Tag Archives: Peace

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God’s Powerful Presence

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Bible in a Year:

The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.

Psalm 68:11

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Psalm 68:4–14

In 2020, celebrations marked the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Old photographs show marchers with banners emblazoned with the words of Psalm 68:11: “The Lord giveth the word. The women that publish the tidings are a great host” (asv).

In Psalm 68, David describes God as the One who leads the oppressed from their captivity (v. 6), refreshing and renewing His weary people from His bountiful riches (vv. 9–10). In this psalm’s thirty-five verses, David references God forty-two times, revealing how He’s constantly been with them, at work to rescue them from injustice and suffering. And a mighty throng of women proclaim this truth (v. 11).

Whether the women who marched for voting rights fully understood all that Psalm 68 was declaring, their banners proclaimed a timeless truth. God, the “father to the fatherless” and “a defender of widows” (v. 5), goes out before His people leading them to places of blessing, refreshment, and joy.

Be encouraged today, remembering that God’s presence has always been with His people, and in a special way with the vulnerable and suffering. As in the past through His Spirit, God is still powerfully present with us today.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God’s care during a difficult struggle? What encouragement does that bring you?

Father, thank You for Your constant presence in my life, guiding me and fighting for me when I face suffering and injustice.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Confessing Your Sins

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“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed” (Dan. 9:4).

Confession brings forgiveness and guards God’s character.

Confessing your sins means you agree with God that you have offended His holy character, are worthy of punishment, and in need of forgiveness. That’s exactly what we see Daniel doing in verses 5-16. Verse 20 summarizes his prayer: “I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God.”

Unlike some who suffer God’s chastening, Daniel didn’t shift the blame for Israel’s calamity. Instead he admitted that his people had willfully disobeyed God’s Word and ignored His prophets, thereby bringing judgment upon themselves. Once they were a nation blessed by God; now they were aliens and captives in a foreign land. God had kept His promise to curse them if they disobeyed Him (Deut. 28:15).

In verses 12-15 Daniel analyzes the consequences of Israel’s sin, which included her captivity and the guilt she bore for her arrogance and reluctance to repent.

Verse 14 reflects perhaps the most important aspect of confession: Daniel’s affirmation that “the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done.” The Gentile nations knew that the Israelites were God’s chosen people. Surely the fall of Jerusalem raised questions about God’s character: What kind of God would stand idly by while His people are ravaged and His Temple plundered? What is the benefit of having a God like that? This, in effect, is Daniel’s response: “God is righteous in everything He does. We deserve this punishment, so don’t accuse Him of acting unjustly.”

Confession therefore serves a dual purpose: it brings forgiveness and frees God to chasten us without bringing accusations of inequity or injustice upon Himself.

Daniel’s prayer came at a special time in Israel’s history, but undoubtedly confession was a regular part of his life. That should be your pattern as well. Don’t wait until disaster strikes before you confess your sin. Make it a daily practice.

Suggestions for Prayer

If you have not developed a systematic approach to prayer, the “ACTS” format is a good way to start.

  • Adoration—praising God
  • Confession—confessing sin
  • Thanksgiving—thanking God
  • Supplication—praying for others

For Further Study

Read about David’s sin in 2 Samuel 11:1—12:25 and his confession in Psalm 51. What are the similarities and differences between David’s confession and Daniel’s?

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Let Go of the Past; Look to the Future

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If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

— 1 John 1:9 (AMPC)

It is useless to worry about anything and doubly useless to worry about something that is over and done with and that nothing can be done about. If you made a mistake in the past that can be rectified, then go ahead and take action to correct it. But if you cannot do anything about it except be sorry, then ask for forgiveness from God and anyone you may have hurt and don’t worry about it any longer.

Let me remind you that worry is useless, so why do it? God has given us wisdom, and a wise person will not spend their time doing something that produces nothing of any value.

There are many wonderful scriptures in the Bible that teach us to let go of the past and look to the future. We’re reminded to forget what is behind and keep our eyes facing forward, on God and His plan for us (see Phil. 3:13). We can find peace in the knowledge that God’s compassion and kindness are new every morning and that His faithfulness is abundant (see Lam. 3:22–23). Also, we must never forget that He is able to overcome our mistakes and do far more than we could ever imagine that He could do for us (see Ephesians 3:16, 20). God has provided a way for your past to have zero power over you, but it is up to you to receive His gracious gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and a new beginning.

