12/9

From the teachings of the late Pastor Chuck Smith:

So then with my mind I serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom 7:25).

My mind, my heart is what God is looking at. And with my mind and heart I serve the law of God, though I am still in this body. Yet, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

So here I am. Don't, don't, don't think that I am trying to stand up here before you and tell you I have arrived and I am now perfect. God help me if I made that impression, because I will stumble right before your eyes to prove that I am not. God will allow me to do that. No, I am not perfect. I am still in a body of flesh, and as I am still in this body of flesh, I am going to have emotions of the flesh and sin. Thank God I don't have to yield to them anymore. Thank God I can have victory and power over it. Thank God if I do there is no condemnation because I am in Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean that because there is no condemnation I just go out and willfully live after the flesh. God forbid. But if I stumble, I don't fall. The Lord picks me up; the Lord sustains me. For my mind, my heart I desire God and God's best for my life, and the desire to serve Him with all that I have and with all that I am. 

7/23

Luke 18:18-23

Three of the four gospels contain an account of the wealthy ruler who asked Jesus a very important question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). 

The man considered himself a moral person because he had kept God’s commandments; however, he was operating under the false assumption that good works bring salvation. He seemed to be asking Jesus what else he had to do to secure his place in heaven—besides all the good things he’d already accomplished. 

This is what some people refer to as the “great deception”—the false belief that eternal life can be earned. If we give credence to this lie, then we don’t understand the problem of our sin and how it separates us from God. Scripture says we have inherited a sinful nature from the first man (Rom. 5:12). There is nothing we can do to pay for our sin.

 If this were the end of the story, we would be a people without hope for today or the future. But the good news is that our heavenly Father mercifully provided the way to heaven (John 14:6). There’s nothing we can do to earn or deserve His grace; we simply must ask.

7/16

Galatians 5:13

Do you ever wonder why you’re here? God’s purpose for every believer is to have a righteous impact on others. You can be a vessel through which Christ overflows—touching those who hurt and desperately need a Savior. Scripture teaches our involvement has two main parts. 

First, we love others. Jesus clearly stated that this was one of the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:36-40). In fact, the Bible teaches that it’s impossible to love God if we do not love others (1 John 4:20)—and every one of God’s commands is a means to that end (Matt. 22:40).

Second, we serve. We do this by lifting others in prayer, helping people in need, and sharing our resources. Jesus perfectly modeled all three. His life was marked by caring for others—not only those who loved Him but also those who didn’t. Jesus cared so much, in fact, that He gave His life for our redemption. There is no greater love or act of service than laying down one’s life—especially for undeserving people. 

Your purpose is to love and serve others, and when you do, you’ll shine Jesus’ light so brightly that people will want to know Him. Acts of love and service are a way to share the good news about Jesus. Is there someone you can serve today?

3/8

"When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers" (Psalm 8:3). Now, if you get up tomorrow morning about four o'clock, providing this cloud cover is gone, and you go outside, over here in the southwestern sky you will see the constellation Orion. If you look at the left shoulder of Orion you'll see that great star Betelgeuse. It is 465,000,000 miles in diameter. That means if the sun was in the middle of Betelgeuse and the earth was rotating around it, you'd have 200,000,000 miles to spare inside the thing to get to the edge of it. That star Betelgeuse is estimated to be traveling at the speed of nineteen miles per second. What force do you suppose it took to get Betelgeuse into orbit? That large a body, that large a mass, 465,000,000 miles in diameter, what kind of a force or thrust got it going that fast, nineteen miles a second? David said, "When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers," so I see God just sort of flicking Betelgeuse out there.

The Bible says underneath of us are the everlasting arms. If God can flick out Betelgeuse with His finger, surely He can hold me up with His arms. I don't have to worry about falling; the eternal God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth holds me. He loves me. I'm His child. He sent His son in order to redeem me from my sin that He might make me an heir of His eternal kingdom. Oh, that God would grant to us a more complete comprehension of the depth of the riches of love that God extended towards us and continues to extend to us in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. All that I need is found in Him and He is more than sufficient for the task of preserving me and presenting me faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. What does He want from me in return? Just some time to spend in communion, fellowshipping together. How little to ask when He has given so much.

From the studies of the late Pastor Chuck Smith

08/25

Romans 1:16-17

The scene of the cross is a paradox. It demonstrates the power of God in what appears to be the weakest moment in His Son’s life. With hands and feet nailed to rough wood, Jesus looked totally helpless. And He remained there while the crowd jeered, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt 27:39-40)

Strength is not always revealed in a dramatic display; at times, it’s demonstrated in determined endurance. Jesus could have freed Himself with one spoken word, but love kept Him there on the cross. With mankind’s eternal destiny at stake, Christ hung on until our salvation was attained.

What’s more, the power of the cross didn’t end when Jesus died—His death opened the door of salvation to all people. Whoever trusts in Him by faith is forgiven for every sin and assured a place in heaven. And the power of the cross remains after salvation, transforming believers’ lives. Jesus sets us free and empowers us to live victoriously in His righteousness.

