Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Today in History: 
1930: Orson Welles starred as "The Shadow" in the show's radio debut. At first, the Shadow was the narrator for changing stories, but later became a character in his own adventures. He had the ability to cloud men's minds so they could not see him and he knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men.
1970: The complete New American Standard Version of the Bible is published.

Midday Devotional:
My word . . . shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. —Isaiah 55:11
They know Tom Dotson pretty well in the prisons of Michigan. They ought to. He spent more than a decade behind bars.
Tom gave his testimony at the annual banquet for prison chaplains in Muskegon, Michigan. He said he had grown up in a Christian home but had rebelled and rejected the gospel. His wife, who sang at the banquet, stayed with him in spite of his repeated failures. A prison chaplain faithfully worked with him, Tom genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ, and his life was changed.
Dotson urged Christian workers,“Continue on in your ministry with people like me, no matter how frustrating. We may have lots of setbacks. But don’t give up. There’s power for change in even the most frustrating person through the sacrifice of Christ, the One who really sets us free.”Then, looking right at the chaplain who had patiently witnessed to him, Tom said tenderly,“ Thank you for not giving up on me."
God will “abundantly pardon”all who come to Him (Isaiah 55:7). His powerful Word can bring change (v.11), freeing men and women from the prison of sin (John 8:32).
Are you about to give up on someone you think will never change? Don’t! Keep at it! —Dave Egner


 

Monday, July 30, 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

Today in History:
1954: Elvis Presley made his first paid performance opening for singer Slim Whitman at Overton Park in Memphis. The 19-year-old nervously began gyrating his leg and a legend began.
1965: U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating a health-care program for the elderly called "Medicare." It became effective the following year.
1956: In God We Trust becomes the official motto of the United States by an act of Congress signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Midday Devotional:
She has done what she could. —Mark 14:8
As Mary of Bethany gave her best to Jesus (Mk. 14:1-9), so each of us must give in our own way the best we have to the Lord. Our efforts may not seem significant, but God can use them for His glory.
D. L. Moody told the story of a man who was crossing the Atlantic by ship. He was terribly seasick and confined to his cabin. One night he heard the cry "Man overboard!" But he felt that there was nothing he could do to help. Then he said to himself, "I can at least put my lantern in the porthole." He struggled to his feet and hung the light so it would shine out into the darkness.
The next day he learned that the person who was rescued said, "I was going down in the dark night for the last time when someone put a light in a porthole. As it shone on my hand, a sailor in a lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in."
Everyone holding forth his own light, or using his one talent, no matter how small, will help accomplish God's purpose on this earth, and will thus glorify the Savior. What a joy it will be when the Master looks into your eyes in that future day and with a loving smile of approval says, "Well done, good and faithful servant . . . . Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Mt. 25:21).


 

Friday, July 27, 2012

Friday, July 27, 2012

Today in History: 
1940: Bugs Bunny debuted in the movie cartoon A Wild Hare. Artist Bob Clampett created Bugs after seeing actor Clark Gable munching a carrot in the movie It Happened One Night.
1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation requiring cigarette packages and ads to display a health warning from the U.S. Surgeon General.
2003: Comedian Bob Hope died in Toluca Lake, California, at age 100.

Midday Devotional:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. —Hebrews 11:8
One of life’s most distressing experiences is being separated from the things and the people we love. It is often difficult to leave a house that holds many pleasant memories, and it is always hard to say goodbye to loved ones when we must leave them.
So it wasn’t easy for Abraham to obey God’s demand that he separate himself from his country and his friends and relatives. Yet, without obedience to God’s command, there would have been no blessing for him or his descendants.
God called Abraham to this life of special consecration because He had chosen him to be the channel through which He would work His plan of redemption. The human race had rebelled and become idolatrous, and Abraham needed to worship the one true God.
It is still the duty of all believers to sever connections with anything that hinders our spiritual progress and effectiveness. We must forsake all sin, all self-will, and every worldly pleasure that draws
our heart away from God.
If we do this, when we are tested and tried the spiritual fiber of our lives will stand the test. We’ll be strengthened in the process, so that we in turn might be a blessing to those around us. —Herbert Vander Lugt

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Today in History: 
1952: Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, aka Evita, died of cancer at age 33.
1979: A team of nine men set a world record in Edinburgh, Scotland, by pushing a hospital bed 3,233 miles in 36 days.
1603: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England. Among his many acts affecting English religious life (it is he for whom the King James Version is named) was the issuing of the Book of Sports, approving sports on Sunday.

