Moon's Light

The moon doesn't have its own light, but simply reflects the light of the sun. Jesus said that the Church is the light for this world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (see Matt. 5:14). Like the moon, the light we reflect is not ours, but the light of the Son. The moon also governs the tides of the earth, and in one sense God has given the Church the ability (under His hand) to influence the tides of revival. There are certain principles—holy living, travailing prayer, and biblical preaching—that God can use to usher a revival of Christianity to this dark and dying world.

Psalm 89:36 His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me;37 It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

A potential convert

Mark 10:17. Here is a potential convert. He runs to Jesus (he is earnest), he kneels down (he is humble), he asks how he can inherit eternal life (what more could we want in a convert?). But notice what Jesus didn’t do. He didn’t speak of the love of God or a wonderful plan, or lead him in a “sinner’s prayer.”

Instead, He reproved the man’s understanding of “good.” This is because most unsaved people have an erroneous understanding of what “good” is. To see this, ask sinners if they think they are good people, and you will find that 99 percent say they are. Proverbs 20:6 tells us, “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness.” Imitate Jesus; do what He did. Reveal the righteousness of God by showing sinners God’s standard of “goodness”—the moral Law (see v. 19). It was the Law that exposed the man’s hidden sin: he was a transgressor of the First Commandment. His money was his god, and one cannot serve God and money (see Matt. 6:24).

Notice that is was “love” that motivated the Savior to speak in this way to this rich young man (v. 21). Love sinners enough to do your best to make sure they don’t have a false conversion. They must have the knowledge of sin before they come to the Savior (see Rom. 3:19,20; 7:7,13).

Mark 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I tdo that I may inherit eternal life?”

Christians Are Not Debtors to the Flesh - Tim Conway (Romans 8:12)

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Q and A

Q: Since we are not saved by works, why can't I maintain a relationship with God without witnessing?

A: This is an honest question. Here is the problem. We know that we are saved because the fruit of God’s Spirit will begin manifesting through us. God is love; therefore, we should be filled with love if we have been truly saved (see Rom. 5:5). Think of this scenario. You are in Africa. A child is lying on the ground in front of you starving to death. You have food in your hand. You know God wants you to share the food with the dying child. So the question is, “Why can’t I have a good relationship with God, without sharing the food?” You have to answer that yourself.

Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom.

Bringing others to Jesus

Andrew is the disciple known for bringing people to Jesus. Immediately after meeting the Lord, he introduced his brother Simon to the Messiah. Another time, when a great multitude was hungry, he found a boy with five loaves and two fishes and brought him to Jesus (John 6:8-9). When some Greeks wanted to meet Christ, Andrew and Philip made the introductions (12:20-22). This disciple never lost his enthusiasm for the Savior.

Andrew's own conversion experience motivated him to let others know about the One who'd changed his life (1:36-37). How about you--have you lost the joy of your salvation? If your Christian life has become stale and musty, it's time to remember what Christ has done for you and to ask that He restore your excitement.

In addition, Andrew longed to know the Savior and spend time with Him (vv. 38-39). The disciple's example is a good reminder that sweet fellowship with the Lord isn't supposed to end with devotional times. It should also stimulate a desire to share with others the joy we find in our relationship with Christ.

Finally, Andrew was motivated by his conviction that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 41). He'd found the answer for a lost and hurting world and wanted others to know.

When Andrew answered the call to discipleship, Jesus told him he'd be "catching men" instead of fish (Luke 5:10). Since we, too, are followers of Christ, we have this same assignment. Our styles and opportunities vary, but we're each responsible to develop a lifelong habit of bringing others to Jesus. -Dr. Charles Stanley

Hanging

If a man is hanging on for dear life to a chain, if it breaks in just one link he will still plummet to his death. Breaking even one law, one time, is enough to condemn us. See James 2:10 comment.

