Do It Now! by Oswald Chambers

Do It Now! Agree with your adversary quickly…  MATTHEW 5:25 In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being. Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint? Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21). “Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now! From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried. from He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R

The Picture of Baptism by Charles Stanley

Acts 8:26-39

You’ve probably heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Although we cannot negate the power of the gospel spoken in words, there is great benefit in seeing salvation vividly acted out in the baptism of a new believer. When we enter the waters of baptism, we are portraying several truths:

We are proclaiming the gospel message—that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and raised to life on the third day. Baptism serves as a reminder of what the Savior has done for us. 

We are also showing what has happened to us through salvation (Rom. 6:3-14). Plunging beneath the surface pictures the death and burial of our old self with Christ. Being raised up out of the water expresses our new life in Christ and our union with Him. As our heavenly Father physically raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him life, He has done the same for us spiritually. We are no longer the person we once were, because Christ has broken the power of sin in our lives.

Baptism is also a public declaration of our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in our own future bodily resurrection. It points to the truth that there is life beyond the grave. Someday we, too, will receive a resurrected body and live forever with Christ. 

Baptism is a commandment for all believers, not an option. As such, it is both an obligation and an awesome privilege. Our unbelieving family and friends need to physically see this truth in our life. Have you publicly identified yourself with Jesus through the act of baptism?

Packed for a Purpose by Max Lucado

Packed for a Purpose

You were born prepacked. God looked at your entire life, determined your assignment, and gave you the tools to do the job.

Before traveling, you do something similar. You consider the demands of the journey and pack accordingly. Cold weather? Bring a jacket. Business meeting? Carry the laptop. Time with grandchildren? Better take some sneakers and pain medication.

God did the same with you. Joe will research animals . . . install curiosity. Meagan will lead a private school . . . an extra dose of management. I need Eric to comfort the sick . . . include a healthy share of compassion. Denalyn will marry Max . . . instill a double portion of patience.

God packed you on purpose for a purpose.

from Cure for the Common Life

“He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭35:35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Through a New Lens by Julie Schwab

Through a New Lens

Julie Schwab

God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Romans 1:20

Exodus 25:31–40

“It must be amazing to look at a tree and see the individual leaves instead of just a blur of green!” my dad said. I couldn’t have said it better. I was eighteen at the time and not a fan of my new need to wear glasses, but they changed the way I saw everything, making the blurry beautiful!

When reading Scripture, I view certain books like I do when I look at trees without my glasses. There doesn’t seem to be much to see. But noticing details can reveal the beauty in what might seem to be a boring passage.

This happened to me when I was reading Exodus. God’s directions for building the tabernacle—His temporary dwelling place among the Israelites­—can seem like a blur of boring details. But I paused at the end of chapter 25 where God gave directions for the lampstand. It was to be hammered out “of pure gold,” including its base and shaft and its flowerlike cups, buds, and blossoms (v. 31). The cups were to be “shaped like almond flowers” (v. 34).

Almond trees are breathtaking. And God incorporated that same natural beauty into His tabernacle!

Paul wrote, “God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature” are seen and understood in creation (Romans 1:20). To see God’s beauty, sometimes we have to look at creation, and what might seem like uninteresting passages in the Bible, through a new lens.

How can you look at Scripture in a new way to see God’s beauty in it? How has God’s beautiful creation drawn you closer to Him?

The Hands of Jesus by Billy Graham

The Hands of Jesus

During the war a church in Strasburg, Germany, was totally destroyed; but a statue of Christ which stood by the altar was almost unharmed. Only the hands of the statue were missing. When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but, after considering the matter, the members decided to let it stand as it was—without hands. “For,” they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work on earth. If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and clothe the naked, who will?” Christ is depending on us to do the very things which He did while upon earth. My friend, if the gospel we preach does not have a social application, if it will not work effectively in the work-a-day world, then it is not the Gospel of Christ.

Daily Prayer

I look at my hands, Lord Jesus, and ask You to use them this day. Make me conscious of the needs of those who hurt.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

June 30 / Streams in the Desert

"There was silence, and I heard a still voice" (Job 4:16, margin).

