tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-532586205504567912024-03-28T07:02:05.825-04:00Daily Devotions: Not our way, but Yahweh!From my daily reading of the bible, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest and Ron Hutchcraft "A Word with You" and occasionally others.Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.comBlogger5963125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-19706609343218636802024-03-28T07:01:00.001-04:002024-03-28T07:01:03.364-04:00Jeremiah 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: THE TRANQUIL SOUL - March 28, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. As a result, Paul would later write, “…Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” (Philippians 3:13-14 TLB).</div><div><br /></div><div>What would the apostle say to the guilt-laden person? Simply this: “Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone.”</div><div><br /></div><div>A happy saint is one who is, at the same time, aware of the severity of sin and the immensity of grace. The saint dwells in grace, not guilt. This is the tranquil soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jeremiah 12</div><div><br /></div><div>What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 12 You are right, O God, and you set things right.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can’t argue with that. But I do have some questions:</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do bad people have it so good?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do con artists make it big?</div><div><br /></div><div>You planted them and they put down roots.</div><div><br /></div><div>They flourished and produced fruit.</div><div><br /></div><div>They talk as if they’re old friends with you,</div><div><br /></div><div>but they couldn’t care less about you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, you know me inside and out.</div><div><br /></div><div>You don’t let me get by with a thing!</div><div><br /></div><div>Make them pay for the way they live,</div><div><br /></div><div>pay with their lives, like sheep marked for slaughter.</div><div><br /></div><div>How long do we have to put up with this—</div><div><br /></div><div>the country depressed, the farms in ruin—</div><div><br /></div><div>And all because of wickedness, these wicked lives?</div><div><br /></div><div>Even animals and birds are dying off</div><div><br /></div><div>Because they’ll have nothing to do with God</div><div><br /></div><div>and think God has nothing to do with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–6 “So, Jeremiah, if you’re worn out in this footrace with men,</div><div><br /></div><div>what makes you think you can race against horses?</div><div><br /></div><div>And if you can’t keep your wits during times of calm,</div><div><br /></div><div>what’s going to happen when troubles break loose</div><div><br /></div><div>like the Jordan in flood?</div><div><br /></div><div>Those closest to you, your own brothers and cousins,</div><div><br /></div><div>are working against you.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re out to get you. They’ll stop at nothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t trust them, especially when they’re smiling.</div><div><br /></div><div>7–11 “I will abandon the House of Israel,</div><div><br /></div><div>walk away from my beloved people.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will turn over those I most love</div><div><br /></div><div>to those who are her enemies.</div><div><br /></div><div>She’s been, this one I held dear,</div><div><br /></div><div>like a snarling lion in the jungle,</div><div><br /></div><div>Growling and baring her teeth at me—</div><div><br /></div><div>and I can’t take it anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>Has this one I hold dear become a preening peacock?</div><div><br /></div><div>But isn’t she under attack by vultures?</div><div><br /></div><div>Then invite all the hungry animals at large,</div><div><br /></div><div>invite them in for a free meal!</div><div><br /></div><div>Foreign, scavenging shepherds</div><div><br /></div><div>will loot and trample my fields,</div><div><br /></div><div>Turn my beautiful, well-cared-for fields</div><div><br /></div><div>into vacant lots of tin cans and thistles.</div><div><br /></div><div>They leave them littered with junk—</div><div><br /></div><div>a ruined land, a land in lament.</div><div><br /></div><div>The whole countryside is a wasteland,</div><div><br /></div><div>and no one will really care.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–13 “The barbarians will invade,</div><div><br /></div><div>swarm over hills and plains.</div><div><br /></div><div>The judgment sword of God will take its toll</div><div><br /></div><div>from one end of the land to the other.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing living will be safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>They will plant wheat and reap weeds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing they do will work out.</div><div><br /></div><div>They will look at their meager crops and wring their hands.</div><div><br /></div><div>All this the result of God’s fierce anger!”</div><div><br /></div><div>14–17 God’s Message: “Regarding all the bad neighbors who abused the land I gave to Israel as their inheritance: I’m going to pluck them out of their lands, and then pluck Judah out from among them. Once I’ve pulled the bad neighbors out, I will relent and take them tenderly to my heart and put them back where they belong, put each of them back in their home country, on their family farms. Then if they will get serious about living my way and pray to me as well as they taught my people to pray to that god Baal, everything will go well for them. But if they won’t listen, then I’ll pull them out of their land by the roots and cart them off to the dump. Total destruction!” God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Thursday, March 28, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>John 13:3–5, 12–15, 31–35</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron.</div><div><br /></div><div>After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–17 Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.</div><div><br /></div><div>A New Command</div><div><br /></div><div>31–32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God’s glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!</div><div><br /></div><div>33 “Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I’m telling you: ‘Where I go, you are not able to come.’</div><div><br /></div><div>34–35 “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>What does it mean that Jesus gave a “new” command to love (John 13:34)? A command to love was already central in Jewish faith (Leviticus 19:18). But what seems “new” is to love “as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the disciples would be given a new example of self-giving love that should shape their lives. But far more than just an example, Jesus would also give them the ability to love this way. Through the gift of Christ’s Spirit, they could experience and share the love Jesus shared with the Father (17:22-24). By: Monica La Rose</div><div><br /></div><div>A New Command to Love</div><div>A new command I give you: Love one another. John 13:34</div><div><br /></div><div>In a tradition starting as early as the thirteenth century, members of the royal family in the United Kingdom give gifts to people in need on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. The practice is rooted in the meaning of the word maundy, which comes from the Latin mandatum, “command.” The command being commemorated is the new one that Jesus gave to His friends on the night before He died: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus was a leader who took on the role of a servant as He washed His friends’ feet (v. 5). He then called them to do the same: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (v. 15). And in an even greater act of sacrifice, He lay down His life, dying on the cross (19:30). Out of mercy and love, He gave Himself that we might enjoy the fullness of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>The tradition of the British royal family serving people in need continues as a symbol of following Jesus’ great example. We may not have been born into a place of privilege, but when we place our faith in Jesus, we become members of His family. And we too can show our love by living out His new command. As we depend on God’s Spirit to change us from within, we can reach out to others with care, affirmation, and grace. By: Amy Boucher Pye</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How have you observed or embodied servant leadership? In what ways could you “love one another” today?</div><div><br /></div><div>My great Savior, what a gift of love You give! Thank You for being the ultimate Servant, laying down Your life for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Thursday, March 28, 2024</div><div>Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?</div><div><br /></div><div>"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8</div><div><br /></div><div>Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Thursday, March 28, 2024</div><div>A Tragic Collapse, An Empty Grave - #9709</div><div><br /></div><div>It started with an almost unthinkable radio transmission to an emergency number.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The entire Key Bridge has fallen into the harbor."</div><div><br /></div><div>Unbelievable, I mean, and then the video - like something from a sci-fi movie. One minute the heavily-traveled Outer Harbor Bridge in Baltimore, stood there majestically. The next minute it was gone, in pieces in the river. And then the deep sadness of knowing the workers on the bridge had gone with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I awoke to that heartbreaking scene on the news, I immediately had two reactions.</div><div><br /></div><div>One was to go to God for all the people who were hurt, or lost, or missing, grieving, or helping. Because He is, as the Bible says, "The God of all comfort and the Father of all compassion" (2 Corinthians 1:3).</div><div><br /></div><div>My second thought was, "The 'always be there' things in our life are like that bridge aren't they can be there one minute, then so suddenly be gone." That collapsing bridge, I thought, is a picture of what happens in so many grieving hearts.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about "A Tragic Collapse, and an Empty Grave."</div><div><br /></div><div>You know each day, all around us, people watch a piece of their life infrastructure crumble before their eyes. That marriage that was supposed to bring so much happiness, not so much pain. The future that is suddenly threatened by health issues that may change everything. The plans that just blew up... the relationship on the rocks... the child in trouble... the return of a ghost from the past.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible bluntly calls out how insecure our security really is. In Job it says, "What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider's web. They lean on the web, but it gives way" (Job 8:14-15).</div><div><br /></div><div>A fire. A tornado. A drunk driver crossing the line. A heart attack. It can collapse in a moment.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like the day I suddenly lost the love of my life. The day before was filled with the joy of our first grandchild's graduation. My Karen was so alive. The next afternoon, she was gone. My mirror, my cheerleader, my wise counselor, my very best friend - a lot came crashing down that day. One thing did not.</div><div><br /></div><div>In one of Jesus' many parables, He tells about two houses - one built on sand, one on rock. It's our word for the day from the Word of God, from Luke 6:48-49. He said they both look good until a violent storm comes. And then He described, when it hits the house "without a foundation" the verse says "the floods sweep down against that house, and it will collapse in a heap of ruins." Jesus goes on to say, "But when the floodwaters break against the house with its "foundation on solid rock... it stands firm because it is well built" (Luke 6:48-49).</div><div><br /></div><div>The storms, the crashes, the collapses, they're actually reminders that we were never meant to build everything on life's shifting sand. We need the "solid rock."</div><div><br /></div><div>And God reveals where our restless, fearful hearts can find it. In the words of Scripture, "He has planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).</div><div><br /></div><div>We're created for something that's indestructible. That lasts forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is why so many searching hearts turn to Jesus. Because He put a transforming word in front of the word "life." The word "eternal." The Bible tells us "that God has given us eternal life, quote, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son, has life!" (1 John 5:11-12).</div><div><br /></div><div>There's only one Man who can give us unshakable, unlosable life - the one Man who proved He has it. Of the estimated 100 billion people who have lived on this planet, only one has ever walked out of His grave under His own power. And that's Jesus. The One who, on Good Friday, loved me so much that He poured out His life on a cross to pay for the sin that had cut me off from God.</div><div><br /></div><div>On a dark May day, I lost the love of my life. But not the One who loves me most. And who promises, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).</div><div><br /></div><div>Unending life. Unlosable love. Finally, the eternity hole in my heart filled by the One it was made for.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the glory of Easter. For when the Savior who walked out of His grave walks into your life, something transforming happens.</div><div><br /></div><div>You're safe. Forever.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-47999366789255197832024-03-27T09:21:00.006-04:002024-03-27T09:21:43.052-04:00Jeremiah 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: THE GREAT POET OF GRACE - March 27, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than did the apostle Paul. He was an ancient version of a terrorist, taking believers into custody and then spilling their blood. In addition, he was a legalist to the core. Before he knew Christ, Paul had spent a lifetime trying to save himself. But then came the Damascus road moment – Jesus appeared! Once Paul saw Jesus, he couldn’t see value in his résumé anymore. And he couldn’t see any option except to spend the rest of his life talking less about himself and more about Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>He became the great poet of grace. “But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone” (Philippians 3:7 TLB).</div><div><br /></div><div> Jeremiah 11</div><div><br /></div><div>The Terms of This Covenant</div><div><br /></div><div>1 11 The Message that came to Jeremiah from God:</div><div><br /></div><div>2–4 “Preach to the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them this: ‘This is God’s Message, the Message of Israel’s God to you. Anyone who does not keep the terms of this covenant is cursed. The terms are clear. I made them plain to your ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt, out of the iron furnace of suffering.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 “ ‘Obey what I tell you. Do exactly what I command you. Your obedience will close the deal. You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours. This will provide the conditions in which I will be able to do what I promised your ancestors: to give them a fertile and lush land. And, as you know, that’s what I did.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Yes, God,” I replied. “That’s true.”</div><div><br /></div><div>6–8 God continued: “Preach all this in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Say, ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and carry them out! I warned your ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt and I’ve kept up the warnings. I haven’t quit warning them for a moment. I warned them from morning to night: “Obey me or else!” But they didn’t obey. They paid no attention to me. They did whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it, until finally I stepped in and ordered the punishments set out in the covenant, which, despite all my warnings, they had ignored.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>9–10 Then God said, “There’s a conspiracy among the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. They’ve plotted to reenact the sins of their ancestors—the ones who disobeyed me and decided to go after other gods and worship them. Israel and Judah are in this together, mindlessly breaking the covenant I made with their ancestors.”</div><div><br /></div><div>11–13 “Well, your God has something to say about this: Watch out! I’m about to visit doom on you, and no one will get out of it. You’re going to cry for help but I won’t listen. Then all the people in Judah and Jerusalem will start praying to the gods you’ve been sacrificing to all these years, but it won’t do a bit of good. You’ve got as many gods as you have villages, Judah! And you’ve got enough altars for sacrifices to that impotent sex god Baal to put one on every street corner in Jerusalem!”</div><div><br /></div><div>14 “And as for you, Jeremiah, I don’t want you praying for this people. Nothing! Not a word of petition. Indeed, I’m not going to listen to a single syllable of their crisis-prayers.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Promises and Pious Programs</div><div><br /></div><div>15–16 “What business do the ones I love have figuring out</div><div><br /></div><div>how to get off the hook? And right in the house of worship!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think making promises and devising pious programs</div><div><br /></div><div>will save you from doom?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think you can get out of this</div><div><br /></div><div>by becoming more religious?</div><div><br /></div><div>A mighty oak tree, majestic and glorious—</div><div><br /></div><div>that’s how I once described you.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it will only take a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning</div><div><br /></div><div>to leave you a shattered wreck.</div><div><br /></div><div>17 “I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who planted you—yes, I have pronounced doom on you. Why? Because of the disastrous life you’ve lived, Israel and Judah alike, goading me to anger with your continuous worship and offerings to that sorry god Baal.”</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 God told me what was going on. That’s how I knew.</div><div><br /></div><div>You, God, opened my eyes to their evil scheming.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had no idea what was going on—naive as a lamb</div><div><br /></div><div>being led to slaughter!</div><div><br /></div><div>I didn’t know they had it in for me,</div><div><br /></div><div>didn’t know of their behind-the-scenes plots:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Let’s get rid of the preacher.</div><div><br /></div><div>That will stop the sermons!</div><div><br /></div><div>Let’s get rid of him for good.</div><div><br /></div><div>He won’t be remembered for long.”</div><div><br /></div><div>20 Then I said, “God-of-the-Angel-Armies,</div><div><br /></div><div>you’re a fair judge.</div><div><br /></div><div>You examine and cross-examine</div><div><br /></div><div>human actions and motives.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want to see these people shown up and put down!</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m an open book before you. Clear my name.”</div><div><br /></div><div>21–23 That sent a signal to God, who spoke up: “Here’s what I’ll do to the men of Anathoth who are trying to murder you, the men who say, ‘Don’t preach to us in God’s name or we’ll kill you.’ Yes, it’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaking. Indeed! I’ll call them to account: Their young people will die in battle, their children will die of starvation, and there will be no one left at all, none. I’m visiting the men of Anathoth with doom. Doomsday!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Wednesday, March 27, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Mark 11:12–20</div><div><br /></div><div>The Cursed Fig Tree</div><div><br /></div><div>12–14 As they left Bethany the next day, he was hungry. Off in the distance he saw a fig tree in full leaf. He came up to it expecting to find something for breakfast, but found nothing but fig leaves. (It wasn’t yet the season for figs.) He addressed the tree: “No one is going to eat fruit from you again—ever!” And his disciples overheard him.</div><div><br /></div><div>15–17 They arrived at Jerusalem. Immediately on entering the Temple Jesus started throwing out everyone who had set up shop there, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of the bankers and the stalls of the pigeon merchants. He didn’t let anyone even carry a basket through the Temple. And then he taught them, quoting this text:</div><div><br /></div><div>My house was designated a house of prayer for the nations;</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve turned it into a hangout for thieves.</div><div><br /></div><div>18 The high priests and religion scholars heard what was going on and plotted how they might get rid of him. They panicked, for the entire crowd was carried away by his teaching.</div><div><br /></div><div>19 At evening, Jesus and his disciples left the city.</div><div><br /></div><div>20–21 In the morning, walking along the road, they saw the fig tree, shriveled to a dry stick.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>The barren and withered fig tree, representing an unfaithful nation soon to be overrun by its enemies, is a common Old Testament image (Isaiah 28:4; 34:4; Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 2:12; Joel 1:7, 12; Amos 4:9; Nahum 3:12; Habakkuk 3:17). Quite often, the center of Israel’s faithlessness was its abuse of the temple services, and the prophets used a withered fig tree as a warning of the temple’s destruction. In fact, the passage quoted in Mark 11:17 is just such a text. Jesus quotes the prophet Jeremiah who condemns Judah for hypocritically thinking that temple attendance would expunge the guilt of her idolatry (see Jeremiah 7:2–4, 8, 11).</div><div><br /></div><div>Adapted from Moving Mountains: <a href="https://discoveryseries.org/courses/moving-mountains/" target="_blank">The Practice of Persistent Prayer.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fruitful Believers in Christ</div><div>Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. Mark 11:13</div><div><br /></div><div>Cindy was excited for her new job in a nonprofit company. What an opportunity to make a difference! She soon discovered her coworkers didn’t share her enthusiasm. They mocked the company’s mission and made excuses for their poor performance as they looked elsewhere for more lucrative positions. Cindy wished she’d never applied for this job. What looked great from afar was disappointing up close.</div><div><br /></div><div>This was Jesus’ problem with the fig tree mentioned in today’s story (Mark 11:13). It was early in the season, yet the tree’s leaves signaled it might have early figs. Nope. The tree had sprouted leaves, but it hadn’t yet produced fruit. Disappointed, Jesus cursed the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (v. 14). By the next morning the tree had entirely withered (v. 20).</div><div><br /></div><div>Christ once fasted forty days, so He knew how to go without food. Cursing the fig tree was not about His appetite. It was an object lesson. The tree represented Israel, which had the trappings of true religion but had lost the point. They were about to kill their Messiah, the Son of God. How more barren could they be?</div><div><br /></div><div>We may look good from afar, but Jesus comes near, looking for fruit that only His Spirit can produce. Our fruit need not be spectacular. But it must be supernatural, such as love, joy, and peace in hard times (Galatians 5:22). Relying on the Spirit, we can bear fruit even then for Jesus. By: Mike Wittmer</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What fruit do others see in you? How might you be more fruitful?</div><div><br /></div><div>Holy Spirit, prune me so I might bear more fruit.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Wednesday, March 27, 2024</div><div>Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character</div><div><br /></div><div>Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1</div><div><br /></div><div>A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.</div><div><br /></div><div>Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?</div><div><br /></div><div>“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Wednesday, March 27, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Spring is Never Sudden - #9708</div><div><br /></div><div>First, the forsythia exploded - those little yellow flowers that announced to our area where we were living that spring was finally springing. Then the dogwood explosion detonated. It was really hard to be in a bad mood when those beautiful pink and white blossoms suddenly appeared everywhere. Happens probably where you live too, maybe just at different times. Actually, the word "suddenly" needs a little work. The coming of the forsythia and the dogwood, and all the other stars of the Spring Extravaganza - they've been getting ready to happen for a long time. We couldn't see it, but there's been this invisible process of nourishing and growth, and those nubby little buds start to peek out. And then, one day you start down the street and it's blazing with color that wasn't even there the day before. But sudden? Not really.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spring is Never Sudden."</div><div><br /></div><div>You might be waiting for spring in some part of your life right now. But things right now still appear to be pretty brown and lifeless.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 4:26-29. You might need that today. It's an important description of the processes of God - processes that are probably at work right now in those very areas of your life that seem like they will never see spring. Here's what God says, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain; first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."</div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, here's how God operates: First, there's the seed of what He wants to do, placed in the ground by faith. And then, as far as we can see, nothing is happening. Just ask any farmer you know. But there is, in fact, invisible growth going on the whole time. It would be a very damaging mistake to keep digging up that seed wouldn't it. You know, "I got to see if anything is happening here." You're going to ruin it that way. The invisible growing time is then followed by some first signs of life. And ultimately, the long-awaited crop appears...but not really suddenly. Just like those beautiful flowers of spring.</div><div><br /></div><div>Often when God is answering our prayer or preparing a great work, it looks for a long time as if nothing is happening. You might need to remember that right now. Think about what you've worked so hard for, prayed so hard for, and there's little or no visible result. A family member or friend you've tried to reach - or who's spiritually wandering. Maybe it's a medical or financial or spiritual breakthrough you need, or just a long-standing need of some other kind. Some days it looks as if the prayer, the cry, the dream of your heart will never happen. And you feel like asking, as Mary and Martha must have asked when Jesus did not arrive in time to heal their dying brother Lazarus, "Where are You, Lord?" He would answer quietly and invisibly, "I'm preparing the answer." By the way, Mary and Martha got more than they could have ever dreamed. They didn't get a healing - they got a resurrection!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, don't give up now, don't panic, don't try to figure out your own solution, don't push too hard or don't keep digging up the seed. Slowly, but surely, the processes of God will blossom and you will reap what you have sown. Just remain faithful in the part He's asked you to play.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just because you can't see God working doesn't mean He isn't working. Just think of all those spectacular spring blossoms. They were a long time in coming, but they came. And so will your spring.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-19302052488589526062024-03-26T08:48:00.003-04:002024-03-26T08:48:15.727-04:00 Jeremiah 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: SELECTIVE LISTENING - March 26, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Two types of thoughts continuously vie for your attention. One says, “Yes, you can.” The other says, “No, you can’t.” One says, “God will help you.” The other lies, “God has left you.” One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear. Why give ear to pea-brains and scoffers when you can, with the same ear, listen to the voice of God?</div><div><br /></div><div>Turn a deaf ear to the old voices. Open a wide eye to the new choices. The scripture says, “God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NCV).</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jeremiah 6</div><div><br /></div><div>A City Full of Lies</div><div><br /></div><div>1–5 6 “Run for your lives, children of Ben-jamin!</div><div><br /></div><div>Get out of Jerusalem, and now!</div><div><br /></div><div>Give a blast on the ram’s horn in Blastville.</div><div><br /></div><div>Send up smoke signals from Smoketown.</div><div><br /></div><div>Doom pours out of the north—</div><div><br /></div><div>massive terror!</div><div><br /></div><div>I have likened my dear daughter Zion</div><div><br /></div><div>to a lovely meadow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, now ‘shepherds’ from the north have discovered her</div><div><br /></div><div>and brought in their flocks of soldiers.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve pitched camp all around her,</div><div><br /></div><div>and plan where they’ll ‘graze.’</div><div><br /></div><div>And then, ‘Prepare to attack! The fight is on!</div><div><br /></div><div>To arms! We’ll strike at noon!</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, it’s too late? Day is dying?</div><div><br /></div><div>Evening shadows are upon us?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, up anyway! We’ll attack by night</div><div><br /></div><div>and tear apart her defenses stone by stone.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>6–8 God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave the orders:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Chop down her trees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Build a siege ramp against Jerusalem,</div><div><br /></div><div>A city full of brutality,</div><div><br /></div><div>bursting with violence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just as a well holds a good supply of water,</div><div><br /></div><div>she supplies wickedness nonstop.</div><div><br /></div><div>The streets echo the cries: ‘Violence! Rape!’</div><div><br /></div><div>Victims, bleeding and moaning, lie all over the place.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re in deep trouble, Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve pushed me to the limit.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re on the brink of being wiped out,</div><div><br /></div><div>being turned into a ghost town.”</div><div><br /></div><div>9 More orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Time’s up! Harvest the grapes for judgment.</div><div><br /></div><div>Salvage what’s left of Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Go back over the vines.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pick them clean, every last grape.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is Anybody Listening?</div><div><br /></div><div>10–11 “I’ve got something to say. Is anybody listening?</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve a warning to post. Will anyone notice?</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s hopeless! Their ears are stuffed with wax—</div><div><br /></div><div>deaf as a post, blind as a bat.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s hopeless! They’ve tuned out God.</div><div><br /></div><div>They don’t want to hear from me.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I’m bursting with the wrath of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can’t hold it in much longer.</div><div><br /></div><div>11–12 “So dump it on the children in the streets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let it loose on the gangs of youth.</div><div><br /></div><div>For no one’s exempt: Husbands and wives will be taken,</div><div><br /></div><div>the old and those ready to die;</div><div><br /></div><div>Their homes will be given away—</div><div><br /></div><div>all they own, even their loved ones—</div><div><br /></div><div>When I give the signal</div><div><br /></div><div>against all who live in this country.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>13–15 “Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,</div><div><br /></div><div>little people and big people alike.</div><div><br /></div><div>Prophets and priests and everyone in between</div><div><br /></div><div>twist words and doctor truth.</div><div><br /></div><div>My people are broken—shattered!—</div><div><br /></div><div>and they put on Band-Aids,</div><div><br /></div><div>Saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.’</div><div><br /></div><div>But things are not ‘just fine’!</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you suppose they are embarrassed</div><div><br /></div><div>over this outrage?</div><div><br /></div><div>No, they have no shame.</div><div><br /></div><div>They don’t even know how to blush.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom</div><div><br /></div><div>and there’s no getting up.</div><div><br /></div><div>As far as I’m concerned,</div><div><br /></div><div>they’re finished.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God has spoken.</div><div><br /></div><div>Death Is on the Prowl</div><div><br /></div><div>16–20 God’s Message yet again:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Go stand at the crossroads and look around.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ask for directions to the old road,</div><div><br /></div><div>The tried-and-true road. Then take it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Discover the right route for your souls.</div><div><br /></div><div>But they said, ‘Nothing doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>We aren’t going that way.’</div><div><br /></div><div>I even provided watchmen for them</div><div><br /></div><div>to warn them, to set off the alarm.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the people said, ‘It’s a false alarm.</div><div><br /></div><div>It doesn’t concern us.’</div><div><br /></div><div>And so I’m calling in the nations as witnesses:</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Watch, witnesses, what happens to them!’</div><div><br /></div><div>And, ‘Pay attention, Earth!</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t miss these bulletins.’</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m visiting catastrophe on this people, the end result</div><div><br /></div><div>of the games they’ve been playing with me.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve ignored everything I’ve said,</div><div><br /></div><div>had nothing but contempt for my teaching.</div><div><br /></div><div>What would I want with incense brought in from Sheba,</div><div><br /></div><div>rare spices from exotic places?</div><div><br /></div><div>Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your religious rituals mean nothing to me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>21 So listen to this. Here’s God’s verdict on your way of life:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Watch out! I’m putting roadblocks and barriers</div><div><br /></div><div>on the road you’re taking.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll send you sprawling,</div><div><br /></div><div>parents and children, neighbors and friends—</div><div><br /></div><div>and that will be the end of the lot of you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>22–23 And listen to this verdict from God:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Look out! An invasion from the north,</div><div><br /></div><div>a mighty power on the move from a faraway place:</div><div><br /></div><div>Armed to the teeth,</div><div><br /></div><div>vicious and pitiless,</div><div><br /></div><div>Booming like sea storm and thunder—tramp, tramp, tramp—</div><div><br /></div><div>riding hard on war horses,</div><div><br /></div><div>In battle formation</div><div><br /></div><div>against you, dear Daughter Zion!”</div><div><br /></div><div>24–25 We’ve heard the news,</div><div><br /></div><div>and we’re as limp as wet dishrags.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re paralyzed with fear.</div><div><br /></div><div>Terror has a death grip on our throats.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t dare go outdoors!</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t leave the house!</div><div><br /></div><div>Death is on the prowl.</div><div><br /></div><div>Danger everywhere!</div><div><br /></div><div>26 “Dear Daughter Zion: Dress in black.</div><div><br /></div><div>Blacken your face with ashes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Weep most bitterly,</div><div><br /></div><div>as for an only child.</div><div><br /></div><div>The countdown has begun …</div><div><br /></div><div>six, five, four, three …</div><div><br /></div><div>The Terror is on us!”</div><div><br /></div><div>27–30 God gave me this task:</div><div><br /></div><div>“I have made you the examiner of my people,</div><div><br /></div><div>to examine and weigh their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re a thick-headed, hard-nosed bunch,</div><div><br /></div><div>rotten to the core, the lot of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Refining fires are cranked up to white heat,</div><div><br /></div><div>but the ore stays a lump, unchanged.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s useless to keep trying any longer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing can refine evil out of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Men will give up and call them ‘slag,’</div><div><br /></div><div>thrown on the slag heap by me, their God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Tuesday, March 26, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Matthew 22:23–33</div><div><br /></div><div>That same day, Sadducees approached him. This is the party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow and get her with child. Here’s a case where there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no child, and his wife passed to his brother. The second brother also left her childless, then the third—and on and on, all seven. Eventually the wife died. Now here’s our question: At the resurrection, whose wife is she? She was a wife to each of them.”</div><div><br /></div><div>29–33 Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.” Hearing this exchange the crowd was much impressed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Matthew 22 contains one of the many examples in the Gospels of a “shame/honor contest.” Much of the Eastern world today is still rooted in the concept of shame and honor because those cultures are more defined by community expectations than by individual rights. In Western culture, however, the individual is more prominent. In a shame/honor contest, the goal is to take honor from someone and bring shame on them. This requires an audience—the community.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Matthew 22, the religious leaders attack Jesus in front of the crowds with a series of questions intended to dishonor Him in the eyes of the people (v. 15). Christ answers with irrefutable wisdom, and the religious leaders fail in their attempts to shame Him. By: Bill Crowder</div><div><br /></div><div>Missing the Basics</div><div>You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Matthew 22:29</div><div><br /></div><div>For decades, McDonald’s ruled fast food with their Quarter Pounder burger. In the 1980s, a rival chain cooked up an idea to dethrone the company with the golden arches. A&W offered the Third Pound Burger—larger than McDonald’s—and sold it for the same price. Even more, A&W’s burger won numerous blind taste tests. But the burger bombed. Nobody bought it. Eventually, they dropped it from the menu. Research revealed that consumers misunderstood the math and thought the Third Pound Burger was smaller than the Quarter Pounder. A grand idea failed because people missed the basics.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus warned of how easy it is to miss the basics. Religious leaders, scheming to trap and discredit Him during the week He was crucified, posed a strange, hypothetical scenario about a woman who was widowed seven times (Matthew 22:23–28). Jesus responded, insisting that this knotty dilemma wasn’t a problem at all. Rather, their problem was how they didn’t “know the Scriptures or the power of God” (v. 29). The Scriptures, Jesus insisted, aren’t first intended to answer logical or philosophical puzzles. Rather, their primary aim is to lead us to know and love Jesus and to “have eternal life” in Him (John 5:39). These are the basics the leaders missed.</div><div><br /></div><div>We often miss the basics too. The Bible’s main aim is an encounter with the living Jesus. It would be heartbreaking to miss it. By: Winn Collier</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How do you miss Scripture’s basics? How can you return to the basics . . . to Jesus?