"Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies." Psalms 141:4 NIV
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Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Listen, Listening
"The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." Luke 10:16 NASB
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Friday, January 29, 2016
Faith
Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. Matthew 9:22 NIV
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Thursday, January 28, 2016
Beatitudes
“God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them." Matthew 5:3 NLT
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Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Gossip
"A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends." Proverbs 16:28 NIV
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Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Justice
"To reject the law is to praise the wicked; to obey the law is to fight them." Proverbs 28:4 NLT
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Monday, January 25, 2016
Courage
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV
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Sunday, January 24, 2016
Jesus
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:1-2 NIV
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1 John 2:1-2 NIV
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Saturday, January 23, 2016
Guidance
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."Psalms 32:8 NIV
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Friday, January 22, 2016
Employer/Employee
"If your boss is angry with you, don't quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes." Ecclesiastes 10:4 NLT
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Thursday, January 21, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Brotherly Love
“And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” 1 John 4:21 NIV
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Saturday, January 16, 2016
Honesty
“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9 NIV
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Friday, January 15, 2016
Love
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” 1 John 4:20 NIV
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Thursday, January 14, 2016
Discipleship
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Mark 8:34-35 NIV
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Seeking God
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
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Tuesday, January 12, 2016
4 Ways to Cling to the Lord
January 06, 2016 by: Crossway
This post by Sam Storms is adapted from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible.
How To Maintain Your Devotion to God
The temptation to forget God is always present. But there is a way to maintain one's devotion to the Lord. Joshua's counsel in Joshua 23:6-11 is especially helpful and can be summarized using four As.
1. Give attention to God's Word (v. 6)
God never blesses disobedience. A mind filled with Scripture can critically evaluate secular society and can see through the empty values of the modern world and resist assimilation.
An unmistakable sign of impending abandonment of God is a diminishing respect for the authority of his Word. A disregard for biblical inspiration is always the first step toward spiritual rebellion. Joshua is talking about "keeping" and "doing" God's Word, not simply giving tacit consent to its claims. We must be "strong" to keep it and do it and not deviate from it either to the right or to the left.
2. Avoid pagan influence (v. 7)
Note the relationship between verses 6 and 7. The way one avoids being shaped after the image of pagan society is precisely by keeping and doing God's Word. There will always be a temptation to think the world has it better than we do (see Ex. 23:13). But if you have Scripture on your lips and the praise of God's name in your mouth, you won't have room or time for even so much as acknowledging anything else.
3. Attach yourself to God (v. 8)
The word "cling" in this verse is translated "hold fast" or "cleave" in Genesis 2:24, where God says a man should leave his father and mother and "cleave" to his wife (compare its use in Deut. 10:20-21; 11:22; and 13:4).
Envision the intimate embrace of a husband and wife, or a young child holding fast to his father's hand. To "cling" to God is to stay so close to him that no sin can get between you and him. To "cling" to God is to strategically plan for time alone with him for prayer and praise and the study of his Word. To "cling" to God is to trust in his promises, to seek his favor, to care only for his approval and not for that of men, to invest time in his service, and to always keep his praise on your lips (Ps. 63:7-8).
4. Cultivate a deep affection for God in every way (vv. 9-11)
"Be very careful . . . to love the LORD your God" (v. 11). The emphasis is on a relationship of intimacy: "I am yours and you are mine!" God is not just God. He is "your" and "my" God because of his desire to give himself to us in covenant loyalty. His passion for us is undying.
Although the enemies we face today are not those that Joshua and the people of Israel encountered, the strategy for confronting them remains much the same:
* Be attentive to God's Word.
* Avoid pagan influence.
* Attach yourself to God.
* Cultivate a deep affection for him.
Sam Storms (PhD, University of Texas at Dallas) has spent more than four decades in ministry as a pastor, professor, and the author of more than two-dozen books. He was visiting associate professor of theology at Wheaton College from 2000 to 2004, and is currently senior pastor at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is the founder of Enjoying God Ministries, the editor of the ESV Men's Devotional Bible, and the author of numerous books, including Chosen for Life, Tough Topics, Kept for Jesus, and Packer on the Christian Life.
- Posted from the road
This post by Sam Storms is adapted from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible.
How To Maintain Your Devotion to God
The temptation to forget God is always present. But there is a way to maintain one's devotion to the Lord. Joshua's counsel in Joshua 23:6-11 is especially helpful and can be summarized using four As.
1. Give attention to God's Word (v. 6)
God never blesses disobedience. A mind filled with Scripture can critically evaluate secular society and can see through the empty values of the modern world and resist assimilation.