Don’t allow mistakes in your past to fester and threaten your future. When you ask God to forgive you for something that you have done wrong, He is faithful and just to do it. He continuously cleanses us from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9). It’s forgiven and forgotten—but you must do the same!

When you hear the word past what’s the first memory or thought that comes to mind? If it is something that makes you feel guilty, then pray and ask God to help you let go and trust He has great things in your future.

Prayer of the Day: Thank You, Father, that I can come to You, ask forgiveness for all my past mistakes, and then let them go, with Your help, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – A Path of Peace

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When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

Luke 19:41-42

Here is an opportunity to look, in the words of some past theologians, into “the human face of God.”

As the Son of God entered the city of God, Jerusalem, He wept. Why? He was shedding tears of compassion for its people, on account of the judgment that awaited them. Jesus loved the city, and He knew that the people who greeted Him did not understand the kind of peace He would bring—the peace that comes with knowing Him—and that many would reject Him and the offer of peace that He brought.

It wasn’t that the Jews were disinterested in peace. Indeed, they longed for it. But they thought it would come militarily or politically—that Jesus’ arrival would bring them triumph over the Roman authorities. They thought the peace they needed most was a horizontal peace. They didn’t know that in their desire for that peace they were in fact rejecting the message Jesus was bringing and the offer of a great peace He was making. On account of their ignorance and their blindness, then, Jesus wept.

In many ways, we are no different from the Jews who witnessed that first Holy Week. By nature, we experience the same blindness because of our sin. We tend to think of sin in terms of what we shouldn’t have done but have, or what we’ve failed to do even though we know we should. But in actual fact sin is a condition before it is an action. It blinds us to any awareness that we are at enmity with God. We cannot see our need for peace with God. We cannot see that all the other ways in which we lack peace horizontally stem ultimately from our lack of that vertical peace with our Maker. We cannot see the provision that has been made for peace through Jesus.

This lack of peace pervades individual hearts as well as families, communities, and nations. Only a relationship with the Prince of Peace can show us that He who once came to conquer sin and will come again to rule and reign as King also came as a prophet to speak into our ignorance and blindness.

The Bible says that it is first in knowing peace with God that we discover the peace of God—and that peace has been granted in the person and work of Jesus. So, meditate on the peace that you enjoy with your Creator because of the death and resurrection of His Son. Give thanks that His Spirit has opened your eyes to that which was hidden by sin from the city of Jerusalem. And pray that your heart would be as compassionate as His was, so that you weep over those who are seeking peace everywhere except where it may truly be found, and so that your tears cause you to hold out the offer of the peace that Jesus came to give and died to make.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Colossians 1:15-23

Topics: Jesus Christ Peace Sin

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Tennessee passes nation’s first law limiting drag shows

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Tennessee has become the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public places. Gov. Bill Lee signed the provision into law prohibiting “adult cabaret performances” that include “male or female impersonators” in areas where minors could watch. Similar laws have been introduced in at least fourteen other states.

However, Gov. Lee was criticized after a photo surfaced on Reddit that seems to be the governor wearing a dress from a 1977 Franklin High Yearbook.

A spokesman from the high school said the photo “appeared to be Lee” but noted there was no name under it. A spokesman for the governor responded: “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”

In similar news, Texas state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Republican, recently authored a bill that would restrict drag performances in the state. Then, according to NBC News, a video surfaced that appears to show him “skipping, running, and dancing in a park while donning a black sequined dress and a red eye mask.”

Schatzline, a first-term state representative and former pastor, responded: “Y’all really going crazy over me wearing a dress as a joke back in school for a theater project? Yah, that’s not a sexually explicit drag show…lol y’all will twist ANYTHING.”

If our faith does not change our lives

When we don’t like the message, our first instinct is to attack the messenger. This is called the “ad hominem” (“against the man”) fallacy: instead of addressing a person’s argument or position, we irrelevantly attack the person making the argument.

This reaction is so pervasive because it is so effective. At the very least, it distracts from the issue at hand. More often, it undermines the moral authority of the person making a moral argument and encourages their critics to justify rejecting their position.

Since this reaction is, in fact, illogical, I am tempted to dismiss those who employ it to reject biblical morality (such as the news in today’s Daily Article regarding gender and clothing; cf. Deuteronomy 22:5). But there’s more to the story.

A valid way to measure a truth claim is to ask if it does what it claims to do. In the case of Christianity, the Bible is clear: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a result, if our faith does not change our lives, others have the right to question whether our faith will change their lives. “Do as I say, not as I do” was not welcome advice from our parents, much less from those who profess moral standards they claim to be superior to our own.

