The Daily Readings for TUESDAY, January 16, 2018

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son
John 3:16-21

Daily Readings

Genesis 9:1-17

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind. And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Hebrews 5:7-14

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

John 3:16-21

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.

Prayer of the Day for TUESDAY, January 16, 2018

Dear Lord, grant me, I beseech you, your divine helping grace. Endow me with patience and strength to endure my tribulations with complete submission to your will. You know my misery and suffering. I flee to you, my only hope and refuge, for relief and comfort, trusting to your infinite love and compassion; that in due time, you will deliver me from all the trials of this life and turn my distress into comfort. I rejoice in your mercy. I exalt and praise your holy name, oh Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: now and forever.

Amen

Verse of the Day for TUESDAY, January 16, 2018

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Read all of Hebrews 13

Listen to Hebrews 13

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Morning Devotions with Cap'n Kenny - Always There

Always There

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

~ Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

I remember one of the first times as a young believer when I didn’t feel God’s presence. I woke up one morning and just didn’t have the great feeling I had before. And being new in the faith and not knowing the Bible very well, I thought, “I think God left me last night. What happened?”

When I talked to a Christian friend about it, he told me, “You’re going through a trial.”

“What? I’m on trial?”

“No, you’re going through a trial.”

“What’s a trial?”

My friend explained there are times in our lives when we don’t feel the presence of God, but He is still there. And in time I came to realize that God will allow us to go through trials.

For instance, you might walk outside tomorrow, and it’s an overcast day. So you say, “The sun was here yesterday. But I don’t see the sun today. I don't feel its warmth. I guess the sun must have gone away last night.”

No, the sun hasn’t gone away. It has been merely obscured by a cloud covering. And if you don’t believe that, then try going to the beach without wearing any sunscreen. When you return home resembling a ripe tomato, you will realize the sun was out.

In the same way, some people falsely conclude that when they don’t feel God, He is gone. He has disappeared. But He is there, even when you don’t feel Him. The Bible tells us in Hebrews, “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).

It is during these times that we must walk by faith, not by feeling, because God has promised in His Word that He will be with us. That is how we know He is there.

Dear Lord, grant me, I beseech you, your divine helping grace. Endow me with patience and strength to endure my tribulations with complete submission to your will. You know my misery and suffering. I flee to you, my only hope and refuge, for relief and comfort, trusting to your infinite love and compassion; that in due time, you will deliver me from all the trials of this life and turn my distress into comfort. I rejoice in your mercy. I exalt and praise your holy name, oh Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: now and forever. Amen.

In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny


Seeking God?
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Even when we can't feel God's presence, we can be assured of it.

Un Dia a la Vez - Vive tu vida… ¡y no critiques!

Vive tu vida… ¡y no critiques!

No juzguen, y no se les juzgará [...] Perdonen, y se les perdonará.

~ Lucas 6:37 (NVI)

¿Has escuchado ese refrán que dice que «con la medida que midan a otros, se les medirá a ustedes»? Pues no es un dicho, sino una recomendación que encontramos en la Biblia (véase Mateo 7:1).

Si eres de los que te la pasas criticando a tu compañero de trabajo, juzgas todo lo que hace tu pareja, vives lleno de rencor y lo que menos piensas es en perdonar a los que te han ofendido, así sea a tus padres o a tus hijos, déjame decirte que estás muy lejos de agradar y tener complacido a Dios.

En su Palabra, Dios nos enseña exactamente lo contrario. Nos orienta que no debemos juzgar para que nadie nos juzgue a nosotros. Nos instruye que debemos perdonar hasta setenta veces siete… ¿Te imaginas?

¿Por qué no hacemos hoy este ejercicio? Hagamos una pequeña evaluación de cómo está nuestra vida en estas dos esferas: la crítica y la falta de perdón. Aunque no parecen muy importantes en el diario vivir, sí tienen un gran efecto en el ámbito espiritual.

Piensa en que si no cambias esa actitud, todo el mundo juzgará tus acciones. Serás el centro permanente de burla y de chimes. Te expondrás en todo lo que haces. Por otro lado, si no le pides a Dios que te ayude a tomar la decisión de perdonar, el día que falles, el día que te equivoques, no te van a perdonar. Recuerda que todo lo que sembramos eso mismo cosechamos. Si Dios que es Dios no nos critica y nos perdona sin merecerlo, ¿por qué no hacemos hoy ese pacto de cambiar?

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón

Standing Strong Through the Storm - NEVER FAILS TO BEAR FRUIT

NEVER FAILS TO BEAR FRUIT

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream…and never fails to bear fruit.”

~ Jeremiah 17:7-8d (NIV)

Trees were not plentiful in Israel and most grew by sources of water like an oasis or a stream. Jeremiah’s simile indicates a person with confidence in the Lord is like a deep-rooted tree by the stream that bears fruit faithfully year after year in all kinds of weather.

The most remarkable report I’ve heard from China is about a Christian lady in prison during the “anti-spiritual pollution campaign” in the mid-eighties. She spent her time in prison hand carving scripture verses in miniature lettering with a sharpened end of a toothbrush on the walls and even on the frame of the cot in her cell. Years later she actually met another person who subsequently spent time in the same cell and came to Christ through reading those verses over and over.

