DEVOTION - FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011

FRIDAY, APRIL 1. 2011

“ARE YOU TOO UNCOMFORTABLE TO HAVE A QUIET TIME”

BY

ADRIAN ROGERS

“IF I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18

Do you know what quiet time is? Fellowship with a holy God. The reason some folks do not have a quiet time is they feel uncomfortable. The reason they feel uncomfortable is that they don’t want to look God in the face. The reason they don’t want to look God in the face is because they have sin in their life.

What did Adam do after he had sinned and God came walking in the Garden? Adam fled. Before that, Adam had quiet time with God, didn’t he? They had boundless, unending fellowship. But when there was sin in Adam’s life, he did not want to look God in the face.

Are you reluctant to have a quiet time? Maybe it’s because there is sin in your life. Ask God to shine His light into you. Then wait for His answer so you can repent.

DEVOTION - THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011

“LIGHT IN LIGHT OF ETERNITY”

BY

PASTOR BOB COY

Paul was no Armchair Apostle. He didn’t sit around in some academic tower penning epistles and dispensing doctrine. Here’s how his resume reads:

Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes.Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea…I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food. Often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (2 Corinthians 11:24-27 NLT)

He knew the pain of persecution better than just about anyone else. And when he talks about being hard pressed, crushed, persecuted, and struck down, he’s speaking from a wealth of personal experience. So it’s more than fair to say Paul was an authority on affliction. Now notice how he relates his suffering to the truth of eternity:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory… (2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV)

Paul’s afflictions were anything but “light” by our standards. But when compared to the reality of eternity and the glorious destiny that awaits, he says it’s practically nothing. That would be an audacious statement coming from anyone else. But because it comes from an authority on affliction, it’s as true as truth itself.

Here’s what’s so wonderful about all this: The same principle that applied in Paul’s case applies to ours. Even though our afflictions seem light compared to Paul’s, they seem heavy to us. But when compared to the reality of eternity, to the unending state of blessedness that awaits God’s people there, it’s practically nothing.

Our affliction is always light in light of eternity!

DEVOTION - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011

“GOING ON IN ENDURANCE AND VICTORY”

BY

DR  ED  YOUNG

Hebrews 10:35-36—Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Endurance is the key to accomplishing God’s will, leading to the actualization of His promises in your experience.

Like David, the giants you confront can help you grow in and prove your endurance. Don’t run from them, but trust God to give you victory. Also like David, you likely will encounter temptation. In the deep of the night, when no human is watching, your integrity will be tested. Rather than weakening, celebrate the opportunity to endure, thereby accomplishing His will and receiving the blessing of His promise!

DEVOTION - TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

“THE WEAPON OF COMPROMISE”

BY

GREG LAURIE

“Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”—Matthew 13:33

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, a comparison that may not mean a lot to us today. But it would have been immediately understood by the people of His day. Leaven is like yeast, and it always has negative connotations in Scripture.

Before the Passover, Moses instructed the Israelites, “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses . . . ” (Exodus 12:15). Picking up on this theme, Paul wrote to believers in Corinth who were actually boasting about welcoming a compromising believer: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:6–7). Jesus also said, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees” (Matthew16:6).

Leaven represents corruption, infiltration, and compromise. It is a picture of compromise in our lives, an illustration of how little things turn into big things.

Though a baby rattlesnake may look kind of cute and is small enough to hold in the palm of your hand, its venom is more potent than that of an adult rattler. In the same way, we can look at sin in our lives and say, “This little sin? It is not a big thing.” But wait until it bites you. Compromise works its way into your life, and then it permeates every area.

Is there sin in your life right now that you have not dealt with? Get rid of it before it undermines you spiritually.

P.S. To celebrate the foundational truth of the resurrection and the eternal life that is now available we want to offer a free music download about this topic. It’s called “God So Loved,” as performed by the Harvest Worship Band on their Praiseworthy album. You can download this song by visiting Road to the Resurrection, a Web site designed for you to explore and share the miracle of Easter all month long.

