THE MASTERS LIST Dean W. Masters

Posted by: "Gospel from India" gospelfromindia
Our only hope!

All of us have sinned, and our transgressions demand atonement.

Because of this-
God the Father sent His Son to die in our place and pay our sin debt in full.

We are forgiven on the basis of the price He paid-
- and if we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, 
- our names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Christ’s death on the cross paved the way for us to go to heaven. 

Because He died, not only can we live for eternity-
- but we also get to enjoy a personal relationship with the Lord while we are here on earth. 

It’s all wrapped up in the cross. 
It’s all about Jesus.

Have you ever acknowledged your sin against God? 
Are you willing to ask Him to forgive you-
- not on the basis of who you are or what you’ve done, 
- but based on the simple truth that Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, 
- went to the cross in your place?

If you are willing to confess your sin-
- turn from it, and yield your life to the Lord, 
- the Holy Spirit will come into your heart and seal you forever as a child of God. 

You can live the rest of your life knowing that no matter what happens-
- as you travel the peaks and valleys of life, 
- you are forever safe in the arms of Almighty God,
- and eternal life in His presence awaits you.

When you think about what Jesus endured in order to atone for your sins-
- the only appropriate response is humble gratitude. 

Pray that the Spirit of God will penetrate any arrogance or resistance so you can truly acknowledge, privately and then publicly-
- that the cross is our only hope!​​




Posted by: "Dean Masters
Forgiveness is heavenly!
Remember the delectable taste of mom's soup?

Heavenly-
- so to speak!
And that's what God's forgiveness is!

Christ came from Heaven's glory to bring forgiveness of sin into the depths 
of our spirit.
He has been gracious to us.
And, if He indeed lives within us-
- can we withhold His forgiveness from another human being?
Your personal story may be tragic-
- but there is no forgiveness for us, until we choose to forgive.

The secret?
Ask the Lord to make you "willing" to forgive.

Begin to pray blessing daily on that person-
- even if you don't feel like it,
- and you probably won't!

Ask God for a fresh revelation of Calvary and Christ's forgiveness for you.
For you really cannot do it yourself.

Human forgiveness will not last.
Divine forgiveness will!

Let the Spirit of Christ fill your spirit with His forgiveness today!

"...forgiving one another...even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." 
Colossians 3:13."

Thank you Lord-
- for modeling forgiveness for me.

I want to always remember it and practice it-
- even when it is hard.

For I have learned that forgiveness is-
- healthy for the body,
- healing for the soul, and
- heavenly for all eternity!

He has graciously forgiven me.
Can I do less?

And that's just a word...or two, from my heart to yours!

His Healing Word:

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even 
as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32.

"Lord, I acknowledge the unforgiveness in my heart to (name person).
Help me to forgive (name person) as You forgive them, and as You forgive me.
I ask You, the Great Forgiver, to reign in my life, in my home, and in my 
relationships.In Jesus' Name. Amen."

The Strange and Wonderful Ride
David Mathis / March 19, 2016
The Strange and Wonderful Ride

Passion Week begins with palms. Branches are cut from trees, hands are 
raised in praised, and the most important figure in history enters the 
greatest
city in the first century for the most important week that’s ever been.

This unrecognized prince has a rightful claim to the throne of his people as 
the heir of their most celebrated king. And yet he rides in manifest 
humility,
on the back of a donkey’s colt — like no other ruler in the first century, 
or the twenty-first century, would dare stoop to do.

And this, of course, is not the extent of his meekness and lowliness. He 
will stoop yet further this holy week, and then further still when he is 
“raised
up” to the lowest of all places, to the utter shame and ignominy of a brutal 
public execution, even death on a cross.

The Glow of Palm Sunday

But for now, the week begins with the strange and wonderful glow of Palm 
Sunday. We feel the radiance of the coming king, ushered into the great city 
by
crowds stirred for the arrival of a veritable dignitary. “This is the 
prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11). In their 
excitement, they
“spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and 
spread them on the road” (Matthew 21:8), and so give “Palm Sunday” its name.

Joy shines this Sunday — a joy, as we now know, that anticipates a supernova 
of gladness coming on the following Sunday. In the thrill of hope, the 
crowds
rehearse the praises of Psalm 118, pining that perhaps this is, at long 
last, the great “Son of David,” the promised royal rescuer, riding into the 
Holy
City to definitively save his people.

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the 
Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). Hosanna — a Hebrew 
declaration
of adoration and delight — is the refrain for this triumphal entry.

Tinged with the Coming Pain

Still the light is tinged, even in the emotional highs of Palm Sunday. This 
is not yet his coronation at the right hand, seated on the throne of heaven.
This is not the final triumph when heaven itself will descend and remake our 
fallen world — with all sorrow and pain, and every tear and enduring rebel,
banished to outer darkness.

No, even in the throes of joy, the threatened authorities begin their 
diabolical plot. The humble king heals the blind and the lame (Matthew 
21:14), and
when the establishment sees “the wonderful things that he did . . . they 
were indignant” (Matthew 21:15). The burgeoning joy of the masses is the 
festering
anger of the Jerusalem elite.

Joy Set Before the Man of Sorrows

Here on this Sunday we find, in microcosm, the joys and sorrows of the 
legendary week ahead. This initial clash with the authorities anticipates 
the coming
conspiracy, the traitor that will emerge, the fearful disciples who will 
flee, and the sheer demonic wickedness that will descend upon the city and 
culminate
in his death by sundown Friday.

And yet the joy of Palm Sunday forecasts the unrivaled euphoria to come on 
Easter morning.

The dark notes of Palm Sunday correspond to this unstoppably happy king 
being our “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). The joy of Palm Sunday corresponds 
to
Jesus’s own joy — his indestructible gladness, his willingness to come to 
Jerusalem and go even to the cross for the joy set before him. The one on 
whom
is poured the oil of gladness without peer (Psalm 45:7) is the one who will 
be despised, rejected, and well acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3).

His Peculiar Glory

It is fitting on this strange and wonderful Sunday that the people would 
reach for Psalm 118:26 and cry out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of 
the
Lord!”

This psalm captures so well the peculiar glory of Palm Sunday. Just a breath 
before verse 26, the psalmist writes, “The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our 
eyes” (Psalm 118:22–23).

The glory of Palm Sunday is not that the long-awaited king parades into town 
amid the pomp and flair of natural human expectation. This is not a king of
unchallenged pedigree, born in a palace, nurtured by world-class tutors, 
surrounded by accomplished generals, trumpeting into the great city to 
conquer
his foes and lay claim to his crown.

No, here is a Nazarene, a backwater, purported to have been conceived in 
shame, a common laborer by trade, riding not on a noble steed, but the colt 
of
an ass. He comes not to brandish his sword and demonstrate his quality for 
the popular expectations, but to give his own neck to the knife and display
his meekness in uncompromised sacrifice. He comes not to kill, but to be 
killed, accompanied not by generals and soldiers, but twelve bumbling 
companions,
one of whom will betray him, another of whom deny him, and all of whom will 
scatter when the real conflagration begins.

Marvelous in Our Eyes

The long-awaited Messiah comes not in human glory, but peculiar glory — the 
glory of strength in weakness, the glory of indomitable joy in excruciating
pain, the glory of the Lion of Judah who gives himself as the Lamb of God. 
He comes on a donkey’s colt to be the stone the builders will utterly reject
on Friday, and that God himself will unveil as the very cornerstone on 
Sunday morning.

To the natural mind, whether Jew or Greek, it is sheer madness. A crucified 
hero is folly to the Hellenists; a rejected Messiah, a stumbling block to 
the
Hebrews (1 Corinthians 1:23). But for those who have received the gift of 
true sight, it is marvelous in our eyes.

No creature could plan it like this. This is indeed God’s doing. Palm 
Sunday, and the Passion to follow, is no human creation, no happenstance of 
history.
This bears the indelible fingerprints of the divine, and this is the very 
unveiling of the promised rescue, in all its strangeness and wonder.

Only a king on a donkey could truly save our souls, and fully satisfy them 
forever.

Welcome to the Illustrator
Today's Bible Verse:

"I want you to be smart in the same way--but for what is right--using every 
adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your 
attention
on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live..." Luke 16:9 (MSG)

By Answers2Prayer
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Rain

I was driving home in a gloomy rainstorm on a cold, March morning in the 
mountains of my home. Part of me was enjoying the rain thinking that it 
would
clean the slush, salt, and grime that covered my car from weeks of Winter 
driving and save me a trip to the car wash. Another part of me was keeping a
watchful eye on the creeks and rivers hoping that the melting snow and 
freshly falling rain wouldn't lead to any flooding.

A deeper part of me, however, was quietly dreaming of the warmer weather and 
strengthening sunshine to come in the weeks ahead. I knew that they would
join with this nourishing rain to turn the yellow grass green, to bring new 
buds and leaves to the trees, and to cause the million flowers sleeping 
underground
to push their heads through the soil and start the Spring. It would be that 
glorious time when the whole world comes back to life again and it was all
starting with this steady, March shower.

The rains in our own lives can bring mixed blessings as well. Storms of 
problems and troubles can flood us with stress, strain, and pain. They can 
make
our days seem dark and dreary.

They can make our hearts feel heavy and sad. Yet, these same storms can also 
strengthen our spirits. They can help our souls to grow. They can lead us
to learning and wisdom. They can cause our hearts to reach out to God and to 
each other.

There is a reason why a world with only sunshine and no rain becomes a 
desert. There is a reason why a life with no problems becomes boring and 
barren,
devoid of both learning and growth. God wants us to grow. God wants us to 
learn. God wants us to love each other as He loves us. God wants us to 
embrace
His light in both the sunshine and the rain. And God wants us to shine and 
share our own light as well even on the darkest of days.

Joseph J. Mazzella

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this world. Thanks to them, we can provide you with the many aspects of this
ministry. God is our guide and He blesses others through you! If any of our 
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There is still a need for more volunteers! Many are called, but few answer 
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©Copyright 2011 Answers2Prayer | Matt 10:8 "Freely you have received, freely 
give."

Backing Off From a Crusade - A message from Dan McNerney.

Backing Off From a Crusade

Our country is on edge. Shouting, arguing and divisiveness are becoming a 
norm. Anger seems more prevalent than civility. Souls are fragile and 
fearful.
High anxiety is a way of life. Simple solutions and shortcuts are enormously 
attractive. Finding thoughtful answers to complex issues is an annoyance.
And, in this intense environment, Muslims have become an enigma, mystery and 
a conundrum, which few can figure out. It seems that few in America have 
time
to befriend a Muslim, walk alongside them, or even try to discover what they 
truly think. It's as though many Americans are standing with arms folded 
demanding
Muslims explain themselves. It's a popular theme for politicians and much of 
the news media -- they want simple, straightforward answers - now.

The last 12 months of my ministry have been exhilarating. I am finding 
American Christians wrestling mightily with how to understand and respond to 
Islam,
especially radical Islam. I have been traveling throughout the country 
speaking in numerous church settings and conferences, telling stories of how 
Christians
around the world are finding peaceful ways of engaging Muslims and sharing 
the love of God with them. Yet, many American Christians are tired, 
beleaguered
and confused. It is no longer working for them to rely on media reports and 
politicians to explain Islam for them. Christians in our nation are parched
for a perspective that is both Biblical and Christ-centered.

At one conference, I was asked to preach the next day at a Sunday morning 
church service in Santa Barbara, Ca. Referencing Acts chapter nine, I 
described
Saul of Tarsus as a First Century terrorist. I drew similarities between 
Saul's violent nature when he stoned, killed and jailed Christians to that 
of
Al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph, author and leader of ISIS. I spoke 
of how Jesus stopped Saul on the road to Damascus, causing him to crumble in
remorse and humility - and, how Jesus is doing the same thing today with 
many angry Muslims worldwide through dreams and visions. I ended my sermon 
by
saying that all the bombs and bullets in the world will not eliminate the 
violent nature of radical Islam. Only Jesus Christ himself and the loving 
witness
of his grace-filled followers can quell the storm of radical Islam's 
religious zealotry, legalism, and self-righteousness.

When the service ended, a big, strapping man about 30 years old approached, 
asking to talk. He looked me straight in the eye, and said, "I had no idea
there was going to be a guest preacher here this morning. But, I had even 
less of an idea that the sermon would be addressing Islam in our country 
today."
He then paused a few seconds, and continued, "Do you know that I had plans 
this week to join a Christian militia in southern California in order to 
hunt
down and find the radical Muslims that our government seems unable to 
discover? I am a former Navy Seal; my dad has been in the military all his 
life,
and my brother is now serving in Baghdad." By this point in our 
conversation, the man's eyes began to well up with tears. He continued, 
"But, there was
something you said in your sermon which has touched me deeply. I feel 
convicted that I want to be a follower of Jesus first in my life's 
obligations. You
have demonstrated to me that there is another way to defeat the violence of 
radical Islam."

Last year, I heard a lecture on Christian-Muslim relations by a brilliant 
Christian professor from West Africa who has his PhD in Islamic studies. He 
warned,
"Do not let radical Islam radicalize Christianity - that was the trap and 
tragedy of the Crusades. If we are not careful, we will repeat the same 
mistakes
now in our own history." How true. He went on to say that Muslim hearts, let 
alone all human hearts, will never be satisfied with feelings of anger, 
madness
and violence. There is no life in those emotions, only death, shame and 
destruction. All Muslims, and especially radical Muslims, need the love and 
grace
of Jesus in their hearts. Many of them are running on their own roads 
towards Damascus, desperately trying to stone, kill and jail anyone who 
disagrees
with them. The greatest weapon we have against such violence is the love of 
Christ.

As we ended our long conversation after my sermon, the former Navy Seal from 
Santa Barbara hugged me. He was in utter amazement that the anger he had 
carried
into the church service that morning had left him. He now wants to help 
Jesus reach the violent Muslims in our world, even though he is uncertain 
what
his first steps will be. He was willing to be led, just as Saul of Tarsus 
was led when he was transformed and became the Apostle Paul, one of the 
greatest
theologians and missionaries the world has known.

A great danger we face in our country today is mistaking what we call 
Christian culture with what the Bible or Jesus actually teaches. Such 
misinterpretations
have tragically happened many times in history. An extreme example, of 
course, was when much of the German church in the 20th Century allowed 
Nazism to
define what it considered to be Christian. Those who disagreed and argued 
that Nazism contradicted the teachings of Jesus lost their lives, most 
notably
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These are important lessons to remember and relearn. If 
the Church in society becomes too cozy with its surrounding culture and the
power structures of the time, personal success and comfort can become more 
important than being obedient to the Gospel itself; and innocent lives can 
be
lost in the process.

As the Apostle Paul grew strong in his new way of life following Jesus as 
his Lord and Savior, he wrote what is considered one of the greatest lines 
in
all of Christian theology: "...Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty 
power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm 
against
all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood 
enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, 
against
mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly 
places." (Ephesians 6:10-12) Paul had learned that the greatest weapon we 
possess
as Christians is the love of God and the grace of his son, Jesus Christ. 
Arrest, torture and killing are futile compared to putting on the armor of 
God.

This is a critical hour in history for the American Church to be heard. It 
is a crucial time for Christian leaders to preach the truth of the Gospel, 
even
though certain parts will not be expedient or easy to hear. The perfect love 
of Christ in our hearts is the only hope we have to drive out all our fears,
anxiety and anger. And, it is the only thing that can stop us from beginning 
another futile crusade. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the
Corinthians, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the 
meetings of God's holy people." (1Corinthians14:33)

Anne Graham Lotz - The Heartbeat of Jesus
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The Heartbeat of Jesus
Father, I want those you have given me to . . . see . . . the glory you have 
given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

John 17:24, NIV

Before the foundation of the world was laid, God, in His divine sovereignty, 
planned to send His own Son to the cross to be our Savior. Before the 
beginning
of time and space and human history, He took counsel with Himself and 
decided to bring us into existence, knowing full well that we would rebel 
against
Him and become separated from Him by our sin. So He made preparations for 
our redemption-preparations that were finished once and for all time at the 
cross.

The heartbeat of Jesus was to finish His Father’s plan and, in so doing, 
bring glory to God. In other words, through His own death on the cross, 
Jesus
would reveal the love of God in such a way that people throughout the ages 
would praise Him and love Him and lay down their lives before Him. So He 
embraced
the cross and all that it meant.

Blessings,

Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - Gethsemane
----------------------------------------------------------

Gethsemane

Posted: 15 Mar 2016 09:55 PM PDT

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but 
yours be done.” And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his 
sweat
was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:42, 44, NIV)

Gethsemane removes any notion that Jesus’ suffering and death were somehow 
easier for Him. Falling on His face before the Father, coming to Him 
repeatedly
with the same prayer, grasping for support from His friends, literally 
sweating blood – the scene reminds us that He felt all the anguish any of us 
would
feel.

Knowing that such a horrible and fatal ordeal awaited us, we would likely be 
consumed with dread. Jesus was conscious of what awaited Him, and He was 
anxious
for the day to come:

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already 
kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it 
is
accomplished!” (Luke 12:49-50, NASB)

But we never sense that He was overcome by fear or distracted by dread. 
Facing His death, He seemed to deal with the long-term pressure the same way 
He
dealt with it in Gethsemane: He kept Himself completely committed to the 
Father, completely dependent on Him, completely trusting. His daily bread 
was
always enough.

Lord, simply give us each day our daily bread. No matter what comes, You 
will always provide all we need. Thank You, Lord.

Forgiveness is healthy!
As mom's chicken soup was vitamin-plus and health-enhanced, so is 
forgiveness to the body.
Have you ever said, "I'm sick of that person!"

Stress...
Bitterness...
Life can make you sick-
- if you don't handle it with care, prayer and forgiveness!

Any physician or counselor will tell you-
- negative feelings can be the root cause of illness,
- simple as a headache, serious as a fatal disease.
Harbouring unforgiveness can be an expensive, painful experience, creating 
havoc of the body God gave you.

The cure for "stressful illness?"
Your doctor will tell you to exercise.
Your Lord will tell you to forgive!

Check out the internal temperature.
If it's hot and steamy, you may be on the road to physical problems-
- unless you get some help.

The secret?
Let His forgiveness live within you; keep an appointment with "The Great 
Healer" daily, in prayer and in His Word.

Try it, and let His healing forgiveness touch your body today!

"My son, attend to my words...For they are life unto those that find them, 
and health to all their flesh." Proverbs 4:20-22.


Remaining Spiritually Stable

Would you describe your spiritual life as stable? Or does it waver and 
wobble? Are you guided by the Holy Spirit or by the prevailing mood of the 
culture?
One of the consequences of diminished joy is spiritual instability. This 
condition leads to burnout and discouragement; it leads to doubt and total 
ineffectiveness
in the ministry of Christ. Spiritual instability opens our lives up to 
spiritual attack during a time when we are too misguided to realize the 
danger.
Just as we need to remain on guard to protect our joy, we also need to watch 
for the warning signs of spiritual instability.

We are reminded throughout the New Testament to stand firm in our faith: 
"All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will 
be
saved" (Matthew 10:22). "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). "For 
now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord" (1 
Thessalonians
3:8).

We can stand firm because we know that Christ has already defeated the enemy 
of death and the grave, and He has conquered sin and Satan. We do not have
to fight that battle; it was won on the cross. Our call is to stand firm 
against a defeated enemy. We stand firm because Christ has already obtained 
the
victory for us.

By standing firm and upholding the Truth of the Gospel, we remain focused on 
the things that matter most. But when we waver, we are likely to bicker over
the minor issues. In the church at Philippi, two women were engaged in an 
ongoing argument over a trivial matter. Paul wrote, "I plead with Euodia and
I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask 
you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the
cause of the gospel" (Philippians 4:2, 3).

Paul knew their stubborn insistence on their own opinions would steal their 
joy and lead to destabilization in their spiritual walks. He knew their 
arguments
would lead to bitterness, vengefulness, and hostility. But when we live in 
harmony with others, our hearts are better able to focus on Christ.

We can protect our spiritual condition by remaining joyful in the Lord. When 
we place all of our sufficiency in Christ, we will naturally want to 
rejoice.
We experience sufficiency in the Lord when we routinely spend time with Him 
in order to know His character, His Word, His promises, and His will for our
lives. Then our hearts will be focused on godly things, instead of our 
tendencies toward gossip, pride, selfishness, and bitterness.

Paul further encourages us to remain faithful to God in prayer. "
Do not be anxious
about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with 
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which 
transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" 
(Philippians 4:6, 7).

We feed our stabilizing joy by filling our minds with godly thoughts. 
Whatever fills our minds will come out in our actions and decisions. If we 
focus
on our bitterness, our self-pity, our selfish desires, we will become 
miserable people. Paul encouraged the Philippians, "Whatever is true, 
whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is 
admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it 
into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8, 9).

How stable is your spiritual walk today? If you have allowed your joy to 
diminish, you are in danger of spiritual instability. Pray for the Holy 
Spirit's
guidance to show you areas that have been weakened in your spiritual life, 
and ask Him for the power to strengthen your relationship with Christ.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

****

End Times and the Secret of Mahdi

When war, terrorism, persecution, and fear threaten to overwhelm us, where 
do we look for hope? In his highly anticipated new book, End Times and the 
Secret
of the Mahdi, Dr. Michael Youssef demystifies the book of Revelation and 
highlights its relevance to our lives today. You’ll be shocked at the 
parallels
between the central figure of Islamic prophecy, the Mahdi, and the 
Antichrist depicted in Revelation—and filled with hope as you see the 
unfolding of God’s
master plan for eternity.


Here is a sermon which none can dispute!

(George Everard,
"Up High!" 1884)

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good 
works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven." Matthew 5:16

We are to let the beauty of Jesus be seen upon us, that some rays of His 
glorious holiness may be manifested to the eyes of the world around. We are 
to
go forth clothed in . . .
His meekness,
His purity,
His love,
His heavenliness,
His unselfishness--
that sinners about us may gain some faint idea of His grace, through His 
likeness seen in us.

When, from beneath the humble garb of some lowly disciple, there shines 
forth something of Christ, something of what He was when on earth--here is a 
sermon
which none can dispute, here is an appeal to the human conscience, more 
eloquent than the most powerful address ever made from the pulpit!

Christian, do you thus glorify Christ day by day?

Does your life speak so distinctly and plainly for Christ, that men cannot 
fail to hear?

Does your temper, your tone of thought and speech, bear witness that you 
walk continually before God?

Do men take knowledge of you, that you have been with Him--and that He is 
with you?

Is there transparent sincerity in what you say, and unsullied integrity in 
all your actions?

Is there the spirit of self-sacrifice--trampling SELF under foot, and 
spending time and money for the welfare of others?

Is there a deep hatred of sin as sin, and a desire to do the will of God 
under all circumstances?

Is there a fixed determination rather to die, than willfully to break a 
single command, or cast a shadow of dishonor on the name of Him who so loved 
you?

Do you "long to be like Jesus," and every moment to live devotedly and 
wholly in His service?

Then for this purpose, plead with Him this prayer, "Lord Jesus, glorify 
Yourself in me! Help me to show forth by my daily life, that I have been 
with You.
May Your image be formed in me, and may Your life on earth be the pattern 
which I ever strive to follow."

~ ~ ~ ~

We have published
George Everard's
insightful 2 page article, "
The Faded Leaf!"

~ ~ ~ ~

Feel free to forward these gems to others who may be encouraged or profited 
by them!

Grace Gems (choice ELECTRONIC books, sermons & quotes)


Welcome to the Nugget

March 1, 2016

Life in the Slow Lane
By Answers2Prayer
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"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or 
what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life
more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the 
air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly 
Father
feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying 
can add one cubit to his stature?" (Matt 6:25-27)

I walked into the living room and turned on the radio early this morning. 
The old rock song, "Life in the Fast Lane" blared loudly out of the speakers
because my son had left the volume turned up too high again. Startled, I 
jumped back then reached over and turned the radio back off again. "I think 
I
prefer life in the slow lane," I said to myself.

I really do prefer life in the slow lane. I decided long ago to let the 
Jones keep up with themselves. Instead, I prefer taking the time to enjoy 
the simple
pleasures in life. I enjoy taking the time to watch the sun climb over the 
mountains in the morning and I am never in too much of a rush to say "Thank
You" to God for it either. I enjoy taking the time to sip my coffee and 
savor every bite of my breakfast. I enjoy taking the time to pray in the 
morning
and all through the day.

I've found that life goes best when you fill both your stomach and your 
soul. I enjoy taking the time to hug my children, talk to my friends, write 
letters
to my family, and share smiles with strangers. I enjoy taking the time to 
say a kind word, do a good deed, and offer a helping hand.

