Tag Archives: theology

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – No One Else Like Him

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Read: Philippians 2:19-24

I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. Phil 2:20

We meet two friends of the Apostle Paul in this last half of chapter two. These were real men who quite unconsciously display the character of Jesus Christ, excellent examples of all Paul has been writing about.

First we meet Timothy in verses 19-24. As Paul writes about him we see that the underlying quality that marks the man is Jesus Christ. We see that Timothy is an exceptional man. Paul says, I have no one like him. Wouldn’t you like to have that written about you? I know there were many things at which Timothy did not excel. With his frail body, I am sure he was not much of an athlete. He could very easily have been beaten at sports, or possibly surpassed in learning. But there was one area where no one even comes close to this man, and that is in his selfless care, his demonstration of genuine and anxious concern for the welfare of others. Here he is demonstrating that peculiarly Christian virtue, that distinctive mark of the presence of Christ within: selflessness! That is what the Lord Jesus said of himself, Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Do Miracles Still Happen?

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Read: Acts 5:12-16

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles (v. 12)

Do miracles still happen? One school of thought is that even if miracles happened in Bible times, they don’t happen anymore. But if miracles cannot happen now, how is it they happened then? Has the fundamental reality of the universe somehow changed? What power today prevents God from intervening in human affairs in amazing, extraordinary ways?

Another line of thought is that miracles ceased when Jesus left the earth. But that’s not true. Long after Jesus left, “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles” (Acts 5:12). Paul healed a man crippled from birth. Peter raised Dorcas from the dead. Jesus had assured the disciples that “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12).

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R.- Roaster Rules

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A just-married man was sent by his wife to the store to pick up a ham. When he returned, his wife was aggravated he had failed to ask the butcher to cut off the end of the ham. “Why would you want the end cut off?” he asked. “Because,” the wife replied, “my mother always did it that way, and that’s good enough for me.” Unsatisfied, the man asked his mother-in-law about it. She replied that she was following the procedure her own mother had taught. At the next family gathering the young man – determined to get to the bottom of this three-generation culinary secret – asked the grandmother why she cut off the end of the ham. “Well, my roaster was too small to cook it in one piece,” she replied.

If with Christ you died…why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations.

Colossians 2:20

The church in the city of Colossae had been broken apart by false teachers who were mandating all sorts of rules that were wrongheaded and unscriptural. The apostle Paul’s message was, “You don’t have to do it that way anymore.”

Follow God, not man. Take your marching orders from Christ, and pray that America’s leaders may do the same.

Recommended Reading: Acts 5:27-32

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Certain of His Death

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Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.—1 Corinthians 15:3

An advice columnist received this letter about the Resurrection: “Dear Uticus, Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and the disciples nurtured Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.”

Here was the response: “Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat of nine tails with 39 heavy strokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for three hours. Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours, and see what happens. Sincerely, Uticus.”

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Carries Our Burdens

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“Casting all our care upon him, for he careth for you.” (I Peter 5:7)

Randy and his mom stepped into the hospital elevator, and he pushed button 5 to take them to the 5th floor, where Grandpa Jim’s room was. Randy normally liked elevators, but not this hospital one. Grandpa Jim’s cancer was getting worse every day, and Randy was pretty sad and scared about it. He could feel gravity weighing him down as the elevator carried them up, and he thought to himself, “That’s just how my heart feels right now. All weighted down.”

Has your heart ever felt heavy with sadness or worry because of the things going on around you? Have you ever been afraid or frustrated because of people around you? Randy was sad and scared about his grandpa’s pain and possible death. Maybe you have burdens that are hard for you to bear. If you have ever felt like your heart might break if it has to take one more thing, the God of the Bible is the One to Whom you should turn. He invites you to take your worry and sadness and fear and frustration to Him.

Did you know Jesus Christ calls us to come to Him when we are burdened down with cares? In Matthew 12:28-30, Jesus Himself says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Our Hands on Christ’s Head

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Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 2:24

“He himself bore our sins in his body.”

To subjectively benefit from the work of the high priest in the scapegoat ritual on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:20-22), the individual Israelite had to exercise both penitence and faith. Penitence is a sincere and humble acknowledgment of one’s sins. Faith, in this instance, is believing God’s testimony that his sins were transferred to the goat and that the guilt of them no longer hung over his head.

