Tag Archives: nature

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Another boy rescued, 8 still inside Thailand cave

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The second phase is underway in the rescue of eight boys and their coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand. Divers resumed their work around midnight ET; Reuters is reporting that one person has already been brought from the cave this morning. The operation is expected to last several hours.

A team of ninety expert divers—forty from Thailand and fifty from other countries—has been working in the cave system. The process includes walking, wading, climbing, and diving along guide ropes already in place.

As oxygen levels in the cave continued to drop and monsoon rains threatened to flood the cave system, the first efforts to rescue the boys began over the weekend. Thirteen specialist divers and five Thai Navy SEALs descended into the watery network of underground tunnels.

They rescued four boys, each of whom wore a full-face mask attached to an air bottle. Two divers accompanied each boy, one carrying his air supply. About halfway through the ordeal, they had to navigate a section called “T-Junction.” It is so tight that divers must remove their air tanks to get through.

The escape route is extremely dangerous. A former Thai Navy SEAL, thirty-eight-year-old Saman Gunan, died last Friday while trying to reach the group with oxygen.

Christians around the world have been praying for the boys and their coach. Now we must intercede for the divers as well. Each of them is risking his life to rescue someone he did not know before the ordeal began.

“Let your heart take courage” Continue reading Denison Forum – Another boy rescued, 8 still inside Thailand cave →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –God’s Omnipotent Voice

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Psalm 29:1-11

From God’s first statement in Genesis 1:3—“Let there be light”—to Jesus’ last words in Revelation 22:20—“Yes, I am coming quickly”—divine omnipotence is demonstrated. The voice that brought all things into existence sovereignly controls time, circumstances, and nature.

The Lord sat as King, bringing judgment over the whole earth with the flood in Noah’s day, and He continues to reign over the earth’s tumultuous upheavals today. Although we may be tempted to craft for ourselves a gentler version of God, we know who He truly is when we accept all that Scripture says about Him.

David likens God’s voice to a violent storm sweeping in from the sea with fury as it covers the land (Psalm 29:3-9), yet he also mentions that the Lord strengthens His people and blesses them with peace (Psalm 29:11). All God’s attributes blend together perfectly. He’s powerful yet loving, just and merciful, and both righteous and forgiving. This is why we can respond with submission, reverence, and trust in our majestic King.

Whether in Noah’s day or our own, the message is the same: “The Lord sits as King forever” (Psalm 29:10). Are God’s power and control a comfort to you or a matter for concern? Your answer probably depends on how much you know and trust Him. As in any relationship, trust and intimacy grow with familiarity and experience. As you learn to know God through His Word and experience His faithfulness, your trust will grow, and you’ll long for the day when His splendor, majesty, and power are known throughout the earth.

Bible in One Year: Proverbs 1-4

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Many Gifts, One Purpose

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Read: 1 Corinthians 12:4–14 | Bible in a Year: Job 36–37; Acts 15:22–41

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Corn, also called maize, is the staple food in my home country of Mexico. There are so many different types. You can find yellow, brown, red, and black cobs, even ones with a wonderful spotted pattern. But people in the cities usually won’t eat the spotted cobs. Restaurateur and researcher Amado Ramírez explains that they believe uniformity is a synonym of quality. Yet the spotted cobs taste good, and they make excellent tortillas.

The church of Christ is much more similar to a spotted ear of corn than to a cob of just one color. The apostle Paul used the imagery of a body to describe the church, because even though we are all one body, and we have the same God, each of us has been given a different gift. As Paul said, “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1 Corinthians 12:5–6). Our diversity in the ways we help each other shows God’s generosity and creativity.

As we embrace our diversity, may we also make every effort to keep our unity in faith and purpose. Yes, we have different abilities and backgrounds. We speak different languages and come from different countries. But we have the same wonderful God, the Creator who delights in so much variety.

Father, may we make every effort to be one, respecting and valuing each other and our various gifts and talents.

We need one another in order to be what God wants us to be.

By Keila Ochoa

INSIGHT

Romans 12:6–8 and 1 Corinthians 12 provide important instruction about spiritual gifts: All Christians have been given gifts; all gifts have different but equally important functions; all are from God; and all are to be used to build up others in the church. We have no reason to boast about our gifts because they are products of God’s grace. “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Romans 12:5–6).

How can you use your gifts to promote unity?

