Authority
“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”(Genesis 4:7)
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Insight for Today
Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Mutual Concern
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offence. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.”(Matthew 18:15–17)
Evangelism
And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”(Mark 16:15)
When you analyze our lack of evangelistic success and skill, it boils down to four primary reasons.
Dwell on These Things
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.(Philippians 4:8)
It All Comes Down to Attitude
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.(Philippians 2:1–2)
Take God Seriously
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.(1 Corinthians 9:24–27)
Real Godliness
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”(1 Samuel 16:7)
In God’s Service
Then the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”(Isaiah 6:6–7)
God’s Calm Control
Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”(Isaiah 6:8)
Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord!” His earthly situation turned his eyes upward. That’s what happened to me back in the late 1950s. My disappointment, my loneliness and confusion, rather than hardening the soil of my soul, ploughed deeply. Those things cut away at me, made me sensitive to my Lord...in a way I would otherwise never have been.
Be Still
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.(Ephesians 5:1)
Since most humans suffer from a lack of balance in their lives, our best counsel on this subject comes from God’s Word, the Bible. In that Book, there appears a most unusual command: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Ephesians 5:1 NIV 1984). Maybe you never realized such a statement was in the Bible. What a strange command: “Be imitators of God!”
