Verse of the Day / January 31

Quiet Time...

"And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: 

for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance 

of the things which he possesseth."

Luke 12:15 KJV

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Bible in One Year: January 31

 Bible in One Year: Exodus 25-26; Matthew 20:17-34

No Morning Devotions today...

 Sorry, no posts today... we had an emergency yesterday and I am not able to do my usual morning routine... pray for my family... God knows.

Verse of the Day / January 30

 Quiet Time...

”Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 

But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, 

but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; 

for you do not know when the appointed time will come.“

‭‭Mark‬ ‭13‬:‭31‬-‭33‬ 

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Bible in One Year: January 30

 Bible in One Year: Exodus 23-24; Matthew 20:1-16

Bible in One Year: January 29

Bible in One Year: Exodus 21-22; Matthew 19 

How Could Someone Be So Ignorant! / Oswald Chambers

 

How Could Someone Be So Ignorant! Who are You, Lord? ACTS 26:15 “The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand…” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances. God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do” — and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He…rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13. Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self–satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Bible in One Year: Exodus 21-22; Matthew 19

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray.

Are You Producing Good Fruit? / Adrian Rogers

 Are You Producing Good Fruit?

James 2:18-20
Sermon: 1568 What the Bible Says about Faith that Saves, Part 1

Pray Over This

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”
James 2:18-20

Ponder This

Did you know grace is a unique marker of the Christian faith? Jesus Christ has cornered the market on grace. No one else, except our Lord, teaches salvation by grace. There are only two kinds of religion in the world—grace and works. One is spelled do, and the other is spelled done. We often want to make passages sound contradictory between Paul and James, but there’s no real contradiction here. They’re heads and tails of the same coin.

In Romans 4, Paul wrote about justification before God. James wrote about justification before men. God knows I am justified when I trust Christ. But you can’t see my trust. All you can see is what I say and how I live. Paul was talking about the root of our salvation; James was talking about the fruit of our salvation. The root is beneath the ground; the fruit is hanging out on the tree. But the fruit is the proof of the root.

• What are some fruits of God’s work in your life?
• Is the fruit of faith possible without the root? Why or why not?

Practice This

Encourage a friend about the fruit of faith you see in his or her life.

Sharing by Caring / ODB

 

Sharing by Caring Love your neighbor as yourself. Galatians 5:14 READ Galatians 5:14–15, 22–26 The young pastor prayed every morning, asking God to use him that day to bless someone. Often, to his delight, such a situation arose. One day during a break at his second job, he sat in the sunshine with a coworker who asked him about Jesus. The pastor simply answered the other man’s questions. No rant. No arguing. The pastor commented that being guided by the Holy Spirit led him to have a casual talk that felt effective but loving. He made a new friend as well—someone hungry to learn more about God. Letting the Holy Spirit lead us is the best way to tell others about Jesus. He told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The fruit of the Spirit “is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Living under the Spirit’s control, that young pastor put into practice what Peter instructed: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Even if we suffer for believing in Christ, our words can show the world that His Spirit leads us. Then our walk will draw others to Him. By Patricia Raybon What’s your communication style when telling others about Jesus? How would letting the Holy Spirit lead make your talks more effective? As I tell others about Jesus, please lead me, Holy Spirit, to speak with Your love. For further study, read Live Free: A Fresh Look at the Fruit of the Spirit.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT In Galatians 5, we tend to focus on the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23), which believers in Jesus should display. But it’s also important to note how the Spirit’s fruit contrasts with the works of the flesh (vv. 19-21). Paul describes these works as “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” Line that up against the fruit of the Spirit, and the difference in quality of life is apparent. Notice the destructive nature of the works of the flesh—which include spiritual, moral, and relational failures—compared with the life-affirming nature of the fruit of the Spirit, which is important for the believer’s witness to the world. While all the works of the flesh are in violation of the law of Moses, Paul says of the Spirit’s fruit, “Against such things there is no law” (v. 23). Bill Crowder

Justice Is Satisfied / Alistair Begg

 