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, sometimes I get lost even amid good things. Please help me.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Tuesday, March 26, 2024</div><div>Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity</div><div><br /></div><div>Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8</div><div><br /></div><div>Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.</div><div><br /></div><div>A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.</div><div>The Place of Help</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 22-24; Luke 3</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Tuesday, March 26, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Avoiding Life's Biggest Mistake - #9707</div><div><br /></div><div>When my wife got a headache I would try to be sympathetic. But occasionally I'd just say, "Well, honey, you know pain always attacks at the weakest point." Sensitive guy, huh? Well, one time my wife was having headaches every day, and burning eyes, and stinging eyes and I really was sympathetic. And she attributed it to the long hours that she'd been working, and she had been. She barely even noticed that her vision was slowly becoming worse. Some time went by. She finally took the time to go to the optometrist, and he said, "Lady, you need glasses." She said that was the day her eyes stopped burning. The headaches stopped, and the road signs suddenly cleared up. She only had one regret. She said, "Why did I wait so long?"</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Avoiding Life's Biggest Mistake."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God comes from this incredible incident in Exodus 8:9-10. Let me give you the scene: God's people, the Jews, have been slaves in Egypt for centuries. God sends Moses to give Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, this message, "Let my people go!" Pharaoh resists God's mandate, and God has sent a series of plagues on Egypt as a result.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we enter these verses, Egypt has been overrun with frogs everywhere. Finally, he's had enough. Here's what he said, "Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people and I'll let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.' Moses said to Pharaoh, 'I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs.'" Listen to Pharaoh's answer, "Tomorrow." What?</div><div><br /></div><div>Pharaoh chooses another night with the frogs! He's not alone. Many, many people over the years have had an offer from God in front of them and they have said, "Tomorrow." They have, in essence, chosen another night, another month, another year with the frogs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to Jesus, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest." It could be that Jesus has knocked on the door of your heart so many times and He's been saying, "Give your life to Me, and you'll finally have that peace that has eluded you for so long." And you've just said, "Tomorrow."</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus stands ready to fill that hole in your heart with the relationship with Him that you were made for. He stands ready to replace the death penalty of hell that we all deserve with eternal life in heaven that none of us deserves. It's just like Moses of old, Jesus says, "You pick the time. I will do all of that this day if you will open the door of your heart to let Me in - to trust Me as your personal Savior from your personal sin." And over and over you have picked the time, "Later."</div><div><br /></div><div>So many who have said "yes" to Jesus have only one regret. "Why didn't I do this sooner?" Why postpone the relief that only Dr. Jesus can give you? One warning here: Pharaoh rejected several more times until the Bible says, "His heart was hardened and he could no longer respond to God's mercy." That's the deadly outcome of saying over and over again to Jesus, "Tomorrow."</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've never given yourself to the man who gave His life to take you to heaven, to erase the sin that will keep you out of heaven, I hope today you will say, "Jesus, I am yours." I want to invite you to visit our website. There you will be able to find out how you can be sure you belong to Jesus and know that, this day, when He died on the cross it was to give you life forever. That website is ANewStory.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>God's command is clear. Listen to God's word: "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." Are you hearing His voice? You feeling the tug? Don't let your heart get harder with one more "no." One more tomorrow could be one too many.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-81437973347644794422024-03-25T07:06:00.010-04:002024-03-25T07:06:53.323-04:00Acts 27:1-26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: NEVERTHELESS - March 25, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>“If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things” (1 John 3:20 NKJV). When you feel unforgiven, evict the feelings. Emotions don’t get a vote. God’s Word holds rank over self-criticism and self-doubt.</div><div><br /></div><div>Satan loves to dump buckets of diminishment and discouragement on us. He taunts us with the lie that we’ll never overcome our bad habits and our addictions. He specializes in telling us what we’ll never do.</div><div><br /></div><div>But then God comes along, offering freedom with an even more powerful word: nevertheless. “Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless he came to a deep and abiding faith.” We all need a nevertheless. And God has plenty to go around.</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 27:1-26</div><div><br /></div><div>A Storm at Sea</div><div><br /></div><div>1–2 27 As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.</div><div><br /></div><div>3 The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–8 Out to sea again, we sailed north under the protection of the northeast shore of Cyprus because winds out of the west were against us, and then along the coast westward to the port of Myra. There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board. We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).</div><div><br /></div><div>9–10 By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned, “I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship—to say nothing of our lives!—if we put out to sea now.”</div><div><br /></div><div>12,11 But it was not the best harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more suitable. The centurion set Paul’s warning aside and let the ship captain and the shipowner talk him into trying for the next harbor.</div><div><br /></div><div>13–15 When a gentle southerly breeze came up, they weighed anchor, thinking it would be smooth sailing. But they were no sooner out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor’easter, struck. They lost all control of the ship. It was a cork in the storm.</div><div><br /></div><div>16–17 We came under the lee of the small island named Clauda, and managed to get a lifeboat ready and reef the sails. But rocky shoals prevented us from getting close. We only managed to avoid them by throwing out drift anchors.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–20 Next day, out on the high seas again and badly damaged now by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.</div><div><br /></div><div>21–22 With our appetite for both food and life long gone, Paul took his place in our midst and said, “Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you that there’ll not be a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship—the ship itself is doomed.</div><div><br /></div><div>23–26 “Last night God’s angel stood at my side, an angel of this God I serve, saying to me, ‘Don’t give up, Paul. You’re going to stand before Caesar yet—and everyone sailing with you is also going to make it.’ So, dear friends, take heart. I believe God will do exactly what he told me. But we’re going to shipwreck on some island or other.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Monday, March 25, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Matthew 25:31–40</div><div><br /></div><div>The Sheep and the Goats</div><div><br /></div><div>31–33 “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.</div><div><br /></div><div>34–36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:</div><div><br /></div><div>I was hungry and you fed me,</div><div><br /></div><div>I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,</div><div><br /></div><div>I was homeless and you gave me a room,</div><div><br /></div><div>I was shivering and you gave me clothes,</div><div><br /></div><div>I was sick and you stopped to visit,</div><div><br /></div><div>I was in prison and you came to me.’</div><div><br /></div><div>37–40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In the parable typically referred to as “the sheep and the goats,” Jesus describes separating people when He returns as one would separate “the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). The two groups are separated based on their care of others. The group identified as “righteous” (v. 37) and the other group both address Jesus as “Lord” (vv. 37, 44). This would have reminded hearers of Christ’s words in Matthew 7:21—that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” By: Monica La Rose</div><div><br /></div><div>Love God by Loving Others</div><div>Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40</div><div><br /></div><div>The Alba family experienced the rare occurrence of birthing two sets of identical twins just thirteen months apart. How did they juggle their parental responsibilities as well as their jobs? Their community of friends and family stepped in. Grandparents on both sides took a set of twins during the day so the parents could work and pay for health insurance. One company gave a year’s supply of diapers. The couple’s coworkers donated their personal sick days. “We couldn’t have done it without our community,” they agreed. In fact, during a live interview, the cohost removed her mic and ran after one renegade toddler, continuing the communal investment!</div><div><br /></div><div>In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus tells a parable to make the point that when we serve others, we serve God. After listing acts of service, including providing food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, lodging for the homeless, clothes for the naked, and healing for the sick (vv. 35–36), Jesus concludes, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).</div><div><br /></div><div>Imagining Jesus as the ultimate recipient of our kindness is true motivation to serve in our neighborhoods, families, churches, and world. When He prompts us to sacrificially invest in the needs of others, we serve Him. When we love others, we love God. By: Elisa Morgan</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How might you serve Jesus in your community today? How can you love God by loving others in your path?</div><div><br /></div><div>Loving God, please open my eyes to the needs of others around me so I can help meet them and love You better.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Monday, March 25, 2024</div><div>Maintaining the Proper Relationship</div><div><br /></div><div>…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29</div><div><br /></div><div>Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.</div><div><br /></div><div>To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Monday, March 25, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Surprises in the Storm - #9706</div><div><br /></div><div>It was some years ago, but I remember when they closed our local airport. There was a violent storm at Newark airport, and thousands of people had their plans suddenly changed. Storms have a way of doing that, don't they? There's a snow storm, for example, and schools and businesses oh, they all had their plans made for the day, and suddenly all those plans are out the window. Meetings that had to be today are amazingly rescheduled. Planes and ships are diverted or blown off course. You see, a storm is a classic embodiment of that familiar phrase, "Due to circumstances beyond our control..." Maybe you're in the middle of a storm right now. Your life, your plans are being blown around, and it seems like everything is out of control. I've got good news for you today.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprises in the Storm."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Acts 27. It's about surprises in the storm. Now, I don't know where your storm is right now, but maybe there's something that is just blowing your life out of control. By the way, if you're not in a storm, well just stay tuned - you'll have yours pretty soon. That's just the way life is. Now maybe in your life right now things are just suddenly out of control financially or at work. Or there's a family situation that you just can't seem to change. Or it could be that your health has suddenly become turbulent. Somehow there's an out-of-control time in your life. Well, you'll be able to relate to Paul's storm in Acts 27.</div><div><br /></div><div>What was happening was that he was being taken by Roman soldiers on a grain ship from Israel to Rome. They had a lot of water to cross to get from where Israel is and to cross the ocean and to get over to Italy where they needed to be, and in the middle of all this they encountered a terrible storm that lasted for 14 days. Hurricane strength, we're told in Acts 27:20, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if you've ever felt like all your points of reference were gone, you couldn't see the sun, the moon, the stars - all the things you usually count on, the storm was that bad. The things you were able to hang on to before, they're not there. Well, maybe you're there right now, and you know what, it is easy to give up hope. Well the outcome of the story you need to take note of. It says, "Everyone reached land in safety." They were blown into the rocks after two weeks, but it says they were on an island. And in chapter 28 we found out the island was called Malta. Do you know where Malta is? It's on the southern coast of Italy.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's right where they had been heading all the time. Oh, they'd been out of control for two weeks or so it seemed, but the whole time they had been out of control they had been right on course and so are you. Nahum 1:3 says, "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm."</div><div><br /></div><div>It may feel like you're either going nowhere right now or you're on the verge of disaster - maybe on the verge of being blown on the rocks. But remember, the surprise in the storm is this: that God uses these out-of-control times. He uses them to blow His children right where they were supposed to go all along. I know it feels like your life is out of control, but you know what? You're really right on course.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-82025496386648869702024-03-24T09:05:00.004-04:002024-03-24T09:05:24.418-04:00Jeremiah 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily:Grace Chooses to See Forgiveness</div><div><br /></div><div>Victoria Ruvolo doesn't remember the 18-year-old boy leaning out the window holding, of all things, a frozen turkey. He threw it at her windshield. Crashing through the glass, it shattered Victoria's face like a dinner plate on concrete.</div><div>John 13:14-15 says, "Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. Do as I have done to you."</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAGay_l1ieMADd8UKk1CFq9IbcRIkO0TNh_F4cvY0x6USpK9u-L3QrdRRD77JtVwfB-jMK-7ruRA56X9d0Z4H0-r9OHkc3FFxIARltJv7hBZUKJbvyGjyRHmbJrg3nLuAQXbVtvftIknXT2d3qlMIHs5JFJD6jRcXwheVcF6v3stuVBY5tcPFu_n6Lsg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAGay_l1ieMADd8UKk1CFq9IbcRIkO0TNh_F4cvY0x6USpK9u-L3QrdRRD77JtVwfB-jMK-7ruRA56X9d0Z4H0-r9OHkc3FFxIARltJv7hBZUKJbvyGjyRHmbJrg3nLuAQXbVtvftIknXT2d3qlMIHs5JFJD6jRcXwheVcF6v3stuVBY5tcPFu_n6Lsg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/victoria-ruvolo-hit-turkey-6-years-forgives-teens-terrible-prank-article-1.455256" target="_blank"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Forgiveness</a></div><div>Victoria Ruvolo did that. Months later, she stood face to face with her offender in court. No longer cocky, he was trembling, tearful, and apologetic. Six months behind bars, five years' probation. Everyone in the courtroom objected. He sobbed, and she spoke, "I forgive you. I want your life to be the best it can be." The reduced sentence was her idea. "God gave me a second chance at life, and I passed it on," she said! Grace chooses to see God's forgiveness!</div><div>From GRACE</div><div><br /></div><div>Jeremiah 5</div><div><br /></div><div>Sins Are Piled Sky-High</div><div><br /></div><div>1–2 5 “Patrol Jerusalem’s streets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look around. Take note.</div><div><br /></div><div>Search the market squares.</div><div><br /></div><div>See if you can find one man, one woman,</div><div><br /></div><div>A single soul who does what is right</div><div><br /></div><div>and tries to live a true life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want to forgive that person.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“But if all they do is say, ‘As sure as God lives …’</div><div><br /></div><div>they’re nothing but a bunch of liars.”</div><div><br /></div><div>3–6 But you, God,</div><div><br /></div><div>you have an eye for truth, don’t you?</div><div><br /></div><div>You hit them hard, but it didn’t faze them.</div><div><br /></div><div>You disciplined them, but they refused correction.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hardheaded, harder than rock,</div><div><br /></div><div>they wouldn’t change.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I said to myself, “Well, these are just poor people.</div><div><br /></div><div>They don’t know any better.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were never taught anything about God.</div><div><br /></div><div>They never went to prayer meetings.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll find some people from the best families.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll talk to them.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll know what’s going on, the way God works.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll know the score.”</div><div><br /></div><div>But they were no better! Rebels all!</div><div><br /></div><div>Off doing their own thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The invaders are ready to pounce and kill,</div><div><br /></div><div>like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf,</div><div><br /></div><div>Panthers on the prowl.</div><div><br /></div><div>The streets aren’t safe anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>And why? Because the people’s sins are piled sky-high;</div><div><br /></div><div>their betrayals are past counting.</div><div><br /></div><div>7–9 “Why should I even bother with you any longer?</div><div><br /></div><div>Your children wander off, leaving me,</div><div><br /></div><div>Taking up with gods</div><div><br /></div><div>that aren’t even gods.</div><div><br /></div><div>I satisfied their deepest needs, and then they went off with the ‘sacred’ whores,</div><div><br /></div><div>left me for orgies in sex shrines!</div><div><br /></div><div>A bunch of well-groomed, lusty stallions,</div><div><br /></div><div>each one pawing and snorting for his neighbor’s wife.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think I’m going to stand around and do nothing?”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures</div><div><br /></div><div>against a people like this?</div><div><br /></div><div>Eyes That Don’t Really Look, Ears That Don’t Really Listen</div><div><br /></div><div>10–11 “Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines,</div><div><br /></div><div>but not all of them. Leave a few.</div><div><br /></div><div>Prune back those vines!</div><div><br /></div><div>That growth didn’t come from God!</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve betrayed me over and over again,</div><div><br /></div><div>Judah and Israel both.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–13 “They’ve spread lies about God.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve said, ‘There’s nothing to him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing bad will happen to us,</div><div><br /></div><div>neither famine nor war will come our way.</div><div><br /></div><div>The prophets are all windbags.</div><div><br /></div><div>They speak nothing but nonsense.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>14 Therefore, this is what God said to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Because they have talked this way,</div><div><br /></div><div>they are going to eat those words.</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch now! I’m putting my words</div><div><br /></div><div>as fire in your mouth.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the people are a pile of kindling</div><div><br /></div><div>ready to go up in flames.</div><div><br /></div><div>15–17 “Attention! I’m bringing a far-off nation</div><div><br /></div><div>against you, O house of Israel.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“A solid nation,</div><div><br /></div><div>an ancient nation,</div><div><br /></div><div>A nation that speaks another language.</div><div><br /></div><div>You won’t understand a word they say.</div><div><br /></div><div>When they aim their arrows, you’re as good as dead.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re a nation of real fighters!</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll clean you out of house and home,</div><div><br /></div><div>rob you of crops and children alike.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll feast on your sheep and cattle,</div><div><br /></div><div>strip your vines and fig trees.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the fortresses that made you feel so safe—</div><div><br /></div><div>leveled with a stroke of the sword!</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 “Even then, as bad as it will be”—God’s Decree!—“it will not be the end of the world for you. And when people ask, ‘Why did our God do all this to us?’ you must say to them, ‘It’s tit for tat. Just as you left me and served foreign gods in your own country, so now you must serve foreigners in their own country.’</div><div><br /></div><div>20–25 “Tell the house of Jacob this,</div><div><br /></div><div>put out this bulletin in Judah:</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to this,</div><div><br /></div><div>you scatterbrains, airheads,</div><div><br /></div><div>With eyes that see but don’t really look,</div><div><br /></div><div>and ears that hear but don’t really listen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why don’t you honor me?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why aren’t you in awe before me?</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, me, who made the shorelines</div><div><br /></div><div>to contain the ocean waters.</div><div><br /></div><div>I drew a line in the sand</div><div><br /></div><div>that cannot be crossed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Waves roll in but cannot get through;</div><div><br /></div><div>breakers crash but that’s the end of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this people—what a people!</div><div><br /></div><div>Uncontrollable, untameable runaways.</div><div><br /></div><div>It never occurs to them to say,</div><div><br /></div><div>‘How can we honor our God with our lives,</div><div><br /></div><div>The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn</div><div><br /></div><div>and maintains the rhythm of the seasons,</div><div><br /></div><div>Who sets aside time each year for harvest</div><div><br /></div><div>and keeps everything running smoothly for us?’</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course you don’t! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.</div><div><br /></div><div>To Stand for Nothing and Stand Up for No One</div><div><br /></div><div>26–29 “My people are infiltrated by wicked men,</div><div><br /></div><div>unscrupulous men on the hunt.</div><div><br /></div><div>They set traps for the unsuspecting.</div><div><br /></div><div>Their victims are innocent men and women.</div><div><br /></div><div>Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain,</div><div><br /></div><div>like a hunter’s bag full of birds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pretentious and powerful and rich,</div><div><br /></div><div>hugely obese, oily with rolls of fat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Worse, they have no conscience.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right and wrong mean nothing to them.</div><div><br /></div><div>They stand for nothing, stand up for no one,</div><div><br /></div><div>throw orphans to the wolves, exploit the poor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you think I’ll stand by and do nothing about this?”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures</div><div><br /></div><div>against a people like this?</div><div><br /></div><div>30–31 “Unspeakable! Sickening!</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s happened in this country?</div><div><br /></div><div>Prophets preach lies</div><div><br /></div><div>and priests hire on as their assistants.</div><div><br /></div><div>And my people love it. They eat it up!</div><div><br /></div><div>But what will you do when it’s time to pick up the pieces?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Sunday, March 24, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>John 12:23–26</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus answered, “Time’s up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.</div><div><br /></div><div>24–25 “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.</div><div><br /></div><div>26 “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus predicted His death at least three times. The first prediction followed Peter’s declaration of Jesus as the Messiah (reported in Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-32; Luke 9:21-22). The second and third instances are found in Matthew 17:22-23; 20:17-19; Mark 9:30-32; 10:32-34; and Luke 9:43-45; 18:31-34. These gospels all record Christ explicitly saying that He would die at the hand of the teachers of the law and would rise three days later.</div><div><br /></div><div>The predictions in John’s gospel, however, are more subtle (12:7-8; 13:33; 14:25-29). In John 12:23-36, Christ’s death is predicted in somewhat poetic language. Jesus said that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (v. 23) and that seeds need to die to produce more grain (v. 24). Each of the gospel writers recorded their stories for a deliberate purpose and to serve an intentional end. By: J.R. Hudberg</div><div><br /></div><div>Renaissance in Jesus</div><div>Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24</div><div><br /></div><div>We know Leonardo da Vinci as the renaissance man. His intellectual prowess led to advances across multiple fields of study and the arts. Yet Leonardo journaled of “these miserable days of ours” and lamented that we die “without leaving behind any memory of ourselves in the mind of men.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“While I thought I was learning how to live,” said Leonardo, “I was learning how to die.” He was closer to the truth than he may have realized. Learning how to die is the way to life. After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday; see John 12:12–19), He said, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (v. 24). He spoke this about His own death but expanded it to include us all: “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (v. 25).</div><div><br /></div><div>The apostle Paul wrote of being “buried” with Christ “through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:4–5).</div><div><br /></div><div>Through His death, Jesus offers us rebirth—the very meaning of renaissance. He has forged the way to eternal life with His Father. By: Tim Gustafson</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How do you measure the value of your life? How might you need to change those values?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Father, I can find meaning and purpose nowhere else but in You.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Sunday, March 24, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Decreasing for His Purpose</div><div><br /></div><div>He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30</div><div><br /></div><div>If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-27293192968405483782024-03-23T09:37:00.011-04:002024-03-23T11:21:07.221-04:00Jeremiah 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: Just for You - March 22, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.</div><div>Psalm 65:7-9</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m about to tell you something that may stretch your imagination! You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to buy it. Just think about it!</div><div><br /></div><div>If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean would still have its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings, and spray light on the desert in the mornings.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree. He’s waiting for you to stumble into the den, rub the sleep from your eyes, and see the bright red bike he assembled just for you!</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s waiting for your eyes to pop and your heart to stop! In the silence he leans forward and whispers… “I did it just for you!”</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Jeremiah 4</div><div><br /></div><div>“If you want to come back, O Israel,</div><div><br /></div><div>you must really come back to me.</div><div><br /></div><div>You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia</div><div><br /></div><div>and not wander away from me anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then you can say words like, ‘As God lives …’</div><div><br /></div><div>and have them mean something true and just and right.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing</div><div><br /></div><div>and find something in Israel to write home about.”</div><div><br /></div><div>3–4 Here’s another Message from God</div><div><br /></div><div>to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Plow your unplowed fields,</div><div><br /></div><div>but then don’t plant weeds in the soil!</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, circumcise your lives for God’s sake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Plow your unplowed hearts,</div><div><br /></div><div>all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—</div><div><br /></div><div>for once it starts it can’t be put out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your wicked ways</div><div><br /></div><div>are fuel for the fire.</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Sledgehammer Anger</div><div><br /></div><div>5–8 “Sound the alarm in Judah,</div><div><br /></div><div>broadcast the news in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Say, ‘Blow the ram’s horn trumpet through the land!’</div><div><br /></div><div>Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!—</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Close ranks!</div><div><br /></div><div>Run for your lives to the shelters!’</div><div><br /></div><div>Send up a flare warning Zion:</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Not a minute to lose! Don’t sit on your hands!’</div><div><br /></div><div>Disaster’s descending from the north. I set it off!</div><div><br /></div><div>When it lands, it will shake the foundations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover,</div><div><br /></div><div>ready to rip nations to shreds,</div><div><br /></div><div>Leaving your land in wrack and ruin,</div><div><br /></div><div>your cities in rubble, abandoned.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dress in funeral black.</div><div><br /></div><div>Weep and wail,</div><div><br /></div><div>For God’s sledgehammer anger</div><div><br /></div><div>has slammed into us head-on.</div><div><br /></div><div>9 “When this happens”</div><div><br /></div><div>—God’s Decree—</div><div><br /></div><div>“King and princes will lose heart;</div><div><br /></div><div>priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded.”</div><div><br /></div><div>10 Then I said, “Alas, Master God!</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>You assured them, ‘All is well, don’t worry,’</div><div><br /></div><div>at the very moment when the sword was at their throats.”</div><div><br /></div><div>11–12 At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem,</div><div><br /></div><div>will be told in plain words:</div><div><br /></div><div>“The northern hordes are sweeping in</div><div><br /></div><div>from the desert steppes—</div><div><br /></div><div>A wind that’s up to no good, a gale-force wind.</div><div><br /></div><div>I ordered this wind.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m pronouncing</div><div><br /></div><div>my hurricane judgment on my people.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Your Evil Life Is Piercing Your Heart</div><div><br /></div><div>13–14 Look at them! Like banks of storm clouds,</div><div><br /></div><div>racing, tumbling, their chariots a tornado,</div><div><br /></div><div>Their horses faster than eagles!</div><div><br /></div><div>Woe to us! We’re done for!</div><div><br /></div><div>Jerusalem! Scrub the evil from your lives</div><div><br /></div><div>so you’ll be fit for salvation.</div><div><br /></div><div>How much longer will you harbor</div><div><br /></div><div>devious and malignant designs within you?</div><div><br /></div><div>15–17 What’s this? A messenger from Dan?</div><div><br /></div><div>Bad news from Ephraim’s hills!</div><div><br /></div><div>Make the report public.</div><div><br /></div><div>Broadcast the news to Jerusalem:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Invaders from far off are</div><div><br /></div><div>raising war cries against Judah’s towns.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re all over her, like a dog on a bone.</div><div><br /></div><div>And why? Because she rebelled against me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>18 “It’s the way you’ve lived</div><div><br /></div><div>that’s brought all this on you.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bitter taste is from your evil life.</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s what’s piercing your heart.”</div><div><br /></div><div>19–21 I’m doubled up with cramps in my belly—</div><div><br /></div><div>a poker burns in my gut.</div><div><br /></div><div>My insides are tearing me up,</div><div><br /></div><div>never a moment’s peace.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ram’s horn trumpet blast rings in my ears,</div><div><br /></div><div>the signal for all-out war.</div><div><br /></div><div>Disaster hard on the heels of disaster,</div><div><br /></div><div>the whole country in ruins!</div><div><br /></div><div>In one stroke my home is destroyed,</div><div><br /></div><div>the walls flattened in the blink of an eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>How long do I have to look at the warning flares,</div><div><br /></div><div>listen to the siren of danger?</div><div><br /></div><div>Experts at Evil</div><div><br /></div><div>22 “What fools my people are!</div><div><br /></div><div>They have no idea who I am.</div><div><br /></div><div>A company of half-wits,</div><div><br /></div><div>dopes and donkeys all!</div><div><br /></div><div>Experts at evil</div><div><br /></div><div>but klutzes at good.”</div><div><br /></div><div>23–26 I looked at the earth—</div><div><br /></div><div>it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness.</div><div><br /></div><div>I looked at the skies,</div><div><br /></div><div>and not a star to be seen.</div><div><br /></div><div>I looked at the mountains—</div><div><br /></div><div>they were trembling like aspen leaves,</div><div><br /></div><div>And all the hills</div><div><br /></div><div>rocking back and forth in the wind.</div><div><br /></div><div>I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight,</div><div><br /></div><div>and not a bird to be seen in the skies.</div><div><br /></div><div>I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the towns were ghost towns.</div><div><br /></div><div>And all this because of God,</div><div><br /></div><div>because of the blazing anger of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>27–28 Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:</div><div><br /></div><div>“The whole country will be laid waste—</div><div><br /></div><div>still it won’t be the end of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>The earth will mourn</div><div><br /></div><div>and the skies lament</div><div><br /></div><div>Because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re Not Going to Seduce Anyone</div><div><br /></div><div>29 Someone shouts, “Horsemen and archers!”</div><div><br /></div><div>and everybody runs for cover.</div><div><br /></div><div>They hide in ditches,</div><div><br /></div><div>they climb into caves.</div><div><br /></div><div>The cities are emptied,</div><div><br /></div><div>not a person left anywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>30–31 And you, what do you think you’re up to?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dressing up in party clothes,</div><div><br /></div><div>Decking yourselves out in jewelry,</div><div><br /></div><div>putting on lipstick and rouge and mascara!</div><div><br /></div><div>Your primping goes for nothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re not going to seduce anyone. They’re out to kill you!</div><div><br /></div><div>And what’s that I hear? The cry of a woman in labor,</div><div><br /></div><div>the screams of a mother giving birth to her firstborn.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath,</div><div><br /></div><div>reaching out for help:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Help, oh help me! I’m dying!</div><div><br /></div><div>The killers are on me!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Saturday, March 23, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>1 Peter 2:11–12</div><div><br /></div><div>Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In the books of 1 and 2 Peter, the apostle Peter writes to comfort and encourage Jewish believers in Jesus “who are living as foreigners” (1 Peter 1:1 nlt)—known as the Jewish diaspora—throughout Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and are now facing persecution because of their faith in Christ (vv. 1, 6). As a disciple of Jesus, Peter understood, for he too was persecuted and even jailed three times for sharing the gospel. The apostle most likely wrote his letters around ad 62-65 from Rome, where it’s believed he was martyred during Emperor Nero’s rule. At this time in the Roman Empire, Nero initiated a great persecution of believers in Jesus who were tortured and killed for their faith. Peter wrote to encourage believers in Jesus to live in such a way that nonbelievers would be drawn to Him—with lives characterized by good deeds, even though they were far from home and in difficult circumstances (2:12). By: Alyson Kieda</div><div><br /></div><div>Extravagant Love</div><div>Live such good lives . . . [that] they may see your good deeds and glorify God. 1 Peter 2:12</div><div><br /></div><div>My seatmate on the flight told me she was nonreligious and had immigrated to a town that was home to numerous Christians. When she mentioned that most of her neighbors went to church, I asked about her experience. She said she could never repay their generosity. When she brought her disabled father to her new country, her neighbors built a ramp to her house and donated a hospital bed and medical supplies. She said, “If being a Christian makes one so kind, everyone should be a Christian.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Exactly what Jesus hoped she’d say! He told His disciples, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Peter heard Christ’s command and passed it on: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).</div><div><br /></div><div>Our neighbors who don’t have faith in Jesus may not understand what we believe and why we believe it. Don’t sweat it, as long as there’s one more thing they can’t understand: the extravagance of our love. My seatmate marveled that her Christian neighbors continue to care for her even though she isn’t, in her words, “one of them.” She knows she’s loved, for Jesus’ sake, and she gives thanks to God. She may not yet believe in Him, but she’s grateful that others do. By: Mike Wittmer</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>Who do you know who needs Jesus? How can you love them for His sake?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavenly Father, let Your light shine through me.</div><div><br /></div><div>For further study, read Pray First: The Power of Prayer in Sharing the Gospel.</div><div><br /></div><div>https://discoveryseries.org/Q0219</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Saturday, March 23, 2024</div><div>Am I Carnally Minded?</div><div><br /></div><div>Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3</div><div><br /></div><div>The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.</div><div><br /></div><div>If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.</div><div><br /></div><div>What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-50309554599395366512024-03-22T09:03:00.000-04:002024-03-22T09:03:54.857-04:00Jeremiah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: ABIDING IN HIM - March 22, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>How do we disarm anxiety? Stockpile our minds with God thoughts. How might you do this? A friend described to me her ninety-minute commute. She smiled. “I turn my commute into a chapel.” And she described how she fills the hour and a half with worship and sermons. She listens to entire books of the Bible. She recites prayers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is there a block of time you can claim for God? Perhaps you could turn off the network news and open your Bible. Or set the alarm fifteen minutes earlier. