Devotional for the day

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
 

The Discipline of the Lord
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him -Hebrews 12:5
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, "Oh, that must be from the devil."

"Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, "Don't be blind on this point anymore- you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I'm revealing it to you right now." When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.

". . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, "Oh well, I can't help it. I prayed and things didn't turn out right anyway. So I'm simply going to give up on everything." Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!

Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me- sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).


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The True Grace of God

Yesterday we read Jude 4 which states,

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Before we move away from this verse, I want to point out a phrase that I believe is very dangerous ground for the Church in America today.  It is the phrase, "Ungodlymen, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness."

Lewdness literally means unrestrained lust, wickedness, and immorality.  These people believed that once you were saved, you could live however you wanted.

There are people in the Church today with this type of thinking.  They believe that if you are saved by grace, and good works do not merit salvation, then you can do whatever you want.           

You can sleep around, commit adultery, get drunk, the sky's the limit.  It's grace, baby!  Your works don't have anything to do with it.  You can live however you want!

One of the things that I have heard throughout the years is, "Hey, it doesn't matter.  It's grace.  God will forgive me, so I'm going to go ahead and do this anyway."

You do not want to live that way.  Believe me, something begins to break down inside of you, and you will pay the piper eventually.

If you are turning the grace of God into lewdness through immorality, or any other sin, I challenge you to stop today.  Confess your sin to God, turn from whatever it is that you have been doing, and ask God to help you live for Him.  If you do, you will experience the true grace of God, which teaches us that we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age (Titus 2:11-12).


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Newborn Christians
In His Presence: Proverbs 19:20

"I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ"(1 Corinthians 3:1).

There are people who are Christians but are not mature. They are neither carnal Christians nor unbelievers. These are people who are brand-new to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. They have not been saved long enough to become spiritual. A baby Christian cannot be mature. They can be Spirit-controlled, but they cannot be mature because maturity requires time.

When Paul addresses Christians about their infancy, he is referring to weak, brand-new Christians. We cannot condemn a person because he or she is a baby. Neither does the apostle Paul condemn new Christians because they are immature. New Christians should not get frustrated because they are not mature. They should allow the Holy Spirit control over what they have, and He will make it increase with time. When a baby Christian desires to become mature, we should rejoice that they have listened to the Holy Spirit's voice and have developed a desire for a deeper and more satisfying relationship with God.

"I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it"(v. 2). New Christians grow by feeding on the basics of Christianity. They learn who God is and how much He loves us. They learn who Jesus Christ is, and why it was necessary for Him to become the Lamb of God.

One Minute Please

A baby Christian learns to love God with all his heart, mind, and soul.





God bless
 

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
 

The Evidence of the New Birth
You must be born again -John 3:7
The answer to Nicodemus' question, "How can a man be born when he is old?" is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced (John 3:4). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.

"But as many as received Him. . ." (John 1:12). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.

". . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God " (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God's kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God's control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.

"Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . ." (1 John 3:9). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, "Should a Christian sin?" The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin- it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin
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Six Times We Should Seek God

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 4:29).

In today's devotional, I want to show you the first three of six times we should seek the Lord:

1.  When we have sinned.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

If you sin, do not run from God, run to Him.  Do not allow shame to keep you          away.

2.  When we are feeling dry spiritually.

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).

When you sense a distance between you and God, or if you feel dry spiritually, do not delay!  Seek Him early.

When my potted plants feel dry, I water them.  I do not wait until they turn brown and are almost dead.  If the soil is dry and the leaves begin to droop, they are in need of water right then, and so it is when you are feeling spiritually dry.

One of the keys to keeping potted plants-and our spiritual lives-healthy is to tend to them early.

3.  When we are fearful.

I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears (Psalm 34:4).

When you are fearful or anxious, it is time to seek the Lord.  When you seek Him you can expect to be delivered from all of your fears! 

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God Has a Purpose for Us

In His Presence: Jeremiah 29:11

"David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers"(Acts 13:36).

Men, the worst thing in the world is to live out our 75 or so years of life not knowing why we were put here in the first place. When God placed Adam in this world, He told him to fill the earth and tame it. He was to create a culture out of the wild. Adam knew he had a purpose for his life. The tragedy today is that men have settled for the mundane and become satisfied by emptiness. They haven't gotten around to exploring God's reason for their existence. If we don't know why we have a life to live, then anyone who whispers in our ear can distract us from our divinely ordained reason for being.

