Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, September 26

The Flying Gospel

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Acts 4:20

Recommended Reading
Acts 4:13-21 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20Acts%204:13-21&version=NKJV )

A strange item recently appeared in Florida newspapers. A man in Port Richey was arrested and accused of assaulting his roommate by throwing a Bible at the back of her head. The two had gotten into an argument; and as the girl tried to take the garbage out of the house, the man allegedly threw a Bible at her so hard that it bent the cover. The case is pending.

Listen to Today's Radio Message   ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/radio.aspx?tid=email_listenedevo )

This isn't what Martin Luther had in mind when he advised ministers to know the Gospel well, to teach it to others, and to "beat it into their heads continually."

Luther wasn't speaking literally, of course. We mustn't beat people over the head with the Gospel. But we do need to find ways of getting the Scriptures into the hearts and minds of those God brings into our lives. Be alert today for any opportunity of saying a word for the Lord. Have a verse ready. Take the Gospel wherever Christ leads you, knowing that He has prepared the way. Don't be afraid to share a word for the Lord today.

Successful witnessing is taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.
Bill Bright

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 2:1-4:25 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:1-4:25&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, September 27

2820 Encouragement Street

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won't leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord's house is finished.
1 Chronicles 28:20 (HCSB)

Recommended Reading
1 Chronicles 28:20-21 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles%2028:20-21&version=NKJV )

Sometimes in memorizing Scripture we have trouble recalling the references. Try mental associations. For example, if you know the Great Commission Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 28:20, you can locate the Great Promise David gave his son in 1 Chronicles 28:20. They share the same street address of 28:20.

Listen to Today's Radio Message   ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/radio.aspx?tid=email_listenedevo )

These are among David's final words. As he turned over the kingdom to Solomon, he charged him with building a glorious house to serve as the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The task was daunting, but the promise was sufficient: Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won't leave you or forsake you until all the work... is finished.

This promise is for us too. We need to exhort and encourage each other regarding the work God has given us. We need to build one another up. As we tackle Matthew 28:20, let's remember 1 Chronicles 28:20. The Lord will stay with us till the work is done.

We are to encourage and build self-confidence in our loved ones, friends, and associates.
Billy Graham

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 4:26-6:44 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204:26-6:44&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Friday, September 28

Forewarned Is Forearmed

And the Lord said to [Paul], "Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do."
Acts 22:10b

Recommended Reading
Acts 26:15-18 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2026:15-18&version=NKJV )

You've probably heard the expression, "Forewarned is forearmed." It simply means that the more we know about what is coming, the better equipped we will be to handle it. Likewise, the more we know about life as a whole, the fewer surprises there will be along the way. Paul forewarned new converts to Christ by telling them; "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

Listen to Today's Radio Message   ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/radio.aspx?tid=email_listenedevo )

Paul knew that all too well. When he got his assignment from Christ to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and their kings, he was also told that he would suffer in the process (Acts 9:16). But at least he was forewarned and therefore forearmed with the knowledge he would need to depend on the strength of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). But it's not just apostles who suffer for Christ. All who are called to follow Him must be ready to share in the "fellowship of His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10). The more we know about our assignment from Christ, the more we can be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

How would you define your assignment, or appointment, from Christ? How are you preparing for it?

By suffering God's will, we learn to do God's will.
Thomas Case

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 6:45–8:38 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206:45-8:38&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, September 29 & 30

Back to School: Do Your Homework

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25

Recommended Reading
John 13:15-17 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2013:15-17&version=NKJV )

"If a train leaves station A, headed for station B, at 12:00 noon, averaging 35 mph, and another train leaves station B, headed for station A, at 12:30, averaging 38 mph, at what exact time will the two trains pass each other on their separate tracks?" Remember those word problems--the bane of junior high school math students? The point of math word problems for homework was to use math to solve real-world problems.

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For the Christian, life is an ongoing, never-ending series of real-world word problems! Instead of homework assignments given to school students, Christians are given "lifework" assignments by God. The point of Bible study, prayer, Scripture memory, and other disciplines is to solve the spiritual problems and meet the spiritual challenges that arise in daily life. That's why it is not enough to be just a hearer or learner of the Word of God--we must be doers of the Word as well.

If you feel threatened by life's word problems, continue to work out your salvation by applying the Word of God in every situation (Philippians 2:12).

Apply yourself to the whole text, and apply the whole text to yourself.
J. A. Bengel

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 9:1–12:44 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209:1-12:44&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Monday, October 1

Unfathomable Love

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:8

Recommended Reading
1 John 4:7-10 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:7-10&version=NKJV )

Evangelist Charles Finney once preached a sermon on 1 John 4:8, saying: "Love is the cement of society and the source of social happiness. Without it the great community of the rational universe would dissolve, and men and angels would turn savages." But when Finney tried to explain how "God is love," he admitted defeat. "There is an unfathomable depth in this concise laconic sentence," he said, "which even the penetration of an angel's mind cannot reach."

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Finney said that one Sunday as he preached on this text, a farmer by the name of Jowles took a seat near the pulpit. During the sermon the man groaned. Anguish gripped his face. He then became motionless and had to be helped home. Soon however, Jowles was gloriously converted and became a powerful instrument for bringing his friends to Christ.

If we really saw the transcendence of God's love, it would shock us, numb us, awaken us, thrill us, and turn us into worshippers and witnesses.

God is love, and He loves you.

