Impact For Christ

Saturday, June 4th, 2011 at 7:00 pm  
Leave your comment

Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, . . . in faith, in purity. —1 Timothy 4:12

Over the past several years, I’ve been privileged to travel with teenagers on eight mission trips. One thing I’ve learned in those excursions is that teens are not too young to make an impact for Jesus—either on me or on others whose lives they touch.

I’ve also noticed that the teens who make the biggest impact for Christ match the characteristics Paul told Timothy about in 1 Timothy 4:12. Trying to convince Timothy that his relative youth did not have to be a deterrent to his ministry, Paul told him to “be an example to the believers” in several areas.

In word: Young people who make a difference for Christ control what they say, avoid negative talk, and speak words that honor God. In conduct: Teens who practice discretion in their behavior shine for all the world to see. In love: By taking heed of Jesus’ words to love God and their neighbor (Matt. 22:37-39) teens please Jesus and touch hearts. In faith: Those who put their faith into action change lives. In purity: It’s tough to be morally pure and doctrinally sound, but kids who are can set the bar for the rest of us.

Paul’s words aren’t just for the young generation. All of us should be an example in word, conduct, love, faith, and purity. That’s how we make an impact for Christ.


O Christians, remember, you bear His dear name,
Your lives are for others to view;
You’re living examples—men praise you or blame,
And measure your Savior by you. —Anon.

The most valuable commentary on the Bible is a godly life.

View the original article here

Tags: ,

A Reflection of Christ

Thursday, March 31st, 2011 at 7:32 pm  
Leave your comment

Chuck Swindoll’s Daily Devotional: A Reflection of ChristChuck Swindoll’s Daily DevotionalReceive a daily devotional message written by Charles Swindoll that brings God’s Word to life.Left

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Blog Home Page
Archive

IFL USA
Current Broadcast
About Us
Contact Us
www.insight.org
Online Store

IFL Around the World
insightworld.org

Blog powered by TypePad« A Banquet of Grace |Main

March 31, 2011A Reflection of Christ

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 43:33-34

Joseph's life offers us a magnificent portrayal of the grace of God as He came to our rescue in the Person of His Son, Jesus. So many come to Him, like Joseph's guilty brothers, feeling the distance and fearing the worst from God, only to have Him demonstrate incredible generosity and mercy. Instead of being blamed, we are forgiven. Instead of feeling guilty, we are freed. And instead of experiencing punishment, which we certainly deserve, we are seated at His table and served more than we can ever take in.

For some, it's too unreal. So we desperately plead our case, only to have Him speak kindly to us—promising us peace in our own language. We then try to fend off His anger by bargaining with Him, thinking our hard work and sincere efforts will pay Him back for all those evil past deeds we're guilty of. But to our astonishment, He never even considered our attempts important enough to mention. What we had in mind was earning just enough to silence our guilt, but what He had in mind was overwhelming us with such an abundance we'd realize we can never, ever repay.

What a beautiful picture of Christ at the cross, bearing the sins we committed, forgiving us in the process. Isn't such grace amazing? The One who was rejected is the same One who goes the limit to get us reunited with Him.

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

Do you long for Him? I've got great news! In an even greater way—greater than you could ever imagine—He longs to be gracious to you. He is offering you all the things you hunger for. The table is loaded, and He is smiling, waiting for you to sit down and enjoy the feast He prepared with you in mind. Have a seat—grace is being served.

 

 

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 Posted at 08:00 AM |

Right

In Appreciation of Your Gift This Month

The Secret to Facing
Hard Days

Travel with Chuck
Upcoming Events
Past Events

Related Blogs
IFL Pastor Blog
Special Needs Blog document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://insightforliving.typepad.com/dailydevo/2011/03/a-reflection-of-christ.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});

View the original article here

Tags: ,

“I’m for Christ” – Weekly Focal Point – February 24

Thursday, February 24th, 2011 at 6:30 pm  
Leave your comment

I’m for Christ

In his parable of differing “soils” Jesus specifies some of the reasons certain people initially embrace Christianity, often with a great deal of enthusiasm and fervor, but then after a while bail out never to establish a root system which bears genuine and lasting fruit.

Those identified as the first to leave do so because of “a time of testing” (Lk.8:13). This is some kind of painful situation or “persecution” (Mt.13:21) that arises in a person’s life because of his or her new alliance with Christ. This is easy to imagine, knowing the power of social pressures and the unsympathetic “friends” who are quick to disparage and ridicule one’s confession to follow Jesus. When Christ costs friendships, some new “adherents” of Jesus are quick to say “forget it”.

The other primary reason is variously described as “the cares of the world” (Mt.13:22), the “pleasures of life” (Lk.8:14), or simply a “desire for other things” (Mk.4:19). The assortment of worldly attractions will certainly put one’s supposed faith to the test. Time will reveal whether people who claim to “follow Christ” will actually experience a God-given consistency in following Christ, or will instead retreat to following their own cravings for the temporal things of this world.

