Tag Archives: Truth

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; The Godless Church – Special Report

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Morality In America Atheist congregation expands to U.S.

By Diann Noles

In these days of economic uncertainty, moral depravity and world-wide turbulence, people are looking for purpose and relevancy. For many, this means searching for spiritual meaning through traditional religions. But, for a growing number of people, belief in or reliance on any kind of deity is unthinkable. That’s where Sunday Assembly comes in.

The fastest growing “church” in the world with a growth rate of over 3,000 percent, Sunday Assembly – a godless monthly Sunday service for atheists – is being duplicated this fall in 22 cities throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. Organizers anticipate thousands will gather “to hear great talks, sing songs and generally celebrate the wonder of life with no hope of the hereafter.”

Although the gatherings appear to be more of a social club than a church, Sunday Assembly is modeled after the typical Anglican Church for those who identify with a traditional worship service and comunity bond.

“The church model has worked really well for a couple of thousand years,” Los Angeles camera man Ian Dodd explained in an interview with Salon. “What we’re trying to do is hold on to the bath water while throwing out the baby Jesus.” Dodd will be starting the new Assembly in Los Angeles later this fall.

Founded in January 2013 by stand-up comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, the original church’s motto is: “Live Better, Help Often and Wonder More.” According to the Public Charter of the Assembly, “We are born from nothing and go to nothing. Let’s enjoy it together. [We have] no doctrine… no set texts so we can make use of wisdom from all sources… no deity.”

While beliefs differ throughout the congregation, a sense of community is what draws many people. “When I decided there probably wasn’t a God, it made church a lot more awkward,” Evans – a former Christian – said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “I always felt like there wasn’t a place to have that same sort of community. I couldn’t get my head around how to do it without offending anyone.”

“I don’t think religion should have a monopoly on community,” wrote Salon columnist Katie Engelhart after attending a service. “I like the idea of a secular temple, where atheists can enjoy the benefits of an idealized, traditional church – a sense of community, a thought-provoking sermon, a scheduled period of respite, easy access to community service opportunities, group singing, an ethos of self-improvement, free food – without the stinging imposition of God Almighty.”

The rapid expansion of the church is somewhat unexpected. While branches have already been opened in England, Australia and New York City, Jones and Evans didn’t foresee the explosion of interest. “The big surprise is that this has become an international movement so quickly, we didn’t realize how powerful the Internet was with an idea – so that’s been amazing,” Evans said.

“If we do it in London and there are 400 people who come, that’s brilliant, but if we find a way to help hundreds of people to set one up then we can have a bigger impact than we could ever dream of,” Jones told The Guardian, a British daily publication. He said their vision is “a godless gathering in every town, city or village that wants one.” They will be touring the U.S. and Canada in November 2013 with stops in seven U.S. cities.

Jones and Evans are excited to bring their brand of “religion” to the world, and particularly the U.S. When asked about possible backlash, Jones and Evans are optimistic about the end result. “In the States you’ve got a whole load of people who get how good church is, religious people totally get why you’d go to church, they think it’s weird that people don’t,” Jones said. “I don’t expect much objection from religious communities. They are happy for us to use their church model. I think it’s more aggressive atheists who will have an issue with it.”

In your prayer time this week, please pray:

That this atheist movement will fade quickly

That the atheist groups that meet in churches will feel the presence of God and turn to Him

That America’s religious freedoms are not negatively impacted by the atheist groups

Diann Noles is a former editor and writer for Christian publications in Tucson, AZ and Portland, OR. She now serves as Public Relations Director for a major Christian non-profit organization. She and her husband Bill live in Tucson, AZ and have two sons and four grandchildren.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – America’s Only Hope, Part 2

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In our country, we have had three great spiritual awakenings, perhaps four. The first, during the 1700s, was led by such men as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. During just two years of this revival, from 1740 to 1742, some 25,000 to 50,000 people were added to the New England churches. This, out of a population of only 300,000!

The Second Great Awakening (1790s to 1840) was led by many, including Charles Finney. It was the time of the Wild West. The law was disregarded and sexual sin was rampant. Through “camp meetings,” where crowds as high as 15,000 would gather for several days (an incredible figure considering the scanty population of that time), thousands came to faith—more than 10,000 in Kentucky alone between 1800 and 1803.