Alyson Kieda

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Hints of a World for Christ

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Read: Mark 7:24-30

The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. (v. 26)

A tendency we human beings have is to like those who are like us. And then, on the contrary, we hold at a distance those who are not like us. But Jesus was introducing a gospel that included all people—Jew and Greek, male and female, and slave or free.

This was not a popularly held belief at the time. Different races and ethnic groups kept mainly to themselves. In today’s Scripture, however, we see Jesus leaving the land of Israel and walking on foreign soil. Could it be that Jesus was beginning to reach out to Phoenicians and Greeks? If so, Jesus was fulfilling God’s ancient promise to Abraham, that in him, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

Jesus indeed was introducing a gospel for all people, but there was an order in which the gospel would be presented. Jesus came first to the Jew, and then the Gentile. Paul says as much in Romans 1:16. Jesus implies this by his comment to the Greek woman who sought healing for her daughter: “Let the children be fed first” (v. 27). But Jesus is so pleased with the woman’s persistent response of faith that he heals the little girl. Obviously, Jesus couldn’t wait to respond to this lady. Her being a Gentile didn’t matter to him. She had faith! And likewise, no matter who you are or where you come from, Jesus can’t wait to respond to you!

—John Koedyker

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for reaching out to us and caring for us, no matter who we are. Amen.

 

https://woh.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Seeing in the Darkness

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God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. — 1 Corinthians 1:9 (AMPC)

Adapted from the resource Ending Your Day Right Devotional – by Joyce Meyer

There are times you just can’t see through the darkness that seems to be closing in around you. It is in those times of endurance and patience that your faith is stretched and you learn to trust God even when you can’t hear His voice.

You can grow in your confidence level to the point where “knowing” is even better than “hearing.” You may not know what to do, but it is sufficient to know the One Who does know.

Everyone likes specific direction; however, when you don’t have it, knowing God is faithful and ever true to His promise, and that He has promised to be with us always, is comforting and keeps us stable until His timing comes to illuminate the situation.

Prayer Starter: Father, You know exactly where I am today. Help me to continually put my confidence in Your faithfulness, even when I don’t know what the next step is. I know You are with me always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Claiming Forgiveness

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“But, dearly loved friends, if our consciences are clear, we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust, and get whatever we ask for because we are obeying Him and doing the things that please Him” (1 John 3:21,22).

What a marvelous promise – unfortunately, a promise which few Christians are able to claim. Why? Because they do not have a clear conscience in regard to their sin and when they come to God, they cannot come with confidence that He will hear and answer them. As God’s Word reminds us in Psalm 66:15, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. How wonderful to know that whatever sins have been committed, the shedding of Christ’s blood and His death on the cross have paid the penalty for them all. If we confess our sin of pride, lust, jealousy, gossip, dishonesty, greed, whatever it may be, we can by faith claim His forgiveness. Remember that if we agree with God concerning our sin, if we recognize Christ’s death on the cross has indeed paid the penalty for that sin, and if we repent or change our attitude, which results in a change of our action, we can know that we are forgiven. However, if there is no change of attitude and action, obviously there has been no true confession and therefore no forgiveness and cleansing.

If you have truly confessed your sins, you can come now into the presence of God with great joy and a clear conscience and have perfect assurance and trust that whatever you ask for, you will receive because you are praying according to the will and the Word of God.

Bible Reading:I John 3:18-24

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: One of the qualifications for supernatural living is a clear conscience. Therefore, by God’s grace I will keep my heart and motives pure through the practice of spiritual breathing knowing that when I breathe spiritually (exhale – confess, inhale – appropriate promise), I can come into God’s presence with a clear conscience and expect to receive answers to my prayers.

 

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Consequences of Drifting

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Hebrews 3:12-13

Spiritual drifting­—the gradual wandering away from God and His will—takes place when a believer ceases to steer toward the Lord. Like a boat without oars that is set loose upon the waters, he or she makes a slow and lazy glide away from good practices like obedience, regular Bible study, prayer, and assembling with fellow Christians. And there are consequences for slipping into uncharted, dangerous waters.

A life adrift is outside of God’s will and therefore in sin. The Holy Spirit pricks the conscience to send a message when a believer is off course, but a drifter is prone to ignore such warnings. If a Christian continually excuses his wandering ways and denies sin, his conscience gradually gets numbed. A person who becomes desensitized to wrongdoing has paved the way for more sinful behavior with less guilt. Can you imagine a more dangerous situation?

