CLASSIC DEVOTIONALS: "Images: God's and Ours" -A.W.Tozer

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Images: God's and Ours


God made mankind in His own image. He "set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). What a graphic picture! How much it explains ourselves to us! We are creatures of time—time in our hands, our feet, our bodies—that causes us to grow old and to die. Yet all the while we have eternity in our hearts!

One of our great woes as fallen people living in a fallen world is the constant warfare between the eternity in our hearts and the time in our bodies. This is why we can never be satisfied without God. This is why the question "What is God like?" continues to spring from every one of us. God has set the values of eternity in the hearts of every person made in His image.

As human beings, we have ever tried to satisfy ourselves by maintaining a quest, a search. We have not forgotten that God was. We have only forgotten what God is like.

Philosophy has tried to give us answers. But the philosophical concepts concerning God have always been contradictory.The philosopher is like a blind person trying to paint someone’s portrait. The blind person can feel the face of his subject and try to put some brush strokes on canvas. But the project is doomed before it is begun. 
The best that philosophy can do is to feel the face of the universe in some ways, then try to paint God as philosophy sees Him.
Most philosophers confess belief in a “presence” somewhere in the universe. Some call it a "law"—or "energy" or "mind" or "essential virtue." Thomas Edison said if he lived long enough, he thought he could invent an instrument so sensitive that it could find God. Edison was an acknowledged inventor. He had a great mind and he may have been a philosopher. But Edison knew no more about God or what God is like than the boy or girl who delivers the morning newspaper.

Verse

Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness . . .' Genesis 1:26

Thought

God created us in His own image. That image has been marred and distorted by sin but not destroyed. What a tragedy that we are inclined to think of Him as if we had formed Him in our image.

Prayer

May today my understanding of You grow. You are GOD! And I am Your child, Your sheep, Your serva

CLASSIC DEVOTIONALS: "The Key To The Master’s Orders" -My Utmost for His Highest

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The Key To The Master’s Orders

10
16
2013
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest. — Matthew 9:38


The key to the missionary problem is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer not work, that is, not work as the word is popularly understood to-day because that may mean the evasion of concentration on God. 

The key to the missionary problem is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. The key is prayer. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest." Naturally, prayer is not practical, it is absurd; we have to realize that prayer is stupid from the ordinary common-sense point of view.

There are no nations in Jesus Christ’s outlook, but the world. How many of us pray with out respect of persons, and with respect to only one Person, Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced by distress and conviction of sin, and this is the harvest we have to pray that labourers may be thrust out to reap. 

We are taken up with active work while people all round are ripe to harvest, and we do not reap one of them, but waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities. Suppose the crisis comes in your father’s life, in your brother’s life, are you there as a labourer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? 

"Oh, but I have a special work to do!" No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, one who is not above his Master, one who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest," and He will engineer circumstances and thrust you out.
Bible in One Year: Isaiah 47-49; 1 Thessalonians 4

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "FACTS" -WordDevo

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FACTS
People aren't stupid

Generally speaking you ask someone if they knew they were being lied to
and after some minor embarrassment.......they will say yes

.......BUT THEY WERE HOPING IT WAS TRUE

People want the Truth
People want to believe in something they can say without a doubt

IT'S TRUE

Jesus did that.
We are told he spoke with authority but really he just spoke bluntly
He addressed the Fact of the Matter

PEOPLE NEED HOPE
people hope in a lot of thinks

We don't have to make anything up
Add to or subtract from anything we do

WE JUST HAVE TO BE TRUTH

Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth, the Life

I can admit easily when I am false as I can when i am true
because I have a guide for all facts concerning me, man and Truth.

IT IS THE WORD OF GOD
and it is always True.

SO I CHOOSE TO USE THE WORD OF GOD IN MY LIFE
that then makes me

"in the Truth"
In the Way
In the Life

in
Jesus


DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Stand before God for the people" -Mike MacIntosh

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Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do."
Exodus 18:19b-20


My father-in-law was a man for whom I held deep respect. He walked with God, and always demonstrated such great wisdom. Just before he passed away, he told me something that I've never forgotten: "Mike, don't wear yourself out." 

It sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But he knew my workload at the time, and that I was taking on a lot, especially as we were starting a new church ministry here in San Diego. His words were not a recommendation that I take a vacation, but an encouragement for me, as a leader, to share the burden of leadership -- to delegate. He knew that a good leader doesn't hoard control -- he empowers others with it.

Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, gave Moses similar advice. Moses was spending every hour of every day addressing the Israelites' quarrels, questions, and concerns that inevitably arose as they journeyed through the wilderness.

 And with 1-2 million people on the journey, it was no small task. Something had to change, or Moses would not only wear himself out -- he would cripple the people he was leading. So Jethro told Moses to delegate -- to find "able men, such as fear God," and place them as rulers over the people (Exodus 18:21). Moses, then, would only be concerned with the issues too big for the rulers to handle. This way, the rulers would "bear the burden" with Moses (Exodus 18:22).

You see, when Moses delegated power, not only did it ease his burden; it empowered the people. As he became free to "show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do" (Exodus 18:20); the people became empowered by his guidance. Instead of receiving only analyses and verdicts, they received purpose.

What makes a good leader? Volumes have been written on the topic. But a good leader is not so concerned with being recognized by the people he leads as he is with empowering them. Often, as leaders, we fail to delegate power because we fear losing control. We fear the very empowerment of others that will make us effective leaders! But if we fail to empower, we fail to lead.

Today, as followers of Jesus Christ, we have purpose because He has empowered us. He does not hoard control over us like a dictator -- He gives us free will to serve Him and walk with Him. And He didn't have to. 

Do you realize that the very people to whom Moses delegated power would become the Sanhedrin -- the court body that would, centuries later, deliver Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be crucified? No doubt, God knew from the beginning that by empowering His people, they would make mistakes -- even the ultimate mistake of rejecting Him. But His love is so great for us, that He was willing to pay the ultimate price. He was willing to give us free will, even if it meant He must die to fix our mistakes. That's true leadership.

May we become people who lead others to the God who has forgiven and empowered us, that they, too, would be forgiven and empowered!

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "the state of our nation" -Kay Arthur

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Are you concerned about the state of our nation?

It is not enough to complain about the decisions of those God has placed in authority over us! The Bible tells us to pray for all in authority,

How do we do that exactly? Why not pray scripture?!
Here is sample prayer for you to try this evening!.


DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Orange Seeds" -David McGee

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Orange Seeds
1 Corinthians 15:36
"Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies."
NKJV


God is an amazingly creative God. In His unlimited wisdom, He grows fruits and vegetables that provide food to eat and seeds for even more fruits or vegetables to grow. When we open an orange, each of us can see the potential for new fruit. 

We can count the seeds and get an idea of the number of trees that could be produced with those very seeds. What we cannot see or begin to comprehend is the number of oranges that will be produced from one seed.

This may not seem all that exciting but let's look at the application of this in our lives. When we ask Jesus to forgive us and are born again, we are like that seed planted into the ground. As that seed lies in the soil, it becomes something new, something with amazing potential for growth. Likewise, when our lives are given completely to Jesus, there is unlimited potential to the number of lives we could reach. 

The Lord looks down onto our lives and knows the number of times we will fall, the number of times we will have victory and the number of lives we will change. He knows and will provide the needed power; the question is... are you ready to produce? Are you ready to grow and be fruitful? 

When you give your life to Christ and submit to Him in obedience, you will see amazing things happen, not because you are the perfect seed, but because He is the perfect gardener. Trust Him and watch the harvest unfold before your eyes.

Life Lesson: Anyone can count the seeds in an orange, but only God can count the number of oranges in a seed.

Dear God,
Thank You for the continuous love that You have shown me. Thank You for Jesus and the gift of salvation that comes through Him.

 Lord, I praise You for these things and ask that You would help me to grasp the impact that my life could have when it is dedicated to You. I ask that You fill me with Your Spirit and use me to be fruitful for Your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Orange Seeds" -David McGee

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Orange Seeds
1 Corinthians 15:36
"Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies."
NKJV


God is an amazingly creative God. In His unlimited wisdom, He grows fruits and vegetables that provide food to eat and seeds for even more fruits or vegetables to grow. When we open an orange, each of us can see the potential for new fruit. 

