SpurgeonEvening: "O Lord, enable me this evening thus to return to Jesus."
BLESSED be the Lord for another day of mercy, even though I am now weary with its toils. Unto the preserver of men lift I my song of gratitude. The dove found no rest out of the ark, and therefore returned to it; and my soul has learned yet more fully than ever, this day, that there is no satisfaction to be found in earthly things—God alone can give rest to my spirit. As to my business, my possessions, my family, my attainments, these are all well enough in their way, but they cannot fulfil the desires of my immortal nature. "Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." It was at the still hour, when the gates of the day were closing, that with weary wing the dove came back to the master: O Lord, enable me this evening thus to return to Jesus. She could not endure to spend a night hovering over the restless waste, not can I bear to be even for another hour away from Jesus, the rest of my heart, the home of my spirit. She did not merely alight upon the roof of the ark, she "came in to him;" even so would my longing spirit look into the secret of the Lord, pierce to the interior of truth, enter into that which is within the veil, and reach to my Beloved in very deed. To Jesus must I come: short of the nearest and dearest intercourse with Him my panting spirit cannot stay. Blessed Lord Jesus, be with me, reveal Thyself, and abide with me all night, so that when I awake I may be still with thee. I note that the dove brought in her mouth an olive branch plucked off, the memorial of the past day, and a prophecy of the future. Have I no pleasing record to bring home? No pledge and earnest of lovingkindness yet to come? Yes, my Lord, I present Thee my grateful acknowledgments for tender mercies which have been new every morning and fresh every evening; and now, I pray Thee, put forth Thy hand and take Thy dove into Thy bosom.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
This Evening's Meditation
C. H. Spurgeon
"The dove came in to him in the evening."—Genesis 8:11.
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MikeMacIntosh: "We can never let our guard down from the enemy."
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. We can never let our guard down from the enemy. God's kids--again--were doing evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord, and this happened after experiencing 40 years of rest from the enemy (3:11)! So for 40 years they've been at peace, but a nation "doing evil in the sight of the Lord" didn't just happen overnight. They allowed themselves to be slowly lulled to sleep by the enemy, culminating after 40 years of willful sinful behavior. Let this be a lesson to us, to our families and kids, and to our churches across the nation. Charles Spurgeon said, "God never allows His people to sin successfully. Their sin will either destroy them or it will move the chastisement and chastening of God upon their lives." I was talking to somebody recently who told me that a friend of his in the Christian music scene had been arrested for being with a prostitute. Another guy was telling me that one of the leaders in their church was just in a fight and got in trouble for being drunk in a bar. You know, the Body of Christ gets messed up in many ways because we don't walk in God's Spirit. And if you're not walking by faith, you're not reading your Bible, or you're not studying, the tendency will be there for you to get into things you shouldn't. "They did evil in the sight of the Lord" will haunt you the rest of your life if you don't crucify those evil desires and thoughts. When you slowly forget--and don't keep in the forefront of your mind--the reasons why Jesus hung on the cross, you will not hesitate to cross any boundary, no matter the consequence. But when you remember that He hung on the cross for you, it's kind of difficult to commit those very sins that crucified Him.
Today's Devotion
From Mike MacIntosh
Judges 3:12-13
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ExperienceGodDayByDay: "Prepare to Meet Your God!"
Daily Devotional for Saturday, January 29th, 2011 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." Meeting with God requires preparation. God is awesome and perfectly holy. Barging into His presence unprepared is an affront. When the children of Israel were to meet with Him, God commanded them first to take two full days to prepare. Once the people were ready, however, God spoke to them with thunder and lightning, with fire and smoke and the sound of loud trumpets (Exod. 19:16?25). It was through this encounter that God revealed such marvelous truths as the Ten Commandments, establishing the standard by which God expected His people to live. You cannot spend day after day in the world without its affecting your mind and will and heart. It doesn't take long to become disoriented to the ways of God. The world has a dulling effect on your spiritual sensibilities. God established the Sabbath so His people could take an entire day to refocus on Him and His will for them after spending six days in the world. How do you prepare for your times of worship? What fills your mind the night before? Often the last thing you put into your mind at night is still on your mind the next morning. Genuine worship requires spiritual preparation. Your experiences of worship reflect your spiritual preparation. Prepare yourself now for your next encounter with God.
