Transformed!

From: Our Daily Journey

Feb 9, 2017

Read:

Acts 2:14-41
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all (Acts 2:41).

I once supervised a woman who constantly demonstrated that her greatest strength was also her greatest weakness. She had passion and drive to do a great job but often got carried away in her zeal and had to be reined in.

Peter was a man of similar extremes who often reacted out of two things—passion and fear (Matthew 14:29-31). It was with passion he declared Jesus as God, only to then fearfully denounce His mission (Matthew 16:16-23). This same heart caused him to lash out at those who arrested Jesus and then follow the crowd and be overcome by fear that led to denial (Matthew 26:51-75).

Ruled by his emotions, Peter was a picture of instability until he was indwelt by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and was transformed. Instead of hiding his affiliation with Jesus, he boldly “stepped forward . . . and shouted to the crowd” (Acts 2:14). He then went on to preach “for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners to [repent]” (Acts 2:40). God used that impromptu sermon to add 3,000 people to the church!

Many of us struggle with a particular behavior or trait we just can’t seem to kick, even though we know it doesn’t please God. These weaknesses can leave us feeling defeated, hopeless, and full of despair. But there’s hope! The transforming power of the Holy Spirit is still available today. Once we surrender our hearts to Christ, Romans 8:9 says that “[we] are not controlled by [our] sinful nature.”

As we spend time reading and meditating on Scripture, the Holy Spirit works to mold and transform us into the image of Christ. We no longer have to live in fear, defeat, or shame. Instead, like Peter, we can live out our God-given calling boldly and powerfully!

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There Is Hope

From: Our Daily Journey

Feb 10, 2017

Read

Psalm 13:1-6
I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me (Psalm 13:5).

“When you hear the hard news, there are two diverging roads from which to choose. One’s despair—don’t go there. There is hope!” I wrote those lyrics as part of a song that shares what I’ve learned through a lengthy battle with cancer. Today I was talking with a thirty-year-old husband whose wife just found out she has breast cancer. As I strived to give him comfort and counsel, what I shared can be summed up in these words: Because of God, there is hope.

In Psalm 13, David expresses the raw emotions of someone who’s crushed—someone starving for hope. Four times he expresses to God the plaintive words “how long” (Psalm 13:1-2). He felt as if the Lord had forgotten him, and the “anguish” and “sorrow” were becoming more than he could bear.

We can all relate to David’s pain. A cancer diagnosis, a failing relationship, or the loss of something or someone we love can cause us to feel lost and alone. God can appear to be very distant.

The psalmist makes an important decision. He calls out to God, saying, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!” He prays out of desperation, knowing that only his Creator can “restore the sparkle to [his] eyes” and hope to his heart (Psalm 13:3).

Calling out to God even when it seems as if He’s far from us turns our eyes from our misery to Him and His mercy. Prayer plants the seed that allows hope to grow.

Finally, David chooses to “trust” in God and His “unfailing love” (Psalm 13:5). His circumstances hadn’t changed, but as he calls out to the Lord in prayer and trusts in His character, his heart erupts in praise—even rejoicing in song! (Psalm 13:6).

Which of the two “diverging roads” are you walking today? You can move from despair to hope by turning to God. Because He’s there, there is hope!

The  Advocate

From: Our Daily Bread

February 9, 2017

Read: 1 John 1:8–2:2 | Bible in a Year: Leviticus 6–7; Matthew 25:1–30

If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1

From a Florida prison cell in June 1962, Clarence Earl Gideon wrote a note asking the United States Supreme Court to review his conviction for a crime he said he didn’t commit. He added that he didn’t have the means to hire a lawyer.

One year later, in the historic case of Gideon v. Wainright, the Supreme Court ruled that people who cannot afford the cost of their own defense must be given a public defender—an advocate—provided by the state. With this decision, and with the help of a court-appointed lawyer, Clarence Gideon was retried and acquitted.

Help us to know what it means to have the freedom of Your love and presence.

But what if we are not innocent? According to the apostle Paul, we are all guilty. But the court of heaven provides an Advocate who, at God’s expense, offers to defend and care for our soul (1 John 2:2). On behalf of His Father, Jesus comes to us offering a freedom that even prison inmates have described as better than anything they’ve experienced on the outside. It is a freedom of heart and mind.

Whether suffering for wrongs done by us or to us, we all can be represented by Jesus. By the highest of authority He responds to every request for mercy, forgiveness, and comfort.

Jesus, our Advocate, can turn a prison of lost hope, fear, or regret into the place of His presence.

