were very excited.

“We heard one of your filmed lectures on ‘How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit.’ Our lives have been dramatically changed as a result of what you shared,” they said. “We have come all this way to encourage you to go on nationwide television and tell Christians how they can know the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit and experience His revolutionary impact in and through their lives.”

I am humbly grateful to God for the privilege of sharing these great truths concerning the Holy Spirit with tens of millions of people throughout the world, often with the same dramatic results experienced by this remarkable couple.

The disciples were with Jesus for more than three years. They heard Him teach as no man had ever taught. They saw Him perform miracles such as no man had ever performed – raising the dead, restoring sight to the blind and cleansing lepers. Though they were exposed to the most godly life ever lived on earth, during Jesus’ time of crisis, Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him and all the others deserted Him.

Jesus knew His disciples were fruitless, quarreling, ambitious, self-centered men, so – on the eve of His crucifixion – He told them, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I go, I will send Him to you…He will guide you into all the truth…He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you” (John 16:7,13,14 NAS).

Bible Reading: Galatians 5:5, 16-18, 22, 23, 25

Today’s Action Point: Today I will receive by faith the power of the Holy Spirit in order to live a supernatural life and be a supernatural witness. I will continue to study the scriptural reference and various books concerning the Holy Spirit, so that I will better understand His role in my life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – First Priority

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Following a failure in parliament, William Wilberforce, a Christian statesman in Great Britain over a century ago, remarked on its possible cause. He said the problem may have been that he had not spent enough time in his private devotions earnestly seeking the will of God.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Mark 1:35

Jesus’ schedule was busy, but He made time with His Father the day’s first priority. Many distractions could have disrupted Him, but He avoided them by going to an isolated place so His attention could be fully focused. Jesus prayed. We know from other Bible verses that He prayed for Himself, but He also prayed for those closest to Him and their needs, and for the whole world to be filled with the knowledge of God.

In this New Year, use your devotional time to commune with the Lord, reading His Word and praying for others. Ask that those who know Him will be filled with His wisdom. Plead that the eyes of the nation’s leaders would be opened so they will come to a saving faith in Jesus.

Recommended Reading: John 17:6-21

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Respect His Name

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“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” —Exodus 20:7

Do you care about your name? Do you like it when people slander you or say things that aren’t true about you? Have you ever had that happen? I have. No one enjoys that. We want to protect our name. The Bible says that “a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1).

God cares about His name, too. And He tells us, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). The words in vain literally could be translated “in an empty, idle, insincere, frivolous way.”

So how do people take the Lord’s name in vain? One obvious way is profanity. Isn’t it interesting how people use the name of Jesus Christ so often? Even nonbelievers, in their spiritually deadened state, know there is something different about the name of Jesus. We don’t hear people exclaiming, “Buddha!” or “Hare Krishna!” In a backhanded way, nonbelievers acknowledge the power of Jesus even when they’re misusing His name.

Another way people take His name in vain is by saying “I swear to God.” Jesus said, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). Your word should be enough.

Let me add another way that people take God’s name in vain that’s important for us to be aware of: Saying “Oh my God” a lot. That seems to be a popular phrase now. But it’s taking God’s name in vain. The same goes for texting OMG. Don’t do that. Don’t use God’s name in an empty way.

God cares about His name, and so should we.

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – You Can Count on Him

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I was seven years old. I’d had enough of my father’s rules and decided I could make it on my own, thank you very much. I got to the end of the alley and remembered I was hungry, so I went back home! Did Dad know of my insurrection? I suspect he did. Was I still his son? Apparently so. No one else was sitting in my place at the table.

Suppose someone had asked my father, “Mr. Lucado, your son says he has no need of a father. Do you still consider him your son?” What do you think my dad would have said? He considered himself my father even when I didn’t consider myself his son. His commitment to me was greater than my commitment to him. So is God’s. I can count on him to be in my corner no matter what! And you can too!