As the drifting believer’s conscience becomes anesthetized, his spiritual ears are also deadened—truth cannot gain entrance, because he has invited wrong attitudes and philosophies into his thinking process. What’s more, his heart hardens to the things of God. Shrinking away from testimonies about divine power, grace, and mercy, he avoids situations that might reawaken the conscience and stir his spirit to repentance.

People drift from God in search of more—more freedom, choices, and pleasure. But since the consequences are a hard heart, a numb conscience, and dead ears, what they end up with is less. The drifting believer sacrifices the victorious life in Christ for an existence devoid of permanent satisfaction.

Bible in One Year: Psalm 145-150

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Declaring Dependence

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Read: John 5:16–23 | Bible in a Year: Job 34–35; Acts 15:1–21

Apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Laura’s mom was battling cancer. One morning Laura prayed for her with a friend. Her friend, who had been disabled for years by cerebral palsy, prayed: “Lord, you do everything for me. Please do everything for Laura’s mother.”

Laura was deeply moved by her friend’s “declaration of dependence” on God. Reflecting on the moment, she said, “How often do I acknowledge my need for God in everything? It’s something I should do every day!”

During His days on earth Jesus demonstrated continual dependence on His heavenly Father. One might think that because Jesus is God in a human body, He would have the best of all reasons to be self-sufficient. But when the religious authorities asked Him to give a reason for “working” on a legally ordained day of rest because He healed someone on the Sabbath, He responded, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (John 5:19). Jesus declared His dependence as well!

Jesus’s reliance on the Father sets the ultimate example of what it means to live in relationship with God. Every moment we draw breath is a gift from God, and He wants our lives to be filled with His strength. When we live to love and serve Him through our moment-by-moment prayer and reliance on His Word, we are declaring our dependence on Him.

I need You for everything, Lord! Help me to live to serve You. I praise You for being my Savior and my strength!

Prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God. Daniel Henderson

By James Banks

INSIGHT

In John 5, Jesus had just performed a remarkable miracle by healing a man disabled for thirty-eight years. This feat indisputably established Jesus’s unprecedented power, yet He encountered controversy despite the miracle. When challenged by religious critics, the Lord didn’t grow defensive, as we might have. Nor did He flaunt His great power, though we are often tempted to boast of “our” abilities. Instead, the One who created everything directed attention away from His own remarkable works and toward His heavenly Father (v. 19).

Am I tempted to take credit for my abilities and deeds? Do I feel a need to vindicate myself? When we understand our inherent dependence on God, we are far less likely to boast in our accomplishments or to retaliate in the face of opposition.

Tim Gustafson

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Unclean?

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Read: Mark 7:14-23

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. (v. 15)

To the Jew, it was a serious thing to be “unclean.” A person who was considered “unclean” was “defiled” and therefore in a dangerous predicament. You did not want to be “unclean.” It could lead to retribution or death. So under the Old Testament system, people avoided lepers or touching the body of a dead person. They also avoided certain “unclean foods” such as pork.

When Jesus came, he ushered in a whole new perspective on what it means to be clean, or righteous, in God’s sight. For him, “unclean” is a thing of the heart. That teaching is certainly in the Old Testament. Passages like Proverbs 4:23 and Psalm 51:10 speak about the importance of guarding our hearts (the wellspring of life) and asking God to create a clean heart within us. Unfortunately, these deep spiritual truths relating to the heart were overwhelmed by an outward legalistic system.

What Jesus says in today’s Scripture lesson should ring true to us. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah even said so: “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (17:9). That is the root problem that we all have. But God has a solution: “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

—John Koedyker

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that when we confess our sins, you are faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous. Amen

 

https://woh.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Good Things to Come

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Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. — Deuteronomy 1:29-30

Adapted from the resource Closer to God Each Day Devotional

Do you look forward to every day with a spirit of joy and expectation of good things to come, or do you awake each morning in a state of dread? One might dread going to work, driving in traffic, cleaning the house, or dealing with difficult people. Dread is a subtle form of fear that the devil uses to steal our joy and prevent us from enjoying life. It prevents us from walking in the will of God and moving forward in the plans of God to receive His blessings.

Dread comes after us aggressively and cannot be defeated passively. Allowing negative feelings and thoughts into your mind will steal your joy and peace. But you can trust God to help you with anything you need to do. And as He gives you grace, the thing you were dreading turns out not to be so bad after all.

We can choose to believe that Jesus goes before us and makes a way for us. When a project seems difficult or unpleasant, don’t start dreading it. If you are going to do it anyway, you might as well enjoy it!