“Without the atoning blood of Christ, sinners can neither have communion with a holy God, nor do any thing acceptable to him; his righteous law condemns every one who, at any time, or in any thing, transgresses it. Under its awful curse we remain as transgressors, until the redemption of Christ is applied to our hearts. Wherever the grace of God brings salvation, it teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, consenting to, and delighting in the words of God’s law, after the inward man. In this holy walk, true peace and solid joy are to be found.” Matthew Henry

Deuteronomy 27:26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Root of Bitterness

Looking diligently . . . lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. Hebrews 12:15
It is on record that Charles Spurgeon made this comment about a man who was well-known for his bitter and resentful spirit: “May the grass grow green on his grave when he dies, for nothing ever grew around him while he lived!”

The sad and depressing bitter soul will compile a list of slights at which it takes offense and will watch over itself like a mother bear over her cubs. And the figure is apt, for the resentful heart is always surly and suspicious like a she-bear!

In our Christian fellowship, what can be more depressing than to find a professed Christian defending his or her supposed rights and bitterly resisting any attempt to violate them? Such a Christian has never accepted the way of the cross. The sweet graces of meekness and humility are unknown to that person. Every day he or she grows harder and more acrimonious, trying to defend reputation, right, ministry, against imagined foes.

Is there a cure for this? Yes! The cure is to die to self and rise with Christ into newness of life!

Lord, if there is any unpleasantness or bitterness inside me, please eradicate it so that my immature behavior will not be a stumbling block to those who are seeking You.

Living Waters University, Cory

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Handling Temptation

. . . who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able . . .
–1 Corinthians 10:13

It is Satan’s purpose to steal the seed of truth from your heart by sending distracting thoughts. It should encourage you to know that the devil considers you a good enough Christian to use as a target.

The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is: though they both may have good and evil thoughts, Christ gives His followers strength to select the right rather than the wrong. You see a man going to prayer meeting with a Bible under his arm. That man was undoubtedly tempted to stay at home, go bowling, or to some other activity. But, as these diverse thoughts came to his mind, he made the right selection, and headed for the church.

Another man walks through the night to a bar. It no doubt occurred to him that he had best stay home with his family. But he yielded to the negative thought, and gave in to his lower appetites.

It is not the temptations you have, but the decision you make about them that counts.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Decisions will have to be made each day, Lord. With Your strength and wisdom, help me to make the right ones

An Act of God

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

Salvation is an act of God. It is initiated by God, wrought by God, and sustained by God. The faith that saves the soul is described as faith in Christ as the Son of God—not as a good man or a great man, but as the uniquely begotten Son of the living God!

This is consistent with the witness of the entire New Testament and with the proclamations of the first preachers of the Gospel. All proclaim the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ as deity.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Lord Jesus, Son of God, I worship You unreservedly and praise Your holy name.

Spinning Bullets

Modern rifles can fire a bullet at 3,000 feet per second. The key to their speed and accuracy is a spiral barrel which makes the bullet go faster--in the same way a quarterback causes the ball to spiral to make it go faster through the air.

In today’s vernacular, to put “spin” on something is to move away from the truth. However, there is a way to put legitimate “spin” on the bullet of the gospel so that it has speed and accuracy. It is the moral Law (the ten Commandments) that sends the gospel out with speed and accuracy, cutting through the air of sinners’ excuses like nothing else. If you have never taken someone through the moral Law, try it. It is biblical (see Mark 10:17, Luke 18:18) and it certainly hits the target of human understanding. Charles Spurgeon said,

"I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the law… If men do not understand the law, they will not feel that they are sinners…Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt. This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. … I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ…they will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law.”

By: Ray Comfort

Overlooking sin

"God may appear to be overlooking sin, especially when evil seems to triumph in our day. Rest assured that within the very core nature of God is His justice. He cannot by nature overlook sin. And He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. You can be sure of that.” Jay Fowler

An Inside Job

Salvation is an inside job and we are dependent upon God to do an internal heart-changing work in those for whom we are burdened...What are some things we can pray for them?

