In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley

January 28, 2008 -- Living Clean in a Contaminated World -- 2 Corinthians 6:14 -- 7:1

When Satan was cast down from heaven, he was given dominion over earth for a period of time. Known as the father of lies (John 8:44), he opposes anything related to the Lord. Because we are all made in God's image, the Enemy seeks to thwart us. Under his rule, our world has become morally and spiritually contaminated.

We come into the world physically alive but spiritually dead and in rebellion against the Lord (Ephesians 2:1-2). Yet by trusting Jesus as our Savior, we receive a new nature and are adopted into God's family. Before salvation, man is enslaved to sin and unable to free himself. But through the Holy Spirit, believers have the power to say no to wrongdoing and yes to godliness (Titus 2:12).

Because of our new identity as children of God, we can't let ourselves become bound together intimately with unbelievers--we no longer share the same nature or purpose. Followers of Jesus are called to serve as His ambassadors, spreading knowledge of the Savior and living righteous lives. We're to put aside our own desires and instead embrace His. In addition, we must admit when we've sinned and then seek His forgiveness. And of course, we worship the heavenly Father through His Son. These concepts are foreign to someone who doesn't belong to Christ.

We are wise to choose as our most intimate friends and trusted advisors those who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. How beneficial it is to receive counsel based on Scripture and to have role models who point us toward the Son.

Power Point With Jack Graham

DAILY WORD



January 24, 2008



But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

--Romans 5:8



Once there was a red bird at my house that kept flying into our window. Over and over again, it flew right into the glass... until it eventually killed itself.



It didn't matter what I did to try to get that cardinal not to keep ramming its head into our window! Nothing I did... no shooing or swatting or yelling could stop that bird from doing what it thought it should be doing. And in the end, that bird paid the price for its ignorance with its life.



Isn't that how it is for so many people today? We try to live life on our terms, doing things the way we think they should be done... not realizing that our repeated attempts at finding meaning or security always end in vain.



But that is what's so great about our God. He saw us in our ignorance... in our sin... and He knew the only way to speak to us... to save us... was to become one of us.



God didn't just see our plight, our need, and our impending death and walk away and give up. He came all this way to live in our hearts, to reconcile us unto Himself! As the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:18, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself...."



So let me ask you, have you been living life like that little red bird? Have you been repeatedly trying in vain to live life your own reckless way... ignoring the warning signs from God and those around you?



If so, it's my prayer that you will be reconciled to God. Turn to Him... and live in the freedom He wants to give you!



TURN TO JESUS TODAY... AND LIVE IN THE FREEDOM HE WANTS TO GIVE YOU!

In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley

January 23, 2008 -- God's Plan to Take Away Our Guilt -- Romans 8:1-8

Scripture teaches that one aspect of the Holy Spirit's work is to convict man about his sin (John 16:8). His purpose is to turn us from our iniquity and direct us to God.

Peter felt great remorse after denying that he knew Jesus (Matthew 26:75). Paul fell to his knees when Christ confronted him about his wrong behavior (Acts 9:4). Both men responded to these convicting experiences by repenting and following the Lord.

At one time we all were spiritually dead. Sin's presence was corrupting our human nature from the inside out, blinding us to spiritual truth. With our will directed towards self and against God, "we were by nature objects of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3 niv). In other words, we were under condemnation and facing eternal death--God's required payment for our transgressions (Romans 6:23). So in our natural state, we were unconnected to the Lord and headed toward eternal separation from Him.

Although we were helpless to change our situation, God had a plan that would satisfy His justice and place us in His family. He sent His Son to be our substitute--to bear our sin and guilt and to die in our place. Not only did Jesus pay our sin-debt in full, but His righteousness becomes ours the moment we place trust in Him.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our guilt before God, and thankfully, we don't have to be separated from Him now or throughout eternity. Have you received Jesus as your personal Savior? If so, then recognize that your position before the Lord has been changed from guilty to righteous.

