Tag Archives: Prayer

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Will you soon make payments with your face?

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Face-detecting systems in China now authorize payments, provide access to facilities, and track down criminals. According to the current MIT Technology Review, this technology may soon spread to other countries around the world.

Speaking of new technology, the Drone Racing League World Championships are on television this week. Last year, more than thirty million people from forty countries watched. Venture capitalists have invested $20 million in the sport this month.

Meanwhile, Amazon is on track to become America’s largest clothing retailer. It is planning a program called “Prime Wardrobe” that lets you try on clothes before you buy them. The company is already expanding its grocery delivery business and recently agreed to acquire Whole Foods.

If you remember when you needed money to buy things, drones didn’t exist, and Amazon was just an online bookstore, you’re as old as I am. But the world is changing faster than ever, and we can wax nostalgic or we can embrace the opportunities of this new day.

Scripture repeatedly calls us to “sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalm 96:1; 98:1; Isaiah 42:10). God can help: David testified that “he put a new song in my mouth” (Psalm 40:3). In heaven, the four living creatures and twenty-four elders “sang a new song” (Revelation 5:9).

Innovation has always been part of God’s plan for his people. In The Saint vs. the Scholar, Jon M. Sweeney makes this point in a perceptive way.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Keys to Success

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1 Thessalonians 5:24

Have you ever felt discouraged about trying to live the Christian life? If your efforts to make a difference in the world seem fruitless, following the Lord’s example could change your outlook.

Christ served others in love, and His actions had tremendous impact in the world. How was He so effective? Scripture tells us that Jesus did not speak or act on His own initiative but instead depended upon His Father abiding in Him to do the work (John 14:10). And we are to do likewise.

Yet we often attempt to serve out of our own skills, intelligence, and ability to reason. Even though we may pour great effort and long hours into ministry, these alone won’t produce fruitfulness. It’s far more important to minister as the Lord intended.

True service is commissioned, empowered, and blessed by God alone. It may be our hands that are laboring, but our Father is the One at work. And the glory belongs to Him, not us.

What comfort this should give us! The Lord is not looking just for people who are extremely talented. He will use all who are willing to let His Spirit work through them. And we can be confident that He will provide everything we need in order to do whatever He asks.

Who among us can serve the living God? Truthfully, no one can. Genuine service occurs only when we allow the Almighty to pour Himself through us; we are mere vessels. Even if the impact is not obvious to us, we know that God always achieves His purpose—and what’s more, He is glorified.

Bible in One Year: Psalm 55-59

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Sharing a Cup of Comfort

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Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3–11

Bible in a Year: Esther 3–5; Acts 5:22–42

Our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.—2 Corinthians 1:7

A friend mailed me some of her homemade pottery. Upon opening the box, I discovered the precious items had been damaged during their journey. One of the cups had shattered into a few large pieces, a jumble of shards, and clumps of clay dust. After my husband glued the broken mess back together, I displayed the beautifully blemished cup on a shelf.

Like that pieced-together pottery, I have scars that prove I can still stand strong after the difficult times God’s brought me through. That cup of comfort reminds me that sharing how the Lord has worked in and through my life can help others during their times of suffering.

The apostle Paul praises God because He is the “Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). The Lord uses our trials and sufferings to make us more like Him. His comfort in our troubles equips us to encourage others as we share what He did for us during our time of need (v. 4).

As we reflect on Christ’s suffering, we can be inspired to persevere in the midst of our own pain, trusting that God uses our experiences to strengthen us and others toward patient endurance (vv. 5-7). Like Paul, we can be comforted in knowing that the Lord redeems our trials for His glory. We can share His cups of comfort and bring reassuring hope to the hurting. —Xochitl Dixon

Lord, thank You for using us to provide comfort, encouragement, and hope to others who are suffering. We praise You for all You’ve done, are doing, and will continue to do to comfort us through our own afflictions.

God comforts others as we share how He comforted us.