Why Satan divorces Sunday from Monday

Yesterday, we discussed our secularized culture’s euphemistic strategies for normalizing and advancing immorality. Abortion is “lifesaving” care (though only for a very tiny percentage of women whose pregnancies actually threaten their lives), sex change surgeries are “gender-affirming care,” and so on.

In addition, when we stand for biblical truth in contrast to the prevailing social norms, we can expect “ad hominem” arguments against us by the legion.

As a result, the more unpopular our argument, the more important our personal character.

The more we seek to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), the more we need to love the One whose truth we speak. The more intimate our relationship with Jesus, the more our words will align with our works and our lives will draw others to him (Matthew 5:16).

This is one reason our spiritual enemy tries so hard to divorce Sunday from Monday and the spiritual from the secular. If we try to practice what we preach without the transforming power of the Spirit, we will soon stop preaching and we will eventually stop practicing.

“We have a new Moses, God himself”

My purpose today is not to discourage you but to encourage you. Actually, it is to discourage you if you are trying to serve your Lord without surrendering each day to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Your life will inevitably contradict your message and God’s kingdom will suffer.

But it is to encourage you if you are depending intentionally on Jesus to manifest himself in and through you (cf. John 15:5). In that case, he promises, you will be able to stand boldly before your critics because your Lord will “give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict” (Luke 21:15).

To this end, let’s close with St. John Chrysostom’s (AD 347–407) reflection contrasting the miracles experienced by the Jews during their exodus with the miracles experienced by followers of Jesus: “The Israelites passed through the sea; you have passed from death to life. They were delivered from the Egyptians; you have been delivered from the powers of darkness. The Israelites were freed from slavery to a pagan people; you have been freed from the much greater slavery to sin.”

He continued: “The Lord was with them because of the favor he showed to Moses; now he is with us, but not simply because of your obedience. After Egypt they dwelt in desert places; after your departure you will dwell in heaven. Their great leader and commander was Moses; we have a new Moses, God himself, as our leader and commander.”

Who is your “leader and commander” today?

Denison Forum

John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” Most of us can quote the familiar words of the “Serenity Prayer” penned by American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. To anyone who has ever struggled with change, it can prove exceedingly difficult, and like Niebuhr, we know that it requires courage.

Even Paul, battle-hardened apostle though he was, declared himself a wretched man. “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Romans 7:19).

The first step towards change is admitting the issue. While it sounds simple enough, we recognize our humanity. We blame; we avoid; we ignore; we justify; we put off the inevitable. Whining about what we wish to change is futile. Ignoring what we are afraid to change leaves us powerless.

We cannot change what we will not confront. Often, calling the issue for what it is – putting a name to it – brings it out of the darkness into the light of Jesus’ love, and it breaks the power of it to harm. Satan does his best work under cover of night. When we bring our situations boldly to the throne of grace, Satan’s lies drop powerless in the presence of God’s absolute truth.

Once we confront, change requires commitment, a walking it out by faith. First Corinthians 3:9 refers to us as co-laborers with Christ. He does not leave us to confront and change on our own. When we come to the end of our puny self-discipline, His strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He supernaturally accomplishes what we are helpless to address in our own strength. With Paul the apostle, we can then proclaim: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

That conflict in which you are engaged? That secret sin with which you struggle? That situation from which you cannot escape? In the power of Christ, confront it today. Call it by name. Bring it into the light. Rise up like a warrior intent on victory. Do not let the fear of change diminish the plans God has for you. He alone gives power to overcome.

Today’s Blessing: 

Heavenly Father, I confess my need to You. With Your help, I call out what I have not been able to confront. Break the power of it in my life. Set me free. Walk me through the battle, step by step, until I emerge victorious. All glory belongs to You in the name of Jesus! Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Numbers 10:1-11:23

New Testament 

Mark 14:1-21

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 51:1-19

Proverbs 10:31-32

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Living in Confidence

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It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man…. For the Lord will be your confidence…. In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence.
Psalm 118:8; Proverbs 3:26; 14:26

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 118:5-9

A psychologist in Melbourne, Australia, told ABC Everyday that “keeping promises ‘is an incredibly important aspect’ of maintaining a healthy and secure relationship—and ‘that applies to all forms of relationships whether it be romantic, intimate, professional, or parental.’” Broken promises “can lead to trust rupturing, which can very quickly fracture a relationship.”[1]

If you’re suffering the pain of ruptured trust, here’s a comforting fact: God keeps His promises to His people! Even when we don’t know how He can do it, we can trust Him because of the fidelity of His nature. He Himself is our confidence. He “is not slack concerning His promise” (2 Peter 3:9).