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 ESV). Free from fear. Free from dread. And, yes, free from anxiety.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jeremiah 3</div><div><br /></div><div>Your Sex-and-Religion Obsessions</div><div><br /></div><div>1 3 God’s Message came to me as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div>“If a man’s wife</div><div><br /></div><div>walks out on him</div><div><br /></div><div>And marries another man,</div><div><br /></div><div>can he take her back as if nothing had happened?</div><div><br /></div><div>Wouldn’t that raise a huge stink</div><div><br /></div><div>in the land?</div><div><br /></div><div>And isn’t that what you’ve done—</div><div><br /></div><div>‘whored’ your way with god after god?</div><div><br /></div><div>And now you want to come back as if nothing had happened.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>2–5 “Look around at the hills.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where have you not had sex?</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve camped out like hunters stalking deer.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve solicited many lover-gods,</div><div><br /></div><div>Like a streetwalking whore</div><div><br /></div><div>chasing after other gods.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so the rain has stopped.</div><div><br /></div><div>No more rain from the skies!</div><div><br /></div><div>But it doesn’t even faze you. Brazen as whores,</div><div><br /></div><div>you carry on as if you’ve done nothing wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then you have the nerve to call out, ‘My father!</div><div><br /></div><div>You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now?</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?’</div><div><br /></div><div>That’s your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Admit Your God-Defiance</div><div><br /></div><div>6–10 God spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: “You have noticed, haven’t you, how fickle Israel has visited every hill and grove of trees as a whore at large? I assumed that after she had gotten it out of her system, she’d come back, but she didn’t. Her flighty sister, Judah, saw what she did. She also saw that because of fickle Israel’s loose morals I threw her out, gave her her walking papers. But that didn’t faze flighty sister Judah. She went out, big as you please, and took up a whore’s life also. She took up cheap sex-and-religion as a sideline diversion, an indulgent re-creation, and used anything and anyone, flouting sanity and sanctity alike, stinking up the country. And not once in all this did flighty sister Judah even give me a nod, although she made a show of it from time to time.” God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>11–12 Then God told me, “Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:</div><div><br /></div><div>12–15 “ ‘Turn back, fickle Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m not just hanging back to punish you.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m committed in love to you.</div><div><br /></div><div>My anger doesn’t see the nonstop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just admit your guilt.</div><div><br /></div><div>Admit your God-defiance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners,</div><div><br /></div><div>pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves</div><div><br /></div><div>While turning a deaf ear to me.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Come back, wandering children!”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I, yes I, am your true husband.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll pick you out one by one—</div><div><br /></div><div>This one from the city, these two from the country—</div><div><br /></div><div>and bring you to Zion.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way,</div><div><br /></div><div>who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.</div><div><br /></div><div>16 “And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come”—God’s Decree!—“when no one will say any longer, ‘Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?’ It won’t even occur to anyone to say it—‘the good old days.’ The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.</div><div><br /></div><div>17 “Jerusalem will be the new Ark—‘God’s Throne.’ All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God.</div><div><br /></div><div>18 “At that time, the House of Judah will join up with the House of Israel. Holding hands, they’ll leave the north country and come to the land I willed to your ancestors.</div><div><br /></div><div>19–20 “I planned what I’d say if you returned to me:</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Good! I’ll bring you back into the family.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll give you choice land,</div><div><br /></div><div>land that the godless nations would die for.’</div><div><br /></div><div>And I imagined that you would say, ‘Dear father!’</div><div><br /></div><div>and would never again go off and leave me.</div><div><br /></div><div>But no luck. Like a false-hearted woman walking out on her husband,</div><div><br /></div><div>you, the whole family of Israel, have proven false to me.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>21–22 The sound of voices comes drifting out of the hills,</div><div><br /></div><div>the unhappy sound of Israel’s crying,</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel lamenting the wasted years,</div><div><br /></div><div>never once giving her God a thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Come back, wandering children!</div><div><br /></div><div>I can heal your wanderlust!”</div><div><br /></div><div>22–25 “We’re here! We’ve come back to you.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re our own true God!</div><div><br /></div><div>All that popular religion was a cheap lie,</div><div><br /></div><div>duped crowds buying up the latest in gods.</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re back! Back to our true God,</div><div><br /></div><div>the salvation of Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Fraud picked us clean, swindled us</div><div><br /></div><div>of what our ancestors bequeathed us,</div><div><br /></div><div>Gypped us out of our inheritance—</div><div><br /></div><div>God-blessed flocks and God-given children.</div><div><br /></div><div>We made our bed and now lie in it,</div><div><br /></div><div>all tangled up in the dirty sheets of dishonor.</div><div><br /></div><div>All because we sinned against our God,</div><div><br /></div><div>we and our fathers and mothers.</div><div><br /></div><div>From the time we took our first steps, said our first words,</div><div><br /></div><div>we’ve been rebels, disobeying the voice of our God.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Friday, March 22, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>1 John 3:16–18</div><div><br /></div><div>This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.</div><div><br /></div><div>When We Practice Real Love</div><div><br /></div><div>18–20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In 1 John 3, the author focuses on the concept of love lived out in practicality. Like Cain, a lack of love-in-action is comparable to hatred and murder (v. 15). Instead, the author appeals to the example of Jesus, whose act of laying down His own life demonstrates the kind of love we should live out as His children. But what does that love look like practically? The letter makes it very simple: care for the physical needs of fellow believers (vv. 17-18).</div><div><br /></div><div>And lest we think that the words of 1 John 3 are only a recommendation, it’s important to remember that God took Israel to task—destroying their wealth and sending them into exile—in part because the wealthy failed to care for the needy among them (see Amos 5:11–12). God deeply cares for the poor and marginalized, and we demonstrate Christlike love when we show them that same care. By: Jed Ostoich</div><div><br /></div><div>Next Step of Love</div><div>Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18</div><div><br /></div><div>What would cause someone to help a competitor? For a restaurant owner named Adolfo in Wisconsin, it was the opportunity to encourage other struggling local restaurant owners adapting to Covid regulations. Adolfo knew firsthand the challenges of operating a business during a pandemic. Encouraged by another local business’ generosity, Adolfo spent his own money to purchase more than two thousand dollars in gift cards to give away to his customers to use at other restaurants in his community. That’s an expression of love that’s not just words but action. </div><div><br /></div><div>Building on the ultimate expression of love demonstrated by Jesus’ willingness to lay down His life for humanity (1 John 3:16), John encouraged his readers to also take the next step and put love into action. For John, to “lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (v. 16) meant demonstrating the same type of love exemplified by Jesus—and that would most often take the form of everyday, practical actions, such as sharing material possessions. It wasn’t enough to love with words; love required sincere, meaningful actions (v. 18).</div><div><br /></div><div>Putting love into action can be hard because it often requires personal sacrifice or disadvantaging ourselves for another person. Enabled by God’s Spirit and remembering His lavish love for us, we can take the next step of love. By: Lisa M. Samra</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How have you experienced love in action? How can you take the next step to love someone in a practical way?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Jesus, please help me to follow Your example and take the next step to demonstrate genuine love in my actions today.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Friday, March 22, 2024</div><div>The Burning Heart</div><div>Did not our heart burn within us…? —Luke 24:32</div><div><br /></div><div>We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.</div><div><br /></div><div>We cannot kindle when we will</div><div>The fire which in the heart resides,</div><div>The spirit bloweth and is still,</div><div>In mystery our soul abides;</div><div>But tasks in hours of insight willed</div><div>Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 10-12; Luke 1:39-56</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Friday, March 22, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Hold Your Fire - #9705</div><div><br /></div><div>I realize now that I really wasn't ever going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. Actually, that's important in a lot of sports. For example: volleyball - you lose the point when you can't return the shot - ping-pong - oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot - well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hold Your Fire."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2. I'll be reading verse 21. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Now let's stop for just a minute here. Peter is saying that this world needs more of Jesus. Now, there are a lot of people around you who are desperate to have Jesus walk among them, and He can. He can walk into your office. He can be in your school. He can be in your family through you, because He's in you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, the Bible here says that Christ is our example, and the Greek word that's used there is the word that talked about a copy head on a school child's slate. And as they were learning their alphabet - alpha, beta, gamma, delta...the Greek alphabet - they would just simply copy the letter at the top and try to make their letter as much like the letter at the top as they could - an exact copy. Now, this says that Christ is our copy head. He's the one we're trying to make an exact replica of. We're trying to be as much like Him in our life as possible so that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, when is it hardest to follow that example? When is it hardest to be like Jesus? Well, when it's most important to be. Verse 23: "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly."</div><div><br /></div><div>The real proof that shows a person's real character is what he does when he's being shot at. Now, you notice what happened to Jesus here? He was insulted, but there was no retaliation.</div><div><br /></div><div>They hurt Him and yet there were no threats coming back. Our Master was abusively, horribly treated - He was deeply hurt. And boy did He have the power to hurt back like you and I never will, and He chose not to!</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, when are you most likely to sin? Well, probably when someone is really attacking you, criticizing you, coming after you, when they're firing something at you. Maybe you've been betrayed recently, or you've been deeply wounded verbally, or maybe you've even been hurt physically. Everything in you cries out, "I'll fix him!" "I'll fix her!" Your mind starts racing through ways that you can retaliate - ways you can even the score. And now here comes the Jesus test. Does knowing Christ make any difference when it really counts?</div><div><br /></div><div>In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath." Let God even the score - He's much better at it than you are. Jesus turned to His Father for justice. An eye for an eye is not the way of Jesus. Even from His cross He says of those who have nailed Him to that cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That's the example for us. When you refuse to return the shot, you refuse to shrink to the level of your attackers - you refuse to let them control you. And more importantly, you rise to the level of your Lord, who gives you the grace not to hurt back.</div><div><br /></div><div>Life isn't tennis. In Christ you win if you don't return the shot. So, my brother and my sister, hold your fire!</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-39782737447859919922024-03-21T06:20:00.005-04:002024-03-21T06:20:29.333-04:00Acts 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WAITING ROOM - March 21, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you in God’s waiting room? Perhaps you are between jobs or in search of health, help, a house, or a spouse. If so, here is what you need to know: while you wait, God works. God never twiddles his thumbs. He never stops. He takes no vacations. “Be still and know that I am God” reads the sign on God’s waiting room wall. You can be glad because God is good. You can be still because he is active. You can rest because he is busy.</div><div><br /></div><div>To wait, biblically speaking, is not to assume the worst, worry, fret, make demands, or take control. Nor is waiting inactivity. Waiting is a sustained effort to stay focused on God through prayer and belief. To wait is to “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7 NASB).</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 26</div><div><br /></div><div>“I Couldn’t Just Walk Away”</div><div><br /></div><div>1–3 26 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: “Go ahead—tell us about yourself.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul took the stand and told his story. “I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–8 “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they’d tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries—it’s because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me! For the life of me, I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.</div><div><br /></div><div>9–11 “I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers—I had no idea they were God’s people!—into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–14 “One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’</div><div><br /></div><div>15–16 “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’</div><div><br /></div><div>“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.</div><div><br /></div><div>17–18 “ ‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.’</div><div><br /></div><div>19–20 “What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.</div><div><br /></div><div>21–23 “It’s because of this ‘whole world’ dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing.”</div><div><br /></div><div>24 That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!”</div><div><br /></div><div>25–27 But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The king knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I’ve said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that—I know you believe.”</div><div><br /></div><div>28 But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”</div><div><br /></div><div>29 Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”</div><div><br /></div><div>30–31 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”</div><div><br /></div><div>32 Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Thursday, March 21, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Isaiah 58:6-12</div><div><br /></div><div> “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:</div><div><br /></div><div>to break the chains of injustice,</div><div><br /></div><div>get rid of exploitation in the workplace,</div><div><br /></div><div>free the oppressed,</div><div><br /></div><div>cancel debts.</div><div><br /></div><div>What I’m interested in seeing you do is:</div><div><br /></div><div>sharing your food with the hungry,</div><div><br /></div><div>inviting the homeless poor into your homes,</div><div><br /></div><div>putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,</div><div><br /></div><div>being available to your own families.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do this and the lights will turn on,</div><div><br /></div><div>and your lives will turn around at once.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your righteousness will pave your way.</div><div><br /></div><div>The God of glory will secure your passage.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then when you pray, God will answer.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’</div><div><br /></div><div>A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places</div><div><br /></div><div>9–12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,</div><div><br /></div><div>quit blaming victims,</div><div><br /></div><div>quit gossiping about other people’s sins,</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are generous with the hungry</div><div><br /></div><div>and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,</div><div><br /></div><div>Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,</div><div><br /></div><div>your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will always show you where to go.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—</div><div><br /></div><div>firm muscles, strong bones.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll be like a well-watered garden,</div><div><br /></div><div>a gurgling spring that never runs dry.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,</div><div><br /></div><div>rebuild the foundations from out of your past.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,</div><div><br /></div><div>restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,</div><div><br /></div><div>make the community livable again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>One of the more common accusations from the prophets to the people of Israel and Judah was that their religion was merely about performance. They were going through the motions of devotion to God without demonstrating it by their actions. Isaiah confronts the people for their display of piety without showing concern for their fellow Israelites. They were fasting, covering themselves in sackcloth and ashes, and bowing their heads in a show of humility (Isaiah 58:1-5). Yet God calls for a fast that frees the oppressed and cares for the needy, not a false show of piety. Jesus also warns about a false show of piety when He speaks of fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). By: J.R. Hudberg</div><div><br /></div><div>Helping as God Helps Us</div><div>Help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness. Isaiah 58:10 nlt</div><div><br /></div><div>Ole Kassow of Copenhagen loved bicycling. One morning, when he saw an elderly man sitting alone with his walker in a park, Ole felt inspired by a simple idea: why not offer elderly people the joy and freedom of a bike ride. So, one sunny day he stopped at a nursing home with a rented trishaw (a three-wheeled bike) and offered a ride to anyone there. He was delighted when a staff member and an elderly resident became the first riders of Cycling Without Age.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, more than twenty years later, Ole’s dream to help those who miss cycling has blessed some 575,000 elderly people with 2.5 million rides. Where? To see a friend, enjoy an ice cream cone, and “feel the wind in their hair.” Participants say they sleep better, eat better, and feel less lonely.</div><div><br /></div><div>Such a gift brings to life God’s beautiful words to His people in Isaiah 58:10–11. “Help those in trouble,” He told them. “Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.” God promised, “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring” (nlt).</div><div><br /></div><div>God told His people, “Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities” (v. 12 nlt). What might He do through us? As He helps us, may we always be ready to help others. By: Patricia Raybon</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>In your town or city, who needs help? What simple assistance can you offer them today?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, please show me a simple way to help others so they can find life in You.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Thursday, March 21, 2024</div><div>Identified or Simply Interested?</div><div><br /></div><div>I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20</div><div><br /></div><div>The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ,” or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him” —but— “I have been identified with Him in His death.” Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div>“…it is no longer I who live….” My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.</div><div><br /></div><div>“…and the life which I now live in the flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh— the life which others can see, “I live by faith in the Son of God….” This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son of God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits— a faith that comes only from the Son of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 7-9; Luke 1:21-38</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Thursday, March 21, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Someone Talked - #9704</div><div><br /></div><div>Some years ago for my wife's birthday, she was given a gift of dinner at a restaurant that is themed to look like an Air Force base during World War II. So we went out to dinner because it was a gift and we had a great time, and everybody there kind of gets into the atmosphere.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know, the dress is appropriate. They're wearing Red Cross aprons there like army nurses. And the music is 1940s music, and all the decorations are '40s and sort of World War II things. It was a lot of fun!</div><div><br /></div><div>The posters on the wall though reminded us of G.I.s of that generation who were told not to talk about troop movements, assignments, schedules, and their destination. In fact during World War II the motto was, "Loose lips sink ships." And that's true. If word got out to the enemy, even indirectly where the troop movements were going to be, it could very well be that that carrier would be torpedoed or hit by a Kamikaze and it could cost many lives.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll tell you, I saw this one poster in the restaurant that has haunted me for a long time. It was a drawing of a G.I. drowning in the ocean. He's just barely got his head above water. He's desperately pointing one finger toward us and saying two words, "Someone talked." Boy, that was heavy. Someone had and he was the victim of someone's loose lips. Well, that war is long over, but loose lips? Oh, they're still causing fatalities.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Talked."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Proverbs 18:21. It's a short statement, it's a powerful statement, it's a convicting statement: "The tongue has the power of life and death." That's an awesome power described in the Word of God that you can, with a few words, deeply wound another person. In a sense, you can emotionally sink them or kill them. You can with a few words ruin a reputation, destroy a close relationship, maybe ruin your own reputation, or leave a scar on somebody that may never heal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can still see the desperate image of that drowning G.I. shouting, "Someone talked!" Could it be that you've sunk another person because you talked? You talked too much, you talked too critically. Think of the damage we do when we disobey Jesus' command to take our problems only to the person we have the problem with. Maybe we've spread the poison to other people and we've victimized our brother with our loose lips - the gossip about another person that marks their most precious possession, their reputation - those critical words spoken behind someone's back - those angry words that were spoken to someone's face.</div><div><br /></div><div>We can sink people's lives with our words. World War II G.I.s were warned not to say the things they could say, because they were wanting to save lives. See, that's still an important warning and maybe it's a time for us to pray as the Holy Spirit points this out inside us, "Lord, help me to stop this tongue of mine before more hurting words come out." "The tongue has the power of life and death."</div><div><br /></div><div>Loose lips do sink ships and people. May we never be the guilty party to the sinking of another person. To be that someone who talked. That someone who knew better.</div><div><br /></div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-82138363706063327862024-03-20T07:45:00.008-04:002024-03-20T07:45:47.916-04:00Jeremiah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: IS GOD ALWAYS GOOD? - March 20, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Is God only good when the outcome is? When the illness is in remission, we say “God is good.” Do we say the same in the cemetery as well as the nursery? In the unemployment line as well as the grocery line? Is God good when the outcome is not?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you want to know heaven’s clearest answer to the question of suffering? Well look at Jesus. He pressed fingers into the sore of the leper. He wept at the death of a friend. He doesn’t recoil, run, or retreat at the sight of pain. Just the opposite. Trivial irritations of family life? Jesus felt them. A seemingly senseless death? Just look at the cross. He exacts nothing from us that he did not experience himself. Why? Because he is good. “…He is a shield to all who trust him” (Psalm 18:30 NKJV).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jeremiah 2 God’s Message came to me. It went like this:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Get out in the streets and call to Jerusalem,</div><div><br /></div><div>‘God’s Message!</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember your youthful loyalty,</div><div><br /></div><div>our love as newlyweds.</div><div><br /></div><div>You stayed with me through the wilderness years,</div><div><br /></div><div>stuck with me through all the hard places.</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel was God’s holy choice,</div><div><br /></div><div>the pick of the crop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyone who laid a hand on her</div><div><br /></div><div>would soon wish he hadn’t!’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–6 Hear God’s Message, House of Jacob!</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, you—House of Israel!</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Message: “What did your ancestors find fault with in me</div><div><br /></div><div>that they drifted so far from me,</div><div><br /></div><div>Took up with Sir Windbag</div><div><br /></div><div>and turned into windbags themselves?</div><div><br /></div><div>It never occurred to them to say, ‘Where’s God,</div><div><br /></div><div>the God who got us out of Egypt,</div><div><br /></div><div>Who took care of us through thick and thin, those rough-and-tumble</div><div><br /></div><div>wilderness years of parched deserts and death valleys,</div><div><br /></div><div>A land that no one who enters comes out of,</div><div><br /></div><div>a cruel, inhospitable land?’</div><div><br /></div><div>7–8 “I brought you to a garden land</div><div><br /></div><div>where you could eat lush fruit.</div><div><br /></div><div>But you barged in and polluted my land,</div><div><br /></div><div>trashed and defiled my dear land.</div><div><br /></div><div>The priests never thought to ask, ‘Where’s God?’</div><div><br /></div><div>The religion experts knew nothing of me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rulers defied me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The prophets preached god Baal</div><div><br /></div><div>And chased empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.</div><div><br /></div><div>9–11 “Because of all this, I’m bringing charges against you”</div><div><br /></div><div>—God’s Decree—</div><div><br /></div><div>“charging you and your children and your grandchildren.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look around. Have you ever seen anything quite like this?</div><div><br /></div><div>Sail to the western islands and look.</div><div><br /></div><div>Travel to the Kedar wilderness and look.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look closely. Has this ever happened before,</div><div><br /></div><div>That a nation has traded in its gods</div><div><br /></div><div>for gods that aren’t even close to gods?</div><div><br /></div><div>But my people have traded my Glory</div><div><br /></div><div>for empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–13 “Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see!</div><div><br /></div><div>Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can’t be!”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“My people have committed a compound sin:</div><div><br /></div><div>they’ve walked out on me, the fountain</div><div><br /></div><div>Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—</div><div><br /></div><div>cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.</div><div><br /></div><div>14–17 “Isn’t Israel a valued servant,</div><div><br /></div><div>born into a family with place and position?</div><div><br /></div><div>So how did she end up a piece of meat</div><div><br /></div><div>fought over by snarling and roaring lions?</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s nothing left of her but a few old bones,</div><div><br /></div><div>her towns trashed and deserted.</div><div><br /></div><div>Egyptians from the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes</div><div><br /></div><div>have broken your skulls.</div><div><br /></div><div>And why do you think all this has happened?</div><div><br /></div><div>Isn’t it because you walked out on your God</div><div><br /></div><div>just as he was beginning to lead you in the right way?</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 “And now, what do you think you’ll get by going off to Egypt?</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water?</div><div><br /></div><div>Or what do you think you’ll get by going off to Assyria?</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water?</div><div><br /></div><div>Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that’s what you’ll get.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll pay dearly for your disloyal ways.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a long, hard look at what you’ve done and its bitter results.</div><div><br /></div><div>Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree, Master God-of-the-Angel-Armies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Addicted to Alien Gods</div><div><br /></div><div>20–22 “A long time ago you broke out of the harness.</div><div><br /></div><div>You shook off all restraints.</div><div><br /></div><div>You said, ‘I will not serve!’</div><div><br /></div><div>and off you went,</div><div><br /></div><div>Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,</div><div><br /></div><div>like a common whore.</div><div><br /></div><div>You were a select vine when I planted you</div><div><br /></div><div>from completely reliable stock.</div><div><br /></div><div>And look how you’ve turned out—</div><div><br /></div><div>a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scrub, using the strongest soaps.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scour your skin raw.</div><div><br /></div><div>The sin-grease won’t come out. I can’t stand to even look at you!”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree, the Master’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>23–24 “How dare you tell me, ‘I’m not stained by sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ve never chased after the Baal sex gods’!</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, look at the tracks you’ve left behind in the valley.</div><div><br /></div><div>How do you account for what is written in the desert dust—</div><div><br /></div><div>Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,</div><div><br /></div><div>tracks of a wild donkey in rut,</div><div><br /></div><div>Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.</div><div><br /></div><div>Who could possibly corral her!</div><div><br /></div><div>On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—</div><div><br /></div><div>insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.</div><div><br /></div><div>25 “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?</div><div><br /></div><div>But you say, ‘I can’t help it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.’</div><div><br /></div><div>26–28 “Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught,</div><div><br /></div><div>so the people of Israel are chagrined,</div><div><br /></div><div>Caught along with their kings and princes,</div><div><br /></div><div>their priests and prophets.</div><div><br /></div><div>They walk up to a tree and say, ‘My father!’</div><div><br /></div><div>They pick up a stone and say, ‘My mother! You bore me!’</div><div><br /></div><div>All I ever see of them is their backsides.</div><div><br /></div><div>They never look me in the face.</div><div><br /></div><div>But when things go badly, they don’t hesitate to come running,</div><div><br /></div><div>calling out, ‘Get a move on! Save us!’</div><div><br /></div><div>Why not go to your handcrafted gods you’re so fond of?</div><div><br /></div><div>Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve got more gods, Judah,</div><div><br /></div><div>than you know what to do with.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trying Out Another Sin-Project</div><div><br /></div><div>29–30 “What do you have against me,</div><div><br /></div><div>running off to assert your ‘independence’?”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I’ve wasted my time trying to train your children.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you’ve gotten rid of your God-messengers,</div><div><br /></div><div>treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.</div><div><br /></div><div>31–32 “What a generation you turned out to be!</div><div><br /></div><div>Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I warn you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Have I let you down, Israel?</div><div><br /></div><div>Am I nothing but a dead-end street?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do my people say, ‘Good riddance!</div><div><br /></div><div>From now on we’re on our own’?</div><div><br /></div><div>Young women don’t forget their jewelry, do they?</div><div><br /></div><div>Brides don’t show up without their veils, do they?</div><div><br /></div><div>But my people forget me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Day after day after day they never give me a thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>33–35 “What an impressive start you made</div><div><br /></div><div>to get the most out of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>You founded schools of sin,</div><div><br /></div><div>taught graduate courses in evil!</div><div><br /></div><div>And now you’re sending out graduates, resplendent in cap and gown—</div><div><br /></div><div>except the gowns are stained with the blood of your victims!</div><div><br /></div><div>All that blood convicts you.</div><div><br /></div><div>You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are.</div><div><br /></div><div>And yet you have the gall to say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>God doesn’t mind. He hasn’t punished me, has he?’</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t look now, but judgment’s on the way,</div><div><br /></div><div>aimed at you who say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’</div><div><br /></div><div>36–37 “You think it’s just a small thing, don’t you,</div><div><br /></div><div>to try out another sin-project when the first one fails?</div><div><br /></div><div>But Egypt will leave you in the lurch</div><div><br /></div><div>the same way that Assyria did.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re going to walk away from there</div><div><br /></div><div>wringing your hands.</div><div><br /></div><div>I, God, have blacklisted those you trusted.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll get not a lick of help from them.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Wednesday, March 20, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Psalm 40:1–5</div><div><br /></div><div> I waited and waited and waited for God.</div><div><br /></div><div>At last he looked; finally he listened.</div><div><br /></div><div>He lifted me out of the ditch,</div><div><br /></div><div>pulled me from deep mud.</div><div><br /></div><div>He stood me up on a solid rock</div><div><br /></div><div>to make sure I wouldn’t slip.</div><div><br /></div><div>He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,</div><div><br /></div><div>a praise-song to our God.</div><div><br /></div><div>More and more people are seeing this:</div><div><br /></div><div>they enter the mystery,</div><div><br /></div><div>abandoning themselves to God.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,</div><div><br /></div><div>turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”</div><div><br /></div><div>ignore what the world worships;</div><div><br /></div><div>The world’s a huge stockpile</div><div><br /></div><div>of God-wonders and God-thoughts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing and no one</div><div><br /></div><div>comes close to you!</div><div><br /></div><div>I start talking about you, telling what I know,</div><div><br /></div><div>and quickly run out of words.</div><div><br /></div><div>Neither numbers nor words</div><div><br /></div><div>account for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>We’re given no background on Psalm 40 aside from the notation in the superscription. Within the psalm itself, however, we see two dominant themes—suffering and rescue. The psalm opens with praise for God’s rescue in the past (vv. 1-3). That praise then sets the stage for David’s expectation of further rescue in the future from his present troubles (vv. 11-16). In between, the singer invites his audience to likewise root their trust in God and His mercy (vv. 4-10). The conclusion (v. 17) gives us a picture of David’s desperation and his confidence in God’s care as he affirms, “But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.” These themes, particularly the theme of God’s expected rescue, are common in David’s psalms and offer us great encouragement in our own dark seasons. By: Bill Crowder</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Trust</div><div>Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. Psalm 40:4</div><div><br /></div><div>A woman rescued Rudy from the animal shelter days before he was to be euthanized, and the dog became her companion. For ten years, Rudy slept calmly beside Linda’s bed, but then he abruptly began to jump next to her and lick her face. Linda scolded him, but every night, Rudy repeated the behavior. “Soon he was jumping on my lap to lick my face every time I sat down,” Linda said.</div><div><br /></div><div>As she was planning to take Rudy to obedience school, she began to consider how insistent Rudy was and how he always licked her in the same spot on her jaw. Sheepishly, Linda went to a doctor who found a microscopic tumor (bone cancer). The doctor told Linda that if she’d waited longer, it probably would’ve killed her. Linda had trusted Rudy’s instincts, and she was happy she did.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Scriptures tell us repeatedly that trusting God leads to life and joy. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,” the psalmist says (40:4). Some translations make the point even starker: “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust” (v. 4 nrsv). Happy in the psalms communicates abundance—an erupting, effervescent joy.