INSIGHT: The Greek word for comfort (paraklesis) means “to come alongside and help.” Jesus is called our parakletos (advocate) in 1 John 2:1. The Holy Spirit is another advocate or comforter (John 14:16). Paul asserts that God is “the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). The triune Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is there with us in our pain. By saying God is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 2-3), Paul thereby reminds us that coming alongside to help each other is a family duty and privilege (v. 4).To whom can you be a parakletos—a comforter—this coming week? Sim Kay Tee

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Enabling Love

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At the very first “show and tell” of my kindergarten career, I was faced with a moment of decision. Seated in a circle, one by one we offered our classmates our name and our favorite color. Within moments, it was clear there was an unwritten rule emerging around that circle. Without exception, all of the girls were declaring unanimously that “pink” and/or “purple” was their favorite. I was new to the idea of classmates and wanted these people beside me to be my friends. But I didn’t like either of these colors. Getting more and more anxious with each passing declaration, I decided to tell the truth. “Orange and green,” I avowed incompatibly only to be met with giggles from boys and girls alike. Somehow the embarrassing spectacle only sealed my affection for the obviously unloved, underdog colors.

So when I found the pitiable orange plastic day lilies in the tiny green velvet flowerpot that summer, I knew I had to buy them. My five-year-old eyes saw the beauty in the rejected knickknack, lost on a table full of junk, bearing a tag marked twenty-five cents at a garage sale. When I got them home, I dusted off the hard plastic petals, proudly wrapped a ribbon around the pot, and presented the find triumphantly as a gift to my dad.

Twenty years later, cleaning out the belongings of my father after he had passed away, I found the unsightly plastic flora still perched upon his desk. Looking at the tacky flowers, covered again with dust, still bearing the small ribbon, I recalled the joy of finding the orange treasure, the excitement in handing over twenty-five cents to claim it as my own, and the hard decision I made to give it away. Brushing my fingers over the green velvet pot, I recalled the pleased expression on my dad’s face as he placed it on his desk and told me he would keep it there always. And then I remembered a detail in adulthood that the eyes of the child overlooked: The quarter that purchased these flowers was his own.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Keep Your Peace

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And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].—Colossians 3:15

When you do feel you need to say no, you don’t have to give a reason why. So often people want us to justify our decisions, and we really don’t need to do that. I try to be led by God’s Spirit—or another way of saying it is I try to be led by my heart—and sometimes I don’t even fully understand why I don’t feel something isn’t right for me.

But I have learned if I do feel that way, I am not going to go against my own conscience in order to have everyone be happy with me. I often say, “I just don’t have peace about it,” or “I don’t feel right about it,” or even a plain old “I don’t want to” is sufficient.

There is nothing wrong with giving a reason if you have one, but I think we go overboard trying to explain ourselves sometimes. Follow your heart and keep your peace. Say no when you need to and yes when you should.

Lord, make me more sensitive to the peace that comes when You are ruling in my heart. May I be quick to follow Your peace and leading in everything I do. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – More Than We Could Hope For

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“Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (Ephesians 3:20).

Few verses describe the supernatural life better than does this powerful promise. On hundreds, if not thousands, of occasions I have meditated upon this truth and have been inspired to claim increasingly great and mighty things for the glory of God because of the inspiration contained in this Word. Think of it, the omnipotent Creator, God who created the heavens and the earth and the vastness of all the hundreds of millions of galaxies, has come to take up residence within us! Our bodies have become His temple. That omnipotnet, divine, supernatural, inexhaustible resource power dwells within every believer.

How much power? Far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of! Let your mind race, your prayers be without limit, and yet, whatever you believe, whatever you think, whatever you pray for, God’s power is infinitely beyond it all.

I have come to the conclusion, after many years of serving our wonderful Lord, that there is nothing too big for us to attempt for the glory of God. If our hearts and motives are pure, if what we do is according to the Word of God, He hears, and is able to do more than we ask or even think.

For example, is it God’s will that the Great Commission be fulfilled? Of course. It is His command. We read further in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and has, according to verse 15 of this chapter, delayed His return in order that more people might have a chance to hear.

Let your mind soar over the vastness of the earth, where there is a continuous population explosion, and each generation is faced with another billion or more souls to pray for. I challenge you to believe God for the entire world to be blanketed with His love and forgiveness.

I am presently praying for a billion souls to come to Christ before A.D. 2000, and on the basis of what we are now seeing, God is putting His plan together through many members of the Body of Christ cooperating under many umbrellas, including Here’s Life, World Changers, to see that prayer fulfilled.

