Verse of the Day
Luke 2:6-7 (New King James Version)

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Certainty of Judgment - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"If the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb. 2:2-3).
There is certain judgment for everyone who does not receive Christ as Savior and Lord.

Today the majority believes that God is a God of love and grace, but not of justice. One brief look at Hebrews 2:2-3 ought to convince anyone otherwise. The writer's point is this: Since the Old Testament makes it clear that transgression and disobedience met with severe and just punishment, how much more so will equal or greater punishment be rendered under the New Testament, which was revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?

Both the Old and New Testaments confirm that angels were instrumental in bringing the law (Deut. 33:2; Acts 7:38). The law the angels spoke, primarily the Ten Commandments, was steadfast. That meant if someone broke t

Intimacy With God - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

Don't miss the blessing of the deeply personal relationship God offers.

John 15:12-15

Does God ever seem far away? If so, we might wonder how involved in our life He actually is. At such times, we should rely on the truth of Scripture—and the Gospels are a good place to start.

Jesus’ life testifies to the divine desire for intimacy. He consistently reached out to strangers, inviting them to draw near to Him. He spoke words of encouragement to His followers. At the same time, He taught them the profound truths He’d received from His Father (John 7:16) and held them accountable for their actions. And Jesus invited certain people to accompany Him for deeply personal experiences, such as the transfiguration and His last prayer retreat in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 9:2; Matthew 26:36-37).

The Savior’s sacrificial choice—to die in our place—made it possible for us to join Him in God’s family. The Holy Spirit, each

Verse of the Day
Luke 2:1, 4-5 (New King James Version)

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Throwing out the Anchor - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it" (Heb. 2:1).
God’s Word is the anchor that will prevent people from drifting past the harbor of salvation.

While English explorer William Edward Parry and his crew were exploring the Arctic Ocean, they needed to go further north to continue their chartings. So they calculated their location by the stars and began a treacherous march.

After many hours they stopped, exhausted. After taking their bearings, they discovered they were now further south than when they started! They had been walking on an ice floe that was traveling faster south than they were walking north.

That is similar to the situation people who continue rejecting Christ find themselves in. Therefore Hebrews 2:1 says, "We must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."

Why would anyone knowingly reject Christ? He came int

A Relationship With God - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

The Lord wants you to discover the freedom, satisfaction, and joy found through a relationship with Him.

1 John 4:7-10

Intimate relationships are characterized by a close connection with another person and a commitment to his or her well-being. Acquaintances have superficial information about us, but true friends know our deeper emotions, thoughts, and desires—and God wants to have this kind of relationship with us.

However, human sinfulness made that seem impossible. We all were born with an inherited sin nature (Romans 5:12) and have rebelled against God’s perfect authority (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). Neither good works nor moral values can overcome the problem. Thankfully, God’s solution is to change our nature so we can be a part of His family. However, divine justice must still be satisfied, and only a perfect sacrifice can pay for our sins (Deuteronomy 17:1). Throughout history, only one qualified: Jesus

Verse of the Day
Luke 1:76-78 (New King James Version)

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;

A Warning to the Intellectually Convinced - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard" (Heb. 2:3).
Many people know the facts of the gospel but won’t make a commitment to it.

I will never forget a lady who came to my office, confessing that she was a prostitute and was desperate for help. I presented the claims of Christ to her and asked if she wanted to confess Christ as Lord of her life. She said yes and prayed, seemingly inviting Christ into her life.

Then I suggested that we burn her book of contacts. She looked at me incredulously and said, "What do you mean?" "If you want to live for Jesus Christ," I explained, "and you've truly accepted His forgiveness and embraced Him as Lord, then you need to prove it." "But that book is worth a lot of money," she said. "I don't want to burn it." After putting it back in her purse, she looked me right

Unashamed to Share the Gospel - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

We have a responsibility to share the gospel, but the outcome is in God's hands.

2 Timothy 1:6-12

The apostle Paul understood the awesome responsibility of being entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He considered this calling a stewardship for which he would one day give an account to the Lord, and he was willing to do anything—even suffer—for Christ’s sake. As believers, we have this same privilege to share the gospel with people God places in our life.

Paul felt compelled to tell others about Christ. In fact, he said, “Woe is me if I do not” (1 Corinthians 9:16). No matter how anyone treated him, he wasn’t ashamed of the message of Christ. The prophet Jeremiah had a similar experience (Jeremiah 20:7-9). He became a laughingstock and was persecuted for delivering God’s message of the coming judgment. Yet he discovered that not speaking created a far worse feeling in his heart—like fire shut up in

Verse of the Day
Luke 1:68-70 (New King James Version)

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,

Bearing with an Exhortation - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation" (Heb. 13:22).
Invitations to salvation must provide both exhortation and warning.

Hell is undoubtedly full of people who did not actively oppose Jesus Christ, but simply drifted into damnation by neglecting to respond to the gospel. These are the kinds of people the writer challenges in Hebrews 2:1-4. They were aware of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, but weren't willing to commit their lives to Him. As a result, they were drifting past the call of God into eternal disaster.