From Max on Life

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Building Wise Friendships

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Read | Proverbs 17:17; 18:24

Genesis 2:18 contains some of God’s first words regarding His creation of the human being: “It is not good for man to be alone.” This truth still applies. Throughout history, people have sought companionship, though sometimes the focus has been on quantity rather than quality. Even if we count hundreds as pals, we can still be lonely. Wise relationships are built slowly and with significant effort, affording us time to nurture only a small number of loyal friends. But it’s these true friends, not mere acquaintances, who will delight and motivate us throughout life.

In order to develop wise friendships, we must love sacrificially. A relationship that grows out of selfishness or dependency will die as soon as the other person tires of the lopsided arrangement. But two individuals committed to giving without expecting anything in return will develop a mutually beneficial friendship. They serve one another gladly, valuing the other’s desires and needs above personal wants.

Even in loving relationships, however, emotional and psychological injuries can occur. We all make mistakes. But thankfully, everyone who follows Jesus Christ has experienced pure pardon. We should, therefore, be prepared to ask forgiveness and be forgiving.

Only by modeling Christ in our life can we truly commit to a friend’s spiritual growth. As we practice biblical principles, we will be able to encourage our friend to pray and meditate on the Word of God. The commitment to love, forgive, and motivate another person results in a wise and joyous friendship.

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Better Or Worse?

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READ: 2 Timothy 3:1-5,10-17

You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of. —2 Timothy 3:14

At the beginning of each new year, experts give their predictions about the economy, politics, weather, and a host of other topics. Will there be war or peace? Poverty or prosperity? Progress or stagnation? People everywhere are hoping that this year will be better than last, but no one knows what will happen.

There is, however, something we can be certain about. A guest speaker at my church suggested that when we ask if the world will get better or worse, the answer is “Yes, to both!”

Paul told Timothy, “In the last days perilous times will come; . . . evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Tim. 3:1,13-14).

The inspired Word of God instructs, corrects, and encourages us as we follow God’s path (vv.16-17). J. B. Phillips described the Scriptures as our “comprehensive equipment” that prepares us fully for all branches of God’s work.

As the spiritual darkness of our world grows deeper, the light of Christ shines more brightly through all those who know and love Him. Jesus is our joy and hope—today, tomorrow, and forever! —David McCasland

Heavenly Father, the trouble in this world can
divert our eyes from You. Thank You for Your Word
that helps us stay focused. May we find our delight
in Your love and share it with others today.

The powers of evil around you are no match for the power of Jesus within you.

Bible in a year: Genesis 1-3; Matthew 1

Insight

In 2 Timothy, Paul is mentoring Timothy who is serving with the church at Ephesus. Having spent 3 years there himself, Paul was familiar with the Ephesian church and this would have helped him identify with the challenges that Timothy was facing.

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry –    Life Confronted

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I’m at an age in life when enough of it has passed that I can make some comparisons. The last five to ten years have been strange. Several essays by Timothy Garton Ash speak to the period he calls the decade with “no name”—the turn of the millennium to the present. It is indeed a decade in which we have seen some extraordinary events, some dreadful acts of violence, an ongoing range of catastrophes, and some of the worst economic and moral failures that burst the bubble of unending prosperity and further shuttered confidence in many of our institutions.

Many years ago, the Czech writer Milan Kundera wrote of “the unbearable lightness of being.” Like many others, he sensed the hollowing out of existence, the thinning out of life, the emptying of meaning that seems to occur under modern conditions. One friend of mine calls this “cultural vaporization.” The thing is, this is not some vague idea or esoteric notion. It is a description of how life is really being perceived.

Many people today seem convinced that the point of life is that there is no point. We face what Nietzsche call “Das Nichte”—or, the nothing. Our public philosophy tells us that we are the result of blind force plus chance and/or necessity. Yet our movies are filled with romantic longings, visions of other worlds, the hunger for transcendence, and love stories between vampires or other worlds where there is a greater unity of life and being. In other words, we face a massive contradiction between what one set of experts tells us is real and what many artists compel us to hope for and reflect on. And somewhere in the middle are our own, normal, day-to-day lives.

