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Daily Devotional – May 17, 2012

May 17, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/17/2012

Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. –Proverbs 15:13, NLT

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. –1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. –1 Thessalonians 1:2 NLT

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Your Crown of Glory

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . . and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11).

When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism.

Do we want the competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.

Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence of God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things–those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. The hardest things are not those that the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a little trial that you would not dare to mention that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.

There, beloved, lies your crown. God help you to overcome, and sometime wear it. –Selected

“It matters not how the battle goes,
The day how long;
Faint not! Fight on!
Tomorrow comes the song.”

———————–

Would You Take Your Son to a Brothel?
Jim Daly
Posted by Jim_Daly May 15, 2012

The late Norman Vincent Peale, senior pastor of New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church for over 50 years, grew up in Ohio, a preacher’s kid. His father, Clifford Peale, was a tremendously compassionate man. If there was a need within his congregation, he was determined to meet it.

Norman remembers the phone ringing in their parsonage one cold winter’s night. His mother answered, and passed the phone to his father. The woman on the other end of the line explained that she didn’t know any other preachers, but had one night slipped into Dr. Peale’s church. She didn’t remember anything he said, but she did recall that he struck her as gentle and kind, which is why she had picked his church out of the many from the phone book. She was calling with an awkward but serious request. As it turned out, she ran a local brothel. One of the prostitutes was dying. Would Dr. Peale be willing to come and pray with her? He agreed and hung up the phone, quietly explaining the situation to his wife.

Suddenly, he turned toward his boy. “Norman,” he said, “put on your overcoat and come with me on a pastoral errand of mercy.”

The young Peale’s mother gasped. “Clifford,” she said, “you are not going to take our ten-year-old son to that place of sin.” But his father pressed on. “Yes, I am,” he replied. “Norman can see Jesus Christ reaching for one of the sheep who was lost, but wants to come home to the father’s house.”

At the brothel the Peales encountered the nineteen-year-old prostitute, now near death. “I am a bad girl Reverend,” she said, “but my family are godly people and I was raised a Christian and I attended Sunday school, I was baptized by our preacher, but I have brought shame on my mother and father. I am bad. I am a bad girl.” Norman’s dad placed her diminutive hand inside his.

“Do you love Jesus, Mary, and do you believe that he has forgiven your sins and that he will forgive your sins and wash them all away, so that in your soul you will be pure?”

“Yes.”

“Do you give yourself now, your whole soul, your whole self to the Lord asking for salvation?” Again, she said, “Yes” adding, “I asked the Lord to save my soul.” Dr. Peale then concluded. “Well, then I declare to you in the name of Jesus that you are saved.”

In the midst of this conversation, all the other women in the brothel, one by one, had begun to surround Mary, openly weeping at the sight and sound of her pain, confession and finally, absolution and assurance of salvation. Years later, Norman Vincent Peale said that night was one of the determining factors that led him to his decision to become a pastor. He had witnessed the strength and power of the Gospel firsthand.

Would you have allowed your ten-year-old son to accompany you on that mission?

I have been thinking of that in light of my own boys. I wonder if we have sterilized our faith to the point of rendering its appearance powerless to the younger generation.

If it appears all sweetness and light without struggle and strain, how is that going to match up with reality when times grow tight and tough?

Why would a young person find our faith relevant and vibrant if it doesn’t appear viable to the good and bad in life?

Norman Peale’s father gave his young son a great gift that cold winter’s night. In that difficult visit, he shared with his son a vivid snapshot of the source of our strength.

Follow me on Twitter @Dalyfocus

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Keep up with Focus on the Family on Facebook

———————–

Be on Your Guard
Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 2 Peter 3:17, NIV

Who of us doesn’t remember a film, television show, book or play with some swordsman in chainmail declaring, “On guard!” before engaging in a duel with someone else?

In that type of adversarial situation, the warning is said to alert the other party that “I’m armed, so prepare to defend yourself.” And in light of the current belief battles going on today within evangelical Christianity, that meaning has been front and center in my head and heart—especially after reading through today’s verse in 2 Peter.

I did a little further study and found what I read in the New Testament portion of The Bible Knowledge Commentary to be quite helpful in understanding this passage:

If readers were not careful, they could be carried away by the error of lawless men … The verb “carried away” emphasizes a group or corporate movement. False teachers are not satisfied with ambushing one or two, now and then, here and there; they want to sweep large groups of people away from the correct doctrine of Christ. Those who keep company with such people are in danger of being led astray.

I don’t need or want to name prominent names or cite recent book titles or the like within the Christian bubble, as I’m sure that one or many have already come to your mind by this point in today’s devotional. Sadly, false teaching is everywhere these days and only seems to be gaining momentum as we head further into the twenty-first century.

It’s alarming, for sure, to hear those who are in pastoral, shepherding or leadership positions mishandle God’s Word or imply that there is suddenly a new “change” in the meaning of scriptural doctrines that trained theologians and Bible scholars have agreed upon for centuries prior.

But Truth is supposedly relative in the world where we now live, isn’t it? What’s true for you may not be true for me and so forth. Right? So how do we arm ourselves and follow Peter’s instruction to “be on your guard” as believers?

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

First, there’s grace. Unmerited favor from God. How do we grow in that? By reminding ourselves continually of what God did for each and every one of us. If we don’t understand grace, then we will never know who God is, what he stands for and what a right relationship with him looks like. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). When we get that, in turn, our lives will be lived from a place of humility and in testimony of what God has done through us.

And then there’s knowledge. We will only grow spiritually and know God as much as we can in this life if we know the Word. And that doesn’t begin and end only with what someone says the Bible says (which isn’t bad in and of itself). But it means reading the Bible for yourselfon a continuing basis, so that it will take root in your heart and inform your thinking and your actions. There is no better way to mature in the Lord and know Truth (and be corrected in your thinking, if it’s “stinking”) than to spend time getting to know God through the Word.

No one else can have your spiritual relationship for you. And anyone who leads you away from Truth is leading you away from a secure position. So be on your guard. And get in there, dig deep and know His unchanging truth.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Are you ready to confront false teaching and see through the devil’s schemes to trick and deceive—even in Christian circles? Always consider the source and always measure what you hear or read against God’s Word.

Daily Devotionals – May 16, 2012

May 16, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/16/2012

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
–Proverbs 27:17, NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
–1 Timothy 2:1 NLT
———————–
The Family Influence Good or Bad

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ” You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
-Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” What a great responsibility this places on parents. Records of royal lineage (1 Kings 15-16) illustrate that one’s level of submission to God is often mirrored in the offspring’s life.

Now, it’s true that children eventually grow and make their own decisions. There are godly parents who are heartbroken by their kids’ poor choices. Similarly, some from backgrounds full of sinful bondage become righteous people of integrity.

As mothers and fathers, we are given a momentous task: to model and teach how to live according to God’s Word. Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on ourselves for wisdom. Good parenting involves prayerful self-evaluation, godly counsel, and thoughtful course corrections.

Start by considering how you’d answer the following questions if your children were to walk in your way: What place will Jesus, the Word of God, and the church have in their lives? Will they seek God’s direction as the ultimate guide for decisions? Will they develop strong godly relationships? Will they know how to handle money wisely? Will they do their best in their vocation? As you seek answers, ask God to reveal truth, since self-examination can be difficult.

In prayerfully considering your impact as a parent, expect to see positives and negatives. The goal isn’t self-condemnation, so keep in mind 1) there’s no perfect parent and 2) it’s never too late. Even if the kids are grown, you can ask forgiveness, share what you’ve learned, and model a godly life starting now.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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Sowing in Tears
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, May 16 2012

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” - Psalm 126:5

The most difficult place to keep moving in faith is the place of extreme pain. Extreme pain, especially emotional pain, can become immobilizing to the human spirit if it is allowed to overcome us. The psalmist tells us there is only one remedy for overcoming painful circumstances that will result in joy. We are to sow in the midst of these times. You cannot do this if you live by feelings alone. It is an act of the will. This act requires that we go outside ourselves in pure faith.

I learned this principle during one of the deepest periods of my life. I had lost much that was dear to me. A mature man in the faith admonished me to reach out to others in spite of my own pain. “Invest in someone else,” he said. I did not realize what a place of healing and comfort that would become.

“He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him” (Ps. 126:6). Pain can become a source of joy if we take the first step by planting seed. There is a harvest that will come if we sow in the midst of tears.
———————–
Spirit-led Creativity
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, May 16 2012

“He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things” (1 Chron 28:12).

It is said of George Washington Carver that he got up early in the morning each day to walk alone and pray. He asked God how he was to spend his day and what He wanted to teach him that day. Carver grew up at the close of the Civil War in a one-room shanty on the home of Moses Carver- the man who owned his mother. The Ku Klux Klan had abducted him and his mother, selling her to new owners. He was later found and returned to his owner, but his mother was never seen again.

Carver grew up at the height of racial discrimination, yet he had overcome all these obstacles to become one of the most influential men in the history of the United States.

