Daily Devotions

[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

 

RUN SWIFTLY

The 100-meter dash is one of the most popular running sports at the Olympics. It is also the shortest. The reigning 100m Olympic champion is thought of as the fastest man or woman in the world. Historically, the 10-second barrier has been a measurement of men’s performances, while the best female sprinters take eleven seconds or less to complete the race.

Currently, the men’s world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, while American Florence Griffith-Joyner holds the women’s world record of 10.49 seconds. Of the top-12 fastest runners in the world among men, four are from Jamaica, five from the United States, two from Canada, and one from Nigeria. The fastest foot speed recorded is 27.79 miles per hour during a 100-meter sprint by Usain Bolt.

There are many different types of “runs,” such as track running, road running, or cross-country running. Distances are clustered by the terms sprint, middle distance, and long distance. A marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards. The event began in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the battle of Marathon to Athens. The current marathon record holder is Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia, who broke the record in September 2008 in Berlin by clocking in at 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 59 seconds.

The apostle Paul was a man on the move for Jesus. He once wrote, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, 2). Sometimes Paul literally ran out of town when he was chased away. But his goal was not to lift up himself, but to glorify God.

How does the Word of God run swiftly? Through people like you and me who are determined to share Christ with others. Today, put on your running shoes and help spread the good news about Jesus.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

 

Here IS the Daily Devotional

 

NO MORE OPPRESSION

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, and more than three million reports of child abuse are made every year in the United States. It is also estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide.

Reading drastic statistics about oppression in our world can feel staggering. And when it hits closer to home, the knowledge of how sin impacts people’s lives becomes more real. If you’ve watched a family member suffer in an abusive relationship or seen a family lose a parent or child, the weight of pain and loss is overwhelming. How can God let this happen? Why?

After feeling this weight and seeing the suffering of his own family, David recognized God’s awareness of sin and His heart of justice. In Psalms 10, he writes, “You will … do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.”

God sees the oppressed. His heart breaks for their suffering, and He promises that, someday, oppression will cease. As Christians sharing that heartbreak, we have the opportunity to make a difference and end oppression in small ways. Perhaps He has called you to foster a child. Or maybe He’s leading you to volunteer at your local domestic violence shelter. Ask God for His awareness of oppression to become active in your heart and life.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: Psalm 10:17To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. Psalm 10:18 

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

DOES EZEKIEL TEACH THAT WE SHOULD BAPTIZE BY SPRINKLING?

There is a popular belief that these verses prefigure the introduction of sprinkling for baptism. But do references to sprinkling in the Old Testament have a connection with the ordinance of baptism in the New Testament? A few facts reveal that it has no connection:

1. Moses was instructed to set the Levites apart for the priesthood. God said, “Sprinkle water of purification on them” (Numbers 8:7). This ceremony was a cleansing from impurity that included shaving off all their hair—something we don’t require in baptism.

2. Certain unclean people—such as those who touched a dead body (Numbers 19:16–18)—were isolated until they had been sprinkled with water of purification (Numbers 19:13). Ashes of a heifer were also used in connection with the sprinkled water (Numbers 19:17–19). We don’t isolate people in preparation for baptism.

3. In Ezekiel 36:25, 26, God does the sprinkling, and not a man to another man. He compares His people to the defiled or unclean of Israel and uses a term of cleansing they could understand. Baptism focused on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Sprinkling does not depict this in any way.

4. The ceremony of sprinkling was done away with under the new covenant, along with ashes of a heifer, etc. “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place. … For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:12–14).

5. Perhaps the most important example to follow is that of Christ, who was fully immersed when baptized (Mark 1:9, 10).

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. Ezekiel 36:25 

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[Berean]

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Here IS the Daily Devotional

DOES A PERSON HAVE ANY ROLE AT ALL TO PLAY IN BECOMING RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH?

 

If you picture that salvation is a matter of simply saying a short prayer and then sitting around like a couch potato, you’re missing the point of what it means to be saved from sin. God wants to give us a new heart. This happens through our cooperation with divine power. We use our free will to seek to do God’s will. This is a daily choice. Even in the Old Testament, God’s people continued to bring a lamb to the temple, not just once, but as often as they sinned. We need to exercise an ongoing faith and have a wholehearted desire to let the Lord totally lead in our lives.

