decendants

Purity  – Philippians 4:8  “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  Philippians 4:8

 “And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. Acts 28:24   Some believed and some didn’t. That’s still the way it is — even among Christians. … Some Christians believe what God says and some “so-called Christians” don’t. Those who don’t, find themselves engulfed in despair, defeat, discouragement. You see, it’s not enough just to know the Scriptures, gang. It’s not enough just to hear the Word. It’s not enough just to come to Bible study. You and I must believe. And ‘believe’ is not a noun — it’s a verb.”    Jon Courson

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A history of these Daily Devotions along with other valuable Resources can be found at: lylebrennan.com. 

This daily devotion contains, sequentially: Memory Verse (#1 above),  Daily Quote (#2 above): and, below: Daily Devotion from “Thoughts From The Diary of A Desperate Man” by Walter A. Henrichsen (“Walt”), Scripture Reading  (read the entire Bible in 1 year), and Prayer Requests. 

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The Foundation of Grace

Day Two Hundred Thirty

“Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11

We will define grace as the favor of God bestowed upon the undeserving without reference to reciprocity.  Nothing in the object of God’s grace warrants His favor. Those who are the recipients of grace are chosen wholly from within the counsel of His own will.  People have a natural antipathy toward grace, for it violates their sense of fairness.  We tend to be less concerned when we are the object of God’s grace, but what about all of those people that are not?

Election and grace are the head and tail of the same coin; you cannot have grace without election.  Thus Paul says, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.  But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”304   If you believe that you obtain heaven by what you do that others are unwilling to do, you rob grace of its essence.  If you believe that you are saved by grace, then you have to conclude that God gave you what He has not given others.

If your relationship with God is based on what you did, but others are unwilling to do, then your salvation is in perpetual jeopardy; you cannot have assurance of salvation.  For what you did to establish this relationship with God you can undo. Your security is then based on your performance, not God’s.   If you conclude that people are responsible for their alienation from God, you are correct.  But never allow this fact to dull your appreciation of His grace.

304  Romans 11:5-6

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Psalm 100-102 1 Corinthians 1 (New King James Version)

Psalm 100-102

A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

100 

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!

2 

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3 

Know that the Lord, He isGod;

It isHe whohas made us, and [b]not we ourselves;

We areHis people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

Andinto His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, andbless His name.

5 

For the Lord isgood;

His mercy iseverlasting,

And His truth enduresto all generations.

Promised Faithfulness to the Lord

A Psalm of David.

101 

I will sing of mercy and justice;

To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.

2 

I will behave wisely in a [c]perfect way.

Oh, when will You come to me?

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3 

I will set nothing [d]wicked before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not cling to me.

4 

A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will not know wickedness.

5 

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,

Him I will destroy;

The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,

Him I will not endure.

6 

My eyes shall beon the faithful of the land,

That they may dwell with me;

He who walks in a [e]perfect way,

He shall serve me.

7 

He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He who tells lies shall not [f]continue in my presence.

8 

Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,

That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Love

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 

Hear my prayer, O Lord,

And let my cry come to You.

2 

Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;

Incline Your ear to me;

In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

3 

For my days [g]are consumed like smoke,

And my bones are burned like a hearth.

4 

My heart is stricken and withered like grass,

So that I forget to eat my bread.

5 

Because of the sound of my groaning

My bones cling to my [h]skin.

6 

I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am like an owl of the desert.

7 

I lie awake,

And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

8 

My enemies reproach me all day long;

Those who deride me swear an oath against me.

9 

For I have eaten ashes like bread,

And mingled my drink with weeping,

10 

Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;

For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

11 

My days arelike a shadow that lengthens,

And I wither away like grass.

12 

But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,

And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

13 

You will arise andhave mercy on Zion;

For the time to favor her,

Yes, the set time, has come.

14 

For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,

And show favor to her dust.

15 

So the [i]nations shall fear the name of the Lord,

And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

16 

For the Lord shall build up Zion;

He shall appear in His glory.

17 

He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,

And shall not despise their prayer.

18 

This will be written for the generation to come,

That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

19 

For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;

From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,

20 

To hear the groaning of the prisoner,

To release those appointed to death,

21 

To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,

And His praise in Jerusalem,

22 

When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

23 

He weakened my strength in the way;

He shortened my days.

24 

I said, “O my God,

Do not take me away in the midst of my days;

Your years arethroughout all generations.

25 

Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,

And the heavens arethe work of Your hands.

