Thought for the day...

April 25, 2019
Verse of the Day
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 NIV

 

GO ABOUT THE FATHER'S BUSINESS

I have wonderful memories of fishing with my father on lakes and rivers. It reminds me of how he would often equate fishing to soul winning. “To catch men effectively,” he would say, “we have to study Christ.” The gospel is a hook that snags hungry lost souls.

Toward the end of John’s Gospel, we read how Jesus instructed His disciples in going about their Father’s business. Jesus had just made breakfast for them on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and He said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught” (John 21:10 NKJV). Jesus nourished their hunger, and then had a question for His disciple Peter: “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” (verse 15 NKJV).

When Jesus asked this question, He was seeking something greater than a commitment of human love. He knew Peter would be the one to lead the disciples to be about their Father’s business, and He wanted Peter’s complete devotion. Peter’s mission was to feed souls with the Word of God and send them out to feed others. When Peter realized the genuine love required to follow the Savior, his heart dropped anchor. He resolved to follow Jesus no matter what.

My father once said, “To be a disciple of Jesus means to learn from Him and to follow Him in obedience. . . . Jesus warned that the price of believing in Him would be high. Mockery, laughter, persecution, even death would be common.” History proves—and the Scriptures document—the disciples understood this to the point of losing their lives for Him. We also must lay aside all things that our wills grip. We must come to Jesus with open hearts and open hands so we can be about our Father’s business: compelling lost souls to seek Jesus anxiously.

I learned many things as I observed my father going about the heavenly Father’s business. It was not always an easy road. He was called many things—from “Billy the Kid” when he was just starting, to the “Pied Piper” when he began to gather in massive crowds, to “God’s Ambassador” as he stood tried and proven. It has been said my father preached from the “Billy pulpit” and the “preacher’s stump.” But none of that really matters. His entire adult life was consumed with a compulsion to bring the good news to those nearby and far away.

While my father was not a businessman, he was a man about his Father’s business. He sought wisdom in others who came alongside and put feet and hands to the responsibility that ultimately fell upon him. He carefully chose men and women who shared his vision, and they helped carry the load of running the business end of one of the largest and most respected Christian organizations in the world—to the glory of God.

My prayer is that each of us will also be faithful stewards in going about the Father’s business, so those who are watching will say, “This is Your hand . . . You, LORD, have done it!” (Psalm 109:27 NKJV).

Respond

What does it mean for you personally to “go about the Father’s business”? What does that look like in your life?

How do you respond when you are persecuted (to any degree) because of your faith? What are some ways that God has helped you to persevere and endure in sharing the gospel?

How did the Holy Spirit transform the disciples as they went about the Father’s business? In what ways do you need the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish God’s work through you?

 

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19 NKJV

 

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
Luke 2:49 NKJV

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
II Corinthians 1:3‭-‬4 NKJV

 

I just finished day 4 of the @YouVersion plan 'Through My Father's Eyes'. Check it out here:
Through My Father's Eyes

 

April 26, 2019
Verse of the Day
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11 NIV

 

You Don’t Need to Pretend Anymore

BY RICK WARREN — APRIL 18, 2019

1.8K


“I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings” (Psalm 119:45 CEV).


I know lots of people who like to pretend.


I’m not talking about children who play make-believe. I’m talking about adults who try to pretend they’re somebody else to get the approval of others.

Maybe that’s you. Maybe you’ve been pretending for so long that you don’t know who the real you is anymore. You’re wearing a mask, and it’s wearing you out. Everyone else thinks you’ve got plenty of money, plenty of joy, and plenty of time.

But you know the truth, and you’re exhausted.

Social media exaggerates the problem. It’s the biggest tool today that locks us into a pretend world. If you post a picture of a great sunrise today, you need to post a better picture tomorrow.

You don’t post a photo of yourself five minutes after you wake up. Yet that’s the real you—dark circles under your eyes, bedhead, and all.

Instead, you just pretend you’re something or someone you’re not.

