Monthly Archives: March 2013

Prophetic Confirmation

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According to an article in Christian Victory, Holiday Inn had a plan to erect a hotel on the Mount of Olives. They sent engineers to survey the hotel site to make preparations for building. Their conclusion was that it couldn’t be done as they found that there was a geological fault under the Mount that is causing it to split.

Some 2,500 years ago the Bible, as stated by the prophet Zechariah, said that this split (possibly caused by a great earthquake) will take place when Jesus Christ returns to earth to put down all evil and rule and reign forever. As the Bible says, “Then the Lord will go out fully armed for war, to fight against those nations. That day his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a very wide valley running from east to west, for half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.”1

Christ’s first coming is an indisputable fact of history. We can be just as certain of his second coming because he promised that if he went away he would return. Numerous prophecies regarding his first coming were fulfilled in minutest detail. We can be just as certain that all the prophecies regarding his second coming will also be fulfilled in minutest detail. Zechariah’s prophecy and the evidence of the geological fault under the Mount of Olives is just one more confirmation of the validity of God’s Word and the hope we have of Christ’s return for his own. The important thing is to be ready because when we least expect it, Christ will come.

His coming will be somewhat like the earthquakes in California or anywhere else, we know they are going to come, but they strike without warning. The important thing is to be prepared ahead of time. By way of interest, we actually had an earthquake here in Southern California on the very morning I was editing this Daily Encounter.

If Christ should come today, would you be ready? You can be by confessing your sins to him and inviting him into your heart and life as personal Lord and Savior. For help see “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: www.actsweb.org/christian. See also “What If There Is a Heaven?” at: http://tinyurl.com/g9ugp.

As Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions … I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go … I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.”2

Suggested prayer: Dear God, thank you for the promise that Jesus is coming back again to take all his true followers to be with him and you forever in heaven. Thank you, too, for this wonderful hope. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Zechariah 14:3-4 (TLB)(NLT).

2. John 14:2-4.

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Affluenza

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“Then he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”1

On one occasion we had a speaker at our church who conducted a class for parents to help protect them from becoming infected with “affluenza.” The idea being that we and our kids can get so caught up in the world of materialistic affluence that we miss the real meaning of life.

I believe that one of the main reasons we are so materialistic here in the West is because we are so emotionally repressed. Emotions are God-given. They add beauty and interest to life. When they are repressed and denied, life can be deadly dull and empty.

Furthermore, when we bury emotions, we tend to settle for counterfeit experiences and the feelings they produce. For instance, when the emotion of love is repressed, there is a tendency to substitute lust which can look like love and feel like love—but it isn’t love and a damaging substitute at that—and leaves one more empty, lonely, and unsatisfied.

Also, consider the emotion of wonder—the emotion that puts sparkle into life and moves us deeply when a baby wraps its tiny hand around just one of our fingers and in so doing touches our very heart. When wonder is repressed, we become “characteristically bored with life,” and tend to turn to materialism in a vain attempt to fill the empty void in our heart. And instead of loving people and using things, we end up unhappily loving things and using people.

So if we want to avoid the problem of “affluenza” and the blight of empty materialism and learn to fully live and fully love, it is essential that we get in touch with and connected to all of our God-given emotions.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please deliver me from the blight of materialism which can easily become the driving force in my life. Help me to get in touch with all of my God-given emotions and use them in the manner and ways you designed them to be used so that I will learn to fully live and fully love. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Luke 12:15 (NIV).

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Satan: Alive and Well

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“Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.”1

“In a National Geographic article about the Portia spider, author Robert Jackson detailed the various ways it deceives its prey. Sitting still, the spider looks like a piece of dried leaf or foliage until a meal walks by. It also will crawl onto another spider’s web and tap the threads, mimicking the actions of a trapped insect. When the host spider appears, the Portia devours it. Deception is the Portia’s primary tool.

“Satan is like the Portia spider in that deception is his weapon of choice. He does whatever he can to counterfeit the words of God—to make the unwary and naïve think that God is present and speaking when in fact He is not. The apostle Paul wrote about Satan masquerading as an ‘angel of light’ and about his agents acting like ‘servants of righteousness.’ The book of Revelation says a day is coming when the satanic Antichrist and False Prophet will deceive most of the world. Only those who know the Word of God will be prepared and protected. Know the truth—don’t be deceived by a counterfeiter like Satan.