Chance and choice: is that it? Does all of life come down to this? A roll of the dice, the power of freedom, and the lottery of life? Many centuries ago, an honest voice cried, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Why? He was reflecting on life. He was seeking happiness. He sought justice, he sought satisfaction, he sought the meaning of it all. And his journey was conducted under the sun—in other words, he looked at life from within life. It was as Derek Kidner called it “a world without windows.”

However, his observations do not end there. This book opens us to another perspective, one in which there is a God, and a God that sees, knows, and acts. The book does not descend into some simple resolution of life’s hard problems nor its on-going ambiguities. But what it does do is add something. It adds a presence, it includes a perspective, it invites reflection: If there is more to life than meets the eye, more than can be measured or managed by the senses, then this indeed makes a big difference today.

With such a difference, weight or weightiness would be restored. Absence would be filled, space would be occupied, and meaninglessness confronted. As Nietzsche wrote, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” This is a far cry from the new atheists who invite us to shed the childish and wicked delusions of whys and hows and accept emptiness. But what if when the God who is there and is not silent is a God of grace, a God of love, and a God of justice? On this new day of a new year, to those empty, confused, or seeking, the unbearable lightness of being can be met in the abundance of God’s fullness, a gift by the way of grace, not effort!

Stuart McAllister is regional director for the Americas at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Perhaps This Year

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They ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.  Joshua 5:12

 

Israel’s weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: They came to the land that flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be your case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest, which remains for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan that still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought and rejoice with exceeding great joy in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be “forever with the Lord.”

Some of the company will this year remain on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year’s text should not still be true. “We who have believed enter that rest.” The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; He gives us glory begun below. In heaven believers are secure, and so are we preserved in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us. They rest in His love, and we have perfect peace in Him; they sing His praise, and it is our privilege to bless Him too.

We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man ate angels’ food of old, and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

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Today’s Bible Reading

The family reading plan for January 1, 2015
* Ezra 1
* Acts 1

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Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – A New Year’s benediction

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“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10

Suggested Further Reading: Revelation 21:1-6

Oh, beloved, when you hear of Christ, when you know that this grace comes through Christ, and the calling through Christ, and the glory through Christ, then you say, “Lord, I can believe it now, if it is through Christ.” It is not a hard thing to believe that Christ’s blood was sufficient to purchase every blessing for me. If I go to God’s treasury without Christ, I am afraid to ask for anything, but when Christ is with me I can then ask for everything. For sure I think he deserves it, though I do not. If I can claim his merits then I am not afraid to plead. Is perfection too great a boon for God to give to Christ? No. Is the keeping, the stability, the preservation of the blood-bought ones too great a reward for the terrible agonies and sufferings of the Saviour? No. Then we may with confidence plead, because everything comes through Christ. I would in concluding make this remark. I wish, my brothers and sisters, that during this year you may live nearer to Christ than you have ever done before. Depend upon it, it is when we think much of Christ that we think little of ourselves, little of our troubles, and little of the doubts and fears that surround us. Begin from this day, and may God help you. Never let a single day pass over your head without a visit to the garden of Gethsemane, and the cross of Calvary. And as for some of you who are not saved, and know not the Redeemer, I would to God that this very day you would come to Christ.

For meditation: The New Year may not always be as “Happy” as we would wish, but the Christian is blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3) and can look forward to a “Blessed New Year” throughout the problems that may come.

Sermon no. 292

1 January (1860)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur –The Measure of True Success

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“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1).

God is more interested in your faithfulness than He is in your accomplishments.

Our society is success oriented. We love success stories. We even have television programs that exalt the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But God’s standard for success is quite different. Unimpressed by our status or wealth, He looks instead for faithfulness to His will.

Paul understood that principle and diligently pursued his calling as an apostle—one of those unique men who were foundational to the church and recipients, teachers, and writers of the New Testament.

