Psalm 40:4-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/30/2014)...

"What if God wants to impact your today so that it changes your tomorrow?"

- Peter Hise (What Life Are You Waiting For?)

Psalm 40:8-10 (NLT) I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O LORD, well know. I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness. 

Jude 1:7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/29/2014)..,

Sodom had no churches...we have thousands.

Sodom had no Bible...we have millions.

Sodom had no preachers...we have ten thousand plus thousands.

Sodom had no Bible schools...we have at least two hundred and fifty.

Sodom had no prayer meetings...we have thousands .

Sodom had no gospel broadcasts...we are richly blessed with Christian broadcasts.

Sodom had no histories of God's judgment to warn it of danger...We have volumes of them.

Sodom perished in spite of all these disadvantages. America today is living only by the mercy of God. The only reason we are not smoking in the fire-wrath of a holy God is mercy...M-E-R-C-Y, prolonged mercy!

- Leonard Ravenhill ("Sodom Had No Bible" 1979)

Jude 1:7 (NLT) And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/28/2014)...

​"When I enter that beautiful city and the saints all around me appear, I hope that someone will tell me: 'It was you who invited me here.'"

- Corrie Ten Boom​

1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NLT) And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment. 

Philippians 1:25-27 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/27/2014)...

Jesus has many who love his kingdom in heaven, but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share his feast, but few his fasting. All desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for his sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion. Many admire his miracles, but few follow him in the humiliation of the cross.

- Thomas a Kempis

Philippians 1:27-30 (NLT) Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it. 

John 15:13 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/26/2014)...

We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.

- Ronald Reagan (May 26, 1983)

John 15:13 (NLT) There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

Luke 12:16-21 (NLT).,,

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/23/2014)...

"He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever."

- John Tillotson

Luke 12:16-21 (NLT) Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” 

Jonah 2:1-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (5/22/2014)...

"Prayer is the most deeply human action in which we can engage. Behavior we have in common with the animals. Thinking we have in common with the angels. But prayer - the attentiveness and responsiveness of the human being before God - is human...prayer is our core activity. The life of prayer, the practice of prayer, is at the center of the human enterprise."

- Eugene H. Peterson (Under The Unpredictable Plant, p. 111)

Jonah 2:1-10 (NLT) Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. He said, 

"I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me! You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ 

“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.” 

Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.