<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+8:28-39">Romans 8:28-39</span></span></p><p>What is God's great goal in the universe to which His energies are devoted? We have it in our text for today.The Living Bible puts this best and I have no hesitation in saying that although it is not regarded as a true translation (it is rather a paraphrase), its rendering of  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+8:29">Romans 8:29</span> is one of the most exciting things I have ever read. This is what it says: "For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him  should become like his Son." God's great energy and wisdom, working on behalf of all Christians, is directed to making us like His Son Jesus Christ. Of course this purpose will only be fully realized in the world to come, but while we are here He is pursuing that selfsame purpose nevertheless. It is only when we comprehend this that we will be able to understand the purpose that lies behind all our trials and difficulties.  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+8:28">Romans 8:28</span> - "And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good" (TLB) - must be read in connection with  <span class="scriptRef" ref="ro+8:29">Romans 8:29</span>. Because God is committed to making us like His Son, His wisdom goes to work on every trial that comes our way in order to bring from it something that will enrich our character and make us more like Jesus Christ. Infinite power is ruled by infinite wisdom. He could deliver us and make our lives comfortable but in a fallen world that is not the best purpose. Understanding this is crucial if we are to live our lives the way God desires.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, forgive me that so often my goals are diametrically opposed to Yours. Help me bring my goals in line with Your goals. I shall need Your help to adjust. Whatever happens, keep me ever moving toward becoming more and more like Jesus. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+1:1-31">1 Corinthians 1:1-31</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="col+2:3">Colossians 2:3</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How does Paul describe the foolishness of God?</li><li>What is hidden in Christ?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son " (v. 29)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="mr+15:16-39">Mark 15:16-39</span></span></p><p>I cannot believe that God would write a law of "saving by sacrifice" within our hearts and evade it Himself. The psalmist asks: "Does he who formed the eye not see?"  (<span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+94:9">Psalm 94:9</span>). And Browning said: "He that created love, shall He not love?" We might add: "He that created sacrificial love, shall He not sacrifice"? The old Chinese scholar was right who, after listening for the first time to a missionary telling the story of the loving sacrifice of God through His Son on the cross, turned to one of his pupils and said: "Didn't I tell you there ought to be a God like that?" The leaders of the world's religions stumble over this. A leading Muslim said recently during a television debate: "A God who would stoop and suffer is not perfect." And a Hindu commented: "If Brahman would suffer He would be unhappy, and if He were unhappy He would be imperfect, and if He were imperfect He would not be God." The cross spells out the message that God is prepared to take into Himself the suffering caused by sin and, indeed, to take on Himself the very sins of the ones He created. No other religion can conceive of such a thing. The cross raised on Calvary is but a reflection of an inner cross lying in the heart of God. Through it we see that at the center of the universe is redeeming love. No greater discovery could be made or will be made than that - in earth or in heaven. It is the ultimate in discoveries. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, I see that if self-giving love is the meaning behind the cross, and the meaning of the universe, then it must be the meaning behind my life too. May the cross work itself out in all my relationships from this day forward. In Jesus' Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+19:1-15">John 19:1-15</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+1:1-23">1 Corinthians 1:1-23</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+2:2-8">1 Corinthians 2:2-8</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was central to Paul's message?</li><li>How was the message of Christ's crucifixion viewed?</li></ul></div></div>