</div><div><br /></div><div>When we trust God, the ultimate result is deep, genuine happiness. This trust may not come easily, and the results may not be everything we envision. But if we trust God, we’ll be so happy we did. By: Winn Collier</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What makes it difficult for you to trust God? How does it alter things if you begin to really believe that trusting Him leads you to happiness?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, I want the kind of happiness that only You can bring. But it’s hard for me to trust. Will You help me?</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Wednesday, March 20, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Friendship with God</div><div><br /></div><div>Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…? —Genesis 18:17</div><div><br /></div><div>The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Difficulties of His Friendship. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He stopped because he still was lacking the level of intimacy in his relationship with God, which would enable him boldly to continue on with the Lord in prayer until his desire was granted. Whenever we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, “Well, I don’t know, maybe this is not God’s will,” then we still have another level to go. It shows that we are not as intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as Jesus would have us to be— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22). Think of the last thing you prayed about— were you devoted to your desire or to God? Was your determination to get some gift of the Spirit for yourself or to get to God? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). The reason for asking is so you may get to know God better. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). We should keep praying to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Wednesday, March 20, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Human Snowplows - #9703</div><div><br /></div><div>It was the biggest snowstorm of the year. Not the kind you dig out from very quickly. And the evening news showed one hazard of such a storm that was really out of the ordinary - a hazard that shouldn't have happened. The man in the news had started the challenging job of shoveling the sidewalk in front of his house, which happened to be on a main street. At the same time, of course, the city snowplows were doing what they should do. They were busily moving the snow that was clogging those main streets, and that's when it happened. Are you guessing? Somehow it was captured on video for all of us news watchers to see. The snowplow roared past the man on the sidewalk, showered him with this heavy shower of snow spraying out either side, and literally buried Mr. Shoveler in a sudden avalanche from the street and from the sky. The snowplow plowed onward, and the operator never even knew what he had done. Thankfully, the man on the sidewalk was able to dig out unharmed, but he was stunned. After all, snowplows are for unburying streets, not burying people. Right?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Human Snowplows."</div><div><br /></div><div>So apparently the driver was so focused on what he was doing that he inadvertently snowplowed a person. Excuse me, but you don't have to drive a snowplow to make that mistake. Sadly, I've done it way too many times in my life, and it's possible you could be unintentionally snowplowing some people you know. Look, maybe you're like me. You're a make-it-happen, goal-oriented, destination-oriented person. And God can really use those characteristics, but there is a downside if people get snowplowed because all you can see is your goal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then there's the example of the man who had more to get done during His life than any man ever has - Jesus Christ. He was intensely goal-oriented, doing whatever it took to accomplish His life-saving mission. Listen, for example, to Luke 9:51. "As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Look, it's why He had come, and He is not going to be deterred.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Jesus was no snowplow. In Luke 18, some of Israel's religious big shots are meeting with Jesus. The disciples are playing goalie, telling parents who are bringing their children to Jesus to take off, until "Jesus called the children to Him." He always had time for the children. They didn't have any votes to cast, they had no money to give Him, no keys to any doors, but He set aside everything to be with the kids.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, in Luke 18:39-40, our word for today from the Word of God, we hear of His visit to Jericho, where the townsfolk wanted to make a good impression on Him. So, they told the local blind beggar to stop his embarrassing yelling for Jesus' attention. But here's what it says, "Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him." And Jesus took time with that man that nobody had time for, and He healed him.</div><div><br /></div><div>The man with more to do than anyone ever had to do was more sensitive to the people along the way than anyone has ever been. And He is the one you're following. If you've been snowplowing people as you move toward your goals - maybe even your family, your coworkers - that's just too high a price to pay for progress. When you're moving fast, people can become something less than those precious "image of God" creations to you. They can become objects, obstacles, intrusions, tools just to get it done - but how totally unlike your Master that is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Long after your work is done and your mission has been accomplished, the people in your life will still be there. Don't ever let your work leave them buried by your human snowplow. They just matter too much to Jesus for that to happen.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-889846513858241422024-03-19T07:44:00.003-04:002024-03-19T07:44:12.954-04:00Jeremiah 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;"> Max Lucado Daily: REMEMBER GOD’S BLESSINGS - March 19, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus performed two bread-multiplying miracles: in one he fed 5,000 people, in the other 4,000. Still his disciples, who witnessed both feasts, worried about empty pantries. A frustrated Jesus rebuked them. “Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear? Don’t you remember anything at all?” (Mark 8:17-18 NLT).</div><div><br /></div><div>Short memories harden the heart. Make careful note of God’s blessings. Declare with David: “[I will] daily add praise to praise. I’ll write the book on your righteousness, talk up your salvation the livelong day, never run out of good things to write or say” (Psalm 71:14-15 MSG).</div><div><br /></div><div>Catalog God’s goodness. Meditate on his work. Remember what God has done for you.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jeremiah 1</div><div><br /></div><div>Demolish, and Then Start Over</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 1 The Message of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah of the family of priests who lived in Anathoth in the country of Ben-jamin. God’s Message began to come to him during the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amos reigned over Judah. It continued to come to him during the time Jehoiakim son of Josiah reigned over Judah. And it continued to come to him clear down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah over Judah, the year that Jerusalem was taken into exile. This is what God said:</div><div><br /></div><div>5 “Before I shaped you in the womb,</div><div><br /></div><div>I knew all about you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before you saw the light of day,</div><div><br /></div><div>I had holy plans for you:</div><div><br /></div><div>A prophet to the nations—</div><div><br /></div><div>that’s what I had in mind for you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>6 But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”</div><div><br /></div><div>7–8 God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t be afraid of a soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll be right there, looking after you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>9–10 God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,</div><div><br /></div><div>“Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!</div><div><br /></div><div>See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do</div><div><br /></div><div>among nations and governments—a red-letter day!</div><div><br /></div><div>Your job is to pull up and tear down,</div><div><br /></div><div>take apart and demolish,</div><div><br /></div><div>And then start over,</div><div><br /></div><div>building and planting.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Stand Up and Say Your Piece</div><div><br /></div><div>11–12 God’s Message came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”</div><div><br /></div><div>I said, “A walking stick—that’s all.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And God said, “Good eyes! I’m sticking with you.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll make every word I give you come true.”</div><div><br /></div><div>13–15 God’s Message came again: “So what do you see now?”</div><div><br /></div><div>I said, “I see a boiling pot, tipped down toward us.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Then God told me, “Disaster will pour out of the north</div><div><br /></div><div>on everyone living in this land.</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch for this: I’m calling all the kings out of the north.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>15–16 “They’ll come and set up headquarters</div><div><br /></div><div>facing Jerusalem’s gates,</div><div><br /></div><div>Facing all the city walls,</div><div><br /></div><div>facing all the villages of Judah.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll pronounce my judgment on the people of Judah</div><div><br /></div><div>for walking out on me—what a terrible thing to do!—</div><div><br /></div><div>And courting other gods with their offerings,</div><div><br /></div><div>worshiping as gods sticks they’d carved, stones they’d painted.</div><div><br /></div><div>17 “But you—up on your feet and get dressed for work!</div><div><br /></div><div>Stand up and say your piece. Say exactly what I tell you to say.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t pull your punches</div><div><br /></div><div>or I’ll pull you out of the lineup.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 “Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m making you as impregnable as a castle,</div><div><br /></div><div>Immovable as a steel post,</div><div><br /></div><div>solid as a concrete block wall.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re a one-man defense system</div><div><br /></div><div>against this culture,</div><div><br /></div><div>Against Judah’s kings and princes,</div><div><br /></div><div>against the priests and local leaders.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll fight you, but they won’t</div><div><br /></div><div>even scratch you.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll back you up every inch of the way.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Tuesday, March 19, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Colossians 3:22-4:1</div><div><br /></div><div>Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.</div><div><br /></div><div>1 4 And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Slavery was an integral part of the Roman economy in Paul’s day. In Colossians 3:22–4:1, Paul calls for slaves to serve honorably and to do so “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” (v. 22). This verse has tragically been abused by those wishing to defend the terrible practice of slavery. But we read in the book of Philemon that Paul sent the escaped slave Onesimus back to his owner Philemon with a letter telling the slave owner to receive him “no longer as a slave, but . . . as a dear brother” (Philemon 1:16). The letter says, “Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask” (v. 21). What more could Philemon do than to give Onesimus his freedom? Paul’s goal wasn’t societal revolution, it was the transformation of each heart. By: Tim Gustafson</div><div><br /></div><div>Master in Heaven</div><div>Masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven. Colossians 4:1 the message</div><div><br /></div><div>Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced in 2022 that all migrant domestic workers must be given at least one rest day a month that employers couldn’t compensate them for instead of giving them the day off. Employers, however, were concerned they wouldn’t have someone to care for their loved ones on those days. While the logistics of caregiving could be solved by making alternative arrangements, their attitude in not seeing the need for rest wasn’t as easy to solve.</div><div><br /></div><div>Treating others considerately isn’t a new issue. The apostle Paul lived in a time where servants were seen as the property of their masters. Yet, in the last line of his instructions to the church on how Christlike households should operate, he says that masters are to treat their servants “justly” (Colossians 4:1 esv). Another translation says, “Be fair with them” (the message).</div><div><br /></div><div>Just as Paul tells the servants to work “for the Lord, not for human masters” (3:23), he reminds the masters also of Jesus’ authority over them: “you also have a Master in heaven” (4:1). His purpose was to encourage the Colossian believers to live as those whose ultimate authority is Christ. In our interaction with others—whether as an employer, employee, in our homes or communities—we can ask God to help us do what’s “right and fair” (v. 1). By: Jasmine Goh</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>When haven’t you treated someone fairly? In your work or home, what changes will you make to treat others considerately?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavenly Father, please forgive me for times when I don’t treat others fairly. Help me to submit to You as the Master of my life.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Tuesday, March 19, 2024</div><div>Abraham’s Life of Faith</div><div><br /></div><div>He went out, not knowing where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8</div><div><br /></div><div>In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.</div><div><br /></div><div>Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason— a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith— a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God…” (Romans 4:3).</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Joshua 1-3; Mark 16</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Tuesday, March 19, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>How to Handle Frustrating People - #9702</div><div><br /></div><div>There's a mountain in northern New Jersey that has the most intriguing view in the area. It's called Garrett Mountain - it's right over the city of Patterson, New Jersey. At the time that we lived there, Patterson happened to be the fourth poorest, middle-sized city in America. Now, if you just drove around Patterson - that's all you saw - you would think that that whole area of north Jersey is poor. But just beyond Patterson on the horizon, you can see Bergen County, New Jersey - some of the bedroom communities of New York City - some of the wealthiest communities in America.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if you just drove around some of those towns, you'd think this whole area is rich. If all you saw was Patterson, you'd say, "Boy, there's no countryside around here, is there?" If all you saw was Bergen County, you'd say, "There's no city here, is there?" See, I like Garrett Mountain, because it gives me a bigger view than I can get when I'm right in the middle of things. Because, up there, you can see the bigger picture. You know what, you might need a mountain like that right now.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Handle Frustrating People."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 8. I'll begin reading at verse 4. "All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel. They said to him, 'You're old and your sons don't walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have.' But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they've rejected, they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now, listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.' Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king."</div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, Samuel has a very frustrating situation here. All of a sudden, the structure of the judge ruling Israel on God's behalf is coming unglued. He's being very unappreciated by the people that he has given so much for. Does that sound familiar to anybody? These people are off on a total tangent that He knows is wrong. They're trying to get a king, when all they really need is God ruling through the judges. Now, maybe you've got some frustrating people in your life? Different issues, but still frustrating people. You know how Samuel felt then.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you notice what he did when the people frustrated him? It says, "So, he prayed to the Lord." What they did displeased Samuel, "So he prayed to the Lord." Doesn't say he told them off - didn't blow up. He takes the people and his feelings straight to the Lord when he's frustrated. Do you?</div><div><br /></div><div>See, it has two good results when you do that. First, the Lord gives Samuel the big picture. He says, "This isn't against you. It's part of a pattern." And he defuses the emotions. It's kind of like me on that mountain overlooking both the suburbs and the city in our area. You can see the whole picture when you take the frustration to the Lord. You can see where things are coming from; you can see where things are going. You're above that limited view you have when you're right in the middle of the aggravation.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you take the frustrating people to the Lord, He gives you the big picture instead of you just reacting to an incident. Secondly, He gives you a balanced response. He told Samuel to listen to them and then warn them. See, listening to frustrating people gives you credibility. They'll listen to you if you've listened to them. Then warning them fulfills your responsibility to tell them the results of the way they're going. See, some people listen without warning people. Some people warn people without listening to them.</div><div><br /></div><div>When people's actions displease you, frustrate you and hurt you, would you go to the Lord first? You know what He'll do? He'll take you up on a mountain where you can see the whole picture, and He'll help you respond in a balanced way. When people frustrate you, well go over their head. Go straight to the Throne Room of the King.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-35392757545981595782024-03-18T07:36:00.006-04:002024-03-18T07:36:24.683-04:00Acts 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: IF GOD IS FOR YOU - March 18, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NKJV). If God is for you, shouldn’t you be for you? So how do you begin to see yourself as God does?</div><div><br /></div><div>First, remember that your words matter. You are either your worst critic or greatest cheerleader.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hold fast to the promise of scripture. The apostle Paul models this for us. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 NIV).</div><div><br /></div><div>Personalize Romans 8:38-39. “For I am convinced that neither poor health, neither college debt nor pink slips, neither today’s deadline or tomorrow’s diagnosis, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Be for you – God is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 25</div><div><br /></div><div>An Appeal to Caesar</div><div><br /></div><div>1–3 25 Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take up his duties as governor, he went up to Jerusalem. The high priests and top leaders renewed their vendetta against Paul. They asked Festus if he wouldn’t please do them a favor by sending Paul to Jerusalem to respond to their charges. A lie, of course—they had revived their old plot to set an ambush and kill him along the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 Festus answered that Caesarea was the proper jurisdiction for Paul, and that he himself was going back there in a few days. “You’re perfectly welcome,” he said, “to go back with me then and accuse him of whatever you think he’s done wrong.”</div><div><br /></div><div>6–7 About eight or ten days later, Festus returned to Caesarea. The next morning he took his place in the courtroom and had Paul brought in. The minute he walked in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem were all over him, hurling the most extreme accusations, none of which they could prove.</div><div><br /></div><div>8 Then Paul took the stand and said simply, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish religion, or the Temple, or Caesar. Period.”</div><div><br /></div><div>9 Festus, though, wanted to get on the good side of the Jews and so said, “How would you like to go up to Jerusalem, and let me conduct your trial there?”</div><div><br /></div><div>10–11 Paul answered, “I’m standing at this moment before Caesar’s bar of justice, where I have a perfect right to stand. And I’m going to keep standing here. I’ve done nothing wrong to the Jews, and you know it as well as I do. If I’ve committed a crime and deserve death, name the day. I can face it. But if there’s nothing to their accusations—and you know there isn’t—nobody can force me to go along with their nonsense. We’ve fooled around here long enough. I appeal to Caesar.”</div><div><br /></div><div>12 Festus huddled with his advisors briefly and then gave his verdict: “You’ve appealed to Caesar; you’ll go to Caesar!”</div><div><br /></div><div>13–17 A few days later King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, visited Caesarea to welcome Festus to his new post. After several days, Festus brought up Paul’s case to the king. “I have a man on my hands here, a prisoner left by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the high priests and Jewish leaders brought a bunch of accusations against him and wanted me to sentence him to death. I told them that wasn’t the way we Romans did things. Just because a man is accused, we don’t throw him out to the dogs. We make sure the accused has a chance to face his accusers and defend himself of the charges. So when they came down here I got right on the case. I took my place in the courtroom and put the man on the stand.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–21 “The accusers came at him from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed was alive. Since I’m a newcomer here and don’t understand everything involved in cases like this, I asked if he’d be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there. Paul refused and demanded a hearing before His Majesty in our highest court. So I ordered him returned to custody until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.”</div><div><br /></div><div>22 Agrippa said, “I’d like to see this man and hear his story.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Good,” said Festus. “We’ll bring him in first thing in the morning and you’ll hear it for yourself.”</div><div><br /></div><div>23 The next day everybody who was anybody in Caesarea found his way to the Great Hall, along with the top military brass. Agrippa and Bernice made a flourishing grand entrance and took their places. Festus then ordered Paul brought in.</div><div><br /></div><div>24–26 Festus said, “King Agrippa and distinguished guests, take a good look at this man. A bunch of Jews petitioned me first in Jerusalem, and later here, to do away with him. They have been most vehement in demanding his execution. I looked into it and decided that he had committed no crime. He requested a trial before Caesar and I agreed to send him to Rome. But what am I going to write to my master, Caesar? All the charges made by the Jews were fabrications, and I’ve uncovered nothing else.</div><div><br /></div><div>26–27 “That’s why I’ve brought him before this company, and especially you, King Agrippa: so we can come up with something in the nature of a charge that will hold water. For it seems to me silly to send a prisoner all that way for a trial and not be able to document what he did wrong.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Monday, March 18, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Exodus 3:11–15</div><div><br /></div><div>Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”</div><div><br /></div><div>12 “I’ll be with you,” God said. “And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain.”</div><div><br /></div><div>13 Then Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, ‘The God of your fathers sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What do I tell them?”</div><div><br /></div><div>14 God said to Moses, “I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, ‘I-AM sent me to you.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>15 God continued with Moses: “This is what you’re to say to the Israelites: ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.’ This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>God’s name is more than just a way to identify Him. It’s also a revelation of His person and character. When Moses encountered Him in the burning bush, God identified Himself as “I am who I am” or the “I am” (Exodus 3:14). Scholars say the Hebrew can also be rendered as “I will be what I will be.” One of the amazing realities contained in this title is that God is beyond time. Even more, He’s completely unaffected by it—though in His mercy He chooses to work within time. This reality is reaffirmed in the New Testament, where we read, “I am the Alpha and the Omega . . . who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). In the person of Jesus, our timeless God stepped into time to give us an eternity unbounded by time. By: Bill Crowder</div><div><br /></div><div>“I AM”</div><div>God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” Exodus 3:14</div><div><br /></div><div>Jack, a professor of philosophy and literature, had a brilliant mind. He’d declared himself an atheist at the age of fifteen and in adulthood adamantly defended his “atheistic faith.” Christian friends tried to persuade him. As Jack put it, “Everyone and everything had joined the other side.” But the Bible, he had to admit, was different from other literature and myths. About the Gospels he wrote: “If ever a myth had become fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this.”</div><div><br /></div><div>One Bible passage became most influential to Jack—Exodus 3. God was calling Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (v. 11). God responded, “I am who I am” (v. 14). This passage is a complex play on words and names but reflects God’s eternal presence from the beginning. Interestingly, later Jesus echoed the same when he said, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).</div><div><br /></div><div>Jack, better known as C. S. Lewis, was deeply persuaded by this passage. This was all that the one true God should need to say—simply that He is the “I am.” In a life-changing moment, Lewis “gave in, and admitted God was God.” This was the beginning of a journey for Lewis toward accepting Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps we struggle with belief, as Lewis did, or maybe with a lukewarm faith. We might ask ourselves if God is truly the “I am” in our lives. By: Kenneth Petersen</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What does it mean to you to hear God say, “I am”? How might it influence your days ahead?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, I come to You in awe of who You are. You are the “I am” in my life, and there is no other.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Monday, March 18, 2024</div><div>Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?</div><div><br /></div><div>…perfecting holiness in the fear of God. —2 Corinthians 7:1</div><div><br /></div><div>“Therefore, having these promises….” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.</div><div><br /></div><div>I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived— a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?</div><div><br /></div><div>Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 32-34; Mark 15:26-47</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Monday, March 18, 2024</div><div>A Safe Place in a Scary World - #9701</div><div><br /></div><div>A lot of times the evening news will end with something like, "And now, we have some good news for today." They have to announce that because that's news - that there's good news! And you know what, it's pretty scary watching the news sometimes isn't it?</div><div><br /></div><div>You know they call it "breaking news" and sometimes it's just heartbreaking news. I listen to what is being said, for example, by the head of the United Nations. "The world has never been more threatened or divided. We are on the edge of an abyss," he said. He said nuclear conflict, once thought unthinkable, now is in the realm of possibility. And those nuclear scientists who, every year since the 1940s, have published the atomic energy bulletin and have a doomsday clock, have now moved it to 90 seconds to midnight.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've heard it over and over again, these words: "People are afraid."</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Safe Place in a Scary World."</div><div><br /></div><div>So many growing dangers that are beyond our control. I guess we could panic, we could freeze, we could hide. Or, we can just try to ignore the dangers. Those are all bad ideas.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll go with that iconic line from Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural. As a desperate America lay devastated by the Great Depression. Fearful of a dark future. The new President confronted head-on the greatest danger people were facing. He said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."</div><div><br /></div><div>That's still true today. Even as deadly storms, once so far away, loom so close to home. I've made up my mind - no matter how unsettling the news - that fear is our worst enemy. It paralyzes us... it distorts our judgment... it makes us reactive rather than proactive. And it scares our family - because the captain is scared.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'm committed to a pretty simple strategy to have peace in a scary world. First, stay informed. Not just about sports or celebrities or music, but about what's happening in our world. Rumors and speculation, they fuel fear. Facts fuel wise decisions and reasonable responses.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then secondly, take reasonable precautions. You know, those steps that the medical and security folks keep telling us about. To wash your hands often, be careful around sick people, drink a lot of water.</div><div><br /></div><div>But after all is said and done, the really great antidote to fear is in my soul. Anchoring my life to something I can't lose. A deep recession, weather calamities, world events that threaten to endanger our once-safe bubble - they remind us that everything we hold in our hand is so vulnerable. So loseable.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's a reason to fear.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unless my safety, and my security, and my identity is beyond the reach of any disease, any terror, any disaster. Even beyond death itself.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is, His name is Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because of His death for my sin on the cross, I now belong to the all-powerful God who rules a hundred billion galaxies. He's in charge. And I know He will never stop loving me. His love for this rebel was written in blood. His love for you was written in His blood.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God, from Romans 5:1 and 11: "we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us... He has made us friends with God." Peace with God, that's peace in my soul. Whatever happens, no longer at the mercy of evil or sickness or disaster. God's got me now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you know that for sure? Do you know you belong to Him? Do you know the wall that your sin has created between you and Him has been torn down because your sin has been forgiven by the one who died for them? That would be Jesus. And if you've never put your life in His hands, in times like these, why would you have your life anywhere else? He is the safe place in the scary world. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website and let me show you, there, how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>God has said, "I will never leave you. I will never abandon you," and the Bible says, "therefore, I will have no fear" (Hebrews 13:5-6). Run to Him today, you'll never have to be afraid because God's got you.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-45783453317001643022024-03-17T09:17:00.005-04:002024-03-17T09:17:36.823-04:00Habakkuk 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div>Max Lucado Daily: Grace Happened</div><div><br /></div><div>We are incarcerated by our past. We have been found guilty! Our executioner's footsteps echo against the stone walls. We sit on the floor of the dusty cell, awaiting our final moment. We don't look up as he opens the door. We know what he's going to say. "Time to pay for your sins." But we hear something else! "You're free to go. They took Jesus instead of you!"</div><div>The door swings open, the guard barks, "Get out!" And we find ourselves shackles gone, crimes pardoned, wondering, what just happened? Grace just happened! Christ took away your sins.</div><div>Romans 3 says that God, in his gracious kindness, declares us not guilty. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.</div><div>What happened? Grace happened!</div><div> From GRACE</div><div><br /></div><div>Habakkuk 3</div><div><br /></div><div>God Racing on the Crest of the Waves</div><div><br /></div><div>1–2 3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, with orchestra:</div><div><br /></div><div>God, I’ve heard what our ancestors say about you,</div><div><br /></div><div>and I’m stopped in my tracks, down on my knees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do among us what you did among them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Work among us as you worked among them.</div><div><br /></div><div>And as you bring judgment, as you surely must,</div><div><br /></div><div>remember mercy.</div><div><br /></div><div>3–7 God’s on his way again,</div><div><br /></div><div>retracing the old salvation route,</div><div><br /></div><div>Coming up from the south through Teman,</div><div><br /></div><div>the Holy One from Mount Paran.</div><div><br /></div><div>Skies are blazing with his splendor,</div><div><br /></div><div>his praises sounding through the earth,</div><div><br /></div><div>His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading,</div><div><br /></div><div>forked-lightning shooting from his hand—</div><div><br /></div><div>what power hidden in that fist!</div><div><br /></div><div>Plague marches before him,</div><div><br /></div><div>pestilence at his heels!</div><div><br /></div><div>He stops. He shakes Earth.</div><div><br /></div><div>He looks around. Nations tremble.</div><div><br /></div><div>The age-old mountains fall to pieces;</div><div><br /></div><div>ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon.</div><div><br /></div><div>The paths God takes are older</div><div><br /></div><div>than the oldest mountains and hills.</div><div><br /></div><div>I saw everyone worried, in a panic:</div><div><br /></div><div>Old wilderness adversaries,</div><div><br /></div><div>Cushan and Midian, were terrified,</div><div><br /></div><div>hoping he wouldn’t notice them.</div><div><br /></div><div>8–16 God, is it River you’re mad at?</div><div><br /></div><div>Angry at old River?</div><div><br /></div><div>Were you raging at Sea when you rode</div><div><br /></div><div>horse and chariot through to salvation?</div><div><br /></div><div>You unfurled your bow</div><div><br /></div><div>and let loose a volley of arrows.</div><div><br /></div><div>You split Earth with rivers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mountains saw what was coming.</div><div><br /></div><div>They twisted in pain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Flood Waters poured in.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ocean roared and reared huge waves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your flashing arrows stopped them,</div><div><br /></div><div>your lightning-strike spears impaled them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Angry, you stomped through Earth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Furious, you crushed the godless nations.</div><div><br /></div><div>You were out to save your people,</div><div><br /></div><div>to save your specially chosen people.</div><div><br /></div><div>You beat the stuffing</div><div><br /></div><div>out of King Wicked,</div><div><br /></div><div>Stripped him naked</div><div><br /></div><div>from head to toe,</div><div><br /></div><div>Set his severed head on his own spear</div><div><br /></div><div>and blew away his army.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scattered they were to the four winds—</div><div><br /></div><div>and ended up food for the sharks!</div><div><br /></div><div>You galloped through the Sea on your horses,</div><div><br /></div><div>racing on the crest of the waves.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I heard it, my stomach did flips.</div><div><br /></div><div>I stammered and stuttered.</div><div><br /></div><div>My bones turned to water.</div><div><br /></div><div>I staggered and stumbled.</div><div><br /></div><div>I sit back and wait for Doomsday</div><div><br /></div><div>to descend on our attackers.</div><div><br /></div><div>17–19 Though the cherry trees don’t blossom</div><div><br /></div><div>and the strawberries don’t ripen,</div><div><br /></div><div>Though the apples are worm-eaten</div><div><br /></div><div>and the wheat fields stunted,</div><div><br /></div><div>Though the sheep pens are sheepless</div><div><br /></div><div>and the cattle barns empty,</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m singing joyful praise to God.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,</div><div><br /></div><div>I take heart and gain strength.</div><div><br /></div><div>I run like a deer.</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel like I’m king of the mountain!</div><div><br /></div><div>(For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Sunday, March 17, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Numbers 11:16–17, 27–29</div><div><br /></div><div> God said to Moses, “Gather together seventy men from among the leaders of Israel, men whom you know to be respected and responsible. Take them to the Tent of Meeting. I’ll meet you there. I’ll come down and speak with you. I’ll take some of the Spirit that is on you and place it on them; they’ll then be able to take some of the load of this people—you won’t have to carry the whole thing alone.</div><div><br /></div><div>27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”</div><div><br /></div><div>28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ right-hand man since his youth, said, “Moses, master! Stop them!”</div><div><br /></div><div>29 But Moses said, “Are you jealous for me? Would that all God’s people were prophets. Would that God would put his Spirit on all of them.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>As Numbers 11 begins, it had been more than a year since the Israelites escaped out of Egypt (10:11-12). They’d spent almost a year at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1; Numbers 10:11), where Moses received the Law, the people rebelled by crafting a golden calf, the tabernacle was built, and the priesthood was established. The Israelites were the beneficiaries of God’s daily care through manna and a cloud that guided them during the day and a pillar of fire at night. But soon after leaving Mount Sinai, the people “complained about their hardships” (11:1), and God judged them with fire. After His judgment subsided, some began to “crave other food” (v. 4). Moses grew tired of their complaints and cried out to God, “I cannot carry all these people by myself” (v. 14). As a result, He instructed Moses to choose seventy leaders to help share the burden (vv. 16-17). By: Alyson Kieda</div><div><br /></div><div>Kingdom-Minded Leadership</div><div>I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them! Numbers 11:29</div><div><br /></div><div>When I joined a group of Christian children’s book authors who prayed for one another and helped spread the word about each other’s books, some people said we were “foolish for working with competitors.” But our group was committed to kingdom-minded leadership and promoting community, not competition. We shared the same goal—spreading the gospel. We served the same King—Jesus. Together, we’re reaching more people with our witness for Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div>When God asked Moses to choose seventy elders with leadership experience, He said, “I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone” (Numbers 11:16–17). Later, Joshua saw two of the elders prophesying and told Moses to stop them. Moses said, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (v. 29).</div><div><br /></div><div>Any time we focus on competition or comparisons that hinder us from working with others, the Holy Spirit can empower us to shrug off that temptation. When we ask God to nurture kingdom-minded leadership in us, He spreads the gospel around the world and can even lighten our loads as we serve Him together. By: Xochitl Dixon</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How have you teamed up with others to serve God? Who can you support as they serve Him with their unique gifts?