How to Hold On

Read | Psalm 37:5-7

Job was a man who certainly knew trouble and temptation, and yet he boldly claimed, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). That is commitment. Job had lost his children, his fortune, and his health, but he refused to abandon faith in God. The stricken man was determined to hold on because he trusted the Lord to do right.

Unwavering commitment to trust the Lord in all situations is a cornerstone of unshakable faith. From the vantage point of that foundation, we can focus our eyes upon God alone. It is easy to be distracted by circumstances and allow them to dictate our emotions. But if that’s the case, then when life is good, we’re happy; when times are tough, we’re frustrated; and when hardship pours in, we’re downright miserable and looking for escape.

Unlike Job, we are fortunate to have Scripture, which reveals God’s nature and promises. And it is a wise believer who claims those promises when enduring hardship. For His Word tells us that our Father is always good, always just, always faithful, and always trustworthy. When we take our eyes off the whirl of day-to-day activity and concentrate on honoring Him and following in His way, we find a consistent peace that carries us through both plenty and poverty.

In order to hold on to God through any trial or temptation, commit to trust and follow Him all of your days. Lay claim to His promises: The unchanging Lord and Savior (Heb. 13:8) is committed to caring for you in all circumstances (1 Peter 5:7) and will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

Dr. Charles Stanley

Jesus Came To Reveal To Us The Heavenly Father

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Jesus came to earth as a Man to redeem humankind from sin and from every kind
of bondage and imprisonment. That fact has been established in the minds and
hearts of most Christians. But Christ also came to earth to reveal to us the
heavenly Father.

Jesus told His disciples, “The Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). He said, “I
can of mine own self do nothing . . . I seek not mine own will, but the will of
the Father which hath sent me” (verse 30). And finally He stated, “I go unto my
Father” (14:12).

Listen carefully to what Jesus is saying: “I came from the Father and while I
am here, I do only His will. Soon I will go back to my Father.” Jesus said His
entire life was about the heavenly Father: His coming to earth, His purpose
while here, and His return. It was all about revealing the Father.

“The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do . . . the
Father . . . sheweth him all things that himself doeth” (John 5:19-20).

Jesus said He had no will of His own, that He did nothing on earth except the
will of His Father. Indeed, Christ told the Pharisees, “Watch My life, My
ministry, all the miracles and good works I do, and you will see the heavenly
Father. Everything I do is a reflection of who He is and it is all meant to
reveal Him to you.”

“All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

Jesus is saying here, “It is impossible for you to know who the Father is
unless I reveal Him to you. You cannot get that revelation on your own just by
reading the Bible or going to church. I must reveal Him to you.”

“No man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Crisis At The Cross

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

How do we get Jesus’ victory and power in our own lives? How do we appropriate
His resurrection and newness of life?

First, let me ask you: How do you know you are saved? It is by faith, of
course. The knowledge of our salvation comes by our faith alone in God‘s Word.

Likewise, we are to take up the cross, embrace it and receive victory by faith
in the overcoming power of Jesus’ shed blood. We must admit, “God, I have no
power. I do not have the ability to deliver myself or crucify myself or have
any power over sin. I give up all my own efforts to die to sin.”

By faith, we are “in Christ” — and we are to enjoy the benefits of all He has
accomplished. You see, from the very moment we were born again, we have been in
Christ — and that means we entered into everything that happened to Christ.
This includes His victories as well as His crucifixion. If we agree with God’s
Word that our sins are exceedingly wicked, we must also agree with the good
things the cross offers. They are ours — because Jesus accomplished them all
for us.

God’s Word says that once we embrace the cross, we are crucified with Christ
and resurrected with Him into newness of life. We are set free! We can yield
our bodies to the service of the Lord and offer our members as instruments of
righteousness.

At times you may stumble because of unbelief, but you can hold on to the truth
that ultimately victory is yours, because you cry, “Lord, I’m going to trust
You until victory comes.”