07/04

Jeremiah 18:1-10

The Lord is sovereign over all things, and He’s the one who establishes nations and uproots them. In His eyes, they are as influential as “a drop from a bucket” or “a speck of dust on the scales” (Isa. 40:15). Have you ever thought of your country like this? From our perspective as individual citizens, nations wield great power and authority, and it seems as if one person would be unable to bring about any change.

But Christians can impact a nation with their prayers. In fact, the way we can play a part in reversing the downward trajectory of a nation is by interceding for those in authority. Paul urges the church to pray “for kings and all who are in authority, [in order to] lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” He goes on to say that God approves of this approach, as He “desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:2-4).

The Lord has the power to turn a nation back to Himself, and amazingly, He often uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His will. As James 5:16 tells us, the prayers of a righteous person can accomplish much. Are you faithfully appealing to God on behalf of your country’s leaders?

05/23

From the late Pastor Chuck Smith's teachings.

So here's the anointing of David to be king over Israel. Now Saul was still on the throne, though David is now God's anointed and God's choice for king, still Saul is on the throne. We're going to notice in the next few chapters that Saul is now gonna do his very best by force to hang on to that which is no longer rightfully his. In a true, rightful sense, David is king. He's been anointed king. The anointing of God and the power of His Spirit and the anointing is resting upon David as king; however, Saul is still on the throne. Saul is gonna try to drive David out of the kingdom by force, the kingdom which is now rightfully his.

There's the sequel to this. Jesus through His death upon the cross has redeemed the world back to God and is now the rightful King, God's choice and God's anointed. However, Satan is still upon the throne and Satan is doing his best to hold by force, that which is no longer rightfully his, doing his best to hold back the kingdom of God from the earth. But Jesus Christ is the rightful King, and we can claim His victory, and we can force the enemy off of His territory. But the enemy is stubborn. He only yields when he must; thus, your prayers must be specific.

Instead of "God save the world," you've got to bring individuals before God, specific individuals, and say, "Lord, You died that You might reign as King in their lives, and they're being held by the power of Satan and the power of darkness, but Jesus has defeated the powers of the enemy.

Colossians, chapter two, "He triumphed over these principalities and powers, through His cross making an open display of His victory."

"Therefore, I claim the victory of Jesus Christ in this life, and I come against the power of Satan that is holding them captive. I come against the powers of darkness that have blinded their eyes to the truth. In Jesus' name, release them from this blindness, from the prejudice that Satan has poisoned their minds against the Lord." I can set them free from this power of Satan that they might have a freedom of choice.

Why do not men choose Christ? Because Satan has so controlled their mind and holds them under his grip so that they cannot have a free choice. They are actually being held captives by Satan who has taken them captive, even against their wills. The god of this world has blinded their eyes that they cannot see the truth, so my prayer has to be directed towards the enemy. Claiming the victory of Christ in that life, and claiming Christ's victory until I see them set free from the blinding influence of Satan so that they can make a free choice. Any man when he can actually look at it with a free choice, without all the poison and prejudice that Satan has planted in their mind, would surely choose Jesus Christ. Only a fool would reject Him. So it is mine to bring them from the power and the captivity of Satan and set them free from this binding force, in order that they might make their choice for the true King. I can deliver people out of the power of darkness through prayer, this great spiritual weapon that God has made available to us.

But Satan is stubborn, he only yields when he must; therefore, your prayers have to be specific. He will counterattack as soon as you drive him off of his territory, he'll counterattack and try and take it back. Therefore, prayers must be persisted in, even after you begin to see the first signs of victory. Many times we make a mistake, we say, "Oh, look they went forward. Oh praise the Lord. Now who are we gonna work on?" We're no longer praying and holding that ground against the enemy, but Satan's gonna counterattack and gonna try and take back the territory from which he's been driven. Therefore we've got to hold it in prayer.

We are in a real warfare. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers," (Ephesians 6:12) these forces of darkness. But though there is a tremendous battle that is going on between the forces of darkness and the forces of light, yet there is a decided victory already determined there at the cross, and it is ours to bring the victory of the cross into lives and into situations though prayer.

But Satan, as Saul, seeks to hold onto that which is no longer rightfully his. But when you come against him in the authority of the name of Jesus, he has to yield because he was defeated. But he is a brassy, stubborn guy. He'll come in where he has no business being. He'll take hold of that which he has no business having. Therefore, you have to deal with him very firmly in prayer. Not give place to him, not give him a place at all, but claim. Lay claim to the victories of Christ. You can have real victory in your life, you can bring victory to the lives of others around you through prayer.

So David was anointed to be king over Israel.

04/28

From the late Pastor Chuck Smith.

As we were studying the book of Judges last week, we pointed out that at the end of chapter sixteen, the end of the story of Samson, you actually came to the end of the history part of the book of Judges. What followed in chapter seventeen and onto the end were a couple of incidents, or scenes, that took place during the time of the Judges, just to show that it was a time of spiritual confusion and moral decay as far as the nation was concerned. When the Danites moved their area of inheritance, a portion of them went on up to the northern part of the land. How that they captured this young priest, and how he had these teraphims and so forth, these little images that had been made. It was just a time of spiritual confusion. Then it was a time of moral decay as we saw the conditions of the Benjamites, and the sodomy that was beginning to be practiced by the men of Gibeah, and it's consequences.

