Paul: December 30, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 30, 2016.

PAUL

DEFINITION:

The man transformed by God from a persecutor of Christians to a preacher for Christ.

SCRIPTURE:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:14.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Many of us get headed in the wrong direction in life without being aware of it. Paul was heading down the wrong road, in his life, thinking that he was on the right one until Jesus stopped him “dead in his tracks.” Being confronted by Jesus completely changed the direction of Paul’s life.

The apostle Paul then became a tireless worker for His Lord, a fervent preacher of the gospel, a great apostle, if not the greatest, and a fervent spiritual warrior.

Paul wrote 13 of the New Testament books of the Bible. He won the first European convert to Christianity (Lydia in Macedonia). He was a great missionary founder of churches and suffered much for his belief in our Lord.

There are five important guiding principles that we can learn from the life of Paul.

First, he said that he was a debtor to the Greeks and the barbarians, the wise and the unwise (Acts 1:14). What Paul is saying is that he had an obligation to share the good news of the gospel because of the great sacrifice that Christ had made for him. We have the same obligation because Jesus made that same sacrifice for us.

Secondly, he not only had an obligation but he was eager to preach the gospel to all who would listen. Paul did not know how much time that he might have to preach, so he felt an urgency to preach so that he could take all that Christ had given him and pour it out to all the people who would listen.

We as believers need to be prepared because we do not know how much time we have left to share our faith, so we should feel an urgency to share with as many others as possible the message of salvation while we still have time.

This is why we feel compelled to write these daily “TODAYS WORD” devotionals.

Thirdly, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. He lived in a day of moral degeneracy just as we do today. Paul took the gospel to pagan and immoral Greeks and Romans. Rome had become a moral sewer under Nero. The depravity of their lives was the exact opposite to the moral righteousness of the gospel that Paul preached. Needless to say Paul’s message was not well received. In addition Paul was a Jew, a race that was thought by many in his day to be a despicable sub-human race, worth only to be cursed, ill-used and enslaved. Doesn’t this sound the same as what believers are facing today in our world?

But even in this kind of surroundings and culture Paul was not ashamed not only of the gospel but to be able to preach the gospel. Paul was often rejected, not only by a few people, but by whole communities but he continued to be unashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Fourthly, Paul was appointed to defend the gospel (Philippians 1:16). Some of the preachers of the gospel in Rome were very jealous of Paul and envious of the results he was having. They also reacted to the attention he was getting from the social circles and society of the community. They were envious of the support and loyalty that fellow believers were giving Paul. And probably what bothered them most was that they felt threatened because he was gaining daily as the leader of the Christian community in Rome.

Paul was not affected by these feelings. Many preached with the wrong motive. Paul had only one motive and that was to preach the gospel and to defend it from false teachings. By preaching as he did he was defending the gospel and God honored what Paul did.

Look at what is happening today. Much of the same jealousy and envy is seen among believers and even among pastors in our churches. We, as believers must be like Paul and just continue to preach the gospel with the pure motive of bringing the lost to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus’ saving grace.

More and more we are seeing Christians both here in America and across the world coming under attack because of their faith. We must always be willing to defend our faith and stand up for Jesus just as Paul did.

Finally, Paul labored more abundantly then all others as we read in I Corinthians 15:10. God wants us to be the hardest workers in our church, at our workplace, in our communities and most important in our homes. We have a message to preach and a God who is holy and righteous to serve. Let us not let Him down.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Jeremiah 29:13.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

PRAYER:

May our family be ready to preach the good news of the gospel and not be ashamed of what we believe. Help us to equip ourselves to be ready to defend our faith when we see and hear Christians under attack because of their faith in Jesus.

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David: December 29, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 29, 2016.

DAVID

DEFINITION:

A model of servant hood.

SCRIPTURE:

And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever. II Samuel 7: 28-29.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

For the last few devotionals we have looked at the lives of four great men of the faith from the Old Testament. Tomorrow we will look at the life of Paul from the New Testament. We can learn, from each one, principles that can be applied to our lives today. It is our prayer that these five devotionals, about these men that God used and blessed, will make a life changing impact on your life.