We cannot change ourselves. There is no power within us to become righteous. We need help from the outside. We must daily recommit to Jesus and invite Him to control our lives. He is the one who performs the miracle. We earnestly work with God by abiding in Jesus. We must be willing to be obedient and to follow where Jesus leads (Isaiah 1:18–20).

Sin causes us to want to have our own way (Isaiah 53:6) and, thus, rebel against the Lord, just as Satan did in the beginning (Isaiah 14:12–14). Permitting Jesus to rule our lives is sometimes as difficult as having an eye plucked out (Matthew 5:29, 30), because sin is addictive and can be overcome only by God’s miraculous power (Mark 10:27).

Many believe that Jesus will take all who merely profess salvation to heaven, regardless of their conduct afterward. But according to Matthew 7:21, this is not true. It is a fabrication of Satan. A converted Christian must and will follow Jesus’ lifestyle (1 Peter 2:21). The powerful blood of Jesus can accomplish this for all (Hebrews 13:12), but only if we give Jesus full control of our lives and follow where He leads— even though the path might sometimes be rough.

 

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

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[Berean]

 

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Here IS the Daily Devotional

 

FIRE FROM HEAVEN 

 

 

In Jesus’ day, the Samaritans were a large group. Through the years, wars such as the Third Samaritan Revolt and other calamities reduced their numbers a great deal. It is estimated that there are now just over 700 people remaining who are descended from the biblical Samaritans. On His last journey to Jerusalem, Jesus planned to stay in a Samaritan village. He sent James and John ahead to prepare the way. But because He was headed for Jerusalem, the prejudiced Samaritans didn’t want Him there.

This infuriated James and John. “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” James and John thought they were doing Jesus a favor. In their “righteous” indignation, they thought it was a good idea to just wipe these people off the map!

Imagine their surprise when Jesus rebuked them. “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:55, 56).

When Jesus is rejected, He doesn’t take revenge. He will not force people to accept Him. But someone who rejects Him today could still bow at His feet tomorrow. He waits with patience and mercy because He wants everyone to be saved.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, Luke 9:51

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

 

JAMES, BROTHER OF JESUS THE RESURRECTION CHANGED EVERYTHING

Blended families are not a new thing, not at all. You can find one of the most prominent in the Gospels: It appears Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, had another family with a spouse who died. When Joseph and Mary were married, those brothers and sisters were part of the package.

Yet while the siblings may have gotten along well enough, when Jesus’ ministry began, fissures developed. First the break came with the neighborhood: they knew the family and couldn’t believe Jesus was somehow “special” or apart from the others.

Then, those brothers wanted Jesus to announce His ministry at an inopportune time, the Feast of Tabernacles. “Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world,’” we read in John 7:2–4. But Jesus replied, “You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come” (v. 8).

James was one of those brothers who (v. 5) “did not believe in Him.” Jesus instructed John, a disciple but not a relative, to care for Mary, in words directed from the cross. James is nowhere to be found. Yet James also wrote a New Testament epistle and was a leader of the Jerusalem church.

What happened? The Bible offers no details, but it’s believed that when James saw the resurrected Jesus, he believed. And, he put action behind that belief, sharing the good news and serving the church. Nothing—not growing up with Jesus, not seeing glimpses of His divinity, not following with the disciples—nothing convinced James until he saw Jesus resurrected. The bad news was that it took James that long. The good news, actually, the great news, is that we each can encounter the resurrected Christ and believe!

Reflect: Do you know someone who encountered the resurrected Christ, through preaching or through Scripture? Can you see the change in their life?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. Mark 6:3

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[Berean]

 

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Here is the Daily Devotional

SOJOURNER TRUTH LIFTING UP FREEDOM 

Isabella Baumfree was born into slavery in New York in 1797. As she grew up, she was sold several times and eventually married another slave named Thomas with whom she had five children. In 1827, New York freed all slaves, but Isabella had already left her husband and ran away with her youngest child, Sophia.

She later learned that one of her children, Peter, had been sold into slavery in Alabama. Because Peter had been emancipated under New York law, she sued in court and won his return. She was the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.

Isabella eventually lived with Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen where she had a life-changing religious experience and became a devout Christian. The year 1843 was a turning point for Isabella when she became convicted that God was calling her to be a traveling preacher. She told friends, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.” Thus, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner became an advocate for women’s rights, temperance, and the abolition of slavery. She was a speaker and went on lecture tours, delivering messages that demanded equal rights for women and blacks. For 10 years, Truth spoke before hundreds of audiences. She was also privileged to meet Harriet Beecher Stowe and, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln.

