Today's Good News

August 2005

8/01   2Timothy 2:12
If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us.

SUFFERING
I have a hard time rejoicing when I am suffering.  Too many times I question my spirituality or my strength when I am suffering.  The truth is that when I serve the Lord I will suffer.  The world stands against all that Jesus is doing.

 

8/02   Genesis 19:27
The next morning Abraham was up early and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence.

PRESENCE
Jesus resides in me.  I am able to constantly be in His presence.  This is a great blessing and an unquenchable joy.  Jesus is alive and I serve Him.

 

8/03  Genesis 24:40
‘You will,’ he told me, ‘for the LORD, in whose presence I have walked, will send his angel with you and will make your mission successful. Yes, you must get a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family.

MINISTRY
Ministry comes in many different shapes and sizes.  It always involves people.  The result of ministry is that needs are met.  The question that I am to constantly keep before me is “how can I minister in this situation?”  When I am focused on ministry, the opportunities will abound.

 

8/04   Exodus 16:7
In the morning you will see the glorious presence of the LORD. He has heard your complaints, which are against the LORD and not against us.

GLORY
I mistakenly have not spent much time thinking about the glory of the Lord.  Glory is something highly praiseworthy, something worthy of adoration, majestic beauty, splendor and prosperity.  God is indeed glorious and is all of these things and more.  Jesus is His glory and is worthy of all praise and adoration.  Glorious is our Lord.

 

8/05   Exodus 24:11
And though Israel’s leaders saw God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they shared a meal together in God’s presence!

PRESENCE
God can do anything.  I want to know Him more.  I want to serve Him better.  I can do this because Jesus loves me and lives in me.  God can do anything.

8/06   Exodus 29:43
I will meet the people of Israel there, and the Tabernacle will be sanctified by my glorious presence.

POWER
The Lord loves.  Love is His nature.  His presence changes us from being at the mercy of the world to being a lighthouse for the hurting and lost.  What a glorious experience to meet with the Lord.

 

8/07   Deuteronomy 12:7
There you and your families will feast in the presence of the LORD your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the LORD your God has blessed you.

PRESENCE
Jesus lives in me.  His residence is established.  He changes me to that individual I know that I was created to be.  Not like someone else but exactly like me.  I can rejoice in my life, in my experiences and thankfully greet each day.  The Lord is God and He loves me.

 

8/08   Judges 5:5
The mountains quaked at the coming of the LORD. Even Mount Sinai shook in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.

POWER
Jesus is power.  He created all things and all things exist because of Him.  That is real power.  He knows all things and knows me.  My life and work is important not because of who I am or what I’ve accomplished or even because I might have wealth, but because Jesus is Lord of me.

 

8/09   1Samuel 6:20
“Who is able to stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?” they cried out. “Where can we send the Ark from here?”

MANKIND
The world is demanding to be in charge.  It wants to be its own god.  Jesus came and died for our sin that we might be able to change.  We are no longer in bondage to the world.  Jesus sets us free.

 

8/10   1Kings 8:11
The priests could not continue their work because the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple.

PRESENCE
The presence of the Lord Jesus is not an emotion.  He works forcefully in our lives.  Jesus will lead, guide and direct us on our journey of discipleship.

 

8/11   1Kings 18:15
But Elijah said, “I swear by the LORD Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab today.”

JESUS
Jesus is here.  He is not subject to the world, scholars, our failures or any other created thing.    I can choose to let Jesus have control of me.  Jesus is Lord.  He is Lord of all.

 

8/12   1Chronicles 29:10
Then David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly: “O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever!

PRAISE
Jesus is worthy of all honor and glory.  He is due all praise and adoration.  When I praise the Lord I am simply doing what a child of God will do.  Praise is a recognition of the power and majesty of Jesus and blesses me as I praise Him.

 

8/13   2Chronicles 7:2
The priests could not even enter the Temple of the LORD because the glorious presence of the LORD filled it.

HOLY
Holy is the Lord.  He is different than man.  His ways are not our ways.  He saw my need and knew my heart and saved me.  He broke down the wall of barrier and brought me into the inner sanctum.  Jesus is my Lord.

 

8/14   Ezra 9:15
O LORD, God of Israel, you are just. We stand before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.”

PERFECT
I was dead in my trespasses and sin and Jesus saved me.  Jesus is perfect in every way.  His life, death, and resurrection provided for me exactly what I needed to have access to the Father.  Jesus gives me right standing with the Lord.

 

8/15   Psalm 5:5
Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.

