Saturday, September 30, 2017

Accountable to the Lord by Charles Stanley

In the parable of the talents, the master gave three servants an assignment to carry out in his absence, along with the resources to accomplish it. Upon his return, he asked for an accounting of what they’d done.

From this parable, we can deduce several principles about the Christian life. First, God has chosen us to be His servants. Second, He has prepared work for us to do, and He supplies the assets and abilities we’ll need to achieve it. Some of His work is applicable to all believers—such as loving Him through service, showing love to others, and making disciples. Other aspects are specific to the individual, utilizing each one’s unique talents and skills. Finally, the Lord blesses all who obey Him. Pleased by the obedience of the first two servants, the master in the parable recompensed them accordingly. We, too, are promised a heavenly reward for our faithful service.

Being a good steward of what God has entrusted to us is a serious matter. He wants us to invest in His kingdom plan rather than overcommitting time to earthly matters or overspending on the pursuit of pleasure. You might wonder about the third servant, who did nothing with his talent and was cast out of his master’s presence. This cannot happen to believers, for we are permanently adopted into God’s family. But the Lord will hold us accountable.

Through Jesus Christ, we have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). With His help, we can move past our self-centered ways to carry out God’s plan. Do you long to obey the Lord above all else? Are you prepared to stand before Him and give account for your life?

The Assigning of the Call by Oswald Chambers

The Assigning of the Call

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church…COLOSSIANS 1:24

We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed—you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.

The Jesus Bible Reading Plan / LOVE OF MONEY

The Jesus Bible Reading Plan

Day 272 of 365

LOVE OF MONEY

In addition to being the wisest man ever to live (until Jesus), Solomon was arguably one of the richest men in history (1Ki 10:14 - 25). So when he wrote about wealth, he did so from his own experience. Despite all that Solomon was able to accumulate through his lifetime, he came to the ultimate conclusion that money is ultimately futile and fails to satisfy. Jesus taught about money in Matthew 19:16 - 24 in his encounter with the rich young ruler, and he concluded by saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

While money is important for survival, love of money is a detriment to one's spiritual health. Combining Solomon's and Jesus' teachings about money, it becomes clear that money fails to satisfy while on earth, and it can be a stumbling block that keeps people from finding ultimate satisfaction in Jesus. However, when people give away their money and possessions to the poor in the name of Jesus, they store up for themselves treasure in heaven (Mt 19:21). Such lasting, heavenly treasure is much more valuable and beneficial than any possession gained on earth (Mt 6:19 - 21).

Jesus, protect me from the sticky trap of the love of money. Help me to live honestly and generously, knowing that real treasure has nothing to do with dollar signs. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 NASB

10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

Matthew 6:19-21 NASB

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

September 30 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him"(Deut. 32:11-12).

Our Almighty Parent delights to conduct the tender nestlings of His care to the very edge of the precipice, and even to thrust them off into the steeps of air, that they may learn their possession of unrealized power of flight, to be forever a luxury; and if, in the attempt, they be exposed to unwonted peril, He is prepared to swoop beneath them, and to bear them upward on His mighty pinions. When God brings any of His children into a position of unparalleled difficulty, they may always count upon Him to deliver them.
--The Song of Victory

"When God puts a burden upon you He puts His own arm underneath."

There is a little plant, small and stunted, growing under the shade of a broad-spreading oak; and this little plant values the shade which covers it, and greatly does it esteem the quiet rest which its noble friend affords. But a blessing is designed for this little plant.

Once upon a time there comes along the woodman, and with his sharp axe he fells the oak. The plant weeps and cries, "My shelter is departed; every rough wind will blow upon me, and every storm will seek to uproot me!"

"No, no," saith the angel of that flower; "now will the sun get at thee; now will the shower fall on thee in more copious abundance than before; now thy stunted form shall spring up into loveliness, and thy flower, which could never have expanded itself to perfection shall now laugh in the sunshine, and men shall say, 'How greatly hath that plant increased! How glorious hath become its beauty, through the removal of that which was its shade and its delight!'"

