My Inbox of Daily Inspirations: 12/28/07

Today's Verse : James 3:16

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December 29, 2007

VERSE:
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find
disorder and every evil practice.
-- James 3:16

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=James+3:16

THOUGHT:
So, what are your goals and plans for the New Year? Do you have
great dreams and laudable goals? I hope so. But, please join me as
I seriously look at why I set the goals I do and make the plans I
make. In the afterglow of Christmas, that great season of giving,
let's make sure our plans for the future are not selfish or based
on envy, lust, or greed. Instead, let's set our hearts to reach
great heights for God's glory and to do great things to be a
blessing to others. Otherwise, all our attempts to reach great
things ultimately will end in chaos, heartbreak, and destruction.

PRAYER:
Eternal God, please be with me as I seek to set goals for the
coming year. I want to do great things for your glory. Please use
me to accomplish your will in the world in which I live and in the
group of people to whom you have sent me. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20071229

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LOOK GREAT, FEEL GREAT: 12 KEYS TO ENJOYING A HEALTHY LIFE NOW, by Joyce Meyer
Joyce guides us to a healthier way of living, reminding us that turning
every issue over to God gives us the strength to make lasting changes.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?250

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Today's KJV Verse : James 3:16

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December 29, 2007

VERSE:
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every
evil work.
-- James 3:16

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=James+3:16&translation=kjv

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SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
easy-to-sing songs about God's faithfulness.
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Daily Wisdom NIV : John 1:14

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The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14, New International Version
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=John+1:14

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Daily Wisdom KJV : John 1:14

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And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.

John 1:14, King James Version
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=John+1:14&translation=kjv

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Quotemeal: "A billion here, a billion ..."

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A billion here, a billion there; the first thing you know, we're
talking about real money.

-- Everett Dirksen

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THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS: UNCOVERING THE TRUTH THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING, by Brian McLaren
Unafraid of controversy or the uncomfortable gray areas of life,
McLaren's quest is to find the essential message of Jesus' life - even
if it overturns our conventional ideas, priorities, and practices.
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Mustard Seed Thought: Turn Around...Head Home

So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way
off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran
to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Luke 15:20 NIV

One of the finest word pictures in the Bible: God running to His children! Can you say God speed?

Jesus told this parable, not about a boy, foolish in his youth who squanders away all his wealth and then comes cowering back to an expectant father. Oh, it's a great story, and that is what occurs in the story, but this story is about you and me.

Jesus is describing for us how God feels about His children. If you are a child of God, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus, through your faith in Him and Him alone to save you, then God will always be ready to welcome you home! God will never give up on His children.

Now He may discipline you, even to the point of bringing you home to
Heaven, but you can rest assured He will never forsake you. You are
His, and He will wait for you as His own.

Stop for a moment and picture this story as Jesus meant for you to. You are the prodigal child. You have wandered away from the comfort and protection of your Father God. You have wasted your life on wild
living. Oh it was fun at first, but then the new wore off and you were
homesick. You realized what you had given up. What you wouldn't give
to go home.

But, how could you? You had traveled so far. Your pride was at stake.
People would say "I told you so". Your friends might make fun of you.
Your Father, how could He ever forgive you for what you have done?
And, does He really want you to come home anyway?

Still, anything is better than where you are at. So, you head for home. But, before you can even see the front porch...while your head was still hanging low.....you hear a sound. It sounds like footsteps. Heavy footsteps. You look up, almost afraid to, and you see a sight never seen before!

GOD IS RUNNING TO MEET YOU! God, the Creator of stars is running to greet you, a sinner, and welcome you home. He isn't coming with a frown or a smirk of anger on His face. He has His arms open wide! He has on a great big smile! He has that loving twinkle in His eye, the kind He always had when He was proud of something you did!

He reaches you and instead of shouting insults at you, He tells you how pleased He is to have you home. There are tears in His eyes! He lets out a shout of joy. He orders a party to be held in your honor! He tells the angels to get the band playing! Gabriel starts up the gas
grill! GOD IS GLAD YOU HAVE COME HOME!