</div><div><br /></div><div>Holy Spirit, please make me a kingdom-minded leader committed to working together to reach more people with the life-saving message of the gospel.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Sunday, March 17, 2024</div><div>The Servant’s Primary Goal</div><div><br /></div><div>We make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him. —2 Corinthians 5:9</div><div><br /></div><div>“We make it our aim….” It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal. At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul was like a musician who gives no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from his Conductor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Any goal we have that diverts us even to the slightest degree from the central goal of being “approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15) may result in our rejection from further service for Him. When you discern where the goal leads, you will understand why it is so necessary to keep “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul spoke of the importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the wrong direction. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest…I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).</div><div><br /></div><div>I must learn to relate everything to the primary goal, maintaining it without interruption. My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 30-31; Mark 15:1-25</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-35243243375985433432024-03-16T08:50:00.000-04:002024-03-16T08:50:00.820-04:00Habakkuk 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Max Lucado Daily: Courage</div><div><br /></div><div>“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. I Peter 3:13-14”</div><div><br /></div><div>On April 18, 2007, three Christians in Turkey were killed for their beliefs. Necati Aydin, a 35 year-old pastor was one of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>He nearly didn’t go the office that morning. He’d been traveling and his wife, Semse, wanted him to stay home and rest. He admitted his weariness, but went on to work. There was much to be done. Semse recalls, “As my dear husband walked out the door, he smiled at me one last time. I didn’t know that was the last smile.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Later that morning, attackers came to Necati Aydin’s office insisting he pray: “There is no God except Allah!” When Necati refused, the torture began. The last word from the office was the cry of an unswerving Christian: Messiah! Messiah!</div><div><br /></div><div>I ponder the martyrs of Malatya and wonder, Would I make the sacrifice? Would I cry out, “Messiah! Messiah! Would I give my life?</div><div><br /></div><div>How do we prepare? Linger long and often in the presence of Christ. Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words.</div><div><br /></div><div>Courage comes as we live with Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><div> Habakkuk 2</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s God going to say to my questions? I’m braced for the worst.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll wait to see what God says,</div><div><br /></div><div>how he’ll answer my complaint.</div><div><br /></div><div>Full of Self, but Soul-Empty</div><div><br /></div><div>2–3 And then God answered: “Write this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Write what you see.</div><div><br /></div><div>Write it out in big block letters</div><div><br /></div><div>so that it can be read on the run.</div><div><br /></div><div>This vision-message is a witness</div><div><br /></div><div>pointing to what’s coming.</div><div><br /></div><div>It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!</div><div><br /></div><div>And it doesn’t lie.</div><div><br /></div><div>If it seems slow in coming, wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s on its way. It will come right on time.</div><div><br /></div><div>4 “Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—</div><div><br /></div><div>full of himself but soul-empty.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the person in right standing before God</div><div><br /></div><div>through loyal and steady believing</div><div><br /></div><div>is fully alive, really alive.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–6 “Note well: Money deceives.</div><div><br /></div><div>The arrogant rich don’t last.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are more hungry for wealth</div><div><br /></div><div>than the grave is for cadavers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like death, they always want more,</div><div><br /></div><div>but the ‘more’ they get is dead bodies.</div><div><br /></div><div>They are cemeteries filled with dead nations,</div><div><br /></div><div>graveyards filled with corpses.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t give people like this a second thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>Soon the whole world will be taunting them:</div><div><br /></div><div>6–8 “ ‘Who do you think you are—</div><div><br /></div><div>getting rich by stealing and extortion?</div><div><br /></div><div>How long do you think</div><div><br /></div><div>you can get away with this?’</div><div><br /></div><div>Indeed, how long before your victims wake up,</div><div><br /></div><div>stand up and make you the victim?</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve plundered nation after nation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now you’ll get a taste of your own medicine.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the survivors are out to plunder you,</div><div><br /></div><div>a payback for all your murders and massacres.</div><div><br /></div><div>9–11 “Who do you think you are—</div><div><br /></div><div>recklessly grabbing and looting,</div><div><br /></div><div>Living it up, acting like king of the mountain,</div><div><br /></div><div>acting above it all, above trials and troubles?</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve engineered the ruin of your own house.</div><div><br /></div><div>In ruining others you’ve ruined yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve undermined your foundations,</div><div><br /></div><div>rotted out your own soul.</div><div><br /></div><div>The bricks of your house will speak up and accuse you.</div><div><br /></div><div>The woodwork will step forward with evidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>12–14 “Who do you think you are—</div><div><br /></div><div>building a town by murder, a city with crime?</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t you know that God-of-the-Angel-Armies</div><div><br /></div><div>makes sure nothing comes of that but ashes,</div><div><br /></div><div>Makes sure the harder you work</div><div><br /></div><div>at that kind of thing, the less you are?</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile the earth fills up</div><div><br /></div><div>with awareness of God’s glory</div><div><br /></div><div>as the waters cover the sea.</div><div><br /></div><div>15–17 “Who do you think you are—</div><div><br /></div><div>inviting your neighbors to your drunken parties,</div><div><br /></div><div>Giving them too much to drink,</div><div><br /></div><div>roping them into your sexual orgies?</div><div><br /></div><div>You thought you were having the time of your life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wrong! It’s a time of disgrace.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the time you were drinking,</div><div><br /></div><div>you were drinking from the cup of God’s wrath.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll wake up holding your throbbing head, hung over—</div><div><br /></div><div>hung over from Lebanon violence,</div><div><br /></div><div>Hung over from animal massacres,</div><div><br /></div><div>hung over from murder and mayhem,</div><div><br /></div><div>From multiple violations</div><div><br /></div><div>of place and people.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 “What’s the use of a carved god</div><div><br /></div><div>so skillfully carved by its sculptor?</div><div><br /></div><div>What good is a fancy cast god</div><div><br /></div><div>when all it tells is lies?</div><div><br /></div><div>What sense does it make to be a pious god-maker</div><div><br /></div><div>who makes gods that can’t even talk?</div><div><br /></div><div>Who do you think you are—</div><div><br /></div><div>saying to a stick of wood, ‘Wake up,’</div><div><br /></div><div>Or to a dumb stone, ‘Get up’?</div><div><br /></div><div>Can they teach you anything about anything?</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s nothing to them but surface.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s nothing on the inside.</div><div><br /></div><div>20 “But oh! God is in his holy Temple!</div><div><br /></div><div>Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Saturday, March 16, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Acts 16:1–10</div><div><br /></div><div>A Dream Gave Paul His Map</div><div><br /></div><div>1–3 16 Paul came first to Derbe, then Lystra. He found a disciple there by the name of Timothy, son of a devout Jewish mother and Greek father. Friends in Lystra and Iconium all said what a fine young man he was. Paul wanted to recruit him for their mission, but first took him aside and circumcised him so he wouldn’t offend the Jews who lived in those parts. They all knew that his father was Greek.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 As they traveled from town to town, they presented the simple guidelines the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. That turned out to be most helpful. Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size.</div><div><br /></div><div>6–8 They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.</div><div><br /></div><div>9–10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>There’s a fascinating note in Luke’s description of Paul’s journey to Philippi (Acts 16:1-12). In verse 6, he says: “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” The apostle had been prevented from preaching by the Spirit! Somehow, in God’s good plan, they were to bypass Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) in order to cross over to Greece and begin the movement of the gospel in Europe. The text doesn’t tell us why this was done, but we can be sure that—knowing God’s heart for the lost everywhere—it wasn’t a reflection of any lack of love for those in Asia Minor. By: Bill Crowder</div><div><br /></div><div>Share Your Faith</div><div>Come over to Macedonia and help us. Acts 16:9</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1701, the Church of England founded the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in order to send missionaries around the globe. The motto they chose was transiens adiuva nos—Latin for “Come over and help us!” This has been the call on gospel ambassadors since the first century, as followers of Jesus take the message of His love and forgiveness to a world in desperate need of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>The phrase “come over and help us” comes from the “Macedonian call” described in Acts 16. Paul and his team had arrived at Troas on the west coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey, v. 8). There, “Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (v. 9). Having received the vision, Paul and his companions “got ready at once to leave for Macedonia” (v. 10). They understood the vital importance of the call.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not everyone is called to cross the seas, but we can support those who do with our prayers and finances. And all of us can tell someone, whether across the room, the street, or the community, about the good news of Jesus. Let’s pray that our good God will enable us to cross over and give people the greatest help of all—the opportunity for forgiveness in Jesus’ name. By: Bill Crowder</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>Where is God calling you to share your faith? How might He empower you to do this today?</div><div><br /></div><div>Loving Father, You sent Your Son for our rescue and forgiveness. Equip me to be an agent of Your great good news that forgiveness and freedom are available to whoever will receive Jesus by faith.</div><div><br /></div><div>For further study, read <a href="https://discoveryseries.org/HP185" target="_blank">Gospel Conversations: Sharing the Story of Jesus</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Saturday, March 16, 2024</div><div>The Master Will Judge</div><div><br /></div><div>We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:10</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>“If we walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 28-29; Mark 14:54-72</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-32173033385481005342024-03-15T07:32:00.006-04:002024-03-15T07:32:37.972-04:00 Habakkuk 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: TRUST HIM - March 15, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>“We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it” (Proverbs 16:9 MSG).</div><div><br /></div><div>Many years ago I spent a week visiting the interior of Brazil with an experienced missionary pilot. He flew a circuit of remote towns in a four-seat plane that threatened to come undone at the slightest gust of wind. I could not get comfortable. I kept thinking the plane was going to crash in some Brazilian jungle. I kept shifting around, looking down, gripping my seat (as if that would help).</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, the pilot had enough of my squirming. He looked over at me and shouted over the airplane noise, “We won’t face anything that I can’t handle. You might as well trust me to fly the plane.” Is God saying the same to you?</div><div><br /></div><div> Habakkuk 1</div><div><br /></div><div>Justice Is a Joke</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 1 The problem as God gave Habakkuk to see it:</div><div><br /></div><div>God, how long do I have to cry out for help</div><div><br /></div><div>before you listen?</div><div><br /></div><div>How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!”</div><div><br /></div><div>before you come to the rescue?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why do you force me to look at evil,</div><div><br /></div><div>stare trouble in the face day after day?</div><div><br /></div><div>Anarchy and violence break out,</div><div><br /></div><div>quarrels and fights all over the place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Law and order fall to pieces.</div><div><br /></div><div>Justice is a joke.</div><div><br /></div><div>The wicked have the righteous hamstrung</div><div><br /></div><div>and stand justice on its head.</div><div><br /></div><div>God Says, “Look!”</div><div><br /></div><div>5–11 “Look around at the godless nations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock.</div><div><br /></div><div>Something’s about to take place</div><div><br /></div><div>and you’re going to find it hard to believe.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m about to raise up Babylonians to punish you,</div><div><br /></div><div>Babylonians, fierce and ferocious—</div><div><br /></div><div>World-conquering Babylon,</div><div><br /></div><div>grabbing up nations right and left,</div><div><br /></div><div>A dreadful and terrible people,</div><div><br /></div><div>making up its own rules as it goes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Their horses run like the wind,</div><div><br /></div><div>attack like bloodthirsty wolves.</div><div><br /></div><div>A stampede of galloping horses</div><div><br /></div><div>thunders out of nowhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>They descend like vultures</div><div><br /></div><div>circling in on carrion.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re out to kill. Death is on their minds.</div><div><br /></div><div>They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts.</div><div><br /></div><div>They mock kings,</div><div><br /></div><div>poke fun at generals,</div><div><br /></div><div>Spit on forts,</div><div><br /></div><div>and leave them in the dust.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll all be blown away by the wind.</div><div><br /></div><div>Brazen in sin, they call strength their god.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Why Is God Silent Now?</div><div><br /></div><div>12–13 God, you’re from eternity, aren’t you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Holy God, we aren’t going to die, are we?</div><div><br /></div><div>God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work?</div><div><br /></div><div>Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline?</div><div><br /></div><div>But you can’t be serious!</div><div><br /></div><div>You can’t condone evil!</div><div><br /></div><div>So why don’t you do something about this?</div><div><br /></div><div>Why are you silent now?</div><div><br /></div><div>This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous</div><div><br /></div><div>and you stand around and watch!</div><div><br /></div><div>14–16 You’re treating men and women</div><div><br /></div><div>as so many fish in the ocean,</div><div><br /></div><div>Swimming without direction,</div><div><br /></div><div>swimming but not getting anywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing.</div><div><br /></div><div>He pulls in a good catch.</div><div><br /></div><div>He catches his limit and fills his creel—</div><div><br /></div><div>a good day of fishing! He’s happy!</div><div><br /></div><div>He praises his rod and reel,</div><div><br /></div><div>piles his fishing gear on an altar and worships it!</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s made his day,</div><div><br /></div><div>and he’s going to eat well tonight!</div><div><br /></div><div>17 Are you going to let this go on and on?</div><div><br /></div><div>Will you let this Babylonian fisherman</div><div><br /></div><div>Fish like a weekend angler,</div><div><br /></div><div>killing people as if they’re nothing but fish?</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Friday, March 15, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Ecclesiastes 5:8–15</div><div><br /></div><div>A Salary of Smoke</div><div><br /></div><div>8–9 Don’t be too upset when you see the poor kicked around, and justice and right violated all over the place. Exploitation filters down from one petty official to another. There’s no end to it, and nothing can be done about it. But the good earth doesn’t cheat anyone—even a bad king is honestly served by a field.</div><div><br /></div><div>10 The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,</div><div><br /></div><div>Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.</div><div><br /></div><div>11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.</div><div><br /></div><div>And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?</div><div><br /></div><div>12 Hard and honest work earns a good night’s sleep,</div><div><br /></div><div>Whether supper is beans or steak.</div><div><br /></div><div>But a rich man’s belly gives him insomnia.</div><div><br /></div><div>13–17 Here’s a piece of bad luck I’ve seen happen:</div><div><br /></div><div>A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him</div><div><br /></div><div>And then loses it all in a bad business deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>He fathered a child but hasn’t a cent left to give him.</div><div><br /></div><div>He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;</div><div><br /></div><div>He’ll leave in the same condition—with nothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In Ecclesiastes, Solomon has a lot to say about material wealth. He also devotes a hundred or so sayings in the book of Proverbs to the subject of riches and money. Material wealth can either be a blessing (Proverbs 10:22) or a curse (30:7-9), depending on how one relates to it (see Deuteronomy 8:7-19). God warns us not to get rich by wrongdoing or unjust means (Proverbs 15:27; 22:16; 22:22-23). We’re to seek wisdom rather than wealth (3:13-15; 8:10-11; 16:16), for the godly life is better than the good life. Right living is better than rich living (15:16; 16:8; 28:6). Money is a fleeting commodity that gives us false security (23:4-5; 27:24; Ecclesiastes 5:10-11). Rather, we need to invest for eternity. Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where . . . thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). By: K. T. Sim</div><div><br /></div><div>Eternal Legacy</div><div>I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners. Ecclesiastes 5:13</div><div><br /></div><div>As Dust Bowl sandstorms ravaged the United States during the Great Depression, John Millburn Davis, a resident of Hiawatha, Kansas, decided to make a name for himself. A self-made millionaire with no children, Davis might have invested in charity or economic development. Instead, at great expense, he commissioned eleven life-size statues of himself and his deceased wife to stand in the local cemetery.</div><div><br /></div><div>“They hate me in Kansas,” Davis told journalist Ernie Pyle. Local residents wanted him to fund the construction of public facilities like a hospital, swimming pool, or park. Yet all he said was, “It’s my money and I spend it the way I please.”</div><div><br /></div><div>King Solomon, the wealthiest man of his day, wrote, “Whoever loves money never has enough,” and “as goods increase, so do those who consume them” (Ecclesiastes 5:10–11). Solomon had grown keenly aware of the corrupting tendencies of wealth.</div><div><br /></div><div>The apostle Paul also understood the temptation of wealth and chose to invest his life in obedience to Jesus. Awaiting execution in a Roman prison, he wrote triumphantly, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering . . . . I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6–7).</div><div><br /></div><div>What lasts isn’t what we chisel in stone or hoard for ourselves. It’s what we give out of love for each other and for Him—the One who shows us how to love. By: Tim Gustafson</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What will others remember about you? What changes might you need to make as you ponder your eternal legacy?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavenly Father, please help me pour out my life for others in some small way today.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Friday, March 15, 2024</div><div>The Discipline of Dismay</div><div><br /></div><div>As they followed they were afraid. —Mark 10:32</div><div><br /></div><div>At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).</div><div><br /></div><div>There is an aspect of Jesus that chills even a disciple’s heart to its depth and makes his entire spiritual life gasp for air. This unusual Person with His face set “like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7) is walking with great determination ahead of me, and He strikes terror right through me. He no longer seems to be my Counselor and Friend and has a point of view about which I know nothing. All I can do is stand and stare at Him in amazement. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus Christ had to understand fully every sin and sorrow that human beings could experience, and that is what makes Him seem unfamiliar. When we see this aspect of Him, we realize we really don’t know Him. We don’t recognize even one characteristic of His life, and we don’t know how to begin to follow Him. He is far ahead of us, a Leader who seems totally unfamiliar, and we have no friendship with Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>The discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see Isaiah 50:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 26-27; Mark 14:27-53</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Friday, March 15, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Why Mission Impossible Isn't - #9700</div><div><br /></div><div>Now it's been a while since it was a primetime television show. You might catch it every once in a while in the odd hours of the morning. But there was a time when it was a block-buster on television, and then it became some block-buster movies. When it was on TV, I tried never to miss it. It was called Mission Impossible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, maybe if you're old enough, you can remember the theme music. It always began with Jim Phelps, who was the head of the Impossible Missions Force. He'd get the latest assignment. And then he'd get some photos that described a mission that was considered by his superior virtually impossible. You remember the voice would come on and say, "Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it is..." And then they'd go on. And then in the old days they'd say, "This tape will self-destruct in 30 seconds." And it just all kind of blew up at that point.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, Jim would then go back and put together his team, and the rest of the story was how they pulled off this assignment that was supposedly undoable. Now, I haven't seen Mission Impossible for a long time, but I don't need to. I live it. And maybe you do too...or you could.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Mission Impossible Isn't."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, do you ever look at the week ahead, or the day ahead, or the month and just say, "Mission impossible! It can't work! I can't do it!" I do that. For example, I remember when I saw a week ahead of me that was a mountain of deadlines, and decisions, and responsibilities, and people. And I tell you the truth; I know what it is to panic when I look at that wall-to-wall, jam-packed week or month ahead. Maybe you do too?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, at that point, I had been reading 2 Corinthians for my personal time with the Lord each morning, and that morning (and you know, the Lord is good about this), I just read the next passage, and He lovingly gave me a verse that changed everything. Now you might be facing a challenge or challenges that look like some unmovable mountain right now. Maybe it's family, or school, or at work, or maybe you've got some relational mountains to move. Maybe it's a ministry you're doing; maybe it's medical issues. It's not the tape that's about to self-destruct like that Mission Impossible; it's you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, listen to this beautiful, redemptive verse in 2 Corinthians 9:8. I committed it to memory at that moment. "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." You say, "Whoa! Where is that?" That's 2 Corinthians 9:8. No loopholes... all, all, all, all, all. "God is going to give you all grace, in all things, at all times, having all that you need." There's no attorney on earth who could find a loophole there.</div><div><br /></div><div>And you know what the word abound means? It says, "God will make you abound..." Well, His grace abounding to you so you can abound in every good work. It means literally from the Greek, "more than enough," or "to be left over," or "to make extremely rich." It was the same word used to describe the feeding of the 5,000. Remember, they thought there wouldn't be enough for the crowd, and then instead they had 12 baskets of fragments leftover lunch to spare. That's the same word - leftovers, lots to spare.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you depend on the adrenalin of God's grace for this mountain, you will get it done and you will have resources left over if you're using His resources. And that impossible week, I've found out over and over again; those turn into one of the most supernatural weeks I've ever experienced, because I was riding on this promise. Everything happened; it happened better than I could have ever dreamed.</div><div><br /></div><div>See, God makes you extremely rich in grace so you can make others extremely rich through the good works you have to do. God plenty's us so we can plenty those around us. You have in Christ more than enough grace for every assignment God has given you.</div><div><br /></div><div>And that's why your Mission Impossible isn't impossible.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-57756584536194537252024-03-14T06:06:00.006-04:002024-03-14T06:06:37.246-04:002 Chronicles 35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Max Lucado Daily: RELINQUISH CONTROL - March 14, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>The formula is simple: perceived control creates calm; lack of control gives birth to fear. So what do we do? Control everything? If only we could.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet, certainty is a cruel impostor. A person can accumulate millions of dollars and still lose it in a recession. A health fanatic can eat only nuts and veggies and still battle cancer. The only certainty is the lack thereof. That’s why the most stressed-out people are control freaks. We can’t take control because control is not ours to take.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking total control, relinquish it. You cannot run the world, but you can entrust it to God.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 Chronicles 35</div><div><br /></div><div>Josiah celebrated the Passover to God in Jerusalem. They killed the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. He gave the priests detailed instructions and encouraged them in the work of leading worship in The Temple of God. He also told the Levites who were in charge of teaching and guiding Israel in all matters of worship (they were especially consecrated for this), “Place the sacred Chest in The Temple that Solomon son of David, the king of Israel, built. You don’t have to carry it around on your shoulders any longer! Serve God and God’s people Israel. Organize yourselves by families for your respective responsibilities, following the instructions left by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–6 “Take your place in the sanctuary—a team of Levites for every grouping of your fellow citizens, the laity. Your job is to kill the Passover lambs, then consecrate yourselves and prepare the lambs so that everyone will be able to keep the Passover exactly as God commanded through Moses.”</div><div><br /></div><div>7–9 Josiah personally donated thirty thousand sheep, lambs, and goats and three thousand bulls—everything needed for the Passover celebration was there. His officials also pitched in on behalf of the people, including the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders in The Temple of God, gave twenty-six hundred lambs and three hundred bulls to the priests for the Passover offerings. Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, along with the Levitical chiefs Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, donated five thousand lambs and five hundred bulls to the Levites for the Passover offerings.</div><div><br /></div><div>10–13 Preparations were complete for the service of worship; the priests took up their positions and the Levites were at their posts as instructed by the king. They killed the Passover lambs, and while the priests sprinkled the blood from the lambs, the Levites skinned them out. Then they set aside the Whole-Burnt-Offering for presentation to the family groupings of the people so that each group could offer it to God following the instructions in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. They roasted the Passover lamb according to the instructions and boiled the consecrated offerings in pots and kettles and pans and promptly served the people.</div><div><br /></div><div>14 After the people had eaten the holy meal, the Levites served themselves and the Aaronite priests—the priests were busy late into the night making the offerings at the Altar.</div><div><br /></div><div>15 The Asaph singers were all in their places following the instructions of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. The security guards were on duty at each gate—the Levites also served them because they couldn’t leave their posts.</div><div><br /></div><div>16–19 Everything went without a hitch in the worship of God that day as they celebrated the Passover and the offering of the Whole-Burnt-Offering on the Altar of God. It went just as Josiah had ordered. The Israelites celebrated the Passover, also known as the Feast of Unraised Bread, for seven days. The Passover hadn’t been celebrated like this since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings had done it. But Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were there that week, plus the citizens of Jerusalem—they did it. In the eighteenth year of the rule of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated.</div><div><br /></div><div>20 Some time later, after Josiah’s reformation of The Temple, Neco king of Egypt marched out toward Carchemish on the Euphrates River on his way to war. Josiah went out to fight him.</div><div><br /></div><div>21 Neco sent messengers to Josiah saying, “What do we have against each other, O King of Judah? I haven’t come to fight against you but against the country with whom I’m at war. God commanded me to hurry, so don’t get in my way; you’ll only interfere with God, who is on my side in this, and he’ll destroy you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>22–23 But Josiah was spoiling for a fight and wouldn’t listen to a thing Neco said (in actuality it was God who said it). Though King Josiah disguised himself when they met on the plain of Megiddo, archers shot him anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>The king said to his servants, “Get me out of here—I’m badly wounded.”</div><div><br /></div><div>24–25 So his servants took him out of his chariot and laid him down in an ambulance chariot and drove him back to Jerusalem. He died there and was buried in the family cemetery. Everybody in Judah and Jerusalem attended the funeral. Jeremiah composed an anthem of lament for Josiah. The anthem is still sung by the choirs of Israel to this day. The anthem is written in the Laments.</div><div><br /></div><div>26–1 The rest of the history of Josiah, his exemplary and devout life, conformed to The Revelation of God. The whole story, from start to finish, is written in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Thursday, March 14, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Genesis 25:29–34</div><div><br /></div><div>One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stew—I’m starved!” That’s how he came to be called Edom (Red).</div><div><br /></div><div>31 Jacob said, “Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the firstborn.”</div><div><br /></div><div>32 Esau said, “I’m starving! What good is a birthright if I’m dead?”</div><div><br /></div><div>33–34 Jacob said, “First, swear to me.” And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That’s how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In the biblical world, the birthright of the firstborn son involved both special material benefits and spiritual privileges. The firstborn was entitled to a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17). More important, the firstborn was the head and spiritual leader of the family. The family line was maintained through the firstborn, even if other sons were named (see 1 Chronicles 7:1-4). In the case of Jacob and Esau, the birthright determined who would inherit the blessings of God’s covenant with Abraham—the inheritance of a land, a nation, and the line that would produce the Messiah. Although Jacob valued the birthright, he deceitfully took it from his brother (Genesis 27:35-36). But Esau’s willingness to abandon his spiritual birthright for immediate physical gratification showed that he “despised” spiritual things (25:34), thus disqualifying him as unfit to be the lineage from which the Messiah would come. He was considered “godless” (Hebrews 12:16). By: K. T. Sim</div><div><br /></div><div>God Alone Can Satisfy</div><div>When Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in [and] said to Jacob, . . . “I’m famished!” Genesis 25:29–30</div><div><br /></div><div>A thousand dollars of food—jumbo shrimp, shawarma, salads, and more—was delivered to a homeowner. But the man wasn’t having a party. In fact, he didn’t order the smorgasbord; his six-year-old son did. How did this happen? The father let his son play with his phone before bedtime, and the boy used it to purchase the expensive bounty from several restaurants. “Why did you do this?” the father asked his son, who was hiding under his comforter. The six-year-old replied, “I was hungry.” The boy’s appetite and immaturity led to a costly outcome. </div><div><br /></div><div>Esau’s appetite cost him a lot more than a thousand dollars. The story in Genesis 25 finds him exhausted and desperate for food. He said to his brother, “Let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (v. 30). Jacob responded by asking for Esau’s birthright (v. 31). The birthright included Esau’s special place as the firstborn son, the blessing of God’s promises, a double portion of the inheritance, and the privilege of being the spiritual leader of the family. Giving in to his appetite, Esau “ate and drank” and “despised his birthright” (v. 34).</div><div><br /></div><div>When we’re tempted and desire something, instead of letting our appetites lead us to costly mistakes and sin, let’s reach out to our heavenly Father—the One who alone satisfies the hungry soul “with good things” (Psalm 107:9). By: Marvin Williams</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>When have you allowed temptation to cost you a great deal? Why can only God satisfy your deepest longings?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, please help me to remember my spiritual birthright when I’m tempted to sin.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Thursday, March 14, 2024</div><div>Yielding</div><div><br /></div><div>…you are that one’s slaves whom you obey… —Romans 6:16</div><div><br /></div><div>The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “…He has anointed Me…to proclaim liberty to the captives…” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).</div><div><br /></div><div>When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 23-25; Mark 14:1-26</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Thursday, March 14, 2024</div><div>Death's Big Question - #9699</div><div><br /></div><div>It was heart-wrenching. The whole world seemed to be talking about Brittany Maynard's medical death sentence. It happened some years ago, she was a young wife, in love with her husband, and looking forward to having children. And then she was told that her incurable cancer would, after a painful decline, take her young life.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was controversial. Her decision to take the pill that would end her life on the day - and in the way - of her choosing. Her state's "assisted suicide" law afforded her that choice.</div><div><br /></div><div>Her decision added a face and more fuel to what is one of the deeply emotional debates of our time. Should a person have the right to legally abbreviate their suffering and hasten their death?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, some were very quick to pass judgment on a woman who was gone and being grieved. Some were quick to canonize her as the symbol of a crusade to legalize a decision like hers.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I was processing this kind of thing on a personal level. I couldn't help thinking about the young people we've loved who've chosen to die because of the pain of a break-up or a tragedy in their family. I've been at their agonizing funerals. I've held the shattered loved ones, I've seen the ones devastated for life by their loved one's choice.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then, I remember the people who've deeply touched my life - and many others - with this supernatural hope they radiated from their deathbed suffering.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Death's Big Question."</div><div><br /></div><div>For me, I cling to the Bible's assertion that "all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." And, as Job said, that "man's days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months..." (Job 14:5). In other words God has given me my life.</div><div><br /></div><div>But for all the questions this tragic situation has raised, they leave unaddressed the most important question death raises.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not about what leads up to it. But what happens after it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, I'm driven to the only One I believe can be trusted as the authority on that question. The One who gave me my life. In the world's best-selling book, the Bible, it says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Well to say the least, that's disturbing. But it's vital to know.</div><div><br /></div><div>I actually think many of us have a sense of that buried somewhere in our soul. That we'll meet God on the other side of our last heartbeat. And we will face our defiance of the One who made us. By pushing Him to the edge of the life He gave us. And hijacking the running of our lives from our Creator.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our worst nightmare is being unprepared for my appointment with God. That's why in our word for today from the Word of God in Amos 4:12, the Jewish prophet Amos said, "Prepare to meet your God."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well I know only one way to be ready to meet a sinless God. My only hope is to have every sin of my life - of which there are many - somehow erased.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I hear across the centuries the words of Jesus as He was dying on the cross. "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34). The Bible actually says that Jesus "carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24).