Micah 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem 3 Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the earth. 4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used."
Weeping and Mourning 8 Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl. 9 For her wound is incurable; it has come to Judah. It [a] has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath [b] ; weep not at all. [c] In Beth Ophrah [d] roll in the dust.
11 Pass on in nakedness and shame, you who live in Shaphir. [e] Those who live in Zaanan [f] will not come out. Beth Ezel is in mourning; its protection is taken from you.
12 Those who live in Maroth [g] writhe in pain, waiting for relief, because disaster has come from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish, [h] harness the team to the chariot. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Aczib [i] will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. [j] He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16 Shave your heads in mourning for the children in whom you delight; make yourselves as bald as the vulture, for they will go from you into exile.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotional
Philippians 1:8-11
8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
January 7, 2008
Beware Of Open Doors
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READ: Philippians 1:8-11
Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment, but a man of understanding walks uprightly. —Proverbs 15:21 About this cover Sometimes Christians follow an “open door” policy. When a door of opportunity opens, they assume that it’s God’s will to go through it.
Bestselling author Terri Blackstock knows this is untrue. She never openly rebelled against God, but she found herself far away from Him after walking through open doors of opportunity. “I had allowed myself to believe that God was blessing my career . . . because He had opened all the doors,” she wrote in Soul Restoration. Although she got what she wanted—a successful career writing romance novels for Harlequin and Silhouette—she lost what she needed: a close relationship with God.
When she finally admitted that her career was keeping her from God, she turned her back on success and renewed her commitment to the Lord. Since then, her writing career has been revitalized, and she has become an award-winning author of Christian fiction.
Just because the Lord doesn’t stop us from something doesn’t mean He wants us to continue. To discern which opportunities to pursue, we need to “approve the things that are excellent” and to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness . . . to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:10-11). —Julie Ackerman Link
FOR FURTHER STUDYFor help with understanding God’s will for your life, read the online study How Can I Know What God Wants Me To Do? at www.discoveryseries.org/q0704
The best way to know God’s will is to say “I will” to God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 7, 2008
Intimate With JesusLISTEN: READ:
Jesus said to him, ’Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?’ —John 14:9 About this cover These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus was encouraging Philip to draw closer. Yet the last person we get intimate with is Jesus. Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20). It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come: ". . . I have called you friends . . ." (John 15:15). True friendship is rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit. The whole experience of life is designed to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we really know Him?
Jesus said, "It is to your advantage that I go away . . ." (John 16:7). He left that relationship to lead them even closer. It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to walk more intimately with Him. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (see John 15:1-4).
Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding or compassion. We can continually pour out our hearts to Him without being perceived as overly emotional or pitiful. The Christian who is truly intimate with Jesus will never draw attention to himself but will only show the evidence of a life where Jesus is completely in control. This is the outcome of allowing Jesus to satisfy every area of life to its depth. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Hope For Banged-Up Lives - #5476 Monday, January 07, 2008
It was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and then a major motion picture - the story of one of the most famous race horses of all time, Seabiscuit. While many of us may not be excited about horse racing, the story, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, illustrates some things pretty inspiring. Seabiscuit was the son of a champion but definitely not like his father. He had been forced to run with better horses so they would gain confidence by beating him. When he raced, he did what he was trained to do - lose. Because of the poor treatment Seabiscuit received, he became an angry, almost uncontrollable horse. Until he was given a chance by a trainer that many considered to be too old and a young man most thought was too big to be a jockey - a man blind in one eye and bitter from his parents' abandonment.
But Seabiscuit thrived in the care of people who believed in him and became one of the greatest horses of all time, along with his jockey. The trainer sees in the horse something that others have missed. He says when Seabiscuit's eventual owner is deciding whether to buy this apparent loser, "You don't throw a life away just because it's been banged up a little." And when the trainer wants to fire his jockey, the owner reminds him, "You don't throw a life away just because it's been banged up a little."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope For Banged-Up Lives."
Maybe you're one of those "banged-up lives." You've been treated poorly, you've been made to feel that you never measure up, that you're a loser, people have undervalued you, passed you by, and maybe you've ended up pretty hard and angry inside. But there is someone who has never thrown away a banged up life, who sees beyond what's on the outside to the wounds on the inside and the potential He built into you when He made you. Jesus is your hope of a new beginning where the future doesn’t have to be just an extension of a broken past.
In Isaiah 61:1, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says of Jesus, "The Lord ... has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners ... to provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes - a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Jesus has done that for millions of banged up people for two thousand years. He can do it for you because He died on the cross for every sin ever done by you or against you. The Bible says of His death on the cross: "He carried our sorrows...He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities...and by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).
With someone who loves you so unconditionally, so completely, you don't have to ever again trash yourself, trash other people, or trash your future. You can tear up that name tag that identifies you as "victim" and replace it with the new identity Jesus gives you, "child of the King." If you'll surrender the steering wheel of your life and put the rest of your life in the hands of the man who died for you.
If you've never done that and you want to begin your own personal relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that right now with all your heart. And then I hope you'll go to our website where I’ve laid out in simple nonreligious terms exactly how you can be sure you have begun your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The website is yoursforlife.net. And I’d urge you to go there just as soon as you can. If you’d rather write and get this in print in the form of a little pamphlet I’ve written called Yours For Life you can call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
Jesus, who’s God's one and only Son, sacrificed Himself to become the ultimate banged-up life for you. However much you have been betrayed, you can trust Him. However much you have been hurt and rejected, you can count on His "never leave you" love. And your new beginning can start this very day.
To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit: yoursforlife.net or call 1-888-966-7325.