Now that gives you one side of what was happening. There was another story that took place and the book of Ruth opens.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled (Rth 1:1),

So the story of Ruth again is sort of an appendix to the book of Judges, in that this story fits back into the period when the Judges were ruling over Israel.

Now it was a time of spiritual confusion, it was a time of apostasy, a time of moral declension, but yet in the midst of it all, God was working out His plan in those hearts and lives that were open to Him. This is always true. Though you may look at an overall condition of a nation, or a people and say, "Boy, they're really in a mess," yet God is always working out His plan in the hearts and in the lives of those that are open unto Him.

So here God was working in the period of moral declension, in this period of confusion, yet God was working in a very special way. The book of Ruth gives us the insight into the work of God.

Now quite often when we live in a corrupted society, such as we live today, and where in our whole educational philosophy they teach that the morals of society determine what is right and wrong conduct. Thus, having established that as a sociological fact, as we look around and see the morals, we say, "Well, everybody's doing it," and that becomes the criteria, "it must be right."

It is interesting that the Bible declares that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Now that is the biblical account of creation. You have in the educational circles today the humanistic philosophy that is actually prevailing within our educational system. The humanistic philosophy rather than saying that, "God created man," declares that, "Man created God for his own convenience because he needed something to believe in. He needed to have some kind of a guide for moral conduct and all, and so man created God." That actually man's moral conduct is determined by the morals of his society. The Bible declares "In the beginning God created man." The moral conduct were standards that were established by God which are absolutes. Humanism, "God created," or "Man created God for his own convenience," and man establishes his own standards, his own morals; and thus, they are relative to the situations.

Now living, and all of you have in some degree been affected by the humanistic philosophy that prevails in every level of our society today. The danger is falling into that trap of thinking, "Well, everybody is doing it. I'm weird or out of step because I'm not following along with the same pattern of the world in which I live. And to be accepted, I must join the crowd. After all if everybody's doing it, it must be all right." False. That is the philosophy of humanism expressed in its existentialism. Not so, God has established standards. Man is always trying to get a little twist on the standard that God has established. "Well, what if this?" and "What if that?" Trying to make it relate to a special case. But God has established the standards by which we are to live. God created man and established the moral standards for that man.

So God is always working. And in this confused, corrupted society in which we live, God still desires to work in the hearts and the lives that are open to the work of God. Oh God help me that my heart might be open to God, so that He can work in my life in the midst of this corrupted society.

Now the Bible foresaw the corruption in which you are living today. The Bible very aptly expressed sort of the scientific attitudes of uniformitarianism that have prevailed, that have set the stage for revolutionary thesis, which has of course set the stage for the whole humanism, because "God is no longer needed, man evolved from the protozoa," and the whole thing is tied together.

Peter said, "In the last days there will be scoffers that will come and say, Where is the promise of the Father?" that is of the coming again of Jesus Christ. "Where is the Lord? He hasn't come. Since our fathers have fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning"(2Peter 3:3-4). I defy you to find me a better definition of uniformitarianism. "All things have continued as they were from the beginning." That is exactly what the dogma, or the theory of uniformitarianism declares. All of the phenomena that has ever existed in the creation and the evolving of man, into the present day, can be observed in the world today. There have been no catastrophes, and so forth, no dramatic changes.

It is interesting that Peter foresaw this scientific theory before it was ever propounded, and he actually gave the greatest flaw within it. "For this they were willingly ignorant, that God destroyed the world that was with a flood." They closed their eyes to that, the fact of the universal flood, which is by far a better explanation of the geological column, and of geology itself than is this theory of evolution. The geological column does not prove at all the theory of evolution, in fact, it raises great questions in regards to the theory of evolution, because within the geological column there is a total absence of any transitional forms. If the transitional forms took place over millions of years of evolving, surely we would have fossils that would show the transitional forms. So absent is the fossil record of transitional forms that has led one of the professors at Stanford to come up with the magic bird kind of a theory. Whereas a snake one time laid an egg, and a bird flew out. It's the hopeful monster theory. He had to come up with that because of the absence of the transitional forms of the geological column. Rather than there being gradual changes, they're now saying, "Suddenly in the Cambrian state there appeared multitudes of many faceted animals in highly developed forms." Remarkable. Hocus pocus dominocus!

So it's a thing that we are in this society of which the Bible said perilous times would come, men would be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They would be fierce. They'd be incontinent, which speaks of this sexual freedom that people are advocating today, and goes on to describe our modern day society. Jesus in referring to these things said, "Because the iniquity of the earth is going to abound, the love of many is going to wax cold" (Matthew 24:12). But in the midst of this crooked and perverse world, God is still working in the hearts and lives of those that are opened and surrendered unto Him.

So in the period of Judges, a time much as today, when the gays were parading and declaring their normalcy, and declaring to actually propagate their own thing there in Gibeah, and were publicly parading their perverse style of life, God was working in the hearts and lives of those that were open to God.