In II Samuel 7:5 God gave David the title, “My servant” when He said to Nathan, “Go and tell My servant David” In David’s prayer to God recorded in verses 18-29, David spoke of himself as “Your servant” ten times, acknowledging that he desired to be God’s servant.

David served God in many capacities. He went from being a simple shepherd boy to a heroic ruler. We want to look at the various stages of his life so we can clearly see how his deep devotion to God allowed the Lord to use him mightily. David was not perfect and neither are we. We can learn from the life of David that God can use us, even though we are not perfect, just as He used David in spite of his shortcomings.

As a shepherd David learned how to protect the sheep. It was a job that he took seriously, even killing a lion and a bear to protect his sheep. As a shepherd he became strong and brave in order to take care of creatures weaker than himself. He had an early obedience to his earthly father who taught him the humility that he would need in order to depend on God.

David’s writings reveal his hunger for God. He was open about his own issues like fear, depression, defeat, loneliness and sorrow. David provided in his writings glimpses of himself for us to see that show that he knew God intimately. He described valley experiences so vividly and how he went to God for His leading and protection.

David was a commander and King. These positions were ones of privilege and power. He lived a life that was plagued by heartache, pain, suffering, and conflict. In his times of despair, he turned to God who David knew was the source of comfort and mercy. From a young age David had come to understand that the Lord was his strength, his shield and his help. (Psalm 28:7)

In spite of his deep devotion to God, David committed great sins in his life. David acknowledged he had sinned and sought the Lord’s forgiveness. God forgave him and continued to use him. His restoration teaches us about the consequences of sin, but more importantly it shows us the limitlessness of the grace of God and how great is His mercy toward us. No matter what the circumstances were in his life, David never ceased to honor God and give Him praise and all the glory.

King David served God’s purpose when he lived but more importantly the record of his life in the Bible continues to impact every follower of Christ to this day.

David wrote 73 of the Psalms. David wrote these Psalms from his own human experiences in life and his close relationship with the Lord. His Psalms are a great source of comfort, of encouragement, of hope and inspiration to all who read them.

Have you been challenged by David’s example of obedience and service to the Lord? He is a great example of what God can accomplish through us if we yield our life to Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Jeremiah 29:13.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

PRAYER:

How I rejoice in the testimony of the lives of the godly men that have lived in years past for the example they are to me today. Help me to be an obedient and willing servant serving You faithfully as I seek Your direction in my life each and every day.

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Noah: December 28, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28, 2016.

NOAH

DEFINITION:

The man who built the Ark.

SCRIPTURE:

So God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Genesis 6:13-14.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Can you even begin to imagine how you would respond if God gave you a message like he gave Noah in Genesis 6:13-14 (above)? We are told how Noah reacted. “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22). God had made it clear to all the people that they needed to repent from their evil ways and they did not respond.

The sin of the people so grieved God that He was sorry He had made man (Genesis 6:7). In Genesis 6:8-9 we read that “Only Noah was found righteous because he walked with God.”

We can learn from the life of Noah how God wants us to respond to Him when He speaks to us. When God speaks to us it is a command not a suggestion. When God spoke to Noah and told him to build an ark, Noah listened and obeyed. He got right to work and did all that God commanded him to do.

There are three ways that God revealed to Noah the gospel of the grace of God and His will for Noah’s life.

First, God spoke to Noah by word of mouth. In Acts 3:21 we read that God spoke to Noah by the mouth of his predecessors. Noah probably received God’s Word from Methuselah, who probably was taught by Adam. Methuselah was 253 years old when Adam died and lived 600 years after Noah was born. He was Noah’s grandfather and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord through his grandfather. God continues today to speak to unbelievers by word of mouth, person to person. All we who believe in Jesus are His messengers to spread the Gospel message by word of mouth to unbelievers.