A score of years ago, a friend placed in my hand a book called True Peace. It was an old mediaeval message, and it had but one thought--that God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if I would only get still enough to hear His voice.

I thought this would be a very easy matter, and so began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced than a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamoring notes from without and within, until I could hear nothing but their noise and din. Some were my own voices, my own questions, some my very prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter and the voices from the world's turmoil.

In every direction I was pulled and pushed and greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and to answer some of them; but God said, "Be still, and know that I am God." Then came the conflict of thoughts for tomorrow, and its duties and cares; but God said, "Be still."

And as I listened, and slowly learned to obey, and shut my ears to every sound, I found after a while that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them, there was a still small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort.

As I listened, it became to me the voice of prayer, the voice of wisdom, the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so hard, or pray so hard, or trust so hard; but that "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God's prayer in my secret soul, was God's answer to all my questions, was God's life and strength for soul and body, and became the substance of all knowledge, and all prayer and all blessing: for it was the living GOD Himself as my life, my all.

It is thus that our spirit drinks in the life of our risen Lord, and we go forth to life's conflicts and duties like a flower that has drunk in, through the shades of night, the cool and crystal drops of dew. But as dew never falls on a stormy night, go the dews of His grace never come to the restless soul.
--A. B. Simpson

Christ's Generosity by Alistair Begg

Christ's Generosity

The glory that you have given me I have given to them.
John 17:22

Behold the superlative generosity of the Lord Jesus, for He has given us His all. Although a tithe of His possessions would have made a universe of angels, rich beyond all thought, yet He was not content until He had given us all that He had. It would have been surprising grace if He had allowed us to eat the crumbs of His abundance beneath the table of His mercy; but He will do nothing by half measures. He makes us sit with Him and share the feast.

If He had given us some small donation from His royal treasure, we would have had cause to love Him eternally; but in fact He wants His bride to be as rich as Himself, and He will not have a glory or a grace in which she will not share. He has not been content with less than making us joint-heirs with Himself, so that we might have equal possessions. He has emptied all His riches into the members of the church and has shared everything with His redeemed. There is not one room in His house the key of which He will keep from His people. He gives them complete freedom to take all that He has to enjoy as their own; He loves to see them enjoy His treasure and take as much as they can possibly carry.

The limitless fullness of His all-sufficiency is as free to the believer as the air he breathes. Christ has put the cup of His love and grace to the believer's lip and invites him to drink of it forever; if he could empty it, he is welcome to do so, but as he cannot exhaust it, he is invited to drink abundantly, for it is all his own. What truer proof of fellowship can heaven or earth provide?

When I stand before the throne
Dressed in beauty not my own;
When I see Thee as Thou art,
Love Thee with unsinning heart;
Then, Lord, shall I fully know--
Not till then--how much I owe.

June 30 / C.S. Lewis

Today's Reading

The human spirit will not even begin to try and surrender self-will as long as all seem to be well with it. Now error and sin both have this property, that the deeper they are the less their victim suspects their existence; they are masked evil. Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt…And pain is not only immediately recognizable evil, but evil impossible to ignore. We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. From The Problem of Pain Compiled in The Business of Heaven

You’ve only got one way out by Adrian Rogers

You’ve only got one way out

JUNE 30

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. John 14:6

Materialism says, “Buy your way out.” The politician says, “Legislate your way out.” The army says, “Fight your way out.” Industry says, “Work.” The philosopher says, “Think.” But Jesus says, “There’s no way out but through Me.” 

Jesus will save you by His grace, and He’ll save you all by Himself or you won’t be saved at all.

When you are saved by the grace of God, you are saved instantly, and you are saved eternally. Your goodness is not enough to save you, and your badness is not enough to keep you away. Jesus loves you so much that He died to save you.

Take Jesus at His Word and say with the hymn writer, “Out of my bondage sorrow and night, Jesus I come to Thee.” Have you followed His way of salvation? Maybe you have a friend who needs this truth today. Share it; don’t suppress it.

