Helpless: November 11, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016.

HELPLESS

 

DEFINITION:

Unable to help oneself; weak or dependent; without aid or protection; powerless; incapacitated.

SCRIPTURE:

Some came and reported to Jehoshaphat that a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea. Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. II Chronicles 20:2-3

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Have you ever felt totally helpless? Can you remember facing a situation or emergency in which you were completely powerless? To say the least, it is a sobering experience for anyone to go through.
Jehoshaphat faced a moment like that. The good king was confronted with dangerous news. Three different armies had joined their forces together with the goal of defeating Israel.
He was told that “a great multitude” of attackers were already on their way. What was the King’s response? Verse three tells us that he was afraid. That makes perfect sense. He no doubt felt utterly powerless.  The scripture does not tell us that he was afraid and ran away. It does not tell us that he was afraid but still charged headlong into battle.
What the scripture says is that he was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord. That was a perfect response to a helpless situation. The king knew this was not the time to give up or the time to take action motivated by fear. Instead, he held a prayer meeting and asked others to pray. Jehoshaphat confessed to God that he and his people were powerless (II Chronicles 20:12).
You hear the helplessness Jehoshaphat shared in his words as he prayed, “O God, will You not judge them, for we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” The whole situation then changed because God had been brought into a hopeless situation and now God was in charge.
God’s answer in II Chronicles 20:15 was, “Listen all Judah and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s’”
What an encouragement this was for Jehoshaphat. When we feel helpless and everyone seems to be against us we need to do as Jehoshaphat did. Pray and give the battle to God. Because Jehoshaphat trusted the Lord he did not even have to fight in the battle. God told him, “You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord.” God will always be there with you to give us the victory when we are willing to trust Him and give our battles to Him.
Jehoshaphat knew not only where to turn to for help but who to turn to and give the praise. After the victory Jehoshaphat led all the men to the temple of the Lord to praise the Lord. II Chronicles 20:28-29.
We all need encouragement when we feel helpless. At such times it is extremely valuable to recall how the Lord worked out situations for us and others in the past. Our faith is strengthened when we take His track record into account and remember God’s promise to be with us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Help me to never forget nor take for granted what You have done for others in times of helplessness. Keep my eyes upon You especially in times of despair and helplessness and seek Your help. I give You all the praise for the victories You have given me.

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Pray: November 10, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2016.

PRAY

 

DEFINITION:

To offer a devout petition, praise, thanks, to God. To communicate with a supreme being.

SCRIPTURE:

For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Everyone desires to have someone in their life who understands them and identifies with their circumstances and with whom they can share their thoughts and concerns. Jesus is that someone, and because of His death and resurrection we have the privilege of communicating with Him through prayer if we accept Him as our Savior and Lord. Through prayer we can have an intimate connection to God and come directly to His throne of grace.

Prayer is not about petitioning God to bend His will to conform to our desires. It is us seeking God’s will and submitting to it.

The dictionary defines prayer as not only devout petition but praise and thanks. So often our prayers are motivated by our selfish motives, so called needs and desires. How often do most of us pray just to thank God for His blessings to us and to praise Him for who He is and for His righteousness and goodness.

Many believers struggle with prayer because they do not feel that God hears them because they do not seem to get answers. There are several principles that one who knows Christ must understand about prayer and the response that God gives.

First, your heart must be right with God. You cannot be living a worldly life sinning against God and then when trouble comes your way you stop and pray and expect God to answer.

Secondly, you must be reading and studying God’s Word daily. When you know the content of the Bible, God will speak to you by the words you read and the Holy Spirit will lead you to your answer through your understanding of what is right and wrong. In other words you must be communicating to God and then listening for His response.

God is never farther than a prayer away and prayer should never be far from our lips. There are so many times and reasons we should pray and yet we do not.

We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving. We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud. We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting. We need to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient.

