Sunday, September 30, 2018
1 John 5:14
1 John 5:14
"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."
Wisdom of Wigglesworth
Wisdom of Wigglesworth
"The cause of all deterioration is the refusal of the Holy Spirit." Smith Wigglesworth
"The cause of all deterioration is the refusal of the Holy Spirit." Smith Wigglesworth
Today in History
Today in History
1954
USS Nautilus Commissioned
1954
USS Nautilus Commissioned
On September 30, 1952, the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, was commissioned by the U.S. Navy.
The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine.
Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut.
Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955.
Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it, the Nautilus stretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of nuclear fuel. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots.
In its early years of service, the USS Nautilus broke numerous submarine travel records and in August 1958 accomplished the first voyage under the geographic North Pole. After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980.
Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, the world’s first nuclear submarine went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.
Words to Ponder
Words to Ponder
The BIBLE
“A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Proverbs 29:23
“A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Proverbs 29:23
Quotes of Presidents
“The FBI probe may be a blessing in disguise.” Donald J. Trump
Wise Words “Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done.” Johnny Unitas
The Quest for Life
The Quest for Life by Dr. D. James Kennedy
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” — Mark 8:35
When, at the end of your life on earth, you look back over your life, what do you hope to have accomplished or experienced? I think we would all like to “go for the gusto,” pursuing life with a capital L. But many pursue this goal in the wrong way. Sadly, even many Christians seek life with a capital L in a way that will prevent them from ever attaining it.
People miss out on abundant life because it is a paradox. The way we truly gain life runs 180 degrees counter to the way we think we gain life.
Jesus tells us, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
Yet most people frantically do all within their power to save their lives by heaping upon themselves all manner of comforts, pleasures, delights, and securities, not realizing that everything they do destroys the very thing they want to save. As they attempt to gain life, they lose it.
Jesus’ words are difficult. Many people read them, shrug them off, and go on their way, hoping that somehow those words don’t apply to them. For many, those words seem beyond understanding. But let me make it clear: If we focus all our attention and energies upon our material well-being, upon our lives in this world, then we shall lose that higher, greater, and more abundant life that we can have in Christ.
Only when we release our lives to Christ, allowing Him to do whatever He wishes through us, do we gain life and gain it abundantly. Live for Jesus every day, including today, and you’ll experience life with a capital L!
Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in;’ aim at earth and you will get neither. C.S. LEWIS
The Booster Rocket
The Booster Rocket
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
September 30, 2018
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
September 30, 2018
"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses My servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them-to the Israelites." Joshua 1:1-2
A rocket launch is truly an amazing phenomenon to me. Tons of weight is stacked vertically to the sky with thousands of gallons of fuel exploding in a matter of moments. Soon the rocket drops its take-off boosters and uses additional boosters to move the rocket to the next stage of the mission. The first engines have a unique purpose...to get the rocket to the next stage.
Joshua was known for almost 40 years as "Joshua, servant of Moses." God's preparation for him required years of selfless service, training in the desert, and tests of faith. Those preparation years were booster rockets designed to move Joshua into each new stage of his development and his ultimate calling.
God allows each of us preparation times to lay a foundation that He plans to build on. Some of those foundation times appear to be laborious and meaningless, yet these varied experiences are what God is using to frame your life for the message He plans to speak through you. Without these foundational experiences, the Jordan River can never be crossed and we cannot enter the Promised Land.
Embrace these times of seeming inactivity from God. They, too, are a rocket booster to your next stage of your walk with God.
Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Tomorrow Is Sunday
Tomorrow Is Sunday
"REJOICE NOT OVER ME, O, MINE ENEMY, FOR WHEN I FALL, I SHALL ARISE; WHEN I SIT IN DARKNESS, THE LORD WILL BE A LIGHT TO ME." MICAH 7:8
I pray this little message and the devotional that follows are blessings to you.