I've found that these investments in love make our hearts grow rich and our 
souls grow strong. I enjoy taking the time to read a good book to nourish my
mind, cook a fine meal to nourish my body, and pet a happy dog to nourish my 
spirit. I enjoy taking the time to count my blessings and to make new ones
as well.

Why do so many of us live our lives in the fast lane on a road to nowhere? 
It is the slow lane that leads us to love, to joy, and to God. Slow down and
enjoy your life then. Slow down and smile.

Slow down and live, laugh, and love. You can't hurry your way to Heaven. You 
have to let God lead you there one slow and steady step at a time.

Joseph J. Mazzella

Announcement:

What do you do when you're brought face-to-face with a miracle? Join us for 
the last Saturday in February and the first Saturday in March to find out:
"In the Face of a Miracle", a mini-series by Lynona Gordon Chaffart

©Copyright 2011 Answers2Prayer | Matt 10:8 "Freely you have received, freely 
give."



New Post on KenBible.com - Witnessing Even in Death
----------------------------------------------------------

Witnessing Even in Death

Posted: 10 Mar 2016 09:55 PM PST

from the book,
ONE WITH OUR FATHER

John 18 – 19

Even as the Father was allowing His Son to be cruelly tortured and murdered, 
even as the Son was experiencing a deep sense of abandonment by the Father,
each was lifting up testimonies to the other.

The Father was testifying to Jesus as His own chosen, only-begotten, 
dearly-loved Son, all the while events seemed to proclaim the opposite. And 
the Father
brought these testimonies from highly-unexpected sources.

• When the arrest party arrived to seize Jesus, He spoke up and asked, “Whom 
do you seek?” When they answered, “Jesus the Nazarene,” Jesus identified 
Himself
with the words, “I am.” This would be the usual way of saying, “I am he” or 
“I am the one you are seeking”. But when Jesus thus spoke the divine name,
“I am,” even His enemies reacted to Him in instinctive humility, backing up 
and prostrating themselves before Him on the ground (John 18:4-8, NASB).
• After a brief interview, Pilate realized that Jesus was an innocent man 
and looked for a way to release Him. Then when the Jews specifically accused
Jesus of claiming to be the Son of God, Pilate was even more afraid (John 
18:38; 19:7-8). He seemed to sense that this righteous Man was who He 
claimed
to be.
• The sign Pilate had hung on the cross correctly identified Jesus for who 
He was: “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” Pilate refused to change
the sign, even when pressured by the Jewish leaders (John 19:19-22, NASB).
• One of the criminals executed with Jesus knew who He was. He defended 
Jesus to the other criminal, then asked, “Jesus, remember me when You come 
in Your
kingdom!” Jesus recognized his genuine faith and responded, “Truly I say to 
you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:39-43, NASB).
• While the Son was on the cross, the Father Creator sent darkness over the 
land from noon through 3:00 p.m. The veil of the temple was torn in two 
(Luke
23:44-45).
• The Roman centurion, who supervised Jesus’ execution and saw everything 
that happened, “became very frightened and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of 
God!’”
(Matthew 27:54, NASB).

Even while engulfed by physical, mental, and spiritual agony, even as He 
surrendered His life to death, the Son stayed focused on His Father. He was 
intent
on testifying to His Father’s loving control, even as events seemed to shout 
the triumph of evil.

Jesus’ words on the cross show that thoughts of His Father filled His heart, 
even as He died. Notice particularly John 19:28, 30:

Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the 
Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” 
And He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. (NASB)

In death as in life, Jesus’ first concern was to fulfill His Father’s will. 
Specifically, He was intent on fulfilling scriptural prophecies about His 
death.
Why? Because the fulfillment of prophecy showed that the Father was still in 
full control of all that was happening, even as Satan seemed to be having
his way. All was happening as the Father had announced centuries before.

Scripture testifies to divine control, even in Jesus’ dying act. Throughout 
the gospel account of the arrest and trial of Jesus, He remained passive, 
allowing
Himself to be “handed over” (the meaning of the Greek word) from one party 
to another:

• Judas handed Jesus over to the Jewish authorities (Matthew 26:46, 48).
• The Jews handed Him over to Pilate (Matthew 27:2).
• Pilate handed Him over to be crucified (Matthew 27:26).

But Jesus had already told His disciples, “I lay down My life . . . No one 
has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have 
authority
to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18, 
NASB). True to His word, Jesus’ final act on the cross was to “hand over” 
His
Spirit to the Father (John 19:30). He died by His own decision, not as a 
helpless victim, but as Lord of Life, in full control.

In death as in life, the Son glorified the Father, and the Father glorified 
the Son.

The devotionals I send today will be the last for a few days. Our barbershop 
chorus district competition is going on this weekend. I will start sending 
devotionals again sometime when I get back.

Dean

I Still Love You, Lord
TRACIE MILES

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while 
we were still sinners.”
Romans 5:8
(NLT)

The last few months have been one of the hardest seasons I’ve ever 
experienced. A situation in my personal life went haywire and left me with 
an aching
heart.

There have been days when I didn’t know if I could get through. Days when 
God’s strength and my faith were the only reasons I got out of bed. Days 
filled
with “whys.” Days when I’ve questioned God about suffering, the unfairness 
of life at times and unanswered prayers. I’ve carried the weight of a myriad
of overwhelming emotions, fear and heartache.

If I’m honest, I can’t say I’ve felt thankful for my circumstances or 
focused on God’s promise of having a plan and a purpose for everything. I 
can say
I have been upset with God at times, questioning His ways and feeling 
discouraged, fearful and down.

Yet recently in the midst of an especially trying day, my heart was changed 
during a time of prayer. I heard myself say something that caught me off 
guard.
It was just one simple statement consisting of five simple words that rolled 
effortlessly off of my lips:

I still love You, Lord.

Even though my mind was swirling with hurt and negative thoughts, my heart 
was swirling with love for God, even when I wasn’t really thinking about it.
I realized I loved Him unconditionally, even though in that moment I had 
felt forgotten. I experienced a surge of peace and relief, prompting me to 
trust
God’s ways, and then today’s key verse came to mind.

Romans 5:8
reminds us of this beautiful, holy love which is not based on us meeting 
certain conditions, adhering to strict rules or proving our worthiness. A 
love
we are blessed with simply because of who He is. It’s not because of who we 
are, but because of what He’s done for us, not because of anything we do for
Him. It’s a love we don’t deserve, but enjoy nonetheless.

When life is good, it’s easy and natural to love the Lord. But when life 
falls apart unexpectedly, it’s not quite so easy. In fact, it might even 
feel
impossible. Those thoughts and doubts don’t make us a bad person or a 
failure at being a believer; they merely make us human.

The upside is these thoughts can force us to ask ourselves a really hard 
question: Despite everything — will I still love Jesus with my whole heart, 
soul
and mind?

Our honest answer to this question serves as an indicator of whether we love 
the Lord all the time, or just in the good times — when He gives, and when
He takes away, when He answers our deepest prayers, or when it seems He isn’t 
listening at all.

Maybe you can relate to the emotions and feelings I’ve been experiencing. 
Maybe you are facing a difficult time, an undeserved hurt or a painful loss.
Maybe you’ve been wondering if God hears your prayers, or if He has 
forgotten you. Maybe you’ve doubted if He loves you, and if you could still 
love Him,
in the face of your hardships.

Sweet friend, you are not alone.

Even the most faithful followers of Jesus have times when they find 
themselves doubting not only His love during difficult times, but maybe even 
His existence.
Times when they wonder if His love is meant for them, or just everyone else. 
The truth is, those thoughts are from the enemy who wants to cloud our 
minds,
make us bitter and pull us away from God. But Scripture tells us God sent 
His Son to die for us, even though we were still sinners, because He loves 
us
unconditionally.

This brief encounter with God helped me refocus on how blessed I am to have 
His love, especially when life isn’t perfect.

God’s love is unconditional, with no strings attached. I’m so thankful for 
His gentle whisper on that particular day which reminded me how important it
is to love Him unconditionally in return.

Dear Lord, forgive me for doubting Your ways or Your love for me. Fill me 
with peace and joy. Equip me to focus on Your everlasting love, push past my
doubts and love You unconditionally despite my circumstances. In Jesus’ 
Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Jeremiah 31:3b,
“… I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with 
unfailing kindness.” (NIV)

Job 1:21b,
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be 
praised.” (NIV)

1 John 4:9
‑10, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son 
into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we 
loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our 
sins.” (NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
If you’re dealing with a stressful or painful situation, consider getting a 
copy of Tracie Miles’ book
Stressed-Less Living: Finding God’s Peace in Your Chaotic World.

Visit
Tracie’s blog
for 5 tips on focusing on loving God even when it’s hard.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
What’s one thing causing you to doubt God’s love for you? How might focusing 
on how much He loves you unconditionally change your heart and attitude?

Repeat these words daily as much as needed: I still love You, Lord.

© 2016 by Tracie Miles. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
630 Team Rd., Suite 100
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org

Forgiveness is healing!
As mom's chicken soup is the known "healer of all ills,"-
Christ's forgiveness on Calvary is the proven "healer of all ills," for body 
and soul as well.

Can a "saved soul" still need healing?

Of course-
- we need it continually to bind up the daily hurts of our lives.
Relational lives are full of happiness and hurts.

For you cannot love without facing conflict.
And conflict can cause deep hurts.

If the hurts are allowed to fester, if we "nurse" them, the bitterness of 
soul begins.
And where it ends, only God knows.

You may desperately need the healing touch of the Master's hand on some hurt 
in YOUR soul today.

The secret?
Recognize the unforgiveness in your heart as sin.
Receive His forgiveness.
Then let Him pour healing ointment on the wounds of your soul.
He will restore you to fellowship with Him, and with that person who needs 
your forgiveness today!

"I said, Lord be merciful unto me, heal my soul; for I have sinned against 
thee."Psalm 41:4.
Posted by: "Dean Masters"

The pattern which we daily strive to copy!

(George Everard,
"Before His Footstool" 1874)

O merciful God, our Creator and our Benefactor, our Father in Christ 
Jesus--we come to You today to thank and praise You for all Your manifold 
mercies.
We thank You for the proofs of Your goodness which day by day we receive at 
Your kind hands. You have given us all things richly to enjoy. You have 
given
to us home and friends, food and clothing--and You have preserved us in life 
and health. For all this bounty we adore and praise Your holy name.

But we would bless You most of all, for Your inestimable love in our 
redemption. You have given Your Son Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for our 
sins. Fill
us with sincere gratitude, and teach us to praise You both with our lips and 
in our lives.

O God of love, purify our hearts that we may love You as we ought. You are 
worthy that we should love You far above all else. But we are carnal, and 
our
affections cling too much to the things of the world. May Your Holy Spirit 
break the chains which bind us so closely to earth, and draw us nearer to 
Yourself.
Shed abroad Your love in our hearts, that we may desire Your presence above 
all things. Kindle within each of us the heavenly flame, and may it burn 
ever
more and more brightly.

O blessed Savior, the Good Shepherd of Your flock--may Your holy life be the 
pattern which we daily strive to copy. Teach us so to walk as You walked 
when
sojourning here below. May our constant aim be to do the will of our Father 
in Heaven. May we be gentle and meek and forbearing towards all men. May we
never willfully yield to the very least sin. May we give ourselves unto 
prayer, and make Your Word the rule of our life. May we go about doing good, 
and
watch for occasions of comforting those in distress. Fill our hearts with 
zeal and love, with patience and kindness, with humility, and hatred of all 
evil.
May we daily fix our eye on You as revealed in Your Word, and may we be 
changed into Your holy image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of our 
God.

May Your Word ever be the light to guide and direct us, and may Christ alone 
be the resting-place of our heart.

Hear us, O God, and preserve us evermore by Your help and goodness, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~ ~ ~ ~

We have published
George Everard's
insightful 2 page article, "
No Neutrality!"
 
Kill Me Now
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now -- if I 
have found favor in your eyes -- and do not let me face my own ruin."
Numbers 11:15

...while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom 
tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die."I have had enough, 
Lord,"
he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
1 Kings 19:4

Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah 4:3

What kind of a person feels like this? A schmo like me, at times, sure. 
Maybe you, or people you know. Surely not the heroes of the Old Testament.

Well, truth is, even God's greatest leaders and prophets got to the point in 
their respective stories where, even after witnessing indescribable miracles
and blessings, their circumstances were so overwhelming, impossible and 
undesirable their attitude was, "Just kill me now, Lord!" Exhausted in body, 
soul,
and spirit, they cried out that they had had enough. They could go no longer 
in their own power.

The first quote above is from Moses, who had a People Problem. The wandering 
Israelites were hungry, and as usual, it fell to Moses to solve the problem.
He cried out to the Lord, "Was it I who conceived these people? Was it I who 
brought them forth?" He looked around and couldn't figure out how to satisfy
everyone.

The second quote is from Elijah, who had a Pity Problem. This was a prophet 
who had just called down fire from heaven, destroyed the prophets of Baal,
and witnessed the end of a long drought. But just a few verses later, one 
vow from one wicked queen has him in such despair that he fears he can't go 
on
like this.

The third quote is from Jonah, who had a Pouting Problem. He'd finally 
obeyed to the point of going to Nineveh and preaching repentance, but when 
the Lord
relented and stayed his hand rather than destroying the city, Jonah wasn't 
happy. He folded his hands and "became angry" that the destruction he 
forecast
never arrived.

Consider who these men were and what they had seen, what the Lord had done 
through them. Moses parted the Red Sea and led a people out of slavery. 
Elijah
stood strong for Israel during a time of tremendous pagan influence, prayed 
down fire and rain, and actually never died (so chalk up at least one 
unanswered
prayer!). Jonah is one of the first stories we tell our children, about how 
God provided a great fish to swallow him for such a period as he could learn
about obedience and repentance.

Not only that, but these guys all show up in the Gospels, in one way or 
another. Moses and Elijah are present at Jesus' transfiguration (
Mark 9).
In
Matthew 12:38-41,
Jesus tells the Pharisees they won't get any sign from him other than the 
sign of Jonah, foreshadowing the three days He Himself would spend in the 
belly
of the Earth.

But interestingly enough, Christ apparently never felt this way. He knew His 
destiny was to die, but even so prayed that such a cup might pass from Him.
And let's not forget that He is our example, not Moses, not Elijah, and not 
Jonah, great as they were.

When we feel the way that these guys did, we need to realize that anyone 
wanting to die is under attack. And our enemy can bring that attack through 
people,
pity, and pouting. It comes when our body is not healthy, our soul is not 
happy, and our spirit is not holy.

But conveniently enough, Paul shows us a prayer that covers all these bases. 
He writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify
you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, 
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who 
calls
you, and He also will bring it to pass." (
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

You aren't alone when you feel like you can't go on, or like you would be 
better off dead than standing strong in the face of the overwhelming task 
God
has given you, especially when you are weak in body, soul, and spirit, and 
the enemy is on the attack. And truly, it is comforting to know that some of
the
Bible
's greatest
faith
warriors and miracle workers shared these feelings. But it doesn't mean they 
were right. Let us not indulge hopelessness, for it may always be found.
Instead, let us remember that we serve a God of hope and of miracles and we 
follow the One who never copped to people, pity, or pouting, but willingly
laid His life down for others, not for Himself.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Develop a plan that gives you exercise and rest 
in proper amounts for your body, soul, and spirit, so that you will be less
prone to attack.

The pattern which we daily strive to copy!

(George Everard,
"Before His Footstool" 1874)

O merciful God, our Creator and our Benefactor, our Father in Christ 
Jesus--we come to You today to thank and praise You for all Your manifold 
mercies.
We thank You for the proofs of Your goodness which day by day we receive at 
Your kind hands. You have given us all things richly to enjoy. You have 
given
to us home and friends, food and clothing--and You have preserved us in life 
and health. For all this bounty we adore and praise Your holy name.

But we would bless You most of all, for Your inestimable love in our 
redemption. You have given Your Son Jesus Christ to be a sacrifice for our 
sins. Fill
us with sincere gratitude, and teach us to praise You both with our lips and 
in our lives.

O God of love, purify our hearts that we may love You as we ought. You are 
worthy that we should love You far above all else. But we are carnal, and 
our
affections cling too much to the things of the world. May Your Holy Spirit 
break the chains which bind us so closely to earth, and draw us nearer to 
Yourself.
Shed abroad Your love in our hearts, that we may desire Your presence above 
all things. Kindle within each of us the heavenly flame, and may it burn 
ever
more and more brightly.

O blessed Savior, the Good Shepherd of Your flock--may Your holy life be the 
pattern which we daily strive to copy. Teach us so to walk as You walked 
when
sojourning here below. May our constant aim be to do the will of our Father 
in Heaven. May we be gentle and meek and forbearing towards all men. May we
never willfully yield to the very least sin. May we give ourselves unto 
prayer, and make Your Word the rule of our life. May we go about doing good, 
and
watch for occasions of comforting those in distress. Fill our hearts with 
zeal and love, with patience and kindness, with humility, and hatred of all 
evil.
May we daily fix our eye on You as revealed in Your Word, and may we be 
changed into Your holy image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of our 
God.

May Your Word ever be the light to guide and direct us, and may Christ alone 
be the resting-place of our heart.

Hear us, O God, and preserve us evermore by Your help and goodness, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Kill Me Now
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now -- if I 
have found favor in your eyes -- and do not let me face my own ruin."
Numbers 11:15

...while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom 
tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die."I have had enough, 
Lord,"
he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."
1 Kings 19:4

Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah 4:3

What kind of a person feels like this? A schmo like me, at times, sure. 
Maybe you, or people you know. Surely not the heroes of the Old Testament.

Well, truth is, even God's greatest leaders and prophets got to the point in 
their respective stories where, even after witnessing indescribable miracles
and blessings, their circumstances were so overwhelming, impossible and 
undesirable their attitude was, "Just kill me now, Lord!" Exhausted in body, 
soul,
and spirit, they cried out that they had had enough. They could go no longer 
in their own power.

The first quote above is from Moses, who had a People Problem. The wandering 
Israelites were hungry, and as usual, it fell to Moses to solve the problem.
He cried out to the Lord, "Was it I who conceived these people? Was it I who 
brought them forth?" He looked around and couldn't figure out how to satisfy
everyone.

The second quote is from Elijah, who had a Pity Problem. This was a prophet 
who had just called down fire from heaven, destroyed the prophets of Baal,
and witnessed the end of a long drought. But just a few verses later, one 
vow from one wicked queen has him in such despair that he fears he can't go 
on
like this.

The third quote is from Jonah, who had a Pouting Problem. He'd finally 
obeyed to the point of going to Nineveh and preaching repentance, but when 
the Lord
relented and stayed his hand rather than destroying the city, Jonah wasn't 
happy. He folded his hands and "became angry" that the destruction he 
forecast
never arrived.

Consider who these men were and what they had seen, what the Lord had done 
through them. Moses parted the Red Sea and led a people out of slavery. 
Elijah
stood strong for Israel during a time of tremendous pagan influence, prayed 
down fire and rain, and actually never died (so chalk up at least one 
unanswered
prayer!). Jonah is one of the first stories we tell our children, about how 
God provided a great fish to swallow him for such a period as he could learn
about obedience and repentance.

Not only that, but these guys all show up in the Gospels, in one way or 
another. Moses and Elijah are present at Jesus' transfiguration (
Mark 9).
In
Matthew 12:38-41,
Jesus tells the Pharisees they won't get any sign from him other than the 
sign of Jonah, foreshadowing the three days He Himself would spend in the 
belly
of the Earth.

But interestingly enough, Christ apparently never felt this way. He knew His 
destiny was to die, but even so prayed that such a cup might pass from Him.
And let's not forget that He is our example, not Moses, not Elijah, and not 
Jonah, great as they were.

When we feel the way that these guys did, we need to realize that anyone 
wanting to die is under attack. And our enemy can bring that attack through 
people,
pity, and pouting. It comes when our body is not healthy, our soul is not 
happy, and our spirit is not holy.

But conveniently enough, Paul shows us a prayer that covers all these bases. 
He writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify
you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, 
without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who 
calls
you, and He also will bring it to pass." (
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

You aren't alone when you feel like you can't go on, or like you would be 
better off dead than standing strong in the face of the overwhelming task 
God
has given you, especially when you are weak in body, soul, and spirit, and 
the enemy is on the attack. And truly, it is comforting to know that some of
the Bible's greatest faith
warriors and miracle workers shared these feelings. But it doesn't mean they 
were right. Let us not indulge hopelessness, for it may always be found.
Instead, let us remember that we serve a God of hope and of miracles and we 
follow the One who never copped to people, pity, or pouting, but willingly
laid His life down for others, not for Himself.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Develop a plan that gives you exercise and rest 
in proper amounts for your body, soul, and spirit, so that you will be less
prone to attack.

Why Christians Should Show Less Sympathy and More Empathy
Lori Freeland
Twelve years ago, on a sunny Tuesday morning, I dropped my younger kids with 
a friend to run my oldest to the pediatrician’s office. I made the 
appointment
early, planning to take him to a special breakfast for just the two of us 
afterward.
Kyle had spent the summer battling headaches, fatigue, and various viruses. 
Expecting a diagnosis similar to Mono, I was stunned when the doctor not 
only
informed me that Kyle and I wouldn’t be going out for bacon and eggs, but 
that we wouldn’t even be going home.
Tears brimming in our doctor’s eyes, he instructed me to drive straight to 
the children’s hospital, where he’d arranged for a pediatric oncologist to 
admit
Kyle to begin immediate chemotherapy.
Oncologist. Chemotherapy. Cancer.
Heart in my throat, lungs twist-tied, my brain refusing to fire, I couldn’t 
process how in the world my 10-year-old fit with those three words. Couldn’t
believe those words came out of my mouth when I called my husband and told 
him to meet us there.
Those first few days in the hospital, while we waited for an official 
diagnosis, crawled by like years. Curled on Kyle’s bed, I squeezed his hand. 
Rubbed
his back. Bit my lip until it bled in an attempt to stifle tears that seemed 
to feed his fear. All the while blindly promising him everything would be
fine.
Fine. The hollow word rang in my ears every single time I repeated it.
The diagnosis finally came 48 hours later—Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia—and 
Kyle was sentenced to three and a half years of chemo for a disease he didn’t
deserve. A disease no one deserves.
Crisis mode kicked in, adrenaline propelling me through the stages of grief. 
What started as a surreal sense of being numb quickly blossomed into 
full-blown
terror.
Nights were the worst. My husband stayed with our other kids. I stayed with 
Kyle, bent into a fetal position in a cot shoved next to his bed. Not only
did I not sleep, in my head I lived every second of the life I was sure he 
wouldn’t have. From little league tournaments to high school graduation,
marriage,
and grandchildren I would never meet.
On the outside, I did my best to become his rock. I stuck to an hourly 
cycle. Cry in the hall. Reapply makeup. Paste on a smile. Be strong for 
Kyle. Repeat.
On the inside, any rocklike qualities I might’ve had crumbled the instant 
cancer invaded our lives.
During those first few days, a multitude of family and friends stepped up to 
offer support, sit with us, and pray over us; the outpouring of love was 
amazing.
But even as I was deeply grateful for how they rallied around us, nothing 
they did made the slightest dent in my wall of panic and despair. Not the 
Starbucks
they brought. Not the cards and gifts they sent. Not the words they said. 
Not the hours they spent.
Everything felt empty. I felt empty. Hollow. Shrinking inside myself. Dying 
inside a bubble of terror, an instant at a time.
By day four, my insides mirrored a pane of glass, spider-webbed with cracks 
etched from corner to corner, seconds from exploding into shards.
That was the day I met Ann.
She knocked on Kyle’s door while he was sleeping. Even though I had no idea 
who she was, too exhausted to demand she go away, I nodded for her to come
in. From the second she entered my life and introduced herself as a fellow 
cancer mom, we connected on a soul-deep level.
I don’t know if it was the I’ve-slept-in-that-cot look in her eyes, the 
calming way she sat next to me, or how she took my hand and said, “My son 
was diagnosed
with leukemia 10 years ago. He’s healthy, happy, getting ready to graduate 
college. Planning his wedding.”
Her cheeks wet, she squeezed my hand. “Treatment was hell, but we made it to 
the other side as stronger, better people. You will make it through. You 
will
survive. No matter what happens, you can do this.”
I burst into tears of hope and relief. The crush of an enormous weight I 
didn’t even know I’d been carrying lifted enough to let me catch a full 
breath.
So what was the difference between that one visit from Ann, and the constant 
stream of visits from our family and friends? Why were Ann’s words able to
bring comfort when no one else’s had?
Sympathy versus empathy.
Our family and friends came out of love, bearing the right motivation, 
wanting to help. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t feel it. Not to the 
depths
that my husband and Kyle and I did. We were stuck in the gritty trenches of 
childhood cancer. From the ledge above, they watched us with sorrow and 
pity.
Ann dropped down into our ugliness. Ann understood leukemia. She understood 
Kyle. She understood me. She’d lived those first days. Survived them.
Knowing I wasn’t the first mom to sleep in a cot with a death grip on her 
son’s hand—agonizing over how long we had together—knowing I wasn’t alone, 
penetrated
my wall of panic and despair.
When we look down into someone else’s trench and feel sorrow and sadness, 
that’s sympathy. When we jump into that same trench and get dirty, that’s 
empathy.
The basic idea comes down to commiseration versus identification.
The same encouraging words can be shared by two different people, but the 
words that echoed through my heart and changed my perspective always came 
from
someone who’d suffered.
Jesus is empathy’s perfect example. He didn’t come to earth to save us as 
God, detached and gazing down in sympathy and pity. He came as man, born 
into
the trenches, to live and suffer as a human. His empathy makes Him the 
perfect sacrifice. The perfect bridge between God and us.
The
Bible
tells us, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our 
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (
Hebrews 4:15).
But we’re not Jesus. So how can we identify with others going through 
situations we’ve never encountered face-to-face? Walk trenches we’ve never 
been pushed
into? Because based on the way Jesus lived his life, that’s what I believe 
He’s asking us to do as Christians. To put away sympathy and embrace 
empathy.
That’s where true comfort lies.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, 
so
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves 
receive from God” (
2 Corinthians 1:3).
Maybe you have a friend going through a divorce while you’re happily 
married. Know a person in your church suffering chronic, debilitating pain 
while you’ve
entered and won a marathon. Live next door to a neighbor who lost their only 
child, when you have a houseful of healthy children.
We don’t all share the same life experiences. We never will. We can’t. So 
how can we be like Ann and drop down into someone’s else trench? How can we 
show
empathy in any situation? How can we comfort each other the way Christ 
comforts us?
When you boil empathy down, you’re left with emotion. Identifying with the 
heartbreak of pain and suffering, shame and rejection, heartache and loss. 
Emotions
most of us have experienced at one time or another, in one form or another, 
at one level or another.
The problem with true empathy is fear. Fear to feel. Nothing about the 
intensity of those negative trench-like feelings inspires us to tuck them 
away to
replay and relive. Most of choose instead to put them on lockdown. In a 
steel vault. That we never plan to reopen.
But not Jesus. When He returned to the Father, he took every one of His 
human experiences with Him. Bad and good. Not to forget about them, but to 
use
them for us.
“For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in 
order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to
God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he 
himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being
tempted” (
Hebrews 2:17-18).
The next time someone you know is hurting, what if you allowed yourself to 
remember the ugliness of your own trenches? What if we, as Christians, were
brave enough to open the vault, unlock our pain, and use it to follow in 
Jesus’s footsteps?
Empathy doesn’t require surviving the exact same situation. Empathy requires 
a willingness to wear the same emotions. Because no matter what label you
slap on your particular trench, it’s still a dark pit. Lonely. Scary. 
Hopeless. And a bunch of other destructive adjectives.
If we applied our trench-induced emotions to someone else’s trench 
experience, we could change the church as we changed lives.
Within the body of Christ, God doesn’t expect us to be everyone’s rock. But 
He draws us to certain people. People we’re uniquely shaped to help. Look 
around
in your life. Then take the challenge. Put away your sympathy and embrace 
your empathy.
Lord, show me who you’ve deliberately placed in my life. Then give me the 
time, the effort, the energy to make a difference. Grow my sympathy into 
Your
empathy. Be my rock as I embrace the trenches in my past so I can reach out 
in way that brings true comfort to others.