HOLY
The Lord is God.  He will not overlook evil.  The Father has provided a way for me in Christ to have access to Him.  Jesus is my righteousness.  He cleanses me of sin and gives me life.  Now I am alive in Christ and dead to the bondage of sin.

 

8/16   Psalm 9:19
Arise, O LORD! Do not let mere mortals defy you! Let the nations be judged in your presence!

JUSTICE
Jesus said for me not to judge.  The Lord is the only righteous judge.  He knows all things and will judge with absolute precision.  One day Jesus will come back.  It will be at a time that the world is in total denial of Christ.  In that day the Lord will exact justice on the world.

 

8/17   Psalm 15:1
Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

WORSHIP
Jesus is alive in every believer.  He equips each one of us to worship the Lord.  In Christ we are ushered into the very presence of the Lord.  Jesus enables us to worship.

 

8/18   Psalm 16:11
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

IMMORTALITY
In Christ we are immortal.  He has birthed us into the family of God.  We do not have to bemoan our situation.  We must never forget the price that Jesus paid for us and value that He places on us.

 

8/19   Psalm 21:6
You have endowed him with eternal blessings. You have given him the joy of being in your presence.

JESUS
Jesus is eternally blessed and blesses us with eternity.  In Him is life and He is our life.  The coming One was prophesied nine hundred years before His birth.  Jesus is here and He is Lord.

 

8/20   Psalm 22:29
Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Let all mortals – those born to die – bow down in his presence.

JESUS
People live as though they are immortal.  Life is but a breath.  In the day of death everyone will know who Jesus is and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is the Lord.

 

8/21   Psalm 37:7
Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

PEACE
In Jesus we have real life.  The Lord brings peace to our hearts and to our lives.  He will give us strength in our time of need.  Jesus is able.  No matter what I face Jesus is able to take care of me.

 

8/22   Psalm 56:13
For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.

LIFE
I can do nothing without Jesus.  He is life.  In Him I can have life, light to live and wisdom to do the next right thing.  When Christ is in control, life has real meaning and lasting value.

 

8/23   Psalm 68:3
But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy.

GODLINESS
Jesus gives us eternal life.  That life includes an opportunity to grow in our relationship with Christ and to focus our attention on a Christ like life.  We can rejoice in the presence of the Lord because He is in us.

 

8/24   Psalm 89:15
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.

WORSHIP
When I spend time with the Lord I will hear Him as He encourages me to come and worship.  The worship experience is a time for fellowship, renewal and encouragement.  Lord I come to worship You.

 

8/25   Psalm 116:9
And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!

JESUS
Jesus is with us.  He is alive and lives in each believer.  Today is the day of the Lord’s favor.  He favors us as His grace gift for our life.  Wake up, Jesus is listening.

 

8/26   Matthew 18:10
“Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

SPIRITUALITY
We do what we believe.  The only spiritual truth we ever know is the spiritual truth we do.  What I do today and each day is critically important as a child of God.  Jesus is Lord and I am to follow Him.

 

8/27   Matthew 25:32
All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

RETURN
There will be a day when all things as we know them will cease.  It will be the end of time.  Jesus will return to this world in glory.  He will not be fooled nor ignored.  Jesus is coming back.

8/28   Luke 1:19
Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!

FATHER
Our Father who is in heaven has not put us here by ourselves.  He is intensely involved in our world and is seeking to develop a relationship with us through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Great is His faithfulness.

 

8/29   Luke 15:10
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

HEAVEN
Heaven knows what is going on.  Heaven is waiting our arrival.  Eternity will be a great place because Jesus will be there.  We can have a great life right now because Jesus is here.

 

8/30   Romans 9:1
In the presence of Christ, I speak with utter truthfulness – I do not lie – and my conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm that what I am saying is true.

JESUS
We live our lives in the presence of the Lord Jesus.  Everything we think and do is done before Him.  We are blessed when we recognize this.  It brings us to a level of spiritual accountability and enables us to grow in our relationship with the Lord.

 

8/31   Ephesians 3:12
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome.

FATHER

We have access to the Father.  Our access is not based on what we can do.  Our access is based on the work that Jesus has done.  His righteousness takes us into the Father’s presence.

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Clay Corvin

Clay Corvin is currently a Bible Teacher and occasional preacher at Bethel Community Baptist Church in New Orleans. He is the retired VP Business and Professor of Admin at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after completing 38 years as their Business Administrator. He was the pastor at the Brantley Baptist Center for twenty-five years. He is married to Carol Corvin and the father of three children and has three grandchildren. He ministers today as Co-pastor of the Bethel Community Baptist Church and seeks to share the Gospel with everyone. Jesus is Lord!