"... when the centurion ... saw how he died, he said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God!' " (v. 39) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="1co+1:18-31">1 Corinthians 1:18-31</span></span></p><p>Another of the chief differences between Christianity and the world's religions, and something which adherents of other faiths find a major stumbling block, is the cross, which humbles all pride and dashes all hope of self-salvation. It also speaks of the tremendous and uncalculating generosity of God in providing for us a salvation that is without price. Kagawa, the great Japanese Christian, said that it was in the cross that he found Christianity's greatest uniqueness. Listen to his words, spoken some time before his death in 1960: "I am grateful for Shinto, for Buddhism and for Confucianism. I owe much to these faiths. Yet these three faiths utterly failed to minister to my heart's deepest needs. I was a pilgrim journeying upon a long road that had no turning. I was weary, I was footsore. I wandered through a dark and dismal world where tragedies were thick. Buddhism teaches great compassion ... but since the beginning of time, who has declared 'this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins'?" Islam, of course, proclaims the mercy of God. Each chapter of the Qur'an is introduced by the words "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful." But they do not tell of a costly and historic display of God's mercy as portrayed by the cross and spoken of in each Gospel. In Islam, Allah is merciful to the meritorious, those who pray, give alms, and fast in Ramadan. In Christianity God is merciful to sinners not because of their good works but because of Christ's sacrifice for them on the cross. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Gracious and merciful Lord, through the cross I see right into Your heart. And what I see there sets my heart on fire. I see Love bleeding for me, saving me, delivering me. Now I can never be the same again. Thank You, dear Father. In Christ's Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+6:1-14">Galatians 6:1-14</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="eph+2:14-16">Ephesians 2:14-16</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="col+1:20">Colossians 1:20</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How did Paul view the cross?</li><li>What is at the heart of the message of the cross?</li></ul></div></div>

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing ..." (v. 18) 

<font size="2" face="Verdana">
<p align="justify"><i>The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are 
being saved. (1 Corinthians 1:18 ISV)
</i></p>

<p align="justify">
Have you got a 
Cross in your history? Have you got a grave in your history? If you have not 
then you are dwelling in the shadows. You may get flashes and touches, but they 
will be fleeting, transient, coming and going. If you have a Cross and a grave 
in your experience, in your history, the Holy Spirit has got what He requires, 
and it is blessedly possible for you to have the abiding of this risen Life in 
which all these values are made good, and growingly good. What is the new 
creation? With it there comes first of all a new consciousness. You are 
conscious that things are new, and things are different. It is a new 
consciousness as to the Lord. You are alive to that to which you were never 
alive before; in every realm things are the same, yet entirely different. 
Somehow or other you move in the same surroundings, and touch the same people, 
but there is something new. There is a new consciousness. Things have become 
different....</p>
<p align="justify">
Not only do we 
have a new consciousness, but we have a new capacity. The Holy Spirit gives 
capacities that none of us have by nature. We may by nature be very limited in 
our capabilities. By the anointing of the Holy Spirit we may have capabilities 
that the best men and women of this world without the Holy Spirit have not got. 
A truly Spirit-indwelt child of God has capabilities and capacities that no one 
else has. This very breathing carries with it capacity. Until Adam was breathed 
into he had no capacities for all that he was intended to do; but when he became 
a living soul by the breath of God he had capacities for knowing, for doing, for 
understanding. The new creation is like that, with new capacities, capabilities 
for knowing, for understanding, for doing, that we never had before. No child of 
God ought ever to settle down and finally accept the position that they "cannot" 
in any particular. We should never say in any matter that is presented to us in 
the will of God, "I cannot." The presence of the Holy Spirit means capability and 
capacity for doing things which we could never do before. We ought to prove the 
Lord in that way.</p>


</font>

<p>This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” </p><p>Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.</p>

Open Windows

Knowing God in Christ - Chapter 13

 New Capacities and Capabilities 

<p><h3>Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom</h3></p><p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">18 </sup>For the message of the cross is foolishness   to those who are perishing,   but to us who are being saved   it is the power of God.   </span></p>

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness<cr>1</cr>  to those who are perishing,<cr>2</cr>  but to us who are being saved<cr>3</cr>  it is the power of God.<cr>4</cr> 

 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness   to those who are perishing,   but to us who are being saved   it is the power of God.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

<p><span class="bible-text ">For the message of the cross is foolishness   to those who are perishing,   but to us who are being saved   it is the power of God.   </span></p>

 For the message of the cross is foolishness   to those who are perishing,   but to us who are being saved   it is the power of God.  

Bible Verse of the Day

March 19, 2022

1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

More on the web

Group of Brands