DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

Go To Morning Reading                    Evening, September 28 “Go again seven times.” — 1 Kings 18:43 Success is certain when the Lord has promised it. Although you may have pleaded month after month without evidence of answer, it is not possible that the Lord should be deaf when his people are earnest in a matter which concerns his glory. The prophet on the top of Carmel continued to wrestle with God, and never for a moment gave way to a fear that he should be non-suited in Jehovah’s courts. Six times the servant returned, but on each occasion no word was spoken but “Go again.” We must not dream of unbelief, but hold to our faith even to seventy times seven. Faith sends expectant hope to look from Carmel’s brow, and if nothing is beheld, she sends again and again. So far from being crushed by repeated disappointment, faith is animated to plead more fervently with her God. She is humbled, but not abashed: her groans are de...

September 28: Turning the Tables Zechariah 12:1–14:21; Acts 26:1–32 ; Job 31:1–8 When Paul presents the gospel before King Agrippa, we expect him to be defensive. But Paul is ready to shift the spotlight. He offers a surprisingly simple explanation of recent events and a testimony of his faith, and then he describes how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. He deftly turns the tables and gives the king the opportunity to believe. Paul describes the gospel as something that was intended all along—it is nothing new: “Therefore I have experienced help from God until this day, and I stand here testifying to both small and great saying nothing except what both the prophets and Moses have said were going to happen, that the Christ was to suffer and that as the first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles” ( Acts 26:23 ). Paul respectfully tells Agrippa that his testimony should come as no great surprise. Agr...

September 28th The “go” of unconditional identification One thing thou lackest.… come, take up the cross, and follow Me. Mark 10:21 . The rich young ruler had the master passion to be perfect. When he saw Jesus Christ, he wanted to be like Him. Our Lord never puts personal holiness to the fore when He calls a disciple; He puts absolute annihilation of my right to myself and identification with Himself—a relationship with Himself in which there is no other relationship. Luke 14:26 has nothing to do with salvation or sanctification, but with unconditional identification with Jesus Christ. Very few of us know the absolute “go” of abandonment to Jesus. “Then Jesus beholding him loved him.” The look of Jesus will mean a heart broken for ever from allegiance to any other person or thing. Has Jesus ever looked at you? The look of Jesus transforms and transfixes. Where you are ‘soft’ with God is where the Lord has looked at you. If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on your o...

September 28 Wait for the promise of the Father Acts 1:4 Tarry at a promise till God meets you there. He always returns by way of His promises. Selected  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

Humbling Yourself 2 Kings 22:19 Excerpt Josiah is commended for being responsive and humbling himself. The Heb.  kana˒  suggests public humiliation, with undertones of shame and dishonor. But only if one is humbled against his will! A person who humbles himself before God as Josiah did openly confesses himself a sinner, crushed and hopeless. This is our appropriate response when we realize how we fall short of meeting God’s standards, and how greatly we stand in need of forgiving grace.  More Richards, Lawrence O.  The Bible Reader’s Companion . electronic ed. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991. Print.

Wonder Leads to Obedience Excerpt People obey God’s Word for different reasons, some because of fear of punishment, others to secure blessings, and still others because they love God and want to please Him. The psalmist stood in awe at the wonder of God’s Word—its harmony, beauty, perfection, practicality, power, and revelations. The longer I read and study the Bible, the more wonderful it becomes, and a God who wrote a book that wonderful deserves my obedience. To obey the Word is to become part of that wonder, to experience power and spiritual transformation in our lives.  More Wiersbe, Warren W.  Be Exultant . 1st ed. Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004. Print. “Be” Commentary Series.

Resurrection Romans 8:11 Excerpt The most startling characteristic of the first Christian preaching is its emphasis on the resurrection. The first preachers were sure that Christ had risen, and sure, in consequence, that believers would in due course rise also. This set them off from all the other teachers of the ancient world. There are resurrections elsewhere, but none of them is like that of Christ. They are mostly mythological tales connected with the change of the season and the annual miracle of spring. The Gospels tell of an individual who truly died but overcame death by rising again. And if it is true that Christ’s resurrection bears no resemblance to anything in paganism it is also true that the attitude of believers to their own resurrection, the corollary of their Lord’s, is radically different from anything in the heathen world. Nothing is more characteristic of even the best thought of the day than its hopelessness in the face of death. Clearly the resurrection i...