Tag Archives: nature

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Be Still

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Read: Psalm 46

Bible in a Year: Numbers 4-6; Mark 4:1-20

Be still, and know that I am God. —Psalm 46:10

Years ago I responded to letters within a couple of weeks and kept my correspondents happy. Then came the fax machine, and they seemed content with receiving a response within a couple of days. Today, with email, instant messaging, and mobile phones, a response is expected the same day!

“Be still, and know that I am God.” In this familiar verse from Psalm 46 I read two commands of equal importance. First, we must be still, something that modern life conspires against. In this hectic, buzzing world, even a few moments of quiet do not come naturally to us. And stillness prepares us for the second command: “Know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” In the midst of a world that colludes to suppress, not exalt, God, how do I carve out time and allow Him to nourish my inner life?

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – To Be Continued

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With outstretched arms, Aaron blessed the people of Israel, putting the name of the Lord upon the people: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”(1)

These were instructions from God, who told Moses to tell Aaron to bless the people of Israel. “Benediction,” as it is now called, was to be an act of worship, a response of obedience to God’s instruction given to the priestly line. As a priest, Aaron was set apart. He and his descendants were forever “to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the LORD, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.”(2) The Aaronic benediction was a command, given in order that God’s name be placed upon God’s people.

So Aaron spoke the benediction over a people frustrated and wandering, and his words reached beyond him. Today the church continues to believe that there are moments often unknown to us with which God does the same. Like a river whose source does not know the far places it reaches, God’s name moves before the world; we don’t always know where it has come or where it is going. Yet we know that God’s hand is not too short to save. In the desert, on the mountaintop, at the invitation of Christ to the Table, God’s blessing reaches those who will receive and be filled. It is this God “who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land.”(3)

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Being Merciful

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“‘Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’” (Luke 6:36).

Since we have received mercy from God, we are obligated to show mercy to those with physical or spiritual needs.

Jesus demonstrated His mercy many times as He went about healing people and casting out demons. Two blind men cried out, “‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ . . . And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight, and followed Him” (Matt. 20:30, 34). He was also deeply moved in spirit and wept when He saw the sorrow that Lazarus’s death caused (John 11:33-36).

His greatest mercy was shown, though, to those with spiritual needs. Not only did He heal a paralytic, but He forgave his sins (Luke 5:18-25). He also prayed for His executioners, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Can Those Redeemed by God be Blotted out of the Book of Life?

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The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Revelation 3:5

No, the redeemed of God cannot be blotted out of the Book of Life. Those who place their trust in Jesus for their salvation have their names permanently written in the Lord’s book of life—since the foundations of the world. In Christ alone, we are more than conquerors and victorious over sin, Satan and death. Because we have conquered we are guaranteed not to be erased from the book (see John Piper).  Being erased is not an option for those eternally secured by faith in Jesus. And being in the book of life means you will not fall away—but remain faithful.

With the same logic and expression of love, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV), so the Lord says, “I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life.” God will never forsake or forget His faithful followers—it is impossible because of His faithful character. There are some who would say they were saved, but as life happened their disingenuous faith led them to stray from the flock of God. True followers return to the fold.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Bless to Be Blessed

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I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.

Genesis 12:3a

Recommended Reading

Genesis 27:27-29

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is made up of 28 member nations with 37 other nations involved in NATO programs. NATO was formed in 1949 to defend its members against attacks by nonmembers. The basic idea of such a coalition is: Any attack on one is an attack on all.

God’s covenant with Israel is similar. God will bless all nations who bless Israel and will curse any nation that curses Israel. The ancient nations that attacked Israel have long since been covered over by the sands of time. It is no coincidence that America has been the most blessed and prosperous nation on earth while being the chief ally and defender of Israel since her statehood in 1948. The promises of God regarding His relationship with Israel stand as a stark warning to any nation that chooses to be the enemy of Israel. It would behoove America and all nations to stand beside God’s chosen people and pray and act for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Realistic Expectations

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Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. —2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

How we treat ourselves is often how we treat others. For example, if you receive God’s mercy, then you will be able to give mercy to others, but if you are demanding and never satisfied with yourself, you will be the same way with others.