I thank God for the cross of Christ and I thank God for its crisis. I know by
experience that the greatest “grace preaching” in the world is the preaching of
the cross. Have you had your crisis of the cross? What about that one stronghold
you long to be delivered from?

There is deliverance for you today but it won’t come until you kneel before
Jesus and have your crisis at His cross. There you must agree with His word: “I
can no longer continue in my sin, not for another hour. God, I bring it to You
now!”

Self-Inflicted Adversity

Read | Psalm 119:65-72

The difficulties we face originate from one of three sources. Some are sent to us by the Lord to test our faith, others are the result of Satan‘s attacks, and still others are due to our own sinful choices.

As you consider these three causes, which type is the hardest for you to bear? I think most of us would say the last one, because we have nobody to blame but ourselves and it seems as if no good can possibly result. After all, the Word of God says that we will reap what we have sown (Gal. 6:7), so we see nothing ahead except a painful harvest.

What this kind of thinking fails to take into account is the Lord’s redemptive abilities. Although He never promises to remove all the consequences of sin, He can use our failures to teach us to fear Him, hate evil, and walk in obedience. The difficult lessons we learn can also become our protection from sin in the future. Having suffered the pain of going our own way, we’re more likely not to take that path again.

God’s arrows of affliction are sharp and painful so He can get our attention. He won’t let His beloved children get away with sin because He knows it robs us of blessings, opportunities, and even character refinement.

As painful as your situation may be, thank your heavenly Father that He cares enough to send out His loving discipline. Now it’s up to you. How will you respond to His warning? When we learn from experience, the scars of sin can lead us to restoration and a renewed intimacy with God.

Dr. Charles Stanley

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Don’t Waste Your Adversities

Read | James 1:2-4

Are you wasting your troubles? Anytime God allows trials to enter your life, He has a purpose for them. He wants you to squeeze out every ounce of spiritual growth instead of letting difficulties squeeze you into despair and discouragement. If you’ll just respond in the right manner, the trial that looks as if it could destroy you will become an instrument of blessing.

The most natural response to adversity is to groan and plead with the Lord to remove it. If that doesn’t work, we might get angry or try to find our own way out of the difficulty or pain. Sometimes we resort to blaming others for the trouble. And in truth, someone else might have caused the problem, but ultimately God allowed it. No matter where affliction originates, who is involved, or how evil their intentions, by the time it reaches you, it’s been dipped in the Father’s love and shaped to accomplish His good purpose. The question is, will you cooperate with Him, or will you resist?

Perhaps the key word is found in verse 4 of today’s reading. God wants to use your trial to develop spiritual maturity, but unless you let it do its work, that opportunity will be lost. If we could foresee all the benefits the Lord designed our trials to accomplish, maybe we’d be more cooperative.

Although we can’t see all the specifics of God’s plan, we know that His goal is to use our adversity to supply something we lack so we can be mature and complete. Even though the experience is painful, rest in the Father’s comforting arms, and let Him do His perfect work in you.

Dr. Charles Stanley

How to Avoid Fighting A Needless Battle

English: The Last Supper of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Colossians 2:15 I remember in the first Gulf War against Iraq, the Americans and allies so decimated the Iraqi military communication system, that several days (and even weeks) after the war was concluded and the arms laid aside, there were Iraqi soldiers who were still fighting because they didn’t know that Iraq had retreated and the war was over. It reminds me of many people in the world today who live their lives struggling to obey and make the best of life in this dark world. Yet they never find victory because they don’t know the war is over. But for those who accept the victory of Jesus Christ through what He accomplished for you upon the cross, peace will come into your heart, the battle will be done, and the truth of our Lord’s words on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), will become reality in your life. As Christians, we don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory. And thanks to Christ’s work on the cross, that victory can be yours today if you’ll only trust in Him. When you do, you can have every confidence that the victory against sin and darkness is yours and you’ll live forever with Jesus Christ! FIGHT FROM VICTORY—NOT FOR VICTORY—BY PLACING YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST AND DECLARING THE WAR AGAINST SIN AND DEATH TO BE OVER! Pastor Graham