God has a purpose for each of us; we need to pursue God's special future. But if we just settle for the definition of manhood given us by society, the entertainment industry, the sports industry, and our buddies, then we will never discover the purpose God has for us. Real living is when we are completing the work that God has called us to do.

Satan is seeking to overrun this world with evil. But God is ready to partner with us when we take up the mantle of manhood. Through the Holy Spirit, He will work in and through us, but it requires taking a risk.

One Minute Please

Are you going to settle for the ordinary, or are you going to be God's man doing God's business?


God bless

[Judy Harder]

Does He Know Me . . . ?
He calls his own . . . by name . . . -John 10:3

When I have sadly misunderstood Him? (see John 20:11-18). It is possible to know all about doctrine and still not know Jesus. A person's soul is in grave danger when the knowledge of doctrine surpasses Jesus, avoiding intimate touch with Him. Why was Mary weeping? Doctrine meant no more to her than the grass under her feet. In fact, any Pharisee could have made a fool of Mary doctrinally, but one thing they could never ridicule was the fact that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (see Luke 8:2); yet His blessings were nothing to her in comparison with knowing Jesus Himself. ". . . she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. . . . Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' " (John 20:14, 16). Once He called Mary by her name, she immediately knew that she had a personal history with the One who spoke. "She turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' " (John 20:16).

When I have stubbornly doubted? (see John 20:24-29). Have I been doubting something about Jesus- maybe an experience to which others testify, but which I have not yet experienced? The other disciples said to Thomas, "We have seen the Lord" (John 20:25). But Thomas doubted, saying, "Unless I see . . . I will not believe" (John 20:25). Thomas needed the personal touch of Jesus. When His touches will come we never know, but when they do come they are indescribably precious. "Thomas . . . said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!' " (John 20:28).

When I have selfishly denied Him? (see John 21:15-17). Peter denied Jesus Christ with oaths and curses (see Matthew 26:69-75), and yet after His resurrection Jesus appeared to Peter alone. Jesus restored Peter in private, and then He restored him publicly before the others. And Peter said to Him, "Lord . . . You know that I love You" (John 21:17).

Do I have a personal history with Jesus Christ? The one true sign of discipleship is intimate oneness with Him- a knowledge of Jesus that nothing can shake


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Six Times We Should Seek God (Part Two)

In yesterday's devotional, we looked at three times we should seek God. Today we will look at three more:

4.  When we are in trouble.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched       out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted (Psalm 77:2).

In Hosea 5:15 the Lord says, "...in their affliction they will earnestly    seek me."

I don't like to admit it, but the truth is that at times I have sought God more earnestly when I have been in trouble.  Problems have a way of getting us on our knees.  If you are in trouble today - seek Him!

5.  When all is well.

Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore! (Psalm 105:4).

If you will carefully read the preceding verses of this psalm, you will find that the context is one of blessing and not trouble.

This may be the most important time of all to seek Him.  May we never become smug and think that we do not need God when all is well.

6.  Continually.

Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore!

(1 Chronicles 16:11).

The word evermore in this verse means continually or at all times.

When you have sinned, when you are dry, when you are afraid, when you are in trouble, when all is well, and in any other situation - you need to seek God!
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Man Must Lead
In His Presence: Ecclesiastes 3:9-12

"I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ"(1 Corinthians 11:3).

God has created a systematic chain of command by which He operates. He expects this chain of command to become part of our lives as well. Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes under the authority of God the Father. A man is to place himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ. This is not a statement of equality, but of function. God ordained this order at creation. Further, a woman comes under the authority of her husband as a statement of submission to God.

What happens when we break the chain of command? Satan began his plan of attack on man right in the Garden of Eden. He got Eve and Adam to switch roles. Eve took the lead and Adam became the follower. It was a disastrous experience. Sin was introduced to the world along with its companions, death and disobedience.

God has stitched women in such a way that they are built to be responders. When the man leads the home by placing himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ, the woman will follow. But for a follower to be a good follower, they must have someone worth following. If the man refuses to recognize the authority of Jesus in his life, then the woman will step into the leadership role.

