Blog Archives
Our Daily Bread – Faith With Works
Read: James 2:14-26
Because of his arthritis, Roger could no longer handle the winters of Illinois, so he moved to tropical Bangkok, Thailand. One day he remembered his grandmother’s favorite song, “What You Are”: What you are speaks so loud that the world can’t hear what you say; they’re looking at your walk, not listening to your talk; they’re judging from your actions every day.
This song prompted Roger to feed the homeless who stayed along a half-mile stretch of road. Every morning, he served hot food to more than 45 families. Years later, one of the homeless women came to know Jesus as Savior and sought out Roger to thank him for introducing her to the love of Christ.
In James, we are clearly told that faith without works is dead (2:17). It does not mean that works will result in faith, but that good works will affirm that our faith is real. It is easy to say we believe in God, but only our works can prove the truthfulness of our words. Abraham was an example of this. He didn’t just talk about his faith; he demonstrated it by his willingness to give up his only son in obedience to God (James 2:21-24; see Gen. 22:1-18). And Isaac was spared.
Today, how can we actively demonstrate our love for God and trust in Him?
And give to the hungering, bread—
Faith means much more than a doctrine or two,
For faith without works is dead. —Woodrum
An Ant’s Life
by Joyce Meyer – posted August 01, 2012
But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]. —1 Corinthians 9:27
Paul is speaking here about self-control, self-denial, restraining the appetite, and subduing the flesh. Self-discipline is keeping yourself going in the right direction without someone making you do so. The problem is that somehow people have gotten the wrong idea that everything in life is supposed to be easy.
Proverbs 6:6-8 talks about the ant, “which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest.”
You need to be like the ant. You need to be a person who is self-motivated and self-disciplined; who does what is right because it is right, not because someone may be looking or because someone is making you do it.
From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2004 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Our Daily Bread – Take Notice
Read: Ruth 2:13-20
While standing in a checkout line, I was estimating my bill and trying to keep my son from wandering away. I barely noticed when the woman ahead of me shuffled toward the exit, leaving all of her items behind. The clerk confided that the woman didn’t have enough money to pay her bill. I felt terrible; if only I had been aware of her situation earlier, I would have helped her.
In the book of Ruth, Boaz became aware of Ruth’s plight when he saw her gleaning in his fields (2:5). He learned that she was recently widowed and was the breadwinner for herself and her mother-in-law. Boaz saw her need for protection, and warned his harvesters to leave her alone (v.9). He supplied her with extra food by instructing his workers to let grain fall purposely (v.16). Boaz even addressed Ruth’s emotional needs by comforting her (vv.11-12). When Naomi heard about this, she said, “Blessed be the one who took notice of you” (v.19).
Are you aware of the needs of the people around you—in your church, neighborhood, or under your own roof? Today, consider how you might help bear someone’s burden. Then you will be fulfilling God’s plan for you (Gal. 6:2; Eph. 2:10).
The hurting, sick, and lost;
Guide me as I help them
Regardless of the cost. —Schuldt
Don’t Miss The Season Of Grace
Today’s Scripture:
For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. – Proverbs 1:32, NKJV.
Today’s Word With Joel & Victoria Osteen:
God will never ask you to do something without giving you the ability to do it. You may get passive or complacent and think, “Yes, I know I need to do that. Maybe next week.” Well, next week turns into next month. Next month turns into next year. When we put off what God has told us to do, we miss that season of grace. But, if you’ll deal with things as soon as God brings them to light, you’ll have a special grace, a special empowerment. You’ll feel God’s enabling power helping you to do it.
Today, is there something you’re putting off? Something you know in heart that you are supposed to do? Don’t let the season of grace pass. Don’t let complacency destroy you. Your destiny stands before you. God has something amazing in your future. Be bold, be strong. Step out in faith, be obedient, and embrace the good things God has in store for you!