</div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to take Jesus at His word. "Whoever believes in the Son [That's Jesus, the Son of God] has eternal life" (John 3:36). See, that's the word that Jesus added to "life." "Eternal."</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe Him because He didn't just talk about eternal life. He proved He's got it to give. By walking out of His grave three days after He died. He's the only one who ever has. And this very day He stands ready to walk into your life. And not only forgive your sin, but to secure for you, once and for all, a place in Heaven. He already paid for it when He died on the cross for you. And you can know from this day forward, you are ready to live, you are ready to die, and you are Heaven bound. Do you want that? Would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours" today? Go to our website and you'll find there the very information from God's Word that will lead you right into a relationship with Him. It's ANewStory.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus has answered forever death's most important question - "Are you ready to meet the God who's on the other side?"</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-17411830241764823372024-03-13T07:36:00.011-04:002024-03-13T07:36:56.385-04:00Acts 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: KNOW GOD’S VOICE - March 13, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>We waste so much nervous energy trying to make decisions. We can stress less when we remember three things: Gather the facts. What are the odds that the thing you are worrying about will ever occur? Control what you can control. Weather? You can’t control it, but you can watch the forecast. Don’t second-guess yourself. Make the best decision you can with the facts at hand. Pray, and take the next step.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep – read Scripture. Distinguish between God’s voice and the voice of fear. Worry takes a look at catastrophes and groans, “It’s all coming unraveled.” God says, “every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:28 MSG). Worry never sleeps, but God’s children do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 24</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul States His Defense</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 24 Within five days, the Chief Priest Ananias arrived with a contingent of leaders, along with Tertullus, a trial lawyer. They presented the governor with their case against Paul. When Paul was called before the court, Tertullus spoke for the prosecution: “Most Honorable Felix, we are most grateful in all times and places for your wise and gentle rule. We are much aware that it is because of you and you alone that we enjoy all this peace and gain daily profit from your reforms. I’m not going to tire you out with a long speech. I beg your kind indulgence in listening to me. I’ll be quite brief.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–8 “We’ve found this man time and again disturbing the peace, stirring up riots against Jews all over the world, the ringleader of a seditious sect called Nazarenes. He’s a real bad apple, I must say. We caught him trying to defile our holy Temple and arrested him. You’ll be able to verify all these accusations when you examine him yourself.”</div><div><br /></div><div>9 The Jews joined in: “Hear, hear! That’s right!”</div><div><br /></div><div>10–13 The governor motioned to Paul that it was now his turn. Paul said, “I count myself fortunate to be defending myself before you, Governor, knowing how fair-minded you’ve been in judging us all these years. I’ve been back in the country only twelve days—you can check out these dates easily enough. I came with the express purpose of worshiping in Jerusalem on Pentecost, and I’ve been minding my own business the whole time. Nobody can say they saw me arguing in the Temple or working up a crowd in the streets. Not one of their charges can be backed up with evidence or witnesses.</div><div><br /></div><div>14–15 “But I do freely admit this: In regard to the Way, which they malign as a dead-end street, I serve and worship the very same God served and worshiped by all our ancestors and embrace everything written in all our Scriptures. And I admit to living in hopeful anticipation that God will raise the dead, both the good and the bad. If that’s my crime, my accusers are just as guilty as I am.</div><div><br /></div><div>16–19 “Believe me, I do my level best to keep a clear conscience before God and my neighbors in everything I do. I’ve been out of the country for a number of years and now I’m back. While I was away, I took up a collection for the poor and brought that with me, along with offerings for the Temple. It was while making those offerings that they found me quietly at my prayers in the Temple. There was no crowd, there was no disturbance. It was some Jews from around Ephesus who started all this trouble. And you’ll notice they’re not here today. They’re cowards, too cowardly to accuse me in front of you.</div><div><br /></div><div>20–21 “So ask these others what crime they’ve caught me in. Don’t let them hide behind this smooth-talking Tertullus. The only thing they have on me is that one sentence I shouted out in the council: ‘It’s because I believe in the resurrection that I’ve been hauled into this court!’ Does that sound to you like grounds for a criminal case?”</div><div><br /></div><div>22–23 Felix shilly-shallied. He knew far more about the Way than he let on, and could have settled the case then and there. But uncertain of his best move politically, he played for time. “When Captain Lysias comes down, I’ll decide your case.” He gave orders to the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to more or less give him the run of the place and not prevent his friends from helping him.</div><div><br /></div><div>24–26 A few days later Felix and his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, sent for Paul and listened to him talk about a life of believing in Jesus Christ. As Paul continued to insist on right relations with God and his people, about a life of moral discipline and the coming Judgment, Felix felt things getting a little too close for comfort and dismissed him. “That’s enough for today. I’ll call you back when it’s convenient.” At the same time he was secretly hoping that Paul would offer him a substantial bribe. These conversations were repeated frequently.</div><div><br /></div><div>27 After two years of this, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. Still playing up to the Jews and ignoring justice, Felix left Paul in prison.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Wednesday, March 13, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Psalm 118:1–9</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God because he’s good,</div><div><br /></div><div>because his love never quits.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tell the world, Israel,</div><div><br /></div><div>“His love never quits.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,</div><div><br /></div><div>“His love never quits.”</div><div><br /></div><div>And you who fear God, join in,</div><div><br /></div><div>“His love never quits.”</div><div><br /></div><div>5–16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;</div><div><br /></div><div>from the wide open spaces, he answered.</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;</div><div><br /></div><div>who would dare lay a hand on me?</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s my strong champion;</div><div><br /></div><div>I flick off my enemies like flies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Far better to take refuge in God</div><div><br /></div><div>than trust in people;</div><div><br /></div><div>Far better to take refuge in God</div><div><br /></div><div>than trust in celebrities.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Psalm 118 is one of six psalms (Psalms 113-118) called the “Egyptian Hallel.” These were used when observing Passover, the time when Jewish people remember God delivering them from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 118, the final psalm in this grouping, was used to conclude the Passover meal.</div><div><br /></div><div>A thanksgiving psalm, it celebrates God’s hesed—a significant Hebrew word meaning “loyal, faithful, or steadfast love” (translated “love” in the niv). The psalm begins and ends with an invitation to praise God because “his love endures forever” (vv. 1, 29).</div><div><br /></div><div>In the New Testament, nearing the hours before His suffering and death, Jesus would refer to Himself as the fulfillment of Psalm 118:22—“the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (see Matthew 21:42). His sacrifice would be the greatest demonstration of God’s faithful love. By: Monica La Rose</div><div><br /></div><div>Cries of Distress</div><div>When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. Psalm 118:5</div><div><br /></div><div>Trapped under two floors of collapsed rubble caused by an earthquake, five-year-old Jinan, a Syrian girl, called out to rescuers as she shielded her little brother from the debris surrounding them. “Get me out of here; I’ll do anything for you,” she called heartbreakingly. “I’ll be your servant.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Cries of distress are found throughout the Psalms: “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord” (118:5). While we may never experience the crushing weight of earthquake-collapsed buildings, we all recognize the suffocating fears from a challenging medical diagnosis, economic hardship, uncertainty about the future, or relational loss.</div><div><br /></div><div>In those moments we may offer bargains to God for deliverance. But God doesn’t need to be persuaded to help. He promises to answer, and while it may not be relief from our situation, He’ll be with us and on our side. Nor do we need to fear any other peril—including death. We can say with the psalmist, “The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies” (v. 7).</div><div><br /></div><div>We’re not promised as dramatic a rescue as Jinan and her brother experienced, but we can trust our faithful God, who brought the psalmist “into a spacious place” (v. 5). He knows our situation and He’ll never abandon us, even in death. By: Matt Lucas</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How has God shown Himself faithful when you’re in distress? How have you recognized His presence during difficult times?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavenly Father, I call to You knowing that You hear me. Thank You for being faithful and loving.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Wednesday, March 13, 2024</div><div>God’s Total Surrender to Us</div><div><br /></div><div>For God so loved the world that He gave… —John 3:16</div><div><br /></div><div>Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.</div><div><br /></div><div>To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification is to miss the main point. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is actually part of the effect of His wonderful and total surrender to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.</div><div>The Place of Help</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 20-22; Mark 13:21-37</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Wednesday, March 13, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Weapon of Mass Destruction - in Your Mouth - #9698</div><div><br /></div><div>My three kids once gave me the most unique gift. It was called The Terminator. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. It was this little black, plastic control device. It looked sort of like uh... that remote control switch for a television, and it had three buttons on it. One said Missile Launcher, and when you press that button, it was supposed to make the appropriate sound of a missile being fired and exploding. Then you had a button for Machine Gun. And that had the appropriate rat-a-tat-tat of a machine gun. And if all else failed, you had the Death Ray. That was the other button, and it made sort of a surreal type of sound that lets you know that you've got the ultimate weapon in your hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, The Terminator was very helpful when you're behind slow traffic for example. Now, you wonder what the use is? Well, if the drivers in front of you were really making you impatient, you just launched a missile, or let go with your machine gun, or you hit them with a death ray. I'm not really encouraging this, I'm telling you about what they gave me. Now, it really didn't do anything, it was just some sort of emotional release. Praying would be better probably. Or maybe someone was coming into your office or your house that you didn't want to see. All you need to do: hit that machine gun; get the message right away to them. I know, it's crazy. Somebody was making big money providing us with this harmless weapon for letting out our frustrations. I actually have had a Terminator long before they gave me that gift. Actually, we all have a terminator, and it really terminates.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Weapon of Mass Destruction - in Your Mouth."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 12:18. It says this: "Reckless words pierce like a sword." It talks about the ability of our tongue and our words to cut very deeply. Now, the "cutter" seldom knows how deeply the "cut-ee" has been wounded or for how long that wound may last. We can all remember the names we've been called, we remember criticism that has been leveled against us, put-downs that were aimed in our direction. You know what? I'll bet you the person who said them has long forgotten them, but they're still a part of our personality. Reckless words pierce like a sword; they go deep. In fact, so deep that Proverbs 18:21 goes on to say, "The tongue has the power of life and death."</div><div><br /></div><div>All day long you and I are giving out life sentences and death sentences; sentences that either make people feel more alive or feel like they're dying inside. There are some life sentences like, "Man, you look great today!" Or, "Thanks for what you've been doing." Or, "You know, what you're doing is really important. How can I help you?"</div><div><br /></div><div>But it's the death sentences I'm concerned about; the ones that make people feel like they're dying inside when we say them. We terminate people inwardly without even realizing it. In fact, research shows that it takes seven positives to bring a person back to zero from one negative they've had in their life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wonder if that's the ratio at your house. Do you have seven praises for every one negative? How about the rest of your relationships? We're piercing people deeply with the names we call them, the accusations against them, the put-downs, the sarcasm, the criticisms, even well intended criticisms. It's no wonder that David said to the Lord, "Put a watch in front of my mouth." We should too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, I could push buttons on my plastic terminator, and I could make some noises that did no real damage. But you and I have a real terminator. This tongue we've got is daily either making people feel more alive or more destroyed inside.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, hold the put-downs, swallow the sarcasm, and cushion the criticism. Remember, your tongue can be The Terminator.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-1111968439453958432024-03-12T09:24:00.010-04:002024-03-12T09:24:53.355-04:00Zephaniah 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: FUEL YOUR FAITH - March 12, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Trying to control all the details of your world is exhausting. Only God has the power to see and know everything, but we forget. And before long, we’re back at it—running too fast, working too many hours, and trying to control everyone and everything around us. What do you do when you run out of gas?</div><div><br /></div><div>To avoid suffering from a fuel-less faith, you need to fill yourself with some high-test fuel. Try some Philippians. Like chapter 1 in verse 6: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” And then chapter 4 in verse 13: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Fill your tank with verses like these, and remember: God is able to do what you can’t.</div><div><br /></div><div>Zephaniah 3</div><div><br /></div><div>Sewer City</div><div><br /></div><div>1–5 3 Doom to the rebellious city,</div><div><br /></div><div>the home of oppressors—Sewer City!</div><div><br /></div><div>The city that wouldn’t take advice,</div><div><br /></div><div>wouldn’t accept correction,</div><div><br /></div><div>Wouldn’t trust God,</div><div><br /></div><div>wouldn’t even get close to her own god!</div><div><br /></div><div>Her very own leaders</div><div><br /></div><div>are rapacious lions,</div><div><br /></div><div>Her judges are rapacious timber wolves</div><div><br /></div><div>out every morning prowling for a fresh kill.</div><div><br /></div><div>Her prophets are out for what they can get.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re opportunists—you can’t trust them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary.</div><div><br /></div><div>They use God’s law as a weapon to maim and kill souls.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet God remains righteous in her midst,</div><div><br /></div><div>untouched by the evil.</div><div><br /></div><div>He stays at it, day after day, meting out justice.</div><div><br /></div><div>At evening he’s still at it, strong as ever.</div><div><br /></div><div>But evil men and women, without conscience</div><div><br /></div><div>and without shame, persist in evil.</div><div><br /></div><div>6 “So I cut off the godless nations.</div><div><br /></div><div>I knocked down their defense posts,</div><div><br /></div><div>Filled her roads with rubble</div><div><br /></div><div>so no one could get through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Her cities were bombed-out ruins,</div><div><br /></div><div>unlivable and unlived in.</div><div><br /></div><div>7 “I thought, ‘Surely she’ll honor me now,</div><div><br /></div><div>accept my discipline and correction,</div><div><br /></div><div>Find a way of escape from the trouble she’s in,</div><div><br /></div><div>find relief from the punishment I’m bringing.’</div><div><br /></div><div>But it didn’t faze her. Bright and early</div><div><br /></div><div>she was up at it again, doing the same old things.</div><div><br /></div><div>8 “Well, if that’s what you want, stick around.”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Your day in court is coming,</div><div><br /></div><div>but remember I’ll be there to bring evidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll bring all the nations to the courtroom,</div><div><br /></div><div>round up all the kingdoms,</div><div><br /></div><div>And let them feel the brunt of my anger,</div><div><br /></div><div>my raging wrath.</div><div><br /></div><div>My zeal is a fire</div><div><br /></div><div>that will purge and purify the earth.</div><div><br /></div><div>God Is in Charge at the Center</div><div><br /></div><div>9–13 “In the end I will turn things around for the people.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted,</div><div><br /></div><div>Words to address God in worship</div><div><br /></div><div>and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers,</div><div><br /></div><div>they’ll come praying—</div><div><br /></div><div>All my scattered, exiled people</div><div><br /></div><div>will come home with offerings for worship.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll no longer have to be ashamed</div><div><br /></div><div>of all those acts of rebellion.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders.</div><div><br /></div><div>No more pious strutting on my holy hill!</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll leave a core of people among you</div><div><br /></div><div>who are poor in spirit—</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s left of Israel that’s really Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll make their home in God.</div><div><br /></div><div>This core holy people</div><div><br /></div><div>will not do wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>They won’t lie,</div><div><br /></div><div>won’t use words to flatter or seduce.</div><div><br /></div><div>Content with who they are and where they are,</div><div><br /></div><div>unanxious, they’ll live at peace.”</div><div><br /></div><div>14–15 So sing, Daughter Zion!</div><div><br /></div><div>Raise the rafters, Israel!</div><div><br /></div><div>Daughter Jerusalem,</div><div><br /></div><div>be happy! celebrate!</div><div><br /></div><div>God has reversed his judgments against you</div><div><br /></div><div>and sent your enemies off chasing their tails.</div><div><br /></div><div>From now on, God is Israel’s king,</div><div><br /></div><div>in charge at the center.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s nothing to fear from evil</div><div><br /></div><div>ever again!</div><div><br /></div><div>God Is Present Among You</div><div><br /></div><div>16–17 Jerusalem will be told:</div><div><br /></div><div>“Don’t be afraid.</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Zion,</div><div><br /></div><div>don’t despair.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your God is present among you,</div><div><br /></div><div>a strong Warrior there to save you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love</div><div><br /></div><div>and delight you with his songs.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–20 “The accumulated sorrows of your exile</div><div><br /></div><div>will dissipate.</div><div><br /></div><div>I, your God, will get rid of them for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve carried those burdens long enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time, I’ll get rid of all those</div><div><br /></div><div>who’ve made your life miserable.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll heal the maimed;</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll bring home the homeless.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the very countries where they were hated</div><div><br /></div><div>they will be venerated.</div><div><br /></div><div>On Judgment Day</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll bring you back home—a great family gathering!</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll be famous and honored</div><div><br /></div><div>all over the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll see it with your own eyes—</div><div><br /></div><div>all those painful partings turned into reunions!”</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Promise.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Tuesday, March 12, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Esther 4:10–17</div><div><br /></div><div>Esther talked it over with Hathach and then sent him back to Mordecai with this message: “Everyone who works for the king here, and even the people out in the provinces, knows that there is a single fate for every man or woman who approaches the king without being invited: death. The one exception is if the king extends his gold scepter; then he or she may live. And it’s been thirty days now since I’ve been invited to come to the king.”</div><div><br /></div><div>12–14 When Hathach told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai sent her this message: “Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this.”</div><div><br /></div><div>15–16 Esther sent back her answer to Mordecai: “Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together. Fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, either day or night. I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it’s forbidden. If I die, I die.”</div><div><br /></div><div>17 Mordecai left and carried out Esther’s instructions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Ezra and Nehemiah give the account of the small remnant of the Jews who returned to Judea after the Babylonian exile. Esther records the events of the Jews who chose to remain in Babylon. This story took place in Susa (modern Iran) during the reign of Persian King Xerxes (Esther 1:1-2, 486–465 bc). Interestingly, Esther is the only book in the Bible where God isn’t mentioned. Yet, it speaks volumes of God’s providential care and protection when He used a young Jewish woman to save her people from legally mandated genocide. This story explains the origin of the festival of Purim, where Jews commemorate being saved from extermination. Haman had cast a lot (pur) to determine on which day to destroy the Jews (9:24); the festival is a reminder that God is the one in control (vv. 20-32). </div><div><br /></div><div>Examine how <a href="https://odbu.org/topic/nt229-01-lecture/?utm_source=Ebook&utm_medium=ODB+Ebook&utm_campaign=2024+03+12+ODB+Ebook+Insight+%E2%80%94+Women+in+NT&utm_id=2024+03+12+ODB+Ebook+Insight+%E2%80%94+Women+in+NT" target="_blank">God used women in the Bible.</a> By: K. T. Sim</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Courage in Christ</div><div>I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Esther 4:16</div><div><br /></div><div>Near the dawn of the twentieth century, Mary McDowell lived worlds apart from the brutal stockyards of Chicago. Although her home was just twenty miles away, she knew little about the horrific labor conditions that prompted workers in the stockyards to strike. Once she learned of the difficulties faced by them and their families, McDowell moved in and lived among them—advocating for better conditions. She ministered to their needs, including teaching children at a school in the back of a small shop.</div><div><br /></div><div>Standing up for better conditions for others—even when not directly impacted—is something Esther did as well. She was the queen of Persia (Esther 2:17) and had a different set of privileges than her Israelite people who’d been dispersed throughout Persia as exiles. Yet Esther took up the cause of the Israelites in Persia and risked her life for them, saying, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish” (4:16). She could have remained silent, for her husband, the king, didn’t know she was Jewish (2:10). But, choosing not to ignore her relatives’ pleas for help, she worked courageously to reveal an evil plot to destroy the Jews.</div><div><br /></div><div>We may not be able to take on massive causes like Mary McDowell or Queen Esther, but may we choose to see the needs of others and use what God has provided to help them. By: Katara Patton</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How are you using what you possess to help others? What role can you play in providing for those who may not live near you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, please give me the wisdom and courage to serve those in need.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Tuesday, March 12, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Total Surrender</div><div><br /></div><div>Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." —Mark 10:28</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).</div><div><br /></div><div>True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 13:1-20</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Tuesday, March 12, 2024</div><div>Living Like Royalty - #9697</div><div><br /></div><div>Our daughter has been a married woman for a while. But there's one thing about our conversations that hasn't changed from when she was a very little girl. One of us will call the other one, and I might be real busy, but I'll just dive right into the conversation. At which point my daughter might say, "Wait, Dad. You didn't say it." I know what she means - "Hi, Princess." See that started when she was a little baby in my arms. I will almost always say to her, as I did when she was a little baby, "I love you, Princess." To this day she wants to hear that name.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Living Like Royalty."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 6. I'm going to begin reading in the middle of verse 16 where it says, "We are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them. And I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters' says the Lord Almighty."</div><div><br /></div><div>I remember when I was a kid, speakers would come in and they would talk about this. "Come out from among them and be separate." And they were telling us not to be worldly and to avoid certain worldly amusements, which was probably a good idea. It was usually accompanied by a list of don'ts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, God calls for us to be separate from the unclean things in the world. But notice the invitation comes with a crown. Look at the context. He basically says, "Do you know who you are? You're my people. I walk among you. I'm a Father to you. You are the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty." I think that means you are royalty, right? If He's the King, what does that make you? You're His son or daughter.</div><div><br /></div><div>You might as well put Prince in front of your name, or Princess. See, that's how God feels about you. That's who He thinks you are. And because you're royalty, that's the reason you say, "Wait! I am a prince in God's family. I am a princess in God's family. I can't touch that. I can't watch that. I shouldn't go there. I can't listen to that." It's not a matter of legalism. It's a matter of who you are, it's a matter of identity, it's a matter of being His royal child.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, how come you may not feel like royalty right now? Maybe you've been hurt, rejected or abused. You've been sinned against or you've sinned. If you take your worth from earth, you'll probably think you're a loser and you'll keep making loser choices. But if you take your worth from your Father, the King, you will know you're royalty and you will make royal choices. Isn't it about time you started making royal choices?</div><div><br /></div><div>Sometimes you just want to grab a child or young person who doesn't realize who they are and say, "You're better than this, man! Do you know who you are?" That's what God is doing with you. It affects how you treat your mate, because now you see them as a prince or a princess; your kids, the people in your church, your coworkers, your friends. Don't cheapen yourself or do something that could embarrass the name of the King whose child you are.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe you've been away from Him. You've been doing un-royal things in your life. This is your day to come home. Quit believing the lie - the lie-dentities. Return to your Father, the King.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe you've never experienced this incredible sense of being loved by God, knowing you are loved by God, knowing you are valued by Him like this because you've never begun a love relationship with Him. That love relationship begins at the cross of Jesus, where the Son of God thought you were so valuable He gave His life and shed His blood for you. And then walked out of His grave under His own power to walk into your life someday.</div><div><br /></div><div>You want to experience that love for yourself and experience how special you are? Well, then today would you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to help you begin that relationship, and know that you have. Go to our website, would you please? It's ANewStory.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to your Father as He calls you "Prince" or "Princess." He says, "I love you, my Prince. I love you my Princess. Now live like who you are."</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-72221560474980303642024-03-11T08:44:00.001-04:002024-03-11T08:44:16.025-04:00Zephaniah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Max Lucado Daily: WIN THE WAR ON WORRY - March 11, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>ant to win the war on worry? Rejoice in the Lord’s strength, faithfulness, and accomplishments. Rejoice in his creation, his incarnation, and his act of redemption. Anxiety decreases as our understanding of the Lord increases.</div><div><br /></div><div>Want to see if your heart is weighed down with worry? Look for these clues:</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you laughing less than you once did?</div><div>Do you see problems in every promise?</div><div>Would those who know you best describe you as increasingly negative and critical?</div><div>Do you assume something bad is going to happen?</div><div>How many days would you rather stay in bed than get up?</div><div>If given the chance, would you avoid any interaction with humanity for the rest of your life?</div><div><br /></div><div>If you answered yes to more than a few of these questions, the Prince of Peace stands ready to help trade your cares for calm.</div><div><br /></div><div>Zephaniah 2</div><div><br /></div><div>Seek God</div><div><br /></div><div>1–2 2 So get yourselves together. Shape up!</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re a nation without a clue about what it wants.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do it before you’re blown away</div><div><br /></div><div>like leaves in a windstorm,</div><div><br /></div><div>Before God’s Judgment-anger</div><div><br /></div><div>sweeps down on you,</div><div><br /></div><div>Before God’s Judgment Day wrath</div><div><br /></div><div>descends with full force.</div><div><br /></div><div>3 Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people</div><div><br /></div><div>who live by God’s justice.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seek God’s right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps you’ll be hidden on the Day of God’s anger.</div><div><br /></div><div>All Earth-Made Gods Will Blow Away</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 Gaza is scheduled for demolition,</div><div><br /></div><div>Ashdod will be cleaned out by high noon,</div><div><br /></div><div>Ekron pulled out by the roots.</div><div><br /></div><div>Doom to the seaside people,</div><div><br /></div><div>the seafaring people from Crete!</div><div><br /></div><div>The Word of God is bad news for you</div><div><br /></div><div>who settled Canaan, the Philistine country:</div><div><br /></div><div>“You’re slated for destruction—</div><div><br /></div><div>no survivors!”</div><div><br /></div><div>6–7 The lands of the seafarers</div><div><br /></div><div>will become pastureland,</div><div><br /></div><div>A country for shepherds and sheep.</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s left of the family of Judah will get it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Day after day they’ll pasture by the sea,</div><div><br /></div><div>and go home in the evening to Ashkelon to sleep.</div><div><br /></div><div>Their very own God will look out for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>He’ll make things as good as before.</div><div><br /></div><div>8–12 “I’ve heard the crude taunts of Moab,</div><div><br /></div><div>the mockeries flung by Ammon,</div><div><br /></div><div>The cruel talk they’ve used to put down my people,</div><div><br /></div><div>their self-important strutting along Israel’s borders.</div><div><br /></div><div>Therefore, as sure as I am the living God,” says</div><div><br /></div><div>God-of-the-Angel-Armies,</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel’s personal God,</div><div><br /></div><div>“Moab will become a ruin like Sodom,</div><div><br /></div><div>Ammon a ghost town like Gomorrah,</div><div><br /></div><div>One a field of rocks, the other a sterile salt flat,</div><div><br /></div><div>a moonscape forever.</div><div><br /></div><div>What’s left of my people will finish them off,</div><div><br /></div><div>will pick them clean and take over.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is what they get for their bloated pride,</div><div><br /></div><div>their taunts and mockeries of the people</div><div><br /></div><div>of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.</div><div><br /></div><div>God will be seen as truly terrible—a Holy Terror.</div><div><br /></div><div>All earth-made gods will shrivel up and blow away;</div><div><br /></div><div>And everyone, wherever they are, far or near,</div><div><br /></div><div>will fall to the ground and worship him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also you Ethiopians,</div><div><br /></div><div>you, too, will die—I’ll see to it.”</div><div><br /></div><div>13–15 Then God will reach into the north</div><div><br /></div><div>and destroy Assyria.</div><div><br /></div><div>He will waste Nineveh,</div><div><br /></div><div>leave her dry and treeless as a desert.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ghost town of a city,</div><div><br /></div><div>the haunt of wild animals,</div><div><br /></div><div>Nineveh will be home to raccoons and coyotes—</div><div><br /></div><div>they’ll bed down in its ruins.</div><div><br /></div><div>Owls will hoot in the windows, ravens will croak in the doorways—</div><div><br /></div><div>all that fancy woodwork now a perch for birds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can this be the famous Fun City</div><div><br /></div><div>that had it made,</div><div><br /></div><div>That boasted, “I’m the Number-One City!</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m King of the Mountain!”</div><div><br /></div><div>So why is the place deserted,</div><div><br /></div><div>a lair for wild animals?</div><div><br /></div><div>Passersby hardly give it a look;</div><div><br /></div><div>they dismiss it with a gesture.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Monday, March 11, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Ecclesiastes 9:7–10</div><div><br /></div><div>Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,</div><div><br /></div><div>Drink wine with a robust heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!</div><div><br /></div><div>Dress festively every morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Relish life with the spouse you love</div><div><br /></div><div>Each and every day of your precarious life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange</div><div><br /></div><div>For the hard work of staying alive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Make the most of each one!</div><div><br /></div><div>Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!</div><div><br /></div><div>This is your last and only chance at it,</div><div><br /></div><div>For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think</div><div><br /></div><div>In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>The book of Ecclesiastes includes many sayings that compel readers to affirm that life “under the sun” is complex and “utterly meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3). The writer reminds us that life on earth includes times of head-scratching, groaning, and pain. His realism is quite sobering, even jarring. Yet, his observations and life assessments also include heartwarming truth like what’s expressed in Ecclesiastes 9:7-10. In his book Something New Under the Sun, Ray Pritchard uses the chapter title “Have a Blast While You Last” for these verses. Indeed, life is to be embraced, treasured, and celebrated as a precious gift from an awesome Creator. The apostle Paul reminds us that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). We must never forget that—along with our rich spiritual heritage in Jesus—our provisions from a good God include food and drink (Ecclesiastes 9:7), loving companionship (v. 9), and worthwhile labors (vv. 9-10). By: Arthur Jackson</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember the Creator</div><div>Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Ecclesiastes 9:7</div><div><br /></div><div>I recently read a novel about a woman who refuses to acknowledge she has terminal cancer. When Nicola’s exasperated friends force her to face the truth, the reason for her avoidance emerges. “I’ve wasted my life,” she tells them. Though born with talents and wealth, “I made nothing of my life. I was sloppy. I never stuck at anything.” The prospect of leaving the world now, feeling she’d achieved little, was too painful for Nicola to contemplate.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was reading Ecclesiastes around the same time and found the contrast stark. Its Teacher won’t let us avoid the reality of the grave, “the realm of the dead, where you are going” (9:10). And while this is hard to face (v. 2), it can lead us to value every moment we have now (v. 4), intentionally enjoying our food and families (vv. 7–9), working purposefully (v. 10), taking adventures and risks (11:1, 6), and doing it all before the God we’ll one day answer to (v. 9; 12:13–14).</div><div><br /></div><div>Nicola’s friends point out that her faithfulness and generosity to them proves her life hasn’t been a waste. But maybe the Teacher’s advice can save us all from such a crisis at the end of our lives: remember our Creator (12:1), follow His ways, and embrace every opportunity to live and love that today He provides.</div><div><br /></div><div>By: Sheridan Voysey</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How will you take delight in today’s simple, God-honoring joys? What one good thing have you yet to do or attempt?</div><div><br /></div><div>Loving God, thank You for today and the gifts it holds. I’ll enjoy its simple joys and embrace its opportunities as an act of worship to You.</div><div><br /></div><div>Learn more about <a href="https://odbu.org/topic/ot224-01-lecture/?utm_source=Ebook&utm_medium=ODB+Ebook&utm_campaign=2024+03+11+ODB+Ebook+Article+%E2%80%94+Ecclesiastes-Isaiah&utm_id=2024+03+11+ODB+Ebook+Article+%E2%80%94+Ecclesiastes-Isaiah" target="_blank">the book of Ecclesiastes</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Monday, March 11, 2024</div><div>Obedience to the “Heavenly Vision”</div><div><br /></div><div>I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19</div><div><br /></div><div>If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings.</div><div><br /></div><div>“Though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it. Waiting for a vision that “tarries” is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work, only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proven to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don’t go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).</div><div><br /></div><div>It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Monday, March 11, 2024</div><div>The Voice You Can Trust - #9696</div><div><br /></div><div>I must have like one of those voices. I never get to tell people who it is when I call them on the phone. I say, "Hi, this is..." And they'll say, "Hi, Ron." Now, most people do have to announce who it is, at least the first few times they call. Think about someone who you call for the first time and you have to give them your full name. So I might say, "Hello, this is Ron Hutchcraft." Then after a couple of times talking with them you just give your first name, "Hi, this is Ron." Then there's the teenage version - no greeting, no hello. They just jump right into the latest gossip. You don't even have to identify who it is; they talk so often...usually several times a day. Or texting back and forth, messaging. I guess we all have voices that ultimately need no identification. After all, it's the voices we've heard so much.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Voice You Can Trust."</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 10. I'm reading verse 3. "The watchman opens the gate for the Shepherd and the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and He leads them out. And when He's brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them. And His sheep follow Him because they know His voice."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, dropping down to verse 27: "My sheep," Jesus said, "listen to My voice. I know them and they follow Me." Now, here's this great picture: me sheep, Him shepherd. That's really what the Christian life boils down to, and the sheep are doing the only thing that they ought to do if they want to have everything that they need. They follow the Shepherd. And three times in these three verses Jesus talks about how they listen to His voice and they know His voice. Why? Well, for the same reason that a frequent caller doesn't need to identify himself when he calls. You've heard that voice so many times you know what He sounds like.</div><div><br /></div><div>Would you put yourself in this category: a follower of Jesus Christ? Are you one of those? Well, you can't be a follower according to what Jesus is saying here unless you're a listener first. Following Christ is not some passive or official status you have because you made a commitment one time. A follower of Christ follows because he listens first. "Those who hear My voice."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, each day the Lord is trying to speak to you about choices to make, people to talk to, ideas He wants to plant in your head. And there are lots of other voices. How do you know which voices, which tugs are from Him? Well, you have to be used to listening to Jesus. How do you do that? Well, you've got to meet Him daily. In the morning before you start the day, you ask Him to use His Word, the Bible, and apply it to your life - to that day. Then, that day, having heard His voice, before you've heard any other voice, you consciously obey Him in that area that He talked to you about. And you listen during the day for His inner direction. He'll direct you into the middle of a lot of God sightings.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know what area of life you've trusted Him with because you've responded to His voice through His Word. So, you're daily listening, daily responding. You do that day after day, and an exciting thing will happen. You'll begin to say at certain moments, "Now, that doesn't sound like what Jesus sounds like." "Now, that does sound like Him. I've been listening, and that's how His voice sounds...how He speaks." Now, you're a follower of Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, you begin your day by getting used to His voice before you hear any others. Then, when you're getting six voices at once, you'll know your Shepherd's direction from all the rest. You'll sense the call - the tug of Jesus that you heard just this morning, and that you've heard so often. And you'll say, "I know that voice."</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-36649057867617861452024-03-10T08:50:00.000-04:002024-03-10T08:50:02.274-04:00Zephaniah 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: Christ in You</div><div><br /></div><div>When grace happens, Christ enters. Christ in you, the hope of glory! For many years, I missed this truth. I believed all the other prepositions: Christ for me, with me, ahead of me. But I never imagined that Christ was in me.</div><div>I can't blame my deficiency on Scripture. Paul refers to the indwelling Christ 216 times. John mentions his presence 26 times. No other religion or philosophy makes such a claim. No other movement implies the living presence of its founder in his followers.</div><div>Muhammad does not indwell Muslims. Buddha does not inhabit Buddhists. Influence? Instruct? Yes. But occupy? No!</div><div>The mystery of Christianity is summarized in Colossians 1:27, "Christ is in you!" The Christian is a person in whom Christ is happening! Little by little a new image emerges! All because of God's Grace!</div><div>From GRACE</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Zephaniah 1</div><div><br /></div><div>No Longer Giving God a Thought or a Prayer</div><div><br /></div><div>1 1 God’s Message to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. It came during the reign of Josiah son of Amon, who was king of Judah:</div><div><br /></div><div>2 “I’m going to make a clean sweep of the earth,</div><div><br /></div><div>a thorough housecleaning.” God’s Decree.</div><div><br /></div><div>3 “Men and women and animals,</div><div><br /></div><div>including birds and fish—</div><div><br /></div><div>Anything and everything that causes sin—will go,</div><div><br /></div><div>but especially people.</div><div><br /></div><div>4–6 “I’ll start with Judah</div><div><br /></div><div>and everybody who lives in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll sweep the place clean of every trace</div><div><br /></div><div>of the sex-and-religion Baal shrines and their priests.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll get rid of the people who sneak up to their rooftops at night</div><div><br /></div><div>to worship the star gods and goddesses;</div><div><br /></div><div>Also those who continue to worship God</div><div><br /></div><div>but cover their bases by worshiping other king-gods as well;</div><div><br /></div><div>Not to mention those who’ve dumped God altogether,</div><div><br /></div><div>no longer giving him a thought or offering a prayer.</div><div><br /></div><div>7–13 “Quiet now!</div><div><br /></div><div>Reverent silence before me, God, the Master!</div><div><br /></div><div>Time’s up. My Judgment Day is near:</div><div><br /></div><div>The Holy Day is all set, the invited guests made holy.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the Holy Day, God’s Judgment Day,</div><div><br /></div><div>I will punish the leaders and the royal sons;</div><div><br /></div><div>I will punish those who dress up like foreign priests and priestesses,</div><div><br /></div><div>Who introduce pagan prayers and practices;</div><div><br /></div><div>And I’ll punish all who import pagan superstitions</div><div><br /></div><div>that turn holy places into hellholes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Judgment Day!” God’s Decree!</div><div><br /></div><div>“Cries of panic from the city’s Fish Gate,</div><div><br /></div><div>Cries of terror from the city’s Second Quarter,</div><div><br /></div><div>sounds of great crashing from the hills!</div><div><br /></div><div>Wail, you shopkeepers on Market Street!</div><div><br /></div><div>Moneymaking has had its day. The god Money is dead.</div><div><br /></div><div>On Judgment Day,</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll search through every closet and alley in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll find and punish those who are sitting it out, fat and lazy,</div><div><br /></div><div>amusing themselves and taking it easy,</div><div><br /></div><div>Who think, ‘God doesn’t do anything, good or bad.</div><div><br /></div><div>He isn’t involved, so neither are we.’</div><div><br /></div><div>But just wait. They’ll lose everything they have,</div><div><br /></div><div>money and house and land.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll build a house and never move in.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll plant vineyards and never taste the wine.</div><div><br /></div><div>A Day of Darkness at Noon</div><div><br /></div><div>14–18 “The Great Judgment Day of God is almost here.</div><div><br /></div><div>It’s countdown time: … seven, six, five, four …</div><div><br /></div><div>Bitter and noisy cries on my Judgment Day,</div><div><br /></div><div>even strong men screaming for help.</div><div><br /></div><div>Judgment Day is payday—my anger paid out:</div><div><br /></div><div>a day of distress and anguish,</div><div><br /></div><div>a day of catastrophic doom,</div><div><br /></div><div>a day of darkness at noon,</div><div><br /></div><div>a day of black storm clouds,</div><div><br /></div><div>a day of bloodcurdling war cries,</div><div><br /></div><div>as forts are assaulted,</div><div><br /></div><div>as defenses are smashed.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll make things so bad they won’t know what hit them.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ll walk around groping like the blind.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’ve sinned against God!</div><div><br /></div><div>Their blood will be poured out like old dishwater,</div><div><br /></div><div>their guts shoveled into slop buckets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don’t plan on buying your way out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your money is worthless for this.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the Day of God’s Judgment—my wrath!</div><div><br /></div><div>I care about sin with fiery passion—</div><div><br /></div><div>A fire to burn up the corrupted world,</div><div><br /></div><div>a wildfire finish to the corrupting people.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Sunday, March 10, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Psalm 104:24–35</div><div><br /></div><div>What a wildly wonderful world, God!</div><div><br /></div><div>You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,</div><div><br /></div><div>made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, look—the deep, wide sea,</div><div><br /></div><div>brimming with fish past counting,</div><div><br /></div><div>sardines and sharks and salmon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ships plow those waters,</div><div><br /></div><div>and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the creatures look expectantly to you</div><div><br /></div><div>to give them their meals on time.</div><div><br /></div><div>You come, and they gather around;</div><div><br /></div><div>you open your hand and they eat from it.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you turned your back,</div><div><br /></div><div>they’d die in a minute—</div><div><br /></div><div>Take back your Spirit and they die,</div><div><br /></div><div>revert to original mud;</div><div><br /></div><div>Send out your Spirit and they spring to life—</div><div><br /></div><div>the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.</div><div><br /></div><div>31–32 The glory of God—let it last forever!</div><div><br /></div><div>Let God enjoy his creation!</div><div><br /></div><div>He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake,</div><div><br /></div><div>points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.</div><div><br /></div><div>33–35 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long,</div><div><br /></div><div>sing hymns to my God as long as I live!</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, let my song please him;</div><div><br /></div><div>I’m so pleased to be singing to God.</div><div><br /></div><div>But clear the ground of sinners—</div><div><br /></div><div>no more godless men and women!</div><div><br /></div><div>O my soul, bless God!</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Psalm 104:3-30 parallels the creation account in Genesis; for instance, verses 25-26 mirror Genesis 1:20-28 and verses 27-30 pair with Genesis 1:29-31. Psalm 104:32, however, evokes the scene not at creation but when Israel gathered as “the Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:20). Having recounted God’s works of creation, the psalmist praises His awesome power: “He who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke” (Psalm 104:32). This matches Exodus 19:18: “The smoke billowed up from [Sinai] like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.” By: Tim Gustafson</div><div><br /></div><div>God Made Them All</div><div>How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all. Psalm 104:24</div><div><br /></div><div>My three-year old son, Xavier, squeezed my hand as we entered the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Pointing to a life-size sculpture of a humpback whale suspended from the ceiling, he said, “Enormous!” His wide-eyed joy continued as we explored each exhibit. We laughed as the otters splish-splashed during feeding time. We stood in silence in front of a large glass aquarium window, mesmerized by the golden-brown jellyfish dancing in the electric blue water. “God made every creature in the ocean,” I said, “just like He made you and me.” Xavier whispered, “Wow.”</div><div><br /></div><div>In Psalm 104, the psalmist acknowledged God’s abounding creation and sang, “In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (v. 24). He declared, “There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25). He proclaimed God’s generous and satisfying provision for all He created (vv. 27–28). He also affirmed that God has determined the days of each one’s existence (vv. 29–30).</div><div><br /></div><div>We can join the psalmist in singing this declaration of devotion: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (v. 33). Every creature that exists, from the big to the small, can lead us to praise because God made them all. By: Xochitl Dixon</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>When has exploring the wonderful world God made led you to praise Him? How has He used His creation to deepen your faith in His power and provision?</div><div><br /></div><div>All-powerful Creator and Sustainer of all, You’re so worthy of all my praise!</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Sunday, March 10, 2024</div><div>Being an Example of His Message</div><div><br /></div><div>Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2</div><div><br /></div><div>We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8).</div><div><br /></div><div>Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 11-13; Mark 12:1-27</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-50360053606394434972024-03-09T08:15:00.004-05:002024-03-09T08:15:17.751-05:00Acts 23:16-35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: Do Something</div><div><br /></div><div>“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6”</div><div><br /></div><div>Healing begins when you do something. God’s help is near and always available, but it’s given to those who seek it. Healing starts when you take a step. God honors radical, risk-taking faith.</div><div>When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble.</div><div>When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed.</div><div>And when a garment is touched by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee—Jesus stops!</div><div>He stops and responds.</div><div>Compared to God’s part, our part is minuscule—but necessary. We don’t have to do much, but we do have to do something! Faith with no effort is not faith at all!</div><div>Write a letter. Ask forgiveness.</div><div>Call a counselor. Call a mom!</div><div>Visit a doctor. Be baptized.</div><div>Feed a hungry person.</div><div>Pray. Teach. Go.</div><div>God honors radical, risk-taking faith. And He will respond.</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 23:16-35</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him.”</div><div><br /></div><div>18 The centurion brought him to the captain and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you.”</div><div><br /></div><div>19 The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. “What is it? What do you have to tell me?”</div><div><br /></div><div>20–21 Paul’s nephew said, “The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They’re going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it’s a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They’ve all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they’ve killed him. The ambush is set—all they’re waiting for is for you to send him over.”</div><div><br /></div><div>22 The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: “Don’t breathe a word of this to a soul.”</div><div><br /></div><div>23–24 The captain called up two centurions. “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o’clock tonight. And you’ll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We’re going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix.”</div><div><br /></div><div>25–30 Then he wrote this letter:</div><div><br /></div><div>From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:</div><div><br /></div><div>Greetings!</div><div><br /></div><div>I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I’d better get him out of here in a hurry. So I’m sending him to you. I’m informing his accusers that he’s now under your jurisdiction.</div><div><br /></div><div>31–33 The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.</div><div><br /></div><div>34–35 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told “Cilicia.” Then he said, “I’ll take up your case when your accusers show up.” He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod’s official quarters.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Saturday, March 09, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Romans 12:9–16</div><div><br /></div><div>Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.</div><div><br /></div><div>11–13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.</div><div><br /></div><div>14–16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Paul’s letter to the Roman churches can be divided into two parts—doctrine (chs. 1–11) and duty (chs. 12–16). The apostle instructs believers in Jesus not to conform to the pattern of this world but to live a transformed life that honors Christ (12:1-2). Romans 12:9-21 reads like the snippets of isolated sayings that we find in the book of Proverbs. But Paul is still talking about a renewed mind and a transformed life. The clearest demonstration of this is Christlike love (vv. 9-10), zealous service (vv. 11-12), and generous giving (v. 13). He tells us how we’re to relate to both believers and nonbelievers in a world of hate and revenge. Loving others—particularly enemies—is a key test of the reality of a renewed mind and a transformed life (v. 21). By: K. T. Sim</div><div><br /></div><div>Sharing Excitement for Christ</div><div>Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11</div><div><br /></div><div>The first time we met our neighbor Henry, he pulled a well-worn Bible out of a bag he’d been carrying. Eyes sparkling, he asked if we’d like to discuss Scripture. We nodded, and he flipped to some highlighted passages. He showed us a notebook full of his observations and said he’d also created a computer presentation full of other related information.</div><div><br /></div><div>Henry went on to tell us how he’d come from a difficult family situation and then, alone and at his worst, he accepted Jesus’ death and resurrection as the foundation of his faith (Acts 4:12). His life had changed as the Spirit helped him follow the Bible’s principles. Although Henry had committed his life to God years ago, his enthusiasm was fresh and powerful.</div><div><br /></div><div>Henry’s zeal inspired me—someone who’d walked with Jesus many years—to consider my spiritual passion. The apostle Paul wrote: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). That seems like a tall order, unless I’m allowing Scripture to nurture the kind of attitudes that reflect an ongoing thankfulness for all that Jesus has done for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unlike the emotional highs and lows we experience in life, zeal for Christ comes from an ever-expanding relationship with Him. The more we learn about Him, the more precious He becomes and the more His goodness floods our souls and spills out into the world. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How do you think Jesus feels when He sees that you’re excited about Him? What’s the relationship between thankfulness and zeal?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Jesus, please revive my excitement over knowing You!</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Saturday, March 09, 2024</div><div>Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67</div><div><br /></div><div>What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.</div><div><br /></div><div>“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-4317076028382526282024-03-08T06:43:00.008-05:002024-03-08T06:43:42.317-05:002 Chronicles 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: WHAT KIND OF MAN - March 8, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>When I was six years old, my dad let me stay up with the rest of the family and watch the movie The Wolf Man. Boy, did he regret that decision! I was convinced that the Wolf Man spent each night prowling our den. More than once I retreated to my father’s bedroom and awoke him. He would then climb out of bed, arm himself with super-human courage, and escort me through the valley of the shadow of death, and pour me a glass of milk.</div><div><br /></div><div>Might it be that God views our storms the way my father viewed my Wolf Man angst? He handles the great quaking with great calm, and the disciples are left wondering, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27 NCV). What kind of man indeed.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 Chronicles 34</div><div><br /></div><div>King Josiah</div><div><br /></div><div>1–2 34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before God. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right.</div><div><br /></div><div>3–7 When he had been king for eight years—he was still only a teenager—he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. Four years later, the twelfth year of his reign, he set out to cleanse the neighborhood of sex-and-religion shrines, and get rid of the sacred Asherah groves and the god and goddess figurines, whether carved or cast, from Judah. He wrecked the Baal shrines, tore down the altars connected with them, and scattered the debris and ashes over the graves of those who had worshiped at them. He burned the bones of the priests on the same altars they had used when alive. He scrubbed the place clean, Judah and Jerusalem, clean inside and out. The cleanup campaign ranged outward to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and the surrounding neighborhoods—as far north as Naphtali. Throughout Israel he demolished the altars and Asherah groves, pulverized the god and goddess figures, chopped up the neighborhood shrines into firewood. With Israel once more intact, he returned to Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>8–13 One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, with the cleanup of country and Temple complete, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the mayor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the historian to renovate The Temple of God. First they turned over to Hilkiah the high priest all the money collected by the Levitical security guards from Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of Israel, and from Judah and Ben-jamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. It was then put into the hands of the foremen managing the work on The Temple of God who then passed it on to the workers repairing God’s Temple—the carpenters, construction workers, and masons—so they could buy the lumber and dressed stone for rebuilding the foundations the kings of Judah had allowed to fall to pieces. The workmen were honest and diligent. Their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, the Merarite Levites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites—these managed the project. The Levites—they were all skilled musicians—were in charge of the common laborers and supervised the workers as they went from job to job. The Levites also served as accountants, managers, and security guards.</div><div><br /></div><div>14–17 While the money that had been given for The Temple of God was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of God’s Revelation, instructing us in God’s way—found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan, who then gave it to the king. And along with the book, he gave this report: “The job is complete—everything you ordered done is done. They took all the money that was collected in The Temple of God and handed it over to the managers and workers.”</div><div><br /></div><div>18 And then Shaphan told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it out to the king.</div><div><br /></div><div>19–21 When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of God, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”</div><div><br /></div><div>22–25 Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’</div><div><br /></div><div>26–28 “And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>The men took her message back to the king.</div><div><br /></div><div>29–31 The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.</div><div><br /></div><div>32 Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Ben-jamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.</div><div><br /></div><div>33 Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Friday, March 08, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Exodus 4:1–5</div><div><br /></div><div> Moses objected, “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>2 So God said, “What’s that in your hand?”</div><div><br /></div><div>“A staff.”</div><div><br /></div><div>3 “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it. It became a snake; Moses jumped back—fast!</div><div><br /></div><div>4–5 God said to Moses, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.” He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. “That’s so they will trust that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>In Exodus 3–4, Moses’ humanity is on full display. This great prophet of God is also a human being we can relate to. In fear, he refuses to accept God’s commission to lead His people out of slavery. This occurs even as God performs miracles in Moses’ presence—the bush unconsumed by fire (3:1-3) and his staff turning into a snake (4:3). When Moses’ staff becomes a serpent, he reacts as most of us would: “he ran from it” (v. 3). He did, however, show courage and faith when he grabbed the snake by the tail (v. 4). The safest way to hold a venomous snake (don’t do it!) is behind the head, preventing it from striking. The power wasn’t in Moses’ staff, nor was it in himself. The power was in the God of Israel, who was infinitely greater than the gods of Egypt, including the snake. By: Tim Gustafson</div><div><br /></div><div>Using What God Provides</div><div>Then the Lord said to [Moses], “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:2</div><div><br /></div><div>The Brisbane City Hall in Australia was a dazzling 1920s project. White stairs boasted marble from the same quarry Michelangelo used for his David sculpture. The tower reflected Venice’s St. Mark’s Basilica, and the copper dome was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The builders intended for a massive Angel of Peace to adorn the pinnacle, but there was a problem: no money left. Plumber Fred Johnson came to the rescue. He used a toilet cistern, an old lamp post, and bits of scrap metal to craft the iconic orb that’s crowned the tower for nearly one hundred years.</div><div><br /></div><div>Much like Fred Johnson and his use of what he had, we can join God’s work with whatever we have—large or small. When He asked Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, Moses balked: “What if they do not . . . listen to me?” (Exodus 4:1) God answered with a simple question: “What is that in your hand?” (v. 2). Moses held a staff, a simple stick. God told him to throw the staff on the ground, “and it became a snake” (v. 3). Then He instructed Moses to pick up the snake, and it turned back into a staff. All Moses needed to do, God explained, was carry the staff and trust Him to do the rest. Remarkably, He would use that stick in Moses’ hand to rescue Israel from the Egyptians (7:10–12; 17:5–7).</div><div><br /></div><div>What we have might not seem like much to us, but with God, whatever we have will be enough. He takes our ordinary resources and uses them for His work. By: Winn Collier</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What small thing can you use for God? Why is it vital that you trust Him with it?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear God, I surrender what I have to You.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Friday, March 08, 2024</div><div>The Surrendered Life</div><div><br /></div><div>I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20</div><div><br /></div><div>To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?</div><div><br /></div><div>We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.</div><div><a href="http://www.dhp.org/Products/Studies-in-the-Sermon-on-the-Mount%e2%80%94Gods-Character-and-the-Believers-Conduct__0098.aspx?affid=RBCHAMB" target="_blank">Studies in the Sermon on the Mount</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Friday, March 08, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Cleverly-Disguised Poison - #9695</div><div><br /></div><div>The movie opened in theaters on Valentine's Weekend. It was called Fifty Shades of Grey. A hundred million copies of the book had been sold. It was known for its portrayal of a young virgin seduction into sado-masochistic sex in a charming man's "room of pain." I know, gross. A friend told me that it was the talk of all the women in her office; 40- and 50-year-old women "giggling like schoolgirls." Dying to see it. To see a woman submitting to sexual violence in the name of "exploring her dark desires."</div><div><br /></div><div>The top ten advance ticket sales were from Bible Belt states mostly. A lot of anecdotal evidence and Facebook postings suggested a great "buzz" about that movie from people with Christian backgrounds.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cleverly-Disguised Poison."</div><div><br /></div><div>Christian. That's the ones of whom the Bible says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). To whom God says in our word for today from the Word of God (Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 3), "Among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity...you are light in the Lord...have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness."</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not that God is against sexual passion. Far from it. He invented it! To unite, to ignite the lifetime love of a husband and wife. "Rejoice in the wife of your youth," He says. "Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19 NLT).</div><div><br /></div><div>But sex the Inventor's way always means honoring a woman, respecting a woman, uplifting a woman; never hurting her, using her, violating her. Ephesians 5:28 (NLT) says, "Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies." "The two will become one flesh," Jesus said. A holy, tender, loving merging of two lives, expressed with the passionate merging of their bodies together.</div><div><br /></div><div>But "Christian" interest in a morally bankrupt, "must-see" movie exposes much larger issues; more troubling issues, like the compartmentalizing of our faith. "Hey, I believe in Jesus. But this is my business, this is my love life, and this is my entertainment."</div><div><br /></div><div>Nope. "You must be holy in everything you do" (1 Peter 1:15 NLT). Everything. If I'm deciding where Jesus is in charge and where He isn't, then He's not Lord. I am. I have dethroned the Son of God and made me my de facto God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then there's our naiveté about entertainment. "It's only a movie. It's only a song. It's only a TV show. It's only a website" See, entertainment is our hellish enemy's "stealth bomber" that slips death into our soul under the radar.</div><div><br /></div><div>James 1:15 - what a hammer this verse is! "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." We'd run from a frontal temptation to do this thing we think we'll never do. So the enemy of our soul just plants a thought, a desire, an indelible image. First, sin fascinates you. Then, it assassinates you.</div><div><br /></div><div>The terrorist from hell says, "Watch this. It won't hurt." The Savior who loves you says, "Guard your heart...it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). A little poison in the reservoir becomes death in the water.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are a thousand shades of dark, inviting us to what looks like a party but ends up in a prison; a prison that Jesus Christ, Prince of Heaven, came to save us from. To show us we are more than a body to be used. We are a soul to be cherished.</div><div><br /></div><div>This very day, if you've never experienced this most genuine, lasting, satisfying love of all, for yourself - the love of Christ demonstrated on a cross, dying for your sin. Let your search for love end today by giving yourself to Him. You can find out how that relationship begins at our website ANewStory.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>You're too precious to degrade, too precious to defile; you, Jesus thought, were worth dying for.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-63507756866405991392024-03-07T06:11:00.002-05:002024-03-07T06:11:08.258-05:002 Chronicles 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: EVERYTHING IS SECURE - March 7, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>My father had a bedtime routine that makes me smile to think about it. About ten o’clock each night, he would meander into the kitchen, crumble a piece of corn bread into a glass of buttermilk, and drink it. He then made the rounds to the front and back doors, checking the locks. Then he would step into the bedroom I shared with my brother and say, “Everything is secure, boys. You can go to sleep now.”</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe God loves his children. He monitors your life. He doesn’t need to check the doors; he is the door. Nothing will come your way apart from his permission. Listen carefully and you will hear him say, “Everything is secure. You can rest now.” By his power you will “be anxious for nothing…” and discover the “peace…which passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV).</div><div><br /></div><div>2 Chronicles 33</div><div><br /></div><div>King Manasseh</div><div><br /></div><div>1–6 33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and the sex goddess Asherah and worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of God, the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by God’s decree to God’s Name (“in Jerusalem I place my Name”). He burned his own sons in a sacrificial rite in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil—in God’s view a career in evil. And God was angry.</div><div><br /></div><div>7–8 As a last straw he placed a carved image of the sex goddess Asherah that he had commissioned in The Temple of God, a flagrant and provocative violation of God’s well-known command to both David and Solomon, “In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name—exclusively and forever.” He had promised, “Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I’ve given to their ancestors. But on this condition, that they keep everything I’ve commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them.”</div><div><br /></div><div>9–10 But Manasseh led Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem off the beaten path into practices of evil exceeding even the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed. When God spoke to Manasseh and his people about this, they ignored him.</div><div><br /></div><div>11–13 Then God directed the leaders of the troops of the king of Assyria to come after Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose, shackles on his feet, and took him off to Babylon. Now that he was in trouble, he went to his knees in prayer asking for help—total repentance before the God of his ancestors. As he prayed, God was touched; God listened and brought him back to Jerusalem as king. That convinced Manasseh that God was in control.</div><div><br /></div><div>14–17 After that Manasseh rebuilt the outside defensive wall of the City of David to the west of the Gihon spring in the valley. It went from the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also increased its height. He tightened up the defense system by posting army captains in all the fortress cities of Judah. He also did a good spring cleaning on The Temple, carting out the pagan idols and the goddess statue. He took all the altars he had set up on The Temple hill and throughout Jerusalem and dumped them outside the city. He put the Altar of God back in working order and restored worship, sacrificing Peace-Offerings and Thank-Offerings. He issued orders to the people: “You shall serve and worship God, the God of Israel.” But the people didn’t take him seriously—they used the name “God” but kept on going to the old pagan neighborhood shrines and doing the same old things.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 The rest of the history of Manasseh—his prayer to his God, and the sermons the prophets personally delivered by authority of God, the God of Israel—this is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer and how God was touched by his prayer, a list of all his sins and the things he did wrong, the actual places where he built the pagan shrines, the installation of the sex-goddess Asherah sites, and the idolatrous images that he worshiped previous to his conversion—this is all described in the records of the prophets.</div><div><br /></div><div>20 When Manasseh died, they buried him in the palace garden. His son Amon was the next king.</div><div><br /></div><div>King Amon</div><div><br /></div><div>21–23 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He was king for two years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he lived an evil life, just like his father Manasseh, but he never did repent to God as Manasseh repented. He just kept at it, going from one thing to another.</div><div><br /></div><div>24–25 In the end Amon’s servants revolted and assassinated him—killed the king right in his own palace. The citizens in their turn then killed the king’s assassins. The citizens then crowned Josiah, Amon’s son, as king.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Thursday, March 07, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Proverbs 18:10–12</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s name is a place of protection—</div><div><br /></div><div>good people can run there and be safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>11 The rich think their wealth protects them;</div><div><br /></div><div>they imagine themselves safe behind it.</div><div><br /></div><div>12 Pride first, then the crash,</div><div><br /></div><div>but humility is precursor to honor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>The Hebrew word saghav is used twenty times in the Old Testament, and except for one occurrence in Deuteronomy 2:36, it’s only found in poetry passages. It occurs three times in the book of Proverbs (18:10, 11; 29:25). The word is rendered “safe” in Proverbs 18:10 and “too high to scale” in verse 11. It means “high,” “lofty,” “inaccessibly high”; something or someone who is safe, secure, out of reach.</div><div><br /></div><div>Furthermore, the word fortified is used in Proverbs 18:10 and 11. “Might” or “strength” is what’s in view—physical, material, social, political. The contrast in these verses is between those who find their refuge in God and those who find security in possessions. In Psalm 20:7, David declares where our allegiance should be: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://odbu.org/topic/ot021-01-lecture/?utm_source=EBook&utm_medium=ODB+Ebook&utm_campaign=2024+03+07+ODB+Ebook+Insight+%E2%80%94+Reading+Proverbs&utm_id=2024+03+07+ODB+Ebook+Insight+%E2%80%94+Reading+Proverbs" target="_blank">Discover the life-altering wisdom of Proverbs.</a> By: Arthur Jackson</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>God Our Refuge</div><div>The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10</div><div><br /></div><div>The remarkable 2019 movie Little Women sent me back to my worn copy of the novel, especially the comforting words of Marmee, the wise and gentle mother. I’m drawn to the novel’s depiction of her steadfast faith, which underlies many of her words of encouragement to her daughters. One that stood out to me was this: “Troubles and temptations . . . may be many, but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your heavenly Father.” </div><div><br /></div><div>Marmee’s words echo the truth found in Proverbs that “the name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (18:10). Towers were built in ancient cities to be places of safety during danger, perhaps because of an enemy attack. In the same way, it’s through running to God that believers in Jesus can experience peace in the care of the One who’s “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1).