Tag Archives: nature

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P.- Desperation

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Droughts in the western states can become so severe that animals abandon their babies because they are unable to care for them. One doe in Texas, though, was particularly resourceful; she led her fawn to a kiddie pool in a nearby yard. Thirst is a powerful force.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1

The Psalmist uses it in today’s verse to describe not only his desire and motivation, but deep need for the Lord. The Bible promises that those who seek God will find Him. Are you as determined to find God as someone dying of thirst is to find water? Sometimes it takes a great need to stir up that level of motivation. But you don’t have to wait until you are in a desperate situation to seek God desperately.

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – How Unforgiveness Hurts You

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Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.—Ephesians 4:32

If you’re someone who holds grudges, if you keep score and can’t let things go, then you need to know something: You will suffer in life. You also will see your prayer life come to a screeching halt.

Forgiveness is the key to all healthy, strong, and lasting relationships. That’s why we must realize how important it is to forgive. Jesus said, “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23–24).

Maybe you’ve decided that you won’t forgive someone who has wronged you. Guess who will be the one to get hurt? You will. Harboring resentment and unforgiveness will hurt you more than the person you’re refusing to forgive. If you want to be healthy and vibrant spiritually, then you must learn to forgive.

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Gives Good Gifts

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“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m so lucky?” Have you ever said it yourself? The truth is, there is no such thing as luck. Whenever something good comes your way, it’s not luck; it’s a gift from God.

God delights to give His children good gifts. What kind of good gifts has the Lord given you? A warm house? A spot on the basketball team? A family vacation or a trip to camp? I’m sure you can think of many good gifts that God has given you, but maybe you hadn’t thought about the fact that those things came from Him.

When you are playing outside on a sunny day, it may seem to you that the sun is changing its position throughout the day, because your shadow will fall in different directions at different times. But it hasn’t – the earth is what’s moving, not the sun.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – God’s Necessary Wrath

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Today’s Scripture: Colossians 3:6

“The wrath of God is coming.”

The wrath of God is a subject ignored by most believers. Perhaps we shy away from it because of the violent emotions and behavior we frequently associate with the word wrath when used of sinful human beings. We’re reluctant, rightly so, to attribute that same attitude and activity to God.

I suspect, however, that the more basic reason we avoid or ignore the subject is that we simply don’t think of our sinfulness as warranting that degree of judgment. Frankly, most people don’t think they’re that bad. A divine reprimand or an occasional slap on the wrist may be needed—but an outpouring of divine wrath? That’s much too severe. Perhaps another reason we avoid the subject is that we don’t want to think of our nice, decent, but unbelieving neighbors and relatives as subject to God’s wrath.

Continue reading The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – God’s Necessary Wrath →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Good Seed

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Today’s Scripture: Matthew 12-15

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. – 2 Corinthians 2:15

I am convinced that lay men and women need to recapture a biblical view of their role in the kingdom of God. In Matthew 13, Jesus uses a parable about sowing seed to introduce a tremendous concept concerning the kingdom of God. “The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom” (13:38).

Here Jesus points out the magnitude of the job: “The field is the world”–a world of people who need the message of the gospel. And what is the Lord’s plan for accomplishing this? Planting good seed that will be fruitful and multiply throughout that needy world.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – The Good Seed →

BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  Human Dignity and Justice Reform: The Colson Task Force

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In 2014, in an all-too-rare case of bipartisan cooperation, Congress created the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections to tackle what many have called a crisis in the federal prison system.

Why they named it after Chuck was pretty clear. In the words of the Task Force: “Chuck Colson, who served time in federal prison and upon release founded the world’s largest prison ministry, was a vigorous advocate on behalf of the incarcerated at a time when criminal justice reform had virtually no support on either side of the aisle. We salute his leadership and we are grateful for the chance to move the cause forward with our efforts.”

Those efforts come at a critical time. According to the Task Force, “About 40 percent of those who leave federal prison are re-arrested or have their supervision revoked within three years. And inside federal prisons . . . overcrowding [is] a particular challenge . . . [T]he system operates at 20 percent above rated capacity. Such overcrowding presents serious challenges … jeopardizing the safety of both correctional officers and those they oversee.”

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Moody Global Ministries

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

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Read Psalm 3:1-8

In an article titled “Surviving Anxiety” published in The Atlantic, author Scott Stossel describes his lifelong battle with fear. Stossel was so anxious at his wedding that he sweat through his clothes and had to lean on his bride in order to stay upright. When his first child was born, he passed out from fear. “I’ve abandoned dates; walked out of exams; and had breakdowns during job interviews, plane flights, train trips, and car rides, and simply walking down the street,” Stossel writes. “On ordinary days, doing ordinary things—reading a book, lying in bed, talking on the phone, sitting in a meeting, playing tennis—I have thousands of times been stricken by a pervasive sense of existential dread and been beset by nausea, vertigo, shaking, and a panoply of other physical symptoms.”