Prayer For Today:
Father, thank You for the grace to do exactly what You’ve called me to do. I choose to step out in faith; I choose to follow Your commands. I choose to be faithful because I know that You are faithful. I love You and bless You today and always in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Copyright © 2012 Joel Osteen Ministries
Our Daily Bread – But God
Read: Romans 5:8-11
Howard Sugden, my pastor when I was in college, preached many memorable sermons. After all these years, the one titled “But God . . .” still makes me stop whenever I come to those words in the Bible. Here are a few examples of verses that encourage me with the reminder of God’s righteous intervention in human affairs:
“You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to . . . save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).
“Their beauty shall be consumed in the grave . . . . But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave” (Ps. 49:14-15).
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26).
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8).
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . . the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9-10).
Whenever you feel discouraged, look up some “but God” verses and be reassured of God’s involvement in the lives of those who love Him.
Marital Secrets
Secret-keeping is unhealthy and destroys trust—particularly in marriages.
Article courtesy of Light University Online, the #1 Online School for Biblical Counseling, Life Coaching & Crisis Response Training
“Please don’t tell Daddy!”
When I picked Megan up from school, I knew something was wrong. As we made our way to the car, she looked up at me with sad eyes, “Mom, I’ve got something to tell you,” she said. “I got a warning card today. But let’s keep it a secret and not tell Dad. He’ll be so disappointed.”
I gently explained to Megan that Daddy and Mommy feel it is important not to keep secrets from each other and it would be best to let Dad know about the warning. After discussing it, she reluctantly agreed. Later that night, she learned how difficult but freeing it can be to face someone you love with a disappointing or painful revelation.
Webster defines a secret as something kept hidden, unexplained, or from the knowledge of others. Synonyms for secrets paint a dark portrait… covert, stealthy, underhanded. The obvious conclusion is that secret-keeping is unhealthy and destroys trust—particularly in marriages.
The Down Side
A healthy
marriage has little or no room for secrets. Unfortunately, some couples regularly keep marital secrets. Like Megan, they would rather concentrate on the motivating factors that keep secrets from being revealed.
A secret can be as seemingly insignificant as hiding the extra money spent on your golf clubs or as important as “covering” for a dishonest child. Other forms of secret-keeping include privately carrying the weight of drug abuse, hiding an addiction, or allowing undiscussed issues such as abuse to adversely affect the marriage.
Secrets are usually maintained for two key reasons—fear and shame. Fear includes the sense that something bad could happen as a result of disclosure of a secret. Shame included the ongoing embarrassment and unresolved guilt that result from a secret. However, failure to disclose results in a double bind—a lose-lose type of proposition. If I do disclose, it may bring irreparable harm to my marriage. But if I don’t disclose or continue with my secret, I will never resolve the guilt and shame that I am carrying—and surely this will erode the marriage over time. The end result leaves the secret-keeper confused, fearful, and walking on a tightrope.
Tell Everything?
Couples often ask, “Is it necessary to go back and drag out all of our dirty laundry and discuss in every detail our past?” Several guidelines we have found helpful include:
First, remember that honesty must always take first place in your marriage. Although Scripture doesn’t speak directly about secret-keeping in marriage, it speaks plainly and often regarding secrets, honesty, and dishonesty in every relationship (Psalm 19:12; 90:8; Proverbs 27:5; Romans 2:16; Ephesians 4:25).
We believe that honesty is central to personal and marital maturity. And when you allow or commit to an unwavering trust, the marital response to personal issues of the past and present need to be cloaked with grace, kindness, and love and are not driven by fear, chaos, and suspicion.
Secondly, keep in mind that not every secret (of past or present) is fully known or accurately remembered. Therefore, recalling and disclosing honestly a secret in every detail is unlikely.
You do not have to know all for love to grow and trust to flourish in your marriage. You must also ask yourself another important question. “Is the information you are withholding harmful to the marital bond?” If the secret has the potential to cause damage, or if it is in any way jeopardizing the level of intimacy desired and required for your love to grow, then it needs to be disclosed.
