Tag Archives: religion

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Peter’s Impulsive Self-Confidence

1 Comment

“Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away’” (Matthew 26:33).

Prior to Jesus’ death, Peter’s trust in himself rather than God distorted his judgment concerning loyalty to Jesus.

Like a self-willed child, Peter often heard and believed only what he wanted to. He failed to grasp the Lord’s warning that his faith would be severely tested. At the Last Supper Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). But Peter was unfazed by these words. Instead, he boasted, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” (v. 33).

Christ in His divine wisdom knew that Peter’s claim would not hold true. Therefore, He went further and soberly predicted during the Supper that Peter would soon not only desert His Lord but also deny Him three times. Now in Matthew 26, following Peter’s latest outburst of overconfidence, Jesus is constrained to repeat His prediction. Amazingly, Peter did not believe the thrust of Jesus’ words. He would rather fool himself and believe that Jesus was mistaken about his faithfulness and loyalty.

Continue reading John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Peter’s Impulsive Self-Confidence →

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Faith Follows Jesus 

1 Comment

And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.   Luke 14:27

You follow Jesus because of His invitation and His worthiness. You follow Jesus because His way is the best way and because you are His disciples. You follow Jesus because there is none other who offers an abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven. You follow the Lord because He leads you toward His will. He is worth following because He can be trusted; He will never lead you astray. The Lord’s leadership is perfect, potent, and practical. Therefore, pursue Him as a faithful follower. Do not hold back one ounce of obedience and loyalty to your leader, Jesus Christ. Where He leads you, follow. Where He sends you, go. His path will be painful at times, but it is in your pain that He purifies. Follow Him and you will be forever grateful, for He does not disappoint.

Follow Him through your difficult days. Do not give in to the temptation to quit. Where else is there to go? This is the insightful question Peter posed out of frustration (John 6:68). It is in your adversity that you desire the Almighty. He is not occupied with a celestial distraction somewhere far away. He is still leading you through this valley of despair. Do not give up on Him, for He has not given up on you. He still lovingly leads even though your soul feels resistance. He will pull you through this present predicament. Use this time of challenge to strengthen your faith in Him.

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Faith Follows Jesus  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Spring Cleaning: Shake the Dust Off—Read Your Bible

Leave a comment

I am afflicted very much; revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.

Psalm 119:107

Recommended Reading

Proverbs 3:1-2

A distinguished professor at an evangelical seminary was invited to speak to an adult Sunday school class at a large, mainstream church. When he began his lesson, he noticed none of the class members had a Bible. He asked if there were any Bibles available that could be used during the class. An extensive search was made and finally, in a storage closet, a box of unused Bibles was discovered. Once this key tool for spiritual growth was distributed to the class, the professor proceeded to teach.

It has been said that a valid measure of a Christian’s spiritual growth is the amount of dust that has settled on his Bible. The Bible is considered food for the follower of Christ—the daily source of nourishment, counsel, inspiration, correction, and hope (2 Timothy 3:16). The Word of God can do what no other book can: penetrate deeply into our heart and soul and reveal our “thoughts and intents” (Hebrews 4:12). It can do that because it is “living and powerful,” empowered by the Spirit who inspired it (2 Peter 1:21).

Don’t let your Bible be hidden or dusty. Begin today to let God revive you according to His Word.

The Bible speaks to you in the very tone of God’s voice.

Charles Spurgeon

Read-Thru-the-Bible

2 Samuel 4 – 11

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Seek the Truth

Leave a comment

The sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.—Mark 4:14-15

If you hear or study the Word, the devil will immediately attempt to steal it from you. He does not want the Word to take root in your heart and begin to produce good fruit in your life. When you learn the truth, deception is uncovered and you are set free. Satan hates and fears the Word. He will do anything possible to prevent you from learning God’s Word.

The reason Satan works so hard to keep you from the Word is simple: He knows the Word of God is a powerful weapon against him. It assures his defeat! That is why it is imperative that you learn to wield the spiritual sword. Reading, hearing, believing, meditating on, and confessing the Word cancels Satan’s evil plan. Tonight, determine to make the Word of God a priority in your life.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Clothed in Christ

Leave a comment

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in Christ” (Galatians 3:27, NAS).

You may be surprised, as I was, at the result of our personal surveys having to do with church members and salvation.

Such surveys indicate that somewhere between 50 and 90% of all church members are not sure of their salvation. Like Martin Luther, John Wesley and many others who became mighty ambassadors for Christ, some spend many years “serving God” before they experience the assurance and reality of their salvation.

The pastor of a large fashionable church of 1,500 members once reacted negatively when I shared these statistics, doubting that such large percentages of church members lacked assurance of their salvation.

