Turning Point with David Jeremiah

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, September 03

Be the Good Soil

But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew 13:23

Recommended Reading
1 Corinthians 3:5-8 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%203:5-8&version=NKJV )

If you are a vegetable gardener, you have had the puzzling experience of different plants of the same variety producing different qualities of fruit when planted in the same soil. Perhaps a large rock is blocking the growth of the roots. Or perhaps a poisonous chemical substance was accidentally spilled on the ground. Lots of things can render soil unsuitable for seed.

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

Jesus identified the soil of the heart as the primary variable in spiritual growth (Matthew 13:1-23). If the soil is rocky or filled with weeds and brambles, the seed of the Word of God cannot spring up and bear fruit. But if the soil is "good," then we "hear and understand" it and bring forth an abundant crop of spiritual fruit. And whose job is it to make sure the soil of the heart is "good," prepared to receive kingdom teaching? It is every Christian's responsibility to prepare his or her heart -- to be the good soil.

Whenever you are about to receive the Word -- before Bible study or a sermon -- ask God to give you a heart of good soil.

As seed is made for soil and soil for seed, so the heart is made for God's truth and God's truth for the heart.
Richard Glover

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 31-32 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2031-32&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, September 05

The Clothes We Wear

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

Recommended Reading
1 John 4:20-21 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:20-21&version=NKJV )

If you see a woman dressed in green surgical scrubs, a mask covering her face, and latex gloves on her hands, you know she likely works in a ________. If you see a man wearing a cowboy hat and chaps, riding a horse and holding a lariat, you know he's probably a ________. If you see a man dressed in blue with a gun on his hip and a badge on his chest, he's likely a ________.

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

But if you see a woman sacrificing herself compassionately for the sake of a friend, or a stranger, there's a good chance that person is a follower of ________. If you said "Jesus," it would be a good guess. Christians aren't the only people who show sacrificial love to others, but they are the only ones for whom love is supposed to be their defining characteristic. Jesus made that clear to His disciples: The way the world is supposed to identify us as His followers is by the love we have for one another. And the apostle John took it a step further: If we say we are followers of Jesus but don't have love, we are liars.

At the very least, being dressed in love for others should make people wonder, "Why does that person love so generously?" Then we can tell them -- because Jesus first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Faith without love is no living grace, and love without faith is no saving grace.
William Burkitt

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 36-38 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2036-38&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Friday, September 06

Jesus' Job Description

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 4:14

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 4:14-16 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%204:14-16&version=NKJV )

A long list of criteria had to be met for a man to become High Priest. Meeting the criteria was only the first step. Afterwards, the High Priest was to offer sacrifices on behalf of himself and the people. He was most connected to the sacred perfection of God and most responsible to correctly atone for the people's sin. The sacrifices were continually repeated because no sacrifice was perfect enough to atone for sin once and for all.

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

Jesus was different. He was perfect and did not become High Priest by being appointed by men. He was appointed by God. When Jesus submitted Himself to death on the cross, He assumed the position of both the High Priest and the sacrifice. He presented Himself as the sacrifice for our sin. No other priest or sacrifice is necessary. When we look to Jesus, we can be filled with thanksgiving because our High Priest is perfect. Once we believe in Him, we are safe, having been cleansed from all unrighteousness. Jesus fulfilled the law completely and through Him we have eternal life.

In his life Christ is an example showing us how to live; in his death, he is a sacrifice satisfying for our sins; in his resurrection, a conqueror; in his ascension, a king; in his intercession a high priest.
Martin Luther

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 39-40 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2039-40&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, September 7 & 8

Fall Favorites: Friends

I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15

Recommended Reading
John 15:9-17 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015:9-17&version=NKJV )

Henry Clay Trumbull, an influential nineteenth-century Christian worker, used all his influence to promote the cause of Sunday school and the message of the victorious Christian life. He was a man with a great capacity for work and also for friendship. In 1891 he wrote a book about friendship, and his premise was: Friendship is a matter of loving, not of being loved. "Friendship is love with the selfish element eliminated," he said. "It is an out-going and an on-going affection. No love in any relation of life can be at its best if the element of friendship be lacking."1

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It's startling to think about our friends this way. We usually want to be with them because of what they do for us -- they make us feel comfortable; they're fun to be with; they support us; they affirm us. But what if none of those things happened? What if we derived little benefit from being their friend? Would we be friendly anyway?

It's not what we get but what we  give  that makes us a friend.

Friendship consists in being a friend, not in having a friend; in giving one's affection unselfishly and unswervingly to another.
Henry Clay Trumbull

1Quotes from Trumbull's book, Friendship, the Master Passion.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 41-46  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2041-46&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Monday, September 09

Cars and Christians

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
Romans 8:3

Recommended Reading
Romans 7:18-20 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%207:18-20&version=NKJV )

The idea of the gasoline-powered vehicle to be used for human and commercial transportation is a fabulous idea! In fact, a century of innovations and further inventions have made cars and trucks a permanent part of our life. So why do we only tolerate them instead of love them?

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

It's because they break down and need repairs. Rubber wears out, metal breaks down, paint fades, wires break, and we crash these machines into one another. It's not the idea of the vehicle that is bad -- it's the execution that breaks down. And so it is with the law of God. The law is "holy and just and good" (Romans 7:12), yet we have a hard time implementing the concept. Vehicles are weak because of their parts and humans are weak because of their flesh -- their fallen human nature. If inventors ever create parts that last forever, they will do for vehicles what Jesus did for us: be strong, not weak, in the flesh.

The next time your car is in the shop, thank God that Jesus is a permanent, perfect keeper of God's law. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.
Dwight L. Moody

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 47-48 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2047-48&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Tuesday, September 10

Finally Free!

