THE MASTERS LIST Dean W. Masters

A Note of Encouragement
from Ciloa
A crowd of people walking in all directions
Encourage one another to encourage others.We all need encouragement.
Encouraging to encourage
Volume XVI, Issue 5
February 1, 2016
On December 6, 2015, 12Stone Church did something unusual. Rather than 
taking up a Christmas offering, they gave one away. Each household was 
provided
an envelope in exchange for a commitment: Seek God, then use this to bless 
others.

With many others, I walked to the front and received my mysterious envelope. 
Then at the proper time, I opened mine. Nestled inside was a 
crisp...real...$100
bill.

That day 12Stone gave around $800,000 to its members scattered across 9 
campuses. The goal was to bless those in need in the surrounding 
communities, a
project two years in the making.

Half of a US 100 Dollar bill
My first thoughts were of people who could use the funds, and there were 
many. (My second thoughts concerned upgrading my computer. God frowned and I 
quickly
returned to blessing others.)

But my plan was out of order. I was not to focus on who could use the money 
or what it might provide. My first task was to seek God. He would lead us to
the right person and best use.

For days Beverly and I prayed about this. Father, who do you want us to 
bless with this? But while we continued to have a flood of ideas, they were 
our
ideas. Nothing had God's hand on it.

So we waited as others shared wonderful stories of people being blessed. But 
for us...no divine sign, no writing on the wall, no burning bush. Each day
I felt a little more guilty and annoyed that the money was still in my 
pocket. I've never wanted so badly to get rid of $100.

Then one day Beverly and I decided to have breakfast at a local Waffle 
House* and give the money away. There was no mysterious message to do that, 
but
we were desperate. Oddly enough, for no apparent reason, we did not go to 
Waffle House but to Denny's**.

Our server was a nice, ever-smiling young lady. We ordered (I got some egg 
affair) and talked to her a bit. She had just returned from Illinois with 
her
young children and was working a lot of hours to support her family.

After she left, Beverly and I huddled. SHE WAS THE ONE! We had no idea why, 
but at least we were certain that she was God's choice. The waiting was 
finally
over.

When she returned, we shared what our church had done and that God had told 
us to give her something. As she opened the small red envelope, tears filled
her eyes.

God rewards those who diligently seek Him
Amid many an emotional "Thank you", she told us how a car had run a red 
light, smashing into her car. She and her children were fine, but the car 
was destroyed,
leaving her in a difficult financial situation. This act of kindness meant 
more to her than we could possibly know. But God knew.

Feeling all warm and fuzzy? Here's something I'd like you to think about.

Every act of encouragement brings joy not only to the recipient, but to the 
encourager as well. When we encourage others, we are encouraged by the very
encouragement we freely give. How like God to lead us into giving so that we 
might receive through following Him!

Encouraging one another to encourage others. There's something important in 
that...for all of us.
Take care & be God's, Chuck
* Waffle House is a chain of restaurants devoted to delicious waffles, 
pancakes, hash browns, and an assortment of other items capable of 
immediately sending
a Diabetic, such as myself, into a carb-induced state of shock and coma. 
Still tasty though.

** See above regarding Waffle House.
Ciloa is a registered trademark of Ciloa, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) 
organization.


The Attraction of Gracious Giving
by Chuck Swindoll

2 Corinthians 9:7

When I consider the magnetic effects of gracious giving, four qualities 
immediately emerge. First, grace is so attractive: Grace individualizes the 
gift.
When you give by grace, you give individually. You give proportionately to 
your own income. You have needs and you have an income to meet those needs.
That combination is unlike anyone else's on earth. You are an individual. 
When you give on that basis, your gift is an individual kind of gift. We are
not all shoved into a tank, blended together, then "required" to give 
exactly 10 percent. (Though if everyone gave 10 percent, we would have such 
an enormous
surplus in God's work we would not know what to do with the extra . . . but 
I'm sure we'd quickly find out.) It is much more individualized than that.
Grace, remember, brings variety and spontaneity.

Here's the second reason grace is so attractive: Grace makes the action 
joyfully spontaneous. "Not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a 
cheerful
giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). I never have been able to understand why 
everyone in the church looks so serious during the offering. Wouldn't it be 
great
if when the offering plates are passed in church next Sunday that instead of 
grim looks, stoic silence, and soft organ music you heard laughter? I can
just imagine: "Can you believe we're doing this?" "Put it in the plate, 
honey. Isn't this great? Put it in!" . . . followed by little ripples of 
laughter
and applause across the place of worship. Wonderful! Why not? Deep within 
the heart there is an absence of any compulsion, only spontaneous laughter. 
The
word cheerful is literally a Greek term from which we get the word 
"hilarious." "God loves a hilarious giver."

Now for a third reason grace is so attractive: Grace enables us to link up 
with God's supply line. Look at verse 8 of 2 Corinthians 9: "And God is able
to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in 
everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed." When we possess 
an
attitude of grace, we give. We give ourselves. We give from what we earn. 
And He, in turn, gives back in various ways, not matching gift for gift, but
in an abundance of ways, He goes beyond.

Fourth: Grace leads to incomparable results. "Because of the proof given by 
this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession
of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them 
and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because
of the surpassing grace of God in you" (2 Corinthians 9:13–14).

Taken from The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 
2003 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Published by 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. Used by permission.
Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved 
worldwide.

Five Purposes for Suffering

For those who love God, all things work unto good, for those called 
according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

We seldom know the micro reasons for our sufferings, but the Bible does give 
us faith-sustaining macro reasons.

It is good to have a way to remember some of these so that when we are 
suddenly afflicted, or have a chance to help others in their affliction, we 
can
recall some of the truths God has given us to help us not lose hope.

Here is one way to remember: 5 R’s (or if it helps, just pick three and try 
to remember them).

The macro purposes of God in our sufferings include:

Repentance: Suffering is a call for us and others to turn from treasuring 
anything on earth above God.
Luke 13:4–5:

. . . Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do 
you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in
Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise 
perish.

Reliance: Suffering is a call to trust God and not the life-sustaining props 
of the world.
2 Corinthians 1:8–9:

We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life 
itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that
was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Righteousness: Suffering is the discipline of our loving heavenly Father so 
that we come to share his holiness.
Hebrews 12:6,
10–11:

The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he 
receives. . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his 
holiness.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later 
it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained
by it.

Reward: Suffering is working for us a great reward in heaven that will make 
up for every loss here a thousand-fold.
2 Corinthians 4:17:

This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of 
glory beyond all comparison.

Reminder: Suffering reminds us that God sent his Son into the world to 
suffer so that our suffering would not be God’s condemnation but his 
purification.

Philippians 3:10:

. . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share 
his sufferings.

Copyright Information

This devotional is written by John Piper. For more information about Piper's 
ministry, writing, and books, visit DesiringGod.org.

Lincoln’s Providence

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How 
unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
(Romans 11:33)

Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this day in 1809, remained skeptical, and 
at times even cynical, about religion into his forties. So it is a most 
striking
thing how personal and national suffering drew Lincoln into the reality of 
God, rather than pushing him away.

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. 
Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age 
mediums.”
Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian 
Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” 
Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the 
overwhelming
conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. 
There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the
Capitol held 2,000 cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of 
this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but 
believe,
that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the 
Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was 
assassinated.
It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or 
Confederate cause. He has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either 
side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war 
might speedily pass away . . . .

Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the 
bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until 
every drop
of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the 
sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the 
judgments
of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.

I pray for all of you who suffer loss and injury and great sorrow that it 
will awaken for you, as it did for Lincoln, not an empty nihilism, but a 
deeper
reliance on the infinite wisdom and love of God’s inscrutable providence.
Copyright Information

This devotional is written by John Piper. For more information about Piper's 
ministry, writing, and books, visit DesiringGod.org.



All the Poor and Powerless
David Mathis / January 30, 2016
All the Poor and Powerless

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet 
for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become 
rich. —2
Corinthians 8:9

Christianity is not for the self-sufficient. It’s not a religion for the 
rich and the strong. Jesus didn’t come to comfort the well-to-do and rally 
those
who have their lives all in order. He didn’t come to gather the good, but 
the bad. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17).

This is one of the great paradoxes of the gospel. It is the poor he makes 
rich, the weak he makes strong, the foolish he makes wise, the guilty he 
makes
righteous, the dirty he makes clean, the lonely he loves, the worthless he 
values, the lost he finds, the have-nots who stunningly become the haves — 
not
mainly in this age, but in the new creation to come.

The Paradox of the Gospel

It is not the emotionally endowed that he blesses, but the poor in spirit 
(Matthew 5:3). It is not the buoyant and boisterous he comforts, but those 
who
mourn (Matthew 5:4). Not the prideful, but the meek (Matthew 5:5).

He promises in Hosea 2:23, “I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to 
Not My People, ‘You are my people.’” Our Father loves to show himself strong
by being the strength of the weak, by showing mercy to those who otherwise 
receive no mercy. To take people that typically would hear “not my people,”
and make them his people.

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

In Luke 18:9–14, Jesus tells us about two different men who came to worship. 
One, a Pharisee, thinks himself a good, impressive person. The other, a tax
collector, comes keenly aware of his unworthiness, not just acknowledging 
his sin, but feeling deeply undeserving before God.

The Pharisee prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, 
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (Luke 
18:11). Meanwhile,
all the tax collector can muster is, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” 
(Luke 18:13).

Jesus, then, gives us this commentary: It is the unrighteous tax collector 
whom God graciously declares to be righteous, not the Pharisee. The 
Pharisee,
who trusted in himself that he was righteous, is the one cast out. Explains 
Jesus, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

This Is Good News

There is a great beauty to our God being the strength of the weak, and the 
riches of the poor. It is truly good news to those of us who will 
acknowledge
how needy we really are, how weak our hearts can be, how poor we really are 
in spirit. What good news that we have a God like this: who takes the 
foolish,
the weak, and the lowly — like us — and makes us into trophies of his grace, 
for his glory and for our joy.

This is indeed a message worth screaming from the mountains and telling to 
the masses.

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

Worship Initiative Volume 1

Desiring God partnered with Shane & Shane’s
Copyright © 2016 Desiring God, all rights reserved


nourish

Why Share the Gospel?

God hasn't blessed you over the years with all the truth you've heard in 
church or read in books to keep it to yourself. Have you seen the TV 
programs
that show the lifestyle of what they call hoarders? I'm not talking about 
people who just keep a few things too long. These are people who've filled 
their
homes, their garages, and every square inch of their space with stuff. It 
takes days to clear it out.

Sometimes as Christians we can be the same way—hoarding all God has given us 
and never sharing it with others. Remember this: you are blessed to be a 
blessing.
So let's get the idea out of our heads that sharing our faith is something 
we can't do or something miserable to engage in. Nothing could be further 
from
the truth.


Jesus told us there is joy in heaven over every sinner who comes to 
repentance. (See Luke 15:7.) If heaven gets excited, we should get excited, 
too!

No doubt about it, new believers are the lifeblood of the church. They also 
are the lifeblood of the Christian. We all need new believers in our lives.
We need to deepen and ground them. In turn, they reignite and excite us.

You show me a church that doesn't have a constant flow of new Christians 
coming in, and I'll show you a church that's stagnating.

We have a choice: EVANGELIZE or FOSSILIZE!

Tell Someone by Greg Laurie
Excerpted from Tell Someone by Greg Laurie.
© 2015. LifeWay Press.

4 Reasons Christians Should Stop Smiling
Jordan Sok

When I was in kindergarten I thought I had to show all of my teeth when I 
smiled for a photo. It didn’t matter what clever technique my mother tried 
to
use, I wasn’t going to grasp the concept of a natural smile. Needless to 
say, she didn’t have to worry about spending a ton of money on school 
pictures
that year.

But as I got older, I actually became pretty good at smiling. Scratch that. 
I became great at smiling.

In fact, I became so great at smiling that I eventually decided it had to go 
hand-in-hand with my Christianity. I believed in God with every fiber of my
being, and I knew He saved me. So how couldn’t I smile?

If I wanted others to know this God, they needed to see how happy He made 
me…right?

Then freshman year of college hit.

And my world fell in on me.

My close-knit family was struggling, and we didn’t feel so close-knit 
anymore. In fact, I was rarely calling or visiting home like I used to.

Instead of starting on the softball team, I was spending the season on the 
bench. I had a uniform, but I didn’t feel like I was a part of the team.

Home didn’t feel like home and campus certainly didn’t feel like home.

But I held onto the one thing I knew I had to as a Christian.

My smile.

It didn’t matter that my weight was dropping and I was barely sleeping out 
of anxiety. It didn’t matter that I began doubting God or my purpose.

I smiled.

I wish I could say that by sophomore year I found my joy in Christ again, 
but I didn’t.

Instead, I kept the mess at home hidden, and the mess within in me hidden. I 
figured if no one could see it, it would just go away. I just had to keep
smiling and acting like I was a joyful Christian and soon enough I would be.

But the mess didn’t disappear. It kept growing inside of me until it 
consumed me. Smiling began feeling like I was lifting a 200-pound weight. 
And by that
time, I had spent enough time in the weight room. I could lift it, no matter 
how loud my mind and body screamed at me not to.

And the ironic thing is, I now know the thing keeping me from living in the 
joy of Christ was the thing I held most dear: my smile.

After finally learning to unveil my mess, I’ve realized four reasons why 
Christians should stop smiling in a season of sorrow:

1. There is a season to be sad.
Scripture makes it clear that it is not “un-Christian” to be sad or to 
mourn. In fact, sadness is a major aspect of the true Christian life. I far 
too
long believed a false theology- that my (fake) happiness meant I was walking 
with God. Instead, I was walking away from Him. By not embracing the season
God has us in, we choose not to walk with Him through the season.

2. Our sorrow dethrones us and puts God in the proper place.
In the happy times, it’s easy to feel like we are in control of our lives. 
It often takes us hitting rock bottom to realize that we’re not. But it’s in
those sobering, tear-filled moments that we turn our dependency away from 
ourselves and to our Savior. And we remember that He is not only worthy of 
our
lives, but he is a much better director of them.

3. God gives us joy in the midst of sorrow.
It’s here that the irony sets in. When we sit God at the throne of our 
hearts, we have an indescribable joy. It’s this joy that so many Christians 
hear
about and think they have to fake. But faking isn’t necessary, because the 
joy is real when God is in the proper place, and it is unlike anything we 
could
ever manufacture. I did have about three paragraphs here attempting to 
describe this joy…then I remembered it’s simply indescribable.

4. God uses our sorrow for His purpose.
When we slap on a fake smile to cover the mess within, we are covering the 
beauty of the Gospel. Jesus didn’t die for us because we are perfect beings.
He died because of the opposite. Unveiling our mess makes way for our 
Master.

Somehow this often becomes twisted in the church. We smile pretty. Act like 
our lives our pretty. Give pretty, Sunday school answers. Then we are 
shocked
at the multitude of unbelievers around us. Why would anyone messy think they 
could approach God when Christians seem to have no messes? Exposing our mess
in light of the Gospel is the most powerful thing we could ever do on this 
side of heaven (
2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

I don’t know what mess you may be facing, but I do know you exposing it is 
the holiest choice you can make. It’s hard. It’s awkward. It’s worth it.

Let go of the weight, my friend.

You can stop smiling.

Jordan Sok is a 20-something writer, Christian and newlywed. Her personal
blog
encourages her readers to “embrace the awkward,” because the way she sees 
it, a lot of “awkwardness” is simply feeling uncomfortable because something
is out of the norm. And maybe that is a good thing. Her
blog
focuses on a mixture of topics surrounding the 20-something Christian life- 
the good, the bad, and the funny. Oh, and the awkward.

Publication date: January 26, 2016

Valentines & Love Letters

"The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an 
everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3, 
NIV)

"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I 
will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." 
(Isaiah 43:4, NIV)

I believe everyone likes to receive a valentine or to hear someone say they 
love you. In the Scriptures above from two different prophets we hear God 
saying that He loves us. Later He actually showed us how much He loved us by 
sending his Son Jesus Christ to come to earth and die for us.

There is a song about the greatest valentine ever written. The song is 
“Written in Red” and was sung by Janet Paschal. It said that God wrote His 
love on Calvary and has done so through the years with the nail pierced 
hands of Jesus Christ. Calvary said, “I love you” and it was a message 
written in red.

God spoke to me through that song during a time when a lot was happening in 
my life. He sent it just when I needed to hear it. God can speak through 
songs and other ways but the main way he speaks is through His Word the 
Bible. Some have called it God’s Love Letter.

Once I was told by a woman that she was cleaning house and found some 
letters that she had received from her husband many years earlier when he 
went to boot camp right after they got married. She also found the letters 
she and other family members had sent to him. Can you imagine what she did 
when she got a letter from him? Did she put it down and think, “I’ll get to 
it later and read it.” No, she probably couldn’t wait to read it. That is 
the way we need to be about God’s Love Letter. WE need to want to read it 
daily. Before we read we need to ask Him, “Lord, what message do you have 
for me today from your Word?”

The Bible is also like a letter from home. This woman’s husband probably 
couldn’t wait to read the letters from home. WE Christians are not home. AS 
one song I heard said, “We are not home yet.” Heaven is our home. WE should 
want to find out what message our Father has for us each day. WE should want 
to read His Word as our letter from home.

Prayer

Holy Father, we thank you for your great love. Thank you for the greatest 
valentine ever written. Thank you Jesus for dying for us. Father, You have 
drawn us. Continue to draw us. You know we love You, help us to love You 
more. Give us a hunger and a thirst for You and your Word. In the name of 
Jesus Christ, Amen.

by Dean W. Masters

When You Hate Valentine’s Day
AMY CARROLL

"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all 
their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who 
are
crushed in spirit."
Psalm 34:17-18
(NIV)

I remember the year I skipped Valentine’s Day and created my own personal 
boycott. I glared at cards and roses in the store as I shopped, snorted at 
commercials
with lovey-dovey messages, turned my head away from couples holding hands 
and built a wall of protection around my aching heart.

Just months before I stared uncomprehendingly across the table as my first 
love and fiancé repeated his previous sentence, "I just don’t know if I can
be faithful to you for the rest of our lives."

Suddenly, I felt an unfamiliar feeling. Instead of being drawn to this man, 
I had the overwhelming need to flee. My ears heard my mouth form the words,
"Then I guess I can’t marry you," as I stood and walked out of the student 
union.

In the exhaustion of mid-finals study, my tired mind and thudding heart 
could hardly grasp what had just happened. Not only had I allowed myself to 
love
deeply and completely, but I was convinced marrying that man was God’s plan 
for me.

Until that moment. When it all shattered.

Where once I felt loved, I now felt rejected. Where once I felt secure, I 
felt rocked. Where once I felt sure of my happy future, I now felt lonely 
and
unsure of myself.

The despair lasted for months; the fog just wouldn’t lift. I kept trying to 
fix things, but the relationship was too broken. Still, I couldn’t seem to
move on.

I continued my regular activities with a plastic smile to cover my broken 
heart. I even went to church and kept going through the spiritual motions, 
but
instead of turning to God for healing, I withdrew inside.

One night, alone in my apartment, I felt God drawing me. At first I 
resisted. Finally, with a sense of dread (I was convinced God was angry with 
me for
pushing Him away), I lay flat on my bedroom with my face to the floor. 
Waiting for God’s wrath, I experienced in a way I’ve never felt before or 
since,
the overwhelming, physical presence of God’s love. He surrounded me, 
enveloped me, comforted me and began healing me.

Maybe you’re facing Valentine’s Day this year without that loving feeling. 
Maybe you’ve been betrayed by a friend, rejected by someone you love or 
rocked
by a bad romance.

Can I gently remind you of an important truth? A truth that made all the 
difference to me?

If you are God’s child, you are involved in the greatest love story ever 
created. Jesus created you, knows you inside and out, and loves you from the 
top
of your head to the tips of your toes. You can celebrate love this year just 
like everyone else, knowing that you’ve got a deeper understanding than 
anything
that’s advertised or on the shelves in a store.

Twenty-seven years later, I think back to those devastating days with a wry 
smile. The younger version of myself, who thought that things couldn’t get
better, has walked through the hurt into a future that has turned out to be 
bright — not perfect, but definitely joyful.

Jesus was there through every painful step of those early days of break-up, 
and He truly used heartbreak to do good things in me. Although I couldn’t 
see
it then, God, in His infinite goodness, was there cupping His loving hands 
around my broken heart and shaping something beautiful. Even if you can’t 
see
or feel that healing at work, I can confidently tell you He’s doing it for 
you even now.

God, I come to You shattered and brokenhearted but with a heart full of 
faith. I believe You not only can heal me but You can turn this despair into 
joy.
You can use my healed hurt to make me more compassionate. I pray You would 
give me the determination to celebrate Your love story this Valentine’s Day.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
John 15:9,
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." 
(NIV)

Zephaniah 3:17,
"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice 
over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice 
over
you with singing." (NKJV)



5 Ways to Survive Love Season
LYSA TERKEURST

"We love because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19
(NIV)

February 15th can be a really tough day. No, you aren’t reading that wrong. 
That’s the day after Valentine’s Day.

As long as it’s February 14th, there’s still hope for someone to bring you a 
flower … give you a chocolate something … sing you a song … write you a poem
… say, "You complete me" … you get the picture.

But then the clock strikes midnight and disappointment takes you by the hand 
and wants to chat for a while. Today’s unmet expectations become tomorrow’s
frustrations.

So, February 15th rolls around and suddenly the full impact of whatever was 
lacking on February 14th hits full force.

For my single friends it can feel like "Single Awareness Day."

For my married friends it can feel like "the gaps in my marriage were so 
highlighted by yesterday’s lack."

I’ve felt both of these.

But I’m challenged to check my heart on this. I mean really check my heart. 
Here are five ways I’m challenging myself to not just survive but really 
thrive
this love season:

1. What am I doing that’s feeding my expectations?

Maybe right now isn’t the best time to read a romance novel or watch movies 
with lines in them like, "You had me at hello" or "You complete me."

2. What am I doing that comforts me in the moment but makes me feel awful 
just hours later?

Hint … put down the ice cream and don’t mix up the cookie dough. Just 
because the cookies aren’t baked doesn’t mean the calories don’t exist. 
(This is
just a totally hypothetical situation, of course.)

3. Who can I bless this Valentine’s Day?

Instead of waiting to be loved, I should make the decision to give love. I 
have so many friends who need to know someone is thinking about them right 
now.
And there are wonderful ministry opportunities to reach out to those in 
need.

There is so much joy to be had when we seek to invest loving acts into 
others’ lives.

4. What can I put on my schedule with my friends or loved ones that will 
make me look forward to this season of love?

Instead of waiting to be asked, I can get proactive. If I have something to 
look forward to on my schedule, it gives my heart such a boost.

5. Am I believing the "if only" lie?

If only I had a boyfriend. If only I had a husband. If only I had a more 
romantic husband. "If only" can do quite a number on our hearts. Refuse to 
paint
these pictures of Egypt.

Egypt — huh? Let me explain.

I got this thought from reading the Old Testament story about what happened 
to the Israelites when they were freed from captivity in Egypt. At first 
they
were happy. And then when life got hard en route to the Promised Land, they 
started believing the "if only" lie … if only they’d never left Egypt they’d
have pots of meat to eat.

How quickly they forgot the miracles God had performed to free them. How 
easily they dismissed the fact they were once mistreated slaves in Egypt!

And while part of me is tempted to judge them for their forgetfulness, I 
know I can be found doing the same thing. It’s so easy to forget the good we 
have
and paint the picture that our lives would be better "if only." That’s why I’m 
determined to replace my "If only I had … I could" scripts with "Because
I am … I can."

Because I am loved by God, I can boss lies around.

Because I am loved by God, I can be so thankful for the people I do have in 
my life.

Because I am loved by God, I can choose to make this love season wonderful.

I pray these questions and ideas help. And I pray we make
1 John 4:19
our declaration this year as we choose to give love instead of waiting for 
love to come our way: "We love because he first loved us."