He decided personally to survey his own congregation at the church where he had served as senior pastor for 15 years. To his amazement and shock, more than 75% of the membership indicated they were not sure of their salvation.

Continue reading Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Clothed in Christ →

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – The Need to Respond

Leave a comment

Read: Leviticus 2

When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. Lev 2:1-2a

Now we come to the grain offering. Many versions call it the meal offering. In the King James Version it is called the meat offering because meat was the old English word for food, or meal. But there is no meat in it at all. In fact, this is the only one of the offerings that is bloodless. In all the others animals had to die but in this one no blood was shed.

It is obvious that the essence of this offering was that it was bread. It was food, the staff of life. This theme is the key to the grain offering. All through the Old Testament you find people offering meal offerings, often in the form of three loaves of bread. And in the tabernacle there was the showbread.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – The Need to Respond →

Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – In the Wilderness

Leave a comment

Read: Mark 1:2-4

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” (v. 3)

If Jesus’ arrival on earth is a new beginning, a new Genesis, then it makes sense that we begin in the wilderness. After humanity’s fall into sin, the wilderness became a symbol of brokenness. When God created the heavens and the earth, he began by having his Spirit hover over the primordial chaos when all was “formless and void” (Gen. 1:2). God imposed cosmos (order) on that chaos, but once sin came, chaos made a comeback. And nowhere in the Bible is this seen more clearly than in the desert wastes that often get described as being “formless and void.”

The wilderness is a reminder of all that is wrong with our world. So if God’s Christ is going to reestablish an ordered cosmos where life can flourish, then there is no better place to begin than the wilderness.

At one time or another we all find ourselves in situations where we feel trapped in some hot, dusty desert where the sun scorches and the demons howl. Death, unemployment, depression, loneliness: these are the deserts in which we find ourselves lost and wandering around. The good news, though, is that our God in Christ is still very good at entering the wilderness places to make a way for us that is straight and smooth once more. In fact, the wilderness may well be one of the more likely places where you will bump into Jesus even today.

Prayer:

When we are hot and lonely, O God, show us your face in the wilderness.

Author: Scott Hoezee

https://woh.org/

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Character vs. Charisma

Leave a comment

“The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”—Proverbs 11:3

The stand you make today will determine what kind of stand you will make tomorrow. Character is not some mystical thing that you have no say in. You decide what principles you will live by, what road you will take.

The Bible is filled with examples of those who had character. But it is also filled with examples of those who did not. This is one of the reasons we can believe the Bible: it tells the truth without “airbrushing” the flaws and inconsistencies of the people found in its pages.

When Oliver Cromwell had his portrait painted, he said to the artist, “Paint me, warts and all!” The Bible gives us our heroes, “warts and all.”

Character isn’t just about starting the race well, but finishing it well. But sadly, many run strong at first but then slow down, quit, or are disqualified. King Saul comes to mind as an example.

Continue reading Greg Laurie – Character vs. Charisma →

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Never Too Busy

Leave a comment

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.” (John 9:1)

Have you ever wanted to talk to people, and found they were just too busy? Megan experienced that this past Christmas. The whole family was planning to meet at Grandma’s house for the holiday. This was the one time of the year where every uncle, aunt, and cousin got together. Megan was especially excited about it, because her older cousin Audrey was going to be there.

Megan had always looked up to Audrey. Audrey was the oldest cousin, the coolest cousin, and also the first cousin to go to college. Even though Megan was only in 6th grade, she still could hardly wait to hear all about college life.

The day finally came when Megan’s family loaded up the car and headed to Grandma’s house. Megan’s family was the first to arrive. One by one, the other families came, until finally Audrey’s family came. Megan ran out the door and into the snow without even bothering to put on her coat. As she ran up, she saw someone in the car that she did not recognize. Audrey climbed out of the car and gave Megan a big hug. “Hey, Megan! How are you doing?” Audrey said. “I want you to meet a friend of mine; his name is Derrick.”

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Never Too Busy →

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Knowing Our Motives

1 Comment

Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7

“The Lord looks on the heart.”

Our motivation for commitment, discipline, and obedience is as important to God as our performance, perhaps even more so. As Ernest F. Kevan wrote, “The law’s demands are inward, touching motive and desire, and are not concerned solely with outward action.”

David said, “The Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9). The apostle Paul echoed the importance of motives when he wrote that, at the Lord’s coming, he “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

To be acceptable to God, our motives must spring from a love for him and a desire to glorify him. Obedience performed from a legalistic motive—from fear of consequences or to gain favor with God—is not pleasing to him. Abraham Booth (1734?806), an English pastor and author, wrote, “To constitute a work truly good, it must be done from a right principle, performed by a right rule, and intended for a right end.” Booth defined a right principle as our love for God. He defined the right rule as God’s revealed will in Scripture. The right end—the right goal—is the glory of God.