He made many discoveries with the use of peanuts and sweet potatoes. However, after he recommended farmers to plant peanuts and sweet potatoes instead of cotton, he was led into his greatest trial. The farmers lost even more money due to the lack of market demand for peanuts and sweet potatoes. Carver cried out to the Lord, “Mr. Creator, why did You make the peanut?” Many years later, he shared that God led him back to his lab and worked with him to discover some 300 marketable products from the peanut. Likewise, he made over 100 discoveries from the sweet potato. These new products created a demand for peanuts and sweet potatoes, and they were major contributors to rejuvenating the Southern economy.

As he made new discoveries, he never became successful monetarily. But during his lifetime, he overcame great rejection for being black. He was offered six-figure income opportunities from Henry Ford, and he became friends with presidents of his day, yet he knew what God had called him to do.

His epitaph read: “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.”

Like Carver, each of us must connect with our primary purpose in life. Pray that God allows you to fully fulfill your purpose.
———————–
Walking Your Faith
Ryan Duncan, Editor at TheFish.com

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. ”
– Matthew 17:20

Recently CNN posted an article about a young man’s spiritual pilgrimage. When Andrew Domini learned that a friend had recently been diagnosed with stage IV cancer, the 19-year-old college student had traveled 70 miles to pray at the shine of Catholic Saint, Theodore Guerin. Domini could have easily driven the 70 mile distance, but he wanted his journey to be a sacrifice, so he chose to walk instead. The journey took him two days. He arrived with feet blistered and bloody, but as he prayed over the remains of the Catholic Saint, Domini said he finally felt at peace.

Now here’s the interesting part, Andrew Domini isn’t Catholic, and when asked he admitted to mixed feelings about the Church. Reading this story, I couldn’t help but be struck by the boy’s similarity to the Roman centurion from Luke 7,

“When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”- Luke 7:1-9

I have to admit, I felt pretty ashamed after reading that article. Here was a boy willing to make sacrifices in order to pray to a God he barley understood, while my prayer life consists of a few garbled words before falling asleep at night. Andrew Domini spent two days walking 70 miles to reach a place of worship, while I struggle to make the five minute drive to Church every Sunday. It is so easy to become complacent in our faith, to make it such a part of our daily ritual that we end up forgetting God. But God wants more from us than our hollow actions and lifeless obedience; he wants to be the center of our lives.

Being a true Christian means living with a passion for God, and a willingness to go the extra mile. It means living with vision, and not settling for the bear minimum your faith requires. It’s seeking to know an unfathomable God, and realizing that He will always have something new He wants to teach you.

Intersecting Faith and Life

When was the last time you sacrificed something for God?

Further Reading

Romans 3:28
———————–
Through Faith

“Pressed out of measure” (2 Cor. 1:8).
“That the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).

God allowed the crisis to close around Jacob on the night when he bowed at Peniel in supplication, to bring him to the place where he could take hold of God as he never would have done; and from that narrow pass of peril, Jacob became enlarged in his faith and knowledge of God, and in the power of a new and victorious life.

God had to compel David, by a long and painful discipline of years, to learn the almighty power and faithfulness of his God, and grow up into the established principles of faith and godliness, which were indispensable for his glorious career as the king of Israel.

Nothing but the extremities in which Paul was constantly placed could ever have taught him, and taught the Church through him, the full meaning of the great promise he so learned to claim, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

And nothing but our trials and perils would ever have led some of us to know Him as we do, to trust Him as we have, and to draw from Him the measures of grace which our very extremities made indispensable.

Difficulties and obstacles are God’s challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing. –A. B. Simpson

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Daily Devotionals – May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/15/2012

A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
–Proverbs 15:13, NLT

For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life. Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.
–Psalm 143:11 NLT
———————–
Influences from Childhood

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted ; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted , To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners ; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God ; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. -Isaiah 61:1-3

No one’s childhood is perfect. What we experienced during those years has a profound impact, even into adulthood. Things we saw, heard, felt, and even things we did not feel can affect us later in life.

As one might expect, external influences do help to shape our personality. However, the result is not always predictable. For example, early years full of painful experiences leave deeps wounds in some, but in others, they contribute to the development of depth and perseverance.

Whether your younger years were joyful or painful, it can be valuable to consider what their impact was, back then as well as in the present. You might start by exploring your responses to key childhood events. Next, identify traits that you appreciated in your parents and others–qualities you’d like to nurture in your own life. Finally, think about people with characteristics that impacted you negatively. Ask God for healing and freedom from the patterns you may have developed in response. Then shift your focus to godly attributes you want to exhibit instead, such as peace, grace, and gentleness.

The heavenly Father wants to free you from any negative trends that took root early in life. He can break any unhealthy pattern and replace it with hope and deep satisfaction in Him.

As you explore the effects of childhood experiences, pray to see through a lens of truth. When you recognize ways that others negatively influenced you, pray for strength to forgive and God’s help in mending areas of brokenness–whether spiritual, emotional, relational, or mental.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.

———————–
Overcoming Our Past
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, May 15 2012

“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.” - Judges 11:29a

We’ve all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years. Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease – these are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God’s sight. He was born to Gilead, a result of his father’s adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Jephthah’s half-brothers decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman.” Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang. As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

“Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” he responded. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.
———————–
Washing Toilets
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, May 15 2012

…”those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled’ (Dan 5:19).

Paul desired a career in the building industry. Early in his career, he was working with a large ministry to help direct several of their construction projects.

As the projects were completed, Paul was asked to stay on for future projects. To keep him busy he was given a number of jobs – one of which was cleaning toilets. He recalls getting down on his knees each day and complaining to the Lord, “Lord, I’m a college graduate!”

Discouraged, Paul told the Lord, “I will not leave here until You promote me. Please give me contentment with my circumstance.”

Paul felt totally forgotten by God. A few months later, Paul received a phone call from a man in the Midwest who owned five successful businesses who wanted to interview Paul for a job. This came as a total surprise to Paul. As he drove to the interview, he told the Lord, “I only want your will in my life, nothing else. I am content to remain obscure for the rest of my life if I have You. You must override my lack of experience for me to get this job.”

The owner of the company asked Paul a surprising question: “If I asked you to clean a toilet, what would you do?” Paul sat there, stunned. He wanted to burst out laughing. Paul assured him that he would simply pick up a sponge and start cleaning.

Amazingly, Paul was hired even though other candidates were more qualified. After several months of success Paul asked his boss why he hired him. His boss replied, “Paul, I still have a large stack of applications from people who wanted this job. Do you remember the first question I asked you in the interview? I asked each one the same question. You were the only one who said he would clean the toilet. Paul, I am a wealthy man, but I grew up dirt poor. I clean my own toilets at home. I can’t have people running my businesses who are too proud to clean a toilet.”

Sometimes God places us in situations to see if we will be faithful in those before He is willing to promote us to greater things.
———————–
Batman and Big Brother
Alex Crain, Managing Editor at Christianity.com

“And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew 21:16 NKJV)

One of the blessings of being around children is the life lessons that they often teach us. Sometimes the lessons are about deep, spiritual truths. Like the lesson my two-year-old son, Henry, recently taught me about worship.

While at the playground area of a fast-food restaurant, Henry found himself surrounded by other kids his age whom he had never met. Suddenly, my wife heard him bragging to his little audience about his two heroes: Batman and big brother.

“Batman get bad guys,” Henry said to one. Then very proudly to another, “My brudder hit bad guys ty-kon-do.”

Now, his big brother never uses Tae Kwon Do… except in practice. But I suppose that, in Henry’s imagination, those nine-year-old practice opponents must be bad guys. Whatever his motivation for saying these things, Henry couldn’t help expressing praise for things that he thinks are great. It struck me that that’s a big part of what worship is.

Yes, we’ll need to continue teaching Henry about the goodness and greatness of God, just like we need continued teaching and reminding ourselves. But I don’t think that the concept of worship is something that he, or anyone else, needs to be taught. What we need to do is un-learn some wrong-headed ideas about worship that we have picked up over the years.

C.S. Lewis points out one such wrong-headed idea when he admits that he used to mistakenly view the Bible’s demands for praising God as no different than a conceited woman seeking compliments. Every time he heard the Psalms saying “praise the Lord,” “praise God,” or “praise Him,” God sounded pathetically vain to him. In his book, Reflections on the Psalms(p. 93 ff.), Lewis explains how his perspective changed:

“…the most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.”

“The world rings with praise—readers [praising] their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game… Just as men praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: ‘Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?’ The Psalmists, in telling everyone to praise God, are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.”

“My difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment.”

Intersecting Faith and Life:

If it’s true that worship springs naturally from within a person and is expressed by praising that which he or she enjoys most, then what or whom do you find yourself praising?