Father God, thank You for helping me to look at Valentine’s Day in a new and 
fresh way — not as a day where I strive to get love, but as the perfect 
opportunity
for me to give love. Fill me to overflowing today with the knowledge of just 
how loved I am by You, and show me where I can spill that great love onto
others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Ephesians 3:17b-
18,
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, 
together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and 
high
and deep is the love of Christ." (NIV)


Today's Daily Encounter

The Story of Valentine's Day

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends."1

In ancient Rome, the 14th of February was a pagan
holiday in honor of Juno, the goddess of women and
marriage and the queen of the Roman Gods and goddesses.

Later, however, it became a Christian holiday named
after a Christian priest. An Internet report says that,
"According to church tradition St. Valentine was a
priest near Rome about the year 270 A.D. At that time
the Roman Emperor was imprisoning Christians for not
worshipping the Roman gods. During this persecution
Valentine was arrested. Some say he was arrested
because he was performing Christian marriages, but
others say it was for helping Christians escape prison.

"During the trial they asked Valentine what he thought
of the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury. Of course
Valentine said they were false gods and that the God
that Jesus called Father was the only true God. So the
Romans threw him in prison for insulting the gods.

"While in prison Valentine continued to minister. He
witnessed to the guards. One of the guards was a good
man who had adopted a blind girl. He asked Valentine if
his God could help his daughter. Valentine prayed and
the girl was given her sight. The guard and his whole
family, 46 people, believed in Jesus and were baptized.
When the emperor heard about this, he was furious that
Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so
he had Valentine clubbed and beheaded.

"Valentine knew that he might get caught in his
Christian activities. He knew that if he told the court
the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown
in prison. And he knew that if he continued to witness
to Christ in the prison he would make his captors
angry. But he continued because he loved the Lord and
his fellow humans. He was willing to risk his life to
free the prisoners and spread the Good News of Jesus
Christ to those who needed to hear it." (Source
unknown.)

According to Bob McIlhenny, high school teacher,
Valentine and the prisoner's daughter that had been
blind developed a special friendship, and, before he
was executed, Valentine wrote her a note of
encouragement and signed it "Your Valentine." From this
sad situation we now celebrate Valentine's Day as a
special day for expressing love and friendship.

As Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that
he lay down his life for his friends." This is what
Valentine did. He loved and cared enough for his
friends and loved ones (including his jailors) to
introduce them to Jesus at the risk of his life, which
he gave.

And this is what God did for us. While we were still
sinners Jesus died for us. So on this Valentine's Day
let us be quick to express our love, not only to our
loved ones and friends, but also especially to the Lord
Jesus Christ who gave His life so that we would be able
to have our sins forgiven and live with God forever in
heaven.

"Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank You that You so
loved the world that You gave Your Son Jesus to die on
the cross for my sins. And Lord Jesus, I thank You from
the bottom of my heart for loving me enough to die on
the cross in my place to pay the just penalty for all
my sins. Because You died for me so I could live
forever, help me to live always in all ways for You.
Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer.
Gratefully in Jesus's name. Amen."

1. Jesus, John 15:12-13 (NIV).

<:((((><

NOTE: If you would like to accept God's forgiveness
for all your sins and His invitation for a full pardon
Click on:
http://www.actsweb.org/invitation.php.
Or
if you would like to re-commit your life to Jesus Christ,
please click on
http://www.actsweb.org/decision.php
to note this.

* * * * * * *

Daily Encounter is published at no charge by
ACTS International, a non-profit organization,
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Copyright (c) 2015 by ACTS International.

When copying or forwarding include the following:
"Daily Encounter by Richard (Dick) Innes (c) 2015
ACTS International.


 . Posted by: "Gospel from India" 
Exultation!

"And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." Romans 5:11.

The word “exult” is not used very often. 

What does it mean? 

One definition says “the ultimate joy.” 
When teams and athletes win a championship after many years of workouts and training, there is the exultation. 

But it also means to boast. 
Many modern day athletes are really good at this. 

When they’ve done really well it’s, “World, look at me. Look at how great I am.” 

Yet there’s an occasional athlete, when they’ve done something great, who will look up to the heavens. 
Sometimes they’ll kneel in prayer and thank God, giving Him the glory. 

It’s rare, but it really gives us a kind of understanding about what God’s Word is saying: 
“Not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

In other words, the ultimate joy and the ultimate boasting is-
- when we can boast in the Lord for what God has done. 

This exultation begins when we receive salvation from our sins and are made right with God, deciding to follow Jesus in faith. 

Yet, there is more. 
There will be incredible exultation at the end of this life when we are in the presence of God forever and ever!

The great Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, was speaking in the United States. 

His intellect was so towering that people were in absolute awe of his brilliant mind. 

After he spoke, he had a Q&A time. 

One person stood and asked, “Dr. Barth, what is the greatest thought that has ever entered your mind? What is the greatest thought that your mind has ever experienced?” 

He thought for a moment, and then replied:
“Jesus loves me, this I know. 
For the Bible tells me so.” 

That fact gives us cause for ​​​​exultation!

The Hope of Transformation

I am disappointed with myself. I am disappointed not so much with particular 
things I have done as with aspects of who I have become. I have a nagging
sense that all is not as it should be.

Some of this disappointment is trivial. Some of this disappointment is 
neurotic. Some of this disappointment, I know, is worse than trivial; it is 
simply
the sour fruit of self-absorption.

But some of this disappointment in me runs deeper. When I look in on my 
children as they sleep at night, I think of the kind of father I want to be. 
Then
I remember how my daughter spilled punch at dinner and I yelled at her. Then 
I saw that look of hurt and confusion in her eyes, and I knew there was a
tiny wound on her heart that I had put there, and I wished I could have 
taken those sixty seconds back.

And it’s not just my life as a father. I am disappointed also for my life as 
a husband, friend, neighbor, and human being in general.

I am disappointed that I still love God so little and sin so much.

I am disappointed at my capacity to be small and petty.

Sometimes, although I am aware of how far I fall short, it doesn’t even 
bother me very much. And I am disappointed at my lack of disappointment.

I am in a state of disappointment. I am missing the life that I was 
appointed by God to live—missing my calling. And I have disappointed God. I 
have removed
him from the central role he longs to play in my life; I have refused to 
“let God be God” and have appointed myself in his place.

But God is determined to overcome the defacing of his image in us. His plan 
is not simply to repair most of our brokenness. He wants to make us new 
creatures.
So the story of the human race is not just one of universal disappointment, 
but one of inextinguishable hope.

The good news is especially that the kingdom of God is closer than you 
think. It is available to ordinary men and women. It is available to people 
who
have never thought of themselves as religious or spiritual. It is available 
to you. You can live in it—now. This means in part that your story is the 
story
of transformation. You will not always be as you are now; the day is coming 
when you will be something incomparably better—or worse.

C. S. Lewis expressed that hope this way:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, 
to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to
may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly 
tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, 
if
at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping 
each other to one or other of these destinations. . . . There are no 
ordinary
people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, 
civilizations—these are mortal and their life is to ours as the life of a 
gnat.
But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and 
exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

This is why Jesus came. This is your calling—to become what Lewis calls an 
“everlasting splendor.” The desire for transformation lies deep in every 
human
heart. This is why people enter therapy, join health clubs, get into 
recovery groups, read self-help books, attend motivational seminars, and 
make New
Year’s resolutions. The possibility of transformation is the essence of 
hope.

The good news as Jesus preached it is that now it is possible for ordinary 
men and women to live in the presence and under the power of God. It is 
about
the glorious redemption of human life—your life.

Do you believe such a life is possible for an ordinary human being? Do you 
believe it is possible for you?
John Ortberg
Copyright Information
Excerpted from John Ortberg's The Life You’ve Always Wanted. Grand Rapids: 
Zondervan, 1997, 2002.

 
God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established 
between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:17.

The Lenten season has historically been a time of solemn reflection on the 
human condition.

Ash Wednesday reminded us that human life is fragile-
- for dust we are, and to dust we shall return.

But we learn quickly that the human condition is marked not merely by 
fragility, but by depravity.

In fact, by the time of Noah, human corruption and violence had become so 
pervasive that God was said to be grieved to his heart and filled with 
regret.

That the all-powerful God could be portrayed as regretting the creation of 
man powerfully conveys the sinfulness of sin.
Yet what pierces is that the Bible is not speaking about the human heart 
abstractly.
No, it is speaking specifically about my heart, the sinfulness of my sin 
and, indeed, the divine regret as to how I have lived.
Yet, in the midst of the gloom and in the aftermath of the storm of God’s 
judgment, we see hope shine through.

Noah looks up and sees against the gray clouds the dazzling glory of the 
rainbow emerging where sun and storm meet.
And there in the clouds he sees the bow of God’s wrath laid aside in the 
promise of peace.

And that great promise is that no matter how dark our sin might grow-
God will not turn his face against us again.

Instead, God would sooner point the bow of his wrath upward, towards heaven, 
at his own Son, than unleash his wrath upon us again.

And on the cross, where the sun of God’s love and the storm of God’s wrath 
would meet again-
Jesus would die in darkness so that the brilliance of the glory of God’s 
saving plan would shine forth into our hearts.

All this without a hint of divine regret.

"Lord, help us to share your sorrow and grief at our sin. During this 
season, grant us the courage to look honestly into the gloom of our sin so 
that we
might see anew the brilliance of your glorious promise and grace to us in 
Christ. In Christ’s Name, Amen."
===================================
Dean Masters, owner of the Masters List

"Gospel from India"
 Stay focused!
​
"...If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23.

When Jesus called His disciples-
His first command before He told them their mission was, “Follow me.”

What does it mean to follow someone?

Imagine that you are in an unfamiliar place following a friend in your car. 
To get where you are going, you have to:

Trust them to get you where you need to go.
Submit to their leadership; otherwise you get lost.
Keep your eyes on them; if you lose sight of them, you’ll get lost.
Go at their pace, not get ahead or fall behind.

This is what is involved in following Jesus, too.

We have to trust Him to guide us where we need to go. 
We have to submit to His leadership – His will before our own. 
We have to ​​stay focused on Him and go at His pace. 

If we do this-
He’ll lead us to where we need to go.

And here’s even more good news-
- in the process He’ll lead us to our life purpose

Global Prayer Digest People of the Day
Local Christians Reaching Muslims In Africa
Local Christians Reaching Muslims In Africa
Jan 30, 2016 12:00 am

Today's Devotional

Psalm 92:1-5, The Message "What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks, to 
sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love each daybreak, 
sing
your faithful presence all through the night, accompanied by dulcimer and 
harp, the full-bodied music of strings. You made me so happy, God I saw your
work and I shouted for joy. How magnificent your work, God! How profound 
your thoughts! Dullards never notice what you do; fools never do get it. 
When
the wicked popped up like weeds and all the evil men and women took over, 
you mowed them down, finished them off once and for all. You, God, are High 
and
Eternal. Look at your enemies, God! Look at your enemies--ruined! Scattered 
to the winds, all those hirelings of evil!"

Today's People Group

“Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, six million 
Muslims convert to Christianity in Africa,” Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani said in
a 2012 interview on the Arab news network, Al-Jazeera.
There is clearly a shift taking place within the African continent as more 
and more Muslims are captivated by the life and teachings of Jesus the 
Messiah.
According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Christianity 
is projected to represent 49.3 percent of Africa’s population with Islam at
41.5 percent by 2020. (Center for the Study of Global Christianity, 
Christianity in its Global Context, June 2013)
As Christianity and Islam continue to grow usually side-by-side, local 
churches in many African countries are beginning to send their own 
missionaries
to reach Muslims. Within this growing interest, there are new opportunities 
and challenges that the church is facing. How will these local missionaries
support themselves while ministering to Muslims? Are Christ’s followers, 
motivated by God’s love, ready to humbly go to their Muslim neighbors and 
learn
how to communicate the gospel in a way that will make sense to them?

Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more African workers into the 
African Muslim harvest field. Pray that God’s love for Muslims will be the 
motivating
factor of African believers, and that humility will be the posture in which 
they go. Pray for creative business ventures, generous local giving, and 
confidence
in God as provider for those who go.

Learn more at
Joshua Project.  Copyright © 2016 Frontier Ventures, All rights reserved.

When the Detour Becomes Your New Road
Vaneetha Rendall / January 29, 2016

This isn’t the ticket I bought.

That’s what I thought when my health took a detour, and I found myself on a 
road I hadn’t anticipated. A road I wasn’t prepared for. A road I didn’t 
want
to travel.

Laura Story
understands how that feels. Everything radically changed after her husband 
was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Watching him struggle to breathe and 
withstand
significant memory loss, Laura begged God to heal her husband and restore 
their lives to the way they were.

Life hadn’t been perfect, but it had been good.

Laura told her sister of her desire to return to the normal trial-free life 
she had before. And her sister insightfully responded, “You know, Laura, I
think the detour you are on is actually the road.”

The detour you are on is actually the road.

What a horrifying thought.

When my plans go awry, I always want to believe that I have taken a 
temporary detour. Maybe it’s a long one, but I hope that the real road, the 
road where
I can return to being happy and fulfilled, is just ahead. Maybe it’s only 
around the corner, if I can simply hang on.

Aching for Normalcy

I was talking to a friend recently about that desire to return to normalcy. 
She doesn’t know how to handle her newly developed health problems. Should
she pray for healing and expect God to answer? Or should she come to terms 
with chronic pain and disability?

I understand her questions. I have asked them myself.

Should I earnestly ask God to change my circumstances? Should I draw near to 
him in prayer, write down my requests, and regularly seek him for the things
in my life that I want to see changed? Godly things. Restoration. Healing. 
Return to active ministry.

Or do I recognize that I am on a different road? One that may not bring the 
healing and restoration that I would like, but rather a closeness to Jesus
that I could not get any other way. Do I hold loosely to the expectation of 
changed circumstances and cling tighter to the hope that will never 
disappoint
— the hope that is rooted in Jesus?

Yes.

God invites me to ask him to change the things that I long to be different. 
To persevere. To trust that my prayers make a difference.

But at the same time, God bids me to accept where I am. To let him meet me 
in the darkness. To find comfort in his presence. To see him as more 
important
than any change in my circumstances.

God calls me to do both. Every day. On every road.

Adjusting to the New Normal

The old road often seems like it was more relaxing and easy to drive. The 
new road can be bumpy and twisty, narrow with sharp curves. And I find 
myself
longing for the ease of what I used to have.

But the new road has benefits too, perhaps not in ease but in seeing life 
differently. More reflectively. Really noticing reality rather than rushing 
forward,
oblivious to my surroundings.

But regardless of what I gain, it’s a challenge to accept that the detour is 
now the new road.

I struggle with that reality daily as I experience new weakness and pain 
with post-polio. Sometimes it’s temporary, but often it’s permanent. The 
loss
becomes the new normal. And I must adjust.

Last month, I was going into a familiar building when I realized I couldn’t 
climb the curb without assistance. Without other options, I reluctantly 
asked
a passerby for help. She was warm and gracious as she helped me and we had 
an encouraging conversation walking in together.

Since then I have been unable to get up sidewalks without assistance. This 
limitation will change where I can go by myself and will require me to plan
ahead.

To be honest, I don’t want to plan ahead. I don’t like limitations. And yet, 
like my sweet conversation with a stranger, I’m sure the Lord has unexpected
blessings along this path.

I realize that I cannot cling to the past. I cannot get back on the old road 
and put everything back the way it was. Some things will get better over 
time.
Some prayers will be miraculously answered. Some dreams will come true.

But the old road is gone.

And in my mind, it will often be remembered as better than it actually was. 
The Israelites did that when they complained after they were delivered from
slavery saying, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the 
cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and garlic. But now our 
strength
is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 
11:4–6).

Not Looking Back

The Israelites neglected to mention that even though they had food, they 
were slaves. Their lives in Egypt were not perfect. They had continually 
cried
out to God to deliver them from slavery.

So don’t look back on the past and assume it was perfect. It wasn’t. Mine 
wasn’t perfect either.

This new road that I am on, bumpy and twisty as it may be, is the path that 
God has chosen for me. It is the best road. The only one worth taking.

If I keep looking back on the old way longingly, focusing on what I’ve lost 
rather than on what I have, I will miss the rewards of the new path.

I need to open my eyes. Notice what’s around me. Remember that God goes 
before me. I need not fear for he knows what is up ahead.

As he has promised, “I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, 
in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the 
darkness
before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the 
things I do, and I do not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

God is guiding me on this new path.

I am on the right road.

And so are you.
Copyright © 2016 Desiring God, all rights reserved

The physician's blood became the sick man's salve!

(Thomas Brooks,
"The Golden Key to Open Hidden Treasures")

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; 
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are
healed." Isaiah 53:5

Our sins were the cause of Christ's sufferings!

It was our sins which smote Him, and bruised Him!
It was our transgressions which gave Christ His deadly wounds!

Every Christian may look upon Christ and say,
"I was that Judas who betrayed You!
I was that soldier who murdered You!
It was my sins which brought all those sorrows, and sufferings, and evils 
upon You!
I have sinned--and You have suffered!
I have been wicked--and You have died!
I have wounded You--and You have healed me!"

Oh, that we might look upon . . .
a humble Christ--with a humble heart,
a broken Christ--with a broken heart,
a bleeding Christ--with a bleeding heart,
a wounded Christ--with a wounded heart!

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree; by His wounds you have 
been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

Here you see that the physician's blood became the sick man's salve!

Here is the gospel mystery--that the wounding of One, should be the cure of 
another!

Oh, what an odious thing is sin to God--that He will pardon none without 
blood--yes, without the precious blood of His dearest Son!

Oh, what a Hell of wickedness must there be in sin--that nothing can expiate 
it but the best, the purest, the noblest blood of Christ!

Oh, what a transcendent evil must sin be--that nothing can purge it away but 
death--the accursed death of the cross!

Oh, what a leprosy is sin--that it must have blood, yes, the blood of God, 
to take it away!

Have You Lost the Courage to Hope in the Lord?
Janet Eckles
Let’s peek through the window of any household today. We’ll find many are 
tossing during sleepless nights. Popping Tylenol to ease headaches during 
the
day and nervous about the violence that creeps closer to home. And when 
hours are cut back at work, worry works overtime.
But why do Christians fall for the same destructive patterns?
What went wrong? What happened to the courage to endure and the valor to 
persevere? Instead, those feelings that invade many are now becoming the 
enemies
we cannot fight off.
That battle is cruelly familiar to me. Losing my sight completely at 30 
caused an explosion of emotions. And with no mercy I was thrust into the 
group
of statistics. I was one of those who lived with fear of the unknown. Who 
dwelled on the gloom. Who cursed the misfortune.
And when I was about to fall off the cliff of despair, ever so gently, there 
was a knock at my distraught heart. A whisper came, “I’m Jesus. I brought
you hope.” On that day freedom came, and all changed. That is when I 
accepted His invitation. I brushed one last tear from my blind eyes and saw 
a new
view of life.
Whether physically or spiritually blind, we all have the same choice to look 
beyond circumstance and see Him instead.
That’s when hope is born.
Faith
grows. And courage stands. But not the kind of courage to make a statement 
and declare we’re Christians, or the courage to claim triumph or sing 
victory.
But the courage, the profound courage, to simply…believe.
Do we believe in God’s answers when in our desperate, aching heart we ask: 
why, when, where, what and how?
Why would He allow us to enter such dark times, endure so much hardship and 
face so many painful moments?
I had asked that over and over again. I had led a life that, by most 
standards would be considered good. I attended church every Sunday. I made 
healthy
meals for my kids and even returned books on time to the library. I had been 
a normal Mom trying to deal with the daily tasks to care for my three little
boys.
And more than that, I had been faithful to obey God’s commandments.
For that reason, when He allowed my eyesight to close, I wanted answers to 
my questions. Why? Why me? And why is He so far, distant and uninterested in
my misfortune?
He heard my longing, He knew my questions and He had the answer: “The LORD 
is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
He was close, yet my anguish blinded me from seeing Him. He was present, but 
I didn’t look for Him. Only when I believed in his intimate closeness, my
heart smiled.
We can endure because He’s close. We can move forward because He keeps us 
from crushing into despair. And we wait in anticipation because He 
understands
our broken heart.
And another question came. I had asked what He would do with me being blind. 
What He would plan for a lifetime of physical darkness. And what my role in
all this would be.
He spoke with clarity about His plans to guide me. About His plans to 
prosper me and not to harm me. And even when circumstances didn’t change, He 
was
ready to give me hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). And he reminded me that 
in spite of my blindness, His restoring power was at work to bring a new 
beginning:
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am 
making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
The streams of reassurance open the way to new horizons. In the desert of 
pain, He makes the way for healing and in the wasteland of grief He brings 
the
warmth of His comfort.
While walking through life, another question came: Where is He when we’re 
drowning in fear because of unexpected adversity? And where is He when we’re
crossing through the fire of hopelessness?
He knows the precise place of our needs. He knows the spot where we hurt. 
And He is aware of the intensity of our suffering. And to it all, He 
whispers:
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass 
through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the 
fire,
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Isaiah 43:2
Blindness, tragedy, heartache or illness may invade our life, but we’ll 
never drown in despair. And when the fire of fear draws near, it will never 
burn
because He’s in the midst of our weakness. He’s at the moment we stumble, 
when anxiety visits, and even when danger lurks.
And in the midst of our distress, we ask yet another question, when? When 
will He bring what we need most? When does He answer our cries? When does He
show us the way out of our heartache?
Although the circumstance may not change, He does reveal the answer. It 
comes at the moment we cry out, at the time we call His name and right when 
we’re
desperate for consolation:
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their 
distresses...When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy
to my soul.
Psalm 140:1 and 94:19
More than restoring my physical eyesight, He restored the vision of my 
heart. When we cannot take one more step forward because of the darkness of 
adversity,
He shows up to silence the taunting of grief. When we think we can’t endure 
one more sliver of emotional pain, He whispers His consolation to our soul.
But still, as we ask questions and wait for His answers, how does God expect 
us to act, react and respond?
With humility to recognize our weakness and embrace His power. We don’t have 
what it takes, yet He has what we need. We don’t have the solutions, yet He
opens the path. We don’t understand, yet He asks us to still trust.
And only when we do have the willingness to trust, the faith to receive and 
the courage to believe, truly believe in the Word that He says and the 
promises
He gives, that’s when peace calms our nights and the quiet sound of His 
voice fills our days.
Janet Perez Eckles
is an inspirational speaker and author of four books. Her latest release 
Contagious Courage: Your 30-day Journey to Overcoming Stress and Anxiety is 
a daily companion that invites you to be set free from fear and worry in order 
to embrace a triumphant life. Publication date: January 18, 2016

Fear Not
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: 
for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The devil is the sinister minister of fear. When he clamps his icy fingers 
of fear on your heart, do you become afraid of what he’ll do to you if you 
take
a stand for God? Don’t be afraid. Fear is an insult to God, who said, “I 
will be with thee.” Fear will destroy you.

Are you a worrywart? One lady said, “Don’t tell me it does no good to worry. 
Most of the things I worry about never come to pass.” Be not dismayed. God
will take care of you.

ACTION POINT:
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what your fears are, then confess them as 
sin. Repent, then reach up and take hold of His right hand that is 
outstretched
to sustain you and give you the victory!
Discover Jesus
Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.|
May God continue to strengthen and encourage you by the Love Worth Finding 
devotions.

Our Inheritance Through Christ

Ephesians 1:11

When Jesus gave Himself for us, He gave us all the rights and privileges 
that went with Himself; so now, although as eternal God He has essential 
rights
to which no creature may venture to pretend, yet as Jesus, the Mediator, the 
federal Head of the covenant of grace, He has no heritage apart from us. All
the glorious consequences of His obedience unto death are the joint riches 
of all who are in Him, and on whose behalf He accomplished the divine will.