See you not, then, that God may take away your comforts and your privileges, to make you the better Christians? Why, the Lord always trains His soldiers, not by letting them lie on feather-beds, but by turning them out, and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long march with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. This is the way in which He makes them soldiers--not by dressing them up in fine uniforms, to swagger at the barrack gates, and to be fine gentlemen in the eyes of the loungers in the park. God knows that soldiers are only to be made in battle; they are not to be grown in peaceful times. We may grow the stuff of which soldiers are made; but warriors are really educated by the smell of powder, in the midst of whizzing bullets and roaring cannonades, not in soft and peaceful times.

Well, Christian, may not this account for it all? Is not thy Lord bringing out thy graces and making them grow? Is He not developing in you the qualities of the soldier by throwing you into the heat of battle, and should you not use every appliance to come off conqueror?
--Spurgeon

Using Spiritual Gifts by John MacArthur

Using Spiritual Gifts

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

To be effective, spiritual gifts must be used in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in the power of the flesh.

One of the constant battles all believers face is to avoid ministering their spiritual gifts in the power of the flesh. Even those of us who are called to be preachers (prophets) need to subject our spirits to other mature believers (1 Cor. 14:32). As a pastor, I am not spiritual just because I stand behind a pulpit and preach. Paul instructs us, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let others pass judgment” (1 Cor. 14:29). Those who teach God’s Word are not infallible; therefore, they must allow other qualified believers to verify the truth of what they proclaim.

Whenever Christians rely on their own strength, wisdom, and desire to minister, whatever they accomplish is a mockery and a waste. But whenever they minister by the Spirit’s power, the result is pleasing to God and has lasting value (“gold, silver, precious stones. . . . If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward,” 1 Cor. 3:12, 14). Essentially, all a believer needs to pray is, “Spirit of God, use me,” and divine energy will activate and flow through his or her ministry to fellow believers and unbelievers.

You can use your spiritual gift effectively by faithfully following three basic steps: Pray—continually confess and turn from your sins (1 John 1:9) and ask God to use you in the Holy Spirit’s power. Yield yourself—always determine to live according to God’s will, not the world’s (Rom. 6:16; 12:12). Be filled with the Spirit—let the Spirit control all of your thoughts, decisions, words, and actions. Commit everything to Him, and He will minister through you.

Suggestions for Prayer

Confess any and all times lately that you have counted on your human ability rather than on the Spirit’s power to minister to others.
Pray that this week God would give you a clear opportunity to exercise your spiritual gift for His glory.

For Further Study

Read 1 Samuel 15:1-23.

In what way did King Saul use his own insight rather than follow God’s command?
What can be the consequence of such disobedience (vv. 22-23; see also 1 Sam. 13:8-14)?

Going Through the Valley by Adrian Rogers

Going Through the Valley

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.” - Psalm 23:4

Psalm 23 is perched between Psalm 22, which tells about the crucifixion of Jesus, and Psalm 24, which is a prophecy of the coronation of Jesus. It is beautiful trilogy about the Savior’s cross, the Shepherd’s crook, and the Sovereign’s crown.

Psalm 23 is the valley between the blood-drenched slopes of Mount Calvary and the sunlit peaks of Mount Zion. Thank God for every valley, because there must be a mountain.

If you are in the valley today, remember that you wouldn’t be there had there not been mountains to cross. There is vision in the valley and hope in the hills.

September 30 / Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning and Evening

Day 273 of 366

Morning - Day 273
"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague."

Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This morning it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen and felt it has received its death blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are "nothing else but sin," for no confession short of this will be the whole truth, and if the Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment--it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford to those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and confessed, however black and foul, shall never shut a man out from the Lord Jesus. Whosoever cometh unto him, he will in no wise cast out. Though dishonest as the thief, though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner, though fierce as Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though rebellious as the prodigal, the great heart of love will look upon the man who feels himself to have no soundness in him, and will pronounce him clean, when he trusts in Jesus crucified. Come to him, then, poor heavy-laden sinner,
Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare; You can't come too filthy--come just as you are.

Evening - Day 273
"I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go."