Remember, it’s important to read the Bible carefully, taking every promise in its context. We shouldn’t twist God’s words to mean whatever we want. But when we have accurately understood one of His promises, we can stand on it and rejoice with confidence!

God does not change, nor do the glories of His person and the salvation He engineered for us. God’s promises are as dependable as He is.
Sheila Walsh

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – The Value of Your Life

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It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command. 

—Hebrews 11:23

Scripture:

Hebrews 11:23 

All parents think their children are beautiful, but Moses was extraordinarily so. The Bible tells us that his parents “saw that God had given them an unusual child” (Hebrews 11:23 NLT). Or, as the New King James Version translates it, “He was a beautiful child.”

Apparently, Moses was exceptional in the way he looked. However, in the original language, the word translated “beautiful” also implies that he was cheerful. And when Stephen addressed the Sanhedrin, he said that Moses was “a beautiful child in God’s eyes” (Acts 7:20 NLT). In other words, God had a special purpose for his life.

So, not only was this child beautiful, but he had a purpose. God singled out Moses. And in the same way, God has a purpose for you, a special plan that is unique to you.

God called Jeremiah to be a prophet before Jeremiah was born. He said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 NLT).

That’s why it is such a tragedy in our world that so many lives of unborn children, living souls made in the image of God, have been taken. Among those millions there may have been someone to change our world, someone to make a significant impact on our culture.

The psalmist David wrote, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16 NLT).

Have you ever stopped and wondered why God has preserved you up to this point? Maybe you have had a close brush with death or an illness that you weren’t supposed to survive. Yet here you are right now. Just as God had a plan for Moses, God has a plan for you.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Never Too Far

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Bible in a Year:

When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

Luke 22:32

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Luke 22:31–34, 54–62

Raj had trusted Jesus as Savior in his youth, but soon afterward, he drifted from the faith and led a life apart from God. Then one day, he made the decision to renew his relationship with Jesus and go back to church—only to be scolded by a woman who berated him for being absent for all these years. The scolding added to Raj’s sense of shame and guilt for his years of drifting. Am I beyond hope? he wondered. Then he recalled how Christ had restored Simon Peter (John 21:15–17) even though he’d denied Him (Luke 22:34, 60–61).

Whatever scolding Peter might have expected, all he received was forgiveness and restoration. Jesus didn’t even mention Peter’s denial but instead gave him a chance to reaffirm his love for Christ and take care of His followers (John 21:15–17). Jesus’ words before Peter disowned Him were being fulfilled: “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). 

Raj asked God for that same forgiveness and restoration, and today he’s not only walking closely with Jesus but serving in a church and supporting other believers as well. No matter how far we’ve strayed from God, He’s always ready not only to forgive us and welcome us back but also to restore us so we can love, serve, and glorify Him. We’re never too far from God: His loving arms are wide open.

By:  Leslie Koh

Reflect & Pray

What fears might you have about turning back to God? How can knowing His heart of forgiveness help you to return to Him?

Father, thank You for Your endless mercy and patience with me. Thank You that I can trust in Your everlasting love.

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Denying Yourself

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“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed” (Dan. 9:4).

God will not respond to self-righteous prayers.

In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable to people who were trusting in their own self-righteousness. He said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (vv. 10-14).

Apart from God’s mercy we cannot enter into God’s presence. The tax-gatherer knew that and pled for forgiveness. The Pharisee missed the point and went away without forgiveness.

Like the tax-gatherer, Daniel approached God with an attitude of confession and self-denial. He could have reminded God of his years of faithful service while in Babylon, but that didn’t enter his mind. He knew that in himself there was nothing to commend him to God. His only thought was for mercy for himself and his people, that God’s purposes could be realized through them.

As a Christian, you have the wonderful privilege of boldly entering into God’s presence “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). That privilege is rooted in God’s grace through Christ’s sacrifice and leaves no room for presumption or self-righteousness. Always guard your attitude in prayer so that you don’t unwittingly slip into a Pharisaic mentality.

Suggestions for Prayer

Memorize Psalm 117:1-118:1 and recite it often as a hymn of praise to the Lord.

For Further Study

Jesus had much to say about the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of His day. Read Matthew 23, noting His scathing denunciations of their hypocritical attitudes and practices.

From Drawing Near by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Deeper Level

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…Not My will, but [always] Yours be done.

