Yardstick

Genesis 15:6

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Today’s Reflection

RIGHTEOUSNESS is not a yardstick to separate us from others. Righteousness comes as a gift from Christ, who reconciles us not only with God but with all the other characters Christ joins at table and calls to follow.

—John Indermark
Gospeled Lives: Encounters with Jesus

Upper Room Daily Reflections Come and See

Today’s Reflection WE ARE SO EAGER to have folks busily engaged in the work of going and telling and doing that we fail to provide the needed preparatory time of experiencing grace and community. We rush to get new members connected through this committee or that task force as soon as possible, either in hopes of buoying up depleted ranks or in fear of losing the new ones out the back door. In some settings, folks are not even members when we sweep them into teaching Sunday school or serving on a mission board or . . . you get the picture. Perhaps you have even been the picture. We hurriedly involve people in calls and ministries, sometimes without allowing them to linger in the gift of come and see. How can we be spokespersons or exemplars of a faith that we have not taken the time to experience for ourselves? —John Indermark Gospeled Lives: Encounters with Jesus

Charles Stanley March 24, 2019 — THE TRAPS OF THE DEVIL

Top 100 Gospel Music Praise and Worship Songs All Time - Best christian ...

In Need of Grace

Mar 26, 2019 12:00 am

Today’s Reflection

GRACE was the basis for Jesus’ breaking bread with the disreputable of his time, the very sort of ones we point out to our children and say: that’s what could happen to you if you make bad choices or hang around in the wrong company. Ironically such grace that calls Levi and practices table fellowship with those other characters is the same grace that aims to include the offended righteous. Self-avowed states of righteousness can close us off from recognizing the need for grace in our lives. Jesus was not disinterested in good and righteous folk. Rather, his overarching concern was—and is—to reach those in need of grace.

—John Indermark
Gospeled Lives: Encounters with Jesus

Light

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Upper Room Daily Reflections The Light of the World Mar 20, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection OUR DARKNESS is not always of our own making. Sometimes our paths are just cloudy. We can’t see the destination. We don’t know how the road will end. All we can do is trust Christ one step at a time. Sometimes our darkness is a result of our own actions. When we come to such acknowledgments, as painful as they are, we can know that being able to admit our fault is a result of Christ working within us. We have not been abandoned. We are not beyond grace. Part of the work of Christ’s light is to reveal truth, not to condemn us but to spare us. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

View this email in your browser Upper Room Daily Reflections The Bread of Life Mar 19, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection YOU WOULD THINK Jesus would be encouraged by thousands of people searching for him, but he knew why they came. They were just looking for another miracle. They were driven by a need for fullness. Therefore Jesus told them that he could give something lasting and complete. In response, the crowd asked him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” (John 6:30). Think about that response for a moment. The crowd is fewer than twenty-four hours removed from a miracle and they are asking, “What can you do for us now?” That’s the problem with chasing fullness. There is never enough. We always need more. It keeps us on the lookout for the next miracle. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

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Upper Room Daily Reflections The Bread of Life Mar 19, 2019 12:00 am Today’s Reflection YOU WOULD THINK Jesus would be encouraged by thousands of people searching for him, but he knew why they came. They were just looking for another miracle. They were driven by a need for fullness. Therefore Jesus told them that he could give something lasting and complete. In response, the crowd asked him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” (John 6:30). Think about that response for a moment. The crowd is fewer than twenty-four hours removed from a miracle and they are asking, “What can you do for us now?” That’s the problem with chasing fullness. There is never enough. We always need more. It keeps us on the lookout for the next miracle. —Rob Fuquay The God We Can Know: Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus

Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalm 25:15
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Jerry was terrified of heights. He had been all his life. Unfortunately, his new job required that he climb ladders and travel across catwalks high above the ground. With great courage and resolve, Jerry worked on overcoming his fear. Whenever he had to climb or walk the catwalks, he would focus his attention on the end of the line and pretend that Jesus was waiting there with outstretched arms. His fear left him completely, and he was able to scale great heights without concern.

It we will set our sights on the Lord, He will make sure our steps. No snare, trap, or pitfall can stop us when our eyes are on the Lord. He will guard us each step of the way

Prayer: I am uncertain, Lord, and often I am afraid. Dispel my fears, and instill me with Your holy confidence. I place my trust in You, that I might walk a good walk of faith and never stumble. Amen

The Gospel of Luke ~A film

Book of Luke is Word for Word from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Please watch Luke's Gospel to find out about the Lord Jesus Christ and all the amazing things that He done!

