Video Bible Lesson - Developing Convictions by Dr. Charles Stanley

Developing Convictions
by Dr. Charles Stanley

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

1/31/2020

01/31/2020

Developing Convictions
Dr. Charles Stanley
Jeremiah 17:5-8
An acorn needs nutrients and time to grow into a tall, sturdy oak tree. Likewise, men and women of conviction develop gradually through committed Bible study and prayer. Ready to get planted firmly in biblical truth? Here’s how:
Make a list of issues for which you need to form a conviction. Here are questions to help you get started: Do you consider the Bible true and trustworthy? Do you think that believing in Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved? What is the Holy Spirit’s role in the lives of believers and unbelievers? Are we to forgive others in every situation? How should Christians approach finances? What’s your purpose in life? What is your role in the church and at work? How should you think and act regarding social issues like capital punishment, abortion, and racism?
It is my hope that these questions will open the eyes of those who haven’t contemplated how their personal philosophies have developed. It’s time to change that. Study the Bible and make God’s Word the cornerstone of your thinking. A concordance will point you to scriptures that relate to the above topics. Evaluate what the Bible says rather than looking at an issue through the lens of personal preference. Ask, What does God say? rather than What does this mean to me?
Once you know what God says, you have a choice to make: Believe Him and commit to living according to your conviction, or continue being tossed by waves of doubt and indecision (James 1:6). Root yourself in God’s Word and be called one of His oaks of righteousness (Isa. 61:3).

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Lord of the Living and the Dead

Lord of the Living and the Dead

Dr. Charles Stanley

Romans 14:7-12

In the New Testament, Lord is the most frequently used title for Jesus Christ. Although we rarely use this term in our daily lives, we are all quite familiar with another word: boss. That is basically what Lord means—one possessing authority, power, and control. The Word of God describes Jesus as the head of the church, the ruler over all creation, and the Lord of lords and King of kings (Col. 1:15-18; Rev. 3:14; 17:14).

The realm of Christ's reign covers everything that happens in heaven and on the earth. No one—not even those who deny His existence—can be free of His rule or outside His sphere of authority. Although Satan tries to convince us that liberty is found in doing what we want, true freedom is acquired only through submission to Christ's loving lordship.

Even death cannot release anyone from the authority of God's Son. He is Lord of both the living and the dead. All people must decide to either yield or rebel against Him, but they have the opportunity to make this choice only while they are still living. After death, they will acknowledge Christ's lordship through accountability to Him. If we have not bowed the knee to Jesus in life, we will be forced to bend it in the judgment.

Have you submitted to Christ's rule over your life? His authority causes anger or fear in individuals who have not yet yielded to Him, but those who have experienced His lovingkindness, trusted in His goodness, and surrendered to His authority take comfort in knowing Him as the Lord of their lives.

The Power of a Pause

The Power of a Pause
LAURA BAILEY

“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9 (ESV)

I am a natural redhead.

Yes, the stereotypes apply to me. Quick temper? Check! Fiery tongue? Check! Rousing this poked bear is risky — at any given point I might bubble over with excitement or boil with rage.

When voted “most outspoken” my senior year of high school, I wore my brash and brazen verbal reputation as a badge of honor, saying practically anything I wanted — at any time I wanted. I actually considered it my prerogative.

Oh, the follies of youth.

King Solomon knew about immature, foolish conduct and its consequences. At a young age, he asked God to give him a wise and discerning heart (1 Kings 3:9) — a request God granted. Although the Bible refers to him as wise (1 Kings 4:30), Solomon engaged in unwise behavior throughout his life. Nonetheless, he wrote Ecclesiastes, rich in advice and application.

While navigating my way through this book, the Lord pierced my heart. Lingering on our key verse in Ecclesiastes 7:9, “Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools,” I felt the familiar weight of conviction.

Circumstances, instead of a good conscience, long dictated my response to whatever or whoever was around me. The idea to just “let live and let go” never crossed my mind. Instead, I spouted whatever popped into my head, ignoring the impact my words had on others and the damage they were to my testimony. I needed and wanted to change.

It wasn't until I began to “P.A.U.S.E.” that my relationships gradually improved, and the chains of hostility that bound my heart began to fall away.

What does it mean to “P.A.U.S.E.”?

Practice Patience
Patience does not come naturally for most; we want what we want, and we want it yesterday. Waiting a few moments to react and remaining patient throughout an encounter can prevent a lifetime of regret.

Adjust our Attitude
A shift in perspective or change in attitude makes a world of difference in how we approach a situation. Instead of fists up, let’s open up and be willing to extend the olive branch now and again. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control our response.