Secondly, God spoke to Noah through written records. Adam must have created a language and a vocabulary that he reduced to writing because the scripture says that Adam gave a name to all the birds of the air and beasts of the field that God created. Adam created this language and vocabulary to express every thought and Noah must have had access to that. Today we have the Bible, the written Word of God through which God communicates to us.

Finally, God spoke to Noah verbally. God clearly revealed His will to Noah in spoken words as is evident in the verse we have written above. When the ark was ready, He once again spoke to Noah and told him to enter the ark (Genesis 7:1). When the flood ended and the land was dry, God told Noah to come out of the ark. God clearly spoke to Noah to reveal His will and He continues to speak in many different ways to men today to make known His will.

God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit and through the Word of God. In the past 6000 years God has spoken to men through dreams, through angels or even a voice from heaven. In Noah’s case God was able to save Noah and his family because Noah was ready and willing to listen to God because he was walking with God (Genesis 6:9). God will reveal His will for all who are willing to listen. Are you ready and listening for God to talk to you?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Jeremiah 29:13

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the example of faith and obedience that You have given us in the account of the life of Noah. May our family be willing to listen to Your voice and keep us faithful in obeying Your Word.

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Daniel: December 27, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 27, 2016.

DANIEL

DEFINITION:

A man of purpose, prayer, power and faith.

SCRIPTURE:

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Daniel 6:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Daniel was a man of strong faith and godly character. Our goal in life should be to have a godly character like Daniel had so that others may say about us what was said about Daniel in verse 4 (above). Daniel was so faithful and upright that no fault could be found in him. As we look into the scriptures and read about Daniel we can learn many things from his life that can help us understand what it means to be faithful to God and the importance of having a godly character.

If Daniel had a flaw in his character it has not been revealed to us in the scriptures. The scriptures do give us four character traits of Daniel that we can apply to our lives.

First of all, Daniel was a man of purpose. In Daniel 1:8 we read that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, or with the wine which he drank. Although Daniel was living in exile as a captive of Babylon, he had found favor with the king and was offered the privilege of eating from the king’s table. He would not allow himself to be tempted with the meat and wine of the king, because it was an offering to Babylon’s false gods and Daniel knew that to eat the meat and drink the wine would be to disobey God.

The food and wine were tempting but God gave him wisdom and strength to say “NO” and Daniel refused to partake of the food and wine. Daniel had resolved to stay true to his convictions and always faithful to God.  We need to learn to say no to all of the temptations to do evil that Satan will present to us in order to draw us away from the Lord.

Secondly, Daniel was a man of prayer. He recognized the importance of having communication with God. Daniel had been taken captive to Babylon and even though he lived in a pagan country he never strayed from his faith in God. He continued to pray to his Lord, as he always had, even when he faced death for praying to his God. Daniel not only prayed when he was in danger but he had a pattern of prayer, praying three times a day. We need to develop that kind of prayer pattern because we need daily communication with God.

Thirdly, Daniel was a man of power. King Nebuchadnezzar bestowed honor, gifts and great power on Daniel. Daniel received power from the king, but Daniel knew that his real source of power came from God, and he continually gave God the glory in all that he did and always put his total trust in God’s power not his own. If we want to be men and women of power that God can use we need to follow Daniel’s example.

Finally, Daniel was a man of faith. He showed his faith in God in his times of great distress and anxiety. For example, he was forced to spend a night in a den of hungry lions because of his loyalty and trust in God. The scriptures tell us in Daniel 6:23 that King Darius came to the den in the morning, after Daniel’s night in the lion’s den, and found Daniel alive and well, “and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in God.”

Because Daniel was faithful God sent His angel and shut the mouth of the lion. When we are faithful to God and put our trust in Him, God will be with us as we go through our times of difficulty and despair.

We all can learn from the life of Daniel. God wants us to live our lives like Daniel lived his always being faithful to God and living by His commandments. If we do God will work miracles through our life just as He did in the life of Daniel.