Now the book of Ruth is another insight. It shows us how God can work, and does work His purposes on the earth even under adverse circumstances.

02/25

From the late Pastor Chuck Smith... Late 70's.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes [and so forth]: then cursed shalt thou be in the city, and in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of the land, the increase of the cows, the flocks, and the sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when you come in, and cursed when you go out... The LORD shall make the pestilence to cleave unto you,... and the LORD will smite you with consumption... And the heaven that is over you shall be brass, and the earth shall be like iron, the drought. [verse twenty-five] The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And your carcase will be meat for the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, therefore you can not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, to the astonishment of heart: And thou shalt grope at noonday (Deu 28:15-19, 21-23, 25-29),

And God goes on to tell to them the curses that will come upon them if they turn away from God and begin to worship and serve other gods, the gods of the land. This is what is going to happen.

Now, we are dealing with a basic law of God. And it is important that we recognize this. The law of God is expressed in another verse of scripture, which declares: "Righteousness exhalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people"(Proverbs 14:34).

If a nation will establish itself as a righteous nation, if a nation will place God at the center of its national life, recognizing and acknowledging God, that nation shall be blessed of God abundantly. That was exactly what our founding fathers had in mind when they established this the United States of America. They had in their minds to establish a nation that would guarantee the religious freedoms. A nation though that honored God in the heart and in the life of the nation itself. And it was their purpose to keep the people aware of the dependency upon God.

And because our nation was thus established, our nation was greatly blessed of God. "America, America, God shed His grace on thee." And our nation grew strong, and powerful among the nations of the earth. And we today living in this nation are enjoying the benefits that have come to this nation because of the wisdom of the founding fathers in founding a nation with God at the heart and the center, even imprinting on the coins, "in God we trust". Trying to bring to the people a national conscienceness of the need of God and the centrality of God in the national life. And the nation did become strong; the nation did become prosperous.

But now in our prosperity we have men in the Supreme Court and throughout our whole governmental processees who do not believe that God should be a part of the nation. These men are men who are controlled by the humanistic philosophies, whose god is materialism. And because they are humanist they have sought to put God out of the national conscienceness, these humanists not only control our government they control the major mass media in the United States. You cannot buy time on the major networks for religious broadcasting because they are controlled by the humanists. They don't want anything that would cause people to begin to have a national conscienceness of God. They have begun their ruling whereby they have ruled prayer out of the public school, the Bible out of public schools, and now the celebration of Christmas out of the public schools, except in only a secular sense.

I have on my desk a paper from the superintendent of one of our local school systems here to all of the teachers, telling them that they are to delete any story of Christmas that deals with Mary and the Christ child. That they are not to sing any carols that have anything to do about a baby being born in Bethlehem or anything about Jesus Christ. And it tells how that they must be subtle in these things so they don't get a big backwash. And it goes ahead and instructs them on their Christmas program, how to do it so as not to give offense to the Christians because Christ has been totally deleted out of it. But it goes ahead and it quotes from certain Supreme Court edicts that makes it necessary to rule even Christmas carols and Christ even out of Christmas. And they are even changing the name and no longer calling it your Christmas vacation, because they don't even want the word Christmas because it has Christ in it.

I don't think I need to tell you that our nation is in a very precarious position tonight. And a strong, great powerful nation, we are deteriorating very rapidly. For the very things that made us strong we are trying to rule out of our national life. And even as God blessed our nation because we were willing to put God at the center of our national life, even as we have chosen now to rule God out of our national life, we are beginning to experience the curses and they are going to extremes. Our nation is rapidly going downhill. We are faced with insurmountable kinds of problems. They are talking about gas rationing right after the first of the year. Kuwait is talking about cutting off twenty-five percent of its oil production making our oil needs even more critical. We already know they can't do anything about the economy that is in a royal mess. And we see the deterioration of this nation because we have sought by legislature, by court rulings to rule God out of our national life. Our nation was strong because it was founded upon godly principles. It is becoming weak as we seek to rule God out.

Now, the whole sad thing about this is here we are, enjoying the benefits of our forefathers who had enough foresight to make the constitute, and all, guarantee religious freedoms and it gave us the right for all these things. You see according to the ruling to the Supreme Court students who are gay have a right to meet on campus, to have a room furnished for their meetings so that they can advocate and discuss the gay life, pass out literature and so forth advocating that life. They have a court ruling, a Supreme Court ruling, that gives them that privilege. However, that same Supreme Court ruled that children do not have a right to meet together in a public school building and study or talk about the Bible, even if they meet there at their own choice. And yet we still have printed on our coins "in God we trust", how hypocritical can a nation be? Whenever there is a national emergency the President says "pray", as long as you're not in a school building.

Now there is just a basic principle involved. When a nation will follow God, that nation will be blessed, when a nation turns from God, that nation is going to be cursed. I am praying that God will bring to us a national revival. I think that that is the only hope for this nation, is a real revival that will cause the people to turn back to God and really elect legislators, presidents, that will appoint Supreme Court and court positions, not to lesbians and homosexuals and all like our governor in the state of California.