Justice Is Satisfied

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:10

God is not a kindly grandfather or a cosmic Santa Claus who just gives out gifts and who is really not much concerned with anything else. No—He is holy, and He is righteous. So humans, because of our sin, are alienated from God. A hostility exists between humanity and our Creator. This is not a message that you hear very often, and it’s certainly not very palatable. But God doesn’t overlook that hostility. He never has, and He never will. Scripture is very clear on God’s disposition towards sin. Indeed, Paul describes human beings as God’s enemies, making clear that sin separates us from God. Paul’s language also echoes the psalmist’s words, which say of God, “You hate all evildoers” (Psalm 5:5)—a message that is neither pleasant to read nor easy to understand at first glance. Where, then, is our hope? How can we ever be reconciled to God? How can God punish sin as it deserves yet still pardon sinners? O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, A second Adam to the fight And to the rescue came.[1] Jesus, by His death on the cross, satisfied God’s justice. He took upon Himself both our obligation to perfectly obey God’s law and our liability for failing to do so. He then satisfied our obligation through His sinless life and canceled our liability by His sacrificial death upon the cross. When our alienation from God resulted in God’s hatred towards our sinful existence, He did not abandon us. Rather, God came and reconciled us through His Son. If this does not sound like the most incredible news of all, we have not properly understood one of the seriousness of our sin, or the reality of His judgment, or the magnitude of our salvation. For those of us who have been Christians for a while, it is easy for familiarity to breed, if not contempt, then complacency. But the death of Christ is not just the entry point of our faith; it is our faith. So today, pause to see the second Adam, the perfect human, succeeding where the first Adam failed and defeating the devil, reversing the effects of the fall. This is the gospel. Your sins have been pardoned. You have been rescued. You are now a friend where once you were an enemy. Christ is now your confidence, your peace, and your life. The reality of being in Christ is not a trivial matter; it is an amazing guarantee. When we were powerless in the face of sin, Christ’s power set us free. When we could not afford a debt so great, He bore it on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). You are now seated with Him in the heavens. Your greatest success today will not lift you higher than He has already lifted you; nor can your greatest struggle or failure pull you down from there.

John H. Newman, “The Dream of Gerontius” (1865).

Grow Into Philippians 4:6! / David Jeremiah

 

Grow Into Philippians 4:6! Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 Philippians 4:6 is one of the most popular Bible verses in the world. That’s based on a study of Internet searches of the most sought-after biblical references. The world’s single most popular verse—can you guess it?—is John 3:16, followed by Jeremiah 29:11. Not far behind is Philippians 4:6. No wonder! The whole world is in the grip of a giant panic attack, a mental pandemic that affects the human race like a virus.

Recommended Reading: Philippians 4:4-8

Paul tells us in Philippians 4 to be “anxious for nothing.” We are not to worry about anything—not one thing!—but to be prayerful and thankful in everything. Is that possible? Not in our own resources, but as we grow in the grace of Jesus Christ, we increasingly learn to cast our cares on Him. We bring everything to Him in prayer, and that keeps us from being anxious about anything. Keep practicing the truth of Philippians 4:6. It’s a verse that grows on us!   Whenever we find ourselves worrying, our first action ought to be to get alone with God and worship Him…. We must realize that He is big enough to solve our problems. Warren Wiersbe

Walking in the Dark / Greg Laurie

 Walking in the Dark

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 NLT)

There’s a time for running and a time for walking. And most of the time, it’s a lot easier to walk than to run.

The Bible uses the metaphor of walking as well as running, and in the Book of Isaiah, we find this promise: “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 NLT).

In the race of life, the objective is not to run fast; it’s to run long. The objective is to cross the finish line. The apostle Paul wrote, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:14 NLT).

Then Paul added this thought: “Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things” (verse 15 NLT). In other words, he was saying that if we want to grow spiritually, then we need to learn how to pace ourselves in the race of life.

Some people seem to have a yo-yo type of relationship with God. Either they are fully passionate, or they are half-hearted. One day they are so excited about Jesus that it borders on being obnoxious. But another day they’re depressed and struggling with sin.

We need to learn how to pace ourselves. We need to learn how to find consistency.

That is why, after his sin with Bathsheba, King David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NLT). David was saying, “Help me to be consistent.” And that is what we need in our lives too.

When we first come to Christ, there is initial excitement. There’s joy and peace. That is not to suggest those things go away. But it is to say that sooner or later, we must learn that the Christian life is a walk of faith and not of feeling. Feelings will come and go. Therefore, we need to learn to walk by faith.

That is what a man named Enoch did. In fact, the Bible tells us that he walked with God for 300 years. He walked with God when most others would not. And his story teaches us how we can not only win the race of life but also keep going, even when things get hard.

Enoch lived during the time before God’s judgment on the earth by the Flood. The Bible says of this time, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (Genesis 6:5 NLT).

People were extremely wicked—so wicked, in fact, that God said He was sorry that He had ever made them. Yet in the midst of this dark world was someone who walked with God. Enoch showed us that it is possible to live a godly life in an ungodly world.

