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Date Posted: 13:56:23 08/11/22 Thu
Author: c
Subject: More teachings 8/2022

Today in the Word

7/9/21

The seeking Shepherd

Brad Baurain

(edited)

A. W. Tozer wisely commented: "The only safe place for a sheep is by the side of his shepherd because the devil does not fear the sheep; he just fears the Shepherd, that is all."

The key theme in this parable is God's love. We might picture God as a King sitting on His throne waiting to receive petitions, but our Shepherd actively seeks and cares for the lost (Luke 15:4).

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Today in the Word

July 2021

Questions & Answers

by Sanjay Merchant, Professor of Theology

(edited)

p 20 - 21

Q: If God knows the past, present, and future. He knew Adam and Eve would sin and be cast out of the Garden of Eden. Therefore, God knew He would send Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. If God so loved the world why even test Adam and Eve, since He knew the eventual outcome?

A: God tested Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2 - 3), foreknowing that they would fall into sin and break fellowship with Him. For this reason, God's mission of salvation to humanity, inaugurated in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, "was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God" (1 Peter 1:20 - 21)...Although God foreknows everything that will occur, Adam and Eve freely sinned. Indeed, mere foreknowledge cannot cause us to do anything. We are the cause of our own free actions. And, since human actions are genuinely free, they are truly significant.

Perhaps we might wonder, why did God not forego the creation, fall and redemption of humanity? After all, He lacks nothing and did not need to create the world. We must recognize that it is His prerogative to reveal Himself as He wills.

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Today in the Word August 2021

Love and Discipline

by Dr. John Koessler

(edited)

...In His sovereignty, He brought pressure to move them to repentance. Indeed, the book of Hosea reveals that God's primary instrument of love is often divine discipline.


God uses difficulties we face to train us in sanctification. When we endure hardship, we should accept difficulties as loving pressure from our Heavenly Father intended for our good. It is a form of discipline (Hebrews 12:7). We are undergoing training in holiness so that we may be transformed by God's grace (Hebrews 12:10). Understanding God's intent motivates us to endure the process. It will also help to remember other areas in life where we have placed ourselves under discipline.....

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Today in the Word

8/2/21

Blessings and Curses

Kelli Worrall

(edited)

...Then God issued this warning: He would "punish" the house of Jehu for the bloodshed at Jezreel and end the kingdom of Israel (Hosea 1:4). This statement has troubled commentators because God previously praised Jehu for his obedience (2 Kings 10:30). ...In other words, God would bring the same violent destruction to the house of Jehu that had been brought upon Ahab in 2 Kings 9 and 10. Second Kings 10:31 explains that, despite following God's command and receiving His commendation, "Jehu was not careful to keep the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart."

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Today in the Word

8/5/21

First love

Kelli Worrall

(edited)

Here, the redemptive character of God is on full display. He still uses these same techniques to bring us back to Himself. He erects roadblocks so we will turn around. He withholds His favor to evoke in us a longing for Himself. And He reveals Himself in acts of love.

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Today in the Word

8/6/21

Future hope

Kelli Worrall

(edited)

I recently read a story by a woman who calls herself "The Restored Wife." She and her husband endured years of bitter arguments, bankruptcy, an affair, and even a divorce. She was planning to take her own life when God broke through and led her to the book of Hosea. God used Hosea's story to show her what forgiveness can look like. Eventually, she and her husband remarried. "My testimony isn't pretty," she writes. But she wants others to know they are "never too far away...to come back home."

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Today in the Word August 2021

Questions & Answers

by Dr. Rosalie de Rosset, Professor of Communications and Literature

(edited)

p 21

Q: What is the difference between worship and praise? Can you point me to Scriptures that explain the difference?

....However, people often mistake energy and enthusiasm for real worship. True worship is doctrinally grounded on Scriptural revelation. I would add that the language we use in worship should be thoughtful and meaningful.

In summary, worship that doesn't engage our emotions and affections is empty, while worship that only engages our emotions and affections is incomplete, not worship at all. We must not be like the religious leaders of Jesus' day who honored God "with their lips," while their hearts were far from Him (Matthew 15:7 - 9).

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Today in the Word

9/5/21

John Koessler

Judging the Church

(edited)

Many people mistakenly believe that when Jesus said "Do not judge" in Matthew 7:1, He meant that we should never make a judgment about another's behavior. They ignore the fact that Jesus also told His disciples not to "give dogs what is sacred" or "throw your pearls to pigs," two commands which require an assessment of character (Matthew 7:6). Jesus' command not to judge is a warning about the danger of judging others without first judging yourself (Matthew 7:3 - 5). His main point is that we should apply the same standard to ourselves that we use for others.

