Eyes Wide Open

The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. - John 5:19-20

This from Henry Blackaby's Day by Day:

Jesus, realizing that His role was that of a servant, never sought to initiate activity for the Father (Matt. 20:28). The servant never sets the agenda—the master does. The servant must be so alert to what the master is doing that whenever the master begins to move in a direction the servant quickly joins him. Even the Son of God did not assume He knew the best thing to do in a situation. Instead, He looked to see the Father’s activity and then joined Him. Jesus knew His Father so well that He was keenly sensitive to divine activity around Him, immediately recognizing His Father at work.

It is possible for us to be so busy trying to bring God into our activity that we don’t even notice Him at work around us. He seeks to redirect our attention so that we might join Him, but we tend to be self-centered, evaluating everything by how it affects us. We must learn to view events around us from God’s perspective. Then we will see our world very differently. When God brings someone across our path, we will look to see if God is convicting that person of his need for salvation. Perhaps God is comforting someone in her sorrow. God might be encouraging your friend as she faces a challenge. We will then adjust our lives to join God as He works in that person’s life. We ought to live each day with tremendous anticipation as we look to see where God is working around us. As our eyes are opened to His activity, we will marvel at His great works.

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Gold Medallion Award winner "Experiencing God Day-By-Day" is based on Henry Blackaby’s multi-million selling Experiencing God book and Bible study. Find insight and grace in this 365-day devotional focused on the divine presence in each life. This book will help you see what God has instore for you while sustaining the essential habit of turning to God on a daily basis.

Agent of Change

I can say, "it's time for a change," until I am blue in the face, but chances are that merely repeating those words over and over again will not bring about change.

You can say you'll stop doing any one of a number of destructive things that you struggle with, but just saying you'll change may not get it done. Ask an addict how many times he's told others and himself, "he'll change for the better, stop using drugs," only to return to using.

It was only when I began understanding that there is someone else other than myself that can bring change in my life that things really began to change. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly things began to change, such as the end of my desire to drink alcohol after 20 years of over indulgence.

About a year after accepting Jesus Christ into my life I was at a weekend conference for the men at my church. On Friday night, the opening night, there I was...standing among more than 500 men, singing worship songs all together as one voice.

I looked at my friend standing next to me and said, "How did I get here? How did I get from being where I was to here, standing with 500 guys singing worship songs on a Friday night? It's like I've been transported from one planet to another."

He looked at me and smiled from ear to ear...and to this day, still tells that story of the transformed life of a former drinker/bartender who was utterly amazed at his own transformation.

We can shout about the need for change, individually and as a nation, for a long time, but it's not until we accept that we can not do it on our own that real change begins.

Then, the next step is to look to Jesus.

Alexander is a writer in the online spiritual battlefield. You can also find him at The Scrooge Report.

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Jesus Offers Peace

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

Peace be with you. - John 20:19

The church of Jesus Christ began with a group of frightened men in a second-floor room in Jerusalem.

Though they’d marched with Jesus for three years, they now sat…afraid. They were timid soldiers, reluctant warriors, speechless messengers.

Daring to dream that the master had left them some word, some plan, some direction, they came back.

But little did they know their wildest dream wasn’t wild enough. Just as someone mumbles, “It’s no use,” they hear a noise. They hear a voice: “Peace be with you.”

The one betrayed sought his betrayers. What did he say to them? Not “What a bunch of flops!” Not “I told you so.” No “Where-were-you-when-I-needed-you?” speeches. But simply one phrase, “Peace be with you.” The very thing they didn’t have was the very thing he offered: peace.

Find Max Lucado books at Amazon.com!

Failure is Part of the Deal

Sometimes, I cry out for God's plan for me. I do OK with the short term stuff...like I know He wants me to show up to work today and do my best. But, it's the long term stuff I wish I had a "heads up" on.

When will it be the right time for marriage? Do I make a career change now or later? What type of ministry do I need to be involved in? What's my purpose?

Whether or not you're asking yourself and God these particular questions, or other important ones, there's one thing for certain...there will be failures.

