Here’s Today’s Devotional from The Vine…

Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? - Matthew 7:4

But is it not a kindness to a friend to take the mote out of his eye? If we met a neighbour with a cinder in his eye, would it not be a brotherly thing to stop and take it out for him? Then why is it not just as true a kindness to want to cure another’s fault, even though we have the same fault ourselves? If we did it in the right spirit it would be. We are bound to seek the welfare of our friends in every possible way, and therefore, if we discover in them things that mar their beauty, we should seek the removal of those things.

But the trouble is we are not apt to look at our neighbour’s faults in this loving and sympathetic way. To begin with, we do not know, or at least we do not confess, that we ourselves have beams in our own eyes; we are not even aware that there are motes in our own eyes. It is the self-righteous spirit that our Lord is here condemning. A man holds up his hands in horror at the speckle has found in his neighbour’s character; and his neighbour, looking up, sees in him an immensely magnified copy of the speck. Will the neighbour be greatly benefited by the rebuke?

Suppose a bad-tempered man lectures us on the sin of giving way to temper, or a dishonest man on some apparent lack of honesty, or a liar on the wickedness of falsehood, or a bad-mannered man on some discourtesy of ours, or a hypocrite on insincerity, what good will such lectures do, even admitting that we are conscious of the faults? We are only irritated by the unfitness of such rebukes from those in whom the faults are ten times greater than in us. We wonder how people can have the face to talk about motes in our eyes when huge beams project from their own eyes. Truly this is not the way to tell others of their faults.

The children of Israel were in a hopeless predicament!

The Red Sea was before them; the mountains were to the left and right; and
Pharaoh and his iron chariots were closing in from the rear. God‘s people
seemed helplessly trapped—like sitting ducks just waiting to be cut down.
Yet, believe it or not, God purposely had led them into this precarious spot!

It was panic time in the camp of Israel. Men shook with fear, and women and
children wept as they huddled around grandparents and other kin. Suddenly Moses
was mobbed by irate family leaders who cried, “Surely this is the end! Weren’t
there enough graves in Egypt to bury us there? You had to drag us out here to
die? We told you in Egypt to let us alone. It was better to be slaves there
than to die in this miserable wilderness!” (see Exodus 14:10-12).

I wonder if even Moses had a moment of trepidation about their circumstances.
Yet when this man of God wept, the Lord seems to have chided him: “Wherefore
criest thou unto me?” (Exodus 14:15).

No one in Israel could have known what a great deliverance God was about to
bring! Suddenly the winds parted the sea, and the people walked through the
parted waves on dry ground. When Pharaoh and his powerful army tried to follow,
the waters began to rage again, closing in and drowning them all!

What a sight it must have been! The people of God looked back from the other
side and saw their mighty enemy destroyed like tin soldiers. Then a song went
up in the camp as, once again, they realized God had delivered them from
impossible circumstances! Scripture records their reaction—and the song they
sang:

“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake,
saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song,
and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an
habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:1-2).

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22838?src=devo-email

By Gary Wilkerson

God wants to do mighty things through us. He wants to express His love to the
world through us. So if we are clinging to one thing that gets in the way of
His accomplishing that—some willfulness, some refusal to trust Him for
everything—He points it out to us.

Sometimes God wants us to add something to our lives before He brings His best.
This may involve something we have not done, so He wants us to ask, “Have I
been slow to respond to something God has asked me to do?”

We find an example of this in Acts, when the disciples added a new member to
replace Judas. While in the Upper Room, they drew lots and chose Matthias. It
seemed like such a small thing. These same men had seen Jesus work wonders,
open blind eyes, cast out demons, even raise a man from the dead. They had seen
God’s kingdom advanced on earth as never before in history. And when Christ
ascended to heaven, He gave them this incredible word: “You will do even
greater works, once I send you My Spirit. He will empower you. Greater things
are yet to come!” (see Acts 1:1-8).

Indeed, these same disciples would go beyond Israel and the Middle East, into
Europe and India and Africa, preaching the good news of Christ to the nations,
all within their generation. What made it so important to add another disciple?
They did it for one simple reason: Peter sensed it was something God wanted them
to do.

“In those days Peter stood up among the brothers . . . and said, ‘Brothers,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the
mouth of David concerning Judas . . . For he was numbered among us and was
allotted his share in this ministry’” (Acts 1:15-17). Peter was referring
to Psalm 109:8: “May another take his place of leadership.”