Lori Freeland is a freelance author from Dallas, Texas with a passion to 
share her experiences in hopes of connecting with other women tackling the 
same
issues. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of 
Wisconsin-Madison and is a full-time homeschool mom. You can find Lori at
lafreeland.com.
Publication date: February 18, 2016

5 Simple Ways to Serve Your Neighbor
Candace Crabtree
“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, love your neighbor as 
yourself.”

Luke 10:27
Loving those around us can be challenging. We all have people in our lives 
who are difficult to love. For that matter, we can often be hard to love 
ourselves!
And let’s face it, our lives are busy. Our culture is busy. Sometimes I can 
hardly keep up with the people in my own home, much less reach out to 
others.
So how can we truly live out the calling Jesus gives us to love our neighbor 
as ourself? How can we serve those that we come into contact with? Sometimes
I wonder if we might be making the “love your neighbor” commandment harder 
than it really needs to be. Think about the ways you feel loved by those 
around
you, those close and even those not so close. Sometimes the smallest 
gestures, given from a heart seeking to love, can mean the most.
1. Take a meal to a family in need of love. Food is a love language. And it 
doesn’t have to only be taken in times of grief or hospitalization. Know a
young mother struggling with her babies? Take dinner one evening! Know a 
wife whose husband is deployed or working out of town? Take a meal to her. 
Or
take a few freezer meals that they can stick in their freezer and eat on a 
night they can’t cook. (By the way, if you don’t enjoy cooking or don’t feel
qualified to make the meal, buy a pizza or fried chicken. I guarantee you it 
will still be very much appreciated!)
2. Invite your neighbors into your home. Don’t wait for Pinterest-perfect 
decor or 5-star meals. Invite others into your mess and your authenticity 
will
help them to feel like they can open up to you as well.
3. Be authentic and real. I think one of the ways we can truly love each 
other is by letting down walls and letting others see into our brokenness. 
This
doesn’t mean sharing your entire history with everyone you come across. But 
God ordains moments every day when we can give a word of encouragement that
is born out of empathy because we’ve been there.
4. Offer childcare to a young couple. So many families do not live near 
grandparents these days, or maybe grandparents aren’t available. When you 
offer
to have children come and play at your house for a few hours you are 
blessing a couple and investing in their
marriage.
5. Don’t shy away from someone’s pain. Often when others are hurting we don’t 
know what to say or how to act. But, instead of doing nothing, simply say,
“We love you and we are praying for you.” “We are here for you.” “Can we 
bring dinner over?” “Can we keep your kids for awhile and let you take care 
of
some things?” “How can we pray for you?” “Can I come over and fold your 
laundry or clean your bathrooms?” As a matter of fact, if calling feels out 
of
place, just sent a quick text or email. Send a card in the mail. When you 
don’t know what to say, don’t say nothing, say something. Show grace even if
you don’t understand what they’re going through.
If I could leave you with one last suggestion that isn’t included on the 
list: Pray. Interceding for one another is truly a gift. Often, when a 
friend
or neighbor is struggling, a tangible act of love (like a meal or 
babysitting) is very much needed and appreciated. But never neglect the gift 
of
prayer,
no matter the circumstances, because God can and will move as a result of 
our prayers.
I encourage you to choose one of these ideas and start serving a neighbor 
this week. It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture or even planned out, but 
even
something small like flowers or a favorite coffee drink can lift up a 
friend.
“But encourage one another daily…”
Hebrews 3:13

Candace Crabtree is just a broken mama thankful for grace and new mercies 
every morning. She and her husband live in East Tennessee where they 
homeschool
their 3 kids. Candace also enjoys teaching piano, coffee, good books and 
blogging at
His Mercy Is New.
On her blog she shares encouragement for weary women from God's Word along 
with resources for learning to pray the Scriptures.
Publication date: February 16, 2016


Giving All

Mark 12:41-44 (NRSV)
41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money 
into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came 
and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he 
called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow 
has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For 
all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her 
poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

According to what Jesus said the people must not have been able to tell how 
much money this woman had by what she wore. Everyone but Jesus probably 
thought that she was giving too little to the temple treasury. This giving 
was done out in public for everyone to see. Jesus knew everything about her 
just like he knows everything about us. He knew that she did not have much 
in worldly goods but gave all she had to give to the work of God.

You may not have much and you might think you don’t even have enough to give 
to the Lord’s work. You might be embarrassed to give the little bit that you 
have. Churches today don’t have containers where everyone can see what you 
are giving but still it might be possible for those sitting around you to 
see what you are giving. You don’t need to be ashamed. God can use all that 
you give. Read what Jesus did with a boy’s lunch:

John 6:9-11 (NRSV)
9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are 
they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now 
there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five 
thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given 
thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as 
much as they wanted.

Those five loaves and two little fish fed as many as 25000 people. Later 
someone gave Jesus seven loaves and some fish to feed 4000 men plus their 
families. God takes whatever you give to him and multiplies it for his work. 
Below is an account of how god used a girl and her penny for his glory:

The story is told of a child in India going to the home of a missionary. The 
child wanted to do something to help the work of missions, so she gave the 
missionary a penny. The penny bought a Christian tract which was placed in a 
box, from which anyone who wanted a tract could take one free. The tract 
came into the hands of a head-hunter who later became converted. A few years 
later, a church was built there. Fifteen hundred natives were saved from 
heathenism. One shiny penny was given to Jesus with a heart of love by a 
little child, but the results of that penny’s work made it priceless indeed.

You don’t know what little you have can do in God’s hands. Give it all to 
Him.

by Dean W. Masters

Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah
Weekend, February 27 & 28

Love Languages: Give Your Love

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever 
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Recommended Reading
2 Corinthians 8:7-9
First John 4:8 says, “God is love.” And John 3:16 says, “God gave.” God’s 
loving nature was the reason for more than just giving—He created, He 
redeems,
He provides, He forgives, He restores, and more. Yet almost everything God 
does can be put under the heading of giving.

Watch This Week's TV Broadcast
Everything we have comes from God and comes to us because He has given. As 
David noted in his prayer, “For all things come from You, and of Your own we
have given You” (1 Chronicles 29:14, italics added). David’s response to God’s 
giving was to give back to Him as an act of worship. In fact, the apostle
Paul said that giving (to others) is a test of the sincerity of our love (2 
Corinthians 8:8). And what example of giving did he cite? The fact that 
Christ
gave (became poor) to us so we might receive (become spiritually rich), (2 
Corinthians 8:9).

What do we have to give to God and others to demonstrate our love? Think of 
time, talent, and treasure. All we have comes from God and belongs to Him.
We are only stewards who give to demonstrate His love through our hands.

Self, service, substance is the divine order, and nothing counts until we 
give ourselves.
Vance Havner

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Deuteronomy 19–23
Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah
Copyright © 2016 Turning Point for God. All rights reserved

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - Love Is Not Blind
----------------------------------------------------------
Love Is Not Blind

Posted: 21 Feb 2016 09:55 PM PST

“While the prodigal was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled 
with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and 
kissed
him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it 
on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened
calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was 
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15:20-24, NIV)

Love is not blind.
Love sees what no one else sees.
Others see sin and ugliness.
Love sees one unspeakably precious.
Love sees its treasure,
its child.

Your Father calls you to share His love,
to live the same love that
reached out and drew you in.
Your Father calls you to
share His heart.
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - A Word With You
A Word With You
Humpty Dumpty People - #7599

When I was growing up and when our children were growing up, basically when 
generations of children were growing up, mommys and daddys read stories to
their children. And most of them had a predictable ending..."and they lived 
happily ever after." Except for this one nursery rhyme - the one about the
uncoordinated egg. You know?

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to learn from that one. "Humpty Dumpty sat 
on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; all the king's horses and all the
king's men couldn't put Humpty together again." So what? Don't sit on a 
wall? I don't know. I kept waiting for the happy ending. There isn't one. 
Humpty's
broken, he's in pieces, everybody tries to put him together and nobody can. 
Humpty is broken and no one can fix him. Well, not necessarily.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Humpty 
Dumpty People."

We live in a world of Humpty Dumpty people; people who are broken inside 
where it's hard to heal. You might be one of them. The pain, the hurt, the 
disappointment
of your life have left you shattered. And though there have been attempts to 
put the pieces together, nothing has really worked. The brokenness remains.
There's no "they lived happily ever after."

Our word for today from the Word of God offers some real hope for what may 
have seemed hopeless until now - a happy ending. It's in Isaiah 61:1, 
speaking
of Jesus Christ. "The Lord has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted." The 
Bible says that part of Jesus' mission on earth is to put together broken 
people.

Maybe all the King's horses and all the King's men can't put you together 
again. But the King can if you'll give Him all the pieces of your life no 
matter
how hurtful, no matter how shameful, no matter how ugly. Jesus can do what 
no friend can do for you, no boyfriend, no girlfriend, no therapist, no 
medication,
no family member, no emotional anesthetic. Why? Because He did what only He 
could do to deal with the root cause of all the brokenness in our world. And
that's the spiritual destroyer God calls sin.

Not the breaking of somebody's religious rules. Sin, according to the Bible, 
is the basic choice all of us have made to do our life our way instead of
God's way. That has led us to a lifetime of choices that go against the way 
God made us to live. God says, "Sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to
death" (James 1:15). Sin always destroys. It always leaves behind the 
pieces. All of us have been the sinned against, and all of us have been the 
sinner.
And all our brokenness is from one or the other.

But God's one and only Son came as Jesus to pay for all that sin. In God's 
words, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree." That's the cross 
where
Jesus died. And because He paid for all our sins, He can forgive all the 
sins you've done and heal the damage done by your sin and the sins of 
others.
It's all summed up in the beautiful word "Savior".

But Jesus isn't your Savior until you ask Him to be by telling Him you're 
putting your total trust in Him. Has there ever been a time when you've done
that? If you've done that, you'll know you have. That's the day the healing 
begins. How about that being today for you? Tell Him, "Jesus, I want you to
be my Savior from my sin. My life is yours. You made me. You paid for me 
with your life. I am yours."

I want to invite you to go to our website as an action step right now. 
There's so much good information there that will help you be sure that you 
know
Jesus personally and have begun your relationship with Him. Now, remember 
this website - ANewStory.com.

No one else has been able to put together all the broken pieces of you. But 
that's why Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted. He is your wonderful 
hope of a happy ending.

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. · P.O. Box 400 · Harrison, Arkansas 72602 · 
USA

Finding God's Will

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you 
into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know
God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
 Romans 12:2, NLT

Ever have trouble determining God's will for your future? You're not alone. 
The questions are endless. One follows another. Every new responsibility 
brings
new decisions.


How in the world do we know what God wants?

To know God's will, we must totally surrender to God's will. Our tendency is 
to make God's decision for Him.

Don't go to God with options and expect Him to choose one of your 
preferences. Go to Him with empty hands—no hidden agendas, no crossed 
fingers, nothing
behind your back. Go to Him with a willingness to do what He says. If you 
surrender your will, then He will “equip you with everything good for doing 
his
will (Hebrews 13:21, NIV).

It's a promise.

God Is With You Every Day by Max Lucado

Excerpted from God Is With You Every Day
by Max Lucado.
© 2015. Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Feel free to forward this email to a friend. LifeWay Christian Resources 
protects your privacy and will never make your email address available to 
anyone
else.

© 2016 LifeWay Christian Resources, 1 LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234

Today's Turning Point with David Jeremiah
Turning Point
Thursday, February 25

Spiritual Power

Do not quench the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:19

Recommended Reading
Galatians 4:1-7
The Bible says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” 
(Galatians 5:25). It says, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). 
Romans
8:14 tells us to be “led by the Spirit of God.” When Jesus ascended to 
heaven, He asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell His people 
and to
empower us in our work for Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit who lives the life 
of Christ through us and who achieves the work of Christ through us.

Listen to Today's Radio Broadcast
The Spirit of God has been given to us to empower us in our walk.

Guard against anything that hinders the work of the Holy Spirit in your 
life. The missionary statesman Dr. J. Oswald Sanders wrote, “Reduced to its 
simplest
terms, to be filled with the Spirit means that, through voluntary surrender 
and in response to appropriating faith, the human personality is filled, 
mastered,
controlled by the Holy Spirit.”

Ask God daily to fill you with Himself through His Spirit, to have mastery 
over your actions and reactions, and to control and empower you in your life
of service.

All real service is but the effluence of the Holy Spirit through yielded and 
filled lives.
J. Oswald Sanders

TURNING POINT WITH DR. DAVID JEREMIAH
Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah
Copyright © 2016 Turning Point for God. All rights reserved.

nourish

A Mission of Mercy

“The lash on his back, the thorns on his head, the spit on his cheek, the 
bruises on his face, the nails in his hands, the spear in his side, the 
scorn
of the rulers, the betrayal of his friend, the desertion by his 
disciples—these were all the result of sin, and all designed by God to 
destroy the power
of sin.” — John Piper

----------------------------------------------------------

When I was in middle school I went to a youth rally in Orlando where I heard 
a pastor tell a story that haunted me for a long time. It went something 
like
this:

Once upon a time there was a very kind man who lived in quaint log cabin in 
a remote area of the Great White North with his lovely wife and beloved son,
who’d been born to them after over a decade of infertility. The man made an 
honest living operating a drawbridge that allowed twice daily commuter 
trains
to pass safely over a large lake in the mountains where they lived.

The drawbridge operator’s little boy was both his namesake and the apple of 
his eye, so it delighted him when Junior accompanied him to work every 
Saturday.
He often let him sit on his lap and push the button to lower the drawbridge 
and then wave cheerfully at the train passengers whizzing passed the control
booth on their way to the big city. But one Saturday Junior brought a bright 
red ball to entertain himself with and moments before the afternoon train
rolled through, the ball rolled away from him down the hill and came to rest 
on the tracks below.

Pull quote

The train’s whistle drowned out the father’s bellowed warning not to chase 
after the ball, but he saw the train barrel around the bend at the exact 
moment
he saw his boy take off toward the ball. He had a split second to choose 
whether to leave the control booth and rescue his child, thereby condemning 
hundreds
of commuters to their death because he’d have to forgo lowering the 
drawbridge to do so, or he could sit tight in the booth and do his job, 
thereby saving
hundreds of strangers yet crushing his only son in the process.

He instinctively chose the latter. And then sat in stunned horror while 
hundreds of oblivious men, women, and children he’d probably never even meet 
hurtled
passed with hands raised in happy greeting.

When the youth pastor got to the end of the story he added soberly, “And 
that’s exactly what God did for every single one of us. He crushed Jesus, 
His
only begotten Son, to rescue you.” Of course, there was a huge altar call 
response that night as tons of kids—including myself—tearfully raced to the 
front
of the National Guard Armory/youth revival site burdened with fresh guilt 
over the fact that because of our reprehensible behavior, God panicked and 
hit
some dreadful button in heaven that condemned dear Jesus to death on a 
cross. Most of my girlfriends and I wept bitterly all the way home in an old 
15-passenger
church van, while the boys stared mournfully out the window at flickering 
Interstate billboards because this was an era before hand-held high-tech 
devices,
not long after all the dinosaurs died.

Pull quote

For years afterwards I wondered and worried about that drawbridge operator 
and his wife. I thought about how hard Christmas morning must be with their
son’s limp stocking hanging over the fireplace. How bleak his birthday must 
now be for them. How that father must be in continual torment over whether
he did the right thing. How that mother must’ve eventually walked away from 
the cabin, the lake, the menacing drawbridge, and their once-strong marriage
because surely she was unable to cope with the constant reminders of her 
grief.

It wasn’t until decades later, during a seminary class on sound biblical 
teaching principles, that I found out the train story was a complete 
fabrication.
It never actually happened. It’s the spiritual edition of an urban legend 
and was conjured up by some creative, albeit manipulative, soul as an 
illustrative
“tool” to help people recognize the magnitude of their sin.

Calvary was not the panicked result of God choosing to kill Jesus so as to 
rescue mankind. It was not a last-minute decision. It was not some 
gut-wrenching
version of Sophie’s Choice. There is no anguished operator in a divine 
drawbridge booth. Instead the Creator of the universe planned every detail 
of His
Son’s betrayal, the trumped up charges, the bogus trial, Pilate’s political 
side step, and the laborious Via Doloroso. God chose the nails that would be
driven into His boy’s wrists and feet. He grew the trees that would sprout 
the thorns that would be woven into a mock crown and cruelly jammed onto His
precious only Child’s head.

Our Savior’s murder was not a knee-jerk reaction. It was a carefully and 
divinely orchestrated mission of mercy.

The Gospel of Mark by Lisa Harper
Excerpted from
The Gospel of Mark
by Lisa Harper
© 2016. LifeWay Press.
Used by permission.


Turning Point
Wednesday, February 24

Willing to Be Willing

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, 
whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
John 7:17

Recommended Reading
John 7:10-24
The book Revive Us Again includes the story of Ruth Sundquist, a Moody Bible 
Institute student in the 1940s who was attending a missionary conference at
nearby Moody Memorial Church. The speaker challenged the students to come 
forward and offer themselves for missionary service, but Ruth didn’t feel 
willing
to go forward. The speaker then said, “If you aren’t willing to go, ask the 
Lord to make you willing to go.” Still Ruth hesitated. Then he said, “If you
aren’t willing to do that, ask Him to make you willing to be willing to pray 
that prayer.”

Listen to Today's Radio Broadcast
Ruth said, “That’s about where I had to start.”1

The Lord has a calling on our lives, and we’ll discover His will as we’re 
willing to obey Him without reservation. Sometimes it’s hard to say, “I’m 
willing.”
But perhaps, like Ruth Sundquist, you can start by saying, “Lord, I’m 
willing for You to make me willing to be willing.”

In any case, open your life to the fullness of God’s plan for you. When we 
learn the will of God, we begin to live in the will of God.

To live according to the will of God is to know the life that wins.
G. Christian Weiss

1Joel A. Carpenter, Revive Us Again (New York: Oxford University Press, 
1997), 82.

Read-Thru-the-Bible Deuteronomy 9–11
David Jeremiah's
Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah
Copyright © 2016 Turning Point for God. All rights reserved.

4007 cdd Beyond The 99 Club
Thursday February 25, 2016
Volume 17 Number 040

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:9-10
"But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no 
time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that
path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it 
bitterly ever after" MSG

Continued from yesterday
Although the King was slightly hesitant and he thought he should have put 
100 Gold coins into the bag --- but he did as the Assistant said. The 
servant
was just stepping out of his house when he saw a bag at his doorstep. 
Wondering about its contents, he took it into his house and opened the bag. 
When
he opened the bag, he let out a great big shout of joy --- thank you Jesus 
for the Gold Coins --- and so many of them. He could hardly believe it. He 
called
his wife to show her the coins.

He then took the bag to a table and emptied it out and began to count the 
coins. Doing so, he realized that there were 99 coins. He thought it was an 
odd
number so he counted again --- and again and again only to come to the same 
number --- 99 Gold Coins.

He began to wonder, what could have happened to that last coin? For no one 
would leave 99 coins. He began to search looking around his yard for hours,
not wanting to lose out on that one coin. Finally, exhausted, he decided 
that he was going to have to work harder than ever to make up for that one 
Gold
coin to make his entire collection an even 100 Gold Coins.

He got up the next morning, in an extremely horrible mood, shouting at the 
children and his wife for his delay, not realizing that he had spent most of
the night devising ways of working hard so that he had enough money to buy 
himself that one last gold coin. He went to work as usual --- only not in 
his
usual singing happy mood. Instead he was grumpy as he did his daily errands. 
Seeing the man's attitude change so drastically, the King was puzzled. He
promptly summoned his Assistant to his chambers. The King related his 
thoughts about the servant and once again, his Assistant listened. The King 
could
not believe that the servant who until yesterday had been singing away, 
praising Jesus, happy and content with his life --- had taken a sudden 
change of
attitude. The King reasoned he should have been happier after receiving the 
gold coins.

To this the Assistant replied "Ah! But your Majesty, the servant has now 
officially joined The 99 Club." He explained: "The 99 Club is just a name 
given
to those people who have everything but yet are never contented, therefore 
they are always working hard and striving for that extra one to round it out
to 100!"

That evening at home the servant gathered his family together and apologized 
for his ugly demeanor. He said, "Today I lost perspective of Jesus and you
my family. The one lost gold coin became more important than you. I am so 
very sorry." Together they gave glory to God for the 99 coins and regained 
their
joy.

Hearing about all this the King decided that from that day onwards, he 
wanted to know more about this Jesus and was going to start appreciating all 
the
little things in life.

If you identify with the 99 club --- striving for the lost coin rather than 
appreciating the coins you have --- are robbed of your happiness due to 
striving
--- and hurt the people around you as a price to pay for growing wants and 
desires. Then it's time to make the choice the King made --- from that day 
on
wards, he wanted to know more about this Jesus and was going to start 
appreciating all the little things in life.

Prayer: Father help me realize that lost coins are not lost at all but 
diversions from what is really important in my life. In the name of the Lord 
Jesus
Christ. Amen!
Pastor Bill Team Prayer
Father please bring 1............. 2............. 3.............. into your 
kingdom.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2016
Pastor Bill Christian Cyber Ministries
All Rights Reserved

Posted by: "Dean Masters"
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone 
who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, 
“but
seventy times seven!" Matthew 18:21-22.

