Day by Day

Day by Day

Crosswalk Home  |  Devotionals  |  Bible Study Tools  |  More Newsletters

Saturday, May 1, 2010  Email    Facebook Twitter    Print

What about Fidelity? by Charles R. Swindoll Proverbs 6:27-29, 32-33  I just returned from our nation's capital where I was privileged to spend time with many of the highest ranking officers in the military. If you have ever wondered if there is anyone in the upper echelon of the military who loves Christ, wonder no longer. Many of these men and women are magnificent models of strong Christian commitment who frequently put their faith on the line. While sitting around a table one morning, the subject of moral purity surfaced. They spoke of the importance of an officer's having a clean record and maintaining strong character traits if he or she hoped to be trusted in larger realms and promoted to higher ranks. Their commitment to personal integrity was expressed so spontaneously and sincerely. As I listened to them, I was humiliated to think that a standard of high moral character was still of paramount importance among military officers while within the ranks of the clergy an epidemic of impurity rages. As Christian leaders, we need to reaffirm our commitment to moral purity and to private lives that are absolutely free of secret sins. While forgiveness continues to be the pulse-beat of a grace-oriented ministry, a firm commitment to holiness remains vital. Those who adopt a deceptive, compromising life of hypocrisy are responsible for the damage that occurs when they are found out. Nor are the consequences erased, even though they may repent and seek the Lord's and others' forgiveness. Often, we are too quick to breeze past the damage that has been done, attempting to hurry the process of forgiveness at the expense of the restoration process. A contrite heart has no expectations and makes no demands; it acknowledges that the deception and the extent of continued sin result in the continued forfeiture of many of the privileges that were once enjoyed. Please read that again. If you've gotten soft on this issue, stop and read the daily reading suggested above. Don't try to explain these verses away. They mean exactly what they say. The issue here is not a lack of forgiveness; it's the faulty thinking that forgiveness is synonymous with the returning of all rights and privileges. Never has the truth of Peter's words resounded more clearly: "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God" (1 Pet. 4:17). As believers, we need to reaffirm our commitment to moral purity and to private lives that are absolutely free of secret sins.    Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. Online Bible Study Tools Read through the Bible and other Bible study resources: biblestudy.crosswalk.com •  Pick your classroom with Liberty •  Free Christian Book •  Free Book that Shocked the Nation •  Orphans need your help! •  Publish Your Book Crosswalk.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: • Oneplace.com • LightSource.com • ChristianJobs.com • CrossCards.com • SermonSearch.com • Christianity.com

Send a FREE Ecard! More FREE Ecards Joyful Birthday Celebrate Life He Cares For You A Birthday Prayer

Daily Light on the Daily Path

Daily Light on the Daily Path

Bible Study Tools  |  Newsletters  |  Christian Living  |  Christian Faith  |  Online Community

Saturday, May 1, 2010  Email    Facebook Twitter    Print

May  1 MORNING  The fruit of the Spirit is peace.  To be spiritually minded is life and peace. God hath called us to peace. -- Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -- The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. -- Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. -- Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Great peace have they which love thy law. GAL. 5:22.  Rom. 8:6. I Cor. 7:15. ‑John 14:27. ‑Rom. 15:13. II Tim. 1:12. ‑Isa. 26:3. Isa. 32:17,18. ‑Prov. 1:33. Psa. 119:165. EVENING   Jehovah‑shammah (The Lord is there.) Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. I saw no temple: ... for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. -- Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. -- Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. -- There shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.        EZEK. 48:35.  Rev. 21:3. Rev. 21:22,23. Psa. 17:5. ‑Psa. 73:25. Joel 3:20,21. -Zech. 2:10. ‑Rev. 22:3. Online Bible Study Tools Read through the Bible and other Bible study resources: bible.christianity.com •  Earn your Master's Degree Online •  Free Christian Book •  Free Book that Shocked the Nation •  Orphans need your help! •  Publish Your Book Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: • Crosswalk.com • LightSource.com • ChristianJobs.com • CrossCards.com • SermonSearch.com • Oneplace.com

Send a FREE Ecard! More FREE Ecards Joyful Birthday Celebrate Life He Cares For You A Birthday Prayer