For a period of time, she was friendly with the Millerite movement that preached the soon coming of Jesus, but later left the group. In 1857, she moved to Battle Creek, Michigan and, according to some reports, became a Sabbath-keeping Christian. She died in 1883, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, in the same graveyard as other Sabbath-keeping pioneers, including Ellen G. White.

Though she was once sold at the age of nine for $100, along with a flock of sheep, this brave woman found Christ and became a spokesperson for the belief that all people are created equal. She once said, “Truth is powerful, and it prevails.”

Reflect: Have you ever stood up and spoken out against an injustice you observed? God wants us to stand for truth, especially in these last days.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Psalm 146:6 

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

SERGIUS PAULUS DEVIL ON YOUR SHOULDER

Throughout the pages of Earth’s history, government and occultism have often walked hand in hand. Even the famous Protestant queen Elizabeth I had as one of her advisors a known occultist by the name of John Dee.

So it should come as no surprise that the Bible also has accounts about dark political influences. During the apostle Paul’s first missionary journey, Paul and his company traveled to Paphos, a city on the coast of Cypress. The governor of that region was a man by the name of Sergius Paulus, who Scripture tells us was a perceptive seeker of gospel truth (Acts 13:7). Upon learning of the arrival of Paul’s party, Sergius Paulus arranged a meeting with them. It was a wonderful opportunity for the missionaries to share Jesus with one of the officials of the Roman Empire.

But Sergius Paulus was not alone. With him was a man of insidious bearing, a “sorcerer” and “a false prophet” (v. 6). His name was Bar-Jesus, and he was a Jew who had the governor’s ear. This was no ordinary lobbyer; this was a man who worked on an emotional, personal, and spiritual level: through the belief system. He had been deliberately spreading lies about the Messiah, about the living God, in an effort “to turn the proconsul away from the faith” (v. 8).

But God, who sees all things, saw through Bar-Jesus’ façade of half-truths and calumny and moved Paul, by the Holy Spirit, to pronounce a powerful judgment upon him.

“O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (v. 10) declared the apostle.

And Bar-Jesus was struck blind, “not seeing the sun for a time” (v. 11).

Sergius Paulus had seen the deportment of the missionaries and had heard “the teaching of the Lord” (v. 12). He had discerned what a vast contrast the gospel was to the whisperings of the false prophet. Bar-Jesus’ supernatural punishment was just proof of what the governor had already been told. In that moment Sergius Paulus became a believer.

Reflect: How is the spiritual war between Christ and the devil at play in your life? Invite Jesus to give you full victory over self, sin, and Satan.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

THE PHILIPPIAN JAILER: HOW THE PRISONERS FREED THEIR CAPTOR

We don’t know his name. He’s merely identified as “the keeper of the prison.” But his urgent question, asked moments after he’d contemplated suicide, reverberates through the centuries to our time: “What must I do to be saved?” Before answering that question, let’s look at some background to this story.

In vision, Paul had received a plea to share the gospel in Macedonia and support the nascent group of believers there. “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). While in the Macedonian city of Philippi, Paul and Silas met and baptized Lydia, a woman who accepted the message. But they also encountered a demon-possessed slave girl whose work made money for her owners.

The girl’s latest message, however, was displeasing to many. Following Paul, she cried out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (v. 17). After “many days” of this, Paul rebuked the spirit that possessed the young woman and she was set free (v. 18).

Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31).

That promise is just as true today: Believe and you will be saved. What glorious good news!

Reflect: Who do you know that could benefit from being told the good news of salvation? Don’t overlook the most unlikely people around you. God’s power to move hearts is beyond our comprehension.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16:30

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

SOFIE GLUED TO THE TV

Sofie never stepped inside a church during her childhood. Growing up in an abusive family, her young life was filled with turmoil, fear, disappointment, and tragedy. Her alcoholic parents often neglected her. “More times than I can count we went for several days without food,” she recalls. Sometimes she went door-to-door asking for money so she and her brothers could eat.

As a young adult, Sofie experimented with smoking pot and drinking. She was filled with anger and explains, “I fought my way through life and didn’t let anyone get close to me. I expressed my anger and rage toward anyone in my path.” Her heart was full of hate and resentment.