The Third Great Awakening in America was from about 1857 to 1859. How this revival began is unique. A 48-year-old businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier began a prayer meeting on Fulton Street in New York City. It began slowly and soon exploded. It is worth noting that the New York Stock Market crashed around this time and soon Lanphier’s prayer meeting was attended by hundreds of people. Prayer meetings broke out all over New York City, filling theaters on Broadway.

Within six months, 10,000 people gathered daily for prayer throughout New York City! It is reported that 50,000 New Yorkers were converted from March to May. During that single year, the number of reported conversions throughout the country reached an average of 50,000 a week for a couple of years. There were 10,000 additions to church membership weekly. Over one million people came to Christ in this brief period. One of the men who came out of this revival was a former shoe salesman known as D.L. Moody, who personally led countless thousands to Christ! But look at how it all started. One simple “layman” decided to pray, and it started a wave that impacted the nation! It was an extraordinary move of the Holy Spirit!

Finally, there was the Jesus Movement. I was privileged to have a front-row seat as I was one of the kids who came to faith during that time. There is no question in my mind that it was a modern-day revival.

Things were bleak in the late ’60s. The country was in turmoil. Bomb drills in classrooms were mandatory. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to the brink of nuclear confrontation with Russia. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, as well as his brother Bobby, and Martin Luther King Jr. The Vietnam War was raging, with no end in sight. Watergate was about to happen. Kids were rebelling against society and turning to drugs, sex, and Rock & Roll. The slogan of the time was “Turn on, Tune in, Drop out.”

The church, by and large, was not effectively reaching the public. In 1966, Time Magazine even did a cover story titled “Is God Dead?” Some liberal Protestant theologians announced that indeed He was. Nothing like this had ever happened in America before. But God intervened and brought the Jesus Movement and it saved a generation. Thousands and thousands of young people came to Christ, and the church was influenced globally by what God did through the Jesus Movement.

But that was over 40 years ago. The kids of this movement are now grandparents! Now we look at this generation and we realize we need another Jesus Movement—another spiritual awakening. Even our own children, raised in the church, need their own encounter with God. What we want is to see the Lord do it again!

The prophet Habakkuk understood this when he prayed this prayer: “I have heard all about you, LORD, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, revive Your work, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).

Psalm 85:6 says, “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” But how badly do we really want to see another revival? I asked Chuck Smith if we would ever see another Jesus Movement. “We are living in desperate times,” he said, “but we are not desperate for revival!”

In the Tribulation Period, millions will come to Christ! In Revelation 7, we read of a multitude so large they could not be numbered. We know there has been revival in the past. And we know there will be revival in the future. But will there be revival in the present?

I am praying there will be. I am praying for America.

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Charles Stanley – The Cost of Uncontrolled Anger

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James 1:19-20

Anger is an extremely powerful emotion. It can destroy lives, tear relationships apart, and ruin a believer’s witness.

The apostle Paul understood the negative potential of resentment, and he offered this advice on how to deal with it: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

When we’re right in the middle of tense situations, Paul’s recommendations may seem unrealistic and impractical. But unless we apply his advice, we could easily face the devastating consequences of uncontrolled rage. For example, our anger can shut down communication with others. It can also lead to a silent but very damaging type of resentment—the “passive-aggressive” person takes out his bitterness on others in subtle ways. One of the most harmful consequences of uncontrolled anger is depression. Over time, inner turmoil and unresolved conflicts will take their toll on a person’s mental health.

But we have a choice. We can let our anger control us—which means we opt to suffer the consequences. Or we can release this debilitating emotion by forgiving those we feel have stirred our bitterness.

Try to identify causes of anger in your life, and bring them before the Lord. Trust that He will empower you to overcome these sources of strife. Read Ephesians 4:31-3 once more, and let the truth of God’s Word strengthen you.

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Our Daily Bread — Songs Born Out Of Struggle

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Psalm 31:9-20

Have mercy on me, O LORD . . . ; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! —Psalm 31:9

In a documentary film about three legendary guitarists, Jack White described the first essential for writing a song: “If you don’t have a struggle already inside of you or around you, you have to make one up.”

The songs that mean the most to us give expression to our deepest feelings. Many of the Psalms, often called “the Bible’s songbook,” were born out of struggle. They capture our disappointments and fears, yet they always point us toward the faithful love of God.