Sinners need to pray to a merciful God for forgiveness. Christians need to pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon a willful, evil, unrepentant world. Parents need to pray that God will convict them to be spiritual leaders of their children and bless their home with His grace and mercy. Believers need to pray for the salvation of their parents, their children and others they know who do not know Jesus as their Savior. Christians need to pray that the dew of heaven may fall on earth’s dry, thirsty ground, and that righteousness may cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The whole world needs a revival, a turning back to God. God will answer. He will not turn a deaf ear.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

I yield everything I have and know to You, O Lord, so You can use me as an instrument to further Your gospel. Make me an instrument fit for Your use. Give me listening ears to hear Your answers to my prayers. Thank You for the knowledge that You hear me and will answer me.

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Pessimism: November 9, 2016

TODAYS WORD FOR WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2016

PESSIMISM

 

DEFINITION:

Tending to see only what is disadvantaged or gloomy; to anticipate the worst outcome; a philosophy that evil will ultimately triumph over good. national leaders; and mission projects in their own city or neighborhood.

SCRIPTURE:

I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:19

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Pessimists are gloomy. Cartoonists draw a gloomy person with a dark cloud over their head. This is just how it is for pessimists. They only see the dark cloud and miss the silver lining. Pessimists anticipate and see only bad outcomes.

Isaiah 22:13 states clearly for us the pessimists view of life: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Pessimists see life as hopeless and they just throw up their hands in despair and say everything is meaningless.

When we go back a few generations and look what writers were saying, we can look at one of the so called greatest writers of his generation, Hemingway who said, “I live in a vacuum that is lonely as a radio tube when the batteries are dead and there is no current to plug into.” For our generation that would be like the TV cable going out.

Another writer, Eugene O’Neill in the book, “Long Day’s Journey into Night” typifies the philosophical attitude of his day when he wrote, “Life’s only meaning is death.”

Godlessness generates pessimism. Pessimism is the philosophy that evil ultimately triumphs over good. That is certainly a gloomy thought. Thanks to God, our loving Father who created us, there is a silver lining. God, who is only good, will triumph over evil and the source of all evil which is Satan, the great deceiver.

Satan only has power temporarily. He will meet his doom. Just as we must read the last chapter of a book to find out the ending, we have only to read the last book in the Bible to find out Satan’s fate. Revelation 21:10 reveals that what waits for Satan is that he will be “thrown into the lake of burning sulfur” and “will be tormented day and night forever.”

Jesus triumphed over sin and death for us so that all who believe in Him by accepting Jesus as their Savior will be forgiven of all their sins and will have eternal life. This is the hope we have as believers and it is an anchor for our soul that is firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).

We say to these two men, Hemingway and O’Neill who have already passed on, that there is more to life than death. There is more to life than a radio tube that needs to be plugged in. Their books depict life from a hopeless point of view. The Bible depicts God’s point of view as the verse we have put above states from John 10:10. “I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

We have often heard that a pessimist looks at a half glass of water and says it is half empty. An optimist will say it is half full. What do you say?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Your love for me, heavenly Father, transcends the hopelessness of this life that so many face and gives me a purpose to live that I so desperately need.

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Missions: November 8, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2016.

MISSIONS

 

DEFINITION:

A group of persons sent by a church to carry on religious work, especially evangelism in foreign lands and often to establish schools, orphanages, churches and hospitals; also short term programs to assist missionaries and national leaders; and mission projects in their own city or neighborhood.

SCRIPTURE:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Christian missions are unique in the aggressive movements of history. Christianity in its pure form has no “axe to grind,” no “system to foster”, and no “profit motivation”. Its job is simply to “seek and to save that which is lost.” Nothing more, nothing less. The word missionary means, “One who is sent.” The word missionary, one who is sent, is from the Latin. The word Apostle means the same and is from the Greek.

Typically, people think of missionaries as those who God calls to set aside their personal ambitions to go to a foreign land in order to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

The words recorded in Matthew 28:19 (above) were Jesus last commandment to His disciples before He ascended into heaven. These words of Jesus are called the “Great Commission.” Even though it was spoken to His disciples this commandment is for all believers down through the centuries.

We, as believers, have a responsibility to be involved in missions. When we find Jesus as our Savior we have several responsibilities. These include glorifying God in all that we do and to “seek and save that which was lost.” So our mission responsibility is to reach out to those in the world we live in that do not know Jesus and share with them the good news of the gospel through our words and our actions.