As Christians, we can find joy even in unpleasant circumstances because the presence of God is with us. We can enjoy our life with Him in the midst of adverse and difficult conditions. Our joy comes from Who is inside us, not in what is around us.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me to set my mind to enjoying everything I do today. Please help me to form a habit of expecting good things each and every day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Riches in Glory

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“And it is He who will supply all your needs from His riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us” (Philippians 4:19).

God has faithfully met the needs of this great worldwide ministry since its inception. He met our needs when there were only two of us – Vonette and I – on the staff. He meets our needs today (1983) with more than 16,000 full-time and associate staff members serving in most communities of America and in 151 other countries.

He met our needs when our budget was a few thousand dollars a year. He continues to meet our needs when our budget is approximately $100 million a year. During this exciting, incredibly rich and rewarding adventure with our gracious Lord, we have never had an extra dollar at the end of any day. We get only what we need – and no more.

During these years, there have been many dramatic demonstrations of His faithfulness, when He has led us to undertake major and frequently expensive projects. He has always supplied the funds to pay for what He orders. We have learned many lessons concerning God’s faithfulness.

First, whatever He leads us to do He will enable us to do by supplying the manpower, the finances and the know-how – oftentimes dramatically – if we continue to trust and obey Him.

Second, “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2 KJV).

Third, we do not receive when our motives are impure.

But of this we can be sure: if our hearts are pure, our motives are pure and we do what we do for the glory of God – to help fulfill the Great Commission through the winning and discipling of men for Christ throughout the world -we can always be assured that God will supply our needs. Not to do so would be a contradiction of His attributes, for the idea of the Great Commission began with our Lord.

Bible Reading:II Corinthians 9:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will examine my heart to determine my motives and relate my needs to the scriptural commands with the confidence that God will supply all of my needs from His riches in glory, because of what Christ Jesus has done for me. I will thank Him in advance for meeting my needs, and encourage others to trust Him also. This is a part of my commitment to supernatural living.

 

 

http://www.cru.org

Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – The Book of Isaiah: Seeing the Glory of God

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WELLS OF SALVATION

Isaiah 11–12

In recent decades a number of groups have focused efforts on digging and maintaining wells for access to fresh water throughout the developing world. One group in Burkina Faso, in West Africa, says that a single well that is 50 meters deep can provide clean water for 2,000 people. The ability to drink, wash, and cook with clean water is a life-saving and life-changing opportunity for many.

In a similar way, God’s people had a life-changing experience with the Lord’s wells—the “wells of salvation.” Isaiah uses the metaphor to speak of the depths or greatness of the Lord’s salvation toward His people. The prophet considers the outpouring of God’s Spirit and the subsequent peace on the earth and restoration of the remnant. He sees salvation as deep wells of water, representing many aspects of salvation. Christ will gather Israel from the distant lands to which they have fled and plant them back in Jerusalem, the holy mountain of the Lord. The Lord will destroy the enemies of God’s people.

In the day of the Lord, the celebrations of Israel will exalt the depths of the Lord’s salvation. Isaiah foretells a day when the Lord’s people will rejoice in Him with thanksgiving, remember His mercy, ascribe strength to Him, sing songs of gladness, declare His deeds to the earth, and exalt the Holy One. In that day, the Lord will fulfill His covenant promises to make the nations of the earth know His glory, and to dwell forever in the midst of His people. As Paul writes, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:22).

APPLY THE WORD

Look at your life prior to salvation, and sing to the Lord a song of praise or thanksgiving for turning away His anger from you by pouring out His wrath on Christ. Think of the many things the Lord has changed for you since you became a Christian. Rejoice in these wells of God’s salvation!

 

http://www.todayintheword.org

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert for Kids – A Good Lesson

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Acts 7:30, 32, 34

Does time seem to pass slower when you’re at school? You’re watching the clock, waiting for recess or the end of the school day, and the hands don’t seem to be moving at all. It can be hard to pay attention in school when you’re focused on getting out of class as quickly as possible. But remember: this is your learning time. Fill it up with everything you can possibly learn. Then you will be ready for whatever God calls you to do.

Jesus was thirty years old before he started his ministry. Before that, he was learning. Before Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, he spent forty years in the desert herding sheep—and learning. Your days may seem hard. Or maybe school seems long and boring. But don’t be fooled—these are important times of learning. God has a plan for you, and you want to be ready. Learn everything you can in school so that you will be prepared to work in God’s kingdom.

