Tuesday, November 2, 2021

God’s Heart

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GOD’S HEART - November 1, 2021

“Relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews” (Esther 4:14). Mordecai said those words. Though a holocaust had been declared, Mordecai changed from desperate wailing to issuing this bold statement. What happened? Well it dawned on Mordecai that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was alive and well and undefeated in battle. God had not forgotten his role as a covenant keeper. God’s heart was still attached to his people—a remnant living in exile in Persia. The Jews had no king, no temple, no priesthood, no sacrifices. No matter. God is to problems what a hurricane is to a mosquito – no match. Mordecai got this. Do you?

Yes, the journey ahead includes deep waters. But the scripture promises, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isaiah 43:2).

Monday, November 1, 2021

Why is our nation so troubled? / Adrian Rogers

Why is our nation so troubled?

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel. Psalm 128:1, 5-6

Right now our nation is sick unto death because she has forgotten God. But listen to this and let it burn into your soul. In 1821 John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, said,

“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. From the day of the Declaration, the American people were bound by the laws of God.”

The principles of civil government and Christianity were linked together in an unbreakable bond. Nearly all citizens acknowledged Christian, biblical principles as the rules of their conduct.

In 1913 President Woodrow Wilson said,

“America was born to exemplify the devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from Holy Scriptures.”

In March, 1931, Congress adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as our national anthem. Do you know what the fourth stanza says? “Blessed with victory and peace, may this Heaven-rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just. And this be our motto, ‘In God is our trust.’”

God blessed America because she was rooted in spiritual principles and truths. Praise God that the Christian and Judaic heritage was written into our very fabric. And pray for your nation according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray, seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land."

Obeying God / Charles Stanley

Obeying God

Acts 5:27-32

The high priest ordered Peter and the apostles to stop teaching about Jesus, but they ignored the order. When questioned about their actions, Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than men” (v. 29). What motivated them to follow the Lord with such conviction?

God’s Sovereignty. Peter and the other disciples recognized that God had carried out His divine plan of redemption in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Convinced that salvation was found in Christ alone, they had the courage to speak boldly about their faith. They didn’t alter their words, even in front of a powerful authority. Instead, they gave allegiance to God and obeyed Him.

Thankfulness. Their obedience was also motivated by gratitude. After betraying the Lord, Peter had wept over his failure (Mark 14:72). Think of the disciple’s joy to realize that Christ had forgiven him for his mistakes and restored him to a right relationship with God (Mark 16:7; John 21:15-17). With his past behind him, Peter became a leader of the Jerusalem church, with a passion to obey fueled by a thankful heart.

God is in charge of our lives. He has rescued us from the bondage of sin, forgiven us, and brought us into His family. Grateful obedience should be our response too.

Each day we have a choice. We can acknowledge God’s sovereignty and trust Him, or we can turn away and follow our own plan. Cultivating a thankful spirit will motivate us to stay the course and obey the Lord. Like Peter, let’s commit to following our heavenly Father wherever He leads.

A Question to Consider / Alistair Begg

A Question to Consider

The church in your house.
Philemon 1:2

Is there a church in this house? Are parents, children, and friends all members of it, or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the question go round: Am I a member of the church in this house?

The father’s heart would leap for joy, and the mother’s eyes would fill with holy tears if from the eldest to the youngest all were saved! Let us pray for this great mercy until the Lord shall grant it to us.

Probably it had been the dearest object of Philemon’s desires to have all his household saved; but it was not at first fully granted to him. He had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, ran away from his service.

His master’s prayers followed him, and at last, as God would have it, Onesimus was led to hear Paul preach; his heart was touched, and he returned to Philemon not only to be a faithful servant, but a beloved brother, adding another member to the church in Philemon’s house.

Is there an unconverted family member absent this morning? Make special supplication that they may, upon returning to their home, gladden every heart with good news of what grace has done! Is there an unconverted family member still at home? Ask God to save him also.

If there is such a church in our house, let us order it well, and let everyone conduct themselves as in the sight of God. Let us go about our daily routines with studied holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a church than of an ordinary household.

Family worship must, in such a case, be more devout and hearty; internal love must be warmer and unbroken, and external conduct must be more sanctified and Christlike. We need not fear that the smallness of our number will put us out of the list of churches, for the Holy Spirit has enrolled a family-church here in the inspired book of remembrance.

As a church let us now draw near to the great Head of the one Church universal, and let us beseech Him to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of His name.

Hope For the Future / Billy Graham

Hope For the Future

If you are moving to a new home, you want to know all about the community to which you are going. And since we will spend eternity some place, we ought to know something about it. The information concerning heaven is found in the Bible. When we talk about heaven, earth grows shabby by comparison. Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less, when we have keen anticipation of the future.

