Tag Archives: theology

The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – This Little Light of Mine

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Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 7-10

“I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” – Hebrews 6:14

A lot of people look around today and feel like Jeremiah did nearly three thousand years ago. As he watched the moral and spiritual decline of his country, Jeremiah wondered if anything could be done to heal the sin of his people and prevent the judgment of God. Had the darkness become so great that it could not be overcome? Could the condition of the people be set right? The answer to the latter question was yes, and that’s the answer for us today. Something can be done about the darkness if we’re willing to let the work begin in and through us.

Every year a few weeks before Christmas, we have a candlelighting service in our church. The entire sanctuary is dark except for one candle at the front. As a few people light their candles from that one, and then pass the flame to the candles around them, the entire sanctuary is lighted. To me, it’s a beautiful picture of God’s plan for conquering the spiritual darkness of the world.

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  Why Did Adam LaRoche Walk Away from Baseball and $13 Million?

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In March, Major League baseball player Adam LaRoche shocked the sports world. LaRoche, a 12-year veteran who averaged more than 20 home runs a year and won many awards for his defensive skills at first base, unexpectedly retired.

By doing so, he walked away from $13 million—the amount left on the final year of a two-year contract with the Chicago White Sox.

Even more shocking than leaving $13 million on the table was the reason he did so: The White Sox had informed LaRoche that his 14-year-old son, Drake, could no longer accompany him in the club house every day.

If you can’t imagine walking away from that kind of money for that kind of reason, you’re not alone.

But then again, a lot of what LaRoche does is peculiar, and I mean that in the best possible way.

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word –  UNITED AS HEIRS OF GOD

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Read Galatians 3:26-4:7

Inheritance fraud is one of the most common scams perpetrated today. You receive notification that someone with your same last name (perhaps a distant relative?) has died without heirs. The so-called lawyers who sent the letter say that for a small fee to process some paperwork, the vast inheritance can be yours! But they keep requesting fees and bank transfer details and no inheritance ever arrives.

Thankfully, our identity as heirs of God is secure! We are heirs not because of how impressive our accomplishments are or because we have the right genetic profile—we are heirs because we belong to Christ (3:29).

Our passage today is filled with some of the most beautiful and profound statements about our identity. Through faith in Jesus, we are children of God (3:26). This familial relationship is more than just emotional connections of love and care. It also has legal implications; as God’s children, we stand to gain His inheritance (4:7). We have the Spirit of God within our hearts as confirmation of our status as heirs (4:8). Unlike the inheritance fraudsters who just want to take your money, God gives us the Spirit as a down payment on our inheritance. We have the Spirit dwelling within us now, and one day we will dwell with God fully, worshiping in His presence.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – PRINCE’S DEATH IS PERSONAL TO ME

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“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57.” So reported his publicist yesterday, news that made instant headlines around the world.

Prince was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was signed to Warner Brothers Records as a teenager; his debut album in 1978 put him on the road to superstardom.

He was a singer, songwriter, multiple instrumentalist, producer, and actor. Prince was often compared to Michael Jackson and was considered a musical genius by many. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

No stranger to controversy, many of his lyrics were sexually explicit, a fact that prompted a movement encouraging records to place advisory labels on albums with such lyrics. When his death was announced yesterday, CNN reports that fans rushed to buy his albums amid an outpouring of grief on social media.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Nothing Can Separate Us

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Romans 8:32-39

We have been learning about the Lord’s amazing plan to save us for all eternity. A persuasive argument for believing in eternal security is found in two of the apostle Paul’s questions in Romans 8.

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? The answer is simple: No one can bring an accusation against believers and make it stick. Satan certainly tries, but God has justified us through His Son Jesus Christ—He has declared that we are no longer guilty. No matter what new sin we might commit after we are saved, we can’t be tried in God’s court a second time. If you fall into a stage of unbelief or sinful living, you may lose your reward, but you cannot lose your eternity in heaven with God (1 Cor. 3:12-15).

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Undoubtedly, there are many experiences that test our faith, but we are ultimately saved by God’s grace. Jesus understands our trials and doubts, and He is not interested in casting us away at our first misstep. God always knew we would make thousands of mistakes after receiving Christ, but He saved us anyway.

Some followers of Jesus Christ worry that embracing eternal security will motivate people to go out and live a life of sin because they have nothing to lose. If we think about the wonder and majesty of our heavenly Father, doesn’t it make more sense that people would be motivated to praise Him for saving them out of the filth of their disobedience? The more we know of Jesus and His love for us, the more we will love Him and want to please Him. Forever.

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 20-22

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Jesus Wept

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Read: John 11:1-4, 38-44

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

The sting of death is sin. . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:56-57

I was engrossed in a book when a friend bent over to see what I was reading. Almost immediately, she recoiled and looked at me aghast. “What a gloomy title!” she said. I was reading “The Glass Coffin” in Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the word coffin disturbed her. Most of us don’t like to be reminded of our mortality. But the reality is that out of 1,000 people, 1,000 people will die.

Death always elicits a deep emotional response. It was at the funeral of one of His dear friends that Jesus displayed strong emotions. When He saw Mary, whose brother had recently died, “he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33). Another translation says, “a deep anger welled up within him” (nlt).