Heartlight Daily Verse

Heartlight Daily Verse

Bible Study Tools  |  Devotionals  |  Christian Living  |  Christian Faith  |  Online Community

Saturday, May 1, 2010  Email    Facebook Twitter    Print    Free Newsletters

May 1 Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Thoughts on today's verse I believe! I believe that God not only knows me, but cares about me. I believe that God not only created the universe, but he knows the number of hairs on my head. I believe that God not only sent his Son to save the world, but that he's sending him back to bring me home. What's more, I believe that God is pleased by my belief. Prayer: Almighty, Most Holy Lord, I thank you for your steadfast love and enduring faithfulness. I thank you for your grace and mercy. I thank you for your might and power. I thank you for your awesome holiness. I thank you... for being you and choosing to reveal yourself to mortals like me. Through Jesus, your final Word, I pray. Amen.' Would you like your own copy of this devotional?   Online Bible Study Tools Read through the Bible and other Bible study resources: bible.christianity.com •  Earn your Bachelor's Degree Online •  Free Christian Book •  Free Book that Shocked the Nation •  Orphans need your help! •  Publish Your Book Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: • Crosswalk.com • LightSource.com • ChristianJobs.com • CrossCards.com • SermonSearch.com • Oneplace.com

Send a FREE Ecard! More FREE Ecards Joyful Birthday Celebrate Life He Cares For You A Birthday Prayer

Discover the Book

Discover the Book

Bible Study Tools  |  Devotionals  |  Christian Living  |  Christian Faith  |  Online Community

Saturday, May 1, 2010  Email    Facebook Twitter    Print    Free Newsletters

Ancient Heresies   Before the celestial "shock and awe" judgments of the Tribulation are unleashed, God's Word describes a time characterized by false teaching and teachers SO strong, that it would even sweep away even true believers (Mark 13:22) if they were not sealed by the Spirit of God.   In Matthew 24 Jesus describes the world before He returns in His Second Coming, as a world where the love of most has grown cold because of false teachers (Matthew 24:11-12); and where "the Faith" will be nearly extinct (Luke 18:8).   The end of the church age is shown in Revelation 3 to be like the church at Laodicea where truth is light, self-centeredness is heavy; materialism and personal agendas run deep, and true Biblical spirituality is shallow.   Today we see such a sweeping array of deceptive false teachers as just the foretaste of this birth pang, which Jesus warned about and described--forming before our very eyes.   Never before has wrong teaching and beliefs about God been more widely proclaimed than in our day. In a continuous, 24/7 river erroneous teaching about God flows around the world: on radio, TV, cable, webcasts, podcasts, simulcasts, books, magazines, and everywhere in between—our world is increasingly filled with lies about God. And to this growing cauldron of darkness and lies comes the triumphant truth that—   Jesus Christ is The Key   The storm of lies raining down upon us today is a constant reminder why Christ's Church is to be filled with well grounded, grace-energized men and women who guard the truth that Jesus Christ gave us. We should be constantly declaring the truths we hold from John 14:6, to the confused world around us that: Jesus Christ is the Way—there is NO other road to God than the Lord Jesus Christ. Any belief system that is hostile to Him, denying of His deity, or claiming His insufficiency is FALSE. Jesus Christ is the Truth—at the center of all truth that leads to God is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Life—the only way to live a life that is guilt-free, fear-free, full and overflowing, is in the Lord Jesus Christ.   These are days when we who know and love the Lord Jesus should reach into our hearts and grab onto our anchor line and feel it strongly holding us securely—tugging us homeward.     For more resources from Dr. John Barnett visit our website at www.DiscoverTheBook.org For more from Discover the Book Ministries, please visit discoverthebook.org and  click here to listen to Dr. John Barnett at OnePlace.com. Online Bible Study Tools Read through the Bible and other Bible study resources: bible.christianity.com •  Earn your Master's Degree Online •  Free Christian Book •  Free Book that Shocked the Nation •  Orphans need your help! •  Publish Your Book Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: • Crosswalk.com • LightSource.com • ChristianJobs.com • CrossCards.com • SermonSearch.com • Oneplace.com

Send a FREE Ecard! More FREE Ecards Joyful Birthday Celebrate Life He Cares For You A Birthday Prayer