Tag Archives: theology

Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters, Boyd Bailey – God’s Answer for Striving 

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His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3

One thing I love about God’s Word is that it’s filled with treasures. A few months ago, I found a jewel. As I read Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 1:11, the following phrase grabbed me, “. . . and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith.” I immediately thought about my purpose of sharing God-words through written and spoken communication.

I began my calling with faith but later allowed fear and pride to take over. So I tightened my hands on the reigns of my life, and I tried to control outcomes. Instead of trusting God for the results as I worked, I trusted in myself. I forgot that it was my job to act “by faith” but God’s job to fulfill those actions by “his power.” Indeed, we fulfill all of our “good purposes” by His power, and every act prompted by our faith is fulfilled by God. We take the first steps but the fulfillment and completion of those steps belong to Him. The good works assigned to us originated with Him (Ephesians 2:10) and they will be completed by Him.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – The One to Please

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Do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

Recommended Reading

Galatians 1:6-10

Andrew Garfield, who played Spider-Man on the big screen, recently spoke of the frustration of trying to please everyone connected with his movies. “The pressure to get it right, to please everyone…You end up pleasing no one, or everyone just a little bit.”

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Wants to Take You to a New Level

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Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning. —Proverbs 9:9

Even though God wants us to live joyful, contented lives, He sometimes causes a discontent or a feeling that something is not right because He does not want us to continue doing the same old things anymore. He wants to prod us to seek Him so He can take us to new levels.

God always wants us to grow stronger, to go deeper, and to increase in intimacy with Him. Most of the time, He leads us into that process of maturity by leading us out of places where we have been comfortable in the past. Too much comfort for too long can mean that we are not growing. If you feel something stirring in your heart that you don’t quite understand, just ask God what is happening and take time to wait on Him to answer.

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Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – Trusting God Right Where You Are

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Today’s Truth

But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

Psalm 56:3

Friend to Friend

Every New Year brings fresh possibilities and opportunities for us to trust God. As I think of all that lies ahead I’m reminded of a trust lesson God taught me long ago…

Our arms were braided across each other’s and our hands were locked tightly. As the young girl stood on the tall tree stump above us she looked over her shoulder and saw with her eyes that our formation was tight…that we were ready for her. She heard with her ears that we would catch her…that we would not let her get hurt. Yet the fear that screamed in her head told her not to do it. Not to fall backwards.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Strong Love Is the Proof

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“And so I am giving a new commandment to you now – love each other just as much as I love you. Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are My disciples” (John 13:34,35).

A Navajo Indian woman who had been healed of a serious ailment by a missionary doctor was greatly impressed by the love he manifested.

“If Jesus is anything like the doctor,” she said, “I can trust Him forever.”

The doctor was a living example of the above promise. When Jesus spoke these words, the entire known world was filled with hate, war and fear. The Jews and the Gentiles hated each other. The Greeks and the Romans hated each other.

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Water to Wine  

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Read: John 2:1-11

Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, (John 2:7-8)

Notice the simplicity of this account, how easily, how quietly, with such dignity this was done. He says simply, Fill the jars with water. And they filled them to the brim—not with decaffeinated coffee, but with 120 to 180 gallons of plain, pure water. Then Jesus said, Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast. There was no prayer, no word of command, no hysterical shouting, no pleading with a screwed-up face, no laying on of hands, no binding of Satan, no hocus-pocus or mumbo-jumbo—nothing. He did not even touch the water. He did not even taste it afterward to see if it had happened. He simply said, Take it to the governor of the feast. What a beautiful, simple dignity!

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – A Parked Christian

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Read: 2 Peter 3:14-18

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (v. 18 NIV)

I’ve been urging you to become passionate about knowing Christ. Perhaps you’ve been wondering if it is even possible to know Christ more. So I want to spend a week focusing on the possibilities of knowing Christ better. We begin with the last words of the apostle Peter.

Not only is it possible to grow in our knowledge of Christ; Peter says it’s our duty. Here’s what John Calvin said about Peter’s words: “Keep moving, because the only way to persevere is to continually go forward and not stop and sit down in the middle of the journey.” Have we stopped and sat down? Have you become a parked Christian? Peter calls us to move, to grow in the grace of Christ.

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Wee Examples

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Ants are tiny but interesting beings. They are found almost everywhere on Earth. They work together in colonies to accomplish more and are one of the strongest creatures in relation to their size. Don’t let their wee stature fool you. These miniature insects work hard.

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

Proverbs 6:6

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Call to Discipleship

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So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. —1 Kings 19:19

The ministry of the great prophet Elijah was coming to an end. God had directed him to pass his mantle on, which meant the calling that God placed on Elijah’s life was about to be placed on Elijah’s successor. It would be symbolized by Elijah’s pulling off his mantle and giving it to someone else in a symbolic way.