Alcohol and abusive relationships left her a single parent and depressed. Several times she was homeless and had to sleep in her car with her son. People told her that God loved her, but she was angry at God for letting her suffer pain and humiliation.

But eventually Sofie began to turn to God. She was at the end of her rope and cried out, “Jesus, if You want to change me, here is my life. It is Yours to do with whatever You please.” Slowly she found that her vocabulary became clean. Then she met a Christian man and together they grew in their faith.

One Sunday morning before heading off to church, Sofie was surfing the TV and came upon Pastor Doug Batchelor. “I found myself glued to every word he was speaking,” she remembers. The church she was attending left her hungry for more of the Word of God. “I felt like something was missing in my life.” When she heard Pastor Doug preaching, she immediately knew this was the answer.

Sofie signed up for Bible studies and completed the Storacles of Prophecy lessons. She loved going through the materials and says, “I wish I could study 24 hours a day!” The lessons opened her eyes to truth and confirmed in her heart that “with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). She is now a baptized member of a Sabbath-keeping church.

Today Sofie is actively sharing her faith by holding Bible studies in her home and conducting a motorcycle ministry with her husband. “I’m so in love with the Lord,” she shares, “that I could spend all day in His Word!”

Reflect: Do you find yourself glued to the Word of God? Do you hunger to learn more from the Bible each day? Only the Scriptures understood through the Holy Spirit can satisfy your deepest longings.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Matthew 25:35 

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

 

THE BEELINE

Bees must visit about two million flowers and travel 55,000 miles to make one pound of honey. There is an art to finding wild beehives—tricks to locating the delicious, sweet substance we love to eat. The method basically focuses on following a “beeline.” When bees have collected their fill of pollen, they head straight home. That means if you set up a dish of homemade nectar (a mix of water and sugar), you can actually watch a bee load up and then take off. Noticing the direction of the bee will give you an idea where his nest is located.

You can sharpen the results by timing the length between trips of this first bee. It will give you an idea of how far away the bee tree is located. You can also triangulate coordinates by setting up more than one dish or plate and then plot them on a map. Some people even use a GPS unit or computer programs to narrow down the location. Searching for wild honey might be a little easier later in the summer and early fall when flowers are fewer. Of course, you also need to beware that you might be led to your neighbor’s beehives!

The Bible tells us that Jonathan once ate some wild honey he found in the woods. He said, “Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey (1 Samuel 14:29). This was also the food of John the Baptist.

Finding wild honey takes patience and perseverance, but the rewards are sweet. So it is with the person searching for wisdom. The Scriptures teach that the law of the Lord is “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10). When we are persistent in looking for Jesus, the source of all truth, we will have a future full of hope and sweet blessings.

When Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon who were carried off by Nebuchadnezzar, the words from God spoke of searching and hope. “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). There are no tricks in finding the Lord. Humble yourself, pray to Him, and spend time every day in the Bible. Jesus will lead you in a beeline to heaven.

Additional reading: Proverbs 24:1–16

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: Proverbs 24:13

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

TWO PRESIDENTS AND A BUCKET OF COFFEE 

In September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee made his greatest effort to carry the Civil War into the North. This climaxed with the Battle of Antietam, which became the bloodiest and perhaps the most decisive battle in the War Between the States. On the morning of September 17, a Union commander named Colonel Hayes ordered his men to the firing line before sunrise and without breakfast.

It was crucial that they prevent the advance of the Confederate army from crossing into the North. By afternoon the soldiers were exhausted and famished. A 19-year-old mess sergeant, known as Billy, took pity on the hungry men and loaded up a wagon with buckets of coffee and food rations. He then drove the wagon under fire to reach the men.

The famished soldiers, surprised and grateful for the food, sent up a loud cheer for Billy. They wolfed down the food and then turned back to the fight with renewed strength. When Colonel Hayes learned what Billy had done for his men, he recommended Billy be promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. The colonel who promoted Billy was Rutherford B. Hayes, who became the nineteenth president of the United States … and Billy, the mess sergeant, was William McKinley, who became our twenty-fifth president.

Later, Hayes remarked that “McKinley was a man of rare capacity, especially for a boy of his age … the night was never too dark; the weather was never too cold; there was no sleet, or storm, or hail, or snow, or rain that was in the way of his prompt and efficient performance in every duty.”

Though the duties in front of us today may not seem great, if we perform them faithfully it will soon become apparent to those around us that we can be trusted with greater things. And even if we’re never given earthly recognition for our efforts, Paul reminds us that whatever we do, we should “do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23). If we do that, we can be confident that we’ll hear our Commander say, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’” (Matthew 25:21).