26 

They will perish, but You will [j]endure;

Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;

Like a cloak You will change them,

And they will be changed.

27 

But You arethe same,

And Your years will have no end.

28 

The children of Your servants will continue,

And their descendants will be established before You.”

Footnotes:

• Psalm 100:1 Lit. all the earth
• Psalm 100:3 So with Kt., LXX, Vg.; Qr., many Heb. mss., Tg. we are His
• Psalm 101:2 blameless
• Psalm 101:3 worthless
• Psalm 101:6 blameless
• Psalm 101:7 Lit. be established
• Psalm 102:3 Lit. end in
• Psalm 102:5 flesh
• Psalm 102:15 Gentiles
• Psalm 102:26 continue

1 Corinthians 1

Greeting

1 Paul, called to bean apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes ourbrother,

2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are [a]sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to besaints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Gifts at Corinth

4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all [b]utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed [c]in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may beblameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God isfaithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sectarianism Is Sin

10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [d]speak the same thing, and thatthere be no [e]divisions among you, but thatyou be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household,that there are [f]contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the [g]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

20 Where isthe wise? Where isthe scribe? Where isthe [h]disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a [i]stumbling block and to the [j]Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Glory Only in the Lord

26 For [k]you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many [l]noble, are called.27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the [m]base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Footnotes:

• 1 Corinthians 1:2 set apart
• 1 Corinthians 1:5 speech
• 1 Corinthians 1:6 Or among
• 1 Corinthians 1:10 Have a uniform testimony
• 1 Corinthians 1:10 schismsor dissensions
• 1 Corinthians 1:11 quarrels
• 1 Corinthians 1:18 Lit. word
• 1 Corinthians 1:20 debater
• 1 Corinthians 1:23 Gr. skandalon, offense
• 1 Corinthians 1:23 NU Gentiles
• 1 Corinthians 1:26 consider
• 1 Corinthians 1:26 well-born
• 1 Corinthians 1:28 insignificantor lowly

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PRAYER REQUESTS 

Please Pray for Brother Robert. Robert says He has a Calling to establish a Church. His Prayer request is “… that God puts together a really amazing ministry team. I see it in the Scriptures. There were ministers, elders, deacons. Those seem to be three different categories of the people serving the body. It seems like that was the simple order they had set up. But it was a spiritual thing that would function through the power of the Holy Spirit. My prayer request would be that the Lord puts together the ministry team in what I feel Him asking me to be a part of.”

Please Pray for Mark H. He has a blood clot in his leg and is suffering terrible pain.  Pray for God’s Healing and undeniable Touch on Mark’s life.  

UPDATE: You can’t make this stuff up… Sounds like a script for a movie…

As you may know, we have kept Sister Fabiola and her children in Mexico on our Prayer Request list for quite a while now. This Sister and her family, in a short time period, has been hit with a more tragedies(persecution) than most of us in an entire life time…  the murder of her husband, x-husband and one of her children. RECENTLY, her modest home (a shack by any American standard) was burnt to the ground. …Her neighbor’s house caught fire and due to the closeness of her home, it caught fire, too.  Brothers & Sisters, please Pray for God’s Holy touch on Fabiola and her family.  Although we, His Children, are closely monitoring what assistance the Family of God might be able to provide the family through our Brother Ron Brink, in Mexico… our Prayers are essential. Please don’t relent!

Please continue to Pray for Geo, a banker, who was deployed by the military to the Mideast. Pray God would keep him safe and that God would bring Geo closer to Him; and, that Geo would share God with all his company and those who come in contact with him. 

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UPDATE: I’ve been told by one Geo’s co-workers, Lorraine Flores, who says she considers Geo a son, that the day Geo was deployed to the Mideast, his girlfriend delivered his new baby. Please Pray Geo would Walk in God’s Light and be a Godly husband and father. And, please Pray for Geo’s family. (Also, please Pray for both Lorraine Flores and her biological son that was deployed the same day as Geo, but to Africa.)

Praise Report: Please continue to Pray for Brother David Porter’s friend’s son, Giovanni (18yrs old). He has checked out of inpatient behavioral health facility and is doing better. You will remember, he was sent to the facility and was on suicide watch. Please continue to Pray for God’s Salvation, Strength, Healing, and Peace in Giovanni.

Please continue to Pray for Brother Mark Pedder, a missionary in the Philippines. Please Pray for Mark, Mark’s wife for strength in their trials, tribulations and persecution. 

Please continue to Pray for Gemma that she be delivered from evil and receive Jesus as her Savior. 