In Psalm 31, David wrote: “Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body!” (v.9). He speaks of a trap set for him (v.4), his own sin (v.10), abandonment by friends (vv.11-12), and plots against his life (v.13).

Yet, David’s hope was not in his own strength, but in God. “I trust in You, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me” (vv.14-15).

The Psalms invite us to pour out our hearts to God, because He has stored up His goodness for those who trust in Him (v.19). —David McCasland

God gives to His servants this promise:

You’ll not have to face life alone;

For when you grow weak in your struggle,

His strength will prevail—not your own. —Hess

When in your deepest need, find God’s comfort in the Psalms.

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John MacArthur – Chosen to be Sent

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“Having summoned His twelve disciples, [Jesus] gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles were these” (Matt. 10:1-2).

Have you ever met someone who constantly absorbs what the church has to offer, yet never seems to plug into a ministry where he can give to others? I’ve met many people like that. Some have attended church for many years, and have even taken evangelism and other special training classes. But they never quite feel qualified to minister to others or even to share their testimony. Eventually that has a crippling effect on their spiritual lives and on the life of the church in general.

When Jesus called the disciples to Himself, He did so to train them for ministry. We see that in Matthew 10:1-2. The Greek word translated “disciples” means “learners.” “Apostles” translates a Greek word meaning “to dispatch away from” or “send.” In classical Greek it refers to a naval expedition dispatched to serve a foreign city or country. Disciples are learners; apostles are emissaries. Jesus called untrained disciples, but dispatched trained apostles. That’s the normal training process.

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says, “Go . . . and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” Paul said to Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

As wonderful and important as it is to learn of Christ, you must never be content to be a disciple only. You must also be a discipler!

Suggestions for Prayer:

Memorize Matthew 28:18-20. If you aren’t currently discipling someone, ask the Lord for an opportunity to do so.

For Further Study:

An important part of discipleship is spending time with Christ. One way to do that is to read through the gospels on a regular basis. You might want to obtain a harmony of the gospels to help in your study. Tell a friend of your plan so he or she can encourage you and hold you accountable.

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Joyce Meyer – Love Aggressively

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This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you. No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends. —John 15:12-13

As the children of God, we must love others as God loves us. And that means aggressively—and sacrificially.

Love is an effort. We will never love anybody if we are not willing to pay the price. One time I gave a woman a nice pair of earrings. My flesh wanted to keep them for myself, but my spirit said to be obedient to the Lord and give them away.

Later that woman stood up in a meeting and told how she had been given the earrings she was wearing as “a free gift.”

The Lord spoke to me and said, “Yes, it was a free gift to her, but it cost you, just as salvation is a free gift to you but it cost Jesus His life.”

Love is the greatest gift of all. When you show forth the love of God, do it freely, sacrificially—and aggressively!

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Ways That Are Right and Best

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“He will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to Him” (Psalm 25:9).

A guide, taking some tourists through Mammoth Cave, reached a place called “The Cathedral.”

Mounting a rock called “The Pulpit,” he said he wanted to preach a sermon, and it would be short.

“Keep close to your guide,” he said.

The tourists soon found it was a good sermon. If they did not keep close to the guide, they would be lost in the midst of pits, precipices and caverns.

It is hard to find one’s way through Mammoth Cave without a guide. It is harder to find one’s way through the world without the lamp of God’s Word.

“Keep your eye on the Light of the World (Jesus) and use the Lamp of God’s Word” is a good motto for the Christian to follow.

Humbly turning to God is one of the most meaningful exercises a person can take. We come in touch with divine sovereignty, and we become instant candidates to discern God’s will for our lives.

Humbling ourselves is clearly in line with God’s formula for revival:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, KJV).

Bible Reading: Psalm 25:1-8

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: With the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I will fix my heart and mind on Jesus first and others second, which is true humility.

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Greg Laurie –Not All There Is

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God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. —James 1:12

Not long ago, I had a conversation with two people after church.

One was in a wheelchair with a severe disability, and the other was speaking at length. I listened to her for a while, and then I turned to the woman in the wheelchair and said, “Well, how are you doing?”

“I am doing fine,” she told me.

But then her friend said that she actually had just had two brain surgeries to remove cancer, and they were successful.

