Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

When the woman the Bible describes as “a sinner” came and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and poured an expensive ointment on Him, she was expressing something remarkable - unshakable faith! She had been rejected, but Christ offered her hope for a brand new life.

There is only one source of salvation and deliverance from sin, and she was placing her faith completely in Jesus. In response, he told her that she had received the salvation she desired.

W.H. Griffith Thomas wrote, “Faith is the acknowledgement of our own inability and His ability.”

Everyone trusts in something. Far more important than the quality or nature of our faith is the object of our faith. It is only when we trust in Jesus that we find salvation.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Marghanita Laski was a prominent author and critic in England during the last century. In addition to her artistic skills, she was noted for her opposition to religion. She was a leading voice for atheism. Yet not long before her death, she is reported to have told a guest, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.”

The great gift of God’s forgiveness by grace through faith covers all of our sins. Some of us were saved at a young age before we had experienced the worst that the world had to offer. Others spent years in bondage, suffering deep consequences for their sin before finding freedom in Christ.

Yet, each of us stand in desperate need of God’s forgiveness. And God’s promise is that If you will humbly call out to Christ by faith, He will forgive all your sins.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

If you take a bag of carrots and a half dozen eggs and put them together into a pot of boiling water, they have opposite reactions. The carrots will become soft and tender, while the eggs will harden.

The same is true of the response to fire with wax and clay. The difference is not found in the medium of the testing, but in the nature of the material. So it is with our hearts.

Some people endure great hardship and suffering in their lives, but their faith is made stronger and their spirit sweeter. Others endure very similar circumstances but become angry and bitter at God for allowing bad things to happen to them. The difference is determiend by the condition of our hearts.

Keep your heart soft toward the things of God, and you will respond to the events of life properly.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The Scottish Pastor Ian MacLaren recounted visiting an elderly lady in his church and finding her weeping. When he asked her what was wrong, she told him that she felt she had not done enough for God with her life.

MacLaren then asked her to tell him about her sons. Her three oldest boys were all on the mission field. The youngest was preparing to leave and join one of his brothers in the work. She had reared her sons to desire to serve God more than anything else.

MacLaren told her, “And you say your life has been wasted …doing the trivial tasks. I’d like to have your mansion when we are called Home! It will be very near the throne!”

God is focused on faithfulness. The standard by which He measures our lives is what we have done in relation to what we have been given and the attitude with which we do it. God never overlooks the faithful service of His children.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

John Wesley and his brother Charles were part of the Great Awakening that shook both England and America in a mighty move of God. In part because of their effectiveness, they faced a great deal of opposition to their preaching.

Hecklers disrupted their sermons, and on at least one occasion a bull was released into the field to break up an open air meeting. Yet they continued on undaunted, despite the obstacles they faced.

John Wesley wrote, “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God,…they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”

One of the greatest needs of our day is men and women who are not afraid to take a clear, firm, unapologetic, and open stand for Jesus Christ. Only those who stand firm will receive the reward of faithful servants.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

While Dr. J. Vernon McGee was out with a group of pastors, He noticed a carhop that wore the largest cross he had ever seen. He asked her, why she was wearing the cross? Her reply was that she thought it was pretty and wore it as an ornament.

Dr. McGee was then able to share with her the truth of the cross and the Saviour that laid down his life for her salvation.

The great tragedy in our day is that some who profess to be Christians are downplaying the message we are commanded to proclaim to the world in order to be more acceptable to society. Let us never be ashamed to publicly declare the message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

While God sometimes answers our prayers immediately, there are other times we must keep praying until the answer comes.

Evangelist D.L. Moody told the story of vile man in Scotland that attended his meetings. Moody asked if he could pray for the man, and the infidel just laughed, saying that prayer did not work because God was not real. He heard Moody preach a few times, but did not respond to the gospel.

So, Moody had his team pray for the man. A few more weeks passed and the infidel attended a service in his hometown and told the preacher, “I am troubled. I don’t have peace and I want you to pray for me.”

God had worked through the prayers of Moody and his group, and the man put his trust in Jesus Christ.

God has never yet failed to keep His promises. Our faith is not based on what we see around us but on what He has declared He will do. Don’t let the circumstances you face make you doubt that God will keep his promises.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The story is told of an old New England preacher who found that the clock in the back of his church would not keep correct time. Even worse, it was not consistent. Sometimes it ran too fast and other times it was too slow. After his attempts to reset the clock failed, the preacher hung a sign over the clock that read, “Don’t blame my hands — the problem is deeper than that.”

Human nature is such that we tend to look at the surface level problems in a life instead of going to the heart of the matter. At the heart of many of our problems is pride. It is pride that causes us to resist the Lord, to rebel against a parent, or to ignore the plight of those around us.

Rather than focusing on the hands, God is concerned with the heart. When you give your heart to Christ, He begins a work of cleaning you up and making you tick in His rhythm. Perhaps it is time for you to surrender your heart to the Lord today.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte recounted the story of a visit he paid to a prominent lawyer in Glasgow. He said that when he entered the office, the lawyer asked, “Do you have a message for an old sinner?”

Whyte responded by sharing Micah 7:8, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”

God would have every right to delight in justice. Sin is an awful thing in his eyes and deserves punishment. Yet, instead, God’s love and grace are so wonderful that He delights in extending mercy to us. And He calls for us to do the same in our dealings with others.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

When the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, it divided the capital city of Germany. West Germany remained part of the free world while East Germany was under the domination of the Soviet Union. There was a great division that remained until the wall was brought down in 1989.

At the height of the tensions, residents of East Germany began to throw bags of garbage over the wall to protest against the West. In response, citizens of West Germany filled bags with food and medical supplies and flung them over the wall with a simple note, “Each gives what he has.”

If we only extend love to a select few, we are not obeying the command of God, and we are not showing His love to a world that so desperately needs to see it. If we are to live as children of the King, then we must love as He loves. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”