But to men who have a conscienceness of God, who fear God, who realize that they are not the final judge, but one day they are going to stand before the judge to give an account of themselves. And men who have a sense of accountability. If a man doesn't believe in God he has no sense of accountability. He becomes the authority within himself. And whenever a man becomes an authority within himself you have anarchy, and you have anarchy even within the court system, as they become authorities within themselves to determine what the law says. And if a man has no fear of God within his heart, how can you hope to have righteous judgment? Oh, may God help us as Christians to get up off our couches, and to become active in the sponsoring of godly men for public office. I feel we have an obligation to do so or else we have no right to sit back and cry when the whole thing goes down the tubes.

12/13

From the late Pastor Chuck Smith in 1979...

Oh how important it is that God is the centrality of a nation. When a nation is centered around God, that nation is destined for greatness. As long there is that consciousness of God at the center of a people there is always that potential for greatness. It is when people lose the centrality of the concepts of God and God is no longer the center of their life, God is no longer the center of the national life, then that nation is in decline. It is tragic indeed that where once God was the center of our nation and our nation was really founded upon God and our founding fathers sought to bring to these people a consciousness and awareness of God and the need of God in our national life. Printing on our coins "In God We Trust," which is today become almost a hypocrisy because we've come to trust in the coins, in the money, rather than in God.

But as you look at the Constitution and as you look at the Bill of Rights and as you listen to the words of the songs of the National Anthem and all, we see how that they put God into the whole warf and woof of the national life of America. And as long as we had that centrality of God, our nation became strong.

In the first public schools in the United States the Bible was the textbook. They taught the children how to read out of the Bible, they taught them the ABC's out of the Bible. It was the first textbook and in many schools the only textbook. And now our courts have ruled that it is illegal to use the Bible in public schools except to be taught in a class of literature and any expressed faith or belief is illegal. How tragic. Where our nation was really founded with God at the center, we have moved so far. And it is no wonder that we see the national decline that we see today in proportion to our endeavor to put God out of the national life of America. In that same proportion that God is being pushed out, in that same proportion we see our nation in a decline.

10/4

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain (Exd 20:7).

What does that mean? It means much more than just using the name of God in a profane way. As you hear people in their conversations using the name of God in a profane way, it's much more than that. "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain." What does it mean? It means that if you take the name of Jehovah, it means that you have placed Him as the Lord, the guide, the director of your life.

Now if you don't give Him the chance to guide and direct your life, you've taken His name in vain. So many times we say, "Oh Lord, Lord." Jesus said, "Why do you say Lord, Lord, and you don't do the thing that I command you?" (Luke 6:46). If you're not obeying Him, you've taken His name in vain.

Thus the greatest blasphemy is not that which you hear on skid row, but the greatest blasphemy is that of those who make an acknowledgment of God in their words, and maybe even in their deeds by attending church and so forth, and yet God doesn't have a place in their daily life through the week. You never give God a place. You never give God a chance. You never open up your life to God during the week; it's just a Sunday relationship with Him. That is taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. That's the greatest blasphemy.

7/20

Saved by Grace

Ephesians 2:4-10

Many people believe that piling up good works makes them right with the Lord. Yet the only payment for sin that can satisfy divine justice is death (Rom. 6:23). This is why God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. Jesus’ death satisfied God’s justice and brought us ...

• New Life. Our spirit is made alive in Christ the moment we acknowledge that we are sinners, turn from our rebelliousness, and believe that His death paid for our sin debt in full.

• Freedom. At salvation, sin’s power over us is broken, and we are set free from its hold. Jesus raised us from the pit of disobedience, and now we can exercise our newfound freedom and follow Him.

• Security. When we accept our Savior’s sacrifice as payment for our sins, we are permanently adopted into the heavenly Father’s family. Our status changes instantly: Once objects of wrath, we are now children of God. And someday we will be seated in the heavenly realms with Christ to enjoy life everlasting.

God, the very one against whom we rebelled, substituted His Son Jesus to receive the punishment that was rightfully ours. How will you show your gratitude to the Father for His saving grace?

7/14

2 Timothy 4:1-4

Spiritually, we’ve all had dry seasons, so you probably understand the desire for renewed vitality in your relationship with Christ. Perhaps you tried the latest devotional book people rave about, sought an emotional experience through worship music, tried to gain momentum by attending a conference, or looked online for a message that assured growth.

Although these methods all seem promising, they’re not infallible. On their own, some might afford short-lived solutions, but others could actually be ear ticklers that lead away from genuine intimacy with Christ. To be strengthened spiritually, it’s essential to start with the Bible—the only source of absolute truth. While other Christian resources can be helpful, they become far more valuable when used as building blocks on the trustworthy foundation of God’s Word. All other avenues have potential for human slant. Even seeking the Lord in prayer is not foolproof without the Word, which provides the basis for our requests and fellowship with Him.

Some believers see the Bible as a big book that takes too much time and effort to understand, so they look elsewhere for answers. They want a shortcut to sanctification and intimacy with the Lord, but there really isn’t one. God’s Word is His love letter to you. As you spend time with this gift and lean on the Holy Spirit for guidance, your appreciation of it will grow.