We can count the seeds and get an idea of the number of trees that could be produced with those very seeds. What we cannot see or begin to comprehend is the number of oranges that will be produced from one seed.

This may not seem all that exciting but let's look at the application of this in our lives. When we ask Jesus to forgive us and are born again, we are like that seed planted into the ground. As that seed lies in the soil, it becomes something new, something with amazing potential for growth. Likewise, when our lives are given completely to Jesus, there is unlimited potential to the number of lives we could reach. 

The Lord looks down onto our lives and knows the number of times we will fall, the number of times we will have victory and the number of lives we will change. He knows and will provide the needed power; the question is... are you ready to produce? Are you ready to grow and be fruitful? 

When you give your life to Christ and submit to Him in obedience, you will see amazing things happen, not because you are the perfect seed, but because He is the perfect gardener. Trust Him and watch the harvest unfold before your eyes.

Life Lesson: Anyone can count the seeds in an orange, but only God can count the number of oranges in a seed.

Dear God,
Thank You for the continuous love that You have shown me. Thank You for Jesus and the gift of salvation that comes through Him.

 Lord, I praise You for these things and ask that You would help me to grasp the impact that my life could have when it is dedicated to You. I ask that You fill me with Your Spirit and use me to be fruitful for Your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Orange Seeds" -David McGee

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Orange Seeds
1 Corinthians 15:36
"Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies."
NKJV


God is an amazingly creative God. In His unlimited wisdom, He grows fruits and vegetables that provide food to eat and seeds for even more fruits or vegetables to grow. When we open an orange, each of us can see the potential for new fruit. 

We can count the seeds and get an idea of the number of trees that could be produced with those very seeds. What we cannot see or begin to comprehend is the number of oranges that will be produced from one seed.

This may not seem all that exciting but let's look at the application of this in our lives. When we ask Jesus to forgive us and are born again, we are like that seed planted into the ground. As that seed lies in the soil, it becomes something new, something with amazing potential for growth. Likewise, when our lives are given completely to Jesus, there is unlimited potential to the number of lives we could reach. 

The Lord looks down onto our lives and knows the number of times we will fall, the number of times we will have victory and the number of lives we will change. He knows and will provide the needed power; the question is... are you ready to produce? Are you ready to grow and be fruitful? 

When you give your life to Christ and submit to Him in obedience, you will see amazing things happen, not because you are the perfect seed, but because He is the perfect gardener. Trust Him and watch the harvest unfold before your eyes.

Life Lesson: Anyone can count the seeds in an orange, but only God can count the number of oranges in a seed.

Dear God,
Thank You for the continuous love that You have shown me. Thank You for Jesus and the gift of salvation that comes through Him.

 Lord, I praise You for these things and ask that You would help me to grasp the impact that my life could have when it is dedicated to You. I ask that You fill me with Your Spirit and use me to be fruitful for Your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Orange Seeds" -David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS
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"Honoring God in the Morning"





Orange Seeds
1 Corinthians 15:36
"Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies."
NKJV


God is an amazingly creative God. In His unlimited wisdom, He grows fruits and vegetables that provide food to eat and seeds for even more fruits or vegetables to grow. When we open an orange, each of us can see the potential for new fruit. 

We can count the seeds and get an idea of the number of trees that could be produced with those very seeds. What we cannot see or begin to comprehend is the number of oranges that will be produced from one seed.

This may not seem all that exciting but let's look at the application of this in our lives. When we ask Jesus to forgive us and are born again, we are like that seed planted into the ground. As that seed lies in the soil, it becomes something new, something with amazing potential for growth. Likewise, when our lives are given completely to Jesus, there is unlimited potential to the number of lives we could reach. 

The Lord looks down onto our lives and knows the number of times we will fall, the number of times we will have victory and the number of lives we will change. He knows and will provide the needed power; the question is... are you ready to produce? Are you ready to grow and be fruitful? 

When you give your life to Christ and submit to Him in obedience, you will see amazing things happen, not because you are the perfect seed, but because He is the perfect gardener. Trust Him and watch the harvest unfold before your eyes.

Life Lesson: Anyone can count the seeds in an orange, but only God can count the number of oranges in a seed.