Prepare to Meet Your God!
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DailyBread: "Six Words From Solomon"
SMITH magazine, an online community that “celebrates the joy of storytelling,” invited readers to submit six-word memoirs that describe their lives. Thousands responded with brief biographies ranging from the light-hearted “Sweet wife, good sons—I’m rich” to the painful “Sixty. Still haven’t forgiven my parents.” Based on Scripture, I tried to imagine how King Solomon might have summed up his life in six words. As a young man, he could have written: God has given me great wisdom. But in his later years, he might have said: Should have practiced what I preached. During a reign distinguished by peace and prosperity, Solomon developed spiritual heart problems. When he was old, “his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to theLord his God, as was the heart of his father David” (1 Kings 11:4). The result was God’s displeasure and a sad end to a previously exemplary life (v.9). The multiple times Solomon used the word vanity (or meaningless) in Ecclesiastes may indicate his disillusionment about life. This once-wise king who had it all, lost it all, and pondered it all, ended the book with this final conclusion: “Fear God and keep His commandments” (12:13). Those are six words worth heeding. The pleasures of this sinful world Obedience to God is the key to a life of blessing.
Six Words From Solomon
Exodus 21-22; Matthew 19
Are meaningless and vain;
But if we love and follow God
True purpose we will gain. —Sper
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RayStedman: "A Heart Wide Open"
A Heart Wide Open Perhaps one of the priests told Mark about the veil. But for sheer drama there is nothing like this in all of recorded history. This cry in the darkness of the cross, the dismissing of the spirit of Jesus, and the rending of the veil in the temple—Mark brings them all together in order that we might understand what these events mean. As Jesus' cry rang out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? there must have been many in the crowd who recognized that it was the opening words of Psalm 22. If you want to get the background and atmosphere of the cross, read that psalm through. There is no adequate explanation for the question that Jesus asked except that which Scripture itself gives, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then there comes the loud cry of dismissal and the rending of the veil. Why did the veil split in two? It was God's dramatic way of saying for all time and for all people that the way into His heart is wide open. God is not planning revenge. All those who gathered around the cross in hatred and malice against Jesus—every one of them is welcome to come back. That is what the rent veil means. The penalty has been paid for the hateful, the cruel, the ignorant, the selfish, the empty-headed thrill seekers. The way is wide open, and God is waiting to restore the hopeless, the helpless, and the fearful. When I was just a young Christian, in my early twenties, I read a message by D. L. Moody that I have never forgotten. It was the great evangelist's imaginative description of what happened after Jesus rose from the dead. Moody says He gathered His disciples in Jerusalem and said to them, Men, I want you to go and find the priests who mocked me, who hurled in my teeth the taunt, 'He saved others, himself he could not save.' Explain to them that if I had saved myself; they would have been doomed men. But tell them there is a way wide open. The book of Acts says that as Peter and the other disciples preached in Jerusalem a large number of priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7). Moody said that Jesus said to the disciples, Go find the soldiers who cast lots for my garments, for my seamless robe, and tell them that there is a far greater treasure awaiting them if they will come to me. They shall have not a seamless robe, but a spotless heart. All their guilt can be washed away; all their callous cruelty can be forgiven if they come. Find the centurion who thrust his spear into my side and tell him there is a closer way to my heart if he will come, just as a sinner needing forgiveness. In this beautiful scene of the rending of the veil at the moment of the death of Jesus, God is saying that the way to Him is open to us, despite the wrong attitudes we so frequently have had toward Him.
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MyUtmostForHisHighest: "There is no escape when our Lord speaks"
“The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . .” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances. God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do”-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13 . Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . .” (Psalm 40:8).
How Could Someone Be So Ignorant!
