Saturday, July 31, 2021
Dining on a Different Kind of Bread
“Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.” - Numbers 14:9
When the Israelites were headed into the Promised Land, there were some demon-possessed giants called Anakim. And when the twelve spies went to spy out the land, ten came back saying, “The land is full of milk and honey, corn and wine, oil and pomegranates, figs and grapes. But, hey, we can’t take this land—there are giants in it!”But two of the spies said, “Don’t fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.” Bread, like your toast this morning. “Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us; fear them not.” They said, “Look, these people are a piece of cake. They’re bread for us. “Why do you eat bread? For strength. Bread gives energy. Bread is the staff of life. What was God saying? These things that look like problems? They are your food. “Anakim—the breakfast of champions.” It’s when you feed on these problems that you grow. Our Lord isn’t looking for softies as disciples. Remember, you’re governed by His providence when you’re in a storm. He rules overall. And you are growing by His plan. In the storm, you’re going to grow and become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Friday, July 30, 2021
Difficulties With Man's Will
What are the difficulties of going our way? Going our way means there is no upward direction except in the eyes of others. Going our way means there is no eternal hope for our life. Besides, any hope we carry within us is something we have to generate on our own. Going our way means we will experience suffering and pain without purpose. If by chance, we discover a purpose to our pain and suffering, the purpose is a purpose we must assign rather than a purpose assigned by God. Besides, going our way means we will carry within us emptiness and darkness. Persons who are self-consumed and self-absorbed drink alcohol and use drugs to ease the pain of the emptiness and darkness. When we go our way instead of God's way there is an inner gnawing making us feel the need to run and run and run to get away from being eaten up by our darkness.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Did Jesus Come Out Of The Grave?
“He is not here: for He has risen.” Matthew 28:6
Matthew
28:13-15--- And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel,
they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by
night and stole him away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's
ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as
they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until
this day.
It is a
disturbing truth that Jesus Christ came out of the grave. You just can’t be
neutral about the resurrection. If you are a thinking person, you’re going to
have to face the fact of the resurrection. Either it is true or it is not true.
Either He came out of that grave or He did not. Now, which side are you on? You
can’t just ball it all up like a crumpled piece of paper and say, “It doesn’t
make any difference. Let’s just put our arms around everybody. We all believe
the same thing.” No, no, no! When you take a stand for truth, you’re going to
have a head-on collision with the darkness that doesn’t want the light shining
in! Even after the Resurrection, the religious leaders of that day paid people
to lie and say that the disciples came and stole the Lord's Body. According to
the historical record, after Jesus’ death on the cross and his subsequent
burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, he appeared alive to more than 500
people, on twelve (12) separate occasions. All but one of the appearances (the
appearance to Paul aka Saul) occurred within the first 40 day period following
Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus also appeared to at least two
skeptics, James the Just and Paul aka Saul.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Devoted to God
Psalms 62:1-2---Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
Having been saved by faith in Christ, we express our
love and gratitude through devotion to Him. Regular Bible study and prayer will
be an integral part of our daily lives. In addition, our commitment to the Lord
will be revealed through a passion to obey, a spirit of humility, and a
servant's heart. Obedience. David sought to obey God all his life. As a
shepherd boy, he faithfully tended the animals in his father's fields. While
king, he set aside his desire to build the temple and let Solomon lead the effort,
as God had commanded. Although David lived imperfectly, his desire was to do
what the Lord asked. We see from Jesus' words in John 14:15 that obedience
should be our high priority as well: He said, "If you love Me, you will
keep My commandments." Humility. After David killed Goliath, the crowds
shouted praise about the young man. However, he did not become prideful.
Instead, he remained in King Saul's service and waited for God to make him the
ruler of Israel. Even as king, he remained humble. He knew that what had been
accomplished was because of the Lord's actions and not his own (2 Sam. 7:18).
Service. Whether David was a lowly shepherd or a mighty king, his goal was to
obey God and serve Him. This man after God's own heart was devoted to his Lord.
He sought to know Him and longed to carry out His will. David's actions
reflected His humble attitude of servanthood and his longing to please his
heavenly Father. You and I should Take steps each day to be sure our life
expresses commitment to Jesus.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
MY TESTIMONY
My Personal Salvation Experience
Thank
You, Billy Graham, for Pointing Me To Jesus
The date
was Thursday, December 2, 1971, and I was 15 years old. As a family, we had
been fed a wonderful meal by my mother, who then said to me, “Go to your room
and get your homework.” I was not the best of students but was obedient to part
of my mother’s request; I did go to my room. I had a tiny 13-inch black and
white TV in my room, and I turned it on to listen to something while trying to
make myself do homework. We didn’t get three channels in those days, 10 NBC, 6
CBS, and eight the educational channel, and I sure didn’t want to watch that
one. I turned to channel ten, and goodness, there was a preacher on, so I
quickly turned to channel six, and he was on that channel too. Now understand
me. Christian parents raised and took me to church nine months before I was
ever born. I felt like I got enough preaching on Sunday at church, but I left
it on and tried to concentrate on getting homework because there was nothing
else on TV. As I listened and worked, the preacher began to talk about how much
he loved me and that He died for my sins and fell under Holy Spirit-filled
conviction. The choir started to sing just as I am without one plea, and a boy
of 15 surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus by falling on my knees in my
bedroom and asking him to save me. That Preacher was Billy Graham, and I have
followed his ministry all my life. In 1985 God called me to preach, and I have
been faithful to that call now for 35 years.
Billy
Graham is in the heaven he preached about for so many years. I will point
people to Jesus until I reach God’s fair city where my Jesus abides. What a joy
it will be to see Him and the many who have come into my Spiritual Journey, but
after seeing Jesus, I want to see Billy Graham say thank you for pointing me to
Jesus. Dr. Danny V. Ray
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