An unmistakable sign of impending abandonment of God is a diminishing respect for the authority of his Word. A disregard for biblical inspiration is always the first step toward spiritual rebellion. Joshua is talking about "keeping" and "doing" God's Word, not simply giving tacit consent to its claims. We must be "strong" to keep it and do it and not deviate from it either to the right or to the left.
2. Avoid pagan influence (v. 7)
Note the relationship between verses 6 and 7. The way one avoids being shaped after the image of pagan society is precisely by keeping and doing God's Word. There will always be a temptation to think the world has it better than we do (see Ex. 23:13). But if you have Scripture on your lips and the praise of God's name in your mouth, you won't have room or time for even so much as acknowledging anything else.
3. Attach yourself to God (v. 8)
The word "cling" in this verse is translated "hold fast" or "cleave" in Genesis 2:24, where God says a man should leave his father and mother and "cleave" to his wife (compare its use in Deut. 10:20-21; 11:22; and 13:4).
Envision the intimate embrace of a husband and wife, or a young child holding fast to his father's hand. To "cling" to God is to stay so close to him that no sin can get between you and him. To "cling" to God is to strategically plan for time alone with him for prayer and praise and the study of his Word. To "cling" to God is to trust in his promises, to seek his favor, to care only for his approval and not for that of men, to invest time in his service, and to always keep his praise on your lips (Ps. 63:7-8).
4. Cultivate a deep affection for God in every way (vv. 9-11)
"Be very careful . . . to love the LORD your God" (v. 11). The emphasis is on a relationship of intimacy: "I am yours and you are mine!" God is not just God. He is "your" and "my" God because of his desire to give himself to us in covenant loyalty. His passion for us is undying.
Although the enemies we face today are not those that Joshua and the people of Israel encountered, the strategy for confronting them remains much the same:
* Be attentive to God's Word.
* Avoid pagan influence.
* Attach yourself to God.
* Cultivate a deep affection for him.
Sam Storms (PhD, University of Texas at Dallas) has spent more than four decades in ministry as a pastor, professor, and the author of more than two-dozen books. He was visiting associate professor of theology at Wheaton College from 2000 to 2004, and is currently senior pastor at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is the founder of Enjoying God Ministries, the editor of the ESV Men's Devotional Bible, and the author of numerous books, including Chosen for Life, Tough Topics, Kept for Jesus, and Packer on the Christian Life.
- Posted from the road
Don't Be a Rich Fool
December 30, 2015by: Crossway This post by Jared C. Wilson is adapted from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible.
Rich Toward God
Jesus once said that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not impossible (for all things are possible with God), but difficult. Why?
I think we see the answer in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. In this parable we find an example of a man so caught up in the pursuit of stuff that he has forgotten what really matters. He's taken good things—wise investment, providing for his family, providing employment for others, good stewardship in general—and made them ultimate things. The pursuit of more, bigger, better has effectively become his god.
In fact, we see that his very security and his very happiness are tied up in what he can attain and what he can build to hold what he has attained. He is storing up goodies for himself, but he's not rich toward God.
The warning is clear: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" (Luke 12:20). As Jesus asks elsewhere, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36).
Earth-Rich, God-Poor
We must not become earth-rich and God-poor. When the day of accounting comes, when the kingdom's currency is requested for entrance into paradise, all the wealthy, fun-loving, permanent-vacation-taking souls will come up totally empty-handed.
Now, some may read this parable of the foolish rich man and think to themselves, "Ah, he should have cared more for others. If he had given more money away, he'd have the treasure of having done good." And it is imperative that we do good to others, but that kind of giving is a poverty all its own. When we reach the gates of Paradise and are asked for the currency of the kingdom to prove our right to enter, we best not try to hand in our own righteousness. The Bible says, "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isa. 64:6).
No, when the opportunity comes to present our justification for entry into everlasting rest, we need only present an empty hand, saying, "I have nothing of my own to offer. But I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ that I have received through faith, which makes me totally vested in his unsearchable riches. My Savior, in the great grace of God, has purchased my entrance for me."
Or in the words of the beloved hymn, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling." That is how to be rich toward God.
Jared C. Wilson is the director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and managing editor of the seminary's website for gospel-centered resources, For the Church. He is a popular author and conference speaker, and also blogs regularly at Gospel Driven Church hosted by the Gospel Coalition. His books include Gospel Wakefulness, Gospel Deeps, The Pastor’s Justification, The Storytelling God, The Wonder-Working God, The Prodigal Church, and The Story of Everything.
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Rich Toward God
Jesus once said that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not impossible (for all things are possible with God), but difficult. Why?
I think we see the answer in the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. In this parable we find an example of a man so caught up in the pursuit of stuff that he has forgotten what really matters. He's taken good things—wise investment, providing for his family, providing employment for others, good stewardship in general—and made them ultimate things. The pursuit of more, bigger, better has effectively become his god.