We can pray for God to send conviction, that they will sense the urgency of their need. At Pentecost, Peter’s sermon was interrupted by his listeners, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37). Conviction is when God calls us to account and shows us our fault.

We can ask God to send enlightenment. Paul was commissioned by God to go to the Gentiles, “To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18).

We can pray that God would call and draw, attracting them to Christ. While we, in our natural condition, are turned off by God, He has a way of engineering circumstances that cause us to be drawn to Him. “He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

We can ask God to destroy mental strongholds, to remove the barriers between them and Christ. Being a lost person is hard work. God gives witness to Himself in powerful ways. And the person who doesn’t want to turn to Christ has to defend himself against the guilt and feelings of foolishness for rejecting Him. So they build defensive walls to keep those feelings out—and to keep God from “meddling” in their lives. Some of these wall are made of intellectual rationalizations, some of the memories of bad experiences at church or with people who professed to be Christians. Some walls are made with the bricks of procrastination. But all the walls are a hardened bunker to keep God away. Prayer, however, can penetrate these walls: “The weapons with which we fight are not human weapons, but are mighty for God in overthrowing strong fortresses. For we overthrow arrogant ‘reckonings,’ and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery—into subjection to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4,5, Weymouth). By Derek Gentle

Jonah 2:7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.

What is Forgiveness

"Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" - Colossians 3:12-14

Forgiveness is a decision. It's an act of will to release a person from the obligation that resulted when they injured you.

Unforgiveness sounds like this: "You owe me! I'm going to make you pay by hating you, by slandering you, by returning in kind, by recruiting other people to my bitterness. I'm holding this over you!"

Here's forgiveness: "You don't owe me. I'm not trying to get even. I'm not looking for a chance to pay you back. God didn't make me that way. I choose to forgive."

You say, "James, I can forgive today, but I know by Thursday I'll have that thing back on my back again." I understand that. Get this: forgiveness is a crisis and a process. The first thing you have to do is see your unforgiveness as sin. You have to acknowledge that God's not going to forgive you if you don't forgive others. You've got to have that crisis. You've got to stop explaining, defending, holding onto it, cherishing, and reviewing it. You've got to say, "I don't want this for my life."

The crisis means, "I choose to forgive. I'm letting it go." But the process means, when the painful matter comes into your mind again, you promise yourself to maintain the following process: "I won't bring it up to the person; I won't bring it up to other people;" and most hard by far, "I won't bring it up to myself anymore."

Someone said to me, "James, I can't help myself. As soon as I see the person, Bam! My mind goes right to that thing." That's why forgiveness is a crisis and a process. In the crisis you decide, in the process you live it out.

Now, here's a key: When you fail in the process you have to return to the crisis. When you find yourself flashing back to unforgiveness, realize you failed in the process. You've got to return to the crisis. You've got to get before the Lord and say, "God, forgive me. I want to be a forgiving person and here I'm holding this again, Lord. Help me again. I commit afresh to let it go."

Crisis/process. Over time you'll let it go and you'll be a lot happier because of it. -James MacDonald

The Power of Words

The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do . . .
–James 3:5 (TLB)

There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be a habitual gossip—she had maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded. The vicar said, “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather up every feather and bring them all back to me.” After a long time the woman returned without a single feather. “The wind has blown them all away,” she said. “My good woman,” said the vicar, “so it is with gossip. Unkind words are easily dropped, but we can never take them back again.”

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Might my words about another be ones that are spoken in the spirit of Your loving kindness, Father.

