Thursday, May 30, 2013

THE WORD CONVICTS


Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
The Word convicts
When the king heard what was written in the law, he tore his clothes in despair.
2 Chronicles 34:19 NLT
A rampage of revival
If Josiah, kind of Judah, had kept a journal, we might have noted this first significant entry: "Eight years old today" (2 Chronicles 34:1). At that tender age, Josiah had a scepter thrust into his hand. Yet he didn't let the super-responsibilities of those years allow him to forget his Creator. Rather, he "did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight." (34:2)
Another important entry might have been "Sixteen years old today" (2 Chronicles 34:3). That's when Josiah began to rid his country of the pagan shrines, idols, and images that had accumulated during the reigns of prior kings. After he purified the land, Josiah ordered the repair and restoration of the temple.
"Twenty-six years old" (2 Chronicles 34:8) was the midpoint of Josiah's 31-year reign. It was also Back-to-the-Word time. When Hilkiah the high priest stumbled across the "Book of the Law of the Lord as it had been given to Moses" (34:14) and had it read to Josiah, the king was devastated.
Josiah went on a rampage of revival, first making his people covenant to obey the Lord and his laws. Second, he destroyed all idols and required everyone to worship the Lord. And third, he initiated a Passover celebration on a scale that hadn't been seen since the time of the prophet Samuel.
Josiah did everything he could to bring Judah back to God and the treasury of his Word, but the clock of God's favor was running out. Sadly, because the people tired of Josiah's revival, within twenty-five years of Josiah's death, Jerusalem was destroyed and all it people taken in to captivity.
Adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotions from the editors of Men of Integrity, a publication of Christianity Today International (Tyndale, 2002), entry for April 11.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

EVERY WORD IS TRUE

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Every word is true
Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection.
Proverbs 30:5 NLT

We must both affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and then live under it.
Francis Schaeffer
The perfect word
In a world of shifting loyalties, devious cons, and ever-evolving ideas, we need to know where to anchor our souls. We aren't diligent enough to analyze every counterfeit that comes our way, nor are we perceptive enough to expose every false philosophy. Human rationalism is not equipped to establish eternal truth. That's why we need help. Only God can point us in the right direction.
It's a comfort when we are searching for absolutes to actually find them. According to this proverb, such absolute truth will shield us. What from? Every subtle deceit, every malicious word, every doctrinal error, and every false messiah. Much to our dismay, the world is full of empty promises. If we are left to ourselves to figure them all out, we will spend our lives tossed around on tumultuous waves of competing "truths." By the time we obtain understanding by our own efforts, it's too late to settle on the foundation of God's wisdom. In short, we need to be anchored in revelation.
How do we do that? A daily time in God's Word is a good first step. It works truth into our minds on a regular basis. But is that really enough?
Here's a good pattern to follow: First, ask God every day to convince your heart of His truth and to give you discernment of lies. Second, find at least one verse a week to memorize. Chew on it, let it sink in, look at it from every angel, and come up with specific ways to apply it. Third, don't just study God's Word. Fall in love with it. Consume it as voraciously as your favorite meal. God has a way of working into our hearts the things we love. If we love the flawless Word, the flawless Word will dwell within us.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 17.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL AND WHY IT ISN'T THE GOSPEL