There is nothing more difficult than dealing with someone who has treated 
you wrongly.

Perhaps someone laughed at what you said, or what you wore to school.
Maybe someone didn’t do what you wanted them to do.

The normal thing to do in situations like this is to get back at them.
You might want to teach them a lesson or treat them like they treated you.

However, today’s Bible verse challenges us to do something different.
It challenges us to not only forgive someone, but to keep forgiving them.

That means they might keep doing the same thing to you and you are to keep 
forgiving them.
Forgiving someone like that might seem impossible to do.
That’s why Jesus gave us what we needed to love and forgive others.

The Bible talks about how God’s love has been placed in our hearts by the 
Holy Ghost. Romans 5:5.
So when Jesus tells us in this verse that we are to forgive and keep 
forgiving-
- its not something that is impossible for us to do.

We can do this because He gave us the love we need to do it.
We just have to choose to let that love flow out of us


God's Power In Me
MICCA CAMPBELL

“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, 
according to the working of His mighty power.”
Ephesians 1:19
(KJV)

Each May we look forward to the annual Campbell family kickball game. Lines 
are drawn and bases placed before the teams are chosen. While I’m always the
last one picked, I still give it my all.

One time I kicked the ball to the third basemen, and took off for first 
base. In my mind’s eye, I was a blur. As the third baseman swept up the ball 
and
hurled to first, someone called out, “Slide!” So I did.

Stretching my arms toward the base, I slid through the dirt head-first, 
certain I had made it. But when the dust cleared, reality settled in. I was 
nowhere
near the base.

Looking up, I saw my niece standing on the base giggling as she tossed the 
ball up and down in her hand. There I lay halfway between home plate and 
first
base. Everyone laughed. All in fun, of course, but it still hurt my 
feelings. I did the best I could.

Back at the dugout, my sweet husband pulled me into his sweaty chest, 
wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight.

“Hey. What if I kick the ball for you next time? Then you would be sure to 
make it to first base. Maybe second.” He proposed the idea with a big grin 
across
his face. Knowing he was stronger, I accepted.

Next time I was up, Pat got ready to kick while I positioned myself to run. 
As soon as I heard the plunk of the ball, I took off for first, then second,
then third base! Just when I thought I couldn’t run anymore, the cheers of 
my team beckoned me on. “Don’t stop! Keep going!” As I crossed home plate, 
everyone
applauded.

Amazed and breathless, I questioned, “What happened?”

“Dad kicked the ball over the tree line,” my daughter explained. “It was an 
automatic home run,” she added. Now it made sense.

If it weren’t for Pat’s powerful kick that day, I would have never tasted 
the sweetness of victory.

In a similar way, God provides the power we lack to succeed at life.

We hear about God’s power and greatness to help us when we lose our job, 
when our health falters, when we go through a painful divorce or when our 
dreams
are smashed. Yet, the main question we can ask ourselves is, “How do I rely 
on His power?”

The answer lies within today’s verse: “And what is the exceeding greatness 
of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty 
power”
(Ephesians 1:19).

According to Paul, we rely on God’s power to work in us by faith. As 
Christ-followers, our hope is greater than we know because Christ resides in 
us. That
means you and I have Divine greatness in us. Those who believe in Him 
experience the wonder of His power.

No matter how ill-equipped we are, we have the assurance that in our 
situation God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, 
according
to his power that is at work within us”
(Ephesians 3:20,
NIV).

God isn’t limited by what we ask. He can go beyond that. In fact, He does 
exceedingly greater than what we ask or dream. However, the key is in 
believing
that He can.

So, instead of doubting what I think God can’t or won’t do, I’ve started 
believing in what He can do! It’s made a great difference in my life.

Through His might, I’m able to stop yelling at my kids. I can love that 
person who rubs me the wrong way. I can patiently wait in traffic if I 
choose to
believe and rely on God’s mighty power in me. Otherwise, I fail miserably. 
Maybe you can relate.

Relying on God to do great things through me isn’t any different than 
relying on my husband Pat’s kick. Because Pat was strong enough to send the 
ball
soaring, I was able to do the impossible — score a home run.

With God, we can do more than we could ever hope for.

So, what is it that you need? Ask Him in faith and God will supply the 
power.

Dear God, I believe in Your mighty power at work in me. Help my unbelief. In 
Jesus Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
2 Corinthians 9:8,
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all 
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (NIV)

Philippians 4:19,
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in 
Christ Jesus.” (NIV)



4006 cdd The 99 Club
Wednesday February 24, 2016
Volume 17 Number 039

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:9-10
"But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no 
time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that
path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it 
bitterly ever after" MSG (Bible Paraphrase)

The legend is told of long ago, there lived a King. This King should have 
been contented with his life, given all the riches and luxuries he had. 
However,
this was not the case! The King always found himself wondering why he just 
never seemed content with his life. Sure, he had the attention of everyone
wherever he went, attended fancy dinners and parties, but somehow, he still 
felt something was lacking and he couldn't put his finger on it.

One day, the King had woken up earlier than usual to stroll around his 
palace. He entered his huge living room and came to a stop when he heard 
someone
happily singing away --- following this singing --- he saw that one of the 
servants was singing and had a very contented look on his face. This 
fascinated
the King and he summoned this man to his chambers. The King asked why he was 
so happy?

To this the man replied: "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but I 
make enough of a living to keep my wife and children happy. We don't need 
too
much, a roof over our heads and warm food. Jesus, my wife and children are 
my inspiration. We are content with whatever we have." Hearing this, the 
King
dismissed the servant and summoned his Personal Assistant to his chambers. 
The King related his personal anguish about his feelings and then related 
the
story of the servant to his Personal Assistant, hoping that somehow, he 
would be able to come up with some reasoning why the King was not content. 
Whereas,
his servant, having Jesus and his family and so little was extremely 
contented.

The Personal Assistant listened attentively and came to a conclusion. He 
said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of 
The
99 Club." "The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired. To 
which the Assistant replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club 
is,
you will have to do the following --- place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave 
it at this servant's doorstep, you will then understand what The 99 Club 
is."
That very same evening, the King arranged for 99 Gold coins to be placed in 
a bag at the servant's doorstep. Part 2 Tomorrow!

Prayer: Father help me to be contented and fully rejoice in all your 
blessings. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Pastor Bill Team Prayer
Father please bring 1............. 2............. 3.............. into your 
kingdom.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2016
Pastor Bill Christian Cyber Ministries
All Rights Reserved

Who Cares about Leviticus?
by Katherine Britton, Crosswalk.com Contributor

“You are to be holy to me, because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you 
apart from the nations to be my own.” –
Leviticus 20:26

Like most evangelicals, I haven’t devoted much time to parsing Leviticus. 
After all, we live under the new covenant ushered in by Christ’s death and 
resurrection,
and we’re Gentiles to boot. Leviticus was written for a particular people at 
a particular time, and vast sections of the book have been demoted to 
historical
curiosities at this point. The fledgling kingdom of Israel – really, a 
collection of tribes that had more in common with their pagan neighbors than 
today’s
Christian
enclave – were on the other side of history’s turning point. For this 
emerging nation the Lord dictated incredibly detailed ceremonial law that 
has since
passed away, as we have a new and perfect high priest.

Still, the apostle Paul insists that “all Scripture is God-breathed and 
useful for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:15). Remember, this is Paul speaking, the 
same
apostle who vilified the Judaizers for insisting the law must be upheld in 
its minutae to achieve salvation, and who wrote that “no one will be 
declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law.” The resolution of the paradox 
might be a bit more apparent through the example of Park Street Church in 
Boston.

Pastor Daniel Harrell convinced 19 members of his congregation to join him 
in an experiment in “living Levitically,” despite the drastic changes they 
had
to make in their daily living. The group grew out their beards, kept kosher, 
cleaned their homes meticulously, observed the Sabbath, and even stopped 
wearing
clothes made from blended materials. One of the few exceptions to the 
experiment was animal sacrifice, as the group intended not to break any U.S. 
laws
while observing the ceremonial ones.

The group found it absolutely impossible to obey every tenet. But the Park 
Street Church says that wasn’t the point. Seeing firsthand that they couldn’t
perfectly fulfill the law, they realized the need for grace in a whole new 
way. As Romans 5:20 explains it, “The law was added so that the trespass 
might
increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

Could it be that, in ignoring Leviticus as a whole, we forget how awesome 
grace is? True, not every ceremonial law (washing your feet? Wearing blended
materials?) is also a moral law. But God still told the Israelites to keep 
it as his law. Reading about the church’s example reminded me of a couple 
things:

First, God’s people are supposed to be set apart. The Israelites were 
supposed to look different, act different, worship different, and spend 
their time
in different ways than the nations around them. It was an integral part of 
their calling as God’s people. The manifestations aren’t quite the same, but
Christians have the same calling today.

Second, we aren’t set apart enough. As Park Street Church rediscovered, the 
law points out our insufficiencies. Even if the law were just a set of 
external
rules, we still couldn’t keep them perfectly. We just can’t measure up to 
following the law or Christ’s example.

Third, only in Christ can we find rest from the law and a new identity that 
really sets us apart. The writer of Hebrews notes that the law is “only a 
shadow
of the good things that are coming.” And yes, the law is a good thing – it 
makes us realize how much Christ had to atone for on our behalf. Not only 
that,
God has adopted us as sons and daughters through Christ to really set us 
apart. And then he gives us the grace to live it. Sure, we’ll still fall, 
and
that will remind us to run to grace. But the power of the law is gone 
through Christ.

Intersecting
Faith
& Life: This week, take time to read
Hebrews 10
Notice how beautifully Christ not only supersedes the law, but fulfills all 
of its demands. That ought to inspire the worship that God desires more than
the Israelites’ burnt offerings.

Further Reading:

Living Leviticus: Who Could Do It? Who Would Want To?

The Truth Shall Make You Free
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you ever been to a circus and seen an elephant chained to a stake in 
the ground? Why doesn’t he break free? Because as a young elephant he was 
tied
to a tree. And try as he might, he couldn’t break free. Now the thought that 
he cannot break free is ingrained.

How true that is of you and me who have ingrained thought patterns in our 
lives. We say, “I am chained to this habit and I can’t break free.” Or we 
say,
“I’m not good enough.” All kinds of lies keep us in bondage, but real truth 
is what God says, not what we think.

ACTION POINT:
Are there any strongholds in your life that keep you chained to the past? 
Write down these verses and memorize them.

2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but 
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;”

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Now break free from the lies of the past as you tell yourself the truth!
Discover Jesus
Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.


The Wisdom of Gamaliel
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

In the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if 
their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is 
from
God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves 
fighting against God.
Acts 5:38-39

I mentioned previously that I intended to read through the Book of Acts.
And I've been doing it. The best part is my son decided we could make that 
our bedtime reading each night. Talk about fun!

The other night we happened across the passage at the end of chapter five 
where the Pharisees are getting really tired of these disciples going around
teaching and healing and collecting followers. People are bringing their 
sick into the streets in hopes that Peter's shadow might just fall upon 
them.
Can't have that going on, now.

So it comes about that our heroes are summoned in, and about to face some 
serious flogging. At this point, a very respected Pharisee on the Sanhedrin 
requests
that the disciples be sent out so he may address his brethren. His name is 
Gamaliel, and he proceeds to caution the Jews about how they deal with the 
Christian
"threat." He cites two other recent examples of men who rose up, said some 
pleasant things, and led some people away, only to have their movements 
dwindle
and die. Why did that happen? Obviously, reasons Gamaliel, they were human, 
and their quests were not of God.

He goes on to say that these followers of Jesus will go the same way... or 
maybe they won't. And if they don't, then anything the Sanhedrin would 
devise
against them would fail anyway, because it would mean the movement was from 
God.

What an amazing way to look back on over 2,000 years of history since then. 
And sure enough, when I re-read this passage the other night, I remembered
how our Western Civilization professor in college basically made the same 
statement Gamaliel did when he was explaining the historical spread of 
Christianity
and the rise of the Church. He cited movement after movement that were "of 
men," and of which we no longer speak to this day. But Christianity? It 
remains
alive, precious, self-sustaining, and powerful.

A few things that stand out about this story:

• What's to worry about? We sure do still fret about things these days. No, 
I wouldn't dare suggest that everything we get up in arms about is actually
a movement from above. Highly doubtful. But ultimately, the lesson is still 
the same - He's the one in control. His will be done.
• As much as Gamaliel is the hero of this brief passage, it's still with the 
Christians, not the Council, where we can most relate. Why is this 
important?
These Christians, our early brethren, were the ones who couldn't shut up 
about the good news, not the ones who were looking for things to rail 
against.

• Our "religion" is one that is not of men. It is not a fad. It does not 
change. It has lasted. It will last until Christ returns.
• Even with Gameliel's words ringing true, they didn't prevent the disciples 
from persecution. They were brought back into the room, and flogged. So 
their
circumstances didn't really change much.
• Even after a flogging, the disciples went their way grateful to have 
suffered as Christ suffered, and for His sake.
• Even after being warned not to spread the gospel anymore, the disciples 
couldn't and wouldn't stop.

And don't forget...

Even a Pharisee can have a brilliant insight once in a while, thank 
goodness.

Intersecting
Faith
& Life: Think about other things that have happened in the world just since 
you have been born: fads, movements, cults, and so on. Then consider 
everything
Christianity has outlasted, and will outlast. You and I serve a God who is 
the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. What difference does that make in 
your
life today?

Further Reading
The Secret to a Life of Impact
Acts 5:12-42

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - Foot Washing
----------------------------------------------------------

Foot Washing

Posted: 23 Feb 2016 09:55 PM PST

John 13:4-17

What would you have felt as you watched Jesus, the Son of God,
get up from this important meal,
take off His outer clothing,
wrap a towel around His waist,
pour water into a basin,
get down on His knees, bend low, and
one by one wash His disciples’ absolutely-filthy feet?
How would you have felt when He got to you and began washing your feet?

If a picture is worth a thousand words,
a living example is beyond words.
Instead of lecturing them,
He gave them an unforgettable experience complete with
sight,
touch, and
deep emotional memories.
Because He loved them,
He wanted love to take root in their daily lives.
He wanted them to grasp how absolutely vital it is that each and every one 
of us
humbly serve one another.

Look around at the situation in which God has placed you.
Consider the resources He has lent you.
How does He want you to wash feet?
KenBible.com.

A Place to Begin When You Don’t Know Where to Begin
LIZ CURTIS HIGGS

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God."
John 1:1
(NIV)

A cold February night many winters ago. Snow was falling thick and fast, 
blowing across my windshield. Not far ahead I saw the glowing lights of a 
bookstore.

Liz, you drove through a snowstorm to buy a book? I did. But it wasn’t just 
any book.

Minutes earlier, seated in a toasty warm office, I’d confessed my sins 
(well, most of them) to the pastor of the church I’d started attending. I 
told him
enough to get my point across, to convince him I was a "Bad Girl."

The pastor gently said, "So, you lived a worldly life."

I was confused. "No, I did all that stuff in America."

He smiled. Then he prayed and encouraged me to read the book of John.

I bolted out of his office, intent on buying a Bible right then and there, 
snow or no snow. The bookstore was deserted. The cashier was freaked out 
about
the weather. But I found what I was looking for: the biggest, thickest study 
Bible in stock.

Safely back home, I opened my new Bible and read today’s key verse: "In the 
beginning was the Word …"
(John 1:1a,
NIV). Um … did this mean back when God created the earth? No, even before 
that. "Before the world began, the Word was there"
(John 1:1a,
ERV).

So, God wasn’t talking about a printed book filled with words. He was 
talking about His Son.

I kept reading. "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God"
(John 1:1b,
NIV). Father and Son, together with the Holy Spirit, bound throughout 
eternity. Three in one, like water in three forms: liquid, vapor and ice.

I couldn’t believe so much mind-boggling truth was packed into a single 
verse. Is the whole Bible like this? I wondered.

Sitting there in my drafty old apartment, where central heat was little more 
than a rumor, I let the truth of
John 1:1
sink in, warmed by the words and what they revealed about this God I was 
only beginning to understand.

Then I read the next verse. And the next. I inhaled the book of John, then 
the Psalms, then the letters of Paul. I couldn’t get enough, didn’t want to
stop.

As the months went by, I feared my enthusiasm for the Bible might wear thin. 
That once I’d read each page, the words wouldn’t be as exciting the second
time, let alone the tenth time.

Seriously, Liz? Nothing could be further from the truth! Every time I read a 
familiar verse, God reveals a richer, deeper meaning. And when I find a 
new-to-me
passage? Pure joy.

Beloved, is that how reading the Bible is for you? An ongoing journey of 
discovery, an endless adventure? Or has it become a duty, a task, something 
to
be checked off on your daily to-do list?

Maybe it’s time to change that.

All over the world, Bibles are waiting to be opened. On shelves and under 
beds, on top of coffee tables and inside dresser drawers. Waiting, waiting. 
In
your house. In my house. In lots of people’s houses.

When we finally dive into God’s Word, a light comes on. Things inside us 
fall into place. Our hearts begin to heal from years of brokenness. We have 
a
new reason to get out of bed in the morning. We’re drawn to a place of 
worship where we can serve and to a body of people we can love.

One book can do all that? It can. It will. Just begin. Go slowly. One verse 
a day, maybe two. Break each verse into phrases, then into individual words.
What is God saying? What does it mean? How could you apply it to your life 
right now, this very day?

Heavenly Father, help me keep my Bible close at hand and foremost in my 
thoughts. Prompt me to reach for Your timeless Word every day and open it 
with
joyful anticipation of what You will show me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 130:5,
"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope." 
(NIV)

Deuteronomy 30:14,
"… the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you 
may obey it." (NIV)

1 John 2:5a,
"… if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them." 
(NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Liz Curtis Higgs’ latest Bible study,
It’s Good to Be Queen,
explores the queen of Sheba’s journey to Jerusalem in search of something 
rare and precious: wisdom.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Most of us really want to spend more time in God’s Word. Is finding a moment 
to yourself your greatest challenge? Choosing a Bible translation? Figuring
out where to begin? Suppose you started with just five minutes,
get the First 5 app
or use a Bible you already own and opened it to the book of John. What might 
happen?

© 2016 by Liz Curtis Higgs. All rights reserved.

Lessons from a Yellow Slip ’N Slide
SUZIE ELLER

"The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the 
field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no 
more."

Psalm 103:15-16
(NIV)

My 2-year-old daughter had drunk enough water from the hose that her little 
belly looked like a watermelon. Her twin brother wore only a bloated diaper.
My eldest, 3 years old, struggled to keep her bathing suit on.

The liquid dish soap I added to the water made the Slip ’N Slide like a 
rocket. Their little bodies flew as they squealed in delight. I was having a 
blast
until the car drove up. Three church ladies wearing dresses stepped out of 
the car. I recognized them from the new church we’d visited the week before.

I immediately wished I could whisk a wand so we’d all be invisible. What 
would they think of my mostly naked child with her watermelon belly? Or my 
son
with his 5-pound diaper? What did I look like with my hair half-dry, the 
other half wet and sticky from the soap solution?

The women walked to the fence and greeted me. "Can we come in?" one asked.

That’s when real panic set in. Until that moment our day had been almost 
perfect, but my home? It was far from perfect! Laundry was piled in a basket 
on
the kitchen table. Toys cluttered the living room. As a mom of three 
toddlers, I worked hard but cleaning my small house was like mowing the 
grass only
to come out five minutes later and discover it had grown eight inches.

When the women stepped inside, I saw it through their eyes and I began to 
wrestle with comparison.

Surely, I thought to myself, other moms with three children under age 4 were 
able to keep a spotless home, fold their laundry as it came out of the dryer
and organize toys so you didn’t step on them.

Surely there were other moms who had a roast — no, strike that because maybe 
red meat isn’t the healthiest option — a chicken and fresh vegetables 
roasting
for dinner.

Surely there were other moms with stretch marks who weren’t wearing a 
swimsuit in the backyard where God and everybody could see.

Sadly, I allowed those thoughts to overshadow the beauty of that day.

Looking back, I wish I hadn’t.

My children are grown now and I’m "Gaga" to six beautiful grandbabies under 
the age of 5. Today, when my children flock to my house with their kids, car
seats, fruit snacks and diaper bags, I want them to know something 
important.

Sometimes, we act as if we have forever and we put too much emphasis on what 
others think. Or we get so tangled up in our to-do lists that we forget to
enjoy the moment with those we love the most.

Sure, we have tasks to do and they are important, but no more valuable than 
the sweet pockets of play and silliness. As my grown children gather around
the table, they don’t talk about how spotless my kitchen once was (or wasn’t), 
or how I managed to have it all together. Instead, they laugh as they 
remember
how the dish soap made the Slip ’N Slide so fast, or how mama took an 
afternoon off from laundry to enjoy the noon sunshine.

Those flashes of time have become precious markers of their childhood that 
settled as memories. As our key verse reminds us, "The life of mortals is 
like
grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and 
it is gone, and its place remembers it no more"
(Psalm 103:15-16).

I know we’re busy, yet today is a good day to laugh with a child. It’s a 
perfect day to stop comparing ourselves to others. It’s a good time to put 
down
the to-dos for a few minutes and enjoy the moment.

Heavenly Father, I get trapped in busy work that seems so important, and 
sometimes I forget to just laugh. Slow me down for a few moments today, 
Lord.
Whisper in my heart about the importance of making sweet memories with those 
I love the most. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Ecclesiastes 3:1,
4,
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the 
heavens: … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to
dance." (NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Sometimes enjoying the moment means embracing our God-given talents and 
abilities before time gets away. If you want to connect with authors like 
Suzie
Eller, our Proverbs 31 Speaker and Writer teams and others in the writing 
and speaking community, join us for
She Speaks 2016,
held July 21-23, in Concord, N.C.

If your childhood was painful and you struggle in any way with knowing how 
to be a mom, Suzie Eller’s book,
The Mom I Want to Be: Rising Above Your Past to Give Your Kids a Great 
Future,
offers practical help, healing and encouragement.

Join Suzie
on her blog
for a giveaway of The Mom I Want to Be.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Sometimes we feel pressure simply because it’s a busy season, but many times 
we put the pressure on ourselves.

Give yourself permission to slow down and enjoy the moment. Remind yourself 
that the memories you make are just as valuable as the tasks you perform.

© 2016 by Suzie Eller. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
630 Team Rd., Suite 100
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org



Christianity.com Daily Inspirations

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him (
Psalms 37:7).

Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no 
manifestation? Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the 
point
of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This 
would take you out of the right place the place where He can meet you.

"With patience wait" (Rom. 8:25). Patience takes away worry. He said He 
would come, and His promise is equal to His presence. Patience takes away 
your
weeping. Why feel sad and despondent? He knows your need better than you do, 
and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it all. Patience
takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you "believe" (John 
6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all is well. Patience 
takes
away all want. Your desire for the thing you wish is perhaps stronger than 
your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled in its arrival.

Patience takes away all weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a 
time of letting go, know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must 
get
you ready too. Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my 
standing" (Daniel 8:18, margin). God's foundations are steady; and when His 
patience
is within, we are steady while we wait. Patience gives worship. A praiseful 
patience sometimes "long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col. 1:11) is the best
part of it all. "Let (all these phases of) patience have her perfect work" 
(James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find great enrichment.
--C. H. P.

Hold steady when the fires burn,
When inner lessons come to learn,
And from this path there seems no turn
"Let patience have her perfect work."
--L.S.P.
Dr. Michael Youssef
Leading The Way
More ministry video at LightSource.com

On Wings of Faith
Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, . . . 
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:2-4, NKJV

I understand that a turkey and an eagle react differently to the threat of a 
storm. A turkey reacts by running under the barn, hoping the storm won’t 
come
near. On the other hand, an eagle leaves the security of its nest and 
spreads its wings to ride the air currents of the approaching storm, knowing 
they
will carry it higher in the sky than it could soar on its own. Based on your 
reaction to the storms of life, which are you? A turkey or an eagle?

It’s natural for me to be a turkey in my emotions, but I have chosen to be 
an eagle in my spirit. And as I have spread my wings of faith to embrace the
“Wind,” placing my trust in Jesus and Jesus alone, I have experienced quiet, 
“everyday” miracles:

His joy has balanced my pain.

His power has lifted my burden.

His peace has calmed my worries.

So . . . would you spread your wings of faith and soar?!

Blessings,
Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

nourish

What Does Your Jesus Look Like?

