Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: God
Charles Stanley (March-24-2023) Daily Devotional: God Is Sovereign Over Delays.
Waiting is difficult but we can relax, knowing that our Lord is active even in the details of our life.
Proverbs 16:9 - The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
Most people don’t like to wait, but have you ever wondered why? One reason may be that delays reveal we are not in control. Someone or something else is calling the shots.
Although we are often able to identify the immediate cause—like a traffic light or long checkout line—ultimately the One who controls all delays is the Lord. He is sovereign over everything in heaven and on earth, and even our time and schedules are in His hands. You might have thought that the expression “waiting upon the Lord” applies only to seeking guidance from Him or an answer to prayer. But it can mean so much more when you remember that He controls all your day-to-day inconveniences and frustrations.
In the Christian life, patience is vital. Without it, we can’t effectively obey God, pray, or experience the peace of resting in His sovereignty. We must learn to trust His judgment—about not just the big events in our life but also the trivial ones that cause us to become irritated, impatient, or angry.
The next time you face an unexpected or unwanted wait, remember that it comes as no surprise to God. He’s more interested in developing godly character than He is in making sure your schedule runs according to your plans.
Amir Tsarfati - Watch Sermon: Who Did God Give Jerusalem To? Jerusalem started as the United capital of Israel’s tribes by King David, yet for the last two thousand years, it was hardly inhabited or controlled by the Jews. Who is God prepared to give Jerusalem to? Why and when will this take place? Get answers to these questions and more in Amir’s message!
Joyce Meyer (March-23-2023) Daily Devotional: Being One with God.
I believe God chose to liken us to eagles in order to motivate us so we can rise to our potential in life and so He can encourage us to wait on Him. When success does not come easily, when we find ourselves frustrated and weary in our efforts, we can be refreshed by waiting on the Lord.
What does it really mean to wait for the Lord? It simply means spending time with Him, being in His presence, talking to Him, listening, meditating on His Word, worshiping Him, keeping Him at the center of our lives, all the while expecting Him to do something amazing. One meaning of the word wait is “to be twisted or braided together.” If we think about a braid in someone’s hair, we realize that the hair is woven together so that we cannot tell where one strand ends, and another begins. That is the way God wants us to be in our union with Him—so intimately intertwined and tightly woven together with Him that we are truly one with Him. As we wait on Him, we become more and more like Him.
An intimate relationship with God will strengthen you in the innermost part of your being. It will strengthen your heart; it will carry you through the hard times in your life with a sense of peace and confidence that all is well, no matter what is happening. It will give you the strength to endure tough situations in such a way that many of the people around you may not be able to detect even the slightest stress in your life.
When you wait on the Lord by faith, you draw everything you need from Him. He is your refuge, your enabler, your joy, your peace, your righteousness, your hope. He gives you everything you need to live in victory over any circumstance.
Are you ready to rise to your potential? You will do so when you can wait on God. When you wait on Him, your strength is made new again; you can fly as eagles do, over the storms of life; you can walk and run and not faint, because your trust is in Him.
Prayer of the Day: Father, I want to get more serious in my relationship with You. Help me as I wait on You. Help me rise to my potential, to soar like an eagle, and become everything you died for me to be, amen.
Joyce Meyer (March-22-2023) Daily Devotional: God Sees You.
When we are working hard and serving God, we may often feel that no one really appreciates our labor and sacrifices, but God sees us and knows everything we do. He appreciates our labor for Him, and He rewards us in due time.
The apostle Paul encourages us not to “become weary in doing good,” because in due time, “we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (see Galatians 6:9). I’m sure Paul experienced the same feelings of weariness that we feel at times, but he pressed on. His goal was to finish what God had given him to do, and that should be our aim also.
When you feel like giving up, just remember what Jesus went through so you could be forgiven for your sins and live with Him forever. Any difficulty you face is minor compared to what He endured. Any good thing you do for others is counted as something you have done for Jesus. Keep that in mind, and your work for Him will energize you and give you peace and joy.
Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for allowing me to serve You by serving others. Help me to always appreciate each opportunity and to find joy in my labor. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Joyce Meyer (March-21-2023) Daily Devotional: God Likes the Way He Made You.
Have you ever asked God, “Why did You make me this way?” Sometimes the things we think are our worst faults, God will use to His greatest glory: But who are you, a mere man, to criticize and contradict and answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? (Romans 9:20 AMPC).
Jesus died so that we might enjoy our life in abundance and to the fullest until it overflows. You’re not going to enjoy your life if you don’t enjoy yourself. Be satisfied with yourself and celebrate the unique way God made you.
Prayer of the Day: Father, thank You for the life You have given me. Help me to enjoy my life and to celebrate the unique way You created me to be, amen.
Joyce Meyer (March-20-2023) Daily Devotional: Keep Your Eyes on God—Not on Others.
Paul’s words remind me of a saying I used to hear often: “Don’t do as I do—do as I say.” The people who give this admonition expect others to live according to rules that they themselves admittedly are not willing to follow.
This is where many young or insecure Christians find themselves. They see some church leaders or those in authority doing things they know aren’t right, and they think, well, if they’re such great Christians and they can do that…it must be all right. This attitude can either lead them to do the same things or to turn away from God altogether.