Maybe you need to go home today! God is waiting! He's probably over half way towards you right now! All you have to do is turn around, and head for home!

I hope you'll invite me to the party!

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Daily Heartlight -- December 28, 2007

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December 28, 2007

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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================

Living Simply, by Paul Faulkner

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in
him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit (Romans 15:13 TNIV).

Thanks to Elaine St. James for writing this: "Living fully doesn't mean
having it all and going everywhere and doing everything and being all
things to all people. Many of us are beginning to see that too much is
too much; it gets in the way of being able to enjoy the things we do
want in our lives and to simply be who we are."

Let the rest go!

Achieving a level of inner simplicity makes it possible to choose
intelligently the things that are meaningful in our lives. And they
contribute to our peace of mind if they ultimately mean that we do
fewer things and have less stuff. However, that decision will not come
so much from self-denial, but from wisdom that comes from taking the
time to figure out what is important to us, and letting all the rest
go.

The message today: learn to live simply with peace.

---------
(c) 2007 Paul Faulkner.

Morning & Evening -- Galatians 2:20 and Matthew 10:34

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Friday, December 28, 2007

MORNING:

"The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God."
-- Galatians 2:20

When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he first of
all said, "Live"; and this he did first, because life is one of the
absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it be
bestowed we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom.
Now the life which grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their
quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap
from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living
connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace which
perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its firstfruit. It is
the neck which joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head.

"Oh Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord,
Is not this office thine? and thy fit name,
In the economy of gospel types,
And symbols apposite-the Church's neck;
Identifying her in will and work
With him ascended?"

Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp.
She knows his excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to
repose her trust elsewhere; and Christ Jesus is so delighted with this
heavenly grace, that he never ceases to strengthen and sustain her by
the loving embrace and all-sufficient support of his eternal arms.
Here, then, is established a living, sensible, and delightful union
which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, complacency,
and joy, whereof both the bride and bridegroom love to drink. When the
soul can evidently perceive this oneness between itself and Christ, the
pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the one blood as flowing
through the veins of each. Then is the heart as near heaven as it can
be on earth, and is prepared for the enjoyment of the most sublime and
spiritual kind of fellowship.

EVENING:

"I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword."
-- Matthew 10:34

The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his
objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the true,
should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a
small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly,
and reveal himself to him more graciously than ever. O ye who have
taken up his cross, know ye not what your Master said? "I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother; and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is
the great Peacemaker; but before peace, he brings war. Where the light
cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee;
or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot
and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden under
foot. If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world
yelping at your heels. If you would live so as to stand the test of the
last tribunal, depend upon it the world will not speak well of you. He
who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are
true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching
fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities. Fearless of
all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a
lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best
friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus
be courageous. For the truth's sake to hazard reputation and affection,
is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral
principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not
your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in
your Master's steps, for he has traversed this rough way before you.
Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and
everlasting torment.

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SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
easy-to-sing songs about God's faithfulness.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260

Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
ministry. Thanks SO MUCH for your help!

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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
and preacher Charles Spurgeon. It's part of HEARTLIGHT Magazine,
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My Utmost For His Highest : "Continuous Conversion"

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December 28, 2007

CONTINUOUS CONVERSION

Except ye be converted, and become as little children...
.

Matthew 18:3

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=mt+18:3&sr=1

These words of Our Lord are true of our initial conversion, but we
have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives,
continually to turn to God as children. If we trust to our wits
instead of to God, we produce consequences for which God will hold us
responsible. Immediately our bodies are brought into new conditions
by the providence of God, we have to see that our natural life obeys
the dictates of the Spirit of God. Because we have done it once is no
proof that we shall do it again. The relation of the natural to the
spiritual is one of continuous conversion, and it is the one thing we
object to. In every setting in which we are put, the Spirit of God
remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered, but we have to "put on
the new man." God holds us responsible every time we refuse to
convert ourselves, our reason for refusing is wilful obstinacy. Our
natural life must not rule, God must rule in us.

The hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will not be
continually converted, there are wadges of obstinacy where our pride
spits at the throne of God and says - I won't. We deify independence
and wilfulness and call them by the wrong name. What God looks on as
obstinate weakness, we call strength. There are whole tracts of our
lives which have not yet been brought into subjection, and it can
only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can
claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.

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SIMPLY CHRISTIAN: WHY CHRISTIANITY MAKES SENSE, by N. T. Wright
Destined to become a classic alongside Lewis's Mere Christianity - a
fascinating and accessible apologetic for modern seekers.
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Praying with Paul : "Fullness of Love"

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FULLNESS OF LOVE

Colossians 4:2-6

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Colossians+4:2-6

Dear Father, grantor of wisdom,

Help me conduct myself wisely toward outsiders, making the most of
the time.

Let my speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, and may I
always know how to answer.

Help me and all your saints to show ourselves to be a people who
live life to the fullest, because we live in the fullness of your
love shown in Jesus Christ!

In the name of Jesus I ask you to fill our lives with your holy
life and to claim all our motives and deeds as your own. Amen.

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WOW HITS 2006, by Various Artists
They're here---all the chart-topping radio hits by your favorite
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WJD! -- We Had Hoped! -- Luke 24:13-27

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Friday, December 28, 2007

We Had Hoped!

That same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a town
named Emmaus. It is about seven miles from Jerusalem. They
were talking about everything that had happened. While they
were discussing these things, Jesus himself came near and
walked with them. (But the two men were not allowed to
recognize Jesus.) Then Jesus said, "What are these things you
are talking about while you walk?" The two men stopped. Their
faces looked very sad. The one named Cleopas answered, "You
must be the only person in Jerusalem that does not know what
has just happened there." Jesus said to them, "What are you
talking about?" The men said to him, "It's about Jesus, the
one from Nazareth. To God and to all the people he was a
great prophet. He said and did many powerful things. But our
leaders and the leading priests gave him away to be judged
and killed. They nailed Jesus to a cross. We were hoping that
Jesus would be the one to free Israel (the Jews). But then
all this happened. And now something else: It has been three
days since {Jesus was killed}, but today some of our women
told us an amazing thing. Early this morning the women went
to the tomb (grave) where the body of Jesus was laid. But
they did not find his body there. They came and told us that
they had seen some angels in a vision. The angels said that
Jesus was alive! So some of our group went to the tomb, too.
It was just like the women said--{the tomb was empty}. They
saw the tomb, but they did not see him (Jesus)." Then Jesus
said to the two men, "You are foolish and slow to realize
what is true. You should believe everything the prophets
said. The prophets said that the Christ must suffer these
things before he enters his glory." Then Jesus began to
explain everything that had been written about himself in the
Scriptures. Jesus started with the books of Moses and then he
talked about what the prophets had said about him.

-- Luke 24:13-27 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
What do you do when hope is gone? This passage gives us a pretty good
example to follow. Even though the disciples did not realize that they
were doing it, they confessed to Jesus their disappointed hope. As a
result, he helped them to understand the scriptures related to what
they thought were their dashed hopes. We also need to take our problems
to Jesus, and then go to the Scriptures and ask the Lord to teach us
the truth about our disappointments. You see, the resurrection ensures
that Jesus is the Messiah who saves us. Jesus' resurrection ensures
that he teaches truth. This truth, however, is far more than a set of
facts. This is truth we can trust in the face of our disappointments
and disillusionments … and yes, even in the face of death.

TODAY'S PRAYER:
Holy God, there are places of disappointment and discouragement in my
heart. Please have Jesus open my heart as he draws near to me. I want
to understand your truth and live faithfully in response to that truth,
but I'm not sure that my faith is strong enough to stand with all I
sometimes have to face. I believe, dear Father, but help my confusion
and unbelief. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:

http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/luke/1228-wjd.html

>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Luke+24:13-27&sr=1&t=erv

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