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserve

DEVOTION - MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011

“DAILY JOURNEY – NUMBERS 32:1-33:49”

BY

DR JOHN ANKERBERG

If you went to visit a friend who had just returned from Europe, you would ask him to tell you about his trip. Suppose he said that they went to Rome, then they went to Milan, then they went to Florence, then they went into Switzerland to Lucerne, then to Zurich and to Geneva, and then into Germany into Frankfurt, and so on and on. You would want to ask him what they saw and what they did. You’d find a recital of all the places they had been a pretty boring account of their trip. That is my opinion of this chapter; it’s not very interesting reading.

And yet, just as each portion of Scripture has a great spiritual lesson, so this chapter [33] has a great spiritual lesson for us. Although this chapter is like a road map, and not interesting to read, it reveals that God noted and recorded every step that these people took. In fact, He was with them every step of the way through the wilderness march….

So here we have the log of their journey. Everywhere they went, every time they camped, He was with them. Frankly, they weren’t going with Him. That is, their hearts were in rebellion against Him a great deal of the time. But He never left them. He never did forsake them.

This is one of the great truths of the Word of God. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” … If you are a child of God, you couldn’t possibly get away from Him. He wouldn’t let you go. He will go with you all the way. We may stumble, falter, and fail. We don’t follow Him as we ought. But, thank God, He goes with us all the way!

(J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson), 1997 © 1981 by J. Vernon McGee)

DEVOTION - SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011

SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2011

“HE HAS SAID, SO WE MAY SAY”

BY

BAYLESS CONLEY

In our last few devotionals, we have been talking about fear, and how to be free from it.  Today, I want to give you a final thought to consider on fear.  It is based on Hebrews 13:5-6,

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  So we may boldly say:  "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?"

I want you to notice what the Bible says,  He Himself has said…So we may boldly say.  God says something, so you can say something.

What does God say?  He says He will never leave you.  He says He will never forsake you.  As a result you can say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?"

When you understand that God will never leave you or forsake you, you can live without fear.  And that freedom from fear will be reflected in both your actions and in your speech.

What are you facing today?  Would you be afraid if God was standing beside you saying, "It's alright.  I am here"?  Well He is with you!  He said He would never leave you or abandon you!  You may not see or feel Him, but He is with you—now and always.

It is time to start acting and speaking like you believe it.

Boldly say, "The Lord is helping me!  I will not fear!"

DEVOTION - FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011

FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2011

“STOP SINNING”

BY

PASTOR  BOB COY

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched…” Mark 9:43 (NKJV)

Jesus always knew how to get a point across. Christ communicated with incomparable effectiveness, knowing exactly what to say and how to say it. Sometimes, He imparted a truth or command with the utmost delicacy and tenderness.

But there were other times when He used harsh imagery to drive home an idea, like in the passage above. In context, Jesus is speaking to His followers and is spelling out the severity of sin and how serious it is. He’s warning them against those earthly entrapments and enticements that would hinder them.

Now notice where Jesus takes the teaching. He says that it’s better to chop off the hand that you sin with than to suffer eternally. Don’t misunderstand. Jesus isn’t promoting self-mutilation…not at all! Rather, He’s challenging us to measure our earthly sins against eternity.

An eternal awareness is going to influence our attitude toward sin. It’s going to make us reevaluate it and really think twice about it. Instead of just going along with the tide of temptation, we’re going to stop and say to ourselves, “Wait, there’s something more enduring and important than my immediate gratification. There’s an eternal reality that I want to honor by the way I behave here and now.”

So much of the sin we willingly commit is done so without any forethought to our future…our eternal future. None of us is ever going to be perfectly sinless, no matter how eternal our perspective is, and that’s why Jesus had to die as our sin covering. But at the same time, we should want to stop sinning. And more often than not, being eternally minded leads us to do what’s right instead of what’s wrong.

The next time you’re tempted to sin, measure the momentary pleasure you may derive from it against the weight of eternity.

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?