John MacArthur on Spiritual Formation and Biblical Sanctification

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Wake up Church

"People talk about our being earnest and fanatical—about our being on fire. Would to God the church were on fire! This world would soon shake to its foundation. May God wake up a slumbering church! What we want you to do is not to shout ‘amen’ and clap your hands. The deepest and quietest waters very often run swiftest. We want you to go right to work; there will be a chance for you to shout by and by. Go and speak to your neighbor and tell him of Christ and heaven. You need not go far before you will find someone passing down to the darkness of eternal death. Haste to his rescue!” D. L. Moody

Leviticus 6:13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

Is it well with your soul

And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? For is anything worth more than his soul?
–Mark 8:36,37 (TLB)

In the world in which we live, we give most attention to satisfying the appetites of the body and practically none to the soul. Consequently, we are one-sided. We become fat physically and materially, while spiritually we are lean, weak and anemic. The soul actually demands as much attention as the body. It demands fellowship and communion with God. It demands worship, quietness, and meditation. Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless. Many people turn to alcohol to try to drown the cryings and longings of the soul. Some turn to a new sex experience. Others attempt to quiet the longings of their souls in other ways. But nothing but God ever completely satisfies, because the soul was made for God, and without God it is restless and in secret torment.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Dear Lord, I thank You that when my soul cried out for forgiveness and love, You were there. Today help me to live as Your child should.

True Friendship

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
–John 13:35

The human soul is a lonely thing. It must have the assurance of companionship. Left entirely to itself, it cannot enjoy anything. God said in the beginning, “It is not good that man should dwell alone” (Genesis 2:18). The creation of Eve was the beginning of human companionship. God’s people are a body, not intended to function separately, not intended to be unconcerned for one another. The only true body in the world is the Church. The world may talk grandly of brotherhood, but in reality its philosophy is “each man for himself.” God’s children are guaranteed the richest and truest friendship, both here and hereafter. Only in a true friendship and a true love do we find a genuine basis for peace. Only God can break down the national and racial barriers that divide men today. Only God can supply that love that we must have for our fellowman. We will never build brotherhood of man upon earth until we are believers in Christ Jesus. The only true cohesive power in the world is Christ. He alone can bind human hearts together in genuine love.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Father, teach me true brotherhood in Jesus Christ.

Dog Food and Gospel Tracts

 

So I walk into the store to buy dog food. Get up to the counter and put the bag of dog on the counter. The cashier looks down and says, "Oh, (like she's shocked for some reason) do you have a dog". I look back at her with blank kind of stare and curiously reply, "No. Why?" After a few moments of akward silence, I smile and say "Yeah, a black lab. I was just playing with you." She laughs a little and I say, "Hey, you got a million dollar smile. Speaking of 'a million dollars', here you go". She looks and laughs again and says thanks and I reply, "It's a gospel tract. Read it when you get time if you would, I would be very grateful!"

You know you can do that too. Just start passing out tracts. But if you think, 'Michael, I'm not as creative as you are'. You know what I say, "Well, you know my Father was creative. Read Genesis chapter 1. And you know what, if you're a child of God, He is your Father too! So be creative, get out there and be a witness for Christ! Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

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Hobby Lobby: First Evangelical-Led Business Files Lawsuit Against HHS Mandate

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a privately held retail chain with 22,500 employees led by a Christian family, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, opposing the Health and Human Services "preventive services" mandate, the company announced Wednesday. The company becomes the largest and only non-Catholic-owned business to file a lawsuit against the government's contraception mandate.

The company's CEO and founder, David Green, said Wednesday that the mandate would force the Christian-owned-and-operated business to provide, without co-pay, the "morning after pill" and "week after pill" in their health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to 1.3 million dollars per day.

"We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs and comply with this mandate," Green said during a teleconference press meeting. "We know that we have been blessed by God's grace and believe it is because we have chosen to live our lives and to operate our business according to His Word and we are very grateful for that. But our faith is being challenged by the federal government."

Headquartered in Oklahoma, Hobby Lobby has 500 arts and crafts stores in 41 states and is the largest and only non-Catholic-owned business to file a lawsuit against the HHS mandate. The suits focus sharp criticism on the Obama administration's regulation that forces all companies, regardless of religious conviction, to cover contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization.

