Tumgik
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Songs in the Night
Psalm 42:8
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE SONGS OF the faith to help us live beyond the grind. Why else would God have inspired those age-old compositions? Surely, He realized the lasting value of each musical masterpiece and therefore preserved them to help us persevere. They drip with the oil of glory that enables us to live beyond the grind.
Who hasn't been comforted, when frightened and alone, by the reminder that "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1)?
Who hasn't gained fresh courage from "The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)?
Who hasn't felt strangled by the grip of guilt only to find soothing relief from "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. . . . Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:1, 7)? Encouraging words.
And for those days when we feel forgotten, overlooked, shoved aside, there is strength in "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1).
And, again, no one can measure the oil that flows through "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. . . . For He knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust" (Psalm 103:12, 14). Great and glorious reassurance.
Few people have appreciated the uplift of a song like David, who exclaimed:
Each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.
PSALM 42:8
God's Book is full of such songs; 150 of them. Songs of victory, affirmation, and encouragement . . . songs of confidence-giving strength, of hope to go on, of quiet compassion. Let's sing them frequently and allow their time-tested lyrics to oil our dayespecially in this season of celebration. By doing so, we'll live beyond the grind.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/2K77sdw via IFTTT
6 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
2 Corinthians 9:15
"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!" #thankful #TBOC
1 note · View note
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Fasting
What is fasting? Why fast and how do you fast? (https://ift.tt/2vDTIM0) #Food4thought #Fasting #Faith #ObedienceToChrist
2 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Finding Fulfillment
Galatians 6:7-9
FULFILLMENT MUST BE ONE OF life's choicest gifts. It is a major building block toward authentic happiness. No doubt, Solomon had it in mind when he wrote these timeless words:
If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored. It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.
PROVERBS 13:18–19
Fulfillment is sweet to the soul. The longing of the heart—unrevealed and deep—leads to dreams. These dreams float as time passes, refusing to be sunk by the anchors of hindrance and hardship. They grow into possibilities, kept alive by hope and determination. Vague possibilities lead to great opportunities that stir up the soul with gratifying, satisfying stimulation, which ultimately becomes actual accomplishment—and that fulfillment is pleasant, writes David's wisest son.
Have you become a victim of routine? Are you beginning to think demoralizing thoughts like, "Aw, what's the use?" and, "It isn't worth the effort." Are you starting to sigh rather than smile . . . focusing on the hurdles rather than the tape at the end of the race? If so, you have a lot of company. Surrendering to despair is humanity's favorite pastime. God offers a better plan. But it takes effort to grab it and faith to claim it.
You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.
GALATIANS 6:7–9
Please—take it from one who, years ago, almost stopped climbing and searching and following—stay at it! Fulfillment will be sweet to your soul.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/2In53Ll via IFTTT
3 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
When Christians are 'too christian'
"too churchy", "too biblie", "bible thumping", "too Christian". Is that you? (https://ift.tt/1DCpY24) #Food4thought #Christian #faith #public
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
The Blessings of Family
Psalm 128:1-4
A FAMILY IS LIKE MANY THINGS, perhaps most like a garden. It needs time, attention, and cultivation. The sunshine of laughter and affirmation. It also needs the rains of difficulties, tense moments, and serious discussions about issues that matter. And there must be spadework, where hardness is broken loose and planting of fresh seeds is accomplished with lots of TLC. Someone recently passed on to me suggestions for fifteen rows worth planting:
Plant four rows of peas: preparedness, perseverance, promptness, and politeness.
Then three rows of squash: squash gossip, squash criticism, and squash indifference.
Along with five rows of lettuce: let us be faithful, let us be unselfish, let us be loyal, let us love one another, and let us be truthful.
And three rows of turnips: turn up with a smile, turn up with a new idea, and turn up with determination.