See, He enters into glory, but not for Himself alone, for it is written, 
"Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."1 Does He stand in the 
presence
of God? Christ appears "in the presence of God on our behalf."2 Consider 
this, believer: You have no right to heaven in yourself; your right lies in 
Christ.

If you are pardoned, it is through His blood; if you are justified, it is 
through His righteousness; if you are sanctified, it is because He is made 
of
God unto you sanctification; if you shall be kept from falling, it will be 
because you are preserved in Christ Jesus; and if you are perfected at the 
last,
it will be because you are complete in Him. Thus Jesus is magnified--for all 
is in Him and by Him; thus the inheritance is made certain to us--for it is
obtained in Him; thus each blessing is the sweeter, and even heaven itself 
the brighter, because it is Jesus our Beloved in whom we have obtained all.

Where is the man who shall estimate our divine portion? Weigh the riches of 
Christ in scales and His treasure in balances, and then think to count the
treasures that belong to the saints. Reach the bottom of Christ's sea of 
joy, and then hope to understand the bliss that God has prepared for them 
that
love Him. Overleap the boundaries of Christ's possessions, and then dream of 
a limit to the fair inheritance of the elect. "All are yours, and you are
Christ's, and Christ is God's."3

1 Hebrews 6:20
2 Hebrews 9:24
3 1 Corinthians 3:22-23

Family
Bible
reading plan

verse 1 Esther 7

verse 2 Romans 2

ESV Daily Devotional New Testament
From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. 
Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News 
Publishers,

What To Do?
by Dean W. Masters
A number of years ago I got my bachelor’s degree in music education and then 
went on to get my masters degree in tuba performance. It was then time to 
get a job. I wanted to be a high school band director. Since I had a masters 
degree I thought that I should be able to choose where I wanted to teach. 
After years of looking for a position I finally said, “Lord, wherever you 
want me I’ll go.”

Everybody has these kinds of decisions to make. We need to learn to be led 
by God in these situations. There is no place in the Bible that tells us, 
“Dean will teach music in Podunk, Tennessee.”

WE do find a number of things that the Bible tells us to do. Jesus said the 
following:

Matthew 22:37-39 (NASB95)
37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your 
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the 
great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love 
your neighbor as yourself.’

These were the greatest two commandments that we are to follow. If we would 
follow them completely then we would be willing to follow the last command 
Jesus gave us:

Matthew 28:19 (NASB95)
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

WE need to follow the commands that are given to us that are in the Bible. 
WE need to know the leading of the Holy Spirit in the things that the Bible 
do not specifically mention. So if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit 
we will know what to do.


God Does Not Need You to Be Strong
Jon Bloom / January 21, 2016

God does not want us to be strong. God wants to be our strength.

Perhaps a better way to say it is this: God wants us to be really strong, 
which is different from the way we might typically desire to be strong. We 
often
want to be strong in a way that reflects well on us. God wants us to be 
strong in a way that reflects well on him. In a fallen world, these two 
wants are
often at odds.

Now, if we were sinless, our wants and God’s wants would be in perfect 
harmony. We would only want to be strong in the strength that God supplies 
(1 Peter
4:11). But since we are not sinless, there is often dissonance between the 
strength we desire to have and the strength God desires to give us.

As a result, we can find ourselves deeply discouraged by the very 
limitations and adversity that God has actually designed to cultivate in us 
strong, courageous,
and liberating faith.

Trapped in Weakness

In Exodus 12, the people of Israel had been miraculously released from 
slavery and led out of Egypt by Moses. And by Exodus 14, Israel was encamped 
by
the Red Sea, in a vulnerable and probably puzzling position. God has 
purposefully instructed Moses to lead Israel there because he had determined 
to humiliate
Pharaoh and the Egyptians one last dramatic time — one more dramatic 
exclamation point to place on the declaration to Egypt and the world that 
would reverberate
for the remainder of human history: “I am the Lord” (Exodus 14:4).

But the Israelites didn’t understand God’s purposes. There was probably 
plenty of murmuring about what in the world they were doing camped at what 
looked
like a dead end. This only grew to fever pitched panic when Pharaoh’s army 
showed up and pinned them all against the sea. It had all the look of a 
worst-case
scenario: death by sword or death by drowning.

And like most of us would feel, the people were scared and angry. They 
yelled to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have 
taken
us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us 
out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:11).

They were trapped in a weak place — a place designed for them by God.

Weakened to Learn Where Strength Really Is

Moses’s reply to the panicky people was, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the 
salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians
whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, 
and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13–14).

And fight for them he did. While holding off the Egyptian army with the 
pillar of fire, he opened for the Israelites a dry path through the Red Sea. 
Then
he let the Egyptians loose and they chased Israel hell-bent into the sea, 
which swallowed them.

And on the other side of it all, Moses and the people erupted in a song we 
still sing today:

“The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this 
is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” 
(Exodus
15:2)

When the Egyptian army showed up, God could have made Israel a nation of 
Samsons. The Holy Spirit could have rushed upon them all, and they could 
have
whipped Egypt with a bunch of donkey jaws. Why didn’t God do that?

Well, remember Samson? When God gave Samson power to overcome 1,000 
Philistines on his own, what was the song Samson sung afterward?

“With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a 
donkey have I struck down a thousand men.” (Judges 15:16)

“I struck down.” There is no hymn to God by Samson after any of his 
exploits, and he didn’t survive the one that likely got him mentioned as a 
model of
faith in Hebrews 11:32. God was Samson’s strength, but Samson didn’t really 
recognize it.

God wanted Israel to understand that he was their strength and their 
salvation so that he would become their song. That’s why he put them in the 
weak,
helpless place.

The Lord Is Our Strength

The exodus was the greatest Old Testament foreshadowing of the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. God delivers us all as helpless children, caught between the 
forces
of evil and the sea of God’s wrath. Jesus is our deliverer, and his cross 
and resurrection our deliverance.

But the exodus, along with all the other biblical stories of redemption, is 
also a reminder that God purposefully designs our weak places and assigns us
to them. When we feel ourselves trapped in them, we can be deeply 
discouraged, panicky, and even angry. God’s purposes in such experiences are 
typically
not clear to us at first. Things just look like he’s either made a huge 
mistake or he’s capricious. But he’s neither.

The truth is that as sinful people, we don’t really understand what it means 
for God to be our strength and our salvation until we are put in a weak 
enough
place where he is our only option. At first this doesn’t feel like a great 
mercy, but later, sometimes much later, we discover it was a gift of 
measureless
mercy. And then God really becomes our song.

Know thyself!
Gospel from India" gospelfromindia
​​ Know thyself!

​"...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..." Philippians 3:10.
Would you agree that the person we spend the most time with is our self? 

So, it’s fair to assume that we also spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves. 

I ask you: 
Do you really like yourself? 
Would you rather be somebody else? 
Are you realistic about your strengths and weaknesses?

Socrates gets credit for saying, “​​Know thyself,” even though what he really said, was, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” 

Either way, the message is clear, and he was right. 
Knowing ourselves is a key to a meaningful life.

Let me go a step further. 

Since God is your Creator and He knows you better than anyone-
- why don’t you get to know God personally? 

John Calvin said, “Man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.” 

In getting to know God-
- you will begin to know yourself – the real you – better than you ever could on your own. 

God gives us the way to know Him through Jesus and His Word. 

If you get to know Him-
- you’ll not only come to know yourself
- you’ll also be on the road to a very meaningful life.

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - Dangling Threads
----------------------------------------------------------

Dangling Threads

Father, I bring You all the dangling threads of my life.

I bring you that annoying little task that has me stuck.
I can’t move forward, and
I can’t walk away.

I bring you that matter where all I can do is wait.
I am totally dependent on someone else, and
they are in no hurry.

I bring you that huge project that I’m just beginning.
I feel swamped with unknowns and
in over my head.

I bring You that threat hanging over me
that seeks to steal my peace.

I bring you that unique idea, that deep desire
that has long weighed on my heart.
It keeps calling me,
pulling me.
It has never gone away after all these years.
Father, I believe You have planted it in me.
I believe You have set aside this task for me.
I’m convinced it would glorify You and
draw other people to You.
But every time I try to press ahead,
You seem to check me.
I feel nine-months pregnant,
but I can’t give birth.

And Father, I bring You that person
whom I love with all my heart.
They are so painfully, tragically incomplete.
O Lord, You know.

Father, I bring You all these dangling threads.
They keep my life unsettled.
They daily, hourly make me feel
ill-at-ease and
out of control.

Maybe that’s one reason You allow them to stay.
They keep me turning to You,
depending on You,
crying out to You.
You are the First and the Last,
the Source and the Goal.
You not only see the end from the beginning,
You are the ending.
All things are flowing from You and to You.
All things are complete in You.
At the perfect time and
in the perfect way,
You will beautifully finish everything You have begun.

I am a small-minded,
anxious,
time-bound creature,
at sea in a world beyond my understanding and control.
You are sovereign, wise, loving, and just.
You always do what is good and right.

Father, I will wait on You.

3 Life Lessons I Learned from Skydiving
Jennifer Heeren
I remember it like it was yesterday. A friend at work announced that he 
wanted to get a group together to go skydiving. Only two co-workers said 
that they
would like to try. One of them was me. Other co-workers just thought that we 
were crazy.
The day came and I woke up early to drive across to the other side of the 
city to meet up with the group that was going. Even though not many of my 
co-workers
went, the organizer guy had a lot of other friends that wanted to give it a 
try. So I was far from alone.
A couple of trucks got us all to the skydiving site within a couple of 
hours. It was actually a school because you do have to learn a few things 
before
going for it. There’s a one and a half to two-hour learning process if you’re 
going tandem (i.e. attached to an instructor) and a seven to eight hour 
learning
process if you’re wanting to go solo. I chose the first version. That was 
good enough for me.
So, I began this special day by signing consent forms and in case of 
emergency forms. This alone left me a bit uneasy while I wondering, what 
have I gotten
myself into? But I kept on going forward in the process. Onward to the 
learning part where I learned what to expect before, during, and after the 
jump.
This didn’t scare me because the learning felt separate from actually doing 
it. It didn’t feel real yet.
Then came the waiting…
At first I was just waiting to know which group or plane I’d go up in. But 
then people were noticing that a lot of clouds had rolled into the area. The
instructors knew that a very cloudy day isn’t conducive to skydiving because 
when you’re in the sky you cannot see the ground very well so you don’t know
what your route down will be.
Time went by and clouds remained…
After a while, it didn’t seem like I’d get to try skydiving at all. Maybe I 
was a bit comforted by the possibility of not being able to go but I’m not
sure because the reality of jumping still hadn’t set in. I just waited to 
find out.
Eventually the sky brightened and turned into a partly cloudy day instead of 
a fully cloudy day. Through the PA system, it was announced that some people
would indeed get to skydive today. However, there were a lot of people 
waiting and there might not be enough time for everyone to go.
They announced the first plane to go up along with the names of the first 
group of people. This was an all tandem group so there were about fifteen 
students
called which meant about thirty people in the airplane. My name was called! 
I was kind of hoping that my name would be called in the second or third 
group
so I’d have time to prepare myself some more mentally.
Instead, I dutifully got up and went to where the first batch of students 
was to meet. The instructors gathered a parachute suitable for a tandem jump
and then met with their student. The parachute was attached securely to my 
instructor and then I was attached securely to the instructor. I was given 
an
altimeter since I was in the front as well as an extra rip cord so that I 
could pull it in case something happened to the instructor mid-jump. This 
was
definitely a little unnerving to think about.
The instructions and important information that we had learned in class was 
reiterated and then we all filed into the plane. The plane’s seats had been
removed. It was a hollowed out space so we all kneeled on the floor in lines 
with our instructors behind us.
When everyone was aboard, the doors closed and the plane took off into the 
air. Then it started to make large circles over the area that continually 
got
higher and higher up into the air. I knew this because I was able to watch 
my altimeter slowly go up—5,000 feet, 7,000 feet, 9,000 feet, 11,000 feet, 
and
then finally to 13,000 feet. That’s a little over two miles up! Now, I was 
getting a bit more uneasy.
The door was opened. Cool air rushed in. People began to inch their way 
toward the opening.
Soon, I was standing at the opening of the airplane. My toes were hanging 
over as if they were pointing toward some unknown abyss. My instructor 
counted
down and we jumped!
The initial feeling was a surreal one of not feeling any kind of comfort 
whatsoever. I wasn’t really scared; I just didn’t know what to think. All 
that
I could do was feel the sensation of soaring through the air. I quickly went 
into skydiving position—arms bent and back and knees bent. Finally, the 
instructor
pulled the cord and I went from a feeling of uncomfortable unknowingness to 
a feeling of calm peace as I floated slowly downward.
During this unbelievable experience, I learned a few things:
1. Don’t analyze too much. If I would have thought too much beforehand, I 
probably would have talked myself right out of even trying. I do need to 
think
soberly and pray about my decisions in life. That’s wisdom. But 
overanalyzing to the point of paralysis isn’t helpful.
2. There may be some waiting time in between learning how to do something 
and actually doing it. I may feel that I’m ready to go forward but God knows
more about the conditions all around me. Sometimes it’s just too cloudy to 
go forward.
3. The first step or two out of my comfort zone will feel uncomfortable and 
even scary but if I continue to go forward, I’ll realize that God is holding
me securely as I move along my journey of life.
Don’t be afraid to jump out of your comfort zone every once in awhile. You 
just might have an adventure of a lifetime!
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high 
on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and
not faint. ~
Isaiah 40:31

Jennifer Heeren loves to write and wants to live in such a way that people 
are encouraged by her writing and her attitude. She loves to write 
devotional
articles and stories that bring people hope and encouragement. Her cup is 
always at least half-full, even when circumstances aren’t ideal. She 
regularly
contributes to Crosswalk.com. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her 
husband. Visit her at
www.jenniferheeren.com.
Publication date: January 22, 2016

Today's Devotional

Blue Jays

Romans 5:17 – For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through 
that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision
of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, 
Jesus Christ! (NIV)

This morning when I drove into the church parking lot, I was surprised to 
see a flock of blue jays hopping on the grass in front of our Fellowship 
Hall.
They were feeding on something, but as there were no berries on the trees, I 
wondered what they were eating. As I watched a few of them fly away, I saw
that they had small white cubes in their beaks. I quickly realized that they 
were feeding on the communion bread from last Sunday morning!

After each communion service, instead of putting the elements in the garbage 
or down the drain, or allowing them to be consumed in a non-sacramental way,
our church elders dispose of the extra bread and wine by emptying the cup's 
contents on the grass and scattering the small squares of bread on the lawn.
Eventually, God's creatures come and feed on the elements: insects, birds, 
and small animals. Today, however, was the first time that I have seen any 
of
them actually taking communion!

Grace is a wonderful gift that we've been given through Christ, so that we 
may dwell with God in His eternal kingdom. Seeing the blue jays feeding on 
the
bread crumbs reminded me of the simple way that my heavenly Father nourishes 
me with the bread of life and the cup of salvation.

May you experience the richness of God's grace and the blessing of His 
goodness today.

Questions for reflection: What does communion mean to me? How have I 
experienced God's grace through it?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of grace that You purchased for 
us through the giving of Your body and blood. We know that we do not deserve
such a bounteous blessing, so we are humbly grateful for what You have done 
and what we have been given. In Your holy name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart <
traqair@aol.com>
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

I'm Happy for You...(Not)
by Kelly Givens, Editor, iBelieve.com

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15

“Just installed our kitchen countertops! They’re GOREGEOUS.”

I rolled my eyes as I glanced at the pictures someone - no older than me - 
had just posted online. Picture after picture of their sparkly new kitchen,
inside their custom built (custom built, I tell you!) house. I looked up 
from screen and into my own tiny apartment kitchen with its plain, generic 
countertops.
Nothing custom-built in my place. I tried not to think about it, but it was 
too late - jealousy had flooded my heart. It’s scary how natural it flowed
in. All I wanted in that moment was to be OUT of my apartment and into some 
glamorous space of my own. Can you relate?

I love it when the
Bible
is black and white. There’s no confusion surrounding Romans 12:15 - we’re 
called to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 
Pretty
simple... except when it isn’t. I bet most of us wouldn’t have to think too 
hard to remember a time we failed pretty miserably at rejoicing over someone’s
joy, or weeping as another wept. Why do we have this challenge?

When we fail to rejoice with those who rejoice, there could be several 
reasons why, but here are some I thought of off the top of my head: 
insecurity,
jealousy or envy, discontent, bitterness.

What about when we fail to weep with those who weep? Here are some reasons 
(excuses, really) that come to mind: lacking compassion, both generally in 
life
or toward a certain individual; perhaps not taking the time to listen or 
really put yourself in the person’s position; too busy to notice the 
suffering
of others, distancing yourself emotionally from pain.

I’ve thought of some scenarios that may indicate we’re failing at Romans 
12:15:

• Instead of rejoicing at someone’s news, we immediately begin to compare 
how our circumstances measure up.
• We’re quick to say “Oh yes, that happened to me once, too” instead of 
silently listening and acknowledging the hurt of others.
• We try to come to the rescue in every situation, rather than acknowledging 
that some suffering isn’t solvable or explainable (think Job and his 
friends).

• We brush off the pain of others because we think they are “taking things 
too hard.”
• We’re quick to say, “Well at least you’ve never experienced this" (insert 
whatever horrible thing we’ve experienced).
• We think they cheated their way to the blessings, just got lucky or don’t 
deserve the good thing they received (their parents are totally paying for
that custom-built house!).

So what’s at the root of all of this? What’s the “sin beneath the sin,” so 
to speak?

I think central to our failure to rejoice and weep with others is a 
preoccupation with self. We can’t step outside of ourselves long enough to 
truly step
into both the blessings and sufferings of those around us. It’s taken me a 
while, but I’ve tried to make a habit of acknowledging the joys and 
sufferings
of others without immediately inserting myself into the situation. This isn’t 
a natural inclination for me. Satan is the master of deception and loves
to make us fall for one of the oldest tricks in the book: that everything is 
about us.

Ultimately, the key to mastering Romans 12:15 isn’t just thinking about 
ourselves less. We’ve got to think about God more. People are most 
successful at
eliminating bad behaviors or habits from their lives when they replace them 
with a good habit or behavior. So, I not only have to stop focusing on 
myself,
but I have to replace all that time I spend thinking of myself with thinking 
of God. This is life transforming; this is the key to killing pride - not
simply humbling yourself, but exalting God - who is the only thing worthy of 
our exaltation.

When I’m thinking about God, and not about myself, he reminds me of some 
powerful truths:

I’ve come from dust and I’ll return to dust.
Genesis 3:19
reminds me that no matter how much I get ahead in life, eventually I’m going 
to die. And nothing on this earth is worth coveting when I acknowledge that
I can’t take it with me.

I am beautifully and wonderfully made.
Psalms 139
reminds me that God made me perfectly, intentionally, knowingly- so I need 
to stop comparing the body I have to others. He made me just right.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Proverbs 14:30
reminds me that envy is a crippling sin; I could literally waste my life 
away being envious of others. Contentment, on the other hand, brings life.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
reminds me that our part of our calling as Christians is to care for those 
burdened and help carry the burdens of others. I don’t get to “pass” on this
part of my
faith
if it doesn’t come naturally to me or if I feel inconvenienced or 
uncomfortable by it. I don’t get to ignore the sufferings of others; I’m 
called to step
into it.

After meditating on God’s promises and blessings, I am able to recall all 
the wonderful things about our apartment (hello, cheap rent!) and the many, 
many
ways God has blessed and provided for me. Proverbs 30:8 says, “Give me 
neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” As Christians, 
contentment
in our own circumstances is the surest way to reflect the all satisfying 
power of Christ to those who may need to be reminded of where their joys and 
sufferings
begin and end.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Do you struggle to rejoice with those rejoicing 
or weep with those weeping? Check yourself - what’s stopping you? Pray that
God would help uncover the “sin beneath the sin” - the ways you’re focusing 
on yourself instead of focusing on Him.


Anne Graham Lotz - A Greater Miracle
A Greater Miracle
"Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you 
may believe. But let us go to him."

John 11:14-15, NIV

Jesus was glad Lazarus had died without Him?! What does that mean? We know 
it doesn’t mean He enjoyed knowing that Lazarus had died or that He enjoyed
thinking about the family’s grief and despair.

Jesus was teaching His disciples – and you and me – a life lesson. And what 
a life lesson it is! The lesson is this: There is a greater miracle than 
physical
healing! It’s the miracle of the Resurrection! Be encouraged!

Even if your prayer is not answered

and your loved one is not healed

and your marriage is not reconciled

and your financial problems are not solved

and your child is not found –

there is hope! Jesus was glad because He knew God would be glorified to a 
far greater extent by the death and resurrection of Lazarus than He would 
have
been by Lazarus’ healing and recovery from sickness.

Would you rejoice with Jesus for the greater miracle that IS coming to you?

Blessings,

Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.


Understanding the Old Testament
by Ryan Duncan, Crosswalk.com Culture Editor

The Almighty--we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant 
righteousness he will not violate. –
Job 37:23

Like many Christians, when the New Year started I resolved to spend more 
time reading my
Bible.
I had already spent most of the previous year combing through the New 
Testament, so I decided to start at the very beginning and make my way 
through the
Old Testament. Maybe it’s a sign of how little I’ve read my Bible lately, 
but I had forgotten how brutal the Old Testament could be. In particular, I 
spent
a lot of time going over the Old Testament laws and the punishments for 
breaking them. It baffled me that the smallest infraction on the most 
obscure law
could often lead to exile, or even death.

If you’re like me, you probably found yourself questioning these pages of 
the Old Testament. After all, how could a loving God condemn someone so 
harshly
for eating pork or working on the Sabbath? This is a question I still 
struggle with, but a verse in Deuteronomy helped me toward understanding it 
more.

"Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out 
before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me 
in to
possess this land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations 
that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your 
righteousness
or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but 
because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them
out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to 
your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. "Know, therefore, that the
LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your 
righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.” –
Deuteronomy 9:4-6

I think our problem is that humanity likes to look at the Bible (and 
history) through rose-colored lenses. We forget that back then there was no 
electricity,
no internet, no police, no hospitals, and the ruling governments weren't all 
that interested in things like free speech or trial by jury. The Old 
Testament
law was a harsh and rigid guideline because the Israelites lived in a harsh 
and brutal world. God knew that telling the early Israelites to "turn the 
other
cheek" would eventually lead to their destruction, so he took measures to 
protect them until the world was ready to receive the Gospel of Grace 
through
his Son. The Old Testament will always be difficult to understand, but that 
does not make God’s love for us any less true.

Intersecting
Faith
and Life: If there is something in scripture you do not understand,
ask a pastor
or bring it to your small group.

Further Reading

Job 38

The First Step to Setting Things Right
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BIBLE MEDITATION:
“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The Lord Jesus said, “Moreover if thy brother trespass against thee, go and 
tell him his fault” (Matthew 18:15).

You say, “He’s the one that did wrong. If he wants forgiveness let him come 
and ask for it.”

But Jesus said, “No, you go to him.”

Whether you are in the right or whether you are in the wrong, as a child of 
God, you are to go to that individual. Isn’t that what God did in the Garden
of Eden? Adam and Eve sinned against God and the Bible tells us that God 
came looking for them: “Adam, where art thou?” That was not the voice of a 
detective.
That was the voice of a God Who pursues us to forgive us.

ACTION POINT:
Stop right now and ask God to show you if you have an unforgiving spirit 
toward someone. Then, in His power and strength, call that person and ask 
his/her
forgiveness. It’s going to be impossible in your strength, but remember, God 
does the impossible.
Discover Jesus
Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.
devotions from Love Worth Finding Ministries.

Retaliating with Words
WENDY POPE

"May God strike me and kill me if even one man of his household is still 
alive tomorrow morning!"
1 Samuel 25:22
(NLT)

"I’m going to let her have it!" My friend said she’d had enough with another 
friend’s gossip and lies. She asked me to read an email she’d composed to
this woman, basically telling her off.