Another Day of Mercy / Spurgeon

 

Another Day of Mercy

The dove came back to him in the evening. Genesis 8:11

Blessed be the Lord for another day of mercy, even though I am now weary with its toils. Unto the preserver of men lift I my song of gratitude. The dove found no rest out of the ark and therefore returned to it; and my soul has learned yet more fully than ever, this day, that there is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things—God alone can give rest to my spirit. As to my business, my possessions, my family, my attainments, these are all well enough in their way, but they cannot fulfill the desires of my immortal nature. “Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.”1 It was at the still hour, when the gates of the day were closing, that with weary wing the dove came back to the master. O Lord, enable me this evening thus to return to Jesus. She could not endure to spend a night hovering over the restless waste, nor can I bear to be even for another hour away from Jesus, the rest of my heart, the home of my spirit. She did not merely alight upon the roof of the ark—she “came back to him.” Even so would my longing spirit look into the secret of the Lord, pierce to the interior of truth, enter into that which is within the veil, and reach to my Beloved in very deed. To Jesus must I come: Short of the nearest and dearest communion with Him my panting spirit cannot stay. Blessed Lord Jesus, be with me, reveal Yourself, and abide with me all night, so that when I awake I may be still with You. I note that the dove brought in her mouth an olive branch plucked off, the memorial of the past day and a prophecy of the future. Have I no pleasing record to bring home? No pledge and earnest of loving-kindness yet to come? Yes, my Lord, I present You my grateful acknowledgments for tender mercies that have been new every morning and fresh every evening; and now, I pray, put forth Your hand and take Your dove into Your bosom.

Psalm 116:7

The Walk of Faith / Ann Graham Lotz

 The Walk of Faith

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Genesis 5:24, niv

I wonder what Enoch and God talked about as they walked together each day. Perhaps Enoch commented on the beauty of the sunrise that morning and how much he had enjoyed listening to the sound of the birds calling to each other as they awakened before dawn. Or perhaps he told God how grateful he was for the evidence of His faithfulness when he saw the sun come up every morning.

It was never drudgery for Enoch to meet with God. It wasn’t something he felt he had to do; it was something he wanted to do. In the process, he must have grown in an ever more intimate, loving, personal knowledge of Who God is. He gave God his undivided attention, spent more and more time with Him, gained a greater and greater depth of understanding, allowed fewer and fewer interruptions until there were no interruptions at all and his walk of faith became sight!

Enoch’s friends looked for him, but he couldn’t be found, because he had walked right into the very presence of God!

Verse of the Day / January 28

 

Quiet Time...

"And He spake a parable unto them to this end, 

that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" 

Luke 18:1 KJV

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Bible in One Year: January 28

 Bible in One Year: Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus! / Oswald Chambers

How Could Someone So Persecute Jesus! Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? ACTS 26:14 Are you determined to have your own way in living for God? We will never be free from this trap until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Stubbornness and self–will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self–willed and set on our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our own rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Him. Whenever we rely on self–respect, we systematically disturb and grieve His Spirit. And when we finally understand that it is Jesus we have been persecuting all this time, it is the most crushing revelation ever. Is the Word of God tremendously penetrating and sharp in me as I hand it on to you, or does my life betray the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the very spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of only one thing— a perfect oneness with the Father. And He tells us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). All I do should be based on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self–willed determination to be godly. This will mean that others may use me, go around me, or completely ignore me, but if I will submit to it for His sake, I will prevent Jesus Christ from being persecuted. Bible in One Year: Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.

 

Are You Responding to God by Faith? / Adrian Rogers

 Are You Responding to God by Faith?

James 2:14-17
Sermon: 2052 How to Be Strong in the Faith

Pray Over This

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:14-17

Ponder This

You are not saved by faith and works, but you are saved by faith that works. You are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone; it always has works. If your religion hasn’t changed your life, you’d better change your religion. When God does something in your heart and in your life, it will be seen. If you say, “Well, I’m trusting Him but I’m not going to make it known. I’m not going take any stand,” then you’re not really trusting Him.

Faith without works is dead. Walking down the aisle won’t save anybody, but what it indicates will save everybody. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). You see, faith responds to the guidance of God. Faith is acting on what we know to be true. We faithfully obey. If you have Paul’s faith, you’ll have James’ works—they simply go together.

• What are some works that come because of faith?
• When have you struggled to live by faith? What makes this difficult?

Practice This

Read Genesis 22 and observe the ways Abraham displayed his faith through his works. Pray for God to grow your faith.