We need to learn to be good to ourselves and yet not be self-centered. You should respect and value yourself; you should know what you are good at and what you are not good at and realize God’s strength is perfected in your weaknesses. We stress over our faults and yet everyone has them. If you had no faults, you would not need Jesus, and that is never going to happen!

Power Thought: I have realistic expectations of myself and others.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Let’s Get This Straight

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For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Friend to Friend

“Dear Sharon,” the letter began, “I found your e-mail on your website. I was searching for some information on what the Bible says about affairs. Somehow I came upon your site. I feel like I am on the verge of destroying my life. My life with my husband had never been good—marginal at best. I find myself working hard on my appearance so other men will notice and desire me. We have four children, and I’m miserable. My husband is in the military and away at boot camp. I’m glad he’s gone.

“I am on the verge of having an affair with just about anyone to escape my marriage. I don’t want to look back on my life and think I could have been happy with someone else. I feel like I am trapped in a loveless marriage. I want a divorce.”

Friend, can’t you just see the enemy rubbing his hands together like an anxious fly? I bet he shuddered when she clicked the SEND button on her computer screen and sent this e-mail to me. “Oh no,” I imagine him saying. “This could ruin everything.” He knew that I would help her recognize the lie.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Inherit My Holy Mountain

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“Let’s see if the whole collection of your idols can help you when you cry to them to save you! They are so weak that the wind can carry them off! A breath can puff them away. But he who trusts in Me shall possess the land and inherit My Holy Mountain” (Isaiah 57:13).

It was the very last week prior to our deadline for raising two million dollars to purchase the property at Arrowhead Springs for our international Campus Crusade for Christ headquarters. A dear friend had offered a $300,000 matching fund as a gift if we could raise the balance of the $2 million by a certain date.

Because of a very heavy speaking schedule at both the student and faculty conferences held at Arrowhead, I was unable to make any significant contribution to the raising of funds. And yet somehow in my heart of hearts I knew that God was going to supply our need in a miraculous way.

Continue reading Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Inherit My Holy Mountain →

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman -God’s Servant

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Read: Isaiah 50

Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. (Isaiah 50:4-6)

Two remarkable things are described here by the servant. He says, first that morning by morning God has taught him truth because he listened to his Father. Remember the many times Jesus said in his ministry, The things that I say unto you I have heard from my Father. Again and again he made that claim. He had the ear of a learner. He pored over the Scriptures. He saw himself in them. He understood what his work would be. There came dawning into his heart the revelation that he was to endure anguish, pain and rejection. But, as he says, I was not rebellious. I was willing to go ahead. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – A Downward Spiral

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Read: Judges 8:4-28

It became a snare to Gideon. (v. 27)

The pattern of Judges is disobedience, followed by punishment, followed by a cry for mercy, followed by deliverance through a judge, followed by peace, followed by the pattern starting all over again. But another pattern is made clear beginning when Gideon crossed the Jordan in verse 4: Israel wasn’t simply going around in circles; they actually were in a downward spiral.

The story of Gideon starts with humility and obedience and ends with unnecessary violence and idolatry. In chapters 6 and 7 Gideon is called by God and then wins an amazing victory over a much stronger foe. (There are many parallels to the stories of Moses found in Exodus.) But in our text today Gideon is more like Aaron, taking gold from those he conquered and shaping an idol from it. To his credit, he refused to accept the people’s desire to make him king, but, as we shall see, one of his sons does assert his right to rule Israel.

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H.  – Speak Up

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A witness, according to Merriam-Webster’s definition, is a person who sees an event take place and could make a statement about it. Ever hear someone ask, “Can I get a witness?” They are asking, “Has anyone experienced something like this?” They want an individual with a similar experience who’s willing to testify as such.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.

