Tag Archives: Truth

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Claiming the Promise

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“But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in You. Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting Him, what can mere man do to me?” (Psalm 56:3,4).

Raymond and Martha were active church members and gave generously to the needs of the fellowship. But their real security, as Raymond shared, was largely in monetary holdings. After working hard for many years to build a financial empire, they had nothing to worry about. They were on “Easy Street” and could do anything for the rest of their lives, confident of being able to pass on a sizable fortune to their children and grandchildren.

But at this point, Raymond turned over the reins of his business to a trusted employee who, through mismanagement and embezzlement, coupled with a severe economic depression, was able to destroy in approximately two years what had taken Raymond more than thirty years to accumulate.

Devastated and fearful, Raymond and Martha turned to God and His Word. As they claimed God’s promises, the Savior whom they had professed to know but had not really known, became a reality in their lives. They became joyful, radiant and victorious. Though they had lost almost everything materially, they had, in the process, gained all that was really important. Now their trust was in the Lord who filled their lives with His love and grace. They passed on God’s blessing to others, including me.

Bible Reading: Psalm 25:4-10

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will not wait until personal tragedy, physical illness, financial reverses, heartache or sorrow cross my path, but will place my confidence in the Lord and in his Word and begin now to draw upon His supernatural resources to live a full and meaningful life for His glory

 

http://www.cru.org

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Kindness

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They sat on opposite sides of the room, a man and a woman, bidding on an adorable puppy at a school auction. Others dropped off, but not this duo. Back and forth until they’d one-upped the bid to several thousand dollars. This was like the Wimbledon finals, and neither player was backing off the net! Finally the fellow gave in and didn’t return the bid. Going once, going twice, going three times. Sold!  You know what she did? Amidst the applause, she walked across the room and presented the puppy to the competition.

Suppose you did that to the competition. With your enemy. Suppose you surprised them with kindness? Not easy? No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness. Paul equates the two in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

From Lucado Inspirational Reader

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

 

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Paul Ryan condemned after calling for prayer

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After news broke about the shooting in Texas last Sunday, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tweeted, “The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.” The reaction on his Twitter feed was ferocious:

  • Someone going by the name “Count Ziggenpuss” replied, “What they need is meaningful gun control. Your prayers to the made up invisible being in the sky aren’t helping stop these repeated massacres.”
    • “5 AM RISE N SHINE” tweeted, “they dont need prayers they need gun control. A prayer won’t do [expletive deleted]. This happens every week now in this country.”
    • “Gv89” added, “They were literally in a church. Clearly prayers do absolutely nothing.”

Mr. Ryan responded to his critics: “It’s disappointing. It’s sad, and this is what you’ll get from the far secular left. People who do not have faith don’t understand faith, I guess I’d have to say. And it is the right thing to do is to pray in moments like this, because you know what? Prayer works.”

Is American Christianity under attack?

Ridiculing Christianity began at the beginning of Christianity, when skeptics at Pentecost mocked the Spirit-filled believers and accused them of drunkenness (Acts 2:13). But slandering American Christians has clearly escalated in recent years.

Those of us who defend biblical sexuality are now branded as homophobic. People who oppose same-sex marriage are accused of hating gay people. Pro-life supporters are allegedly waging a “war on women.”

When Christian columnist Rod Dreher opposed same-sex marriage in his Dallas Morning News column, a campaign of harassment culminated in the newspaper hiring off-duty police officers to guard his home and family. When Chick-fil-A’s charitable foundation made donations perceived as hostile to LGBT rights, activists called for protests and boycotts.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Paul Ryan condemned after calling for prayer →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Who Are “the Lost”?

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Luke 19:1-10

Zaccheus worked as a chief tax collector for the Roman government. His profession caused him to be despised by his fellow Jews. When Jesus sought him out and asked to visit his home, the crowd was dismayed—the Lord was associating with someone whose conduct made him a sinner in their eyes. The Savior responded, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

The word lost is a biblical term used to describe the spiritual situation of everyone who has yet to receive Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior. In this state, a person is separated from God—there is physical life but no spiritual connection to the heavenly Father. Lost doesn’t have to do with physical location; it speaks instead of spiritual deadness (Eph. 2:1), when the mind is blind to the truth of God.