One Minute Please
The biblical definition of real manhood is a man who leads his family in the worship of God by submitting to his Lord.


God bless
 

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

Are You Discouraged or Devoted?
. . . Jesus . . . said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.' But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich -Luke 18:22-23

Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven't, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.

Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, "Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me." Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him- He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened- not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain- He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.


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True Satisfaction

Isaiah 14:12-15 records the fall of Satan.  Created as God's archangel, we read about the dissatisfaction that got him in trouble,

"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!  For you have said in your heart:  'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit."

Clearly his problem was pride.  "I will, I will, I will...I am going to be like God."  He wasn't satisfied with being the archangel that God had created him to be.  He wanted to take God's place.

The root of Satan's pride was his discontent with the post and station that the supreme Monarch of the universe had assigned and allotted him.  He thought he deserved better.

We all have our sphere of influence, and we all have our gifting from God.  Your sphere of influence and gifting are different than mine, and mine are different than yours.  It is unwise to desire something that someone else has rather than exploring what God has given you and developing that to its highest potential.

When you look over the fence, it looks like the grass is greener on the other side, but when you hop over, you find out it is spray-painted!

You will only be satisfied if you will develop what God has put inside of you and take that to its highest level possible.  That is what you will be rewarded for.


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Carnality in Action
In His Presence: Proverbs 21:21

The apostle Paul had spent several years teaching and preaching at the church in Corinth. He was concerned because there was division among the members. "I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren . . . that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I of Apollos,' and 'I of Cephas,' and 'I of Christ.' Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he?" (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

The Corinthians had time to mature, but they were distracted and began to argue among themselves. Instead of growing, they were regressing. "You are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3:3-4).

Have you ever said, "I'm only human"? That's non-Christian talk-talking like "mere men." Paul was saying that these Christians were acting like everyone else around them. And Corinth was known to be a wicked city. Paul was not complimenting these Christians. Instead of acting like the new man or woman they had become, they were rebellious believers.

One Minute Please
Behaving like "mere men" is an act of the will. Carnality is perpetuated by the will.


God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

Christ-Awareness

. . . and I will give you rest -Matthew 11:28

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will disappear. Then He will be your all in all. Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue, because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is satanic. Don't allow yourself to say, "Well, they have just misunderstood me, and this is something over which they should be apologizing to me; I'm sure I must have this cleared up with them already." Learn to leave others alone regarding this. Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute.

A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, "Lord, what is your will?" A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.

If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, "Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest," that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest- the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself
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God in Nature

God has made Himself known to mankind in a powerful way people often ignore...His creation.  Romans 1:18-20 tells us,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

God speaks to people through nature...through His creation.  I am confident that there is a point in every person's life where there comes an awareness of God.  Whether it is looking at a shooting star, or at a sunset, or at a blade of grass, the thought occurs to them, "This didn't just get here.  This didn't just happen.  There must be a God."

Creation speaks to us of the Godhead.  It is a revelation of God.  The book of Psalms says, Night unto night shows forth knowledge.  And it says the heavens declare the glory of God.  The firmament shows His handiwork.  Creation speaks to us of God.

But notice what this passage says.  This revelation of God has come to men, but some have wanted to suppress it.  They came to that point and thought, "You know what?  If I find out about this, then I'm going to become responsible.  So I don't think I want to know."

The natural bent of men and women is to suppress the truth, but God is speaking loudly and clearly of His greatness and reality through His creation.  Praise Him today for revealing His beauty and power through nature, and use it to point people to Him.


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Apostasy

In His Presence: Deuteronomy 13:4

The carnal Christian is also characterized by rejection of the Christian faith. If the carnal Christian stays on the road to carnality long enough, he will apostatize-fall away from the life of faith. He or she may deny Christianity. Can a Christian go so far as to become a rank sinner in his actions? Yes, "for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment" (Hebrews 10:26-27).

God will intervene on behalf of the carnal Christian, but He will also judge. Even the blood of Jesus will not save him from God's wrath. This does not mean that salvation will be lost, but God will judge that person. There will be emotional consequences. It may even mean an end to his life. The price tag for apostasy is staggering. "Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (vv. 28-29).