Further Reading

Check out this helpful study on “worship” at BibleStudyTools.com.
Also, see Reflections on the Psalms, by C.S. Lewis.
———————–
Only Through Death

“Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single grain, but if it dies away in the ground, the grain is freed to spring up in a plant bearing many grains” (John 12:24).

Go to the old burying ground of Northampton, Mass., and look upon the early grave of David Brainerd, beside that of the fair Jerusha Edwards, whom he loved but did not live to wed.

What hopes, what expectations for Christ’s cause went down to the grave with the wasted form of that young missionary of whose work nothing now remained but the dear memory, and a few score of swarthy Indian converts! But that majestic old Puritan saint, Jonathan Edwards, who had hoped to call him his son, gathered up the memorials of his life in a little book, and the little book took wings and flew beyond the sea, and alighted on the table of a Cambridge student, Henry Martyn.

Poor Martyn! Why should he throw himself away, with all his scholarship, his genius, his opportunities! What had he accomplished when he turned homeward from “India’s coral strand,” broken in health, and dragged himself northward as far as that dreary khan at Tocat by the Black Sea, where he crouched under the piled-up saddles, to cool his burning fever against the earth, and there died alone?

To what purpose was this waste? Out of that early grave of Brainerd, and the lonely grave of Martyn far away by the splashing of the Euxine Sea, has sprung the noble army of modern missionaries. –Leonard Woolsey Bacon

***
“Is there some desert, or some boundless sea,

Where Thou, great God of angels, wilt send me?

Some oak for me to rend, Some sod for me to break,

Some handful of Thy corn to take

And scatter far afield,

Till it in turn shall yield

Its hundredfold

Of grains of gold

To feed the happy children of my God?
***
“Show me the desert, Father, or the sea; Is it Thine enterprise? Great God, send me! And though this body lies where ocean rolls, Father, count me among all faithful souls.”

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Daily Devotionals – May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/14/2012

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!
–Psalm 42:11, NLT

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
–Ephesians 6:18 NLT

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of
the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with
the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you
at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that
the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” –Acts 1:4-8 ESV
———————–
Armor ‘n Enemies
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. Ephesians 6:13-19

Six pieces of armor. Five primarily defensive, one primarily offensive. And yet…

Have you ever used the chest-bumper of righteousness on someone? How about the head-butter of salvation? The bludgeoner of faith? The shin-kicker of readiness or the gut-puncher of holiness?

Even the sword of the spirit has its proper purpose – to fight our enemies. Which are?

Other Christians? Unbelievers? Mean people?

While we humans can be so hard on each other, no. One verse earlier, Paul tells us what we’re fighting:

our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil (v. 12).

Quite convicting, really. Not only do I clearly go into many days without getting completely dressed, even when I do I’m mis-using my equipment, fighting in the dark, swinging blindly, or wounding with friendly fire.

I don’t know about you, but for me, the elemental Bible verses I first learned as a youth (like today’s verse) are the ones I need to continually reconsider, because they’re the ones I tend to just believe without acting upon.

When times come – like these days we’re in now – where there is fierce political thought and lines being drawn and opinions spouted as truth, including the opinion that there is no truth – it’s just so easy to get drawn in before we remember to put on our armor or be trained in using it. When that happens, we tend to view our enemies as each other, and forget or deny that the war is still spiritual. And therefore more serious, more wearying, not less.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Get dressed this morning, and tomorrow morning. Once equipped, try emphasizing the defensive uses of most of the armor. Stand up for someone. Protect the reputation of another. Shelter someone in loving truth. Run quickly to someone in need. I pray you’ll begin to survive your days much less scathed.

Further Reading

Romans 8:38
———————–
Selfish Christianity

The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. 23 There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. 25When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here ?”
26Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.27″Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” -John 6:22-27

Which interests you more—who Jesus is or what He can do for you? I’m afraid that too many of us are more concerned about what He can give us than we are about getting to know who He is.

But this is nothing new—Jesus had this problem when He walked on earth. The crowds often sought Him out for what He could do for them. Even though their needs were quite often legitimate, Christ knew their motives.

There is a fine line between selfishly trying to use the Lord to get what we want and humbly coming to Him with our needs and struggles. Some of the issues we bring to Him are so pressing and urgent in our minds that our desire for Him to take action in the way we want becomes greater than our willingness to submit to His will. At times, what we call “faith” is really a demanding spirit.

We must remember that our needs will come to an end, but Jesus Christ will remain forever. If our prayers have dealt only with presenting our requests to the Lord, we’ve missed a great opportunity to get to know the One with whom we’ll spend eternity. Let’s invest time in pursuing intimacy with Christ. Then we can enjoy the benefits of that relationship forever.

How much of your communion with God is devoted to your needs—even legitimate ones? Are you spending any time getting to know the Lord? Although God delights in our prayers and tells us to pray about everything, He also wants us to come to Him just because we enjoy being with Him.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
———————–
Today God Is First
A Two-Way Relationship
May 14th, 2012 by Os Hillman

“He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” – Isaiah 50:4b

The prophet Isaiah describes his relationship to God as a relationship that has two-way communication. Have you ever felt that your communication with God was only one way – you to Him only? Isaiah tells us, “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary…. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back” (Is. 50:4-5).

The key to Isaiah’s relationship with God lies in four important principles:

1. He had an instructed tongue. Isaiah had given over rule of his life completely to God’s purposes.

2. He knew the word of the Lord, which allowed him to sustain and encourage others.

3. He took time to listen.

4. He did not flee from the tough assignments. He didn’t shrink back.

If we are to be able to listen to God, we must follow the same principles. Knowing and spending time studying God’s Word allows the Holy Spirit to bring to mind His instructions for what He wants for us. Recently, I became very busy in my work and other activities. It wasn’t long before I felt distance between God and me. I had to make a conscious decision to carve out more time alone to listen, study, and meditate on His Word. This is the lifeline for the follower of Jesus. When we begin to lose the relationship, we are susceptible to becoming rebellious, going our own way. Invest your life in this relationship so that you may continue to hear His voice and sustain the weary ones around you.
———————–
TGIF, Today God Is First Volume 2
Freedom and Boundaries
By Os Hillman

“And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17).

Everyone needs the gift of freedom and boundaries in their work to succeed. God set up the ultimate work environment in the Garden of Eden. He gave Adam and Eve responsibility to manage the animals, the agriculture and every activity. He gave them specific instructions as to how things were to be done but gave liberty of expression for fulfilling their tasks.

He also told them what was off limits. They could not eat from the tree of good and evil because He knew it would be bad for them. He was not trying to withhold from them; He was trying to protect them.

If you are a manager it is your responsibility to clearly define the job responsibilities of those under your care. They should know clearly what the freedoms and the boundaries are in carrying out their duties. They should be given adequate freedoms with authority to enforce their decisions that will impact whether they can be successful or not.

Once freedoms and boundaries are established, this allows a healthy accountability to take place between management and worker. Both can have healthy expectations of each other.

Do you have a clearly defined job description with measurable goals outlined? Are your freedom and boundaries clearly defined so you know what you can and cannot do within the scope of your job? If not, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Today, evaluate your job function and make sure you have clearly defined expectations and the way in which you are expected to accomplish your tasks.
———————–
He Knows Us

“I know him, that he will command his children” (Gen. 18:19).

God wants people that He can depend upon. He could say of Abraham, “I know him, that he will command his children… that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken.” God can be depended upon; He wants us to be just as decided, as reliable, as stable. This is just what faith means.

God is looking for men on whom He can put the weight of all His love and power and faithful promises. God’s engines are strong enough to draw any weight we attach to them. Unfortunately the cable which we fasten to the engine is often too weak to hold the weight of our prayer; therefore God is drilling us, disciplining us to stability and certainty in the life of faith. Let us learn our lessons and stand fast. –A. B. Simpson

God knows that you can stand that trial; He would not give it to you if you could not. It is His trust in you that explains the trials of life, however bitter they may be. God knows our strength, and He measures it to the last inch; and a trial was never given to any man that was greater than that man’s strength, through God, to bear it.

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Daily Devotionals – May 13, 2012

May 13, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/13/2012

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. –2 Peter 1:3, NLT

Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.
–1 Peter 2:17 NLT
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Today God Is First
The Plans of Tomorrow
May 13th, 2012 by Os Hillman

“You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14b

A group of workplace believers meet at my office every week for fellowship, study, and prayer. One man attended our group for several years. Jim was well liked and in good health. One Thursday he showed up as usual. The next morning I received a call, “Jim is dead! He died in his easy chair last night!” Jim had no prior problems and there was no indication he was about to go be with the Lord. Naturally, it came as a shock to us all.

Whenever things like this happen close to home, it brings us face to face with our mortality. A friend of mine said he was challenged by someone to do an experiment. He challenged him to live his life for one year as if it were the last year he would live. He responded to the challenge and did as proposed. It changed his life forever. He began to focus on different priorities and people when he viewed life in these terms.

James gives us a perspective on viewing tomorrow.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).