I could totally relate to her anger as there have been people in my life who 
had the ability to raise my blood pressure and make me see red. However, I
knew my friend would immediately regret hitting send, so we deleted the 
email and moved away from her computer instead.

Have you ever been so fed up with someone’s rudeness and disrespect that you 
made a beeline toward revenge? Perhaps in your head, you composed a sassy
text message or a scathing verbal assault?

It’s in those moments we need an "Abigail" to speak reason and bring clarity 
to the situation. Let me explain …

In 1 Samuel 25, David was furious at a very rude man named Nabal. Maybe on a 
good day David wouldn’t have gotten so mad. But he’d had a string of 
misfortunes
come his way. He was on the run for his life from King Saul, and David’s 
living quarters consisted of caves and fields.

So when Nabal refused to offer food and drink to David and his men, 
especially after David had treated Nabal’s shepherds kindly, David reacted, 
as we see
in today’s key verse: "May God strike me and kill me if even one man of his 
household is still alive tomorrow morning!"
(1 Samuel 25:22).

Whoa, those are strong words! But given all that had happened to David, you 
can almost understand and somewhat justify his anger against Nabal. Enduring
such trying circumstances would make anyone temperamental! And now to be 
treated with so much disrespect and contempt … David was fed up and plotted 
revenge,
until Nabal’s level-headed wife Abigail stepped in.

Scripture tells us that Abigail was a discerning woman. She had the words of 
wisdom to calm David down and deter him from his plan to kill Nabal. David
hit pause and permitted the intervention that stopped him from doing 
something he’d later regret.

In our "I have had enough" moments, we too need to press pause before we 
press send. It may not feel like it in the heat of the moment, but acting 
out
in anger is often something we will later regret.

We might not have an Abigail reading our emails over our shoulder or 
speaking reason into our situation, but as Christ-followers, we do have the 
Holy Spirit
guiding us every minute of every day. Our response to the still small voice 
will make the difference between regret and relief.

Lord, help me control my anger. Set a guard over my mouth to help me pause 
in the moment so I don’t make matters worse. Help me honor You in all I say
and do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Proverbs 29:11,
"Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end." 
(NIV)

Ephesians 4:29,
32,
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good 
for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who 
hear
… Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in 
Christ forgave you." (ESV)

RELATED RESOURCES:
If you’ve ever tried to avoid saying something that’s permanently painful 
just because you’re temporarily ticked off, you’ll appreciate Karen Ehman’s 
book,

Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All.

To stay connected with Wendy Pope,
stop by her blog.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
If you struggle with anger, look up all the verses in the book of Proverbs 
about this topic.

Write the verses on a notecard, and memorize five of them. In your "I’ve had 
enough" moments, recall and repeat these scriptures to yourself.

© 2016 by Wendy Pope. All rights reserved.

Awakening Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

Philippians 1:6

Want a boost of encouragement? Our God is working toward that end in all of 
His children. It is His constant pursuit, His daily agenda, as He points us
toward our final destination, "the Celestial City," as Bunyan calls it. 
Having cleansed our hearts of the debris of inward corruptions and the dust 
of
sin's domination, God is now daily at work awakening grace within us, 
perfecting our character and bringing it to completion.

As I think about our becoming people of awakening grace, I believe at least 
three things are involved in the process:

First, it takes time. Learning anything takes time. Becoming good models of 
grace, it seems, takes years! Like wisdom, it comes slowly. But God is in no
hurry as He purges graceless characteristics from us. But we can count on 
this, for sure: He is persistent.

Second, it requires pain. The "dust" in our room doesn't settle easily. I 
know of no one who has adopted a "grace state of mind" painlessly. Hurt is 
part
of the curriculum in God's schoolroom.

Third, it means change. Being "graceless" by nature, we find it difficult to 
be anything different. We lack it, we resist it, we fail to show it, but God
never stops His relentless working. He is committed to our becoming more 
like His Son. Remember? "He who began a good work . . . will carry it on to 
completion"
(NIV).

Taken from The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright ©

We must move from asking God to take care of the things that are breaking 
our hearts, to praying about the things that are breaking His heart.
Margaret Gibb

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - God with Us: Completed in Jesus
----------------------------------------------------------

God with Us: Completed in Jesus

Posted: 21 Jan 2016 09:55 PM PST

from the devotional book,
PICTURES OF GOD

Read John 1:14-18

As God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:8), Jesus came 
delighting to walk among His people.

As God was to Hagar the “God Who Sees†when He met her needs in the 
wilderness (Genesis 16:13), Jesus truly saw the needy all around Him, 
talking with
them, touching them, healing them, and feeding them.

As God revealed His presence to the undeserving Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22), 
Jesus acted out God’s gracious presence and forgiveness to the most 
undeserving
around Him, even those murdering Him (Luke 23:34).

As God came with fire, smoke, and awe-full terror on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19), 
Jesus came with gentleness and compassion, as one of us. Where the law 
brought
condemnation on our weakness, Jesus brought grace and truth — the unfailing 
love and absolute dependability of our Heavenly Father (John 1:14-18).

As God tabernacled with His people in the wilderness (Exodus 25 – 40), Jesus 
tabernacled among us as God made flesh (John 1:14; see the NASB margin).

As the temple was for a time the symbol of God’s presence and rulership 
among His people (1 Kings 6:12-13), Jesus is the eternal reality of God’s 
presence
and rulership among all who trust Him.

Jesus is
the Child born to us,
the Son given to us,
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Eternal Father, and
Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

He is the virgin’s son, the promise of our soon-coming deliverance. He is, 
now and forever, in every way, God with us (Isaiah 7:14).

A NORVELL NOTE by Tom Norvell
- http://www.anorvellnote.com

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

A Norvell Note
Never, Lord!
Vol. 18 No. 04 | January 25, 2016
Once Jesus was talking to His disciples and began to explain to them that He 
about to enter a time when He was going suffer, be rejected, killed and then
rise on the third day. From the disciple’s perspective He as gaining 
influence and power so they could not imagine things turning in that 
direction,
so Peter speaks up tells Him, “Never, Lord! That shall never happen to 
you!†(Matthew 16:21-22)
When I read that I cannot help but think of the times when the Lord has 
spoken to me through His word, or after praying I sense His leading me in a 
direction
I prefer not to go, or when I see a person behave in a particular way that 
seems beneath me, and I responded with, “Never, Lord!â€Â
Like the time years ago when it seemed pretty obvious that the Lord was 
leading me into full time ministry. “Never, Lord! Do you realize what that 
might
cost me?†Then, I went into full time ministry.
Like the time several years after having been in full-time ministry for a 
while when it seemed clear that transitioning to preaching seemed to be 
God’s
plan for me, “Never, Lord! Do you realize how difficult that will be for 
me?†Then, I started preaching.
There were the times before I was married when I would see a husband behave 
in a manner toward his wife that did not seem appropriate and I would say,
“Never, Lord! I won’t ever treat my wife that way.†Then, I got 
married.
There were those times before we had children when I would watch parents and 
proudly announce, “Never, Lord! I won’t ever be that kind of a Dad.â€Â
Or, “My child will never act like that!†Then, we had children.
I can remember times when the decisions and direction of the church where I 
happened be serving went against what I thought was best and I would say, 
“Never,
Lord! This is not what You want, is it?â€Â
It is one thing simply to remember those times, but it is even more 
significant when you read what Jesus said to Peter after his emphatic, 
“Never, Lord!â€Â
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling 
block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human
concerns.†(Matthew 16:23, NIV)
If I understand what Jesus is saying to Peter, and to me when I say, 
“Never, Lord!†it is a pretty serious comment. “You are a stumbling 
block to
me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human 
concerns.†Ouch! I just thought I was expressing my opinion. I never 
thought that I
might be a stumbling block to Jesus. Never meant to be, nor do I want to be.
The second part of the statement may be even more convicting, and probably 
more accurate. Although my intentions are to have in mind the “concerns of
God†there is no doubt my interests are more often than not “human 
concerns.†More specifically, my concerns. I want what I want. So, I 
pray…
Father, forgive me for all the times I have been more interested in human 
concerns…my concerns…than I have been in Your concerns. I repent of my 
selfishness.
I will try to do better in the future.
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2016. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.

How to Find God's Peace in Life's Darkest Moments
John Dickerson

The moment we trust in Christ to rescue us from sin, we are “already” 
adopted into God’s family. But we are “not yet” home in heaven, where there 
will
be no more pain or weakness. We are “already” purified from the fallout of 
sin internally in our souls, but we are “not yet” out of these broken bodies
that feel pain, have broken emotions, and will eventually die in Rocky 
Flats.

The day is coming (after our time on earth) when from heaven we will see 
fully the rescue we “already” have. Until then, we journey through this 
contaminated
world, growing every day. Just like Jack’s physical growth, our rescue is 
“already/not yet.” We are “already” purified internally, but we are “not 
yet”
at home in heaven. We are new creations in an old world.

What does this mean for you and your weaknesses? It means the day is coming 
when God will “wipe every tear” from your eye (Revelation 21:4). The day is
coming when Joy Veron (the paralyzed mother from chapter 1) will not need a 
wheelchair. The day is coming when I will not have to worry about a 
hemiplegic
episode turning into a stroke—because I won’t have any hemiplegic episodes 
at all. The day is coming when all who trust Christ’s rescue will be 
entirely
free from pain, sickness, and weakness.

But when we look around us, it’s clear that day is “not yet” fully here. 
Even the strongest and most spiritual people still battle through weakness, 
doubt,
prisons, sickness, death, and depression in this world—just as Paul the 
apostle did. God acknowledges this tension—that Christ has “already” 
defeated death,
but has “not yet” kicked all evil out of planet Earth. After declaring that 
all things are under Christ’s control, Scripture adds, “Yet at present we do
not see everything subject” to Christ.

And so we might wonder, Does trusting Christ’s rescue make any difference 
for my difficulties right here and now? The answer is a resounding yes. 
Trusting
Christ makes a life-changing difference for your journey through this 
contaminated world.

Just as much as Christ promises our eternal rescue, He also promises to 
sustain us on earth while we await that rescue. Writer Paul David Tripp put 
it
like this: “The promise of future grace always carries with it the promise 
of present grace.”

Remember the trapped Chilean miners? The rescue operation had two halves: 
(1) to rescue them out of the collapsed mineshaft and (2) to sustain them 
with
food, water, and medical supplies until they got pulled up to the surface.

God’s plan for us works the same way. The good news of Christ is not only 
that He is delivering us out of our prisons in this world (eternal life in 
heaven),
but also that He will sustain and strengthen us while we live down here 
(abundant life).

When your suffering discourages you, your soul is groaning for heaven. When 
you feel internally unsettled by the evils, injustices, and tragedies of 
this
world, your inner being is homesick, longing to be where you belong—a place 
free from suffering and heartbreak.

God promises us this pain-free future, far better than any good we can 
imagine: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . He will wipe every 
tear
from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, 
for the old order of things has passed away.”

The “old order of things” that will pass away is the contamination of Rocky 
Flats. Until then, Christ promises to sustain and strengthen you on your 
journey
to heaven. Every weakness reminds you that you are “not yet” home. And every 
weakness also provides an opportunity to discover that in Christ you 
“already”
have the power of heaven available to sustain you in the darkness of earth.

God promises to give you the strength you need to live for Him as you await 
heaven: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life.”

Just as much as Christ will rescue you out of this world into heaven, He 
will also sustain and strengthen you with heaven’s power in this world.

God over Life’s Storms

No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the 
human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

Oswald Chambers

I saw some great thunderstorms growing up in Michigan, but Arizona’s 
monsoons have a unique magnificence all their own. When I first moved to 
Arizona,
I would drive out into a valley during monsoon thunderstorms. I would watch 
the blinding bursts of lightning stabbing at the bowl of mountains 
encircling
me. It was all storm, in every direction. (Disclaimer: I do not recommend 
this.)

In life, we sometimes find ourselves surrounded by storms. As a pastor, I’ve 
walked with friends through some of the most frightening storms imaginable.
Unexpected death. Life-changing accidents. Cancer. Infidelity. 
Heart-crushing relapses into addiction. Natural disasters. Slander and media 
misrepresentation.

I wonder what storms you’ve found yourself in recently?

• the storm of death
• the storm of inadequacy
• the storm of illness
• the storm of rejection
• the storm of addiction
• the storm of anxiety
• the storm of fatigue
• the storm of decisions
• the storm of opposition and persecution
• the storm of aging
• the storm of loneliness

This Rocky Flats world swarms with frightening storms. When we are in them, 
it can seem like these storms will never end. It can seem like God has 
forgotten
us and has forgotten about the rescue plan.

God wants you to know He has not forgotten you. He has not abandoned you in 
your storm. He has “already” begun the process of rescuing you out of your
storms, even when it does not feel like it.

[Editor’s Note: This excerpt is taken from
I Am Strong
by John S. Dicerson. Copyright © 2016 by Johh S. Dickerson. Used by 
permission of Zondervan.
www.zondervan.com.
All rights reserved.]


Guiding Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

Colossians 3:17

In his letter to the Romans, Paul goes into great detail regarding the issue 
of personal freedom—greater detail than almost anywhere else in his 
writings.
In the fourteenth chapter, for example, he sets forth four very practical 
guidelines that can be followed by all who are serious about releasing 
others
in grace. My hope is that we not only learn what they are but, equally 
important, that we spend our days following them.

Guideline 1: Accepting others is basic to letting them be. The problem was 
not a meat problem; it was a love problem, an acceptance problem. It still 
is.
How often we restrict our love by making it conditional: "If you will (or 
won't), then I will accept you." Paul starts there: "Accept one another!" In
other words, "Let's allow each other the freedom to hold to convictions that 
are unlike our own . . . and accept them in spite of that difference." Those
who didn't eat (called here "weak in faith") were exhorted to accept and not 
judge those who ate. And those who ate were exhorted to accept and not 
regard
with contempt those who did not eat. The secret lies in accepting one 
another. All of this is fairly easy to read so long as I stay on the issue 
of eating
meat. That one is safe because it isn't a current taboo. It's easy to accept 
those folks today because they don't exist!

Guideline 2: Refusing to dictate to others allows the Lord freedom to direct 
their lives. I especially appreciate the statement at the end of verse 5:
"Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind." Give people room to make 
up their minds. Do you have a few new converts who are a part of your life
and ministry? Do you want to help them grow toward maturity? Here is how: 
Let them grow up differently. Let them learn at their own pace, just like 
you
had to learn, including failures and mistakes. If you really want grace to 
awaken, be easier on them than others were on you. Don't make up their 
minds—let
them! Don't step in and push your weight around—give them plenty of space. 
Whatever you do, don't control and manipulate them to get what you want.

Be an accepting model of grace. Refuse all temptations to be a brother 
hasher or sister smasher. We already have too many of them roaming around 
the religious
landscape. And nothing catches the attention of the unsaved world quicker 
than those times when we Christians beat up on one another. Don't think the 
unsaved
world doesn't notice our cannibalism.

Guideline 3: Freeing others means we never assume a position we're not 
qualified to fill. This, in one sentence, is enough to stop any person from 
judging
another. We're not qualified. We lack full knowledge. How often we have 
jumped to wrong conclusions, made judgmental statements, only to find out 
later
how off-base we were—then wished we could cut out our tongue.

Guideline 4: Loving others requires us to express our liberty wisely. In 
other words, love must rule. I'm not my own, I'm bought with a price. My 
goal
is not to please me; it is to please my Lord Jesus, my God. It is not to 
please you; it is to please my Lord. The same is true for you. So the bottom 
line
is this: I don't adapt my life according to what you may say; I adapt my 
life according to the basis of my love for you because I answer to Christ. 
And
so do you.

Taken from The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 
2003 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Published by 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. Used by permission. Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved

I Don’t Want To Go

"And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if 
thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go..." (Judges 4:8-9a, KJV)

Barak made this promise or covenant with the prophetess Deborah. She wanted 
him to lead an army of Israelites to battle the Canaanites. He said that if 
she went with him he would go but if she did not go he would not go. Barak 
might have realized that if Deborah the prophetess had been with them then 
God would be with them. We need to make this sort of covenant with God.

Let us look at the first part of this covenant: “If you will go with me I 
will go”

God told Joshua the following:

"… I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong 
and of a good courage:..." (Joshua 1:5-6, KJV)

Jesus said:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20, KJV)

If we go where God goes, do what He wants us to do, He will be with us and 
strengthen us to do His will. In this way He will be with us as we go.

Now let us consider the last part of the covenant: “If you will not go with 
me I will not go.”

I have heard some people propose am idea to a committee. Then one of the 
committee members say “I’m not with you on that.” This meant that they did 
not agree with the proposal and would not be a part of it. This is the sense 
in which God may not be with us when we do things we know He would not want 
us to do. So we should not go where we know He will not be with us in that 
sense.

I heard a woman who said that she had become a Christian when a child. She 
knew she had a good voice so studied voice in college hoping to get a 
recording contract after she graduated. Right after graduation she was 
offered a country music recording contract. She knew deep in her heart that 
she should not accept the contract because she knew at first she would have 
to sing in bars and honky-tonks. She talked to her grandmother about it and 
her grandmother told her, “You should not go where the anointing is not 
accepted.” She knew that Jesus wouldn’t be accepted in bars and honky-tonks 
so she did not accept the contract. She started singing at churches then the 
Lord led her to start speaking on the radio, television and in churches.

I would like to end with the words of a chorus from a song sung by the 
contemporary Christian group Avalon:

I don't want to go somewhere
If I know that You're not there,
'Cause I know that me without You is a lie.
And I don't want to walk that road,
Be a million miles from home,
Cause my heart needs to be where You are.
So I don't want to go.

Let us all make this covenant with God to go where He goes and to not go 
where He will not go.

by Dean W. Masters

World Challenge Pulpit Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Radical Results of the Resurrection

by Gary Wilkerson | January 4, 2016

I come from a long line of preachers that goes back several
generations. So I wasn't surprised when my oldest son,
Ashley, wanted to preach as soon he was old enough to form
sentences. My dad was visiting when Ashley announced he
wanted to preach his first sermon to us. He led us to his
room where he'd set up a cardboard box for a pulpit. Dad and
I sat on the floor as Ashley launched into a message he
called "The Day the Sins Got Out."

"The sins were terrible," Ashley shouted, sort of like his
Grandpa. "Jesus died on the cross for the sins. Then he
threw the sins into the pit. But Jesus' brothers were
jealous, so they threw him into the pit, too. Now Jesus and
the sins were both in the pit, but Jesus got out. Then the
sins got out, too. So the sins were all over the world and
they're still going on today. The sins are bad, and we've
gotta stop sinning!"

Unfortunately for Ashley - who today is a missionary to
global troubled spots - we recorded his sermon and still
have it on tape. Obviously, his theology had to improve over
the years for him to minister Christ's gospel as he does
now. But a lot of Christians have never improved their very
limited theology - and they're stuck in immature thinking
about the Christian life.

Almost any Christian can tell you, "Jesus died for my sins."
But I've learned that surprisingly few can say what his
resurrection means in their daily life. Like a very young
Ashley, they know certain parts of the story - that Jesus
died and rose again - but not enough to apply God's powerful
truths to the way they live and believe. And that makes all
the difference in the world.

Christ's resurrection has radical consequences not just for
eternal life but for everyday life.

What is the purpose of the resurrection? Most of us
associate it with eternal life, not with daily life on
earth. How is the resurrection significant in our marriage,
our job, our family? How does it affect a life inundated by
200 data messages a day, a life harried with errands,
chores, obligations, demands?

Paul reminds us that Christ's death, burial and resurrection
are of first importance "It will be counted to us who
believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who
was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our
justification" (Romans 4:24-25, ESV, my emphasis). What does
Paul mean when he says Jesus was raised so that we might be
justified?

Justification has to do with newness of life. Without it,
we'd be stuck in an unchanging cycle of sin and forgiveness.
Think about the practical weight that sin carries in our
lives. How many times have you lain awake at night grieving
over something awful you've said or done? Shame, guilt and
condemnation come with everyday life; we can't get away from
it. Yet Paul tells us Jesus was "delivered up" to cleanse us
of these very things.

So is it enough to be forgiven of our sins? That's where the
last part of the verse comes in: Jesus was "raised for our
justification." Not only are our trespasses gone, but we are
justified - meaning, it's as if we had never committed those
sins. Now we are a delight in God's eyes. In short, we are
resurrected into newness of life - every day!

What a great and powerful truth. Yet often Christians don't
experience this newness in everyday life. I admit there are
days when I say to my wife, Kelly, "Is this really newness
of life? I'm frustrated, cranky, disappointed." Try as we
might, we don't personally possess the power to renew our
lives. We can't simply make ourselves new. That comes from
Jesus alone - and it's called resurrection power.

To remind ourselves of this, Kelly and I have learned to
repeat a certain phrase to each other: "Jesus paid it all."
He finished the work, he rose again, and he has blessed us
with newness of life. And we are to claim his resurrection
power, putting it on like a suit of clothes. "When the
perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the
mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written
will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'" (1
Corinthians 15:54, NIV).

Paul says boldly that without Christ's resurrection there
would be no reason to be a Christian at all.

There are voices in the church that say it doesn't matter
whether there was a resurrection. Some have famously
written, "I would be a Christian even if it was proved there
was no resurrection. Christianity has made me a better
person and it has made the world better." Some scholars hold
that Jesus' encounters after the crucifixion were just
mythical stories meant to encourage the early church.

Paul rejects all of this in the strongest possible terms. He
says that if Christ weren't resurrected the consequences are
dire: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is
in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be
misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he
raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the
dead are not raised" (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).

Paul is saying, in effect, "If you don't believe Christ was
resurrected, then stop believing in God at all. Everyone
stop preaching, evangelizing and doing good works in Jesus'
name. We'll all be better off. You would do better to get
wisdom from Dr. Phil or Oprah or a pop psychologist. They
have more to say than someone whose every action is based on
something that never happened."

In short, the Christian faith is not some moral code to be
kept. We don't gather on Sundays just to get solace about
eternity. Christ is either risen or he's not - and if he
isn't, then our sins were never forgiven.

You may object, "But Jesus' death took care of my sins. My
forgiveness doesn't depend on the resurrection." Paul says
it does: "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ
has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those
also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in
Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people
most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians 15:16-19).

When I had my doubts about God as a teenager, I started
looking into other religions. At that time I found the
Baha'i faith appealing. It basically says all religions are
true, that all roads of faith lead to heaven. But then I
read C.S. Lewis who corrected my loosey-goosey thinking. He
wrote that all of Christianity rests on one question: Was
there a resurrection or not?

If we can't answer yes to this, then it doesn't matter
whether there was a literal ark or a six-day creation period
or an actual Garden of Eden. If Christ's resurrection didn't
take place, none of those things matter at all. But if there
was a resurrection, then everything else became possible:
Lazarus could be raised, people could be healed, sins could
be removed, heaven could be a reality. That is resurrection
power - and it gives us something Paul calls our "blessed
hope": "...waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus
2:13).

The more I read as a teenager, the more I came to a firm
belief about the five hundred witnesses who saw Jesus after
his resurrection: "Then he appeared to more than five
hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive,
though some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:6). I
began to see the resurrection as not just an additional
event, but the culmination and consummation of the work of
Jesus' death for us. And the blessed hope that was planted
in me became a source of life each day.

If we don't claim Jesus' resurrection power in our everyday
life, we won't experience what his resurrection won for us.

So many in the church today live as if they've accepted
defeat. Their thoughts are ruled by doubt rather than
belief. They live with habitual patterns of sin. They keep
their faith to themselves, thinking if they struggle so
badly how could they possibly help someone else? This is
what the Christian life looks like without resurrection
power.

Actually, that's what the disciples' lives looked like after
the crucifixion. So what was the first thing Jesus did after
the resurrection? He dealt with his followers' fear: "On the
evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors
being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be
with you'" (John 20:19).