Another weekend, the time working people use to accomplish all the things at home that their workday requirements won't allow them to achieve.
As you go about your busy day, please be mindful of the reality that you are an heir of the Kingdom. Oh, you may be incognito as you tinker with the car, mow lawns, mop floors, change beds and shop for groceries, but you indeed are an heir to the high realm of Heaven.
Your Father is the King of kings and Lord of lords and you are precious to Him.
You may wonder why, if you are so greatly beloved, your life has taken the turns that it has. Turns you could not foresee in your earlier years, turns that have led you far from your dreams. If you are a delight to your Heavenly Father, why is He not opening the windows of heaven and pouring out blessings upon you that you cannot contain?
Perhaps He is.
Perhaps you simply don't define "blessing" in the same way He does.
Perhaps when it is raining and it appears the weather will curtail the fun you've planned, your Father sees the rain from a different vantage point -- perhaps He sees the rain as the necessary preparation of the soil of the garden of your life that will bear fruit for you into not only your future years but into eternity.
Your Father always has long-range goals in mind. Your Father does not provide merely for the short term. No. His plan for you transcends the fleeting delights of time and opens the way for you to reside in the great wealth of the eternal.
As you go to our Father's house tomorrow, go with open ears and open minds and open hearts. Go to our Father's house prepared to be filled to the brim with His presence, His provision, His power, His love.
Today in History
Today in History
1547
Miguel de Cervantes Is Born
1547
Miguel de Cervantes Is Born
Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is born this day in 1547, near Madrid, Spain.
Cervantes led an adventurous life and achieved much popular success, but he nevertheless struggled financially throughout his life. Little is known about his childhood, except that he was a favorite student of Madrid humanist Juan Lopez, and that his father was an apothecary.
In 1569, Cervantes was living in Rome and working for a future cardinal. Shortly thereafter, he enlisted in the Spanish fleet to fight against the Turks. At the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, he took three bullets and suffered permanent damage to his left hand. Later, he was stationed at Palermo and Naples. On the way home to Madrid in 1575, he and his brother Roderigo were captured by Barbary pirates and held captive in Algiers.
Cervantes was ransomed after five years of captivity and returned to Madrid, where he began writing. Although his records indicate he wrote 20 to 30 plays, only two survive.
In 1585, he published a romance. During this time, he married a woman 18 years younger than he was and had an illegitimate daughter, whom he raised in his household.
He worked as a tax collector and as a requisitioner of supplies for the navy, but was jailed for irregularities in his accounting. Some historians believe he formulated the idea for Don Quixote while in jail.
In 1604, he received the license to publish Don Quixote.
Although the book began as a satire of chivalric epics, it was far more complex than a simple satire. The book blended traditional genres to create a sad portrait of a penniless man striving to live by the ideals of the past. The book was a huge success and brought Cervantes literary respect and position, but did not generate much money.
He wrote dramas and short stories until a phony sequel, penned by another writer, prompted him to write Don Quixote, Part II in 1615. He died the following year.
Wisdom of Wigglesworth
Wisdom of Wigglesworth
"He who has been begotten in you is the very God of power who will preserve you and bring forth light and truth in you." Smith Wigglesworth
"He who has been begotten in you is the very God of power who will preserve you and bring forth light and truth in you." Smith Wigglesworth
The Location of the Library
In this age of the preoccupation of children with electronic devices, this advice of Albert Einstein is crucial...
The Never-ending Confirmation Process
The Never-ending Confirmation Process by Mike Huckabee
When it comes to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, it’s just one thing after another.
After wavering Judiciary Committee member Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake announced that he would vote in support of Kavanaugh, the drama escalated, with a group of angry women confronting him in an elevator. Ana Maria Achila of the nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy Action told him, “What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit on the Supreme Court. That is not tolerable.”
Another woman said through her tears, “You’re telling all women they don’t matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them, you’re going to ignore them.”
When I hear statements like these, I want to cry, too, but for very different reasons.