God Is With You

Romans 8:28 28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Do you feel misunderstood and forsaken by the people you love? Have you been falsely accused and stripped of everything, without a dime to your name? Maybe today, you feel that you have hit rock bottom and you wonder if you can ever rise again. Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery (Genesis 37:28), went through all these experiences and emotions. Still, he was conscious that God was in it with him every step of the way. Though his life was a “mess”, he believed that it was not an accident. Though the things that were happening to him were not good, he believed that God was making all things work together for his good. And it was indeed so — Joseph eventually rose to occupy the most powerful position in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:40) Probably, this consciousness that God was in it with him was the reason he forgave his brothers when he met them again later in his life. Joseph told them, “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:5) So like Joseph, whatever you are facing now, be conscious that God is in it with you. Be Jesus-conscious. Though you may have nothing or not much now in the natural, the truth is that you have everything when you have Jesus! The same Jesus who went around enriching others with 12 baskets full of leftovers, a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fishes, and who never impoverished anybody, will empower you to prosper and succeed in life. The same Jesus who went about doing good will cause good to explode in your life. The same Jesus who went about healing the sick and never giving anyone sickness will keep you in divine health and protect you from harm. Beloved, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), as He was with Joseph, He is with you right now. And He will empower you to live the high life — the abundant lifein which you will see God’s promises manifest!Pastor J. Prince

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Led Apart

 

Here’s Today’s Devotional from The Vine…

 

He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. - Mark 8:23

 

That was a very gentle thing to do. Let us look very closely at the picture – Jesus is leading a poor blind man along the street. What thoughts does it start in our minds?

 

The blind man represents each one of us in our sinful state, in the midst of a world of beauty, but seeing nothing. We stumble around in the gloom, unable to find our way alone. Unless some one takes us by the hand and leads us, we are doomed to perish forever in the darkness. As Jesus came to this man in his blindness, so He comes to each one of us, offering to take us by the hand and be our guide, to lead us, through the gloom and the dangers, home to light and glory. We can never stumble in the darkness if He leads us.

 

The blind man entrusting himself to be led by this stranger, without fear or questioning, and quietly and confidingly going with Him, is a picture of what true faith in Christ always does. It is in this way that we are to commit ourselves to Christ. It is not enough to lay our sins on Him; we must entrust our whole life to His guidance. We can never find the way ourselves in this world’s paths, but we may entrust ourselves with unquestioning confidence to Christ’s leading.

 

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Can You Lose Your Salvation?

English: Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord; as in Genesis 6:8; illustration from Sunrays Quarterly (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

John 10:28

Perhaps one of the most well-known stories in the Bible is that of Noah and the ark he built. God told Noah that He was going to send judgment upon the earth in the form of a flood. But because Noah and his family were righteous, God told Noah He would save them and gave him plans to build a boat.

So on the day that the flood was to come, God said to Noah, “…come into the ark” (Genesis 6:18). And that tells us, of course, that God was inside that ark. The only way Noah and his family were going down was if God went down. And God wasn’t going down!

I’m so glad God didn’t say, “Noah, I’ll put a few pegs on the outside of that boat for you. And if you hang on faithfully until the end, you’ll be secure through the storm.” No, He said, “Come into this ark.” And Noah may have fallen down many times in the ark, but he never fell out of the ark!

Now Peter tells us that Jesus is our ark of safety (1 Peter 3:20). And if we are in that ark—in Christ—we can never fall out. So if you’re in Christ, rest assured that though you may stumble, you can never fall out of His grace, and you have eternal life forever!

REST IN THE ASSURANCE THAT IF YOU’RE IN CHRIST, YOU CAN NEVER LOSE YOUR SALVATION!
Pastor Graham