Your Brother Daniel
For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsword.blogspot.com
The Prosperity Gospel and why it isn’t the Gospel
When they came to arrest Him in the Garden:
  • Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when darkness reigns." (Luke 22:52-53)
It is also in the darkness that the cults reign. None of them encourage the light of reason. If anything, they discourage it lest their manipulations come to light, and lest it be seen that their teachings fail to match up with Scripture. Those who lead false revivals often have counseled that the use of the mind is at odds with the operation of the Spirit. One visitor to the Anaheim Vineyard church reported this admonition:
  • “And above all, don't try to rationally evaluate the things you will see. God isn't trying to reach your mind; He wants to reach your heart. Analyzing spiritual phenomena through the grid of human logic or religious presuppositions is the quickest way to quench what the Spirit is doing. Subjecting the revival to doctrinal tests is the surest way to put out the fire. Don't try to find reasonable explanations for what is happening; just turn your heart loose and let the Spirit flow through your emotions. Only then can the Spirit have His way in your life.” http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil//articles/laugh.htm
According to this Vineyard church, our minds are worse than a hindrance; they are an insurmountable obstacle to God’s purposes! However, the false revivalists conveniently leave out a number of verses like the admonition to love the Lord with all of our minds (Mat. 22:37) and to exercise discernment – testing all things (1 Thes. 5:19-21).
The prosperity ministry – the name-it-claim-it preachers – would have us simply ignore or dismiss the truth. Joel Osteen had taught:
  • “Our words are vital in bringing our dreams to pass. It’s not enough to simply see it by faith or in your imagination. You have to begin speaking words of faith over your life. Your words have enormous creative power. The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it.”  “Just look in the mirror and say ‘I am strong, I am healthy. I’m rising to new levels, I’m excited about my future.’ When you say that, it may not be true. You may not be very healthy today, or maybe you don’t have a lot of things to look forward to, but Scripture tells us in Romans we have to call the things that are not as if they already were.” (CRJ, Hunter)
Scripture never gives us the license to play fast-and-loose with the truth. All truth is God’s truth. It belongs to Him and we are not at liberty to tamper with it. He tells us that He requires truth in the depths of our being:
  • Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)
Our Lord wants us to reside in the light – in the embrace of wisdom. Using our tongues to distort the truth is simply not part of His program for us. Telling others that we don’t have cancer, when we do, is a refusal to walk in His light. It will also bring disrepute upon the church!

Instead, our tongues must be servants of the light – the truth of God. Therefore, they must always speak the truth, as James instructed:

  • Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)
When we use our tongues in a presumptuous manner by claiming that we will get rich through trading or that we will obtain a certain blessing that is not Scripturally guaranteed, we speak evil and “boast in arrogance.” Instead, what we say must always conform to the truth. According to James, we are a mere “vapor.” Therefore, we are in no position to make arrogant claims about the future!
Osteen claims that Romans 4:17 gives us the license to speak as if we have things that we really do not as yet have:
  • God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.
Indeed, God has the power to call things into existence by speaking. However, there is nothing in this verse to suggest that we are endowed with such power. Instead, James claims that we are not so endowed.
Prosperity preachers also resort to Proverbs 18:21 to prove that we have been given this power:
  • The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
However, this verse falls far short of affirming that our tongues have supernatural power to call things into existence. Yes, the tongue does have “the power of life and death,” but this is a psychological or interpersonal power. Our words can build people up or tear them down. We can instruct others in the way of truth or the way of deceit.
Prosperity preachers also misdirect their audience away from the true Gospel. They encourage us to seek the wrong things, as James claimed:
  • When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)
What are wrong motives? Self-gratification! This is not to say that our God will not provide gratifying blessings. He will! But this should not be our focus. Instead, our focus must be His kingdom and righteousness. As a consequence, He’ll give us everything we truly need (Mat. 6:33).
Instead, prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar defined the Gospel this way:
·               “What’s the Gospel to those who are poor? Prosperity! What’s the Gospel to those who lack? Prosperity! And if you don’t preach it, then you won’t be able to do anything about it, then you won’t be able to do anything about the poverty situation.” (Hunter, CRJ, 24.)
However, the Gospel is not a matter of prosperity. The Book of Hebrews informs us that, often, the exemplars of faith fell far short of prosperity:
  • They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 11:37-38)
Instead, according to Paul, the Gospel is about contentment:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (1 Tim. 6:6-9)
Contrary to the prosperity gospel, Paul wrote that the desire for prosperity is “harmful” and can “plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
The prosperity ministry also fails to recognize the need for suffering and brokenness. Paul wrote that:
·               Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. (2 Cor. 4:16-18; NKJV)
According to the Gospel, trials are necessary for growth into Christ-liken-ness. Our “renewal” can only take place as we look in faith towards the heavenly and not the hope of earthly prosperity.
The prosperity ministry is popular, but will it build up the body of Christ? Does it arm us with truth or a set of unrealistic expectations? More importantly, is it faithful to our Lord and His Word? Let Scripture be the judge!