Few things are as destructive to rest as fear. Today’s psalm describes how David overcame his battle with fear: by relying on God’s power and protection. David describes a variety of circumstances that would normally be grounds for fear (vv. 1–3). Anxiety often causes us to magnify our problems. Instead of focusing on all the possible terrible things that could happen, David chose to meditate on the blessing of God’s presence. He was able to escape the anxiety of the present by focusing on how God had helped him in the past and on what God had promised for the future.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – BRONCOS WIN SUPER BOWL 50:WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW

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A Doritos advertisement made the Top Five Super Bowl ads in USA Today’s poll. It depicts a pregnant mother getting an ultrasound. The father holds a bag of Doritos chips. Each time he eats one, the baby in its mother’s womb reacts. I thought it was the best Super Bowl ad this year.

ot everyone agrees. NARAL Pro-Choice America immediately tweeted their complaint about the ad’s “antichoice tactic of humanizing fetuses.” Their strategy is logical: when people realize that a fetus is human, they are less likely to support abortion.

So here’s the science. At the moment the sperm penetrates the egg, the twenty-three chromosomes of the sperm unite with the twenty-three chromosomes of the egg, producing a new forty-six chromosome cell. It has the human chromosome pattern with all inheritable factors and can never grow into anything but a human. Its chromosomal uniqueness is immediately distinct from the mother.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Cost of Our Salvation

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Philippians 2:5-8

In our world of electronic banking and credit cards, it’s easy to ignore what things cost. The same is true with sin. Our culture enjoys temporary pleasures while disregarding what God says is the price of transgression (Rom. 6:23).

The Bible tells what our sin cost Jesus. For our sake, He suffered…

Physical pain. During the hours leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus was mocked, beaten, and humiliated. (See John 19.) In His weakened state, He was forced to carry on His shoulders the instrument of His death—the cross. Then He was nailed to it and hoisted up to die an excruciating death.

Man’s sin. Jesus lived a perfect life on earth and never knew the disgrace of sin or the bitterness of regret. But at the cross, the Father placed all of mankind’s sins upon the Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). There, Christ experienced the fullness of our transgressions, guilt, and shame.

Abandonment. In the final hours, Jesus was separated from His Father (Mark 15:34), their fellowship broken for the only time since eternity past. Our sin became the barrier that kept them apart until Jesus Christ’s work of atonement was finished (John 19:30). Continue reading Charles Stanley –The Cost of Our Salvation →

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Can’t Take It Back

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Read: Galatians 5:13-26

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 4-5; Matthew 24:29-51

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . gentleness and self-control. —Galatians 5:22-23

I couldn’t take my actions back. A woman had parked her car and blocked my way of getting to the gas pump. She hopped out to drop off some recycling items, and I didn’t feel like waiting, so I honked my horn at her. Irritated, I put my car in reverse and drove around another way. I immediately felt bad about being impatient and unwilling to wait 30 seconds (at the most) for her to move. I apologized to God. Yes, she should have parked in the designated area, but I could have spread kindness and patience instead of harshness. Unfortunately it was too late to apologize to her—she was gone.

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Transfigured

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Barbara Krensavage insists that clams are not a regular part of her diet. Yet one snowy evening in December she found herself craving an old recipe, and so brought home four dozen quahogs—a clam particularly abundant along the Eastern shores of the United States, between Cape Cod and New Jersey. Mr. Krensavage was in the midst of shucking the shellfish for dinner when he discovered one that looked like it was dead. It had a different color to it and he thought it was diseased. As he was about to discard it, Mrs. Krensavage took a closer look.

It wasn’t dead. In fact, inside the live clam was a rare, possibly priceless, purple pearl. Experts estimate that roughly one in two million quahog clams contains a gem-quality pearl like the one found by the Krensavages. Due to the great rarity of the find, it has been difficult to even place a value on it, though some have estimated the pearl to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The life and ministry of Jesus Christ unveiled something new to the world. He spoke of a kingdom, where, like this discovery of the Krensavages, all is not as it may first appear. In a world that would seem to some more marked by disease than promise, he spoke of a treasure hidden, a mystery revealed in this life, worth selling all we have to possess as our own. Even amid the sting of death and disease, he spoke of an abundant life somehow stronger than death itself. He spoke of his kingdom as present and real. He called it a pearl of great price: For the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.(1) Yet even holding it, he noted that we might completely miss its worth.

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Becoming Holy

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“But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

God requires holiness and in Christ provides us the means to attain it.

As we have learned, God is holy, and absolute holiness is the standard for anyone who wishes to be in His presence. “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). In the same way, men who reject God are sent “into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

How then can anyone become holy? There’s only one way: through faith in Jesus Christ. It is through Christ’s sacrifice for us that God can credit holiness to our account (2 Cor. 5:21). First Corinthians 6:11 says, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified [made holy], but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” We are now called saints, and the Greek word for this in Scripture actually means “holy ones.”

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – How’s Your Heart?

