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Post by civic on Jan 3, 2023 6:24:39 GMT -8
Another good devotional to ponder/meditate upon this morning, thank you brother !
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 4, 2023 5:14:08 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 4TH
Impressive FaithJesus saw their faith... Mark 2:5aThe obvious thing Mark underscores for us here is the determined faith of these five men. They stand as an encouragement to us to exercise this kind of faith. There are three remarkable and beautiful aspects of it here. These men dared to do the difficult. That is where faith always manifests itself. It was not easy to bring this man to the Lord. They had to carry him, perhaps a great distance, through the streets of the city. When they found the doorway blocked, they had to carry him up an outside stairway to the roof. We do not know how heavy he was, but it is not easy to carry a full-grown man up a flight of stairs. Yet these men managed this difficult task. They dared to do the difficult. What an illustration this gives us of bringing people to Christ! Then, notice that they dared to do the unorthodox. They were not limited by the fact that it was not at all customary to break up a roof. When they found that the door was blocked, they did not sit down, as we probably would have done, and appoint a committee to research the various ways to get to Jesus. No, they just did what was necessary and risked the disapproval not only of the owner of the house but also of every person there by interrupting the meeting in order to get their friend to Jesus. The remarkable thing is that Jesus never rebuked them. He never does. There is never an incident recorded in which Jesus got uptight or disturbed about an interruption by someone intent on receiving something from Him and pressing through to Him despite the disapproval of those around. These men dared to do the unorthodox. Finally, they dared to do the costly. Somebody had to pay for that roof. Imagine the face of the owner, sitting there at the feet of Jesus, when he hears this scratching on the roof. He looks up, and, to his amazement, the tiles begin to move. Then daylight appears, and suddenly he has a large hole in his roof! I do not know what his thoughts were. He probably wondered if his homeowner's policy would cover it. Or maybe he was mentally adding up the bill to present to these men. But somebody had to pay that bill, somebody repaired that roof, and surely it was one, if not all, of these men. They dared to do the costly. That is faith! They laid it on the line--at cost to themselves. What a witness this is to what it takes to bring people to Christ! Lord, grant to me the faith to move out in ways that are difficult, unorthodox, and even costly to bring men and women to you, the only true healer of hurts. Life ApplicationA life lived by faith has at least three identifiable characteristics. Are we growing up into the quality and vitality of faith that can be used to bring others to Jesus? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 5, 2023 4:58:44 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 5TH
The Scandal MakerWhile Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him Mark 2:15This evidently was a farewell dinner Matthew gave for his friends, his tax-collecting buddies. He was saying farewell to his work and friends and leaving to follow Jesus, the one who would travel from place to place. It was also an opportunity to introduce them to his newfound Lord. What a collection of rascals must have been there that day! All the tax collectors of the city, all the sinners, all the despised social outcasts were sitting there. As the scribes of the Pharisees passed by, they saw that right in the midst of it all, among the beer bottles and the poker chips, sat Jesus. And they were absolutely scandalized! It was obvious that He was the friend of these men. He was not lecturing them. He was sitting among them and eating and drinking with them. The scribes were simply appalled at this and called the disciples aside: Why does he do things like that? Doesn't he know who these people are? Jesus' answer is very revealing. He actually agrees with their remarks. He says, in effect, You're right, these are sick, hurting, troubled men. Their style of life has damaged them deeply. They don't see life rightly; they are covering up many evils; they are false in many ways. You're right, these are sick men. But where else would a doctor be? He says something to them that rightly focuses their attention and turns their gaze back toward themselves. He says, I came to call not the righteous, but sinners. That is, those who think they are righteous, as these Pharisees did, are actually more needy than those they regard as social outcasts. These Pharisees were actually more deeply disturbed than the tax collectors and sinners, but they did not know it. But Jesus was saying to them, To those who think they're righteous, I have absolutely nothing to say. But to these who know they're sick and are open for help, I am fully available as a minister to their souls. Our Lord made several things emphatically clear by this reply. First, He indicated strongly that when people think they have no need of help from God, they are in no position to be helped. There is nothing to say to them. But our Lord always put His efforts where men and women were open to help, where they were hurting so much they knew they needed help. The second thing our Lord reveals is that people are more important than prejudice. Prejudices are preconceived notions formed before we have sufficient knowledge, usually mistaken or distorted ideas with which we have grown up. When prejudices are in opposition to the needs of people, they are to be swept aside without any hesitation. We Christians must learn to treat people like this--regardless of what their outward appearance may be. That is the way Jesus approached people everywhere. Father, thank You for Jesus' courage, which dared to challenge human traditions. Grant that I may see myself and others as You see us--sick people in need of a physician. Life ApplicationDo we need to repent of the self-righteous judging that separates us from God's forgiveness for our own sins, and from caring compassion toward other sinners? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 6, 2023 4:59:51 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 6TH
