Daily Encouragement / February 27

The power and influence of songs can hardly be exaggerated. It is true of political songs as it is of “pop songs.” It is supremely true of “the Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” of the people of God.

Campbell Morgan makes this apt comment: “The church is more enriched in her catholic songs, than in all her systematic theologies. In the former she realizes her unity, whereas in the latter she too often creates her divisions. The Wesleys did more for experimental Christianity in their hymns, than in all their printed explanations.”

The wise leader will teach his people the great hymns of the faith, while not ignoring the value of modern spiritual songs. He will be wary about omitting verses, aiming to follow in the steps of Moses, who “recited the words of this song from beginning to end” (Deut. 31:30).

If we determine to sing with both spirit and mind (1 Cor. 14:15), we shall find ourselves being much encouraged and responding with gratitude to God (Col. 3:16). At the same time, we shall be convicted of our shortcomings in the light of the truth we sing. Of many a hymn the Lord could say, “It is a witness for me against them.”

““Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭19‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬ 

Don’t Tolerate Temptation! / Ann Graham Lotz

Don’t Tolerate Temptation!

Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:7, nkjv

Temptation, whether in the form of a serving of birthday cake when you’re on a diet or the bed of your neighbor’s spouse, intensifies through toleration. The toleration leads to a preoccupation of thoughts, and it’s not long before we reach out to touch it. At that point, there is almost no turning back.

What temptation have you tolerated, thought about, touched, and toyed with? “It’s just one more glass of wine.” “It’s just a little harmless flirtation.” “It’s just a magazine at the checkout counter.” “It’s just one date.” Watch out! If you tolerate it, think about it, and toy with it, you are just a step away from actually doing it. So . . . instead of tolerating sin, turn from it NOW! 

Bible in One Year: February 26

 Bible in One Year: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29

Our Misgivings About Jesus / Oswald Chambers

 

Our Misgivings About Jesus The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep." JOHN 4:11 Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t. My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.” Bible in One Year: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6:1-29

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.

Sunday Reflection: Gifted to Serve / Charles Stanley

 

Sunday Reflection: Gifted to Serve

Living in community helps us discover our spiritual gifts and use them to bless others.

Have you wondered how to discover your spiritual gifts? There’s an abundance of quizzes and questionnaires online, but as helpful as those resources can be, they’re not authoritative. What if, instead of relying on self-assessments, we approached identifying our gifts as an opportunity to engage our community of believers?

Something beautiful happens when we invite our brothers and sisters in Christ to speak into our lives. In fact, the only way we truly come to know ourselves is in community—seeing and being seen, hearing and being heard, loving and being loved in return. 

Over the next few days and weeks, explore these questions with God: What needs draw my attention? How do I like to help? What needs do others consistently bring to me? What kind of service brings me life? And don’t just stop there. Take time to ask wise and trusted people what gifts they see in you. And always seek confirmation from the Holy Spirit.

Think about it

• Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 and 1 Corinthians 14:26. Do you struggle with believing you have a special gift to offer the church? How do these verses affect your perspective? 

God Pours His Love Through Us / Adrian Rogers

 God Pours His Love Through Us

John 13:34-35

Sermon: 1785 Treasuring Marital Fidelity

Pray Over This

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

Ponder This

Let me give you some words to remember to help you keep your marriage on track. The first one is decision. Make a decision that you’re going to live for God. God will not force His will on you. Listening to sermons will not change you unless you decide to obey the Word of God. “Choose . . . this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Give your heart to the Lord. The next word is dependence. It is not enough to decide, because you do not have the strength in your own power to live for God. But God can deliver you if you will depend on Him. The third word is devotion. Begin to love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul, and love your wife as yourself. After this decision and after this dependence, let God pour His love through you. You are to love each other, not if you feel like it, but because God commands it. Love for one another comes primarily from Almighty God. Fourthly, development. Continue to feed your love daily. You must nurture your love. It is a growing thing. It’s like a flower that needs to be cultivated. It needs to be protected, and its full beauty can be developed through life.

• When have you had to depend on God in order to love someone else?
• What does it look like to make an intentional effort to love another person?

Practice This

If you are married, find an intentional way to nurture your marriage. If you are not married, find an intentional way to love someone else the way Jesus loves.

Is It a Sign? / ODB

Is It a Sign? I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 READ 1 Samuel 24:1–7 The offer looked good, and was exactly what Peter needed. After being laid off, this sole breadwinner of a young family had prayed desperately for a job. “Surely this is God’s answer to your prayers,” his friends suggested. Reading about the prospective employer, however, Peter felt uneasy. The company invested in suspicious businesses and had been flagged for corruption. In the end, Peter rejected the offer, though it was painful to do so. “I believe God wants me to do the right thing,” he shared with me. “I just have to trust He will provide for me.” Peter was reminded of the account of David meeting Saul in a cave. It seemed like he was being given the perfect opportunity to kill the man hunting him down, but David resisted. “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing . . . for he is the anointed of the Lord,” he reasoned (1 Samuel 24:6). David was careful to distinguish between his own interpretation of events and God’s command to obey His instruction and do the right thing. Instead of always trying to look for “signs” in certain situations, let’s look to God and His truth for wisdom and guidance to discern what lies before us. He will help us do what’s right in His eyes. By Leslie Koh What could help you discern between a personal interpretation of events and what God would want you to do? Whom can you turn to for godly advice? God, our Provider, grant me the wisdom to discern opportunities before me and the faith to follow Your way, that I might always do what pleases You. For further study, read Making Decisions God’s Way.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT Twice David spared King Saul’s life—first as recorded in 1 Samuel 24:1–10 and again as described in chapter 26. The setting in chapter 24 is a large cave in the wilderness of En Gedi. This cave is one among many in the region, some large enough to hold thousands. Saul and his soldiers were pursuing David with the intent of killing him when Saul stopped to relieve himself in the very cave where David and his six hundred men were hiding. In chapter 26, Saul continued to pursue David. Once again, David was close enough to take Saul’s life but showed him the mercy that the king lacked. Alyson Kieda