Does Christ receive us when we come to him, notwithstanding all our past sinfulness? Does he never chide us for having tried all other refuges first? And is there none on earth like him? Is he the best of all the good, the fairest of all the fair? Oh, then let us praise him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol him with timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the standards of pomp and pride be trampled under foot, but let the cross of Jesus, which the world frowns and scoffs at, be lifted on high. O for a throne of ivory for our King Solomon! Let him be set on high forever, and let my soul sit at his footstool, and kiss his feet, and wash them with my tears. Oh, how precious is Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of him? How is it I can go abroad for joy or comfort when he is so full, so rich, so satisfying. Fellow believer, make a covenant with thine heart that thou wilt never depart from him, and ask thy Lord to ratify it. Bid him set thee as a signet upon his finger, and as a bracelet upon his arm. Ask him to bind thee about him, as the bride decketh herself with ornaments, and as the bridegroom putteth on his jewels. I would live in Christ's heart; in the clefts of that rock my soul would eternally abide. The sparrow hath made a house, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God; and so too would I make my nest, my home, in thee, and never from thee may the soul of thy turtle dove go forth again, but may I nestle close to thee, O Jesus, my true and only rest.
"When my precious Lord I find, All my ardent passions glow; Him with cords of love I bind, Hold and will not let him go."

Leviticus 13:13 NASB

13 then the priest shall look, and behold, if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce clean him who has the infection; it has all turned white and he is clean.

Song of Solomon 3:4 NASB

4 "Scarcely had I left them When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother's house, And into the room of her who conceived me."

NKJV 365 / Job: Choosing to Trust

NKJV 365 Day Reading Plan

Day 273 of 365

Job: Choosing to Trust

Job was a good and righteous man who walked in the ways of the Lord. In fact, his righteousness prompted God to say of him, "There is none like him on the earth" (Job 1:8). God blessed Job for his righteousness and so Job earned the title, "the greatest of all the people of the East" (Job 1:3).

Yet Job endured unspeakable suffering. Though he had done nothing wrong, he lost everything - his family, his wealth, his reputation, even his health. If that weren't enough, his wife and his friends offered him no real comfort. Job's friends told him that he had suffered because of some hidden sin in his life.

Job is a stark biblical example of a fact we need to understand: Even those who are right before God suffer adversity. Will we allow the suffering to tear down ur faith or build it up? These are our only choices.

In Job 13:15, Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Job chose to place his complete faith in God, his Redeemer, throughout all of his difficult circumstances (see Job. 19:25, 26).

Taken from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible

Job 13:15 NASB

15 "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

Day By Day With Billy Graham / Don't Compromise

Day By Day With Billy Graham

Day 273 of 366

Don't Compromise

Horace Pitkin, the son of a wealthy merchant, was converted and went to China as a missionary. He wrote to his friends in America, saying, "It will be but a short time till we know definitely whether we can serve Him better above or here." Shortly afterward, a mob stormed the gate of the compound where Pitkin defended the women and children. He was beheaded and his head was offered at the shrine of a heathen god, while his body was thrown into a pit with the bodies of nine Chinese Christians.

Sherwood Eddy, writing about him, said, "Pitkin won more men by his death than he ever could have won by his life." Christ needs people today who are made of martyr stuff! Dare to take a strong, uncompromising stand for Him.

Daily Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for the examples of those who have gone before us. Help me to take hold of Your unlimited strength, too.

Ephesians 3:16 NASB

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

Loud & Clear: God Speaks Through Animals by David Jeremiah

TODAY'S TURNING POINT WITH DR. DAVID JEREMIAH

Loud & Clear: God Speaks Through Animals

September 30, 2017

Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
Numbers 22:28

George Beverly Shea was “America’s Beloved Gospel Singer,” who for seven decades thrilled the world with his rich voice. But Bev Shea was quite shy. As a young man he was a nervous wreck in front of crowds. Once when he was invited to give a talk, he wrote his dad asking for an outline. His father wrote back, saying, “Son, God helped Balaam’s donkey to talk, so I’m sure He can do something for you. Love, Dad.”¹

Recommended Reading: Numbers 22:22-34

It was a lesson Bev Shea never forgot.