Of course, the scapegoat could not itself carry away the sins of the people. It was only symbolic of the true scapegoat to come, Jesus Christ. Today we see the reality of the symbol. We see Jesus as the one who not only propitiated the wrath of God, symbolized by the sacrifice of the first goat, but who also removed our sins from God’s presence, symbolized by the second goat led away into the desert, bearing the sins of the people.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Why Live for God?

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Today’s Scripture: Psalms 36-41

O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. – Psalm 65:2

Why do the lives of the ungodly often seem better than ours? Well, in the short run, the wicked often seem to prosper. But we must look at life from the perspective of the long run and see that the essence of life and morality boils down to determining the God-given purpose for life, and living accordingly.

I was lifting weights with a young man who was questioning why he should live a life of faith. He had been a Christian for about two years and was growing in his faith, but lately life didn’t seem so good. He had watched his parents come to the verge of divorce, and he was praying hard for them, but God had done nothing to stop their fighting. It seemed like the Lord wasn’t paying any attention to the things that mattered deeply to him. He began to feel, Why live for God if He isn’t interested in me, doesn’t answer my prayers, and nothing seems to be going right? But as he considered what he would go back to if he turned away from the Lord, he had to admit there weren’t any good alternatives. Like Peter, he knew that Christ alone had the words of eternal life.

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  An Unholy War: Answering Jihad

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Let me tell you a story that, tragically, has no happy ending. Vincent Minj, who is almost 80, was the oldest of six children growing up in rural India, and he remembers the day decades ago when his sister, Cecilia, fell into a well near their home and almost died.

Somehow however, Cecilia lived, and Vincent took her survival as a sign from God. He told The Indian Express newspaper, “I thought that if God had given her another life, it had to be used in His service . . . So I just took her along with me and got her admitted to the Missionaries of Charity.”

That order of nuns, of course, was founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta to care for the poorest of India’s poor who would otherwise die alone and unloved. Vincent, who was a preacher himself, told his father that Cecilia was going to get an education in the city of Ranchi. What she got instead was a lifetime of serving the poor in India, then the United States, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, and, finally, Yemen. She was proving the corollary of a famous observation by Mother Teresa: “A life not lived for others is not a life.”

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – JESUS, THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

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Read Luke 10

Most corporations devote considerable energy and strategic planning to a succession strategy: they must develop and prepare employees to assume important leadership roles. Without a succession strategy, if a company suddenly loses an important leader, it will face an unexpected vacuum of power.

As Luke’s Gospel turns to focus on Jesus’ resolute march toward Jerusalem, it’s clear that Jesus is thinking about His own succession planning. In Luke 9, Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, investing them with His power and authority to heal broken bodies and suffering souls. In today’s reading, the circle of 12 expands to 72, and Jesus indicates that even more workers will be needed for the tasks of ministry.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – WHEN YOU’RE READY TO GIVE UP, LOOK UP

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North Korea is claiming that it could wipe out Manhattan by sending a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile into New York City. Turkey has targeted Kurdish militants with airstrikes in Iraq, retaliating for a suicide car bombing that killed at least thirty-seven in the Turkish capital. Sea-level rise could disrupt the lives of more than thirteen million people in the U.S., according to a study published yesterday.

Welcome to another day in the news.

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face? Wages have been stagnant since 1979. The number of Americans dying of heroin has quadrupled in recent years. Now that same-sex marriage is legal, an organized effort has begun to legalize all “consensual sexual relations,” including polygamy and incest.

In days like these, it’s easy to abandon hope. But when you’re ready to give up, look up.

In Job 40, God addresses the multitude of skeptical questions posed by Job and his friends. Not by responding to their issues, but to their finitude. The Lord points to “Behemoth, which I made as I made you” (v. 15), an animal whose strength surpasses that of any human. Then God notes that he made “Leviathan,” a creature no man can conquer or control (Job 41).