— Luke 22:42 (AMPC)

Asking God for what we need and desire in the natural realm is definitely not wrong, but we should not major on those things. God’s Word says that He knows what we need before we ask Him (see Matthew 6:8), so all we need to do is simply ask and let Him know that we are trusting Him to take care of everything that concerns us.

After we ask God for our daily physical needs, we can focus the majority of our prayer time on talking to Him about our spiritual needs, such as spiritual maturity, developing and displaying the fruit of the Spirit, obedience, and walking in love, to name a few. We also have the privilege of praying for other people and being part of their victories.

God is inviting you to a deeper walk with Him and that means you want His will even more than you want your own.

Prayer of the Day: I thank You, Father, that You hear me every time I pray. Even though I have daily needs that I bring to You, help me to enter a deeper level of prayer. I pray that Your will would be done in my life and in the world around me, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Not Content to Covet

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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Exodus 20:17

The Ten Commandments do not go easy on us as they come to their close. Each of the four commands prior to the tenth deal primarily (though not exclusively) with our actions. This one takes a different approach, taking aim at our desires and our attitudes.

When God forbids coveting, He confronts us with a seemingly universal problem—the desire to have for ourselves what God has chosen to give to another. The object of our envy may take any number of forms—prestige, positions, and possessions, to name just a few. The apostle John knew how easily our hearts fall into coveting when he warned us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world … All that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-17).

In addition to understanding what and how easily we are tempted to covet, it’s important to acknowledge the ruinous effects coveting has on us. It spoils relationships and lies behind many of our disagreements; it is impossible to love someone while we covet something they have. It makes us selfish. And it causes us to fixate on material things.

All of these effects are touched on by one of Jesus’ warnings related to coveting. When a man approached Him with concerns about his inheritance, Jesus bypassed the question to get to the heart of the problem—and the warning is precisely what our covetous hearts need to hear: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). How easily we forget this very truth, believing instead that true and lasting joy would be ours if we could only have a little more money, a little more fame, a little more free time, or a little more of whatever else we see others enjoying and covet for ourselves.

So how do we combat this dangerous sin? If coveting is a disordering of our desires, then we must actively cultivate right desires. Through Bible reading and prayer, through worship and fellowship, we can increase our appetite for godly things, all the while purposefully shrinking our appetite for worldly things. These kinds of habits will lead us into lives of contentment, so that we can say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).

Do you long for your heart to be content? Do you want to guard against coveting? Then seek and find satisfaction in God alone. Next time you find you are sad for yourself rather than happy for another because they have a blessing that you do not, ask God to enable you to say to yourself, and to mean, “There is nothing on earth as great as knowing God. There is no earthly blessing that can endure to eternity. Therefore, I shall be satisfied in Him, and Him alone.”

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Philippians 4:8-13

Topics: Contentment Effects of Sin Jealousy

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org

Kids 4 Truth

Kids4Truth Clubs Daily Devotional – God Created Languages

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“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” ( Genesis 11:9)

Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone spoke the same language? Then we could all understand one another! Missionaries wouldn’t have to learn a foreign language when they left for the mission field, businessmen wouldn’t have to use interpreters when they had a business meeting overseas, and we could travel the world and be able to talk to anyone we wanted!

That may sound like a great plan to us, but God had even better plans. It was God Who created languages, and He did it for a purpose. For hundreds of years after God first created the world, everyone spoke the same language, and everyone could understand everyone else. The people became very wicked, though, and did what was right in their own eyes instead of loving and obeying God. To judge them, God sent a great flood to destroy the whole world. After God rescued Noah and his family from the flood, God gave them a command. They were supposed to multiply (grow the family) and spread out all over the world. In other words, they were supposed to scatter around and fill up the world with their children and grandchildren. Earth would be filled again with people who would know and worship the one true God.

Over the next years, Noah’s family did grow, but they did not move to different parts of the earth like God had commanded. In fact, instead of worshipping God the way He wanted them to worship Him (by obeying his commands, for example), they decided it would be a better idea to worship God by building a tower so high it would reach Him up in heaven. Have you ever heard of “The Tower of Babel”? The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Noah’s family started building this tower and a city of worship around it.

God was angry at their plans to worship Him however they pleased while disobeying His other commands. They had not scattered around and replenished (re-filled) the different parts of the world. They had not taught their children and grandchildren the right things about God and how He expected to be worshipped.