The disciples had literally locked themselves in, afraid of
the world outside. They feared mockery, derision,
persecution, even the possibility of a death like Jesus
experienced. But Christ came straight through those walls to
meet them in their fear. And his first words to them were,
"I give you peace." Even then they were still afraid. So
Jesus had to say it to them twice: "Peace be with you" (see
20:19, 21). Christ still didn't berate or judge them for
their fear. Instead, he met them at their deepest point of
need.

The same thing happened about a week later. Again the
disciples had locked themselves away in fear, and once more
Jesus entered bringing peace: "Eight days later, his
disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, 'Peace be with you'" (20:26).

Sometimes Jesus has to say things to us more than once. Even
so, he didn't judge the disciples for their fear. Instead,
he showed them all patience. Earlier that week Thomas had
expressed disbelief, but now Jesus invited him to examine
his scars to remove any doubts. "Thomas answered him, 'My
Lord and my God!'" (20:28).

Here in Thomas's response we see Christ's remedy for our
fears: Believe. Jesus proclaims this to his church, and his
church proclaims it every week to all who enter its doors:
"Peace be with you. Don't be afraid. Believe on him."

Jesus not only freed the disciples from fear but equipped
them with resurrection power to be his witnesses on the
earth.

"'As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.' And
when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from
any, it is withheld'" (John 20:21-23).

Jesus wasn't making his disciples like priests, giving them
power to actually forgive sins. Rather, he was giving them
authority to represent him on earth, saying in essence, "You
have experienced my finished work on the cross. Now you get
to proclaim it. Preach the remission of sins. Be an advocate
for my gospel, a voice for my good news, my instrument to
set captives free!"

Friend, the power of the resurrection is that Jesus is
alive. He is a living Savior, and he gives us true, solid
peace that frees us from all fear. In turn, he breathes into
us his own Spirit, empowering us as his witnesses. And he
gifts us with the privilege of bringing his good news - the
blessed hope - to all who are lost and afraid. That is the
radical result of the resurrection!
 

_______________________________________________
Copyright (c) 2015 - World Challenge, Inc.
P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, USA

This data file/publication is the sole property of World Challenge,
Inc. It may be printed in its entirety for the reader's personal use
or to pass on to family and friends. It may not be altered or
edited in any way, and all reproductions of this data
file/publication MUST contain this copyright notice:

Copyright (c) 2015 - World Challenge, Inc.
P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, USA
http://www.worldchallenge.org

Gathering in His Name
View this email in your browser
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the 
midst of them.”
Matthew 18:20.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There is something wonderful about unity.

I heard about a fellow who courted a girl by writing her a beautiful love 
letter every day for two years. He thought that would be a wonderful way to
court her. Do you know what happened? She married the mail carrier!

There is nothing like being there. There is nothing like personal contact. 
There is a sense in which Jesus Christ is present when His people gather 
that’s
not in any other sense. You cannot get it the same way at home.

ACTION POINT:
Do you have a church home? If not, I encourage you to find one today. If 
church attendance isn’t important, I wonder why Satan works so hard to keep 
folks
away. If you do have a church home, make a special effort this week to meet 
a new friend and find a need they have which you can meet.
Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.
Copyright © 2016 Love Worth Finding Ministries, All rights reserved.

Two-Dimensional Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

Psalm 85:2

Grace comes to us in two dimensions, vertical and horizontal. Vertical grace 
centers on our relationship with God. It is amazing. It frees us from the
demands and condemnation of the Mosaic Law. It announces hope to the 
sinner—the gift of eternal life, along with all its benefits.

Horizontal grace centers on our human relationships. It is charming. It 
frees us from the tyranny of pleasing people and adjusting our lives to the 
demands
and expectations of human opinion. It gives relief—the enjoyment of freedom 
along with all its benefits. It silences needless guilt and removes 
self-imposed
shame.

Few people realize better than non-Christians how guilt-ridden many 
Christians are. A lady in our congregation tells of a conversation she had 
with a fellow
student while the two of them were students at the Berkeley campus of the 
University of California. He knew she was a Christian, and he made it 
painfully
clear that he had no interest whatsoever in her faith. When she asked why, 
his answer bore the sting of reality: "Because the most guilt-ridden people
I know are Christians. No thanks."

This is a good time for me to ask you two probing questions. Only you can 
answer them:

Do you add to others' guilt or do you lessen it?
Are you the type who promotes another's liberty or restrains it?

Both questions have to do with attitude, don't they? We do what we do with 
others because of the way we think. Our attitude, therefore, is crucial. It
is also at our mercy. We have full control of which attitude we shall have: 
charming and gracious or restrictive and rigid. Liberty or legalism will be
the result. Depending on our attitude, we are grace givers or grace killers.

Taken from The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 
2003 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Published by 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. Used by permission.
Visit insight.org
Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved 
worldwide.

Two-Dimensional Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

Psalm 85:2

Grace comes to us in two dimensions, vertical and horizontal. Vertical grace 
centers on our relationship with God. It is amazing. It frees us from the
demands and condemnation of the Mosaic Law. It announces hope to the 
sinner—the gift of eternal life, along with all its benefits.

Horizontal grace centers on our human relationships. It is charming. It 
frees us from the tyranny of pleasing people and adjusting our lives to the 
demands
and expectations of human opinion. It gives relief—the enjoyment of freedom 
along with all its benefits. It silences needless guilt and removes 
self-imposed
shame.

Few people realize better than non-Christians how guilt-ridden many 
Christians are. A lady in our congregation tells of a conversation she had 
with a fellow
student while the two of them were students at the Berkeley campus of the 
University of California. He knew she was a Christian, and he made it 
painfully
clear that he had no interest whatsoever in her faith. When she asked why, 
his answer bore the sting of reality: "Because the most guilt-ridden people
I know are Christians. No thanks."

This is a good time for me to ask you two probing questions. Only you can 
answer them:

Do you add to others' guilt or do you lessen it?
Are you the type who promotes another's liberty or restrains it?

Both questions have to do with attitude, don't they? We do what we do with 
others because of the way we think. Our attitude, therefore, is crucial. It
is also at our mercy. We have full control of which attitude we shall have: 
charming and gracious or restrictive and rigid. Liberty or legalism will be
the result. Depending on our attitude, we are grace givers or grace killers.

Taken from The Grace Awakening Devotional, Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 
2003 Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Published by 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. Used by permission.
Visit insight.org
Copyright © 2016 Insight for Living Ministries. All rights reserved 
worldwide.

Welcome to the Illustrator
Today's Bible Verse:

"Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight." Deut 6:18

By Answers2Prayer
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The Right Thing to Do

(Jesus said) "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, 
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be
praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But 
when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who 
sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:2-4

"You could have heard a pin drop."

That's how City Counselor Andre Rivette described the situation when he 
addressed the council concerning the men on the police force in Cornwall, 
Ontario.
No doubt the community representatives were afraid their department was 
going to receive some of the bad press which, often undeservedly, has 
swirled around
various law officers and their departments, in recent months.

What the council heard was this: some of the local officers had answered a 
domestic call, one of the most unpredictable events in an officer's life. 
When
they arrived, they found an elderly couple involved in an intense argument. 
It took some time, but eventually they found out the wife has dementia and
was arguing with her husband of 54 years.

On the other hand, the husband who was deeply concerned about his bride also 
confessed that times were tough, and he had recently been forced to pawn his
wedding ring to keep food on the table. With peace having been restored, at 
least temporarily, the officers left.

It should have been the end of the story, but it wasn't. Down at the station 
the officers took up a collection. They raised $150 for groceries and 
another
$130 to get the man's ring out of the pawn shop.

Now you and I know in the scheme of things $280 is not a lot of money, it's 
not a big deal.

On the other hand, when nameless officers go out of their way to help an 
unnamed elderly couple, it becomes a very big deal indeed. These officers 
didn't
offer their gift because TV cameras were rolling or because they knew they 
were being evaluated. They did their act of charity in secret because it was
the right thing to do. Jesus, who sacrificed Himself so that all who believe 
on Him might be forgiven and saved, says much the same thing in our text 
above.

Over the years I have been a "mouse in the corner" and seen fellow 
Christians do the same kind of thing for others. I would love to tell their 
stories,
but I never will. The givers did what they did because they saw a need and 
they wished to honor the Savior by helping answer that need. Oh, every one 
of
them also said, and believed, "It was no big deal."

Don't you believe it; it was a very big deal, indeed.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, our Savior gave Himself for my eternal salvation. It 
was an act of charity that was unprecedented in scope and reach. May I, when
given the opportunity, honor my Redeemer and answer the needs of my fellow 
man. This I ask in the Savior's Name. Amen.

Pastor Ken Klaus

Lutheran Hour Ministries
All rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission.

Announcement:

I want to thank our dynamic group of volunteers for making a difference in 
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 
subscribers feel called to possibly reach out to others, please let me know.
There is still a need for more volunteers! Many are called, but few answer 
the call. Your part would mean a lot to the Lord's work. If interested,
please contact us.
Thank you.

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

PresbyCan Daily Devotional

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Today's Devotional

Singing From The Heart

1 Samuel 16:23 – And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon 
Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was 
refreshed,
and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. (KJV)

I recently retired from the Canadian public service after 35 years. What do 
I do to fill the hours? Since I play the organ and piano, providing music 
for
the services that our church conducts in seniors' residences and nursing 
homes was a natural choice. The first thing that I learned is that residents 
don't
want to hear fancy organ and piano solos. They want to hear their favourite 
hymns from the hymn book. The effect of this music is remarkable. People 
with
dementia who have not spoken for days sometimes sing along. I have seen 
tears flow as a familiar hymn stirs the heart. It seems that music remains 
in the
mind when other memories have vanished.

David was the king of Israel, a warrior mighty in battle. But he was first 
of all a musician, and his playing set Saul free from the power of an evil 
spirit.
David's songs — the Psalms — continue to inspire people thousands of years 
after his kingship. They are his most enduring legacy.

The apostle Paul emphasized the importance of music in a Christian's life 
when he gave this counsel:

Ephesians 5:18b-19 – Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your 
heart
to the Lord. (KJV)

Let us continue to sing the good Lord's praises with our voices and in our 
hearts. Then, when other thoughts and memories have faded, maybe with God's
grace, we will still be able to sing these wonderful words penned by Charles 
Wesley:

Finish, then, Thy new creation,
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation,
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of music. Grant us grace to sing 
Your praise with our voices and in our hearts, and to show forth our faith 
in
our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Richard Frith 
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Attitude of Gratitude
By Skip Heitzig

Most of the books I've read on prayer don't include a section on 
thanksgiving. It seems that the hardest arithmetic for us is counting our 
blessings. It's
the natural tendency of mankind to count the days that are overcast rather 
than the days of sunshine, and it's rare that the nightly news covers some 
great
humanitarian outreach that happened.

But in Psalm 103, David realized the need to be thankful. It is supposed 
that David wrote this psalm during one of the darkest times of his life, but 
instead
of bemoaning his circumstances, he stopped and talked to himself as if to 
say, "Hey, wake up in there. Let's count the Lord's benefits and return 
thanks
because of it."

Look at verse 1: "Bless the Lord, O my soul." Bless can be defined as 
thanking and adoring God because of His goodness. In the Old Testament as 
well as
the New Testament, we find that thanksgiving and gratitude are important for 
God's people. We're not to just rush into God's presence and say, "I've got
a need; take care of it." Psalm 100:4 says we're to enter His gates with 
thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Thanksgiving should mark the 
lifestyle
and attitude of a Christian. Paul wrote, "Whatever you do in word or deed, 
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father 
through
Him" (Colossians 3:17).

The next thing to notice in Psalm 103 is the recollection of God's benefits: 
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (v. 2). It's
good to make inventory of God's blessings. Let's follow David's list: first 
of all, God "forgives all your iniquities" (v. 3, see also vv. 10-12). When
was the last time you said, "God, thank You that You died on the cross for 
me"? A man once said, "Jesus Christ has forgiven all my sins, and He's never
going to hear the end of it."

Next on the list: God "heals all your diseases" (v. 3). Many commentators 
believe this is a reference to spiritual healing; we know the soul can have 
ailments:
discouragement, depression, doubt, fear, and anxiety. The Lord can heal all 
of those things. He also "redeems your life from destruction" (v. 4), or 
from
going to waste. How many times has God saved your hide? Can you look back 
and thank the Lord for it?

He also "crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies" (v. 4). Even 
when we goof up, God doesn't forsake us; He's tender and so merciful. Even 
if
things are going rough, bless the Lord; you're still alive, aren't you? He's 
still on the throne, isn't He? The appropriate response to Him is an 
attitude
of gratitude.

When a person thanks God, it indicates that they believe God is good, that 
the will of their Father is perfect and that He knows best. Thanksgiving is
based on the belief that God is painting the picture of my life and it's 
going to turn out okay. Even though right now the picture looks a little 
fuzzy
and we might say, "What a mess," the artist knows the finished product. And 
when I thank the Lord in the midst of the mess, it indicates that I believe
He's going to make things out for my good and His glory (see Romans 8:28).

A consistent outpouring of thanksgiving is like an evergreen tree. 
Evergreens don't lose their leaves, do they? They're green in the summer, 
and they're
green in the winter; if there's snow or if it's 105 degrees, they're green. 
A Christian can live like an evergreen: in the heat of problems, in the cold
situations of departure, death, or disease, still shining for the Lord. 
Evaluate your heart, and ask yourself, Does complaining and ingratitude mark 
my
life? Or does thanksgiving permeate it?

Copyright © 2015 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

For more from Skip Heitzig, visit
ConnectionRadio.org,

Any Given Sunday
David Mathis / January 16, 2016
Any Given Sunday

Our Father is glad when the family gathers. He is eager to work, ready to 
pour out his favor and give fresh fillings of his Spirit, when his people 
assemble
to worship his Son.

No matter what kind of week you’ve had — no matter how depleted your tank, 
how distracted your mind, or how disquieted your heart — God may be pleased
to turn it all around on any given Sunday.

Come to the Waters

Corporate worship may be the
single most important means
of God’s grace in the Christian life because it brings together all three 
essential principles of his ongoing kindness: hearing his voice (in his 
word),
having his ear (in prayer), and belonging to his body (in the fellowship of 
the church).

When God’s people gather to worship Jesus together — with the Scriptures 
open and songs of praise, confession, and thanksgiving in our mouths — the 
Holy
Spirit hovers over our assembly, standing ready to rejuvenate dull hearts 
and restore languishing souls.

The great invitation of Isaiah 55, crafted some seven centuries before 
Christ, is a fitting call to the banquet of corporate worship in the new 
covenant.

Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:1–3)

Come Thirsty

Jesus is the true bread who came down from heaven (John 6:50, 58), and he is 
the true drink (John 6:55), the only drink, who will satisfy our thirsty 
souls
forever. You were not only made for God, but for the God-man. God himself 
designed your human soul to be satisfied forever in the personal union of 
full
deity and full humanity in the one utterly unique God-man, in the company of 
a worshiping throng. You were made for Jesus.

In corporate worship, we taste together what we were made for. Together we 
sample the feast of the coming new heavens and new earth.

This doesn’t mean every Sunday is pure bliss. Far from it. Fallen humans in 
a fallen world are only rarely at their spiritual and emotional best. Our 
bodies
are tired, and our spirits are lethargic. Miscues up front, energetic 
children in the pew, off-key singers in our ear, and unfinished work at home 
threaten
to distract us from the sweetness of singing praises together with God’s 
people in the beauty of our grace-covered brokenness.

But in the chaos, there are tastes. Thirsty souls sample the life-giving 
water, the soul-nourishing substance of milk, the heart-gladdening sips of 
wine,
in the experience of truth-inspired praise of the one who is the Truth.

So we can come thirsty, and come expectant by faith, to have our soul’s 
thirst quenched together in some satisfying measure in the family gathering.

Come Empty-Handed

But to this marvelous banquet, we bring not only empty stomachs, but also 
empty hands. The bill is taken care of. Jesus paid it all.

Not only do we come to drink, but we come without deeds as payment. The 
great invitation of his grace is to the one “who has no money.” We come for 
soul-satisfaction
“without money and without price.”

The fuel of corporate worship is not the energy or preparation we bring, but 
the energy and preparation of God. The source is not our working for him,
but the worship-inspiring truth that he works for those who wait for him. We 
wait; he works. Which makes him utterly unique among all other rivals for
our praise.

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Come Ready

His working and grace are original and ultimate, and yet he would woo us to 
take faith-filled steps of preparation to come ready. He works through 
means.
He gives us the dignity of participation. His grace not only meets us 
despite our undeservedness, but goes the extra mile to engage our wills to 
prime
our hearts for the joys of collective adoration.

Anticipating the assembly, and seeking to tune our hearts to sing his 
praise, prepares our appetites for the tastes of glory to come — a glory in 
the gathering
that is sampled together, not in isolation.

Fellow worshipers encountered before, during, and after worship are not 
impediments to true worship, but inspirations. Corporate worship is, after 
all,
corporate. We prepare our hearts for the joy of praising Jesus by greeting 
his people with open hearts, big smiles, and, when appropriate, shared 
tears.

Come as You Are

While a heart of worship is typically helped by our faithful efforts at 
preparation, our preparation is never ultimate. In fact, the Holy Spirit is 
often
pleased to “show up” despite our lack, or total absence, of preparation. 
Which is no cause for abuse, but for adoration. The lesson for us in it is 
not
that Monday to Saturday don’t matter in getting ready for Sunday, but rather 
that God is sovereign and free, not limited by our failures, to do for us
what we cannot do for ourselves.

On any given Sunday, God might be pleased to turn your world upside down, in 
all the best ways. Like the weary psalmist who came to worship, and finally
the fog cleared (Psalm 73:16–17). Or like Martin Luther, who testified, “At 
home, in my own house, there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church
when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and 
it breaks its way through.” Or as countless of us have learned, our Father 
simply
loves to bless the family gathering.

Your sluggishness and lethargy are no reason to stay away from his waterfall 
of grace. No matter how far away from the Father you feel, there is perhaps
nothing you need more this weekend than his bounty in corporate worship.

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

More from Desiring God
• Navigating Trials in the New America
| This new book, available free of charge in three electronic formats, seeks 
to help Christians prepare for the coming insults and opposition for their
faith. Edited by John Piper and David Mathis, with ten contributors from 
around the world.

• A Place to Start for Spiritually Stuck People
| Christians often find themselves spiritually stuck. Here are six places to 
start when God seems far, our hearts feel cold or wandering, and the next
step is unclear.
• Three Questions to Ask Before Listening to Any Sermon
| The world is full of gospels. Having hope and living well depends on being 
able to hear them all and tell the difference. Here are three simple 
questions to ask of any sermon.
Copyright © 2016 Desiring God, all rights reserved


Global Recordings Network (GRN) African Workers
Jan 19, 2016 12:00 am

Today's Devotional

Psalm 40:1-5, The Message "I waited and waited and waited for God. At last 
he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me 
from
deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He 
taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More 
and
more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves 
to God. Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on
the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships; the world’s a huge 
stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close
to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out 
of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you."

Today's People Group

“People really listen,” Jonas Silwamba told us. “When I play the GRN 
recordings in their language, they pay attention. More than that, they 
respond.” Jonas
travels to villages in Northern Zambia. He says that, although the Bemba, 
Lungu and Mambwe speakers think of themselves as Christian, it is in name 
only.
He shakes his head. “Many are involved in witchcraft, stealing, and 
fighting. They are unreached.”
There are over 30 Bemba clans, named after something from nature. For 
instance, the Bena Ng’andu are “the people of the crocodile,” while the Bena 
Bowa
are the “Mushroom Clan.”
Jonas gets a good reception when he visits a Bemba village, which normally 
houses 100 to 200 people. He gathers a crowd and plays the message on a 
special
GRN player that requires neither electricity nor batteries. Jonas explains, 
“I follow with a message, and invite people to accept Jesus. Some respond by
crying or with demonic manifestations. I’m thrilled when they bring their 
witchcraft charms and burn them.”
The recorded message in their own language opens the way for them to make a 
decision for Christ. But Jonas also has to spend many hours counseling. He
says, “Witchcraft is so much a part of their lives. I have to encourage them 
not to fear the demons, but rather put their trust in Jesus Christ.”

Pray for Jonas and other African preachers like him who use GRN materials to 
reach the hearts of unreached peoples with the liberating gospel message.

Learn more at
Joshua Project.
read more
Like Global Recordings Network (GRN) African Workers on Facebook
Copyright © 2016 Frontier Ventures, All rights reserved.

Anne Graham Lotz - The Proof of Love
The Proof of Love
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still 
sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8, NKJV

Has someone suggested to you that:

If God really loved you, He would heal your disease?

If God really loved you, He would never have allowed you to lose your job?

If God really loved you, He would bring your spouse back home?

If God really loved you, you would be healthy and wealthy and problem free?

Yet God has said that the proof of His love is none of those things! The 
proof of His love is that while we were sinners, passing Jesus by on the 
road
of life, He sent His only, beloved Son to die for us.

Would you thank God, not just for saying, “I love you,” in words, but for 
proving it?

Blessings
Copyright © 2016 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.

3956 cdd The Whisper
Wednesday December 16, 2015
Volume 16 Number 250

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: Matthew 10:27
"I tell you these things in the dark, but I want you to tell them in the 
light. What you hear whispered in your ear you should shout from the 
housetops."
NCV (Bible Paraphrase)

The young man had lost his job and didn't know which way to turn. So he went 
to see the old preacher. Pacing about the preacher's study, the young man
ranted about his problem. Finally, he clenched his fist and shouted, "I've 
begged Jesus to say something to help me. Tell me, Preacher, why doesn't 
Jesus
answer me?"

The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply --- 
something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across 
the
room. "What did you say?" he asked.

The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So 
the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher's chair.

"Sorry," he said. "I still didn't hear you."

With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. "Jesus 
sometimes whispers, so we will move closer to hear Him."

The light bulb went on! This time the young man heard and understood.

We all want Jesus to triumphantly appear with the answer to our problems. 
But Jesus need not over power us with His answer. His whisper is sufficient 
when
I am near.

Nothing draws human focus quite like a whisper. A whisper from Jesus means I 
must stop ranting and move close to Him, until my head is bent together with
His. And then --- as I listen --- I will find my answer. Better still, I 
find myself closer to Jesus. So close we become one.

Prayer: Father thank you that as Jesus whispers I'm so close I hear clearly. 
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Copyright (c) 2015
Pastor Bill Christian Cyber Ministries
All Rights Reserved

 God the Father and God the Creator
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“…that we may be partakers of the divine nature.”
2 Peter 1:4.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Have you heard the phrase, “The universal fatherhood of God and the 
universal brotherhood of men”? It sounds warm and fuzzy, but it is cold and 
barren
of truth. God is not the Father of all people; God is the Father of those 
who are born into His family.

But you say, “But pastor, didn’t God create all human beings?” Yes. “And if 
God created all human beings, wouldn’t that make God the Father of all human
beings?” No, it makes God the creator of all human beings. There’s a 
difference between fatherhood and creation. God created rats, roaches, 
buzzards, and
rattlesnakes. He’s not their father. God becomes our Father not by creation, 
but by conception when we’re born into His family.

ACTION POINT:
Read the story of creation in Genesis—making the distinction between the 
creations of God and the Creator called God. Go on a nature walk and thank 
God
that He rules over creation, causing the sun to shine, the rain to water the 
earth, and for you to have your next breath.

Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.

The email address this message was sent from does not accept replies. If 
you would like to send a comment, prayer or praise, please visit us
here.
May God continue to strengthen and encourage you by the Love Worth Finding 

Copyright © 2016 Love Worth Finding Ministries, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you indicated at www.lwf.org that you 
wanted to receive these devotions from Love Worth Finding Ministries.