I looked at this young woman with her disability, someone who had just come through such a difficult time, and I thought, “And where is she now?” She is at church.

I think of all of the excuses people come up with as to why they can’t make it to church. They have a cold, or it takes too long to get into the parking lot, and so forth. Yet here was this young woman who, despite her severe disability and recent surgeries, was at church, praising God and saying she is doing fine. I was touched by her example.

So I said to her, “You know, the Bible promises a special blessing and crown to those who have suffered in this life. I admire your faith. You are an inspiration to me.”

James 1:12 says, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him” (NLT). It all will be made up to us in the life to come. Have you lost something to follow Jesus? Whatever losses you may have incurred for following Christ will be more than made up to you.

Make no mistake about it: Our life on earth isn’t all there is. There will be rewards for our faithfulness to God.

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Charles Stanley – The Rewards of Patience

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Hebrews 6:13-15

Patience is hard for us to learn. I don’t know anyone who likes the trait—we simply don’t have time for patience! Life is fast, time’s running out, and we’ve got to get this show on the road, right?

This is clearly how most of us act, even if we don’t say it in so many words. Perhaps that’s why Scripture includes abundant examples of godly patience and its reward. Over and over again, we see the heavenly Father making promises to His children, only to have them wait years—sometimes decades—for the promise to be fulfilled. But the result of that patience is always blessing.

Consider Abraham. At age 75, he was given God’s promise of a son. Ten years later, he was still waiting. Fifteen years passed, then twenty, and still no son. At last, when he was 100—a quarter-century after the Lord had made the promise—baby Isaac was born. Surely Abraham must have had times of doubt during that lengthy wait. However, he continued to trust in God and kept watching for the fulfillment of His promise.

There are plenty of other examples. As a young man, Jacob met the girl of his dreams, but he had to work many years before making her his bride. Joseph had a God-given vision of blessing at 17 but languished more than a decade in slavery and prison prior to receiving the reward. And David was anointed King of Israel as a teenager but spent the next 14 years or so running for his life before taking the throne.

Shortcuts never lead to where God wants us to be. The long road, however, is filled with faithful servants. Are you waiting on the Lord today? Be encouraged—you’re in good company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our Daily Bread — Momma’s Rules

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Ephesians 4:17-32

Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt. —Ephesians 4:22

I met a delightful woman named “Momma Charlie,” who has raised a dozen or so foster kids. These youngsters were assigned to her by the courts, and she gave them a home with stability, guidance, and love. She told me that every time a new child arrived, the first order of business was to explain “Momma’s Rules.” These included behavioral standards, plus chores that would provide much-needed help in the busy household while teaching accountability to kids with little previous training.

Some of the children may have balked at “Momma’s Rules,” thinking they were robbing them of fun or pleasure—yet nothing would be further from the truth. Those standards allowed for an orderly household where both Momma and the children could find life enjoyable and peaceful.

Similarly, some look at the standards God set forth in the Bible as obstacles that prevent us from enjoying life. However, the boundaries God places actually protect us from our worst inclinations and foster healthy responses to Him.

In Ephesians 4, for example, Paul provides some guidance for how we are to live. As we live by these and other loving instructions from God, we find protection and the opportunity for true, lasting joy. —Bill Crowder

Father, thank You for the boundaries of life that

protect us from sin and from ourselves. Give us

the wisdom and grace to respond gratefully to

Your Word in areas of danger and temptation.

God’s Word is the compass that keeps us on course.

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Ravi Zacharias Ministry – The Fabric of Counterculture

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Some years ago a group of Christian thinkers were asked to answer the question: How can followers of Christ be countercultural for the common good? Their answers ranged from becoming our own fiercest critics to experiencing life at the margins, from choosing our battles wisely to getting more sleep. A case could easily be made to add many other ideas to their thoughtful list, and its project leaders would agree. The possibilities for counterculturalism are perhaps as numerous as the cultures and sub-cultures of our globalized world. The idea was to get people thinking about what it means to be countercultural in the first place, a lifestyle Jesus heralded as a man with the government on his shoulders, one from whom others hid their faces, and for whom affliction was well known.

