Daily Truth

Today's Bible reading is in Nehemiah 8. Lord, give Your people a renewed hunger to get together just to hear the Truth of Your Word (v. 1) so much that we would sit for 6 hours to listen attentively and obey it (3). Help me allow your Word to change my life to show how much I value the Word (they stood) and its Author (they bowed) (5-6). Help Your Spokesmen make it clear (8). Grieve me concerning ways i don't keep Your Word (9)....

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Take Up and Read

If you are like most folks, this is the time of year you take inventory of your life. We tend to think about the areas in which we are falling short of our ideal and begin to contemplate the ways we can improve. I am told that more exercise equipment is sold immediately after the New Year than the rest of the year combined. I have an elliptical...

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The Inevitable Reality of Death

This past week, LifeWay Research released some new data on how Americans perceive and pursue spiritual realities. The statistic that most struck me is the fact that 46% of Americans NEVER wonder about whether they will go to heaven. It’s not that they don’t believe in heaven or hell. It’s just that they simply don’t think about it. I...

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Holiness Among Us

God became a baby. He entered a world of problems and heartaches. “The Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness” (John 1:14 NLT). The operative word of the verse is among. He lived among us. He donned the costliest of robes: a human body. He made a throne out of a manger and a royal...

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Daily Truth

Today's time being shaped like God is in Nehemiah 7. Lord, make me a person of integrity who fears you more than most people do (7:2). Lead me by clearly putting Your will in my heart (7:5). May others recognize by my life that my name is on the list of those who have been freed from slavery to sin (7:5-7). The average Joe israelite gave 1/4 of their annual income to Your work (7:72). Lead me to be as generous with what You have...

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Daily Truth

Today's time learning God's way of thinking is in Nehemiah 6. Lord, don't let the enemy distract me from doing Your work, even if they try repeatedly (6:3-4). Cause me to work consistently. Let me not be weakened in Your work by fear or threats (6:9). Don't let me sin or give anyone reason to accuse me (6:13). Strengthen my hands today (6:9). Make it obvious today to those against me that my work is really you working in me (6:16)....

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Do We Really Need Another Church?

There is much talk about planting churches in Southern Baptist circles these days. Questions of methodology, strategy and means tend to dominate the conversation. But before addressing any of those issues, we must be clear on the need. All too often it is said that we have too many churches already—what is the need to plant new ones?...

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Daily Truth

Today's time in the Word is in Nehemiah 5. My God, Help me keep my promises to You (5:13). Make me a giver in Your body, not a taker (5:15). Make me live so that others remember the good I have done for Your people (5:19) rather than what I did for my own benef...

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Daily Truth

Today's time being transformed by the Word is in Nehemiah 4. My God, let my work building Your kingdom be a threat to Your enemies (4:1-3). When they accuse me of weakness, be my strength (4:2). When they accuse me of blind ambition, be my success (4:2). Make them see that You are great and awesome and lead them to repent (4:14). Help me not do Your work half-heartedly (4:6). Make me always prepared to work for You (4:2...

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Christopher Hitchens, Kim Jong Il and... Rehoboam?

Sometime in the past 48 hours, the political landscape in North Korea—and possibly the world—dramatically shifted. Last night, news reports began to trickle in about the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. My first reaction was the same as when I heard of Christopher Hitchens’ death—neither of them is an atheist any longer. But...

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Daily Truth

Today we are in Nehemiah 3. Lord, cause your people to get busy about Your work, side by side (3:1-4). Help me see that my task may not be the same as that of my co-worker, but all will be for the building of the kingdom. Don't let me be too good to do the grunt work (3:5). Let me do work that people think I am too weak to do (3:12) so You get the glory. Let me be passionate about the work You give me to do (3:20). Help me build...

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Know Christ. . . Parent Kids — 1 John 1:1-2

John, the disciple Jesus loved, was an old man when he wrote his three letters to the church. His exile on the Island of Patmos where he penned the book of Revelation was past, and he was pastoring, likely in Ephesus.John addressed his readers as “children” thirteen times in the five chapters of first John alone. He viewed his audience as his own spiritual children and viewed himself as their spiritual father. As a result, He...

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Daily Truth

Today's time learning how God has worked through His people is in Nehemiah 2. God of heaven, let those close to me notice my sorrow over what really matters instead of over silly selfish things (2:2). Remind me to seek You before each step I take (2:4-5). Provide all the resources needed for me to do Your will (2:7-8). Give me the faith to trust that I will live in the promised land one day even though now I live in this imperfect...

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Daily Truth

Today we start to read a short book in the Old Testament, Nehemiah. He was an Israelite living in Susa because Jerusalem had been destroyed and the Jews had been taken into captivity. Today, read Nehemiah 1. Yahweh, God of heaven (1:5), break my heart when I hear of Your people living in the destruction of their own sin (1:4). Help your Church and remind me to pray for it day and night (1:6). Your people and I have lived as if...

