DEVOTION - THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011

TAKING “LIBERTIES”

BY

GREG LAURIE

So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. —Romans 14:13

How do we cause other people to stumble? The answer is very simple. We cause other people to stumble by not caring about them.

Jesus said, “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet” (Matthew 18:8). He basically was saying that we should get rid of anything in our lives that would be a bad example. If there is something in our lives that would cause us to stumble, then we need to deal with it, because it could cause someone else to stumble as well.

I think of couples who decide to get divorced and say things like, “Oh, don’t worry about the kids. They are resilient.” That divorce will hurt them—trust me. I know from the personal experience of being a child of divorce and seeing my mother married and divorced seven times. I know what that is like, and I know what it is like for a child. Parents are to be an example to their children. Be something they can emulate.

Younger believers are watching what we do as well. Sometimes we will take our so-called liberties and flaunt them, and then we cause younger believers to stumble in their faith. But the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:21, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.”

You might think, Well, that is their problem. No, not really. It is your problem. It is our problem. We don’t live and die to ourselves. What we do affects other people. So be a good example.

Summary Sentence: Do you live in such a way that spiritually encourages other believers or do you live in such a way that could be a stumbling block to them?

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

DEVOTION - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011

“MIRACLES”

BY

PETE  BRISCO

A Christian is a perpetual miracle.”—Charles Spurgeon

Miracles are, without question, cool. But the fact that Jesus performed miracles was not reason enough to believe that He was God. Elijah performed many miracles, but he never once laid claim to his own deity. Christ Himself was adamant that His miracles were not just evidence of His deity, but of His dependence on the Father:

“But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” --John 10:38

He never downplayed the miracles He performed. He just wanted to make sure the people understood how and why He was doing them. Miracles do point to the fact that the Father was in Him, He was in the Father, and He was dependent on the Father. Jesus didn’t need to come to earth as a man just to do things in His own divine power. God had already been dealing with man in that matter. (Things like giant pillars of fire and floods covering the earth come to mind!)

Jesus is fully God, but on earth He wanted to demonstrate physically to the people what it was like to so totally depend on the Father for everything that all else would fade.

Lord Jesus, the miracles You performed were amazing. I believe. I know that they weren’t just cheap magic tricks to dupe me into believing in You, but instead tangible manifestations of Your power when we depend on You completely. Strip away my independence, Lord. Thank You for showing me Your might and what life can look like in dependence on the Father. Amen.

DEVOTION - TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011

TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011

“WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS”

BY

CHARLES R SWINDOLLl

Read Exodus 19:16–20:26

Why did God want to meet with Moses? The text gives us two good and healthy reasons:

To establish a healthy fear of the Almighty. "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin' " (Exodus 20:20).

To communicate written instructions for the people. "Now the Lord  said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.' So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God" (Exodus 24:12–13).

Isn't it great that God gave His people written instructions to obey? This is the first time in all of history that God wrote down His Word. Until the time of Moses, the written Word of God did not exist. But now, here it was. And to think, you and I possess those written words! What an awesome and majestic thought. How we take that privilege for granted.

Back before the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union, my friend John Van Diest represented the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association at the Moscow Book Fair. The authorities had granted them reluctant permission to hand out a limited number of Russian language New Testaments, and long lines of people waited in line to receive a copy. When the supplies were exhausted, one desperately disappointed man asked if he might have one of the empty boxes that had once held those Testaments.

"But there's nothing in there!" John protested. "The Bibles are all gone!" With tears glistening in his eyes, the man replied, "Then I at least want the box." The Bible was so precious to this man that he treasured the cardboard box that had held the Scriptures. May our eyes be opened to the astonishing privilege that is ours to hold the complete written Word of God in our very hands.

Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas

DEVOTIION - FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011

“GAINING THE WISDOM OF GOD”

BY

BAYLESS CONLEY

I think every Christian desires wisdom from God.  But they don't get it because they don't understand how to receive it.

In Psalm 51:6, we are told,

...in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

When God communicates His wisdom to us, He does it in that secret part.  Whether it's as we read His Word and a Scripture speaks to us, or whether the Holy Spirit just whispers to us.  As Proverbs 20:27 tells us, The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord.  In other words, God illuminates us through our spirit.