Understand the Situation
Shamefully, I have frequently inserted myself into situations without knowing all the facts. Before pouncing on a perceived injustice, we must examine all the angles, evaluate the facts, and sift out opinions and assumptions from the truth of the matter. Doing so diffuses potentially explosive speech that causes unnecessary offenses.

Step Outside
Going outdoors works wonders; it immediately lifts my mood. Fresh air is like a balm that soothes my tumultuous temper. Perhaps stepping outdoors is not always an option, but try to remove yourself from the situation. A physical step back often provides mental clarity and emotional stability.

Explain Calmly
Unfortunately, during conflict, rational thought frequently succumbs to negative emotion, making it difficult to form an appropriate response. Take time to calm down while employing the aforementioned strategies, and above all, invite the Holy Spirit into the conversation.

Running through these five steps, even if it’s only one, helps me dial back my emotions and adjust my attitude before I say something I’ll regret.

I confess that because of pride and arrogance, I’ve inserted unwelcomed opinions and insisted on having the last word, severing many relationships as a result. I no longer want to be that person. Instead, I strive to be a woman filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit in all circumstances.

The world watches Christians. Our attitude must reflect Christ, not our culture or the one who has offended us. Next time you find yourself in a situation where tensions are high, tempers are hot and tongues are heated, consider a “P.A.U.S.E.”

Heavenly Father, help us to “P.A.U.S.E.” before reacting. Help us to rein in our tempers and relinquish our pride so we speak words of love and peace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Proverbs 15:4, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (ESV)

James 1:19-20, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (ESV)

A Prayer for Abounding Grace

A Prayer for Abounding GraceBy: David Mathis

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

I can flip a switch, but I don’t provide the electricity. When I turn on the overhead light in the morning, I don’t celebrate, “Hey, look what I did! I turned the lights on!” I didn’t provide the power. An electrician wired my house; the power company provided the energy; all I did was flip the switch that released the flow.

It’s similar to turning on a faucet. I didn’t put the plumbing in. I’m not the water company that supplies the water. I simply turn on the faucet and the water flows.

So it is, in a limited sense, for the Christian with the ongoing grace of God. His grace is essential for our spiritual lives, but we don’t control the supply. We can’t make the grace flow, but God has given us circuits to connect and pipes to open expectantly.

Our God is lavish in his grace, often liberally dispensing his favor without even the least bit of cooperation and preparation on our part. But he also has his regular channels. And we can routinely avail ourselves of these revealed paths of blessing, or neglect them to our detriment.

Lay Yourself in the Way of Allurement

Zacchaeus may have been a wee little man, but he modeled this big reality by positioning himself along the path of grace. He couldn’t force Jesus’s hand, he couldn’t make grace flow, but he could put himself along the path where Grace was coming (Luke 19:1–10). The same was true of blind Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35–43). He couldn’t earn the restoration of his sight, but he could position himself along the route of grace where Jesus might give the gift as he passed that way.

“Think of the Spiritual Disciplines,” says Donald S. Whitney, “as ways we can place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek him as Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus placed themselves in Jesus’s path and sought him” (Spiritual Disciplines, 19). Or as Jonathan Edwards puts it, we can “endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement.”

God’s regular channels of grace are his word, his ear, and his people. So often, he showers his people with unexpected favor. But typically the grace that sends our roots deepest, truly grows us up in Christ, and produces lasting spiritual maturity, streams from the ordinary and unspectacular paths of fellowship, prayer, and Bible intake in its many forms.

While these simple “means of grace” may seem as unimpressive as everyday switches and faucets, through them God regularly stands ready to give his true light and the water of life. Let's pray for this abounding grace today:

Lord, thank you for your abundant, abounding grace. Thank you that we don't have to earn a drop of the mighty river of grace that flows freely for us today. Thank you for the unexpected, unmerited favor you've showered on my life. Help me put myself in the path of your love and grace. Help me not neglect the disciplines I need to meet with you regularly and to drink from the water of life. Thank you for your rich love. Amen.

Become a Devoted Student of the Word

Become a Devoted Student of the Word
By Joe McKeever

"What great nation is there that has statutes and judgements as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" (Deuteronomy 4:8)

Late one afternoon, I rested for a couple of hours in the home of friends in McComb, Mississippi before attending a church banquet where I was to speak. I noticed in the living room, shelves contained all the writings of Jan Karon, the novels of John Grisham and David Baldacci, and others. Looks like we read the same stuff, I thought. And another thought occurred…

The reason you won’t find those books in shelves at my house is after we read them, we’re through with them. We pass them on to family members or donate them to Goodwill. But one thing we never do is pull one out which we’ve read before to read again, just to see if we missed anything the first time through. And yet…

We do this with the holy Scriptures all the time. Every time we pass through a familiar chapter or well-known story, we find something new, something we had not seen before. It’s an amazing thing.

