Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/22/2019)...

We may be known by the following...

1. What we want most.
2. What we think about most.
3. How we use our money.
4. What we do with our leisure time.
5. The company we keep.
6. Who and what we admire.
7. What we laugh at.

by A. W. Tozer

Colossians‬ ‭1:9-10‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

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Philippians‬ ‭4:8-9‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

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Matthew 28:1-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/19/2019)...

EASTER WEEK...

On the Easter just before he died, D. William Sangster painfully printed a short note to his daughter. A deeply spiritual Methodist, he had been spearheading a renewal movement in the British Isles after World War II. Then his ministry, except for prayer, was ended by a disease which progressively paralyzed his body, even his vocal cords. But the last Resurrection Sunday he spent on earth, still able to move his fingers, he wrote: "How terrible to wake up on Easter and have no voice to shout, ’He is risen!’ Far worse, to have a voice and not want to shout."

James S. Hewett, “Illustrations Unlimited” (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 167.

Matthew‬ ‭28:1-7‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. 

Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. 

Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

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Luke 1:1-4; 24:38-49 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/18/2019)...

EASTER WEEK...

“...few devote more than ten percent of their pages to the subject’s death – including biographies of men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who died violent and politically significant deaths. The Gospels, though, devote nearly a third of their length to the climatic last week of Jesus’ life. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John saw death as the central mystery of Jesus.”

Philip Yancey, “The Jesus I Never Knew” (1995, p.188)

Luke‬ ‭1:1-4‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

Luke‬ ‭24:38-49‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. 

Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it as they watched. 

Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ You are witnesses of all these things. 

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

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1 John 1:1-4 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/17/2019)...

EASTER WEEK...

“The most powerful historical proof of the resurrection is the ‘resurrected’ disciples. Dull, defeated people became fearless, adventuresome leaders. Cowards became courageous; the timid became triumphant; the inept did the impossible. ‘He is risen!’ became the joyous chant of a new life without limits.”

Lloyd Ogilvie (Life without Limits, p. 283).

Acts 2:32-33‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

1 John‬ ‭1:1-4‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

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1 Peter 1:3-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/16/2019)...

EASTER WEEK...

“No matter how devastating our struggles, disappointments, and troubles are, they are only temporary. No matter what happens to you, no matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face, no matter how death stalks you and your loved ones, the Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good.”

Josh McDowell

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:3-7‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

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Colossians 3:9-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/12/2019)...

“In England, nearly 300 years ago, there was a merchant commander named Captain Fudge. This historical figure became famous for his lies and exaggerations about adventures on the high seas. His crew members were so accustomed to his tales that they would call each other ‘Fudge’ when one was straying from the truth. By the mid 1800s, children in America were readily referring to cheating as ‘fudging.’ Today many people still use the term when dealing with deception. Exaggerations are just as deceptive as blatant lies.”

Lee Stobel, Seeds Tape Ministry, (11/7/93)

Colossians‬ ‭3:9-10‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

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Ephesians‬ ‭4:25‬ ‭(NLT) So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

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2 Timothy 2:23-24 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (4/11/2019)...

“Just about everyone has heard of the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. What they might not know is how it all started. In 1878 they had a dispute over the ownership of a hog. That led to a 12-year war which resulted in the deaths of 3 Hatfields, 7 McCoys, and 2 outsiders. Disagreement over that one hog stole 12 years and 12 lives. Most family feuds today are equally ridiculous.”

Houston Post (4/3/95, p.D-3)

2 Timothy‬ ‭2:23-24‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.

James‬ ‭4:1-3‬ ‭(NLT‬‬) What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

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