In the middle of this huge construction project, God brought judgment down on it. He decided to mix up the languages. Can you imagine? Maybe you are on a ladder, working on the tower. You ask your second cousin to pass the hammer and some nails over…and he acts confused. He is not joking, either. He really has no clue what you are saying! He tries to answer you, but his words sound really funny to you, and you don’t know what he means. Now, you have known this guy all your life! He is related to you! And suddenly neither of you can understand what the other is saying?

It did not take long for the people to realize something very different was happening, and that God must have been the One doing it. God confused the languages of the people to help them stop doing things their own way and to help them fulfill his command to go out and replenish all the world. As people walked aimlessly around, trying to find someone who could understand them, they naturally divided into smaller groups according to language. These groups gradually split off from the others and moved to different parts of the world. They finally scattered and became the different nations of people we have today.

Wow! Did you know that God had such a specific purpose in creating languages? God has a purpose for everything He does, even in confusing a bunch of disobedient people thousands of years ago. A God Who can create languages is a powerful God! God’s plans are always designed to work things out for His glory and for His people’s best good. If only we would follow His plans instead of doing things our own way!

God is the sovereign Creator, and He can carry out what He wants done, even if people try to do the opposite.

My Response: » Am I disobeying what God has shown me He wants me to do? » Am I tempted to honor God my own way rather than how He wants to be honored? » Do I need to do a better job remembering that God has a specific purpose in everything He does?

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John Hagee

Hagee Ministries; John Hagee –  Daily Devotion

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Judges 6:12 & 16

…Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.’

In the time of Gideon, the Midianites had terrorized the Israelites for seven years. They raided the country, destroyed the crops, and stole their livestock. Their land was ravaged, and the Israelites were impoverished, forced to live in caves and mountains.

When God introduces us to Gideon in Judges 6, he is threshing wheat in a winepress. Usually, an Israelite threshed wheat in a wide, open space, but Gideon was lying low, hiding out from the Midianites in a pit dug into the ground.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and announced, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon must have looked over both of his shoulders, tapped himself on the chest, and asked, “You talkin’ ta me?” He did not hesitate to voice his doubts aloud.

How could this be true? If God was with them, why were these things happening? Where were the miracles they had heard about from their fathers? He was certain that God had deserted them. He blatantly declared that he was the weakest, least likely person to deliver Israel. He was not convinced. His eyes were closed to the possibilities. His faith in God wavered after so much suffering.

Perhaps you find yourself in a situation like Gideon. The enemy has attacked relentlessly, assaulted your health, waged war against your marriage, or even carried off your children. Your faith is eroded. Lying low, you long for deliverance.

When we met him, Gideon was not a warrior. He was a wimp and a whiner. God, however, looked beyond the pit and saw the potential. He had handwritten Gideon’s destiny with victory. When God opened his eyes, Gideon recognized the truth: God plus you make a majority. When God pressed a torch in one hand and a trumpet in the other, Gideon discovered that God equips you with the weapons needed for battle.

Whatever your situation, know this: God drafted a plan for your life before you drew your first breath. He lovingly wove in valor and victory. He created you with purpose and talents for your particular battles. Look up, mighty man and woman of valor! Climb out of the pit. Put on all the promise, potential and power of the plan God designed specially for you. He will provide the weapons of your warfare and send allies to fight beside you. God is with you, and His plan never fails.

Today’s Blessing: 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the beautiful plan You drew up for my life. Open my eyes to see Your purposes. Equip me to walk in them. I surrender to Your will for me. Remind me that I never stand alone or undefended because You are with me. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Today’s Bible Reading: 

Old Testament

Numbers 8:1-9:23

New Testament 

Mark 13:14-37

Psalms & Proverbs

Psalm 50:1-23

Proverbs 10:29-30

https://www.jhm.org

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah Trench Art

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He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

 Recommended Reading: Isaiah 61:1-3

During World War I, peasants would sometimes inspect recent battlefields, looking for shell casings, spent bullets, and bomb fragments. They would assemble them into items for their home. One woman in Washington state has a large collection of these decorative and practical items. Her curio cabinet displays items like salt and pepper shakers, candlesticks, and vases made from leftover fragments of war.[1]

For most of us, our life contains broken pieces. Life is a battlefield. Paul told Timothy to “wage the good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18). None of us escape without incurring some wounds. But God can use these to bring glory to Himself. He takes the fragments of pain, the scraps of sadness, the chunks of disappointment. In His hands, these can become the means by which we learn to trust Him and to comfort others.

Give the broken pieces of your life to the Lord, and let Him create some trench art. He does all things well, and He makes everything beautiful in His time.