As a pastor in a local church, I have many conversations with people who are 
having a hard time following Jesus. They become entangled again by the same
alluring sin. They struggle with maintaining even basic spiritual 
disciplines. Sometimes they want to live for Him, and sometimes they want to 
want that.
They are exhausted, discouraged, and defeated. They are disappointed in 
themselves and believe that Jesus is disappointed in them as well.

Pull quote

On occasion, I have asked someone this question: What does your Jesus look 
like? If you were to draw a picture of Him, what would you portray? A few 
give
quick answers, though most have never given it much thought. When they do 
reply, they pictures are varied and unique. To some, Jesus appears kind and 
gentle,
maybe even a little passive or wimpy. (You’ve probably seen Jesus’ senior 
picture—you know, the famous one where He’s gazing peacefully toward the 
horizon?)
To others, He is an angry and frightening warrior, holding a flame sword in 
one hand and a lightning bolt in the other. Sometimes He is smiling, 
surrounded
by children; or assuring—the Good Shepherd caring for His sheep. But one man 
described His picture this way: “He’s standing with His back turned slightly
away from me. His arms are folded, and His head is cocked as if to say, 
‘Really? Come on.’ I can’t quite see His face, but I don’t think He’s 
necessarily
scowling or angry. I just think He looks disappointed, wondering why I can’t 
get my act together.”

Pull quote

A question struck me as I listened: Who would want to follow a Jesus like 
that? If your image of Jesus has been tainted by your life circumstances, 
your
local church, or your cynical friends, you may not be following the real 
Jesus. If your picture of Jesus looks more like your disapproving dad or a 
legalistic
preacher or a hypocritical Christian, you might find that following that 
Jesus just doesn’t sound too appealing. And you’d be right.

The good news is, that’s not the picture of Jesus the New Testament paints. 
He is full of truth, yet equally full of grace (John 1:14). He is not 
condemning
(Rom. 8:1), but is instead advocating on our behalf (1 John 2:1). He is 
trustworthy guide (Luke 1:79), a friend of sinners (Matt. 11:19), and a 
watchful
shepherd (John 10:11).

And I think you’ll find this to be true: As you come to know Him as He truly 
is, you’ll be drawn to following Him more closely.

Not a Fan. Daily Devotional
Excerpted from
Not a Fan. Daily Devotional
by Kyle Idleman.
© 2016. Zondervan.
Used by permission.
What Do Others See in You?
Gwen Smith

Today’s Truth

I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your 
progress and joy in the faith…
(Philippians 1:25,
NIV)

Friend to Friend

When I was growing up ours was on the doorframe between the kitchen and the 
hall with red carpet. A vertical trail of penciled dashes and dates that 
marked
the growth of my siblings and I – that eventually got painted over. An 
archive of ages and heights that proved physical progress was really 
happening in
the Eisaman household.

And boy did I want my growth to show.

Each time my dad lined us up to draw lines just above our highest hairs, I 
would stretch my spine to the sky. {It's even possible that I might’ve 
lifted
my heels occasionally. Possible. Just throwing it out there. Don’t judge me. 
Dad always bumped us back down…}

I loved to see the tangible distance between where I used to be and where I 
was.

I loved seeing the evidence of advancement. Progress. Growth.

I still do.

In his letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged him to set an example to other 
believers in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity (1 Timothy 4:12). He 
also
challenged his young protégé to devote himself to the public reading of 
Scripture, to exhortation (encouraging others), and to teaching.

He told Timothy to be intentional. Move forward in faith. Grow in such a way 
that it impacts others.

“Practice these things. Immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your 
progress.” (1 Timothy 4:15)

I read this and I wonder. What type of spiritual progress can be seen in my 
life? Am I setting an example in conduct… in the way I behave, react, 
respond
and live? Do I set an example for others in the words I use… in the ways I 
love… in my purity? Do I reflect Jesus in these things? Am I growing in His
image?

These questions drive me to my knees. I’m forced to ask God to search me and 
know me – inside and out. I ask Him to show me the ways that I’ve grown and
to show me the ways I still need to grow.

The progress I want to see in my life is no longer about a height chart, it’s 
about a depth chart. I want there to be visible evidence of my faith in 
Jesus
that doesn’t waver in the winds or crumble in the uncomfortable. Don’t you?

Though our faith is unseen (Hebrews 6:1) let’s press on in progress and move 
forward in the hope, joy, love and peace of Christ so that others will be
inspired to do the same.

Let’s live in such a way that shows on the outside a faith that’s growing on 
the inside.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, Thank You for being so gracious and compassionate with me. Thank 
You for loving me where I used to be – in spite of me – and for loving me
where I am today. Please forgive me for the times I try to move forward 
without You. Help me to prioritize progress and seek You continually so that 
others
will clearly see You in me.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Read Philippians 1.

How does the beginning of this letter to the people of Philippi that was 
written long, long ago stir you toward growing in Christ today? Grab your 
journal
and write a prayer of response.

Goin’ Fishin’

Matthew 4:18-19 (The Message)
18 Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon 
(later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into 
the lake. It was their regular work. 19 Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll 
make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and 
women instead of perch and bass.”

When the weather starts to warm up here in Northeast Tennessee some people 
get spring fever and start to think about goin’; fishin’. There are quite a 
few streams, rivers and lakes to make these people happy. AS Christians we 
don’t have to wait for a certain time of year. Jesus commands us to go 
fishing all the time.

What are some basic ways of fishing and how can we relate to these as we 
become new fishermen?

WE can see in the Scripture above that Peter and Andrew were commercial 
fishermen. They threw their nets in and then hauled whatever got caught into 
the boat. On the day of Pentecost Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, 
preached to many people. He was throwing out the net. You may be called to 
throw out the net by a number of ways. You might be called to preach in a 
church or even out in the open on a street corner.

One way I have heard of people fishing is by using a “trot line”. It is 
heavy twine or such with sinkers and baited hooks on it. Each end is tied to 
something on the bank and then left in the water. Later the fisherman goes 
back to see if he caught anything. I liken this type of fishing to handing 
out tracts or pamphlets. You find places where people might have time to 
pick up something to read and leave a tract there. You may not know if the 
tracts reach anyone but then we don’t have to know because God knows and 
that is all that matters.

The most common type of fishing is with a rod and reel. For the new 
fisherman this is like personal witnessing. AS someone has to learn how to 
fish this way you will also need to learn either by practice or by watching 
someone else talk to someone about Jesus. Some people are not patient 
fishermen. They always have to be changing lures, etc. These people might 
bombard the person they are witnessing to with a lot of stuff which drives 
them away. Some people like to go to the creek bank and just let the line 
stay in the water until a fish decides to bite. This is probably the most 
effective way of witnessing. You first become friends with the person then 
slowly witness to them without being pushy.

With technology today there are a number of ways we can go fishing. There is 
the Internet, e-mail and instant messaging which can be used to reach those 
who don’t know Jesus. WE need to use whatever way the Lord leads us to use. 
The main thing is that we all need to go fishing.

There are many people out there that need Jesus Christ. Let’s go fishing!

by Dean W. Masters

What is the 'Bad Eye' in
Matthew 6:23?
John Piper

A verse in Matthew is somewhat difficult to understand. It seems to dangle 
in the Sermon on the Mount with little connection to what goes before and 
after:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole 
body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will 
be
full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the 
darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23).

Before it: the familiar saying about not laying up treasures on earth: "Do 
not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy 
and
where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break
in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" 
(Matthew 6:19-21).

After it: the equally familiar saying about not serving God and money: "No 
one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the 
other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God 
and money" (Matthew 6:24).

Therefore, the sayings before and after Matthew 6:22-23 deal with treasure 
or money. In fact, the first would flow really well into the second if we 
simply
left out the intervening verses 22-23. The gist would be "Treasure God in 
heaven, not money on earth . . . because you can't serve two masters, God 
and
money." So why does Jesus link these two sayings about money and God with a 
saying about the good eye and the bad eye?

The key is found in Matthew 20:15. Jesus had just told the parable of the 
workers in the vineyard. Some of them had agreed to work from 6 am to 6 pm 
for
a denarius. Some the master hired at 9 am. Others at noon. Finally some he 
hired at 5 pm. When the day was done at 6 pm he paid all the workers the 
same
thing—a denarius. In other words, he was lavishly generous to those who 
worked only one hour, and he paid the agreed amount to those who worked 
twelve
hours.

Those who worked all day "grumbled at the master of the house" (Matthew 
20:11). They were angry that those who worked so little were paid so much. 
Then
the master used a phrase about "the bad eye" which is just like the one back 
in Matthew 6:23. He said, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what
belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" (Matthew 20:15).

Unfortunately that last clause is a total paraphrase, not a translation. "Or 
do you begrudge my generosity" is a very loose paraphrase of "Or is your eye
bad because I am good (ē ho ophthalmos sou ponēros estin hoti egō agathos 
eimi?)" The "bad eye" here parallels the "bad eye" in Matthew 6:23.

What does the bad eye refer to in Matthew 20:15? It refers to an eye that 
cannot see the beauty of grace. It cannot see the brightness of generosity. 
It
cannot see unexpected blessing to others as a precious treasure. It is an 
eye that is blind to what is truly beautiful and bright and precious and 
God-like.
It is a worldly eye. It sees money and material reward as more to be desired 
than a beautiful display of free, gracious, God-like generosity.

That is exactly what the bad eye means in chapter six of the Sermon on the 
Mount. And that meaning gives verses 22-23 a perfect fitness between a 
saying
on true treasure (vv. 19-21) and the necessity of choosing between the 
mastery of God and the mastery of money (vv. 24).

So the flow of thought would go like this: Don't lay up treasures on earth, 
but lay up treasures in heaven. Show that your heart is fixed on the value
that God is for you in Christ. Make sure that your eye is good not bad. That 
is, make sure that you see heavenly treasure as infinitely more precious 
than
earthly material treasure. When your eye sees things this way, you are full 
of light. And if you don't see things this way, even the light you think you
see (the glitz and flash and skin and muscle of this world) is all darkness. 
You are sleepwalking through life. You are serving money as a slave without
even knowing it, because it has lulled you to sleep. Far better is to be 
swayed by the truth—the infinite value of God.

So if you are emotionally drawn more by material things than by Christ, pray 
that God would give you a good eye and awaken you from the blindness of "the
bad eye."

Pastor John

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website:
www.desiringGod.org.

his one thought is a fountain of unfailing happiness!

(George Everard,
"Up High!" 1884)

"He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ" Ephesians 
1:5

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus!" Galatians 3:26

Here is one of the sweetest privileges of the Christian life. The Christian 
is a beloved child, and shares all the love and tenderness of the Father's
heart!

This one thought is a fountain of unfailing happiness!
"I am at home with God!
Once I was far off--but now I am near.
Once I was a stranger--but now His beloved child!
Once the thought of His presence was fear and dread--but now it is life, and 
joy, and peace.
He is my Father, and in this Name all heart-joys meet.
He knows me by name, and cares for me in all my cares.
He pities me, and in tender compassion marks each tear I shed, and each 
sorrow that weighs upon my heart.
He opens His hand, and each day gives me all that I need.
He bows down His ear and hearkens to each prayer I offer.
I have boldness and liberty to go at all times into His presence-chamber, 
and may tell Him every desire and ask of Him whatever is for my good."

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be 
called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

~ ~ ~ ~
We have published
George Everard's
article, "
The Faith of the Canaanite Woman".
~ ~ ~ ~
Feel free to forward these gems to others who may be encouraged or profited 
by them!
Grace Gems (choice ELECTRONIC books, sermons & quotes)

Experiencing LIFE Today

Like
Christians,
Jews and Muslims also believe in one God. However, because their God is one 
person within one being, he is the prisoner of his own limitation. Frozen 
with
the singularity of his transcendency, he can never experience community. – 
Gilbert Bilezikian

For centuries, man has struggled to come up with a half-decent 
"three-in-one" illustration for the Trinity: a triangle, three rings looped 
together, the
trefoil, a river, the sun, an egg… the list is endless. All of these help, 
but they all miss the relational aspect of the Trinity. The sides of the 
triangle
cannot talk to each other. Circles cannot love each other.

Our salvation requires more than just the existence of three persons. It 
takes one God in three persons acting in community. This concept is very 
clear
when we look at the exact wording of Genesis 1:1-3:

In the beginning God [the Father] created the heavens and the earth. Now the 
earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and
the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be 
light," and there was light.

And in John, chapter 1, verse 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God.

All three members of the Trinity appear in the very first verses of 
Scripture, communing with and relating to one another. And this image is 
repeated throughout
the
Bible.
That's amazing, really, this idea of God being a community. A god who is 
just one person is all alone. But our one God-in-three-persons has been 
existing
in loving biblical community for all of eternity. Why is this important to 
each of us right now? Because it's the only way we can have community with 
Him.
Paul laid it out in the salutation of several of his letters:

"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the 
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Grace, love, and fellowship with God, through the Son, the Father, and the 
Spirit – where would we be without each and every one?! Alone, separated 
from
the community of God, that's where!

Dear God, I praise You and worship You – the One who is beyond what I could 
ever understand. I thank You with all my being that You are Son, Father, and
Spirit so that I can experience Your grace, love, and fellowship today. 
Amen.

Listen to Pete, Jill & Stuart Briscoe on the
Telling the Truth broadcast
at OnePlace.com

Friendships
by Chuck Swindoll

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

The world in which one person lives is too limited and restricted. When 
rubbing shoulders with another, we gain a panoramic view, which allows us to 
see
the whole picture. "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man 
reflects man" (Prov. 27:19). That's so picturesque! People provide a clear 
reflection
of what is in the heart. A mirror goes only skin deep. The counsel of a 
friend reflects what is down inside.

I'm talking about people who love you too much to let you play in dangerous 
traffic. They also love you too much to let you start believing in your own
stuff. When they spot conceit rearing its head, they say so. But they also 
love you too much to let you be too hard on yourself. Like Jonathan with 
David,
they are messengers of great encouragement.

"He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will 
suffer harm" (Prov. 13:20). That statement is not a verse written to 
teenagers
in high school, though it certainly would apply. I clearly remember my high 
school years, don't you? Many of us ran around with others who were tougher
than we, so we could cover up our own feelings of inadequacy. My mother kept 
saying to me, "Charles, every time you run with the wrong crowd, you do 
wrong.
When you are with the right crowd, you do right." Her counsel is still true. 
If I were to run with the wrong crowd, I would be tempted to do wrong.

And it doesn't stop when we turn twenty. It goes on into adult years as 
well. If you choose a wrong set of co-workers, you'll practice wrong things 
in
your business. If you choose a wrong set of friends, you'll practice wrong 
things in your social life. Run with those who do drugs, and you'll wind up
doing the same.

But—the flip side—those who walk with the wise learn from them. You need 
someone who will say, "I'm not sure how healthy that is. I'm glad you asked 
me.
Let's talk about it." And that person will help point out the traps you 
could fall into if you keep tracking in that direction.

Other eyes, more perceptive and objective than ours, can see traps that we 
may fail to detect.

Reprinted by permission.
Dear Graduate: Letters of Wisdom from Charles R. Swindoll
Charles R. Swindoll, © 2007, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All 
rights reserved. Copying or using this material without written permission
from the publisher is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of 
copyright law.
Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved 
worldwide.

3995 cdd Better Than Candy
Tuesday February 9, 2016
Volume 17 Number 028

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
"Encourage each other and build each other up" NLT (Bible Paraphrase)

Working in a world of cubicles takes on a life of its own. Take for example 
Maryjo. Maryjo worked in a busy office where most of the workers kept jars
of candy on their desks to enjoy and share with others.

But like most of us Maryjo was constantly battling the "bulge." It made the 
trip into the cubicles a guilty experience. She hated the temptations of 
chocolate
with nuts, chocolate with cherries, chocolate with caramel and an occasional 
breath mint. But nevertheless often gave into them.

Maryjo was spending time with the Lord one day, in her early morning 
devotions, when the Holy Spirit quickened her. The still small voice 
whispered, "put
out a jar 'Food for Thought.' Inside place special scriptures I'll give you 
and share encouragement to your co-workers."

Maryjo decided to put out a jar with encouraging scriptures --- with no 
calories. She bought a beautiful jar with a lid and spent one whole weekend 
in
the Bible at home cutting up colorful strips of paper and writing down 
inspiring scriptures. She filled the jar and put it on her desk.

It took a while to catch on, but soon, everyone was stopping by the "Food 
for Thought" jar. They were filling up on something much better than empty 
calories.
They would take one out, read it, smile, and then fold it up and replace it 
for the next co-worker. It's something that never needed to be replenished
unless, she saw a new Bible verse and wanted to add it.

A few examples of Bible verses from her jar:

Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own 
understanding.
Remember the Lord in all you do, and He will give you success." NCV (Bible 
Paraphrase)

Philippians 4:13
"I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" NLT (Bible 
Paraphrase)

Isaiah 41:10
"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." NKJV

Prayer: Father thank you for creative ideas to share the love of Jesus. In 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Pastor Bill Team Prayer
Father please bring 1............. 2............. 3.............. into your 
kingdom.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2016
Pastor Bill Christian Cyber Ministries
All Rights Reserved
A Stunning Symbol of Christ

If you could choose a symbol of your life from nature, something that would 
describe and define you, what would you choose? A mountain – to portray your
reliability? A rose – to convey your beauty? A stallion – to impress with 
your strength? An orange tree – to remind of your fruitfulness? Jesus chose 
a
grain of wheat. A tiny, insignificant, unnoticed, little-thought-upon seed. 
And a dying one at that.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground 
and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (John
12:24).

Jesus announced this stunning comparison when Gentiles were beginning to 
follow Him. He did it to remind Himself and His followers that, however many 
were
showing interest in Him, He had to die if He was to produce more than just a 
few handfuls of followers.

The Grain of Wheat

Yet, despite initial appearances, a grain of wheat was such a fitting symbol 
of Christ's person and work. Like it, Christ often looked small, feeble, 
worthless,
useless, and powerless. But, like the grain, beyond the surface, 
“underneath” His humanity, was incredible power, value, worth, usefulness, 
and potential.

The Fall

Although Jesus was enjoying a brief moment of popularity in these verses of 
John 12, He forces Himself to face the solemn fact that this was a 
relatively
small and short burst of interest, and that for massive and eternal benefit, 
the grain had to fall into the earth and die.

Christ's whole life was a life of falling, of humiliation, of 
downward-mobility. He descended from heaven to earth, from the warm embrace 
of God to the
cruel hands of men, falling with increasing acceleration, until eventually 
all restraints are removed and He goes into the darkest, scariest free-fall
in Gethsemane and on the cross.

The Death

Like the grain, he does not only fall on the earth, but into the earth. He 
disappears from sight, buried in the bowels of the earth. Dead. As dead as 
can
be.

The Harvest

But, though sowing seems to ensure the destruction of the wheat, and though 
it be long-forgotten for many days or weeks, the death of the grain's shell
emancipates the germ of life within it. Without that death, the seed 
"remains alone." Solitary. Famine. Desert. Barren.

But by that death, life is released and even multiplied. "If it dies, it 
produces much grain." What a joy to be one of the many grains released and 
multiplied
by Christ's death!

See how stunning perfect is this symbol of Christ's person and work! Every 
seed sown in the fields, in our yards, or in our gardens is a new reminder 
that
the Giver of life must die.

And that's not just true of Christ but of all Christians too; because in the 
very next verse, Jesus also applied this truth to his followers:

"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world 
will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25).

You can “love” your life. You can just live for yourself and avoid dying 
daily to sin, self, the world, and the devil. But the result will be worse 
than
lonely sterility. You will lose your life

Or you can “hate” your life. You can give it away in numerous acts of 
self-denying service for others. You can fall into the ground and die. And 
the glorious
result will be abundant eternal life for you and others.

What a harvest would be produced if more of us were prepared to "fall into 
the ground and die."

Anne Graham Lotz - Easing Your Burden
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Easing Your Burden
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves 
is born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:7, NKJV

Most of us increase our pain by dwelling on it or by analyzing it. We throw 
a pity party and expect others to join us. We spiral downward into 
depression,
withdrawing into self-preoccupation. But the way to overcome is not to focus 
on ourselves or on the pain, but to focus on the needs of others.

Would you get your eyes off yourself and your problems and your pressures 
and your pain and look around? Who do you know who is suffering or 
struggling
in some way? What can you do for them? Ask God to bring to your attention 
those you can care for. Because as you do, you will find joy in easing their
burden, and in the process, you will ease your own.

Blessings,
Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up at 
www.annegrahamlotz.org

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - A Word With You
A Word With You
Your Clever Disguise - #7588

A pastor I know was meeting one of the ladies from his large church one day, 
and he asked her, "What do you do?" Her answer was classic. She said, "Well,
Pastor, I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ cleverly disguised as a machine 
operator!" I love that!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your 
Clever Disguise."

Now there is a Christian who knows who she is and why she is where she is. 
She's there to be Jesus' personal representative to other machine operators!
Who is a lost machine operator most likely to listen to about a relationship 
with Jesus Christ? All right, another machine operator! A lost mom is most
likely to listen to another mom, a student to a student, a computer 
programmer to another computer programmer, a guy at the gym to another guy 
at the gym,
a cancer survivor to another cancer survivor. Everybody's got a tribe. 
People listen to somebody from their tribe.

This strategy of sending someone who lives where the unreached people live 
is at least 2000 years old. In our word for today from the Word of God in 
John
chapter 4, Jesus is on a mission to reach the people of Samaria. So, how 
does He go about it? They didn't really like Jewish guys there. There's lot 
of
walls to tear down.

Well, He reaches one of their own. He reaches a Samaritan woman at the well, 
who is notorious in her village, apparently, for her promiscuity. By the end
of Jesus' visit, the Bible says, "Many of the Samaritans from that town 
believed in Him." Why? Well, you ready for the answer? It says, "Because of 
the
woman's testimony." (John 4:39). It doesn't say it was because of Jesus' 
sermon, but because of the testimony of a new disciple of Jesus Christ, 
cleverly
disguised as their neighbor.

It's one reason why Jesus came into your life one day; to send you back to 
your neighborhood, your workplace, your school, your tribe, to introduce 
people
like you to Him. You're His chosen link between the people in your world and 
Him. How are you doing at bringing those folks together with Jesus?

The best person to tell folks who do what you do, live where you live, and 
face what you face about Jesus is you. In a post-Christian culture like 
ours,
most lost people don't ever plan to go to a religious meeting to hear a 
religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place. They 
will only
be rescued spiritually if someone takes the Good News about Jesus where they 
are! And who is already where they are? You are.

The woman Jesus sent back to her village could have said, as you may, "Oh, 
man! My past! I'm so messed up. I'm so far from perfect." Isn't it something
Jesus sends flawed ambassadors to be living examples of His great grace? 
This woman could have said, as you may, "Oh, but I'm not trained." Training 
is
good. Our ministry is constantly in the business of equipping someone like 
you to represent Him. But your ultimate credentials are what Jesus has done
in your life and your love for that lost person.

Your message is the same as that of this Samaritan woman. She simply said to 
her fellow villagers, "Come, see a Man!" (John 4:29). Not a religion - a 
man.
Your message is a person; not your religion, not your beliefs, not your 
rules. It's all about Jesus! You're taking someone you know in one hand. 
You're
taking Jesus in the other hand, and you are prayerfully bringing them 
together forever!

What a place God has entrusted to you, divinely positioned so you can take 
some people to heaven with you. Where you live, what you do; it's all just 
your
clever disguise!
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

I Will Always Love You
WENDY POPE

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures 
forever."
1 Chronicles 16:34
(NLT)

It’d been one of those weeks. Every time I turned around, my precious little 
toddler had gotten into something else. The dirty laundry hadn’t moved from
the hallway in days. And my baby wouldn’t go down for his nap.

As quietly as possible, I tried to rock him to sleep for the umpteenth time, 
but my 3-year-old daughter kept coming in the nursery with markers in her
hand. With frustration in my voice, I told her once and for all to go to her 
room and I would color with her later. She obeyed and marched her tiny feet
straight to her bedroom. But she didn’t wait for me to color.

After the baby finally fell asleep, I headed to Blaire’s room. As I opened 
the door, I stepped on the masterpiece she had been creating. Her 
frustrations
with me were illustrated all over the carpet in her favorite purple marker. 
(Yes, this is when I learned to have only washable markers in our home.)

I wish I could say I was as "slow to anger" as Christ is with me. But my 
voice and words were harsh. Blaire began to cry uncontrollably and I put 
myself
in time-out.

After a little while Blaire found me. Still short of breath from her crying, 
she asked a very sad question: "Do you still love me?"

Her question caused me to reflect on the magnitude of God’s enduring love. I 
was able to respond to her the same way my heavenly Father responds to me,
"There is nothing you can do that would make me stop loving you. I will 
always love you."