In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he can smile. He has a spring in his step, a joy in his soul, a smile on his face. But the Bible also promises the Christian a heaven in the life hereafter.

Daily Prayer

Father, as I face whatever trials come my way, I will take heart in the glorious promise of heaven—knowing I shall be with You!

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:20‬

Booker T. Washington / NKJV 365

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was the most influential American black leader and educator of his time. He was the founder and head of the famous Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school for blacks in Tuskegee, Alabama, and his students became leaders and educators across the nation. He also advised two Presidents — Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—on racial issues and policies and was influential in the appointment of several blacks to federal office.

Born a slave in the hills of Virginia, from the age of nine Washington worked in coal mines and salt furnaces. Determined to get an education, at the age of sixteen he attended Hampton Institute, an industrial school for blacks in Hampton, Virginia. Upon graduating with honors in just three years (1875), Washington joined the faculty and was soon offered the position to lead a new school in Tuskegee, Alabama. He started this school in an old abandoned church and a shanty, and by 1915 he had built Tuskegee Institute into a school of 107 buildings on 2,000 acres with over 1,500 students and more than 200 teachers and professors—a phenomenal accomplishment, especially considering the times in which Washington lived.

As the presiding principal, Washington outlined several objectives for the new school. He not only offered traditional academic courses, but industry and trade skills were also required. Students learned bricklaying, forestry, and timber skills, sewing, cooking, and practical agriculture; also, every student was obligated to master at least two trades. Washington’s goal was to produce independent small businessmen, farmers, and teachers.

He also insisted on high moral character for both students and faculty. His clear emphasis on the value of character and the training of the “head, hand, and heart” was filled with great insight. Christian faith was something Washington learned as a child in Sunday school, and it helped shape his ideals. Devotional exercises were held every morning at Tuskegee as well as evening prayers. He wrote that the support that “the Christ-like work which the Church of all denominations in America has done” would have convinced him of the value of the Christian life if he wasn’t already a believer.

Taken from The American Patriot’s Bible

“Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.””

‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭2:17‬

Acquainted with Grief / Greg Laurie

Acquainted with Grief

“He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3 NLT).

During His time on Earth, Jesus experienced the full gamut of human emotion. He felt joy. He felt sorrow. And He felt anger. Yes, Jesus got angry.

He made a whip and drove the moneychangers out of the temple in Jerusalem. And He also was angry after Lazarus died. John’s gospel tells us, “When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled” (11:33 NLT).

Was Jesus angry with Mary or her sister, Martha? No.

Was He angry with the people who were with Mary and Martha? No.

Jesus was angry with death itself. He was angry that this had to happen.

Not only was Jesus angry, but we see another emotion of His in this passage. John tells us, “Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’” (verses 35-36 NLT). Death breaks God’s heart just as it breaks our hearts.

This serves as a reminder that Jesus weeps with us in our times of pain. Does that surprise you? We might think that God is indifferent, that He’s disconnected, and that He doesn’t really care. But Jesus was and is God. Jesus was God walking among us as a man. So if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

When we’re in pain, He feels that pain as well. Jesus, according to Isaiah 53, “was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (verse 3 NLT).

Jesus bore your sins, but He also carried your sorrows. So if it hurts you, it affects Him. If it causes you pain, He cares.

Jesus wept. That says a lot about how He looks at us and cares about us.

Once and Forever / David Jeremiah

Once and Forever

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
Romans 8:3

Bob Ebeling spent a third of his life consumed with guilt. He was one of the engineers connected to NASA, and he worried that cold temperatures would cause the 1986 Challenger space shuttle to explode. Ebeling was so concerned that he called his boss, and they assembled data that would demonstrate the risk. When NASA proceeded with the launch anyway, Ebeling watched in horror as the Challenger exploded. He spent nearly the rest of his life overwhelmed with guilt, thinking he could have done more to delay the launch. Shortly before his recent death at age 89, Ebeling said he had found peace.[1]

How to Avoid Spiritual Deception / Senior Living

How to Avoid Spiritual Deception

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:1-2

An article years ago in U.S. News & World Report brought to light a very sneaky practice by some manufacturers of common household goods. In an effort to save costs, these companies were reducing the amount of product in their packaging without reducing the size of the package. And it was going completely unnoticed by the general public!

A box of a well-known laundry detergent, for example, that once held 61 ounces now only holds 55 ounces. Same size box, less soap!

It’s interesting how something can be wrapped in a certain way in order to disguise what’s really on the inside. Take people, for example. How many of the people you see at church on Sunday are well dressed with their best smiles, yet inside they’re struggling deeply? Most people would probably be shocked to find out the struggles their ‘super-spiritual’ friends are having!

Be authentic. Now, that doesn’t mean you vent your struggles and frustrations to everyone, but it does mean you’re open and honest about what’s going on in your life. Peel back the pretty wrapping and show others what’s really on the inside.

