You Are Known By the Master You Follow / Adrian Rogers

 You Are Known By the Master You Follow                            

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. John 12:25-26

You know, sometimes it’s hard to look at a person and know whether they’re saved or not saved. One way to illustrate it is, if a group of people is standing around and there’s a dog in the midst, it’s hard to tell which man that dog belongs to. Let’s say two men are having a conversation, and the dog is sitting on the floor. When the two men part, you’re going to find out who the dog belongs to, because the dog will follow his master, right?

I made up my mind long ago that if a dog can follow his master, I’m going to follow mine. You’ll be known by which master you follow.

In high school, some kids will go this way and Jesus will go a different way, and you’ll go His way because Jesus is your Master.

In business, some men are going to go this way and Jesus is going to go that way. Mr. Christian Businessman, you’ll go that way because Jesus is your Master. You will be known by the Master you follow.

Make it your purpose to do what Jesus said so long ago: “Follow me.”

How does my relationship with the Lord affect what and how I hear from Him? / NKJV 365

 

How does my relationship with the Lord affect what and how I hear from Him?

Our relationship with God—the most important aspect of our lives — affects greatly what we hear when we pray and listen. The only message an unbeliever will ever hear from God is that he is a sinner who needs Jesus as his Savior. Until that person knows Christ as his personal Messiah, he will not hear God speak on any subject other than salvation.

In the life of a believer, that speaker/hearer relationship has two main features.

First, we are saved. When by faith we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, the Bible says we are born again. God takes us from the kingdom of darkness and places us into the kingdom of light. We become children of God. Our salvation experience begins our relationship with Him.

Jesus is now my personal, faithful, and merciful High Priest. He is my Father with whom I enjoy intimate communication. I no longer have to stand on the perimeter, squinting into the distance for a glimpse of His presence. Jesus has paid the price of my relationship with God through His shed blood, so that now I am a full member of His own family, sitting daily before Him, totally secure in my sonship.

Second, we are identified with Him. Our salvation takes care of our eternal security, while our identification takes care of our daily walk of victory. By identification, I mean that Christ’s life is now mine and mine is His. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). What happened to Christ at Calvary also happened to me. Christ was crucified; I was crucified. Christ was buried; I was buried. Christ was raised; I was raised.

Through my identification with Him, I come gladly and boldly, knowing that I am accepted, not by my behavior, but because I believe in Him and in what He has already accomplished. Thus I can approach Him with confidence and great assurance.

Taken from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible

 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬

Why We Need New Believers in Our Lives / Greg Laurie

Why We Need New Believers in Our Lives

“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20NLT).

There’s a difference between going to Disneyland with adults and going to Disneyland with kids. If you go with adults, all they want to do is eat. They don’t want to go on rides because they don’t like waiting in line. They also analyze everything.

On the other hand, if you go to Disneyland with kids, it’s a completely different experience. They’ll wait in line for that ride. And to them, everything is cool.

In the same way, a new believer can energize a more mature believer. When someone who’s new in the faith comes into a church and is excited about Jesus, it energizes the older believers. 

At the same time, those new believers need more mature believers to disciple them. They’re discovering things for the first time. Maybe they have questions about what a Scripture passage means. As older believers start helping them, they, too, discover things they’ve forgotten. Their passion is being rekindled.

So not only does it benefit the new believers who are being discipled, but it also benefits those who are doing the discipling. That is why mature believers need an outlet. It’s called making disciples.

Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

If you want to maintain passion and excitement in your spiritual life, then find some new believers and help them get on their feet spiritually. It will reengergize you.

Show me a church that doesn’t have a constant flow of new believers coming in, and I will show you a church that is stagnating.

True disciples will reproduce themselves.

Copyright © 2021 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

 

Faith Pleases God / Billy Graham

 

Faith Pleases God

Faith pleases God more than anything else. The Christian life is dependent upon faith. We stand on faith; we live on faith. Faith is loved and honored by God more than any other single thing. The Bible teaches that faith is the only approach that we have to God. No man has sins forgiven, no man goes to heaven, no man has assurance of peace and happiness, until he has faith in Jesus Christ. You may be saying, “God, I believe you are a great person, but I do not believe your Word; I do not believe what you say.” In order to please God, you must believe Him. Perhaps your faith is small and weak. It does not matter how big your faith is, but rather, where your faith is. Is it in Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for your sins?

