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The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

Chris Tiegreen

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365 Inspirations to Equip and Encourage You to Live Out Your Calling in the World by Chris Tiegreen

The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

We live in an age when some people believe religion in general or Christianity in particular is one of the most corrosive elements of society, while others believe it is one of the most constructive.

We hear absurdly indefensible claims like, “Religion is the cause of almost all wars,” as well as overly confident claims that virtually all hospitals, homeless shelters, educational norms, traditional values, work ethics, democratic principles, and economic successes spring from Christian ideals.

The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

The One Year Salt and Light Devotional

The reality is somewhere in between, but of course we as believers want to make the most of our influence and increase it.

Scripture calls us to be the salt of the earth and lights in the world—preserving, flavoring, brightening, and warming both society as a whole and the lives of those around us. The Kingdom of God is exceedingly good, and we are to personify it and offer glimpses of it everywhere we go.

Some Christians seem to know how to do that naturally, winsomely, and effectively, while others act out of past wounds, get triggered by conflict, fight fire with fire, and try to win people to the Kingdom by vilifying them.

In between, most Christians treasure their beliefs on Sunday but have no idea how to translate their private spirituality into their public interactions. And with good reason: Secular society constantly tries to marginalize faith.

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People want to cross this divide and make a difference but don’t know how. This devotional will suggest creative, nonthreatening, unembarrassing, and (most importantly) effective ways to make a difference.

In our efforts to be a positive force for the Kingdom, we may notice a frequent tension. On the one hand, God has set his people apart to be dedicated to him and conformed to his image. On the other hand, he sends us into the world to be involved and influential.

We are “in the world but not of the world,” and emphasizing one of those truths at the expense of the other leads to imbalance and irrelevance.

If we are only set apart to God, we are in no position to make a difference; if we just blend in, we have nothing distinctive about us to make a difference with.

Much of this devotional is about maintaining that balance—keeping our “saltiness” flavorful and our light bright. This is much more than a matter of sharing our faith. Our goal is a lifestyle that begins deep inside and works its way out. The message of God’s Kingdom flourishes best in a climate in which Kingdom truths and values are present.

The environment surrounding it matters. On many occasions, we as believers in Jesus will have to take the lead in establishing that environment. We will never establish the Kingdom in its fullness before Jesus returns—Kingdom fullness comes with the King—but we are nevertheless called to work toward it, to expand it, to partner with him to help it grow.

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Throughout this devotional, you will see some of the same themes coming up again and again: the long view versus a short-term approach; a lifestyle that goes well beyond words; the need to embody the truths of God’s Kingdom and the character of the King; what it means to live in the true image of God; and how to serve as an agent or catalyst for God’s blessings.

You will also find a prayer at the end of each day’s reading. These are simple prayers, and some of them may not seem very profound.

But they don’t need to be profound for God to answer them; they just need to be prayed. If you will express them consistently or use them as prompts to pray deeper, longer prayers, you will find him answering them, sometimes in surprising ways.

That’s my prayer for you as you go through these readings— that God will encourage you, move you, and use you in surprising ways to bless this world with his wisdom, power, and love. You carry those blessings with you already, and your world is desperately longing to see them. May they overflow in your life in increasing measure each day.

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Possibility of Little Beginnings

Charles Spurgeon

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When the air balloon was first invented, a matter of fact gentleman contemptuously asked Dr. Franklin what was the use of it. The doctor answered this question by asking another:—“What is the use of a new-born infant?” It may become a man. This anticipation of great things springing from small beginnings should induce us to put into practice those holy promptings which at certain seasons move our souls. What if we ourselves and our work should be little in Zion; cannot the Lord cause the grandest issues to proceed from insignificant beginnings?—SPURGEON.

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The Expositor´s Word for Every Day

Jimmy Swaggart

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Devotional, the Jimmy Swaggart prayer is that you will be brought in touch, hopefully, in a greater way than ever, with the price paid by our Saviour at the Cross of Calvary and with the Redemption we now possess. For each day of the year, you will find a Scripture dealing with the Cross.

This Devotional is, I believe, the most unique Devotional of its kind in the world today. Every Message, for every day in the year, emphasizes the Cross of Christ in some way. Consequently, the help provided will be that which the Word of God always gives.

The Expositor´s Word for Every Day

The Expositor´s Word for Every Day

As you read through this Daily Devotional, the Jimmy Swaggart prayer is that you will be brought in touch, hopefully, in a greater way than ever, with the price paid by our Saviour at the Cross of Calvary and with the Redemption we now possess. It did not come cheaply!

