Bible League: Living His Word In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;he saved me from all my troubles. After the disasters pass, we tend to forget how the Lord saved the day. We also tend to forget how many times during the course of our lives the Lord came to our aid when things got desperate. There was that time, for example, when your health suddenly took a turn for the worse. The doctors had prescribed a course of action and everything seemed fine. Then the bottom fell out and you could see death's door in the distance. The doctors tried, but nothing seemed to work. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord. And there was that time when you lost your job and couldn't find a new one. You contacted all the right people, sent out a bunch of resumes, and fully expected to land on your feet in the near future. But nothing happened and you came to the end of your financial resources. Friends and family helped, but that couldn't go on forever. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord. And then there was that time when your marriage hit a rough patch and your spouse threatened to walk out. You talked to your pastor, even got some professional help, and you thought that things would eventually work out. Your spouse, however, saw things differently and started making plans to leave. The family intervened, but that only made matters worse. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord. There was also that time when one of your children got into trouble with the law. You got a good lawyer, paid for the research and investigations, and thought things were under control. The prosecutors, however, decided that your child should be made an example for others and pressed hard for a lengthy sentence. The lawyer brought in some experts at the last minute, but the case still headed south. In desperation, you prayed to the Lord. The list of examples could go on and on. In the troubled world we live in each of us has a list, each of us has a long list. Each of us, if we stop to remember, has had many times when desperation took hold and we turned to the Lord for help. And each of us has many testimonies of how the Lord listened to our prayers and saved us from all our troubles. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingZechariah 7, 8, 9 Zechariah 7 -- Execute true judgment, and show kindness, instead of mere fasting NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Zechariah 8 -- The Coming Restoration of Jerusalem; Encouragement to Build the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Zechariah 9 -- Prophecies against Neighboring Nations; Rejoice, daughter of Zion, your King comes to you! NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 19 Revelation 19 -- The Four Hallelujah's; Christ the Rider on the White Horse NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.Insight We should not become lazy and complacent because Christ has not yet returned. Instead, we should live in eager expectation of his coming. Challenge What would you like to be doing when Christ returns? That is how you should be living each day. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Matthew 10:34 I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the true, should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly, and reveal himself to him more graciously than ever. O ye who have taken up his cross, know ye not what your Master said? "I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, he brings war. Where the light cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee; or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot. If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you would live so as to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend upon it the world will not speak well of you. He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities. Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous. For the truth's sake to hazard reputation and affection, is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in your Master's steps, for he has traversed this rough way before you. Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment. Daily Light on the Daily Path John 12:21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."Isaiah 26:8 Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls. Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Hebrews 12:1,2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, • fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. Philippians 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 1 John 3:2,3 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. • And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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