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Loving God with Your Words

2012-05-14T12:43:07Z

by Joyce Meyer
May 14, 2012
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I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
--Psalm 34:1 NKJV

]]> It is good to have love for God in your heart, but even better to express it with the words of your mouth. Tell God several times each day that you love Him; say with the Psalmist David: "I love you fervently and devotedly, O Lord my Strength" (Psalm 18:1). It isn't good enough to merely think, "God knows how I feel."

Are you blessed when people tell you they love and appreciate you? Of course you are, and it blesses God when we verbalize our love and praise for Him. Verbal expression of love and gratitude improves all our relationships, including our relationship with God.

It is also good to verbalize thanksgiving several times each day. Quite often we should say as we go about our day, "Thank you, Lord for everything, I love you." One hundred times a day would not be too much. Psalm 104 says we should be thankful and say so. Expressing gratitude is good for us; it reminds us of our blessings and helps us not to complain quite so much.

Don't offer your petitions to God without telling Him how grateful you are for what He has already done for you. As parents we are more likely to answer the request of a thankful child than we are a grouchy and ungrateful one. As an employer I want to do even more for employees who are appreciative.

Offering our continual gratitude to God for His goodness and mercy in our lives moves Him to want to do even more for us. Our gratitude shows God that we are mature enough to handle even more blessing and responsibility.

Women often say, "I know my husband loves me, but I wish he would tell me more often." Let's try to be more diligent in telling God, and the people in our lives, that we love and appreciate them and what they mean to us.

Love God Today: It is impossible to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and not hear it come out of your mouth.

Two Prime Ministers, Two Americas

2012-05-14T12:34:37Z

by Ken Blackwell
May 14, 2012
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Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison.

Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of an embattled Great Britain on May 10, 1940. At last, his political exile was over.

]]> Also that day, Adolf Hitler launched his blitzkrieg against Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg, and his armored panzer divisions ripped through the Ardennes forest.

Churchill had been warning against this outcome for a decade. It was Churchill, after all, who foresaw the possibilities of tank warfare in the darkest days of World War I. Surely, Churchill pleaded, there must be a better way to employ brave soldiers than having them "chew barbed wire in Flanders."

Hitler, too, learned the bitter lessons of trench warfare of World War I. Hitler did not spend the 1930s in the political wilderness. He spent those years in rapid rearmament. From the day he became Chancellor in 1933 until the day he launched his war against Poland, Hitler wanted nothing so much as revenge. He sought vengeance against the French, to be sure, and, to a lesser extent, against the British. But mostly, Hitler wanted to avenge Germany's loss against the Jews. He blamed the Jews for what he called "the stab in the back" of Germany's surrender in World War I.

In 1940, after ten years as a voice crying in the wilderness, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in Britain's hour of maximum danger. "Hitler knows he must break us in this island or lose the war," Churchill told his people. Many thought at the time that he was over dramatizing Britain's plight. But we now know that Hitler's best chance of winning the war came in that summer of 1940. That was when France fell under his tank treads. That was when his Wehrmacht soldiers haughtily goose-stepped through the Arc de Triomphe and the swastika flag flew over the Eiffel Tower.

Most important, we now recognize that Winston Churchill, whose mother was American, stood for America, too. Had Britain succumbed to Nazi invasion, how long could America have held out in a world suddenly grown more dangerous? How long could the United States have held out if a triumphant Hitler had given his nuclear scientists the same latitude and encouragement he gave his rocket scientists?

America's destiny was bound up that summer of 1940 with the Royal Air Force battling Hitler's Luftwaffe in the skies over Southern England. "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few," Churchill would say of his brave young RAF pilots.

We Americans may well owe our liberty to Churchill and the RAF. But there was not a single American in the sandbagged shelter deep beneath London's Treasury Building when Winston Churchill guided his War Cabinet's brave resistance to Hitler tyranny.