Interestingly, the man to whom Elijah passed his calling had a similar name: Elisha. Elisha didn’t have to take up the calling to be the prophet to the nation of Israel. He had a choice in the matter. He could have said, “That’s okay. I’m out. This is too much for me.” But he didn’t. He accepted it.

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Loves for You To Pray

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“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense” (Psalm 141:2a).

Are there certain smells that you like? Some people love to smell pine trees or old books. Others like to smell cookies baking or different kinds of flowers – roses, lilacs, hyacinths, gardenias. People like pleasant smells, smells that remind them of loved ones or favorite places.

Prayer can be like a sweet, pleasant smell to God. The Bible compares prayer to incense, a very pleasing fragrance. Did you know that your prayer is like the act of offering up a sweet perfume to God? God loves for you to pray. He wants you to bring all of your concerns to Him – big and small. When you pray, you are showing God that you trust Him and need Him to help you. You are showing Him that you love Him enough to spend time talking to Him.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Making Up Our Deficiencies?

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Today’s Scripture: Luke 18:13

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Sin is more than actions; it’s an attitude that ignores God’s law. It’s more than a rebellious attitude; sin is a state of corruption in our inmost being, of vileness, even of filthiness in God’s sight. For this reason the Bible never speaks of God’s grace as simply making up our deficiencies—as if salvation consists in so much good works plus so much of God’s grace. Rather the Bible speaks of a God “who justifies the ungodly” (Romans 4:5), who is found by those who do not seek him, who reveals himself to those who do not ask for him (Romans 10:20).

In Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:9-14, the tax collector did not ask God to simply make up his deficiencies. Rather, he beat his breast—a sign of his deep anguish—and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (verse 13). He declared total spiritual bankruptcy, and on that basis, he experienced the grace of God. Jesus said the man went home justified—declared righteous by God.

Like the tax collector, we don’t just need God’s grace to make up for our deficiencies; we need his grace to provide a remedy for our guilt, a cleansing for our pollution. We need his grace to provide a satisfaction of his justice, to cancel a debt we cannot pay.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – God’s Deliverers

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 34

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. – Acts 12:7

Do you remember the television series “Hogan’s Heroes”–the wild episodes of American soldiers supposedly locked in a Nazi prison? They were always breaking out of jail, but they usually did it quietly. No noise allowed.

The apostle Peter’s jailbreak was quite different. Acts 12 says that King Herod threw Peter into prison with four squads of soldiers guarding him. Imagine that! Four squads of soldiers to guard one man!

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint – Praying for Life: Invoking God’s Mercy to End Abortion

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January 22nd is the 43rd anniversary of the worst Supreme Court decision in our nation’s history. With Roe v. Wade, seven robed men gave America some of the most permissive abortion-on-demand laws in the world. Since that time, nearly 60 million unborn children have been killed in the womb.

This month, January, is the month so many American Christians memorialize the unborn through Sanctity of Life Sunday (this year on January 17), and the March for Life on the National Mall in Washington DC on January 22nd. And the day before the March, John Stonestreet and I will be speaking at two events: the Anglicans for Life conference and the Evangelicals for Life conference, co-hosted by Focus on the Family and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. As you may know, John and I are very passionate about this issue. My wife runs a pregnancy care center here in New York City, and John’s mother ran one in Virginia.

Now, if you can join us in Washington DC, please do! But if you can’t, you can still be a part of the most significant cause of our day: the cause for life. How? Well, The Colson Center has prepared a free downloadable booklet called: 21 Days of Prayer for Life. We want to see millions of Christians appeal together to heaven to end this grave evil.

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Moody Global Ministries, Today in the Word

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE LAW: SHAME ENACTED

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Read Leviticus 13:40-46; 14:1-20

To our modern Western sensibilities, the treatment of lepers prescribed in the Old Testament law can seem harsh. But in ancient times, such illnesses were a deep cause for shame. People born with deformities or afflicted with certain diseases were thought to have been cursed by the gods, and they endured lifelong public shame.

As painful as it seems, the treatment prescribed in the Law (13:45) would be an external enactment of the internal shame that a leper already felt. Though everyone might know he was without guilt, his shame was unavoidable. His status had been redefined by a condition outside his control, rendering him unfit for the company of normal people and excluded from the public worship of God.

Such ostracism might be shocking to us, but in the context of the ancient Near East, the Law’s provision for a shamed person’s restoration was merciful in comparison. The Mosaic Law instructed priests—those closest to the worship and holiness of God—to examine the leprous person outside the camp (14:3). Hope remained that if their disease had cleared, their shame could be dealt with, too.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – NORTH KOREA ANNOUNCES DETONATION OF HYDROGEN BOMB

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North Korea announced last night that it has detonated its first hydrogen bomb. Global stocks are down this morning as a result. Why is this such bad news?