The Bible is a virtual zoo of interesting animals that have lessons for us—Jonah’s whale, Peter’s rooster, the scapegoat of Leviticus, the soaring eagle of Isaiah 40, the industrious ant of Proverbs, the birds of Matthew 10, and deer with their feet in high places in Habakkuk 3. The next time you see a member of God’s animal kingdom, praise God for His creative genius; and pause a moment to see if the Lord may have a biblical lesson for you from the lambs, foxes, doves, hens, bees, badgers, and gazelles.

When your donkey speaks, shut up and listen.
Calvin Miller

New: Inside and Out / Our Daily Bread

New: Inside and Out

September 30, 2017

Read: John 3:1–8, 13–16
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 9–10; Ephesians 3

No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.—John 3:3

A few years ago a publisher made a big mistake. A book had been on the market for several years, so it was time for a makeover. The author rewrote the book to bring it up to date. But when the revision was published, there was a problem. The publisher gave the book a nice new cover but printed the old book inside.

The exterior was fresh and new, but the interior was old and out of date. This “reprint” was not really new at all.

Sometimes that kind of thing happens with people. They realize a change needs to be made in life. Things are heading in the wrong direction. So they may put on a new exterior without making a vital change in their heart. They may change a behavior on the outside but may not realize that it is only God who can change us on the inside.

In John 3, Nicodemus sensed that because Jesus came “from God” (v. 2) He offered something very different. What Jesus told Nicodemus made him realize that He offered nothing short of a rebirth (v. 4): He needed to be “born again,” to be made totally new (v. 7).

That change comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s when “the old has gone, the new is here” (2 Cor. 5:17). Do you need a change? Put your faith in Jesus. He’s the one who changes your heart and makes all things new. —Dave Branon

Lord, I now know that changes on the outside—behavior, looks, attitude—don’t change me inside. I put my faith in Jesus, who died on the cross and rose again to forgive my sins. Make me new on the inside—in my soul.

How has your life been changed by Jesus? Share it with us at odb.org.

Only God can make us new.

INSIGHT: A central theme in John is that it isn’t possible to be neutral about Jesus. We need to make a choice—either to live in the life, light, and joy found in Him, or to remain in darkness (3:19-21). But Jesus was patient in explaining the good news of transformation available through Him, knowing that understanding the gospel requires being “taught by God” (6:45). Monica Brands

Friday, September 29, 2017

The Awareness of the Call by Oswald Chambers

The Awareness of the Call

…for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 1 CORINTHIANS 9:16

We are inclined to forget the deeply spiritual and supernatural touch of God. If you are able to tell exactly where you were when you received the call of God and can explain all about it, I question whether you have truly been called. The call of God does not come like that; it is much more supernatural. The realization of the call in a person’s life may come like a clap of thunder or it may dawn gradually. But however quickly or slowly this awareness comes, it is always accompanied with an undercurrent of the supernatural— something that is inexpressible and produces a “glow.” At any moment the sudden awareness of this incalculable, supernatural, surprising call that has taken hold of your life may break through— “I chose you…” (John 15:16). The call of God has nothing to do with salvation and sanctification. You are not called to preach the gospel because you are sanctified; the call to preach the gospel is infinitely different. Paul describes it as a compulsion that was placed upon him.

If you have ignored, and thereby removed, the great supernatural call of God in your life, take a review of your circumstances. See where you have put your own ideas of service or your particular abilities ahead of the call of God. Paul said, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” He had become aware of the call of God, and his compulsion to “preach the gospel” was so strong that nothing else was any longer even a competitor for his strength.

If a man or woman is called of God, it doesn’t matter how difficult the circumstances may be. God orchestrates every force at work for His purpose in the end. If you will agree with God’s purpose, He will bring not only your conscious level but also all the deeper levels of your life, which you yourself cannot reach, into perfect harmony. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.

A Partner for Accountability by Charles Stanley

Galatians 6:1-10

An accountability partner is able to perceive what you can’t see when blind spots and weaknesses block your vision. Such a person serves as a tool in God’s hand to promote spiritual growth, and he or she watches out for your best interest. When choosing a confidant, look for seven characteristics:

1. Godly. A person who walks in the Spirit will offer genuine wisdom based on biblical principles rather than personal opinion.