Keeping the Best Things First
by Katherine Britton, Crosswalk.com Contributor

And this is my
prayer:
that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 
so that you may be able to discern what is best…
Philippians 1:9-11

How often do we resign ourselves to the "tyranny of the urgent"? If you're 
me, it's a daily struggle not to use that little phrase as an excuse for 
losing
sight of the big picture. It's so much easier to take care of what's 
immediately in front of me instead of what should be first in my life.

I'm a task-oriented Martha, so concerned with getting the job done that I 
forget to focus on Him first. I can tell myself that I'm doing my work "as 
unto
the Lord" as much as I want, but I don't serve anyone when I get harried. 
You probably know the feeling; you tell yourself that you're cooking a 
wholesome
dinner as a supreme act of service and love for your family - if they only 
appreciated how many other things you have to do besides stand over a stove!
- when little Anne asks if you'll help her find a favorite CD. Something 
boils over, and it's not the pot on the stove. In taking care of dinner, 
you've
forgotten to feed a godly attitude of patience and love.

That's me to a fault. James makes it clear that
faith
is constantly looking for ways to serve; like Martha, however, we can get so 
busy that we forget why we're doing it. I often catch myself thinking that
if I'm not busy, I'm not "doing enough" for God. But then the act becomes 
its own end, instead of an outworking of love. Imagine Martha in the 
kitchen,
fluttering around and looking for that special recipe to serve Jesus, while 
Mary just sat, soaking up His words. Martha's response to this was probably
well-intentioned - that is, from a human point of view. She was serving and 
wanted others to serve with her! But Jesus called her bluff. "Only one thing
is needed," Christ said, "and Mary has chosen what is better" (Luke 10:42). 
Better? Lord, you mean that sitting at your feet and being quiet is better
than my idea of being busy serving you? That's right.

I think I got a double-portion of Martha's spirit. Too often, I think that 
sitting and listening to Jesus is the same thing as sitting and doing 
nothing.
I think it's laziness. Satan whispers that my time could be better spent 
doing than learning, and then the tyranny of the urgent takes over. But even 
Olympic
acts of service are as nothing if not done in love (1 Corinthians 13), and 
only time at the feet of Jesus can teach me that.

Love leads to action, as Paul writes to the Philippian church, not the other 
way around. I can't "discern what is best" in my work and words unless I 
keep
the very best in front of my eyes, like Mary. My prayer this week is that I 
will focus on Jesus and see how to love. Then the priorities will fall in 
line.
Then I see what is best, because I see Jesus.

Intersection of Faith & Life: We have to preach the Gospel to ourselves 
daily, as Jerry Bridges writes, so we never lose sight of what is first and 
last
in importance. Reevaluate your commitments and make sure that you've set 
aside time to sit at the feet of Jesus before anything else.

Further Reading:

1 Corinthians 13
The Authority of Intimacy

The Connection with Skip Heitzig
January 8, 2016
Let's Celebrate!
By Skip Heitzig

A few years ago, an assistant pastor was out shopping for the grape juice 
for our Communion service, and he had to buy a large quantity of it, as you 
can
imagine. So, he brought the cart up to the checkout, and in front of him was 
a lady with a couple six-packs of beer. She turned and saw this whole 
crateful
of grape juice, and she smiled and said, "Having a celebration, huh?" He 
nodded and said, "Uh-huh!"

Simply put, Communion is a celebration. We have been forgiven, and forgiven 
people are happy people. Forgiveness of sin brings joy, because sin produces
guilt and guilt is what blocks us from having joy. But you can't just 
dispose of guilt; it must be forgiven. And how can we be forgiven? The 
answer is
a single word: a lamb.

And here we come to Exodus 12, the night of the final plague in Egypt—the 
death of the firstborn. God said that He would send His angel through the 
land,
and he would pass over all of the homes where a lamb had been slain and its 
blood applied to the lentils and the doorpost. This is where the term 
Passover
comes from.

But why was it so graphic and bloody? To kill an innocent animal and put 
blood over the entrance to your house—why would God command that? It was to 
indelibly
inscribe the Israelites' redemption into their memory—and it worked. 
Throughout their generations after this, throughout the other writings in 
the
Bible,
they all looked back to the night the lambs were slain and their forefathers 
were delivered.

And when we take Communion, we too remember the sacrifice. Throughout the 
New Testament, Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God. When John the
Baptist was baptizing people down at the Jordan River, he saw Jesus and 
proclaimed, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 
(John
1:29). Being the son of a priest, John would've known all about the rituals 
of the temple, all the way back to this passage in Exodus 12 about the 
Passover
lamb, as he, in one phrase, encapsulated the mission and purpose of Christ.

Later, Paul the apostle wrote, "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been 
sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7, NLT). In 1 Peter 1:18-19, Peter said, 
"You were
not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless 
conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Then in Revelation 5, the apostle John was taken up into the heavenly courts 
and described what he saw: "Behold, in the midst of the throne and of the
four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as 
though it had been slain" (v. 6). He was in God's glory, where everything is 
perfect,
redeemed, and made new. Yet even then, he saw Jesus Christ bearing the marks 
of the cross.

In other words, the only work of man that you will see in heaven are the 
wounds we put on the body of Jesus Christ. And it's going to be sensational. 
It's
not a badge of shame to Jesus; it's His badge of honor, because He wants us 
to remember, just like He wanted the Israelites to remember, that it was 
that
sacrifice that saved us. That's what Communion does: it points us to the 
cross, by which we have found our way home.

So, whenever you take the elements of Communion, take them with a heart of 
thanksgiving. Take them with a renewed heart of joy. Communion is a 
commemoration
of the fact that we have a Savior who loves us, died for us, and accepts us 
based upon His work as the Lamb of God. And that's something to celebrate.

Copyright © 2015 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

Ezekiel 34:16

God promises to seek the lost, bring back those who have been driven away, 
bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick.

Seeking the Lost

It is so natural, after being rescued, to simply go back to your life, to 
business-as-usual. After a harrowing experience, you’re yearning for 
normalcy.
You want to—and sometimes do—forget that hopeless, horrifying moment of 
being forgotten in darkness. Going back there to warn others is hard 
work—and trying
to rescue others in those perilous places sounds risky. It’s true—many of us 
fear the lost, and because of that, we’re reluctant to go out into the world
to seek them.

Why would we fear the lost? Maybe because, often, they’re so needy and 
desperate. We’re afraid that they will attach themselves to us, leech-like, 
and
beg for one thing after another: our time, our money, our emotional support, 
a place in our homes (“just until I get back on my feet”), a ride to 
work—and
on and on.

Or we might fear them because they are so “other” than us. A different 
lifestyle and different life choices. They may have different language and 
clothing
styles, different food and music preferences, and a different sense of 
humor. Will they accept us? Will they laugh at us behind our backs? Will 
they despise
us even as we sacrifice for them? Are they, perhaps, even a danger to us? 
Might they be willing to take by force those things we don’t offer freely? 
Will
we feel uncomfortable, uneasy, in their midst?

When Jesus urged Peter to feed his sheep, he didn’t offer a list of excuses 
he would accept. “Feed my sheep—unless it becomes inconvenient or the sheep
become too demanding. Feed my sheep—unless you’re afraid of the big ram who 
protects the flock. Feed my sheep—unless you’re afraid they’ll charge you,
snatch the food out of your hand, and trample you.” He just asked Peter to 
feed his sheep.

For the desperate, the hungry, the oppressed, for those in pain, no rescue 
can come soon enough. And when the lost call to us for rescue, God doesn’t 
command
us to be supermen. He commands us to be willing. He’ll do the rest.

There are so many who have no way out, unless we rescue them. The words of 
the prophets take on new meaning.
Isaiah 6:8
records a vow that comes from the place of knowing what it means to be 
rescued: “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”

Point to Ponder

Are you willing to say to God, “I remember what it is like to be lost, and I’m 
ready to be sent out to rescue others?” It’s a commitment born of  thankfulness.
Devotions by Christine Caine, Copyright © 2012 by Christine Caine and Equip 
& Empower Ministries.

His Love Endures Forever
by Ryan Duncan, Crosswalk.com Culture Editor

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures 
forever! -
1 Chronicles 16:34

Last December I had the privilege to be part of a short-term mission’s trip 
to Vladimir, Russia, where I worked alongside Russian Christians in the city’s
orphanage. The trip was incredibly challenging, but the opportunity did help 
me learn a lot about God and about myself. In particular, I remember the 
Sunday
morning where our interpreters invited us to attend their Church. The 
building they met in was small, and as I took my seat with the rest of the 
team,
I realized there couldn’t be more than thirty people in the congregation.

I found that number rather depressing. My own Church here in the states wasn’t 
what I’d call big, but it certainly had more than thirty people in it. A
small voice in the dark part of my mind wondered if this was a sign of 
change in our world, that maybe Christianity was beginning to die out. I was 
still
in this dismal frame of mind when the congregation stood for the first song, 
and it was at that point something extraordinary happened. The people of 
that
small Church began to sing together, and I was amazed at the passion they 
displayed toward God as they worshiped.

Afterward, my interpreter took me aside and began to tell me about the 
history of the Church. Apparently this little Church had been in the 
community for
ten years, and it wasn’t shrinking, it was growing. My interpreter told me 
how it was through this Church that he had first come to know Christ. He was
the only Christian in his family, and was doing his best to witness to them, 
but in the meantime he considered the people here just as close as any 
brother
or sister. Nearly everyone in the Church was involved in some kind of 
outreach, some even worked with the orphanages full time.

All of this from a Church of thirty people. Sometimes I lose sight of who 
God really is, and what he can do with the smallest of offerings. God will 
never
be threatened or hindered by our world. He will always be there for us no 
matter how far we stray or how hard mankind tries to remove him. Through the
rise and fall of countless empires, all the advancements of science, through 
war and pain, the spirit of God has endured.

I guess the writer of Psalms knew what he was talking about when he wrote,

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures 
forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures 
forever. Give
thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him 
who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;” – 
Psalm136:1-4

Intersecting
Faith
and Life: Try to find ways to live your faith, consider getting involved in 
your Church outreach.

Further Reading

Psalm 100:5

The Connection with Skip Heitzig

January 8, 2016
Let's Celebrate!
By Skip Heitzig

A few years ago, an assistant pastor was out shopping for the grape juice 
for our Communion service, and he had to buy a large quantity of it, as you 
can
imagine. So, he brought the cart up to the checkout, and in front of him was 
a lady with a couple six-packs of beer. She turned and saw this whole 
crateful
of grape juice, and she smiled and said, "Having a celebration, huh?" He 
nodded and said, "Uh-huh!"

Simply put, Communion is a celebration. We have been forgiven, and forgiven 
people are happy people. Forgiveness of sin brings joy, because sin produces
guilt and guilt is what blocks us from having joy. But you can't just 
dispose of guilt; it must be forgiven. And how can we be forgiven? The 
answer is
a single word: a lamb.

And here we come to Exodus 12, the night of the final plague in Egypt—the 
death of the firstborn. God said that He would send His angel through the 
land,
and he would pass over all of the homes where a lamb had been slain and its 
blood applied to the lentils and the doorpost. This is where the term 
Passover
comes from.

But why was it so graphic and bloody? To kill an innocent animal and put 
blood over the entrance to your house—why would God command that? It was to 
indelibly
inscribe the Israelites' redemption into their memory—and it worked. 
Throughout their generations after this, throughout the other writings in 
the
Bible,
they all looked back to the night the lambs were slain and their forefathers 
were delivered.

And when we take Communion, we too remember the sacrifice. Throughout the 
New Testament, Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God. When John the
Baptist was baptizing people down at the Jordan River, he saw Jesus and 
proclaimed, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 
(John
1:29). Being the son of a priest, John would've known all about the rituals 
of the temple, all the way back to this passage in Exodus 12 about the 
Passover
lamb, as he, in one phrase, encapsulated the mission and purpose of Christ.

Later, Paul the apostle wrote, "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been 
sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7, NLT). In 1 Peter 1:18-19, Peter said, 
"You were
not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless 
conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Then in Revelation 5, the apostle John was taken up into the heavenly courts 
and described what he saw: "Behold, in the midst of the throne and of the
four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as 
though it had been slain" (v. 6). He was in God's glory, where everything is 
perfect,
redeemed, and made new. Yet even then, he saw Jesus Christ bearing the marks 
of the cross.

In other words, the only work of man that you will see in heaven are the 
wounds we put on the body of Jesus Christ. And it's going to be sensational. 
It's
not a badge of shame to Jesus; it's His badge of honor, because He wants us 
to remember, just like He wanted the Israelites to remember, that it was 
that
sacrifice that saved us. That's what Communion does: it points us to the 
cross, by which we have found our way home.

So, whenever you take the elements of Communion, take them with a heart of 
thanksgiving. Take them with a renewed heart of joy. Communion is a 
commemoration
of the fact that we have a Savior who loves us, died for us, and accepts us 
based upon His work as the Lamb of God. And that's something to celebrate.

Copyright © 2015 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

For more from Skip Heitzig, visit
ConnectionRadio.org,
and listen to today's broadcast of The Connection with
Skip Heitzig
at OnePlace.com.

Anne Graham Lotz - We Are God’s Treasure!

We Are God’s Treasure!
"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my 
treasured possession."

Malachi 3:17, NIV

As we totally yield our lives to the control of God’s Spirit within us, He 
uses:

the responsibilities and relationships and ridicule,

the opportunities and obstacles and obligations,

the pressures and pain and problems,

the success and sickness and solitude . . .

He uses all things to work for our ultimate good, which is increasing, 
progressive, glorious conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:28)

We are God’s treasure! When God the Father looked throughout the universe 
for something to give His only Son in reward for what He had accomplished on
earth, the Father handpicked you! You are the Father’s treasure – His 
priceless gift of love to the Son!

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

Ezekiel 34:16
God promises to seek the lost, bring back those who have been driven away, 
bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick.

Seeking the Lost
It is so natural, after being rescued, to simply go back to your life, to 
business-as-usual. After a harrowing experience, you’re yearning for 
normalcy.
You want to—and sometimes do—forget that hopeless, horrifying moment of 
being forgotten in darkness. Going back there to warn others is hard 
work—and trying
to rescue others in those perilous places sounds risky. It’s true—many of us 
fear the lost, and because of that, we’re reluctant to go out into the world
to seek them.

Why would we fear the lost? Maybe because, often, they’re so needy and 
desperate. We’re afraid that they will attach themselves to us, leech-like, 
and
beg for one thing after another: our time, our money, our emotional support, 
a place in our homes (“just until I get back on my feet”), a ride to 
work—and on and on.

Or we might fear them because they are so “other” than us. A different 
lifestyle and different life choices. They may have different language and 
clothing
styles, different food and music preferences, and a different sense of 
humor. Will they accept us? Will they laugh at us behind our backs? Will 
they despise
us even as we sacrifice for them? Are they, perhaps, even a danger to us? 
Might they be willing to take by force those things we don’t offer freely? 
Will
we feel uncomfortable, uneasy, in their midst?

When Jesus urged Peter to feed his sheep, he didn’t offer a list of excuses 
he would accept. “Feed my sheep—unless it becomes inconvenient or the sheep
become too demanding. Feed my sheep—unless you’re afraid of the big ram who 
protects the flock. Feed my sheep—unless you’re afraid they’ll charge you,
snatch the food out of your hand, and trample you.” He just asked Peter to 
feed his sheep.

For the desperate, the hungry, the oppressed, for those in pain, no rescue 
can come soon enough. And when the lost call to us for rescue, God doesn’t 
command
us to be supermen. He commands us to be willing. He’ll do the rest.

There are so many who have no way out, unless we rescue them. The words of 
the prophets take on new meaning.
Isaiah 6:8
records a vow that comes from the place of knowing what it means to be 
rescued: “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”

Point to Ponder

Are you willing to say to God, “I remember what it is like to be lost, and I’m 
ready to be sent out to rescue others?” It’s a commitment born of 
thankfulness.
Copyright Information
Devotions by Christine Caine, Copyright © 2012 by Christine Caine and Equip 
& Empower Ministries.

WHY WERE YOU CIRCUMCISED?

Amos 5:21-23 (ESV)
21 “ I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

Gen. 34:20-23 Darby
20 And Hamar and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke 
to the men of their city, saying, 21 These men are peaceable with us; 
therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it. And the land—behold, 
it is of wide extent before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and 
give them our daughters. 22 But only in this will the men consent to us to 
dwell with us, to be one people—if every male among us be circumcised, just 
as they are circumcised. 23 Their cattle, and their possessions, and every 
beast of theirs, shall they not be ours? Only let us consent to them, and 
they will dwell with us.

In the Old Testament, circumcision showed that the person belonged to God. 
Shechem, who was a Hivite who was not to have anything to do with an 
Israelite, had raped Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He and his father were told 
that if they would be circumcised everything would be OK. They realized that 
if they went along with it they would not only have their women but all of 
the riches of the Israelites.

There are a lot of people that act the same as Hamar and Shechem. Are you 
one of these? Do you go to church for the social aspect? Do you just go to 
see who is there and to be seen? How many times do we see political 
candidates going to church just around election time just to be seen? Some 
people, like Shechem, go to church just to meet a mate.

Are you going to church just for fire insurance, thinking that going to 
church and living a good life get you into heaven? That does not do it, only 
surrendering to Jesus Christ gets you into heaven.

When you pray, do you just recite a wish list to god? With a lot of the 
preachers talking about having everything you want given to you by naming it 
and claiming it do you start believing in God just to get wealthy without 
doing anything yourself?

In other words, are you acting like a Christian for some reason besides the 
one that counts? Acting religious is like being circumcised physically 
without being circumcised of the heart as Paul would say. It is true Jesus 
Christ can and will meet your needs but he is not someone who is going to 
fill your every whim.

When we have truly given ourselves to Jesus Christ and are circumcised of 
the heart then there is one thing we are to look...

Php 3:10 (DARBY)
10 to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his 
sufferings, being conformed to his death,

by Dean W. Masters

World Challenge Pulpit Series
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Giving Life
by Gary Wilkerson

December 14, 2015

It was the night of the Last Supper, and Jesus was winding
down his final conversation with the disciples. Everything
he said that evening was with the knowledge he was about to
leave them. So he concluded the gathering with an
encouraging prayer about things to come: a church that would
overcome and be triumphant; a people whose love for each
other would be a testimony to the world; a divine power and
authority flowing through his followers; and the glory of
the Father resting on his people. These were all things
Jesus would give to his church through the Holy Spirit.

Think about what Jesus had already done. In three years of
ministry he healed the sick, restored eyesight to the blind,
raised the dead, miraculously fed huge crowds, preached the
good news to the poor, and taught the masses the truth about
their heavenly Father. It's an amazing list of
accomplishments by the Son through his obedience to the
Father's will.

Christ makes clear that all of this was a result of the
Father's giving nature. In his prayer in John 17, one word
comes up more than any other: "give." "Father, you have
given me...you have given them...I have given them..." In
the space of 26 verses, Jesus uses some form of the word
"give" 17 times.

The first thing we notice in this amazing prayer is how
often and generously the Father gives. It's in his nature to
give good gifts to his children. And when he sent his Son,
he listed all that he would give him: "I'll give you the
power and authority of my name. I'll give you the people of
the earth. I'll give you words to speak and works to
accomplish. And I will give you my glory."

In turn, we see that Jesus has the same giving nature as his
Father. In fact, his prayer recounts all the things Christ
had already given his disciples - and the things he would
continue to give! This passage powerfully spotlights the
giving nature at the center of God's heart.

In a sense, that evening Jesus gave the disciples his last
will and testament. He was saying, "I established my kingdom
by giving. And here's how I want my kingdom to continue
through you." The last thing he gave his followers before
leaving was a particular calling - the calling to give.

We all have been adopted into a giving lifestyle.

It is the Father's nature to give. And like any child who
grew up in a giving home, Jesus shares his Father's giving
nature. Now Jesus was calling on us to carry on the family
name through a giving life.

To do this, Christ supplies us with a powerful image at the
Last Supper. He lifts up the bread and the wine and says,
"This bread is my body, broken for you. And this cup is my
blood, poured out for you." Note what Jesus then does with
the bread: He blesses it, breaks it and gives it. In doing
this, Christ demonstrates to us what a poured-out life looks
like: It is blessed. It is broken. And it is given away.
That's what it looks like to be a son or daughter of the
living God.

This is the central difference between the average human
being, whose primary aim is to meet his own needs, and
someone who has found out life's purpose and pours himself
out for others. In Christ, we are called to move from a
"getting" life to a "giving" life. Jesus empowers this
transition for us in the Spirit, replacing our worldly
spirit with his own godly Spirit. He tells us, "You have
been blessed by me. And now you are meant to give those
blessings away."

This is a glorious theology - but it's the hardest
transition we will ever make in life. Over the past few
years the top- selling Christian books have focused on the
"getting" side of life. Their central theme is how God longs
to bless his children. We know that's true of God because of
his giving nature; he wants to open the windows of heaven to
pour out his mighty resources on us. He does indeed want to
bless our marriage, our health, our finances. So these
best-selling books have their place, and I admit I've drawn
help from some of them myself.

But there's something missing in these books. It is this:
There is something much better than a blessed life of
getting - and that is a broken life of giving. A getting
life is easy; a giving life is difficult - and rewarding.

Remember: He blessed. He broke. He gave away. Often in the
church this process breaks down after the first step. Many
Christians don't get past the blessing part. They don't
allow their lives to be broken before God, so they never
make it to the last step - giving. Thus they never see the
fulfillment of God's purpose in blessing us.

Jesus first meets us as needy children.

Christ often begins his ministry to us as if we're children
with needs to be met. This happens throughout the gospels as
he restores the blind man's sight, heals the bleeding woman
and feeds the hungry crowds. He meets suffering people right
where they are and gives them just what they need. This was
reason enough for people to follow him. Even some of the
Pharisees followed Christ because of his miracles.

I personally was convinced to follow Jesus after he met my
deepest need. As a teenager I became uncertain whether God
was real. I knew that I had descended from a long line of
ministers going back several generations; so how did I know
my faith wasn't just indoctrination from my parents? I
wondered, "If I were born in China, would I be a Buddhist?"
Jesus came to me in my hurting soul and showed me what I
needed to know: that Buddha didn't love me, nor did Mohammed
or Confucius– but Jesus did. He revealed to me the pure
truth of his love. And it turned my life around.

Jesus does bless us in our time of need. But, you see,
that's only his starting place in our lives. He takes us
from blessedness to brokenness because it's the only way to
bring us to real maturity. The broken path is how we begin
to take on his giving nature.

Let's face it, our flesh hates the thought of a giving life
because it requires brokenness. Think about all those
bestsellers whose titles imply blessings. Now imagine a
different title on the shelves, this one called The Giving
Life. You think, "I want to be a giver," so you flip through
the pages. You read of Paul, who speaks of being
shipwrecked, beaten and stoned because he was called to
give. You read of the other apostles who were persecuted
because Jesus called them to a giving life. As you read
along you soon realize, "This is not going to be a
bestseller."

That much was proven in Jesus' day. The crowds stopped
following him when he began preaching difficult truths (see
John 6). When the people turned for the exits, "Jesus said
to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter
answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to
know, that you are the Holy One of God'" (John 6:67-69).

Jesus' question puts us in the same position as the
disciples: We have to trust that he is good and faithful.
You see, we don't get to choose the agenda for our lives. If
we did, we'd all be getters, not givers. That's why Jesus
sets the agenda. And with every hard direction he leads us,
we can be sure he does so in love.

The agenda Jesus left with Peter was a command to give:
"Feed my sheep."

When Jesus appeared to the disciples after the Resurrection,
he imparted one final lesson. It began when he asked Peter
whether the disciple loved him. He posed this question to
Peter three times, and every time Peter answered yes. In
turn, Jesus responded each time, "Feed my lambs," "Tend my
sheep," "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17).

The word for love that Jesus uses here is the Greek agape,
indicating selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. This
kind of love says, "If you despise me, I will give to you.
If you reject me, I will still give to you. And if you hurt
me, I will keep on giving to you."