Bible Reading: Ephesians 3:13-19

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I will let my mind soar and my prayers expand. I will ask the Holy Spirit to give me the faith to comprehend the magnitude of God’s purpose in my life and never be satisfied with anything less than the reality of this great promise, Ephesians 3:20, in my life.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God is Not Sometimes Sovereign

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This season in which you find yourself may puzzle you, but it does not bewilder God. He can and will use it for His purpose. God is not sometimes sovereign. He is not occasionally victorious. Jeremiah 30:24 reminds us, “The Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind.”

Case in point. Joseph in prison. From an earthly viewpoint the Egyptian jail was the tragic conclusion of Joseph’s life. The devil had Joseph just where he wanted him. But so did God. What Satan intended for evil, God used for testing. If you see your troubles as nothing more than isolated hassles and hurts, you’ll grow bitter and angry. If you see your troubles as tests used by God for His glory and your maturity—then even the smallest incidents take on significance!

From You’ll Get Through This

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Navy sailor gave his life to save his ‘kids’

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Gary Rehm was three months shy of retirement when he died on the USS Fitzgerald last Saturday. At thirty-seven, he was by far the oldest of the seven sailors who perished. According to his uncle, Rehm called the other sailors on the ship his “kids.” When the ship docked stateside near his Virginia home, he invited those who were far from home to join him on holidays.

When the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship, Rehm said, “If my kids die, I’m going to die.” By various accounts, he saved at least twenty of them. He then went down to save more and perished with six others.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The sailors saved by Gary Rehm will spend the rest of their lives knowing that someone loved them enough to give his life for them. Imagine the sense of personal worth and significance such knowledge would bring.

Actually, you can know the feeling personally: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Now we have a choice: we can assess ourselves by what we do or by what God has done.

We live in a culture that measures us by our performance. Commenting on the special election in Georgia, today’s Washington Post says of Republican Karen Handel, “She won, so she’s a winner.” You probably remember that the Cubs won last year’s World Series. Do you remember the team that lost?
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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Work Is a Ministry

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Ephesians 6:5-8

Christians sometimes make the mistake of mentally separating their work life from their spiritual life. This mindset says, “Sunday is the Lord’s day, but the rest of the week belongs to me.” That is an unbiblical way to live. God’s Holy Spirit should be involved in everything we do, and we ought to recognize Him as our guide, comforter, and intercessor no matter where we are. Why would we want to exclude Him from something that takes up a large part of our week?

The apostle Paul clearly teaches that work is to be done as for the Lord (Col. 3:23). Other people may do a job better because of greater skill or experience, but believers should be known for doing quality work in a timely, wise, and respectful manner. And we can trust the Holy Spirit to equip us to do just that.

Serving the Lord on the job means that our workplace is also our ministry site. A job provides money to support the family, but when done faithfully, it becomes far more than simply a means to make a living. One’s work also develops character, builds a sense of self-worth, and develops skills. Moreover, while we are around coworkers for a number of hours each day, we have opportunity to build relationships, bear testimony, and glorify our heavenly Father.

Work shouldn’t be seen as drudgery; it is an opportunity to show love for the Lord. The reward for those who serve God and love others on the job is greater than a paycheck. They are blessed with a ministry—a harvest field for the kingdom, right inside the factory, office building, or construction site.

Bible in One Year: Psalm 50-54

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Reason to Smile

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Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:9–28

Bible in a Year: Esther 1–2; Acts 5:1–21

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.—1 Thessalonians 5:11

In the workplace, words of encouragement matter. How employees talk to one another has a bearing on customer satisfaction, company profits, and co-worker appreciation. Studies show that members of the most effective work groups give one another six times more affirmation than disapproval, disagreement, or sarcasm. Least productive teams tend to use almost three negative comments for every helpful word.

Paul learned by experience about the value of words in shaping relationships and outcomes. Before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, his words and actions terrorized followers of Jesus. But by the time he wrote his letter to the Thessalonians, he had become a great encourager because of God’s work in his heart. Now by his own example he urged his readers to cheer one another on. While being careful to avoid flattery, he showed how to affirm others and reflect the Spirit of Christ.