6/24

John 20:30-31

Some people don’t believe Jesus is God, so they claim He was simply a good person. Others may intellectually acknowledge Jesus as God’s Son but have no personal relationship with Him. His true followers, however, believe in their heart that Christ is Savior (Rom. 10:9) and they’ve been adopted into His family.

Ephesians 2:1-2 says that those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus are spiritually dead and living according to the sin nature. But when a person places faith in Him, spiritual birth takes place—he or she is made alive in Christ and becomes a new creation no longer enslaved to the “flesh” (John 3:3; Eph. 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our position in the Lord affects everything about us—attitudes, emotions, conversation, and conduct. The status quo of society no longer fits us. Instead, believers grow in Christlikeness, embracing thoughts and deeds that are pleasing to God.

Jesus willingly took our sins upon Himself and experienced divine wrath in our place. God accepted His death as full payment for our sins and then raised Jesus from the dead to a position of divine glory (Eph. 1:20). Let the truth of who Jesus Christ is sink in and strengthen your commitment to follow His ways.

5/28

Interesting study by Chuck Smith.

Cush begat Nimrod: and he began to be a mighty one in the earth (Gen 10:8).

Instead of

a mighty hunter before the LORD (Gen 10:9):

It should be translated "he was a mighty tyrant in the face of the LORD." The hunting was the hunting of men's soul. Nimrod became a leader in apostasy, developer of a great religious system later to become known as the Babylonian religious system or the "mystery Babylon". That whole religious system was begun by Nimrod.

Now his mother Semiramis was later to be called the queen of heaven and to be worshipped. It was her claim that Nimrod was actually born without the benefit of a father; that he was born while she was a virgin.

Nimrod was known for his hunting prowess's. A great man with the bow. In those days the people were probably, because of their primitive type weapons, very fearful of the wild animals-the lions and the tigers and leopards and so forth. And he was known as a protector of the people because of his ability and skills in hunting.

But one day while hunting boar, a wild boar turned on him and gored him. And he supposedly was dead for three days lying there in the woods and after three days his life returned. And so they began to celebrate his resurrection by coloring eggs and having great festivities in the springtime of the year. Incidentally, his birth was December twenty-fifth and they usually celebrated his birth by giving of gifts, drunken orgies, and cutting trees and decorating them with silver and gold in their homes. And this is just a few generations after Noah.

The worship of his mother Semiramis, queen of heaven, the whole thing, Satan's counterfeit of God's intended work began with Nimrod. And when you start reading the history of the Babylonian religion, the way they set up the celebrations and all, you will be absolutely shocked at the historic church and how much of the activities of the historic church were borrowed directly from Nimrod. He was also known as Tammuz, several names, Astarte, Semiramis, the various names for his mother who was worshipped. And actually the name Easter coming from Astarte.

It's amazing that this Babylonian system could have so thoroughly infiltrated the church. But God brings Nimrod into the record here.

5/27

John 14

We don’t often receive a warning before our world crashes down around us. Catastrophic events in our life usually come suddenly, leaving us at a loss about how to cope. A spouse walks out, an accident or heart attack takes a loved one, a fire destroys our house—the possible calamities that could befall us are endless. But as believers, we don’t have to live in fear.

Today’s chapter contains some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He was crucified. He was warning them that their world was about to be turned upside down. As they struggled to grasp the reality that Jesus was going to die and leave them, they must have thought His instructions sounded impossible: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). But just moments later, Christ gave them the amazing promise that the Holy Spirit would come to indwell, enlighten, and empower them (John 16:5-15).

An untroubled heart begins with salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Then it develops further as the Holy Spirit guides us in truth. Therefore, let’s dive into God’s Word and have it imprinted on our heart for the inevitable day when trouble comes.

1/18

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jo 1:9).

So, the way of cleansing doesn't come by denial, the way of forgiveness isn't by way of denial or by trying to hide it. There is a proverb that says, "Whoso seeks to cover his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesses his sin shall be forgiven." So if you try to hide it, cover it, and deny it, you're only deceiving yourself. But if you will confess your sin unto Him, that's all, just confess it, He's faithful and He is just and He will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Now, I love that word all in this particular place. It means that it doesn't matter what the past may be, how black or dark or miserable or mean, it cleanses me from all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses me from all sin.