Of course, Jesus did not come to shape an insurgent army of cultural protestors. But he did turn both culture and cultural norms on their heads, and he continues to do so today. To crowds gathered in the first century, the wisdom of the rabbi from Nazareth was different than most. He taught with authority, but he also perplexed his would-be students with words about the first being last, and prostitutes and tax collectors making their way into the kingdom before religious experts. To crowds in the current century, this radical teacher continues to herald a radical message. Loving your neighbor is a command that runs counter to most cultural norms, loving your enemy all the more so. The entire Sermon on the Mount was, and remains, the most countercultural sermon ever given.

But still, the question persists: Did Jesus come to overturn cultural norms like he overturned the moneychangers’ tables? And exactly how, then, are his followers to be countercultural themselves? Are Christians to be inherently cultural naysayers, gypsies who wander through this world unattached and (hopefully) unaffected? Did Christ come to free us from the very fabric of culture and history into which our lives are woven? Or was his life’s ambition to unravel something much deeper?

To begin with, I think we misunderstand Jesus as a countercultural leader heralding a countercultural message if we separate his radical life and message from his radical work on the cross. Jesus did not come to destroy culture as we know it, but to save the world within it. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” he told a Jewish world built upon the Law and the Prophets. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

Perhaps the best image of counterculturalism is an image of something that is being woven rather than unwound. Nancy Jackson, an artist who creates tapestries, notes the “countercultural” philosophy of weaving. “Weaving tapestry in our modern world requires a different mindset that has taken many years to cultivate,” she writes. “It requires faith that the world will still be here in two years…. Weaving a tapestry is good for the soul.” The equally foreign message of Christ is that God is not only near us, but that God’s presence is woven into all of life; God has been before us and will remain after us. The saving grace of God’s work among us can be seen throughout history, in the lives we live today, and in every stroke of time to come. Jesus did not come to unravel the fabric of the human story nor the human him or herself. On the contrary, he came to unravel confusion, shortfall, immaturity, sin, and chaos, and to make clear the beautiful tapestry made by a creator who has in mind the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Perhaps his followers are most adequately countercultural, then, when we live as people aware that there is an entire picture, when we counter the pervasive individualism that bids us to look no further than our own homes or schedules or priorities. Perhaps we are effectively countercultural when we testify to the radical work of the cross in the world and in our hearts, a cross which exchanges guilt for grace, ashes for beauty, collective sorrow for joy.  Perhaps we are countercultural when we see the startling colors of Christ’s life in our own stories and in our neighbors’ stories and know that these are only small glimpses of the magnificent work that God is weaving through all of time, every tribe, and partial tapestry.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

 

 

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Charles Spurgeon – Regeneration

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“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 13:22-30

“Angels, principalities, and powers, would you be willing that men who love not God, who believe not in Christ, who have not been born again, should dwell here?” I see them, as they look down upon us, and hear them answering, “No! Once we fought the dragon, and expelled him, because he tempted us to sin! We must not, and we will not, have the wicked here. These alabaster walls must not be soiled with black and lustful fingers; the white pavement of heaven must not be stained and rendered filthy by the unholy feet of ungodly men. No!” I see a thousand spears bristling, and the fiery faces of a myriad seraphs thrust over the walls of paradise. “No, while these arms have strength, and these wings have power, no sin shall ever enter here.” I address myself moreover to the saints of heaven, redeemed by sovereign grace: “Children of God, are you willing that the wicked should enter heaven as they are, without being born again? You say you love men, but are you willing that they should be admitted as they are?” I see Lot rise up, and he cries, “Admit them into heaven! No! What! Must I be vexed by the conversation of Sodomites again, as once I was!” I see Abraham; and he comes forward, and he says, “No; I cannot have them here. I had enough of them whilst I was with them on earth—their jests and jeers, their silly talkings, their vain conversation, vexed and grieved us. We want them not here.” And, heavenly though they be, and loving as their spirits are, yet there is not a saint in heaven who would not resent, with the utmost indignation, the approach of any one of you to the gates of paradise, if you are still unholy, and have not been born again.

For meditation: Matthew 13:41-43; Luke 16:23-26 — at best the unsaved will have a distant view of heaven which will only add to their torment.

Sermon no. 130

3 May (1857)

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John MacArthur – Overcoming Spiritual Inadequacies

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“Having summoned His twelve disciples” (Matt. 10:1).