DISPLAYING GOD'S GLORY

DISPLAYING GOD'S GLORY

READ:
Romans 8:1-10

Those who live according
to the Spirit, [live according
to] the things of the Spirit.
-Romans 8:5

I love baseball and have been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid.  I especially enjoy following the Detroit Tigers.  But during a recent season, the Tigers' poor play and losing record early in the season frustrated me greatly.  So for my own personal well-being, I took a break.  I spent 4 days avoiding anything to do with my favorite team.

During those 4 Tiger-less days, I began to contemplate how difficult it is to give up things we're grown accustomed to.  Yet there are times when God may want us to.

For instance, we may be involved in an activity that has become all-encompassing-and we know it would be best to limit it (see 1 Corinthians 6:12).  Or we may have a habit or practice that we know misses the mark of pleasing God, and we realize that we need to let it go because we love Him and want Him to be glorified through us (15:34).

When we do find things that interfere with our relationship with the Lord, with His help we can stop.  God has given us the provision (1 Corinthians 10:13), and the Spirit provides the power (Romans 8:5).

Let's ask Him to help us not let anything block His glory from shining through. - Dave Branon

You are perfect, Lord, and we are so far from
perfect.  Please chip away at our imperfections
through the work of Your Holy Spirit.  Help us
each day to grow more and more like You.
**************************************
Drawing close to Christ produces
a growing Christlikeness.

INSIGHT
Because of human weakness, the exacting requirements of the Old Testament law could never justify the believer before God (v.3).  Now, because of Christ's atoning death on the cross and victorious resurrection from the dead, the believer has been given the gift of the Holy Spirit (v.4).  It is He who empowers the believer to live a life pleasing to God.

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace


Monday, May 27, 2013

TRUE SACRIFICE


TRUE SACRIFICE

READ:
Romans 5:1-11

Greater love has no one than
this, than to lay down one's life
for his friends. -John 15:13

Eric was one of the good guys.  As a police officer, he saw his work as service to his community and was fully committed to serving at all costs.  Evidence of this desire was seen on the door of Eric's locker at the police station, where he posted John 15:13.

In that verse, our Lord said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."  Those words, however, were not merely noble ideals.  They expressed Eric's commitment to his duty as a police officer-a commitment that demanded the ultimate price when he was killed in the line of duty.  It was a real-life display of the heart of true sacrifice.

Jesus Christ lived out the powerful words of John 15:13 within hours of stating them.  The upper room event where Jesus spoke of such sacrifice was followed by communion with the Father at Gethsemane, a series of illegal trials, and then crucifixion before a mocking crowd.

As the Son of God, Jesus could have avoided the suffering, torture, and cruelty.  He was utterly without sin and did not deserve to die.  But love, the fuel that drives true sacrifice, drove Him to the cross.  As a result, we can be forgiven if we will accept His sacrifice and resurrection by faith.  Have you trusted the One who laid down His life for you? -Bill Crowder

'Twas not a martyr's death He died,
The Christ of Calvary;
It was a willing sacrifice
He made for you-for me.-Adams
*****************************
Only, Jesus, the perfect sacrifice,
can declare guilty people perfect.

INSIGHT
Today's reading is one of the most dramatic and comforting expressions of the impact of Christ's act of redemption.  Since it is rare that someone would die for another, even for a worthy person, the apostle marvels that the Innocent One would die for sinners (vv.6-8), making reconciliation with God possible through His redemptive sacrifice on our behalf (vv.9-11).