Our good works are not truly good unless they’re motivated by a love for God and a desire to glorify him. But we cannot have such a Godward motivation if we think we must earn God’s favor by our obedience or if we fear we may forfeit his favor by disobedience. Such a works-oriented motivation is essentially self-serving, prompted more by what we think we gain or lose than by a grateful response to the grace he has already given us through Jesus Christ.

https://www.navigators.org/Home

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Under God’s Gracious Hand

Leave a comment

Today’s Scripture: Ezra 7-8

In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. – 2 Chronicles 31:21

Have you ever looked at someone who was being used by God in a special way and wondered why the Lord seems to have His hand on that man or woman? Why is God using that person and not someone else? What is the secret of their spiritual success?

Ezra 7:9 says of Ezra, “The gracious hand of his God was upon him.” And the reason is found in the next verse: “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.”

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Under God’s Gracious Hand →

Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

Leave a comment

Read Romans 4:13-25

Like many people in the 1990s, Chris Robinson loved Beanie Babies. He thought the small plush toys would increase in value, and he began devoting all his spare time—and money—to amassing a collection. He figured eventually he could sell them to pay college tuition. But after spending over $100,000 on some 15,000 Beanie Babies, the market for the toys plummeted, leaving Robinson with a whole lot of stuffed animals and debt.

Trying to invest money can be a wise decision, but the investment must be trustworthy. The object of our trust is important: faith in a worthless cure or risky business or unreliable person will do us no good. This is even more true in our spiritual lives. Merely having faith will not save us. Our faith must be placed in Jesus Christ.

As our text today makes clear, the object of faith was always supposed o be God, the Giver of the Law, not the Law itself. Only God can keep His promises. Only God could fulfill His word to Abraham to make him a father of many nations (v. 18).

Continue reading Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God Has Time For You

Leave a comment

Mark 10:46-52

Time is a precious commodity in our fast-paced culture. Because of this, it is also a tremendously valuable gift that we can give to someone else.

The Lord was the ultimate model of balanced time management. He had critically important business to take care of and was certainly intentional about accomplishing His Father’s work (John 6:38); however, you won’t come across any Bible verse saying that He “ran to Bethany” or “rushed back to Galilee.” Wherever Jesus went, He was sensitive to people’s needs and always reached out in love to help them. He wasn’t so busy that He could not be interrupted.

Right before He went to the cross to accomplish the most important work of His life, Jesus stopped to help a poor blind beggar, who was a nobody in the eyes of society. Although the redemption of mankind was vitally important, the Savior cared enough about the suffering of one person to stop and do what He could to bring the man relief.

If the Lord allowed Himself to be interrupted on the way to the cross, will He not also stop and listen when we call out to Him in our distress? He is never too busy governing the universe to hear His beloved children cry to Him for help.

Continue reading Charles Stanley – God Has Time For You →

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Gallery of God

Leave a comment

Read: Psalm 100

Bible in a Year: Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49

The Lord is good and his love endures forever. —Psalm 100:5

Psalm 100 is like a work of art that helps us celebrate our unseen God. While the focus of our worship is beyond view, His people make Him known.

Imagine the artist with brush and palette working the colorful words of this psalm onto a canvas. What emerges before our eyes is a world—“all the earth”—shouting for joy to the Lord (v. 1). Joy. Because it is the delight of our God to redeem us from death. “For the joy that was set before Him,” Jesus endured the cross (Heb. 12:2 nkjv).

Continue reading Our Daily Bread — The Gallery of God →

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Slain and Standing

Leave a comment

When the reigning fifteenth century Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa broke his favorite Chinese tea bowl, the distraught military dictator sent the antique pieces of pottery back to China to be repaired. The bowl was returned to him, repaired using a technique commonly practiced at the time. Metal staples fused the pieces together in a manner that assured the beloved bowl’s function, but the bowl was never the same. In Yoshimasa’s mind, the object was broken first by the fracture and then again by the mending. Disappointed, he called Japanese craftsmen to come up with another way.

What was born was the art of kintsugi, which expresses the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi-sabi, embracing the flawed and imperfect, revealing beauty and strength in what has been broken. Kintsugi literally means golden connection or golden jointing. Broken pottery fragments are fused together using lacquer and gold. The end result is still repair in the deepest sense, but the breakage itself is not erased; in fact, it becomes all the more obvious. Rather than concealing the flaws, cracks are accentuated and highlighted. The repair remains the object of admiration, but the breakage is seen as a part of it, bestowing more value, emboldening strength, esteeming beauty.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Slain and Standing →

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Anticipating Jesus’ Death

Leave a comment

“‘After two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up for crucifixion’” (Matthew 26:2).