Man’s sinfulness was established through the disobedient action of the first human being—Adam. When he supported Eve’s plan and disobeyed God, his nature became one of rebellion, and all generations from then on have inherited his sinful flesh tendencies. Everyone is born into this world with a nature bent away from God (Rom. 5:12).

Zaccheus was a sinner because of his lost condition, not because of his greedy profession. Good behavior doesn’t make us a Christian, nor does bad conduct disqualify us. The tax collector received salvation through faith in Jesus. By trusting in Christ as Savior, we, like Zaccheus, are no longer lost; we’re made spiritually alive. Hallelujah!

Bible in One Year: John 17-19

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Second Chances

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Read: Ruth 4:13–17

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40–42; Hebrews 4

He has not stopped showing his kindness.—Ruth 2:20

“How can you be so kind if you don’t even know me!”

By making some wrong decisions, Linda had ended up in jail in a country not her own. For six years she remained in prison, and when she was set free she didn’t have anywhere to go. She thought her life was over! While her family gathered money to buy her ticket home, a kind couple offered her lodging, food, and a helping hand. Linda was so touched by their kindness that she willingly listened as they told her the good news of a God who loves her and wants to give her a second chance.

Linda reminds me of Naomi, a widow in the Bible who lost her husband and two sons in a foreign land and thought her life was over (Ruth 1). However, the Lord hadn’t forgotten Naomi, and through the love of her daughter-in-law and the compassion of a godly man named Boaz, Naomi saw God’s love and was given a second chance (4:13–17).

The same God cares for us today. Through the love of others we can be reminded of His presence. We can see God’s grace in the helping hand of people we may not even know well. But above all, God is willing to give us a fresh start. We just need, like Linda and Naomi, to see God’s hand in our everyday lives and realize He never stops showing us His kindness. —Keila Ochoa

Dear Lord, thank You that You let us begin again and again.

God gives us second chances.

INSIGHT: Placed in the same time period as the book of Judges, the book of Ruth complements the bleak tone of Judges with a hopeful focus on God’s unconditional faithfulness. The most central character in this book is Naomi, who receives renewed hope after her own resources are gone.

The concept of “redemption” in Ruth refers to the practice of a “guardian-redeemer.” The redeemer restores losses due to tragedy for a close relative. The guardian-redeemer’s role might involve some self-sacrifice, for restoring the relative’s inheritance or family line meant the possibility of not creating his own family line. In the book of Ruth, after the death of Naomi’s husband and sons, Boaz chooses to restore Elimelek and Naomi’s family line through marrying Ruth and considering her child as Naomi’s.

But “redemption” also had a deeper meaning for Israel, pointing them to their hope of God restoring them (often portrayed as redemption; see, for example, Ex. 6:6-8; Isa. 43:1). Ultimately, it was God, not Boaz, who restored Naomi (Ruth 4:14). And from Ruth’s family came David (v. 22) and eventually Jesus, who restores all believers into relationship with God.

When have you, like Naomi, experienced God’s restoration despite feelings of despair? Monica Brands

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – An Unlikely Alliance

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They both trod along the dusty streets of ancient Palestine: one as an outcast and traitor and the other as a would-be hero. One used his position to cheat and extort his own people. The other carried a dagger under his cloak to swiftly exact vengeance on agents of government extortion. Neither man would have hoped to meet the other. Yet, a stranger from a backwater town would bring the two of them together. In fact, this most unlikely pair would not only meet, but live alongside each other for three years as they followed this stranger. All that had previously defined them would give way to an entirely new path of life.