 

Practice the Fruits of the Spirit / Billy Graham

 

Practice the Fruits of the Spirit

Christ can rid you of inner conflict. Man without God is always torn between two urges. His nature prompts him to do wrong, and his conscience urges him to do right. Antagonistic desires and crossed-up emotions keep him in a state of personal instability. Medical men have almost concluded that this conflict is the basis of much physical breakdown and nervous collapse. Many doctors now believe that among the contributing causes of the common cold are stress, tension, and inner conflict. Paul must have been in the midst of such a personal civil war when he cried, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Then he answered his own question when he said, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Daily Prayer

Only Your Holy Spirit, Lord, can control my innermost feelings. Help me to be conscious of Your presence this day.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

Hope for Today / February 26

Life is a road marked by triumph and trouble; a journey marked by labor and rest; a pathway marked by laughter and tears. We must not settle on the mountaintops of success nor dwell in the valley of our defeats. We cannot stay any place for too long. With each new dawn we must be moving again. 

At a recent funeral, I was horrified to hear a colleague refer to the grave as “our loved one’s final resting place,” as though the decedent had not made it home. I decided that day to leave instructions concerning my funeral. I want all who might gather to be assured that my grave is a temporary arrangement. I hope they might remember me and call me dearly beloved, but I would rather they refer to me as one dearly departed, for if I have not journeyed on from this place then all is lost for me. We were born to this world, but then, born again for another world. We are travelers on this earth, but citizens of heaven. We have given up the settler’s life and became people of the path. We are followers of Jesus Christ. Paul writes: “thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession.” We are made to move, and we must not stop until we finally make it home.

“I am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭19‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬ 

Daily Encouragement / February 26

 There are secret things and they belong to God. All men are aware of the unplumbed depths of mystery which surround our earthly life, and those who do not ignore them face them with perplexity or perhaps despair. The believer knows to whom the depths belong and joins with prophet and apostle in uttering words of wonder: “O, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has knows the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?’” (Rom. 11:33-34).

There are things which God has revealed, and they belong to us and our children. His revelation - be it Moses’ choice of “life and death” or “the word of faith” proclaimed by Paul - is not beyond the reach of a child. “No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it” (Deut. 30:14, 19; Rom. 10:8).

Even the things revealed are related to the secret things. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). So whosoever wants to come may do so, and yet before he comes he is appointed to come. This mystery also belongs to the Lord our God.

““The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭29‬:‭29‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

Naming Your Sin... Ann Graham Lotz

 Naming Your Sin

That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.

Matthew 9:6, nkjv

Only God in Christ has the power to forgive sin. But you and I must confess it to Him personally, specifically, and honestly if we want to receive forgiveness. God promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, niv). That word confess means to call sin by the same names that God does, to agree with God about your sin.

You and I often play games with the names we call sin to make it seem less like sin. For example, we call the sin of unbelief, worry. We call the sin of lying, exaggeration. We call the sin of fornication, safe sex.

As long as we switch the labels on sin to make it seem less serious, we’re being dishonest with ourselves and with God, and we remain unforgiven. But, if we say the same thing about our sin that God says—if we say, “God, it’s lying. It’s jealousy. It’s lust. It’s revenge. It’s hate. It’s adultery. It’s unforgiveness”—God will forgive us! So start naming your sin for what it is in God’s eyes.

Bible in One Year: February 26

 Bible in One Year: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

The Destitution of Service / Oswald Chambers

 

The Destitution of Service …though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. 2 CORINTHIANS 12:15 Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty‘stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul. The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out‘socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11 ). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured‘out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others. Bible in One Year: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.

Defend against Temptation / Charles Stanley

 Defend against Temptation

James 1:12-16

To build a defense against temptation, we must understand how it works. Every sin originates as a thought, often the result of a flaming arrow the Evil One shoots our way (Eph. 6:16). If a believer holds on to the thought, it becomes a fantasy—the chance to imagine what it would be like to pursue that notion without actually doing so. The problem with fantasies is that they can easily become entangled with a person’s emotions. This creates a desire, which brings the believer to the point where a choice must be made: he or she must either consent to the sin or refuse. This process is quite dangerous, as the progression from thought to choice can be almost instantaneous.

Wise believers determine ahead of time to resist temptation—before it enters their consciousness. There are two cornerstones to a good defense: the commitment to obey God, and the recognition that He is in control and has limited what Satan can do (1 Cor. 10:13).

We can further fortify our defense when temptation actually comes. Satan has a way of spotlighting the pleasure of sin until that’s all we see. But with conscious effort, we can retrain our focus to take in the bigger picture: Is this choice a violation of God’s Word? What are the consequences? Am I prepared to pay that price?

No defense against temptation is complete without Scripture and prayer. Every moment spent meditating on the Word and communicating with God builds our faith. As the bulwark around our mind and heart strengthens, we are ever more prepared to douse Satan’s flaming arrows.