Father in heaven, please help us to know what it means to have the freedom of Your love and presence. May we experience this freedom even in places that we have only seen as our confinement!

The one who died as our substitute now lives as our advocate.

Ephesians 2:14

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

Isaiah 59:2

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Getting “In The Way”

From: Get More Strength.org

[Written by Joe Stowell for Our Daily Bread.]

Feb

08

2017

Jesus said . . . , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” —John 14:6

The ancient Romans were known for their roads, which crisscrossed their empire with wide, heavily traveled highways. It’s what Jesus’ audience would have pictured when He claimed, “I am the way” in John 14:6.

While this verse indicates that He is the way to heaven, there’s really more to His statement. Cutting through the underbrush of the dense jungle of our world, Jesus is our trail-guide who makes a new way for us to live. While many follow the way of the world by loving their friends and hating their enemies, Jesus carves out a new way: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matt. 5:44). It’s easy to judge and criticize others, but Jesus the Way-maker says to take the plank out of our own eye first (Matt. 7:3-4). And He cuts a path for us to live with generosity instead of greed (Luke 12:13-34).

When Jesus said “I am the way,” He was calling us to leave the old ways that lead to destruction and to follow Him in His new way for us to live. In fact, the word follow (Mark 8:34) literally means, “to be found in the way” with Him. You and I can make the choice to travel the familiar and ultimately destructive ways, or we can follow Him and be found in the way with the One who is the way!

As people of the Lord we’re called
To follow in His way;
And though the world won’t understand,
They’ll see Him on display. —Sper

We don’t need to see the way if we’re following the One who is the Way.

Hats Off to Birthdays

From: Get More Strength.org

Feb

07

2017

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Hey, today’s my birthday! Don’t ask . . . I’m trying not to think about how many candles I’ll have on the cake. But it hasn’t always been like that. There was a time when I loved having birthdays. Turning 5 was really big. I couldn’t wait for the birthdays that qualified me to go to high school, get a driver’s license, and become a legal adult! Back then, people who were 35 seemed ancient.

But let’s face it, time marches on. And looking in the mirror, you begin to feel that it’s marching right across your face! The real wake-up call is when you get an invitation in the mail to join the American Association of Retired Persons and to qualify for senior discounts. I hate to sound so grumpy, but to this day I refuse to join the old people’s club or to claim my discounts!

Yet I’ve come to realize that there is something important about having mile markers in life. They force us to stop long enough to measure where we are in life and to assess the true significance of what we are devoting our time and attention to. When I hit the ancient mark of 35, I remember feeling like a kid who had a five-dollar bill and had spent half of it any way he wanted only to realize that he only had $2.50 left. I figured if I only had half of my life left, I wanted to spend it in wise and fruitful ways. I wanted to minimize my regrets and maximize my opportunities. Things of long-term significance like my wife and kids became more important to me. How I used and where I spent my money took on a greater sense of significance. And the work of Christ through me became a more pressing priority.

Thinking about the work of Jesus reminds me that birthdays also help us to keep in mind that year-by-year we are closer to our final destination. One of the wisest things we can do is to remember that the only thing of true value here is what we do for eternity. Using your time, talents, emotions, energy, and cash for the cause of Jesus on this earth will result in rewarding outcomes in heaven.

Imagine stepping onto the other side and realizing that we have brought nothing with us of eternal worth. Think of looking into the face of Jesus and realizing that the only things we have with us are the wood, hay, and straw of earth-side stuff (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). If we don’t let the markers of life remind us of how close heaven is, we may make the mistake of pouring our lives into the bottomless bucket of stuff that doesn’t really make a difference after all.

Thank God for birthdays! They remind us that life is short and that heaven is near. If you take them seriously, you may just stand a chance of making it home with more than an empty bucket.

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REJOICE IN GOD'S LOVE

From: Streams in the Desert

He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him (Psalms 66:6).

It is a striking assertion, "through the floods" (the place where we might have expected nothing but trembling and terror, anguish and dismay) "there," says the Psalmist, "did we rejoice in him!"

How many there are who can endorse this as their experience: that "there," in their very seasons of distress and sadness, they have been enabled, as they never did before, to triumph and rejoice.

How near their God in covenant is brought! How brightly shine His promises! In the day of our prosperity we cannot see the brilliancy of these. Like the sun at noon, hiding out the stars from sight, they are indiscernible; but when night overtakes, the deep, dark night of sorrow, out come these clustering stars--blessed constellations of Bible hope and promise of consolation.