We need to remember that God has called us to be responsible for our actions. God holds us accountable for every thought and every action—but our responsibility doesn’t stop there. We are also responsible to help lift up others when they fall.
Perhaps nowhere in the Bible is this concept more clearly defined than in Galatians 6:1-3 (AMPC). Paul laid down three important principles that Satan doesn’t want us to grasp. First, when we become aware that a sister or brother has fallen into sin, we are to do whatever we can to help lift up that person. Paul wrote, If any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]. For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.
Even the best of us fail at times, but it is important to note that the word overtaken doesn’t mean a deliberate, intentional sin. It’s as if someone is walking down an icy sidewalk, slips, and falls. That’s how the Christian life works—nearly everyone slips sometimes.
What then should be our attitude when this happens? We should offer to help, of course. If someone slips on the ice, don’t you naturally rush over to help that person get up? That’s a Christian principle. But the enemy wants to make sure that you don’t do the right thing. He might even whisper in your ear, “Just don’t look in her direction. Ignore her. You are not obligated to help her get up. Why, you don’t even know her.” It’s easy to ignore people in need of help.
The Greek word translated restores was once a medical term used by a surgeon to describe medical procedures like removing a growth from a body or setting a broken arm. The goal is not to see that the person gets punished, but that the person gets healed.
The second point Paul made is that when we become aware someone has fallen, instead of pointing fingers and looking down on them, we should look at ourselves. The devil could have tempted us to do the same thing or something else just as bad . . . or even worse. We need to look with compassion on those who fall and remind ourselves, “Except for the grace of God, I could be there.”
The third thing is to push away pride in our own achievements. If we think we are more spiritual, we’re deceiving ourselves. Proverbs 16:18 (AMPC) gives this warning: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. We must not compare our achievements with others, but instead ask ourselves, Have I really done all that I could have done? Satan is thrilled when we compare ourselves with those who fail and see ourselves as being superior. But when we compare ourselves with the standards Jesus sets for us, we have no cause to be conceited or prideful. Instead, we can be humbly thankful that the Lord is at work in our lives.
Prayer of the Day: Lord Jesus, please remind me to help those who have fallen. Help me to remember that, except for Your grace, I could be the one who failed. But most of all, help me to remember that You are always with me and will help me overcome the evil one. I give You praise for all these things, amen.
Watch Jonathan Cahn Daily Word - When the Obstacle is of God.
Watch Priscilla Shirer, Sarah Jakes Roberts, Lisa Harper - YOU Have Purpose in God. Priscilla Shirer, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and Lisa Harper empower you to follow God's leading in your in the midst of doubt and adversity.
Rick Warren (March-17-2023) Daily Devotional: Run to God with Your Pain - Daily Hope.
“We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We . . . saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us.” - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (TLB)
Whenever you experience something painful in your life, you have a choice: You can run from God, or you can run to God.
Running from God never made sense to me. How are you going to get any comfort when you’re running from the greatest source of comfort? I’ve spent more time alone with God in the years since my youngest son died than in all the previous years. In the grief of that loss, what kept me going through all my painful days was worshipping God and being close to him.
If you’ll choose to run to God, you can use your pain to draw closer to him in worship. How do you do that? You don’t tell him what you think you ought to say. Instead, you tell him exactly how you feel. You argue with him and tell him that you don’t like the pain. This is called lament. The Bible is full of people crying out to God in lament, including one-third of the psalms.
Even complaining to God is an act of worship. You can worship in all the phases of grief. You can express your shock. You can unload your sorrow. You can share your struggle. You can surrender. You can ask God to use the pain for good in your life.
Paul does this in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. He says, “We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We . . . saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us” (TLB).
I’ve heard thousands of stories of people who came to know Jesus out of their pain, whose lives were totally transformed in the process of worshiping when they were in pain. And I can say to them, like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:9, “I am glad . . . not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God” (TLB).
When you’re in pain, it’s not a time to run away from God. It’s a chance for you to draw close to God, trust him more, worship him more, and—ultimately—know and love him more.
Talk It Over
- Who is the first person you run to when you are in pain? At what point do you usually turn to God for help?
- When you are in pain, can you worship God in your own strength? Why or why not?
- Going to God with your pain—with your complaints, grief, and frustration—can be an act of worship. How does that truth make you feel?
Charles Stanley (March-17-2023) Daily Devotional: Obeying God.
Make it a daily habit to spend time with God in the Word, and you'll be ready for the inevitable challenges of life.
Daniel 1:1-8 - In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king's court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service. Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.
The story of Daniel illustrates some key elements of obedience. The young man knew that God’s law had dietary restrictions prohibiting food that had been offered to idols, yet now he was in foreign land with no such limitations. When King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that food from his table be given to Daniel, that posed a dilemma: Was it better to obey the Lord and risk angering the king or to disobey God and please the ruler?
The underlying issue was allegiance to God. Daniel could have rationalized breaking the divine command by telling himself he was a servant and had no choice. Instead, he resolved not to eat the royal food and sought a solution that would honor the Lord and keep His law.
Today, many things that our world finds acceptable are outside God’s will for His children. The struggle comes down to this: Our desire as Christians is to obey the Lord, whereas our fleshly side wants to please ourselves. However, obeying God is always the right choice.
To become like Daniel, we must consistently apply Scripture to our decision-making. Then, when challenges come, we’ll have the courage to obey God’s commands.
