A Powerful Lesson From ER

What's On Your Mind?

Greg Laurie Daily Devotions

Friday, March 14, 2008

What's on Your Mind?

" 'So commit yourselves completely to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.' " (Deuteronomy 11:18--19)

People sometimes ask me to sign their Bibles, which is not something I like to do, because I didn't write it. But when someone insists, I usually write this inscription in his or her Bible: "Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you from sin."

I have found that sin will always keep you away from the Bible, because the devil wants to keep you out of God's Word. He doesn't care if you read magazines. He doesn't care if you watch television. He doesn't care if you read the latest novel on the bestseller list. He doesn't care if you watch movies. But the minute you pick up the Bible and crack it open, you had better believe that he will try to distract you with everything he has. He doesn't want you to read it.

On the other hand, if you follow what the Bible teaches, it will keep you from sin. That is why we need to know the Bible. That is why we need to study it. While it is a great idea to carry a Bible in your briefcase, pocket, or purse, the best place to carry it is in your heart. Know it well. Fill the memory banks God has given you with Scripture, because the devil will attack you in the realm of your mind. The best defense is a mind that is filled with God's Word.

Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Bill's Room

Bill's Room from Bill Newsinger on Vimeo.

Back by popular demand

Resurrection Band video on FoxyTunes Planet

[via FoxyTunes / Resurrection Band]

Walter Trout - Dust my broom

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BENISE - Mi Amor

John Williams plays A.Barrios Mangore

[via FoxyTunes / John Williams]

Wilderness Park

Strunz & Farah 1993

[via FoxyTunes / Strunz & Farah]

Eric Clapton - Forever Man (Video)

[via FoxyTunes / Eric Clapton]

Lost in an atomic age

clipped from mail.google.com In 1948, U. S. General Omar Bradley made this statement: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and we have rejected the Sermon on the Mount.  The world has achieved brilliance without conscience.  Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." If that was true in 1948, it's definitely true now.

New Mexico

A Jesus Nut

clipped from www.rbc.org 'A Jesus Nut' A Navy pilot was describing his complex helicopter to his parents one day. He told them that a small hexagonal nut held the main rotor to the mast of the helicopter. "Guess what we call that nut?" he asked his mother. She could only shrug her shoulders. With a smile, the pilot answered his own question: "It's called a Jesus nut." That may sound irreverent, but here's an explanation. If that small piece of metal ever came off, the helicopter would not be able to stay in the air but would come crashing to the ground. So it's understandable why pilots in the Vietnam War gave that little part the name "Jesus nut." The writer to the Hebrews said that Jesus, who made the world, upholds "all things by the word of His power" (1:3). Because of Him, we inhabit a created cosmos, not a chaotic accident. He who made all reality keeps it from collapsing. We also need Jesus Christ

Life Beyond The Rituals

clipped from www.rbc.org Life Beyond The Rituals Jesus is not content to be just our “fire insurance,” saving us from eternal punishment in hell. Rather, He wants us to know Him for who He really is, and He desires to connect with us on a deeper, more personal level. If you are weary of a religion that is about rules and regulations, then welcome to life beyond the rituals. Welcome to a relationship in which you can find companionship, comfort, wisdom, and reality. Welcome to the wonderful privilege of getting to know Jesus and the joy of following Him. Get to know Him—and you’ll grow to love Him more and more each day. —Joe Stowell

More than a safety net!

Live for today

clipped from mail.google.com Just as John Maxwell says, "Today is the most important day of my life. Yesterday with its successes and victories, struggles and failures, is gone forever. The past is past. Done! Finished! I cannot relive it. I cannot go back and change it. But I will learn from it and improve my today. Today, this moment, now! It is God's gift to me and it is all that I have."   MAKE today... and EVERY DAY... COUNT FOR CHRIST!

Hello!
It's been a while since I have written anything of my own, forgive me for getting caught up in so many distractions which keep me from inputting a personal note here and there! Of course, all content displayed in this blog is a reflection of my personal touch, however, I would like to add a little more of my comments, be they good, or bad depending on your point of view. Hopefully, they will be in line with the way of our Lord Jesus Christ! Following this post is a lesson from Dr. James MacDonald. In it, he mentions selfishness which plagues us all and likens self to a dog barking for attention! This reminds me of a lesson from Greg Laurie about the Indian proverb: our old nature and new nature are like two dogs, both fighting to win over the other in our life and attitudes. When asked which one will win, the wise old man said "simple, the one that I feed the most!" This hits home with me this morning, as I was feeling out of sorts with God because of my stubborn behavior and self will! This little lesson from "Walk In The Word" hit the nail on the head! As we walk the road of life together in "The Way", lets encourage and pray for each other and ask Jesus to help us feed the "right dog!"

cdcwilly

WALK IN THE WORD
with Dr. James MacDonald


Healing Family Hurts

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Have you got some hurdles to overcome in your family relationships? You know—some things that need to change and improve at your house? All of us can at one time or another admit to family problems, causing family pain.

I have just one word to offer you as you seek help and healing for your family: love. Love is relational dynamite that obliterates all obstacles in its path. Talking won’t do that for you. Pressuring won’t; prodding, insisting, demanding, getting selfish—these all will only tear your life and family apart. But 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, “Love never fails.”

Love never fails to what? Let me point out three things that it will handle for you:

#1 Love never fails to conquer selfishness. I am selfish and so are you. We never have to work at self; it’s just right there barking for attention. Love conquers the biggest obstacle in me: selfishness.

#2 Love never fails to conquer skepticism. Over time, it’s easy to doubt that anything is ever going to change. Your family disappoints you and you want to bail but love holds on.

But James, we’ve got real problems over at our house and some pep talk on love is not going to fix it.

You’re right—that’s why we need 1 Corinthians 13:6, “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”

#3 Love never fails to rejoice in the truth. Love doesn’t sit back in some happy delusion that everything will be okay. Love doesn’t deny problems, but works to see them changed. Love is an action before it’s a feeling.

Here’s your assignment this week:

* In love, serve your family when they choose to be selfish.
* In love, humble yourself before your family when conflict creates distance.
* In love, forgive your family by releasing them from the obligation that resulted when they hurt you. Don’t hold it over them.
* And lastly, in love, speak God’s Word in any situation regardless of the cost. Truth, delivered with love, is what sets us free.

Love gives God an opportunity to work. It’s a tool in His hands to work through you in helping your family.

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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