Please continue to Pray for Brother Walt to be reconciled with his son and his son’s family. 

Please continue to Pray for Brother John LaPorte’s roommate, Brother Freddy, whose commitment to Christ caused his wife to separate from him for 6 years. The couple have 2 daughters. Both parents has stayed single all this time of separation… Within the recent past, it appears his wife, Arlene, has been Saved and the couple are beginning their reconciliation process. They are planning to reunite the family again under one roof in the next few months.  Please Pray for their total reconciliation with God at their helm. 

Please continue to Pray for a group of well-known Southern Nevada commercial real estate brokers and associates recently in a one-car accident. The occupants had all been drinking alcohol.  One passenger died leaving 3 young daughters, one suffered serious head trauma, two had mild trauma, and the driver has been charged.  Please Pray for the driver and all those effected by this tragedy …that God would direct their eyes to Him, The King of Mercy, Grace and Salvation. 

Please continue Pray for our President and ALL our government leaders of both parties. Pray they would submit their authority to His Authority and ask for His Wisdom in directing the affairs of our nation.  Please Pray that God would open their eyes and they would be obedient to His Will. 

Please  continue to Pray for Brother Frank Sun, a Taiwanese, that owns several businesses in China and Taiwan.  He recently preached the Gospel in his Taiwan company inviting his employees to accept salvation. He says that half of his Taiwan staff are now Christians. Please Pray Frank will continue to be bold in his sharing Christ in all his companies and that he will be faithful to disciple the new Believers.  

AND, let each of us use Frank’s example and share the Love and Salvation of Jesus to our coworkers, employees, family friends and acquaintances.  Brothers and Sisters, let’s take advantage of our God given opportunities, invest in the Eternal!

Please continue to Pray for Brother Walt and His Friday Bible Study.

Please continue to Pray for the Women’s Resources ministry in Las Vegas that they would lead women to the Lord and save babies. 

Please continue to Pray for Jim Nelson and family ministering in China. 

Please continue to Pray for Dave Ubank and his family. They are ministering and rescuing children and families in Syria directly affected by  Isis – Pray for their protection and their ministry.  For a short 2 minute video about Ubanks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_htIgIvgDM[/embedyt

Please continue to Pray for our Brothers’ and Sisters’ struggling with various addictions. Pray that God would reveal Himself to them that all things are possible through Him… He can Cure any addiction … He is our Great Creator, He is our Savior, He is our Healer …He is our All and All!  

Please continue to Pray for Alejandro Corral, his son Alejandro Jr., and his aunt Josefina. 

Please continue to Pray for Brother Steve Venable dealing with ALS. 

Please continue to Pray for our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters and their families that are suffering and giving their lives for our Faith. 

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Please stand with your Brothers and Sisters in Prayer and Support. (See: The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com)

Please continue to pray for Biblical “headship” in families.

Please continue to Pray for all our children. 

Please continue to Pray that there would be a resurgence of Biblical “Fear of the Lord” in the church and in each of us… “to fear the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.”

Please continue to Pray for our nation that God would open all our eyes to the sin that is drowning us. Abortion, sex outside of marriage, hatred & divisiveness, greed, pride, only to name a few.  Please Pray and Fast for our nation to turn from this evil that is enveloping us.   

II Chronicles‬ ‭7:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Please continue to Pray for Brother Ron Brink’s son who had 3+ military tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and who is now suffering brain damage and PTSD.  Pray for God’s Healing Power to fall upon Johnathon. (Ron is a 20 plus year missionary in Mexico with Touch Baja… for info on Touch Baja and how to touch the Mexican people for Christ, see http://www.touchbaja.com.)

Please continue to Pray for the Sharon India Foundation (“SIF”) to assisting the poor of India.  Through SIF: Widows have received medical treatment and been given quality sewing machines and training on how to use them to make a living. Orphans have been given free education in their neighborhood slum areas.  After natural disasters relief has been provided in the nature of medical, food items, blankets, clothing and building materials.  Bore wells have been successfully dug to provide fresh water to affected areas.  Water purification systems have also been given out on a limited basis. Special shoes have been purchased for lepers with ulcerated feet.  Thousands of books have been translated to assist in the ever growing discipleship outreach of E-Squared (Evangelism and Edification/Disciples).  Sharon India Foundation has no administrative costs and 100% of all donations go directly to the Indian pastors and their ministries. (Let’s reach India and beyond for Christ…see how you can help: https://sharonindia.org.)