One Minute Please

A person is not beyond help if he is disinterested in the things of God, if his insensitivity to sin becomes normal, or if he withdraws from fellowship. But when he goes down the road of rejecting faith, he is close to the point of no return.


God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

The Ministry of the Unnoticed
Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . -Matthew 5:3

The New Testament notices things that do not seem worthy of notice by our standards. "Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . ." This literally means, "Blessed are the paupers." Paupers are remarkably commonplace! The preaching of today tends to point out a person's strength of will or the beauty of his character- things that are easily noticed. The statement we so often hear, "Make a decision for Jesus Christ," places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him- something very different. At the foundation of Jesus Christ's kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. I am truly blessed in my poverty. If I have no strength of will and a nature without worth or excellence, then Jesus says to me, "Blessed are you, because it is through your poverty that you can enter My kingdom." I cannot enter His kingdom by virtue of my goodness- I can only enter it as an absolute pauper.

The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality. Conscious influence is prideful and unchristian. If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the Lord. "He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). And if I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.

Who are the people who have influenced us most? Certainly not the ones who thought they did, but those who did not have even the slightest idea that they were influencing us. In the Christian life, godly influence is never conscious of itself. If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.


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No Unbelievers in Hell

In Luke Chapter 16, Jesus tells a very sobering story,

"The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom... Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment'" (Luke 16:22b-23 and 27-28).

Everyone in hell believes in evangelism.  They are crying out lest their loved ones end up with them.

Two thousand years have passed and this rich man has had no relief.  A billion years from now he will just be getting started in his torment and pain.  Listen to his cry,  "My brothers! Send someone to my family!"

Hell is for unbelievers but there are no unbelievers in hell!

Several years ago a man came weeping to the altar of our church.  A message had been preached that night from these very Scriptures.  After giving his heart to Christ (and after a long time of almost uncontrollable weeping), he told us this story:

He said,  "I died twice on the operating table during heart surgery.  Each time I died, I left my body and went to hell.  It was so horrifying that I tried to put it out of my mind.  As the message was preached tonight, all the details of my experience came flooding back into my mind."

He did not need to be convinced that hell was real.  That night he accepted Christ and was liberated from the fear of returning to that place of torment.

Jesus alone can rescue us from the terrors of hell and bring us safely to heaven. Shouldn't we be telling people there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun?  Shouldn't we be warning them and encouraging them to accept Christ-while there is still time?!


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Consequences of Neglect
In His Presence: Psalm 103:12

Husbands often take their wives for granted; wives often take their husbands for granted. In much the same way, Christians often take "so great a salvation" for granted (Hebrews 2:3). It is a salvation that cost God His Son. It is a salvation that has given us eternal life. Our salvation has provided us with the enablement of the Holy Spirit. This salvation has given to us the authority of God's Word. It has provided us a home in heaven. This is a salvation that's replete with eternal rewards. It calms the most hurting heart and restores the broken life. How can people neglect that kind of salvation?

Nothing and no one can compare with this salvation. How can we pass over this? We will not escape; there is a price. "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives' . . .  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Hebrews 12:4-8).

The natural product of being a Christian is to be disciplined as a son. But neglecting our great salvation comes with further discipline, because the discipline must turn us away from our wandering.

One Minute Please
When we don't remember what we have, we take it for granted.

God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

"I Indeed . . . But He"
I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire -Matthew 3:11

Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, "I indeed . . . but He . . ."? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more- butHe begins right there- He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.

Repentance does not cause a sense of sin- it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.

"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. "He will baptize you . . . ." The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.

"I indeed" was this in the past, "but He" came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.


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Inwardly Compelled

It was love that motivated the Father to send His Son Jesus to redeem mankind. That same love has been poured out into the heart of every believer.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

God's love in us calls and compels us to do something about the plight of lost people.  Even as Paul says in   2 Corinthians 5:14 , For the love of Christ compels us.

A few years ago, late at night I would hear what seemed to be a very faint chime or bell.  Several times I got out of bed to try and find the source of the sound, but it always stopped before I could discover it.

Finally, one evening, I found out what it was.  It was an old watch I had, tucked away in a drawer under some junk.  Every evening, the alarm would go off at the same time.