Prayer Challenge:

Pray and ask God to help you open up to others and be honest about the struggles you’re facing.

Questions for Thought:

What’s your biggest apprehension about how others would react to your complete honesty about what’s really going on in your life? Is that fear from God?

What’s one struggle you have today that you’ve been keeping to yourself? To whom can you open up about that struggle?

November 1 / Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalm 131:1

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

When John had started out, all his superiors told him that he was destined to go far in the firm. Now they all shook their heads in wonder that he had never climbed the corporate ladder. John just smiled to himself. Dog-eat-dog was fine for some, but John was content to just do the work he loved. He didn't care what anyone else thought, he was happy, and that was worth more than all the prestige in the world.

Grow where you're planted, the saying goes. When you find a place of contentment, guard it. Don't be ready to throw it away for what may or may not be better. Too often we get into situations over our heads, and then it is too late to go back. God will not be impressed by your fame or wealth. What pleases the Lord is someone who uses his talents and makes peace for himself in the work that he does.

Prayer: Make my aspiratio ns for myself realistic and worthwhile. Help me to keep my wits about me, to do the things I like rather than those things that are done merely to impress others. Amen.

The Top of the Waterfall by Katherine Britton

The Top of the Waterfall

by Katherine Britton

"My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you." – Isaiah 26:9

As I looked up the path – and up, and up – I couldn’t even see the head of the waterfall. The last cataract foamed in front of me, but the first was far up on the mountain, where the sunlight hit the summit. I wanted to see more.

The trail was relatively easy, but I was huffing and puffing before long thanks to the incline. The trail snaked back and forth across the mountain, taking us up fifty feet with each turn. The second, third, and fourth cataracts appeared, and we clambered onward after each one, still intent on seeing that first drop. In the words of C. S. Lewis, the lure of “further in and further up” kept us going, as beauty upon beauty made us eager to see even more.

The view didn’t disappoint us. The autumn panorama spread over the surrounding hills, contrasted in highlight and shadows from the afternoon sun. Everyone at the summit was smiling and taking pictures. Nobody sat with their back against the view. To our right, the head of the waterfall rushed on, flowing over the first drop. Nothing in the suburbs compares with what we saw.

What is it about a waterfall – or anything natural wonder – that makes us stop and stare? What is it about a rainbow that keeps us looking for the next one? Why is Niagara Falls so famous? Why does the human soul dream of places so far from what we normally experience? Why do we keep following the path until we see the greatest beauty of all?

I think such scenes are part of God’s mercy to the whole world, because they teach us what it means to hunger for more. They give us a glimpse of the time when we can drink so deeply that our thirst will be quenched. Like in the Narnia books, they shadow the real thing, when we will be in God’s eternal presence. Do we hunger for that?

Scripture is full of references to this kind of longing. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul writes of “seeing dimly, as in a mirror,” as he waits to see the true nature of love revealed. Roman 8:18-27 empathizes with all of creation’s “groaning” as it waits to see the full glory of God revealed. After all, “who hopes for what he already has?”

As I remember that panorama – and how I want to go back – I consider those verses of longing after God. The more I know and see of God’s character, the more I should be amazed and want to see even more. Someday, every Christian will experience the joy of seeing the fullness of the Lord displayed, but until then, we see one beauty at a time as we keep going. Are you satisfied with the small glimpses, or does the summit beckon you?

Intersecting Faith & Life: While each cataract on the way up the falls had a beauty all its own, I didn’t want to stop until I had seen it all. This week, I want to ask myself daily: am I content with my faith journey, stopping before I should? Or does each new sight give me a thrill that spurs me on to see even greater heights? Let’s encourage each other to keep going, and to seek to know our God more each day.

Find the Good Stuff / Chuck Swindoll

Find the Good Stuff

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Proverbs 17:1

Far too many folks suffer from that most contagious of all diseases. I call it the “If Only” Syndrome. The germs of discontent can infect a single host and then overtake an entire community, affecting every aspect of life—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. The following is a list of some statements said by those caught in the “If Only” Syndrome:

If only I had more money . . .
If only I could make better grades . . .
If only we owned a nicer home . . .
If only we hadn’t made that bad investment . . .
If only I hadn’t come from such a bad background . . .
If only she had stayed married to me . . .
If only our pastor were a stronger preacher . . .
If only my child were able to walk . . .
If only we could have children . . .
If only we didn’t have children . . .
If only the business had succeeded . . .
If only my husband hadn’t died so young . . .
If only I’d said no to drugs . . .
If only they had given me a break . . .
If only I hadn’t had that accident . . .
If only we could get back on our feet financially . . .
If only he would ask me out . . .
If only people would accept me as I am . . .
If only my folks hadn’t divorced . . .
If only I had more friends . . .