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Christ in Public

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God has been in the news a lot lately. From Christian prayers in council meetings, to statements from the highest echelons of the Royal Family and the government, discussion of the place of God and in particular the role of Christianity in Britain today has been in the news on a daily basis. Professor Richard Dawkins continues to argue that religion has no place in the 21st century and debates over his anecdotes continue to capture the twittersphere. It seems it is now acceptable to discuss the Christian faith and belief in God in public. From radio studios to the school gate I have enjoyed being a part of this. The role of God in Britain is being discussed up and down the country in government, education, legislation, and community life in a way that I can’t remember in recent history.

While secularism insists that nothing good comes from religion, isn’t it actually the case that it is a Christian heritage that actually provides us with this free and open society—encouraging people to question and reason for themselves? For many, religious faith is a process, a journey of discovery on the basis of evidence, reason, and personal experience. Christianity has provided the foundation in Britain for an open and tolerant society. It was the great Christian leader Augustine who coined the phrase tolerare malus. He claimed that political structure influenced by the Christian faith must tolerate that which it disagreed with and perceived as wrong for the greater good of freedom.

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – The Centrality of the Resurrection

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“‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said’” (Matthew 28:5-6).

The fact of Jesus’ resurrection is the culmination of redemptive history and the essential basis of the Christian faith.

Without the Resurrection, our Christian faith would just be a lot of wishful thinking, no better than human philosophies and speculative religions. In fact, the noted seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke, some of whose ideas were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence, wrote, “Our Saviour’s resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity, so great that His being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it.”

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Thankful Soil Grows Humility 

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Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

By default, I think many of us spend our days focused on our own needs, wants, and desires. From basic health and nutrition to our ambitions and dreams, we are wired to care chiefly about ourselves! As Augustine said, because of sin and brokenness we as human beings are “curved in upon ourselves.” Yet the beauty of the gospel is that when we encounter the love of Christ, not only are we made new but we also learn to turn our focus away from ourselves and onto the needs of others and the worship of almighty God.

One of my favorite quotes comes from 20th century pastor and theologian Michael Ramsey, who once said, “Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow.” How true that is! If you struggle, as we all do, with an inflated sense of self-worth or self-interest, rush to plant yourself in the soil of thanksgiving. As Paul reminds us, lift up your heart and soul in thanksgiving and praise to God. Let the love of Christ dwell within you and heal you from the empty love of self.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – If She Doesn’t Hurry…

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Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

Psalm 37:34

Recommended Reading

Matthew 14:22-33

When J. K. Rowling was having trouble finishing her fifth Harry Potter book, her fans grew impatient. One was quoted as saying, “If she doesn’t hurry, we’re going to move on to caring about something else.”

That reflects our age. Our attention spans are short, and we want things in a hurry. Our watchwords are now, instant, quick, fast, rush.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Decide to Believe

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Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.—James 1:2-4

Too often people stare at me with a blank look when I urge them to decide to believe. It’s as if I’m asking them to do something they can’t do. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (see Romans 10:17), but it also involves a decision.

We enter into a relationship with God through believing in Jesus Christ, but that’s only the beginning.

Believing doesn’t end there. As I understand the realm of the Spirit, if we follow the Lord, we live with a growing faith. That means we learn to believe for bigger things. We learn to trust God for things we would never have thought of in our earliest Christian days.

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Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – When You Feel God Has Called You to More Than You Can Handle

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I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Friend to Friend

In my last devotion, we looked at Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush in Midian. God began by saying:

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them (Exod. 3:7–9, emphasis added).

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – All Men Know What God Wants Them to Do

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“But this is the new agreement I will make with the people of Israel, says the Lord: I will write my laws in their minds so that they will know what I want them to do without My even telling them, and these laws will be in their hearts so that they will want to obey them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10).

Harry boasted that he was an atheist, that he could not believe in God – that there was no such thing as right and wrong. But as we counseled together, it became apparent that he lived a very immoral life, and the only way he could justify his conduct was to rationalize away the existence of God.

This he was unable to do. As God’s Word reminds us, His law is written in our minds, so that we will know what He wants us to do without His even telling us.

A very honest, frank, straightforward counseling session helped Harry to see that he was living a lie, a life of deceit and shame. All of this resulted in making him a very miserable person until he surrendered his life to Christ and became an honest, authentic, transparent disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – What Not to Mix Together

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Read: Leviticus 19

Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. Lev 19:19

How many of you are observing that last law? Almost all garments today are made of mixed stuff, of blends of natural and synthetic fibers. A literal adherence to this stricture is no longer of any significance, because it is dealing with substances which never were inherently wrong. Whenever God employs things symbolically and says that something connected with them is wrong, they are no longer tended to be taken literally but are meant to illustrate attitudes of mind and heart which are dangerous. The Israelites had to obey these literally, because that is how they learned what these attitudes were. But we need to understand that God is teaching in a graphic way here that there are certain unmixable principles which are unalterably opposed to one another and that we are not to try to put the two together.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Playing Favorites (Part 2)

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Read: James 2:8-13

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. (v. 12)

Kari was shocked when her 27-year-old daughter called her on a Monday last October, and told her that her wedding, scheduled for Saturday, was cancelled. The groom-to-be had called it off. Even though she was heartbroken for her daughter, Kari needed to decide what to do about the reception, which had already been paid for. She quickly made some phone calls, and sent out new invitations—to Sacramento’s homeless shelters. By 7:00 on Saturday evening, more than 90 people—homeless families, single people, grandparents, and children—filled the reception hall and feasted on salmon, steak, and luscious desserts. Among them Rashad and his wife, Erika, came with their five children. Rashad was grateful, saying “When you’ve been going through a hard time, this . . . this is really a blessing.” Erika agreed. “To lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is really, really kind.”