Most people think of the disciples as stained-glass saints who didn’t have to struggle with the faults and frailties of normal people. But they had inadequacies just like we all do. Seeing how Jesus dealt with them gives us hope that He can use us too.

One inadequacy common to all the disciples was their lack of understanding. For example, Luke 18 tells us Jesus gave them details about His future suffering, death, and resurrection, but they didn’t understand anything He said (vv. 31-34). Jesus overcame their lack of understanding by constantly teaching them until they got it right.

Another inadequacy was their lack of humility. More than once they argued among themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (e.g., Mark 9:33-37). Jesus dealt with their lack of humility by His own example. He likened Himself to a servant, and even washed their dirty feet.

In addition to their lack of understanding and humility, they also lacked faith. Jesus often said to them, “O men of little faith.” In Mark 16:14 He rebuked them for not even believing the reports of His resurrection.

They also lacked commitment. Just prior to Christ’s death Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, and the others deserted Him. Jesus dealt with their lack of commitment by praying for them (e.g., John 17:15; Luke 22:31-32).

Finally, they lacked spiritual power, which Christ overcame by giving them the Holy Spirit.

Those are significant inadequacies, but despite all that, the book of Acts records that the disciples turned the world upside down with their powerful preaching and miraculous deeds. They were so much like Christ that people started calling them Christians, which means “Little Christs.”

Jesus still transforms inadequacies into victories. He does it through the Spirit, the Word, and prayer. Don’t be victimized by your inadequacies. Make those spiritual resources the continual focus of your life.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Thank the Lord for your inadequacies because they help you realize your dependence on Him.

Ask for grace always to rely on your spiritual resources rather than human abilities.

For Further Study:

Read Matthew 20:20-28.

Who spoke to Jesus on behalf of James and John?

What was His response?

How did the other disciples respond?

What was Jesus’ concluding principle?

 

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Joyce Meyer – Getting What We Want

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Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.—Proverbs 3:5–6

I usually know what I want, and I like to get it. I’m exactly like most people. When we don’t get what we want, our negative feelings flare up. (And remember those feelings began with thoughts.)

“I drove across town to buy that dress, and you’re out of my size?”

“What do you mean there are no HDTVs left? You advertised it in the paper.”

Most of us are like that—and when we don’t get what we want, we make people around us miserable. It’s not something we learn in school—it may be inborn. As I wrote the above quotations, I thought of a scene in the grocery store.

A young mother was pushing her cart along and stopped at the cereal. Her child—less than two years old—reached out for a box. “Want! Want!”

“No,” the mother said. “We have plenty at home.” She put a different box of cereal in the cart.

“Want! Want!” the child said. Getting no response, she began to kick and scream. To the mother’s credit, she did not give in but pushed the cart to another aisle and distracted her child.

As I watched that behavior, I thought, That’s the way we all are most of the time. We decide what we want, and when we don’t get it, we’re angry.

“Jack and I were both up for the same promotion. I’ve been with the company longer, and my sales figures are stronger,” Donna said. “I deserved it, but he got the job.”

“I had a grade of 98 going into my final essay test,” Angie said. “If I had made another 100, it would have given me a 4.0 average, and I would have become the top student in my graduating class. But I made only 83 on the test, and dropped down to fifth in my class. I deserved a grade of 100, but my teacher doesn’t like me.”

Let’s look at this problem more closely. The individuals mentioned above, who didn’t get what they wanted, made one common statement: “I deserved it, but I didn’t get it.”

Too often, we Christians expect life to be perfect and for everything to go smoothly for us. We expect success, happiness, joy, peace, and everything else. When we’re thwarted, we pout or complain.

Although God does want us to have a good life, there will be times when we must be patient and endure not getting our way. These disappointments test our character and level of spiritual maturity. They actually show whether or not we truly are ready for promotion.

Why do we think we should always be first while others have to endure a lesser position? Why do we think we are entitled to the perfect life? Perhaps sometimes we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. A humble mind enables us to take a back seat and wait for God to move us to the front. God’s Word says that we inherit the promises through faith and patience. Believing God is good, but can we continue to believe God and trust Him when we don’t feel that life is fair?

