DEVOTION - MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2011

“Hardened Hearts”

In His Presence: Proverbs 19:20-21

BY

TONY EVANS

“Just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the days of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me . . . I was angry with this generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways”; As I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest” ’ ’’(Hebrews 3:7-11).

For many years the sons of Israel lived in the land of Egypt. Eventually the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and forced them to make buildings of bricks. They suffered terribly until finally God raised up a leader to guide them back to the Promised Land, where God had taken Abraham hundreds of years before. Moses led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness of Sinai. There they began to complain bitterly about the lack of food and water and tried God’s patience. God said their hearts were hardened.

The Hebrews’ hearts were hardened because they were tricked by sin. Sin leads us to stop believing God. We believe the sin instead. One of the reasons why many of us are in our present dilemma is because we have stopped believing God. We have developed hearts of unbelief.

How do we know that we have been taken in by the deceitfulness of sin? Does the sin bother us less often? When evil doesn’t anger and upset us—when we have gotten used to it—our hearts have been hardened.

One Minute Please
Sin provides short-term gratification leading to long-term disaster.

DEVOTION - SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2011

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2011

“KNOWING JESUS

BY

ADRIAN ROGERS

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

Years ago my wife gave me a little card to carry in my billfold. On it she had written her dress size, shoe size, glove size and more. That was nice to have so I could know all about her when I went to do some shopping. But it didn’t provide much companionship or encouragement when I was away from her.

It’s one thing to have the facts about Jesus, it’s another thing to have a relationship with Jesus.

Do you know Jesus...really know Him?

DEVOTION - FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011

“Courting controversy?

BY

PASTOR BOB COY

When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” Matthew 17:24 (NKJV)

Christ caused a lot of controversy when He walked this earth. However, we need to understand that He didn’t go around looking for opportunities to be controversial. When Christ caused controversy, it was because of His commitment to fulfill His divine directive to declare God-inspired truth. But there were other times when He diffused potential controversies.

For example, at one point the religious rulers approached Peter and asked him why Jesus hadn’t paid the temple tax. This particular tax was to be paid each year by every Jewish male to support the upkeep of the Temple. It didn’t take Jesus’ critics long to recognize He hadn’t done so. Controversy was brewing.

But Jesus went on to explain to Peter that the Temple itself, along with all the tax money it brought in, belonged to God. And as God’s Son, He wasn’t obligated to pay for something that was already His! For that reason, Christ hadn’t paid the temple tax. However, we can’t miss the next thing Jesus says:

“Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.” Matthew 17:27 (NKJV)

Jesus wasn’t obligated to pay this tax, yet He understood that by not paying He was only creating more controversy than was necessary. So even though He didn’t have to, He makes provision to pay it in a miraculous way. Why? Because He understood a controversy like this wasn’t worth the offense it would create.

Our Lord didn’t court controversy. He wasn’t looking for opportunities to offend people. Every believer ought to take note of this and follow His example. Do what you can to steer clear of controversy. When it comes to non-essential issues, don’t fan the flames but do your part to put them out.

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?

DEVOTION - THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2011

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2011

“CROSS OF CHRIST”

BY

BAPTIST BIBLE HOUR

That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby– Ephesians 2:16

What a strange phrase! Slaying enmity, putting to death hostility, slaughtering antagonism. But this is the paradox of the cross. By being put to death for us, Christ put to death the hostility that existed between us and God.

The point that Paul is making in this particular passage is that Christ has reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to God — there was no one who did not need Christ’s peacemaking work on their behalf.

No one, not even the most devout Jew, was at peace with God’s perfect standard. God’s anger, His just wrath, hangs over every human being, demanding punishment for our rebellion against His good law. Simultaneously, humanity, by nature, is opposed to God and to His demands on us.

This is the mutual enmity, the cosmic tension, that Paul speaks of. A good God against a sinful world, and a sinful world against a good God. This is the enmity which Christ died to slay, to put to death forever. And when enmity is slain, peace is all that is left standing.