There is a great lesson here for Christ’s church today. That is, never
overlook a nagging issue of the heart, no matter how small. God puts His finger
on these matters for a reason: to reveal our heart’s response to Him. Greater
things are yet to come!

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22808?src=devo-email

By David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

If you do not deal with your doubts, you will be given over to a spirit of
murmuring and complaining. You will live that way and die that way. Your doubts
cannot simply be suppressed, they must be pulled out by the roots.

Look at Israel just three days after their deliverance from Egypt. They had
been singing, shaking their tambourines and testifying to the power and
strength of a mighty God, boasting that He was leading and protecting them.
Then they arrived at Marah, which means “waters of bitterness.” This was to be
testing place for them.

God just keeps allowing crisis after crisis until we finally get the lesson. If
we keep refusing to learn it, a time comes when He gives us over to our own
bitterness and murmuring. “And they went three days in the wilderness, and
found no water. . . . And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall
we drink?” (Exodus 15:22, 24).

On Sunday, the Israelites were having a great time—singing, dancing and
praising. Then Wednesday came and they were in trouble. Another crisis—and
they were falling apart!

How could a people lose their confidence so quickly? Because they never had
any. They never had that foundation built under them. So again they failed the
test. They had learned absolutely nothing from their previous crisis and again
they missed an opportunity to shine forth the greatness of their God.

From that day on, Israel was beyond learning anything from God. They even began
to take His goodness for granted. They had no food, so He sent them manna from
heaven. He dropped quails out of the sky, piling them three feet high outside
the camp. But not a word of thanksgiving was heard! Instead, the people turned
to greed, hoarding all that God gave them. Israel became stiff-necked!

Oh, what a shame it is to go from crisis to crisis and learn nothing in the
process. It carries with it a curse that you will be given over to a spirit of
murmuring.

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22722?src=devo-email

Read | Romans 6:17-22

The Lord has a grand plan for the life of every person, and it can be summed up in a single word:sanctification. If you are scratching your head about what that terms means, you are not alone. Many people—even some longtime Christians—do not know its definition. However, believers should see to it that they acquire that knowledge because it’s an important word, and it definesthem.

In its verb form—sanctify—the term means “to make holy” or “to separate.” So when something is sanctified, it is separated from a common use to a sacred one. In the Old Testament, we are told that the Lord sanctified a number of things: He made the seventh day holy, set aside the Levite tribe as priests, and even consecrated places like the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle (Gen. 2:3; Num. 3).

The Lord still sanctifies people today. Before a person receives salvation, he is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3). What’s more, Romans 5:10 tells us that before we come to faith, we’re actually enemies of God. Yet the moment someone trusts in Jesus as his personal Savior, his sins are wiped away, and he is adopted into the Lord’s family. That individual is then set apart as a child of God for a sacred purpose. This means believers are not here simply to chase after personal gain. Rather, they are to serve God and bring Him honor and glory.

As members of God’s family who are called to reflect His glory, believers are referred to as “saints.” This word shares a root with sanctification. We are referred to this way, not because we live sinless lives but because we live a life consistent with the One we represent.

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Read | Romans 3:21-26

Romans 3 communicates the very heart of Scripture. Apart from the cross of Christ and His atoning death, no one can be declared righteous.

In other words, there is only one way to become a child of God—through the blood of the Savior (John 14:6). Good works and right living will not earn the Lord’s favor, because every person inevitably sins, and a sinner cannot enter the presence of holy God. The shedding of Christ’s blood on the world’s behalf made it possible for anyone to be cleansed of sin and have a relationship with the Creator. The only requirement is trusting Jesus as Savior.

For God to be just, He must remain true to His own principles. His holiness dictated that “the soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). The penalty for sin—namely, death—had to be paid in a way that was acceptable to God. He explained through Moses why a blood sacrifice was required: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Lev. 17:11). A life must be given for a life to be spared.

On that basis, the heavenly Father provided a perfectly sinless sacrifice for all mankind. The only way God’s justice could be satisfied and His holiness could be maintained was for Jesus Christ to take our guilt and sin upon Himself and die in our place.

When we say that there is only one way to the Father, we mean that a person must believe Jesus Christ died as a perfect sacrifice. To trust in anything else is to ignore God’s holiness and the admonition of His Word (Acts 4:12).

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The longer I live for Christ, the more difficult it is for me to accept easy,
cure-all solutions. But in my own struggles, I have found great comfort and
help in two wonderful absolutes.

