Jeremiah 33:2-3
"This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it – the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
August 4
Knowing God’s Will
Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life.... This is what my Father wants.
John 6:40 (NCV)
We learn God's will by spending time in his presence. The key to knowing God's heart is having a relationship with him. A personal relationship. God will speak to you differently than he will speak to others. Just because God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, that doesn't mean we should all sit next to a bush waiting for God to speak. God used a fish to convict Jonah. Does that mean we should have worship services at Sea World? No. God reveals his heart personally to each person.
For that reason, your walk with God is essential. His heart is not seen in an occasional chat or weekly visit. We learn his will as we take up residence in his house every single day....
Walk with him long enough and you come to know his heart.
From: The Great House of God
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1997)
Max Lucado
Philippians 3
No Confidence in the Flesh
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing on Toward the Goal
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
August 4, 2008
A Place To Stand
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READ: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 3:11
While taking a break during a ministry trip, we were snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea. The boat that had taken us to the deep water for better sites had gone back to shore, and I began to feel panicky about being in the open water. Finding it hard to control my breathing, I asked my son-in-law Todd and a friend, Dave Velzen, for help. They held my arms while I searched for an outcropping of coral close enough to the surface for me to stand on. Once I had a place to stand, even though surrounded by deep waters, I was okay.
Are you feeling a bit panicky about events in your life? Maybe it seems as if you are surrounded by the open waters of relationship problems, or money woes, or simply an inability to put your life in order. Perhaps you feel as if you are drowning in a sea of trials and trouble.
May I suggest two things? First, find a fellow Christian or two who can come beside you and hold you up (see Eccl. 4:10), pray for you, talk with you, and remind you that you are not alone. Then rest your feet on the only solid foundation in life: Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11).
Life’s troubles are too tough to take on alone. Get some help and find in Jesus a place to stand. — Dave Branon
God often meets our deepest need
With help we gain from others,
From caring members of His church—
Our sisters and our brothers. —Brown
Build your life on the solid foundation—Jesus Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 4, 2008
The Brave Friendship of God
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READ:
He took the twelve aside . . . —Luke 18:31
Oh, the bravery of God in trusting us! Do you say, "But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing good in me and I have no value"? That is exactly why He chose you. As long as you think that you are of value to Him He cannot choose you, because you have purposes of your own to serve. But if you will allow Him to take you to the end of your own self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him "to Jerusalem" ( Luke 18:31 ). And that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.
We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good Christian. It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ). God’s friendship is with people who know their poverty. He can accomplish nothing with the person who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not here for our own purpose at all— we are here for the purpose of God, and the two are not the same. We do not know what God’s compelling purpose is, but whatever happens, we must maintain our relationship with Him. We must never allow anything to damage our relationship with God, but if something does damage it, we must take the time to make it right again. The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Suddenly Empty - #5626 - August 4, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, August 4, 2008
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We were tooling across the backside of the Navajo reservation in this borrowed station wagon. Actually, some friends had loaned it to us so we could take some of our reservation team sightseeing. We could have gone back on the main road, but the back roads were shorter. So, I checked my gas tank before we set out through these long, unpopulated stretches: three-quarters of a tank - plenty of gas. We went about 30 miles and the car started sputtering to a stop - really in the middle of nowhere - true nowhere! We spent several nervous hours hoping and praying for a way back until this dear Navajo man stopped for us and he drove 60 miles round trip to bring us back some gas. It turned out that our gas gauge was broken. It sure looked like we were almost running on full, but we were running on empty.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Suddenly Empty."
It's a feeling that we all take our turn experiencing - suddenly empty. We've been cruising along through our life, feeling secure, registering a pretty full tank. Then an anchor relationship suddenly runs out of gas or our dream gets stopped in its tracks. What we've been counting on spiritually or emotionally lets us down. The plans fall apart. Like me riding along thinking I had all I needed for the journey, we are living in a false security - and suddenly that security is gone. And we are feeling very, very empty.
That's a feeling that a woman in Jesus' time understood very well. Her story is told in our word for today from the Word of God in John 4 beginning in verse 13. Jesus met her at a well where He engaged her in a conversation about being thirsty and the need to keep coming to the well to quench that thirst. Gradually, this woman began to realize that Jesus wasn't just talking about physical thirst. He was talking about the emotional and spiritual thirst that we all have for something that's lasting, something ultimately fulfilling.
The conversation reveals that she has been through a series of relationships with men, hoping that those men would somehow fill her up inside. But every relationship had eventually proven to be disappointing. No love had ever quenched her thirst or made her feel complete inside. She kept hoping the next relationship would do it, but she kept ending up empty. If empty is a feeling that you know all too well, you need to hear what Jesus told this woman.
Referring to all the earth-securities and earth-loves that we count on, Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Jesus says that His "eternal life" is the only thing that can fill us up forever. In fact, we were never meant to be running on earth-stuff.
The search for fulfillment ends in the arms of Jesus Christ. Your search for a sense of significance ends at the feet of the One who made you. Your search for a love that will never disappoint you ends at the cross of Jesus Christ. That is where He died to remove the wall that keeps you from the God you were made for. The wall is made up of all the times that we've done it our way - all our "sins." Jesus loved you so much that He died the death penalty that you deserve so you could finally belong to God and you could finally experience that ultimate love.
That relationship begins when you tell Jesus that you're counting totally on Him to forgive your sin and to give you a relationship with your Creator-God. He's waiting for you to extend that invitation right now.
If you're ready to begin the one relationship that will finally fill up your heart, I want to encourage you to tell Jesus right now, "Jesus, I'm Yours." And I would love to send you my little booklet Yours For Life. And you can call toll free to get that. It will take you right through how to be sure you belong to Jesus. You can get it by calling 877-741-1200. Or you can go right to our website and get it at YoursForLife.net. Right there is all the information you need to know that you belong to Jesus Christ.
So many times you thought you had what would fill you up, but it ran out of gas. You're empty again, but maybe for the last time. Because you're about to let Jesus fill that hole in your heart once and for all.