Daily Prayer

Lord Jesus, may my faith in You and Your abundant promises be ever increasing each day.

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:6‬ 

Remember Failing and Grace / Alistair Begg

 

Remember Failing and Grace

And Peter remembered. . . . And he broke down and wept.

Mark 14:72

It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered that he had denied his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so (for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work). This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone.

We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”1 We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He remembered denying his Lord—the place in which he did it, the little cause that led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart that drove him to do so again and yet again. Can we, when we are reminded of our sins and their exceeding sinfulness, remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a place of sacrifice and cry to the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love?

May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, in case we discover our tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also remembered his Master’s look of love. The Lord followed up the rooster’s warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter’s mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he remembered the Savior’s full forgiveness, which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts, and make the waters flow.

1) Matthew 26:33

How Jesus became “real” / Senior Living

 How Jesus became “real”

But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. - Hebrews 2:9

A young boy who grew up in England during the dark years of World War II had a picture of his father on the kitchen table. His dad had gone off to fight in the war when the boy was very young. And years later, the boy couldn’t even remember him in the flesh. All he knew was the picture.

One morning over breakfast, the boy’s mother caught him staring at the photo of his father. She asked him what he was thinking about, and he said, “I wish daddy could step out of that picture and be real.”

When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, God Himself stepped off the pages of Scripture and became “real” to the world. What had only been written about and experienced by the prophets of old was now a reality for all people – the Messiah had come in the flesh!

We don’t serve a God who exists only in the mystery of the heavenlies. Our God stepped out of the shadows, came to earth, lived, and died so that we could know Him. So as you reflect on Jesus this Christmas, give thanks that He’s not some far-off God who couldn’t relate to us. He’s a real Savior who loved you enough to become real!

Prayer Challenge:

Praise God that Jesus is real – not some far-off deity, but God Himself in the flesh!

Questions for Thought:

Christianity is unlike any other religion in that we have a God who came to earth, lived, and died so we could know Him. How does that make our faith different than all the others?

What does Christ’s coming to earth say about God’s love for you?

July 30 / Wisdom from the Psalms

 Psalms 95:8

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.

Edgar was being a brat. Whenever Edgar didn't get his way, he was a brat. As if a secret button had been pushed, the minute Edgar heard the word no, he began to whine, kick, scream, stomp, pout, throw things, and cry. After that, he would do nothing that was asked of him. He became stubborn and rebellious. At those times, everyone just backed off and left Edgar alone. Who wants to be too close to a brat? 

Sometimes we're brats. We don't get things the way we want them, so we pout and harden our hearts toward God. God is patient with us, but sometimes He has to put some distance between us until we settle down. God doesn't want to deal with our bratiness any more than we want to deal with the bratiness of children. In time, we learn to deal with our disappointments, and like children, we finally learn that pouting gets us nowhere.

Prayer: Lord, help me to grow up, to be a mature Christian, one who has learned to accept disappointment and adversity. Strengthen my heart, and give me patience. Amen.

Defying Gravity by Katherine Britton

 Defying Gravity

by Katherine Britton

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” – 1 Chronicles 29:14

While I was in elementary school, family friends made the decision to leave the States for Kiev, Ukraine. This family of seven, including children my age, had to downgrade from a four-bedroom suburban home to an 800 square foot flat. That meant getting rid of a house full of clothes, toys, yard tools, furniture, dishes – a whole host of personal preferences and “needs.” Each family member had the luxury of one big trunk as they moved halfway around the world.

For this family, however, the joy of sharing the Gospel in a former USSR satellite nation outweighed all their possessions. My dad asked his friend how he was handling the sudden “loss.” His answer was telling.

“Actually,” the new missionary responded, “this is the most freeing thing I’ve ever done.”

This family found a special freedom far before I began to sniff it out. For me, this reorientation is coming slowly, helped along recently by a little book called The Treasure Principle. In it, Randy Alcorn uses a science metaphor to explain why our friends felt unshackled rather than empty. He writes:

It's a matter of basic physics. The greater the mass, the greater the hold that mass exerts. The more things we own—the greater their total mass the more they grip us, setting us in orbit around them. Finally, like a black hole, they suck us in.