And then? Well, from then on, it's simple. Water, weed, tend with care, and patiently watch your garden grow. Someday, like me, you'll look back and realize it was worth all the years of all the work and effort and prayer. Like a lovely garden, it will be a thing of grateful pride, of seasonal beauty, of daily sustenance.
Or, as the psalmist exclaims, the family is like a well-tended vineyard:
How joyful are those who fear the LORD—all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the LORD's blessing for those who fear him.
PSALM 128:1–4
What blessings await you and your family this season as you offer thanksgiving to the Lord your God.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/38AuxQ0 via IFTTT
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Philippians 4:6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" #thankful #TBOC
1 note · View note
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Overcoming Envy
Philippians 4:12-13
SHAKESPEARE CALLED IT "the green-eyed monster." Bacon admitted it "keeps no holidays." Horace declared that "tyrants never invented a greater torment." Barrie said it "is the most corroding of the vices." Sheridan referred to it in his play, The Critic, when he wrote, "There is not a passion so strongly rooted in the human heart as [this]." Philip Bailey, the eloquent English poet of yesteryear, vividly described it as "a coal [that] comes hissing hot from hell."
Envy finds acceptable ways of expressing its resentment. One favorite method is the "but" approach. When I talk of someone I envy, I may say, "He is an excellent speaker, but he really isn't very sincere." Or, "Yeah, she has a brilliant mind, but what a dull teacher!" Or, "The man is an outstanding surgeon, but he doesn't mind charging an arm and a leg."
Envy in Scripture? From Cain to Nero. Envy sold Joseph into slavery, drove David into exile, threw Daniel in the den, and put Christ on trial. (If you question that, better check Matthew 27:18.) Paul tells us that it's one of the prevailing traits of depravity (Romans 1:29) and a team member that plays in the same backfield with jealousy, suspicion, and slander (1 Timothy 6:4).
The answer to envy? Contentment.
I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
PHILIPPIANS 4:12–13
Are you having some big struggles with envy? Eating your heart out because somebody's a step or two ahead of you in the race and gaining momentum? Relax! You are you—not them! And you are responsible to do the best you can with what you've got for as long as you're able.
I don't care how many trophies or awards or dollars or degrees may be earned or won on earth, you can't take it with you.
So it isn't worth the sweat.
Be content with what you have and with who you are. Period.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/2Utc7bL via IFTTT
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Who or What Is The Holy Spirit?
https://ift.tt/2Gc9J0R #Food4thought #TheHolySpirit
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Going . . . and Not Knowing
Acts 20:22-24
THERE IS A STRANGE STATEMENT IN Scripture that flashes like a bright neon sign. Paul made it while he was saying good-bye to a group of friends standing near him. It was a sad moment heavy with emotion. Most of the men were choking back tears, realizing they would never see him again. Looking around, the aging apostle, with his weather-beaten hand pointing south toward the stormy skies above the Mediterranean Sea, voiced these words:
"Now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
ACTS 20:22–24
There isn't a Christian reading my words who hasn't walked that path. And struggled with ways to convince others it is right. And endured the frowns and well-meaning advice of those who try to point out why the idea is a fluke . . . even downright dumb.
And so it goes. Who hasn't stepped out on faith, leaving a sure thing, walking away from an ace in the hole, looking down a long, dark tunnel with no end in sight? And yet filled with unimaginable excitement. Going . . . yet not knowing. Obeying . . . yet not understanding. Beginning a journey that is unpredictable, risky, untried, and appearing a little insane to some—yet prompted by none other than the Lord Himself.