Integrity Brings True Success by John MacArthur

Integrity Brings True Success

“So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius [even] in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Daniel 6:28).

True success is more a matter of character than of circumstances.

By anyone’s standards Daniel was a remarkably successful man. After entering Babylon as one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s young Hebrew hostages, he quickly distinguished himself as a person of unusual character, wisdom, and devotion to his God. Within a few years Nebuchadnezzar had made him ruler over the province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men. Many years later Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, promoted him to third ruler in his kingdom, and later King Darius made him prime minister over the entire Medo-Persian Empire.

As successful as Daniel was, being successful in the world’s eyes was never his goal. He wanted only to be faithful to God. And because he was faithful, God honored and exalted him in Babylon. But God’s plans for Daniel extended far beyond Babylon. Daniel’s presence in Babylon opened the door for the Hebrew people to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-3), and it also paved the way for the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem centuries later (Matt. 2:1-12). Those wise men heard of the Jewish Messiah through Daniel’s prophecies (Daniel 9).

God used Daniel in marvelous ways, but Daniel was just one part of a much bigger picture. Similarly, God will use you and every faithful believer in marvelous ways as He continues to paint the picture of His redemptive grace. As He does, He may exalt you in ways unimaginable, or He may use you in humble ways. In either case, you are truly successful if you remain faithful to Him and use every opportunity to its fullest for His glory.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and for the principles we have learned this month from their lives. Pray daily that your life, like theirs, will be characterized by godly integrity and that God will use you each day for His glory.

For Further Study

Memorize Joshua 1:8 and 1 Corinthians 4:1-2.

• What key to success did God give Joshua?
• How does the apostle Paul describe a successful servant of Christ?
• Would your friends and relatives characterize you as a truly successful person?

The Strictest Discipline by Oswald Chambers

The Strictest Discipline If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  MATTHEW 5:30 Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind. When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else. The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. from Not Knowing Whither

The Battle of Faith by Charles Stanley

2 Chronicles 20:1-18

Faith sometimes feels like a battle. One day we’re drawn in the direction of trusting God, but then suddenly we’re on the other side, doubting Him. The pendulum of our thinking and emotions can swing from confidence to uncertainty all too easily. But thankfully, God provides a key to stabilizing our faith.

Periods of doubt-inducing fear, anger, or stress are normal for human beings, but as Christians, we have the Spirit’s power to bring these natural feelings under subjection to the Lord. One of the best ways to begin this process is by recalling His nature and promises. When Satan feeds us reasons to doubt, God wants us to draw from our well of scriptural truth because focusing on the Father swings our pendulum to trust.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat learned of an incoming attack. Despite an initial reaction of fear, he demonstrated total confidence in God. Calling the people of Judah together, he offered an amazing God-centered prayer.

• He began by praising God as the all-powerful ruler of all the nations (2 Chronicles 20:6). 
• He recalled how the Lord had fought for Israel in the past (2 Chronicles 20:7-9). 
• Then based on God’s attributes and previous promises and provision, He requested divine protection in their current situation (2 Chronicles 20:10-12).

Jehoshaphat didn’t look at the approaching army but at His God. This is a wonderful pattern for us to follow whenever we feel our faith faltering. The more we contemplate the difficulties we’re facing, the bigger they will seem. But if we turn our attention to almighty God, He will be magnified and our faith will grow.

On self-sufficiency by C.S. Lewis

On self-sufficiency

They [Adam and Eve] wanted, as we say, to “call their souls their own.” But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own. They wanted some corner in the universe of which they could say to God, “This is our business, not yours.” But there is no such corner. They wanted to be nouns, but they were, and eternally must be, mere adjectives.