Whatever (God) does, He does it because He is love.
Charles G. Finney

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 13:1-14:72 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2013:1-14:72&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, October 2

You Can't Leave Home Without Him

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Psalm 139:7

Recommended Reading
Jeremiah 23:23-24 [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20Jeremiah%2023:23-24&version=NKJV ]

A famous consumer credit company's advertising campaign, beginning in 1975, used the tagline, "Don't Leave Home Without Them" for 25 years -- referring to the company's travelers checks. When the credit card replaced travelers checks, the phrase was changed slightly to say, "Don't Leave Home Without It" -- referring to the plastic credit card that replaced checks for travelers.

Listen to Today's Radio Message ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/radio.aspx?tid=email_listenedevo )

You might leave home today without a credit card in your pocket, but there is one thing you can never leave home without: the presence of God. The psalmist David wrote an entire psalm (Psalm 139) about the fact that God was always with Him. And the prophet Jonah discovered he couldn't escape God even when he tried. If you can't escape God's presence that means you can't escape God's love either -- because God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Some people think their sins or failings have put them far away from the reach of God and His love, but that is never true. God and His love are always with you.

God is no further from you on your worst day than He is on your best day. Just open your heart to receive Him and His love.

God is love, and He loves you.

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him.
C. S. Lewis

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Mark 15:1-Luke 1:38 [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2015:1-Luke%201:38&version=NKJV ]

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, October 3

Rules and Reasons

Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Romans 7:12

Recommended Reading
1 Timothy 1:8-11 [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%201:8-11&version=NKJV ]

"Do not use this product below 32 degrees F." "Do not exceed the red line on the tachometer." "Do not take this medicine on an empty stomach." "Speed Limit: 65 m.p.h." "Billy, do NOT leave our yard and go into the street after the ball."

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Life is full of commands, instructions, prohibitions, warnings, and regulations. And in the vast majority of cases they are written for our benefit. In other words (again, in the vast majority of cases), rules have a reason. And most people are thankful for the protection and benefits that result from obeying them. Except, it seems, with God's rules. The Ten Commandments have long been caricatured as the attempt of an angry, self-centered God to keep His rebellious subjects from enjoying life. Just the opposite is true. Because God is our Creator, He knows how the happiness we were created to experience can best be realized. His commands are simply guardrails that will keep us on the path of pleasure.

If you are chafing against one of God's guidelines, commit to obeying Him by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Give God's guidelines time to produce their intended result.

The commands of God are all designed to make us more happy than we can possibly be without them.
Thomas Wilson

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Luke 1:39-2:52 [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201:39-2:52&version=NKJV ]

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, October 4

The Benefits of Focus

There is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
Isaiah 45:21

Recommended Reading
Romans 1:24-25 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%201:24-25&version=NKJV )

In his book Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (Penguin Group, 2008), business journalist Geoff Colvin defines what great performers have in common: years of "deliberate practice." Not casual or regular practice, but deliberate practice -- for years. He cites abundant research that shows, "Many scientists and authors produce their greatest work only after twenty or more years of devoted effort, which means that in year nineteen they are still getting better" (page 62).

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Research is clear that focus-over-time is a key ingredient to success. It should come as no surprise, then, that God expects His human creation to focus only on Him, excluding all other gods, idols, and images -- for our whole life. Joshua asked the Israelites to choose whom they would serve -- gods or God (Joshua 24:15). Jesus said that man cannot serve God and money at the same time (Matthew 6:24).

Worshipping God alone -- "deliberate practice" -- is the only way to maximize our potential as His creatures.

Every one of us is, from his mother's womb, expert in inventing idols.
John Calvin

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Luke 3:1-4:44 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%203:1-4:44&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Friday, October 5

From the Beginning

For You formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

Recommended Reading
Psalm 139:13-16 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20139:13-16&version=NKJV )

Alexander Tsiaras, while a mathematician and researcher at Yale University, helped to create a 2010 presentation titled  Conception to Birth -- Visualized.  Using new applications of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanning, never before seen images of the development of the human fetus were obtained. When giving a talk on what his team discovered he said, "It's a mystery, it's magic, it's divinity."* As a scientist, he found it hard to think that evolution could account for the design and development of something as complex as a human being.

Listen to Today's Radio Message   ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/radio.aspx?tid=email_listenedevo )

He almost took the words right out of the psalmist David's mouth. When contemplating how God had knit him together in his mother's womb, David exclaimed, "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17) David was astounded that the God who loved him enough to always be with him was also with him in his mother's womb. From the beginning to the end of human life on earth, God guides everything. And because God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), His love is there all along.

Thank God today that His love has been shaping your life from the very beginning.

He who was our help from our birth ought to be our hope from our youth.
Matthew Henry
 
*evolutionnews.org/2012/03/mathematician_a057741.html

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Luke 5:1-6:49 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205:1-6:49&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, October 6 & 7

Always: Always Love

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.
1 Thessalonians 1:2

Recommended Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:1-4 [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians%201:1-4&version=NKJV ]

The word "always" occurs nearly 100 times in the Bible. It's often used by Paul to describe certain Christian behaviors we should manifest. We're to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58), "always confident that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6), "always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:10), and "always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Watch This Week's TV Broadcast   ( http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/television.aspx?tid=email_watchedevo )

In Christ, we "always" have all sufficiency in all things (2 Corinthians 9: and should be zealous in good works "always" (Galatians 4:18). Our speech should "always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4:6) as we await the day we'll "always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Paul "always" prayed for his friends with thanksgiving and love (1 Thessalonians 1:2). There should be no breaks in our love for others and no blackouts in the consistency of our Christian lives. Our model, Christ, "always lives to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25).

To Christ we are to be always coming; upon Him always relying; to His precious blood always looking.
Charles Spurgeon

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Luke 7:1-8:39, Luke 8:40-9:62 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%207:1-8:39,%20Luke%208:40-9:62&version=NKJV )