Today, we are in similar peril. Prime Minister Benjamin leads the only democracy in the Mideast. In agreeing with the opposition Kadima party to postpone elections, Netanyahu has created in effect the national government that Churchill was called upon to lead in World War II. United, Israelis stand against the Iranian threat.

In Iran, the clerics declare that the in-gathering of Jews from Russia, Europe, and the Arab lands into "the Zionist entity" has been an act of God. "It saves us the trouble of hunting them down," say the mullahs. Like Hitler, they openly call for the extermination of the Jews. Like Hitler, they view America with hatred and suspicion.

Americans in 1940 were confused. Why give destroyers to Churchill? If Britain goes down, Hitler will only be that much stronger? Besides, why should Americans once again pull the British chestnuts out of the fire? U.S. Ambassador Joe Kennedy thought it could all be avoided if only Europe's Jews could be shipped off to Madagascar.

President Obama has wasted three years extending "an open hand not a clenched fist" to the mullahs who rule Tehran. He ignored the plight of the students in Tehran who paid with their lives in their quest for freedom. Now, Mr. Obama has latched on to "talks" with the Iranian dictators. While they talk, they not-so-secretly lunge for nuclear weapons. No wonder Americans today are confused.

Prime Minister Netanyahu warns us. Soon, the Iranians may have enough of their nuclear weapons program deep within mountains so they cannot be stopped in their headlong quest to dominate. Then, we will see the ultimate weapons in the hands of the ultimate terrorists.

Benjamin Netanyahu is not half American, as Churchill was. But he did graduate from an American high school. And he does speak English, they say, "with a Philadelphia accent." Americans understand that freedom is not free. We have always been willing to fight for our liberty. That's what the Liberty Bell stands for. If he strikes Iran's nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will strike a blow for our liberty, too.

Are You Somebody's Thorn?

2012-05-14T12:26:15Z

by R.T. Kendall
May 14, 2012
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As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. --Proverbs 27:17

]]> It is sobering to realize that you may be a thorn in the flesh to someone else. Has it dawned on you that you are another person's problem because of your particular personality? The problem is, of course, yours, but you unfortunately make it somebody else's as well. It may be the person who has to live with you, work with you, or deal with you from time to time. You force that person to have to walk on eggshells around you. He or she loses sleep because of you. How does that make you feel? Well, it sobers me to my fingertips, knowing that I may very well be another person's thorn in the flesh.

Perhaps you are aware of your problem, but you say, "I can't help it. This is who I am." You have prayed about it often. But have you really tried to get help? You are never too old to learn as long as you want your problems solved.

So when you don't have a balanced personality, you have difficulty in getting along with people. You keep sticking your foot in your mouth. You keep rubbing people the wrong way. Only Jesus had the perfect personality. He also has the perfect combination of self-confidence and care for others. That is the ideal person: having the balance of self-confidence, concern, and care for others.

If your personality is your thorn in the flesh, then you should admit it. Be thankful if you can see that you have a problem.

A personality problem is not necessarily sin. It is because you are a sinner that you have it, yes, for nobody is perfect. And yet there is a point at which a personality problem becomes sin: when you excuse it and justify it. If you say, "Well, that's just me," that's when it becomes sin. It is sinful when you excuse yourself and do nothing about it.

Excerpted from The Thorn in the Flesh (Charisma House, 2004).

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Jealousy--The Sin No One Talks About is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and wherever fine books are sold.

Publisher: Strang Communications Company

Christian Education Defined

2012-05-14T12:22:23Z

by Natalie A. Francisco
May 14, 2012
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The term "Christian" is defined as "a believer in Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, or in the religion based on the teachings of Jesus; of or professing the religion based on His teachings; (and) having the qualities taught by Jesus Christ, as love, kindness, humility, etc" (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1990).

]]> Hence, the lifestyle of a Christian should reflect the principles outlined in the Bible, which is understood and accepted by those who profess such a lifestyle to be the infallible, authoritative word of God. Therefore, it is from this reliable source that Christian education is derived.