Dear Lord, Help me to use well this time while I’m growing up. Help me to get ready for whatever you ask me to do. Amen.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The Signs of Drifting

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Hebrews 2:1-3

Regularly gathering in the house of the Lord with brothers and sisters in Christ provides an anchor of support and accountability. But skipping church in order to pursue other interests usually indicates a believer has begun to drift away from God. Less apparent are the men and women who mentally skip the worship service. The act of attending means nothing unless we make a deliberate decision to receive God’s Word and apply it to our life. As the writer of Hebrews warned, if we do not pay attention to what we have heard, we will drift away from it (Heb. 2:1).

However, Sunday morning is not the only time for nourishing our heart and mind with principles and encouragement from the Bible. We should be in its pages every day, reading and meditating for ourselves. When our interest in what God has to say decreases, we are already slipping out into troublesome waters. The only way to keep our way pure is by following His Word (Psalm 119:9).

A fading prayer life often accompanies neglected Bible reading. Prayer is the way believers communicate with the Navigator. If we stop talking with Him, the God who once seemed so close will soon feel far away. That chasm in our spirit is one more sign that we’re far from shore and safety.

I’ve watched many a captain guide his cruise ship through a narrow channel. The crew members are intensely focused on their tasks because drifting means disaster. Life is full of narrow channels to navigate. We cannot afford to drift away from God and His Word. Only He can bring us safely through.

Bible in One Year: Psalm 139-144

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Hidden Beauty

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Read: 1 Samuel 16:1–7 | Bible in a Year: Job 32–33; Acts 14

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Our children needed a little coaxing to believe that it was worth putting on snorkeling gear to peer beneath the surface of the Caribbean Sea off the shore of the island of Tobago. But after they dove in, they resurfaced ecstatic, “There are thousands of fish of all different kinds! It’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen such colorful fish!”

Because the surface of the water looked similar to freshwater lakes near our home, our children could have missed the beauty hidden just below the surface.

When the prophet Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king, Samuel saw the oldest son, Eliab, and was impressed by his appearance. The prophet thought he had found the right man, but the Lord rejected Eliab. God reminded Samuel that He “does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

So Samuel asked if there were more sons. The youngest boy wasn’t present but caring for the family’s sheep. This son, David, was summoned and the Lord directed Samuel to anoint him.

Often we look at people only on a surface level and don’t always take the time to see their inner, sometimes hidden, beauty. We don’t always value what God values. But if we take the time to peer beneath the surface, we may find great treasure.

Heavenly Father, thank You for not valuing people based on outward appearances but instead by looking at our hearts. Help me to take the time to see beyond simply what my eyes can see in order to discover true and lasting beauty. 

God can help me to see the inner beauty in others.

By Lisa Samra

INSIGHT

Who taught you how to think about yourself and others?

Long before Samuel looked for a king among the sons of Jesse, God was teaching His children to see below the surface of our skin. From the days of Eden, He has been showing people like us that what happens in our hearts is more important than our outward appearance.

How has God’s interaction with the men and women of the Bible helped you to think about yourself and Him?

Mart DeHaan

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Beautiful Foolishness

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“I don’t believe in God,” begins Julian Barnes in his book Nothing to Be Frightened Of, “but I miss him.” Though he admits he never had any faith to lose (a “happy atheist” as an Oxford student, Barnes now considers himself an agnostic), he still finds himself dreading the gradual ebbing of Christianity. He misses the sense of purpose that the Christian narrative affords, the sense of wonder and belief that haunts Christian art and architecture.

“I miss the God that inspired Italian painting and French stained glass, German music and English chapter houses, and those tumbledown heaps of stone on Celtic headlands which were once symbolic beacons in the darkness and the storm.” Such are the thoughts that surface as Barnes attempts to confront his fears of death and dying in this memoir. He believes Christianity to be a foolish lie, but insists, “[I]t was a beautiful lie.”(1)

There is certainly room for beauty in the description the apostle Paul gave of the gospel. Like Julian, Paul saw its foolishness clearly as well: “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). He also noted the weakness inherent in the Christian proclamation. At the heart of the Christian religion is one who “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form” (Philippians 2:7). On this much Paul and Julian agree: however beautiful, foolishness and weakness imbibe the Christian story.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Beautiful Foolishness →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Pleasant Words, Healing Words

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The mind of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds learning and persuasiveness to his lips. Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body. — Proverbs 16:23-24 (AMPC)

Adapted from the resource Battlefield of the Mind Devotional

Our thoughts can either get us into trouble or elevate us above our problems. Too often, however, we allow our minds to linger over and ponder the wrong kind of thoughts. In the verse above, it says the mind (or the heart) of the wise teaches his mouth. This proverb means that the thoughts on which we dwell will eventually come out in our words. If our words are good and uplifting, they encourage others and us.