On that most unexpected day, Matthew was collecting taxes from the people. He made sure to extract more than what was necessary to fill his coffers with unlawful profits. The stranger who came by the tax office that day looked like any other man, so it likely came as quite a shock to Matthew when the stranger called out to him, “Follow me.” No one from among the people of Israel would even desire to speak with Matthew—yet this stranger called after him and invited him to follow. To where, he did not know, but his invitation was irresistible. That very night, Matthew invited the stranger to his home for dinner and they reclined at the same table. Even to Matthew, it would have been a radical sight. Seated among the most despised members of society, didn’t the stranger know how deeply this company was hated? How was it that he had come to Matthew’s house, a man hated in all Israel for being a sellout to the Roman government? Yet, here was this intriguing stranger eating and drinking with outsiders and sellouts.(1)

The day that Simon the Zealot was approached would be no less surprising. The Zealots sought any and all means to overthrow their Roman oppressors. As revolutionaries, Simon’s political affiliates hated all that Matthew’s kind represented. For Simon, Matthew was nothing but a colluder with those who sought to oppress the people of Israel. Yet this stranger from Nazareth called both of these men to his side. “Follow me,” he instructed. So along with a group of fisherman—Simon Peter, the sons of Zebedee, James and John—and this wretched tax collector, Simon the Zealot was invited to follow this stranger who gathered a most unexpected group of followers.(2)

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – An Unlikely Alliance →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – “They” Is You and Me

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Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and loving-kindness and truth go before Your face. — Psalm 89:14

God is just. It’s His character—who He is—and it’s something He wants us to pursue.

Justice seeks to make wrong things right. We are agents of God that He can work through to fix injustices in the world around us. Every time we see something that’s wrong, our first response should be to pray about it. Our second response should be to ask ourselves, What can I do about it?

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the needs we see around us. So we look at things and think that it’s someone else’s problem, and we wish “they” would fix it! We wish “they” would do this and that.

Have you ever stopped to ask, “Who are they?” I think “they” are us—you and me! You may not be able to fix everything, but you can do something. Don’t look at injustice and do nothing. God did not create you for inactivity and passivity, and He wants you to ask Him to show you what you can do. He created you for enthusiasm, zeal and passion. He put gifts in you to be used for His glory and to help other people. So, live a life of justice today.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – No Other Savior

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“There is salvation in no one else! Under all heaven there is no other name for men to call upon to save them” (Acts 4:12).

As a young sceptic, I had difficulty believing in the resurrection, for I could not believe in the supernatural. But as I became aware of the uniqueness of Jesus and of the different quality of life that was His, I was forced to reconsider the biblical claim to His resurrection.

Since it is a matter of historical fact that the tomb in which His dead body was placed was empty three days later, I set out to discover if the tomb could have been empty on any other basis than the biblical claim that He had been raised from the dead. In my research, I learned that there were three different theories explaining the empty tomb.

First, it was proposed that He was not really dead but had fainted from the loss of blood on the cross, and that He recovered in the cool of the tomb (this notion is today expounded by certain skeptics under the name of the “swoon theory”). Second, it was conceivable that Jesus’ body was stolen by His enemies; or third, that it was stolen by the disciples.

Experience and logic have forced me to discount all three of these theories as impossibilities. First, Jesus could never have moved the stone or escaped from the guards in His weakened condition. Second, Jesus’ enemies had no reason to steal His body since they did not want to give credence to a belief in His resurrection. Even if they had stolen the body, they could simply have produced it to discount the resurrection.

Third, the disciples who deserted Jesus at His trial and crucifixion were the same men who, having seen Him after His resurrection, spent the rest of their lives telling everyone who would listen, even at the cost of their own lives, that Jesus was alive. Ask yourself this question, “Would the disciples be willing to die as martyrs propagating a lie?”

Christianity alone has a living Savior; in Him alone is salvation.

Bible Reading: Romans 10:9-13

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Several times today, as the Holy Spirit prompts me, I will remember to thank God for the gift of His Son as my personal Savior and will tell someone else that Jesus is alive and wants to be his Savior, too

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – This Brutal World

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Max Lucado – Texas Church Tragedy – Hello, everyone. This is Max Lucado joining with you in offering urgent prayers for the community of Sutherland Springs, Texas. It’s hard to believe that this peace-loving, God-fearing community was victimized in, of all places, a church service.

We pray for their recovery and for peace. And we are reminded that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers of this present darkness.

We are praying for the quick and speedy demise of the devil. And we are urgent in our prayers for the return of Christ in which He will establish a kingdom of peace, once and for all, with the banishment of evil, and filled with the goodness of God. Amen.

