Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, July 9

Take the Gift

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

Recommended Reading
James 2:14-17 [ http://iz3.me/9AHl1zwXd1A1 ]

You work hard in your vegetable garden and harvest an abundance of fresh produce. So you collect a bag full of tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and squash and knock on your neighbor's door to share the bounty. As you hand her the gift from your garden, she asks if she can pay you something. You decline, but understand. If it's not Christmas, a birthday, or anniversary, people are uncomfortable with the idea of receiving a gift.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/AAHl1zwXd1A1 ]

The human tendency to want to work for what we get, the feeling that what is not earned is undeserved, keeps many from understanding the Gospel of the grace of God. Salvation is no more free than the cost of growing vegetables. But just as you paid the price so your neighbor could have a gift, so Jesus Christ paid the price for salvation and offers it as a gift to us. We are "saved through faith ... not [ by ] works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation "is the gift of God." When we offer to pay for a gift, it ceases to be a gift at all.

There's only one thing to do with God's offer of the gift of salvation: Say "thank you" and embrace it.

Faith is like the hand of the beggar that takes the gift while adding nothing to it.
Thomas Chalmers

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Proverbs 30-31  [ http://iz3.me/BAHl1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, July 10

Learning to Say Thank You

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15

Recommended Reading
John 4:24 [ http://iz3.me/pvQl1zwXd1A1 ]

One of the first things parents do with their children is teach them to say "thank you." Later, children learn to write thank-you notes for Christmas and birthday gifts. The expression of gratitude is a learned trait, and "thank you" hopefully becomes a spontaneous response.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/qvQl1zwXd1A1 ]

"Thank you" to God is a form of worship springing from a sense of gratitude. Saying "thank you" to God is a learned expression of worship in response to His gifts. Worship is also a sacrifice. At the very least, we sacrifice time, talent, and treasure in worshipping God, all of which could have been spent differently. The first act of worship recorded in human history was an act of sacrifice by Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-4). While Cain's sacrifice was based on selfish interests, Abel's sacrifice was pleasing to God and cited as exemplary (Hebrews 11:4). Upon learning what God has done for him, one of the Christian's first responses should be "the sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15) -- the sacrifice of saying, "Thank You."

Use your desire to worship God as a measure of your gratitude to Him.

Nobody can call himself a Christian who does not worship Jesus.
John R. W. Stott

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ecclesiastes 1-4  [ http://iz3.me/svQl1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Friday, July 11

Not of This World

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:14

Recommended Reading
John 17:9-17 [ http://iz3.me/hHcl1zwXd1A1 ]

After His last sermon in the Gospels, which is recorded in John 13-16, Jesus paused to pray for His disciples; and His words are preserved in the next chapter, John 17. In verse 14 He prayed, "I am not of the world." Being eternally God, Jesus entered the world via a virgin birth and left the world by ascending to heaven from the Mount of Olives. He was truly "not of the world."

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/iHcl1zwXd1A1 ]

But the preceding phrase in verse 14 is mind-bending, for it says of us, His followers, "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."

We don't belong to this world any more than Jesus did. We're strangers and exiles here, just as He was. Our citizenship is in heaven, our eternal home is there, and our values are determined from there -- just like Him. These aren't easy days to be a Christian, but no such days have ever existed. The challenges of living a Christian life in today's culture can't be used as an excuse for not walking with God. Stay true to Him no matter what the world says. You don't belong to it.

How then can we deal with our tendency toward worldliness? It is not by determining that we will not be worldly, but by committing ourselves to becoming more godly.
Jerry Bridges

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ecclesiastes 5-8 [ http://iz3.me/jHcl1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Monday, July 14

Pleasing God

For before [ Enoch ] was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Hebrews 11:5b

Recommended Reading
Genesis 5:21-24 [ http://iz3.me/Ofml1zwXd1A1 ]

It is the classic theme of world literature -- the need of a lesser being to please a greater being. Whether the greater being is a king, tyrant, ogre, or fantastical being, the subject's need is to discover what the ruler demands and do it. Tension in the story builds as it looks less and less likely that the subject will be able to please the ruler.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/Pfml1zwXd1A1 ]