One year when visiting Christians in the north of China, I asked the whereabouts of Aunty Mei Bo. This short octogenarian medical doctor, I was told, was away on a missions outreach in spiritually needy Tibet. The next summer she was home and very anxious to hear of our group experience in Tibet—the rooftop of the world—since she was planning another mission trip there soon. She concluded, “Jesus is saying, ‘Hurry up and get the job done so I can come back again!’”

Aunty Mei Bo often stored Bibles from foreign couriers in her home where she lived alone. One day the Public Security Police raided her home and confiscated all the Christian materials they found. Later in the day she found a JESUS video they had missed. So off to the police station she headed with the video.

The young lady at the desk looked askance in her direction. “I want to talk to the Chief of Police!” Mei Bo demanded firmly. “Today his men were at my house and they did not see this,” she said waving the video tape in the air. The receptionist ushered Mei Bo into the police chief’s office. He acted oblivious to her arrival yet grunted a question of intent.

“Sir,” Mei Bo began slowly. “Earlier today your men raided my house and took all the Bibles I had stored there. I understand that they were just doing their job. But after they left, I noticed that they missed this video tape. I need to know from you if this is acceptable material or not. Would you and your staff check it for me?”

“Very well, come back in two weeks,” he muttered dismissing her with a wave of the hand. Mei Bo almost skipped out the door with overflowing joy as she headed toward home. “Thank you Lord! How else could I get the Beijing chief of police with his staff to watch the JESUS video?”

Aunty Mei Bo led many to the Lord all through her long life and spent her time in discipling them. She never failed to bear fruit.

RESPONSE: I want to be a tree that bears fruit without fail, regardless of age and weather conditions.

PRAYER: Lord, may my deep rootedness in You cause me to never fail to produce lasting fruit.

Girlfriends in God - A Love That Stays

A Love That Stays

Gwen Smith

Today’s Truth

I will maintain my love to Him forever, and my covenant with Him will never fail.

~ Psalm 89:28 (NIV)

Friend to Friend

I took a few pictures the other day with what I call my “big girl camera.” You know, the kind with a lens that adjusts to things near and far, making objects change from blurry to clear with a simple twist. It’s amazing to look through a viewfinder and watch what is hazy become crisp and clear.

Lately I feel like I need this feature for my soul.

Have you ever felt that way?

My week has been a bit of a blur and this distracted heart needs a good refocusing. So I turn to the Word of God, and the adjustment begins. A man named Ethan penned Psalm 89. He wrote the psalm to celebrate the throne of king David and the prophetic promises God made regarding the eternal nature of Christ’s future reign.

It’s a moving read; full of promise, praise, and wonder. A declaration of God’s holiness and steadfast love that seals the destiny of all who place their faith in Jesus.

I read it and am refocused on the hope of God’s power, righteousness, justice, faithfulness, and strength. I’m reminded that the indescribable and unsearchable Creator of the universe invites you and me, His small, but cherished creation, to walk in the light of His presence (verse 15).

I’m reminded that God is not distant, but near.

That He offers to sustain and strengthen all who are His. That God works through my weakness with power that is perfect and that He hears the cries that rise from haughty human lungs as they breathe His holy name: Father, God, Rock, and Savior.

I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. “If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness… (Psalm 89:28-35, emphasis mine)

I read these words - these promises from the heart of God - and my soul is stirred deeply.

God maintains His love.

His covenant will never fail.

Even when we fail, God does not.

Even when we disobey His commands and run away from all that is good and holy, He loves us. Yes, consequences will be handed out, but His LOVE will remain. When we are faithless, God will not betray His own faithfulness to us. He will not go back on His word … on His promise of salvation … on His covenant of grace through Jesus.

God swears on His own holiness that the finished work of Jesus is enough. For me. For you. For the remnant of all who’ve been kissed by mercy’s hope.

With a heart that is refocused on clarifying truth and vibrant grace, I turn from my blurry heart haze toward God’s love that remains unfailing for all eternity.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, There really is none like You. Thank You for loving me unconditionally. Please fix and focus my heart on Your ways and guide me in all truth.
In Jesus’ Name I pray,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

Read Psalm 89 and spend a few moments giving thanks to God for specific ways He’s shown you His unfailing love.

CLICK HERE to listen to a few songs I posted on my blog to help focus your heart in worship today!

More from the Girlfriends

Gwen Smith is a speaker, worship leader, songwriter, and author of several books including, I Want I ALL, which features a Bible Study Guide right in the back; no extra purchase required. I WANT IT ALL it’s easy to read that contains compelling and challenging content. You'll connect with the stories, probably dust off a few heart dreams, think bigger thoughts of God, laugh and smile a lot, search your soul, and even cry a little ... because each page lovingly directs you to the personal grace and truth of JESUS. (CLICK HERE to get a FREE Downloadable “7 Day I WANT IT ALL” Devotional E-book.)

Seeking God?

Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal

relationship with Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends in God

www.girlfriendsingod.com