The Perils Of PopularityJesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Mark 3:7-8We have difficulty grasping the size of this crowd. This was not just a few people, or even a few thousand. There were literally tens of thousands of people, undoubtedly, in this crowd. They came from all over this country and beyond. They flocked out from all the cities to hear this amazing prophet who has risen in Galilee and was saying such startling things. You can see how Mark traces the emphasis upon the crowd throughout this division. In verse 20 he says, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. Then, in verse 32: a crowd was sitting around him. And in chapter 4, verse 1: Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the Lake... And then, in verse 36, Mark says, Leaving the crowd, they went across to the other side of the lake. In chapter 5, verse 21: When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. And in verse 24: A large crowd followed and pressed around him. So this is the period when Jesus is pressed by the great masses of people, the period of His greatest popularity. For many, this has been the measure of Jesus' success, as it would often be in evaluating a successful person today. Anybody who can achieve a great crowd-following is regarded as a success. Today we call these people stars—there are star actors, star athletes, star singers, star politicians—various people who have attained what in our day is a mark of success. No wonder the title of one of today's most popular musicals is Jesus Christ, Superstar. He is the one who drew all these great multitudes out from the cities of His day. But as you read this account through, you see that Mark's intention is to underscore the weakness of popularity; the empty, hollow worthlessness of being popular; and how much damage and danger popularity produced in our Lord's ministry. One of the worst things that can happen to us, as this account makes clear, is to become caught up in a popular movement. False forces arise out of it. That is the whole thrust of this section. Mis-emphases easily spring into being—and wrongful attitudes arise readily in a popular movement. Popularity, therefore, ought to be watched carefully. And when a movement is popular, as Christianity is popular in many places today, we must be careful that we are listening to the voice and the Spirit of God. Father, thank You for the truth as it is in Jesus. Help me to beware of the perils of popularity. Life ApplicationDo we evaluate success by our audience's size and applause? What can we learn from our Lord's own life and death about the shallowness and peril of popularity? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 7, 2023 5:20:29 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 7TH
Seed ThoughtsHe also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. Mark 4:26-27This is a secret of the kingdom of God, and to me it is one of the most encouraging of all the parables Jesus ever uttered. He is speaking of how this rule of God increases, how it grows in a life. He explains it as a coming to harvest by a patient expectation that God will work. The key of this whole passage is, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. That is, there are forces at work that will be faithful to perform their work—whether a farmer stews and frets about it or not. Farmers do what they can do, what is expected of them. But then God must work. And God will work. And in the confidence of that, this farmer rests secure. As Jesus draws the picture this farmer goes out to sow. It is hard work as he sows the field, but this is what he can do. But then he goes home and goes to bed. He does not sit up all night biting his fingernails, wondering if the seed fell in the right places or whether it will take root. Nor does he rise the next morning and go out and dig it up to see whether or not it has sprouted yet. He rests secure in the fact that God is at work, that He has a part in this process, and He must do it; no one can do it for Him. But he will faithfully perform it. So the farmer rests secure, knowing that as the seed grows there are stages that are observable: first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. It is only as the grain is ripe that he is called into action again. When the harvest is ready, then he is to act once more. This is exactly what Paul describes for us in that passage in 1 Corinthians 3:9a: For we are God's fellow workers. This is the way we ought to expect Him to work. It involves a witness first, perhaps a word of teaching or exhortation to someone—or to ourselves. And then an inevitable process begins, one that takes time and patience and allows God to work. One of the most destructive forces at work in the church today is our insistent demand for instant results. We