So, how do we deal with failures? This morning I found a way...a very good way. First, know that failure is part of the deal of living. Second, give it up to God...He already factored failure into your life and has planned a way for you to come out of it...on the victorious side!

This from Henry Blackaby's Day by Day:

FACING FAILURE

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written..." - Mark 14:27

As you follow Jesus you will face moments of great distress. At times it will seem that events conspire to cause you to stumble in your relationship with Him. You do not initiate them, but they arise from opposition or the intensity of your circumstances. Nevertheless, failure is the end result. The disciples faced such fierce opposition to their Lord that they all failed Him on the night Jesus was crucified.

Peter boasted that he was incapable of forsaking Jesus (Mark 14:29–31). Yet Jesus assured the disciples even before their failure that it was inevitable. The Scriptures had prophesied it. God always knew the disciples would fail His Son; He wasn’t caught by surprise. He had made provision for their shortcomings, knowing He would eventually develop them into apostles who would fearlessly preach the gospel, perform miracles, and teach others. Later, when the risen Christ encountered Peter on the seashore, He did not ask Peter for a confession of his sin, but a confession of his love (John 21:15–17).

You may fear that your failure has caught God by surprise. Perhaps you promised, like Peter, to stand with the Lord, but you failed. God was just as aware that you would fail Him as He was with the original disciples. He has made provision to respond every time you stumble. Don’t think that somehow your failures are bigger or more complex than any God has dealt with. If you are facing challenges that seem overwhelming, don’t be discouraged. God has already foreseen them and prepared for them. (1 Cor. 10:13).

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Gold Medallion Award winner "Experiencing God Day-By-Day" is based on Henry Blackaby’s multi-million selling Experiencing God book and Bible study. Find insight and grace in this 365-day devotional focused on the divine presence in each life. This book will help you see what God has instore for you while sustaining the essential habit of turning to God on a daily basis.

Take a look at these top devotionals

Asking For Wings

No one guarantees that life transforms into a rose garden when one becomes a Christian. I know that for me, accepting Jesus eight years ago was thrilling, somewhat scary, and a high like I have never felt. However, the years since He first entered my heart, have not been lived in a continual state of euphoria...nor should it be...(aw, shucks). For a feel-good junkie like myself, this concept is a difficult one to accept.

Today was a rough day...oh, nothing extraordinary happened, but I feel tired and weary. Fortunately, at 7 pm, I went to the Word...and as I go over a devotion by Billy Graham, I am refreshed in a quiet way...knowing that it doesn't matter what mood I'm in...God still loves me! I just need to ask Him for my wings.

This from Billy Graham's Hope for Each Day:

SOARING IN VICTORY

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. - John 3:3

In the third chapter of John, Jesus teaches that the new birth is something God does for us, as we yield ourselves to Him and put our faith and trust in Christ. We do not have within ourselves the seed of the new life; this must come from God.

One day an ugly caterpillar climbs into a tree and spins a silky robe about itself. It goes to sleep, and in a few weeks emerges a beautiful butterfly.

So we...discouraged, unhappy, hounded by guilt, confused, depressed, vainly looking for and escape...can come by faith to Christ and emerge a new person. We can be born again! It sounds incredible, even impossible...and yet it is precisely what happens. We become members of God's family, looking forward to our eternal home in Heaven.

Do you feel you are in a cocoon? Turn to Christ and ask Him to give you your beautiful wings so that you might soar above your problems and be victorious over them.

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In 'Hope for Each Day,' Billy Graham offers spiritual comfort to guide us through our daily lives. Graham is considered a national treasure and has counseled numerous political leaders and provided comfort in times of public crisis.

Is This All There Is?

Something is awry—we feel disconnected. We connect with a career, find meaning in family, yet long for something more.

From Max Lucado's 3:16, The Numbers of Hope

We feel the frustration I felt on Christmas morning, 1964. I assembled a nine-year-old’s dream gift: a genuine Santa Fe Railroad miniature train set, complete with battery-powered engine and flashing crossing lights. I placed the locomotive on the tracks and watched in sheer glee as three pounds of pure steel wound its way across my bedroom floor. Around and around and around and . . . around . . . and around . . . After some time I picked it up and turned it the other direction. It went around and around and around . . .

