The greatest promise ever given to the human race came from the lips of our Redeemer when Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me…I go to prepare a place for you…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1–3).
Billy Graham preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to some 215 million people through his crusades and simulcasts around the world. He passed away today, February 21, 2018 at his home in Montreat, North Carolina. He was 99.
Although we are grieving, we know Heaven rejoices. Here is one of our favorite devotions by Dr. Graham. We hope it will uplift and comfort you today.
by Billy Graham
Who can describe or measure the love of God? Our Bible is a revelation of the fact that God is love. When we preach justice, it is justice tempered with love. When we preach righteousness, it is righteousness founded on love. When we preach atonement for sin, it
is atonement necessitated because of love, provided by
love, finished by love.
When we preach the resurrection of Christ, we are preaching the miracle of love. When we preach the abiding presence of Christ, we are preaching the power of love. When we preach the return of Christ, we are preaching the fulfillment of love.
No matter what sin we have committed, no matter how black, dirty, shameful, or terrible it may be, God loves us. We may be at the very gate of hell itself, but God loves us with an everlasting love.
The proof? Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, went to the Cross for us.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
* * *
Please visit the Billy Graham memorial website (https://memorial.billygraham.org) to learn more about his life and legacy, and to share what Mr. Graham meant to you. ~ Rock Of Ages Pentecostal Church
Read: 1 Kings 19:19–21
Bible in a Year: Leviticus 17–18; Matthew 27:27–50
Then [Elisha] set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.—1 Kings 19:21
As a child, I looked forward to our church’s Sunday evening services. They were exciting. Sunday night often meant we got to hear from missionaries and other guest speakers. Their messages inspired me because of their willingness to leave family and friends—and at times, homes, possessions, and careers—to go off to strange, unfamiliar, and sometimes dangerous places to serve God.
Like those missionaries, Elisha left many things behind to follow God (1 Kings 19:19-21). Before God called him into service through Elijah, we don’t know much about Elisha—except that he was a farmer. When the prophet Elijah met him in the field where he was plowing, he threw his cloak over Elisha’s shoulders (the symbol of his role as prophet) and called him to follow. With only a request to kiss his mother and father goodbye, Elisha immediately sacrificed his oxen, burned his plowing equipment, said good-bye to his parents—and followed Elijah.
Though not many of us are called to leave family and friends behind to serve God as fulltime missionaries, God wants all of us to follow Him and to “live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to [us], just as God has called [us]” (1 Corinthians 7:17). As I’ve often experienced, serving God can be thrilling and challenging no matter where we are—even if we never leave home. —Alyson Kieda
Dear Lord, equip us to be Your missionaries wherever You have placed us—near or far, at home or abroad.
God will show us how to serve Him wherever we are.
]]> Read: Psalm 139:7–12Bible in a Year: Leviticus 8–10; Matthew 25:31–46 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?—Psalm 139:7A family friend who, like us, lost a teenager in a car accident wrote a tribute to her daughter, Lindsay, in the local paper. One of the most powerful images in her essay was this: After mentioning the many pictures and remembrances of Lindsay she had put around their house, she wrote, “She is everywhere, but nowhere.”
Although our daughters still smile back at us from their photos, the spirited personalities that lit up those smiles are nowhere to be found. They are everywhere—in our hearts, in our thoughts, in all those photos—but nowhere. But Scripture tells us that, in Christ, Lindsay and Melissa are not really nowhere. They are in Jesus’s presence, “with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). They are with the One who, in a sense, is “nowhere but everywhere.” After all, we don’t see God in a physical form. We certainly don’t have smiling pictures of Him on our mantel. In fact, if you look around your house, you may think He is nowhere. But just the opposite is true. He is everywhere! Wherever we go on this earth, God is there. He’s there to guide, strengthen, and comfort us. We cannot go where He is not. We don’t see Him, but He’s everywhere. In each trial we face, that’s incredibly good news. —Dave Branon
Our greatest comfort in sorrow is knowing God is with us. INSIGHT: In Psalm 139 David describes being overwhelmed by the reality of God’s constant presence—feeling it is “too wonderful” and “too lofty” for him (v. 6), even speculating whether he could hide from God (vv. 7-12). But ultimately David celebrates the wonderful reality that he was personally created by God (vv. 13-16) to be tenderly held and guided by Him (v. 10) and to know Him (vv. 17-18). We too might have similar feelings when we try to comprehend the glory of the One who is always with us. As you reflect on the wonderful truth of God’s presence, thank Him that He is there even in the midst of your pain. Monica Brands |
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