Finally, do not get hung up on the past. If the secret is in the past—has been forgiven andresolved—and is not relevant to or helpful in the present, it is not necessarily important to disclose it. Often times, the desire to attain information about a spouse’s forgiven past is for selfish reasons and only causes more pain than good.
If you have a troubling secret to disclose, what should you do? We would encourage you to seek outside help. Bring in a third party who can provide guidance on how and when to disclose with the ultimate goal of keeping the marital bond strong. Pray individually and as a couple for God’s protection on your relationship.
Just for Thought
There are no secrets with God. Keep your marital bond pure. Because the sins we cover, God will uncover. And the sins that we uncover, God will cover.
Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved.
Black Couple Denied Wedding At Mississippi Church
An African-American couple attending a predominantly white Baptist church in Jackson, Miss., nearly had their dream of a church wedding dashed when members of the congregation demanded that the nuptials be held elsewhere because of their race.
“The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if he went on to marry her, then they would vote him out the church,” Charles Wilson told local news station WAFB-TV.
Wilson and his wife, commenting on how the Rev. Stan Weatherford of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs decided to perform their wedding ceremony at a different church, said racism was to blame.
“I feel like it was blatant racial discrimination,” Wilson told the Clarion-Ledger.
“He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple,” said Te’Andrea Wilson. “I didn’t like it at all, because I wasn’t brought up to be racist. I was brought up to love and care for everybody.”
Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson are not members of FBC of Crystal Springs, but had been regular attendees, with Mrs. Wilson having family ties to the congregation. Her father used to attend the church and she has an uncle who was a custodian there.
“Prior to this, I had been telling people how nice they were here,” Charles Wilson said. “It makes you re-evaluate things. We were doing everything right. We wanted to get married.”
The Wilsons did get married on July 21 as planned, just not in the church where they had hoped to hold the ceremony.
No black couple has ever been married at First Baptist Church of Crystal Cathedral. Pastor Weatherford has said that members would be holding meetings to see how to go forward to avoid future situations similar to the one involving the Wilsons.
According to insiders at the 150-year-old First Baptists Church of Crystal Springs, about five or six people had approached Weatherford about the planned ceremony after witnessing a rehearsal at the church two days before the Saturday wedding.
Wilson only learned after the fact that it was reportedly a handful of people who challenged having the ceremony held at the church. He insisted that Weatherford should have pushed back instead of giving in to congregants’ demands.
“If you’re for Christ, you can’t straddle the fence,” he told the Clarion-Ledger. “He knew it was wrong.”
Weatherford, calling himself a peacemaker, said he felt it necessary to comply with requests to move the wedding ceremony elsewhere.
“I was just trying to think about a win-win,” the pastor explained. “The thing is, I’m a peacemaker, and sometimes because I’m a peacemaker it gets me in trouble. The thing about it is this: I love the people of our church and that’s the bottom line.”
Weatherford insisted his primary concerns were keeping peace at the church and making sure the Wilsons could enjoy their wedding day.
“I didn’t want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn’t want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te’Andrea. I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day,” the pastor told a local news station.
Others have suggested that Weatherford was essentially bullied into performing the wedding ceremony elsewhere and that the dissenting members do not represent the entire congregation.
“Some individuals intimidated the pastor and created a situation that had him in a bind and he was trying to do the best he could to work it out,” church attendee Bob Mack told WLBT-TV.
African-Americans in Jackson who have visited the church or have relationships with its members have defended it against claims of racism.
Church members also have apologized to the Wilsons and the local black community, denying that their church is home to a racist congregation.
Barbara Marck, a member of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, said the church’s image has been overshadowed by a few bad apples.
“We have been portrayed as a racist church, we’re not! We welcome anybody that wants to come through those doors,” she said.
The Rev. Jim Futral, executive director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, said the situation at FBC of Crystal Springs was a “sad thing.”