Just before the committee vote was to be taken, a group of Sen. Flake’s Democratic colleages that included Delaware Sen. Chris Coons cornered him in the anteroom to beg him not to vote for Kavanaugh without an FBI investigation. And though he ended up voting for him, it was with a huge caveat.
He said he would vote for Kavanaugh on the final floor vote only if the FBI were first brought in for a “limited” (a week at most, and just on the claim before them) FBI investigation, just to show that due diligence had been exercised. Chairman Grassley pointed out that the committee did not have the power to order that –- they could only take it to Senate leadership to delay the full floor vote and appeal to President Trump to initiate an investigation –- but that’s where they are now.
At this writing, it looks as though the Democrats are getting themselves another delay. God knows what they will try to do with it. It’s bound to involve more unfounded accusations and more calls for more investigation. They are not going to let this end, even if/when Kavanaugh is confirmed.
But Sen. Lindsay Graham, who strongly supports Kavanaugh and distinguished himself in Thursday’s hearing by leveling at the Democrats a richly deserved public shaming, took this good-naturedly, at least in public, saying to reporters, “This is called democracy...this is Jeff Flake being very sincere, and what he’s trying to do –- I respect the hell out of this –- (is) trying to get some Democrats to buy in. Will a week matter? And some of them said it would. Some of ‘em want to just go on and on and on, but if he can get a few of ‘em to say a week longer would make it a better process...”
It’s not known how the FBI could add to our understanding of an allegation that’s 36 years old; probably the most they could do is gather some testimony from the others who claim not to remember even being at such a party. (In breaking news, Mark Judge has said he will cooperate, if his testimony can be given privately rather than in an open hearing. And Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has announced that there is agreement now on how to proceed with a further background check. Details to come.)
There are a few Senators still on the fence who might decide in favor of Kavanaugh if they were more confident about the process –- a process the Democrats deliberately messed with by holding Dr. Ford’s letter as a political ace in the hole when they’d had since the end of July to call for an investigation. It’s far too late for this to be considered a good process, for anyone.
Words to Ponder
Words to Ponder
The BIBLE "Pray for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” I Timothy 2:2
Quotes of Presidents “Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters.” Grover Cleveland
Wise Words “The Kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One.” Charles Colson
Thoughts on Proverbs 2:1-6
Thoughts on Proverbs 2:1-6
"My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
God's Word is like His other creations. Like air, it too has multi-faceted uses. In fact, it seems as though its uses are inexhaustible. It does not matter whether one lives in the time of Abraham, Moses, David, Ezra, Christ, or now. Its directly stated words or their spirit will apply.
God's Word is so infinite and pure that it is always valid, always true, always applicable, and always an inexhaustible source of guidance. Jesus says that God's "word is truth" (John 17:17). Solomon adds, "Every word of God is pure" (Proverbs 30:5), and David writes, "The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" (Psalm 12:6).
Psalm 119:17-18 states, "Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law."
The author of this psalm has the right idea. Asking God for guidance into His Word should be our request each day. Understand, however, that it is one thing to deem the Bible a great book because of its reputation—it is another to study the Bible soberly, seeking for instruction in righteousness. This we must do.
Solomon instructs us in Proverbs 2:1 on the necessary attitude toward it: "My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you. . . ."
We should treat God's Word like treasure, as something precious. We should not treat it merely as something expensive but personally desired and used as our guide to life. Possessing it in this manner is within reach if we stretch ourselves or make sacrificial effort to have it. It is such a powerful tool that we should approach it as if it is the pearl of great price.
Yet, this treasure is not something put in a safe-deposit vault and taken out only to look at on rare occasions. We are to seek it so that it can produce success and beneficial results in us. It is the most useful tool readily available to man to guide him in the most important area of life—his relationships with God and fellow man.
