ISRAEL CONNECTION

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Child Of God

MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Child Of God

Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 18-19; James 4

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.

from The Place of Help

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DAILY DEVOTIONS · NOVEMBER 21, 2019 They Who Wait

Posted on November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by Child Of God

READ: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: Waiting seems like the last thing that would give you strength. Many times, when we think of waiting, we think of feeling tired.

Weary.

Anxious.

However, the Bible tells us that when we “wait for the Lord,” our strength is renewed.

When waiting makes us feel fatigued, it’s because we’re waiting for the wrong things. Are we waiting for the perfect opportunity to arrive or do we believe God can work through any circumstance? Are we waiting for someone in our lives to change or are we willing to see how God can change our own heart?

We’re either waiting on God or we’re waiting on something else. One grants strength and the other does not. If you don’t want to grow weary or faint in your Christian walk, I encourage you to ensure you are waiting on God who is your source of strength in waiting seasons.

PRAY: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the strength and hope that only You provide in seasons of waiting. May I have the focus to place my faith in You no matter what season I’m facing. In Jesus Christ Name, I pray, Amen.

REFLECT: Are you waiting for the perfect opportunity to arrive or do you believe God can work through any circumstance, while you wait?

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CONNECT: Find more encouragement from Christina Patterson at www.belovedwomen.org and download her “Worry-Free” video Bible study + prayer guide here.

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: The Seared Conscience

Posted on November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by Child Of God

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.—Titus 1:15

But when a conscience has become seared, when a man has played with the fire and burned his conscience and calloused it until he can handle the hot iron of sin without shrinking, there is no longer any safety for him.

Paul wrote in his epistle about those to whom nothing is pure any longer, “but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

Here Paul speaks of an inward corruption, revealed in impure thoughts and soiled language. I am just as afraid of people with soiled tongues as I am of those with a communicable disease.

Actually, a foul tongue is evidence of a deeper spiritual disease and Paul goes on to tell us that those with defiled consciences become reprobates, something just washed up on the shore, a moral shipwreck. Echoes from Eden, 64-65.

“Oh Lord, deliver me from that ‘inward corruption.’ Guard my mind and my tongue; convict me of any carelessness or straying. Keep my conscience alive and active. Lord, I really don’t want to end up a dirty old man, ‘washed up on the shore, a moral shipwreck.’ Amen.”