Friday, November 7, 2014

PRAY, WAIT OR ACT?


PRAY, WAIT OR ACT?
by  Warren W. Wiersbe
Psalm 94:11-23

Pic. CreditA: www.etsy.com
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (v.16). I wonder what kind of an answer we would give to these questions.

There are times when we only pray about a problem.  There are times when we wait.  There are times when God says, “Not now—I’ll take care of it later.”  But there are times when we must act, as when Moses had to stand up and lead the people out of Egypt, or when David had to perform the judgment of God.  There are times when we who are the light of the world must stand up and shine, when we who are the salt of the earth must apply that salt to the decay in the world today.

How easy it is to be a spectator and say, “well, I’ll pray about it.”  Good—be sure you do.  But God says, “Who’s going to stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?”  The answer: those who know that God is their Help.  “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence” (v.17).  “But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge” (v.22).  when God is your Help, when you have the strength of God that comes from His Word, you can stand up against the sin in this world.

Those who are separated from sin are also called to action.  “Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?”  (v.20). We have laws today that provide defense from a lot of sin.  Yet those who are separated from sin must stand up with God against iniquity—those who believe that He will give us the ultimate victory.  We may lose a few battles, but thank God we’re going to win the war!

Christians are never to become complacent about evildoers.  We deal with them by praying, waiting and acting.  God wants you to be an influence for Him.  Be an active witness where He has placed you.  Ask for His leading in knowing when to pray, wait or take a stand.


Monday, November 3, 2014

REWARDS FOR OBEDIENCE (A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT FOR THE DAY)

REWARDS FOR OBEDIENCE

1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-15


A call to be a missionary is much like Abraham's call. It is necessary to leave home, possessions, relatives, worldly ambitions and to go to another country to which God has led. But one can never outgive God. Though Abraham was called to give up much, he was promised much more. God always promises blessings when we obey and follow Him.

Hebrews 13:5 says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Much the same thing was said to the people of Israel: "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee: he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (Deut. 31:6). The psalmist said, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed" (Ps. 37:3). God promised to bless Israel, and He promises to bless us when we trust and obey. God's call for us today is that we might be separated unto Him.


No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11).  

Source: 
Back to the Bible
Confident Living Magazine
Picture Credit: wordofyeshua.eu 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

ALL OF GRACE - Devotional Thought For The Day

ALL OF GRACE (Devotional Thought For The Day)
Theodore H Epp

EPHESIANS 2:1-10:
God dealt in judgment at Babel when He scattered the people and confused their language, but God dealt in mercy and grace as He called Abraham. Abraham did not receive God's call because he merited God's esteem. Rather, in God's foreknowledge He knew Abraham and chose him for a special purpose. God's election must always be traced to God's will and purpose. It is all of grace, for it is by God's sovereign choice.

Theodore H Epp
(Founder Back to the Bible)
It is the same with our salvation. If it were not for God's grace, we would be doomed to an eternity in hell. But notice what God has done because of His grace: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). God did not do this for us because we merited it—it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. It is important that we realize that our salvation is all of grace.

Abraham was not chosen because he was a special kind of person nor because he had a high 10 nor because he had great faith. It was totally of the grace of God that He called Abraham out of idolatry, and it is only of the grace of God that we have been called out to salvation.


But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Rom. 5:20). 

Source: 
Back to the Bible Intl.

Monday, October 27, 2014

A Heart Problem

A Heart Problem
(Does your day begin with God?)

by  Warren W. Wiersbe
(Present Bible Teacher Back to the Bible)

Picture Credit: simplyjuliana.com
It’s imperative for us to meet God in the morning if we want to have a good day.  Jesus got up early in the morning to pray, according to Mark 1:35.  Here we find the psalmist saying, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (v.3).