 

This Brutal World

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Matthew 10:28

Yet again, yet so soon, we struggle to make sense of bloodshed and violence. Last week bikers mowed down on New York City’s Westside. Sunday, worshippers slaughtered in a small-town South Texas church.

Life is a dangerous endeavor. We pass our days in the shadows of ominous realities. The power to annihilate humanity has, it seems, been placed in the hands of people who are happy to do so.

Contrary to what we’d hope, good people aren’t exempt from violence. Murderers don’t give the godly a pass. Terrorists don’t vet out victims according to spiritual resumes. The bloodthirsty and wicked don’t skip over the heavenbound. We aren’t insulated. But neither are we intimidated. Jesus has a word or two about this brutal world. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28).

His disciples needed this affirmation. Jesus had just told them to expect scourging, trials, death, hatred, and persecution (Matthew 17–23). Not the kind of locker room pep talk that rallies the team. To their credit none defected. Perhaps they didn’t because of the fresh memory of Jesus’ flexed muscles in the graveyard. Jesus had taken his disciples to the “the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, [where] two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. And behold, they cried out, saying, ‘What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’” (Matthew 8:28–29 NASB).

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – ‘I don’t understand, but I know my God does’

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Bryan Holcombe was the guest preacher for the day. His wife Karla came to worship with him, along with their son Marc Daniel, their pregnant daughter-in-law, Crystal, and their grandchildren, Noah, Emily, Megan, and Greg. Then Devin Kelley opened fire, killing them all.

Joe Holcombe, Bryan’s eighty-six-year-old father, was left to mourn the generations he had raised. “We know where they are now,” he said. “All of our family members, they’re all Christian. And it won’t be long until we’re with them.”

Pastor Frank Pomeroy lost his teenage daughter and much of his congregation. When asked how to make sense of the tragedy, he said, “I don’t understand, but I know my God does.”

The “hardest thing” to understand

God gives us free will so we can choose to love him and others (1 Peter 2:16). If he prevents the consequences of our misused freedom, we are not truly free.

And yet, there are times in Scripture when he does just that. God spared Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace to which they were consigned by King Nebuchadnezzar’s egotism (Daniel 3:27). He sent his angel to free Peter after he was imprisoned by King Herod (Acts 12:6–11).

If God sometimes saves us from the sins of others, why did he not intervene in Sutherland Springs? Why did he not spare the children, teenagers, and adults who were gathered to worship him?

I am convinced that our Father redeems all he allows. Sometimes his redemption is obvious and clearly justifies his decision to allow what he redeems. But when horrific, innocent suffering happens, it is difficult for me to imagine how God could bring enough good to explain the evil.

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘I don’t understand, but I know my God does’ →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Resisting Fleshly Appetites

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Ephesians 2:1-7

The Holy Spirit guides believers to make wise and godly decisions. But when Christians fail to listen, they can instead make choices that appeal to the flesh.

After the serpent spoke to Eve, she no doubt took a long look at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17; Gen. 3:3, Gen. 3:6). Whatever she might have thought about the tree before, she now saw it with new eyes— flesh-focused eyes. Genesis 3 tells us that the forbidden tree appealed to Eve in three ways: It was good for food, delightful to look at, and desirable to make one wise.

In other words, the tree could fulfill three legitimate human appetites: the desire for tasty meals, beauty, and wisdom. There is nothing wrong with these God-given yearnings. The Lord created a variety of food and an earth filled with breathtaking sights so that people could enjoy them. He also offers the Holy Spirit as a source of His true wisdom and knowledge. In fact, it is the Spirit who teaches believers to keep fleshly appetites under control and in balance.

Meanwhile, Satan works hard to corrupt healthy desires. He abhors seeing people’s appetites satisfied. What he wants is to watch a person lusting after a good thing until he or she is controlled by the impulse to have it.

The devil is pleased when people make themselves slaves to a desire that—in the proper context—the Lord intended to be enjoyed freely. A believer walking in the Holy Spirit rejects gluttony, preferring desires that are within God’s boundaries instead. That’s how we get His very best.