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GregLauire: "It was never God's intention to send a person to hell. He does everything He can to keep us out of it."
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Hell was not made for people; hell was created for the devil and his angels (see Matthew 25:41). It was never God's intention to send a person to hell. He does everything He can to keep us out of it. But God has given us a free will. We have the ability to choose, and God will not violate that. If you want to go to heaven, then you will—if you put your faith in Christ. If you want to go to hell, then you will. It is your choice. People will protest on that final day and say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" (Matthew 7:22). And Jesus will sadly but firmly say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (verse 23). Some people might say, "Wait! I went to church on Sunday!" And, "Wait! I received communion!" And, "Wait! I was baptized." But Jesus will say, in effect, "But I never knew you. It was just a thing you did. We never had a relationship. You broke My commandments left and right. It's your own choice that you are facing." It is not enough to say you believe in God. It is not enough to acknowledge that God exists. You need to turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, as Savior and Lord. As Timothy Keller said, "Hell is simply one's freely chosen path going on forever." If that is what you want, then that is what you will get. God wants you to go to heaven, but He will not force you. He gives you a choice, and it is up to you what you do with that choice.Devotionals by A New Beginning
—Deuteronomy 30:19
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AlistairBegg: "The great test of your soul's health is, What do you think about Christ?"
The great test of your soul's health is, What do you think about Christ? Is He the best of friends—"distinguished among ten thousand"1—your all in all? When Christ is held in such esteem, all the faculties of the spiritual man are energized. I can gauge your piety by this standard: Does Christ take a high or low position with you? If you have thought little of Christ, if you have been content to live without His presence, if you have cared only slightly for His honor, if you have neglected His laws, then I know that your soul is sick—God grant that it may not be a sickness leading to death! But if the first thought of your spirit has been, How can I honor Jesus?—if the daily desire of your soul has been, "O that I knew where I might find him!"2 I tell you that you may face a thousand infirmities, and even hardly know whether you are a child of God at all, and yet I am persuaded beyond a doubt that you are safe, since Jesus is great in your esteem. I'm not concerned about your rags—what do you think of His royal apparel? I'm not concerned about your wounds, though they bleed profusely—what do you think of His wounds? Are they like glittering rubies in your esteem? I think none the less of you, though you lie like Lazarus on the refuse pile, and the dogs lick you—I do not judge you by your poverty: What do you think of the King in His beauty? Does He sit enthroned in your heart? Would you set Him higher if you could? Would you be willing to die if you could add another trumpet to the melody that proclaims His praise? Then it is well with you. Whatever you may think of yourself, if Christ is great to you, you will be with Him in the end. Though all the world my choice deride, Family Bible reading plan verse 1 Malachi 2 verse 2 John 19 
Yet Jesus shall my portion be;
For I am pleased with none beside,
The fairest of the fair is He.
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JonCourson: "God has exacting boundaries for you."
 |
| January 29 | ||
| And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them. | ||
| Joshua 14:1 | ||
| With Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh remaining on the east side of the Jordan, the rest of the nine and a half tribes claimed their territory on the west side, in the Promised Land. Each tribe was given a certain region, described in chapters 13 through 21. These descriptions might seem tedious to us, but they were important and wonderful to the Israelites. Why? Because the descriptions were of their own inheritance. So too, God has a wonderful plan for you. It might be boring to others, but for you, it’s of utmost importance to know what territory God has given to you, where your place is in the Body of Christ, what God wants you to do. If your heart desires to know His will, be sure He will give the parameters to you. As time goes on, what you’re to do will become clear to you. “I am careful that I do not stretch myself beyond measure,” Paul wisely declared (see 2 Corinthians 10:14-16). In other words, “I realize what God has called me to do and I want to take it all. But I’m not going to stretch myself beyond what He’s called me to do and to be.” God has exacting boundaries for you. And it’s our privilege and responsibility to explore, to pursue, to pray, to seek the Lord, to study, to wait on Him and say, “Lord, what territory have You mapped out as mine? Help me to stick to it and be faithful in it that I might take all the territory You have for me.” | ||
SpurgeonMorning: "Onward is the goal."