Life is fragile. Consider where you are investing your time and energies. Someone once said they had never heard anyone on his deathbed say that he wished he had made more money in his lifetime or he wished he had made a certain deal. Usually it is something like, “I wish I had spent more time with my kids.” Ask the Lord to give you His priorities for your life.
———————–
Arrested Development: Overcoming Childhood Wounds
By Os Hillman

How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? (Ps 4:2).

Bruce Willis starred in a movie in the year 2000 entitled The Kid. Russell (Willis) is a 40 year old single, egocentric executive that runs an image consulting business for high profile politicians, business executives and TV anchors. His rude, abrupt, over confident, narcissistic “the world revolves around me”, attitude is the personality he hides behind. Life must revolve around him and when others get in the way, he dismisses them. He has no patience for weak people who do things with anything less than excellence. He has the best of everything-cars, home, girlfriend, clothes, etc. Whatever he wants he buys. He moves from one client to another, solving their image problem, something he takes great efforts to maintain for himself. In essence, his job was to polish the false self (poser) image of each of his clients in order to give them the image they feel their public wants to see and they want to maintain.

Russell is a person filled with bitterness toward his father and refuses to have any relationship with him. The roots of his bitterness go back to when he was eight years old. One day an eight year old chubby kid shows up in his ultra-modern bachelor pad. He discovers that this isn’t just any little boy-he is Russell himself incarnated at the age of eight. Through the rest of the movie Russell rediscovers his childhood through Rusty (his eight year old version of himself). Rusty begins to inquire about the adult version of him and he concludes he grows up to be a failure because none of his childhood dreams come true. He does not get married, doesn’t have a dog and does not fly airplanes for a living-everything he dreamt he would grow up to fulfill which would equate to success in his mind. He challenged Russell to find out what went wrong. Together they go on a journey of discovery to revisit some key events that made Russell the man he became.

Russell has a girlfriend who partly puts up with his selfish and egocentric ways because she sees something in him she actually likes. However, his negative personality all but drives her away until she discovers the young Rusty and falls in love with the boy and also wonders what happened that resulted in the adult Russell. Together Russell and Rusty begin to piece their childhood memories together and actually relive them to discover how Russell became so dysfunctional in his personality.

One day Rusty turns to his older self (Russell) and says, “I get what you do now. You help people lie about who they really are so they can pretend to be someone else who they are not.” “Yeah, kid. I guess you are right,” responded Russell. The truth of his life is beginning to unfold.

The climax of the story is when little Rusty replays a scene with his father outside his home when his terminally diagnosed mother has to go pick him up from school for fighting. His father is extremely upset with Rusty for making his mother go to the school to pick him up. “You’re killing your mother! How could you make your mother have to come get you!?” he screamed into his face as he shook him with both hands. Little Rusty was devastated. It was a life-defining moment for Rusty. His life would never be the same. This became an agreement over his life that he would live out as an adult. “I am flawed. I killed my mother. I’m shameful.” He would spend a lifetime trying to cover-up his shame to become someone others would accept and respect.

As he grew older his false self became a hard shell that he hid behind designed to protect him from anyone who might hurt him again since his own parents did not protect him. His egocentric executive personality became his outer protective personality. As Russell began to recognize the truth of his situation, he began to change his behavior and ultimately becomes a new person. He realized his father was reacting out of his own pain and forgave his father after holding onto years of bitterness. He began to reveal his true personality that was actually caring and sensitive. The end of the movie shows him in the future–making a career change to become a pilot and even had a dog. He married his girlfriend.

I so identified with the Russell’s character in the movie. When I began my own ad agency in the early 80s I was driven to succeed like Russell. Although I was a Christian, I often found myself conflicted in the need to succeed and the desire to be led by God and be sensitive to His direction. Traits of stubbornness, selfishness, independence and ego would show up. I struggled with this side of me, wrestling with what Paul describes in Romans when he says “there is something inside of me that does what I do not want to do. It is the sin within me.” I may not have exhibited the same level of dysfunction Russell displayed, but I did struggle inside, keeping it in check as a good Christian should.

The false self of competence and performance was seeking to deal with the unknown, unrecognized pain that drove me to need to be validated through my performance and success. The problem is it was mixed with a genuine relationship with God that helped soften the false self but never allowed me to see the outer core for what it was-a protection against being hurt that was a result of childhood wounds. It represented a conflict between God’s glory in me and that which sought to mask my true self rooted in childhood wounds. The false-self is rooted in shame and falsehood. “How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?” (Ps 4:2).

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known (1 Cor 13:11-12).

Although Russell was a financially successful man, he acted like an emotional 8 year old as an adult that required the world to revolve around him. Arrested development is a term that describes how adults revert back to an emotional state of their childhood. They are in essence “arrested” at that age and never mature past that age emotionally as an adult. They may at one moment act like an adult but the next minute revert to childish behavior because they have been frozen within two years of the age of their woundedness. “Arrested development that is caused by the wounds of childhood amplifies or magnifies our sin nature. The deeper the wounds, the more we act selfishly and childishly. When we have too much childhood trauma, we are hindered in our ability to develop genuine healthy relationships with our Creator and others close to us. We can’t readily reach out or accept others-because our wounds have made us unteachable, unable to trust and afraid of truth,” according to Dr. Paul Hegstrom, author of Broken children, Grown Up Pain. “We can’t embrace grace and mercy, so we struggle with accepting what’s freely given,” says Dr. Hegstrom. [1]

Arrested development sabotages the heart’s good intentions and turns us into a spiritual hypocrite.

I discovered that shame, performance and the death of my dad at age 14 all contributed to arrested development in my own life. In order to mature emotionally, it required revisiting, just like Russell did, the events of the wounds. Gaining healing from those wounds was required to move into emotional maturity.

Pop star Michael Jackson died suddenly in July 2009 from a prescription drug overdose. Jackson is one of the most extreme cases of arrested development you will ever witness. It was widely known that Jackson was physically abused as a child by his father. Jackson’s father often held the kids upside down, tripping them, pushing them into walls,screaming, shouting, and frightening them. Michaelshared that he often cried from lonelinessand sometimes got sick or started to vomit upon seeing his father. He recalled his dad sitting in a chair with a belt in his hand when heand his siblings rehearsed and hearing his dad say, “If you don’t do it the right way,I will tear you up.” These were early childhood wounds that caused arrested development in Michael.

The world watched this grown man live as a child emotionally. He even built a multi-acre theme park home called NeverLand, complete with amusement rides. He loved spending time with kids, but did not relate to them as an adult, but actually as a fellow child. People who knew him often referred to him as childlike. Jackson was probably arrested in development around the age of 9 emotionally.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Dr. Hegstrom cites that “most of the time, just the knowing that our behaviors have a source will restart the growing process. Denial blocks the growing process. The mind needs to understand that there’s a reason, not an excuse.” As we learn the truth about our past we can begin to walk in the truth of who God made us to be.

[1] Dr. Paul Hegstrom , Broken children, Grown Up Pain, Beacon Press, Kansas City, MO p.48
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Unadorned Life

“These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work” (1 Chron. 4:23).

Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell “with the king for his work.” We may be in a very unlikely and unfavorable place for this; it may be in a literal country life, with little enough to be seen of the “goings” of the King around us; it may be among the hedges of all sorts, hindrances in all directions; it may be furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task.

No matter! The King who placed us “there” will come and dwell there with us; the hedges are right, or He would soon do away with them. And it does not follow that what seems to hinder our way may not be for its very protection; and as for the pottery, why, that is just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and therefore it is, for the present, “His work.”
–Frances Ridley Havergal
***
“Go back to thy garden-plot, sweetheart!
Go back till the evening falls,
And bind thy lilies and train thy vines,
Till for thee the Master calls.

“Go make thy garden fair as thou canst,
Thou workest never alone;
Perhaps he whose plot is next to thine
Will see it and mend his own.”
***
The colored sunsets and starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life.
–Faber
***
The most saintly spirits are often existing in those who have never distinguished themselves as authors, or left any memorial of themselves to be the theme of the world’s talk; but who have led an interior angelic life, having borne their sweet blossoms unseen like the young lily in a sequestered vale on the bank of a limpid stream.
–Kenelm Digby

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Daily Devotionals – May 12, 2012

May 12, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/12/2012

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
–Colossians 3:15, NLT

He sends peace across your nation and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat. –Psalm 147:14 NLT
———————–
The Comfortable Church

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19″Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:16-20

I think it’s fairly evident that the society we live in is very self-centered, and this same characteristic can be present in a church. Whenever a local body of believers develops an inward focus, its fruitfulness in ministry begins to decrease, and each member’s Christian walk is hindered.

Many believers want their church to be cozy and comfortable. They come to listen to a nice sermon, fellowship with friends, and have their needs met. But Godnever intended for the gathering of His people to be like a country club; He calls us to join an army that will bring the gospel into enemy territory.