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Cease Striving

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Matthew 11:28-30

We have all experienced temptations, trials, and suffering at some point in our lives. Even as Christians—and sometimes specifically because we are Christians—we must endure pain, whether through loss, bankruptcy, unemployment, or a broken relationship. While no one is immune to hard times, believers are empowered through the Holy Spirit to endure periods of struggle. Psalm 46:10 says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” The King James Version uses the expression “be still,” indicating that our best response to disappointment is to trust in the heavenly Father.

How humbling it is to know that as God’s children, we have a direct line of communication to our Father, even in the midst of trouble. We don’t have to respond like the world, out of a heart filled with anger, depression, or revenge. Nor do we have to fix everything in our own strength. Sure, we will still be tempted by the flesh. But as we “cease striving,” we’ll learn to trust in God more and more each day.

The truth is, hardship not only forms our character but also reveals it. One common response to difficult times is anger. In moments of frustration, we run the risk of making impulsive decisions that could impact the rest of our life. But instead of getting caught up in the emotion, we should wisely be still and trust in the One who can work everything for our good (Rom. 8:28).

In this world, troubles won’t vanish (John 16:33). But when storms are brewing on the horizon, buckle up and trust God to guide you through. Only in Him can you truly cease striving.

Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — My Personal Space

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Read: Luke 8:40-48

Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 23-25; Mark 14:1-26

We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses. —Hebrews 4:15

An industrial design graduate from a Singapore university was challenged in a workshop to come up with a novel solution to a common problem using only ordinary objects. She created a vest to protect one’s personal space from being invaded while traveling in the crush of crowded public trains and buses. The vest was covered with long, flexible plastic spikes normally used to keep birds and cats away from plants.

Jesus knew what it was like to lose His personal space in the commotion of crowds desperate to see and touch Him. A woman who had suffered from constant bleeding for 12 years and could find no cure touched the fringe of His robe. Immediately, her bleeding stopped (Luke 8:43-44).

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Grief Is Great

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“Please—Mr. Lion—Aslan, Sir?” said Digory working up the courage to ask. “Could you—may I—please, will you give me some magic fruit of this country to make my mother well?”

A child in one of the Narnia books, Digory, at this point in the story, had brought about much disaster for Aslan and his freshly created Narnia. But he had to ask. In fact, he thought for a second that he might attempt to make a deal with Aslan. But quickly Digory realized the Lion was not the sort of person with which one could try to make bargains.

C.S. Lewis then recounts, “Up till then the child had been looking at the lion’s great front feet and the huge claws on them. Now in his despair he looked up at his face. And what he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and wonder of wonders great shining tears stood in the lion’s eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the lion must really be sorrier about his mother than he was himself.”(1)

Charles Dickens often spoke of his characters as beloved and “real existences.” I have often wondered if the “safe but never tame” Lion cared for C.S. Lewis half as much as this figure has comforted others. Lewis was a boy about the age of Digory when his mother lay dying of cancer and he was helpless to save her.

“My son, my son,” said Aslan. “I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another…”

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Threats to Humility: Strength and Boasting

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“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2).

Satan will tempt us to be proud of our abilities and accomplishments, but we must remember that every good thing we have is from God.

We’ve just studied three steps to humility. Let’s look at the issue from another angle: What kinds of pride threaten to destroy our humility? Where will we struggle to be humble? There are several areas in which Satan will attack us.

The first area I call ability pride. We’re often tempted to be proud of our strong points, not our weak ones. I’ve never been tempted to boast of my fantastic mathematical ability because I have none. But I am tempted to be proud of my preaching because it is my spiritual gift. Thankfully, the Lord helps me deal with such thoughts. It might come in the form of a letter saying, “I was in your church Sunday, and I violently disagree with everything you said.” Or someone might tell me, “We came to hear you for the first time, but we like our pastor better.” Times like those help me keep the proper perspective.

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – The Best Advice 

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I [Christ] counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Revelation 3:18

The advice of well-meaning people is not always best. They advise when we should buy or sell something, or borrow money: when we should save money or save more money, when we should give more money. In the case of a relationship, when we should give it a second chance or continue in a relationship, or when we should break it off. When we consider changing jobs, when we should stay or remain in a job, when we should change jobs. Sincere counsel that sounds right—may not be the best advice. Only Christ gives counsel that is accurate 100% of the time.