2. Trustworthy. No matter what you share with this individual, you must be certain that he or she will keep everything in the strictest confidence.

3. Accepting. He or she must allow you to be yourself—frailties and all—and not try to remake you into someone “perfect.”

4. Courageous. A good accountability partner will lovingly confront you with the truth, even when it hurts (Eph. 4:15).

5. Forgiving. Trust is built when mistakes are forgiven.

6. Edifying. Don’t choose someone with an overly critical attitude, who will make you feel worthless. Love edifies and builds up (Eph. 4:29). It never destroys.

7. Encouraging. You don’t want someone with a checklist, who judges you or acts like a prophet. Instead, choose someone who takes great joy in encouraging you.

We can all benefit from someone who’s able to say what we need to hear without making us feel threatened. Answerability provides checks and balances that promote spiritual growth and protect us from pitfalls. If you don’t already have an accountability partner, ask God to lead you to such a person.

September 29 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

I will give myself unto prayer (Ps. 109:4).

We are often in a religious hurry in our devotions. How much time do we spend in them daily? Can it not be easily reckoned in minutes? Who ever knew an eminently holy man who did not spend much of his time in prayer? Did ever a man exhibit much of the spirit of prayer, who did not devote much time in his closet?

Whitefield says, "Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground, in silent or vocal prayer." "Fall upon your knees and grow there," is the language of another, who knew whereof he affirmed.

It has been said that no great work in literature or science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude. We may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion, that no large growth in holiness was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often, and long, alone with God.
--The Still Hour

'Come, come,' He saith, 'O soul oppressed and weary,
Come to the shadows of my desert rest;
Come walk with Me far from life's babbling discords,
And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.'

Making the First Thing the First Thing by Adrian Rogers

September 29

Making the First Thing the First Thing

“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” Psalm 19:12

I believe in church attendance, but if your relationship with the Lord and with others is suffering, then you need to stay at home and get on your face before God.

Sometimes a businessman will get very prosperous in his business--and at first it seems a good thing. He tells his wife, “Honey, you know how I couldn’t give you much when we got married? Well, now I can.” But soon the pursuit of a nice home and nice things consume him. A sadness descends upon his wife and children, and they lament, “Oh, Daddy....Oh, Husband...what we would give to just have you spend time with us.”

What tragedy it would be if what you do for Jesus keeps you from Jesus. Stop the cycle today. If you know you’re a workaholic, stop it. If you know your walk is far from God, get it right.

Spiritual Gifts by John MacArthur

Spiritual Gifts

“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

God wants every Christian to understand spiritual gifts and use his or hers wisely.

A spiritual gift is a channel through which the Holy Spirit ministers to the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:11). The day we were born again into God’s family, His Spirit distributed to us a spiritual gift. Therefore, having a spiritual gift does not mean a believer is “spiritual.” What we really must ask is, “Is the channel clear?” Hypothetically, someone could have all the recorded spiritual gifts and not be using any of them. Or that believer could be greatly abusing some gifts. In either case, such a person would not be spiritual.

It is also incorrect to equate a natural ability with a spiritual gift. Someone might say, “My gift is baking pies”; another might say, “I’m good at playing the piano.” Those are wonderful and useful abilities, but they are natural abilities, not spiritual gifts.

Paul illustrates the difference between abilities and gifts. He could have used his knowledge of philosophy and literature to write and deliver great orations. However, this is what he said to the Corinthians: “I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:1-2). The Holy Spirit uses the abilities of people like Paul and speaks through them, but He expresses Himself in a supernatural way, which is not necessarily related to the person’s natural skills.

If we rely on our own ability to produce spiritual fruit, we hinder what the Spirit wants to do in us. Instead, ponder what Peter says about using your gift: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for the special spiritual gift He has given you. Ask that He would help you use it faithfully, to its full potential.

For Further Study

Read Romans 12:4-8 and list the spiritual gifts mentioned there. What does 1 Corinthians 12, especially verses 12-31, emphasize regarding the use of the various gifts within the church?