“The more you get to know the truth—and the One who is Truth—the easier it will be to spot deception when it appears.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a love for your Word and a desire to know and understand your truth so I will never be led astray by the evil one or deceived by his devices. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT).

2. “Turning Point Daily Devotional,” 9-23-05. Cited on Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter.

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Boundaries vs Walls

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“A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty; if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.”1

A father who is having a conflict with a family member wanted to know the difference between barriers and walls.

In relationships we all need healthy boundaries (not barriers, which are the same as walls) to shut the bad out and let the good in. That is, we need boundaries to protect ourselves from hurtful people and to stop people using and taking advantage of us—and to stop our rescuing irresponsible people. We also need boundaries to keep our own bad in—in order to stop us controlling, hurting, and/or misusing others.

If someone is abusing or hurting me, I need to let him/her firmly but lovingly know that I will not accept their behavior. And, if they continue acting in a hurtful way, I will need to distance myself from them. However, at any point should they desire to meet in a kind and loving way, my door will always be open to them.

Boundaries are thus to strengthen our “no” muscle. People who can’t say “no” to others have either weak or no boundaries. And people who won’t take “no” for an answer are boundary busters. These people remind me of a country-western song where the lady being pursued is having a problem with a would-be suitor in whom she has no interest. She asks, “What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand … I’d be glad to explain….”

On the other hand, walls put up insurmountable barriers and shut everybody out. People who build walls around their heart have been hurt in the past and, being afraid of getting hurt again, shut out everybody. You simply can’t get close to this type of person. Consequently they have no close relationships and suffer from an inner loneliness and love deprivation. This is a very unhealthy way to live.

Jesus set boundaries against the religious Pharisees and those who tried to get rid of him before his time was ready. He also set boundaries against the money changers and those who abused God’s house in the temple in Jerusalem. Meekness is not weakness and we, as Christians, need to set boundaries against abusive people and all evil. It is neither loving nor Christian to allow people to misuse us, walk over us, or abuse us—nor for us to do the same to others.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to develop healthy boundaries and learn to lovingly say ‘no’ when such is called for. And help me never to be a boundary buster who fails to recognize other people’s boundaries. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 19:19 (NIV).

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The Donkey With Green Glasses

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Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”1

“In the middle of Parable Land lived a donkey of medium age. He looked like a donkey … acted like a donkey … and sounded like a donkey. The unusual thing about him was that he wore a pair of bright green glasses, which he found while grazing, and thought they suited him very well. His behavior was very normal, except for when he met one of the other animals. The reaction was alarming; he went into a state of sheer panic and demanded they seek urgent medical help.

“Faced with such alarm, they usually did and always received a clean bill of health. It seemed that the trouble was those sunglasses. Everyone who was seen by the donkey looked very sick indeed.”2

In a similar way we all wear tinted lenses that have been formed and shaped by past experiences that cause us to see things “not the way they are but the way we are.”

For example, if a person has been hurt in the past and has a poor self-concept, he will have distorted lenses that will negate other people’s words. If someone gives him a genuine compliment, he may misconstrue this and see it as a form of manipulation. If a woman, when a child, had an abusive father, she will tend to view all other men through the same lenses she saw her father. Or if a man, when a child, had a controlling or smother mother, he will tend to view all other women through the same lenses he viewed his mother. Counselors and communicators call this “selective distortion.”

What we need to do is to look into a “relational mirror” so we can see the colored lenses we are wearing and the distorted view of life and of others that we have. This takes great courage and can be rather threatening. However, if we truly want to overcome “the donkey with green glasses syndrome,” we can. Here’s how:

1. Look at your overreactions, for whenever we are overreacting to a given situation, we are seeing things through colored lenses and are reacting on the basis of unresolved past issues.

2. Find a trusted, non-critical friend whom you can ask to point out to you whenever you are overreacting and are seeing things through past negative experiences.

3. Ask God to face you with the truth about yourself, and help you to see your colored lenses, and,

4. If necessary, see a wise, understanding and well-trained counselor to help you see your colored lenses and work through and resolve past hurtful and frightening experiences.

