Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Friday, January 11

Expect the Test

And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."
Exodus 20:20

Recommended Reading
James 1:2-4  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201:2-4&version=NKJV )

Parents do it all the time -- test their children. They assign their six-year-old the task of picking up all the toys off the floor and putting them in their place. And they assign their sixteen-year-old the task of being home at a certain hour after socializing with friends. The test is to see if they have developed the necessary maturity to put responsibility before personal interest or desire. If they pass the test, rewards and greater responsibility are forthcoming; if they fail, discipline (not punishment) may ensue in order to train the senses toward maturity.

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

In the Old Testament, God tested Abraham (Genesis 22:1) and the nation of Israel. And the apostle James says that tests are common to the Christian. Not temptations, but tests. Satan tempts (1 Corinthians 7:5), but God does not (James 1:13). But God does test for the purpose of leading us to honor Him and bring us to maturity (James 1:4).

Is every difficult circumstance a test from God? The Bible doesn't say. Our job is to be on guard against Satan tempting us in the midst of difficulty -- and use the situation as an opportunity to respond in faith.

Everything in life is a test of character.
John Blanchard

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Genesis 36-38

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, January 12 & 13

Lessons of the 13s for 2013: Live With Confidence in 2013 (Numbers 13)

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."
Numbers 13:30

Recommended Reading
Philippians 1:6 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%201:6&version=NKJV )

Will the weather tomorrow be clear or rainy? Will the American and world economies pick up in 2013? Will my health be good in the coming year? Will I be financially secure until the end of my life? The human mind is excellent at coming up with questions and doubts -- and when we don't have ready answers for our questions, our doubts can turn to fear. We can't have answers for all our questions; but when God has spoken on a matter, we can have absolute confidence.

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

When the Israelites were poised to enter the Promised Land, 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent doubted that they could conquer it -- in spite of the fact that God said they could (Numbers 13:1-2). Only Joshua and Caleb had confidence that God would stand behind His promises. They saw the same giants and obstacles that the 10 other spies saw, but they based their confidence on God's Word.

Even if we can't have specific answers to every question going into 2013, we know that God is good and God is faithful. And on such knowledge confidence is built.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.
Martin Luther

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Genesis 39-43 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2039-43&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Monday, January 14

High Yields

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38

Recommended Reading
Luke 6:32-38  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:32-38&version=NKJV )

If the proportions of Luke 6:38 are a guide, we are blessed 37 times over when we give to the Lord. That's a pretty good return, but how is it calculated? Well, there are 38 words in verse 38. Only the first is a command: "Give." The remaining 37 words describe God's blessings on those who obey it.

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

Of course, the true proportions are much greater. We give of our money, time, gifts, and talents to the Lord, but at best we're unworthy servants (Luke 17:10). Yet His gifts to us include "exceeding riches" (Ephesians 2:7), "unsearchable riches" (Ephesians 3:, and "enduring riches and righteousness" (Proverbs 8:18).

Any of us would be glad to get a 37-fold increase on an investment, but none of us can calculate the blessings that come to us as children of God who share His loving and generous heart. As we look to God for guidance and understanding, we'll better see that abundance isn't limited to simple monetary yields but includes all the riches of His grace.

Generosity is a lovely attribute, and we only practice it when relationships are more important to us than our possessions.
Michael Wright in Yours, Lord.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Genesis 44-46

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, January 15

Seriously Cheerful

Behold, this is our God .... We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
Isaiah 25:9

Recommended Reading
Isaiah 25:9  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2025:9&version=NKJV )

According to an article in  The Journal of Religion and Health,  people who regularly attend church are 56 percent more likely to have an optimistic view of life and 27 percent less likely to succumb to depression. The study was based on a sample of nearly 100,000 women and was funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.1

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

Imagine! The U.S. Government funding a study demonstrating that church attenders are happier, more optimistic, and less depressed than people who don't go to church. We could have told them that without spending a penny. Joy is the instantaneous response of a heart that's filled with God's blessings.

God has many attributes -- love, justice, omnipresence, and countless others -- but among His qualities is an attitude of perpetual joy. God is joyful. As we meditate on His wonders and grow to be like Him, our lives will become increasingly optimistic as we say, "Behold, this is our God .... let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (ESV).

Be seriously cheerful, and cheerfully serious.
Isaac Watts

1"Churchgoers More Likely to Be Optimistic" in  The Christian Post,  November 12, 2011.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Genesis 47-50 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2047-50&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, January 16

All Sufficient

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.
2 Corinthians 3:5

Recommended Reading
2 Corinthians 3:1-6  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%203:1-6&version=NKJV )

Most of our worries involve a fear of insufficiency. We're afraid we're not good enough as parents or providers or Christians or whatever. Or we're concerned we don't have enough, whether food or money or health or strength. When we think of ourselves as the source of our own sufficiency, we have reason to worry and be concerned. But as Christians, our sufficiency is from God. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:. His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

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

In John 14:8, Philip asked Jesus, "Show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." His request was wiser than he knew. When we come to the end of our earthly resources, we find that His sufficiency has only begun. If you think you're not good enough or don't have enough, remember these words from the old hymn "How Firm a Foundation: 'My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.'"