That was a high calling, yet judging from Paul’s lifestyle most people would hardly call him successful— having suffered imprisonments, beatings, death threats, shipwrecks, robberies, hatred from his theological enemies, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, and exposure to the elements (2 Cor. 11:23-27). But none of those things deterred him from obeying God’s will. His final testimony was, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). That’s true success! Although we’re not apostles, we’re to follow Paul’s example of faithfulness (1 Cor. 11:1). That’s possible because, like the Ephesian believers, we are “saints [holy ones] . . . who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). By God’s grace we’ve trusted in Christ as our Lord and Savior (Eph. 2:8-9) and received His righteousness (Phil. 3:9), Spirit (Eph. 3:16), and every spiritual resource necessary for faithful, victorious Christian living (Eph. 1:3).

What remains is to cultivate greater love for Christ and more consistent obedience to His Word. Those are the hallmarks of a true disciple and God’s measure of success. Make it your goal that your life today warrants the Lord’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful [servant]” (Matt. 25:21).

 

Suggestions for Prayer;

Praise God for His wonderful grace, by which He granted you salvation and all the spiritual resources you need.

Thank Him for His Word, where you learn the principles of godly living.

Ask Him for opportunities today to encourage the faithfulness of others.

 

For Further Study;

Read Ephesians 1:3-4; 2:10; Titus 2:11-12.

What is the goal of your salvation?

Are you living each day in light of that goal?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Christlike

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God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness. —Genesis 1:26

When God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” this image refers to character likeness. He meant that we were going to take on His nature, His character, as reflected in His Son Jesus. In Colossians 1:15, Paul tells us that Jesus is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. As believers, we are to be transformed into His image and likeness.

The greatest goal of every believer, and certainly those of us who want to be used by God in positions of leadership, should be Christlikeness. We should want to handle situations and treat people the way Jesus would. That should be our goal. Jesus is to be our example.

In John 13:15 He said to His disciples, after washing their feet like a servant, For I have given you this as an example, so that you should do [in your turn] what I have done to you. And Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:21, For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps. The vocation, the high calling of every believer, is to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

God is going to keep working with each of us until we get to the place where we act the way Jesus would act in every situation of life, until we manifest the same kind of fruit of the Spirit that He manifested.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Bible’s No. 1 Promise

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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, KJV).

As I travel from country to country, I find that millions of people in many countries and cultures are receiving Christ into their lives after hearing about Him for the first time. Millions of others would respond joyfully if they fully understood the truth of John 3:16, the most wonderful promise ever given to man.

Only through His indwelling presence can they live supernaturally. The first prerequisite to supernatural living, of course, is life – eternal life, supernatural life from God. I encourage you to meditate often on the content of this God-inspired promise:

God: The omnipotent Creator – loving, sovereign, holy, all-wise, ever-present, compassionate God who flung a hundred billion or more galaxies into space merely by speaking.

So loved: His love is unconditional and inexhaustible.

He gave: a gift that can never be earned by our good works, but can be received only by faith.

His only begotten Son: the most precious, priceless gift ever given – Jesus.

That whosoever: you and I and every person who inhabits the world.

Believeth in Him: believes that He is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, the one who died on the cross for the sins of all people everywhere and who was raised from the dead.

Should not perish: should not be eternally separated from God. “The Lord…is not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9, KJV).

But have everlasting life: not only in heaven, but also on earth, experiencing the supernatural, everlasting life of the indwelling, risen Savior.

Bible Reading: Romans 5:6-11

Today’s Action Point: If I am not already a believer in Christ, I will receive Him into my life as Savior and Lord today. If I am a believer and have not already done so, I will acknowledge His lordship in my life and begin to draw upon His resurrection power as a way of life. As I continue to claim His promise, I am confident that the result will be a full, abundant and supernatural life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; – New Year Recipe

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Google the word “success” and you’ll quickly discover that people are interested in everything from how to be successful, to who is successful and why, to what it takes to realize one’s dreams. For many, success is an obsession.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8

What is the recipe for success as described in today’s verse? “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” (Joshua 1:8) Psalm 1:3 describes the person who meditates on God’s Word as being “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” Jesus (also known as The Word) says, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” (John 15:5)

In this New Year, delight in the Lord and mediate on the truth of the Bible. He’ll shape your desires according to His will and then grant them (Psalm 37:4, I John 5:14). Then pray that American citizens will turn to God as their source of genuine success.