want to have immediate conversions, immediate responses every time we speak. We tend not to allow time for the Word to take root and grow and come to harvest. I have watched a boy in Peninsula Bible Church (PBC) growing up since grade school. I watched him come into adolescence and enter into a period of deep and bitter rebellion against God. I watched his parents, hurt and crushed by his attitudes, yet nevertheless praying for him—saying what they could to him—but above all holding him up in prayer. I watched the whole process as the seed that had been sown in his heart took root and began to grow. There were tiny observable signs of change occurring. Gradually he came back to the Lord. And as an adult young man, he asked me to fill out a reference for him to go to seminary. That is the Word growing secretly. The sower knows not how it happens but can rest secure in this. Our Lord is teaching us the fantastic truth that God is at work. It does not all depend on us! Thank You, Lord that I can trust that as I do my part and sow the seed of Your Word wherever I can, You will do the rest. Life ApplicationWe have the privilege of sowing the fertile seed of the gospel. Do we trust the sovereign work of the Spirit to produce a harvest, or rely on our own effectiveness? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 8, 2023 5:56:32 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 8TH
Secrets RevealedWith many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. Mark 4:33This verse presents one great rule of revelation: God only reveals as much as they could understand. Jesus teaches people only as they can take it. This is the rule upon which God works with us. He does not show us everything at once. If He did, He would destroy us. One man who attended a pastors' seminar held at Peninsula Bible Church was a great big man. He was drinking in all that was given to him, and at our closing meeting it was amusing to watch him. He was like a child around a Christmas tree, so turned on by all he had discovered that he was just glowing, going around hugging everyone he met. He told me, Oh, this has been so great! I'd like to go home and take my Bible and get into it and find so much more of this. Then he stopped himself and said, But I suppose if I did, it would kill me! I just couldn't handle it. And he was right; he could not have handled it. It would have been too much. And God knows that and does not show you any more than you are able to handle. That is the glory and the wonder of the Scriptures. They are put together in such an amazing way that it takes both the Word and the Spirit to understand the Bible. You can read the Word, and if you are not ready for them and open to them, those words will not say a thing to you. But if you are open, you will learn something from them. The next time you can come back, read the same words, and learn something more. Each time you will learn something more. It never ceases to refresh your spirit and instruct your mind and to open and expand your capacity to receive from God. That is the way God teaches us truth--as we are able to bear it. And this is true also of His revelation to us about ourselves. One of the things about Scripture is that it shows you who you are and who you have been all along. God is gracious to us that way. He does not just rip the veil off, and suddenly you see the whole ghastly thing. If He did, we would be wiped out. But He lifts it little by little. You shake and tremble and say, Is that the way I've been? You are aghast at the way you have been treating people, and you think, Thank God that's over! The next week He lifts it a little higher. You shake and tremble and go through it again and say, At last we got to the bottom! Then God lifts it high enough for you to see more, and you are wiped out again. But you handle it, little by little. Because, along with the revelation of yourself, He also reveals Himself and His adequacy to handle your inadequacies. Is it not wonderful that He understands us that way and deals with us like that? If He revealed the glories of heaven to us suddenly, everyone of us would be running out to jump into the ocean, to get there as fast as possible. But He lifts the veil only a little at a time, as we are able to bear it. Open my eyes, Father, that I may see glimpses of truth you have for me. Help me to under stand what I read and to search out what I do not understand. Life ApplicationAre we willing to accept God's timing as He brings us to mature understanding of His will and ways? Are we perhaps pushing for instant maturity or avoiding the process? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 9, 2023 5:31:49 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 9TH
No FaithDo you still have no faith? Mark 4:40cThis is why people become afraid--because they lose faith. Faith is the answer to fear. Faith is always the answer to our fears, regardless of what they are. Jesus put His finger right on it: Do you still have no faith? Well, evidently they did not. They had forgotten all the things He said to them in the Sermon on the Mount about the extent of God's care for them: Are you not much more valuable than flowers and birds? God cares for them; will he not much more care for you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30). Here Jesus was in the boat with them; their fate would be His fate; and yet they had forgotten this. How would these men have acted, do you think, if they had faith? Suppose their faith had been strong--their faith in Him and in God's care and love--what would they have done? One thing is certain: they would not