The first absolute: GOD REALLY LOVES ME. God is not in the business of
condemning His children, failures or not. He is a loving Father, wanting only
to lift us out of our weaknesses.

I caught a glimpse of that love recently while walking in the woods around our
ranch. Not once did I stop to consider the birds flying about, free and
healthy. But suddenly, on the ground just ahead, a crippled little bird flopped
around. Struggling so hard to fly, the baby bird could only flip over helplessly
in the dust. I stooped to pick it up. It was then a familiar Scripture came
flashing through my mind. “Not one [sparrow] shall fall on the ground without
your Father” (Matthew 10:29).

I once thought that verse read, “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the
Father knowing about it.” But Matthew’s version states, “One shall not fall
without the Father.”

God is with us, even when we fall. The Father does not fall into our sin, but
He does come down to our fallen condition. He does not abandon us on our way
down. For, you see, we are that sparrow.

Sometimes we recognize His great love only when we hit bottom. You will have
won a great victory if you can be convinced God loves you even in your wounded,
crippled condition. Our strength is renewed by His everlasting love. Just rest
in that wonderful love. Don’t panic. Deliverance will come.

The second absolute: IT IS MY FAITH THAT PLEASES HIM THE MOST! “Without faith,
it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). God counts our trust as
righteousness. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness” (Romans 4:3).

I may not understand why He sometimes seems to take a long time to intervene,
but I know He will keep His word to me.

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22548?src=devo-email

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God delights in using failures—men and women who think they can do almost
nothing right. A woman wrote to me recently saying, “My marriage is failing. I
seem to do everything wrong in raising my children. I feel like I’m not worth
anything to anybody. I’ve not been a very good wife, mother or Christian. I’ve
got to be the world’s worst failure.”

She is just the kind of person the Lord is looking for—people who know that
if anything good happens through them, it must be because of God. All the
hotshot Christians who go about bowling people over with their great abilities
never impress God. God looked down on a scheming, base, weakling of a man
called Jacob and said, “Fear not, thou worm Jacob . . . I will help thee . . .
behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth . . .
thou shalt rejoice in the Lord” (Isaiah 41:14–16).

Men often use God to achieve fortune, fame, honor and respect. Talent,
personality and cleverness are used to advance God’s kingdom, but He is not
impressed. His strength is perfected in our weakness, our inability to obey His
commandments in our own strength.

God calls us to a life of holiness and separation. He tells us we can be free
from the bondage of sin. His Word comes to us with some impossible challenges:
“Resist the devil. Walk in the Spirit. Come out from among them. Love your
enemies. Leave behind all your fears. Put down your lustful desires. Let no sin
have dominion over you.”

When you think honestly about how little you can do on your own to fulfill
these challenges, you realize how very weak you are. Your heart begins to cry,
“Lord, how can we do such great, holy things?” That is when our Lord takes
over! He comes with such a comforting message: “Lay down your weapons. Quit
trying to be so self–sufficient and strong. I am your weapon and your
strength. Let Me do what you never can do. I will give you My righteousness, My
holiness, My rest, My strength. You cannot save yourself or please Me in any way
other than by receiving the blessings of the cross by faith. Let Me be in charge
of your growth in holiness.”

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/22537?src=devo-email

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Read | Deuteronomy 7:7-9

Spring, summer, fall, and winter—these are the seasons of the year. Life also has its seasons. Some are filled with joy, while others are characterized by difficulty. Take comfort because there is a principle from the Bible that can encourage and sustain you through every season: Our God is faithful.

We learn about this attribute of the Lord from passages like 1 Corinthians 1:9, where Paul says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” To say that God is faithful means He always does exactly what He says He will do.

How reassuring it is to know that He will keep His promises to His children and never leave their side, whatever “season” of life they are in. No matter how deep, how dark, how depressing, how hopeless, or how good things may seem, the child of God can count on the Father’s abiding presence.

So regardless of your present trials or triumphs, embrace these three truths:

1. God will be faithful to you because it is His very nature (Ps. 36:5).

2. God knows all about your situation; you are never alone in any season of life (Ps. 139:7-12).

3. God is omnipotent, so He has the power to meet every single need, and He knows how to move you through the various seasons of your life (Rom. 8:28).

Hold onto this fact: You will change and seasons will change, but our wonderful God is always the same. That means He won’t fail you, He won’t waver on you, and He won’t vary—you can fully rely on Him. And He will never forget about you; He is with you always. Great is His faithfulness!

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