There are now 27 separate lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate, which is a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"). These HHS challenges were not affected by the Supreme Court's June 28th ruling on the constitutionality of the "individual mandate."

"These abortion causing drugs go against our faith and our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and have supported our family and thousands of employees and their families," said Green, whose company is being represented by the Becket Fund, a religious freedom law group.

"The nationwide litigation against this HHS mandate is a fight for religious freedom for all Americans," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund, during the teleconference. "Today, [Hobby Lobby and its owners] are asking the federal court to protect their right to run their business as they always have in harmony with their Christian faith."

The deadline for complying with the mandate for businesses (other than nonprofits, which have been given an extra year to comply) is Jan. 1, 2013, less than four months away, said Duncan.

"The Green family has therefore reluctantly filed this lawsuit to protect their right to religious freedom. The government cannot fine any American, including business owners like the Greens who are refusing to violate their faith," he said.

Duncan said he did not know whether any other Christian-based businesses would follow the lawsuit with others of their own but said, "We do hope that this lawsuit on behalf of such a large and prominent evangelical Christian business will draw attention to the fact that the government is trying to force people of all different faiths to violate their faith. This is not by any means a Catholic-only issue.

"Some of the drugs involved in the mandate can cause an early abortion and many Americans who are not Catholics have a problem with this and so we certainly hope it draws attention to the issue. Whether or not it results in other lawsuits we cannot know."
Hobby Lobby is also seeking an injunction from the federal court similar to one given to a Catholic-owned private business in which it was determined that "emergency relief" was needed to freeze current insurance law in place during litigation as to not jeopardize the business' finances.

Founded in an Oklahoma City garage in 1972, the Green family began Hobby Lobby with a $600 loan to open its first store that had 300-square-feet of manufacturing space in the back and 300-square-feet of retail space in the front.

Green said he felt like "an outsider going into retail," partly because both his parents were pastors. However, he said he found a way to minister through his company.

"Hobby Lobby has always been a tool for the Lord's work. For me and my family, charity equals ministry, which equals the Gospel of Jesus Christ," he said.

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Long life span

"Noah was the last recorded person in the Bible to live over 900 years. Genetic bottlenecks at the Flood and subsequently at the Tower of Babel were likely the main reasons for the decline in ages. But consider that Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood and outlived his great, great, great, grandson Peleg, who was the first recorded death (of a person) after the Flood. So it makes sense that many cultures began revering and worshiping their ancestors (e.g., the Shinto religion, Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Norse/Germanic mythology, and others) since they simply outlived their descendants!” Ken Ham

Genesis 9:28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

I want it now!

Most people pray. Sadly, much of our praying is a little selfish. We pray to get something or someone, to win a game or to get health or wealth. Many end up disillusioned. They don’t get what they want. There are a few who simply pray that God would appear, or do some miracles before they will even believe in His existence. They want some sort of “sign,” then they will believe.

But I wonder what you would think of the mentality of someone who said "Some time ago I emailed the White House and told the President that he needed to be at my house last Friday, with a gift for me. He didn’t show up, so I believe that he doesn’t exist." I’m sure you would think that that person was either naive or mentally challenged.

If you have ever prayed for something and felt that your prayer didn't get past the ceiling, you are probably right. Just as there is a certain procedure that you must go through to have an audience with the President, so there is certain procedure that you must go through to have an audience with God, or you won't get one. You have His promise on that.

Here’s some information that may help you. The first thing to understand is that we are enemies of God, and that His wrath abides on us until we come to faith in Jesus. John 3:36 says “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” We are rebels. So the odds of getting an audience are greatly stacked against us.

The Bible even tells us that our sins have made a separation between us and God, so that He will not hear us. You can read that in Isaiah 59. The Scriptures tell us that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. So it would be wise to stop clicking our fingers and expecting God to come running like some sort of divine butler. It doesn’t work that way.