If we do this, our relationships and all of life will improve dramatically!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to see any colored lenses that are distorting the events in my life and hurting my relationships, and to find the help I need to clear my vision so that I will see all situations as they truly are. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jeff Daly, Encounter magazine (ACTS Australia), Issue No 4, 2005.

2. Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV).

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Standing on His Shoulders

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A word from God’s Word: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”1

“I read about a river town where sand was continually being dredged from the river bed and left in high piles by the river bank. This was a place where boys loved to play. Often times the sand piles, though dry on the top were still waterlogged beneath the sunbaked crusted surface.

“Some years ago two boys were late home for dinner so their parents went looking for them. When they found their bicycles outside the fence where the sand piles were banked high, they called for the boys, but no answer came. The family and other rescuers searched frantically in and around the sand piles and eventually found one of the boys buried up to his neck. He was barely alive when they found him and they dug furiously to rescue him. When he was freed from the waist up, and able to breathe properly, his panic-stricken parents and rescuers asked, ‘Where’s your brother? Where’s your brother?’

“‘I’m standing on his shoulders,’ the boy said.

“One loving brother gave his life so his brother could live.”2

And that’s exactly what Jesus Christ did for you and me. We were spiritually lost and destined for a lost eternity without God and without hope. But because of his great love for us, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, came to earth and gave his life to die in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins so we could be freely forgiven and receive God’s gift of eternal life.

Have you thanked God for giving his Son as a sacrifice for your sins, and have you thanked Jesus for dying in your place to pay the penalty for all your sins. If not, please do that today.

Note: For further help click on the link below to “How to Know God and be sure you’re a real Christian without having to be religious.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for giving your Son, Jesus, to die in my place on the cross to save me from eternal damnation. And thank you Jesus for dying for me, and because of your sacrifice for me, I offer my life to you as a living sacrifice to live for you all the days of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Click on www.actsweb.org/christian for the article: “How to know God and be sure you’re a real Christian.”

1. Romans 5:7-8 (NIV).

2. Adapted from a story heard on a Campus Crusade for Christ broadcast.

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What’s Your Purpose in Life?

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The Apostle Paul wrote: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”1

“Josh McDowell tells about an executive ‘headhunter’ who recruits corporate executives for large firms. This headhunter once told McDowell that when he interviews an executive, he likes to disarm him. ‘I offer him a drink,’ said the headhunter, ‘take off my coat, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he’s all relaxed. Then, when I think I’ve got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, “What’s your purpose in life?” It’s amazing how top executives fall apart at that question.’

“Then he told about interviewing one fellow recently. He had him all disarmed, had his feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then the headhunter leaned over and said, ‘What’s your purpose in life, Bob?’ And the executive said, without blinking an eye, ‘To go to heaven and take as many people with me as I can.’

“‘For the first time in my career,’ said the headhunter, ‘I was speechless.’”2

I’ve asked this same question to scores of people over the years in seminars I have led. Just about everybody believes God has a God-given life purpose for them, but when I ask them what it is, very few have the slightest idea what it might be. They have never carefully thought through it and written it down.

If we want to die well, we need to live well, and if we are to live well, it is imperative that we know what our God-given life purpose is and with God’s help give it our best shot.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to discern my God-given life purpose so that I know exactly what it is. And please help to fulfill this purpose so when I come to the end of my life’s journey, I will know that I have not lived in vain. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV).

2. Dr. Gary Nicolosi, “Preparing for the End Time,” sermon, www.stbartschurch.org

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Perspective and Persistence

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The Apostle Paul said: “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.”1

Speaking to Thomas Edison, before Edison discovered how to make an electric light bulb work, a young journalist asked, “How come you keep trying to make an electric light when you have failed so many times. Don’t you know that gas lights are with us to stay?”

“Young man,” Edison said, “I have not failed but successfully discovered 6,000 ways that won’t work!”

If anyone knew opposition it was the Apostle Paul. Besides being in prison and being exposed to death, he received from the Jews the thirty-nine lashes. He was also beaten with rods, stoned, and shipwrecked three times. He was in constant danger from bandits, his own countrymen, and from Gentiles. He often went without sleep and knew hunger and thirst and was left cold and naked, and knew constant pressure because of his concern for all the churches.2

Paul was faithful to the end. In spite of innumerable setbacks, he never quit and he never gave up.