Even though you might look at parts of your life as ugly or shameful, God can make all things work together for your good and His glory…The God of hope is making all things beautiful in His time.
Karen Whiting

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https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Choose to Let God In

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 Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 

—Deuteronomy 30:19

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:19 

Things happen in life that are bad, and they always will be bad. There are things that never should have happened, but they did. But despite the bad, God can still bring good.

The Bible promises, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).

Yet this is often misunderstood. We mistakenly think it means that God will take every bad thing and turn it into a good thing.

What is God’s endgame, then? We find the answer to that question in the next verse: “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (verse 29 NLT).

God knew us before we knew Him. And He chose us to become like His Son. This is our hope. Now, the devil doesn’t want this to happen. In fact, he wants us to abandon hope.

But Jesus wants us to abandon hopelessness; we can have hope as His followers. He said, “The thief’s [devil’s] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).

We have a choice: we can either listen to the devil or listen to Jesus.

Don’t listen to the devil, because he is a liar and the father of lies (see John 8:44). He will whisper in your ear and say, “Your life is not worth living, and your family and friends would be better off without you.” Those are lies.

Your life is a gift from God, and it is worth living. And you are loved more than you realize.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — All Alone?

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Bible in a Year:

God heard the boy crying.

Genesis 21:17

Today’s Scripture & Insight:

Genesis 21:9–19

Sue’s family was falling apart before her eyes. Her husband had suddenly left the home, and she and her children were confused and angry. She asked him to go for marriage counseling with her, but he wouldn’t because he claimed the problems were hers. Panic and hopelessness set in when she realized he might never come back. Would she be able to care for herself and her children alone?

Hagar, a servant of Abraham and Sarah, faced those thoughts as well. Impatient for God to give them a son as promised (Genesis 12, 15), Sarah gave Hagar to her husband, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (16:1–4, 15). However, when God fulfilled His promise and Sarah gave birth to Isaac, family tensions erupted such that Abraham sent Hagar away with their son Ishmael with just some water and food (21:–21). Can you imagine her desperation? Soon they ran out of provisions in the desert. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to see her son die, Hagar put Ishmael under a bush and walked a distance away. They both began to sob. But “God heard the boy crying” (v. 17). He heard their cries, provided for their needs, and was with them.

Times of desperation when we feel all alone cause us to cry out to God. What a comfort to know that during those moments and throughout our lives, He hears us, provides for us, and stays near to us.

By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

How has God provided for you when you’ve felt alone? How have you responded to Him?

I’m grateful, God, that I never really walk alone. Help me in my desperation

http://www.odb.org

John MacArthur

Grace to You; John MacArthur – Cleansing Our Hands and Hearts

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“Cleanse your hands . . . and purify your hearts” (James 4:8).

Clean hands and a pure heart will always characterize the humble.

Hands represent our behavior, the pattern of our outward actions. Scripture uses that symbol when it encourages people to abandon their sinful behavior: “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of bloodshed” (Isa. 1:15).

Today’s verse uses “hands” in reference to the Jewish ceremonial requirements. The priests were required to wash their hands before they entered the presence of God in the tabernacle and temple (Ex. 30:19-21). Therefore, a call to have clean hands was not just a strange figure of speech for James’s audience. As Jews, they would know that a person needed to go through a cleansing process and have a clean life if he wanted to be close to the Lord.

This cleansing process, however, includes more than correcting the outward behavior and lifestyle represented by the hands. The inward dimension of the heart must also be involved, which is why James 4:8 says, “Purify your hearts.” The heart is what’s inside a person—his thoughts, motives, and desires—the essence of his being. The apostle James is telling anyone who would be genuinely humble and want to be right with God that he must deal with his real self, the heart that is so corrupted and deceived by sin. The humble sinner will hear and obey words such as Ezekiel’s: “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezek. 18:31).

Clean hands and a pure heart are essential traits for anyone who would be counted among the humble. If you have not submitted yourself to God, you won’t have these traits, and you need to heed James’s commands. If you are one of the humble, you will want to maintain a close relationship with the Lord. For you, therefore, it is crucial to remember what the apostle John promises in 1 John 1:9—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that all your thoughts and actions today would be pure and pleasing to the Lord.

For Further Study

Read Isaiah 55.

  • What does it say about the transformed heart and life?
  • Commit verses 6-7 to memory.