have wakened Him; they would have let Him rest. He was tired and needed the rest badly. They would have done so because their faith would have reminded them of two great facts: First, the boat will not sink; it cannot sink when the Master of ocean and earth and sky is in it. Second, the storm will not last forever. A good friend of mine, a handsome young evangelist from another country, told me about all the troubles he and his wife were going through. He was dejected. She was struggling with severe physical problems, ill health arising from asthma and bronchitis, which constantly kept her down. They had gone through years of struggle with this condition of hers already, and it seemed to pull the bottom out of everything he attempted to do. Here they were planning to go back to their own country, and now she was sick again. He came to me discouraged. I remember turning to this incident in Mark and reciting this story and saying to him, Remember, the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever. That is having faith--to remember those facts. He thanked me, we prayed together, and he left. I did not see him for a couple of months; then we ran into each other. I said, How are things going? How is your wife? He said, Oh, not much better. She's still having terrible struggles. She can't breathe and can't take care of the children or the house, and we have a hard time. But I do remember two things: the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever! So I prayed with him again. After a while I received a note from him. He and his family had gone back to their country, and there they had found the answer. A doctor discovered a minor deficiency in his wife's diet that needed to be remedied. When that was done, the asthma and bronchitis disappeared, and she was in glorious, radiant health, and they were rejoicing together. At the bottom of the page he had written, The boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever. I thank You. Lord, that You are here with me to comfort and strengthen me, to reassure me, and to take me through whatever storms may come. I know You are not here to stop the storms from coming, but to take me through them. Life ApplicationHow would we respond to our fears if we acted on the basis of faith in God's sovereignty? Today's circumstances allow us to see our lives from His point of view. Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 10, 2023 5:44:22 GMT -8
DEVOTION FOR TODAY — JANUARY 10TH
Seeing ThroughHe could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Mark 6:5-6We can gather up the meaning of this whole account in just a few words: Limited views mean limited lives. That is, if your view of life is so narrow and crabbed, so withered and shrunken as to include nothing but what you can see and feel and taste and smell and hear and reason, then your life is going to be horribly deprived and poverty stricken. This is how it was in Nazareth. Jesus had been in Nazareth the year before. They tried to kill Him on that occasion because He would not do what they wanted. Now He comes back again and teaches in the synagogue, and they are astonished. They ask the right questions: Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to Him? What mighty works are wrought by His hands! But their answers to their own questions are horribly limited. Who is this? Is this not the carpenter? Why, He made the table in our house. I remember when we used to feed Him tea and sandwiches for lunch when He came to help us build the house where I live! He was just a carpenter! And His brothers and sisters live here--we know the whole family! Why, He couldn't be this powerful a man! And they did the incredible--they took refuge in that final resort of all weak and small minds--they ridiculed Him. They took offense at Him and began to discount all He had done. Therefore, Jesus pointed out to them that this is characteristic of fallen human nature. There was no recognition of His worth, no honor accorded Him in His own hometown. And as a result, there was no mighty work done there. He responded to the few who had faith, but there was nothing the town could boast of. And is it not amazing that through all these centuries, though Nazareth has never been forgotten as the town in which Jesus grew up, yet to this very day it is regarded in Palestine with some sense of embarrassment! They missed their great opportunity. What is this all saying--this entire account of the healing of the woman, the raising of Jairus's daughter, and the reception given him by the people of Nazareth? It is saying to us today, Lift up your eyes and look beyond the visible to the realities of God. Live in the full dimensions of life, as God intended life to be. Life can never be explained entirely in terms of the natural. We are left impoverished and despairing if all we have to depend on is our natural resources, natural power. But God is rich in grace, rich in power, rich in inward strength and sympathy, and His cry to us is, No longer be unbelieving, but believe and have faith that I am at work, and I will enrich your life beyond your wildest dreams. Teach me, Lord to respond with the touch of faith--not the thronging of admiration, but the touch of faith--to this Blessed One who, now in our midst, is ready to meet our need. Life ApplicationAre we responding with life-changing faith as we encounter the living Jesus in the pages of Scripture? Is our life vision being expanded by His indwelling presence? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 11, 2023 5:57:16 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 11TH