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10  

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

THE FAIRFUL TRAP 

More than 70 million Christians have died as martyrs for their faith.

Wisdom Verse
“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” —Proverbs 28:27

You might be surprised to learn that more than half of these Christian martyrs died in the 20th century. We tend to think of martyrs as people who lived in ages past—people like Stephen of the early church period or Huss, Tyndale, Knox, and so many others of the Reformation era. But, in reality, Christians today are dying for their faith in huge numbers.

Some estimate an average of more than 280 Christians die for their faith every day, or about one every five minutes. These statistics only count Christians who were killed because they were Christians, and not those who happened to be victims of war.

It takes extreme courage for people to stand firm in their faith in the face of violent persecution, especially if it means surrendering their lives. This kind of courage can only come from God.

Fear of man is a trap that many people fall into; even such champions of faith as Abraham and Elijah fell prey to this type of fear at some point in their lives. When we fear other people, it makes us vulnerable. We live in dread of what others might think about us or do to us. The solution is a deep fear, or respect, for God. We need to live our lives with deep reverence for our Father in heaven, serving only Him, and paying more attention to what God says than to what anyone else says.

“Whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” doesn’t mean that there won’t be trials, persecution, or even death. It means that, in the end, God will redeem the ones who trust in Him. “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned” (Psalm 34:22), “neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

The psalmist writes, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6). Along the same lines, Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). In the end, only God deserves our fear and worship.

Dear Lord, keep me from being ensnared by a fear of man. May I fear only you and be always faithful.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever. Proverbs 29:14

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

DOES THE BIBLE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE TYPE OF MUSIC WE PLAY OR INSTRUMENTS WE SHOULD USE IN CHURCH WORSHIP?

 

This is a good and a big question because it addresses a very sensitive issue—where to draw the line in church music. First, I’ve worshiped with conservative brethren who don’t use any instruments in church. They have beautiful voices, and they sing and harmonize without instruments. That’s fine, and I believe the Lord has no problem with this. But I don’t agree that it’s wrong for Christians to use instruments in church.

King David played harps in his praising the Lord and wrote, “Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings” (Psalm 33:2). There were also instruments played in the sanctuary at God’s instruction (see 2 Samuel 6:5). Furthermore, just because a song is contemporary doesn’t make it wrong. Biblically, it’s appropriate to sing a new song of praise to God. In fact, nine times the Bible mentions singing a “new song.”

I think you should consider two things when finding the right balance: the music and the lyrics. Both need to be something God can bless. Some Christian groups sing beautiful, profound lyrics—but the music sounds like a car crash. Sometimes you can’t even tell what they’re saying! Then you’ve got the other extreme: reverent music but with repetitive or unbiblical words. That’s no better.

Church music should be something that elevates our appreciation for the Lord. That’s the kind of music that God will sanction, especially in His house of worship. It should be worshipful and convey a sense of reverence and love. It shouldn’t appeal to our lower natures with heavy syncopated rhythms that encourage dance fever. Some music can bring about baser things in us; science affirms this! I used to attend rock concerts, and I could easily see what the music did to people.

So in considering music, we need to ask: Is the music enhancing the words and lifting our souls heavenward, or is it bringing out the animalistic side of our natures? Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20).

 

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. Psalm 33:3

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

THE LEFT OR RIGHT

Have you ever wondered why in some countries the drivers use the right side of the road and in others—like Great Britain—they use the left? Well, the theory is that in olden days the nobility would ride their horses on the left of the road so their sword hand, usually the right hand, would be on the same side as an oncoming horseman. Naturally, with armed nobility riding around, it made sense for peasants to walk on the right, facing the oncoming traffic.

For many years this was the case in the U.K. and Europe. But remember that during the French revolution many of the aristocrats were executed. Even after the revolution it was a bad idea to be mistaken for nobility. So everyone in France started to travel on the right side of the road.

Then along came Napoleon, who carried this practice with him as he conquered large parts of Europe and built the first international road system since the Romans. But because of his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon never made it to England. Therefore, the U.K. and all its territories continued riding on the left. Today the words “right” and “left” have also come to represent opposite extremes in politics and religion, generally in reference to liberal or conservative views and practices.