Listen to James 4:3-4): “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” So, if you want an audience with God, you need to become a friend of God, and you can do that by surrendering to His will. Once you have His smile, then you have His ear, so to speak. And to get His smile you and I must humble ourselves, repent, and trust the Savior--and that will give you direct access so that, as the Bible says, “you can come boldly before the Throne of Grace.”

Then make sure you understand that God always answers prayer. That way you will never be disappointed. Sometimes He says "Yes" and grants our desires. Sometimes He says "No" and doesn’t. Other times He makes us wait so that we learn to exercise faith and patience.

Most people don’t understand that there are at least two types of the will of God. There’s His permissive will, where He will allow things to happen to the Christian. These may not seem to be beneficial for us--trials, tribulations and persecution, but God promises to work these things out for our good, in the light of eternity.

Then there is the perfect will of God, and you can read all about that in His Word--the Bible.

9/11 Never Forget

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Only Jesus

God . . . is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord.
–1 Corinthians 1:9 (TLB)

The question remains, “How can God be just—that is, true to Himself in nature and true to Himself in holiness—and yet justify the sinner?” Because each man had to bear his own sins, all mankind was excluded from helping, since each was contaminated with the same disease. The only solution was for an innocent party to volunteer to die physically and spiritually as a substitution before God. This innocent party would have to take man’s judgment, penalty, and death. But where was such an individual? Certainly, there was none on earth. There was only one possibility. God’s own Son was the only personality in the universe who had the capacity to bear in His own body the sins of the world. Only God’s Son was infinite and thus able to die for all.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, in adoration I thank You for the love that made You willing to suffer and die on the cross for my sin.

How Can I Help My Teen Want to Follow God? #430

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The Cost of Following Jesus (Francis Chan)

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Be honest with God

God loveth a cheerful giver.
–2 Corinthians 9:7

The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the ledger but on the spiritual side. You receive a sense of being honest with God. You receive a consciousness that you are in partnership with God—that you are doing something constructive—that you are working with Him to reach the world for Jesus Christ. You are also enabled to hold on to this world’s goods loosely because the eternal values are always in view. How do you give? Is it liberally and cheerfully? Or is it sparingly and grudgingly? If you have been giving God the leftovers of your substance and your life, you have been missing the true joy and blessing of Christian giving and living.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Forgive me, almighty God, for so often giving You the leftovers. In my heart I know I can never outgive You.

Don't Be Decieved, Disciples Make Disciples by Francis Chan And David Platt

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The Genuine Gospel

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.1 Peter 1:3

The book of 1 Peter is a wonderful letter and a model for us. Peter begins by explaining who Christ is and what we have received through him. He says that God has given us a new birth to a living hope through Christ's resurrection. Likewise, the Father out of pure mercy has given us everything, apart from our merit. These are genuinely evangelical words that must be preached.

May God help us. How little of this message we find in other books! Even among the best, such as those written by Jerome and Augustine, we find hardly anything. Therefore, we must preach about Jesus Christ, that he died and rose from the dead and why he died and was resurrected. We must preach so that the people will believe in him and through faith be saved.

This is what it means to preach the true gospel. Any preaching that is different than this is not the gospel, no matter who preaches it. -Martin Luther

If I Believe this Gospel by Francis Chan And David Platt

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Disciple Making, Fruit Of Being A Christian by Francis Chan And David Platt

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Only God Can Do The Work Of God by Francis Chan And David Platt

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A quote from Charles Spurgeon