Education is "the knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process" (American Heritage Electronic Dictionary , 1992). Christian education, however, is "the transmission of communication skills and the accumulated knowledge of society along with principles [especially moral] to individuals. This is more effectively done by teachers having authority to present material [that is a curriculum based upon the Bible] to students in order to motivate and stimulate the intellectual, as well as the spiritual appetite of the learner. Character is then developed by decisions made as principles are presented. Honest presentation causes there to be decisions made with the full assurance of knowing that there are consequences to either choice" (Baker, The Successful Christian School, 1990). Therefore, the mere process of conformity is not the objective, but rather, the process of transformation, which can only be accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the autonomous man can literally become transformed by nature into a disciple of Jesus Christ through Christian education.

The words of Jesus Christ in John 13:35 state, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." The term disciple translated in the Greek text according to Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary, is mathetes, which means "a learner, i.e., a pupil (or) disciple." A disciple then, is one who grasps, understands and applies the concepts taught by an instructor who has already mastered the subject material. In this respect, the instructor would be one whose life exemplifies the very character and nature of Jesus Christ. The culmination of Christianity, as a result, is not found in the Christian's mere confession of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Instead, true discipleship is based upon the premise that one obeys the teaching of loving others as previously stated in the scriptural text. Consequently, evangelism through Christian education places emphasis upon the presentation of the gospel (or the teachings of Jesus Christ) through discipleship. Yet, the catalyst for sharing such a message is the compassion that the Church is to have for all men, in a social and moral sense, regardless of creed, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. To love others then, involves the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety. This is the impetus that leads to true discipleship of self and others.

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Learning to Be Present Now

2012-05-14T12:16:18Z

by Michael Hyatt
May 14, 2012
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I just returned from the Catalyst Conference in Dallas where I spoke on the topic of my new book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. The theme for this year's conference series is "Be Present."

]]> This is a particularly powerful reminder for me. I seem to be always living in the future. I'm either planning my next big project or worried about how it will turn out.

But this reminds me that all I really have is now. The past is gone. The future is not guaranteed. This moment is a gift.

Maybe that's why it's called "the present."

Every now and then we get a reminder about how fragile life is. We just can't take it for granted. Each moment is precious.

For example, several years ago I was attending the early service at our church. My family was coming later in a separate car and had not yet arrived.

About twenty minutes into the service, one of my friends walked up behind me and whispered in my ear, "Michael, your family has been in a car accident. You need to leave now!"

This is about the worst possible news I could imagine receiving. Unfortunately, he didn't have any details. The wreck had occurred about two miles from our church.

I raced to the scene of the accident. But the traffic was backed up. I suspected it was because of the wreck. I parked my car on the side of the road and started running.

My heart was pounding. My mind was racing. I imagined the worst.

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Don't We Wish Life Was a Whole Lot Tidier?

2012-05-14T12:12:02Z

by Beth Moore
May 14, 2012
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I love you guys in this blog community so much. And I hope to heaven it goes without saying that I love my extended family. Lord have mercy, oh so much.

]]> But every now and then we are challenged to figure out how to demonstrate a balanced love to all of the above. This is my attempt and it will no doubt fall short of the place I wish it would land. I remember Kay Arthur telling a group at a Deeper Still event (in the Q&A segment) how painful it is to be totally misunderstood by something said or quoted out of context. She said, "If I somehow get my words wrong, haven't we been together long enough for you to know my heart??" It hit me so powerfully.

My hope is that, if I somehow miss the mark and don't find that perfect balance between honoring this flock and honoring my family, perhaps each entity has been with me long enough to know my heart. I have never been more honored by a series appearing on this blog than my beloved sister Gay's 7 installments. They were, each one, completely genuine and written in complete honesty. And they all still stand as a testament to the inconceivable power, grace, and healing of God.

But her story goes on.

And so do the rest of ours.

And life is hard, the devil is mean, the flesh gets weak, but the love of God stays strong.