Are you on the verge of such a decision? Is the Lord loosening your tent pegs, suggesting it's time you take a drastic leap of faith trusting Him to direct your steps through a future that offers no tangible map? Lean on Him. Verify His leading through His Word and through godly counsel. Check your motive. Consider the impact on others. If everything checks out, then get going . . . even without knowing.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/2IjyM7x via IFTTT
3 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
James 1:17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" #thankful #TBOC
11 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Faith comes from God
Did you save yourself? (https://ift.tt/2gT5xa9) #faith #truth #salvation #Food4though
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Disorientation
Ecclesiastes 12:1-2
DISORIENTATION IS THE PITS. When you travel a lot (like airline personnel) you must deal with it. When you fight deadlines as days run into nights (like tax consultants and publishing editors and pastors) you must work out ways to cope with it. When you are confined to tight places or inescapable spaces (like astronauts or prisoners or victims of confining illnesses)—again, that old bugaboo is there ready to bite, leaving you in the wake of depression or one of its emotional relatives. It happens frequently after people retire.
I watched my own father cave in after he retired, as disorientation replaced definitive living. His sense of humor soon lost its keen edge. His once-adventurous spirit turned to restlessness. He talked less, he traveled less, he read less, and—what's worse—he thought less. Not because he was without money or without health . . . but because he was without purpose.
Why bother you with all this? Why worry about such a distant dilemma in this day of circus-like atmosphere and a schedule that would fatigue a rhino? Well, as Solomon once said,
Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, "Life is not pleasant anymore." Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.
ECCLESIASTES 12:1–2
Want to fight back? Make and cultivate a few very close friends. Stay in touch with people. Give yourself to others. Read widely. Exercise regularly and strenuously. Turn the TV off—get off the Internet. Fight the rut of routine. Leave time for leisure. Have more fun. Laugh more often.
Take up a hobby or pastime that gets you outdoors. Don't let your occupation enslave you. Eat less. Quit fussing. Encourage at least one person every day. Stop living just for yourself. Plant a garden. Replace fake plants with real ones in your home. Trust God for something that seems impossible. Loosen up your intensity. Stop taking yourself (and your kids) so seriously. Start now.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/3n7nBxO via IFTTT
3 notes · View notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Who was John The Apostle?
https://ift.tt/2zgxche #Food4thought
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Resources for disciples and small groups
See our resource list for disciples and small groups. (https://ift.tt/22EI3Hs) #Resources #Food4Thought #Evangelism #Faith #Jesus
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Test & Discern
(https://ift.tt/2eSP091); Don't believe everything you are told; test it! #TestAndDiscern #Truth #Food4thought
0 notes
christsbride · 3 years
Text
Don’t Flinch, Stand Firm
Ephesians 6:13
TUCKED AWAY IN THE FOLDS OF Hebrews 11 is a two-word biography worth a second glance: "He endured" (11:27, NASB).
The Living Bible says, "[he] kept right on going."
The New International Version: "He persevered."
The New English Bible: "He was resolute."
The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition: "He held staunchly to his purpose."
And Moffatt's quaint rendering: "He never flinched."
The "he" refers to Moses. Moses was the one who hung tough . . . who refused to give in or give up . . . who decided that no number of odds against him would cause him to surrender and give up.
He possessed the disciplines of durability. He had staying power. Once Moses made up his mind, nothing would deter the man. He endured, despite the criticism of some who were closest to him. Often the words of those he trusted most cut deeply; but he refused to back off. Misunderstood, maligned, murmured against, and misrepresented, Moses "never flinched."
Maybe the great apostle of grace had such things in mind when he introduced his classic essay on the armor of God:
Put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will be standing firm.
EPHESIANS 6:13
I have no idea where this finds you. For all I know, you are stronger than ever, determined not to shrink back, pressing on with a full tank of resolve. That's great. However, you may be getting shaky. Your normally thick hide of moral purity and ethical integrity may be wearing thin. It's possible you've begun to listen too closely to your critics or you've started to need others' approval too much. You may have led with decisiveness in the past when you stood alone against the tide, but today you're feeling yourself weakening.
Whatever it is you're facing, step up and stand strong. Walk in quiet confidence, not veiled pride. Be sure without being stubborn, firm without being mean, enduring but not discourteous, full of truth balanced well with grace.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
from Chuck Swindoll's Daily Devotional https://ift.tt/3n4toE8 via IFTTT
3 notes · View notes