If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Galatians 5:18

We who looks at his own character and position from a legal point of view, will not only despair when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he be a wise man he will despair at the beginning; for if we are to be judged on the footing of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified. How blessed to know that we dwell in the domains of grace and not of law! When thinking of my state before God the question is not, Am I perfect in myself before the law? but, Am I perfect in Christ Jesus? That is a very different matter. We need not enquire, Am I without sin naturally? but, Have I been washed in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness? It is not Am I in myself well pleasing to God? but it is Am I accepted in the Beloved? The Christian views his evidences from the top of Sinai, and grows alarmed concerning his salvation; it were better far if he read his title by the light of Calvary. Why, saith he, my faith has unbelief in it, it is not able to save me. Suppose he had considered the object of his faith instead of his faith, then he would have said, There is no failure in him, and therefore I am safe. He sighs over his hope: Ah! my hope is marred and dimmed by an anxious carefulness about present things; how can I be accepted? Had he regarded the ground of his hope, he would have seen that the promise of God standeth sure, and that whatever our doubts may be, the oath and promise never fail. Ah! believer, it is safer always for you to be led of the Spirit into gospel liberty than to wear legal fetters. Judge yourself at what Christ is rather than at what you are. Satan will try to mar your peace by reminding you of your sinfulness and imperfections: you can only meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel and refusing to wear the yoke of bondage.

Random Pics

Democratic Flip Flop

The Democratic Party's flip-flop and the resulting anger and confusion about whether or not to put reference to God into their platform, highlighted the great weakness in our political system. The Yes and No vote is reminiscent of another vote that was taken 2,000 years ago, which resulted in the one-man steering committee washing his hands of the whole process.

This is what happens when a nation abandons the Bible as its moral guide. It has no rudder in the stormy sea of human opinion, so it is driven by whatever wind blows the hardest. When the Bible is abandoned, the question is asked, "Is killing a child in the womb morally okay?" The answer comes from those who yell the loudest. The same applies with homosexuality and other moral issues. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government..." That becomes a weakness and not strength, when the Bible is left out of the equation.

The Scriptures are "a lamp to our feet and a light to out path." When they are ignored we are left in moral darkness and we will soon forget the truth of the words "God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!" Thomas Jefferson said "The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution." I propose a small amendment to his words. They should read, "The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Scriptures and treats the Constitution as though it was the Word of God."

This fiasco should also remind us of Lincoln's statement, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

Always Laboring

It is often said that we should “come apart” before we come apart. We should make sure we take the time to rest. If you are overwhelmed with your work for God, delegate, but don’t just do nothing while sinners sink into Hell. It is far better to burn out than to rust out. Pray always. Preach the word, in season and out of season...always laboring in the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. We will have eternity to rest.

Exodus 18:18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord, I pray that there will be a growing interest in our churches to implement training strategies that will help believers take their relationship with Christ to a new, higher level.

Christ's greatest work

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree . . .
–1 Peter 2:24

Jesus worked all His life. But the greatest work that Jesus did was not in the carpenter’s shop, nor even at the marriage feast of Cana where He turned the water into wine. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, nor even the dead to rise. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He taught as One having authority, or when He scathingly denounced the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. The greatest work that Jesus did was not in the great ethical program He presented to mankind—that program which has become the foundation for Western culture. What, then, was His greatest work? His greatest work was achieved in those three dark hours on Calvary. Christ’s greatest work was His dying for us.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
When I consider the work of Jesus on this earth—which led to His supreme sacrifice—I pray all my labor this day will glorify You, my beloved Savior.

Water Cycle

Job 28:26. Centuries after Job wrote this, scientists began to discern the “law for the rain.” Rainfall is part of a process called the “water cycle.” The sun evaporates water from the ocean. The water vapor then rises and becomes clouds. This water in the clouds falls back to earth as rain, and collects in streams and rivers, then makes its way back to the ocean. That process repeats itself again and again. About 300 years ago, Galileo discovered this cycle. But amazingly the Scriptures described it centuries before. The prophet Amos (9:6) wrote that God “calls for the water of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth.” Scientists are just beginning to fully understand God’s “decrees for the rain.”

Job 28:26 When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt...

God In A Box

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Little Things

Make sure to 'like' us on Facebook, and become a 'Follower' here, or sign up for email notifications on the bottom right of this page. As always, thanks for stopping by, and may God bless you!-Walking In The Way