Consider our materialism that way – the more stuff, the more mass. The more mass, the greater its gravitational pull. And the harder it is to escape.

Compare this to David’s exhilaration in 1 Chronicles. He is humbled not by how much God has blessed him with – but by how much God has allowed him to give away. The king of Israel, a center of the ancient world, found his joy not in the palaces and the women at his disposal, but in the act of returning to God was rightfully God’s. How many of us can say the same?

We live in a physical, material world. But we have the chance to defy its hold on us with every cent, toy, and “need” that comes our way. Are you ready?

Intersecting Faith & Life: I want to relearn the joy of giving in a more tangible way than ever before. As Alcorn puts it, “We give because He first gave to us” the most valuable gift of all. What ministries, families, or other kingdom cause is on your heart?

Do It Now! / Streams

 Do It Now!

A cup of cold water only - Matt 10:42

What am I to do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, any kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. —An Old Quaker Saying

It isn’t the thing you do, dear,  

It’s the thing you leave undone,  

Which gives you the bitter heartache  

At the setting of the sun;  

The tender word unspoken,  

The letter you did not write,  

The flower you might have sent, dear,  

Are your haunting ghosts at night.  

The stone you might have lifted  

Out of your brother’s way,  

The bit of heartsome counsel  

You were hurried too much to say;  

The loving touch of the hand, dear,  

The gentle and winsome tone,  

That you had no time or thought for,  

With troubles enough of your own.  

These little acts of kindness,  

So easily out of mind,  

These chances to be angels,  

Which even mortals find  

They come in night and silence,  

Each chill reproachful wraith,  

When hope is faint and flagging,  

And a blight has dropped on faith.  

For life is all too short, dear.  

And sorrow is all too great,  

To suffer our slow compassion  

That tarries until too late.  

And it’s not the thing you do, dear,  

It’s the thing you leave undone,  

Which gives you the bitter heartache,  

At the setting of the sun.  

—Adelaide Proctor

Give what you have; to someone it may be better than you dare to think. —Longfellow

July 30 / Daily Blessings

 Daily Blessings

“The sighing of the needy.” - Ps 12:5

The distinguishing mark and character of a needy soul is to be full of needs. Day after day he needs divine realities to be revealed to his soul, to hear the sweet voice of mercy speaking into his heart, as from the lips of God himself, that he is an accepted child, that he may bathe, as it were, in sweet manifestations of the love and mercy of God. In the supply of need he believes the marrow of all true religion and vital godliness to consist. So that he cannot take up with his present state of need for religion. If he is in doubts and fears, or is passing through heavy temptations, and is writing bitter things against himself, he cannot say “this is religion;” but what he wants is something different from what he feels, even the blessed testimonies and manifestations that he is one of the Lord’s own dear family; and I am very well assured from soul experience, that nothing but the application of heavenly blessings to the soul can ever satisfy the man who has had life implanted in his heart by the hand of God himself.

We therefore read of this needy person that he SIGHS. “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy.” He is sighing after God; groaning in the depths of his soul after the lifting up of the light of God’s countenance; sighing under the weight of unbelief, the burden of infidelity, the power of temptation, the wretchedness of his heart, the carnality of his mind, the barrenness of his frame, his stupidity, his brutality, filth and corruption. He is sighing to the Lord under the burden of these things lying as a load on his conscience, and begging the Lord that he would only lift up the light of his countenance, that he would only drop one sweet testimony, that he would speak but one word to his soul, to bring with it sweet deliverance, and lift him out into all the light, and life, and liberty, and peace of the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

Choose the Presence of God / Max Lucado

Choose the Presence of God

Click below to listen to today's devotional

CHOOSE THE PRESENCE OF GOD - July 29, 2021

God repeatedly pledges his presence to his people. To Abram, God said, “Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1). God told Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

In the ultimate declaration of communion, God called himself Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” He became flesh,  he became sin, he defeated the grave. He is still with us. In the form of his Spirit, he comforts, teaches, and convicts.

Don’t assume God is watching from a distance. Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret. Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath. And because the Lord is near, we can be anxious for nothing!