This is precisely what the Lord promised would happen. Matthew 13:52 contains the only mention of this in Scripture and it’s a keeper…

“Therefore, every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

Imagine that. A homeowner who goes into his safe or a chest of valuables and counts out all the deeds, money, jewels, and other keepsakes he has owned through the years. But every time he does this, he finds new treasures. A pearl ring this time, a hundred dollar bill the next time, and so forth. He’d come often, wouldn’t he?

Jesus said a scribe–that is, someone considered an expert on the Scriptures–who gets saved now returns to the Scriptures that he loves and where he has found all these precious truths and insights. He finds them there, all the riches he has loved over the years. But lo and behold, every time he comes, he makes a new discovery. And so it is with opening the Word of the Lord.

There are so many reasons for God’s people studying and living in the Scriptures. Jesus called it our bread (Matthew 4:4). Job said it was more than his necessary food (Job 23:12). David called it a lamp unto his feet, a light unto his path (Psalm 119:105). Paul said it’s the source of faith (Romans 10:17).

If you call yourself a sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no excuse for not becoming a devoted student of His Word.

Are You Scared of Loving Zacchaeus?

Are You Scared of Loving Zacchaeus?
By Laura MacCorkle

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5, NIV

I’m scared of some things—and some people—but I’m not too scared about spending time with those who don’t know Jesus. Never have been.

In fact, I enjoy people who are vastly different than me. I must say, though, that I am nowhere even close to the greatest friend-who-knew-no-stranger-of-all-time: Jesus. And so I admire his ability to walk toward those who might scare you and me … those who we might walk away from today.

Zacchaeus was one such character. He really was a despicable little man. As I’m sure you know, tax collectors in Bible times were not the sort of person you invited over for a potluck to your home on an early spring evening. No, they were viewed as the lowest of the low. The pond scum of society. The ones you wouldn’t even let in your front door.

Amazingly, though, Jesus didn’t adjust his course when he was walking through Jericho one fine day. With his eye on the tax collector, Jesus walked right to where Zacchaeus was perched in a sycamore tree. Because he was small in stature, Zacchaeus had climbed up this tree so that he could see who Jesus was when he passed by in the crowd of people. He had heard about him, and now he wanted to see for himself.

Had he heard how he’d performed miracles? How he’d attracted and fed large crowds of people? How he’d touched the untouchables and healed those with leprosy? How he’d stood up to the religious establishment and called them on their legalistic teachings?

Who knows for sure. But whatever he had heard, Zacchaeus wanted to see this man who defied everyone’s expectations of what the Messiah would be. 

“Zacchaeus,” Jesus said as he addressed him by name. “Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Can you imagine what Zacchaeus must have thought? He knows me! Wait, HOW does he know me? And why is he coming to spend time with me? Doesn’t he know that everyone despises me because I take all of their money? Why would he want to spend time with ME?

But whatever Zaccheus may have thought didn’t stop him from scrambling down the tree and welcoming Jesus “gladly.” He was smitten with the love of the Savior. And he knew that this was the Christ.

“Look, Lord!” Zacchaeus said to him. “Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

How amazing is that? Jesus didn’t shy away from someone who the rest of society was shunning. He also didn’t get up in Zacchaeus’ face, make him feel like dirt and then strike him down with the Law in his initial effort to love him. No, he just said, “Hey, I see you and I’m going to spend some time with you. Come on, let’s go!”

It’s the “great commission” in action. “Go ye into all the world.” Even to the parts of town that you usually avoid. Even to the societal groups that offend you. Even to the family member who has chosen to live a different lifestyle. He, she, they … any of these people can represent Zacchaeus in your life.

But don’t walk away from them. Walk toward them. And extend an invitation for a better way of living and the hope of a glorious eternity. Just like Jesus did for you.

Intersecting Faith & Life: So maybe you think I missed that one part of the Zacchaeus story with the crowd. Well, I didn’t. I just saved it for last. When the crowd witnessed Jesus make his invitation to Zacchaeus, they muttered, ”He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’” How sad. But isn’t that also you and me? We all have a person or a people group who is hard for us to love. Don’t be scared of loving the Zacchaeuses in your life. The Lord will help you follow his example as you love others to him.