Trials: July 28, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY JULY 28, 2017.

TRIALS

DEFINITION:

Being tried or tested; subjected to suffering or grief; distress; affliction or trouble; a wearing or annoying thing or person.

SCRIPTURE:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

Do not be surprised at the terrible trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. I Peter 4:12.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Life for many people today is a series of trials. In this life, we all will have trials. Everyone does, but those who have put their faith in Jesus have the promise of God that He will go with him or her through any trial that they might face.

David gives us these words of assurance in Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.”

God did not promise us that we would live in a “Garden of Roses” when we became Christians. One thing we can be certain about is that if we have Jesus in our lives, our day will be victorious and our future secure. Jesus has not failed us in the past and He will not fail us today or in all of our tomorrows.

The Apostle Paul suffered many trials during his life and on his missionary journeys. He was beaten. He was stoned. He was thrown in prison. While preaching in Macedonia and testifying about his faith to the Jews, they became so abusive to him that Paul just gave up on them and was ready to leave town. Then the Lord appeared to Paul and said for him not to be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent, for I am with you (Acts 18:9-10). As a result Paul stayed there for one year and a half preaching the Word of God every day to the Jews.

No trial is too large for God not to intervene and no person is too small for God to not give His attention to. During trials in our lives if we put the trial in God’s hands, that is when God prepares to do something significant in our lives. God uses trials to mold us and to prepare us to fulfill the plans He has for us.

When God plans to do something big in one’s life He often begins with an impossibility generated by a trial or difficulty. Happiness keeps you sweet. Trials keep you strong. Sorrows keep you human. Failures keep you humble. Success keeps you glowing. BUT ONLY GOD KEEPS YOU GOING!

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Thank You that Your Word assures us that You are with us through every trial that we may face today. When life gets difficult keep me faithful in serving You no matter what trial I might have to endure. Protect our family and keep us faithful to live a life that honors and glorifies Your Son, our Lord and Savior.

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Useful: July 27, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JULY 27, 2017.

USEFUL

DEFINITION:

Having a practical function, purpose or effect; worthwhile; helpful and serving some purpose; productive.

SCRIPTURE:

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. Judges 6:12.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In this passage of scripture (Judges 6), the angel of the Lord called Gideon a mighty man of valor and then told him to deliver Israel out of the hand of Median.

The definition of valor used in this verse is boldness or determination to face great danger in a battle with courage and bravery. Gideon did not feel he was a man of valor. He responded to God by reminding Him that his family was poor and he was the least in his father’s house. His family, along with the other Israelites, were being oppressed by the Midianites who far out-numbered them. The Midianites destroyed their crops and their cattle and kept the Israelites, including the family of Gideon living in fear and poverty. The Israelites were powerless against the Midianites and certainly did not feel they could be useful.

The Midianites were so strong and so oppressive that the Israelites had to hide out in mountain cliffs. It is no wonder that Gideon was fearful and felt inadequate and useless. As he began to realize that maybe God was really calling him for this task, he then asked God for signs to confirm God’s will and empowerment. Gideon received the signs and soon put his full trust in God, accepted God’s call and was given the victory that God had promised him.

The account of how God used Gideon and an army of only 300 men with a victory over a vast army is given to us in Judges Chapter 7. Gideon and his small army could never have defeated the Midianites in their own strength. Because of Gideon’s obedience to God, God caused the Midianites to turn on each other. In a miraculous victory, God demonstrated to Israel that to be useful depends not on strength or numbers, but on obedience and commitment to the Lord.

Just like Gideon we most often doubt our abilities and seem to ignore our potential. We look at projects that confront us from our point of view and seemingly forget what God can do through us. When you question your usefulness, never doubt what God can do through you. Gideon’s God is the same God we serve today. In God’s sight, we are all useful to Him if we are willing to obey and submit to His will.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord, that You can make me useful in all that I do for You if I put my complete trust in You. Help me to submit all that I have to You and then resist the devil who puts doubts and fears in my heart to keep me from doing what you desire me to do.