Those thoughts aren’t just about others—they are also about how we reflect on ourselves, as well. One of the smartest friends I had in school confessed one day that she felt intellectually inferior. Her words shocked me, and I told her so. I learned that her father used to call her stupid when she didn’t grasp something the first time he explained it to her. Eventually, her own thoughts said to her, You aren’t intelligent enough to understand this.

That’s a good example of how our words can tear down others. But we can also uplift others with our words. When we focus on the good, we see in people and tell them, we may well be God’s messenger to them.

For example, I’ve stood in front of a crowd and spoken many times. Because I have victory, they assume I’m always in victory, and that I never have to struggle the way they do. Sometimes a person will come to me and say, “Joyce, God really used you tonight. I came here discouraged and kept asking God what I should do. Right in the middle of your teaching, I heard God speak through you.”

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Pleasant Words, Healing Words →

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Keeps His Promises

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“Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is the faithful God who for a thousand generations keeps His promises and constantly loves those who love Him and who obey His commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Torn between the desire to surrender his life to the Lord and the desire to be his own person, Tom gave vent to his frustration.

“I want to be a good Christian,” he said, “but I’m afraid of God and what He might do to change my plans. You see, I have great plans for my life and I don’t want to end up wasting it.

“For example, I don’t want to marry someone with whom I would be miserable or risk my opportunities for a successful business career.”

I asked Tom, as I have often asked others, “Do you really believe that God loves you?”

“Yes,” he replied – and that is the general response. Then I reminded him that Jesus Christ so loved him that He was willing to die on the cross for his sins.

“Do you believe that He died for you?”

“Yes,” Tom agreed, and that also is the general reply.

Then, my final question, “Don’t you think that you can trust the omnipotent Creator God, who so loved you that He sent His only begotten Son, who Himself loved you so much that He was willing to die on the cross for your sins, that you may have a full and abundant life here on earth and for all eternity?”

Tom’s response was, “I’d never thought of it that way before. Of course I can trust Him, and I will.”

Together we knelt in prayer, and God touched his life in such a dramatic way that he has since been used to introduce many thousands to our Savior.

Bible Reading:Deuteronomy 7:6-8, 10-13

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I will surrender my will to do the will of God in all things, because I know that He is a God of love, wisdom, compassion and concern who wants the very best for me. I will share this good news with other Christians who are reluctant to surrender their wills to Him and with nonbelievers who have not yet entered into the joy and excitement of the supernatural life.

 

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Preparing God’s Holy People

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Listen to Today’s Devotion

All the billions of Christ followers over the last two-thousand years have this in common:  “A spiritual gift is given to each of us” (1 Corinthians 12:7). God’s body has no nobodies. No exceptions…no exclusions. Our gifts make an eternal difference only in concert with the church. Apart from the body of Christ, we are like clipped fingernails or shaved whiskers and cut hair. Who needs them? He grants gifts so we can “prepare God’s holy people” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Paul reached into a medical dictionary for this term. Doctors used it to describe the setting of a broken bone. Broken people come to churches. Not with broken bones, but broken hearts, broken homes, broken dreams, and broken lives. And if the church operates as the church, they find healing.  All members help to heal brokenness, “to make the body of Christ stronger!”

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Denison Forum – “Trump Baby” balloon to be flown near UK parliament when president visits

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Donald Trump will become the twelfth US president to meet Queen Elizabeth when the two convene next week. However, Reuters reports that “no other US presidential encounter has generated the same level of opposition and controversy in Britain as Trump’s trip.”

After the president was invited last year, more than 1.86 million people signed a petition saying he should not be accorded a state visit because it could embarrass the queen. Yesterday, protesters were given permission by London’s mayor to fly a giant balloon dubbed the “Trump Baby” near Parliament during the president’s visit on July 13.

In other political news, the New York Daily News carried a July 4 cover depicting President Trump as “the clown who plays king.” On the other side of the aisle, PJ Media‘s July 4th cartoon depicts a donkey representing the Democratic Party blowing out the Statue of Liberty’s torch.

The political rancor of our day is the most divisive and demeaning I have ever seen. And it seems to be getting worse.

What is the key to humility?

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