From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in Words to Live By

When Sharks Won’t Bite by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

When Sharks Won’t Bite

Jennifer Benson Schuldt

One who is full loathes honey from the comb. Proverbs 27:7

Proverbs 27:1–10

My children were thrilled, but I felt uneasy. During a vacation, we visited an aquarium where people could pet small sharks kept in a special tank. When I asked the attendant if the creatures ever snapped at fingers, she explained that the sharks had recently been fed and then given extra food. They wouldn’t bite because they weren’t hungry.

What I learned about shark petting makes sense according to a proverb: “One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet” (Proverbs 27:7). Hunger—that sense of inner emptiness—can weaken our discernment as we make decisions. It convinces us that it’s okay to settle for anything that fills us up, even if it causes us to take a bite out of someone.

God wants more for us than a life lived at the mercy of our appetites. He wants us to be filled with Christ’s love so that everything we do flows from the peace and stability He provides. The constant awareness that we’re unconditionally loved gives us confidence. It enables us to be selective as we consider the “sweet” things in life—achievements, possessions, and relationships.

Only a relationship with Jesus gives true satisfaction. May we grasp His incredible love for us so we can be “filled to the measure [with] all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19) for our sake—and the sake of others.

What are you most hungry for in life? Why does Jesus fulfill you in a way that nothing else can?

Those who see Jesus as the Bread of Life will never be hungry.

Uniquely You by Max Lucado

Uniquely You

Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you. He custom designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment. Mine like a gold digger the unique-to-you nuggets from your life . . .

When God gives an assignment, he also gives the skill. Study your skills, then, to reveal your assignment.

Look at you. Your uncanny ease with numbers. Your quenchless curiosity about chemistry. Others stare at blueprints and yawn; you read them and drool. “I was made to do this,” you say.

Our Maker gives assignments to people, to each according to each one’s unique ability. As he calls, he equips. Look back over your life. What have you consistently done well? What have you loved to do? Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.

from Cure for the Common Life

“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Refiner's Fire by Billy Graham

Refiner's Fire

Why do Christians suffer? Rest assured that there is a reason for Christian people being afflicted. One reason why God’s people suffer, according to the Bible, is that it is a disciplinary, chastening, and molding process. From the Scriptures we learn that the chastening of affliction is a step in the process of our full and complete development. Affliction can also be a means of refining and of purification. Many a life has come forth from the furnace of affliction more beautiful and more useful than before.

Daily Prayer

Lord, whatever I have to face, through it let me learn more of Your love and compassion.

“And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭33:12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

How do you react to being “under authority”? by Adrian Rogers

How do you react to being “under authority”?

JUNE 29

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Romans 13:1

Our generation doesn’t like the word authority—we don’t want to be under anybody. We stick out our chests and talk about being “free-born Americans.”

If you’re a baby boomer, you’re the first TV generation. For you, TV was a third parent. In your lifetime you’ve gone through the Hula Hoop, Barbie Dolls, pop psychology, Dr. Spock, and the start of rock and roll. You watched Elvis Presley wear his clothes out from the inside. You listened to the Beatles. Much of the music of the 60s had a defiant, anti-authority message. One of Frank Sinatra’s most popular songs was, “I did it my way.” Burger King had a jingle: “Have it your way.”

Authority was “the man.” You were to “resist the man.” Authority figures were ridiculed. Fathers were all Archie Bunkers; preachers were Flip Wilson—to be laughed at. The ideal was “I gotta be me!” “Do your thing.” “If it feels good, do it.”

We don’t realize the vestiges of rebellion that still lurk in our hearts. We don’t want to submit to authority. By nature, I’m the same way. I was looking for a parking place a while back and saw a sign: “Don’t even think about parking here.” I was so full of rebellion, I thought about it.Folks, we all have that in us. We don’t want anybody to be over us. But God does not give kingdom authority to rebels. Give some serious thought to the question: Who is on the throne of my life today?

June 29 / Streams in the Desert

"There we saw the Giants" (Num. 13:33).

Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."

Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan. The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."

Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties.
--Selected

It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the, giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.

There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.

Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."

What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."

The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." Rotherham still more literally renders it, "Without a way, but not without a by-way."

The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."

The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."

Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.

The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.