IN our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer's enlightened eye can see death's river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him on His throne, even as He has overcome and has sat down with the Father on His throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short—eternity, how long! Death, how brief—immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol's clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
This Morning's Meditation
C. H. Spurgeon
"The things which are not seen."—2 Corinthians 4:18.
With its heaviest storm of care,
My glad thoughts to heaven ascending,
Find a refuge from despair.
Faith's bright vision shall sustain me
Till life's pilgrimage is past;
Fears may vex and troubles pain me,
I shall reach my home at last."
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CharlesStanley: "The Church"
The church is that group of people called to stand apart from the world because of their relationship with Jesus Christ. All believers in heaven and on earth make up one body—the universal church. There are many denominations and approaches to theology, but the local fellowships that comprise the body of Christ are united by a common message, mission, and motive. Message. The three-part message of the church is simple. 1) Man is sinful and can alleviate neither the guilt nor the penalty of sin. 2) Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay our debt, was buried, rose again, and ascended to heaven to sit at the Father's right hand. 3) One day everyone will stand before God and give account for his life. Believers will take responsibility for what they did with the truth they knew, but unbelievers will answer for every day they lived in rejection of Jesus Christ. Mission . Matthew 28:19 sums up what should be the personal quest of every member of the living church: to spread the gospel to the whole world and teach new believers how to grow in faith. We witness and make disciples by sharing the experiences we've had with God and His Word. Motive. The church's motive is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and to glorify God the Father. Devotionals by In Touch
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Proverbs31Devotion: "For the Kingdom of God is ... living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Devotion: Sure it's a life of goodness as well, that's practically a no-brainer. Ask anyone what religion or Christianity specifically is about, and you're likely to hear, "Being good." But being good is not the sum total of it. In fact, simply being good—doing what is morally right—absent of a peaceful trust in God and a joyful appreciation of Him can become legalism. And few things upset Jesus more than the legalism of the religious leaders of His day. Legalism is living a life of rules with little room for the very thing Jesus affords us: grace. It's characterized by self-striving. In my book, "It's No Secret," I share how easily I can overlook the fact that no matter what rules we happen to keep - or fail to keep - God provides His people with grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace and joy. Some may say that if I am experiencing more peace and joy it's because I'm being increasingly good. That it's because I'm being obedient and doing all the right things—praying more, trusting God more, walking in a manner worthy of my calling, and so forth. Well, yes. And, no. I've come to realize that I have no real right to extra peace or happiness just because I pause to talk with God. I have no entitlement to contentment or joy just because I submit to His commands. I pray and obey simply because God is God, and I am not. He is the creator of my life. He holds the patent. And I'm created for His pleasure. Yet in His gracious, extravagant kindness, He has made it so that when I pray rather than worry, I experience peace. When I gratefully accept what He has given me, and do not wish and whine for more, I find contentment. When I give away what I have, so often I get joy in return. And when I look steadily on Him all these blessings come into view. Hannah Whitall Smith writes: "This blessed life must not be looked upon in any sense as an attainment but as an obtainment. We cannot earn it; we cannot climb up to it; we cannot win it; we can do nothing but ask for it and receive it. It is the gift of God in Christ Jesus. And where a thing is a gift, the only course left for the receiver is to take it and thank the giver." Simply because He is good, peace, contentment and joy are available to us regardless of our position, possessions, performance or circumstances. It's His loving kindness and the empowerment of His Spirit that makes living in the kingdom of God a life of goodness, peace and joy. And that, my Yahweh Sister, is a blessed life -a gift. It's what life in the Kingdom looks like. Let's share that gift by introducing others to its Source. Dear Lord, thank You for the grace afforded me. I so desperately need it, and I so deeply appreciate it. Please blanket me in the blessing of Your presence and guide me in Your will. Let me walk in goodness, peace and joy today, in Jesus' Name, Amen. Pause and thank the Giver! Allow your God-given blessings to come into view. Reflections: What can I do to set my mind on peace and joy today? Power Verses: Isaiah 55:12, "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." (NIV) Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (NIV)Devotionals by Proverbs 31 Ministries
With each passing year I grow ever more convinced that the life of faith is a life characterized by peace and joy.