From Strength for Today by John MacArthur

http://www.gty.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Goal of a Healthy Soul

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Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

— 3 John 2 (NKJV)

Most women I know set and meet goals each day, such as “Buy the groceries. Do the laundry. Take the kids to school. Pick up Mom’s prescription. Get Mary’s birthday present.” We also set goals for each week and each year, such as getting to church every Sunday or going on a summer vacation. But how many women have this goal: “Work on getting my soul healthy”? It’s one of the most important of all.

A healthy soul is a soul at peace and at rest. It isn’t upset, worried, angry, ashamed, or fearful. It is strong and steady, full of love, joy, hope, compassion toward others, and confidence in God. It can handle the ups and downs of life appropriately and go through everyday life with ease.

As you read the description of a healthy soul, you may think, Oh, that sounds so nice! I would love that, but I just don’t think it’s possible because I am dealing with [fill in the blank]. When you fill in the blank, you may say “aging parents,” or “difficult teenagers,” or “a serious health condition,” or “job loss,” or “an abusive relationship,” or “losing my friends,” or “problems in my marriage,” or “financial trouble,” or “unreasonable stress at work.”

There are all kinds of situations that will cause you to think you really cannot have a healthy soul. They may mean you have to work hard to improve the health of your soul, but they don’t prohibit it. Actually, the fact that you are going through these things is not a hindrance to a healthy soul; it’s the reason you need one! The healthier your soul is, the stronger you will be and the better you will be able to handle your most challenging circumstances.

Just like you, I am no stranger to stress, but I have learned that things that upset us will happen. We don’t have control over that, but because God has given us the fruit of self-control (see Gal. 5:22–23) and because we can ask Him to help us, we do have control over the way we respond to them. I can guarantee you, based on personal experience, that it’s much better to face challenges with a healthy soul than with a weak or wounded one.

A healthy soul is a worthy goal for all of us. I understand that in many ways it’s easier to get the groceries or drop off the kids at school than to work on becoming healthy in your mind, will, and emotions. I also know it’s one of the best things you will ever do for yourself, and that God will help you do it. It may seem difficult to you, but all things are possible with Him!

Prayer of the Day: Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus and ask You to impress on my, the importance of healing my soul. Help me to do the work needed on myself, so that I can be all that You would have me be, amen.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Alistair Begg

Truth for Life; Alistair Begg – Tell the Truth

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You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16

Every command of Scripture serves not only as an instruction for our lives but also as a reflection of who God is. The command against adultery is rooted in His faithfulness. The forbidding of murder flows from the life-giving Lord. So it is with the ninth commandment against bearing false witness, which comes from the promise-keeping God of all truth, who does not and cannot lie (Numbers 23:19).

What does the Lord have in view when He instructs us not to bear false witness? It is surely safe to assume that this commandment concerns any form of speech that is less than truthful. There are many ways we fall short. We do it by outright deceit, when we provide false information or withhold the truth in some way. We do it when we participate in rumors, spreading gossip about others. We do it by slandering and flattering others. We do it when we exaggerate the truth, give false impressions, and are careless with the facts. All of this falls short of the divine standard.

A vital component of fighting against the temptation to lie is to understand why we lie in the first place. The source of lies is none other than Satan himself, about whom Jesus says, “When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Deceit was his strategy in the Garden of Eden, when he approached Eve with a lying tongue. Tragically, we are often driven by the same motives as the Evil One when we lie: pride, hatred, and fear. We lie out of pride when we want others to think highly of us. We deceive out of hatred because we want to tear down someone else. We speak untruth out of a fear of the consequences that we think would result from the truth being known. In all of this, we lie because in those moments we love ourselves more than we love God and our neighbors.

The reality is that God hates deception (Proverbs 6:16-19). In order for us to walk in the truth, we must crucify our pride and be more concerned with what God thinks of us than with what someone else thinks of us. We must put away malice and pursue love for others, committing to never speaking slanderously or spreading gossip. And we must fight an ungodly fear of man, replacing it with the fear of God, who came in flesh and declared Himself to be “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The Lord Jesus has given His people His Spirit of truth (John 15:26), who empowers us to walk in the truth and put away falsehood. Only by His power are we increasingly conformed into the image of Christ and ever more reflecting the character of the God who gave the ninth commandment. Consider now in which situations and in what ways you are most often tempted to bear false witness. How will the truth about Jesus, His saving gospel, and His indwelling Spirit motivate you to speak differently from now on—to speak the truth, as a follower of the truth?

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Proverbs 6:16-19

Topics: Lying Satan Truth

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, 

http://www.truthforlife.org