The call of God's love in your heart can be like that.  Sounding regularly but seldom heard.  Buried under personal ambitions, cares and problems, daily routines and the general busyness of life.  But it is unmistakably there!

The same love that moved Jesus to heal the sick and minister God's life to broken people is in you!  Listen to it.  Get in touch with it and express it to someone in need.


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Hardened Hearts
In His Presence: Proverbs 19:20-21

"Just as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the days of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me . . .  I was angry with this generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways"; As I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest" ' ''(Hebrews 3:7-11).

For many years the sons of Israel lived in the land of Egypt. Eventually the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and forced them to make buildings of bricks. They suffered terribly until finally God raised up a leader to guide them back to the Promised Land, where God had taken Abraham hundreds of years before. Moses led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness of Sinai. There they began to complain bitterly about the lack of food and water and tried God's patience. God said their hearts were hardened.

The Hebrews' hearts were hardened because they were tricked by sin. Sin leads us to stop believing God. We believe the sin instead. One of the reasons why many of us are in our present dilemma is because we have stopped believing God. We have developed hearts of unbelief.

How do we know that we have been taken in by the deceitfulness of sin? Does the sin bother us less often? When evil doesn't anger and upset us-when we have gotten used to it-our hearts have been hardened.

One Minute Please
Sin provides short-term gratification leading to long-term disaster.


God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

Prayer- Battle in "The Secret Place"

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly -Matthew 6:6

Jesus did not say, "Dream about your Father who is in the secret place," but He said, ". . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place. . . ." Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.

We must have a specially selected place for prayer, but once we get there this plague of wandering thoughts begins, as we begin to think to ourselves, "This needs to be done, and I have to do that today." Jesus says to "shut your door." Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from "the secret place"- He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in "the secret place," it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into "the secret place," and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and "pray to your Father who is in the secret place," every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.


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"Come Over and Help Us"

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night.  A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them (Acts 16:9-10).

The world is in need and they are calling!  I can hear Africa, Asia, voices from South America and Europe calling out.  China and Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines...voices from around the globe crying out, "Come over and help us!"

The call may be coming from down your street or from the next aisle in the grocery store.  "Help me!  I'm lost.  I want to find God.  I have problems I can't cope with.  I have an aching void in my heart that I don't know how to fill.  Is there anyone out there with answers?!"

Who will go to them if not you and me?

To say, "I don't feel called to go to them," is equivalent to a strong swimmer standing on the shore of a lake saying he doesn't feel called to save the man drowning before his eyes.

Ask God today to direct you to someone whose heart has cried out for answers and help.  Chances are you won't have to go too far to find them.


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Dullness of Hearing
In His Presence: 2 Corinthians 5:20

Carnal Christians are characterized by a willful refusal to grow. The writer of Hebrews says that they "have become dull of hearing. For though by this time [they] ought to be teachers, [they] have need again for someone to teach [them] the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and [yet they] have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the world of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:11-14).

The writer here says they had become dull of hearing. Notice that he says they have become dull of hearing, not that they are dull of hearing. This implies that they used to be good listeners at one time, but that changed. They had become willfully rebellious against God. They started by being neglectful and disinterested, and then they became insensitive to sin.

The Greek term used here to mean "dull of hearing" has to do with slowness of perception due to moral laxness. It was the word used as an epitaph for a mule! So the writer was telling his readers that they had become like mules. Now mules are not the greatest thinkers; they are used for manual labor. The mule-minded Christians had regressed so much that they were of little value to God-not because God had made them that way, but because they had become that way.

One Minute Please

People become dull of hearing as a result of choices they have made.

God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

The Spiritual Search

What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? -Matthew 7:9

The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God's will to give you what you ask. Don't faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a "good child" in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, "I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings"? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a "good child."

We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God's child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).

I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I "walk in the light" (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong- a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, "Everyone who asks receives . . ." (Matthew 7:.


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Resist the Devil

In Jude 9 we are told how Michael the archangel dealt with Satan.

Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

My concern is that some people have tried to use this Scripture to say that we do not have authority over the devil.  They believe we have no recourse other than to pray that the Lord will do something about him.