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Daily Truth

Today's time lining our lives up with God's Word is Romans 16:17-27. "Only wise God (16:27), keep me from causing division in Your Church or saying anything that does not agree with Your Word (16:17). Don't let me live to get what I want, but to want what You want, and let my speech, however clumsy, lead others to Your truth (16:18). Let those who have taught me to follow You be able to celebrate because of my obedience to You...

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Daily Truth

Today's reading is in Romans 16:1-16. Lord, make me a servant in Your Church, a giver, not a taker (16:1-2). I want to risk all for the gospel (16:4). Use my house to grow Your church (16:5). Make me a hard worker in Your kingdom (16:6,12). Help me be a friend in the Lord to everybody, especially those it's hard to like (16:8). Help me to remember my family as those to whom I minister and disciple (16:13). Thank You for seeing...

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The Two Things for which God Rescues Us - 2 Timothy 4:9-18

Paul was at Rome in prison for the second time, likely awaiting his execution. Demas had abandoned Paul due to a love for the things of the world. Paul sent other friends away to minister and only Luke was with him. Paul was alone, facing winter’s onset with no coat, striving to minister without his dear Scriptures, and was likely suffering physically since Alexander the coppersmith “did great harm” to him. In this seemingly hopeless...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Rio de Janeiro

Sprawling along the hillsides beneath the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro is a city of juxtaposition. A middle-class gated community may share a wall with a gang-controlled slum. This proximity allows Eric and Ramona Reese to reach out to both extremes within the Brazilian megacity. While Eric focuses on ministering in the favelas (slums), Ramona reaches out to the middle-class wives and mothers she encounters...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: European City

Sanaz left Iran with nothing but her daughter and a will to live. At 27 years old she had seen enough destruction. Her workplace, her family, her hopes for the future had been chewed up in a political machine determined to obliterate dissent. Not knowing whether her husband was dead or alive, she set out on an invisible passageway well trafficked by refugees fleeing oppression in North Africa, Afghanistan, and Iran. She...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Dongguan

Factories are the bus stops and the monuments and the landmarks. Everything exists to serve them in Dongguan, China. The city is divided into 32 districts, each one specializing in a different kind of manufacturing with more than 3,000 factories crammed into one town. IMB worker David Rice* believes that by reaching the factories with the Gospel, an entire generation of migrant workers will take the message back to their...

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Daily Truth

Today's time being changed by His Word is in Romans 15:14-33. God, in addition to joy and peace, fill me with goodness, knowledge, and the ability to disciple others (15:13-14). Let me be fruitful so I can brag about You more (15:17-18). Help me to agonize in prayers for my fellow believers and give me times of refreshing with them (15:30-32). Sent from my iPh...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Johannesburg

Lisha* was just a little girl who trusted her pastor, but he raped her. As a teenager she trusted her friend, but he raped her repeatedly. When Lisha’s mom found out she was pregnant, she kicked Lisha out, forcing her to find a home with her abusive boyfriend. He soon realized he could profit from selling Lisha to his buddies for sex. Lisha is now 33 years old and still trapped in forced prostitution. Lisha is just one...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: London

Though she has always lived in London, Fatimah grew up observing her family’s Islamic rituals, just as if she were living in her father’s homeland of Iraq. And she has faithfully passed these traditions on to her own children. Fatimah’s parents make the hajj to Mecca every year, and she has been five times herself, she says. “We don’t...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Karachi

Aadam Channar* was only a boy when Baptist missionary Hu Addleton first brought the Gospel to his province in Pakistan. Today he is an evangelist trying to reach Pakistan’s largest city. “Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan. When we arrived there [in 1956], it was 1 million population. Now it’s 17 to 18 million,” said Addleton, who retired after serving 34 years in Pakistan with his wife, Bettie. “It is a picture of...

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Teaching Teens How to Die in Order to Teach Teens How to Live - 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Aware that he was about to die a martyr’s death in Rome, Paul taught Timothy how to live by sharing with him how he (Paul) intended to die. Paul began by referring to himself as a “drink offering.” In the Jewish Temple, a drink offering was poured out at the base of the altar after the sacrifice and before the singing of a song of praise to God by the priests and Levites. When Paul said “I am being poured out as a drink offering,”...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Jerusalem

As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the last time, He wept. He thought about the people within its walls and said, "If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace.” He knew within hours He’d be crucified by the very people for whom He wept. Would Jesus still look over the city and weep 2,000 years later? Most believe He would. Jerusalem is a city where stress runs high, and the strain of so many people practicing...

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Lottie Moon Week of Prayer: Tokyo

In Japan’s male-dominated society, a man’s identity centers on his work. Companies reward loyalty, hard work, and long hours. But losing one’s position is a fall from grace that leads to shame. For many Japanese, losing a job means losing their identity. For some touched by the ministry of International Mission Board (IMB) workers to the homeless, it means new birth. Hironobu Honda, Kiyoshi Sugioka, and Katsuo Yamamota...

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Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

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Week of Prayer, Dec 4-11, 2011

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are part of the task to fulfill the Great Commission. Paul says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Jesus has commissioned us to be His heart, His hands, His voice. Through praying, giving, and going, Southern Baptists have fulfilled this...

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