The list could stretch for pages. Woven into the fabric of all those wistful complaints is a sigh rooted in the daily grind of discontentment. Taken far enough, the “If Only” Syndrome results in self-pity, one of the most distasteful and repulsive of all attitudes. Discontentment is one of those daily grinds that forces others to listen to our woes—but not for long! Discontented souls soon become lonely, isolated souls.

As a wise man once said, “You usually find what you go looking for.” So, the question of the day is, what are you looking for? Reasons to celebrate the goodness of God, or reasons to cry, “Woe is me!”

November 1 / Daily Blessings

Daily Blessings

“The entrance of your words gives light.” - Ps 119:130

The blessed Spirit is pleased sometimes to give some testimony concerning Jesus, to open up some passage of Scripture which speaks of Jesus, to cast a divine light before the astonished eyes, and to throw some of the blessed beams of gospel truth into our souls, whereby we see Jesus. We are brought sometimes in soul feeling to the desires of those Greeks who came up to worship at the feast, and went to Philip, saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus;” and from some apprehension of his beauty and loveliness, we pour out our soul before God, and say, “We would see Jesus.” We want to feel his love, to have our eyes anointed to behold his glory, to look upon him as crucified for us and bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, that we may have a sweet and blessed fellowship with him as our suffering Surety, and thus, by faith, enter into the length and breadth and depth and height of that love of his “that passes knowledge.”

Wherever there is a work of grace upon the soul, there will be this pining after Christ. The soul that is really taught of God can never rest satisfied short of Jesus. “There remains a rest to the people of God,” and they can never be satisfied short of that rest, which consists in an experimental knowledge of the Son of God, as revealed by the Holy Spirit to their souls. But before the enjoyment of this spiritual rest, there is often long delay; clouds of darkness for months and years together often envelope the mercy-seat; the cross of Christ cannot be seen; the Holy Spirit does not fulfill his covenanted office in taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to the soul; and in the absence of these heavenly manifestations, we cannot realize our saving interest in the things of salvation, nor can we feel our hearts sweetly composed and settled down in the blessed assurance, that when this life shall come to a close, we shall inhabit mansions prepared for us before the foundation of the world. When “with clouds he covers the light, and commands it not to shine by the cloud that comes between,” there are many doubts and fears, suspicions, surmises, and jealousies whether we are not deceived and deluded altogether. At such seasons, everything seems to be against us, and to stamp us as being nothing but nominal professors.

It is in such dark and gloomy seasons as these that “the entrance of God’s words gives light.” For instance, some such promise as this is made sweet to the soul—“Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” As that promise is brought home with power to the heart, and is shed abroad with some sweetness in the soul, it draws forth and strengthens faith, and the toiling pilgrim comes to the Lord, feeling himself “weary and heavy laden,” and as he comes, he is indulged sometimes with a few sweet moments of rest. He is enabled to look out of fallen self, with all its miseries, and to look upon Jesus in his grace and beauty. He is favored to cast himself simply, as he is, upon Jesus, and some sense of his atoning blood, dying love, and complete atoning sacrifice for sin is opened up to his heart. Faith springs up to lay hold of and embrace it, and he begins to taste the savor and sweetness and healing efficacy of a Savior’s blood and love.

Thus “the entrance of God’s words gives light,” and he feels by the divine coming in of what God has externally revealed, that inward light is shed abroad in the recesses of his soul, and he can, in some measure, realize the power of the cross of Jesus in his heart.

Waiting is Hard / Streams

Waiting is Hard

When the cloud tarried ... then the children of Israel ... journeyed not - Num 9:19

This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next halting-place. But, ah, the tarrying.

Then, however uninviting and sultry the location, however trying to flesh and blood, however irksome to the impatient disposition, however perilously exposed to danger—there was no option but to remain encamped.

The Psalmist says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” And what He did for the Old Testament saints He will do for believers throughout all ages.

Still God often keeps us waiting. Face to face with threatening foes, in the midst of alarms, encircled by perils, beneath the impending rock. May we not go? Is it not time to strike our tents? Have we not suffered to the point of utter collapse? May we not exchange the glare and heat for green pastures and still waters?

There is no answer. The cloud tarries, and we must remain, though sure of manna, rock-water, shelter, and defense. God never keeps us at post without assuring us of His presence, and sending us daily supplies.

Wait, young man, do not be in a hurry to make a change! Minister, remain at your post! Until the cloud clearly moves, you must tarry. Wait, then, thy Lord’s good pleasure! He will be in plenty of time!—Daily Devotional Commentary

An hour of waiting!

Yet there seems such need

To reach that spot sublime!

I long to reach them—but I long far more

To trust HIS time!

“Sit still, my daughter”—

Yet the heathen die,

They perish while I stay!