I simply write today to say that you will never waste a prayer on anyone around here. We are all flesh and blood, weak in our natural selves, but (many of us) deeply committed to our pursuit of Christ. We're not playing a game here. He is everything to us. Our joy. Our Strength. Our Refuge when we're hurting. Our Rock when we're rocking.

We established this blog with an unwavering commitment to remaining real in our witness and in our encouragement and exhortation. Thus far, we have to my knowledge held onto that commitment for dear life and, goodness knows, that's a praise to God alone. This post is just an attempt to continue in that vein. We want to stay real with you. And what's real is that Gay's story is still being written even amid a painful turn of events and by the faithful God who spoke her name before the foundation of the world.

And my story is still being written. And I know your hearts well enough to imagine that right now you would say, "And mine, too."

I wish it was tidier but it's not. Gay has suffered a hard blow. I am heartbroken for her and also just plain heartbroken. One of these days there will be a next chapter from Gay, whether it's here or elsewhere. It will not negate a single one she's written. It will simply add to. It also does not negate a single thing I wrote or shared in Mercy Triumphs. I love her so much. I know you love her, too. We do not condemn here. We do not shame. We believe that our God can conquer all, recover all, redeem all, and use all.

I wish we could have it more together around here sometimes, sisters, but we remain completely cast upon our Savior and we live one day at a time. I love you immensely and I thank you for your patience with us. We are works in progress, all of us. Would you be so gracious not to press too hard for more details right now? To tell you the truth, they're in flux and less than clear anyway. Let's just leave some space for the beautiful healing mercies of God and let most of our talk take place from our knees.

You mean something to me. Something down deep. I want so much to serve you responsibly.

With much love,

Beth

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Publisher: Tyndale

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So Long, Insecurity is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and wherever fine books are sold.
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Persist and Persevere

2012-05-14T12:07:02Z

by T.D. Jakes

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Persistence--Holding Fast To Your Confession of Faith

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (Hebrews 10:22-23 KJV)

]]> My brothers and sisters, you may be going through hell right now. The fact of the matter is you must accept the reality that God the Father, creator of Heaven and earth, is trying to mold you and transform you. God wants to change you into what He has declared as His purpose for your life, and that which He spoke about in His written Word. That Word says: You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves you (see Romans 8:37). You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (see Rom. 3:22). Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4). You have the power to tread upon serpents and scrorpions and over all the power of the enemy (see Luke 10:19). No weapon formed against you shall prosper (see Isa. 54:17). You really are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, the rich and not the poor (see Deut. 28: 12-13).

You, my brothers and sisters, are indeed what God's Word says you are. You are to appropriate what the Word says you are and what the Word says you have. It involves more than just "believing and receiving!"

You've got to be able to persist and move forward in the will of God for your life. Your persistence must continue even when everything seems to be falling apart and when it looks like nothing is turning out right. Stop whining. Learn to stand up under pressure. Set the vision of God before you like a flint and move forward full speed ahead with the plan of God. I don't care how many times the lights get cut off. I don't care how many times the water and heat are turned off. I don't care how many times the rent is overdue. I don't care if you don't have a car and have to use the bus to get from point A to point B. I don't care if you have to eat red beans and rice three days a week just to survive. Forget the dumb stuff!

If God gave you a vision for something, you've got to know the devil will not sit idly by. You have to fight the devil for the vision, tooth and toenail, every single step of the way. It's less intense to take the easy road, the road of trusting in the things and systems of this world. It's always convenient to call Mommy and daddy, to get a loan, or to compromise your standards and morals for a promotion on the job. It may see justifiable to embezzle money from the saints of god to make your church or ministry grow. After all, you're just trying to do the work of the Lord, and they owe it to you.

Know, my brothers and sisters, that the world has a particular road to success. The way of the wicked is the path that leads to spiritual, moral, and physical destruction.