So, without being cynical, we must be cautious knowing that based on Jesus’ teaching, not every “I’m for Christ” is genuine. 
– Pastor Mike 

Click Here to visit Focal Point Ministries‘ website

View the original article here

Tags: , , , ,

“What’s the Point of the Incarnation?” – Answering the Mysteries of Jesus Christ – Feb. 21

Monday, February 21st, 2011 at 9:18 am  
Leave your comment

 

Quote of the Day

“I do not place my hopes in one who died for me in appearance, but in reality. For that which is false is quite abhorrent to the truth. Mary then did truly conceive a body which had God inhabiting it. And God the Word was truly born of the Virgin, having clothed Himself with a body of like passions with our own. He who forms all men in the womb, was Himself really in the womb.”
~Ignatius of Antioch (from “Did Jesus Only Appear to be Human?“) 

Today’s Answer

What’s the Point of the Incarnation?
John Piper

…What is the connection between Jesus’s birth and our new birth? What is the relationship Jesus’s incarnation and our regeneration? Could not God have simply caused sinners to be born again and then finally conformed them to his own character in heaven, without sending his Son into the world? Did there need to be an incarnation of the Son of God and a perfect life of obedience and a death on the cross? The answer is: The new birth and all of its effects, including faith and justification and purification and final conformity to Christ in heaven, would be impossible without the incarnation and life and death of Jesus—without Christmas. Let’s get a glimpse of this from 1 John. And may your love for Christ and his coming increase because of this glimpse.

First, consider that the aim of the new birth is to enable us to believe in the incarnate Jesus Christ. If there were no Jesus Christ to believe in, then the new birth would not happen. Look at 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ [that is everyone who believes that this incarnate Jewish man from Nazareth is the promised divine Messiah] has been born of God.” That means that the Holy Spirit causes people to be born again with a view to creating faith in the incarnate God-man, Jesus Christ (see 1 John 4:2-3). That’s the aim of the new birth. And so faith in Jesus Christ is the first evidence that it has happened. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” Faith is the sign that the new birth has happened.

But that’s not the only reason the incarnation is necessary for the new birth—not just because the aim of the new birth is faith in Jesus Christ. The incarnation of the Son of God is necessary because the life we have through the new birth is life in union with the incarnate Christ. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51). That life that we have in union with Christ is the life that Jesus obtained for us by the life he lived and the death he died in the flesh.

Excerpted from “The Reason the Son of God Appeared Was to Destroy the Works of the Devil” by John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org. 

Today’s Video

Christ’s Humiliation: Being Born?
Answered by Matthew Smith 

Do you have questions about the life, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Get real answers at Jesus.org.

View the original article here

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

Tags: , , , , , ,

“Keeping an Honest Account” – Daily in Christ 2/19

Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at 4:34 pm  
Leave your comment


by Neil Anderson
KEEPING AN HONEST ACCOUNT
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We deceive ourselves when we say we have no sin. The Scripture doesn’t say that we are sin; it says that it is possible for us to sin and for sin to reside in our mortal bodies (Romans 6:12). We are not sinless saints; we are saints who sin. It’s important to keep honest account of our failures and pick up our cross daily. When we become aware of a discrepancy between our identity and our behavior, we must confess it and deal with it. The person who deceives himself by ignoring these sinful discrepancies and allowing them to build up is headed for a great fall.

Those of us who live in earthquake-prone Southern California keep hearing about “the big one,” which is thought by many to be inevitable along the San Andreas fault. Whenever we experience minor earthquakes (up to about 4.0 on the Richter scale), we may be frightened by them a bit, but we also see them as a good sign. These little tremors mean that the plates in the earth’s crust beneath us are shifting. As long as the crust is adjusting this way, it’s unlikely that “the big one” will hit. It’s when we don’t get any minor earthquakes for several months or years that the danger of a major, devastating quake increases.

Similarly, living in the light, holding ourselves accountable to God, and confessing and dealing with sin on a daily basis prevents the major spiritual crises from building up in our lives. If we keep saying, “I don’t have any sin,” or if we fail to acknowledge our shortcomings and settle our differences with people as God convicts us of them, we’re in for “the big one.” We will eventually lose our health, our family, our job, or our friendships. Unacknowledged sin is like a cancer which will grow to consume us.

Prayer: Lord, I know Your guidance is for my benefit. I refuse to allow stubbornness and pride to render me insensitive to Your nudges and warnings in my life today.

Thank you for using the Daily in Christ devotionals brought to you through Crosswalk by Freedom in Christ Ministries (FICM). We are a faith-based, donor-supported ministry. If you have been touched by these devotionals, and would like to make a monthly pledge or a special gift of any amount, please use the link below to give as the Lord leads. Thank you so much! 
Click here to be directed to our secure donation page at Freedom in Christ

Click here to purchase your own copy of this devotional!

Want this devotional delivered right to your inbox? To receive this newsletter, updates and special offers from Crosswalk, enter your email address and hit “Sign Up”.crosswalk is on facebook crosswalk is on facebook

View the original article here

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

Tags: , , , ,