Would those who know me best use the words "goodness," "peace," or "joy" to describe my life?
Luke 17:20-21, "Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst.'" (NIV)
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BobCoy: "What Did Jesus Do?"
We've been given sufficient evidence as to why this is how we ought to live. But lest there be any remaining doubt, lest there be the faintest whisper of objection in our hearts, or even a drop of fight in us, Paul points us to the one example that should settle the issue once and for all: For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me." (Romans 15:3 NKJV) If Jesus, the exalted Son of God who is over all things, didn't live to please Himself but sacrificially spent His life for others, then who are we to think we shouldn't have to? The master is greater than the servant, and if we see our Master bent on blessing and being there for others, where does that leave us? You see, there's something tragically and terribly inconsistent with a Christian who not only doesn't act like Christ, but who actually acts the opposite of Him. And that is what's happening when we live to please ourselves at the expense of others. It ought to be the other way around. The Lord never calls us to do something He hasn't already done. And the call to present our bodies as a living sacrifice is no exception. He did it for us. Now we do it for Him by doing it for others as His Spirit works within us. Think about it… What does this passage reveal to me about God? Devotionals by Active Word
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
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J.Vernon McGee (Audio): Thru the Bible "Matthew One"
DailyLeadership: Do you have a “servant-leadership” mindset? (159-5)
Do you have a “servant-leadership” mindset? (159-5)
Godly leaders do not use their power for personal gain at the expense of those being led. Read Jeremiah 5:26-31.
More often than not, leadership skills are used for personal gain and career advancement rather than in service to others. Jeremiah addresses this issue and indicates God’s anger toward the leaders in Judah that had “grown fat and sleek” by using deceit and whose evil deeds seemed to have no limit. They had perverted the legal system and the powerless were stripped of what little they had. God had very strong words for these leaders when He said, “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this.” Good words for today’s leaders whether they lead in a family or lead our nation would be, “Woe to the leader who uses power for personal gain at the expense of those being led.”
At some point in the future every knee will bow at the name of Jesus who left heaven and came to earth in the form of a servant leader. Leaders who think Jesus’ standard for evaluating their use of the gifts He gave them is different than the standard He established while He was on earth should re-think their position. A Biblical view of servant leadership makes evident that the service we render to others is really a measure of the service we render to God.
Wise Christian leaders understand Christ Himself is the model of the servant leadership mindset, and He commands His followers to imitate His service. In John 13:1-17 when Christ washed the feet of His disciples He was giving them a visual parable of the use of power in God’s kingdom. When He returned to the table Jesus explained what He had just done by saying, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:15-17).
In Matthew 10:39 Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” How do you relate this truth to the issue of servant leadership? The manner in which a leader uses their power will indicate the quality of their leadership in His final evaluation of their stewardship.
Matthew 25:40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
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A.W.Tozer: GIVE GOD THE CONTROL
I know that I am being repetitious - but this needs to be said again and again: our Lord will not save those whom He cannot command! The lifetime God has given us down here is a lifetime of decisions. Each person makes his own decisions as to the eternal world he is going to inhabit. We must decide to take Jesus for what He is - the anointed Savior and Lord who is King of kings and Lord of all lords! He would not be who He is if He saved us and called us without the understanding that He can also guide us and control our lives. The root of sin is rebellion against God, and hell is the Alcatraz for the unconstituted rebels who refuse to surrender to the will of God. There are many arguments about the reality of hell. A man might endure fire and brimstone and worm - but the essence of hell and judgment for a moral creature is to know and be conscious that he is where he is because he is a rebel! Hell will be the eternal domain of all the disobedient rebels who have said, "I owe God nothing!"
GIVE GOD THE CONTROL
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