The path to true spiritual, moral, physical and economic success is the road less traveled. It's the straight and narrow road. In order to truly increase, you must first decrease. Before a seed buds and bears fruit, it must first fall into the ground and die. In order to gain your life, you must first lose it for Christ's sake. If you really want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, you must have fellowship with His sufferings. We've got to stop being enemies of the Cross. We must take up our cross and bear it daily. The going has always been rough, so we might as well set our minds to get tough. Don't just praise God when everything seems fine and well. We've got to start learning how to cry out to Him in praise even when it appears we're going through hell.

God wants to get you to the point that you become as faithful as the patriarch Job. When anointed people get under pressure, like Job they say, "Even though He slay me, yet shall I hope in Him." (see Job 13:15). He wants you to differ from the children of Israel, who only murmured and complained when He brought them out of Egyptian bondage. God knows you're anointed, and anointed people have the qualities of Moses, Paul, Stephen, and Jesus. They are faithful, regardless of the afflictions, unto death. In this, God is greatly glorified.

This article is an excerpt from T. D. Jakes' book "Power for Living."

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Let It Go is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and BlackCBC.com and wherever fine books are sold.

Publisher: Atria Books

The Search for a Personal God

2012-05-14T12:05:38Z

by Ergun Caner

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Young Timothy grew up in Egypt, the son of devout Muslims. Studying the Qur'an and worshiping within the mystical Sufi sect of Islam, Timothy desired to have a closer, more intimate relationship with Allah.

]]> At the age of fourteen he began preaching Islam publicly on the first Monday of every lunar month. Eager to win others to the faith, Timothy began writing to a Christian in the United States. John wrote back to Timothy diligently for two years. Then Timothy was shocked when John visited him in Egypt. Timothy later recounted, "I became jealous of John's intimacy with God and increased my recitations of the Qur'an."

After incredible soul searching, God manifested Himself to Timothy:

One night Christ appeared to me in a dream and said with a tender sweet voice, "I love you!" I saw how obstinately I had resisted Him all these years and said to Him in tears, "I love You, too! I know You! You are eternal for ever and ever."

I woke up with tears all over my face filled with abundant joy, believing that Christ Himself touched both my mind and my heart, and I yielded. I was filled with great passion for Christ, jumping up and down, singing praises to His name and talking to Him day and night. I would not even sleep without God's inerrant Word, the Bible, next to my chest.

Timothy had found what he had been searching for his entire life: an intimate, personal relationship with God. Love secured him eternally. Yet it did not come without cost.

Timothy's refusal to hide his faith almost cost him his life. Persecuted and imprisoned, Timothy took refuge in the love of Christ. Finally he was sentenced to death by the authorities. Yet Timothy ecaped and emigrated to the United States.

Now, years later, Timothy holds to the Bible's greatest promise - salvation. He concludes his testimony:

Please don't let me rush your salvation, Lord, in the midst of trouble, but please give me patience so I can endure hardships as a soldier of the cross of Christ! Lord, may Your love consume me to such an extent that the doing of Your will would be the real bread of my life.

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Unveiling Islam is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and wherever fine books are sold.

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Relationship vs. Rules

2012-05-14T11:59:11Z

by Tony Evans

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In His Presence: John 10:14-15

"My brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God . . . What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law''(Romans 7:4, 7).

]]> Romans 7 tells us that the Law is good. But the problem with the Law is that it can't help us deal with sin. While it can show us what is wrong, it can't empower us to improve. Only a relationship abiding in the presence of Jesus Christ can transform our lives. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was irrelevant to Adam and Eve. They had abundant life already. "I came that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). It was a life based on a relationship with God.

So how do we combat what Satan wants us to believe--that restrictions and "do's" and "don'ts" are unfair? We should focus on the goodness of God. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith" (Romans 3:23-25). This demonstration of grace is what the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden was all about.

One Minute Please

"From any tree of the garden you may eat freely"(Genesis 2:16).

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Publisher: Moody Publishers

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Three Requirements of God

2012-05-14T11:56:10Z

by Kathi Macias

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In English and Spanish

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8, NKJV)

I've always loved this verse, but lately it's been rolling around in my heart and mind a lot, stirring up thoughts and feelings I hadn't considered before.