For each day of the year, you will find a Scripture dealing with the Cross, accompanied by a brief exegesis, that hopefully will guide you during your daily walk. Trust you will find comfort, encouragement, and inspiration in these pages.

This Daily Devotional is the product of a Revelation – a Revelation of the Cross – which has changed life of the Jimmy Swaggart, even as the Cross has changed the lives of untold millions, and the Cross alone, I might quickly add. In fact, every life that has ever been changed, and without exception, has been through Christ as the Source, and the Cross as the Means.

The Expositor´s Word for Every Day is a Great effort has been made to bring you a book that I believe will truly bless yours soul.

The Jimmy Swaggart desid is may God bless you every day of your life, and may this Devotional play a part in that blessing, as hopefully the Word of God is opened up to you.

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365 Days of Faith

James Riddle

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You are about to embark on a faith journey that will change your life forever. Understanding and practicing the processes of faith can have a greater impact on your life than any endeavor you choose to undertake.

You are about to embark on a faith journey that will change your life forever. As a student of faith for decades, I have studied its processes, followed the contemporary science of it, practiced the precepts, and have been astounded at its absolute significance in all that we think and do.

365 Days of Faith

365 Days of Faith

Understanding and practicing the processes of faith can have a greater impact on your life than any endeavor you choose to undertake. That impact is significant, so you must know what faith is.

The average dictionary would give us a relatively simple answer to describe faith, but the way the Bible defines it is quite different. Look at what Hebrews 11:1 says: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

If you quote that to a true seeker of knowledge, or a deep-thinking critic, they might respond with something like, “Okay, so it is a substance, and an evidence, but what is it made of?” That’s all we know from this verse—faith is substance and evidence—but, we still don’t know what faith’s ingredients are.

A dictionary definition might say that faith is basically belief, but is that truly what Bible faith is? The apostle James warns us that even the devil believes. (James 2:19.) Does that mean that the devil has faith?

If belief and faith are synonymous, then is it the same thing to believe in God and to have faith in God? Consider this: if someone came to you and said, “I believe in God,” would they think diff erently if you replied with, “Yes, but do you have faith in God?” The fact is, if we tell someone that faith is belief, or even trust, we are only expressing a half-truth.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak. 2 Corinthians 4:13 NIV

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The apostle Paul says here that Bible faith is speaking what you believe. That is true, but the Word also says that to establish something, two or three credible witnesses are needed. (2 Corinthians 13:1.)

Living by these principles has changed life immensely. I know that no matter what I face, faith is our victory. Instead of getting up and worrying about my day, I now make my declaration, “Get ready world. I’m about to show you something extraordinary!” That’s the attitude I want this book to birth in you.

Know that you are a believer, a faith warrior, a partner with God, and the devil’s worst nightmare.You are built for faith. Honor God by being the person you are created to be. It

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The Zondervan 2019 Pastor’s Annual: An Idea and Resource Book

T. T. Crabtree

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Favorable comments from ministers who serve in many different types of churches suggest that the Pastor’s Annual provides valuable assistance to many busy pastors as they seek to improve the quality, freshness, and variety of their pulpit ministry.

The Zondervan 2019 Pastor’s Annual: An Idea and Resource Book

Favorable comments from ministers who serve in many different types of churches suggest that the Pastor’s Annual provides valuable assistance to many busy pastors as they seek to improve the quality, freshness, and variety of their pulpit ministry.

To be of service to a fellow pastor in his or her continuing quest to obey our Lord’s command to Peter, “Feed my sheep,” is a calling to which I respond with gratitude.

The Zondervan 2019 Pastor's Annual: An Idea and Resource Book

The Zondervan 2019 Pastor’s Annual: An Idea and Resource Book

This issue contains series of sermons by several contributing authors who have been effective contemporary preachers and successful pastors:

Morris Ashcraft, Tom S. Brandon, Harold T. Bryson, Hiram Campbell, James E. Carter, T. T. Crabtree, Charles O. Dinkins, David R. Grant, James F. Heaton, W. T. Holland, David L. Jenkins, Jerold McBride, Lowell D. Milburn, Leonard Sanderson, Bob Wood, Fred M. Wood.

I pray that this issue of the Pastor’s Annual will be blessed by our Lord in helping each pastor to plan and produce a preaching program that will better meet the spiritual needs of his or her congregation.

This issue contains series of sermons by several contributing authors who have been effective contemporary preachers and successful pastors.

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Each author is listed with his sermons by date in the section titled “Contributing Authors.” I accept responsibility for those sermons not listed there.