Bible in One Year: John 14-16

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Our Prayers, God’s Timing

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Read: Luke 1:5–17

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 37–39; Hebrews 3

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.—Ephesians 3:20

Sometimes God takes His time in answering our prayers, and that isn’t always easy for us to understand.

That was the situation for Zechariah, a priest whom the angel Gabriel appeared to one day near an altar in the temple in Jerusalem. Gabriel told him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John” (Luke 1:13, italics added).

But Zechariah had probably asked God for a child years before, and he struggled with Gabriel’s message because Elizabeth was now well beyond the expected age for childbirth. Still, God answered his prayer.

God’s memory is perfect. He is able to remember our prayers not only for years but also for generations beyond our lifetime. He never forgets them and may move in response long after we first brought our requests to Him. Sometimes His answer is “no,” other times it is “wait”—but His response is always measured with love. God’s ways are beyond us, but we can trust that they are good.

Zechariah learned this. He asked for a son, but God gave him even more. His son John would grow up to be the very prophet who would announce the arrival of the Messiah.

Zechariah’s experience demonstrates a vital truth that should also encourage us as we pray: God’s timing is rarely our own, but it is always worth waiting for. —James Banks

What are you praying for today? Tell us at yourdailybread.org.

When we cannot see God’s hand at work, we can still trust His heart.

INSIGHT: Waiting for God to answer our prayers is hard—especially when we feel the pressures of life. But we have been given the encouragement and promise of the help of the Holy Spirit. How does God’s presence in your prayers strengthen you as you wait? (see Rom. 8). Bill Crowder

 

http://www.odb.org

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – God of Possibility

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“Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing.”(1) So begins Nicholas Carr’s well-circulated 2008 essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” His Atlantic article describes the shifting of his own thought patterns; how he once could delve easily into long bouts of prose, but now finds his mind trailing off after skimming only a few pages. As a writer he is the first to applaud the instant wonders of Google searches, information-trails, and hyperlinks ad infinitum. He just wonders aloud about the cost.

University of Virginia English professor Mark Edmundson is another voice attempting to articulate the current cultural ecosystem, and the minds, souls, and relationships it cultivates. In an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education he attempts to describe the turbo-charged orientation of his students to life around them. “They want to study, travel, make friends, make more friends, read everything (superfast), take in all the movies, listen to every hot band, keep up with everyone they’ve ever known… They live to multiply possibilities. They’re enemies of closure… [They] want to take eight classes a term, major promiscuously, have a semester abroad at three different colleges, [and] connect with every likely person who has a page on Facebook.”(2) Edmundson argues that for all the virtues of a generation that lives the possibilities of life so fully, there are detriments to the mind that perpetually seeks more and other options. For many, the moment of maximum pleasure is no longer “the moment of closure, where you sealed the deal,” but rather, “the moment when the choices had been multiplied to the highest sum…the moment of maximum promise.”

There is a phrase in Latin that summarizes the idea that the shape of our deepest affections is the shape of our lives. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi is an axiom of ancient Christianity, meaning: the rule of worship is the rule of belief is the rule of life. That is, our deepest affections (whatever it might be that we focus on most devotedly) shapes the way we believe and, in turn, the way we live. In a cultural ecosystem where we seem to worship possibilities, where freedom is understood as the absence of limitation upon our choices, and where the virtue of good multitasking has replaced the virtue of singleness of heart, it is understandable that we are both truly and metaphorically “all over the place”—mentally, spiritually, even bodily, in a state of perpetual possibility-seeking.

Continue reading Ravi Zacharias Ministry – God of Possibility →

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Stillness Before God

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Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! — Psalm 46:10

One of the most important things we can learn in our world today is how to be still.

I believe that one of the most significant reasons so many of us are burned-out and stressed-out is because we don’t know how to be still. We don’t really know God and do not acknowledge Him. And it’s only by spending time getting to know Him that we learn to hear His still, small voice so He can direct our paths.

We need to learn to be quiet on the inside and stay in that peaceful state so we are always ready to hear the Lord’s voice. Many people today run from one thing to the next. Because their minds don’t know how to be still, they don’t know how to be still in their hearts.