The Word of God always demands a response. Any effective teacher of it must do more than just dispense facts; he must warn, exhort, and extend an invitation. He may have impressive knowledge of the truth, but if he doesn't have a passionate concern for how people react to it, he is not a worthy representative of Jesus Christ.

Jesus had that kind of compassion. Despite the r

The Reason for Our Boldness - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

Is there anything that keeps you from sharing the gospel’s life-changing message?

Philippians 1:19-20

Most Christians are very familiar with the gospel. However, we’re often still reluctant to share our faith. Perhaps fear of negative reactions or possible questions can keep us silent. What if we don’t have the answers or end up looking like a fool? It can feel intimidating.

But remember, God has given us the most important news in the world. We can’t let fear or ignorance keep us from sharing the only message that can change a person’s eternal destiny. The apostle Paul welcomed opportunities to tell people about Christ, because he was focused on the gospel’s life-changing power rather than the possible negative reactions (Romans 1:15-17). Often, the reason we’re ashamed or scared to talk about our faith is that we’re concerned about ourselves. But if we express genuine interest in those around us and ask

Verse of the Day
Matthew 1:20-21 (New King James Version)

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Christ's Superior Destiny - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"To which of the angels has He ever said, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet'? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:13-14).
The destiny of Jesus Christ is that ultimately everything in the universe will be subject to Him.

"At the name of Jesus every knee [will] bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth" (Phil. 2:10). That great promise confirms that Jesus Christ is destined to be the ruler of the universe.

Yet notice this about Christ's rule: "When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). Christ is subordinate to His Father, but only in His role as the Son. While the eternal Son is equally divine, He is officially in subjection to God.

Eventuall

The God Who Speaks - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

God offers us the invaluable privilege of personal communication with Him.

Hebrews 1:1-2

Throughout human history, God has spoken to mankind in various ways. His prophets and apostles were moved by the Holy Spirit to proclaim and write His words (2 Peter 1:21), but His ultimate expression came through the birth of His Son Jesus (Galatians 4:3-5). Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord still communicates to every Christian who listens with an open and receptive heart.

Think about the wonder of having a God who speaks—not a distant deity who gives orders from heaven, but one who actually wants to converse with you! Why would the Lord of all creation choose to come to earth, die on a cross, and provide the Holy Spirit in order to communicate with each of us? Consider that God ...

Loves you.

Desires an intimate relationship with you.

Longs for you to trust Him and for your faith to grow strong as you see the fulfil

Verse of the Day
Luke 1:46-47, 49 (New King James Version)

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

Christ's Eternal Existence - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay a foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands; they will perish, but Thou remainest; and they all will become old as a garment. And as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; as a garment they will also be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end" (Heb. 1:10-12).
Christ existed before the beginning of the world; thus He is without beginning.

Jesus Christ is no creature. To be able to lay the foundation of the earth and create the heavens in the beginning implies that He must have existed before the beginning. The apostle John testified to this when he said, "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). Christ is eternal.

Jesus is also immutable, which means He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever." We need to hang onto this truth as we approach a day when much of what we know

Our Savior - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley
Jesus chose to die for our sin so that we can live forever in His presence.

Isaiah 53:1-12

In today’s reading, Isaiah prophesied that a Savior would come to atone for the sins of mankind (v. 5). But the long-awaited Messiah didn’t match people’s expectations about Him.

The Jews imagined a strong ruler who would lead their nation with worldly power, but Jesus was a servant who spent time with outcasts and the lowly. They hoped for a man who would end Israel’s persecution; He died a criminal’s death and warned His followers that they would not be accepted by the world. Jesus didn’t fit what the Jewish people wanted—yet He was so much more than they understood.

One day we all will come before God to be judged. Sin’s penalty is death, an agonizing eternal existence apart from Him. Yet Jesus bore our sin so that whoever trusts in Him can look forward to eternal life (John 3:16). He chose to take our punishment, voluntarily dyi

Verse of the Day
Luke 1:30-33 (New King James Version)

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

The Lover of Righteousness - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions'" (Heb. 1:8-9).
As the eternal God and King, Christ loves righteousness and hates lawlessness.

In these days it's difficult for us as Christians to be totally supportive of our governmental leaders when we see so much of what God calls righteous compromised or ridiculed. But the King of kings—Christ Himself—is the only leader who has a perfectly right attitude toward righteousness.

Christ rules from an eternal throne, and He rules eternity as God and King. The scepter He holds is symbolic of His rule, particularly as a rule of righteousness.

But there's more to it than that: He just doesn't act righteously; He loves righteousness itself. How often have we obeyed without joy, exp

The Lover of Righteousness - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions'" (Heb. 1:8-9).
As the eternal God and King, Christ loves righteousness and hates lawlessness.

In these days it's difficult for us as Christians to be totally supportive of our governmental leaders when we see so much of what God calls righteous compromised or ridiculed. But the King of kings—Christ Himself—is the only leader who has a perfectly right attitude toward righteousness.