No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.
--Tract

Asleep in Jesus by Alistair Begg

Asleep in Jesus

Even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep
1 Thessalonians 4:14

Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. "Today you will be with me in paradise" is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They sleep in Jesus, but their souls are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelujahs to Him who washed them from their sins in His blood. The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass.

But what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is "rest," and that is the thought that the Spirit of God would convey to us. Sleep makes each night a sabbath for the day. Sleep shuts tight the door of the soul and bids all intruders wait for a while, that the life within may enter its summer garden of ease. The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast.

Happy are they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labors, and their works follow them. Their quiet repose will never be broken until God shall rouse them to give them their full reward. Guarded by angelic watchers, curtained by eternal mysteries, they sleep on, the inheritors of glory, until the fullness of time shall bring the fullness of redemption.

What an awaking will be theirs! They were laid in their last resting place, weary and worn, but they will not rise in that condition. They went to their rest with furrowed brow and wasted features, but they wake up in beauty and glory. The shriveled seed, so devoid of form and beauty, rises from the dust a glorious flower. The winter of the grave gives way to the spring of redemption and the summer of glory. Blessed is death, since through the divine power it removes our working clothes and dresses us with the wedding garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who sleep in Jesus.

Faithful Fathers: Joseph by David Jeremiah

Faithful Fathers: Joseph

JUNE 29, 2019

When [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child and His mother [Mary] by night and departed for Egypt.
Matthew 2:14

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

History is full of unsung heroes—people who were faithful, true, servant-minded, and did it all with no expectation of praise or reward. In our modern era, think of teachers, helpful neighbors, first responders, members of the military, and so many more.

The biblical stories reveal unsung heroes as well; one of the most prominent of which was Joseph, husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus. We meet Joseph in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ birth—and then he disappears from sight once Jesus begins His ministry. But we are safe in saying that Joseph took upon himself the most difficult task of shepherding the mother of Jesus, and then Jesus Himself, through the perilous days before and after Jesus’ birth. Joseph was a father who took God at His Word (Matthew 1:20-25). Given Jesus’ precocious nature at age twelve (Luke 2:41-52), Joseph must have nurtured Jesus’ spiritual development from an early age.

Faithful fathers don’t worry about rewards or credit. They depend on eternity to reveal the fruit of their faithfulness to their children.

Human fatherhood should be molded and modeled on the pattern of the fatherhood of God.
William Barclay

Integrity Draws Men to God by John MacArthur

Integrity Draws Men to God

“Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language who were living in all the land: ‘May your peace abound! I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions’” (Daniel 6:25-27).

It doesn’t take a lot of people to make an impact for Christ; it merely takes the right kind.

Today’s passage proclaims the sovereignty and majesty of the living God and calls on everyone throughout the nation to fear and tremble before Him. Those verses could have been written by King David or one of the other psalmists, but they were written by a pagan king to a pagan nation. His remarkable tribute to God’s glory was the fruit of Daniel’s influence on his life.

God doesn’t really need a lot of people to accomplish His work; He needs the right kind of people. And Daniel shows us the impact one person can have when he or she is sold out to God. That’s how it is throughout Scripture. For example, Noah was God’s man during the Flood, Joseph was God’s man in Egypt, Moses was God’s man in the Exodus, and Esther was God’s woman in the days of King Ahasuerus. So it continues right down to the present. When God puts His people in the right place, His message gets through.

As a Christian, you are God’s person in your family, school, or place of employment. He has placed you there as His ambassador to influence others for Christ. That’s a wonderful privilege and an awesome responsibility.

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank the Lord for His marvelous grace in your life and for the opportunities He gives you each day to share His love with others.

For Further Study

The key to Daniel’s fruitfulness, and to yours as well, is given in Psalm 1. Memorize that psalm, and recite it often as a reminder of God’s promises to those who live with biblical integrity.