Yet when Peter answered Jesus, he used a different word for
love. Each time he pledged his love to Christ he used the
word phileo, indicating brotherly love. This kind of love is
mutual - it gets as well as gives. Peter was saying, in
essence, "As you give to me, I'll give to you."

That response wasn't sufficient for Jesus. It's why he
answered Peter each time, "If you love me, feed my sheep."
He was saying, "My people need help, Peter. Tend to them.
Feed them. Give your life for them."

Jesus was commissioning Peter to a giving life. He knew the
disciple was up for it because in the preceding weeks Peter
had been broken deeply. What Jesus tells him next describes
the very crux of the giving life - brokenness: "'Truly,
truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress
yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old,
you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you
and carry you where you do not want to go.' (This he said to
show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after
saying this he said to him, 'Follow me'" (John 21:18-19).

Jesus was purposefully transitioning Peter's life.

With this final teaching, Jesus led Peter from a blessed
life to a broken, giving life. In doing so, he handed Peter
the very keys to the kingdom. Ahead for Peter were pain,
anguish and sorrow in the giving life God laid out for him.
Yet as John's gospel tells us here, even Peter's death
brought glory to God.

Friend, you and I may not get to do what we want in this
life. We may not have the best life that all those
bestsellers promise. But we can have a life that reflects
the glory of our Lord's giving nature. By giving your all
for others with agape, you may find yourself being poured
out painfully like communion wine. But in doing so you will
become other-centered, powerful, influential - and the world
will see the difference. Your giving life will reveal God's
own glory - a witness to the world of his generous, loving
nature. Amen!

_______________________________________________
Copyright (c) 2015 - World Challenge, Inc.
P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, USA

This data file/publication is the sole property of World Challenge,
Inc. It may be printed in its entirety for the reader's personal use
or to pass on to family and friends. It may not be altered or
edited in any way, and all reproductions of this data
file/publication MUST contain this copyright notice:

Copyright (c) 2015 - World Challenge, Inc.
P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, USA
http://www.worldchallenge.org

What is the answer?
Gospel From India 

​"I am the Lord your God...You shall have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:2-3.

Have you noticed a certain irony in our country? 

It seems that, while our country is becoming more and more secular-
- it is also becoming more spiritual…
- especially with all that is going on with the world economic conditions and crumbling governments. 

While our country seems more and more godless-
- it is also becoming a land of many gods. 

As people recognize that there must be some higher power in life-
- they still rebel against the idea of any authority over their own personal lives. 

People want spirituality their own way, with no strings attached. 
But the spiritual pursuits of all these man-made gods is a dead end. 

So, ​​what is the answer?

Hint: 
There is only one true way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. 

He said that Himself in the most controversial statement He made: 
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Don’t fall into the indecisive patterns of the majority. 
Look to Jesus Christ and find the answer to what you’ve been missing: 
The way to God, true spirituality.

Promise for Today: God’s Care for Us

God's Care for You Never Ends

“I created you and have cared for you since before you were born. I will be 
your God throughout your lifetime–until your hair is white with age. I made
you, and I will care for you.” (Isaiah46:3-4 NLT)
God’s Care for Us

Does God really care?

Absolutely. You were in His heart and mind long before you first took a 
breath. Does He stop caring for you once you’re born?

I love this promise. As my dark brown hair strands begin to turn more gray, 
I don’t mind the white that will eventually follow. It will be another 
reminder
that God’s care is still with me.

There may be times when you wonder if this promise is really true. You look 
at your circumstances–or at others. You look at our world situation. And you
think, did God take a vacation?

As long as we live in a fallen world, we–and others–will experience 
difficulty, trials, and unbelievable challenges. But those whose faith is 
planted firmly
in God’s promises and in His Word, will not be shaken.

God’s Care Never Ends

Treasure it. Believe it. (And enjoy that graying hair!) God cares for 
you–and He will never stop caring for you!

It’s Your Turn

What about you? What Bible promise will you claim this year?
Promise for Today: God’s Care for Us
appeared first on
Rebecca Barlow Jordan.
5 Ways to Stop Discouragement from Getting the Best of You
by Leslie Vernick

Discouragement and disappointment are normal emotions we all experience even 
as Christians, but it’s important to know how to make sure those 
debilitating
emotions don’t get the best of us.

First, let’s look at four reasons why we get discouraged and disappointed.

Job felt discouraged with his wife and friends. They didn’t get it. In the 
midst of his suffering and questioning God, they tried to be helpful, but 
they
ended up heaping more shame and blame on Job for his afflictions. We, too, 
can feel let down by our friends and family. They don’t understand what we’re
going through or don’t offer to help as we wish they would. Our 
disappointment can turn to discouragement.

Elijah became discouraged with life’s circumstances. Despite our persistent 
and fervent prayers, things don’t turn out the way we’d hoped they would. 
Elijah
hoped that after all the miracles the Israelites saw performed on Mount 
Carmel, Ahab and Jezebel would repent and put God first, but they did not. 
King
Ahab and Jezebel were as stubborn and hard hearted as always, and Elijah 
felt discouraged, exhausted, and told himself that his entire ministry was a 
waste
(1 Kings 19).

Jeremiah felt angry and discouraged with God when he believed God was 
against him, and because of that perspective, he temporarily lost hope in 
God (
Lamentations 3).
The disciples too felt discouraged after Jesus was crucified, before he rose 
from the dead. They said, “We were hoping that he was the one who was going
to redeem Israel” (
Luke 24:21).
They couldn’t see the bigger picture and felt disappointed that Jesus did 
not fight for his kingdom.

Peter felt discouraged with himself when he realized that he wasn’t as 
courageous as he thought he was. Jesus had warned him that he would deny 
him, but
Peter’s pride kept him from seeing himself clearly (
Matthew 26:31
and
74, 75).
We too can feel discouraged and even depressed when we fail to live up to 
our own or someone else’s expectations.

Discouragement happens, even to the strongest and best of people. Below are 
five (5) steps you can take when you start to feel the black cloud of 
discouragement
swallow you up.

1. Be honest. It does you no good to pretend you don’t feel what you feel. 
You can’t take action against a negative feeling until you first admit you 
have
it. A strong Christian is not someone who never experiences negative 
feelings. It’s someone who has learned what to do with them when he or she 
has them
and how to process them biblically.

2. Take care of your body. If your body isn’t working, your mind, emotions 
and will are also weakened. I love how God tended to Elijah’s body 
first—before
addressing anything else and provided ravens to feed him. Sometimes the 
circumstances of life drain us dry, and we need to press pause, stop doing, 
and
simply rest and refresh.

3. Pay attention to your thought life. Maturing as believers means we learn 
to think truthfully (
Philippians 4:8)
and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (
2 Corinthians 10:5).

All of us attempt to make sense of the things that happen in our lives. We 
try to figure out why they happen and what it all means. It’s crucial that 
we
pay attention to what stories we are telling ourselves about ourselves, 
about others, about God or a particular situation, and whether or not those 
stories
are actually true. For example, if you look at what Elijah was telling 
himself after he became discouraged, much of it was not true, yet because he 
thought
it, it added to his misery (read
1 Kings 19).

Jeremiah was also telling himself things about God that were not true but 
because his mind believed his version of reality instead of God’s, he lost 
his
hope. Read through
Lamentations 3.
Notice in
verse 21
Jeremiah begins to have a change of mind and heart. He says, “This I recall 
to mind, therefore I have hope.” When his thoughts changed his negative 
emotions
also lifted even though his circumstances stayed the same.

4. Train yourself to “see” life out of two lenses at the same time

When the apostle Paul counsels us to be transformed by the renewing of our 
mind (
Romans 12:2),
he is telling us that our mind needs to be trained to think differently than 
we have in the past. Part of this training is to learn to see both the 
temporal
(life is hard) and the eternal (God has a purpose here) at the same time.

Paul speaks honestly of his temporal pain when he says he is hard pressed on 
every side, perplexed, persecuted and struck down. Yet he did not become 
crushed,
despairing, abandoned, or destroyed. Why not? Because he learned to firmly 
fix the eternal perspective on his spiritual eyes. He says, “Therefore we do
not lose heart.… So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is 
unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (
2 Corinthians 4:8–18).

Paul never minimized the pain of the temporal, yet discouragement didn’t win 
because he knew that God’s purposes were at work. (See
Philippians 1:12–14
for another example).

5. Press close into God

The truth is life is hard, people do disappoint and hurt us, and we don’t 
always understand God or his ways. The prophet Nahum talks about a day of 
trouble
and reminds us “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, he 
knows those who trust in him” (
Nahum 1:7).
If we’re not in close trusting relationship with God, life’s troubles can 
become unbearable. The psalmist cried out, “I would have despaired unless I 
had
believed I would see God in the land of the living” (
Psalm 27).

One final tip. The best way to chase out a negative feeling is with another 
feeling. The Bible teaches us “In everything give thanks for this is the 
will
of God” (
1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Gratitude is a powerful anecdote for discouragement. We may not be able to 
give God thanks for the difficult situation that we find ourselves in, but 
we
can learn to look for things we can be thankful for in the midst of it.

Leslie Vernick is a writer for The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC). 
ABC exists to encourage, equip, and empower people everywhere to live and
counsel the Word, applying the Gospel to the whole experience of life.



Jesus was crushed like wheat into flour making Him the Bread of Life. He was 
crushed like grapes in a winepress. Maybe that is why he chose the two to
remember Him by. Life can be crushing, but if we embrace it, we will have 
one more thing in common with Him. To be broken bread and poured out wine is
a good thing.
Cindy Butrow

KenBible.com
New Post on KenBible.com - Loving Difficult People
------------------------------
Loving Difficult People
Posted: 15 Dec 2015 09:55 PM PST

We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and 
not just please ourselves. (Romans 15:1, NASB)

Lord, I’m glad to love and serve other people…as long as it’s convenient and 
reasonably comfortable. I’m willing to give a little money to feed the 
hungry.

But You want me to bear with those who are weak in other ways, ways that may 
be inconvenient and uncomfortable for me. You call me to love those are who
struggling with emotional scars, blind spots, moral problems, and disordered 
lives. You call me to be compassionate when hidden fears cause unpredictable
and volatile reactions.

Lord, You have always fully accepted me, with all my problems. Help me do 
the same for others.

Experiencing LIFE Today

Love is grand; divorce is a hundred grand. – Anonymous

Every chance He got, Jesus touched hurting people. It's pretty amazing if 
you think about it. It's as if love was His full-on career, particularly 
toward
those who were hurting. He put off teaching huge sermons to touch hurting 
people. He put off wonderful, grand buildings to touch hurting people. He 
was
about love. He was willing to look at those in need, touch them in a 
meaningful way, and take on the risks that love might require.

Yes, that's what He did, and that's what He still does through you and I.

That's why we need to tweak our love. We need to tweak from "Pete Love" (or 
whatever your name is) to "Jesus Love." How in the world do we do that?

It begins by seeing through the surface. That's how Jesus sees us. He looks 
past our pathetic attempts to look good and position ourselves. He looks 
deep
in our souls and loves us at that level.

If we don't look past a person's physical appearance or social stigma, we 
will back away from those who need His unconditional acceptance. Our love 
will
only be drawn to those who look "just right" on the surface (those who look 
pretty much like us). It's so petty, and we'd never want to admit it, but 
sometimes
the way people look makes us go the other direction.

And it's not just people who look different and strange, it's people who 
look beautiful, people who are attractive – you know the ones – they look 
too
perfect! We stay away from them, too. For most of their life, everyone stays 
away from them except people who really want to take advantage of them. 
Jesus
calls us to get beyond our tainted version of love to His kind of love.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." – John 15:12

We need to see through the surface! Get past it, so you can minister to the 
person.

Holy Spirit, give me Your eyes today so that I can see through the surface 
and into the souls of those You put in my path. I confess my inability to 
love
them in my own prejudice. I claim my ability to love them as You loved me by 
allowing You to love them through me. Amen.

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


When the Call Feels Bigger Than You
ERYN LYNUM, COMPEL Member

"She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a 
vineyard."
Proverbs 31:16
(ESV)

I walked around the old tattered fence. Hope mounted as crisp leaves 
crunched beneath my feet.

The fence was home to a shabby, forgotten garden, out back of the new home 
we’d just purchased. How long had it been since someone had tended its 
roots?
Surely not too long, I gathered, as I eyed the fallen, pulpous peppers 
sitting among the underbrush.

My eyes took in the misfortune of soil left untended, but in my heart I saw 
a season of growth and opportunity amidst this agricultural wreckage.

It was my field.

Stubble. Chaff. Clay. Not much to behold, yet promise was burgeoning just 
below the soil.

A year later, after we had tilled and toiled and harvested that garden soil, 
the words from today’s key verse began their resounding echo in my spirit:
"She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a 
vineyard"
(Proverbs 31:16).

The verse reverberated within me over time. As I read it again and again, 
that originally untended garden out back began to flourish with a successful
first season of fruit bearing.

And God opened my eyes to other untended fields with potential.

Vacant fields lay all around us. In wedding vows promised before God and 
family. In the births of new babes. In the prodding of one’s heart toward 
new
ministry. In the face of new mothers in shelters downtown. In the eyes of 
orphans a world, or a street, away.

How many times have I stood before an empty field? And how many times have I 
walked right past one without consideration?

Sometimes, the eyes of one’s heart must squint to see it, but there is hope 
amidst the overgrowth. There is great potential waiting to be unearthed from
these desolate fields.

I imagine this woman spoken of in Proverbs 31 … "She considers a field and 
buys it …" Her feet planted on the edge of that field. Hand rubbing chin and
head tilted in curiosity.

What could it be? What would God work through her hands for His glory?

Perhaps we are afraid to see these fields. When we glimpse an opportunity 
before us, do we turn our gaze because we are wary of the work the soil 
demands?
The beauty of the fruit is alluring; we truly desire to see God do great and 
magnificent things through us. But our hands seem so unprepared, and we feel
wholly unworthy of the calling.

When you stand before that vacant field, and consider the great expanse of 
the work it will take from barren to harvest, don’t let fear turn you away.
We have much to make of empty fields if we are ready to put our hands to the 
plow and get a little messy.

You need only consider your next right step. Don’t be overwhelmed by the 
size of the task before you. Focus on the one thing that must be done next 
and
trust God to level the ground before you. Pick up some gloves and clear the 
brush. Till some soil. Plant a seed.

And then watch in wonder as it begins to blossom. When we’re faithful to 
simply show up with hands willing to work, we can watch in wonder as God 
brings
forth fruit from our humble efforts.

God places them before us, these barren fields, and beckons our hearts to 
create something of artistry, of intrigue, of splendor, of His majesty. He’ll
call forth the rains. We only need to consider, buy in and put our hands to 
the plow.

Heavenly Father, help me see the empty and waiting fields that You place 
before me. Give me wisdom on when to keep walking and when to stop and put 
my
hands to the plow. Protect me from the fears that will hold me back from 
seeing You do great and mighty things through me. Help me always work 
through
the strength of Christ and point any and all of my efforts back to Your 
glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
1 Corinthians 3:6,
"I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God 
who made it grow." (NLT)

RELATED RESOURCES:
Longing to write words that are memorable and life changing? Struggling to 
build a platform, but realize it takes more writing than you thought? Today’s
devotion author, Eryn Lynum, is a member of COMPEL, a monthly membership 
program for those who want to write words that move people.
Click here
to learn more.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:
Is there an empty field you sense God calling you to work in, but you are 
overwhelmed by the task or don’t know where to begin? Spend some time in 
prayer
over this opportunity. Write two to three small steps you could take next.

Were you given an opportunity recently but you said "No" out of fear? Commit 
to praying over that opportunity every morning for one week. Ask the Lord
whether He might have you change your answer and pursue that opportunity in 
His strength.

© 2015 by Eryn Lynum. All rights reserved.

Experiencing LIFE Today

I'd love you unconditionally, but you just don't deserve it. – Unknown

Jesus saw through the surface to the soul. That's the first reason that He 
loved in such an amazing way. Whether it was a leper, or a prostitute, or an
adulterer, He seemed to naturally look past outward appearances and blatant 
behavior. He looked deep into the human soul, and what He saw there, He 
loved.

Jesus also looked past people's issues and touched the soul. He didn't even 
try to fix them before He had connected with them in a way that validated 
their
value, even in the midst of their sin. Over and over, He loved first.

Finally, Jesus risked everything to touch the human soul. His reputation as 
a holy man was on the chopping block the night He let the prostitute anoint
Him with perfume and wipe His feet with her tears and hair. And how about 
the physical diseases He risked by reaching out to touch those who were 
sick?
Yeah, He put His own health on the line to heal them and love them.

That's radical stuff. The source of such audacity is not just a decision or 
an act of the will. It is an extension of unity with God.

"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we 
are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete 
unity.
Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you 
have loved me… because you loved me before the creation of the world." – 
John
17:22-24

When we consciously let Christ live through us to love like this, His 
radical love brands us as authentically Christian and gives glory to God.

Is it possible that we don't love as we should because we don't recognize 
how He could love through us?

Holy Spirit, today, I ask that You would give me one opportunity to 
experience Your love flowing through me like never before. You can love 
through me
like I could never love on my own – the love that sees, the love that 
touches, and the love that risks. Please, do that in a radical way through 
me today.
Amen.

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

Jesus, the Savior
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He 
shall save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
One day I drove my car off the hot pavement out into a grassy area because I 
knew where there was a persimmon tree. I love persimmons and I thought, 
“Well,
this is about the time those persimmons would be ripe.” But I got impossibly 
stuck in the mud. I got a board and tried to dig myself out. I found a piece
of carpet there in the woods and put that under the tires. My tires only 
sunk deeper.

I prayed, “Lord, I’m in the mud. I need your help. I’m helpless here. Lord, 
get me out.” And almost at the same time, a man came by in a four-wheel 
vehicle.
With that mighty truck, he pulled me slowly out of the mud. I was back on 
solid ground.

I was so grateful. I hadn’t known what to do, but God sent someone in a 
four-wheel truck with a cable. That’s so much like salvation. We’re looking 
for
the things of this world and sinking in the mud. We say, “Well, I can get 
myself out of this.” And the more we try to handle it, the deeper and deeper
we sink. We need somebody who will see us, care for us, come to us, and get 
us out. Jesus is a Savior. He has what it takes to extricate us from the mud
we’ve gotten in.

When I got home, my car was covered with mud. I got out the hose and began 
to get the mud off. That man got me out of the mud, but it was up to me to 
deal
with the mud that was still on there. When I got saved, I was covered with 
mud. But since then, I’ve been letting Jesus, the Water of Life, clean me 
up.

ACTION POINT:
You can struggle all you want, but all you’re going to do is sink deeper. 
Stop the struggle. Surrender to Christ. You don’t have what it takes to get 
out
unless someone takes you out. And that one is Jesus. His name is wonderful. 
He is the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace.
Discover Jesus
Devotions taken from the messages of Adrian Rogers.

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May God continue to strengthen and encourage you by the Love Worth Finding 
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You are receiving this email because you indicated at www.lwf.org that you 
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3970 cdd The Day the Music Died
Tuesday January 5, 2015
Volume 17 Number 003

Today's Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: Matthew 24:3
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, 
saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of 
Your
coming, and of the end of the age?" NKJV

The Hippie Generation is arguably defined as 1962-1971. Ten years that 
changed a generation and ultimately changed the country. One of the anthems 
to capture
the spirit of the times was American Pie by Don McLean in 1971. The song 
with its catchy melody has been present on the world airwaves ever since. 
The
song/poem is said to relate to Buddy Holly, Vincent Van Gogh and Hopalong 
Cassidy. True as that maybe following is the story of how one brother (Doug)
used this song to lead his little sister (Patty) to Christ.

My name is Pastor Doug Drucker and in the fall of 1971 I was walking past my 
younger sister's bedroom. Out of the room emanated a familiar song which we
both joined singing along with --- BYE, BYE MS. AMERICAN PIE. My little 
teenage sister inquired of me as her older and the "wiser" one what the song 
was
about. I sat on the edge of her bed as I gave her MY interpretation of the 
song:

A LONG, LONG TIME AGO
The disillusionment of the FREE LOVE movement had settled in on us as we 
sadly realized this world had no hope or answers to life's pressing 
questions!
I explained the only answer is eternal life with Jesus.

BAD NEWS ON THE DOORSTEP
The news and film footage of the carnage in the Vietnam War nightly on TV.

SINGING THIS WILL BE THE DAY THAT I DIE
Explained to sis the certainty of DEATH for us all! And at the time of death 
our spiritual choice would be made known for all eternity.

DID YOU WRITE THE BOOK OF LOVE, AND DO YOU HAVE FAITH IN GOD ABOVE, IF THE 
BIBLE TELLS YOU SO?
Songs first reference to the Bible! Asking what is this all about.

CAN MUSIC SAVE YOUR MORTAL SOUL?
The futility of secular music and the drug culture we were deliriously 
living in!

I WAS A LONELY TEENAGE BRONCIN' BUCK
I --- we were all lonely and broken! We once were bouncin' bucks with 
optimistic expectations for our futures --- but sadly they all failed.

NOW FOR TEN YEARS WE'VE BEEN ON OUR OWN
Depicts the hippie generation 1962-1971 searching for something! Not quite 
knowing what it was.

WHEN THE JESTER SANG FOR THE KING AND QUEEN,
OH, AND WHILE THE KING WAS LOOKING DOWN,
THE JESTER STOLE HIS THORNY CROWN.
THE COURTROOM WAS ADJOURNED;
NO VERDICT WAS RETURNED.
AND WHILE LENNON READ A BOOK OF MARX,
THE QUARTET PRACTICED IN THE PARK,
AND WE SANG DIRGES IN THE DARK
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED.
All about Satan and the activities of his assigned demons to entrap an 
entire generation.

HELTER SKELTER IN A SUMMER SWELTER.
THE BIRDS FLEW OFF WITH A FALLOUT SHELTER,
EIGHT MILES HIGH AND FALLING FAST.
IT LANDED FOUL ON THE GRASS.
THE PLAYERS TRIED FOR A FORWARD PASS,
WITH THE JESTER ON THE SIDELINES IN A CAST.
The complete and utter hopelessness we felt as the Viet Nam War raged on --- 
nuclear holocaust seemingly imminent and I well remember my dad digging a
fallout shelter in our home. Add to that the brutal Sharon Tate murders sung 
about by the Beatles in Helter Skelter. Hopelessness was rampant.

NOW THE HALF-TIME AIR WAS SWEET PERFUME
WHILE THE SERGEANTS PLAYED A MARCHING TUNE.
WE ALL GOT UP TO DANCE,
OH, BUT WE NEVER GOT THE CHANCE!
`CAUSE THE PLAYERS TRIED TO TAKE THE FIELD;
THE MARCHING BAND REFUSED TO YIELD.
DO YOU RECALL WHAT WAS REVEALED
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED?
We turned on our TVs to football as an escape instead of attending church. 
The "music" had died! Our idyllic childhood was coming to a startling end 
and
we knew an epic era was over in our lives. It was time to move on and grow 
up!

WE ALL GOT UP TO DANCE,
OH, BUT WE NEVER GOT THE CHANCE!
We had tried to change the world for good and failed miserably! Peace and 
Love turned into abortion on demand, the gold standard was gone and 
legislation
turned against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

OH, AND THERE WE WERE ALL IN ONE PLACE,
A GENERATION LOST IN SPACE
WITH NO TIME LEFT TO START AGAIN.
SO COME ON: JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK!
JACK FLASH SAT ON A CANDLESTICK
Now I was really warming up! We were the generation lost in space running so 
hard to achieve prosperity at any cost.

BECAUSE FIRE IS THE DEVIL'S ONLY FRIEND.
The reality of who Satan is and no matter what he offered --- when we 
grabbed for it --- we crashed and burned in the flames.