]]> First, I've been impressed by the opening words: "He has shown you." That's God speaking to us, isn't it? He has shown us. But what has He shown us...and how did He do so?

He showed us that He requires three things of us: to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with Him. And, of course, knowing that we are unable to fulfill those requirements on our own, He sent His Son to model and live those requirements for us.

If you consider the life of Christ as depicted in the gospels, I believe you can find that every act or deed falls into one of the three categories of God's requirements for us. Isn't that amazing? Another proof that God is righteous and requires righteous behavior from His children, but also another proof that He is merciful and provides a way for us to fulfill those otherwise impossible requirements.

The next time you read through the gospels, I challenge you to consider each scene of the Savior's life and ask yourself which of God's three requirements Jesus models in that scene. I believe it will give you a fresh appreciation for the amazing life of our beloved Lord and Savior during the time He walked this earth.

"Oh hombre, él te ha declarado lo que es bueno, y qué pide Jehová de ti: solamente hacer justicia, y amar misericordia, y humillarte ante tu Dios" (Miqueas 6:8 RV 1960).

A mí siempre me ha encantado este versículo, pero últimamente ha estado rodando mucho en mi corazón y en mi mente, removiendo pensamientos y sentimientos que yo no había considerado antes.

Primero, me he impresionado con las palabras al principio: "Él te ha declarado." ¿Ese es Dios quien nos habla, verdad? Él nos lo ha declarado. ¿Pero qué nos ha declarado... cómo lo hizo?

Él nos mostró que requiere tres cosas de nosotros: hacer justicia, amar misericordia, humillarnos ante Dios. Y, por supuesto, sabiendo que somos incapaces de realizar esas exigencias por medio de nuestro propio esfuerzo, Él envió a Su Hijo para modelar y vivir esas exigencias para nosotros.

Si usted considera la vida de Cristo como está representada en los evangelios, creo que usted puede encontrar que cada acto o hecho cabe en una de las tres categorías de las exigencias de Dios para nosotros. ¿No es asombroso? Otra prueba que Dios es justo y requiere el comportamiento justo de Sus hijos, pero también otra prueba que Él es misericordioso y proporciona un camino para que nosotros realicemos esas exigencias por otra parte imposibles.

La próxima vez que usted lea rapidamente los evangelios, lo desafío a considerar cada escena de la vida del Salvador y preguntarse cuál de las tres exigencias de Dios Jesús modela en esa escena. Creo que le dará una apreciación fresca de la vida asombrosa de nuestro querido Señor y Salvador durante el tiempo que Él anduvo en esta tierra.

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Red Ink is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, wherever fine books are sold.

Publisher: New Hope Publishers

Influences from Childhood

2012-05-14T11:54:21Z

by Charles Stanley

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Read | Isaiah 61:1-3

No one's childhood is perfect. What we experienced during those years has a profound impact, even into adulthood. Things we saw, heard, felt, and even things we did not feel can affect us later in life.

]]> As one might expect, external influences do help to shape our personality. However, the result is not always predictable. For example, early years full of painful experiences leave deeps wounds in some, but in others, they contribute to the development of depth and perseverance.

Whether your younger years were joyful or painful, it can be valuable to consider what their impact was, back then as well as in the present. You might start by exploring your responses to key childhood events. Next, identify traits that you appreciated in your parents and others--qualities you'd like to nurture in your own life. Finally, think about people with characteristics that impacted you negatively. Ask God for healing and freedom from the patterns you may have developed in response. Then shift your focus to godly attributes you want to exhibit instead, such as peace, grace, and gentleness.

The heavenly Father wants to free you from any negative trends that took root early in life. He can break any unhealthy pattern and replace it with hope and deep satisfaction in Him.

As you explore the effects of childhood experiences, pray to see through a lens of truth. When you recognize ways that others negatively influenced you, pray for strength to forgive and God's help in mending areas of brokenness--whether spiritual, emotional, relational, or mental.