Gospel of St Luke - Luke's Gospel - Book of Luke - Bible Movie - Visual Bible

"If You Say So!" — What Jesus Did! for 03/07/2019

[Jesus] noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish." "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. — Luke 5:2-7

Key Thought:

Simon (Peter) was a fisherman. Being a fisherman was his life. Being a fisherman was his trade. So when Jesus told him to fish in a certain place and at a certain time that Peter "knew" were wrong from all of his experience, he must have had to swallow hard to follow this carpenter's instructions. But, he did! He basically told Jesus, "If YOU say to do it, then I'll do it!" Let's be honest. There are times when what Jesus tells us to do seems at best counter-intuitive and sometimes crazy. Just a cursory reading of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) gives us more than enough to chew on for a lifetime. That's when our love for Jesus and our submission to his lordship really are tested. Are we willing to be like Peter and say, "Lord, if you say so, I'll do it!"?

Today's Prayer:

Give me a pliable heart and a willing spirit, O God, to obey what your Son has taught and to do what his lordship calls me to do. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

No Limits

IF WE ARE WILLING to listen, we encounter voices of truth in unexpected places. The greatest sermons of our lives do not necessarily come from behind a pulpit. Moses encounters God in a burning bush, and Paul is blinded by a bright light that leads to his conversion on the road to Damascus. (See Exodus 3; Acts 9:1-20.) When Paul and Silas are accused of causing uproar in the city, they are flogged and jailed; from the jail cell they sing hymns and pray. (See Acts 16:16-25.) The prison walls cannot suppress the expression of their faith. Though they are not in a church, they continue to worship.

When we carry the attitude of being in constant worship, when we consider that everything in our life might be a church service with different types and styles of sermons from everyday people, we can begin hearing God’s voice more often—even from within the walls of a prison. God is revealed to me most in everyday activities. I can hear the voice of God on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday nights just as well as Sunday mornings if I listen for it. There are no limits to where and through whom God can speak.

—Angela D. Schaffner
Revealed: What the Bible Can Teach You About Yourself

Wisdom from the Psalms

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Two families disputed for years who held claim upon a stretch of fertile land. Harsh words and insults were exchanged regularly, and on occasion, tempers flared to the point of physical violence. Neither family would budge in their conviction that they were the rightful owners. No compromise could be reached, and so the seeds of bitterness took root and flourished between the two clans.

Long after the tow families are but faint memories, the land wills till be there. How foolish it is to devote so much of our lives to the acquisition of things, when all things truly belong to the Lord. We are but caretakers of what the Lord has made, and it has been given us for everyone's pleasure. Wise use of our resources and preservation of all creation is the responsibility of all humankind. We have been given many precious gifts, but they are only ours for awhile. In time, all things return to the Lord.

PRAYER

 Lord, make me a wise steward of Your creation. Let my actions hurt not one living thing. Help me to build up, rather than destroy. Inspire me to share, to give, and to love. Amen.

Acknowledge the Dust

Today’s Reflection

IN POINTING TO THE DUST, Jesus also points to the origin of life. From dust, God has formed human beings. (See Genesis 2:7.) From the commonness of dust arises the complexity and mystery of human life. As we acknowledge our shared humanity, we let go of the illusion that we are more or less valuable than other people. Our identity as dust can help us to be mindful of our place in relation to God and mindful of the capacity for life. We can rest in the comforting truth that we are dust, knowing that it is God who breathes life into us. We can stop categorizing, labeling, and trying to decide who is most and least saved. Such an acknowledgment transforms us and allows us to realize our full potential and be filled with the life God intends. Each person is complex, surprising, and full of potential for change and growth. But first, we have to acknowledge the dust.

—Angela D. Schaffner
Revealed: What the Bible Can Teach You About Yourself

ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING (Esther the Bible Movie)

Bible Movie - The Book Of Acts - The Visual Bible

Down from the Mountain

Today’s Reflection

SOMETIMES the Spirit leads us to a mountaintop where we catch a glimpse of God’s glory and know with unquestioned assurance that the one we follow is the Son of God. Now and then we experience Christ robed in dazzling white and feel the presence of saints who have gone before us. Along the pathway of discipleship, we encounter wonder-filled moments of spiritual awareness that revolutionize our lives and transfigure the way we see the world around us. Like Peter, we desperately long to take up residence in that place or to hold on to it forever. We may be tempted to expect every moment of our life to be filled with an extraordinary sense of glory, assurance, and peace.

But then we come down from the mountain and walk through the world where Jesus walked and where the risen Christ promised to meet us.

—James A. Harnish
Easter Earthquake: How Resurrection Shakes Our World