dW 06.24.11

note

Hola Hermanos!  I just got back from two weeks in San Salvador, El Salvador.  I had the privilege of going with a team in January for a week full of evangelism.  I liked it so much that I came home and said to my wife, "We need to go down there as a family to check this out."  "Well, we need to send off for the baby's passport then," was her response.  We had a great trip.  Here is a dW inspired by a devotional we heard one morning before we set out for the day.

scripture

1 Samuel 14:6-7
Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

En Espanol, 1 Samuel 14:6-7

thought

Jonathan said, "Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf".  Jonathan had no idea if God would act on their behalf.  He did not wait for God to send a big flashing sign that said to go and do this.  He simply stepped out in faith and God rewarded his faith.  If you continue reading this story of Jonathan's unauthorized (he did so without telling his father, King Saul) attack on the Philistines, then you will read that God did indeed act on their behalf.

 

So often we want a guarantee of an outcome agreeable to ourselves before we are willing to move.  We want to have an exit strategy in place so that in case things don't work out, we can bail without negative consequence.  However, this is not faith.

 

quote

The grandeur of the arch of heaven would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye.
Charles Spurgeon

dW 06.07.11

scripture

 

Isaiah 2:22
Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?

 

En Espanol, Isaías 2:22

 

quote

Your possessions are never so safe as when you are willing to resign them, and you are never so rich as when you put all you have into the hand of God.
Charles Spurgeon

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 06.06.11

scripture

Matthew 17:14-20
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

En Espanol, Mateo 17:14-20

quote

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
D. Elton Trueblood

thought

One friend told us about a beautiful phrase in the Bible.  "But God'.  Many times there didn't seem to be any way that the people involved could resolve the situation, and then there's that phrase again, "but God".  For instance, Abraham had to be willing to sacrifice his long-awaited son to prove his obedience to God, "but God" provided the ram.  There was no way Daniel could escape from the hungry lions, "but God" shut their mouths and protected them.
Thank you "MD" for sharing.

dW 06.03.11

scripture

1 John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

En Espanol, 1 Juan 1:5-10

 

quote

 

Tell him all your faults, as far as you can remember them; do not attempt to hide anything from God; you cannot do so, for he knows all; therefore, hesitate not to tell him everything, the darkest secret, the sin you would not wish even to whisper to the evening's gale.
Charles Spurgeon

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 06.02.11

scripture

 

Hebrews 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

En Espanol, Hebreos 13:20-21

quote

Sacrifice-making constitutes a large part of any high character. He who never makes a sacrifice in his religion, may shrewdly suspect that it is not worth more than his own practical valuation of it.
Charles Spurgeon

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 06.01.11

scripture

Isaiah 55:8-13

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever."

 
En Espanol, Isaías 55:8-13

 

quote

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.
Oswald Chambers

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 05.27.11

scripture

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 
En Espanol, Gálatas 5:19-21

quote
 
Beware of beginnings: he who does not take the first wrong step will not take the second.

Charles Spurgeon
 
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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 05.26.11

scripture

Galatians 5:16-18

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

 

En Espanol, Gálatas 5:16-18

 

quote

 

What a wonderful power is that which dwells in every believer, checking him when he would do wrong, encouraging him to do right, leading him in the paths of righteousness for Christ's name's sake! Happy men to have such a Conductor!

Charles Spurgeon

 

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 05.16.11

teaching

Guidelines to sound theology:

1. The Bible is reliable.  Biblical understanding is given by the Holy Spirit who illuminates our comprehension thereof.  The Bible is our standard and we must know it well so that we will not be deceived.
Read 2 Timothy 3:12-17.

2. All heresy originates from deviant teachings about the person and nature of Jesus Christ. 
Read Galatians 1; 1 John 4.

3. Do not accept anything that is just a little off.  If you advert from your course by a few degrees, then measure to your intended destination after a couple hundred miles, you will find yourself way off course.  You must follow "truth" to its logical end to see if it does indeed lead to "Truth".
Read 2 Peter 2.

4. Anyone can use theological/church words to make what appears to be sound teaching.  However, if we do not require them to provide definitions to these words, then we are opening ourselves up for deception.
Read Romans 16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-7.

scripture

2 Peter 2:1-3

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

 

En Espanol, 2 Pedro 2:1-3

 

quote

 

He that perverts truth shall soon be incapable of knowing the true from the false. If you persist in wearing glasses that distort, everything will be distorted to you.

Charles Spurgeon

 

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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com

dW 05.12.10

teaching

Guidelines to sound theology:

1. The Bible is reliable.  Biblical understanding is given by the Holy Spirit who illuminates our comprehension thereof.  The Bible is our standard and we must know it well so that we will not be deceived.
Read 2 Timothy 3:12-17.

2. All heresy originates from deviant teachings about the person and nature of Jesus Christ. 
Read Galatians 1; 1 John 4.

3. Do not accept anything that is just a little off.  If you advert from your course by a few degrees, then measure to your intended destination after a couple hundred miles, you will find yourself way off course.  You must follow "truth" to its logical end to see if it does indeed lead to "Truth".
Read 2 Peter 2.

4. Anyone can use theological/church words to make what appears to be sound teaching.  However, if we do not require them to provide definitions to these words, then we are opening ourselves up for deception.
Read Romans 16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-7.

scripture

1 John 4:1-3

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

En Espanol,  1 Juan 4:1-3

 

quote

Before I leave this point, I would urge you earnestly to be careful both as to the man you hear, and the words of his on which you rest. I beseech any of you who are attendants here, who are resting yourselves upon my words, to cease that habit.

Charles Spurgeon

 
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If you want to share your thoughts or ask a question, then go to today's post and leave a comment.
www.the-daily-Word.blogspot.com