Did you know that the Bible teaches that right and left extremes will come together in the last days to worship the beast and its image? Revelation 13 talks about “small and great, rich and poor, free and slave” receiving a mark of allegiance to the beast. This power will attempt to unite all mankind in a defiant stance against God. When good and evil play out their final struggle, no one will be immune from making a choice one way or the other. Everyone will worship either God or the beast.

According to Scripture, the confrontation won’t last long. Every person from every nation will be gathered before Christ, “and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). Great things are in store for the sheep on the right, for they will inherit the kingdom of God (verse 34). I want to be sure I’m at the right hand of Jesus on that day, don’t you?
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Matthew 25:33

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

 

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

THE HUMAN TOUCH 

In 1915, Dr. Henry D. Chapin reported that in infant-care homes throughout the U.S. nearly every child under two years died. The mortality rate was almost 100 percent. Knowing the babies were given adequate nourishment and cleanliness, he wondered what the problem was. He then discovered the policy at the time was “no coddling of the babies was allowed.” The babies died from lack of touch. During WWII, an orphanage in London was a warehouse for a wave of unwanted babies. Children there were only given essential care like clothing, food, and shelter.

It was all they could do just to attend to the many physical needs that were obvious. At this particular orphanage, the mortality rate was high. Fifty percent of all babies that came in died within a year and a half of their arrival. They simply did not know then, what we know today, about the importance of human touch and the role it plays in the physical, as well as emotional, well-being of babies.

Someone came up with the idea of touching the babies more, not just when they were fed or clothed. All workers, from the janitor to the director, were ordered to reach down and stroke or gently touch every baby they passed in the course of their day. They were not required to pick them up or spend any significant amount of time being physical. They just had to touch. The results of this new mandate were astonishing. Within two years, the mortality rate of infants brought to the orphanage dropped from 50 percent to 15 percent.

The 13th-century historian Salimbene described an experiment made by the German emperor Frederick II, who wanted to know what language children would speak if raised without hearing any words at all. Babies were taken from their mothers and raised in isolation. The result was that they all died. Salimbene wrote in 1248, “They could not live without caressing.” Nor can anyone else. Human babies definitely need tender loving care to survive. Untouched adults may not die physically, but they will experience emotional and social atrophy.

Could this be why everywhere Jesus went He touched people? Whether He was blessing children or healing a leper, Jesus made it a point to reach out and lovingly touch people. Who will you bless today with your touch of Christian love?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. Mark 1:41

From Amazing facts

God bless

[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

WHAT DOES THE APOSTLE PAUL MEAN WHEN HE WRITES ABOUT BEING “KEPT UNDER A TUTOR”?

 

The key to this text is in its first four words: “But before faith came.” Paul is talking about his condition of condemnation before he exercised faith in Christ. Being “under the law” is defined in Romans 3:19: “We know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

The law reveals to us our true condition before God—guilty and under the sentence of death. During those years of sin, Paul was “kept under the law,” held in the prison house of disobedience. He explained, “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:23).

But even when Paul was outside of Christ, without faith, the law was operating on his conscience, magnifying his misery and condemnation and leading him step by step, like a schoolmaster, to the Savior. After being directed to Christ by the law, Paul says we are “justified by faith.” This is what the law could not do. It could not justify; it could only condemn. Christ freely forgives and delivers.

When we live by faith, we exercise trust in Christ to not only forgive us of our sins, but to put the law within our hearts. We don’t just move away from being “condemned” by the law, but also from attempts to justify ourselvesen dehors de Christ (Romains 10:4). Beaucoup de gens essaient de garder la loi en leur pouvoir pour prouver à Dieu qu’ils valent la peine d’être aimés et sauvés. C’est une proposition perdante. Même nos meilleurs efforts sans la puissance du Saint-Esprit se résument à des haillons sales.

 

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Galatians 3:23

From Amazing facts

God bless

 

[Berean]

 

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

GOOD EYESIGHT

Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind. In fact, many bats have exceptionally good eyesight designed for low levels of light. Bats are nocturnal creatures and can be found all over the world, from Canada to warm tropical climates. To get around in the dark, many bats rely on a sophisticated form of sonar known as echolocation.

With this detection method, bats emit short pulses of high-frequency sounds that are usually well above the threshold of human hearing. The sound waves spread out in front of the bat, striking any objects in its flight path and bouncing back in the form of an echo. By using this God-given radar, bats are able to discern the direction, distance, speed, and in some instances, the size and density of the objects around them.