Great perspective. Great persistence. Great attitude. Having a Great God makes all the difference! You and I have the same Great God and can have the same great attitude in everything that we are doing for God and for his glory.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give to me a great perspective, great persistence and a great attitude, and grant that today I can have a part in the great work you are doing in the world today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV).

2. See 2 Corinthians 11:24-28.

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Genuine Worship

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God said, “What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.”1

The word “worship” comes from an old English word “worth-ship” meaning to acknowledge the worth of someone. For the Christian worship means to acknowledge the worth of God.

Many in the church today equate worship with singing upbeat choruses. Others equate it with a more traditional approach where the main meetings on the Lord’s Day are called “worship” services—both of which may or may not have anything to do with worship.

A friend of mine, John Fitzroy, was once asked where he worshiped, which meant what church he attended. He gave a straightforward answer when he replied, “I attend such and such a church where I lead the choir, but I don’t worship!” At least he was being honest.

As important as attending a good church is, I don’t need to be in a church or chapel to worship. I can worship when I see a beautiful sunset, a new-born baby, a flower, a tree, a singing bird, an animal, the ocean, in sunshine or in rain, on a mountain, in the desert—wherever I am at home, school, work, or play—as well as at church.

I need to constantly acknowledge the worth of God which is what worship is. Chances are, if I’m not practicing worship throughout the week, I’m not too likely to do so sitting in a church for one hour a week. We bring a worship attitude or spirit with us. If we don’t, we’re not too likely to find it in church regardless of whether the service is contemporary or traditional.

Worship is an attitude of the heart. Going through the motions when the heart isn’t in it may be religiosity or churchianity, but it isn’t worship. It’s just a shadow of the real. My best guess is that God thinks about the same of this as he did the burning of incense and burnt offerings in OT days when they were rituals without heart or sincerity. The same is true of prayers that are insincere and are words without heart.

How absurd it must be to God when he sees us trying to “drum up” what we call worship—whether it’s with a pipe organ, a grand piano, a clanging symbol, an electric guitar, or noisy drums—when our heart isn’t in it, and in so doing not be acknowledging the worth of God!

David had it right. He said, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” And again, “I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.”2 Now that’s worship—with or without music. And, by the way, I love music and used to be on a gospel musical team in younger days.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to understand the true meaning of worship and learn how to worship you in spirit and in truth, not only at church, but wherever I am. Please give me a worshipful heart and spirit. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Jeremiah 6:20 (NIV).

2. Psalm 9:1-2; 111:1 (NIV).

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Living Witnesses

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“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”1

I read how, some years ago, “a missionary physician in one of China’s hospitals cured a man of cataracts. A few weeks later 48 blind men came to the doctor from one of China’s wilds, all holding on to a rope guided by the man who had been cured. He had led them in this way, walking in chain for 250 miles to the hospital.”2

Would to God that we who were once blind and healed spiritually by Jesus, the Great Physician, would do our utmost to lead others to Jesus, the only one who can cure spiritual blindness, and in so doing give people the gift of forgiveness for all their sins and, with it, the gift of eternal life.

To have our witness be credible, however, it is imperative that we, too, “with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory” and more and more be transformed into Jesus’ likeness so that people will always “see Jesus” in us. “With unveiled faces” means being open-faced, genuine, personally honest, authentic, and not phony in any way. Nathanael is an excellent example to follow. When “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him … said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit [guile]!’”3

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a person in whom there is no guile or deceit, and always reflect your glory in all circumstances so that people will always “see Jesus” in me. And please help me to be transformed into your likeness and use me to be a living, effective witness for you in helping to introduce many others to you for your healing and forgiveness. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: To help introduce others to Jesus, please consider joining with ACTS to be a People Power for Jesus Partner. There is no charge. All you need is the desire to bring/introduce others to Jesus, have an e-Mail account, and access to the Internet. For more information see: www.actsweb.org/people_power.

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

2. Sunday School Times. Cited in Lee, Paul Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, p.1614.

3. John 1:47 (NKJV).

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