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Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

“How’s your heart?”, this is the question he asked me almost every time we talked, which was often. But I will not hear these words from him anymore in this life. Yesterday, after a two and half year battle with cancer, Scott—my friend and Wisdom Hunter board member went to be with Jesus. I miss him and selfishly I need to hear his loving question, “Boyd, how is your heart?” Scott was a spiritual doctor to me, who cared about my heart’s condition. He knew the quality of my life depends on the health of my heart. He reminded me of my need for the Great Physician.

This teaching in Proverbs says everything in our life flows from our heart. Our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our anxieties, our anger, our forgiveness, our humility, our peace, our greed, our generosity, our love: yes everything, who we are is what’s in our heart. So, above all else our heart needs a guard—God is our guard. When the Holy Spirit fills our heart by faith—He flushes out sin and leaves room only for the fruit of the Spirit. Only a heart guarded by God can bear up under the influence of ungodliness. A heart submitted to Christ in prayer is protected by Christ with peace.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Spittin’ Image

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For in [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Colossians 2:9

Recommended Reading

Hebrews 1:3

The first known use of the English phrase “spitting image” was in the 1901 novel Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch by Alice Rice. In her book a character says, “He’s jes’ like his pa—the very spittin’ image of him!” But what does “spitting image” mean? For centuries, versions of the phrase evolved, all involving spittle as a measure of likeness. The earliest versions suggested one person was so like another, it was if he was spat out of the other’s mouth—meaning almost identical.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Lamp and a Light

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Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.—Psalm 119:105

There is nothing more supernatural than the Word of God, which is given to us by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit speaking through His prophets and disciples. The Bible has an answer for every question we might ever have. The Word of God is full of life principles, true stories of God’s mercy toward human behavior, and rich parables filled with important truths for every person on Earth.

The Bible is a personal letter to you and me. It tells us everything we need to know. There may be times when God speaks something to us that is not in a specific chapter or verse, but if He is truly speaking, then what we hear will always be in agreement with His Word. God will speak to us and lead us in every situation as we seek Him through His Word. When I need to hear from God about something specific, He frequently reminds me of a scripture that clearly gives me the answer I am seeking.

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Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – A Lesson from Dr. Seuss

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Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Colossians 4:6

Friend to Friend

Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite authors. I recently read an article that said the famed children’s author loved challenges. In 1959, the co-founder of his publishing company bet Dr. Seuss that he could not write an actual book with a good story using fifty words or less. Dr. Seuss quickly accepted the bet. The result? The beloved book, “Green Eggs and Ham.” To date it has sold over 200 million copies – using only 49 words in its entirety. Dr. Seuss might be on to something.

Less is often more. When it comes to words with impact, being long-winded is not a value. But speaking the right words can be life changing.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Hears Our Cries

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“Lord, You know the hopes of humble people. Surely, You will hear their cries and comfort their hearts by helping them” (Psalm 10:17).

Some time ago Nancy DeMoss, who with her beloved husband, Art (one of my dearest friends), had launched a fruitful ministry to executives, called to share an exciting experience. It had been raining all day, and a downpour was predicted for that evening. More than 1300 guests were coming to their home for a lawn dinner to hear the gospel presented by the well-known Christian leader, Charles Colson.

They prayed that the rain would stop, and – miracle of miracles – except for only a few drops of moisture, the rain was held back, though around them, they later learned, there had been a downpour. The gospel had been presented and hundreds had responded to the invitation to receive Christ, and as the guests were on their way home, the rain came – but the harvest was over. The God of nature had heard their prayers and responded.

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – A Picture of Hope

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Read: Isaiah 11:6-9

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)

What a beautiful picture! Here is the time when the dreams of men will be fulfilled, when all the longings that reflect themselves in peace demonstrations and cries for disarmament will find their fulfillment. There is a deep hunger in mankind for this kind of a world, although we do not know how to achieve it. But there is coming One who does know how. Then, even the animals will lose their ferocity and lie down one with another. How would you mothers feel if you found your child playing with a cobra? But there is coming a time when it shall happen, when the animals shall lose their ferocity against one another, when the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Some people ask, Is this literal or is it only symbolic! Is this all metaphor? Some commentators say this is a picture of the work of Christ in human hearts today. I believe that. I believe this is metaphor, picturing spiritual peace.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Seeking God

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Read: Psalm 46

Be still, and know that I am God. (v. 10)

Here is a recap of our definition of spiritual formation so far: “Christian spiritual formation is the process of being conformed into the image of Christ, through an intimate relationship with God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order to live a good and beautiful life . . .”

Spiritual formation is not a hobby for religious types. It is necessary work for each Christ-follower. Spiritual formation is first and foremost for me: I must become a “peculiar” person whose life is defined by humility, service, and submission before I am of any value to others. It’s a lifelong practice of letting go and allowing God to be in charge.

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Out of the Pit

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On October 14, 1987, Jessica McClure became America’s baby when, at 18 months old, she fell into a well behind her aunt’s Midland, Texas home. When her rescue made national news, President Ronald Reagan said all of America became Jessica’s godmothers and godfathers. Due to the nature of the small pipe in which Jessica was stuck and the rock surrounding it, rescue was complicated…but after 58 hours, the little girl was set free.

He drew me up…and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Psalm 40:2

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