The Jesus Bible Reading Plan / TREASURE IN HEAVEN

The Jesus Bible Reading Plan

Day 271 of 365

TREASURE IN HEAVEN

The writer of this psalm likely encountered many beautiful and impressive things while serving in the temple. Yet the confession of his heart was that God in heaven was his greatest treasure. Nothing on earth could compete with the glories of God. Nothing stirred his affections like the Sovereign Lord.

Jesus taught people to pull back from pursuing the treasures of earth - to stop storing them away for status and security. Money and possessions are temporary bits of wealth, and all of it can be stolen or ruined (Mt 6:19). As the psalmist's greatest prize was in heaven, so Jesus encouraged his listeners to invest in things that would last forever (Mt 6:20). On another occasion, Jesus used a parable to compare the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field. "When a man found it, he . . . sold all he had and bought that field" (Mt 13:44).

Life on earth features many luxuries and objects of worth. Jesus teaches people to resist the temptation to chase after things that will not last. Rather, those who believe in Jesus should spend their years investing in their relationship with God and the people he loves - dispensing grace, making disciples and loving unconditionally. These treasures of heaven will endure forever and bring much glory to God.

Jesus, I live in a world obsessed with money and wealth. Protect me from these distractions, and help me to invest my energies where they matter: in you. Amen.

Psalms 73:25-26 NASB

25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

Matthew 6:19-20 NASB

NKJV 365 Day Reading Plan / Assurance

NKJV 365 Day Reading Plan

Day 272 of 365

Assurance

In a world of unrelenting changes, I am the One who never changes. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Find in Me the stability for which you have yearned.

I created a beautifully ordered world: one that reflected My perfection. Now, however, the world is under the bondage of sin and evil. Every person on the planet faces gaping jaws of uncertainty. The only antidote to this poisonous threat is drawing closer to Me. In My Presence you can face uncertainty with perfect Peace.

(From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

Taken from Jesus Calling Devotional Bible

Revelation 22:13 NASB

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

September 29 / Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning and Evening

Day 272 of 366

Morning - Day 272
"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men."

Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light than when he is spoken of as stooping from his throne, and coming down from heaven to attend to the wants and to behold the woes of mankind. We love him, who, when Sodom and Gomorrah were full of iniquity, would not destroy those cities until he had made a personal visitation of them. We cannot help pouring out our heart in affection for our Lord who inclines his ear from the highest glory, and puts it to the lip of the dying sinner, whose failing heart longs after reconciliation. How can we but love him when we know that he numbers the very hairs of our heads, marks our path, and orders our ways? Specially is this great truth brought near to our heart, when we recollect how attentive he is, not merely to the temporal interests of his creatures, but to their spiritual concerns. Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator, yet there are links uniting both. When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline his ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay his hand; thy faith can move his arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.
Oh! then repeat the truth that never tires; No God is like the God my soul desires; He at whose voice heaven trembles, even he, Great as he is, knows how to stoop to me.

Evening - Day 272
"Go again seven times."

Success is certain when the Lord has promised it. Although you may have pleaded month after month without evidence of answer, it is not possible that the Lord should be deaf when his people are earnest in a matter which concerns his glory. The prophet on the top of Carmel continued to wrestle with God, and never for a moment gave way to a fear that he should be non-suited in Jehovah's courts. Six times the servant returned, but on each occasion no word was spoken but "Go again." We must not dream of unbelief, but hold to our faith even to seventy times seven. Faith sends expectant hope to look from Carmel's brow, and if nothing is beheld, she sends again and again. So far from being crushed by repeated disappointment, faith is animated to plead more fervently with her God. She is humbled, but not abashed: her groans are deeper, and her sighings more vehement, but she never relaxes her hold or stays her hand. It would be more agreeable to flesh and blood to have a speedy answer, but believing souls have learned to be submissive, and to find it good to wait for as well as upon the Lord. Delayed answers often set the heart searching itself, and so lead to contrition and spiritual reformation: deadly blows are thus struck at our corruption, and the chambers of imagery are cleansed. The great danger is lest men should faint, and miss the blessing. Reader, do not fall into that sin, but continue in prayer and watching. At last the little cloud was seen, the sure forerunner of torrents of rain, and even so with you, the token for good shall surely be given, and you shall rise as a prevailing prince to enjoy the mercy you have sought. Elijah was a man of like passions with us: his power with God did not lie in his own merits. If his believing prayer availed so much, why not yours? Plead the precious blood with unceasing importunity, and it shall be with you according to your desire.