But that is not the point he is making here at all.  Jude was referencing the previous verse where some would "speak evil of dignitaries."  He used Michael's conversation with the devil to show that this was wrong.  To say that we do not have the right to resist the devil and cast him out on the basis of this Scripture is ridiculous.  Here are five things to think about:

1.      This event between Michael and Lucifer (Satan) happened before New Testament times-before Jesus defeated the devil and broke his power.

2.      James 4:7 tells us, Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  It does not say, "Pray that God will resist the devil for you."

3.      Jesus, in the Great Commission, told us to cast out devils (or demons).  Jesus wouldn't tell us that if He hadn't given us the authority.

4.      In Luke 10:19 Jesus said, "I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

5.      In the book of Acts, as the Church carried out their mission, they commanded demons to come out, and they came out in Jesus' name.

My friend, Jesus has broken the authority of the devil in your life.  Resist him and he will flee!


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A Simple Test

In His Presence: Psalm 25:14-15

The writer of Hebrews included a simple test to determine who is a "milk" Christian-a carnal Christian-and who is a "meat" Christian-a mature Christian. "By this time you ought to be teachers" (Hebrews 5:12). We should be able to sit down with our children and explain simple Bible truths. Husbands should be able to sit down with their wives and answer their questions. By this time, if we are meaty, mature Christians, we should be able to sit down with the Bible and help someone else know the Truth. We should be able to lead an unbeliever to the Lord.

"Everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness . . . But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil"(Hebrews 5:13-14). If we willfully refuse to go deeper into the things of God, we will not use the Word because we won't know the Word. The old saying goes, "If you don't use it, you lose it." We can't lose our salvation, but we can forget how to walk in the Word and how to be His representatives.

If we are mature Christians we use God's Word every day. We practice His Word in our everyday life. The phrase "senses trained" comes from the Greek root word for gymnasium, like a training ground. We are trained in discernment of good and evil.

One Minute Please
Moving from milk to meat is learning God's Word and practicing it until it becomes a habit, a natural way of thinking, and a normal way of perceiving things.


God bless

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers     
   

Living Your Theology
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you . . . -John 12:35
Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. "If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.

The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.

Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, ". . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.


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Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth

In yesterday's devotional we began looking at different conditions of the heart-conditions that are necessary in order to experience the richer blessings of God.  Today we will continue looking at those conditions.

·        A grateful heart.  Deuteronomy 28:45-47 (Amplified) says,

All these curses shall come upon you and shall pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.  They shall be upon you for a sign [of warning to other nations] and for a wonder, and upon your descendants forever.  Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness of [mind and] heart [in gratitude] for the abundance of all [with which He had blessed you].

William Shakespeare said, "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child."  Do you express gratitude to God for all the things He has blessed you with, or do you take His blessings for granted?

Many years ago, when I was serving in a small church, one of my duties was to take groceries to families in need.  I was shocked at the ingratitude of some that received the gift of food delivered to their homes.  While some were truly grateful, others acted as if it was somehow owed to them-even complaining because their favorite foods were not included!

Hopefully you have taken time recently to thank God for the blessings He has bestowed on your life.  If not, take time today to express your gratitude to Him who is the source of every good thing you enjoy.


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Neglectful Christians
In His Presence: Psalm 62:8

A person does not fall into carnality overnight. He does not lapse into carnality because he or she did one thing wrong. There is a pattern that takes time to establish. The carnal Christian is characterized by the neglect of spiritual matters.

"If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:2-3). The author of Hebrews was writing to a group of Jewish Christians who had turned their backs on faith. They were genuine Christians, but had demonstrated the neglect that is one of the first signs of carnality. To neglect simply means to show disinterest. It's not that the Christian is doing a lot of wrong things, but it is evident that they are doing very little that's right. Neglect is an act of passive disobedience rather than active disobedience. This Christian is not doing the things that are necessary to catapult us down the road to spiritual growth and maturity.

Passive, benign neglect opens the door to failure. Some marriages end in divorce not because there was an adultery committed, but because the husband sat in front of the TV too much. Some of us are going down the road to carnality not because we have committed gross sins, but because Satan has done just enough to keep us out of the Word of God and off our knees.

One Minute Please
The road to carnality starts with neglect-failure to do the things that are necessary for us to mature in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

God bless