A hydrogen bomb is far more powerful than the atomic bombs the North Koreans have tested previously. Assuming last night’s claims prove true, their erratic and often irrational behavior makes their increasing nuclear capacity even more dangerous.

Meanwhile, accused murderer Steven Avery is making news this morning after more than 249,000 people signed a petition calling for his presidential pardon. Avery spent eighteen years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence. Two years later he was on trial again, this time for the murder of a young photographer named Teresa Halbach. Netflix’s ten-part series on Avery’s story has made him a celebrity.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Living Hope

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1 Peter 1:3-5

Corinth was a city characterized by sexual immorality and many other forms of ungodliness. (See 1 Cor. 6:9-11.) Believers there had once been like their fellow citizens—filled with greed, envy, wickedness, deceit, anger, and malice. But now they were new creations in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God. The Corinthian lifestyle no longer matched who they’d become in Jesus.

In that passage from 1 Corinthians, Paul reminded the believers not to be influenced by their culture or old patterns of thinking. The apostle was not warning them that they might miss out on the kingdom. Instead, he was encouraging them to abandon their old ways and bring their behavior in line with who they really were—children of God.

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Lonely Season

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Read: 2 Timothy 4:9-18

Bible in a Year: Genesis 13-15; Matthew 5:1-26

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. —Ephesians 1:16

Amid the pile of post-Christmas mail I discovered a treasure—a handmade Christmas card painted on repurposed cardstock. Simple watercolor strokes evoked a scene of wintry hills livened with evergreens. Centered at the bottom, framed by red-berried holly, was this hand-printed message:

Peace be with you!

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Foresight and Hindsight

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Most of us, if we’re honest, live by the clock. The alarm sounds and we are off watching the minutes slip by. Time-sensitive deadlines drive our days. We have appointments and meetings, we eat at a certain time, and the day ends by a certain time. Bound to our timepieces, it often seems our every moment is synchronized and controlled. Those timepieces count the minutes that make up the hours that fill our days, months and even years which come and go.

In contrast to these “objective” measures of time marking seconds, minutes, and hours, there is also a “subjective” experience of time being “fast or slow.” Those of us who are growing older describe our experience of time as passing by more and more quickly. We feel our vacation time as ephemeral, while our work week plods slowly by—and yet both are marked by the same objective measurements of time. How is it that our subjective experience of time is so different from what our watches and clocks objectively mark out for us, second by second, hour by hour?

This question of our subjective experience of time is one that the ancient philosophers and early Christian leaders pondered. Their philosophical and theological musings bequeathed to us many perplexities regarding the human experience of time. Saint Augustine, for example, wrestled with the fleeting character of our human temporal experience. No sooner do we apprehend the present than it has receded into the past. He wrote, “We cannot rightly say what time is, except by reason of its impending state of not-being.”(1)

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today –Approaching Life from a Divine Perspective

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“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).

To mature in our faith, we must learn to see things from God’s perspective.

Paul was a prisoner of Rome. Why then did he call himself “the prisoner of the Lord”? Because he had the ability to see everything in terms of how it affected Christ. No matter what happened in his life, he saw it in relation to God. His questions were, “What does this mean, God?” and “How does this affect You?”

When a problem comes in life, we are prone to say, “Oh, woe is me!” and wonder how it will affect us: Will it cause me pain? Will it cost me money? Too often we think only on the earthly level. But like Paul, we should think on a heavenly level: What is God trying to teach me? How can I glorify Him in this? In fact, a good definition of Christian maturity is: automatically seeing things in light of the divine perspective.

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters, Boyd Bailey – An Invitation to Solitude and Silence

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Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me … Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. Psalm 43:3–4

Because life can be so busy, there are days when I want to take a vacation from my cell phone, e-mail, and all the other technology that sometimes feels like it controls our daily lives. But the great news is that no matter how complicated life becomes, God’s invitation for His children remains uncomplicated: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). It’s astounding to think that the Creator of the Universe invites us to discover Him in a more authentic way through the practice of entering into solitude and silence. This is where we find Him most, when we—even if it’s for a short time—leave the busy world behind.

In her book “An Invitation to Solitude and Silence,” Ruth Haley Barton writes: “The invitation to solitude and silence is . . . an invitation to enter more deeply into the intimacy of relationship with the One who waits just outside the noise and busyness of our lives. It is an invitation to communication and communion with the One who is always present even when our awareness has been dulled by distraction. It is an invitation into the adventure of spiritual transformation into the deepest places of our being, an adventure that will result in greater and greater freedom and authenticity and surrender to God than we have yet experienced.”

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