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Romney Says He Needs To Make Sure Voters Understand What His Views Are

2012-05-14T11:51:57Z

by David Brody

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From Brody File Executive Producer Dana Ritter on site at Liberty University:

GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney gave what could be considered the biggest speech of his political career Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty University is the biggest evangelical Christian university in the world and the crowd was 34,000 people.

]]> After his big speech, Romney sat down with Jennifer Wishon, White House Correspondent for CBN News.

David Brody was planning to do the interview but a last second family emergency made that impossible.

She asked him about how he is going to court evangelical voters.

MANDATORY COURTESY: CBN News/The Brody File

Jennifer Wishon: "Governor, we are at the world's largest evangelical Christian university. How do you plan to actively court evangelical voters and also energize them to get out the vote? Or do you think that you don't necessarily have to do anything special to make that happen?"

Mitt Romney: "I think I have to make a real effort to get every voter in this country. Those people who are inclined to my views of the issues of the day, whether they are economic issues, foreign policy issues, social issues, I need to make sure they understand what my views are. Encourage them to get involved in the process, because this President is taking the country in a very different direction than most people would like to see it go. And I need them to understand how we can get it back on track, and how if we work together, we can do that. "

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Why I Condemn Obama's Support of Same-Sex Marriage

2012-05-14T11:49:28Z

by Harry Jackson Jr.

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The president's statement on Wednesday announcing he is endorsing same-sex marriage around the country is a great disappointment for many people. His decision is of great concern to those who still believe in traditional marriage.

]]> These people fall into two major categories--those whose belief systems are informed by their spiritual background and those who have been convinced that redefining marriage will be a horrible social experiment that will further weaken America's declining structure.

Many in the faith community have suspected for some time that the president's announcement was coming. It seems as though the administration feels that this moment will bolster the same-sex marriage movement from the crushing defeat it experienced in North Carolina.

There are two outcomes I believe the president's advisers have not anticipated: (1) His announcement will strengthen future campaigns for the remaining states pushing a marriage amendment. In the state of Maryland, in particular, the already-successful petition process will be injected with a new fuel of enthusiasm and intensity. (2) Although many political analysts believe this announcement will blow over by November, they seem to forget that President Bush won Florida and Ohio in 2004 because of a 7 to 11 percent shift in the black vote alone.

In this election season, we all are aware that the economy will be the big story of the day. Nonetheless, current polls show a small margin of difference between both the presidential candidates and numerous other races around the country.

It may well be that a shift in support will be precipitated by the president's untimely decision in light of his failure to lift the economic standing of both blacks and Hispanics. These two groups are some of the nation's most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage. A critical mass of these voters may be pulled from their political moorings, creating an opportunity for the defeat of numerous candidates around the country, including President Obama.

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Evolution's End? President Obama Calls for Same-Sex Marriage

2012-05-14T11:47:08Z

by Albert Mohler

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Is President Obama's "evolution" on same sex marriage finally complete? His call for the legalization of same-sex marriage yesterday is an historic and tragic milestone. An incumbent President of the United States has now called for a transformation of civilization's central institution. And yet, no observer of this President could be surprised. The arrival of this announcement was only a matter of time.

]]> The White House confirmed this within hours of the President's announcement. As The New York Times reported on May 10, "Advisers say now that Mr. Obama had intended since early this year to define his position sometime before Democrats nominate him for re-election in September."

Previous news reports indicated that the 2012 platform for the Democratic Party would likely include a call for same-sex marriage. The pressure was on the White House, with the President caught in an awkward and embarrassing situation in which major figures on both sides of the controversy believed that his public position did not reflect his true convictions.

In December of 2010, the President told Jake Tapper of ABC News, "My feelings about this are constantly evolving." Last October, he told George Stephanopoulos, "I'm still working on it." As Dan Amira of New York magazine summarized that comment, "President Obama won't say if he'll stop pretending to oppose gay marriage before the election."