Because Jesus Christ took our sins in His own body, on the cross, all hostility is gone and God is now at peace with those whose sins were paid for by Christ. And through the reconciling work of the Holy Spirit, we are made to be at peace with God in our hearts.

We now embrace His good commands and rejoice in the purity of His Word. While we still continue to sin, the desire of our hearts is now to know and love our Savior and God better, not to run away or avoid Him.

Does this describe you? Are you at peace with God?

DEVOTION - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011

“HEALING”

BY

DR ED YOUNG

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. - Psalm 30:5

There was evening and there was morning, says Genesis, and so the sequence has been for eons. There is an evening of our lives as well as a day, announced by sparkling mornings. In the dark nights, vision is overwhelmed with sorrow and crisis, but the sunshine of the morning drives away the haunting torments of the night, and there is the shout of joy. God’s promise to His covenant people is that morning will always follow night. And the time will come when night no longer drags morning into its dark pit. The great eternal morning will prevail, and the joy-shouting will be the music of the spheres.

DEVOTION - TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2011

“A Spider’s Web”

BY

ALISTAIR BEGG

Isaiah 59:5

Observe the spider's web and find in it a most suggestive picture of the hypocrite's religion. It is meant to catch his prey: The spider fattens himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish people are easily trapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even the more discerning cannot always escape. Philip baptized Simon Magus, whose deceitful declaration of faith was so quickly exposed by the stern rebuke of Peter. Routine and reputation, praise and promotion, along with other flies, are the small game that hypocrites take in their nets.

A spider's web is a marvel of skill: Look at it and admire the tricks of this cunning hunter. The deceiver's religion is equally seductive. How does he make so barefaced a lie appear to be a truth? How can he make his tinsel look so much like gold?

A spider's web emerges all from the creature itself. The bee gathers her wax from flowers; the spider doesn't, but still she spins her material to great length. In the same way hypocrites find their trust and hope within themselves; their anchor was forged on their own anvil, and their rope twisted by their own hands. They rest upon their own foundation and carve out the pillars from their own house, scorning the thought of being debtors to the sovereign grace of God.

But a spider's web is very frail. It is curiously constructed, but not enduringly manufactured. It is no match for the servant's broom or the traveler's staff. The hypocrite does not need a battery of cannons to blow his hope to pieces; a mere puff of wind will do it. Hypocritical cobwebs will soon come down when the broom of destruction begins its purifying work. Which reminds us of one more thought-namely, that such cobwebs are not to be tolerated in the Lord's house: He will see to it that the webs and those who spin them will be utterly destroyed. My soul, make sure to rest on something better than a spider's web. Take the Lord Jesus as your eternal hiding-place.

DEVOTION - MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2011

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2011

“Living in light of the Good News”

BY

DR JACK GRAHAM

August 5, 2011

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:8-11

Everyone loves some good news, right? But interestingly, it’s often bad news that makes the good news the Good News. Suppose that you were to go to the doctor and he finds a lump or a spot on your skin, and says, “I think it would be wise to remove that and take a biopsy.” And you, of course, begin to fear the worse.

Bad news.

So that spot is taken off and you wait that seemingly unending period of time until the report comes back. You go to the doctor’s office and he looks at you and then a smile breaks across his face and he says, “I’ve got some good news for you. No cancer!”

Good news!

But you see, it took bad news to make the good news good. If someone had just randomly walked up to you on the street and said, “You don’t have cancer,” that would’ve meant nothing. It’s the circumstance that makes the good news good.

The Good News of Christ is only good if you know the bad news: you’re a sinner. But when Christ reaches down and saves you out of the pit of your sinfulness, that’s the best news anyone could ever hear. And the best way you can respond is by living your life fully for Him!

CHRIST SAVING YOU FROM YOUR SINS IS THE GREATEST NEWS YOU COULD EVER HEAR. SO LIVE IN LIGHT OF THAT TRUTH BY FULLY DEVOTING YOURSELF TO HIM EACH DAY!