Satan plays with our minds. Most of the time, the evil one says negative things to us: “You don’t deserve it; you are worthless; you’re stupid.” Once in a while, however, he tries a different trick: He tells us how hard we work or how much we’re entitled to. If we listen and believe, we may begin to feel cheated or believe that someone has taken advantage of us.

When we don’t get what we want, we fall apart, saying, “I deserved it!” We not only get angry with the boss, the teacher, or anyone else, but we sometimes get angry with God for not giving us what we felt we deserved.

The big mistake was to say we deserved it, because then self-pity creeps in when we don’t get what we want. We can take that attitude, or we can recognize that we have a choice. I can choose to accept life the way it is and make the best out of it, or I can complain because it isn’t perfect.

I think of the story of Jonah—not the whale story—but what happened afterward. He had announced that in forty days, God would destroy the city of Nineveh, but the people repented. Because God listened to their cries, Jonah was angry. “Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3).

Sad, isn’t it? Jonah would rather have been right than to see 120,000 people saved. Our situations aren’t usually that dramatic, but so many people would rather sit and feel sorry for themselves, listen to the whispers of Satan, and miss out with God than to simply trust God in every situation.

The secret of the Christian life is that we commit ourselves fully to God. If we surrender our wills to God, what happens doesn’t make us angry. If God doesn’t give us what we want and ask for, our faith is strong enough to say, “Not my will, but Yours.”

God, help me. I often have strong desires, and when I don’t get what I want, I get upset. Forgive me. Remind me that Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross, but He lived in total submission to Your will. I ask You, through Jesus Christ, to help me live in total submission and be content with what You give me. Amen.

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Perfect Harmony

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“Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14).

Martha had a very poor self-image. The distress she felt because of her physical appearance was compounded by the guilt of being grossly overweight. She hated herself and was despondent to the point of seriously considering suicide.

I counsel many students and older adults who are not able to accept themselves. Some are weighted down with guilt because of unconfessed sins. Others are not reconciled to their physical handicaps or deformities. Still others feel inferior mentally or socially.

My counsel to such people is this: God loves you and accepts you as you are. The love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit enables us to love ourselves as God made us. We can be thankful for ourselves, loving ourselves unconditionally as God does, and we can love others unconditionally, too.

It is Satan who is the great accuser, causing us to hate ourselves and others. God, having commanded us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, and our enemies, will enable us to do what He commands us to do as we claim His promise.

The great tragedy of many families is that resentment, bitterness and hate overtake their members like an all-consuming cancer, ultimately destroying the unity among husband, wife and children. Love of the husband and wife for each other, and of parents and children for one another, is so basic that it should not need to be mentioned. Yet, sadly and alarmingly, children are alienated from their parents, and even many Christian marriages are ending in divorce – in fact, in greater numbers today than at any other time in history.

God’s kind of love is a unifying force. Paul admonishes us to “put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:18-25

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Since God commands us to love Him, our neighbors, our enemies and ourselves, today I will claim that supernatural love by faith on the basis of God’s command to love and the promise that if I ask anything according to His will, He will hear and answer me.

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Grace for Everyone

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Winning a war is call for celebration and, usually, humiliation of the vanquished. But that’s not what Ulysses S. Grant had in mind when he accepted the surrender of Robert E. Lee at the close of the Civil War. As Union artillery began to pound the air in jubilation, Grant sent word to have it stopped. “The war is over,” he told his staff. “The rebels are our countrymen again.”

A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for your glory to your people Israel. Luke 2:32

Many of the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day firmly believed there was no place for Gentiles in God’s kingdom. Yet when Jesus was presented at the Temple, a righteous man named Simeon proclaimed that He would be the Savior not just of Israel…but of the Gentiles and all the world. It was a shocking, heretical and distasteful proclamation for some back then to be sure. There remains a natural inclination in people today to think that some are less worthy than others, forgetting that Christ is “not wishing that any should perish.” (II Peter 3:9)

As you pray for your leaders in America today, resist the urge to intercede only for those you like. Lift up all of your countrymen, remembering that no one is beyond God’s grace.

Recommended Reading: Romans 1:5-16

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Greg Laurie – The Bible’s Most Popular Verse

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“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” —Matthew 7:1–2

There was a time when probably the best-known Bible verse would have been John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It seemed as though everyone either knew this verse or knew a little bit about it.