Have you ever thought about the magnitude of God’s enduring love?
1 Chronicles 16:34
records this amazing truth: "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His 
faithful love endures forever."

For years, I never really considered what that meant. I knew God loved me, 
but the fact that His love endures forever was hard to comprehend. Nothing 
we
do will make Him love us more or love us less.

As a mother, I’ve endured sleepless nights, cranky kids and the daily 
building of tents. When compared to what God’s love endures for me though, I 
stand
amazed!

• His love died for you and me while we were still sinners.
• His love grants us mercy when we stray from His ways.
• His love overcomes our fears and doubts.
• His love never leaves us nor forsakes us.
• His love makes a place for us to spend eternity with Him.

How can He love like that? Because He is God and only God is capable of such 
love. The first half of
1 Chronicles 16:34
tells us to "give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!" Let’s do that today!

Lord, thank You for your steadfast and enduring love. Help me to love others 
the way You love me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 63:3,
"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." 
(ESV)

Psalm 138:8,
"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, 
endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands." (ESV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Spark your love for God’s Word with Wendy Pope’s Bible study,
Trusting God for A Better Tomorrow: A Psalms Bible Study.

Visit
Wendy’s blog
for more encouragement.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Who in your life has shown you enduring love? A grandparent, spouse, friend? 
If possible, write a note to tell them thank you.

Then, write a letter of gratitude to the Lord, giving Him thanks for 
specific instances when He showed His enduring love to you.

© 2016 by Wendy Pope. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
630 Team Rd., Suite 100
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org

Truth For Life Daily

February 11

Return to Your First Love

Revelation 2:4

We will always remember that best and brightest of hours when we first saw 
the Lord, lost our burden, received the gift of grace, rejoiced in full
salvation,
and went on our way in peace. It was springtime in the soul; the winter was 
past; the mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its
lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law 
threatened no vengeance, and justice demanded no punishment.

Then the flowers appeared in our heart. Hope, love, peace, and patience 
sprang from the ground; the hyacinth of repentance, the snowdrop of pure 
holiness,
the crocus of golden faith, the daffodil of early love--all decked the 
garden of the soul.

The time of the singing of birds had arrived, and we rejoiced with 
thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and our 
resolve was,
"Lord, I am Yours, Yours alone. All I am, and all I have, I devote to You. 
You have bought me with Your blood--let me spend myself and be spent in Your
service. In life and in death let me be consecrated to You."

How well have we kept this resolve? Our first love burned with a holy flame 
of devotion to Jesus--is it the same now? Is it possible that Jesus may say
to us, "I have something against you, because you have left your first 
love"? Sadly we have done little for our Master's glory. Our winter has 
lasted all
too long. We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer's glow and 
bloom with sacred flowers. We give God pennies when He deserves much more, 
deserves
our heart's blood to be coined in the service of His church and of His 
truth. But shall we continue in this way? O Lord, after You have blessed us 
so richly,
shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent to Your good cause and work? 
Quicken us that we may return to our first love and do our first works! Send
us a joyful spring, O Sun of Righteousness.

Family
Bible
reading plan

verse 1 Job 10

verse 2 Romans 14


Supernatural
There’s a story about a man named Rusty who had brutally killed several 
people and, as a result, sat on death row.

While awaiting his fate, he became a Christian and immediately began to grow 
in Christ.

He sent letters to the families of his victims, apologizing for his actions 
and asking for their forgiveness.

About a year later, one of the families arranged to visit with him.

You can imagine the tension and fear as Rusty faced the family of one of the 
victims.

And you can imagine Rusty’s surprise when the father said, “For years, I 
hated you. But when I came to understand that Christ has forgiven me of all 
my
sins, I knew I had no choice but to forgive you. We’re here today to let you 
know that we forgive you.”

Now, my friends, that is not natural.
That is supernatural—the supernatural power of Jesus.

It is a spirit that is distinct to Christianity-
- the willingness to forgive others that do not deserve our forgiveness at 
all.

That’s exactly what God does for us.
He forgives us through the cross even though we are completely undeserving.

Believing this brings us peace with God.
And this peace gives us a desire to be at peace with others—through 
forgiveness.

What Is Required?

Micah 6:6-8 (CEV)
6 What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the LORD God Most 
High? Should I try to please him by sacrificing calves a year old? 7 Will 
thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me? Should 
I sacrifice to the LORD my first-born child as payment for my terrible sins? 
8 The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: “See that 
justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”

God set up a system of sacrifices for his people. The only problem is that 
the people started to go through the motions and bring the sacrifices 
thinking that they would get them to heaven while they were living just as 
they wanted the rest of the time. Micah asked how many animals or gallons of 
oil had to be sacrificed before they were clean. They had to continually 
bring the sacrifices because there was no way to be forgiven once and for 
all. Micah asked if sacrificing a baby would do it. No regular human 
sacrifice could cleanse them from sin. One divine human did give his life 
for the sin of the world. That was Jesus Christ, the son of God. He came to 
earth, lived a totally human, totally divine life and gave His life for each 
of us. All we have to do is repent of our sin and surrender our lives to 
Jesus Christ.

Micah said that no sacrifice meant anything. It was what is in the heart 
that mattered. He said the people were to treat people justly and not show 
partiality. They were to show mercy to those who needed mercy. They were to 
obey God. In other words, they were to love God with all their hearts, souls 
and minds and their neighbors as themselves. Then they would live as they 
should. This is what God required of them rather than all the vain 
sacrifices.

The apostle Paul wrote about these things in a different way:

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (NLT)
3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I 
could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value 
whatsoever. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or 
proud 5 or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, 
and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. 6 It is never glad about 
injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, 
never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every 
circumstance.

If we belong to Jesus Christ then we will have His love inside of us. WE 
will want to do the things He wants us to do because of that love and not to 
work our way into heaven.

Do what is required today which is to give your life to Jesus Christ then 
reach out to help those who need our help.

by Dean W. Masters

Are You Willing?
Gwen Smith

Today’s Truth
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We 
speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’
(2 Corinthians 5:20,
NLT)

Friend To Friend
My husband Brad went on a missions trip to Guatemala several years ago. What 
he saw and experienced changed his life and increased his faith in a 
dramatic
way because he was an eyewitness to the healing power of God. On that trip 
he prayed harder, believed more, and expected more from God each passing 
day—and
God used their medical missions team as a conduit for miracles.

Do you ever doubt that God wants to move in and through your life?

Do you want to experience more of God’s strength and power in your average, 
ordinary days?

If so, then lean in, girlfriend, because what I’m about to share with you is 
a key to increasing the power of God in your life!

Hector, the founder of that Guatemalan ministry that Brad teamed up with on 
the missions trip, visited North Carolina, and my family and I went to hear
him speak. When I heard him testify of the provision and power of God, my 
heart was stirred and my faith was boosted. But what moved me most was the 
story
of the lesson he learned about his call after God led him to be a medical 
missionary.

Before he began the medical ministry that he devotes his life to now, Hector’s 
main goal in life was to make lots of money. Back then he didn’t even 
apologize
for it. He was a Christian and figured that God could use his money to help 
others.

What happened to change the course of his life? Back in the late eighties, 
Hector and his wife joined a medical team on a trip to a mountain village. 
The
team was blown away by what God did through them while they were there. On 
the four-hour drive back to the city, they worshipped and sang praises to 
God.
As he worshipped and drove, Hector heard the Lord speak to his soul. This is 
what I’ve made you for: to medically treat my people, to pray for their 
healing,
and to share the hope of Jesus with the hopeless and the lost.

Hector felt so overwhelmed that he pulled the truck over and told the team 
of his call from God to be a missionary doctor. They prayed over him, 
whooped
it up in celebration, and then continued down the mountain with an even 
greater sense of purpose and excitement. Hector thought that God had called 
him
to be a missionary because of his skills as a doctor. Later, he would think 
otherwise.

A few years into his work, while visiting a remote village, a woman with a 
large mass on her side came into their makeshift clinic. Her terrible pain 
was
curbed only by her excitement that the medical team had come to help her. 
One glance at her tumor and Hector had a strong suspicion that it was 
malignant.
Upon examining her further, Hector was convinced that she was terminal. He 
became very frustrated with God, to the extent that he didn’t even want to 
share
the gospel with her because he couldn’t do anything to help her physically.

Hector sent up a few prayers of frustration, but felt God nudging him to 
share the gospel with this woman. So he reluctantly shared the good news of 
Jesus
with her; and, to Hector’s surprise, she wanted to place her faith in Jesus 
Christ! And as they sat on the floor of that makeshift med-center, this 
sweet
woman trusted Jesus as her Savior. When they finished praying, the woman had 
a radiant smile and tears in her eyes. He hugged her and she began to cry.

“What happened?” Hector asked. “Why are you crying?”

“As we were praying,” she said, “I felt a warmth that started on my head and 
spread to the tips of my toes.” As she said this, she realized something had
changed, and she screamed with delight, “My mass is gone! My pain is gone!”

Hector had her lie back down on his examining table. The tumor that had been 
there just minutes ago was gone. God had intervened. She was healed, both
spiritually and physically!

In the amazing celebration that followed, God spoke clearly to Hector’s 
heart. God told him that He had all the power needed for the work He had 
called
Hector to, and it had nothing to do with his medical training. God impressed 
on his heart that He didn’t need Hector’s skills or his knowledge, He had
all of that covered. He just wanted him to go in His name.

You and I have that same opportunity every day. We have a chance to be a 
witness of God’s healing love to a world of wounded hearts. Did God need my 
husband
and the other volunteers to heal Guatemalan villagers, treat their physical 
wounds, and share the hope of Jesus with them? No. Did God move in the lives
of the villagers because of their willingness to go in His name? You bet!

One of my favorite sayings is, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the 
called.” If you are His, then you are called. Not because of who you are or
what you can do, but because God can and will do His work through you. {
Tweet this
!}

Did God tell Jonah to go to Nineveh because Jonah was a great leader with 
amazing vision? No! Jonah proved to be quite wimpy. When Jonah finally made 
it
to Nineveh, did God bring a great wave of repentance and restoration because 
of Jonah’s rhetorical gifts? No! God stirred the hearts and changed the 
lives
of hundreds of Ninevites because Jonah finally had the courage to speak God’s 
words.

God wants to do something similar through you. He wants you to stop fighting 
Him on this and be willing to speak for Him so others can know the same 
healing
and hope that you know. He wants to bring beauty up from the ashes of 
brokenness all around you.

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, I’m so humbled that You would call me to anything. You have 
all the power needed for every job, yet you ask me to join you. Thank you,
Lord. Please make my heart willing to say yes to everything you want me to 
do.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn
Do you have a willing heart? What is God calling you to do for Him? Spend a 
few moments in prayer and ask God to guide you and strengthen you for the 
task.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

More From The Girlfriends

GOT BEAUTY? Today's devotion is an excerpt from Gwen Smith's book,
Broken into Beautiful.
www.girlfriendsingod.com

Unforgiveness
"Accepted in the beloved...we have...forgiveness." Ephesians 1:6-7.

You're a product of your past-
- but you don't have to be a prisoner of it!

When you refuse to forgive yourself-
- you're making a decision to be miserable for the rest of your life.

And here are some other consequences you may not have considered:

It's not just about you!
Misery loves company.

When you keep beating yourself up-
- your loved ones get beaten up too.

It's inevitable, because when you wallow in guilt you're more withdrawn and 
critical, and less open and affectionate.
That means your spouse, children, parents, co-workers, friends (even your 
dog!), suffers along with you.

Your mind affects your body!

Doctors say that unforgiveness generates chemicals that directly affect your 
vital organs.
They increase your heart rate, raise your blood pressure, disrupt your 
digestion, tense your muscles, dump cholesterol into your bloodstream and 
reduce
your ability to think clearly.

Each time you revisit your past-
- those bad feelings deliver another zap of corrosive chemicals.
Science is only now confirming what God has always known, namely, that those 
who don't forgive themselves and others, are more prone to heart attacks,
depression, hypertension and other serious illnesses.

You get stuck in the past!

God said: "To everything there is a season." Ecc 3:1.

Once you've repented and been forgiven, the season for regret is over.
You need to start looking ahead, otherwise you'll get permanently mired in a 
bog of your own making.

The Bible says: "Accepted in the beloved...we have...forgiveness."

So forgive yourself, and anybody else you need to, and get on with your 
life.

Wheat
Some years ago I heard an allegory which I have never forgotten

(George Everard,
"The Home of Bethany" 1873)

"He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of 
habitation." Psalm 107:7

Some years ago I heard an allegory which I have never forgotten. It often 
comes back to me when I think of the way in which the Lord leads His people.

The fable runs that a few ears of wheat were growing in the corner of a 
field, and it was promised to this wheat that it would one day be brought 
before
the Queen. But by-and-by the mower came with his sharp scythe and cut the 
wheat, and feeling the sharpness of the scythe, it said, "I shall never 
stand
before the Queen!" Presently it was laid in the wagon, and pressed and borne 
down by the other sheaves, and again arose the cry of distress and despair.
But, more than this, it was laid on the threshing-floor, and the heavy flail 
came down upon it. It was taken to the mill, and cut and cut and cut; then
it was kneaded into bread; and at last it was placed in the hot burning 
oven. Again and again was heard the cry of utter, hopeless despair. But at 
length
the promise was fulfilled, and the bread was placed on the Queen's table!

There is a great spiritual truth beneath the fable. Christians are God's 
wheat, sprung from the incorruptible seed of His Word, and from the precious 
seed
of the crucified, buried body of our Lord--and He purposes that one day they 
shall stand before Him! But there needs much preparation.

There comes the sharp scythe of bereavement--the loss of child or parent or 
spouse.

There comes the oppressive burden of care.

There comes the severe tribulation (the very word signifies threshing), 
seasons of adversity and disappointment.

There comes the mill, the trial that utterly breaks us down, and fills the 
whole spirit with distress.

There comes the hot furnace of agonizing pain or fear.

All these are doing their appointed work, stirring up faith and prayer, 
humbling to the very dust--and yet lifting up the Christian, by leading him 
nearer
to God, and enabling him at length to say, "It is good for me that I have 
been afflicted!"
Feel free to forward these gems to others who may be encouraged or profited 
by them!
Grace Gems (choice ELECTRONIC books, sermons & quotes)

Contentment in Fishing

As we learn to overcome our discontentment by remaining in constant 
fellowship with Christ, we also realize that our joy in Christ is far too 
exciting
to keep to ourselves. In thankfulness and delight, we want to share with 
others what God has done in our lives.

In the gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus gathering His disciples. "As Jesus 
was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called 
Peter
and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were 
fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,' Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of
men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he 
saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were
in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called 
them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him" 
(Matthew
4:18-22).

The men in this passage were successful fishermen, but Jesus had bigger 
plans for them. He said, "Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of 
men" (
Matthew 4:19).
Jesus did not expect that they would already know how to be fishers of men. 
He expected them to follow Him. He was asking them to abandon their mundane
lives and work for the glory of God's kingdom. He sought their willingness 
to drop everything for Him. He asked these successful leaders to become His
followers. He called these decision makers to trust His commands completely.

Today Jesus is still asking His followers to let go of whatever may be 
hindering our work for God's kingdom, whether it is our opinions, our ideas, 
or
our needs. He is seeking our obedience and willingness to serve Him 
wholeheartedly. When we witness to nonbelievers as we live a life of 
contentment in
Christ, God can use our testimony for His glory.

Christ does not demand a perfect knowledge of witnessing methods, but he 
does demand our service and obedience. He knows that our lifestyle will 
speak
volumes alongside our words. Paul told the Corinthians, "Because of the 
service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the 
obedience
that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your 
generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else" (2 Corinthians 
9:13).

As fishers of men, we need to remember that the fish around us in the world 
are constantly watching us. They notice how we act, live and behave. When we
do not allow God's transforming power to work in us daily, we have no bait 
to lure them. Can you imagine what nonbelievers think as they see
Christians
full of bitterness, anger, jealousy, envy, and gossip? Who wants that kind 
of life? If they see us as hypocrites full of criticism, the fish will swim
the other way. In order to be fishers of men, we need to model ourselves 
after Jesus. We need to obey Him and listen to Him and follow His 
directions.

Why did Jesus ask His disciples to become fishers of men? Why not hunters or 
harvesters? Jesus was addressing them in the context of how they lived—they
were fishermen. Jesus was asking them to take the talents and skills of 
their trade and apply them toward working for God's kingdom. Regardless of 
whom
we are or what we do, God wants us to use our resources for His glory. He 
wants us to view our neighborhoods and our schools and our workplaces as our
fishing ponds.

What is hindering you from becoming a fisher of men? Do you think you need 
to be perfectly prepared with all the right answers and the latest 
witnessing
techniques? Jesus never said He only calls the experts—He calls every 
Christian to witness for Him. He just wants our willingness—and the Holy 
Spirit will
take care of the rest. Commit to God today to become a willing servant of 
Christ.

"‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever 
wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come
to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" 
Mark 10:43-45

****

End Times and the Secret of Mahdi

When war, terrorism, persecution, and fear threaten to overwhelm us, where 
do we look for hope? In his highly anticipated new book, End Times and the 
Secret
of the Mahdi, Dr. Michael Youssef demystifies the book of Revelation and 
highlights its relevance to our lives today. You’ll be shocked at the 
parallels
between the central figure of Islamic prophecy, the Mahdi, and the 
Antichrist depicted in Revelation—and filled with hope as you see the 
unfolding of God’s
master plan for eternity.

Pre-order
your copy of End Times and the Secret of the Mahdi by February 22 and you’ll 
receive a free digital download package. Your book will ship the week of
the book’s release on February 23.

Visit us today at
http://www.ltw.org/

Listen to
Michael Youssef
on Today's Broadcast of "
Leading The Way"
at OnePlace.com

The Ministries of Francis Frangipane

Life-Giving Spirit
(En Español)

As Christians our faith tells us that Christ died as payment for our sins. 
We believe He actually rose from the grave as proof that He was indeed sent
by God. Yet it is also our conviction that, upon this resurrection event, 
not only were the sins of mankind atoned for but through Christ a second 
Genesis
began.

Paul explains, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam 
became a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). The word Adam means "man" and 
is
representative of "mankind." There are now two Adams or two species of man. 
The first species of man is the descendant of sinful Adam. His life orbits
around his carnal or "natural" desires. He carries both the DNA of Adam’s 
nature and the consequences of Adam's sin. This natural man is focused upon 
fulfilling
the needs of his soul. He is indeed a "living soul," but he is controlled by 
fears, physical needs, intellect boundaries, cultural environment and sin.

The second species or race of man is Spirit-centered. His thoughts, dreams 
and experiences originate primarily from the Holy Spirit who lives in union
with him. The highest aspiration of the Spirit-centered man is not on 
attaining natural successes but upon attaining conformity to Christ. While 
the first
man lives to receive from the world around him, the last species of man, the 
Christ-man, lives for what he can give to those around him: he is a 
"life-giving
spirit." The first Adam engendered descendants with problems; the spiritual 
descendants of the last Adam, Christ, provide the world with answers.

New Creatures
While men divide over many things -- culture, skin color, language or social 
status -- from God’s view mankind is only truly divided into two subsets:
those controlled by their souls and those controlled by the Holy Spirit. One 
race is dead in sin; the other is alive in Christ. One species of man is 
destined
to perish; the other will live forever. Just as the first Adam passed sin, 
weakness and death to his children, so the second Adam, Christ, passes 
virtue,
power and eternal life to the children of God.

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things 
passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

"For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new 
creation" (Gal. 6:15).

You see, we are not merely men of flesh temporarily acting spiritual, but we 
are spiritual beings temporarily living as men of flesh. If you have 
received
Christ into your life, you are part of the second Genesis. You possess a new 
nature, which is the actual life of Christ's -- a life-giving Spirit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adapted from Francis Frangipane's In Christ's Image Training, available at
www.icitc.org.

Anne Graham Lotz - The Solution to Sin
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The Solution to Sin
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near 
through the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13, NIV

God is righteous and just. But God is also loving and merciful. He cannot be 
less than Himself. Satan, in his temptation of Adam and Eve and in his plan
to defeat the purpose of God, failed to take into account the very character 
of God. He failed to realize one very important thing – how much God loved
the man and woman He had created and the depths to which His grace would go 
in order to bring them back to Himself. It never entered Satan’s wicked, 
self-centered
imagination that God would commit the fullness of His eternal, divine nature 
to bring man back into a right relationship with Himself. It never occurred
to Satan, who ever seeks his own preeminence, that the Creator of the 
universe would lay down His own life in atonement for man’s sin. But that’s 
exactly
what happened. The solution to the problem of sinfulness is the cross of 
Jesus Christ.

Blessings,
Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

A Season of Need: Maintaining a Heart that God Blesses
by Walk Thru the Bible

Greg had prayed for God's blessings and favor when he got out of college, 
and God had certainly answered. Greg had been given a beautiful family, and 
his
career had taken off dramatically. He rose from entry level to executive in 
the short space of seven years, and people in the industry began calling him
flattering things like "wunderkind" and "prodigy." He had proven himself 
capable beyond his peers and wise beyond his years.

So Greg began to lead seminars and write books about the keys to his 
success. His already-generous income more than doubled from his 
international speaking
fees. He became widely recognized as a "how to" expert, a motivator, and a 
life coach. A few best-sellers later, his family was able to buy several 
homes
in several countries. He was credited with more talent and skill and 
ingenuity than anyone around. Yes, he was truly a self-made man.

But self-made men eventually suffer the consequences of poor construction, 
and a series of misfortunes left Greg virtually bankrupt. His books ended up
in bargain bins, his seminars were suddenly "cliché," and his family hardly 
knew the man who had always been too busy to spend time with them. And Greg
found himself exactly where he began when he was fresh out of college: on 
his knees asking for Gods blessings and favor.

It's a common dynamic, isn't it? We ask God for help, and he gives it. The 
Holy Spirit fills us with himself, and then we take credit for his gifts. 
Once we experience success, whether in the big-ticket items like career and 
family or the smaller victories of life, we develop a sense of independence. 
We start patting ourselves on the back for being so competent or wise or 
well-positioned. And then when our mini-kingdom crumbles, we fall on our 
knees again
and ask God for help.

That's how it was for Solomon. He began his reign with a sincere plea for 
God's wisdom and favor. Somewhere along the way, that sense of dependence 
began
to erode. The turning point in his life, although there were earlier signs, 
seems to be after the temple and palace were built. Over the course of years
that it took to build those landmark structures, his focus on God's glory 
seems to have evolved into a focus on his own glory. And things were never 
the
same again.

Early in his reign, Solomon had heard God's voice at Gibeon. The king had 
wisely asked for wisdom, and God promised all that and more. In
1 Kings 9,
Solomon heard that voice again—a similar message, but this time with much 
stronger warnings. There were far more "ifs" in this vision, as well as some
explicitly stated consequences for idolatry. The future would be bright if 
Solomon remained faithful. God assured Solomon that worshiping other gods 
would ruin Israel's relationship with him, and the place of his presence would be 
demolished. It's clear that the existence of the temple itself wouldn't 
guaranteethe spiritual maturity of his people. In Israel's life and in ours, the 
current presence of the Lord never guarantees his future presence.

The Lord's warning wasn't just a precautionary safeguard. It was a rather 
timely admonition. The glory of Solomon's kingdom had begun to overshadow 
his
sense of dependence. He was in danger of self-sufficiency, which always 
creates distance in a relationship with God. The warning he received 
reminded him
that God's people are not defined by a magnificent building, even one in 
which God's presence dwells. They are defined by his calling and his Word. 
Only
when they stick to truth will they be blessed.

At the dedication of the temple in
1 Kings 8 (and also 2 Chronicles 5),
Solomon had offered lengthy prayers full of references to both the blessings 
and the dangers of God's presence. Being called by him has enormous benefits
and enormous costs. The stakes are always high. The cloud of glory that 
filled the temple was both beautiful and frightening. These are the two 
sides of chosenness: amazing privilege and awesome responsibility. The king would 
soon feel the sharpness of this two-edged calling in his encounter with God 
at Gibeon. Before long, so would the entire nation. Israel discovered over the 
next two idolatry-riddled centuries that the cost of discipleship was high,
but the cost of non-discipleship was even higher.

That's a profound lesson for us. Our dependence on God brings enormous 
blessings into our lives, but when those blessings cause us to forget our 
original
dependence, we miss out on the ways God wants to continue to bless us. We 
lose sight of his presence and, like Solomon, turn away from pure devotion 
to
him. Solomon ended up worshiping at pagan altars and wondering why life 
seemed so empty, not because his wisdom wasn't valid, but because he 
"outgrew"
his dependence on God. He lost his focus.