For example, maybe you are in a difficult financial situation and you just don't know what to do.  You are working, you are tithing, you are trusting God, you are doing all you need to do, but it seems like you can't make ends meet.

Maybe what you need is wisdom.  If you ask for it, God may speak something as simple to your heart as, "Go talk to this person."  Or, "Advertise in this magazine."  Or, "Call so-and-so and ask them to forgive you for the way you treated them."  Or He may just say, "Hold steady."

Shortly after I was saved, I developed a physical condition I could not get any relief from.  So I went to God and I said, "God, give me wisdom."  God spoke to me and said, "You need to stop drinking coffee."

Now I did not want to hear that because I was a big coffee drinker.  But you know what?  After obeying God in that, almost immediately, that condition cleared up, and it has never been back.

God's wisdom.  He will speak to you.  If you ask, He will make His wisdom known in the hidden part.

 
 

DEVOTION - THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011

THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011

“A CALL OF DEVOTIOINS”

BY

TONY EVANS

In His Presence: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife . . . and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

God calls us to a total commitment—nothing less will do. He called Abraham to complete devotion, and the same was true for Moses, David, all of the disciples, and the apostle Paul. We can’t be halfhearted in our love for the Lord and expect to fully experience His joy and peace in our lives. In fact, until we make a full, uncompromising commitment to Him, there will always be distracting factors at work in our lives. We’ll constantly be tempted to step away from His very best for us.

In order to be His disciple, you must be willing to deny—not only yourself and your personal desires and passions—but also your love for anyone or anything that could possibly take His place in your heart. Nothing can be more important than Him.

For many people, this concept is hard to accept. They want to say, “Lord, surely You don’t want me to give up my only dream for the future?” Or, “Lord, I really want to marry this person. I love her. I know she’s not a believer, but I need her. Besides, if I walked away, who would help her know You? Isn’t my love for her a testimony about Your love for us?”

To make her point clear, a Christian counselor climbed up on a chair and asked her client to pull her down. The object lesson? It is easy to pull someone down but next to impossible to pull another up—especially if that person resists the truth. God wants you to be solely devoted to Him so that He can bless you with His very best.

The Enemy of your soul, however, wants you to settle for much less. In fact, his goal is for you to step out of God’s will through disobedience. He knows if you do, you will not only miss a blessing, but your life will become shrouded with feelings of guilt and disappointment. When that happens you become ineffective as a witness for Christ. God has a great plan in mind for you. When you dedicate yourself fully to Him, you will see it unfold.

DEVOTION - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

“GOD’S HOLINESS, LOVE AND MERCY”

BY

ADRIAN ROGERS

June 21

God’s Holiness, Love and Mercy

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

God will never overlook sin. He cannot. God is holy, and by His holiness He has sworn that sin will be punished. If God were to let one half of one sin go unpunished, God would no longer be holy.

The chief attribute of God is not love — it is holiness.

The cross is God’s way to punish sin and forgive the sinner at the same time. “He who knew no sin,” God has made to be sin for us. The price that Jesus paid,  only the damned in hell can begin to know, but even they’ll never know because they’re only paying their sin debt. Jesus paid for all the sin of all of the people for all time.

Read Revelation 4:8. Let your anthem throughout the day be, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

DEVOTION - TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

“WHEN HE SPEAKS”

BY

BOB COY

Imagine you’re Joshua. You were specifically groomed and chosen to finish that task that Moses wasn’t allowed to. Your mission is to cross over into the territory that God had promised to your Hebrew ancestors several centuries earlier. Before you is a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s also filled with kings and kingdoms that don’t plan on going anywhere!

Initially, you experience swift success. A series of victories puts you on the map—as well as on the collective radar of everyone else who is left standing in your way. The consensus among them is clear: “We need to join forces in order to defeat these Hebrews or we’re going to get picked off one at a time.”

So the opposing kings pooled their power and came against Joshua and the rest of Israel. According to the ancient historian Josephus, this coalition army consisted of 300,000 soldiers on foot, 10,000 soldiers on horseback, and 20,000 war chariots. That force is all the more formidable when you consider that Israel didn’