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Resurrection: July 26, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 26, 2017.

RESURRECTION

DEFINITION:

The rising of Christ from the dead.

SCRIPTURE:

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? John 11:25-26.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

These verses we have written above were words spoken by Jesus to Martha when Jesus went to Bethany to visit Martha four days after Lazarus died. Jesus said that He was the resurrection and the life. Jesus could make this statement because He has power over life and death. Jesus is the life because He is the creator of life. He is the resurrection because He conquered death and He can restore life.

Jesus said to Martha that, those who believe in Him, though they die, they will live! He asked her if she believed this and Martha responded saying that she did believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. By this statement Martha showed her deep faith and that she believed Jesus was who He said He was and would do what He said He would do. At this time Jesus had not yet died and risen from the grave.

It was the resurrection of Jesus after His death on the cross that made it possible for us to have an eternal spiritual life that death cannot conquer. He died for you and for us. He died and was resurrected so that we did not have to pay the penalty for our sins because we are all born as sinners and if we are to have eternal life in heaven with God we must be free from the penalty for the sins we have committed.

Jesus did die a cruel death on the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins. Jesus asks us the same question He asked Mary, “Do you believe this?”

We are sharing this word with you now because we are concerned that there are those reading our daily devotionals that have never accepted Jesus as their Savior. Please be sure today that you have made this decision. Your eternity is at stake and tomorrow may be too late.

All you have to do is believe, repent of your sins, ask God for forgiveness, and then accept Jesus as your Savior and live for Him. Then death no longer has power over you and you will spend eternity with Him in heaven.

The resurrection of our Lord is what makes Christianity different from ALL other religions. The bodies of all the other religious leaders down through the centuries remain in their tombs. Jesus left an empty tomb. Jesus did exactly what He said He would do.

On Easter Sunday, He did rise from that grave. He remained on earth 40 days during which time He ate and drank with the disciples and showed them His wounds to provide evidence of His resurrection. Jesus appeared not only to the disciples but more than 500 believers saw Jesus alive after His resurrection. He went back to Heaven and today is preparing a place for us to spend eternity with Him.

If for some reason you do not believe that there was a resurrection then you are saying Jesus is a liar and a hoax. If you believe that Jesus did not rise from the dead then you believe He has no power over death and thus no power to pay the penalty for your sins, which is death.

Paul says in I Corinthians 15:14 that if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is useless and your faith is also useless. In verse 17 Paul goes on to say that if Christ is not risen that your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Those who are still in their sins cannot avoid God’s judgment. We are asked in Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great a salvation?”

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

We worship You and rejoice in what You have done for us. We thank You and praise You that You are the resurrected Savior, the giver of our great salvation.

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Works: July 25, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JULY 25, 2017.

WORKS

DEFINITION:

Effort put forth; labor; toil; be employed; perform labor; useless human efforts to gain acceptance from God.

SCRIPTURE:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14

For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We were taught as children and we taught our children as well, that the most important decision one will make in life is whether to accept or reject Jesus as their Savior. We taught them, as we were taught and as the scripture says (above in Ephesians) that we were saved by grace through faith.

Yes, it was God’s grace that provided a payment for our sins and then our faith that accepted that payment made by the death of Jesus our Savior. After we accepted Jesus as our Savior then we were commanded by our Lord to "work" for Him.

Many people we talk to really believe that their "GOOD WORKS" alone will get them into heaven where they can spend an eternity with God. Most of these people are good people and live a clean life. They are the kind of "neighbors" you would love to have living next door to you. They are also the hardest to talk to about their need for a Savior. They truly believe that their good works, clean living and being kind to everyone will get them into heaven.

We remember several conversations we had with a friend who was very generous with his time and talent with our ministry. When we talked to him about his relationship with Jesus he always talked about his good works and told us not to be concerned about him because he would see us in heaven. We continued to talk to him about why we accepted Jesus but he always reminded us that because of his clean living he would see us in heaven. We can present the gospel message that redemption from our sins comes by accepting Christ as our Savior but only the Holy Spirit can convict of sin. This is why praying for someone who is unsaved is so vital.

