Saturday, February 25, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A Phony Prophet
February 22, 2012
A Phony Prophet
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read Acts 13:6--12
This was no time for Paul to be tolerant or passive. We live in a culture that virtually deifies tolerance. One lady recently said to me with a broad grin, "I love everybody; I even love the devil." I call that "tolerance gone to seed." Make no mistake, we're not to love the devil, nor are we to love everything everybody does. Christ commands us to love people, even our enemies, but that doesn't mean we shrink from standing up for righteousness.
Paul didn't back off an inch. I can see the hair stiffening on the back of his neck as he showed his spiritual teeth and growled,
"You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. (Acts 13:10--11)
When he had to be firm, he stepped up. The result was magnificent. Stunned by the obvious display of God's power and Paul's emboldened response, the pagan official believed, and we can almost see the door to the Gentiles opened wider.
You may face similar opportunities to confront enemies of truth. They come in a number of different forms. Some are more insidious than others. My advice, when the opposition against the truth is this severe, based on Paul's model, is that you confront it. Leave the results with God. Step up and speak out in the name of the Lord. Be certain of His protection. Don't rush in. Pray for wisdom in the choice of your words before saying anything, and then speak boldly. The results may not be as dramatic as what happened in Cyprus, but the Lord will honor your faith. The few times I've had to stand this firmly against wrong, the Lord gave me a sense of near-invincible courage.
When you stand for God, you stand with God. He's got your back. So you can stand with confidence.
Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
A Phony Prophet
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read Acts 13:6--12
This was no time for Paul to be tolerant or passive. We live in a culture that virtually deifies tolerance. One lady recently said to me with a broad grin, "I love everybody; I even love the devil." I call that "tolerance gone to seed." Make no mistake, we're not to love the devil, nor are we to love everything everybody does. Christ commands us to love people, even our enemies, but that doesn't mean we shrink from standing up for righteousness.
Paul didn't back off an inch. I can see the hair stiffening on the back of his neck as he showed his spiritual teeth and growled,
"You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. (Acts 13:10--11)
When he had to be firm, he stepped up. The result was magnificent. Stunned by the obvious display of God's power and Paul's emboldened response, the pagan official believed, and we can almost see the door to the Gentiles opened wider.
You may face similar opportunities to confront enemies of truth. They come in a number of different forms. Some are more insidious than others. My advice, when the opposition against the truth is this severe, based on Paul's model, is that you confront it. Leave the results with God. Step up and speak out in the name of the Lord. Be certain of His protection. Don't rush in. Pray for wisdom in the choice of your words before saying anything, and then speak boldly. The results may not be as dramatic as what happened in Cyprus, but the Lord will honor your faith. The few times I've had to stand this firmly against wrong, the Lord gave me a sense of near-invincible courage.
When you stand for God, you stand with God. He's got your back. So you can stand with confidence.
Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Be Prepared Get Into the Ark"
"GET INTO the ARK"-by David Wilkerson. John Owen, the great Puritan preacher, spoke the following Message to his congregation on April 9, 1680: "You know that for many years, without failing, I have been warning You continually of an approaching calamitous time, and considering the sins that have been the causes of it. I have told you that Judgment will begin in the house of God; that God seems to have hardened our hearts from his fear, and that none knows what the power of his wrath will be. In all these things I have foretold you of perilous, distressing, calamitous times. These all now lie at the door, and are entering in upon us." God did send his awful judgments on that society. John Owen lived to weep over a flaming holocaust that engulfed London. Yet, before he ever saw a single one of these calamities take place, Owen faithfully cried out from his pulpit, "I am going to show you how we ought to deport ourselves in and under the distressing calamities that are coming upon us, and may reach, it may be, up to the very neck." Beloved, we're living in just such a time as Owen's. And in times like these, there is only one response to the coming storm. "The just shall live by faith!" Owen admonished his people with tears, "Get you an ark-prepare an ark for the safety of you and your families." Then he added, "The ark is Jesus Christ. There is no other way, no other ark-for Isaiah, the prophet, said of our Lord, 'And a man [Christ] shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadows of a great rock in a weary land.' That is our ark! Blessed are they that trust only in him. I know of no safety, no deliverance, in the trials and afflictions coming upon the earth, but in believing Christ as our only refuge." We may see dangers on all sides, including a devil and his principalities who want to drown our faith in doubts. But we have a fiery guard of angels surrounding us and a God who is under oath to carry us through any disaster we may face. So let me ask you, do you want to face the coming storm with quiet confidence and peace of mind? Then die today to all your own ways and means of saving yourself and commit the keeping of your life wholly to God's care. He's your good, loving Shepherd-and he is faithful to see you through all! Fix your eyes on Jesus. He alone is our hope. SOURCE - http://worldchallenge.org/en/node/12729
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
"AccordingtotheBook": SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DOby Stan Butler...
"AccordingtotheBook":
SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO
by Stan Butler
...: SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO by Stan Butler God is sovereign. We say and believe that God is sovereign and although the word “sovere...
SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO
by Stan Butler
...: SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO by Stan Butler God is sovereign. We say and believe that God is sovereign and although the word “sovere...
Monday, February 13, 2012
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