Recommended Reading: I John 5:3-15

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The 3 Things we can give to God in 2015

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“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”—Matthew 6:21

As we enter into a new year, here is something to remember: When it’s all said and done, we have three things we can offer God—our treasure, our talent, and our time. Each of these is given to us by God, and each of them should be given back in generous portions.

First, there is our treasure. I urge you to commit yourself to give faithfully and generously to the Lord in this coming year. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21 NKJV). Whenever we put our money into something, we develop a vested interest in it. It makes sense to us that we would place our treasures where our hearts are. If we love reading books, or being entertained, or the latest technology, we spend our treasure on those things. And if our heart’s desires change, that changes where we put our treasure.

But it works the other way too: Where we put our treasures, our heart will follow. Do you want your heart to be in the things of God? Then put your treasures in the things of God! Develop a vested interest in God’s kingdom.

The second thing we can give to God is our talent. God has gifted each believer in different ways. Everyone has something to offer for the work of the kingdom. Romans 12 says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us different work to do” (NLT).

Finally, there is our time. Let’s say that one day your phone rang and it was the president of the bank that you use. He told you that an anonymous donor who loved you very much had decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your bank account each and every morning. At first, maybe that didn’t seem like a lot. But then you figured out that it was $864 a day. At seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, those pennies add up to almost $315,000 each year! But the bank president added one thing: “The anonymous giver said you must spend all of the money on the day you receive it! No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use! Remember, what you don’t spend is lost.”

That may sound like fantasy, but here’s the reality: Every morning, Someone who loves you very much deposits into your “bank of time” 86,400 seconds, which represent 1,440 minutes, which of course equals 24 hours each and every day. God gives you that much to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a 27-hour day. It’s called time, and you can’t escape it. Time is ticking away right now. The Bible tells us to “redeem the time”—to make sacred and wise use of every opportunity.

Offer God your treasure, your talent, and your time. Live this next year as if it were your last, because it could be. Make those minutes count!

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God’s Love is Eternal

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Human love is convenient. It suits the needs of the person at the time and works into his schedule. God’s love is eternal. You are always on His itinerary. Human love is emotional. Hormones, sleeplessness, worry, past hurts, Mexican food—all complicate these emotions.

God’s love is committed. While God has feelings for us, his feelings do not dictate his love. His love is based on a decision to love us. Your actions don’t increase or decrease his commitment. In fact, if you never love God, he will still love you.

One thing human love has going for it– you can see it. God’s love is just as real but not quite as tangible. We will see it, in time and for eternity, as we gaze into the face of God and his Son, Jesus Christ, while we stand in the presence of God in heaven!  And, oh, what a day that will be!

From Max On Life

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Light of Truth

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Psalm 119:97-106

A thinking person doesn’t drift through life, making decisions according to what looks or feels best. Acting on the basis of feelings will place a person at the mercy of Satan, who uses “spin,” deception, and half-truths to trap victims in the bondage of sin. But wise men and women—those who seek truth to guide them through life—can avoid the snare of poor choices and negative consequences.

The only perfectly dependable source of truth is Scripture. Living by biblical principles protects believers from the Enemy’s deceptions. He may try to deceive with outright contradictions to the truth, but those are easy to detect. The greater danger is the lie that contains an element of fact, which makes it both persuasive and difficult to refute.

Since such half-truths flow freely today, it’s vital that Christians be able to discern between truth and Satan’s twisted version of reality. If we make a decision based on an error in our thinking, we are likely to step out of the Lord’s will and into pain or embarrassment. But God has made provision for our weaknesses. He’s given us His Word and His Spirit so we can fill our minds with truth and live out His principles through divine power.

Living without biblical truth is like walking in the woods at night. The darkness is so complete that we repeatedly trip. But when we use the Scriptures as a guide—“a lamp for [our] feet”—we can see deception lying across our path like a fallen log (Ps. 119:105 NIV). We can also see our way around it so that our testimony is not harmed by stumbling.