In the process, Paul reminded his readers where encouragement comes from. He saw that entrusting ourselves to God, who loved us enough to die for us, gives us reason to comfort, forgive, inspire, and lovingly challenge one another (1 Thess. 5:10-11).

Paul shows us that encouraging one another is a way of helping one another get a taste of the patience and goodness of God. —Mart DeHaan

Father in heaven, please help us to give others a small taste of the mercy and kindness You are forever offering us.

What could be better than working to bring out the best in one another?

 

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – A Different Category

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The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is a familiar story for many. In fact, some of us are so familiar with it that we might even fail to see the rich contours of grace presented in its narrative. Familiarity with the story assumes its central figure to be a son who leads a wasteful and extravagant life. But a careful reading presents the multi-faceted contours of God’s extravagant display of grace towards all wayward sons and daughters.

Jesus presents this story as a crowd of tax-collectors, sinners, and religious leaders gathers around him. “A certain man had two sons,” Jesus begins. The younger of the man’s two sons insists on having his share of the inheritance, which the father grants though the request violated the Jewish custom that allotted upon the death of the father a third of the inheritance to the youngest son.(1) With wasteful extravagance, the son squanders this inheritance and finds himself desperately poor, living among pigs, ravenous for the pods on which they feed. “But when he came to his senses” the text tells us, he reasons that even his father’s hired men have plenty to eat. Hoping to be accepted as a mere slave, he makes his way home. “And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him” (Luke 15:20).

This statement reveals the first contour of God’s grace—it is a prodigal, or wastefully extravagant, grace. The prodigal nature of the father’s grace compels him to keep looking for his son—he saw him while he was still a long way off. And despite being disowned by his son, the father feels compassion for him. With wasteful abandon, the father picks up his long garments, exposing his legs and customarily shaming himself, and runs to his son to embrace him and welcome him home. The father orders a grand party for this son who has been found, “who was dead and has begun to live,” brought to life by the rich, prodigal grace, both unexpected and undeserved.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Will Help You

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Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. . . . Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.—Isaiah 41:10-14 NKJV

When we start reading today’s Scripture, we might think, Wow. God must be talking to people who really have their act together, but the good news is that He is talking to ordinary people just like you and me. He helps us because He is good, not because we are. Fear comes against all of us, and God wants us to know that we don’t have to let the feelings of fear defeat us. We can keep moving forward in the presence of fear because He is with us.

If someone has hurt you or treated you unjustly, remember that God promises to deal with them and make them as nothing at all… nonexistent!! When we read that God will strengthen us that means He will enable us to do whatever we need to do today and everyday. God is with you, and that makes you equal to anything that comes against you. Because God is with you, that makes you greater than any problem you have.

Fear is not God’s will for you. He wants you to be bold, courageous, and confident, and you can be if you remind yourself often that you are not alone. God is with you!!

Love Yourself Today: Remember that God is with you at all times and you can do whatever you need to do.

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Not in Vain

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“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58, KJV).

“Do not let your belief of these truths be shaken,” the apostle Paul was saying to the Corinthian believers. “They are most certain, and of the utmost importance.”

In the context, you will remember that Paul had just been talking about the resurrection, and now he wanted them to be steadfast believers of this great truth. The person who has no belief in the afterlife – the resurrection – is of all men most miserable. His motto is: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

Paul also exhorts believers to be immovable in their expectation of being raised incorruptible and immortal. Christians should never lose sight of this hope of the gospel:

“The only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting Him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others” (Colossians 1:23).

Having determined to remain steadfast and unmovable for the rest of their lives, believers then are ready with God’s help to labor faithfully for the Lord, knowing that such labor is not in vain.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 15:51-57

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Drawing by faith upon the supernatural resources of the Holy Spirit, I will keep my expectation and my hope steadfast and unmovable, continuing my service for the Lord with the confident assurance that it will not be in vain.

 

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Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Actions Have Consequences

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Actions have consequences! In the Book of Genesis we read how Joseph placed his loyalty above lust when he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife. His primary concern was the preference of God when he said, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). The lesson we learn from Joseph is surprisingly simple: Do what pleases God.