How can we avoid that? By always being desperate for God, even in our times 
of abundance. We never really outgrow our dependence on him. The very 
attitudes
that put us in a position to receive his blessings are the attitudes that 
keep us in that position. Do we really want God to continue to lift us up? 
Then
we need to approach him with a lowly, humble attitude and never forget our 
absolute need to depend on him.

Adapted from
A Walk Thru the Life of Solomon: Pursuing a Heart of Integrity,
a small group study guide from Walk Thru the Bible and Baker Books. This 
small group study and others can be found at
Baker Publishing.

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - The Life of a Shepherd
----------------------------------------------------------

The Life of a Shepherd

Posted: 04 Feb 2016 09:55 PM PST

from the devotional book,
PICTURES OF GOD

Read Psalm 95

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1, NASB)

Imagine the daily life and work of a shepherd.

They lived in tents. But lack of rainfall meant lots of moving around during 
the summer season. They often had to be away from their home base for days
or weeks.

They carried a large leather bag which contained all their food and daily 
supplies. A large staff or stick, sometimes with a knob on the end, was used
both as a club and as a walking stick, very helpful over rough, uneven 
ground. Like David, some shepherds were rather good with a slingshot, since 
it provided
effective, portable protection. It was a way to ward off predators from a 
distance.

Shepherds had to stay ready for emergencies. If a sheep was injured, they 
were its only source of medical help. Sheep got so focused on grazing, with 
their
head staying down, that they often wandered off. A sheep was so valuable 
that it had to be found. The shepherd would leave the rest of the flock and 
look
until the lost sheep was located and returned (see Luke 15:4-7).

The days were long. The nights were long. The life was lonely. Some 
shepherds made music on a hand-made reed pipe. Many entertained themselves 
by talking
to the sheep, and thus the sheep grew to recognize their shepherd’s voice. 
He had to keep constant count of them, sometimes even calling them by name 
(see
John 10:3).

Good shepherds would never kill and eat their sheep, no matter how hungry. 
Shepherds had to be strong and resourceful for times of danger, yet keep a 
gentle,
caring, patient disposition. At night, after gathering the sheep into a fold 
for protection, he would guard the opening with his own body (see John 
10:7-9)
Good shepherds worked hard for little pay and less respect. They did 
strenuous and important work.

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the 
sheep.” (John 10:11, NASB)

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22a
"A cheerful disposition is good for your health" MSG

King Solomon wrote Proverb 17:22a nearly 3,000 years ago --- years upon 
years before today's "modern" medicine. Yet recently volumes of medical 
books have
been written documenting the value of what Solomon spoke about --- the value 
of laughter.

"Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted 
humanity." Chuck Swindoll

Laughter eases fear
Laughter shrinks pain
Laughter lessens anxiety
Laughter helps us recharge
Laughter protects the heart
Laughter lowers blood pressure
Laughter relaxes the whole body
Laughter boosts the immune system
Laughter dissolves distressing emotions
Laughter releases "feel good" endorphins

Prayer: Father thank you for providing laughter as a way to refresh, 
revitalize and invigorate my body for Kingdom work. In the name of the Lord 
Jesus
Christ. Amen!

Cross Fund Giving:
Click Here

Mailing: ccm, P. O. Box 406, Cambridge, MN 55008

Join us as a FireStarter Monthly Partner for Crosses:
Click Here
Pastor Bill Team Prayer
Father please bring 1............. 2............. 3.............. into your 
kingdom.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2016
Pastor Bill Christian Cyber Ministries
All Rights Reserved

The Most Beautiful Love Song You’ll Ever Hear
TRACIE MILES

"For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will 
take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your 
fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."
Zephaniah 3:17
(NLT)

I remember those days as if they were yesterday. When each of my three 
children were babies, I treasured the time I spent rocking them to sleep, 
singing
soft lullabies and trying to lull them into baby dreamland.

I vividly recall how I felt when I sang over them, breathing in their sweet 
baby aroma, caressing their soft skin and hair, swaddling them close and 
longing
to keep them safe forever and ever. As they looked up into my eyes with 
sleepy looks, so often tears of joy would trickle from my eyes, and I felt 
compelled
to keep singing and soothing them with the melody.

My mama heart felt overwhelmed. How could I be filled with such joy and love 
for someone so tiny and new? How could I delight that much over someone who
couldn’t do anything for themselves, much less for me?

As I read today’s key verse, it brought back all these sweet memories, and 
helped give new meaning to how much God loves His children. In Zephaniah, 
God
is singing because He rejoices over His children, delights in them and feels 
joy over them.

Zephaniah references a future time when God will have ended His judgment on 
His children Israel, and they will enjoy a time of blessing and safety from
their enemies.

The words of this verse remind us God is with us always, and He is mighty to 
save. He delights in us and loves us each so much that He sings melodies of
love and rejoices over us. This delight is simply because we are His. And 
just as a mama’s voice calms and soothes a child with song, God quiets us 
with
His love and soothes our hearts with His voice.

I love to picture our heavenly Father singing and rejoicing over His 
children like that. Singing and rejoicing over me, and you.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand how God could love us, especially when we 
consider all the mistakes and times of disappointment we’ve struggled 
through.
Or, when we feel like we don’t measure up because we don’t do enough for His 
kingdom and His glory.

Or when we feel unloved or rejected by others and wonder if God might have 
abandoned or rejected us as well. What comfort it brings to think about God
loving us the same way a mother loves her babies.

As moms, we sing over our babies because we love them, not because they 
deserve it or can do anything for us in return. They bring delight to our 
hearts,
because they are ours. And the same goes for our heavenly Father when it 
comes to His own.

God’s quiet love and gentle whispers of acceptance and delight are the 
greatest love song our spiritual ears will ever hear.

Father God, fill me with an overwhelming joy at the thought of how much You 
love me. When I am feeling unloved or unwanted, fill my spiritual ears with
Your beautiful love song and soothe my heart with Your comforting words. In 
Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 104:33,
"I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last 
breath!" (NLT)

RELATED RESOURCES:
If you’ve ever struggled with understanding how God could love you with such 
an immense love, your heart will be changed by Tracie Miles’ book,
Your Life Still Counts: How God Uses Your Past To Create A Beautiful Future.

Visit
Tracie’s blog
to enter to win a special Valentine’s Day giveaway to enjoy and share with 
someone you love.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Sometimes February, the month we typically focus on love, can often feel 
lonely and disappointing. How might focusing on how much God loves and 
adores
you, and sings and delights over you, help change your attitude?

What are some ways you can reach out to someone who might need to be 
reminded they are loved this month?

© 2016 by Tracie Miles. All rights reserved.

iction Helps

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
(Psalm 119:67)

This verse shows that God sends affliction to help us learn his word. We 
should ask how affliction helps us understand God’s word and keep it.

There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences. But 
here are five:

1. Affliction takes the glibness of life away and makes us more serious so 
that our mindset is more in tune with the seriousness of God’s word.
2. Affliction knocks worldly props from under us and forces us to rely more 
on God, which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word.
3. Affliction makes us search the Scriptures with greater desperation for 
help, rather than treating it as marginal to life.
4. Affliction brings us into the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings so that 
we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through 
his
eyes.
5. Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so 
brings us into a more spiritual frame which fits God’s word more.

May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God.

John Piper

The Power of Ordinary Celebrations
Sally and Sarah Clarkson

"This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24
(NKJV)

Funny the way some childhood memories are etched in pinpoint clarity against 
the Impressionist background of our years. There’s one memory whose 
significance
I never question; its setting was a blustery Sunday evening in the midst of 
a very dreary March. I know exactly why it remains so deeply etched in my 
thoughts,
for in a dark, windy moment, I (Sarah) glimpsed the power of ordinary 
celebration — workaday beauty — to invade and redeem a moment of possible 
despair.

To set the scene: a small, brick house in Texas, my mom wrapped in a sweater 
at the open front door, waving to my dad as his car, headlights eerie in the
light rain, pulled away from us into the night. My three younger siblings 
pressed against her, waving too. I stood slightly behind, reserved in my new
on-the-cusp-of-adulthood self-consciousness, quiet because of the dread that 
unexpectedly filled my heart.

I was just old enough to perceive this was a difficult moment for my mom. On 
this, the fourth Sunday of its kind, she was waving goodbye to my dad as he
left again for five days of work at a distance too far to cover each 
evening. We wouldn’t see him again until Friday.

The keeping, feeding and entertaining of four children was in her lone 
hands — as was the housework, the driving to lessons, the making of meals. 
Beyond
this was the fact of my baby sister’s nocturnal asthma and the newly 
diagnosed health condition that caused Mom to become intensely dizzy at the 
most inopportune
of moments.

I was freshly aware of the fact that life can be very hard, not in dramatic 
ways, but in small, daily realities. The ripening of adulthood had stolen 
the
blessed innocence that is the gift of childhood. I was aware of myself as 
confronting something, responsible for grappling with it in a way I never 
had
been before. I had no idea what to do.

From behind, I surveyed my mother’s shoulders, saw the momentary sag as my 
sister asked to be carried with sweet, clutching little hands. I couldn’t 
see
Mom’s face, but I waited, sure that when she turned I would behold a set of 
tired eyes or a resigned face that would mean a hushed evening, an early 
bedtime
and maybe a strained week to come.

I heard the sigh as my mother firmly closed the front door. She turned. "I 
think we need a party tonight. Cookies, burgers and a movie. We can pile on
my bed and have an indoor picnic."

I think I smiled, but I was too startled for it to be much more than a 
wondering half-smile at first. My mom certainly smiled, patting each of my 
brothers
on the head. The boys cheered. Three-year-old Joy clapped her little hands. 
And the moment of farewell — that wistful, slightly frightening moment of 
watching
my dad depart — was transformed by one sentence into a moment of 
possibility.

As everyone moved toward the kitchen, my mom put her hand on my arm. "It’s 
going to be a good week, Sarah. Don’t worry. Would you make the cookies?"

The rest of the evening passed in what can only be described as merriment. 
There was plenty of sibling squabbling and jostling for the prized seat next
to my mom. But there were also our favorite cheeseburgers, fresh oatmeal 
crispies and lemonade in the gem-toned plastic sippy cups whose battered 
presence
was constant throughout my childhood. There was an old Haley Mills movie and 
a raucous amount of shouted laughter with a bedtime a little too late after
an evening enjoyed to the hilt.

And there was a next morning — still rainy, still gray, still March at its 
worst, but all of us with filled hearts from the celebration the night 
before.

In looking back at that memory, it remains with me because that moment 
profoundly shaped the way I encounter the difficult ordinary of life in a 
fallen
world.

Nearly 20 years later, I am deeply aware of the gift my mother gave me when 
the face she turned to a moment of real despair was one of hope.

In her choice that night, she modeled what it means to look at life in a 
fallen world, every day, and meet it with a creative joy born of the Holy 
Spirit.

Sweet Father, help me see in each day the possibility of bringing Your joy 
into every moment that Your presence can be reflected daily through my life.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 4:11b,
" … I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." (NASB)

RELATED RESOURCES:
In our deepest hearts, we want home to be a place where our spirits are 
filled. A life-giving haven of warmth, rest and joy that will encourage 
everyone
who enters it; a welcoming respite in an isolating culture. Join beloved 
authors Sally and Sarah Clarkson to discover the path to
The Lifegiving Home
— from a mother who’s known for creating one and her daughter who was raised 
in it.
© 2016 by Sarah Clarkson. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries


Anne Graham Lotz - God Loves Everyone
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God Loves Everyone
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in 
God.

1 John 4:15, NKJV

God loves each and every person who has ever been born into the human race! 
God loves:

the Eskimo living in an ice hut,

the Chinese living in a bamboo lodge,

the African living in a mud hut,

the homeless living in a cardboard box,

the Bedouin living in a tent,

the Indian living in a teepee,

the royals living in a palace,

the poor living in public housing,

God loves the whole world! God loves you! And God loves even me!

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that everyone on Planet Earth is a child of 
God. But the Bible does say God loves everyone on Planet Earth, and we can
call God our Father when we come to Him in a personal relationship through 
faith in His Son.

Blessings,
Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.



Read
Philippians 4:8

We are exhorted to meditate on things that are true, noble, just, pure, 
lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.

Train of Thought

You may have heard the phrase “train of thought.” It certainly is a very 
descriptive and accurate metaphor for describing the way our minds work. Our 
thoughts
are just like a train; they always take us somewhere. If we want to change 
our destination, regardless of what area of life we’re talking about, we 
have
to change the thought trains we board.

Often, we don’t realize that we have the ability to make a choice about what 
we think. But clearly we do, as we are exhorted to set our mind on things
above and not on earthly things (see
Col. 3:2).
This doesn’t mean that negative thoughts won’t enter our minds—if that were 
the case, there would be no need to consciously choose to set our minds on
the thoughts of God.

While I was learning to renew my mind, I discovered that many of the trains 
of thought I had at that time about God, the people around me, myself and my
destiny were completely contrary to what God thinks. They were built on my 
experience rather than the truth of God’s Word. I knew that I had to make a
change: I had to consciously choose what thoughts I would allow to pull into 
the platform of my mind.

Armed with this knowledge and a firm commitment to exercise my mind muscle, 
I was ready to go to work. Each time a train of thought that was contrary to
the Word of God pulled into the platform of my mind, I would choose not to 
get on board. Instead, I would purposefully board trains of thought that 
would
take me to the right destination.

This is why it’s so important to read and meditate on the Word of God. If we 
don’t know what thoughts are contrary to his, how will we ever know what 
trains
to avoid? As I continued to renew my mind on a day-to-day basis (and often 
on a moment-by-moment basis), I began to notice a change. I started to see 
this
mind shift begin to affect my external behavior and responses.

During this long and often arduous process of renewing our minds, it’s vital 
that we fight off the feelings of frustration that will inevitably come our
way. If we don’t give up, in time we will experience the fruit of this 
process in our lives.

Point to Ponder

Are you ready to start responding to the circumstances of your life with the 
strength, faith, and confidence of Christ? Then it’s time to become rooted
in God’s Word. When you have the mind of Jesus, you will naturally act like 
him, too
Copyright Information

Devotions by Christine Caine, Copyright © 2012 by Christine Caine and Equip 
& Empower Ministries.

Who Are You Listening To?

Luke 18:35-43 (NASB95)
35 As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road 
begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 
37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called 
out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the 
way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the 
more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded 
that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 
“What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my 
sight!” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made 
you well.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, 
glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

The blind man heard that Jesus was passing by. He then started shouting out 
for help. The leaders started telling him to be quiet and not bother Jesus. 
What would have happened if he had listened to them and stopped crying out? 
Jesus may have seen him and gone to restore his sight but Jesus would 
probably go on without doing anything for this man.

Today there may be a lot of different voices telling you different things. 
You might hear some people say that miracles don’t happen today so there is 
no need to bother Jesus. You might hear people say or might start thinking 
that you are too bad for Jesus to answer your prayers. Some even say that 
there is no God and Jesus never did exist.

Are you listening to any of these voices? Jesus Christ is real. He is seated 
at the right hand of God the Father but he is as close as the mention of His 
name. Miracles did not disappear when the apostles died. Miracles still 
happen. It does seem that they happen more in areas of the world that don’t 
know who Jesus really is. This is probably so that His power can be shown 
there and that people will turn to Him rather than to evil spirits.

So whose voice are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the 
different voices of the world and even of some preachers or teachers or are 
you going to listen to Jesus Christ when he asks, “What do you want from 
me?” Tell him. Be persistent. Don’t listen to the other voices than Jesus’ 
voice.

by Dean W. Masters

How to Have Unshakeable Joy Like Paul
Dr. Matthew Harmon

Unshakable Joy

For many of us, life is hard. Our daily circumstances seem to conspire to 
rob us of our joy. Maybe you're stuck in a job that you do not like and 
doesn't
pay enough to cover your bills. Maybe you're in a difficult
marriage
or have a strained relationship with a family member. Maybe you're trying to 
follow Jesus, but the people around you make fun of you for being so 
"religious."
Or maybe you're struggling with a health problem that makes it difficult to 
do even the most basic everyday activities.

In the midst of these realities, experiencing constant, deep, and long 
lasting joy can seem unattainable. But the
Bible
repeatedly talks about experiencing a kind of joy that transcends our 
circumstances. Jesus told his disciples that he wanted them to experience 
the fullness
of his joy in their lives (
John 14:11; 16:24; 17:13).
The apostle Paul calls believers to "Rejoice always" (
1 Thes 5:16).
But how is that possible?

Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians that is saturated with joy. Sixteen 
times in just four chapters Paul uses words like rejoice or joy to describe
what our state of mind or general attitude should be as Christians. And he 
writes this joy-soaked letter in the midst of his own difficult 
circumstances.
He was under house arrest in Rome, living in a rented apartment (at his own 
expense!) chained to a different Roman soldier every few hours. This on top
of the three years he had spent in prison in Caesarea. So by the time he 
wrote to the Philippians, he had been in Roman custody for several years. 
Yet
rather than allow his circumstances to drive him to despair, he experienced 
deep joy and pleaded with the Philippians to share in his joy.

So what was Paul's secret to unshakable joy? From his letter to the 
Philippians, Paul teaches us two key truths about unshakable joy.

First, unshakable joy is rooted in Christ and what he has done for us. After 
reminding the Philippians of just some of the blessings they experience 
through
the gospel (
2:1),
Paul asks the Philippians to complete his joy by living in a way that 
reflects the mindset of Christ Jesus himself (
2:2-5).
He then describes how that mindset was embodied (
2:6-11).
Even though he was fully God, Christ set aside the glories of heaven to 
become a servant by taking on human flesh and living among us (
2:6-7).
He lived the life of perfect obedience that we could never live and 
willingly gave his life on the cross for our sins (
2:8).
Therefore God exalted him so highly that Jesus has been given the name above 
all names, and there will come a day when all creation recognizes Jesus 
Christ
as the sovereign Lord and rightful King of the universe (
2:9-11).

As if living the life we should have lived and dying the death we should 
have died wasn't enough, Jesus Christ made us citizens of his heavenly 
kingdom
(
3:20).
So even though we live in this world with all its difficulties, sorrows, and 
heartbreaks, a day is coming when Christ will return for his people and 
transform
us so that we will be perfect reflections of him (
3:21).
God will usher in a new heavens and new earth for us to dwell in, where 
there will be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more curse 
(
Rev 21:1-8)

What a Savior we have! No wonder, then, that Paul instructs believers to 
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice" (
4:4; see 3:1 also).
When we focus our minds on the beauty and glory of who Jesus is and what he 
has done for us, God stirs our hearts with a joy that transcends our 
circumstances.
Our circumstances change constantly, but "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday 
and today and forever" (
Heb 13:8).
So when we seek to find our joy in him, we will never be disappointed, 
because unlike our circumstances Jesus Christ never changes.

Second, unshakable joy is rooted in the progress of the gospel. Even though 
Paul was in chains, the gospel was not. The fact that other believers began
to share the gospel with others even more actively because of his 
imprisonment brought Paul great joy (
1:12-18).
He wants to continue his ministry among the Philippians to watch them grow 
in their joy in Christ (
1:25).
He joyfully offers his life as a sacrifice to God so that others grow in 
their faith in Christ (
2:17-18).
He asks that those who work to advance the gospel be shown honor and 
received with all joy (
2:28-29).
Even Paul's joy over the Philippians' financial gift is grounded in the fact 
that it enables him to continue advancing the gospel (
4:10-18).

No matter what our circumstances, we can find joy in what God is doing to 
advance his purposes in this world. Even if it is difficult for us to see 
evidence
that God is working around us, we know from Scripture that God is working 
out his purposes all around the world to advance the gospel. God has 
promised
that he is at work so that one day "the earth shall be full of the knowledge 
of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (
Isa. 11:9).
Since that purpose will never change, we can find unshakable joy in the 
progress of the gospel.

Conclusion
If we pursue joy in our circumstances, we are guaranteed a life of 
disappointment. But when we seek joy in Christ, what he has done for us, and 
the progress
of the gospel, we can experience unshakable joy. Here are two practical 
steps we can take to do this.

First, read, reflect on, memorize, and study passages that portray the 
beauty of Christ and what he has done for us. Besides the passages from 
Philippians
mentioned above, here are some good ones to start with:
John 6:1-71; Acts 2:14-41; 3:11-26; Gal 4:4-7; Eph 2:1-10; Col 1:15-20; Heb 
1:1-14; 1 Pet 2:4-10; Rev 4:1-5:14.

Stay informed on how God is at work (both locally and globally). Today it is 
easier than ever to find out what God is doing in the world. In addition to
being involved in your local church, there are a number of sites that 
regularly share what God is doing around the world such as
Wycliffe,
Voice of the Martyrs,
The Joshua Project,

Every Calvary Step Was Love

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.
(1 John 3:16)

The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was 
intentional. If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us.
It was love.

“When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the 
Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the 
end”
(John 13:1).

Every step on the Calvary road meant, “I love you.”

Therefore, to feel the love of Christ in the laying down of his life, it 
helps to see how utterly intentional it was.

Look at what Jesus said just after that violent moment when Peter tried to 
cleave the skull of the servant, but only cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who 
take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal 
to
my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 
But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 26:52–54)

It is one thing to say that the details of Jesus’s death were predicted in 
the Old Testament. But it is much more to say that Jesus himself was making
his choices precisely to see to it that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.

That is what Jesus said he was doing in
Matthew 26:54.
“I could escape this misery, but how then should the Scriptures be 
fulfilled, that it must be so?”

I am not choosing to take the way out that I could take because I know the 
Scriptures. I know what must take place. It is my choice to fulfill all that
is predicted of me in the Word of God.
Copyright Information
This devotional is written by John Piper. For more information about Piper's 
ministry, writing, and books, visit DesiringGod.org.


Embrace Your Weakness
by The Good Book Blog
By Joy Mosbarger

Have you ever felt like a failure? Inadequate? Ineffectual? Have you ever 
examined your heart and glimpsed sin and darkness and defeat? I have. It is 
discouraging
and demoralizing. It makes me wonder what God sees in me. There is no doubt 
that I am a flawed vessel. But does that mean that I am a useless vessel?

Sometimes we try to get around our weaknesses by denying them. Other times 
we tell ourselves that if we just try harder ... buck up ... pull ourselves
up by our bootstraps, then we will succeed; then we will experience victory 
and conquer the darkness. But these are not the answers I see in
Scripture.

In
2 Corinthians 4:6–7,
Paul affirms that the treasure of the “light of the knowledge of the glory 
of God in the face of Christ Jesus” shines in our hearts, which inherently 
contain
darkness. Yet we have this treasure in “jars of clay, to show that the 
surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The place to start, then, is 
acknowledging
that we are frail and damaged—jars of clay that are cracked and worn and 
easily broken. Weakness is not to be denied. Nor are we to overcome it 
ourselves.
Rather, weakness is to be embraced. Paul actually takes pleasure in and 
boasts about his infirmities (
2 Corinthians 12:9–10).
We must recognize the darkness that dwells in our hearts and our failure and 
inability to overcome it ourselves.

But once acknowledged and recognized, this darkness and these weaknesses 
become conduits for the brilliant light and overwhelming power of God. The 
light
of God’s glory that shines through the face of Christ can overcome the 
darkness that lurks in our hearts. His light overpowers and then shines out 
of our
darkness. And the reason Paul takes pleasure in his infirmities is because 
it is in his weakness that God’s power and strength are made perfect (
2 Corinthians 12:9–10).
It is because we are frail and feeble jars of clay that any successes or 
victories more clearly shine as displays of the efficacy of God and the 
results
of the staggering strength of God. They emanate from the surpassing power of 
God, and not from any inherent strength of our own.

If we wait until we are perfect, until we fix all our cracks, to offer 
ourselves to God, then we will never do so. But if we offer ourselves to God 
with
all of our frailties and flaws, our damage and darkness, his light will 
permeate our cracks and then shine through them. He will overcome our 
brokenness
with his strength. We remain jars of clay, but jars of clay are particularly 
appropriate vessels to highlight the glorious power of God, as they have 
none
of their own.

The refrain in a poem entitled “Anthem” by Leonard Cohen expresses these 
truths in a particularly evocative and eloquent way:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - A Word With You
A Word With You
The Message in the Moose - for the Things We Run Into - #7583

If I was back in elementary school, and they asked me to write a composition 
on "My Summer," I'd have one word on the paper. Amazing! Because I spent it
on Indian reservations with a team of 60 Native American young people who 
stood on reservation basketball courts, pouring out their Hope Story of how 
Jesus
has rescued them. I had a front row seat on God's awesomeness.

And then there was the moose.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 
Message in the Moose - for the Things We Run Into."