The Bible is part of world literature, and it shares that theme with other great stories. The Bible's story -- the necessity for man to please God -- is at the same time more and less dramatic. First, God requires only one thing to be pleased: "But without faith it is impossible to please  Him " (Hebrews 11:6). Everything else we might do to please the Creator God does not qualify unless preceded by faith. Second, there is a dramatic crisis and solution: God becomes a human being so dedicated to God that He lives a  perfectly  faithful life and dies to pay for the faithlessness of all other men. The life of pleasing God is illustrated simply by Enoch: "He pleased God."

If it is your desire to please God, always begin with faith. Our belief in Him seems to bring Him more pleasure than anything else.

A deep and sober daily concern to please God is the rarest of rarities.
Vance Havner

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Song of Solomon 5-8 [ http://iz3.me/Qfml1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, July 15

Faithfulness in Spite of ...

By his faith [ Noah ] condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7b, NIV 1984

Recommended Reading
Genesis 6:5-8 [ http://iz3.me/Tful1zwXd1A1 ]

Since its founding in the 1770s, America was known as a Christian nation. Many pilgrims were Christians seeking religious freedom, many founding fathers were Christian, and many foundational documents expressed biblical principles. But beginning in the mid-twentieth century, America began to be known as a post-Christian nation as God was moved further toward the edge of public influence.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/Uful1zwXd1A1 ]

Is it harder to live as a Christian in a post-Christian nation than in a Christian one? Some would say so. But in truth, it doesn't matter where we live. The biblical requirement for faithfulness as the way to please God is the same. The need to remain faithful never changes. Noah proved it is possible to live in a corrupt culture and still please God. His "holy fear" (holy reverence) of God caused him to stand firm in faithfulness in spite of getting no support from the culture in which he lived.

You may feel unsupported in your nation, your home, your workplace -- but you can remain faithful to the One who is always faithful to you (2 Timothy 2:13).

I know of nothing which I would choose to have as the subject of my ambition for life than to be kept faithful to my God till death.
Charles H. Spurgeon

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 1-3 [ http://iz3.me/Vful1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, July 16

Always Faithful

And [ Abraham ] believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6

Recommended Reading
Romans 4:20-22 [ http://iz3.me/7K6m1zwXd1A1 ]

The Latin phrase Semper Fi -- short for Semper Fidelis -- is well known to United States Marines and their families. It means "always faithful" or "always loyal," and has served as the motto of the Marine Corps since 1883. On the Marine Corps emblem, an eagle holds a ribbon in its mouth inscribed with Semper Fidelis. The words "always faithful" suggest there is never a time when a Marine will not be faithful to his or her duty to country.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/8K6m1zwXd1A1 ]

The Marine Corps motto could well serve as a motto for the Christian life. The apostle Paul makes the point that "it is required in stewards that one be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). And Christians are nothing if not stewards -- of creation, of spiritual gifts, of the Gospel, of time, talent, and treasure, and of the grace of God. There is never a day when we are not expected to be faithful to God, never a day when we can allow fear of the future to replace faith in the God who knows the future. Abraham received amazing promises from God about the future, and Abraham was faithful -- "he believed in the Lord."

If you are a follower of Christ, let Semper Fidelis be your watchword today and every day: Always Faithful.

When faithfulness is most difficult, it is most necessary.
Anonymous

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 4-8 [ http://iz3.me/9K6m1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, July 17

Aliens and Strangers

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:20

Recommended Reading
Philippians 3:17-21 [ http://iz3.me/doFm1zwXd1A1 ]

The question of who is, or can become, an American citizen became an issue in the earliest days of the republic. The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills signed into law in 1798. Fast forward to today and "immigration reform" is a current, unsolved problem. Citizenship is important.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/eoFm1zwXd1A1 ]

Though citizenship and boundaries were less well defined in the ancient world, people still knew when they were "aliens and strangers." Versions of that latter phrase occur frequently in the Old Testament -- in the accounts of Abraham (Genesis 23:4), Job (Job 19:15), the psalmists (Psalm 69:, and the wise (Proverbs 5:10). But a most unusual expression of the phrase occurs in Hebrews 11:13, where it is said that the faithful thought of themselves as "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." It's one thing to be a stranger in another country, but another thing to be a stranger on a planet.