Doctor Finney was holding a meeting in one of the major cities in the eastern part of the United States, and if you've read of church history and of Finney's revivals, they were really spectacular as far the changes that were brought to a community. In one city in the East, one of the major cities where he had one of his revival meetings, when he left, they closed every bar in town for lack of patrons. So powerfully was the city stirred with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And in one of these meetings, as he was walking up the church steps, a man stopped him, and he said, "I want to talk to you after church tonight, may I?" And Doctor Finney said, "Yes, I'll be glad to meet you after church and talk with you." So as he came to the top of the steps the deacons in the church said to him, "What did that man want?" And Doctor Finney said, "Well, he wanted to talk to me after church." And they said, "Do you know who that man is?" He said, "No." And they said, "Well, that man is one of the worst men in the city, he's horrible, and you just dare not go with him. He has hired killers and all and he probably has it in for you and you know, don't do it." So after service the deacons met him and said, "You're not going to go with that man are you?" And he said, "Well, yes, I am." They said, "Well, you can't." And he said, "Well, I gave the man my word, I must." And so the man met him and led him down the street up an alley into a back door of a building. As Finney went in, he turned around and locked the door and he said, "Sit down." Finney sat down and the man pulled a gun out of the desk and laid the gun on the desk and he said, "I heard you say something last night and I want to know if it's true or not." Finney said, "What did you hear me say?" He said, "You said the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son can cleanse a man from all sin." He said, "No, I didn't say that, God said that in His Word." He said, "Wait a minute, you don't know me; you don't know what I've done." He said, "You are behind a bar and we have an illegal gambling room," and he said, "The gambling devices are fixed, and I have taken the last dollar from many people, and they have gone out and committed suicide. You mean God could forgive me for that?" And Finney said, "All I can tell is that the Bible says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son can cleanse a man from all sin." He said, "Wait a minute, that's not the whole story," he said, "I own the bar out in front." And he said, "Men will come in and they'll drink, and their wives will come in rags with their little children and they have begged me not to sell their husband booze. And," he said, "I throw the wives out in the streets and I sell their husbands booze until they run out of money, and then I kick them out on the street. You mean God can forgive a man like that." Then Finney said, "The Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, can cleanse a man from all sin." The man said, "That's not the whole story," he said, "this gun, it has killed several people who have gotten in my way, and I have hired men to kill others; I've paid them to kill. And you mean God would forgive me?" He said, "All I can tell you is that the Bible says, all sin." He said, "Wait a minute. Across the street in that big brown stone house," he said, "I have a wife and a beautiful little child." He said, "I haven't said a decent word to my wife in over sixteen years. I've been miserable. I've been mean." He said, "The other day when my little child came running up, I pushed her away into the stove and she was burned seriously. I have never told that little girl that I love her. You mean God could forgive me."

And at this point Finney stood up and he grabbed him and he began to shake him and said, "Young man, you've told me about as horrible a story as I've ever heard or could ever dream." And he said, "If it were up to me, I don't know if I could forgive, but all I can tell you is that the Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son will cleanse a man from all sin." He said, "That's all I wanted to know, thank you." So he went over and unlocked the door and said, "You can find your way from here."

The next morning, as the sun was coming up, he was walking from the bar over to his home, and when he came into the house, his wife was in the kitchen with his little daughter and he went on upstairs. And so the mother said, "Go tell your daddy that breakfast is ready." So she ran up, and half way up the stairs, she called and said, "Daddy, Mommy said breakfast is ready." And he answered, "Sweetheart, tell your Mommy that Daddy doesn't want any breakfast this morning." The little girl came running back down into the kitchen and said, "Mommy, Mommy, Daddy said that he didn't want any breakfast and he called me sweetheart." And the mother said, "Honey, you must of misunderstood, you know. Go up and tell him again that breakfast is ready." And again she ran halfway up the stairs and she said, "Daddy, Momma said that breakfast is ready." And he said, "Come here, honey," and she went over to him and he picked her up and sit her on his lap, and he began to tell her how much he loved her. With that, the mother, of course, wondering what was going on, followed the little girl upstairs, and standing in the door saw him holding his little daughter on his lap for the first time. With tears coming down her cheeks, he said, "Come over here, honey." And he said, "I found out something last night that is the greatest thing that I have ever heard." And he said, "It's true, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, can cleanse a man from all sin." He closed the bar and he began to be a benefactor to that community, changed by the power of Jesus Christ.

Now matter what the past is, no matter how black or bleak, the gospel of Jesus Christ holds out hope for all. All you have to do is confess your sin and He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Oh, what a glorious thing is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, the transformation it has brought to life and can bring to man who is hopelessly lost in the power of darkness and sin. As Jesus said to Paul, "I have called you to go to the Gentiles, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the kingdom of God." So ours is the most joyous, blessed privilege of sharing with men the power of God to deliver from the power of darkness and sin.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1Jo 1:10).

7/28

That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:17);

The word dwell in the Greek is to settle down and to make himself at home, that Christ might really be at home, be comfortable, be at ease. There are places where you go and you feel out of place the moment you are there. You feel uncomfortable, you wish you had not come, you are not in harmony with what is going on. Then there are other places where you go and you feel so comfortable, so at ease, so relaxed.

Now, "that Christ might be at home in your hearts" means that your heart might be so in tune and all with Him that as He dwells within your heart there is no strain, there is no embarrassment for Him.

You remember how that Ezekiel, that interesting prophet, how God dealt with him in many strange ways, was taken by the Spirit to Jerusalem. There was this wall there and God said, "Dig a hole through the wall," and he dug a hole through the wall and crawled in. And he looked and here was all kinds of pornography all over the walls. Ezekiel said, "That is horrible, filthy pornography. What's that all about?" God said, "I have allowed you to go within the minds of the leaders of Israel. These are the things that they are thinking, these are the things they are seeing."