“Mom, what else did you get me for Christmas?”
Similarly, our lives chug in long ovals, one lap after another.

First job. Promotion. Wedding day. Nursery beds. Kids. Grandkids. Around and around . . . Is there anything else? Our dissatisfaction mates with disappointment and gives birth to some unruly children: drunkenness, power plays, eighty-hour workweeks, nosedives into sexual perversions—all nothing more than poorly disguised longings for Eden. We long to restore what Adam lost. As someone once said, “The man who knocks on the door of a brothel is seeking God.”

Where and when the brothel fails, Jesus steps forth with a reconnection invitation. Though we be “dead in [our] transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1) and separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18), whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (I John 5:1). Reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.” (John 1:13.)

Don’t miss the invisible, inward miracle triggered by belief. God reinstates us to Garden-of-Eden status. What Adam and Eve did, we now do! The flagship family walked with God; we can too. They heard his voice; so can we. They were naked and unashamed; we can be transparent and unafraid. No more running or hiding.

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! - 1 Pet. 1:3–4 MSG


If 9/11 are the numbers of terror and despair, then 3:16 are the numbers of hope. Best-selling author Max Lucado leads readers through a word-by-word study of John 3:16, the passage that he calls the "Hope Diamond" of Scripture. (Amazon.com)

Get 3:16: The Numbers of Hope now!

'Day by Day': Live Like Sheep

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. - Psalms 23:1-2

This from Henry Blackaby's Day by Day:

Living like a sheep can bring you incredible peace of mind! The biblical shepherd knew everything about his sheep. He understood what foods were best for them and what would harm them. He knew when they should eat and when they needed their thirst quenched. The shepherd was an expert of the terrain and was aware of the best places for food and water. As long as the sheep trusted and followed their shepherd, they would always have their needs met at the right time. Their shepherd would give them the best that he had.

Do you have absolute trust in your Good Shepherd? Do you value the nourishment that comes from Him more than any you might obtain from the world? Do you ever worry that God might be withholding from you something that you need? The Psalmist was convinced that he would “want” for nothing. By His very nature, the Good Shepherd cares for His sheep and would lay down His life for them (John 10:11).

Have you allowed your focus to shift from the Shepherd to what the Shepherd gives you? If you find yourself “wanting,” it is not that your Shepherd is unable or unwilling to perfectly meet your needs. It may be that you lack the faith to receive all that He has to give. Could it be that you have become dissatisfied with what your Shepherd has been providing? Are you missing the joy that comes from having a Shepherd who cares for you? Return to Him and trust Him to meet the needs in your life that only He can.

Gold Medallion Award winner "Experiencing God Day-By-Day" is based on Henry Blackaby’s multi-million selling Experiencing God book and Bible study. Find insight and grace in this 365-day devotional focused on the divine presence in each life. This book will help you see what God has instore for you while sustaining the essential habit of turning to God on a daily basis.

Take a look at This Week's Top Devotionals

Will We Live Forever?

These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. — 1 Corinthians 15:50,51

This from Today's Devotion With Greg Laurie:

Historian Will Durant, when he reached the age of 70, said, "To live forever would be the greatest curse imaginable."

Will we live forever? The answer is "yes" and "no." Will our bodies live forever? No. Will our bodies cease to exist at one point? Absolutely. But the soul is immortal. Each one of us has a soul. It is the soul that gives each of us uniqueness and personality. That part of us will live forever.

Today, many people are searching for immortality, that elusive fountain of youth. Sometimes, it is hard for us to accept the fact that life is passing and death is approaching. One day, you will wake up and realize you have more life behind you than you have in front of you. But the question we should be asking is not, "Can I find immortality?" Rather, it should be, "Where will I spend my immortality?"

If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and have asked Him to forgive you of your sin, the Bible teaches that you will go immediately into the presence of God in heaven when you die. That is God's promise to you.

But God not only promises life beyond the grave. He also promises life during life, not just an existence, but a life that is worth living. Jesus said, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness" (John 10:10).