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Today in the Word September 2021

Questions & Answers

p 20

(edited)

by Dr. Winfred O. Neely, Vice President and Dean of Moody Theological Seminary

Q: What does Genesis 15:6 mean when it says, "Abram believed the LORD and He credited it to him for righteousness?"

A.....Biblical faith is not merely the acknowledgment of facts about the Lord, but trust and reliance on Him based on His Word....In Abram's time and still today, the Lord is pleased when we trust in Him. Faith in the Lord has outcomes and results.


p 21


Q: The writer to the Hebrews describes God as "the God of peace" (Hebrews 13:20). Would you explain what this means?

A: In the Bible, the word "peace" does not refer to the absence of war or the absence of conflict or hostility. It means much more than a lack of political or social conflict. Peace, as presented in Scripture, means comprehensive well-being and wholeness of God's people, as we live in covenant relationship with the Lord. God's peace transcends anything that individuals, cultures, or civilization could hope to achieve even under the best of human circumstances (Philippians 4:7).

God's peace is the redemptive wholeness and well-being created by the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of people in relationship with Christ. This peace leads to harmonized relationships with God and one another. Our God is the source of peace. Peace is not something we can find in this world; peace breaks into this world from God Himself. There can be no peace apart from God.

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Today in the Word

9/21/21

Empowered by God

John Koessler

(edited)

Do not lose heart when someone resists the Gospel. Share it as plainly as you are able. Ask God to open the eyes of the blind. Those who reject now may respond later.

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Today in the Word

9/30/21

John Koessler

Passing the Test

(edited)

2 Corinthians 13

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith - 2 Corinthians 13:5

By urging the Corinthians to test themselves to see if they are "in the faith," Paul implied that the so-called super-apostles who have been attempting to turn the church against him were not true Christians (2 Corinthians 13:5). This warning sheds light on what it means to be a Christian. When you come to Christ in faith, Christ is also "in you." But there is more involved here than an experience. There is also allegiance. A key element of the test of faith is adherence to the truth (2 Corinthians 13:8).

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Beside the still waters

7/13/21

The Silent Witness

(edited)

Being a faithful witness for our Lord sometimes involves silence...There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak." (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Self-defense at unkind accusation often results in more anger.

While spoken testimony certainly has its place, our most effective witness is often simply our daily walk in holiness and faithfulness to our Lord. This is an example that unbelievers may ridicule but also one that many are genuinely hungry to see. Our bearing, attitude, countenance, and personal appearance give a constant though silent witness of Who our Master is and what our life goal is. Let's be certain that they are always in harmony with God's Word.

Pete Lewis

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Beside the still waters

7/21/21

Thy will be done

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. - Matthew 6:10


An empty wheelchair. That was what greeted us when we returned home from the funeral of our thirteen-year-old son Nelson. His toys were where they had always been. His feeding tube lay where we had left it.

My mind returned to the night when I stayed home from church with Nelson because his oxygen levels were low. As the evening wore on, Nelson had increasing difficulty, even though the oxygen concentrator was turned up as high as it would go. Being a Christian, I knew that I should pray, "Thy will be done." Didn't I pray that daily when I finished family worship with the Lord's Prayer? But that evening I couldn't. The only words that came were, "Please don't take my boy."

Someone gave us a book on grieving, titled A Broken Heart Still Beats. In the months that followed, I experienced the reality of that title. My heart was crushed. Why had God not taken Nelson when he was first born and in the NICU? It would have been easier to accept then. But not after thirteen years.

Over that time, my mind was gradually drawn to Jesus. God sacrificed His only Son, Who was perfect. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He suffered great agony. Yet He prayed, "Not My will, but Thine be done." Could I say, "Thy will be done," only when accepting God's will was easy? Or could I submit to God's will as Abraham did, even if it meant giving up my own son?

I still grieve the loss of our son. But I am comforted because Jesus knows our sorrow. Jesus also wept after His friend Lazarus died. Now I can say, even through the pain, "Thy will be done."

Anthony Blades

Those who see God's hand in everything, can best leave everything in God's hand.

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Beside the still waters

7/22/21

A Test of Faith

(edited)

We do not have it within ourselves to serve Christ as we ought, and we may not realize our need of stronger faith. It would be good to come humbly and pray in the same desperation as that father's, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." Just as a child comes to his parent, so must we approach our Heavenly Father to receive the power to walk faithfully in His will.