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace

BLESSED REST

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Blessed rest
Blessed are those who die in the Lord…They are blessed indeed, for they will rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them!
Revelation 14:13 NLT
From killers to converts
In January 1956 the news media told the world how five missionaries had been martyred by members of a primitive Ecuadorian tribe, the Waodani, popularly known until recently as the "Aucas." What happened to the tribe after that fateful day?
Rachel Saint, the sister of slain missionary Nate Saint, had already learned their language from Dayuma, who had fled from her tribe ten years earlier. As Rachel learned the language, Dayuma learned more and more of what Christ's love could mean for her personally. She finally confessed her faith in Christ to become the first convert. In 1957 Betty Elliot, who continued serving in Ecuador after the death of her husband, Jim, made contact with two women who had left the tribe, looking for Dayuma.
Over time, Dayuma was able to return and share the gospel with her fellow Waodani. One by one they began to put their trust in the Lord Jesus (including the five men who had murdered the missionaries).
Rachel Saint began the translation of the New Testament into Waorani, the official language of the tribe. It was completed by Catherine Peake and Rose Jung. On June 11, 1992, the Waodani finally received the New Testament in their language. The "Auca Five" did not die in vain.
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 11.
Digging Deeper: End of the Spear by Steve Saint (Tyndale, 2005), son of Nate Saint, chronicles the story of the encounter with the Ecuadorian tribe, which also became a major motion picture. Also read Through Gates of Splendor, the original telling of the story by Elizabeth Elliot (Tyndale, 1986).
Content i s derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

CONSUME MY LIFE

Today's promise: God's Word is powerful
Consume my life
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Jim Elliot, 1949

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.
Jim Elliot, 1948
Jim Elliot's prayer
When he died [at the hands of the Auca Indians], Jim left little of value, as the world regards values.…Of material things, there were few; a home in the jungle, a few well-worn clothes, books, and tools. The men who went to try to rescue the five [missionaries — all of whom died] brought back to me from Jim's body his wrist watch, and from…the beach, the blurred pages of his college prayer-notebook. There was no funeral, no tombstone for a memorial.…No legacy then? Was it "just as if he had never been"? Jim left for me, in memory, and for us all, in these letters and diaries, the testimony of a man who sought nothing but the will of God, who prayed that his life would be "an exhibit of the value of knowing God."
The interest which accrues from this legacy is yet to be realized. It is hinted at in the lives of…Indians who have determined to follow Christ, persuaded by Jim's example; in the lives of many who write to tell me of a new desire to know God as Jim did.…His death was the result of simple obedience to his Captain.
Jim Elliot and four other missionaries met their deaths trying to reach the Auca Indians for Christ.
Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty
Adapted from The Prayer Bible Jean E. Syswerda, general editor, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), p375.
Digging Deeper: End of the Spear by Steve Saint (Tyndale, 2005), son of Nate Saint, chronicles the story of the encounter with the Ecuadorian tribe, which also became a major motion picture.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

Friday, May 24, 2013

HIDDEN BLESSINGS IN THE BOOK OF RUTH

Your Brother Daniel
For more great blogs as this one go to Daniel’s blog site at:  www.Mannsword.blogspot.com
Hidden Blessings in the Book of Ruth
The sweetest blessings are the ones far beyond our reach – the ones that seem unattainable, the ones for which we must wait the longest. The Book of Ruth is a book of delayed and completely unexpected blessing.
Because of a severe draught, Naomi and her husband left Israel to settle in a foreign land – Moab. Her husband died shortly after this. Her two sons married women of the land. However, before they conceived, both of her sons died and Naomi was left with two seemingly barren Moabitess daughters-in-law – Orpah and Ruth – and without hope of grandchildren.
It seemed as if her life was over. She had lost everything. It even seemed that “the hand of the Lord had gone against” her. She therefore ordered her daughters-in-law to return to their families where they would have better prospects of finding a real life.
Meanwhile, Naomi had heard that the draught in Israel had lifted, and she was determined to return. Orpah returned to her people. However, Ruth wouldn’t, and she memorably pleaded:
·        “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