If you sometimes feel out of place on planet earth, remember that you are a citizen of heaven. What you feel is a longing for your native land.

If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world.
Vance Havner

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 9-11 [ http://iz3.me/foFm1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Friday, July 18

Father, Whatever You Want

We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance.
Romans 5:3

Recommended Reading
Romans 5:1-5 [ http://iz3.me/qxNm1zwXd1A1 ]

Millions around the world have benefited from the teaching ministry of Kay Arthur; but her work wouldn't have happened apart from bitter disappointment early in her ministry. While serving as a missionary to Mexico, she contracted a heart infection that forced her to return home. "I felt like a failure," she recalls. "Depression set in until I cried, 'Father, whatever You want.'" Back in Chattanooga, she began teaching the Bible to teenagers in her home, and out of those experiences came her life's work. "It would be several years before I'd see how He'd use those formative years of study in Mexico to prepare me to write inductive Bible studies that would eventually reach fifty-two countries," she wrote.

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/rxNm1zwXd1A1 ]

We seldom understand our trials at the time. We may feel like failures and wonder why God allows suffering. But as time passes we learn to look back and see how He worked things for good and how every trial drove us closer to Him. With every test, our relationship with God grows more intimate and our perseverance more sturdy.

Pain and trials are almost constant companions, but never enemies. They drive me into His sovereign arms. There He takes my disappointments and works everything together for good.
Kay Arthur

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 12-14 [ http://iz3.me/sxNm1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Monday, July 21

I'm in a Hurry

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Hebrews 12:28

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 12:25-29 [ http://iz3.me/lCWm1zwXd1A1 ]

The country music band Alabama has a song about the pace of life that says: "I'm in a hurry to get things done. Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun. All I really gotta do is live and die. But I'm in a hurry and don't know why."1

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/mCWm1zwXd1A1 ]

Waiting is part of living, and sometimes it's the hardest part. We're programmed to hurry, but sometimes God has a way of slowing us down. It's hard to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear when we're too busy to pray, to be still, and to give God time to resolve the issues that concern us. Maturity takes time, and time requires waiting.

Maybe you're waiting for Mr. Right or Miss Congeniality, or for a prodigal to return, or for an employer to call. As Christians, we learn more about walking with God through waiting than through anything else. Our faith grows when we're trusting in His promises and patiently laying our concerns before Him.

Remember amid the rush of life to slow down long enough to wait on the Lord.

Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work.
Peter Marshall

1Alabama: American Pride, "I'm in a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)," by Roger Murrah and Randy VanWarmer, writers, released 1992.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 25-28  [ http://iz3.me/nCWm1zwXd1A1 ]

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, July 22

What God Cannot Do

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Numbers 23:19

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 6:13-20 [ http://iz3.me/rnfm1zwXd1A1 ]

Anxious? Fearful? Worried? Depressed? Perhaps we need to remember what Joshua said: "Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.... Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you" (Joshua 21:45 & 23:14).

Listen to Today's Radio Message [ http://iz3.me/snfm1zwXd1A1 ]

King Solomon made the same point at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:56, saying, "There has not failed one word of all His good promise."

Titus 1:2 says, "God, who cannot lie, promised."

Hebrews 6:18 adds, "It is impossible for God to lie"; and so, said the writer, that's why we "lay hold of the hope set before  us ." God has never broken, and will never break, a single promise -- past, present, or future. Trust Him today with your anxiety, fear, worry, and depression. Lean on His power, love, grace, and mercy.

The promises of God are His guarantees amid life's uncertainties. They're the basis of all our life of faith.
David Jeremiah

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 29-31 [ http://iz3.me/vnfm1zwXd1A1 ]