Jesus adhered perfectly to God’s timetable for His death, which was part of the Father’s larger plan of redemption.

The history of redemption most definitely centers on the cross of Jesus Christ. Hymn writer John Bowring expressed this fact well:

In the cross of Christ I glory,

Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time.

All the light of sacred story

Gathers round its head sublime.

Continue reading John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Anticipating Jesus’ Death →

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Unheard, But Heard by God 

Leave a comment

Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.  Job 6:26-27

We all want to be heard—for our ideas to be valued. But when we feel unheard, especially by friends—our heart can slump into an unhealthy posture of dejection. We ache. From time to time we all need correction, but not to the point of contempt—where it seems like every time we open our mouth, our antagonist attacks us. There was a season in my work where I felt totally unheard. My supervisor acted deaf. The intimidation and innuendos were painful to my heart and sickening to my soul. Eventually, we parted ways—sadly we never fully understood each other.

Job finds himself in a situation where he feels totally on the outside of a relationship that once throbbed with passion and possibilities. He tries to reason with an unreasonable person—Eliphaz—but, Job’s integrity is on the defensive. Like a swirling wind captures a feather, once Job’s words cross his lips, they are swept away and dismissed by a mind already made up. He tries to claw back with a straightforward and stingingly accurate civil discourse. Job learns: unfair accusations need to be addressed with a prayerful, direct response. Integrity hears—then speaks!

Continue reading Wisdom Hunters – Unheard, But Heard by God  →

Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Simple Math

Leave a comment

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

Matthew 12:35

Recommended Reading

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

You get what you put into it. It’s simple math. You can’t plant carrots and expect to harvest watermelon. You can’t fill your piggy bank with pennies and expect a hundred dollar bill to emerge. We may wish for results to magically appear, but the cause and effect principle remains.

Of course there are exceptions. When a child puts his newly pulled tooth under his pillow, a coin appears in its place, as long as his parents didn’t forget. The most important exception is Christ’s gift to us. We surrender our sin and failure to God, and He replaces it with the flawless righteousness of Christ. God’s commitment to us includes an eternal home and purpose for today. He delights in transforming us to bring forth good treasure. We become His lights, impacting and encouraging the people around us.

Continue reading Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Simple Math →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Quick to Forgive

Leave a comment

And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted…forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.—Ephesians 4:32

The Bible teaches us to forgive “readily and freely.” That is God’s standard for us, no matter how we feel about it. We are to be quick to forgive.

According to 1 Peter 5:5, we can clothe ourselves with the character of Jesus Christ, meaning that we can choose to be long-suffering, patient, not easily offended, slow to anger, quick to forgive, and filled with mercy. My definition of “mercy” is to look beyond what is done to me that hurts and discover the reason why it was done. Many times people do things even they don’t understand themselves, but there is always a reason why people behave as they do. Perhaps they are hurting and in their own pain they don’t even realize they are hurting someone else.

God forgives! We are to be merciful and forgiving, just as God in Christ forgives us our wrongdoing. He not only sees what we do that is wrong, but He understands why we did it, and is merciful and long-suffering. The choice to forgive others is ours. God will not force anyone to do it. Even if you don’t understand it, believe that God’s way is the best. It works. He can take what Satan meant to destroy you and turn it for your good.

We are to forgive in order to keep Satan from getting the advantage over us.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Take Hold of the Faith You Long For

Leave a comment

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Philippians. 3:12

Friend to Friend

Have you ever watched a circus performer on a flying trapeze? A short horizontal bar suspended by ropes or metal straps dangles high above the crowd. The aerialist grabs the trapeze bar, jumps off of a high platform, and swings through the air. She swings out once, swings back above the platform, and swings out again.

It is during the peak of the third swing where the fun begins for those below. The performer releases the bar mid-air and grabs hold of another bar or second performer hanging from his knees who swings toward her. Once she grabs hold, the crowd remembers to breathe. Somersaults, backflips, and triple twists wow the crowd. And each move requires the performer to let go and grab hold—let go of one bar and grab hold of another. Without the faith to do so, the trapeze artist would simply swing back and forth until the pumping momentum gave way to dangling, or she would hang, stuck in-between two platforms, with hands clinging to both bars. Not the greatest show on earth.

Continue reading Girlfriends in God – Take Hold of the Faith You Long For →