Verses 2-6 add a great deal of understanding about how vigorous and persistent our efforts should be toward possessing the treasure of God's Word. The phrase "incline your ear" (verse 2) pictures a person cocking his head and cupping his ear with his hand while straining to hear—understand—more distinctly. It depicts exerting physical effort, and the word "heart" shows we must apply strenuous mental effort as well.
Admittedly, God's Word is not always easy to understand. It is a tool that requires varying levels of skill to use. At times, we must research patiently and diligently in many areas of Scripture to get as comprehensive a picture of its teaching on a given subject as possible.
In verse 3, "cry out" more literally means "invite to come." It is admonishing us to be open-minded as we research its pages. Our heart easily deceives us through lifelong prejudices and biases because we have passively accepted them as true. When God's Word challenges them, we are often moved to defend them. "Lift up your voice" adds greater intensity to "cry out," showing that we should not be passive regarding these biases. We need to search into them sincerely, and if we find them to be wrong, reject them.
By reminding us that the things we consider to be valuable usually have to be laboriously dug for and brought up from the depths, verse 4 urges us to pursue the riches of God's Word seriously.
Verse 5 then introduces an exceedingly interesting and essential principle we need to know for our growth. Proverbs 1:7 informs us, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge," but Proverbs 2:5 adds that the fear of the Lord is also a goal in our search for wisdom. This is important to understanding "knowing God" because the thrust of the Bible reveals that we can only come to know Him by obeying Him, by striving to be morally perfect. The fear of the Lord is a major motivator in producing conformity to Him and His will. It helps us enormously to reverence Him deeply, and if we do, it will result in sincere obedience from the heart. In this context, the Bible essentially equates the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God.
Verse 6 confirms that God is the source of all ethical authority as well as the blessings that flow from obedience to the knowledge of Him. The preceding verses urge obedience to Him as the principle of life because it results in knowing Him. Therefore, the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God, understanding, and wisdom are all part of the same spiritual "salad." They are inextricably linked as necessary for those who want to please God and live the abundant life He intends for His children.
Though we can properly define them as technically different from one another, in reality, they cannot be separated. The glue that holds them together is obedience to what we already know while we strive to improve all of them together. Verse 9 to the end of the chapter expounds the benefits of our search for this treasure.
In Psalm 119, the author shows how many varied and distinct elements are in fact linked in order to comprise a whole generally called "the law." The same principle holds true of those elements of Proverbs 2:1-6. The psalmist asks God to deal bountifully with him (Psalm 119:17-18), so he can keep—obey—what he learned as he searched out each element. This shows that we need to consider the whole package in Proverbs 2:1-6 because each of these elements draws on the others for support while simultaneously producing fruit toward the others.
Self-Deliverance
Self-Deliverance
From: Today God Is First by Os Hillman
September 29, 2018
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7).
Oswald Chambers advises, "Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, he puts the saint in the shadow of His hand, as it were, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen... When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon warns us not to rely on our own fallible wisdom while trying to do God's perfect will. God wants us to wait for His deliverance. His means of bringing us to spiritual maturity requires us to wait on His deliverance through adversity so that we will be able to discern the difference between our own self-deliverance and God's authentic deliverance in our lives.
It's a paradox but it's true: God often calls us to a ministry - then He deliberately thwarts our efforts to achieve our goals! We see it in the life of Moses. In obedience to God, Moses told Pharaoh, "Let my people go!"
How did Pharaoh respond? He said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."
Again and again, Moses returned and demanded freedom for his people. Again and again, Pharaoh refused.
God sent plague after plague upon the Egyptians. In response, Pharaoh hardened his heart and persecuted Moses and the people of Israel. So Moses complained to God, "You called me to go to Pharaoh, but You are not freeing the people!"
Moses grew discouraged because God had called him to fulfill a vision - a dream of liberation for his people - and the vision seemed to die.
But God was teaching Moses and the people of Israel to persevere, to obey, and to wait upon the Lord in patient trust for God's perfect time for deliverance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)