This issue of the Pastor’s Annual is dedicated to the Lord with a prayer that he will bless these efforts to let the Holy Spirit lead us in preparing a planned preaching program for the year.

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The Power Of Prayer

Our Daily Devotional

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In true Spurgeon style, each aspect dealt with in these pages will challenge, enlighten, and grow you into what he called, “the art of prayer.” Rarely do readers come away from one of Spurgeon’s books without some new form of knowledge.

The Power Of Prayer Chriatian book of Charles Spurgeon

Prayer was one of Charles Spurgeon’s favorite topics.

Even among his top-rated books, the topic of prayer was dealt with from several angles. This volume, however, was never intended as a book but is rather a collection of some of his best sermons on the subject.

In true Spurgeon style, each aspect dealt with in these pages will challenge, enlighten, and grow you into what he called, “the art of prayer.”

The Power Of Prayer

The Power Of Prayer

Known for his direct, no-nonsense approach behind the pulpit, the essence of his fiery but simple rhetoric makes for the perfect guide or handbook. A simple, direct voice grabs hold of you from the opening statement, and then never lets go until the end.

Along the way there will always be something to learn; rarely do readers come away from one of Spurgeon’s books without some new form of knowledge.

As classics go, anything with the name ‘Spurgeon’ attached to it is regarded as a ‘must-have’ in any well-versed Christian’s library. He ranks among the top names in church literature because of his unique style of approaching topics.

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Whether it’s doctrinal issues surrounding baptism, the Holy Spirit, and salvation, or more straightforward subjects like prayer and devotion, you always feel that he is speaking personally to you.

He avoided high, lofty, and academic tones, and instead favored a more conversational attitude, which can be found in the sermons in this book. “The Lord Jesus did not say, ‘Feed my giraffes,’ but ‘Feed my sheep.’” And so, this collection is easy to understand, but not always as easy to digest, because it demands a real, passionate, and devoted response—the same way that he lived his life!

To assist you, you will find the same heart and the same challenge that Spurgeon brought his congregants over 100 years ago but in English you can relate to.

Not only that, but a study guide has been designed to guide you to think even further and deeper on his words.

“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”

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Nelson’s Annual Preachers’s Sourcebook Vol. 4

O. S. Hawkins

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This sourcebook is designed to lie alongside all your other tools of word studies, exegesis, commentaries, analytical thought, and prayer that goes into the fully developed, prayed-over, and well-crafted sermon.

Nelson’s Anual Preachers’s Sourcebook Vol. 4 By O.S. Hawkins

I have always loved and honored those who are possessed and obsessed with a special and supernatural calling to preach the gospel.

Forever seared in my memory is my own personal call to ministry and the first sermon I ever preached. It was a hot and sultry summer evening, June 24, 1968, when I opened the Bible to Luke and preached on the subject of the cross to a group of rather rough-looking characters at the Union Gospel Mission.

Nelson's Annual Preachers's Sourcebook Vol. 4

Nelson’s Annual Preachers’s Sourcebook Vol. 4

My own preaching journey took me from those street corners and rescue missions of Fort Worth to the little town of Hobart on the Oklahoma plains, then to Ada, Oklahoma, and on to the Gold Coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and finally to the concrete canyons of downtown Dallas at the First Baptist Church.

Even today, in the midst of all of our technological sophistication, it is “still by the foolishness of preaching” that men and women are called to repentance.

The volume you now hold in your hands comes from the hearts and pens of some of the most God-blessed and able Bible expositors alive today. They are young like Jason Allen and a bit more mature like Erwin Lutzer.

Included are some of the most able theologians and culture warriors like Albert Mohler and Russell Moore as well as the most effective mass evangelists like Greg Laurie.

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Among our contributors are college and seminary presidents, ethicists, pastors of all types and sizes of churches. All of them have a common thread woven throughout the fabric of their being—a rock-solid belief in the absolute trustworthiness of God’s infallible Word.

As a pastor/preacher myself for over four decades I know the constant cloud of pressure that hovers above the necessity of preparing multiple sermons every week. It never leaves us—ever! Thus, I want to raise high a red warning flag.

This volume is not designed to be a “Saturday night special” to whip out, load up, and fire on a Sunday morning. Volumes such as this should never be used as the only tool on the workbench of your personal study.

This sourcebook is designed to lie alongside all your other tools of word studies, exegesis, commentaries, analytical thought, and prayer that goes into the fully developed, prayed-over, and well-crafted sermon.

It is this editor’s prayer that your own messages will then exhort, encourage, and edify your hearers as these ideas are filtered through your own personality and accompanied by your own personal life illustrations. With that—let’s begin the journey.

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