Nevertheless, Naomi had despaired of her faith in the wake of such misfortune. Upon her return to Bethlehem, when she was greeted by her old friends, she responded with gloom:
·        “Don’t call me Naomi [pleasant],” she told them. “Call me Mara [bitter], because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” (Ruth 1:20-21)
Back in Israel, the young Ruth proved her virtue. Instead of receiving the attentions of young suitors, she offered herself to Boaz, Naomi’s relative – the one man by whom Ruth could bare grandchildren for Naomi (Ruth 3:10)!
By the inscrutable grace of God, she conceived immediately and bore a child named Obed. This turned out to be such a wonderful and unexpected blessing that:
·        The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!  He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” (Ruth 4:14-15)
Grandchildren were considered a great blessing, far more than they are today. There is no doubt that the women had any idea that their invocation regarding a “guardian protector” was prophetic. However, Naomi’s grandson Obed had been fated to beget Jesse, and Jesse, David the King of Israel.
We cannot contain such honor unless we have been prepared for it through periods of tears and loss. The more the cistern is carved and scraped out, the more water it will hold. The more disappointments and hardships, the greater capacity to contain blessing! Otherwise, the weeds of pride and arrogance, which abound in fertile soil, would choke out whatever good might be growing alongside.
Instead, we require a regular pruning to keep us healthy, as Jesus explained:
·        “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2)
Some trees will kill themselves by their own growth if not pruned. However, the Lord is close to those He has cut back, the broken-hearted (Isa. 57:15; 66:1-2). Through David would come the promised King Messiah, and in His lineage, we can find many of the broken-hearted. The foreigner Ruth, a Moabitess, is accompanied by the prostitute Rahab, and a woman who had lost a number of husbands – a woman who had to seduce her father-in-law, Judah, in order to have children.
Naomi had no idea of the glory that would proceed from her. She had thought herself a victim of God, but He was preparing for something glorious through her – for the Savior of the world.

HEAVENLY COUNTRY

HEAVENLY COUNTRY

READ:
Hebrews 11:8-16

Our citizenship is in heaven
-Philippians 3:20

During high school, my closest friend and I took a pair of horses out for an afternoon ride.  We slowly roamed through fields of wildflowers and wooded groves.  But when we nosed the horses in the direction of the barn, they took off toward home like twin rockets.  Our equine friends knew that it was time for dinner and a good brushing, and they could hardly wait.

As Christians, our true home is heaven (Philippians 3:20).  Yet sometimes our desires tether us to the here and now.  We enjoy God's good gifts-marriage, children, grandchildren, travel, careers, friends.  At the same time, the Bible challenges us to focus on "things above" (Colossians 3:1-2).  Things above may include the unseen benefits of heaven:  God's enduring presence (Revelations 22:3-5), unending rest (Hebrews 4:9), and an everlasting inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).

Recently I read, "Believers desire the heavenly inheritance; and the stronger the faith is, the more fervent [the desire]."  Several Old Testament believers mentioned in Hebrews 11 had strong faith in God that enabled them to embrace His promises before receiving them (v.13).  One such promise was heaven.  If we too put our faith in God, He will give us a desire for that "heavenly country" (v.16) and will loosen our grip on this world. -Jennifer Benson Schuldt

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory. -Hewitt
***************************************
For the Christian, heaven is spelled H-O-M-E.

INSIGHT
True saving faith expresses itself in obedient action.  In Hebrews 11, often referred to as the Hall of Faith, we read examples of how authentic faith leads to life-change.  Then and now, belief and action based on an unseen reality (v.1) produce acts of courage and perseverance.

Have a blessed day and weekend.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace

A VISION OF HEAVEN

Today's promise: Christ will return
A vision of heaven
Now I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
Revelation 19:11-13 NLT

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but is own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee, and hail Him as they matchless King through all eternity.
Crown Him with Many Crowns,
Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)
Crown Him with Many Crowns
Matthew Bridges became a convert to Roman Catholicism at the age of 48 and published this hymn three years later under the title "The Song of the Seraphs." Godfrey Thring, an Anglican clergyman, added several stanzas to the hymn about thirty years later, with Bridges's approval. So a Roman Catholic layman and an Anglican cleric, who probably never met, were coauthors of a hymn about heaven, where Christians of every tribe and tongue, as well as of every denomination, will crown Him Lord of all.
One of the aspects that Godfrey Thring felt was missing in the original was a stanza on the Resurrection, and so it was added. "His glories now we sing who died and rose on high, who died, eternal life to bring, and lives, that death may die."
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for May 16.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House