Because He Said So

"Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, 'I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,' so that we confidently say, 'THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID.  WHAT SHALL MAN DO TO ME?'"  Hebrews 13:5-6

When I was in college, I was introduced to a popular teaching known as “name it and claim it.”  The crux of the teaching went something like this: “What do you want?  What big item, dream, healing, or wish is in your heart?  It is yours in Jesus … so just name it and claim it.”  Multitudes of people fell in love with this teaching, and began naming and claiming everything under the sun.    

Does the Bible really teach a name it and claim it theology?  The correct answer is “sort of.”  But the one who names it is not you or me, it is the Lord Himself.  We can claim by faith anything that He has first named for us.  If He hasn’t named it, you have no claim to it.  Moses surely couldn’t name and claim going into the Promised Land, because God had given him an emphatic, “NO!  And don’t ask Me about this again!” (see Deut. 3:26).  Paul couldn’t name and claim a mission trip to Bithynia, because “the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (Acts 16:7). 

"THE MAGIC IS NOT IN THE FAUCET!"

Matthew 17:14-21

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

"THE MAGIC IS NOT IN THE FAUCET!"

by Rev. Michael Phelps

INTRO:

Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence was born on August 16, 1888 in Wales. Popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence became famous for his exploits as British Military liason to the Arab Revolt during the First World War.

Thorn Ministry

Written by Marsha Pope

Take today’s next step: Are you a writer? We are always on the lookout for new authors to add to our devotional writing team. Learn more and apply here.

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

This opportunity to write devotionals has by far been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I’ve been so richly blessed by those that have shared how the devotionals have blessed their lives and how they’ve shared them with friends and family. My greatest hope is that God would be glorified and that His people will be blessed by what I write.

Detours, Billboards and a Man Named Paul

Written by Kristi Huseby

       “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.

“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)

In Michigan we jokingly say that there are two seasons – winter and road construction! With road construction come detours and lots of them. Can I just say . . . I hate detours! They’re inconvenient, unplanned and usually make me late! (Mainly, that’s because of poor planning on my part but it’s great to have something else to blame.)

I don’t like detours in my life anymore than I like them on the roadways. Detours have a way of making me feel like my life is spinning out of control. I often find myself holding my breath when this happens, hoping the damage will be minimal and everything will stop spinning soon.

Our Daily Bread -- Spiritual Sight

Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn

READ: Ephesians 1:15-21

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. —Ephesians 1:7

A prisoner who survived 14 years in a Cuban jail told how he kept his spirits up and his hope alive: “I had no window in my cell, and so I mentally constructed one on the door. I ‘saw’ in my mind a beautiful scene from the mountains, with water tumbling down a ravine over rocks. It became so real to me that I would visualize it without effort every time I looked at the cell door.”

The Power of Love

Love never fails. —1 Corinthians 13:8

The power of love is what it achieves. Stephen demonstrated the immense power of love when he prayed for the people stoning him: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). This is what God wanted—this display of love.

Stephen, who almost certainly was Paul's role model, is one of the most outstanding people in the Bible. I cannot express how much I admire him. And then I examine his mastery of the Old Testament (Acts 7) and observe how he put his opponents in the succession of the disobedient in ancient history: "You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (v. 51). Although no one was immediately converted, never had one spoken with such power.

The whole time he spoke, the pure love of God flowed through him and from him. The proof of this was his concern for them, not himself, when they were stoning him. He, therefore, fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." It was a virtual reenactment of Jesus' prayer on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Is it Wrong to Question Your Senior Pastor?

by Mark Altrogge


The pulpit does not make pastors infallible.

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the Word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:10-11)

Why were the Bereans more noble than those in Thessalonica? Two reasons: 1) They received the Word with all eagerness. 2) They went back home and examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul and Silas preached lined up with the Word of God.

Is there an afterlife?

The book of Job asks the question about an afterlife very simply: “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14). Asking the question is easy, but the difficult part is finding someone to answer the question with authority and experience. “Death and taxes” have said to be the two universals that everyone living can expect to deal with. But while everyone is handled somewhat differently by government taxation, death is the great equalizer that treats everyone the same.

Because of this, it’s not uncommon for people to be afraid of death.

The ancient philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BC) recognized that the fear of death was present in everybody and therefore he sought a way to remove that fear. Epicurus taught that humanity not need fear death because human beings are nothing more than a composition of atoms which at death simply disperse and that is the end of things. Epicurus didn’t believe there were any gods tofear or anything to face once a person breathed their last. His teaching of maximum pleasure in this life with minimum pain and suffering dictated that everything ends when death occurred.