The God of Abraham praise, whose all sufficient grace shall guide me all my happy days, in all my ways.
Thomas Olivers

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 1-4 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%201-4&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, January 17

Climbing the Ladder

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20

Recommended Reading
Matthew 6:19-21  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:19-21&version=NKJV )

Someone quipped, "Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway." As we watch the world economy rise and fall, we're led to wonder if our economists or investment advisors know what they're doing. Thankfully, some of them are perceptive and they can help us manage our affairs. Jesus spoke of the men who procured good returns on the investments of their talents (Matthew 25:14-30); and Proverbs 13:11 (NIV) says, "Whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow."

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

But even if we strike it rich, we've lost everything at the moment of death unless we've also been faithfully investing in eternity. When we make temporal investments, our rewards are temporal also. But when we invest our resources in the work of the kingdom, our rewards are eternal. Let's learn to be wise stewards of our temporal means; but let's be especially diligent to lay up for ourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Wouldn't it be a tragedy to get to the top of the ladder and find you placed it against the wrong wall?
Henry Blackaby

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 5-7 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%205-7&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Friday, January 18

Test the Promise

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
Malachi 3:10

Recommended Reading
2 Peter 1:3-4  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Peter%201:3-4&version=NKJV )

Presumption is not a mature attitude, especially when dealing with God. In fact, the apostle James warned his readers about making presumptions about what God might or might not do (James 4:13-17). But there is one place in Scripture where God invites us not to presume upon Him, but to test Him -- to give Him the opportunity to prove Himself worthy of His promise.

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

It came about when the Jews returned from exile in Persia. They were pursuing their own interests, getting resettled in the land, and were not putting God first. Specifically, they were not bringing God's tithe into the storehouse. And they were suffering in disarray as a result of God withholding His blessing. So God proposed a test: Bring your tithe and see if I won't bless you beyond your imagination. The Jews were being reminded of covenant stipulations: obedience brings blessing, disobedience removes blessing.

Put God's promises to the test and see if His blessings don't follow. God loves to prove His faithfulness.

The whole covenant is a bundle of promises.
Thomas Brooks

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 8-10

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, January 19 & 20

Lessons of the 13s for 2013: Be a Servant in 2013 (John 13)

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
John 13:14

Recommended Reading
Galatians 5:13 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%205:13&version=NKJV )

Historically, the Protestant Christian Church has embraced two "sacraments" or observances -- Communion (the Lord's Table) and baptism. A small number of Protestant Christians embrace a third -- foot washing. Their basis for doing so is found in John 13:14 -- Jesus' admonition to His disciples to wash one another's feet after He had washed theirs.

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

Whether Jesus' words are to be taken literally or figuratively (foot washing being an example of the kinds of service and humility that should characterize Jesus' followers), what Jesus did demonstrated the purpose for His coming into the world: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve..." (Mark 10:45). Jesus demonstrated His service to mankind not only by washing His disciples' feet and healing the diseases of the lowliest members of society but by dying on a cross for the sins of the world. Except for dying for the world's sins, we have been called to serve others just as Jesus did, demonstrating God's love.

Consider 2013 a year of service in which you become the hands and heart of Jesus by meeting needs He would meet.

The highest honor in the church is not government but service.
John Calvin

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 11-16

[Judy Harder]

Monday, January 21

In a Pickle

Riches can disappear fast ... so watch your business interests closely.
Proverbs 27:23 (The Living Bible)

Recommended Reading
Proverbs 27:23-27 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2027:23-27&version=NKJV )

What do you do when your finances are in a pickle? Well, did you hear about the man in Pennsylvania who bought a jar of pickles for a few dollars? He later sold it on e-Bay for over $44,000. It wasn't the pickles that were so valuable; it was the jar, which turned out to be a rare blown glass cathedral pickle bottle made in the 1850s.

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

Making money is hard; spending it is easy; saving it is tough; investing it is tricky; giving it is fulfilling. God's people should learn to do those things with diligence and discretion. Proverbs 27 says, "Be diligent to know the state of your flocks ... for riches are not forever." The passage goes on to tell us that as the seasons change, those who manage their assets wisely will be able to provide clothing for themselves and food for their households.

Ask God for the wisdom and integrity to manage what's in your wallet or pocketbook today, and to be diligent and upright in earning money, spending it, saving it, investing it, and giving it.

With eternal investments there is never a loss of principle or principal.
David Jeremiah

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 17-20

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, January 22

Making Priorities a Priority

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Matthew 6:10

Recommended Reading
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2028:1-2&version=NKJV )

As helpful as children's literature is to teach reading, increase comprehension, and excite the imagination, it can skew the portrayal of a critical biblical concept: the nature of a kingdom. In fantasy tales, kingdoms are controlled from castles, ruled over by kings or queens, and defended by knights on horseback. But that is not an accurate picture of the kingdom of God.

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

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," He defined the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the place where God's will is done. That obviously includes heaven, and Jesus prayed that it would one day include earth -- which it will. The easiest way to see the kingdom of God extended on earth is for human beings to make God's priorities their priorities. When we act, think, and speak like God, we are manifesting His will in our presence. In that place, in that moment, the kingdom of God has come on earth.

As you plan your day and your week, think about priorities. How closely are your priorities aligned to the priorities of God? Where God's will is done, His blessings follow.

We live by demands when we should live by priorities.
J. A. Motyer

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Exodus 21-23