Midday Devotional:
“I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.” Psalm 16:7
At night, when our hearts are still, God speaks to us. To Solomon, God appeared with a fantastic question, one that we could only dream about someone asking us: “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (2 Chronicles 1:7). Solomon’s request should forever instruct us in what is truly important. Instead of asking for riches, long life, or the destruction of his enemies, his simple request was for more wisdom to care for the people of God. Anyone who puts the purposes of God and His people ahead of his own personal fortunes and fame will instantly win the favor of the Lord. “And he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern” (Matthew 6:33). Let us ask God for wisdom—not to make money or to control others, but to be able to administrate His kingdom with precision. When our hearts are separated from the world, God will give us the finances, physical health, and other things we need to help us accomplish our heart’s desire for Him.
--By Larry Stockstill

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Today in History: 
44: St. James the Greater, the apostle and brother of St. John, was killed at Jerusalem.
1899: Stuart Hine was born in England. While serving as a missionary to Ukraine, he wrote English words to a traditional Swedish hymn, which is sung today as "How Great Thou Art."

Midday Devotional:
In his book Love Is Now, Peter Gilquist mentioned that he and several other friends were invited to speak to a group of UCLA students. After the meeting, a young man expressed a desire to discuss the matter of salvation. So Gilquist arranged to meet with him the next morning.
The student said that he really wanted what he saw in the lives of believers. But he hesitated to make a commitment because he thought he would have to tell others about Jesus. Gilquist, however, assured him that to become a Christian he was not required to do anything but place his trust in Christ. Realizing that salvation is by God’s grace through faith, the student gladly received the Lord Jesus as his Savior. But a strange thing happened as he went back to his fraternity house. He met a friend and told him of his newfound faith in Christ. Before the day was over, he had testified to every one of his fraternity brothers about Jesus.
Our witness for Christ should reflect a grateful heart—a sincere desire to share salvation’s blessings with others. If we shrink from giving a word of testimony, let’s ask God to give us the desire to speak out for Him. Then we’ll witness because we want to. —Richard De Haan

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012


Today in History:
1847: At the Great Salt Lake, Brigham Young founded the State of Deseret. The U.S. government later changed the name to Utah.
1941: WRBL in Columbus, Ohio, hired 17-year-old Chet Atkins as a staff guitarist.
1969: The Apollo 11 astronauts, including the first men to set foot on the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
1725: John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace" and other hymns, is born in London. Converted to Christianity while working on a slave ship, he hoped as a Christian to restrain the worst excesses of the slave trade, "promoting the life of God in the soul" of both his crew and his African cargo. In 1764 he became an Anglican minister and each week wrote a hymn to be sung to a familiar tune. In 1787 Newton wrote Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade to help William Wilberforce's campaign to end the slave trade.

Midday Devotional:
In 2002, I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, to teach a 2-night Bible conference. The first night, I went early to the host church, and the pastor asked if he could show me around the building. It was impressive in its beauty.
Then the pastor took me to the lower assembly hall. At the front of the hall was a pulpit and a communion table. Behind it was a plain concrete wall on which hung a wooden cross. Below it were some words in the national language of Indonesia. I asked him what the inscription said, and he surprised me by quoting Christ’s words from the cross:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
I asked if it was there for a particular reason, and he said that several years earlier there had been serious rioting in the city, and 21 churches were burned to the ground in one day. That wall was all that remained of their former facility—the first of the churches to be torched.
The wall and the verse formed a reminder of the compassion of Christ which He showed on the cross, and that became the church’s message to their city. Revenge and bitterness will never be healing responses to the hatred and rage of a lost world. But the compassion of Christ is, just as it was 2,000 years ago. — Bill Crowder

Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday, July 23, 2012

Today in History:
1982: The Coca-Cola company introduced Diet Coke.
1742: Susannah Wesley, mother of John and Charles, dies. Born the twenty-fifth child in a clergyman's family, she became one of the most notable mothers in church history.