Some people find the two verses that we have listed above from Ephesians and James contradictory. They ask: is salvation simply by grace through faith alone or do we have to work for it? Paul wants us to understand that there is nothing we can do to merit or earn our salvation. Keeping all the laws in the Bible will not earn us salvation, it is only by the grace of God through faith that we can be saved.

Paul in Ephesians talks about salvation through faith. James in James 2:14 says faith without deeds (WORKS) is dead. They do not contradict each other, actually they supplement one another. James would never argue against Paul's assertion that salvation is by faith but James presupposes that we understand these doctrines that are so clearly stated in Paul's letters.

James goes a step further by saying that a commitment to Christ is expressed through our actions. Works is faith in action and bears testimony to our faith in the Lord, our Savior.

WORKS IS AN EVIDENCE OF YOUR FAITH!

Martin Luther puts it this way: “A man is justified (declared righteous before God) by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Genuine faith will produce good deeds, but only faith in Christ saves.”

God is expecting us as believers to work hard until His return. Some have asked us the big question: When are you going to retire? Our answer is very clear and simple -- NEVER.

God has put each one of us on this earth for a purpose. When we consider the great price God and His Son Jesus paid for our salvation, we cannot sit back and retire. We are committed for a life time to work for Him. We firmly believe that God will take us to be with Him when we have completed "the good works" that God has for us on this earth. Our prayer today is that you will join us by doing the "good works" that God has for you.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Help us as a family to share our faith with those our lives touch daily so they can know You as their Savior. Help us to also "WORK" daily to do Your will, so that our actions will show others the evidence of our faith in You.

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Schedule: July 24, 2017

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JULY 24. 2017.

SCHEDULE

DEFINITION:

A plan of procedure for a proposed objective; a list of the times of planned items, actions or events. An orderly list.

SCRIPTURE:

The plans of the heart belong to man. But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:1-3.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In our pressurized society, we need balanced schedules if we are to live according to God’s purposes. In this fast paced day and age we are all rushing from one thing to another trying to keep up with our busy schedules. The result is that we get so busy that we forget to take time to focus on what God wants to accomplish in our lives. The Lord wants us to use our time wisely so we will reach our full potential to become the person He designed us to be.

There are five areas that we want to mention today concerning the schedules we keep as individuals. When even one of these five areas are out of balance, our relationship with the Lord and those around us will be affected, diminishing our effectiveness as servants of Christ.

First, we need to develop our relationship with the Lord so we can receive guidance from Him. Our top priority should be to spend time with Him each day by reading His Word, meditating on what we read and communicating with Him through prayer. When we make this a DAILY priority soon we will be in awe at the way God works in our lives.

Secondly, we need to spend time with our family and friends. It is a must to set a time daily when you are with your whole family (with all the cell phones, television and computers turned off) so you can communicate with one another and communicate to God together. This is so essential because relationships are such an important part of God’s plans for our lives.

Thirdly is the area that we are most likely to become unbalanced. It is our work. The Lord does not approve of laziness but He does not want us overly consumed with our careers that He does not hold priority in our lives.

Fourthly, if we are to achieve God’s purposes in our lives, we need to take care of our bodies, allocating time for exercise, rest and recreation.

Finally, in Hebrews 10:24-25 it clearly commands us to meet together regularly with other believers for worship. While some people have limitations that prevent this, most of us have no excuse for being too busy for church.

Jesus made time for each of these in His life here on earth. Jesus did the perfect will of His Heavenly Father and He is the perfect example we should follow.

We only have a relatively short time here on this earth. Only God knows how much time. James issues a warning to us in James 4:13: “Now listen, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if it is the Lord’s will we will live and do this or that.”

We are wise to heed James warning and examine our schedules and make sure we are seeking God’s will for all our life.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

PRAYER:

Lord, I want to put You first in my life. Help me to get my schedules in life in sync with Your will for me. Thank You for leading me and guiding me through the struggles of life and bringing me to a right relationship with You.

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