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Standing On The Edge

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Joshua 3:9-17

[The Israelites] set out . . . to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before [them]. —Joshua 3:14

My little girl stood apprehensively at the pool’s edge. As a nonswimmer, she was just learning to become comfortable in the water. Her instructor waited in the pool with outstretched arms. As my daughter hesitated, I saw the questions in her eyes: Will you catch me? What will happen if my head goes under?

The Israelites may have wondered what would happen when they crossed the Jordan River. Could they trust God to make dry ground appear in the riverbed? Was God guiding their new leader, Joshua, as He had led Moses? Would God help His people defeat the threatening Canaanites who lived just across the river?

To learn the answers to these questions, the Israelites had to engage in a test of faith—they had to act. So they “set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before [them]” (v.14). Exercising their faith allowed them to see that God was with them. He was still directing Joshua, and He would help them settle in Canaan (vv.7,10,17).

If you are facing a test of faith, you too can move forward based on God’s character and His unfailing promises. Relying on Him will help you move from where you are to where He wants you to be. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Lord, we’re prone to quickly forget Your goodness

and care for us. May we trust You today and

into the new year—whatever uncertainties we

face. You are the God who can be trusted.

Fear fades when we trust our Father.

Bible in a year: Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Theatrical Encore

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I have never been so tired as I was when I stepped on that plane, nor so happy for so many empty seats. I was dreaming of a two-hour nap before I even found my place. Of course, as is usually the case in situations like these, when one is intent on being anti-social and insistent on having earned the right to be so, I found myself not only with a companion, but with an animated, loquacious, first-time traveler. The young woman beside me had been a child as she watched the events of September 11th unfold and had determined then never to travel by airplane; that is, until today, when events reared a need to break her own rule. She was terrified and excited and inquisitive all at once. She also noticed things I’m fairly certain I have never noticed in all my years of travel, commenting with elation, curiosity, fear, or confusion on every single one of them. By the time we landed, I not only had a new friend, I was wide awake to the disheartening reality of all I fail to see around me.

It would seem that repetition has a way of lulling us to sleep, monotony a way of robbing us of sight, or else leaving us in the stupor of disinterest. Real life examples are readily available. How many news stories do we need to hear about violence or suffering, racial oppression or injustice, before they become a despairing background noise or we fail to hear them at all? For that matter, how many stories about something small but positive do we really take in before we respond in boredom? As a colleague pointed out recently, virtuous characters are rarely the most interesting. How many times do we need to sit on an airplane or see the bird outside our window before the marvel of flight itself simply goes without notice? Like most adults, we learn to tolerate the repetitious by learning to operate on auto-pilot.

And yet, I am certain, even among the most skilled of auto-pilots, there was a time when we found ourselves, like every child, delighting in the monotonous, longing for another minute with grandpa, another page of the story, another trip down the slide. The incongruity is unmistakable. How can our failure to see be blamed on monotony, unconscious living attributed to the repetitive, when at one point monotony and repetition were not only tolerated but, on the contrary, invigorating? Blindness can easily be blamed on the world around us—and there is certainly reason to consider the daily effects of all that bombards our senses—but perhaps this is all too easy an answer. Perhaps the scales on our eyes and the dullness of our senses are multiplied not by the many repetitions in life, but by our failure to really take in the many repetitions around us.

Jesus spoke of the kingdom as belonging to the likes of little children, and many have speculated the child’s ability to see the world with wonder as one of the reasons for it. G.K. Chesterton saw the child’s ability to revel in the monotonous as another. The children’s cry for more, reasoned Chesterton, is a quality of the very God who created them. “It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that God has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”(1)

For the child on the slide or the toddler with a story, “Do it again!” is far from a cry of boredom or routine. It is a cry for more of life itself. This is likewise the joy of the ancient psalmist, the cry of the Hebrew prophets, and the call of the vicariously human Jesus Christ: “Consider the lilies, how they grow…if God so clothes the grass of the field…how much more will he clothe you?” (Luke 12:27-28). Jesus asks the world to consider the kingdom around us like little children, and thus, something more like God—finding a presence in faithful recurrences, grace in repetition, an appetite for an incredible world in the ordinary and extraordinary one around us. Here, even those within the most taxing of life’s repetitions—the daily care of an aging parent, the constant burden on the shoulders of those who fight against injustice, the labor of hope in a difficult place—can find solace. “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope,” said Jeremiah in the midst of deep lament. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning… The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lamentations 3:22-24, emphasis mine).