Dear God,
Thank You for the continuous love that You have shown me. Thank You for Jesus and the gift of salvation that comes through Him.

 Lord, I praise You for these things and ask that You would help me to grasp the impact that my life could have when it is dedicated to You. I ask that You fill me with Your Spirit and use me to be fruitful for Your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Living to tell what He died to say,
Pastor David McGee

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Get over it!" -Bob Coy

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Get over it!
Who will bring me into the strong city…Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies? Psalms 108:10-11 (NKJV)


This Psalm of David is particularly interesting because it gives us a deep insight into David's character. Essentially, it's a declaration of praise and trust in the Lord to deliver militarily. But notice how in passing he refers to God as the one "who cast us off." How does that fit in here?

Here's the significance: Although David's faith was well-rooted in God's good character, he wasn't oblivious to the fact that there had been times when God had to discipline instead of deliver His people. 

He was fully aware of the times God had to withhold His support for the sake of punishing His people, and yet it didn't diminish his praise.

David didn't allow the disappointments of yesterday to spoil or rob him of his ability to hope and trust today. When it came to those disappointments in the past, David just decided to get over them and instead focus on the Lord.

God isn't always going to fulfill our expectations. There will be times when we expect Him to do something on our behalf only to find He's not moving in the same direction. Sometimes it's due to our own sin, as with Israel. Other times, we simply misunderstand His will for our lives. Either way, disappointment is born.

Our reaction in these times reveals a lot about us. Do we sulk and stay in that state of disappointment and dissatisfaction? 

Or do we do as David did, and determine to get over it? It's those who decide not to bow down to their unfulfilled expectations and disappointments that are able to go on to praise God.

"And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." (Matthew 11:6 NKJV)
Father, help us to get over the things that You may have done or allowed that have disappointed us in the past. Get our eyes off them and back on You.
Think about it…
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
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?

DAILY DEVOTIONS: "Where Needs Are Met (Psalm 23:2-3a)" -Ray Steadman

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Where Needs Are Met  (Psalm 23:2-3a)

Read the Scripture: Psalm 23:2-3a
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul (Psalm 23:2-3a).
In this psalm David enumerates the ways in which the Good Shepherd meets our needs. The first thing He does is to meet the needs of the inner person, the basic needs that we have for nourishment within. The basic needs of a flock of sheep are grass and water. Here is the very picturesque scene of sheep bedded down in grassy meadows, having eaten their fill and now totally satisfied, and then being led by still waters. 
Sheep are afraid of running water; they will drink only from a quiet pool. A good shepherd, particularly in a semi-arid region such as Palestine, knows where the watering holes are. He knows where the grassy meadows are. And so he leads the sheep into places where they can rest and feed and where they can drink. The picture is one of calm and tranquility, because the basic needs of the sheep are met.
The counterpart in our lives is obvious. It is God who restores the inner person through His Word. As we feed upon the Word of God we see the Lord Jesus there. We draw upon Him, and our inner person is satisfied. The Word of God brings us, first, to the person of Christ.Beyond the sacred page, the hymn says, we see thee, Lord. 
We see Him, and we eat and drink of Him, and we discover Him to be the resource that we need. As Paul says,Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Our souls are restored. How? As we feed upon Him. As we come to know Him, believe what He says, and act on His word, we discover that the inner person is fed.
A Bible study I led met one evening a week in a fraternity house at Stanford University. Our basic assumption there was that the Bible is the authority. No one really taught the class; we simply opened up the Word, and the men in the group made observations. Last week a student from Austria sat in with us. He shared some of his thinking with us and made a real contribution to the group. Afterward, as we were leaving, he made this comment: I'm so thankful I could be here tonight, because I discovered that you men have found direct access to God through this book.
Have you discovered that access? In times of deep, dire need, when we cast about for help, it is no farther away than God's Word. Everything we need to nourish the inner person is right there. As Peter says, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). 
Everything we need that relates to life and to living godly lives in the world is available in Him. I wonder if we are employing that resource.
Lord, thank You for Your Word. May it be to me like green pastures and still waters, leaving me fully satisfied in You.
Life Application: Are we learning to find green pastures and still waters in the written Words of God. Do we see there the Good Shepherd who is our Life?
We hope you were blessed by this daily devotional.
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