If we’ll just slow down, and quiet our minds enough to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we can live in a place of peace, ready to respond obediently. It is easy to see that leading a peaceful, happy life, free from exhaustion and burnout, is not all that complicated as long as we remain still before God.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – How to Obey God’s Laws

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“So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us” (Romans 8:4).

Are you not glad that the Word of God make things so simple? If we really want to obey God’s laws, His resources are available to us. First and foremost, the Holy Spirit abides within to guide us. While it is true that we have all of the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion, we cannot expect the full blessing and power of God until the Holy Spirit has full control of all of us.

As we appropriate the fullness of His Holy Spirit by faith, we are supplied with supernatural power to obey God’s laws. That supernatural power, even, is contingent upon our cooperation in that we must not only commit ourselves to the Holy Spirit but we must also be familiar with the Word of God if we are indeed to obey its commands.

Obedience is a key word in the Christian life. This verse points it out quite clearly, for we either obey God’s laws or we obey the old evil nature. The choice is ours as we are controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Someone has well pointed out that all of life, really, is nothing more nor less than a series of choices. The secret of the successful Christian life is in making the right choices. And even the wisdom to make the right choices is available – as a gift from God.

That leaves us, you and me, without excuse. We can, if we choose, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, obey God’s laws and thus accomplish His purpose for us as believers.

Bible Reading: Galatians 5:16-26

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Drawing upon the supernatural resources of the Holy Spirit I choose to obey God’s laws rather than yield to the pull of my old evil nature

 

http://www.cru.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Every Life is Long Enough

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We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one? A person’s days on earth may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass.

James was not speaking just to the young when he said, “Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away” (James 4:14). In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better.

And this is important. Though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones who’ve gone to glory before us, they don’t. Ironically, the first to accept God’s decision of death is the one who dies. While we’re mourning at a grave, they’re marveling at heaven. While we’re questioning God, they’re praising God!

From the Inspiration Lucado Reader

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Denison Forum – The worst mass shooting at church in US history

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Yesterday was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. While Christians were praying for persecuted believers around the world, a shooter walked into a Texas church service and opened fire. At least twenty-six people were killed and twenty more were injured.

Sutherland Springs, population 643, is in Wilson County, about thirty miles southeast of San Antonio. The First Baptist Church was holding morning worship services when a gunman identified as twenty-six-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley entered the church about 11:20 a.m. After attacking the congregation, he fled into neighboring Guadalupe County where he died.

The New York Times describes the horrific scene: “Families gathered in pews, clutching Bibles and praying to the Lord, were murdered in cold blood on the spot.” The victims ranged in age from five to seventy-two. Among the dead were several children, a pregnant woman, and the pastor’s teenage daughter.

It was the deadliest shooting in Texas state history.

Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. told CNN, “My heart is broken. We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and look at this.”

Shootings at churches

Shootings at churches have become so common that authorities have created a National Church Shooting Database. It documents 139 shootings at churches between 1980 and 2005, killing 185 people, including thirty-six children.

Since 2005, there have been numerous other church shootings, including the 2015 massacre of nine at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. By one calculation, 2015 saw 248 violent incidents on religious property.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The worst mass shooting at church in US history →

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley –Giving God the Leftovers

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Malachi 1:6-14

The prophet Malachi wrote approximately a century after Israel had returned from Babylonian captivity and rebuilt both Jerusalem and the temple. Although there’d been a revival under Nehemiah, by this point the nation had lost its zeal and drifted into mechanical worship.

Instead of offering unblemished animals on the altar as prescribed in the Law, they were bringing God the leftovers of their flocks—the sick, blind, and lame. The people and the priests had become so lax in their worship that they didn’t recognize anything was wrong with these unacceptable practices. Because they had neglected and dishonored the Lord for so long, they no longer knew who He was. As a result, they were not giving Him the reverence He deserved.

Although our form of worship no longer consists of animal sacrifices, we may be guilty of the same sin: giving God the leftovers. Like the priests in Malachi 1:13 who considered worship tiresome, we might think, There are so many other things we could do if we didn’t have to go to church every Sunday morning.