In fact, we see that his very security and his very happiness are tied up in what he can attain and what he can build to hold what he has attained. He is storing up goodies for himself, but he's not rich toward God.
The warning is clear: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" (Luke 12:20). As Jesus asks elsewhere, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36).
Earth-Rich, God-Poor
We must not become earth-rich and God-poor. When the day of accounting comes, when the kingdom's currency is requested for entrance into paradise, all the wealthy, fun-loving, permanent-vacation-taking souls will come up totally empty-handed.
Now, some may read this parable of the foolish rich man and think to themselves, "Ah, he should have cared more for others. If he had given more money away, he'd have the treasure of having done good." And it is imperative that we do good to others, but that kind of giving is a poverty all its own. When we reach the gates of Paradise and are asked for the currency of the kingdom to prove our right to enter, we best not try to hand in our own righteousness. The Bible says, "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isa. 64:6).
No, when the opportunity comes to present our justification for entry into everlasting rest, we need only present an empty hand, saying, "I have nothing of my own to offer. But I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ that I have received through faith, which makes me totally vested in his unsearchable riches. My Savior, in the great grace of God, has purchased my entrance for me."
Or in the words of the beloved hymn, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling." That is how to be rich toward God.
Jared C. Wilson is the director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and managing editor of the seminary's website for gospel-centered resources, For the Church. He is a popular author and conference speaker, and also blogs regularly at Gospel Driven Church hosted by the Gospel Coalition. His books include Gospel Wakefulness, Gospel Deeps, The Pastor’s Justification, The Storytelling God, The Wonder-Working God, The Prodigal Church, and The Story of Everything.
- Posted from the road
Love
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10 NIV
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ON THINGS ABOVE
I’ve heard it said, “You’re so heavenly caught up that you’re of no earthly good.” This falsehood is intended to stop you from following Christ wholeheartedly. Think about it, that comment blatantly states that because you’ve set your heart and mind on heaven that you're of no use on earth.
God sees it differently. Scripture says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:1-17 NIV
So go ahead and be heavenly caught up, that’s what God wants.
INDIVIDUAL CHOICE
We must commit our lives to God everyday. We cannot lean on yesterday’s victories. Jesus is the way. We have to make this choice ourselves. Joshua said, “ Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all your faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15 NIV
We cannot make that choice for anyone no matter how badly we want to. Our job is to share the Good News about Jesus with others and let them make their choice. God is the one who makes things grow. (1Corinthians 3:6-7 NIV)
IN THE SHADOW OF THE LORD
Living in the shadow of the Lord is where our destiny resides. Making God our refuge, fortress, and our trust is the only way for us to live. There are many obstacles and dangers on this journey of life and God will see us safely through and will do so because of his great promises and good pleasure. Our job is to be obedient, trust Him, seek His counsel, honor, worship, praise Him; and believe in and listen to Jesus, our Shepherd and Savior. Oh Lord, strengthen our faith, increase our love and make us steadfast. For You are more than worthy to be praised! Thank you for keeping us safe. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
Psalm 91
Monday, January 11, 2016
Guidance
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night…” Joshua 1:8 NLT
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Saturday, January 09, 2016
Victory
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 NIV
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Thursday, January 07, 2016
Kindness
"Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel." Proverbs 11:17 NLT
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Wednesday, January 06, 2016
Finding Jesus
Finding Jesus may mean that your life must take a different direction, one that is responsive and obedient to God's Word. Are you willing to be led a different way?
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Honesty
“Doing what is right protects the honest person, but doing evil ruins the sinner.”
Proverbs 13:6 NCV
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Proverbs 13:6 NCV
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Tuesday, January 05, 2016
Faithless
“The Lord says: “These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is based on nothing but human rules.” Isaiah 29:13 NCV
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- Posted from the road
Monday, January 04, 2016
Sunday, January 03, 2016
With Endurance
...and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT
We all get frustrated and lose our drive for perseverance which ultimately affects our race. How is it that we lose our endurance? It's when we take our eyes off of Christ and start focusing on our own circumstances that we begin to slow down. When it comes to running, the key to keeping up endurance is pacing yourself. Let's pace ourselves with Christ.
*Daily Bible Devotional
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We all get frustrated and lose our drive for perseverance which ultimately affects our race. How is it that we lose our endurance? It's when we take our eyes off of Christ and start focusing on our own circumstances that we begin to slow down. When it comes to running, the key to keeping up endurance is pacing yourself. Let's pace ourselves with Christ.
*Daily Bible Devotional
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Friday, January 01, 2016
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