Bible League: Living His Word But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke."The Apostle Paul faced many hardships when he went out and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said that he and his companions were "pressed on every side by troubles," "perplexed," "hunted down," "knocked down," and they lived "under constant danger of death" (II Corinthians 4:8-11). The happy result of all this trouble, however, was that the people who accepted the gospel he preached received eternal life (II Corinthians 4:12). Although we may never have to face the same level of opposition that Paul faced, we still have to face opposition. Each of us in our own unique ways participates in shining the light of the gospel into this dark world we live in and the forces of evil don't sit idly by. Rather, they oppose us. They do what they can to impede the spread of the gospel. They do what they can to keep those they have blinded from seeing the light (II Corinthians 4:4). Nevertheless, like Paul, we continue to do the work and people continue to receive eternal life. Jesus' prophecy that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth is coming true before our very eyes (Acts 1:8). We continue to do the work because, like Paul, we continue to believe. We received the gospel of Jesus Christ and we accepted it in faith. By the grace of God our eyes and ears were opened and something changed inside of us. The Holy Spirit entered our very souls and we stopped opposing the truth and we became firm believers. Instead of living lives in opposition to truth, we began the process of re-ordering our lives in its light. And thus, like Paul and the psalmist, we speak. We believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we speak what we believe. It's what you do when you really believe in something. You don't just hold it in. You let it out. The change that occurs within you demands it. The faith that rises up in your soul cannot be held back. Although Satan may do what he can to stop the process, the process of re-ordering our lives includes changing what we speak. You believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel message. Go forth, then, and speak what you believe. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzekiel 24, 25, 26 Ezekiel 24 -- Parable of the Boiling Pot; Ezekiel's Wife Dies NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 25 -- God's Vengeance upon Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 26 -- Judgment on Tyre NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading James 3 James 3 -- Taming the Tongue; the Wisdom from above NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, in your faith, and in your purity.Insight Timothy was a young pastor. It would have been easy for older Christians to look down on him because of his youth. He had to earn the respect of his elders by setting an example in his speech, life, love, faith, and purity. Challenge Regardless of your age, God can use you. Whether you are young or old, don't think of your age as a handicap. Live so others can see Christ in you. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 12:2 Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.He is to be envied. It was well to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and commune. There are times for each purpose, and each is comely in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear his words, to mark his acts, and receive his smiles, was such a favor as must have made Lazarus as happy as the angels. When it has been our happy lot to feast with our Beloved in his banqueting-hall, we would not have given half a sigh for all the kingdoms of the world, if so much breath could have bought them. He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed. We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by his life we live--can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember him at his table, where he deigns to feast with his brethren? Oh, this is cruel! It behoves us to repent, and do as he has bidden us, for his least wish should be law to us. To have lived without constant intercourse with one of whom the Jews said, "Behold how he loved him," would have been disgraceful to Lazarus; is it excusable in us whom Jesus has loved with an everlasting love? To have been cold to him who wept over his lifeless corpse, would have argued great brutishness in Lazarus. What does it argue in us over whom the Saviour has not only wept, but bled? Come, brethren, who read this portion, let us return unto our heavenly Bridegroom, and ask for his Spirit that we may be on terms of closer intimacy with him, and henceforth sit at the table with him. Daily Light on the Daily Path Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,Matthew 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Isaiah 42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. 1 John 4:9,10,16 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. • In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. • We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. John 17:22-24 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; • I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. • "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 1 John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 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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