Who Is This?Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:51-52
We cannot understand this last miracle unless we see it as a kind of examination period given to these disciples after the feeding of the five thousand. Our Lord had sent them out, had given them power. They had seen their ministry confirmed and authenticated by the hand of God working through them. They had come back excited and turned on by all they had seen and done. They had now been taught that Jesus was the one who was coming to fulfill the expectation of a Messiah to be given to Israel, promised throughout all the prophetic centuries. But somehow they seemed to miss it all. So He gives them an examination, a test, to see how they are doing. He sends them out into a storm, but this time it is different. He is not with them in the boat. He sends them out alone, deliberately, and He goes up into the hills to pray. How many of the storms of our life are made up of these two elements--trouble that comes to us and seems to be overwhelming us, and the seeming absence of the Lord? Nevertheless, there is One up on the hillside praying for us. After the storm has blown for several hours and the disciples are in deep distress, Jesus comes to them, walking upon the water. When they see Him they are scared out of their wits because they think He is a ghost. He has to reassure them: It--that thing you see that scares you to death--it is I; don't be afraid. How many times does He have to say that to us? That thing that scares us, frightens us--It is I; be not afraid. He got into the boat, and they were absolutely flabbergasted! This indicates the grade they got on this exam. It was F. It was a total failure, but it astonished them. For the second time, now, their eyes are opened to begin to question: Who then is this? And they begin to listen. This opens the door for some of our Lord's greatest teaching to His disciples regarding why He came. And this is our Lord's question to us: Who is this? Who sends the storms into our lives? Who tests us? Who makes provision for our needs and then tests us on it? Who gives us a promise and then sends us out to see if we believe what we teach or what we say? It is the Lord Himself. This is what He is doing with us, as he did with His disciples. He is training us, teaching us, preparing us, building into our lives, as He built into their lives, so that we might be men and women of faith, confident and calm and able to cope with life. Thank You, Father, for what You are doing with me. Though I live in the midst of perilous times and travel among troubled seas, I know who You are--the King of kings and Lord of lords. Life ApplicationWhen our lives are outwardly commendable but our faith and spiritual perception is weak, what things may God use to strengthen us, train us, and make us teachable? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 12, 2023 9:14:51 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 12TH
When Right Is Wrong
He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. Mark 7:6-7 Those are insightful words. With our Lord's keen perceptiveness, He plunges right to the heart of the issue. When the Pharisees ask Him. Why do your disciples not observe the traditions? He points out to them, first of all, the effect that the observance of tradition has upon our lives. It produces hypocrites. You hypocrites, He says. I am sometimes amazed as I read through the gospels at the bluntness of Jesus' language! In fact, Matthew's account tells us that the disciples said to Him afterward, Do you realize that you offended those Pharisees? But notice what He is doing here. He is pointing out the result of traditional worship. And He utilizes the word of the prophet Isaiah to show us what it is like. According to Isaiah, there is that which consists of right words but wrong attitudes. Everything outward is right, but inwardly the mind and heart are wrong. That, Jesus says, is hypocrisy--to look as if you are doing something religious and worshipful and God-related, but inside to have an entirely different attitude. A few years ago, many of us were puzzled and offended when young people would say to us, in one way or another, We don't want to come to church because churches are filled with hypocrites. Some of us could not understand what they meant. We knew there might be some churches that were filled with hypocrites, but not ours! We had honest difficulty with this. We could not see where there was any hypocrisy in a thoroughly Bible-centered, evangelical church such as ours. But what they were saying was this: You use great words--wonderful words--but you don't really mean them. You talk about love, but you don't love. You talk about forgiveness, but you don't forgive. You talk about acceptance, but you don't accept. And they were right. That is what tradition can do to us. It externalizes religion, makes it outward instead of inward. As long as we are fulfilling the prescribed outward form, we think we are acceptable before God. That is the terrible danger of tradition. This particular form that Isaiah mentions here--right words and wrong attitudes-is widespread among Christians. We all suffer from it at times, and we ought to recognize it and admit it. And it has resulted in what is probably the most deadly danger to the evangelistic message of the church--the self-righteousness of Christians--thinking that because we do things in the right way, and say the right words, and believe the right doctrines, we are thus pleasing to God. Father, I confess the many, many times I have done the outward things with the inward heart far removed. Thank You that You know me, and You have already made provision for my forgiveness. Teach me to worship You in spirit and in truth. Life Application