An effective church—one that poses a real threat to the Enemy—is a body of discipled people who have been taught the truth of Scripture, trained for service, and helped to mature spiritually. But all this is accomplished for the purpose of going out into the world, not for becoming a self-contained sanctuary of Christian comfort.

The urgency of the Lord’s command and the desperate condition of humanity should motivate us to leave the safety of our Christian fellowships and deliver the message of salvation through Jesus. To avoid this responsibility is to miss the Father’s plan for your life and the opportunity to help build His kingdom.

None of us want to waste time or energy on trivial things and thereby miss the exciting fulfillment of God’s will. He has called us, not to a life of comfortable tradition, but to an adventure of obedience. Answer His call—you’ll help fill His kingdom with people from every tribe and nation.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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Significance
Today God Is First Daily Devotional
by Os Hillman

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands. -Psalm 90:17

Many of us begin our careers with the goal of achieving success. If we haven’t entered our work as a result of God’s calling, we will eventually face a chasm of deep frustration and emptiness. Success flatters but does not provide a lasting sense of purpose and fulfillment. So often we enter careers with wrong motives-money, prestige, and even pressure from parents or peers. Failing to match our work with our giftedness and calling is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. If that happens over an extended period, a person crashes.

At this time, many make another mistake. Workplace believers think that beginning a new career in “full-time Christian work” will fill the emptiness they feel. However, this only exacerbates the problem because they are again trying to put another square peg into a round hole. The problem is not whether we should be in “Christian work” or “secular work,” but rather what work is inspired by gifts and calling. If there is one phrase I wish I could remove from the English language it is “full-time Christian work.” If you are a Christian, you are in full-time Christian work, whether you are driving nails or preaching the gospel. The question must be, are you achieving the God-given calling for your life? God has called people into business to fulfill His purposes just as much as He has called people to be pastors or missionaries.

It is time for workplace believers to stop feeling like second-class citizens for being in business. It is time workplace believers stop working toward financial independence so that they can concentrate on their “true spiritual calling.” This is the great deception for those called to business.

Significance comes from fulfilling the God-given purpose for which you were made. Ask Him to confirm this in your own life.
———————–
Today God Is First
A Fleeting Shadow
by Os Hillman

“Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” – Psalm 144:4

Every time I fly over a large body of water, I imagine opening the window of the jet and pouring out my coffee into the immense body of water below. I imagine the time that I spend on this earth compared to eternity is no more than that cup of coffee. The incredible size of the ocean compared to one small cup of coffee is what our life is like compared to eternity. Why then do we invest so much in temporal pursuits when we know that our investment here can have so much impact on our eternity? It is the great paradox of human behavior, especially for Christians.

Does your business life have an overall ministry objective to it? This does not mean we must be constantly involved in “Christian activity.” It only means that we should be about what God has called us to do with the motive of being obedient to this mission. Do not let the worries and cares of this life keep you from having an eternal impact on the lives of those you meet each day. Satan has a way of keeping our focus on the problems of today rather than the spiritual opportunities before us. He is master of the urgent, not the important.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
———————–
Lawn Care

“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass” (Ps. 72:6).

Amos speaks of the king’s mowings. Our King has many scythes, and is perpetually mowing His lawns. The musical tinkle of the whetstone on the scythe portends the cutting down of myriads of green blades, daisies and other flowers. Beautiful as they were in the morning, within an hour or two they lie in long, faded rows.

Thus in human life we make a brave show, before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, the sickle of death.

There is no method of obtaining a velvety lawn but by repeated mowings; and there is no way of developing tenderness, evenness, sympathy, but by the passing of God’s scythes. How constantly the Word of God compares man to grass, and His glory to its flower! But when grass is mown, and all the tender shoots are bleeding, and desolation reigns where flowers were bursting, it is the most acceptable time for showers of rain falling soft and warm.

***

O soul, thou hast been mown!
Time after time the
King has come to thee with
His sharp scythe.
Do not dread the scythe–
It is sure to be followed by the shower.
–F. B. Meyer

***

“When across the heart deep waves of sorrow
Break, as on a dry and barren shore;
When hope glistens with no bright tomorrow,
And the storm seems sweeping evermore;

“When the cup of every earthly gladness
Bears no taste of the life-giving stream;
And high hopes, as though to mock our sadness,
Fade and die as in some fitful dream,

“Who shall hush the weary spirit’s chiding?
Who the aching void within shall fill?
Who shall whisper of a peace abiding,
And each surging billow calmly still?

“Only He whose wounded heart was broken
With the bitter cross and thorny crown;
Whose dear love glad words of Joy had spoken,
Who His life for us laid meekly down.

“Blessed Healer, all our burdens lighten;
Give us peace, Thine own sweet peace, we pray!
Keep us near Thee till the morn shall brighten,
And all the mists and shadows flee away!”

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Daily Devotionals – May 11, 2012

May 11, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/11/2012

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
–Galations 5:13, NLT

The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.
–Psalm 29:11 NLT
———————–
Choosing to Believe

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews ; 2this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher ; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old ? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6″That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7″Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’8″The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going ; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things ?11″Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.12″If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things ?13″No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven : the Son of Man.14″As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.16″For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.17″For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.18″He who believes in Him is not judged ; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19″This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.20″For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.21″But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
-John 3:1-21

Faith isn’t something we can lay claim to because we were born to believing parents or have citizenship in a Christian country. Nor can we attain it by attending or even teaching Sunday school, though I’ve often heard such incorrect assertions. Instead, the following should be true of genuine believers.

A clear understanding of the gospel is essential for a person to believe and receive the good news of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross was the only sacrifice required to remove our sins. God offers His grace as a gift to anyone who will receive it.

A definite decision at a particular point in time serves as a sort of landmark of the heart and mind. People do not just slip into Christianity; faith in Jesus must be chosen. Believers are those who have made a deliberate decision to trust the Lord and follow in His ways.

A blessed assurance follows the clear-cut decision so that believers can be certain of their salvation. God wants confident, assured children (1 John 5:13).

A visible symbol of what happens when someone receives the Savior–namely, baptism–illustrates dying to one’s old ways and rising to new life in Christ Jesus. Believers are to take this step as a public way of identifying with Him (Matt. 28:19).

A man or woman of faith chooses to surrender to Christ, embraces the Word of God, and lives fully for the Lord. True believers no longer muddle through the practices of religion out of habit, but instead worship and rejoice in a vibrant personal relationship with the Lord.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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Faith Triumphs

“Under hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed” (Rom. 4:18). (Weymouth)

Abraham’s faith seemed to be in a thorough correspondence with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. In the outward circumstances in which he was placed, he had not the greatest cause to expect the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord, and looked forward to the time when his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude.

O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And though He delayeth His help, and the evil seemeth to grow worse and worse, be not weak, but rather strong, and rejoice, since the most glorious promises of God are generally fulfilled in such a wondrous manner that He steps forth to save us at a time when there is the least appearance of it.

He commonly brings His help in our greatest extremity, that His finger may plainly appear in our deliverance. And this method He chooses that we may not trust upon anything that we see or feel, as we are always apt to do, but only upon His bare Word, which we may depend upon in every state.
–C. H. Von Bogatzky
***
Remember it is the very time for faith to work when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith; as long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily as where natural prospects fail.
–George Mueller
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Daily Deeds of Kindness

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16

In the final days of Jesus’ life, he shared a meal with his friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Within the week he would feel the sting of the Roman whip, the point of the thorny crown, and the iron of the executioner’s nail. But on this evening, he felt the love of three friends.

For Mary, however, giving the dinner was not enough. “Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house” (John 12:3). . . .

Judas criticized the deed as wasteful. Not Jesus. He received the gesture as an extravagant demonstration of love, a friend surrendering her most treasured gift. As Jesus hung on the cross, we wonder, Did he detect the fragrance on his skin?

Follow Mary’s example.

There is an elderly man in your community who just lost his wife. An hour of your time would mean the world to him.

Some kids in your city have no dad. No father takes them to movies or baseball games. Maybe you can. They can’t pay you back. They can’t even afford the popcorn or sodas. But they’ll smile like a cantaloupe slice at your kindness.

Or how about this one? Down the hall from your bedroom is a person who shares your last name. Shock that person with kindness. Something outlandish. Your homework done with no complaints. Coffee served before he awakens. A love letter written to her for no special reason. Alabaster poured, just because.

Daily do a deed for which you cannot be repaid.

—from Great Day Every Day

Precious Savior, we pass people every day who need a demonstration of your love. May we search for ways to show extravagant gestures of gracious love, and outlandish acts of kindness. Make us people who set a goal of doing daily deeds for which we cannot be repaid. Set our hearts on fire for people who do not know you. Consume us with compassion for the desperate and downtrodden. Let us pour our lives out in love . . . just because, amen.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart…I Peter 1:22

From From Live Loved: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2011) Max Lucado

Listen to UpWords with Max Lucado at OnePlace.com
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Run for Your Life
Anna Kuta, Crosswalk.com Editor

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Have you ever been at the beach in the summer and gotten in the ocean only to look up after a while and suddenly realize you’ve drifted way down from where you got in? It can be pretty scary sometimes, as you frantically try to find your way back to your spot amid crowds of people, umbrellas and towels that all seem to look the same. You thought you were just floating in the water, and it seemed like it, but the whole time the waves and the current were slowly carrying you down the shore.