Your co-workers want to include a trip to a gentleman’s club on the evening agenda. What do you do? Do what pleases God. Your date invites you to conclude the evening with drinks at his place. How should you reply? Do what pleases God. You don’t fix a struggling marriage with an affair, a drug problem with more drugs, debt with more debt. You don’t get out of a mess by making another one. You’ll never go wrong doing what is right. Just do what pleases God.

From You’ll Get Through This

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – ‘Democrats seek first big win of Trump era’

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That’s how CNN describes today’s special election in Georgia, which has become “the most expensive House race in history.” Today’s Washington Post has a headline story on the death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was released in a coma from North Korea a few days ago. And NBC News warns that “dangerously hot temperatures” are forecast for California and the desert Southwest today.

However, if you were reading the news on the other side of the world, the headlines would be very different. The Jerusalem Post reports on yesterday’s meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah in Paris. China Daily tells us about an anti-smog campaign in Beijing and other northern cities. And The Korea Times reports on a water shortage crisis in southern Korea.

The Greek philosopher Anaximander is credited with drawing the first map of the world. He lived in Miletus, on the western coast of modern-day Turkey. Unsurprisingly, Miletus was at the center of his map.

Wherever you are, you seem to be in the center of the world. What leads the news depends on where you’re reading the news. But God has a different perspective.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –The Testing of Our Commitment

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Hebrews 11:8-9

In situations when God is testing us, He will teach us new and deeper truths about Himself, His purposes, and His promises. Though we feel stretched in painful seasons, such difficulties are always designed to be beneficial.

From a human perspective, times of testing can be baffling because we don’t understand how anything good could result. Consider God’s command that Abraham sacrifice his long-awaited son Isaac. Abraham’s earthly viewpoint could have regarded this order as:

Unreasonable. “I cherish my son above all else. How could You ask this?”

Untimely. “Why now, Lord? My son is still young. He is the one through whom my descendants are to come.”

Unfair. “It’s not right that You ask this. Haven’t I left home to follow You?”

Unbearable. “This is too hard for me. I cannot take this pain.”

Abraham rejected that kind of thinking. Instead, he trusted God. The trial revealed Abraham’s unshakable commitment to the Lord’s plan.

Knowing which circumstances will help us grow, our Father asks us to exercise faith and choose His way. Recalling His unending love and wholehearted commitment to His children will help us do this. Be assured that God makes no mistakes in His dealings with us.

Imagine Abraham’s joy when the Lord provided a ram as a sacrifice in Isaac’s place. We will receive the same reward of spiritual joy when we remain steadfast. Won’t you respond to times of testing as Abraham did—by trusting and obeying God?

Bible in One Year: Psalm 44-49

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Driven by God

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Read: 1 Kings 8:54–63

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 12–13; Acts 4:23–37

May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him.—1 Kings 8:58

A few months ago I received an email inviting me to join a community of “driven people.” I decided to look up the word driven, and I learned that a driven person is someone highly motivated to succeed and who will work hard to achieve his goals.

Is it good to be a driven person? There is a test that never fails: “Do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Many times we do things for self-glory. After the flood in Noah’s day, a group of people decided to build a tower in order to “make a name” for themselves (Gen. 11:4). They wanted to be famous and avoid being scattered all over the world. Because they were not doing it for God’s glory, though, they were erroneously driven.

In contrast, when King Solomon dedicated the ark of the covenant and the newly constructed temple, he said, “I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:20). Then he prayed, “May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands” (v. 58).

When our greatest desire is to bring glory to God and walk in obedience, we become driven people who seek to love and serve Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Let our prayer echo Solomon’s. May our “hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands” (v. 61). —Keila Ochoa

Father, give me the desire to obey You and do everything for Your glory.

Do everything for the glory of God.

INSIGHT: As you work hard to achieve your goals, ask God to give you a humble and obedient heart that is fully committed to Him.

 

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Foundations of Disbelief

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Reading an online newspaper the other day, I ended up, as I often do, on the religion pages. My attention was first caught by a long list of various world religions, followed by the descriptions of the beliefs and key practices of each one. Interestingly, I thought, atheism was among the many religions listed. And yet in describing the main beliefs of atheists, the first sentence declared: “Atheism is not a belief.” Can a belief-system accurately be defined as the absence of belief? Its very inclusion as a belief-system among alternative belief-systems seemed to negate its first belief.