God’s Gift of Grace / ODB

God’s Gift of Grace To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Ephesians 4:7 READ Ephesians 4:4–8  As I was grading another stack of papers for a college writing class I teach, I was impressed with one particular paper. It was so well-written! Soon, though, I realized it was too well-written. Sure enough, a little research revealed that the paper had been plagiarized from an online source. I sent the student an email to let her know that her ruse had been discovered. She was getting a zero on this paper, but she could write a new paper for partial credit. Her response: “I am humiliated and very sorry. I appreciate the grace you are showing me. I don’t deserve it.” I responded by telling her that we all receive Jesus’ grace every day, so how could I deny showing her grace? There are many ways God’s grace enhances our lives and redeems us from our errors. Peter says it gives salvation: “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11). Paul says it helps us not to be overtaken by sin: “Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Elsewhere, Peter says grace allows us to serve: “Use whatever gift you have received . . . as faithful stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10). Grace. So freely given by God (Ephesians 4:7). May we use this gift to love and encourage others. By Dave Branon When do you most feel God’s grace in your life? What are a couple ways you can show surprising grace to others today? God of grace, help me to share Your grace in my interactions with others.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Unity is Paul’s clear emphasis in Ephesians 4:4-6. He explicitly states that desire in verse 3: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” The apostle uses the word one seven times in verses 4-6. There is one body (v. 4; see Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31); one Spirit (v. 4; see John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 12:18), one hope (v. 4; see Hebrews 6:11-20; 7:19; 11:1), one Lord (v. 5; see John 10:16; Romans 10:9), one faith (v. 5; see Acts 6:7; Romans 1:17), one baptism (v. 5; see 1 Corinthians 1:13-17; Galatians 3:27), and one God (v. 6; see Deuteronomy 6:4). These core dimensions of singularity give us a framework for evaluating disagreements. Paul’s repeated emphasis on the oneness we share in Christ should drive us to unity that can’t be broken. JR Hudberg

 

More Than a Name / Alistair Begg

More Than a Name

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

In some cultures, the meanings behind names don’t matter much. We choose a name because we like the sound of it, or because it’s precious to our particular family. In other cultures, though, a name itself may carry great significance. Its meaning can establish something about the person who bears it or the hopes of the people who bestowed it. When Moses encountered God in the burning bush, he asked, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13). The name God shares with Moses—YHWH (translated into English as “I am who i am”)—has four consonants with no vowels. Try to pronounce YHWH and you’ll find that it’s nearly impossible. It is, if you like, an unspeakable name. What was God doing in answering like this? Moses was requesting a name of authority to give to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh, and God gave him this unpronounceable name. God seems to have been saying, There is no name that can adequately encapsulate the totality of who I am. So, tell them that I am who i am has sent you. Tell Pharaoh to watch what I do on behalf of My people. Then he will know who I am. The Bible is the story not only of God’s work of salvation but also of the unfolding of God’s character. Many of us have become adept at reading our Bibles and asking important questions of application: “How does this relate and apply? What does this mean for me?” These matters are not irrelevant or wrong, but they are not the primary questions to ask. God is the hero of the story and the theme of the book, and so the first question we ask of every passage ought to be this: “What does this tell me about God?” The Bible was written to establish God’s dealings, character, and glory. Many of us believe that what we need from church each Sunday are anecdotal bits and pieces or inspirational lists dealing with our finances, relationships, and any other issues we might be facing. There has never been a time in Christianity’s history when more how-to books have been written for believers. Yet how are we really doing? We seemingly know how to do everything, but we don’t know who God is! In order for Moses to do what God had called him to do, he needed to understand who God was (and is). He, like us, needed to know that God is more than just a name. Lives are transformed when we read the Bible and ask, “What can I discover about God?” It is as we see what God has done and better understand who He is that we grow in our awe and love of Him—and then we will be able to live as He desires, fulfilling His call in our lives. We will never plumb the depths of the glories of our unspeakably awesome God, but we will spend eternity seeing more and more of Him. And as we read His word, that can begin today.

Glorify and Praise God / Spurgeon

 

Glorify and Praise God

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:20

What was the subject of their praise? They praised God for what they had heard—for the good tidings of great joy that a Savior was born unto them. Let us copy them; let us also raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard of Jesus and His salvation. They also praised God for what they had seen. There is the sweetest music—what we have experienced, what we have felt within, what we have made our own. It is not enough to hear about Jesus: Mere hearing may tune the harp, but the fingers of living faith must create the music. If you have seen Jesus with the God-giving sight of faith, suffer no cobwebs to linger among the harp-strings, but loud with the praise of sovereign grace, awake your psaltery and harp. One point for which they praised God was the agreement between what they had heard and what they had seen. Observe the last sentence—“as it had been told them.” Have you not found the Gospel to be in yourselves just what the Bible said it would be? Jesus said He would give you rest—have you not enjoyed the sweetest peace in Him? He said you would have joy and comfort and life through believing in Him—have you not received all these? Are not His ways ways of pleasantness, and His paths paths of peace? Surely you can say with the queen of Sheba, “The half was not told me.”1 I have found Christ more sweet than His servants ever said He was. I looked upon His likeness as they painted it, but it was a mere daub compared with Himself; for the King in His beauty outshines all imaginable loveliness. Surely what we have “seen” keeps pace with, no, far exceeds what we have “heard.” Let us, then, glorify and praise God for a Savior so precious and so satisfying.