Your Daily Devotional for January 17, 2008

 

January 17,  2008

 

 

Consider His Cross

Revival Readings for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."

 

John 19:7

 

 

Christ was not forced to go to the Cross; He chose it. He was held to that rough wood, not by iron nails, but by His love for us. He was fulfilling prophecy of the Old Testament. Isaiah 53:4 says, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." We see here the Cross' foretelling.

 

Just like it was God's will for Christ to bear the Cross, it is sometimes His plan for His children to bear a cross as well. First Peter 2:21 says, "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps." When we are tempted to think God has placed us on a path that is rough and unforgiving, remember that His own Son was called a Man of sorrows. Never forget that you are to be following the Saviour—even if it means bearing a cross.

 

Most blessed, however, is the Cross' forgiving. The Cross is the point at which mercy and truth met; and forgiveness is made (Psalm 85:10). Although the Cross is a symbol of suffering and death, it is also a point of forgiveness and hope. The Cross holds the key to a new life in Christ.

 

Consider the forgiveness and healing power of the Cross. No matter what we have done, when we kneel at the Cross, God offers mercy and forgiveness.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Genesis 41-42 • Matthew 12:1-23

 

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Your Daily Devotional for January 16, 2008

 

January 16,  2008

 

 

Consider His Salvation

Revival Readings for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

 

John 10:9

 

 

On May 1, 1830, George Wilson and James Porter were sentenced to a public hanging for six charges of robbing the US Mail. The justice system was much different then, and penalties were harsher. However, George Wilson had some influential friends who convinced President Andrew Jackson to give him a pardon.

 

Rather than being overjoyed, Wilson resolutely refused to accept the pardon. The case was sent to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshal and the rest of the court ruled that a pardon could not be forced on anyone, so the execution was carried out.

 

Although we may never know what caused George Wilson to refuse his pardon, we could certainly all learn how important it is to accept ours. In this passage Christ uses a door as a picture of the salvation He can give.

 

Perhaps the most important word of the whole verse is the two-letter word if. The door of God's forgiveness is open to everyone, but only those who choose to enter will be saved. Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

 

Thank God for His salvation and consider all He has done for you in giving you eternal life.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Genesis 39-40 • Matthew 11

 

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Your Daily Devotional for January 15, 2008

 

January 15,  2008

 

 

Consider His Word

Revival Readings for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you."

 

John 8:37

 

 

God's Word must be given place in our hearts. It is not enough to hear the Word; we must heed it. Because these Hebrews rejected Christ's Word, they disqualified themselves from the blessings God had intended for them to receive.

 

First, they missed out on the confidence of hope. Many times while on foreign soil, Americans are leery of drinking the local water. In a third-world country, there is often a lot of pollution in the water supply. There is no confidence because it has all been contaminated. Praise the Lord that His Word has never been contaminated! First Peter 1:23–25 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

 

Second, they missed out on a change in their hearts. In the next verse, Jesus said, "I speak that which I have seen with my father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father." Because they had rejected the Word of God, they were stuck in their sinful ways. Many people feel trapped by sin. They may have had high ambitions of not falling into the same sin as other people, but in rejecting the help of God's Word, they cut the only rope that could rescue them from this world's storm of sin.

 

Third, they missed out on the course to Heaven. Romans 10:17 plainly tells us that the Word of God is vital to salvation, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." How many mansions in Heaven will never be prepared because someone simply would not give place in their hearts to God's Word?

 

Consider the promises God's Word offers you today. Only as you are faithfully reading His Word and diligently obeying His commands will you be able to see revival in your life.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Genesis 36-38 • Matthew 10:21-42

 

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Your Daily Devotional for January 14, 2008

 

January 14,  2008

 

 

Consider His Witness

Revival Readings for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

John 3:7

 

 

For over thirty years, the Salvation Army and General William Booth were subjected to terrible persecution. But Booth would live to see the day that his organization would receive widespread recognition. In 1904, he was invited to Buckingham Palace, where King Edward IV honored him.

 

The difficulties that Booth had endured through the years must have seemed to grow small as he heard the words of the king: "You are doing a good work—a great work, General Booth." When the king asked Booth to write in his autograph album, the seventy-five year old man bent forward and wrote: "Some men's ambition is art, some men's ambition is fame, some men's ambition is gold; my ambition is the souls of men."

 

Jesus Christ, the greatest witness to walk this earth, has given a model for the believer to follow. Jesus was called a friend of publicans and sinners (Luke 7:34). He summed up His purpose in coming to earth in Luke 19:10: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus Christ was filled with compassion for the souls of men, and He remained steadfast in His witness.

 

Though Christ came to preach the Gospel, He also came that there might be a Gospel to preach. Some indications of revival are the conversions of souls, and the stirring of the believer's heart toward repentance and surrender to God. Just as Christ did, take time to see those with whom you come in contact today not simply as people, but as souls, heading toward a final judgment and an eternal destination.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Genesis 33-35 • Matthew 10:1-20

 

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