Our mission field is where we are. Some may be called to go to the deepest jungles of the Amazon but for most of us our call will be to the mission field right in your home town, in your neighborhood, in your workplace and most often in your own family. Whether it is next door or to the farthest corner of the world, we are to go and make disciples. It is not an option but a command to all who call Jesus “Lord.”

We are to share the greatest truth there is with others --- “Jesus loves me and He loves you”. We are to be sympathetic to the greatest problem that people face today --- fear. We need to be able to communicate answers for the greatest need that families have today --- love. The exciting news, the greatest promise we have as believers needs to be communicated to all – the soon return of Christ. And the greatest need that people want answers for today is – security (for today and for eternity).

Our text book is the Bible. Most believers do not know or even think that the New Testament is a book of missions. The Gospels tell of the mission accomplishments of Jesus. The Acts tell of the missionary endeavors of the Apostles. The disciples were launched into the world, after they completed their training with Jesus, by the power of the resurrection.

Today the need for missions is greater than ever. The world is shrinking in size but expanding in population. We live in a world of conflicting, confusing beliefs and complex problems. But most important is that we live in a world of a dire spiritual need.

On a personal note, we began our married life some 59 years ago by going to Korea as missionaries to reach out to the thousands of orphans and GI babies, many living on the streets of Korea. The result of this initial mission responsibility is that we have been involved in children’s missions all of our married life and what a blessed trip it is and has been.

Nothing in this world is more rewarding than taking every opportunity to share God’s message of love and forgiveness and salvation that leads to eternal life with our Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Father, help me to be a shining light in this world of darkness, ready for each and every opportunity to share Your love with those whose spiritual needs are great.

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Living: November 7, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2016.

LIVING

 

DEFINITION:

Having life; being alive; active or thriving.

SCRIPTURE:

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matthew 5:13

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Very few people today are living enthusiastically for God. The question we want to have you consider today is that if you are a person that believes in Jesus, how are you living? Do you wake up in the morning excited thinking about what God has for you today? Are you one who is content to sit back and live a morally good life, enjoy the blessings that God has given you and accomplish very little, if anything for the Kingdom of God.

Possibly you are a person who has chosen to sacrifice your time, talents, social positions, and lucrative posts, and fling aside every advantage in order to serve God and further the Kingdom of God.

We are living in a culture today where it is not popular to be a believer in Jesus let alone a person dedicated to live every moment of every day for the Lord. Many people of the world look at one who is serving God as literally mad. They think, and some say out loud, that that type of person is crazy or out of their mind.

Many people down through history have been called mad, or out of their mind, for trying to accomplish something big. God wants us to serve Him with the attitude that with Him all things are possible. He wants us to put Him first in our lives and attempt big things for Him as we are led by him. Doing big things takes boldness and courage.

Columbus was called mad because he decided to sail the uncharted ocean. Martin Luther was called mad because he presumed to defy the entrenched religious hierarchy of his time. Patrick Henry was considered mad when he cried out, “Give me liberty or give me death.” George Washington was thought to be mad when he decided to continue the war after the winter at Valley Forge, when thousands of his men had died and other thousands had deserted, leaving him only a handful of men. These men were living their convictions. They didn’t let the opinions of others sway their heartfelt beliefs.

We have become too sophisticated and respectable to be called mad in our generation. Unfortunately, Christianity has become so compromising and so politically correct that it is now insipid.
Too many people who say they are Christians do not act as one. Most just want to blend in and be like everyone else and go with the flow. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13 that believers are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its saltiness it is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out. It is worthless and of no value. If Christians do not live in such a way as to affect the world around them they are of little use to the Lord and just like salt has lost its saltiness they are worthless.

Would to God that the world we live in today found us Christians dangerous enough to call us mad. Materialism and secularism has invaded our world, our churches, our homes and the hearts and minds of many who are believers. We must ask ourselves --- are we living a bold and uncompromising life for Christ that has an effect on others?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Instill in me, dear Lord, the same fervor and sincere faith that the disciples showed as they lived so enthusiastically for You.

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