Midday Devotional:
In 2002, I was in Jakarta, Indonesia, to teach a 2-night Bible conference. The first night, I went early to the host church, and the pastor asked if he could show me around the building. It was impressive in its beauty.
Then the pastor took me to the lower assembly hall. At the front of the hall was a pulpit and a communion table. Behind it was a plain concrete wall on which hung a wooden cross. Below it were some words in the national language of Indonesia. I asked him what the inscription said, and he surprised me by quoting Christ’s words from the cross:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
I asked if it was there for a particular reason, and he said that several years earlier there had been serious rioting in the city, and 21 churches were burned to the ground in one day. That wall was all that remained of their former facility—the first of the churches to be torched.
The wall and the verse formed a reminder of the compassion of Christ which He showed on the cross, and that became the church’s message to their city. Revenge and bitterness will never be healing responses to the hatred and rage of a lost world. But the compassion of Christ is, just as it was 2,000 years ago. (Bill Crowder)


Friday, July 20, 2012

Friday, July 20, 2012

Verse of the day: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

Midday Tidbit: One of the top psychologists has come out with a study that says to have a happy marriage, men should simply do what their wives want. John Gottman says his studies show that the majority of marriages that work are those where the husband has mastered two words, "Yes, dear."

Midday Devotional: Heavy rain was falling outside as Marcia, the director of the Jamaican Christian School  for the Deaf, spoke to our group. Thirty-four teens and several adults were visiting the school. But one of our students was not distracted by the rain or the children running around the room.
That teen heard Marcia say, "My dream for these kids is to have a playground." She took that sentence, and through the prompting of the Lord turned it into an idea. Later that day she told me, "We should come back and build them a playground." An opportunity for service was born.
A little over 4 months later, on another rainy day in Jamaica, we held a celebration in that same room. We had just assembled a wooden playground - complete with slides, a ladder, climbing bars, swings, and a trapeze.
One student seized an opportunity, and a dream was fulfilled.
How often does God prompt us to take action to meet the needs of others and we let the opportunity go?
How many times does that Spirit nudge us to say to do something in Jesus' name and we shake off the nudging? Let's seize each opportunity God gives us to serve others in His name. (Dave Branon)

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Verse of the day: And now you also have heard the truth, the good news that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. (Ephesians 1:13)

Midday Tidbit: According to a study by Salary.com, if a full-time stay-at-home mom were paid market wages for all her work, she would earn $134,000 a year. To reach that figure, they calculated the earning power of the 10 jobs moms said most closely described what they do: housekeeper, day care teacher, cook, computer operator, facilities manager, van driver, janitor, chief executive, psychologist, and laundry machine operator.

Midday Devotional: An Act of Kindness for a Broken Heart 
This story was shared anonymously by a caller to a Chicago radio show.
"Hi Mommy," said Susie. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making a casserole for Mrs. Smith next door," said her mother.
"Why?" asked Susie, who was only six years old.
"Because Mrs. Smith is very sad; she lost her daughter and she has a broken heart. We need to take care of her for a little while."
Susie thought seriously about how she could do her part in caring for Mrs. Smith. A few minutes later, Susie knocked on her door. After a few moment Mrs. Smith answered the knock and greeted Susie.
"My mommy says that you lost your daughter and you're very, very said with a broken heart." Susie held her hand out shyly. In it was a Band-Aid. "This is for your broken heart." Mrs. Smith gasped, choking back her tears. She knelt down and hugged Susie.
Mrs. Smith accepted Susie's act of kindness and took it one step further. She purchased a small key ring with a plexiglass picture frame and placed Susie's Band-Aid in the frame to remind herself to heal a little every time she sees it. She wisely knows that healing takes time and support. It has become her symbol for healing, while not forgetting the joy and love she experienced with her daughter.