You might have heard the saying that if you are not going forward in your Christian walk, you are going backwards – that if you are not actively progressing and growing, you are losing ground. It’s similar to the way it works with the ocean. You might think you’re staying in the same place, but you’re losing ground without even realizing it.

Just as you have to continually keep swimming to keep the ocean from dragging you away from your place on the beach, growing in your faith and becoming more Christ-like is an active process, not a passive one. In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul uses words with a connotation of intent and urgency to describe what we as Christians should do: flee youthful lusts, pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace. The word “flee” implies running as fast as you can away from something like you’re afraid for your life, and that’s exactly what Paul is saying we should do when confronted with “youthful lusts,” or things that are not glorifying to God. Similarly, the word “pursue” implies following or chasing close behind something with the goal of catching it, like you’re hot on its trail. This is the way God wants us to approach our relationship with Him – constantly striving to get to know Him more through His word, to follow His commands, to grow closer to Him, and to ultimately become more like Him.

The more we pursue godly desires and our relationship with Jesus, the faster we can flee those things that are not honoring to God. It is a one-or-the-other choice. I can’t live a life that is glorifying to God if I’m continually dragged down by things that are detrimental to my spiritual growth. It’s something that ultimately comes down to every little choice we make. With God’s strength, though, we can deny wrong desires, and with His help, we can choose to do the right thing. Whatever you do, don’t stand still – run for your life away from things that don’t honor God and run equally fast toward Him.

Intersecting Faith & Life

Strive to learn more about Jesus through His word and grow closer to Him this year. Commit to pursuing your relationship with Him each day, and commit to asking Him to help you flee things in your life that are not glorifying to Him.

Further Reading

Jeremiah 29:13

Matthew 6:33

1 Timothy 6:11-12

Philippians 4:13
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Are You Becoming Secularized?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Friday, May 11 2012

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen” (Rom 1:24-25).

There is a story told about a frog in a kettle. The frog is placed in a kettle of warm water. The frog does not notice that the water temperature is being turned up gradually until it is too late. He dies from the heat of the water not realizing the danger he was in.

Societies are suffering from the “frog in the kettle” analogy. They make decisions that seem innocent enough, only to realize later the impact these decisions bring to their society. Whether the issue is gay rights, abortion, euthanasia, or simply a lack of spiritual influence over society, the changes seem logical to the unregenerate mind but reveals the moral compass of the nation has been removed.

In 1945, a book was written about the spiritual condition of England. “We are convinced that England will never be converted until the laity use the opportunities daily afforded by their various professions, crafts and occupations.”* During the time of this writing, 30% of England attended church. Today, less than 7% attend church in England. It has become a secularized nation.

During this same time more than 40% of America was attending church. Today, less than 30% attend church and it is rapidly declining. The reason is that more and more believers are seeing the local church as irrelevant to the world they live in. Surveys reveal that up to 90% of church members believe they are not being taught how to apply the Bible to the complex world of work where they spend 60-70% of their time. It is not a question of them being taught the Bible; it is a question of making it relevant to their world.

*”Towards the Conversion of England” (1945).
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An Encounter With God
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Friday, May 11 2012

“So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision, I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.” - Daniel 10:8

Daniel received a vision that troubled him greatly. He wanted understanding of this vision. He set himself out to understand the vision by fasting for three weeks. Three days after his three weeks of fasting, a messenger of God appeared to Daniel. The messenger explained that Heaven had heard his prayer from the first day, but the angel was temporarily prevented from coming by the prince of Persia, a demon angel, who sought to thwart God’s messenger from coming to Daniel.

There are times in our lives when we must set ourselves to seeking God with all our hearts. It is in these times that we hear from Heaven in ways we may never have experienced before. Daniel’s perseverance in prayer was rewarded with a personal encounter with Heaven. However, in order to receive from God, Daniel had to be left alone, have his strength removed, and be placed in a helpless condition. When we have no ability in our own strength to move Heaven or the events around us, we are in position to hear from Heaven. It is the acknowledgment of our humanity and our frailness that places us in a position to have a personal encounter with the living God.

Do you need a personal encounter with God today? Do you need God to intervene on your behalf? Seek Him with all your heart. Demonstrate to Him you are serious. Get alone and acknowledge your helpless condition before Him. He will reward you with His presence.

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Daily Devotionals – May 10, 2012

May 10, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/10/2012

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
–Hebrews 4:16, NLT

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
–2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
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Tragedy in the Church House

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden ; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
-Matthew 5:14-15

Every Sunday countless people all over the world sit in church buildings with a false sense of security. They assume that their morality, lifelong church membership, or baptism will earn them a place in heaven. While many of these folks sincerely desire to please God, they are confused about what the Christian life is all about. They think in terms of doing rather than being. So they imitate the actions of good Christians: going to a weekly service, praying, reading the Bible, and trying to be decent people.

However, salvation is not the product of good works. We come into the world with a corrupt nature, and all our wrongdoing is born of a heart turned away from the Lord. Because we are sinful people, we sin. It’s that simple. The good news is that in the salvation experience, we are given a brand-new nature (2 Cor. 5:17). Our sin is wiped away because Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for us. From the moment we trust in Him, the Holy Spirit dwells in our heart so that we can live righteously.

The world values action, but the Father prioritizes relationship–specifically a right relationship with Him. People who scurry about flaunting religiosity are missing out on the deeply satisfying and joyous intimacy between a believer and the Lord.

We can help turn others’ tragic misunderstanding into triumph by being ready to explain why we have hope (1 Peter 3:15). Speak of the personal relationship with Christ that’s possible when a person admits his need and trusts in the Savior. If your light shines, it reflects well on the church.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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Entitlements
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Thursday, May 10 2012

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:8

Society today has duped many of us into believing that the world owes us. It owes us a good living, a loving spouse, good health throughout our whole life, sexual pleasure when we want it, and paid vacations the rest of our lives. The world has told us if we work hard and do right, we are entitled to these things. This is the Esau perspective on life. For a mere meal, he sold his own birthright for a simple pleasure to which he felt entitled.

Society, and even the Church, is more pleasure-focused than ever before. George Barna, the Christian researcher, cites:

We are not a society that simply enjoys its time off. Our leisure appetites drive us. It is increasingly common to hear people turning down job offers because the hours or other responsibilities would interfere with their hobbies, fitness regimens and other free time activities. Even our spending habits show that playing has become a major priority. The average household spends more money on entertainment than it does clothing, health care, furniture or gasoline. Recreational activities have jumped more than 10 percent in the amount of time given to them. [George Barna, Frog In The Kettle (Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1990), 82.]
What are the motives for our work life? Is it only to gain increased pleasure and leisure time? Jesus said He came only to do the work of the Father. I am sure that Jesus had times of refreshment in His life that allowed Him to get recharged for the mission God called Him to. However, He understood the balance of maintaining mission and play. When we view life with an attitude of entitlements, we are susceptible to becoming disappointed, resentful, and even bitter when our expectations go unmet. Ask the Lord if you need to relinquish any rights that may be hindering your freedom to experience His love and grace.
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Know Your Armor
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Thursday, May 10 2012

“David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. ‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off.” (1 Samuel 17:39).

David, the young shepherd boy, heard the challenge from the Philistines to send someone to fight Goliath. No one volunteered to fight except David. King Saul reluctantly agreed and offered David his armor. David put on the weighty equipment, but quickly concluded he could not fight in this heavy armor. He gave it back to king Saul.

God equips each of us in such a way that is unique to our strengths and abilities. David knew who he was and who he wasn’t. David was trained as a shepherd to use another weapon. For David, it was a slingshot. David showed great maturity in realizing he could not be effective with Saul’s armor.

What are the gifts and talents God has given to you? Have you ever tried to accomplish a task with tools you were not trained to use? God allows each of us to develop skills that are unique to our life. He will not call you to use someone else’s tools.

However, this is only half of the equation. These talents must be mixed with faith. Talent alone is not enough. Faith alone is not enough. It is only when the two are combined that God’s power is released and manifested in the physical realm.

Sometimes we admire the talents of others and seek to emulate them. The temptation arises to be someone we are not. This is a mistake. Let God live His life through the unique you.

Then, mix your unique gifts with faith today; you will be surprised at the power of God that will be manifested.
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Going Off the Rails
Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

For God is not a God whose ways are without order, but a God of peace; as in all the churches of the saints.
1 Corinthians 14:33, BBE

“Off the rails.” I don’t know how many times I’ve voiced this phrasing in recent weeks, let alone this year. But apparently it’s my new favorite saying.