Most people pretend for one of two reasons.

Some fall into the people-pleasingtrap, where you want to meet theirexpectations and fulfill theirpurpose for your life.

But even God can’t please everyone, and it’s foolish to attempt something God can’t even do. As one person prays for rain, another prays for sunshine. Someone’s always going to be unhappy.

Other people fall into the trap of perfectionism. That’s when you think you must be perfect to be loved.

But the problem is, you know better. You know you’re not perfect. So you just pretend.

What’s the antidote for pretending? You stop focusing on what others think and start focusing on what God thinks.

Only one person knows you completely, loves you unconditionally, and knows exactly what you’re created to do: God. Living for God rather than the approval of others simplifies your life. When you do that, you live for an audience of one, rather than 50.

The Bible says it like this: “I have gained perfect freedom by following your teachings” (Psalm 119:45 CEV).

Freedom comes when you look to God for approval and not anyone else. You don’t need to earn his love. You don’t need to be perfect to please him. You can’t buy his approval or fake your way to it.

He knows everything you’ve ever done, and he loves you—totally, fully, and overwhelmingly.

You don’t need to pretend anymore

 

From Franklin Graham.

EMBRACE GOD'S VISION

My father’s source of entertainment as a boy was on the ball field. He had visions of slamming a home run into the stands at New York’s Yankee Stadium. But God had a different vision for him. You might say this vision was both nearsighted and farsighted: near enough to plant a longing for Himself in a man’s heart, but far enough to stretch a ministry around the world.

History tells us it was a farm boy named Philo T. Farnsworth who first conceived the basic operating principles behind a new technology that would sweep across the nation in the early 1950s. The hybrid word used to describe this invention was television—tele, meaning “far” (in Greek), and vision,meaning “sight” (in Latin). My father watched the power of this new invention with interest and soon realized how it could help him preach the gospel to the nations. On June 1, 1957, walking through the door of faith, he stepped onto the platform at Madison Square Garden, and ABC aired the Hour of Decision with Billy Graham live from New York. To everyone’s astonishment, approximately 6.5 million viewers tuned in. Interest grew, and Americans soon looked forward to tuning into the telecast each week.

As I have watched my father on television, I've seen how he had a way of connecting with hearts beyond the probing cameras. No matter how intense the spotlight, he zeroed in on God’s message and pointed people to the cross. There are countless stories of how God moved as a result. One man described how he was at home, flipping through the channels, trying to find something good on TV, when Billy Graham came on the screen. His wife told him to stay on the channel, so he went to the local bar and ordered a drink. “When I looked up on the screen,” the man said, “Billy Graham was on television. I figured I wasn’t going to get away from that man, so I went back home to hear what he had to say. The next Sunday, I went to church and was saved.”

It is always amazing how God can use the smallest of inventions in the hands of unlikely souls and create something new. Back in 1930, when a farm boy named Philo T. Farnsworth was winning a patent for his invention called the “electronic television,” no one knew the far-reaching effects this device would have on society. Nor did anyone know how God was preparing another farm boy to use that very invention to bring the gospel into the homes of people who would never darken a church door. “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (Zechariah 4:10 NLT).

My father never fulfilled his dream to play baseball at Yankee Stadium. He exchanged a baseball bat for the Word of God, and his childhood fantasy for God’s vision. And God did what no one could have ever imagined—He sent a farm boy to a baseball stadium in New York City to preach God’s Word to thousands in the stands and those watching by television. He will do the same in our lives as we use the resources He has provided and exchange our visions for His vision.

Respond

What are some creative ways that you have used to share the gospel with others?

What are some resources and gifts that God has given you to share the message of Jesus with others? How are you using those resources?

What are some ways that you sense God is calling you to “walk through the door of faith” when it comes to sharing the good news?

 

April 27, 2019
Verse of the Day
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 NIV

 

From Bible Gateway verse of the day.

Luke 19:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

 

April 28, 2019
Verse of the Day
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33