In August of 2008, running for the White House, President Obama had said: "I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian -- for me -- for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God's in the mix."

In February of 1996, running for state office in Illinois, Obama signed a letter to a homosexual newspaper in Chicago that included the statement, "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages." So, his statement today puts him back where he was on the record as recently as 1996 -- calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

The President's position since 2008 has been untenable. Having endorsed same-sex marriage when running for office in 1996, he evidently changed his position as he ran for the U. S. Senate in 2004 and for President in 2008. Since then, his language and his actions have been contradictory. He has said that he opposes same-sex marriage, but he ordered his Attorney General not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Officials in his administration openly advocated same-sex marriage, even as the President dropped hint after hint that he did as well. The President found himself facing the fact that he would have to declare himself one way or the other on the question as the 2012 election unfolded -- so now we know.

Why now? The Washington Post reports that he was under intense pressure from many Democrats, including his major campaign fundraisers. According to the paper's report, one in six of the President's major "bundlers," or fundraisers, is a self-identified homosexual.

The immediate pressure came after Vice President Joe Biden said last Sunday that he was "completely comfortable" with same-sex marriage. The Vice President's statement on the issue delivered full support for same-sex marriage. On Monday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan followed Biden's lead.

The President was under intense pressure within his party, but the issue quickly turned into an issue of presidential character. No one made this point more directly than Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post, in a column that ran yesterday morning. "Same-sex marriage is turning into a test of character and leadership for President Obama," she wrote. "Does he favor it, or doesn't he? In the wake of Vice President Biden's remarks supportive of marriage equality, the continued presidential equivocation makes Obama look weak and evasive"

She wasn't finished. "The longer Obama waits, the worse he looks. The President's first stall tactic, that he is 'evolving' on the issue, doesn't cut it anymore. Even Darwin would have lost patience by now. His second approach, the not-gonna-make-news-for-you-today cop-out, has also worn thin. If you wonder whether the President actually opposes same-sex marriage, doesn't evolution imply change? And if you think perhaps he's still conflicted -- well, that's hardly an advertisement to be leader of the free world. At this point, Obama's reticence is looking cowardly."

The President could probably survive that kind of criticism from conservatives, but not from liberals. Clearly, he had to clarify his position.

The President chose to make his statement in an interview with ABC. His statement was really not a serious argument for the legalization of same-sex marriage, however. He spoke of the issue as if it is a matter of personal taste.He told ABC's Robin Roberts that "at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

He made his statement the day after voters in North Carolina voted overwhelmingly in support of defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman -- the 30th state to have taken such action.

Honesty is the best policy, and the President has now made his position clear. He is again for what he was until today against, but that was only after he was for it before. The American people will have to unravel that as an issue of character. He is hardly the first politician to find himself holding to an "evolving" position on an issue of fundamental importance. Most politicians, however, do their best to avoid the kind of situation in which the President found himself on this issue.

In any event, the fact remains that the President of the United States has now put himself publicly on the line for the radical redefinition of marriage, subverting society's most central institution.

This is a sad day for America, but the President's statement was not a surprise. Given the political context he faced, the only question was when the President would make his public statement of endorsement for the legalization of same-sex marriage. We now know the answer to that question.

This is a sad day for marriage, but now we know the truth.

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Live Creatively for Christ

2012-05-14T11:44:41Z

by Billy Graham

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Living creatively for Christ in the home is the acid test for any Christian man or woman. It is far easier to live an excellent life among your friends, when you are putting your best foot forward and are conscious of public opinion, than it is to live for Christ in your home.

]]> Your own family circle knows whether Christ lives in you and through you. If you are a true Christian, you will not give way at home to bad temper, impatience, fault-finding, sarcasm, unkindness, suspicion, selfishness, or laziness. Instead, you will reveal through your daily life the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and all the other Christian virtues which round out a Christ-like personality.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

My family, Lord, knows the real me--they deserve so much more. May I live so close to You that Your love will flow through me to them.

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