Whether I’ve been referring to the media fire storm surrounding the explosive Trayvon Martin case with defendant George Zimmerman, who seems to have already been considered guilty until proven innocent by the court of public opinion . . .

Or the ongoing U.S. Secret Service scandal in which eleven S.S. members had to be sent home for heaving drinking and consorting with prostitutes during President Barack Obama’s spring trip to South America . . .

Or even in the church and an incident occurring earlier this year where a gimmick-prone prominent pastor/televangelist stayed in a bed with his wife on his church’s rooftop in order to “encourage” Christian couples to have “healthy sex lives” . . .

Whether I’ve been referring to any of these things, I have become well acquainted with assessing a troublesome situation, thinking that “right” has now changed places with “wrong” and seeing that someone or something has gone way“off the rails.”

Granted, our world has been “off the rails” since Adam and Eve went their own way in the Garden of Eden a long time ago. But these days, it seems to be happening more and more and it is sobering to see the world around us so quickly imploding.

As believers, we know that when we abandon the order of Scripture, we embrace the chaos of life. And nothing good ever comes from that. Just think back to times in your life when you were walking in a manner that could not be backed by Scripture.

Now that’s really every day for all of us—especially if we’re in touch with our depravity and our desperate need for a Savior.

But I am also reminded of a specific time period in my life that most vividly displays when I have been “off the rails.” And no good came out of that . . . at least at the time it didn’t. But years later, the Lord used what I thought were poor life choices as building blocks to bring me back closer to him. I learned that my chaos lead to confusion and destruction, while pursuing order leads to life and growth.

Perhaps the latter is why so much time is devoted to the “order” of the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem. I’ve wondered about that as I’ve been studying in 2 Chronicles recently. Why did God include so much detail for us to read? What is he trying to show us by communicating the requirements for measurements, building materials, layout and personnel? And why did it take so long to complete?

But stepping back . . . isn’t this what is required of all Christ followers who are temples of the living God? Who must build our lives according to the instructions we see laid out for us in God’s Word? And shouldn’t we take on a project like “building a temple” with as much dedication and focus and enthusiasm and order as Solomon did in the Old Testament?

Even though the world is going “off the rails,” that doesn’t mean that you or I have to follow suit. A life lived in faithfulness and obedience to Scripture, a life with steps ordered by God through the power of Holy Spirit, a life built on the promises of God’s Word will not be sidetracked and will glorify God.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Many of the furnishings and the walls in Solomon’s temple were overlaid with gold. What in your life shimmers like this precious metal so that others can see God’s work reflected in you?

Daily Devotionals – May 9, 2012

May 9, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/9/2012

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
–Romans 8:28, NLT

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
–1 Timothy 2:1 NLT

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
–Revelation 3:15-17 ESV
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How to Serve the Church

But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 19 If they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now there are many members, but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary ; 23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, 24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
-1 Corinthians 12:18-26

When I talk about serving the church with God-given talents and gifts, people oftentimes think too small. They picture the choir singer or the Sunday school teacher. But if they don’t happen to be naturallly adept at singing or teaching, they give up.

It’s time we stop thinking in terms of a “Sunday only” establishment. The church is not a place or a time; it is a body of believers, each one uniquely gifted by God to guide, help, challenge, and support the rest. In fact, most service to the Lord doesn’t take place inside the church building. It happens out in the world, where we do all the things that Scripture commands.

Most believers are not in a position to influence a lot of people. When we act or speak, only those closest to us notice, but a chain reaction ripples outward to affect an entire community. Paul’s metaphor of body parts working together harmoniously is a helpful description of how one small action can have a widespread impact. Consider the way tensing your big toe keeps your foot stable and thereby steadies your whole body. In the same way, a gentle rebuke, a listening ear, or a loving deed benefits the church by strengthening one brother or sister, who then supports another…

We are on this earth to serve the kingdom of God and His church. And we do that by ministering to each other in small ways that steady the whole body as we give extra support to one member. In talking about such service, I am challenging you to find a need that God can meet through you.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
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The Flight of Geese
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, May 09 2012

“Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.” - 2 Chronicles 30:12

A major corporation conducted a study on the flight of geese. In their study they found that geese fly in a “V” formation with one goose in the lead. After a period of time, this goose relinquishes the lead to another goose. During flight they noticed head movements of the leader that seem to give signals to the other geese flying, perhaps to let the others know how he was doing. They estimate that the formation flight pattern reduces wind drag due to the lift the other birds receive and believe it increases their performance by up to 70 percent. Whenever one goose drops out, another goes with it. These two geese do not catch up to the original pack, but join another group later.

Independence is one of the strongholds of the workplace. The entire system feeds the desire within us to gain recognition from our individual achievements. We wrongly believe financial independence frees us from needing to depend on anyone else. The fact is dependence on others is a good thing. It can bring us into a unity of spirit that accomplishes much more with less effort while meeting needs for each of us. Christ talked a lot about unity among brothers and sisters. He said that others would know we are Christians by our love for one another and by our unity. We need to depend on others so that we don’t go it alone. By walking together we increase our strength. By going it alone we must carry a load we were never intended to carry. God did not create us to go it alone. By joining together we accomplish more for Jesus Christ. Ask the Lord today if there is an independent spirit within you that prevents you from joining others in the mission He has called you to.
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When Doing Right Ends Wrong
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, May 09 2012

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-5).

Sports can teach us lot of valuable life lessons if we’ll let it. I played sports growing up and was a golf professional for three years in the 1970s. Sometimes we buy into the idea that if we will do all the right things and execute the perfect golf swing, or the perfect baseball pitch, or the perfect whatever, we are guaranteed success. The problem is that sometimes it really is true. The outcome matches the execution and the goal. However, in sports, as well as in life, success is not guaranteed.

Sports psychologist Bob Rotella says, “If you bring a smothering perfectionism to the golf course, you will probably leave with a higher handicap and a lousy disposition, because your game will never meet your expectations.”*

You can make the perfect golf swing and end up in a divot or sand bunker, or make a great baseball pitch and the batter will hit a homerun. The analogies are limitless.

So what do we do when the outcome is bad? We must accept that in sports, as in life, outcomes don’t end the way we always hope.

Jesus came to be Savior of the world. He was a perfect human being without sin. He did all the right things. The result was death on the cross because a short term positive outcome was not God’s plan for the situation. He had a bigger picture in mind.

You and I need to keep the big picture in mind when short term outcomes don’t turn out well. The Bible calls this perseverance. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Ask God for the grace to accept bad outcomes even when you have done all the right things.

Bob Rotella, “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect”, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY 1995, p. 117
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Come Close to Him

“He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray, and as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering . . . they saw his glory” (Luke 9:29, 32).

“If I have found grace in thy sight, show me thy glory”
(Exod. 33:13).

When Jesus took these three disciples up into that high mountain apart, He brought them into close communion with Himself. They saw no man but Jesus only; and it was good to be there. Heaven is not far from those who tarry on the mount with their Lord.

Who has not in moments of meditation and prayer caught a glimpse of opening gates? Who has not in the secret place of holy communion felt the rush of some white surging wave of emotion–a foretaste of the joy of the blessed?
The Master had times and places for quiet converse with His disciples, once on the peak of Hermon, but oftener on the sacred slopes of Olivet. Every Christian should have his Olivet. Most of us, especially in the cities and towns, live at high pressure. From early morning until bedtime we are exposed to the whirl. Amid all this maelstrom how little chance for quiet thought, for God’s Word, for prayer and heart fellowship!

Daniel needed to have an Olivet in his chamber amid Babylon’s roar and idolatries. Peter found his on a housetop in Joppa; and Martin Luther found his in the “upper room” at Wittenberg, which is still held sacred.
Dr. Joseph Parker once said: “If we do not get back to visions, peeps into heaven, consciousness of the higher glory and the larger life, we shall lose our religion; our altar will become a bare stone, unblessed by visitant from Heaven.” Here is the world’s need today–men who have seen their Lord. –The Lost Art of Meditation

Come close to Him! He may take you today up into the mountain top, for where He took Peter with his blundering, and James and John, those sons of thunder who again and again so utterly misunderstood their Master and His mission, there is no reason why He should not take you. So don’t shut yourself out of it and say, “Ah, these wonderful visions and revelations of the Lord are for choice spirits!” They may be for you! –John McNeill
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A White Bread Faith
By Ryan Duncan, TheFish.com Editor

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.- 1 John 3:10

When I was still in high school my mother became a vegetarian. Now, I have nothing but respect for vegetarians, but as a guy who likes his steaks extra-rare, this created a few problems in our household. Suddenly our family was exploring what people called “organic” dishes. Tofu, quiche, we dined on whole-grain pastas sprinkled with nuts, strange cheeses, and enough broccoli to kill an entire fourth grade class. It wasn’t all that bad actually; my mother was very gracious and still cooked meat for the carnivores in the house, but I suspect a soy based meat substitute found its way into our meals on more than one occasion.

