God has kept no secrets about this life. He has told us that we will experience trouble. Disease will afflict bodies. Divorce will break hearts. Death will make widows and devastation will destroy countries. We shouldn't expect any less.
Yet just because the devil shows up and cackles, we needn't panic. Jesus says in John 16:33, "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He speaks of an accomplished deed. "I HAVE overcome the world." It's finished. The battle is over.
Be alert but don't be alarmed. Satan is loosed for a season, but the season is oh, so brief. The devil knows this and Revelation 12:12 reminds us, "he is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short." Just a few more turns in the road, and his end will come! And we will have a new beginning.
From When Christ Comes
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[b];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Footnotes:
Psalm 100:3 Or and not we ourselves
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 18, 2016
Read: Genesis 39:1-12
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. 3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. 4 This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. 5 From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. 6 So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
10 She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. 11 One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. 12 She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
When to Walk Away
By Lawrence Darmani
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13
When my father became a Christian in his old age, he fascinated me with his plan for overcoming temptation. Sometimes he just walked away! For example, whenever a disagreement between him and a neighbor began to degenerate into a quarrel, my father just walked away for a time rather than be tempted to advance the quarrel.
One day he met with some friends who ordered pito (a locally brewed alcoholic beer). My father had formerly struggled with alcohol and had decided he was better off without it. So he simply stood up, said his goodbyes, and left the gathering of old friends for another day.
God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
In Genesis, we read how Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph. He immediately recognized that giving in would cause him to “sin against God,” so he fled (Gen. 39:9-12).
Temptation knocks often at our door. Sometimes it comes from our own desires, other times through the situations and people we encounter. As Paul told the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” But he also wrote, “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
The “way out” may include removing the objects of temptation or fleeing from them. Our best course of action may be to simply walk away.
Lord, please give me the wisdom and strength to know when to walk away from situations and people that tempt me to do wrong.
Every temptation is an opportunity to flee to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 18, 2016
Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?
…perfecting holiness in the fear of God. —2 Corinthians 7:1
“Therefore, having these promises….” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.
I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived— a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?
Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 18, 2016
Your Plans...HIS Plans - #7615
It had been a long ministry weekend in Chicago, and as I settled into my seat on the airplane. I was looking forward to being back home in New Jersey. The going home part of the trip is always the best part. I was quite surprised, needless to say, when the pilot addressed the passengers and said, "Some of you folks may have noticed we've been going north for a while." Now, you don't have to be a geography whiz to know New Jersey is not north of Chicago. We should have been flying east all the time! Great, we've got a rookie navigator.
The pilot went on to explain, "It looks like we're going to have to land in Detroit." Just what we had all been hoping for – a visit to Detroit on the way to New Jersey! And then came the explanation, "We seem to have developed a problem with our hydraulic system and we need to land at the nearest airport." Whoa! Detroit was starting to sound better all the time. Actually, we were greeted by a welcoming party of emergency vehicles as soon as we touched down in Detroit, and thankfully we were all right! That pilot sure changed what I'd planned for that day. I'm glad he did. It was for my good!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Plans...HIS Plans."
Our word for today from the Word of God, Mark 1:16-18, "As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and His brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed Him." They started their day as fishermen and they ended their day as disciples. What a day!
Mark 2:14, another incident that took place after that, "As (Jesus) walked along, He saw Levi...sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him." He would become Matthew, of course. Here's a man with a successful business position, in his office, a Jewish man, collecting money for the Roman government – great position! He wakes up a tax collector; he goes to bed a disciple.
In both cases and many others like them, Jesus changes people's plans like my pilot that day. He had the right to change our direction, and even though it didn't seem like a good idea at first, it later proved to be the very best thing for us. Peter and Levi could never have dreamed how significant their lives were about to become because they trusted Jesus enough to obey when He came to change their plans.
Have you pretty well laid out your course: your plans for your education, your career, financial security, your family, and retirement? And what about your relationship plans, goals for your ministry, plans for where you want to live, and suddenly you're hearing the voice of Jesus saying, "Follow me. This way." and we're talking a change of direction. Don't be afraid of taking that seemingly risky obedience. There's actually no such thing as a risky obedience. There is only a risky disobedience.
The One who gave you your life, who gave His life for you, is leading you into a change that He's been quietly preparing you for over a long time. He's actually moving you more and more into what you were born to be. Perhaps God wants to talk to you through verses that helped thrust my wife and me in the very ministry we're in right now.
Isaiah 43:18-19 changed our future. "Forget the former things;" God says, "do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." The Pilot is changing direction. It's not what you had planned; it's better than what you had planned.
You have nothing to fear when Jesus calls you to change your plans. Nothing, that is, except disobedience.
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