There is an old hymn written by Philip P. Bliss in 1873. We sang it in Sunday school, maybe some of you did as well:

The words to the chorus are:

Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose firm,
Dare to make it known.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Jeremiah 29:13.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the standard of godly commitment that has been given to us through the life of Daniel. May my life and the lives of my family be lives of purpose, prayer, power and faith like that of Daniel. Keep us from being tempted by things that would defile us and separate us from fellowship with our Savior.

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Abraham: December 26, 2016

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 26, 2016.

ABRAHAM

DEFINITION:

The founder of the Jewish nation and the first Biblical patriarch. In Hebrew Abraham means “Father of multitude?”

SCRIPTURE:

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12: 2-3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Abraham was God’s chosen vessel through whom He would reveal Himself to the world. Abraham could never have imagined how significant a role he would have in the future of all mankind. When God promised Abraham to make of him “a great nation” (Genesis 12:2) he had no idea of what God was saying to him.

The key to the fulfilling of God’s plans was Abraham’s obedience. We can follow the steps of faith in Abraham’s life in Genesis chapters 12 to 25. In Genesis 12:1, Abraham was told by God to, “Get out of the country, get out of your father’s household, leave your people, and go to a land that I will show you.”

In order to accomplish what God had commanded Abraham to do there were six stages of journeys that Abraham took over the years that showed his growth in obedience to God’s will.

First, he travelled from Ur of the Chaldeans, where his father’s house was, to Haran. We are told that his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot, traveled with him. He only obeyed God in part. He left his father’s house but he did not leave his father.

While Abraham was in Haran God repeated His call to Abraham to “go out from your kindred and go into the land I will show you”.

Second, he traveled from Haran to Shechem which is in the center of Canaan with Lot (his father had died in Haran). By making this move he left his country, obeying God’s command but still not separating himself from his father’s family. At Shechem the Lord appeared to Abraham and promised He would give the land of Canaan to his children. In response Abraham built his first altar to the Lord to worship and honor God showing his faith in God. Altars symbolized communication with God.

Third Abraham moved from Shechem to Bethel. Bethel means “House of God’ and it was a place where people went to seek God’s counsel. Abraham built his second altar to the Lord here.

Fourth, he moved from Bethel to Egypt because there was a famine in the land of Canaan. This was the way that God was testing the faith of Abraham. He disobeyed God by going to Egypt and he did not build an altar to God in Egypt. He was out of the will of God being in Egypt and not in Bethel. It is only when one is in the will of God that he can truly worship the Lord and Abraham was out of the will of God. It is better to endure trials (famine) and accept the will of God than to attempt our own limited solution such as Abraham did.

Fifth, Abraham left Egypt and went back to Bethel. He went back to the house of God (Bethel). He went back to worshiping at the altar of God. At Bethel, Lot was separated from Abraham and for the first time since the Lord called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he was fully obeying God. He now was separated from his country, his family and his father’s house.

Finally, Abraham moved to Hebron which became his home as God desired for him. It was here that God really started blessing him because he had become fully yielded to God and was in His perfect will. It was here that his two sons were born. It was here that Isaac was presented for an offering on an altar of sacrifice. God had truly blessed Abraham as He had promised.

We can learn from the experiences of Abraham the importance of listening for the leading of God in our lives and responding according to His will and not according to our desires.

The measure of one’s faith is obedience. Abraham had to take that first step of obedience in faith. With that first step God grew his faith.

Abraham could not have understood the full significance of the importance of his obedience to God’s will for his life, but every believer understands it now because it was through the line of Abraham that Jesus, our Messiah, came to this earth to save us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Jeremiah 29:13.

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

PRAYER:

Open my heart for me to listen to You and obey Your directions for my life. Just as Abraham returned to Bethel to seek Your guidance, may I continually come to You and seek Your guidance. May I be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit today so that I can represent You to those who are hurting and needing a relationship with You.

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