Psalm 107:2

While it’s a modern, urban phrase, today’s psalmist may as well have asked, “Can I get a witness?” He begins the psalm with praise. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1) Confirming his declaration, he then says the words of today’s verse…essentially asking for a witness to the greatness of God.

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Keep a Clean Heart

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If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. —Psalm 66:18

Not only does praying with a selfish motive hinder our prayers, but unconfessed sin can thwart them as well. Isaiah 59:1–2 says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

Unconfessed sin in our lives will stop our prayers from being answered. The psalmist wrote, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). We can pray with passion. We can pray with faith. We can pray with all of the gusto we have. But if there is an area in our lives that is not right before God, then our prayers will not be heard.

When we come to God with sin in our lives, God effectively says, “If you want fellowship with Me, if you want to have communion with Me, then you need to repent of that sin. You can’t live in that life and then live My life.” Unconfessed sin will hinder our prayers.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Keep a Clean Heart →

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God is the King of Glory

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“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle…Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24: 8, 10)

Have you ever imagined that you were a prince or a princess? Have you ever imagined that someday you would rule a kingdom all your own? Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be princes and princesses? Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. We can’t ALL be princes and princesses.

One of the songwriters in the Bible called God the “King of glory.” What do you suppose it means to be the “King of glory”? Doesn’t a king normally have a kingdom and people to rule? How do you rule over glory? The word “glory” means “great honor, praise, or distinction.” The word “king” means “one who is supreme or preeminent.” If you put the two words together, “king of glory” means “one who is supreme or preeminent in great honor, praise, or distinction.”

God is the one and only true King of glory. He is the only One Who deserves our worship and honor. We can praise people and things, but God deserves our highest praise much more than people or things do.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Giving to God

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:7

“What do you have that you did not receive?”

We actually cannot give God anything that he has not first given to us. David recognized this fact when the leaders of Israel gave so generously for the building of the temple. In his prayer of praise to God he said, “Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own” (1 Chronicles 29:14,16).

David knew he and his people had not given anything to God that wasn’t his already. Even our service to God comes from his hand. As the prophet Isaiah said, “Lord, . . . all that we have accomplished you have done for us” (Isaiah 26:12, NIV). Paul summed it up rather conclusively when he said of God, “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). When our every breath is a gift from God, there’s really nothing left to give that hasn’t been first given to us.

Where does that leave us? It leaves us in the blessed position of being eleventh-hour workers in God’s kingdom (Matthew 20:1-16). It leaves us going home at the end of the day from God’s vineyard profoundly grateful, knowing that the gracious landowner has been generous beyond all measure. In a word, it leaves us content, and “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Timothy 6:6).

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Loving the One You Serve

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Today’s Scripture: Song of Songs

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. – 1 John 4:16

There were some great love songs in the forties: vocalists with the Glenn Miller band sang about that gal from Kalamazoo; the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra extolled the virtues of Marie; the Andrews Sisters exhorted the soldier to not sit under the apple tree with anyone else but the girl he left behind. During the war years, one song promised that one day there would again be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. When the war finally ended, Perry Como sang that we would be together till the end of time.

When my wife and I became Christians and headed off to Northwestern College to study the Bible, I saw an amazing thing. Hundreds of young men and women assembled every morning during chapel hour and sang love songs to God! This opened up a whole new musical world to me. I learned songs like “My Jesus, I Love Thee” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Loving the One You Serve →

BreakPoint

BreakPoint – Why Assisted Suicide is a Poison Pill: Pushing Back against the Culture of Death

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Are there ever times when deliberately taking an innocent human life is okay? What if our intentions are merciful? What if we’re trying to relieve the suffering of one we love?

My home state of Colorado is asking these questions right now. A bill before the legislature would make us the fifth state to legalize assisted suicide, following Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and California. Sponsors of the bill are proposing it under the commonly used name “Death with Dignity.”

That’s a euphemism for killing elderly and terminally-ill patients by giving them a cocktail of toxic drugs. And unlike abortion, which has become less and less justifiable with the availability of ultrasound and neonatal care, it’s easy to make physician-assisted suicide sound compassionate.