The worst part though, was the bread. My family went from using your typical sleeve of wheat bread to buying those thick, iron cast loaves so brown they were almost black. I can remember sitting in the cafeteria during lunch, watching my classmates as they flagrantly devoured their delicious, white-bread PB&J’s, while I chewed the same bite of sandwich over and over for almost an hour because chunks of grain were still floating around in it. Back then, I would have given anything for a sandwich made from white, Wonder Bread.

The thing is though, ask any nutritionist and they’ll tell you white bread barely counts as grain at all. It tastes good, but that’s because it’s been almost entirely drained of nutrients. All the beneficial vitamins and minerals have been lost, and in the end we are left with a food that really isn’t as healthy as we’d like to think it is.

How many of us Christians are looking for a “White Bread” relationship with God? We show up at Church on Sunday and pray before each meal, then tell ourselves that should be enough to help us grow in our faith. It’s a sweet deal with all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks. Don’t fool yourself; God wants to be so much more in our lives than our Sunday morning service. He is looking to make us lights of the world, to bring peace where there is strife, hope where there is despair, and grace where there is hate. You won’t be very prepared for that if you just stick to the Sunday Sermons. Don’t deny yourself a good, healthy, relationship with God. Read the Bible, get involved, and above all, be sure to make him a part of your daily life.

Intersecting Faith and Life

Find ways to get involved with you home church. Volunteer for events, or try mentoring some of the younger students. Parents, are your children involved in a youth group? Encourage them to give it a try.

Further Reading

Revelation 3:15-17

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Daily Devotionals – May 08, 2012

May 8, 2012

TODAY’S ENCOURAGING WORD – 5/8/2012

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
–Psalm 103:8, NLT

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.
–Psalm 33:12 NLT
———————–
Godly Forefathers
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, May 08 2012

“The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here’” (Zech 3:6-7).

On September 17th, 1796, George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” In His Prayer At Valley Forge, he entreated God: “Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me Thy servant, who humbly prostrates myself before Thee.”

On another occasion he said, “To the distinguished character of a patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian.”

America was founded as a Christian nation. The founding fathers had a deep faith in Jesus Christ. Today, there is a movement designed to remove God from our history and our foundations. When we do this, America will no longer be good. And when America ceases to be good, we will cease to be great.

England also had a great Christian statesman in its early years. A man named William Wilberforce grew to prominence at an early age. At age 28 he came to faith in Christ and almost chose to give up politics to go into “the ministry.” John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, convinced him to stay in politics. He would be credited with 69 world-changing initiatives, not the least of which was the abolishment of slavery after 50 years of work.

Pray that this generation might acknowledge and embrace their godly heritage and God will raise up other leaders who lead from a godly foundation.
———————–
Being Choked by Wealth
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, May 08 2012

“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income….” - Ecclessiastes 5:10

Workplace believers are especially susceptible to a trap in their spiritual lives – one to which others may not be so susceptible. That trap is wealth. Scripture tells us that if we are having our basic needs met for food and clothing, we are considered to have riches. Jesus cautioned us against living a lifestyle that required more than our basic necessities. However, it is clear that Jesus was not against wealth, but against a dependence on wealth. Jesus continually taught that a dependence on anything other than God was evil. Whenever Jesus determined that money was an issue for an individual, He addressed it and found that the individual could not let go. This was true for the rich young ruler. When talking about what he must do to inherit the Kingdom, Jesus told him to do the one thing that would be the most difficult – to give away his wealth and follow Him. Jesus was not saying this was what every person must do, only the rich young ruler, because Jesus knew this was his greatest stumbling block. For others of us, it could be something else Jesus would ask us to give up (see Mt. 19:16-30).

In the parable of the sower in which He describes four types of people, Jesus also gave us another example of the problem money creates for any follower of Jesus.

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:3b-8).

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).

Much like the frog in the boiling pot, if we are not careful we gradually begin to acquire and walk the treadmill of material gain. Those around us begin to expect more and more. Soon we begin expanding our lifestyle. Before we know it, we are worrying about how to take care of what we acquire. Our emphasis becomes what we own versus our relationship with Jesus and His Kingdom. One day I woke up and realized I had a cold heart toward God. Apathy toward the things of God became apparent. I was still going through the motions of service toward God, but with no power. We wake up to realize Christ is no longer Lord of our lives, much less of our money. The greater independence money gives us, the less dependence on God we need. Christ talked much about money in the Kingdom because He knew how much of a problem it was. This is why we have so few who are bearing 100, 60, or 30 times what is sown.

Do you have the same hunger for God that you once had? Has financial blessing had an adverse effect on your passion for Jesus Christ? Ask Him today if your heart has grown cold as a result of financial blessing. Ask Him to keep you hungering for more of His presence in your life.
———————–
A Caring Church

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law ? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND ; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly ; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor ?”
The Good Samaritan
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
-Luke 10:25-37

Do you realize that believers should not have to look beyond the body of Christ to have their needs met? We are meant to be a self-sustaining body. After several decades in ministry, I have seen only one way for the church to function as it should: believers must commit to give of themselves on behalf of others.

For example, a man determines to pray and struggle alongside a hurting brother until the burdensome situation is resolved or peace returns. Or a woman makes herself available to answer a new Christian’s questions about the weekly sermon–the two ladies search the Bible and fill their minds with Scripture. And there are countless other ways to serve others, such as driving an elderly member to the service, teaching a Sunday school class, or visiting a weary single mom and listening to her concerns.

Before you become overwhelmed by the variety of needs in your church, let me remind you that loving each other is meant to be a body-wide effort. One person cannot meet every need. But suppose you commit to serving a small group of folks whom God brings into your sphere of influence. If, in order to care for them, you surrender self-focused preferences about resources and time, the Lord will bless you with more joy and contentment than you’ve ever known.

To serve others before serving yourself is to practice authentic Christianity. I’m certain that if believers commit to meeting as many needs as the Lord brings to their attention, then a lazy church can be transformed, becoming a true body of believers who function together for the glory of God.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
———————–
Are You Reciting the Gospel by Yourself?
Alex Crain
Editor, Christianity.com

“…with Him… Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”
Luke 9:30-31 NASB

It’s good to see that the idea of ‘preaching the gospel to yourself everyday’ is becoming more popular. At least that’s how it seems to me. Things that point to the gospel are popping up in all kinds of places and ways, not only in big and new movements but in short videos, articles and Twitter messages (“Gospel Tweets”). A caution in the way we think about the gospel was brought to my attention recently in chapter two of True Spirituality. If you’re not following along in our weekly journey through this important and helpful work by Francis Schaeffer, I invite you to join us.

In chapter two, Schaeffer mentions our Scripture passage today (above) where we see Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration about His impending departure—His death.

It’s subtle, but notice that they’re not just making a passing mention of the fact. Rather, they were actively andcontinuously speaking about it. They were dwelling on the gospel; at least the substitutionary atonement part of it. And with the Object of their redemption (Christ) standing right there, no doubt there must have been more than just theological accuracy in their conversation. Probably more like amazement and deep gratitude. As they thought of all that Christ was about to endure for their sin, I’m sure they had correct thoughts about the gospel. But Christ’s own presence energized their orthodox theology.

At times, there can a detached, tearless way that we think about the gospel. When I have well-articulated and familiar facts about Christ’s life/death/resurrection/ascension, and they are just empty echoes down the icy corridors of my thoughts, the diagnosis is simple: I have broken fellowship with Christ. It’s evidence of unconfessed sin.

Schaeffer reminds us that when we rehearse the gospel, we must do so in the presence of the Living Christ; in humble worship of Him. He is not a distant figment of man’s imagination. He is the God Who is there. Just as Moses and Elijah were “with Him”… in His presence, so we too must continuously rehearse the gospel while recognizing that we are in the presence of the God Who is there. The Christian life flows from the constant spring of dwelling on the gospel with the Redeemer Himself.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Remember this paraphrase of John Piper: the gospel is like blood, it’s supposed to course through your veins not be carried in a bucket.

John Owen, (a 1600s Puritan) often prayed, “Lord, may I commune with You in the doctrines I espouse.” Make this your prayer and experience today.

Further Reading

John 15

The Gospel in Six Minutes (John Piper, video)

“While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that man can be, Thou, God art present there.”
From the hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” by Isaac Watts
———————–
Heart’s Sacrifice

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7).

When they buried the blind preacher, George Matheson, they lined his grave with red roses in memory of his love-life of sacrifice. And it was this man, so beautifully and significantly honored, who wrote,

“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee,
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

“O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee,
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

“O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shalt tearless be.

“O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee,
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.”

There is a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which no other artist could imitate. The secret of his color died with him. But after his death an old wound was discovered over his heart. This revealed the source of the matchless hue in his pictures. The legend teaches that no great achievement can be made, no lofty attainment reached, nothing of much value to the world done, save at the cost of heart’s blood.

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