Hypocrisy is a routine accusation made against professing Christians. Are we taking this critique seriously? What is a major obstacle that deters us from authenticity? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 13, 2023 5:54:12 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 13TH
Do You Not Yet Understand?Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? Mark 8:17b-18In this series of questions, our Lord is suggesting for them, and for us, what to do when we get the spiritual blahs. One young man came to me and said, I'm a graduate of a Bible college. I've been a Christian for a number of years. But I must tell you that I feel so blah, so empty. I've lost all interest in what God is doing, and I just don't have any desire even to get involved in a Bible study anymore. What should I do? I had just been studying this passage, so I did what our Lord suggests in this passage without telling this young man what I was doing. The first thing the Lord suggests is to use your mind. Do you not see or understand? Stop and think about where you are, about what is happening to you, and why it happened. Analyze it. Read what the Bible has to say about it. That is what the mind is for. Study the revelations of God to you. Use your mind. Second, He asks, Are your hearts hardened? That is, analyze the state of your heart. Are you dull, or do you respond? Have you forgotten truth? Because if the heart does not respond to what the mind has understood, then it is because you have not really believed it. You may have recognized mentally that it is true, but you have not acted upon it. You do not really believe God is going to do what He has said He will do. This is always revealed by a dull, unresponsive heart. Truth always moves us—when we believe it. It always grips us and excites us. And if we are not excited, it is because the mind has grasped it but the heart has not. Jesus moves on: Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? Jesus said these words again and again to the people He taught, and each time He means the same thing. Do not just look at the events you are seeing and think that is all there is to it. It is a parallel to something deeper and more important concerning your spirit. As these men were being fed by the loaves and the fishes, He was saying to them, Don't think of this merely as a way of getting a good, quick, free meal. Remember that I am telling you that you have a deeper need, a far more demanding need, which needs daily replenishment as well. And finally, Don't you remember? Hasn't God taught you things in the past through your circumstances? Hasn't He led you through events that have made you understand something about your life? Do you not remember the times He said things like that in the past? Remember them now, and recognize that you are in the hands of a loving Father who has put you right where you are to teach you a very needed truth. Forgive me, Father, for the dullness of my heart. Help me to give myself every day to this One who is the bread sent down from heaven. Life ApplicationWe may experience times of spiritual lethargy, but we do not need to settle for that state of mind & heart. There are 4 helpful ways to combat it & be spiritually restored. Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 14, 2023 4:18:11 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 14TH
The Necessity Of The CrossHe then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. Mark 8:31Christianity without the cross is not Christianity at all, but a shabby, slimy substitute. The word of the cross is what makes it Christian. What does it mean? Three elements, which will come out as we continue our study in Mark. First, it means the end of the natural, the end of what we call self-sufficiency. That is the philosophy of the day, and how the world despises this message that it must be done away with! Not only does the world not understand it, it literally despises it! Anyone who preaches it is regarded as preaching nonsense. As Christians, we are called upon either to believe our Lord or the voices that whisper in our ears--one or the other. Which is right? The word of the cross means the end of all our reliance upon ourselves, and we do not like that. It means wiping out the natural life. Nothing that we have by virtue of being born is ever worthwhile or acceptable in the sight of God. A cross wipes people out. It does not improve them, does not better them in any way; it wipes them out. Furthermore, the second element involves pain and hurt. It always does, because we do not like being cut off. Which of us, if allowed to choose the program by which we serve God, would ever include in it defeat, disaster, despair, disappointment, disillusionment, and death? Yet these are the very elements that God finds absolutely essential to working out His plan for us. Difficulty and danger? Yes, we include them. They challenge the flesh and make it appear to be something when it surmounts these. But defeat? Never! Dishonor? Never! Disaster? Disappointment? No! Death? Inconceivable! But they are what God chooses. The third element of the way of the cross is that it leads to a resurrection. Is it not strange that the disciples never seemed to hear Jesus when, every time He spoke of the cross, He said that after three days He would rise again? They seemed arrested by the cross and could never get beyond it. They rejected it, refused to listen to it, and so they never came to an understanding of what the glorious event