“I feel that it’s a basic human right to be in charge of your own destiny,” says assisted suicide proponent Lance Wright. “The situation now is that you and I are not in control of what happens at the end of our lives.”

Continue reading BreakPoint – Why Assisted Suicide is a Poison Pill: Pushing Back against the Culture of Death →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – REST FROM THE LAW

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Read Acts 15:1-11

Some communities have odd laws when it comes to church. Young girls may not walk a tightrope in Wheeler, Mississippi, unless it’s in church. It is against the law to tickle a woman under her chin with a feather duster while she is in church in Blackwater, Kentucky. Nobody in Lee Creek, Arkansas, can attend church in a red garment. While these laws remain on the books, the rationale behind them is long forgotten.

This is how the Law of Moses seems to many of us today. It appears to be a collection of ancient and curious restrictions regarding food, clothing, and hygiene. Today’s passage indicates that it has greater significance.

One of the first decisions the New Testament church had to make was whether to continue abiding by the regulations of the Mosaic Law. This became especially important when people who did not come from a Jewish background began to believe the gospel. Certain teachers from Judea went to Antioch with a message: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). Their instruction probably went beyond circumcision to insist that the church needed to obey all the regulations of the Law of Moses. When Paul and Barnabas disagreed sharply, the church at Antioch sent them to Jerusalem to resolve the question with the apostles and elders.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – IS AMERICA ‘IN THE MIDST OF A REBELLION’?

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Donald Trump won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, while Bernie Sanders narrowly lost to Hillary Clinton in Nevada after being behind by twenty-five points just a few weeks ago. A recent Fox News poll put Sanders in the lead nationally. Jeb Bush withdrew from the race, an outcome no one would have predicted a few months ago.

This year’s presidential nominating process has been nothing like anything we’ve seen in decades. Why?

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan believes that “we’re in the midst of a rebellion.” She cites “the general decline of America’s faith in its institutions” and notes that “we feel less respect for almost all of them—the church the professions, the presidency, the Supreme Court.”

According to Noonan, those who support Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders are thinking, “Let’s take a chance. Washington is incapable of reform or progress; it’s time to reach outside.” They think Washington “will moderate Bernie, take the edges off Trump” and therefore “don’t see their choices as so radical.”

There is strong evidence to support Noonan’s view.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Powerful Love

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Read | Luke 15:11-32

When we read about the Prodigal Son, our focus is usually on God’s amazing love, which is demonstrated by the father in the parable. We delight in knowing that the Lord responds to us the same way when we stray from Him. But today, I want to look at our responsibility to love others. No matter how difficult the situation, God has given believers in Christ the capacity to respond with this same kind of love.

Let go. Though he had every right to refuse his second son’s foolish request, this father understood that the young man had already left home in his heart. There may be times in our lives when the most loving thing we can do is also the most difficult—to step back and let a loved one go his or her own way. When you hang on and try to control the outcome, you may actually get in God’s way.

Wait. Once we have let go, we must then wait patiently for the Lord to do His work in that person’s life. Did you notice that the father didn’t go to search for his son? Even though he knew that pain and trouble would follow such a foolish decision, he chose to trust God instead of trying to fix the situation and protect his son from the consequences of his unwise choice. Continue reading Charles Stanley – A Powerful Love →

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The View from the Mountain

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Read: Philippians 4:8-13

Bible in a Year: Numbers 1-3; Mark 3

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. —Colossians 3:1

Our valley in Idaho can be very cold in the winter. Clouds and fog roll in and blanket the ground, trapping frigid air under warmer layers above. But you can get above the valley. There’s a road nearby that winds up the flank of Shafer Butte, a 7,500-foot mountain that rises out of our valley. A few minutes of driving and you break out of the fog and emerge into the warmth and brilliance of a sunlit day. You can look down on the clouds that shroud the valley below and see it from a different point of view.

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