Held by the Grip of God by Oswald Chambers

Held by the Grip of God I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  PHILIPPIANS 3:12 Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that? Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. from The Place of Help, 1005 R

The Foundation of Faith by Charles Stanley

1 Corinthians 3:9-20

At salvation, everything we’ve built our life upon comes crashing down and is removed like rubble from a vacant lot. Then a new foundation is laid in Christ, and we begin building upon it day by day with our deeds and motives. As with any building project, we have a choice about which materials to use. They may all look good on the surface, but the real test of their quality will be revealed when we stand before Christ to be “recompensed for [our] deeds in the body, according to what [we have] done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Therefore, we should carefully consider what we are using as building materials. The world offers us many philosophies from which to choose. We are told that we can mix a little worldly wisdom with a bit of Scripture and create a suitable Christian life. But Paul warns that if anyone thinks he is wise in this age, he is a fool. God will destroy everything we use that is derived from the world rather than from the truth of His Word.  

Building a solid house of faith on the foundation of Christ is a lifelong process. Through prayer and meditation on Scripture, we learn to know and love our heavenly Father and understand what pleases Him. As He transforms our life through His Spirit, our actions and attitudes become increasingly obedient and godly.  

With so much at stake, our goal should be to establish our life on the foundation of Christ, with righteous actions and attitudes empowered by the Holy Spirit. Such a faith house will stand firm in this life and be worthy of reward in the next. 

Divine Diversions by Arthur Jackson

Divine Diversions

Arthur Jackson

They tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Acts 16:7

Acts 16:6–10

It can be difficult when we’re told “no” or “not now,” especially when we sense God has opened a door for us to serve others. Early in my ministry, two opportunities came my way where I thought my gifts and skills matched the churches’ needs, but both doors eventually closed. After these two disappointments, another position came along, and I was selected. With that ministry call came thirteen years of life-touching pastoral labors.

Twice in Acts 16 Paul and company were redirected by God. First, they were “kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia” (v. 6). Then, “When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to” (v. 7). Unknown to them, God had other plans that would be right for His work and workers. His no to the previous plans put them in a position to listen to and be confidently led by Him (vv. 9–10).

Who among us hasn’t grieved what we initially thought to be a painful loss? We’ve felt wounded when we didn’t get a certain job, when a service opportunity didn’t materialize, when a relocation got derailed. Though such things can momentarily be weighty, time often reveals that such detours are actually divine diversions that God graciously uses to get us where He wants us, and we are grateful.

What loss have you grieved only to be grateful that what you desired you didn’t get? How did the situation serve to bolster your trust in the Lord?

Father, I praise You that in Your wisdom You know how to best arrange my life. Thank You for protecting me through Your detours.

Who Am I? by Billy Graham

Who Am I?

Edward Dahlberg, the writer, observed, “At nineteen, I was a stranger to myself. At forty, I asked, ‘Who am I?’ At fifty, I concluded I would never know.” This unexplored personal wilderness is the home of millions of people. Ninety-two percent of all Canadian university students, according to June Callwood, the Toronto sociologist, don’t really know who they are. The Bible says that man is an immortal soul. When God made man in the first place, He created him and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). One’s soul is the essence, the core, the eternal and real person. And he will be restless until he opens his life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, knowing I am Your child is all the assurance I need.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭68:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What Size Is God? by Max Lucado

What Size Is God?

Nature is God’s workshop. The sky is his resume. The universe is his calling card. You want to know who God is? See what he has done. You want to know his power? Take a look at his creation. Curious about his strength? Pay a visit to his home address: 1 Billion Starry Sky Avenue.

He is untainted by the atmosphere of sin, unbridled by the time line of history, unhindered by the weariness of the body. 

What controls you doesn’t control him. What troubles you doesn’t trouble him. What fatigues you doesn’t fatigue him. Is an eagle disturbed by traffic? No, he rises above it. Is the whale perturbed by a hurricane? Of course not, he plunges beneath it. Is the lion flustered by the mouse standing directly in his way? No, he steps over it.

How much more is God able to soar above, plunge beneath, and step over the troubles of the earth!

from The Great House of God

“But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19:26‬ ‭ESV‬‬