When I used to work in the night shift, I would sleep in the morning.  So when I got up in the afternoon, I would meet with the Lord.  Meeting with God is not an appointment on a clock but an appointment in your heart.  Does God hear your voice in the morning?  When He looks on you at the beginning of your day, does He look on you as a priest who has come to offer Him sacrifices of praise?  That’s what direct means (v.3)—“to order my prayer.”  It means to arrange the sacrifice on the altar.

When you wake up in the morning, remind yourself that you are one of God’s priests.  How did you become a priest?  Through faith in Jesus Christ.  “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:5,6).  You’re one of God’s priests.  That means wherever you are is God’s temple, because your body is His temple.

The first thing we do in the morning is the first thing the high priest used to do every morning.  He laid the burnt offering on the altar.  The burnt offering is a picture of total dedication to God.  If you want to have a good day, start by giving yourself to the Lord as a burnt offering, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1).  A good day begins in the morning, and it begins at the altar.

 Warren W. Wiersbe with his wife Betty
Does your day begin with God?  If not, decide to start each morning by dedicating yourself to Him as a living sacrifice and ask His guidance for the day’s decisions and actions.  He wants to direct your life.  So view each day as a gift from God and determine to be a good steward of the day’s resources.  Make your time with Him a daily appointment.

Source: 
Confident Living Magazine, Secunderabad
Back to the Bible Intl. Lincoln, Nebraska.



                                                                                                      



Thursday, October 23, 2014

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Obeying God’s Call

Obeying God’s Call

                                          by Theodore H Epp

 (Founder Back to the Bible)


Genesis 12: 1-3

Credit: ubdavid.com
Abraham was chosen, or elected, on the basis of the sovereignty of God.  He has no Bible, so he was not able to receive his call through God’s written Word.  God sought a man, and on the basis of His sovereign will and purpose, He chose Abraham.


As to calling or electing, we are reminded of Peter’s words: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:2).  Abraham was not chosen because of any merits in his life.  His was a supernatural call based on God’s own purpose and will. When God calls according to His own purpose and will, it is always a call for the good.  Abraham had no choice in the matter.  God did not ask “Abraham, would you like to be the man that I can use?”  Instead, God said, in effect, “Abraham, I want you to come out of your country.”


Gardenofpraise.com
Abraham was called to begin a special, chosen nation through which salvation would eventually come to all mankind.  There was much involved in this great call.  God staked His whole plan of redemption of the possibility of a man’s being willing, by his faith and obedience, to become the bridgehead for delivering as erring world.


Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (2 Timothy 1:9)


(From the archives of Confident Living Magazine)


Source: 
Back to the Bible Intl.
The Good News Broadcasting Society
Confident Living Magazine

Monday, September 1, 2014

WANTED FAITHFUL SERVANTS

WANTED: FAITHFUL SERVANTS
by Theodore H Epp

Hebrews 11: 8-18

Have you ever thought about the fact that you and I have the Gospel today because Abraham and others who were chosen of God were faithful? God has chosen to work through men; therefore, the future of God's work rests on what He is able to motivate men to do. In Old Testament times, the work of God depended on men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In New Testament times, Jesus Christ made His future program dependent on the apostles. He spent time with these men and properly trained them for the work they had to do.

Not only was faithfulness required of the patriarchs and the disciples, but it is also required of us because God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. Paul wrote: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:19-20). There is no choice in the matter. We are the sovereign appointees of God to represent Him to others. Abraham was faithful. The disciples were faithful. Are we faithful?

Without faith it is impossible to please him [God] (Heb. 11:6).

(An Adaptation from the Daily Devotional Book “Strength for the Journey—A Daily Devotional For Your Spiritual Walk” By Theodore H Epp The Founder Director of Back to the Bible)


Friday, August 1, 2014

Confident Living Magazine Current Issue

Few Selected  Pages 
From The Latest Issue of 
Confident Living Magazine.









 









Associate Director. Anil Kumar's recent visit to US and other places.


Source:
Back to the Bible India.
Confident Living Magazine, Secunderabad