OH, AND AS I WATCHED HIM ON THE STAGE
MY HANDS WERE CLENCHED IN FISTS OF RAGE.
NO ANGEL BORN IN HELL
COULD BREAK THAT SATAN'S SPELL.
AND AS THE FLAMES CLIMBED HIGH INTO THE NIGHT
TO LIGHT THE SACRIFICIAL RITE,
I SAW SATAN LAUGHING WITH DELIGHT
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED
Satan was on our stage now, destroying our dreams and crushing all hopes. 
Drugs, free love and money were sought as the answers for everything --- 
Satan
was now laughing at us because he was winning. Right and wrong was replaced 
by situation ethics, God was removed from our schools and all hope was 
drowned
in drugs, sex and alcohol.

I WENT DOWN TO THE SACRED STORE
WHERE I'D HEARD THE MUSIC YEARS BEFORE,
BUT THE MAN THERE SAID THE MUSIC WOULDN'T PLAY.
AND IN THE STREETS: THE CHILDREN SCREAMED,
THE LOVERS CRIED, AND THE POETS DREAMED.
BUT NOT A WORD WAS SPOKEN;
THE CHURCH BELLS ALL WERE BROKEN.
AND THE THREE MEN I ADMIRE MOST:
THE FATHER, SON, AND THE HOLY GHOST,
THEY CAUGHT THE LAST TRAIN FOR THE COAST
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED.
The "sacred store" --- the church bells no longer chimed in the old 
abandoned churches! Father, Son and Holy Spirit were neglected and the 
coming rapture
would set things straight.

By this time my sister took hold of the word picture I was drawing. The 
hopelessness of this "American Pie" world. The realization that sex, drugs, 
alcohol
and money were not the answer. Patty asked to receive Christ and set her 
life straight. We knelt down right then and there and Patty received her 
gift
of eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as her personal savior.

Patty went to be with the Lord at the age of 30 when a sudden massive heart 
attack took her life and ushered her into glory.

If you are in a place right now where sex, drugs, alcohol and money are your 
gods then now would be a wonderful time to ask Jesus to come into your life
and set you free. Patty did and never looked back from the ravages of these 
traps set by Satan.

pb comment: If you would like to receive Jesus Christ as your personal 
savior in this new year send me an email and Pastor Carol and I will pray 
with you
to begin your new life in Christ.

Prayer: Father thank you for the signs of your imminent return and for Jesus 
dying for my sins to set me free in preparation for glory with HIM. In the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

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

What is to be our resource in the hour of affliction and sorrow?
(George Everard,
"Family Sorrows"
1882)

What is to be our resource in the hour of affliction and sorrow?

There is one passage of Scripture that has been to me an anchor of hope and 
strength in many a dark and sorrowful day, and I desire that it might be 
cherished
in the memory of each reader, and its guidance followed when trouble comes: 
"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all
your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately 
and cares about you watchfully." 1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified version)

Go then to the mercy-seat in the Savior's name, and bring your whole care 
and sorrow, and leave it at your Father's footstool.

Consider His Fatherly HEART. "He cares for you." As a father pities his 
children, yes "as one whom his mother comforts"--so tenderly does the Lord 
deal
with those who fear Him and trust in Him.

Consider His Fatherly HAND. It is the hand of love that smites. It is the 
hand that has bestowed our every mercy--which holds the cup of sorrow. It is
the same hand that in due season will remove our trials, and lift us up from 
our depths of distress, and set us again on the rock of safety and peace.

Consider His Fatherly EYE. It is ever upon us for good, and not for evil. He 
knows our sorrow, and beholds every affliction and calamity that befalls us.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope 
in His mercy."

Consider His Fatherly EAR. He hears every sigh, every moaning, every cry. He 
bows down and inclines His ear to every petition. "His ear is open to our
prayer."

Consider His Fatherly PURPOSE. Read the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, and see 
how He wills only our good. He would make us "partakers of His holiness." He
would purify us from the dross of our corruptions, and make us fit for His 
presence.

Consider His Fatherly PROMISE. He has promised that He will "never leave us 
nor forsake us." He has promised that He will make "all things work together
for good to those who love Him." "He who spared not His own Son, but 
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us 
all things?"

Ah, Christian, trust yourself wholly to your Father's care, and He will not 
disappoint your confidence!

~ ~ ~ ~

You may want to read the whole
George Everard's
superb 6 page article, "
Family Sorrows".

~ ~ ~ 
Feel free to forward these gems to others who may be encouraged or profited 
by them!
Grace Gems (choice ELECTRONIC books, sermons & quotes)

Take Time
by Chuck Swindoll

Matthew 11:28-30

"I like that, Dad." I remember those words. It's like they were said to me 
yesterday.

Actually, they take me all the way back to the late 1970s. In '71, Cynthia 
and I moved our family (four children, ages 1 through 10) from a sleepy, 
casual
bedroom community outside Dallas, Texas, to rapidly growing Orange County in 
Southern California. Almost before we knew it, we had entered the fast-lane
life of the West Coast, doing our best to keep up. As time passed, we found 
ourselves doing double-time driving freeways, leading an expanding church 
with
a multi-person staff, hauling busy kids to and from school, mixed with 
holidays and birthday celebrations, sleepovers, and endless ball games. My 
publishing
world had suddenly exploded, which resulted in too many trips around the 
country and not enough down time to rest my spirit and calm my nerves and be 
with
those I loved the most.

Mother's Day was fast approaching, so my older son and I dropped into the 
local Hallmark store to find a nice card for Cynthia. As I thumbed through 
numerous
Mother's Day cards, he wandered back to the section where the posters were 
displayed. Before long he asked me to join him. He was standing before a 
large
poster portraying a serene scene. A well-worn fishing boat was out on a 
lake. It was early dawn, with the sun peeking over the horizon. Its warm 
rays reached
across a deep blue-gray sky wrapped in lacy white clouds. Two thin lines 
were in the water—one hanging from a pole held by a father, sitting in the 
back
by a little outboard motor, and the other held by his son, sitting at the 
other end. Their corks made gentle ripples on the water's glassy surface. 
You
could feel the closeness. You could hear the easygoing conversation as 
father and son savored the morning together.

Two simple words appeared at the bottom of the poster. They stung as I read 
them:

TAKE TIME.

"I like that, Dad," said Curt. I reached an arm around the broadening 
shoulders of my growing-up teenaged son, looked at him, and then looked 
again at
the poster. "I do, too, son . . . I do, too." He didn't want to buy it. I 
realized he simply wanted me to see it. To think about it. I did. In fact, 
it
was a needed wake-up call to this too-busy dad, whose son had hurriedly come 
into the store looking for something to buy for his mother, but who left 
slowly,
far more concerned about his dad.

How easy it is for you and me to get caught up in a "hurry-worry sindrome," 
doing too much, driving too fast, eating too quickly, juggling too many 
things.
It all seems ultra-important at the moment—but later we realize much was 
done at the expense of cultivating deeper and more meaningful relationships 
with
those we love the most. Being held hostage by the tyranny of the urgent is 
not how we were meant to live.

Knowing how prone we are to this, Jesus offered a very sincere and gracious 
invitation. You may have read it before . . . but this time, linger over it.
Turn the words over in your mind; let them seep in.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in 
heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is 
light." (Matthew 11:28–30)

I suggest you accept Jesus's invitation—today. Come to Him. Tell Him how 
weary and over-burdened you are. Pull that heavy backpack loaded with all 
your
stuff off your shoulders and drop it at His feet. Do it now. Then enter into 
His rest. Relax for a change—take an extra several minutes to enjoy His 
presence
. . . embrace His peace. Before you turn in tonight, curl up alongside those 
who mean the most to you and tell them how much you love them, how valuable
they are to you.

TAKE TIME.

Copyright © 2006 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Show me, don't tell me
Volume XV, Issue 48
November 30, 2015
----------------------------------------------------------

The novel was ready and in the publisher's hands. Finally I could get some 
rest. Or so I thought. Turns out that notion was as much fiction as the 
story
I'd written.

The next several months brought a project manager, marketing director, video 
producer, creative consultant, and book designer. Plans were prepared on 
everything
from cover design and trailer music to speaking engagements and book 
signings.

But the difficult work was with the Terrible Three---story editor, critique 
editor, and master editor. These frequently "encouraged" more writing and 
rewriting.
Along with their counsel and direction, one instruction echoed repeatedly. 
Show me, don't tell me! This meant...
Trust the readers to discover the truth. What they "witness" will draw them 
in. The message will take hold and remain long after they put the book down.
If you merely tell them what happens, few will ever embrace what you wish 
them to know. They must become part of your story.

Written words _Show me_ Don_t tell me._

Great advice, but often very difficult to do, especially for those grounded 
in telling others what they want them to believe. I practiced law for 36 
years
and that's what attorneys do. That's what they are trained to do, even 
expected to do. They can't allow you to simply discover the truth.

Oddly enough, we often adopt this within the Church. Pastors, preachers, 
ministers, priests...elders, deacons, teachers, leaders of all kinds...they 
can
be quite excellent at "Do this. Don't do that." The problem does not rest 
with them alone, and there are consequences.

What do you think of the message to love one another from one who refuses to 
do it? An employer's claim to care for others, while refusing to provide 
healthcare
for his employees? Or those who say "we" must reach out to the lonely, 
hurting, and desperate, yet never get around to it themselves?

Jesus said, I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for 
you (John 13:15). He wasn't talking about washing feet, but about loving and
caring for others. Paul was more direct. Follow my example, as I follow the 
example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1).

The words, Actions speak louder than words.

If what we teach and share does not walk closely with how we live, our words 
are empty. We may speak of giving food, providing drink, clothing the needy,
aiding the stranger, and visiting the prisoner. But for such a message to 
have meaning, our actions must follow our words.
James wrote that we are not to merely listen to what the Bible says, but do 
what it says, putting action to belief. (see James 1:22) So no one would 
miss
his point, he made it quite clear. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought 
to do and doesn't do it, sins. (James 4:17)

Don't worry about what you haven't done. Think of what you can do...when you 
care for others with words and actions.

People will discover the truth. What they "witness" will draw them in. The 
message will take hold and remain long afterward. They will embrace what you
want them to know---that you follow the Risen Lord, the ONE TRUE 
GOD---because you actually love them. (see John 13:35)

A young woman helping an older one

It isn't too late. Everything can change...your life, someone else's...right 
now!

Show them, don't just tell them. And they will become part of your story..
Take care & be God's,

Chuck
--------------------------------------------------
Ciloa - Encourage One Another
Ciloa is a registered trademark of Ciloa, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) 
organization.

Anne Graham Lotz - Free at Last!
Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient 
to death - even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:8, NIV

Christ “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being 
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled 
himself
and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!†(Phil. 2:7-8) How 
awesome to consider that the Creator of the universe, unbound in time and 
space
for all eternity, chose to be bound

by a woman’s womb for nine months,

by the body of a man that knew weariness and hunger,

by a Roman cross, with His hands and feet pinned by spikes,

by a borrowed tomb . . .

Why? So that you and I might be set free from the problems that threaten to 
bind us and keep us from fulfilling God’s intended purpose for our lives.

Praise God! We can be free, truly free at last, from all that binds us, 
because the One Who is gloriously eternal, unbound by time and space, was 
willing
to be bound!

Blessings,

Copyright © 2015 AnGeL Ministries, All rights reserved.
www.annegrahamlotz.org.
7 Ways to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Holly Mthethwa

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.â€

This is probably one of the most quoted statements in the
bible.
It can be found in numerous places throughout scripture, and we reference it 
frequently.

But, do we really know what it actually means to love our neighbors as 
ourselves? And, could it be, that we actually love some of our neighbors 
differently
than we love ourselves?

Some find it easy to love the elderly man with tattered jeans, ruffled hair, 
and a hand-scratched sign begging for help. Others find it easy to love the
orphan with the bloated belly who isn’t even old enough to beg. Other people’s 
hearts are broken for the women who are forced by life’s circumstances into
the grips of prostitution.

Some find it difficult to love the neighbor who is sitting in the pew right 
next to them. Others find it difficult to love the neighbor who is sitting
in a different pew, in a different Church that doesn’t hold to the same 
biblical viewpoints.

Others find it difficult to love the white man who works on Wall Street, the 
black man in political office, the Hispanic woman who’s risen up the 
corporate
ladder, or the Muslim woman who’s fighting for her rights. Some find it 
difficult to love the foreigners among us.

I’m certain that all of us identify with a group of people from a particular 
life circumstance or background and are filled with compassion and love for
them. We find it easy to love those neighbors as we love ourselves.

I’m also certain that all of us struggle—or have struggled—truly loving our 
neighbor, because our neighbor takes on many forms. Our neighbor is the 
woman
we call a gossip who worships right beside us, the young teen who graffitis 
the neighborhood playground, the teacher whose curriculum we question, and
the man who attends a church that’s not in our denomination.

The issue isn’t who our neighbor is and who we’re supposed to love. The 
issue is our hearts. Who are we?

And, are we willing to show love, mercy, and compassion? Will we get caught 
up in who we should help and love, how often we’re supposed to, and how 
much;
or will we simply allow the Holy Spirit to work through us?

We don’t have to confuse unity and love within the body of Christ with 
passivity and uniformity. We’re all different and at different places in our 
walk
with the Lord. He’s working on each of us. We can be united in love and 
still stand firm in our beliefs and challenge one another to rise above.

We’re not always moved by compassion for people, especially the difficult 
people in our lives, but here are seven practical ways we can actually love 
our
neighbors. Let’s write these seven declarations on our hearts and commit to 
be people who fight against bondage, injustice, and the principalities of
darkness as opposed to one another.

In loving my neighbor as myself, I declare:

1. I’ll see my neighbor
I will love my neighbors, whoever they are, by truly seeing them. I will 
look past the obvious, the outer shell, and I will look into their eyes, 
their
hearts, and their circumstances. If I am blinded by my own bitterness or 
anger, I will beg God to give me His eyes to see His beloved creation as He 
does.

2. I’ll ask for forgiveness and offer it
I’ll ask for forgiveness for the strongholds within my own heart that keep 
me from sympathizing with or loving another. If I am closed off or 
indifferent
towards a particular person or people group, I’ll confess it before the Lord 
and ask for His forgiveness. If I need to ask for forgiveness from my 
neighbor,
I’ll humble myself and apologize.

If I need to extend forgiveness towards a particular person or people group, 
I’ll extend it.

3. I’ll pray
I’ll love my neighbors by praying for them—even if it’s through gritted 
teeth at first. I’ll beg God to give me a sincere heart, and I will petition 
and
pray until I am sincere. I will pray for my neighbors’ circumstances, 
salvation, and walk with the Lord. I’ll pray for the everyday and the 
momentous.
I will pray for my neighbors, especially the ones I least want to pray for.

4. I’ll rejoice and mourn
I will walk alongside my neighbors. I will rejoice when they rejoice and 
mourn when they mourn. I will align my spirit with theirs as I say, “I’ll 
give
thanks with you and I’ll cry with you.†I’ll bear the burden of the pain and 
anguish, because I know that Christ is the ultimate burden-bearer, and I’ll
shout for joy in tandem with their cries of thanksgiving and praise.

5. I’ll learn and be teachable
Christ’s ways are often hard and challenging, and I’ll choose the harder 
path. I’ll be teachable, and I’ll learn. I’ll allow my neighbors to 
challenge
my heart without taking offense or becoming bitter. I’ll be teachable and 
moldable. I’ll accept constructive criticism as the pathway that draws me 
closer
to Christ. I won’t be self-righteous or act as a know-it-all.

6. I’ll ask hard questions about myself
I’ll ask myself hard questions. Why do I think the way that I think? Why do 
I behave the way that I behave? Was that right? Was that Christ-like? I won’t
accept the status quo and will ask myself if I’m really living in accordance 
with the teachings of Christ or if I’m confused.

7. I’ll refuse to be judgmental, but I’ll be bold enough to spur others on 
to be more like Christ
It’s a common misconception that believers aren’t supposed to judge other 
believers. God calls us to judge other believers and to spur them on to 
become
more Christ-like, but, again, our heart issues often get in the way. We take 
it to extremes—we often become self-righteous and judgmental or we refuse
to point out areas in others’ lives where God wants to bring freedom and 
truth.

I declare that I will love my neighbor by refusing to house a judgmental 
spirit. I refuse to focus on the sin in my neighbor’s life as opposed to the 
sin
in my own. I will, however, be bold enough to challenge my neighbor in love 
and to pray for areas of bondage, pain, injustice, and sin in his life. I 
will
love my neighbor by understanding that love doesn’t always feel fuzzy, but 
often challenges and calls out something greater so that he can experience 
the
fullness of Christ.

Holly Mthethwa is passionate about sharing God's word in everyday life. She 
has been a missionary advisor in Peru and India, led
bible
studies in the U.S. and South Africa, and is the author of the Christian 
memoir,
HOT CHOCOLATE IN JUNE: A TRUE STORY OF LOSS, LOVE, AND RESTORATION.
She resides just outside of Washington, D.C. where she lives an adventure 
with her husband and daughter. Holly writes regularly about
faith,
family, and moments that have hooked her heart at
www.ruggedandredeemed.com.

Why Hospitality is Important to the Kingdom of God
Tony Merida

Hospitality Taught and Exemplified by Jesus:

Many dont see how much Jesus taught and exemplified hospitality. Jesus ate 
with sinners throughout His earthly ministry. He received children gladly.
He taught us to invite the lowly to parties and to welcome strangers. He 
prepared breakfast for His wayward disciples, including Peter who had 
betrayed
Him. He ate with the Emmaus disciples after His resurrection. Before His 
departure, He said He was going to “prepare a place†for His people. Jesus 
also
instituted the Lord’s Supper, giving new meaning to the Passover meal, and 
told us that He will drink it again with us when “the kingdom of God comes.â€

Jesus’ miracles were sneak previews of the kingdom of God to come. In the 
coming kingdom, there will be no demon-possessed men, no storms to calm, no 
sicknesses
to cure, and no tears of the bereaved to wipe. Each time Jesus performed a 
miracle, He gave us a taste of what’s coming. His first miracle was 
significantly
at a wedding party. The King gave us a glimpse of the ultimate party to 
come. Happiness, joy, fellowship, and sweet communion with the King awaits 
His bride.

The promise of enjoying Jesus glorious kingdom is made possible by His 
gracious provision. Paul tells us that we were formerly strangers . . . 
having no hope and without God in the world†but then adds the good news: “But now 
in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought nearby the blood
of Christ.†Christ came out to us, to bring us in to the family, at great 
sacrifice and cost. Now we enjoy the unspeakable privileges of the King’s 
hospitality.

The question that we must ask ourselves is whether or not we’re practicing 
Jesus-like ministry. Many
Christians
see Jesus as a personal moral example (and rightly so), but not as a social 
example. But why not? When you become a Christian, your social life, how you
interact with others, should change also. Do you have a reputation for 
hanging out with shady company for the purpose of showing them grace? Don’t 
get
me wrong. I’m not advocating a cavalier spirit, and certainly not condoning 
sin. But I’m definitely advocating Jesus-like ministry. Jesus was separated
from sin, but never isolated from people. And He definitely wasn’t the 
incarnate kill-joy. Sinners loved being with Jesus. The poor and vulnerable 
found
hope in Him. It was the religious neatniks that got upset with Him. What 
about you? Does your social life look like His?

In his book Eating Your Way through Luke’s Gospel, Robert Karris says, “In 
Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a
meal.†Luke gives particular attention to Jesus’ table ministry. Tim Chester 
reflects on this in A Meal with Jesus, as he looks at six particular 
chapters
in
Luke (5; 7; 9; 14; 22; 24).
He poses an interesting question during the introduction, “How would you 
complete this sentence: The Son of Man came . . .â€? Many Christians would 
answer
(1) “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life 
as a ransom for many,†and (2) “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the
lost.†That’s correct. But Luke also adds “The Son of Man has come eating 
and drinking.†Chester writes: “The first two are statements of purpose. . .
. The third statement is a statement of method. . . . His mission strategy 
was a long meal stretching into the evening. He did evangelism and 
discipleship
’round a table with some grilled fish, a loaf of bread, and a pitcher of 
wine.â€

Following Jesus includes following His practice of hospitality—joyous, 
authentic, generous, countercultural, and hope-filled hospitality. When 
Jesus says,
“Come follow me,†He isn’t calling us to offer a class or start a program, 
but to follow His way of life. And that way includes opening up our homes 
and
lives to others. But before we’ll do this, we must open our hearts.

Opening Our Hearts

If we arent showing hospitality, we must ask Why not At the end of the 
day, its a heart issue. The goal is to open our hearts to people, not 
merely pass the potatoes.

[Editor's Note: This excerpt is taken from
Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down
by Tony Merida,
Copyright © 2015 by Tony Merida. Used by permission of B&H Publishing Group.
www.bhpublishinggroup.com

[I wish you] health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support 
your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace
enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until 
some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your 
neighbour.
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to 
make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears 
concerning the future.

Johann Von Goethe
Experiencing LIFE Today

Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and 
also more hard to bear. It is easier to say “My tooth is aching†than to say
“My heart is broken.†– C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

I recently ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in 20 years. I asked him how he 
was doing, and he said, “Well, did you hear about my experience in Africa?â€

“No,†I answered. “What happened?â€

He said, “I was flying from the U.S. to Zimbabwe, and I had a layover in 
Cairo for a few hours. While I was there, I decided to have my massive heart 
attack.â€

Right there in the airport. Two hours earlier or two hours later, and he 
would have died in flight. But in Cairo, the doctors were able to save his 
life.
His widow-maker artery was 98 percent occluded. He said, “Who knew? I had no 
idea. One moment I’m feeling fine, and the next minute I’m fighting for my
life.â€

It’s amazing how hardening of the arteries can sneak up on you, isn’t it? We 
are oblivious to its happening. It’s even shocking to find out that men and
women who look so healthy on the outside have suffered from hardening of 
their hearts. And this isn’t just a physical truth but a spiritual truth as 
well.

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden 
your hearts.†- (Hebrews 3:7-8)

There are many, many ways our hearts can harden toward God without our 
noticing. Perhaps it’s a financial thing or a sexual one. Maybe you’re 
dealing with
personal pain and thinking, If God really cared, He’d fix this. And until 
then, you’re fine with inviting Jesus into some areas of your life, but not 
others.
You’re struggling to trust Him, and this is the symptom of a hardening 
heart, my friends.

So the Spirit says today is a very important day. We can decide what our 
response will be. We don’t have to experience a hardening of our heart 
toward
God. It truly is a choice.

Lord, examine my heart – I can’t see if there’s hardness, but You can. Guide 
me toward a faith based upon Your grace rather than my performance. Give me
courage to invite You into the most secret spaces, trusting Your presence in 
these areas of my life. Amen.

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

KenBible.com

New Post on KenBible.com - Make God Flesh and Blood
----------------------------------------------------------

Make God Flesh and Blood

Posted: 29 Nov 2015 09:55 PM PST

What an amazing concept! Our loving God, an infinite Spirit being, holy, 
unseen, and transcendent, made Himself a real human being. He longed for us 
to
know Him. He wanted us to trust Him. He wanted to assure us that He 
understood us. He became like us in every way, sharing our existence, our 
life, our
temptation, our pain, even our death. He became like us so that we could 
become like Him.

That is incarnation: God made flesh…God become human. God became incarnate 
in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is no longer with us in physical form. But God’s deep longing to be 
incarnate has not cooled. He still burns to be seeable and touchable. He 
still
desires to be flesh and blood here on this earth, among the human beings who 
need to know Him and come to Him. Incarnation is still what He wants.

How can He be incarnate here? We, His children, His Church, are His 
incarnation. As soon as Jesus returned to the Father, He poured out His own 
Spirit
on all who trusted Him. By the Spirit of God we make God flesh and blood, 
here and now. We make Him real to needy people. We are His face, His hands, 
His
feet, His heart. We are His love, His compassion, His holiness, His peace, 
and His unconquerable joy.

Our wonderful God become seeable and touchable. What an amazing possibility! 
And each of us and all of us can play a part.