In Revelation, Jesus’ very insightful counsel exposes the church’s inability to see its unhealthy condition. His remedy is the application of His Spirit’s salve to reveal their need to be clothed in righteousness. Those who recognize their needy state are in a position to receive counsel, but those stuck in denial live in a dream state—perpetually in pain. Money can mask issues, but eventually severe dysfunction drives people and organizations to recognize their sickly condition. The longer the delay—the harder it is to fully recover. Only spiritual riches can truly satisfy!

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Who Can You In-Courage?

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Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

1 Samuel 23:16

Recommended Reading

Colossians 2:1-3

To encourage means to in-courage, that is, to instill fresh courage into someone who is faltering. God calls us to be spiritual encouragers to those who are spiritually fading. We’re to build up those facing great challenges. Throughout Scripture, we see this in action.

Moses told the Israelites, “Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him” (Deuteronomy 1:38). King Hezekiah “gave encouragement to all the Levites who taught the good knowledge of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 30:22). Barnabas so uplifted those around him, he was named “Son of Encouragement” by the early church (Acts 4:36).

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Avoid Comparisons

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Not that we [have the audacity to] venture to class or [even to] compare ourselves with some who exalt and furnish testimonials for themselves! However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely.—2 Corinthians 10:12

Advertising is often geared to make people strive to look the best, be the best, and own the most. If you wear “this” particular brand of clothes, people will admire you! Try “this” new diet and lose those few extra pounds—and then you will be accepted and noticed. The world consistently gives us the impression that we need to be something other than what we are.

A confident person avoids comparisons. Confidence is not possible as long as we compare ourselves with other people. No matter how good we look, how talented or smart we are, or how successful we are, there is always someone who is better, and sooner or later we will run into him or her.

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Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – I’m Going to Wash That Thought Right Out of My Head

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For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

Friend to Friend

There are certain television jingles that drive my husband crazy. As soon as he see a nanosecond of commercial appear, he presses the mute button. And while I tease him for being a commercial phobic, you know what happens to me? I end up with that silly song in my head for the rest of the evening. He has the right idea—mute it, delete it, don’t give it a chance to enter your mind. It’s the same way with the lies the enemy tries to make us believe.

We are in a spiritual battle for our minds. And while we often think difficult people or irritating circumstances are the source of the problems, Paul tells us to look past the obvious and go to the root cause.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Supernatural Wisdom – by Faith

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“If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him; He will not resent it” (James 1:5).

Often – many times a day – I need divine wisdom, not only in the multitudes of decisions that I must make daily, but also in the witnessing situations the Lord brings across my path. No doubt you recognize a similar need in your life.

All I have to do to have His presence guide me, if my heart is right with Him, is to ask in faith, and He promises the wisdom I need for each day and for each moment of the day.

If we are going to live supernatural lives, and if we are going to demonstrate to others that they, too, can live such a life, then we must begin to think and act differently. And that is possible only as we go to the source of all divine wisdom.

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Poured Out

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Read: Philippians 2:16-18

And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. Phil 2:16b

Paul is looking forward to the great day when time will be rolled up as the dawn and cast aside, and all the fruit of Christian labor will be made visible-when all the gold, silver and precious stones that result from Christ at work in us will be gathered up and displayed. All of the wood, hay and stubble that results from our self-effort for him will be burned. Christ’s steadfast continuing work in you is your holding fast to the word of life, and this is what will result in praise and rejoicing in that day. Regardless of the circumstances or the praise of men or whether there are immediate results, continue, hold fast-don’t give up! Then Paul says when I see the results of your faith my heart will swell with pride because I’ll know I’ve not helped you in vain.

Looking on to his impending death Paul says, even if I am being poured like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith. Even if that should occur, if I should know that you are holding fast to the indwelling Christ, I will die with gladness and joy in my heart. If you hear I have died that way, you too can rejoice and be glad. This is the ground of Christian rejoicing — a refreshing, fruitful life, pouring out rivers of living water to others, conditioned upon unrelenting reliance upon the indwelling Lord Jesus.

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