Morning by morning, the daily liturgy of new mercies comes with unapologetic repetition to all who will see it, the gift of a God who revels in the creation of yet another daisy, the encore of another sunset, the discovery of even one lost soul, and the gift of a New Year.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995), 65-66.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Let the Thirsty Come

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The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.  Jeremiah 8:20

Not saved! Dear reader, is this your sorry condition? Warned of the judgment to come, invited to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved!

You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and still you neglect it, and therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall execute judgment. The Holy Spirit has blessed the Word that has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are still without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone—your summer and your harvest have past—and still you are not saved. Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year will soon be here: Youth has gone, manhood is going, and still you are not saved.

Let me ask you—will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most favorable seasons have left you unsaved. Will other occasions alter your condition? Every means has failed with you—the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection. What more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have equally failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not more than likely that you will stay as you are till death forever bars the door of hope? Do you recoil from this idea? Yet it is a most reasonable one: He who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy to his end. The convenient time never has come—why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it will never arrive and that like Felix you will find no convenient occasion until you are in hell. Think carefully about hell and of the dreadful probability that you will soon be there!

Reader, suppose you should die unsaved—no words can picture your doom. Write out your dreadful predicament in tears and blood; talk of it with groans and gnashing of teeth: You will be punished with everlasting destruction and banished from the glory of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Allow my words to startle you into serious thought. Be wise, be wise in time, and before another year begins believe in Jesus, who is able to save you completely.

Consecrate these last hours to lonely thought, and if you are brought to deep repentance, it will be well; and if it leads to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of all. See to it that this year does not pass away with you still unforgiven. Do not let the new year’s midnight bells sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, now, NOW believe and live.

ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE;

LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE,

NEITHER STAY THOU

IN THE PLAIN;

ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN,

LEST THOU BE CONSUMED.

The family reading plan for December 31, 2014 * Malachi 4 * John 21

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Watch-night Service

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“Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.” Lamentations 2:19

Suggested Further Reading: Psalm 90:1-12 (an exposition of which was given earlier in the service)

Dear friends, may grace be given unto you, that ye may be able to pour out your hearts this night! Remember, my hearers, it may seem a light thing for us to assemble tonight at such an hour, but listen for one moment to the ticking of that clock!…… It is the beating of the pulse of eternity. You hear the ticking of that clock!—It is the footstep of death pursuing you. Each time the clock ticks, death’s footsteps are falling on the ground close behind you. You will soon enter another year. This year will have gone in a few seconds. 1855 is almost gone; where will the next year be spent, my friends? One has been spent on earth; where will you spend the next? “In heaven!” says one, “I trust.” Another murmurs, “Perhaps I shall spend mine in hell!” Ah! Solemn is the thought, but before that clock strikes twelve, some here may be in hell; and, blessed be the name of God, some of us may be in heaven! But oh do you know how to estimate your time, my hearers? Do you know how to measure your days? Oh! I have not words to speak tonight. Do you know that every hour you are nearing the tomb? That every hour you are nearing judgment? That the archangel is flapping his wings every second of your life, and, trumpet at his mouth, is approaching you? That you do not live stationary lives, but always going on, on, on, towards the grave? Do you know where the stream of life is hastening some of you? To the rapids—to the rapids of woe and destruction! What shall the end of those be who obey not the gospel of God? You will not have so many years to live as you had last year!

For meditation: The march of time is a terrible enemy to all who persist in unbelief, but the Christian sees things differently—”now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Romans 13:11-12).

Spurgeon must have the last word: “Now, my friends, in the highest and best sense, I wish you all a happy New Year.”

Sermon no. 59

31 December (1855)