Like Jacob at Jabbok, it is when our earthly sun goes down that the Divine Angel comes forth, and we wrestle with Him and prevail. It was at night, "in the evening," Aaron lit the sanctuary lamps. It is in the night of trouble the brightest lamps of the believer are often kindled.

It was in his loneliness and exile John had the glorious vision of his Redeemer. There is many a Patmos still in the world, whose brightest remembrances are those of God's presence and upholding grace and love in solitude and sadness.

How many pilgrims, still passing through these Red Seas and Jordans of earthly affliction, will be enabled in the retrospect of eternity to say--full of the memories of God's great goodness--"We went through the flood on foot, there--there, in these dark experiences, with the surging waves on every side, deep calling to deep, Jordan, as when Israel crossed it, in 'the time of the overflowing' (flood), yet, 'there did we rejoice in Him!'"
--Dr. Macduff

"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the door of trouble for a door of hope: and she shall sing THERE" (Hosea 2:15).

Has God done any miracles for you?  Can you think of anything that was obviously a supernatural act?  God takes action for us each day. He protects and provides for us because He loves us.

 SINCERE PRAYER BRINGS WELCOME CHANGE

From: CBN Network

Daphne Delay

When God’s people pray earnestly, the “effective, fervent prayer of the righteous” avails much (James 5:16). I’m not talking about begging God. Begging God is not the same as believing God. Effective, fervent prayer is always filled with faith. But to be effective, our prayers can’t be like bullets, popping off toward God like He’s a target. No, our prayers must be spirit-led and intentional. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (Amplified).

Jentzen Franklin said, “What a marvelous image! When you pray, you are filling the prayer bowls of heaven. In God’s perfect timing, your prayers are mixed with the fire of God (His power) and cast back down to earth to change your situation… Even if you don’t feel like anything is happening in the natural world, when you pray, you are filling the prayer bowls in the spirit realm. When they are full, they will tilt and pour out answers to your prayers!” (The Amazing Discernment of Women, by Jentezen Franklin)

The truth is, we’re guilty of not lingering in prayer long enough. The people at the water park who wearied of waiting for the buckets to fill missed an outpouring. The same is true in prayer. However, it’s not about works (trying to make something happen), it’s about diligence. The word “earnest” describes something serious in intention, purpose, or effort. It can also mean sincerely zealous, meaning it is active, devoted, and diligent, while at the same time being free of hypocrisy or deceit. This kind of prayer is genuine and real. It’s not about how many words are prayed or the manner in which we pray, as long as our prayers are heartfelt, faith-filled, and authentic.

The earth needs saints to be fervent in prayer. God would not have destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah if there had been even 10 righteous people calling out to Him for deliverance. The same is still true today if God’s people will pray. He is ready to tilt the prayer bowl on this generation! So be encouraged in your prayer life—the golden bowls are being filled and the fire of heaven is about to fall!

Hard Times Haven't Changed

Life Has Changed, But Hard Times Haven't  

From: L.B. Cowman

I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth (Isaiah 58:14).

Those who fly through the air in airships tell us that one of the first rules they learn is to turn their ship toward the wind, and fly against it. The wind lifts the ship up to higher heights. Where did they learn that? They learned it from the birds. If a bird is flying for pleasure, it goes with the wind. But if the bird meets danger, it turns right around and faces the wind, in order that it may rise higher; and it flies away towards the very sun.

Sufferings are God's winds, His contrary winds, sometimes His strong winds. They are God's hurricanes, but, they take human life and lift it to higher levels and toward God's heavens.

You have seen in the summer time a day when the atmosphere was so oppressive that you could hardly breathe? But a cloud appeared on the western horizon and that cloud grew larger and threw out rich blessing for the world. The storm rose, lightning flashed and thunder pealed. The storm covered the world, and the atmosphere was cleansed; new life was in the air, and the world was changed.

Human life is worked out according to exactly the same principle. When the storm breaks the atmosphere is changed, clarified, filled with new life; and a part of heaven is brought down to earth.
--Selected

Obstacles ought to set us singing. The wind finds voice, not when rushing across the open sea, but when hindered by the outstretched arms of the pine trees, or broken by the fine strings of an Aeolian harp. Then it has songs of power and beauty. Set your freed soul sweeping across the obstacles of life, through grim forests of pain, against even the tiny hindrances and frets that love uses, and it, too, will find its singing voice.
--Selected

Be like a bird that, halting in its flight,
Rests on a bough too slight.
And feeling it give way beneath him sings,
Knowing he hath wings.