“It’s not reflective of the spirit of the Lord and Mississippi Baptists,” he said. “It’s just a step backward. … It’s a sad thing.”
Saying much progress had been made in the denomination, Futral admitted that this step was definitely “one backward.”
The racism row comes just one month after the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant body in in the U.S., elected its first African-American president, the Rev. Frank Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, La.
Source: The Christian Post
Don’t Delay
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments.” (Psalm 119:60, NKJV)
TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria Osteen
Isn’t it interesting how easy it is to put things off? We plan on doing something. We have good intentions. We just plan to do it later. “One day I’m going to start exercising. One day I’m going to get my finances in order. One day I’m going to forgive that person who hurt me.” The problem with this kind of thinking is that “one day” never comes. There will always be some reason to keep delaying it.
Is there something in your heart that you know you need to do? Maybe God has been dealing with you, and you keep putting it off. You think, “As soon as I get through this busy season, then I’ll spend more time with my family. As soon as the price of gas goes down, then I’ll start tithing my income. As soon as my child gets out of diapers, then I’m going to get my family back in church.” But friend, good intentions don’t equal obedience. The quicker you do what you feel down in your spirit, the happier you’re going to be. Don’t let unfinished business keep you from God’s best. Step out. Obey His voice and walk in the blessing He has for you!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, thank You for Your patience and grace toward me. Search my heart. Show me the way to go. I choose to obey Your voice quickly and honor You in all that I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.
— Joel & Victoria Osteen
© 2012 Joel Osteen Ministries
Our Daily Bread – Recall Notice
READ: Acts 3:13-21
Repent . . . that your sins may be blotted out. —Acts 3:19
In 2010, auto manufacturers recalled a staggering 20 million cars in the US for various defects. The thought of such a large number of defective cars on the road is startling enough. But what is more disturbing is the apathy of some owners. In one instance, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety warned owners, “It’s a free repair. Get it done. It may save your life.” Yet, despite the risk to their own lives, 30 percent never responded.
Likewise, many ignore God’s “recall notice” to the entire human race. Unlike a defect found in automobiles, the moral defect of the human race is not the Maker’s fault. He made everything “very good” (Gen. 1:31), but people’s sin ruined it. God’s offer to us is “repent . . . that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
God offers not just a free repair of the human heart but a replacement of it (Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 5:17). Though the offer costs us nothing (Eph. 2:8-9), it cost God the life of His only Son Jesus Christ. “[Jesus] bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Don’t ignore the Lord’s call. The free and permanent remedy offered by God for your spiritual defect will save your life! —C. P. Hia
The heart of man is stained by sin,
From Adam’s fall this has been true;
Yet God in Christ can make a change—
Through faith in Him we are made new. —Fitzhugh
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.
Copyright © 2012, RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA.
Love Jesus First
by Joyce Meyer posted July 30, 2012
Teacher, [You are essentially and perfectly morally] good, what must I do to inherit eternal life [that is, to partake of eternal salvation]? — Mark 10:17
In today’s Scripture a young man asked Jesus the question above and Jesus responded: “You know the commandments: Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:19).
The man replied to Jesus that he had obeyed all the commandments, for as long as he could remember. What happened next is extremely important: “And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him . . .” (Mark 10:21, emphasis mine).
Jesus is about to give this man an instruction because He loved him: ”You lack one thing; go and sell all you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come [and] accompany Me.”
Many people do not like this verse because they do not understand the heart of love behind it. They wonder, “Does God want to make us sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor in order to serve Him?” He would only ask us to do that if what we had was standing in the way of our being obedient to God. The point of this parable is that we should love Jesus first. We must love Him more than we love our “stuff,” which was not the case with the man in the story.
If you have a job that keeps you from serving God, find another job. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend who doesn’t want you to love God first, find someone else. If you really want a deeper walk with God, you may have to sacrifice some things that are keeping you from it.
Love God Today: Is anything standing between you and God? Make the situation right today.
From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
I Am Lady Fab 