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:28

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 8:6-12 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%208:6-12&version=NKJV)

In 2007, James Tillman was released from prison after serving 16.5 years of a 45-year sentence for a rape he did not commit. Also in 2007, Lynn DeJac was released from prison after serving 13 years on a murder conviction -- a murder she did not commit. In 2010, Greg Taylor was released from prison after serving 17 years for a murder he did not commit. As of June 2012, 292 wrongfully-convicted people had been freed from prison through DNA testing, 17 of whom had received death sentences.

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

Imagine what it must feel like to walk out of prison a free person -- no more burden of guilt or shame of (accused) wrongdoing. The Christian doesn't have to imagine it. We know the reality in an even deeper way: We did, in fact, commit the sins of which we stand accused by God's law. And yet we have been set free from the burden of guilt and shame of (actual) wrongdoing. Through the shed blood of Christ, God promises to remember our sins no more. Our challenge is to remember that God has forgotten!

If you are a child of God, thank Him today that you have been set free -- forevermore! Then walk in the newness of life Christ's blood has bought.

Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Daniel 1-3 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%201-3&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Wednesday, September 11

The Law and the Heart

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Hebrews 8:10

Recommended Reading
Ezekiel 36:26-27 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2036:26-27&version=NKJV )

Twelve years ago today, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. The record of the lives lost and damage done is being recorded in an underground museum in what was the foundation of the World Trade Center's "Twin Towers." But the records are written even more indelibly in another place -- in the hearts of those who lost loved ones on that day.

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

God first wrote His laws for Israel on tablets of stone. When man proved incapable of obeying those laws, He promised to write them in a more accessible place -- in the hearts and minds of His people. That is how the New Covenant was portrayed by God through the prophet Jeremiah. The internalization of God's law is made possible by the permanent presence of the Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Give thanks to God today for His Holy Spirit who empowers you to walk in a manner pleasing to God. Then be sensitive to the Spirit's promptings as He calls God's will to mind.

Sinners cannot obey the Gospel, any more than the law, without renewal of heart.
J. I. Packer

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Daniel 4-5 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%204-5&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Thursday, September 12

Don't Miss the Meaning!

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17

Recommended Reading
Galatians 3:24-25 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203:24-25&version=NKJV )

The Amazing Race  is one of the most popular shows on television -- it has won thirteen Emmy awards since debuting in 2001. Two-person teams compete by traveling all over the world in a race against the clock. On  The Amazing Race , once teams arrive at a destination, they search for a set of instructions for reaching the next destination -- and so on until they complete the final leg. Every new set of instructions moves them closer to arriving at the final destination ahead of their competitors.

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

In a similar way, the entire Old Testament is a set of clues, or instructions, pointing toward a final destination: the arrival of Jesus Christ, Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. The Old Testament was written over many hundreds of years by many different people, so piecing the clues together took discernment. But when Christ appeared, He made it plain: "I came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 5:17, paraphrase).

Old Testament saints may have been at a disadvantage, but we shouldn't be. We have the promise and fulfillment in one book. Don't miss the meaning of the Old Testament!

[Christ] is the center, the structure of the whole history of the Old Testament.
Edmund P. Clowney

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

[Judy Harder]

Friday, September 13

'Tis a Charming Sound

For the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:19

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 7:18-28 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%207:18-28&version=NKJV )

To understand the link between Law and Grace, remember that God is pure, perfect, holy, and righteous. We are not; but without a measuring stick we can't see how truly sinful we are. When God gave the Ten Commandments (which is the Law in its essence), He revealed His character in a way that allows us to measure ourselves by His holiness. Standing on tiptoe and trying to be as tall as the Law can never save us. The Law simply shows our deficiency.

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

It also reveals our need for Grace. When Christ came, He perfectly fulfilled the Law; and when He died on the cross, He took our failures upon Himself and transferred His righteousness to our account.

There was nothing wrong with the Law; it simply defined sin. But it also prepared us for a better hope -- the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we draw near to God. The Law was conditional, but Christ's redemption is unmerited, unconditional, final, and worthy of praise forever.

Grace first inscribed my name in God's eternal book; 'Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb, who all my sorrows took.
Philip Doddridge, in the hymn "Grace, 'Tis a Charming Sound"

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Daniel 9-12 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%209-12%20&version=NKJV )

[Judy Harder]

Weekend, September 14 & 15

Fall Favorites: Faith

O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:9

Recommended Reading
Psalm 8 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%208&version=NKJV )

John Piper wrote, "When I was in seminary, a wise professor told me that besides the Bible I should choose one great theologian and apply myself throughout life to understanding and mastering his thought.... The theologian I have devoted myself to is Jonathan Edwards."

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Piper was particularly influenced by Edwards' dissertation about the reason God created the world, which was ultimately and exclusively for His glory. Everything is  of  God and  in  God and  to  God. The presence of beauty in this sin-cursed world is a reflection of the glory of God.1

This autumn as you watch the swirls of oranges, reds, and browns; as the birds migrate above you; as the harvest rolls in around you; and as you see the sun set earlier in the sky, take time to reaffirm your faith in God. Trust the Creator with all your heart and say to Him: "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth."

In the creatures' knowing, esteeming, loving, rejoicing in and praising God, the glory of God is both exhibited and acknowledged; His fullness is received and returned.
Jonathan Edwards

1John Piper in the introduction of  Jonathan Edwards on Beauty  by Owen Strachan and Douglas Sweeney (Chicago: Moody, 2010), 15-17.

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Hosea 1-9  ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea%201-9%20&version=NKJV )