That is the hope and promise for all Christians. That is why the believer does not have to be afraid to die. Or afraid to live.
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Beyond: A Devotional

The Experience God Has for You Is Beyond Anything You Could Imagine...

Don’t let anything stop you from strengthening the most important relationship of your life. Drawing closer to God starts right here–with warm, clear, Bible-based devotionals on the core issues of your faith.

In his down-to-earth style, Greg Laurie helps you reinforce your commitment to God and develop the habit of responding to His voice every day. Beyond: A Devotional guides you into Scripture reflection, prayer, and application with daily devotions that take only ten minutes a day. Discover a greater intensity and intimacy with God as your desire to trust and obey Him keeps growing. Are you ready to move beyond your present spiritual limitations?

Open this book to stretch your spiritual muscles…and go deeper, further, and higher in your relationship with God. (Amazon.com)

“Greg Laurie is not only a personal friend, but is one of the great communicators of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our generation. I highly recommend him.”
–Billy Graham

What Love Looks Like

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. - 1 John 3:18

This from Greg Laurie's Daily Devotions:

Have you ever felt like a spiritual failure? If so, then you're in good company. Even the apostle Peter felt that way after he denied the Lord.

When Jesus told the disciples they would abandon Him in His hour of need, Peter insisted that he never would. But Jesus said that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed that day. And he did.

Now, Peter finds himself in an awkward moment. Jesus was crucified and had risen on the third day. He suddenly appears to them at the Sea of Galilee. Before they knew it, Jesus was cooking breakfast for everyone with the fish He had just helped them catch. Maybe as they ate, Peter was remembering when, not all that long ago, he denied the Lord by the glow of another fire.

Eventually, the Lord breaks the silence. He asks Peter a series of questions, each with the same phrase: "Do you love Me?"

Peter had learned his lesson. Instead of boasting of his love for the Lord, he simply answers, "Yes Lord; You know that I love you" (John 21:15–17). In the original language, the word Peter used for "love" was phileo. It could be translated, "have an affection for."

At least Peter was being honest. We can talk all day about how much we love God, but never act on it. Peter eventually proved his love for the Lord. A leader in the early church and the writer of two New Testament epistles, he reportedly was crucified upside-down as a martyr for his faith.

How about you? Is your love for the Lord expressed more by your words than your actions?

The Gospel of John can be challenging reading, but in the hands of pastor Greg Laurie, it's the perfect material for daily devotional reflections. In the same accessible style that has made him a popular pastor, speaker, and television and radio host, Laurie shares stories and images of Jesus from the Gospel of John woven with additional Scriptures and anecdotes. The result is a ninety-day devotional that offers biblical substance and theological depth presented in clear, engaging language. Readers looking for devotional reading centered on Jesus will enjoy Laurie's blend of important spiritual substance and accessible narrative style. - Amazon.com

Where is Your Focus?

Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following. . . .Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" - John 21:20-21

This from Henry Blackaby's 'Day by Day:'

The first thing you do after God speaks to you is critical. Jesus was telling Peter what type of ministry he would have and what type of death he would suffer (vv. 18–19). It was a sacred moment in Peter’s life, as his Lord pulled back the curtain to his future. His was not to be an easy life but a life ordained and blessed by his Lord and Master.

Rather than responding to what Jesus told him, Peter looked around at his fellow disciples. His glance fell upon John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. “But Lord, what about this man?” Peter asked. Peter had just been given the somber news of his future death. How natural to compare his assignment with that of the others! This is the great temptation of God’s servants: to compare our situation with that of others. Did God give my friend a larger house? Did God heal my friend’s loved one and not mine? Did God allow my friend to receive appreciation and praise for his work while I remain anonymous? Did God allow another Christian to remain close to her family while I am far removed from mine?

Jesus assigned Peter and John to walk two different paths, but both Peter and John have enriched our lives. Jesus knew how dangerous it is when a servant takes his eyes off the master to focus on a fellow servant. Where is your focus? Have you become more concerned with how God is treating someone else than you are with how He is relating to you?

Much of the ministry of Dr. Henry T. Blackaby flourished with the publication of Experiencing God. Go to Blackaby Ministries International to learn more.

Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God