 

Do You See Jesus in Your Clouds? / Oswald Chambers

 

Do You See Jesus in Your Clouds? Behold, He is coming with clouds… REVELATION 1:7 In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “The clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3). They are a sign that God is there. What a revelation it is to know that sorrow, bereavement, and suffering are actually the clouds that come along with God! God cannot come near us without clouds— He does not come in clear-shining brightness. It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials. Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to unlearnsomething. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child— a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows. Until other people become shadows to us, clouds and darkness will be ours every once in a while. Is our relationship with God becoming more simple than it has ever been? There is a connection between the strange providential circumstances allowed by God and what we know of Him, and we have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Until we can come face to face with the deepest, darkest fact of life without damaging our view of God’s character, we do not yet know Him. “…they were fearful as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:34 ). Is there anyone except Jesus in your cloud? If so, it will only get darker until you get to the place where there is “no one anymore, but only Jesus …” (Mark 9:8; also see verses 2–7). Bible in One Year: Psalms 49-50; Romans 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly.

Gratitude for God's Guidance / Chuck Swindoll

Gratitude for God's Guidance

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Psalm 5:8

O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;
Make Your way straight before me. (Psalm 5:8)

Our Father, for centuries, You have used Your Word in the hearts of men and women in cultures and countries around this world. You have sent to difficult and obscure places faith-filled missionaries with the Word of God tucked away in their hearts. They have declared it, and You have blessed it. Your Word has spread like wildfire, and, as Your children, we are all recipients of Your faithfulness. Many of us had godly mothers and dads who taught us the way from birth. Some of us learned the truth from mentors when we became adults. Others getting up in years discovered what they had been missing all their lives. We have been redeemed, bought by Christ's blood, delivered from a life of bondage and addiction, and relieved of despair and slavery to sin. How grateful we are!

Thank You, Father, for leading us in our own personal exodus—leading us from start to finish; leading us when we didn't even want to know You; leading us even when we were running from You. Thank You for deliverance from the pharaohs of our lives—cruel taskmasters, all of them—and bringing us to the gentle Shepherd of our souls.

And so, Father, we pause at this moment in quiet worship to remember Your leading. We praise You in the name of Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

See also Exodus 13:21; Psalm 25:5; 139:9-10; Isaiah 11:6.

 

Jesus Is Our Peace / ODB

 

Jesus Is Our Peace For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. Ephesians 2:14 READ Ephesians 2:11–22  A monk named Telemachus lived a quiet life, but his death at the end of the fourth century changed the world. Visiting Rome from the East, Telemachus intervened in the blood sport of the gladiatorial arena. He jumped over the stadium wall and tried to stop the gladiators from killing each other. But the outraged crowd stoned the monk to death. The emperor Honorius, however, was moved by Telemachus’ act and decreed the end of the 500-year practice of gladiator games. When Paul calls Jesus “our peace,” he refers to the end of hostility between Jews and gentiles (Ephesians 2:14). God’s chosen people Israel were distinct from the nations and enjoyed certain privileges. For instance, while gentiles were allowed to worship at the Jerusalem temple, a dividing wall restricted them to the outer court—on punishment of death. Jews regarded gentiles unclean, and they experienced mutual hostility. But now, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection for all, both Jew and gentile can worship God freely through faith in Him (vv. 18–22). There’s no dividing wall. There’s no privilege of one group over the other. Both are equal in their standing before God. Just as Telemachus brought peace to warriors through his death, so Jesus makes peace and reconciliation possible for all who believe in Him through His death and resurrection. So, if Jesus is our peace, let’s not let our differences divide us. He’s made us one by His blood. By Con Campbell How do you reveal you’re at peace with all people? What issues—such as race, status, or privilege—sometimes get in the way? Why? Dear God of peace, You’ve made us one in Jesus. Help me to know it and live it.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT In his letter to followers of Jesus in Ephesus, Paul addresses the relationship between Jews and gentiles. While this topic is mentioned in a number of Paul’s New Testament letters, Ephesians 2 deals most explicitly with the topic. He references the hostility the two groups had for each other (vv. 14, 16) and what Christ did to eliminate it. In His death, Jesus set aside the law and made one people out of the two by giving them both the same access to the Father. What we have in common supersedes our differences. J.R. Hudberg