When Christ dwells within your heart and looks on the walls, is He at home, is He comfortable with what He sees? Or when He knocks on the door, do we say, "Wait a minute," and we go around and try to cover everything, or turn things around backwards?

"That Christ may be at home in your hearts by faith;"

7/8

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Gal 5:14).

So, love is the fulfilling of the law. One of the lawyers one day challenged Jesus as to the greatest commandment. And Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself. And in these are all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). Love is the fulfilling of the law. If I am walking in the Spirit, if I am walking in love, then there can be no law to regulate my life. You see, laws are for unprincipled people.

If a person is living by right principles, he doesn't need any laws. He is governed by principles by which he lives. Laws are necessary to restrain unprincipled people. Now, if you're walking in love, supreme love for God and supreme love for your fellow man, then there is no law. All of the law is fulfilled. For what the law is actually saying to you is that you should love God supremely and love your neighbor as yourself. That's all the law is saying to you.

4/11  

Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cr 1:8).

Now he's talking about the future and Christ in the future. The same idea is given to us in Jude where he said, "Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24).

When my name is called there at the judgment bar, and I step forward, God will say, "Read the charges against this fellow," and Jesus will step forth and say, "No charges, Father. He's one of mine." You better believe I'll be praising God at that moment. Blameless, without fault, that's how Jesus is going to present me to the Father, confirming that work in me. "Blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1/15  Pilate said, "What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?" He made his judgment. But in reality he was judging himself. That question of Pilate is one that every man faces. Every one of you must face the question. What am I going to do with Jesus? I mean, every one of you must face that question. That isn't for Pilate exclusively, that's your question. What are you going to do with Jesus who is called Christ? You must judge yourself what you are going to do with Him. But in reality, in judging Him to be either the Son of God or not the Son of God, the Savior or not the Savior, in reality, you are judging yourself. Because you are the one whose destiny will be determined by your decision. 

2/1  [2Ti 3:1-17 NKJV] 1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

1/30  How shall we escape? There is no escape except the one escape that God Himself has provided, and that escape is in Jesus Christ. And that is the great salvation. "How shall we escape if we neglect the great salvation?" You see, God has made the only way of escape and that is through Jesus Christ. And if you reject Him, then there remains only that fearful looking forward to the fiery indignation of God's wrath by which He will devour His adversaries. I mean, that's just as straight as you can put it. Right out of the scriptures. 

Surely it is time for us as a nation to seek the Lord. Our nation is in dire peril. The very things that brought the downfall of Israel and later of Judah are manifestly evident in our nation today. Our nation is on the verge of extermination. We, as Israel, started out as one nation under God, but we, as Israel, have turned from the true and the living God. In the national life, through the edicts of the courts and the legislation that is come forth from the judicial bodies of legislature, God has gradually been eliminated and ruled out of our public life, out of the school curriculums. And God who made us strong has been rejected in a national way. And we are just as Israel; we cannot survive without a dependency upon God. 

Chuck Smith

And it shall come to pass, that even in that day [during the Great Tribulation] whosoever will call on the name of the LORD [will be saved,] will be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant [God's faithful remnant] whom the LORD will call (Joe 2:32). 

It would be wise as a nation not to turn against Israel... this is a commentary from the book of Amos.

Now as we see the judgment of God coming against these various nations around Israel, Syria, the Philistines, Tyrus, next the Edomites, and then the Ammonites, and then the Moabites, in each case the judgment is coming because of their ill treatment of God's people, the children of Israel. 

And when the day of judgment will come and Christ comes again, Matthew 25, and He gathers the nations for judgment, the nations will be judged according to their treatment of the nation of Israel. 

Now we are living in an age where there's all kinds of liberal pressure to not hate evil, but to tolerate evil. You're put down as some kind of an Archie Bunker type if you hate evil. You're made to look like some kind of a fool, a bigot if you hate evil. Yet God's Word declares that that's the beginning of wisdom. But we're living in an age of fools. People who love evil, people who flirt with evil, people who tolerate evil. But to hate evil is really what the fear of the Lord is all about. Because I fear the Lord, I hate evil. So, "Hate evil and love the good." 

No matter what goes on in a person’s life or how far from God they stray, there is always an open door to forgiveness and a new beginning. 

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 

In light of the recent NY law of making it legal to abort a baby clear up to the delivery date,  we should as a nation carefully consider what we are sowing.  These people need Prayer... not hate.  They need to be led to God for if we fail at our duty in praying for these people, we might be held just as responsible. God help us all. 

Doug W

God has a plan and a purpose for each one of your lives. God has a work for you to do. But you disqualify yourself so often from the work of God. "But, Lord, I don't have the education. But Lord, I'm just a plain ordinary person. I'm just me, Lord, how can You use me?" And you disqualify yourself because you are ordinary and somehow you think God doesn't use ordinary people. Because you are flawed, and you think God doesn't use flawed people. Because you are weak, and you think God doesn't use weak people. God uses just plain people. God wants to use you. Those men that God called were always surprised at the call of God and many times sought to excuse themselves because of the fact that they were just plain.