But worship isn’t limited to one day out of seven. It should be expressed all week in our devotion to Christ. If we make other activities the priorities in our life, we won’t give God our best. Filling our calendars to overflowing leaves little time or energy for praying, reading the Word, or serving the Lord in some way. Yet these are the activities that enrich our relationship with God—they inspire us to worship and honor the Lord by giving Him our best.

Bible in One Year: John 12-13

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Joy and Justice

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Read: Psalm 67

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 34–36; Hebrews 2

You rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.—Psalm 67:4

At a conference in Asia, I had two eye-opening conversations in the span of a few hours. First, a pastor told of spending eleven years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction before he was cleared. Then, a group of families shared how they had spent a fortune to escape religious persecution in their homeland, only to be betrayed by the very people they had paid to bring about their rescue. Now, after years in a refugee camp, they wonder if they will ever find a home.

In both cases, victimization was compounded by an absence of justice—just one evidence of our world’s brokenness. But this vacuum of justice is not a permanent condition.

Psalm 67 calls on God’s people to make Him known to our hurting world. The result will be joy, not only as a response to God’s love but also because of His justice. “May the nations be glad and sing for joy,” says the psalmist, “for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth” (v. 4).

Although the Bible writers understood that “equity” (fairness and justice) is a key component of God’s love, they also knew that it will only be fully realized in the future. Until then, in our world of injustice, we can serve to point others to our God’s divine justice. His coming will see “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24). —Bill Crowder

Father, help us to work for Your justice now where we live, even as we await the day when You will make everything right. We long for that day.

Work for justice; pray for mercy.

INSIGHT: Do you have a special place in your heart for those who are being ignored, misrepresented, or taken advantage of? Psalm 67 expresses such a heart for the whole world. Yet notice where the songwriter begins and ends. He starts by adapting the well-known Aaronic blessing of Israel (Num. 6:24-26). He rightly interprets God’s desire for his own nation when he says, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us” (Ps. 67:1).

God’s heart for Israel, however, isn’t where the song stops. It’s just the beginning. The author of this psalm recognizes God’s purpose in choosing some for the blessing of all (vv. 2-7). From the beginning, God’s promise to bless the descendants of Abraham was not just for the benefit of an undeserving few. God’s plan and vision was far wider. His purpose was that, in a descendant of Abraham, all of the families of the earth would be blessed.

That intent was fulfilled in Jesus. Living and dying to show the love of God for the world (John 3:16), He began by naming twelve disciples to be His personal and chosen witnesses to proclaim the gospel—for the good and blessing of all. Mart DeHaan

 

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Knowledge Through Faith

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“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

God’s greatest truths are discovered by simple faith.

As a man or woman of faith, you have insights into life that unbelievers can’t know. You know how the physical universe began, where it is heading, and how it will end. You know Who governs the universe and how you fit into the total scheme of things. You know why you exist and how to invest your life in matters of eternal consequence.

Unbelievers can’t possibly appreciate those things because “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14).

Some of the most basic issues of life remain a mystery to most people because they refuse God’s counsel. For example, the most brilliant thinkers have never agreed on the origin of the universe. Theirs is a futile attempt to explain what is beyond the realm of scientific investigation.

But such things aren’t beyond the realm of knowing—if a person is willing to be taught by God’s Word. For the Bible clearly states that God spoke the physical universe into existence, creating visible matter from what was non-physical or invisible (Rom. 4:17). No humans observed that event. It cannot be measured or repeated. It must be taken by faith.

Any attempt to explain the origin of the universe or the nature of man apart from God’s Word is foolhardy. The unregenerate mind, no matter how brilliant it might be, cannot fathom such things.

So never feel you have to apologize for trusting God’s Word. Let the confidence of the psalmist be yours: “I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy precepts” (Ps. 119:99-100).

Suggestions for Prayer

Read Genesis 1-2 as a reminder of the power and wisdom of God in creating the universe. From those chapters select specific things to praise Him for.

For Further Study

Memorize Psalm 19:1. Can you think of ways that the natural creation brings glory to God? (See also Romans 1:18-20.)

 

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