Though atheism contends disbelief in God, it is rightfully placed among the many belief-systems that inform life itself. As the atheistic worldview offers certain perspectives about the world, like Christianity or Hinduism, it requires certain faith assumptions: that the world exists in ordered, knowable nature, that our senses and intellect are reliable in discovering truth, that there is a uniformity to nature extending from past to future. At the foundation of every worldview, a number of interconnected beliefs are held in faith. The question then becomes, which faith provides the most coherent foundation for understanding the world?

Some insist the atheist’s insistence of reason as the foundation for non-belief creates a tension of incoherence within the belief itself. “Reasons require that this universe be a reasonable one that presupposes there is order, logic, design, and truth. But order, logic, design, and truth can only exist and be known if there is an unchangeable objective source and standard of such things….Like all non-theistic worldviews, Darwinism borrows from the theistic worldview in order to make its own view intelligible.”(1) In other words, the very foundation of atheistic faith allows for an unstable structure of interpretation.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Choose to Surrender

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For those whom He foreknew . . . He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of his Son . . . —Romans 8:29

According to the verse for today, one of God’s goals in our lives is to make us become like Jesus. He wants us to continue to become more like Jesus in our thoughts, in our words, in the way we treat other people, in our personal lives, and in our actions. Becoming like Jesus does not happen overnight; it’s a process we have to choose to embrace.

Romans 12:1 says I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication… This means we have to make a deliberate decision to give ourselves to God. God has given us a free will, and the only way we will ever belong to Him completely is to give ourselves freely to Him. He will never force us to love Him or serve Him. He will speak to us, lead us, guide us, and prompt us, but He will always leave the decision to surrender up to us.

God created human beings, not robots, and He will not try to program us to behave a certain way because He has given us the freedom to make our own choices—and He wants us to choose Him. He wants us to willingly put our lives before Him every day and say, “God, Your will be done, not mine.” That short, simple prayer is extremely powerful when we really mean it, and it represents the kind of full surrender God requires.

If God has been speaking to you or dealing with you about anything, I encourage you not to put off surrendering it any longer. Choose to obey His voice and surrender today. Ask Him to be your Strength and remember that through Him you can do all things.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – All Is Ours

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“So don’t be proud of following the wise men of this world. For God has already given you everything you need. He has given you Paul and Apollos and Peter as your helpers. He has given you the whole world to use, and life and even death are your servants. He has given you all of the present and all of the future. All are yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ is God’s (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).

A famous scholar and statesman called me aside to offer his counsel. “As the head of a great worldwide Christian student movement,” he said, “you should be more scholarly, more of a philosopher. Your approach is too simple. Your critics and even some of your friends feel that your writings and your speaking should be more profound as befits one of your stature and position.” He continued in this vein for some time. I heard him out, prayerfully asking God to give me the wisdom to respond.

When he finished I said to him, “There was a time when I wanted to impress people with my intellect, my learning. I spent many years in graduate school including two theological seminaries where I had the privilege of sitting at the feet of some of the most learned theologians of our time.”

I confessed to him that there was a period in my student life when I became intoxicated with learning and could have spent the rest of my life in the ivory tower. Then it occurred to me in a very definite, dramatic way that one of the reasons the Christian message was not better understood by every Christian and the reason the Christian church was making such little impact upon a worldly society was that many theologians, and consequently their students, pastors and missionaries, had complicated the good news of God’s love and forgiveness. I reminded my friend that Jesus, the greatest teacher of all, taught in such a way that the masses, largely illiterate and unlearned, heard Him gladly. I went on to explain that I had made a concerted effort all through my ministry to try to communicate clearly by eliminating big words and philosophical and theological jargon, the kind of “Christianese” that does not communicate except to those who are familiar with the usage.

This famous scholar seemed to understand for the first time the importance of following the example of our Lord and other great teachers through the centuries who sought to communicate clearly to the masses.

Bible Reading: I Corinthians 3:16-20

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Remembering that God has given me everything I need, I will look to Him to guide my steps and enable me to live the supernatural life. I will also keep the message simple as I communicate the good news of God’s love in Christ.

 

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