DEVOTION- SUNDAY, OCTOER 28, 2012

DEVOTION, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2012

Make God Your Reference Point

BY

TONY EVANS

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:28-33

God has assigned every believer a divine reason for being, including you.  Your purpose is to fulfill God's purpose.  And if you are not fulfilling His purpose, it's just another day gone by, filled with everything but real meaning. You will be floating around with no destination when you're disconnected from the purposes of God.

You cannot discover your purpose until God is your reference point.

I encourage you to pray, "Help me to grasp what it means to have a life of purpose, meaning and destiny and not to meander and waste another day on things that really don't matter."

DEVOTION - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012

DEVOTION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012

More Than One Reason to Live by God’s Principles

BY

ADRIAN ROGERS

“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:7

A former president of the American Psychiatric Association said, “Premarital sex relationships resulting from the so-called new morality have greatly increased the number of young people in mental hospitals.”

Dr. Billy Graham said he talked to the head psychiatrist at one of our great universities. At that time he said, “Over fifty percent of the students at that university are suffering psychological problems because of immoral relationships.”

Friend, why does God tell us to live a pure and holy life? It’s not only so that we can have fellowship with Him, but also it is for our own mental health! He knows holiness brings life to our bones, healing to our hearts, and joy to our steps!

DEVOTION - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

DEVOTION, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

Concise and complete

BY

PASTOR BOB COY

Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! Psalms 117 (NKJV)

With just two verses, Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm and also the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. It's so short that we may even be tempted to think that it's incomplete. Our minds might conclude that its length only allows it to start something without finishing it.

Yet the truth about Psalm 117 is that although it's incredibly concise, it's also incredibly complete. Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit is the one who inspired the Psalmist and ultimately wrote it. So it's the Spirit's Psalm, and He never leaves things half-finished or undone. Sometimes He makes His point with many verses. Sometimes He makes His point with just a few. Here, He makes His point with just two.

This shortest of all Psalms says exactly what it's supposed to say, and what it's supposed to say is this: at the end of the day it's all about the Lord and not about us. It's His merciful kindness and His truth that's the launching point for our praise.

What a simple yet utterly profound point this is! How many times have we unknowingly strayed off course when it comes to this? We lose focus of the Lord's merciful kindness in our lives, lose touch with the wonderful truth of who He is, and our worship is warped into an unworthy counterfeit of some sort.

God's Spirit nails the problem behind this, and He only uses two verses to do it!

God of Mercy and Truth, may we enter into the reality of what Your Spirit is saying in this Psalm. May our praise be based on who You are. May it always be about You and not about us.

DEVOTION -- THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

DEVOTION, THURSDAY,  OCTOBER 25, 2012

She Happened to Come

BY

ALISTAIR BEGG

Ruth 2:3

She happened to come. Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident, but it was divinely ruled over! Ruth had gone out with her mother-in-law's blessing, under the care of her mother-in-law's God, to humble but honorable work, and the providence of God was guiding her every step. Little did she know that among the sheaves she would find a husband, that he would make her the joint owner of all those broad acres, and that she, a poor foreigner, would become one of the ancestors of the great Messiah. God is very good to those who trust in Him and often surprises them with unexpected blessings. Little do we know what may happen to us tomorrow, but this sweet fact may cheer us—that no good thing will be withheld. Chance is banished from the faith of Christians, for they see the hand of God in everything. The trivial events of today or tomorrow may involve consequences of the highest importance. O Lord, deal as graciously with Your servants now as You did with Ruth.

How blessed would it be if, in wandering in the field of meditation tonight, we should happen to find ourselves in the place where the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to us!

O Spirit of God, guide us to Him. We would rather glean in His field than carry home the whole harvest from any other place. We would follow the footsteps of His flock, which would guide us to the green pastures where He dwells! This is a weary world when Jesus is away—we would survive easier without sun and moon than without Him—but how divinely fair all things become in the glory of His presence! Our souls know the virtue that lives in Jesus and can never be content without Him. We will wait in prayer tonight until we "happen" to come to a part of the field belonging to Jesus in which He will reveal Himself to us.