Our son, who directs all our organization's Native work, was driving his 
rented RV back to our lodging place after a team outreach. When suddenly, 
there
was the moose crashing head first into the windshield on the driver's side, 
shattering it completely propelling broken glass way back in the RV.

We raced to the scene, not knowing what to expect. There was our 
daughter-in-law, standing in front of that disabled RV repeating over and 
over again,
"God is so good! God is so good!" Yes, He is. Even the police were amazed 
that there was no significant injury. Locals told me grimly, "Things like 
this
don't usually end well." We consider it a miracle. Miracle #1, that is.

Obviously, a lot of repairs were needed, including re-alignment which meant 
putting the RV up on a rack. And that's when they found it. Loose parts 
underneath
that were not caused by the accident and that almost surely meant disaster 
down the road. The mechanic explained the real possibility. He said, "Your 
RV
could suddenly pitch forward and roll end-over-end" obviously with 
potentially deadly consequences.

When my son called to tell me about this disturbing discovery, he began with 
four words that, at first, seemed a little curious, "God sent a moose." 
Well,
you know what? Yes, He did. To reveal what otherwise might never have been 
known until it was too late. "God is so good! God is so good!"

The Moose Mess has revealed more than problems with an RV. It sheds a whole 
new light on many things that I run into, that you run into, all humans run
into: medical challenges, painful losses, family conflict, major 
disappointment, a financial hit, maybe it's a child in trouble, a broken 
relationship.
How about a broken heart? When we hit it, everything stops, and it usually 
hits suddenly.

But, just as that night of the moose, God is always doing something much 
bigger than the thing we can see. Don't forget that. God's always doing 
something
much bigger than what we can see. We saw the moose. But the moose was just 
part of the story. The real story was God was using the moose to prevent a 
much
larger tragedy and showing us how great His power is and His love for us.

There are some very familiar words in the Biblical affirmation that's our 
word for today from the Word of God. It's in Romans 8:28. It takes on new 
significance
after the night of the moose. "All things work together for good..." "All 
things work together for good for those who love God and are the called 
according
to His purpose." He didn't say all things are good. But He said, "All things 
work together for good."

The Cross of Jesus wasn't good. It was awful. But what looked at that time 
like the greatest tragedy in human history turned out to bring about the 
greatest
good of all; the payment for our sin that makes possible life with God 
forever.

So when a "moose" suddenly crashes into my life, seemingly wrecking things, 
I need to remember the God of the "something bigger" who's weaving a 
beautiful
tapestry that sometimes includes some very dark threads. And He's using 
today's mess to accomplish tomorrow's miracle.

If I can remember that, maybe I, too, will be able to say, "God sent a 
moose."
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. · P.O. Box 400 · Harrison, Arkansas 72602 ·

The Forgiveness Cycle

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted 
to us. And lead us not into temptation.
(Luke 11:4)

Who forgives whom first?

• “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to 
us.” (Luke 11:4)
• “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13)

When Jesus teaches us to pray that God forgive us “for we ourselves 
forgive,” he is not saying that the first move in forgiveness was our move. 
Rather,
it goes like this: God forgave us when we believed in Christ (Acts 10:43).
Then, from this broken, joyful, grateful, hopeful, experience of being 
forgiven, we offer forgiveness to others.

This signifies that we have been savingly forgiven. That is, our forgiving 
others shows that we have faith; we are united to Christ; we are indwelt by
the Spirit.

But we still sin (1 John 1:8,10).
So we still turn to God for fresh applications of the work of Christ on our 
behalf — fresh applications of forgiveness. We cannot do this with any 
confidence
if we are harboring an unforgiving spirit (Matthew 18:23–35).

That’s why Jesus says we ask for forgiveness because we are forgiving. This 
is like saying: “Father, continue to extend to me the mercies purchased by
Christ because by these mercies I forsake vengeance and extend to others 
what you have extended to me.”

May you know God’s forgiveness afresh today, and may that grace overflow in 
your heart in forgiveness toward others.
Copyright Information
This devotional is written by John Piper. For more information about Piper's 
ministry, writing, and books, visit DesiringGod.org.

Welcome to the Nugget
February 2, 2016

Five Ways to Overcome Heartache
By Answers2Prayer
Are you kidding? Is there such a thing as to actually overcome heartache, 
the pain that sears at night, and aches during the day?

Hubby held his blue jeans above the clothes hamper. "Be sure to put them in 
the dryer," he said.
I grinned. Times prior, after washing them, I had just let them air dry. Bad 
move because the material ended up kind of stiff.

Of course they did. The hot air in the dryer is what prevented them from 
being stiff. The fabric softener gave them a nice scent and the tossing 
round
and round made them soft. "They'll go in the dryer, big boy," I said.

Blue jeans and I have gone through a familiar adventure. Have you? At times, 
we go through life, kind of happy, facing no serious problems, no deep 
heartache
or devastation. And goodness gracious, that was me. And I wouldn't admit 
this to anyone but only to you, dear faithful readers of my blog. In my 
superficial
happy life, I had become a bit stiff with pride, thinking life was in my 
control.

Then like a sudden wave, I ended up facing heartache. I asked myself what 
happened. How did it happen?

I think lots of people have gone through this same cycle. Maybe you have, 
too. And to our surprise, we realize that the heat of adversity, the 
emotional
tossing and the high temperature of pain are precisely the needed thing to 
soften a hardened heart.

But we all fight it, don't we? We opt for the easy way out of any discomfort 
we experience. We'd rather just hang dry and hope that the answers, healing
and triumph would appear.

But God has a divine way. It may be allowing the heat to increase. Could it 
be because that is the only way for us to soften enough to receive His 
healing?
It may be the only way for our life to be refined and give off that sweet 
fragrance, pleasing to Him.

Here are five reminders to help you overcome heartache by enduring the 
necessary heat:

1. Know the grief is temporary.
2. Each trial has a purpose.
3. Each turn or tumble is a test of faith.
4. The reward comes after the refinement.
5. Although the heat may be unbearable, glory will come through.

God said: "...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief 
in all kinds of trials, these have come so that your faith--of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine 
and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
(1 Peter 16:8)

Father, I ask you to show me how to face each trial, each heartache as a 
teaching tool to refine my soul. May you find me shining as gold because of 
your
power at work in me. I thank you for the faith to endure, the patience to 
wait, and the hope to heal. In Jesus's name, amen.

* What heartache are you facing today?
* Is the heat of heartache refining you or is it causing resentment instead?
* How deep is your faith that you will indeed overcome your heartache?

Janet Eckles

If this message resonated with you, please visit Janet's
cyberspace home
for more inspiration.

Announcement:

Does the Bible seem to be full of absurd or contradictory statements and 
propositions? Not sure how to explain them? Join us on Thursdays in February 
for
"Biblical Paradoxes", a mini-series by Suresh Manoharan.

©Copyright 2011 Answers2Prayer | Matt 10:8 "Freely you have received, freely 
give."

Jesus My Peace
WENDY BLIGHT

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the 
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 14:27(NIV)

A few years ago I found myself in one of those busy seasons of life. You 
know, the kind where your calendar is void of white space. Where you spend 
your
days trying to balance the daily tasks that have to be done with the fun 
events that keep you a well-adjusted, delightful-to-be-with co-worker, 
girlfriend,
wife and mom.

Mentally, I thought I was balancing it all well. I was reading my daily 
devotional and praying my neatly ordered list of prayers.

But my body said otherwise.

My spirit felt uneasy. Anxious.

My heart beat erratically.

These symptoms escalated with each passing day.

Night after night, I lay awake counting my heartbeats, faster and faster 
they came. Lack of sleep led to exhaustion. Exhaustion to withdrawal. I felt 
disconnected
from everything around me.

One morning I stepped into the shower. Within moments, I struggled to 
breathe. Inexplicable panic ensued. I flung open the shower door, enveloped 
myself
in a towel and collapsed on the tile floor. Tears poured uncontrollably.

What was happening to me? I felt as if my life … my faith… the very core of 
who I am was unraveling. I felt like a failure.

I mustered what little faith I could find and dropped to my knees. It was 
weak faith, but it was there. And that’s when I realized I needed more. More
of Jesus. The One who is our Peace.

My sweet Savior met me right there on the carpet. He turned my eyes to my 
bedside table where my unopened Bible lay.

My heart ached as I made a startling realization. I had not opened that 
precious book in weeks. Sure, I had been reading my daily devotional. 
Reading what
another woman had to say about the Bible. But I had not been in my Bible, 
listening for what Jesus — God Himself — had to say about His Word.

In fact, I had been spending very little time with Jesus. Not a single time 
did I simply take time to sit quietly with my Lord and Savior.

I crawled over to my precious Bible, cradled it in my hands and opened it. 
With each turn of the page, truths spilled into my empty, thirsty heart … 
truths
to cling to … to pray … to quench my empty, thirsty heart. Truths I want to 
share today.

First, from the Old Testament:

"For to us a child is born … And he will be called … Prince of Peace"
(Isaiah 9:6a& c, NIV).

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because 
they trust in you"
(Isaiah 26:3,NIV).

Then, from the New Testament, including our key verse, too:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this 
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"
(John 16:33,NIV).

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and 
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of 
God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in 
Christ Jesus"
(Philippians 4:6-8,NIV).

Jesus is our Prince of Peace, and His Peace is ours. It’s a fruit of God’s 
Spirit that lives and breathes in those of us who are children of God.

Believe it.

Claim it.

And the key to believing and claiming it? Personalizing and praying these 
truths. When we pray God’s living and active Word (see
Hebrews 4:12),
His Word comes alive in us. It infuses every part of our being.

So, how do we go about personalizing and praying God’s Word?

Here are a few of my prayers.

Thank You, Father, that You will keep me in perfect peace when my heart is 
steadfast, because I trust in You.
(Isaiah 26:3)

Thank You, Father, that You fill me with Your Peace, not the world’s peace. 
It’s a gift from You. And thank You that when Your Peace consumes me, I need
not be anxious, troubled or afraid.
(John 14:26-27)

Father, thank You for the promise that if I will stop being anxious and give 
everything to You in prayer, Your Peace, the peace that transcends all 
understanding,
will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Psalm 4:7-8,
"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in 
safety." (NIV)

A Norvell Note

They Missed Him

Vol. 18 No. 05 | February 1, 2016

Jesus told a story about a father and two sons (no, this is not the story of 
the prodigal son; it is a different father and two sons story of Luke 15),
but there are some similarities, and the group of people He was hoping to 
reach with the stories is likely the same. Jesus came to save all people. 
Not
just the Jews. Not just the Gentiles. Not just Americans. All people. 
However, one group He was especially interested in was His own people. Even 
though,
as John tells us, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not 
receive him. Yet to all who did receive him,…†(John 1:11-12a) 
throughout
his ministry He attempted to get them to believe that He was who He said 
that He was.

This story of the two sons is located in a section of Scripture as Jesus 
moves closer to the cross. Reading through the story again makes it seem 
that
as the cross nears the intensity with which He pleads for the Pharisees and 
Teachers of the law to wake up, listen, and accept Him as their true King.
It seems as if He tells story after story hoping they will open their eyes 
and really see Him. The story of the two sons goes like this:

28 “Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up 
to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the 
vineyard.’

29 “The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better 
of it and went.

30 “The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 
‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went.

31-32 “Which of the two sons did what the father asked?â€

They said, “The first.â€

Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to 
precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right 
road. You
turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even 
when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and 
believe
him. (Matthew 21:28-32, The Message)

It is easy for us, knowing the whole story as many of us do, to call them 
foolish, and blind, and ignorant. “How could be so dull? How could they be
so stubborn?†Before we start showing stones, remember we DO know the 
whole story. We know what happens next. We know that even though He is 
tried, convicted,
beaten, crucified and died, the story did not end there. We know that He 
rose. We know that He is alive! From our perspective it makes no sense that 
they
missed Him.

So, what is our excuse? We have the whole story written down for us in our 
own language, in transactions and paraphrases and interpretations that are 
easy
to read and easy to understand. We can listen to it being read. We can hear 
it from pulpits. We can watch it on video…recorded and live. We have no 
excuse,
yet some us, not them, will still miss Him.

Why? Because He is not the kind of king we want any more than He was the 
kind of king they wanted. We want a king that accepts us as we are and does 
what
we want when we want Him to do it. We do not want a king that tells us how 
to live, how to treat people, and how to express our love to Him. We too 
often
want a king that responds to our requests and demands more, instead of us 
giving allegiance to Him. So, we miss Him.

You may not have heard Him, obeyed Him the first time, or followed Him the 
first time He called out to you. He is still calling. Like the brother in 
the
story, you can change you mind and follow Him now. Don’t miss Him by 
waiting for or hoping for a better king or a different king. Some will miss 
Him.
Some will follow Him. You can. As long as you are able to read these words 
you can. Please, please, please don’t miss Him.

Tom

A Norvell Note © Copyright 2016. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.

Priorities
by Chuck Swindoll

Matthew 6:33

Life is a lot like a coin; you can spend it any way you wish, but you can 
spend it only once. Choosing one thing over all the rest throughout life is 
a
difficult thing to do. This is especially true when the choices are so many 
and the possibilities are so close.

To be completely truthful with you, however, we aren't left with numerous 
possibilities. Jesus Himself gave us the top priority: "But seek first His 
kingdom
and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matt. 
6:33). He said, in effect, "This is your priority; this comes first."

If I am to seek first in my life God's kingdom and God's righteousness, then 
whatever else I do ought to relate to that goal: where I work, with whom I
spend my time, the one I marry, or the decision to remain single. Every 
decision I make ought to be filtered through the Matthew 6:33 filter: where 
I put
my money, where and how I spend my time, what I buy, what I sell, what I 
give away.

Living out the kingdom life means that everything must remain before the 
throne and under the authority of the ruler. Everything must be held 
loosely.

What tangibles are you holding onto? What are you gripping tightly? Have 
they become your security? Are you a slave to some image? Some name you're 
trying
to live up to? Some job? Some possession? Some person? Let me give you a 
tip. If you cannot let it go, it's a priority to you. It is impossible to be 
a
slave to things or people and at the same time be a faithful servant of God.

Life places before us hundreds of possibilities. Some are bad. Many are 
good. A few, the best. But each of us must decide, "What is my choice? What 
is
my reason for living?" In other words, "What priority takes first place in 
my life?"
Reprinted by permission.

Dear Graduate: Letters of Wisdom from Charles R. Swindoll, Charles R. 
Swindoll, © 2007, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights 
reserved.
Copying or using this material without written permission from the publisher 
is strictly prohibited and in direct violation of copyright law.

Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved 
worldwide.

Would You Drop Your Net?
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon 
called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake,
for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you 
out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him”— 
Matthew
4:18-20(NIV).

Our Sunday school class is currently studying the gospel of Matthew. 
Recently, we read the passages about the calling of His first disciples to 
follow
Him. We began to wonder why these working-class men would drop their fishing 
nets, walk away from their livelihood, their families and friends to follow
someone they barely knew.

As we discussed the passages, I read my Bible commentary which explained 
Jesus had encountered Peter and Andrew before in the Jordan region, where 
Andrew
(and perhaps Peter as well) had become a disciple of John the Baptist.

The commentary also explained that the two brothers had left John to follow 
Jesus for a time before returning to their fishing in Capernaum. Fishing 
wasn’t
a hobby for these men. It is how they supported themselves and their 
families. Now, Jesus has shown up at the Sea of Galilee where he calls them 
to follow
Him in long-term discipleship.

What would you do if Jesus showed up at your workplace or on your doorstep 
and asked you to drop everything to follow Him? Would you make excuses or 
would
you follow?

“But Jesus, what about my family? Who is going to take care of them?”

“You’re kidding, right Jesus? You know I have other things I must attend to. 
I’m needed to lead the choir at church.” Or “I can’t Jesus. What would
my friends and family say? They’ll think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Not me, Jesus. I’m not the right one. I have nothing to offer. Look at me—I’m 
old.” Or “I’m too young.”

The disciples didn’t offer excuses. Instead, scripture says they left their 
nets and other occupations and followed Jesus. Later in Matthew 16:24, Jesus
says to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves 
and take up their cross and follow me.”

Many people interpret “cross” as a burden they must carry—a physical 
illness, a tense relationship, a demanding job or some other unpleasant 
situation.
Instead, Jesus was asking them if they were willing to die in order to 
follow Him. Called a “dying to self,” it’s a call to absolute surrender.

What would it look like if every Christian who professed love for Christ 
surrendered completely to Him? Read and reflect on the final stanza of this 
poem
by United Methodist clergy Beth A. Richardson. Then, ask yourself what you 
would say if Jesus showed up today and said, “Follow me.”

“Walk with me in the countryside, in the inner city.
Walk with me in places of joy and places of sorrow.
Leave your preconceived notions, your five-year strategies.
Set down your anger and your prejudices,
And see the world as I see it.
It doesn’t matter where we are going,
Just follow me.”

I always love hearing from my readers. Please feel free to email me with 
your thoughts about this post and please feel free to share this post with 
others.
Thank you for subscribing!
For more inspiration, visit my blog at
carolaround.com
Copyright © 2015 Carol Round, All rights reserved.

Experiencing LIFE Today

Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, 
through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of 
God
as He has revealed Himself. – John MacArthur

In the Old Testament, a special tent (called the tabernacle) was always 
placed in the center of the Jewish community with everyone's tents pitched 
around
it and facing towards it. They knew that the worship of God was to be the 
center of their life. They knew that the reason we have a life at all is to 
reflect
God's glory back to Him and others. So they built their community and the 
schedule of their day around this special place of worship.

Yes, worship can take on many different forms: music, poetry, painting, 
carpentry, and even accounting (?!). Yes, worship can be expressed through 
every
kind of action: dancing, laughter, labor, rest, silence, service, and even 
singing (?!). Worship is so encompassing because it's an expression of our 
heart
and the decision of our will. It's a conscious choice to realize that God is 
"the center" of our communities and our personal lives. As the Jews placed
the tabernacle in the center of their community, we place Jesus as Lord in 
the center of our hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. – 
Psalm 95:6

The beautiful hymn of worship by Francis R. Havergal (1836-1879) written in 
the last years of her life says it so much better than I can. May the words
of this song be the prayer of our hearts today!

God,

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Amen.

Listen to Pete, Jill & Stuart Briscoe on the
Telling the Truth broadcast
at OnePlace.com


The Detours of Discontent

Why does it seem so easy to go from living the abundant life that Christ 
promised to living a life that is bleak and frustrating? How do our hearts 
get
disengaged from these spiritual activities, leaving us to simply go through 
the motions of attending church and reading the
Bible?
Where did we go wrong? How can we find our way back?

There are four primary detours that throw us off course in our Christian 
walk. They are designed by the enemy to keep us restless and to steal our 
peace
and joy. The first detour is an unwillingness to confront our weaknesses. We 
all have weaknesses which cause us pain. We may have a physical weakness 
that
has led us to depression. We may have a moral weakness that leads us into 
sin. We may have a character flaw or a lack of spiritual discipline. 
Whatever
our weaknesses are—whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual—they 
can lead to discontentment if we do not apply God's grace to those areas.

Paul wrote, "But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my 
power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more 
gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (2 Corinthians 
12:9). If we find that God's grace is not sufficient for us, then that 
insufficiency
is signaling a problem—either we are focusing too much on the problem itself 
and not on God's grace, or we are ignoring our weaknesses altogether. As 
Paul
explains, the secret to dealing with weaknesses is to trust in God's grace, 
allowing Him to give us victory in those areas.

Another dangerous detour to contentment is legalism. Legalism elevates our 
rules to the same importance as God's commandments, whether the rules are 
moralistic
guidelines, worship etiquette, or additional conditions to salvation. Yet no 
matter how well-intentioned these manmade rules may be, they are inferior
to God's commandments. When we follow our faulty human thinking instead of 
God's perfect ways, we will find ourselves headed for discontentment. We can
never live up to our own harsh standards, and every time we fail we lose 
another piece of our joy. Only God's grace gives us the peace of 
salvation—not
God's grace plus our church attendance or our charitable activities or who 
we associate with. Jesus did it all on the cross. "For it is
by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by 
works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

The pitfall of pride can also lead us away from contentment. Pride lurks at 
the core of our weaknesses. Pride deceptively presents itself as 
righteousness
when in reality it is self-serving. Pride hinders our prayers as we lose 
focus on bringing glory to God in all things. Pride arrogantly shifts our 
confidence
in God to confidence in ourselves. Yet as imperfect humans, we will fail 
ourselves. Our focus on ourselves will only lead to discontentment. The 
Bible
tells us, "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God 
opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'" (James 4:6).

A fourth detour from contentment is a lack of generosity. Even when life 
grows financially difficult, a generous person can remain joyful. God wants 
us
to give out of love and gratitude to Him, not out of obligation or for the 
sake of appearances. God is concerned with the heart of our giving.

The gospel of Mark gives us an example of generous and wholehearted giving. 
"Jesus…watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many
rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two 
very small copper coins…Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow 
has
put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their 
wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live 
on'"
(Mark 12:41-44).

Have you experienced a detour in your Christian walk? Are you allowing your 
weaknesses to drive you further from God? Has a legalistic mindset shifted
your focus from God's grace to manmade rituals and rules? Are you allowing 
pride to determine your own path? Has your generosity crumbled? Seek God's 
forgiveness
today for whatever has caused you to stumble in your relationship with Him. 
Ask for His help to overcome that roadblock and to lead you back toward 
contentment
in Him alone.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of 
hrist." -Philippians 3:7

****

End Times and the Secret of Mahdi

When war, terrorism, persecution, and fear threaten to overwhelm us, where 
do we look for hope? In his highly anticipated new book, End Times and the 
Secret
of the Mahdi, Dr. Michael Youssef demystifies the book of Revelation and 
highlights its relevance to our lives today. You’ll be shocked at the 
parallels
between the central figure of Islamic prophecy, the Mahdi, and the 
Antichrist depicted in Revelation—and filled with hope as you see the 
unfolding of God’s
master plan for eternity.

Pre-order
your copy of End Times and the Secret of the Mahdi by February 22 and you’ll 
receive a free digital download package. Your book will ship the week of
the book’s release on February 23.

Visit us today at
http://www.ltw.org/

Listen to
Michael Youssef
on Today's Broadcast of "
Leading The Way"
at OnePlace.com

Speak of Jesus' Wonderful Love

2 Samuel 1:26

Come, dear readers, let each one of us speak for himself of the wonderful 
love, not of Jonathan, but of Jesus. We will not relate what we have been 
told,
but the things that we have tasted and handled--of the love of Christ. Your 
love to me, O Jesus, was wonderful when I was a stranger wandering far from
You, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Your love 
restrained me from committing the sin that is unto death and withheld me 
from self-destruction.
Your love held back the axe when Justice said, "Cut it down! Why does it 
clutter the ground?"

Your love drew me into the wilderness, stripped me there, and made me feel 
the guilt of my sin and the burden of my iniquity. Your love spoke 
comfortably
to me when I was deeply troubled--"Come to Me, and I will give you rest." 
Oh, how matchless Your love when, in a moment, You washed my sins away and 
made
my polluted soul, which was crimson with the blood of my nativity and black 
with the grime of my transgressions, to be white as the driven snow and pure
as the finest wool.

How You commended Your love when You whispered in my ears, "I am yours, and 
you are Mine." Those were kind words when you declared, "The Father Himself
loves you." And sweet were the moments when You commended to me the love of 
the Spirit.

My soul shall never forget those chambers of fellowship where You unveiled 
Yourself to me. Moses had his cleft in the rock, where he saw the train, the
back parts, of his God. We, too, have had our clefts in the rock, where we 
have seen the full splendors of the Godhead in the person of Christ. Did 
David
remember the tracks of the wild goat, the land of Jordan and the Hermonites? 
We, too, can remember spots dear to our memory, equal to these in 
blessedness.
Precious Lord Jesus, give us a fresh taste of Your wondrous love with which 
to begin the month. Amen.

Family
Bible
reading plan

verse 1 Esther 9, 10

verse 2 Romans 4

Respectable Sins

Whatever happened to sin? Author Jerry Bridges asks if
Christians
have become so preoccupied with the major sins of society that we’ve lost 
sight of our need to deal with our own more subtle sins? Bestselling author
Dr. Bridges returns to his trademark theme of holiness and addresses a dozen 
clusters of specific “acceptable” sins that we tend to tolerate in ourselves
– such as jealously, anger, pride, unthankfulness, and judgmentalism. 
Writing not from a height of spiritual accomplishment, but from the trenches 
of his
own battles with sin, Jerry Bridges offers a message of hope in the profound 
mercy of the Gospel and the transforming grace of God as the means to 
overcome
our subtle sins


From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. 
Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News 
Publishers,
Wheaton, IL 60187,
www.crossway.org.