But that is no longer the favorite verse of most people, especially nonbelievers. In fact, I believe the nonbeliever’s favorite verse is Matthew 7:1. I don’t think they know the actual reference, but they love to quote it: “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

That is usually what they say to a Christian who has the audacity to hold a biblical worldview. If we dare say that something is right or wrong, or if we make an evaluation about something, they will shoot back, “How can you say that? That is so judgmental! That is so narrow-minded! That is so bigoted! Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Judge not, lest you be judged’?”

Don’t be put off by that. A better translation of this verse would be, “Condemn not, that you be not condemned.” I am not in the position to say who will get into heaven or who will end up in hell. Ultimately that is up to God.

But I am to make judgments in life. Every day, I make judgments. If I am stepping into the street, I look both ways to make sure it is safe. That is a judgment. If I see a dog and decide to pet it, only to change my mind when he suddenly bares his teeth and growls, then that is a judgment.

So I am to make judgments and evaluations as a follower of Jesus Christ. We must make judgments. But we must not condemn.

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Max Lucado – Tell the Truth

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Some of us could state our credo as, “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you squirm.”

Our dislike for the truth began at age three when mom walked in our rooms and asked, “Did you hit your little brother?” We knew then and there that honesty had its consequences.  “Did I hit baby brother?  Well, that all depends on how you interpret the word hit.”

We want our bosses to like us, so we flatter. God calls it a lie. We want people to admire us, so we exaggerate.  God calls it a lie.  We want people to respect us, so we live in houses we can’t afford and charge bills we can’t pay.  God calls it living a lie.

The cure for deceit is simply this: face the music. The ripple of today’s lie is tomorrow’s wave and next year’s flood.

Be just like Jesus.  Tell the truth!

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Charles Stanley – Discovering God’s Will

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Colossians 1:9-12

Would you say that discovering God’s will is like trying to catch a butterfly that’s always just out of reach? Or is it more like fishing, where you cast your lure and hope for the best? In either case, you lack the assurance that you can know what His will is. Jesus, on the other hand, was absolutely certain that He knew what His Father had planned (John 6:38-39). In fact, the heavenly Father gives believers His Holy Spirit to reveal His purposes for each one.

Scripture is the Lord’s primary means of communication. It is both complete and comprehensive in content. Containing principles that address all areas of life, the Bible is the Father’s instruction book for godly living. You cannot maintain the Christian life apart from a steady diet of His Word.

The Bible’s purpose is to give us guidelines for living, and—through the influence of the Holy Spirit—the wisdom to apply them to our daily decisions. The more familiar we are with Scripture, the easier it will be to see the relevance of biblical precepts to our lives. Not adhering to the Lord’s plan will result in missing out on the abundant spiritual life that Christ has promised. Even more importantly, veering from God’s way will mean failure to bring Him the glory He deserves—glory that would result from following His plan.

Unless the Word of God has a central place in our lives, we’ll find it almost impossible to be certain we are in His will. Today is the day to change all that. God is waiting to meet with you in His Word. Won’t you join Him—nothing on your schedule could possibly be more valuable than time spent with your Father.

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Our Daily Bread — All That Is Precious

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1 Peter 2:1-10

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. —1 Peter 2:4

Throughout my life, I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff. I have boxes of things that at one time were important but over time have lost their intrigue. And, as an unrepentant collector, I’ve realized that the thrill is in searching for and acquiring a new piece to add to the collection. Then my attention turns toward the hunt for the next item.

While we pile up many things that are important to us, very little of it is really precious. In fact, over time I have learned that the most precious things in life are not material items at all. Rather, it’s the people who have loved me and built into my life who are precious. When I find my heart saying, “I don’t know what I’d do without them,” I know that they are indeed precious to me.

So when Peter refers to Jesus as “a chief cornerstone, elect, precious” (1 Peter 2:6), it should resonate in our hearts that He is truly precious—our prized possession above everything and everyone else. Where would we be today without the constant unfailing companionship of His faithful presence, wise and perfect guidance, merciful patience, comfort, and transforming reproof? What would we do without Him? I can’t even imagine! —Joe Stowell

Lord, help us not to focus on fleeting treasures but on

You, our most precious treasure. Teach us the joy

of reveling in You and Your loving presence

and provision in our lives.

Of all that is precious, Jesus tops the list.