of the resurrection would mean, until it actually happened. But the way of the cross always leads to a resurrection, to a new beginning, on different terms. It leads to freedom, to being set free from natural catastrophe and disaster, to having your spirit peaceful and at rest, despite what is happening to your body or your person. This is what people really want. How we long for and dream of being free, whole, adequate, able to handle life, able to cope with whatever comes, undisturbed at heart. Father, I ask that You will help me understand that Jesus is in the hurts, in the disappointments, in the disasters, that He is leading me on, setting me free from that which is shackling me-all my self-sufficiency and self-reliance, all my desire to be exalted, to be made much of. Life ApplicationSince the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus are the foundational pillars of Christianity, do we seek to grasp and value their profound effect upon our daily lives? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 15, 2023 4:53:49 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 15TH
Saving Or Losing?For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:35 Who is not interested in saving their lives, in making them worthwhile, full and rich, worth the living? Deep down within us, every one of us has a hunger for life and a desire to find it, to the full extent of what it was designed to be. This is what Jesus is talking about. If this is what you want, He says, I'll tell you how to acquire it. There are two attitudes toward life that are possible, and you can have only one or the other. One attitude is to save your life now: hoard it, clutch it, cling to it, grasp it, try to get hold of it for yourself, take care of yourself, trust yourself, see that in every situation your first and major concern is, What's in it for me? That is one way to live, and millions are living that way today. The other attitude is lose it: fling it away, disregard what advantage there may be for you in a situation, and move out in dependence upon God, careless of what may happen to you. Abraham obeyed God, went out into a land he knew not where, on a march without a map, apparently careless of what would happen to him. His neighbors reproached and rebuked him for not caring about himself. This is to be a way of life, Jesus says. Trust God, obey Him, and put the responsibility for what happens on Him. There are only two results that can follow. If you save your life, if you cling to it, hoard it, get all you can for yourself, then, Jesus says, you will lose it. This is not a mere platitude; He is stating a fundamental law of life. You will find that you have everything you want, but you will not want anything you have. You will find that all of the life you tried to grasp has slipped through your fingers, and you have ended up with a handful of cobwebs and ashes, dissatisfied, hollow and empty, mocked by what you hoped to get. But lose your life for My sake and the gospel's, says Jesus, lose your life by means of giving yourself away in the cause of Christ, giving up your right to yourself, taking up your cross and following Me, and you will save it. You will not waste it, but you will save it. You will find contentment and satisfaction, an inner peace, and a sense of worth about your living. You will discover, not just in heaven someday but right now, that even though you may not have all the things others have, your life will be rich and rewarding and satisfying. This is God's part in the work of discipleship. Jesus did not come to call us to ultimate barrenness, weakness, darkness, and death. He called us to life, to richness, to enjoyment, to fulfillment. But He has told us that the way there means death. Discipleship ends in life, not in death. It ends in fulfillment and satisfaction. But the only way that we can find it is by means of a cross. Father, help me to make the choice for life, and not for death, that by Your power You will help me find the grace to say yes to You, Lord Jesus, and to enter into life by means of the cross. Life ApplicationIs relationship with Jesus radically changing our attitudes toward self and the way we live? What is God's plan for exchanging our death for His vibrant, timeless Life? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 16, 2023 6:05:50 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 16TH
The Glory That FollowsAfter six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. Mark 9:2 A remarkable event! There are four dramatic occurrences in this account that immediately capture our attention: First, there is the glorious change in the person of the Lord Himself: Suddenly, as they were with Jesus there on that mountain, His countenance altered. His face began to shine, His garments became white, and His whole being radiated glory. What happened to Jesus? We can only understand this when we see that what He did was to slip back into eternity, in a sense, back into his pre-human glory. It is evident therefore that our Lord did not have to die. That is one of the meanings of the transfiguration. It makes clear that He had no reason to pass through death. He could step back across the boundary of time into eternity without passing through death. The second thing that grips us is the account of the heavenly visitors, Moses and Elijah. The disciples seemed to have no difficulty at all in recognizing instantly who these men were. Jesus did not say, Now, Peter, James, and John, I'd like you to meet Moses and Elijah. No, they knew instantly who they were. There will be no need for introductions in glory. The third