God First What better way to start a New Year than with a fresh commitment to put God first in your life! Prioritizing God sounds simple, but the pressures of our lives try very hard to push Him out of the way, and sometimes we find ourselves in that difficult place of suddenly stopping, reevaluating our lives, and realizing that we’ve somehow lost that all‑important first love. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2) Jesus demonstrated this sense of priority even as a young child – at the age of twelve, he astounded His parents by stating: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Later, in His ministry, He reiterated: “I must work the works of Him who sent Me.” There was no question about it – Jesus’ first priority was pleasing His Father. Of course, the First Commandment is this: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Right back in Moses’ time, learning to put God first was a required priority. The Second Commandment reveals further how important He wants to be in our lives: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image … you shall not bow down to them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” Putting anything – careers, financial achievement, even relationships – ahead of God constitutes making ‘an idol’ of it … and our ‘jealous God’ warns strictly against it. Make a covenant right now: “Lord, I want to always put You first in my life, in everything I do. Enable me, by Your Holy Spirit, to be consistent in this choice. Thank You!” When this prayer comes straight from your heart, then God’s part of the equation is to respond to you with His strength and ability.
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Today’s Scripture But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33) Daily Power! Today I stand on God’s promise that He will never leave me or forsake me. Therefore, I wholeheartedly put my trust in Him! Mark my Word Exodus 20:1-17 Joshua 1:5, 8 Matthew 6:25-34 Luke 2:49 Revelation 2:1-7 The Bible In A Year Morning Genesis 1 Matthew 1 Evening Ezra 1 Acts 1
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Today’s Scripture My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:34) Daily Power! The Great Commission empowers me to be His evangelist. I am committed to fulfilling His will. Mark my Word Mark 16:15-20 John 4:34-38 8:32; 17:17 Ephesians 1:13 Colossians 1:3-5 The Bible In A Year Morning Genesis 2 Matthew 2 Evening Ezra 2 Acts 2
Reason For Living Because evangelism is my reason for living, it is also my favorite topic. The evangelist is a man with a driving urgency, not a man with two minds. The Gospel – and nothing else on earth – matters: neither fame, nor money, earthly pleasures, nor life itself. Jesus had a total attraction for the wretched. It led Him to the Cross. He would bring His salvation and healing touch to broken lives, no matter what. I believe in preaching a straightforward message – a Gospel that speaks of sin, salvation, healing, and discipleship. I do this with the heartfelt conviction that it is preaching the Word of God that brings revival. Nothing more – nothing less. “God’s Word is Truth … You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free … In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation … We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.” There has never been revival without aggressive evangelism. The first time I witnessed thousands running forward to respond to the call of salvation, God opened my eyes, and I actually saw an invisible, mighty wave of Holy Spirit-power arrive in the stadium (this was in Africa). A mass baptism in the Holy Spirit – accompanied by many mighty miracles – took place. I wept like a boy, and vowed to the Lord that, in obedience, I would move across all of Africa to bring the vision to pass. I reasoned that if God could do that to 10,000 people, He could do it to 450 million. I have a simple goal, which perfectly describes evangelism: Heaven full – Hell empty! God is with you and me, not because we have great faith, but because He has committed Himself irrevocably. Faith is not just for the possible – that is not faith at all. The mightiest resource in the universe is the Arm of God. The Lord of the Harvest will send forth His laborers, which includes you and me.
Perfectly Certain Another great way to start a New Year is to have assurance of salvation. When you are saved, you should know it. Otherwise, how can you be a witness for Christ? The Bible speaks clearly and positively; it does not stammer. When you read it, you become certain. Martin Luther once said, “The Holy Spirit is no skeptic.” He writes no doubts. The promises of God are Yes and Amen, not No and Maybe. The Gospel trumpet sounds no faltering note. When an earthquake shook the Philippian jail and all who were in it, the jailor cried out, “what must I do to be saved?” Paul did not reply, “Well, what do you think? Do you have any ideas?” He made a firm statement of fact: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” The Gospel is God’s message, not Christian opinion … and it is yours today! What are the two greatest things God ever did? The Bible tells us that He created the heavens and the earth. Could anything possibly equal that – making our wonderful world, with its oceans, mountains and rivers, and filling the heavens with stars? In fact, God did do something else that was far more difficult. We call it the ‘work of redemption.’ Creation cost God nothing, but that next task cost Him everything. At Creation, God blessed us with the energies of life. Then He blessed us with the gift of redemption, adding new life to ordinary life. Millions of people around the world enjoy it. They are jubilant. They exclaim and sing, “I am redeemed!” They cannot keep quiet about this wonderful gift that God has given them. Therefore, my friend, today I encourage you: rejoice in your salvation!
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Today’s Scripture Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. (Acts 16:31) Daily Power! Reading God’s Word is a constant source of assurance that I am saved, and I know it. His Word says it – God is not a man that He should lie. Mark my Word Numbers 23:19 Acts 16 1 Corinthians 1:17-20 The Bible In A Year Morning Genesis 3 Matthew 3 Evening Ezra 3 Acts 3
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Today’s Scripture I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day. (2 Timothy 1:12) Daily Power! When I repent and believe, and come to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He receives me, and I am cleansed in His precious Blood! Mark my Word Luke 19:10 John 6:37 Acts 2:38-39 2 Timothy 1:12 The Bible In A Year Morning Genesis 4 Matthew 4 Evening Ezra 4 Acts 4
Salvation Is Not Speculation The genius who made the first electric dynamo, Michael Faraday, was not only a master of all the sciences, but also a Christian. In 1867, when he was dying, his friends asked him what his speculations about life after death were. “Speculations?” he asked in surprise. “Speculations! I have none. I am resting on certainties!” Faraday’s favorite Bible verse was: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.” He had no reservations about Biblical truth. Some people argue that it is presumptuous to declare that we are saved, but that is false modesty in the light of so much scriptural evidence. When Christ confronts you with the question of your need, you should not respond, “I want to have my questions answered, and to give my view of salvation.” Instead, you must repent and believe! Being saved is not a casual experience, something that you would hardly notice. When you repent and believe, and come to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He receives you and you are cleansed in His precious Blood! “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39) Take these two statements made by Jesus Himself: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out, and For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost,” which means, that when you trust in Christ for His gift of salvation, He honors it.
Spiritual Need People need the Gospel, and their need creates a need in the heart of God. He needs to send us with the Gospel! He knows that we must be born-again, and He cannot just sit down on His Throne, and do nothing about it. That would be completely contrary to all He has ever done. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? … So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” God knows our need, and is under compulsion to meet it. Likewise, if we, who are made in His image, know about the hungry of this world, we need to do something about it. Their need creates in us a need to help. If you and I have plenty, then we cannot merely stand by, and watch our neighbors die of starvation. The same is true of spiritual food. Our spiritual need lays a compulsion on the heart of God. Our attitude towards others should be the same. What should we be doing to fulfill that need in God’s heart? The same things that Jesus did, which were also a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (emphasis added).
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Today’s Scripture I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4) Daily Power! My desire is to fulfill that compulsion, which God has placed within my heart, to reach out to the unreached, to tell the untold, and to minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark my Word Isaiah 55:1; 61:1-3 Luke 4:18 John 9:4 Romans 10:13-18 The Bible In A Year Morning Genesis 5 Matthew 5 Evening Ezra 5 Acts 5