Kari and her family truly loved their neighbors as themselves. According to James, this is the royal law that offers freedom—freedom to show mercy, and freedom from judgement. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7). And, “for with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matt. 7:2). Show mercy then, because mercy triumphs over judgment!

Prayer:

Lord, teach us to love with mercy and without judgment.

Author: Susan Hetrick

 

https://woh.org/

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – Faith Struggle

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Last man standing was an early American game of endurance. It usually involved a test like standing in freezing water or holding your hand over hot coals. The idea was to tolerate the pain longer than anyone else.

We endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

I Corinthians 9:12

The apostle Paul set a high mark in the area of enduring hardship in the Christian life. In seeking to share the gospel of Christ, he was beaten, stoned, and left for dead, whipped within a lash of his life, shipwrecked, and attacked by an angry mob. Yet after asking God to relieve him of one personal and miserable affliction, the answer was “no.” Instead, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9)

Today you may be facing a significant difficulty in your faith. How are you handling it? Are you gritting your teeth hoping to be acknowledged for your strength, or have you humbly released your will in recognition that God may have a greater purpose at work? Pray for others struggling in their faith in this nation – and especially for those who are in service to America. Ask that they may patiently endure and bear evidence of God’s grace.

Recommended Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Worth the Risk

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After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. —Acts 4: 31

Sometimes we will take a step of faith if there is a backup plan, if there is a safety net. There is a place for caution, a place for prudence, and even a place for seeking the counsel of those who have lived longer than we have. But having said that, there is also a place for faith. There is also a place for taking chances and taking risks.

As we get older, we are less willing to do that. We want everything laid out for us. We want to know what will happen after this and after that. But sometimes God will say, “I am not going to tell you. I want you to just obey Me.” That is why I would rather try something and fail than never try at all. And if you do try and ultimately fail, then learn something from your failure. I would venture to say that any person who has been successful in ministry, in business, or in any other enterprise has had more than his or her share of failures and has learned something from every one of them. It has been said that the doorway of success is often entered through the hallway of failure. So if at first you don’t succeed, relax. You are just like the rest of us.

So take a chance and do something for God. If you have been thinking about starting a little Bible study at work and are unsure whether anyone would show up, go for it. If you are thinking of sharing the gospel with someone, but you don’t know how they would respond, go for it. Try it. Pray about it. Ask the Lord for direction. But take a risk. Take a chance here and there and watch what God will do.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God meets the needs of His children

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“For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.” (Luke 12:30)

Have you ever sat near a window and watched a wild bird for a while? Does a bird have to worry about picking up a job at a fast food restaurant so that it can make money to pay for medical bills? Does the bird ever go out and plow a field, plant seed, and water the ground? Does a bird ever harvest corn and store it in big barns to eat later? Have you ever watched birds do all that? Probably not! It is more likely that you watched a bird flying around a feeder, pecking at a tree trunk, or splashing in a birdbath. Birds do not seem to have a care in the world!

It would be even more ridiculous to imagine a flower, laboring in a cotton field, spinning wool, weaving, or sewing clothes for itself. A flower does not need to work in order to be “clothed” beautifully. God has created a flower so it has everything that it needs to be just as beautiful as He planned. Jesus said that a simple wildflower is even more beautifully clothed than King Solomon was in the richest of his kingly robes.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – A Dangerous Statement

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14

“The love of Christ controls us.”

One issue believers frequently struggle with is the relationship between living by grace and obedience to God’s commands. When I state that nothing you ever do or don’t do will make God love you any more or any less, and that he accepts you strictly by his grace through the merit of Jesus Christ alone, such unqualified statements sound exceedingly dangerous—leaving me open to the charge of saying in effect that God doesn’t care whether or not you sin.

But consider the alternative: “God loves you if you’re obedient and doesn’t love you if you’re disobedient. Since God’s love is conditioned on obedience, and you’re never perfectly obedient, God never loves you perfectly or accepts you completely.” Such a bald description puts the issue into focus.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Walking in the Way

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Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 4-6

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:3

If you want to be an effective communicator of the gospel, take a close look at the prophet Jeremiah. Three factors about his life made him a dynamic spokesman for the Lord.

First, Jeremiah heard the voice of God with his soul. In Jeremiah 4:19, he says, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.”

Christian, when we read the Bible, we need to ask God to speak to our hearts and our souls. It is not our ears that need changing, but our hearts.

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