element of great interest in this account is the proposal that Peter makes. After hearing these men discussing these strange events together, Peter, in his usual manner, interrupts: Master, it is good for us to be here. This is tremendous! Let's make three booths and live here. Let's settle down here and make this our world headquarters. We'll make one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He evidently has in mind that they would transform that mountain into the headquarters for the worldwide reformation movement that was going to start. They would operate right from that mountain, as the center of all activity. That shows how foolish he was and how little he understood what Jesus had been trying to tell him. Someone has said that there are only two kinds of speakers: those who have something to say, and those who have to say something! Peter was someone who just had to say something. So he makes this proposal that they make this their headquarters for a great campaign to take over the world. But he scarcely had gotten the words out when he was interrupted, and the fourth dramatic event occurred. Suddenly they were overshadowed with a cloud. It is my conviction that it was the identical cloud mentioned in the Old Testament, which hovered over the tabernacle during the day--the glory of God, called the shekinah. They heard a voice speaking out of the cloud saying, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him. There is no doubt that this is a correction of Peter's brash statement. The Father Himself is saying, Peter, do not put Jesus on a par with Moses and Elijah. You listen to Him. He is the one of whom Moses and Elijah spoke. He is the one who fulfilled all the predictions of the prophets and the sacrifices of the law. Listen to Him; this is my beloved Son. Lord. I am grateful for this preview of glory. Teach me to stand back in awe at who You are and what You have planned for me. Life ApplicationJesus' disciples witnessed an eye-opening revelation of the majesty and deity of Jesus. What are the amazing implications for us as we read of His transfiguration? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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Post by Obadiah on Jan 17, 2023 5:43:26 GMT -8
A DAILY DEVOTION FOR JANUARY 17TH
Who Is The Greatest?Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. Mark 9:35
Our Lord evidently knew what these disciples had been talking about. So when they get into the house at Capernaum, He asks them, What were you discussing on the way?--a simple, normal question--but He is met by embarrassed silence because they had been discussing who was the greatest among them. Somehow that did not sound right in the presence of Jesus. It would be wonderful if we always had this awareness that what we say and think is being done in His presence. It would make us feel differently about many things. We are not told how this argument came about. I suspect that it was occasioned by the events of the transfiguration. James, Peter, and John had been chosen to go up on the mountain with the Lord and to observe this marvelous sight. Jesus had strictly charged them to tell no one what they had seen. I believe they kept this charge. But it is quite possible to keep a secret in such a way as to make everybody agog to find out more. When they came back, the others probably asked, What happened up there? And they said, Oh, we're not permitted to say. One of these days perhaps we might be able to tell you, but you ordinary disciples are excluded from this for now. And then, of course, the argument readily arose as to who was the greatest. To answer this, Jesus gave them a marvelously revealing statement. He told them the truth about ambition. Notice He did not rebuke them for wanting to be greatest. Never does He take them to task because of their desire. God has somehow built into every human heart the desire to succeed at whatever we do. He did not rebuke them, for this is part of our humanity--to want to succeed. What He did do was to tell them the true way to greatness. It is not by seeking to be first, He said. It is by a willingness to be last. It is not by getting people to serve you; it is by becoming a servant of all. There are two kinds of ambition. There is the ambition to be approved and applauded by people, and the ambition to be approved and applauded by God. There are those who want to gain fame and attention and influence and power. The measurement of the ambition to be great before people is always How many serve me? How much power do I exercise over others? How wide is the extent of my influence? Who of us has not suffered many times from this desire to be known, to be admired, to be considered great? But Jesus points out that true greatness is never found there. The measure of true greatness is How many do I serve? How many can I help? This is the mark of greatness in the eyes of God. Christianity is a radical faith! It is exactly the opposite of the natural instincts of the heart. Our natural inclinations will get us deeper and deeper into trouble. Though we may achieve a form of greatness in the eyes of people, it will turn into cobwebs and ashes in our hands. Teach me the meaning of these words in the depths of my heart. Help me to strive for that greatness that will shine throughout eternity. Life ApplicationWhat does Jesus teach as a radically different criterion for greatness and power? Do our lives reflect a growing understanding and application of His teaching & example? Daily Devotion © 2006, 2023 by Ray Stedman Ministries.
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