Jesus surprised His disciples when they discovered the Lord’s ability to see things beyond what they could see. Philip invited Nathanael to meet Jesus. Though skeptical, he went and met Christ, who said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” (John 1:47). Nathaniel asked, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (v. 48).

God is not blind. He does not lose track of us. Jesus still sees us in the secret places of our lives. Even in the darkest night, when we cry out to our heavenly Father, the Lord sees us … even in the dark.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Psalm 139:11

From Amazing facts

God bless

[Berean]

 

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

RUTH I BELONGED

 

Ruth grew up with no spiritual or Bible training and didn’t learn about the love of God until after going through some very difficult times in her life. She also lived a lesbian lifestyle from which she gratefully thanks the Lord for deliverance.

While mourning the death of a dear friend, Ruth received an invitation to Bible studies through a flyer she received in the mail. She responded and was contacted by a Sabbath-keeper named Diana, who began weekly studies with her, using the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides.

Prior to finding the Bible study card, Ruth had limited knowledge of even the most common Bible stories, but she was eager to learn, and the people at the Sabbath-keeping church in her town were very kind and welcoming to her. “They didn’t look at me like I shouldn’t be there. They treated me like I belonged,” says Ruth.

Due to her lack of experience with studying the Bible, Ruth had difficulty finding Bible references, but she was determined to continue. She got an electronic tablet that allowed her to find the verses quickly, and she then was able to get through the lessons with more ease. “By lesson three,” says Diana, “she accepted Jesus as her Savior and requested baptism.”

Ruth’s journey has not been an easy one. She has had some real challenges. Several times a ghostly figure appeared to her. At first she thought it was her deceased friend coming back from the dead to visit her. “We had studied that death is a sleep and that our dead loved ones cannot come back to talk with us,” shares Diana, “and Ruth came to realize that this was not really her friend visiting her, but an evil angel imitating her.”

Ruth and Diana continued to study, using an Amazing Facts book on baptism called In His Steps. Once she decided to join God’s remnant church, her fear of water became a very real factor when it came time for baptism by immersion. But once again, her faith triumphed. With the support of Diana’s husband standing with Ruth in the water, she was baptized one warm summer Sabbath morning.

Reflect: Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like an outsider? Put yourself in the shoes of a guest visiting your church and help them to feel warmly welcomed.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! Psalm 139:17

From Amazing facts

God bless

[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

LILIAN SEEKING ANSWERS 

Lilian was searching for answers. Born into a Roman Catholic family in Puerto Rico, she observed the traditions of that faith, even when the rites and practices failed to offer her the hope and understanding she desired. Despite her rigorous religious training, many questions and suspicions remained.

“All my life I have wanted to follow Christ, but I did not have much knowledge,” Lilian says. “I obeyed the rules of the church but with much doubt. When I was 25, I visited Avila, Spain, and saw a Catholic saint in a glass urn and his finger in a glass container.” She was told the other parts of this saint had been divided into relics for other churches. “That experience had a very negative impact on me.”

Later in life, Lilian decided to take classes on teaching the Bible but was unsettled when she heard the Bible described as nothing more than “a literary genre.” While teaching workshops on prayer, she remained uneasy. “I no longer believed in the intercession of Mary or the saints; I did not pray the rosary or prostrate myself to images,” she says.

When Amazing Facts evangelist Carlos Muñoz travelled to her town to present the gospel, Lilian’s daughter—who was already preparing to join the church—invited her to attend.

“Hearing about the credibility of the Bible at these meetings swept away my doubts,” Lilian says. “When Carlos quoted Jesus in Matthew 15:3 asking, ‘Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?’ I remembered the priest’s answer to my question about the Catholic Church being based on tradition.”

Thanks to the presentations, she says, “I saw clearly the path that Jesus left to us in the Bible and the error I was in for many years. Now I know the coming of Christ is near, and I know I have to share this message with others who are also in confusion as I was.”

Lilian was joyfully baptized and says, “I keep the Sabbath because God is my Creator. I changed my diet. I now have new friendships. My husband is surprised, but he supports me, and I pray for his conversion. Peace is with me. I thank God every day for clearing up my doubts and for showing me the way.”

Reflect: Have you ever struggled with doubts about God? When you sincerely call to the Lord in prayer, confessing your sins, God promises to lead you into the truth.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24

From Amazing facts

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[Author]

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