Christ rules from an eternal throne, and He rules eternity as God and King. The scepter He holds is symbolic of His rule, particularly as a rule of righteousness.

But there's more to it than that: He just doesn't act righteously; He loves righteousness itself. How often have we obeyed without joy, exp

The Lover of Righteousness - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions'" (Heb. 1:8-9).
As the eternal God and King, Christ loves righteousness and hates lawlessness.

In these days it's difficult for us as Christians to be totally supportive of our governmental leaders when we see so much of what God calls righteous compromised or ridiculed. But the King of kings—Christ Himself—is the only leader who has a perfectly right attitude toward righteousness.

Christ rules from an eternal throne, and He rules eternity as God and King. The scepter He holds is symbolic of His rule, particularly as a rule of righteousness.

But there's more to it than that: He just doesn't act righteously; He loves righteousness itself. How often have we obeyed without joy, exp

Good News of Great Joy - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

Through Jesus, we receive eternal life—and divine joy.

Matthew 1:18-25

When an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, he gave them good news of great joy for all people: The long-awaited Savior was born! Then the angel was suddenly “joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God” (Luke 2:13 NLT).

The good news they proclaimed that day had to do with more than just Jesus’ birth. It anticipated His sinless life, which qualified Him to be God’s sacrificial lamb. It looked ahead to His crucifixion and resurrection, which signaled the Father’s acceptance of Christ’s payment for our sins. It also encompassed His future ascension into heaven (Mark 16:19). And it envisioned Pentecost, when the Spirit would indwell believers (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17), as well as the time Jesus would return as King. The angels rejoiced because salvation was here (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Jesus spoke about joy because

Verse of the Day
Luke 1:26-28 (New King James Version)

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Christ's Superior Nature - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"Of the angels He says, 'Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.' But of the Son He says, 'Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever'" (Heb. 1:7-8).
Jesus Christ is God, and He created the angels.

People today who claim that Jesus was just a man, an angel, a prophet, or some inferior god are in error and bring upon themselves the curse of God. The Bible, and especially the writer of Hebrews, are clear about who Christ is.

First, the writer deals with the nature of angels when he says, "Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire." "Makes" simply means "to create." The antecedent of "who" is Christ. Therefore it is obvious that Christ created the angels.

They are also His possession: "His angels." They are His created servants, who do not operate on their own initiative, but on the direction of Christ.

But the greatest difference between the nature of angels and Christ is that

Abandoning the Self-Life - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

True freedom is found only by submitting to God.

Jonah 4:1-11

Is there anything in your life that you’re unwilling to surrender to God? Keeping such things from the Lord might give us a sense of independence. But by following “self,” we interfere with God’s purpose for us. He wants every aspect of our life to be submitted to His will.

Jonah mistook rebellion for freedom. Today's passage paints a vivid picture of the prophet sweltering in the sun—and in the heat of his hatred. His blood boiled when God showed mercy to the Ninevites. “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death,” he ranted (v. 9). God had used him to save more than 120,000 souls, but Jonah was angry because he desired their destruction.

Freedom is not the same as autonomy. True freedom involves submitting to the Lord, which frees us from the yoke of sin and reconciles us to Him. Jonah obeyed with his body but not with his hear

Verse of the Day
Matthew 2:4-6 (New King James Version)

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Worship of Distinction - Drawing Near - John MacArthur

"When He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, 'And let all the angels of God worship Him'" (Heb. 1:6).
Jesus Christ is greater than angels because He is worshiped.

Even though Jesus Christ humbled Himself and was made lower than the angels for a time, angels are still to worship Him. Since angels are to worship Him, then Christ must be greater than them.

Angels have always worshiped Christ, only they worshiped Him as God. It wasn't until His incarnation that angels were commanded to worship Him as God's Son. It is a sin to worship anyone or anything but God—in fact, note how sternly the apostle John was rebuked for worshiping angels (Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9). So the very fact that angels are to worship Christ verifies that Christ is indeed God.

At present, the angels don't fully understand the entire picture of God's redemptive plan. Peter tells us that the prophets didn't understand all that they wrote, "se

Brokenness—The Protest - In Touch Ministries - Charles Stanley

The Lord calls us to share His love with others—even those who have hurt us.

Jonah 1:1-17

The children’s story about Jonah and the big fish presents the prophet in a rather rosy light: After three days in the fish’s belly, Jonah relents and goes merrily on to Nineveh. End of story.

The narrative in the Bible has the same components (storm, big fish, repentant Ninevites) but the context is totally different. From the moment Jonah chose to flee from God’s plan until the end of the book, his heart was in rebellion.

The inhabitants of Nineveh were Assyrians, a people known for their aggression and cruelty. They were the sworn enemies of Israel, so Jonah had good reason to despise them. But God loved the Ninevites and desired their repentance. The challenging task of ministering to them carried an additional purpose: breaking Jonah’s unloving spirit—an attitude so strong that he preferred to die rather than see t