Psalms 33:13 NASB

13 The L ord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;

1 Kings 18:43 NASB

43 He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go back" seven times.

Day By Day With Billy Graham / The Beginning of Jesus

Day By Day With Billy Graham

Day 272 of 366

The Beginning of Jesus

Jesus did not begin in Bethlehem. The Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus said that He existed before the foundation of the world. He was there when the moon and stars were flung out into space from the Father's flaming fingertips. He was there when God created this planet. He has always existed. He is "from everlasting to everlasting."

Daily Prayer

You, Lord Jesus, who have always existed, came down from heaven in love and saved me from the depths of my sin. In humble adoration I praise You, my Savior and Lord.

John 8:58 NASB

58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."

Stay Connected by David Jeremiah

Friday, September 29

Stay Connected

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10, NIV

Fresh Faith / Our Daily Bread

Fresh Faith

September 29, 2017

Read: John 20:24–29
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 7–8; Ephesians 2

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.—Hebrews 10:23

When our son was struggling with heroin addiction, if you had told me God would one day use our experience to encourage other families who face these kinds of battles, I would have had trouble believing it. God has a way of bringing good out of difficult circumstances that isn’t always easy to see when you are going through them.

The apostle Thomas also didn’t expect God to bring good out of the greatest challenge of his faith—Jesus’s crucifixion. Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples when Jesus came to them after the resurrection, and in his deep grief he insisted, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were . . . I will not believe” (John 20:25). But later, when Jesus appeared to all the disciples together, out of the dust of Thomas’s doubts God’s Spirit would inspire a striking statement of faith. When Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (v. 28), he was grasping the truth that Jesus was actually God in the flesh, standing right in front of him. It was a bold confession of faith that would encourage and inspire believers in every century that followed.

Our God is able to inspire fresh faith in our hearts, even in moments when we least expect it. We can always look forward to His faithfulness. Nothing is too hard for Him! —James Banks

Thank You, Lord, that Your love is stronger than our greatest difficulties—even our worst doubts or fears!

God can change our doubts into bold statements of faith.

INSIGHT: Though God may seem silent or even out of sight, He is never absent (Heb. 13:5). He is sovereignly working out things for our good; nothing is ever wasted in the hands of our God (see Rom. 8:28). In 1 Corinthians 10:13 the apostle Paul assures us that God will most certainly work things out for us: “The [trials] in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the [trials] to be more than you can stand. [God] will show you a way out so that you can endure” (nlt). When going through the difficulties of life, let us in faith see “him who is invisible” because “he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 11:27; 10:23).

For further reflection, read 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, and 2 Timothy 2:13. Allow the faithful God to embrace you and give you fresh faith. Sim Kay Tee

Thursday, September 28, 2017

The “Go” of Unconditional Identification by Oswald Chambers

The “Go” of Unconditional Identification

Jesus…said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor…and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." MARK 10:21

The rich young ruler had the controlling passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never places anyone’s personal holiness above everything else when He calls a disciple. Jesus’ primary consideration is my absolute annihilation of my right to myself and my identification with Him, which means having a relationship with Him in which there are no other relationships. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but deals solely with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute “go” of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus.

“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” (Mark 10:21). This look of Jesus will require breaking your heart away forever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked in this way at you? This look of Jesus transforms, penetrates, and captivates. Where you are soft and pliable with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on having your own way, and always certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, then there are whole areas of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze.

“One thing you lack….” From Jesus Christ’s perspective, oneness with Him, with nothing between, is the only good thing.

“…sell whatever you have….” I must humble myself until I am merely a living person. I must essentially renounce possessions of all kinds, not for salvation (for only one thing saves a person and that is absolute reliance in faith upon Jesus Christ), but to follow Jesus. “…come…and follow Me.” And the road is the way He went. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

Bible in One Year: Isaiah 5-6; Ephesians 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

from The Place of Help