Leonard Hartman

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Beside the still waters

8/8/21

Samson's Enhakkore

(edited)

We find Samson's life story perplexing as we follow its twists and turns In his failures and besetting sins, Samson turned away from his godly Nazarite upbringing. Yet we get glimpses of what God wanted him to be and what he could have done. Samson's passions often controlled him, but when they got him into trouble, he knew where his help lay. God saw the sincerity of those moments and enabled Samson to begin to deliver Israel (Judges 13:5).


Soon physical thirst overcame Samson, and he cried to the Lord. God's answer came from the very jawbone Samson had cast away....He now called the place Enhakkore, "the well (or fountain) of him that called or cried." God supplies such a fountain of help for every need if we are in His will and seek His aid. If only Samson had discovered this earlier!

Samson failed again where he succumbed to Delilah's wiles. He found himself in dire straits again, but because of disobedience he could not access his well. Samson had much time to think while he was imprisoned by the Philistines. Through repentance and renewal of his relationship with God, Samson turned to his Fountain and found help at the end of his life.

Delmar R. Eby

Penitent seeking will yield a divine fountain of water.

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Our Daily Bread

February 2022

The Way of Love

(edited)

Monica La Rose

Still, that doesn't mean a lifestyle of love - living with a heart set on the good of others, no matter the cost - will come easily to us. If it did, there wouldn't be so much of Scripture devoted to the hard work of living with others.

We're loved deeply and unconditionally. But we're children who've forgotten that we're loved. And even when we remember, we struggle to believe it's true for ourselves, much less for others in our lives.

So Scripture invites us to come together to remember - over and over again - Christ's gift of love and what it taught us about God.

Love is both a gift and a way of living - and it's a gift and lifestyle we're meant to journey through together, with a community of those united in their experience of being the beloved of God.

When that's our foundation, we can learn to surrender the envy and the anger, the self-seeking and self-protection that naturally drives us (Ephesians 4:31). That was how we thought we needed to protect ourselves before. That was how we lived before we knew we were loved.

When we're rooted and established in love" - when we "grasp how wide and long high and deep is the love of Christ," when we "know this love that surpasses knowledge" and are "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17 - 19). - then we can finally understand why love is "the most excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12:31), why nothing else matters. (1 Corinthians 13:3).

And we can gladly and joyfully choose the grace and freedom of the way of love our Savior made possible. Love that's "not self-seeking" (1 Corinthians 13:5) but "always protects, always trust, always hopes (and) always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13:7).

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Our Daily Bread

4/18/22

Witness in the workplace

(edited)

If we're in a truly abusive work situation, it may be best to leave if at all possible (1 Corinthians 7:21). But in a safe environment, with the Spirit's help we continue to do good in our work remembering "this is commendable before God" (1 Peter 2:20). When we submit to authority, we have opportunity to give others reason to follow and glorify God.

Julie Schwab

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Our Daily Bread

4/28/22

Growing in Faith

(edited)

Sometimes it's easy to praise the victories and triumphs in our lives without similarly acknowledging that growth in our character often comes through time and struggle. James instructs us to "consider it pure joy" when we "face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). But what could possibly be delightful about trials?

God will sometimes allow us to go through challenges and hardships so that we can be molded into who He's called us to be. He waits in anticipation for us to come out of the trials of life "mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:4). By staying grounded in Jesus, we can persevere through any challenge, growing stronger and ultimately allowing the fruit of the Spirit to blossom in our lives (Galatians 5:22 - 23). His wisdom gives us the nourishment we need to truly flourish each and every day (John 15:5).

Kimya Loder

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intouch.org Daily devotion August 11, 2022

Made for Praise

Praise brings us into the presence of God, where our worries evaporate.

Psalm 100:1-5

Have you ever considered how you treat the Lord? Some people repeatedly lift up prayer requests yet fail to express admiration, praise, and gratitude. When that’s the case, they may be attempting to use the Lord to fulfill their needs and desires without demonstrating love for Him.

In 1 Peter 2:9 it says God created His people to praise Him. Our worries and concerns are of great importance to Him, but He also wants us to come to Him with a worshipful heart, not an attitude of self-centeredness.

When we extol the Lord, our focus shifts to Him. Then we’ll begin to recall His greatness, goodness, mercy, love, and faithfulness. We’re told to praise Him joyfully (Ps. 100:1), continually (Ps. 34:1), corporately (Ps. 108:3), and wholeheartedly (Ps. 111:1). And we even see Paul and Silas praising God in the midst of pain and imprisonment (Acts 16:25).

Take some time today to reflect on God’s mighty work of salvation in your life. Instead of approaching the Lord with a list of requests, simply praise Him for His faithfulness and righteousness. When your heart is full of praise, worries dissipate and you’ll trust God to provide for your needs in His own timing.

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