China Is Beautiful

clipped from www.slightlywarped.com clipped from www.slightlywarped.com clipped from www.slightlywarped.com

The fool on the hill?

clipped from www.walkintheword.com The professor then jokingly said, “Well, then it would have gotten here on its own.” How foolish! But isn’t that exactly what people do? They look at our universe, so incredibly complex and vast that it makes our minds swim when we study it, and they deny God’s work. The human mind cannot even comprehend the universe that God made yet some people arrogantly make this exception, “Well, this is the one time that there was an effect without a cause—the one time we got this whole thing from nothing.” The fool has said in his heart there is no God.” Some people stand off at a distance with phony intellectualism and say, “Well, I don’t see the proof for God.” Then please go out on a starlit night and look up at the skies. Now what’s your answer? The heavens itself testify to God’s glory. A design shouts a designer. I’m convinced by these arguments and choose to believe in a sovereign Creator God.

click on the link and think

I am sharing another article from James MacDonald. I love this guy's perspective and faithfulness! I agree with this article, but I sometimes have trouble following all the advise and instruction in my daily life. I think in some sense, we all have a little bit of a lawyer in us, because we sure know how to find and jump through "loop holes" of compromise when we just want to do what we do! Another thing that plagues me is when I am around others that are either non-believers or non-committed Christians, I have a tendency to go along with jokes, or at least tolerate them without comment, or without leaving the room, maybe because I don't want to be thought of as a "Holy Joe"! I don't think I'm alone with these struggles. If you are willing, may we agree to pray for one another and ask God to help us change our habits that are not pleasing to Him and to strengthen our resolve to be more consistent in our walk and daily life style! After all, we are in this together!
Love in Christ,
cdcwilly



Because I Belong to God

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:15

A lot of people will wake up this Tuesday morning filled with the resolution that in 2008, they will be different. They will think differently, they will do different things, and subsequently, life will be better. At least that’s what they hope.

But within a few days or weeks, most if not all, will lapse back into old behaviors, old attitudes, old patterns. That goes for Christians, too.

No matter how passionately you feel about pleasing God right now, living a holy life in 2008 will depend on a few key decisions.

Decision #1: Will I live my life in the power of God’s Spirit and not in my own strength or willpower?

Decision #2: Will my personal life be determined by God’s Word and its wise application? Between me and God—I will live according to what He has said is right.

The Bible describes this as holiness—being “set apart; separate.” The word actually means “to mark off a boundary.” Read 2 Corinthians 6:15-19 at the top of the page for specifics.

Separation is holiness in action. It’s drawing a line in the sand and saying, “I don’t go there; I don’t look at that; I won’t tolerate that in my life. I belong to God. I’ve made a choice and by God’s grace I’m not going back.”

Living a holy life begins with building convictions and living within those boundaries. The best time to make that lifestyle decision is today—before you’re in the heat of the moment, apart from the pressure of the choice.

Have you drawn protective, preventative lines around your life? If you haven’t established your own convictions based on God’s Word, you’re going to fail. You might do O.K. for a season, but if you don’t heed God’s call to come out and be separate, you’ll waffle right back into that old pattern of defeat.

If you’re ready to break the cycle, start here. Say, “I resolve once and for all that with the Spirit’s help and power, I’m doing it God’s way. I belong to Him.”

Maybe you’ve been struggling in a particular area of sin and you wonder if you’ll ever get victory. Hear the tender call of your loving Father, be done with that. Those things don’t fit in your life.

Maybe you’ve tolerated your rationalized behavior a long time and the Spirit of God wants your attention about the compromises you’ve been excusing. Before you make a choice you can’t reverse and reap a whirlwind of consequences, heed the piercing word of His Spirit saying, “Come out from that and be separate.”

I don’t know how the command could be any clearer, loved ones. God’s Word says to separate from the world’s lifestyle. Don’t touch what is unclean; don’t sit on the fence, don’t straddle the line, don’t be double minded. God’s says: “Be holy as I am holy.”

There’s joy and blessing waiting for you in 2008 when you live in the protective boundaries of God’s holy call on your life.


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Revelation 3:14-22 (New King James Version)
New King James Version (NKJV)

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
[NKJV at Thomas Nelson] [Thomas Nelson, Inc.]

If you enter your name in place of the church of Laodiceans as I did, it will give you a different perspective! Let us not be in a position in our walk that we would receive this rebuke!



The Lukewarm Church

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans[a] write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[b] I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”