</div><div><br /></div><div>Proverbs 18:10 tells us protection comes from God’s “name”—which refers to all of who He is. Scripture describes God as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). God’s protection comes from His mighty strength, as well as His tenderness and love, which causes Him to long to provide refuge to the hurting. For all who are struggling, our heavenly Father offers a place of refuge in His strength and tenderness.</div><div><br /></div><div>By: Lisa M. Samra</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>How have you experienced God’s strength in times of trouble? Where have you seen His comforting care?</div><div><br /></div><div>Heavenly Father, please help me to run to You in both good times and times of struggle.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Thursday, March 07, 2024</div><div>The Source of Abundant Joy</div><div><br /></div><div>In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. —Romans 8:37</div><div><br /></div><div>Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against— tribulation, suffering, and persecution— are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).</div><div><br /></div><div>The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.</div><div><a href="http://www.dhp.org/Products/Studies-in-the-Sermon-on-the-Mount%e2%80%94Gods-Character-and-the-Believers-Conduct__0098.aspx?affid=RBCHAMB" target="_blank">Studies in the Sermon on the Mount</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Thursday, March 07, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Getting it By Letting Go of it - #9694</div><div><br /></div><div>Some years I traveled to Alaska with my family to do some speaking up there. What an awesome place it is! You know, it says on the license plates The Last Frontier, and it really is. Now, we had one magnificent obsession while we were there. We wanted to see moose! We didn't see too many of those when we lived in New Jersey. So we wanted to see those moose.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, people there are literally running into moose with their cars all the time; kind of like deer in the lower 48. There are just so many moose on the roads. And we thought, "Hey, we're going to see one for sure." Well, my family had not yet seen one, and so while I was out speaking at a high school, they went into the Moose Range and said, "Alrighty, we're going to see them on the Moose Range." When I got back I said, "How did the great moose hunt go?" My son said, "Oh, did we have fun today, Dad. We spent two hours looking at trees." I said, "No moose?" He said, "No moose."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, we had looked and looked at all the places that they were supposed to be. The next morning we were coming out of our driveway and suddenly my son yelled, "Moose!" Yeah, well, after I totaled the car (no, not really), I looked around and there they were. We weren't even looking for them. Here are two moose just kind of nibbling the bark off a tree. And all of a sudden I remembered the advice we had received on our first day in Alaska. Someone told us, "As long as you're looking for a moose, you won't see one. But as soon as you stop looking, you'll find one." You know, that's true not only for moose, but maybe for some other quarry you might really want to find.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Getting it By Letting Go of it."</div><div><br /></div><div>Once we had spotted our first two moose up there in Alaska, my daughter made an interesting point. She said, "You know, Dad, looking for these moose is a lot like trying to find the right guy to date isn't it?" I thought, "What? You want one with antlers?" No, I said, "What does she mean by that?" She said, "Well, when you stop looking, you finally find him." I thought, "Well, now that's an interesting principle." Does that check out biblically? Guess what? It does.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 37:4-5 - "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this." Now, the part we like in these verses is that little sentence that says, "He will give you the desires of your heart." Well now, what do you really desire right now? What are you really tracking so to speak like we were tracking moose? Maybe right now your great desire is for someone to love you and for you to love...that partner you really want. Or maybe it's a home or a car, an office you desire to hold, a promotion you want, maybe some financial resources you really need or really want.</div><div><br /></div><div>You say, "Well, my desire is to succeed in this enterprise that I'm involved in right now, or to have a position in ministry that I don't have. Notice what verbs aren't here. How do you get the desires of your heart? Well, the verbs that aren't here...it doesn't say, "Look for it." It doesn't say, "Pursue it." It doesn't say, "Insist on it or find a way to get it."</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice what the verbs are. "Delight yourself in the Lord..." "Commit your way to the Lord." "Trust in Him." In other words, you let go of it and you get it when you stop looking for it, when you stop chasing it, when you stop insisting on it. You turn your deepest desire over to your Lord, of whom it is said in the Bible, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." That's a promise for a follower of Christ. And then it starts to happen. Let Him send it to you in His way, in His time.</div><div><br /></div><div>See, if He gave it to you when you wanted it this badly you might make an idol out of it. So, learn a lesson from our surprising Alaskan moose. When you stop looking and stop insisting on the great desire of your life, you're most likely to find it... maybe right on your doorstep.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-36164578674651160662024-03-06T06:36:00.004-05:002024-03-06T06:36:26.153-05:00Acts 23:1-15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: TOMORROW’S STRENGTH - March 6, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Doesn’t each day have its share of challenges? The key to tranquility is to face today’s problems and no more. To treat each day like a self-contained unit. Meet today’s problems with God’s strength. But don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet.</div><div><br /></div><div>When tomorrow’s problems surface, write them down and mentally drive them into a parking garage and leave them there. Don’t over-stress your coping skills. Give yourself permission to say, “I’ll solve this one tomorrow. Each day is a fresh start so I will start fresh in the morning.” Shut the gate on yesterday; don’t touch the gate on tomorrow. You only have today – live in it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Acts 23:1-15</div><div><br /></div><div>A Sound Like a Strong Wind</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 2 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?</div><div><br /></div><div>Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;</div><div><br /></div><div>Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;</div><div><br /></div><div>Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;</div><div><br /></div><div>Even Cretans and Arabs!</div><div><br /></div><div>“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”</div><div><br /></div><div>12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”</div><div><br /></div><div>13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Peter Speaks Up</div><div><br /></div><div>14–21 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Wednesday, March 06, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Titus 3:4–8</div><div><br /></div><div>But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.</div><div><br /></div><div>8–11 I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>Titus, Paul’s gentile convert and protégé (Galatians 2:1), traveled with him on his missionary journeys (Titus 1:4). Paul had left him in Crete to strengthen the church (v. 5)—to teach believers how to live lives that honored Jesus, to set standards for leadership (ch. 1), and to encourage Christ-honoring and gracious behaviors within the church family and the unbelieving community (chs. 2–3). Paul reminds us that “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (3:5). We’re “justified by his grace” (v. 7). We’re not saved by our good works, but we’re saved so we can do good works. Believers in Jesus must “be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (v. 8). We’re reminded that as “a people that are [God’s] very own,” we must be “eager to do what is good” (2:14). By: K. T. Sim</div><div><br /></div><div>Doing Good for God</div><div>Remind the people . . . to be ready to do whatever is good. Titus 3:1</div><div><br /></div><div>Though he didn’t normally carry money with him, Patrick sensed God was leading him to tuck a five-dollar bill in his pocket before leaving home. During the lunch hour at the school where he worked, he understood how God had prepared him to meet an urgent need. In the midst of the lunchroom buzz, he heard these words: “Scotty [a child in need] needs $5 to put on his account so he can eat lunch for the rest of the week.” Imagine the emotions Patrick experienced as he gave his money to help Scotty!</div><div><br /></div><div>In Titus, Paul reminded believers in Jesus that they weren’t saved “because of righteous things [they] had done” (3:5), but they should “be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good” (v. 8; see v. 14). Life can be full, extremely busy, and hectic. Attending to our own well-being can be overwhelming. Yet, as believers in Jesus, we’re to be “good-works ready.” Rather than being overwhelmed by what we don’t have and can’t do, let’s think about what we do have and can do as God helps us. In doing so, we get to help others at the point of their needs, and God is honored. “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). By: Arthur Jackson</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What can hinder good-works readiness in your life? How can you reorder your life to be available for helping people who are in need?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve ignored opportunities to do good. Help me to be more available to help others.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Wednesday, March 06, 2024</div><div>Taking the Next Step</div><div><br /></div><div>…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses. —2 Corinthians 6:4</div><div><br /></div><div>When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ inJohn 13:1-17.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Wednesday, March 06, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Spiritual Dynamite In Your Hands - #9693</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought I might have to live to 100 to see the widening of this major highway in our area ever get finished. Man, it took forever it seemed like! But the trip north, oh now, it's a breeze. I love it.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I know why it took so long - mountains. Yeah, see, they were trying to put a road where there were hills and mountains, and those don't just move real easily. After all, they've been there quite a while. But they did move, because even a mountain was no match for explosives like dynamite. It's amazing what dynamite can do. It just blows away whatever is in its way.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Dynamite In Your Hands."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I love the fact that the Bible calls the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, "the power of God." In fact, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 1:16, where Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's go back to that power word. The original Greek word that God uses is "dunamis." And you can probably figure out what we get in our English from that - dynamite. The message of Jesus' death for us on the cross and His resurrection from the dead is God's dynamite!</div><div><br /></div><div>I spent July praying for and encouraging a team of Native American young people, and I got to watch them share that explosive Message on several Indian reservations. They were right out in the open; they're on basketball courts in the middle of everything. They were facing obstacles that have hobbled missionaries for centuries; the belief that "Jesus is only the white man's god," "We have our own Native religion; we don't need Jesus." They were facing the belief that "All religions are basically the same." They were facing objections that "Bad things were done to us in the name of Christianity."</div><div><br /></div><div>But God used these brown-skinned ambassadors as He has summer after summer as they told about our brown-skinned Savior. And He used them to detonate God's dynamite. I saw it happen. I've seen it happen over and over again. I was an eyewitness to hundreds of Native young people doing what so few of them have ever done. They were putting their lives in the hands of Jesus; many of them publicly. I remember telling some of our team members who were weeping over some young people who didn't come to Christ. I said, "Yeah, but you put the stick of dynamite in their heart. Remember, dynamite blows away whatever is in its way."</div><div><br /></div><div>You know, with the victories, there were tears that summer. They saw a lot of kids turn their back on Jesus, in spite of a young warrior who poured out their heart to reach them. It's a heartache that's not just unique to reservation rescue attempts. A lot of us are carrying a heavy burden for someone who just doesn't seem to care about the Savior who cares so very much for them. And we are wondering, "Will they ever come to Jesus?"</div><div><br /></div><div>On those nights when I saw the tears of brokenhearted rescuers who had to leave someone lost, I gave them an awesome promise from God and I give it to you today. Psalm 126:5-6 - "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest."</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember, when you give someone the Good News about Jesus, you're planting that stick of holy dynamite in their hearts. It's dynamite strong enough to demolish the walls, the defenses they have built around their lost heart. And God knows exactly what time is the right time to push "detonate."</div><div><br /></div><div>No, it's way too soon to give up on that person you care about. You told them about your Jesus, and God has lit the fuse.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-46988125647392154192024-03-05T07:05:00.002-05:002024-03-05T07:05:10.252-05:00Nahum 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: IN ALL DAYS - March 5, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>We point to our sick child, crutches, or famine and say, “This makes no sense!” Yet out of all God’s work, how much do we truly understand? Only a sliver. What if God’s answer to the question of suffering requires more megabytes than our puny minds have been given?</div><div><br /></div><div>This was Paul’s opinion. “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV). What is coming will make sense of what is happening now. Let God finish his work. The forecast is simple. Good days, bad days. But God is in all days. He is the Lord of the famine and the Lord of the feast, and he uses both to accomplish his will.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nahum 3</div><div><br /></div><div>Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth</div><div><br /></div><div>1–4 3 Doom to Murder City—</div><div><br /></div><div>full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!</div><div><br /></div><div>Horns blaring, wheels clattering,</div><div><br /></div><div>horses rearing, chariots lurching,</div><div><br /></div><div>Horsemen galloping,</div><div><br /></div><div>brandishing swords and spears,</div><div><br /></div><div>Dead bodies rotting in the street,</div><div><br /></div><div>corpses stacked like cordwood,</div><div><br /></div><div>Bodies in every gutter and alley,</div><div><br /></div><div>clogging every intersection!</div><div><br /></div><div>And whores! Whores without end!</div><div><br /></div><div>Whore City,</div><div><br /></div><div>Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,</div><div><br /></div><div>luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.</div><div><br /></div><div>5–7 “I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—</div><div><br /></div><div>I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes</div><div><br /></div><div>and expose you on the world stage.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth</div><div><br /></div><div>of who you really are and have been all along.</div><div><br /></div><div>I’ll pelt you with dog dung</div><div><br /></div><div>and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone who sees you will gag and say,</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:</div><div><br /></div><div>What on earth did we ever see in her?</div><div><br /></div><div>Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>Past the Point of No Return</div><div><br /></div><div>8–13 Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,</div><div><br /></div><div>proudly invincible on the River Nile,</div><div><br /></div><div>Protected by the great River,</div><div><br /></div><div>walled in by the River, secure?</div><div><br /></div><div>Ethiopia stood guard to the south,</div><div><br /></div><div>Egypt to the north.</div><div><br /></div><div>Put and Libya, strong friends,</div><div><br /></div><div>were ready to step in and help.</div><div><br /></div><div>But you know what happened to her:</div><div><br /></div><div>The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,</div><div><br /></div><div>Her babies smashed to death</div><div><br /></div><div>in public view on the streets,</div><div><br /></div><div>Her prize leaders auctioned off,</div><div><br /></div><div>her celebrities put in chain gangs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,</div><div><br /></div><div>Wondering what hit you,</div><div><br /></div><div>looking for a place to sleep it off.</div><div><br /></div><div>All your forts are like peach trees,</div><div><br /></div><div>the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.</div><div><br /></div><div>One shake of the tree and they fall</div><div><br /></div><div>straight into hungry mouths.</div><div><br /></div><div>Face it: Your warriors are wimps.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re sitting ducks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your borders are gaping doors, inviting</div><div><br /></div><div>your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?</div><div><br /></div><div>14–15 Store up water for the siege.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shore up your defenses.</div><div><br /></div><div>Get down to basics: Work the clay</div><div><br /></div><div>and make bricks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sorry. Too late.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enemy fire will burn you up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Swords will cut you to pieces.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.</div><div><br /></div><div>15–17 Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,</div><div><br /></div><div>for you yourselves are a locust plague.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—</div><div><br /></div><div>more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!</div><div><br /></div><div>A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood</div><div><br /></div><div>and then flying off.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your bureaucrats are locusts,</div><div><br /></div><div>your brokers and bankers are locusts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Early on, they’re all at your service,</div><div><br /></div><div>full of smiles and promises,</div><div><br /></div><div>But later when you return with questions or complaints,</div><div><br /></div><div>you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.</div><div><br /></div><div>18–19 King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,</div><div><br /></div><div>in charge of caring for your people,</div><div><br /></div><div>Are busy doing everything else but.</div><div><br /></div><div>They’re not doing their job,</div><div><br /></div><div>And your people are scattered and lost.</div><div><br /></div><div>There’s no one to look after them.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re past the point of no return.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your wound is fatal.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the story of your fate gets out,</div><div><br /></div><div>the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Your cruel evil has seeped</div><div><br /></div><div>into every nook and cranny of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone has felt it and suffered.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Tuesday, March 05, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Judges 7:7-8, 16–22</div><div><br /></div><div> God said to Gideon: “I’ll use the three hundred men who lapped at the stream to save you and give Midian into your hands. All the rest may go home.”</div><div><br /></div><div>8 After Gideon took all their provisions and trumpets, he sent all the Israelites home. He took up his position with the three hundred. The camp of Midian stretched out below him in the valley.</div><div><br /></div><div>16–18 He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar, with a torch in the jar. He said, “Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do. When I and those with me blow the trumpets, you also, all around the camp, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘For God and for Gideon!’ ”</div><div><br /></div><div>19–22 Gideon and his hundred men got to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries had been posted. They blew the trumpets, at the same time smashing the jars they carried. All three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, ready to blow, and shouted, “A sword for God and for Gideon!” They were stationed all around the camp, each man at his post. The whole Midianite camp jumped to its feet. They yelled and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, God aimed each Midianite’s sword against his companion, all over the camp. They ran for their lives—to Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>The historical setting for the book of Judges lies in the period between the books of Joshua and Samuel. During the time of the judges, God’s great power was manifested through unlikely people who found themselves in difficult situations because of their covenant unfaithfulness. Several judges are listed among the faith exemplars in Hebrews 11: “What more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah . . . who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised” (vv. 32-33). By: Arthur Jackson</div><div><br /></div><div>God’s Greater Power</div><div>The Lord said, . . . I have given you victory over them! Judges 7:9 nlt</div><div><br /></div><div>In March 1945, the “Ghost Army” helped US forces achieve the Rhine River crossing—giving the allies a vital base to operate from on World War II’s Western Front. The soldiers were most definitely human, not apparitions, all part of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. On this occasion, the 1,100-man team imitated 30,000 men by using inflatable decoy tanks, blasting troop and vehicle sound effects over speakers, and more. The relatively small number of Ghost Army members led the enemy to fear what appeared to be a far greater force.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Midianites and their allies also trembled before a tiny army that loomed large in the night (Judges 7:8–22). Gideon, a judge and military leader of Israel, was used by God to make his puny army a source of terror for the enemy. They also used sound effects (blown trumpets, smashed clay jars, human voices) and visible objects (blazing torches) to make the vast enemy—as “thick as locusts” (v. 12)—believe they were facing a colossal foe. Israel defeated their enemy that night with an army whittled down from 32,000 men to just 300 by God’s command (vv. 2–8). Why? Because that made it clear who truly won the battle. As God told Gideon, “I have given you victory over them!” (v. 9 nlt).</div><div><br /></div><div>When we feel weak and inferior, let’s seek God and rest in His strength alone. For His “power is made perfect in [our] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). By: Tom Felten</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What big foes or challenges are you facing? How can you rest in God’s power as you confront them?</div><div><br /></div><div>Dear Jesus, let me find Your strength in my weakness.</div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Tuesday, March 05, 2024</div><div>Is He Really My Lord?</div><div><br /></div><div>…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24</div><div><br /></div><div>Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R</div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50</div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Tuesday, March 05, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>The San Diego Zoo? Oh, it's one of the largest in the world, and our family had a chance to visit there. And we were told that the best way to see all of these terrific animal exhibits was to take the tour bus. Well, they were right, but when we got to the tour bus there were two lines.</div><div><br /></div><div>One was very long, and one was very short. Of course the problem was that the short one was going to the lower level of the bus so you could get on quickly. If you wanted to wait a little longer you had to wait in that long line. Those people got to the top of the bus.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, we debated for a minute. We said, "You know, we don't have a lot of time, but it seems like it'd be nicer if we were able to be on the top deck of that double-decker." So we took the long line. We reconsidered a couple of times because, man, it looked like a couple of buses were leaving with that other group in the shorter line, and we were still waiting for the top deck.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm so glad we did, because as we went around that great zoo we found out that if you really wanted to see the animals, you needed to be on the top deck, and you couldn't see nearly as much if you got in the short line and ended up on the lower deck. You know what we found out? The longer line led to the better view. Well you know what? That's sort of how life is; a lot of times the longer line leads to the better view.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting 'til It's Time."</div><div><br /></div><div>Well our word for today from the Word of God is found in Acts 7:23. "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Well... And if you remember the rest of the story, Moses then has to be a fugitive; he flees to the wilderness - he's in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, he actually had the right idea, God's people needed deliverance. Oh, yeah, and he was to be the leader, but he got the jump on God. He did it the wrong way; he couldn't wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to this: Now 40 years later God speaks to him in the burning bush and He says, "I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come..." Basically He says, "Now is the time I'm going to move. Now is the right time." And He says, "I will send you back to Egypt." See, it made all the difference when God sent him as opposed to Moses sending himself. God's timing made all the difference. Moses had the right idea, but he couldn't wait.</div><div><br /></div><div>See waiting, standing in the longer line, sometimes gives you a better perspective; a real solution instead of a half solution. A lot of us have got some buried Egyptians in the past of some remnants of some of the ways we tried to do it, and we couldn't wait for God to do it His way.</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe God's asking you to wait in the longer line right now. And you know what? It's tempting to speed up the process, isn't it? Maybe you want to be married now, but He's asking you to wait. Maybe He's asking you to wait on that financial solution, or that change in your job, or that family member to change, a door you want to open, a prayer that you fervently want answered. But see, God still wants to prepare you a little more. You're not ready yet for the answer. Or maybe the answer isn't ready for you yet. Maybe He wants to prepare some of the other people involved in the answer and they're not ready yet. So don't do the easy thing; don't do the impatient thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Probably there's nothing that's cost more people the perfect will of God than impatience. So, don't jump to the high-speed line. Remember that the longer line may very well lead to the better view.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53258620550456791.post-45403013427328087072024-03-04T07:28:00.002-05:002024-03-04T07:28:08.441-05:00Nahum 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals<div style="text-align: left;">Max Lucado Daily: BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING - March 4, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. It’s enough to make us wonder if the apostle Paul was out of touch with reality when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing.”</div><div><br /></div><div>“Be anxious for less” would have been a sufficient challenge. Or “Be anxious only on Thursdays.” But Paul doesn’t seem to offer any leeway here. Be anxious for nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Is this what he meant? Well, not exactly. The Lucado Revised Translation reads, “Don’t let anything in life leave you perpetually breathless and in angst.” The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety? That’s optional.</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel’s Been to Hell and Back</div><div><br /></div><div>1 2 The juggernaut’s coming!</div><div><br /></div><div>Post guards, lay in supplies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Get yourselves together,</div><div><br /></div><div>get ready for the big battle.</div><div><br /></div><div>2 God has restored the Pride of Jacob,</div><div><br /></div><div>the Pride of Israel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Israel’s lived through hard times.</div><div><br /></div><div>He’s been to hell and back.</div><div><br /></div><div>3–12 Weapons flash in the sun,</div><div><br /></div><div>the soldiers splendid in battle dress,</div><div><br /></div><div>Chariots burnished and glistening,</div><div><br /></div><div>ready to charge,</div><div><br /></div><div>A spiked forest of brandished spears,</div><div><br /></div><div>lethal on the horizon.</div><div><br /></div><div>The chariots pour into the streets.</div><div><br /></div><div>They fill the public squares,</div><div><br /></div><div>Flaming like torches in the sun,</div><div><br /></div><div>like lightning darting and flashing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Assyrian king rallies his men,</div><div><br /></div><div>but they stagger and stumble.</div><div><br /></div><div>They run to the ramparts</div><div><br /></div><div>to stem the tide, but it’s too late.</div><div><br /></div><div>Soldiers pour through the gates.</div><div><br /></div><div>The palace is demolished.</div><div><br /></div><div>Soon it’s all over:</div><div><br /></div><div>Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed,</div><div><br /></div><div>Maids and slaves moaning like doves,</div><div><br /></div><div>beating their breasts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nineveh is a tub</div><div><br /></div><div>from which they’ve pulled the plug.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cries go up, “Do something! Do something!”</div><div><br /></div><div>but it’s too late. Nineveh’s soon empty—nothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other cries come: “Plunder the silver!</div><div><br /></div><div>Plunder the gold!</div><div><br /></div><div>A bonanza of plunder!</div><div><br /></div><div>Take everything you want!”</div><div><br /></div><div>Doom! Damnation! Desolation!</div><div><br /></div><div>Hearts sink,</div><div><br /></div><div>knees fold,</div><div><br /></div><div>stomachs retch,</div><div><br /></div><div>faces blanch.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what happened to the famous</div><div><br /></div><div>and fierce Assyrian lion</div><div><br /></div><div>And all those cute Assyrian cubs?</div><div><br /></div><div>To the lion and lioness</div><div><br /></div><div>Cozy with their cubs,</div><div><br /></div><div>fierce and fearless?</div><div><br /></div><div>To the lion who always returned from the hunt</div><div><br /></div><div>with fresh kills for lioness and cubs,</div><div><br /></div><div>The lion lair heaped with bloody meat,</div><div><br /></div><div>blood and bones for the royal lion feast?</div><div><br /></div><div>13 “Assyria, I’m your enemy,”</div><div><br /></div><div>says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.</div><div><br /></div><div>“I’ll torch your chariots. They’ll go up in smoke.</div><div><br /></div><div>‘Lion Country’ will be strewn with carcasses.</div><div><br /></div><div>The war business is over—you’re out of work:</div><div><br /></div><div>You’ll have no more wars to report,</div><div><br /></div><div>No more victories to announce.</div><div><br /></div><div>You’re out of war work forever.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Our Daily Bread reading and devotion<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div>Monday, March 04, 2024</div><div>Today's Scripture</div><div>Ephesians 3:14-20</div><div><br /></div><div>My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.</div><div><br /></div><div>20–21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Insight</div><div>The word dwell in Ephesians 3:17 is a translation of the word katoikeo. Literally, the word means “to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell fixedly in a place.” Twice in Colossians Paul used this word to emphasize the deity and supremacy of Jesus: “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (1:19); “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (2:9). Christ Himself, through His Spirit, makes His home in us (Romans 8:9, 11; Ephesians 3:17), and the implications of Him residing in each member of His body are significant. Believers in Jesus are to conduct their lives in a manner that acknowledges and respects the residency of a “houseguest” like no other. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you . . . ?” Paul says. “Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). By: Arthur Jackson</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus Dwells Within</div><div>Then Christ will make his home in your hearts. Ephesians 3:17 nlt</div><div><br /></div><div>As a blizzard bore down on my state in the western United States, my widowed mother agreed to stay with my family to “ride out” the storm. After the blizzard, however, she never returned to her house. She moved in, dwelling with us for the rest of her life. Her presence changed our household in many positive ways. She was available daily to provide wisdom, advice to family members, and share ancestral stories. She and my husband became the best of friends, sharing a similar sense of humor and love of sports. No longer a visitor, she was a permanent and vital resident—forever changing our hearts even after God called her home.</div><div><br /></div><div>The experience recalls John’s description of Jesus—that He “dwelt among us” (John 1:14 kjv). It’s a compelling description because in the original Greek the word dwelt means “to pitch a tent.” Another translation says, He “made his home among us” (nlt).</div><div><br /></div><div>By faith, we also receive Jesus as the One who dwells in our hearts. As Paul wrote, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong” (Ephesians 3:16–17 nlt).</div><div><br /></div><div>Not a casual visitor, Jesus is an empowering permanent resident of all who follow Him. May we open wide the doors of our hearts and welcome Him.</div><div><br /></div><div>By: Patricia Raybon</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflect & Pray</div><div>What does it mean for you to open your heart to Christ? How can you make Him more welcome?</div><div><br /></div><div>As You live in my heart, loving Jesus, make me more like You.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://odbu.org/topic/nt111-01-lecture/?utm_source=Ebook&utm_medium=ODB+Ebook&utm_campaign=2024+03+04+ODB+Ebook+Article+%E2%80%94+Life+of+Christ&utm_id=2024+03+04+ODB+Ebook+Article+%E2%80%94+Life+of+Christ" target="_blank">Learn more about the life of Jesus.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers</div><div>Monday, March 04, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Is This True of Me?</div><div><br /></div><div>None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself… —Acts 20:24</div><div><br /></div><div>It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.</div><div><br /></div><div>What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.</div><div><br /></div><div>WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.</div><div><a href="http://www.dhp.org/Products/Studies-in-the-Sermon-on-the-Mount%e2%80%94Gods-Character-and-the-Believers-Conduct__0098.aspx?affid=RBCHAMB" target="_blank">Studies in the Sermon on the Mount</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Bible in a Year: Numbers 31-33; Mark 9:1-29</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft</div><div>Monday, March 04, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div>Plane on the Edge and Life's Bottom Line - #9691</div><div><br /></div><div>I love the view of Manhattan when you fly into LaGuardia Airport. The view around the runways? Not so much. Water on three sides. The thought has crossed my mind, "A plane could end up in the water some day."</div><div><br /></div><div>On March 6, 2015, one almost did with 127 passengers on board. A jetliner that slid off the runway, crashing through a fence - its nose virtually in the water.</div><div><br /></div><div>A passenger said he knew the wheels weren't getting traction on that icy runway that day. Next thing - the jet was sliding uncontrollably to the left, off the runway and to the edge of the East River with some passengers crying, some praying, and some frantic. This young man named Jared was praying. He told the reporter, "Something like this makes you reflect on your relationship with God. God must not be done writing the story of my life."</div><div><br /></div><div>If God hasn't mattered much before, He really matters when you may have been seconds away from seeing Him. I've had a couple of pretty close calls in my life; some on an airplane, some in a car. And you really do - or you really should - start asking the bottom line questions we're usually too busy to consider.</div><div><br /></div><div>Somewhere along the way, we all get our wake-up call. So we'll stop and examine our life, our priorities, our relationship with God, and our eternal destination. Moments that bring us to the brink of eternity point us to life's big questions. What really matters and what really doesn't? Why am I here? Why did God spare me? If this had been the end, what then?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Plane on the Edge and Life's Bottom Line."</div><div><br /></div><div>The meaning of our life? The only One who can tell us is the One who gave us our life. And He has in His Book. We are, He says in the Bible, "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Problem: I've lived pretty much for me. So I'm missing my purpose until I know my Creator.</div><div><br /></div><div>What really matters? Well, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." What matters - and all that satisfies - is what will last forever. What about eternity? God says in our word for today from the Word of God in Hebrews 9:27, that man is "destined to die once and after that comes judgment." That can be disturbing because we're not ready. Because, as the Bible says, "your sins have cut you off from God" (Isaiah 59:2), and that's a terrible way to meet God.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank God for Jesus! On that bloody Good Friday, I'll read you these five life-changing words right out of the Bible, "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3). So we don't have to. He loved us. He didn't want to lose you. And the Bible gives us this best of good news in John 3:36, "anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life."</div><div><br /></div><div>What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It doesn't just mean to agree with His teachings, or like Him, or know a lot about Him. No, it's what happened the day I was drowning when I was ten years old and a man jumped in to save me. I grabbed him like he was my only hope, because he was. I'd have died without him.</div><div><br /></div><div>You know, that's what it means to believe in Jesus. You grab Him like He's your only hope. He is your only hope, because no one else died for your sins. If you don't take His death for you, you pay for your sins. No one else can give you eternal life because no one else has got it except the man who walked out of His grave.</div><div><br /></div><div>This day He is ready to make you ready for eternity by changing a death penalty for your sin to eternal life you could never earn and never deserved. I'd love to show you how to begin that relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website ANewStory.com. In a very short time there I think you'll understand how to begin that relationship with Jesus Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div>I gave myself to this Jesus. And because of Him, I - and millions like me - have this anchored peace, even in the face of death. I'm ready for eternity whenever or however it comes. And you can be too.</div>Davishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08288698696060272925noreply@blogger.com0