Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 30
A Hidden Hero
I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens.
Philippians 4:12 (NCV)
Peer into the prison and see [Paul] for yourself: bent and frail, shackled to the arm of a Roman guard. Behold the apostle of God....
Dead broke. No family. No property. Nearsighted and worn out....
Doesn't look like a hero.
Doesn't sound like one either. He introduced himself as the worst sinner in history. He was a Christian-killer before he was a Christian leader. At times his heart was so heavy, Paul's pen drug itself across the page. "What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?" (Rom. 7:24).
Only heaven knows how long he stared at the question before he found the courage to defy logic and write, "I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7:25).
From: When God Whispers Your Name
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1994)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 18
Saul's Jealousy of David
1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
5 Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully [m] that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well.
6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. 7 As they danced, they sang:
"Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands."
8 Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" 9 And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
10 The next day an evil [n] spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. 14 In everything he did he had great success, [o] because the LORD was with him. 15 When Saul saw how successful [p] he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.
17 Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the LORD." For Saul said to himself, "I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!"
18 But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" 19 So [q] when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.
20 Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21 "I will give her to him," he thought, "so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law."
22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: "Speak to David privately and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with you, and his attendants all like you; now become his son-in-law.' "
23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, "Do you think it is a small matter to become the king's son-in-law? I'm only a poor man and little known."
24 When Saul's servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, "Say to David, 'The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' " Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.
26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king so that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
28 When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.
30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success [r] than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well known.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
John 14
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."
Jesus the Way to the Father
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
November 30, 2009
Nowhere Tickets
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READ: John 14:1-6
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. —Acts 4:12
We kept getting tickets to nowhere. We had finished a missions trip to Jamaica and were trying to get home. However, our airline was having problems, and no matter what our tickets said, we couldn’t leave Montego Bay. Over and over we heard, “Your flight has been canceled.” Even though we had purchased our tickets in good faith, the airline could not back up its promise to transport us to the US. We had to stay an extra day before boarding a plane that could take us home.
Imagine thinking that you are headed for heaven, but discovering that your ticket is no good. It can happen. If you trust the wrong plan, you will get to the gate of eternity but be denied entrance into heaven to live with God forever.
The apostle Peter said there is salvation in no one else but Jesus (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The only ticket to heaven goes to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross as payment for their sin.
Some offer other ways. But those tickets are worthless. To make sure you’re going to heaven, trust Jesus. He’s the only way. — Dave Branon
Lord, I know I’m a sinner and cannot save myself. I need You as my Savior. Thank You for dying in my place and rising again. I believe in You. Please forgive my sin. I want to live with You in heaven someday.
Jesus took my place on the cross and gave me a place in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 30, 2009
"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"
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READ:
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10
The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, "Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint." But to say that before God means, "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible." That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.
Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, "Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified," is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.
There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Everything But a Captain - #5971
Monday, November 30, 2009
It was one of those nightmare days, trying to get a flight out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Some thunderstorms actually sent flight schedules into chaos for about 24 hours. You know what that means. Two hundred flights were cancelled that day, a lot more were delayed, and thousands of people were scrambling to find a way to get to where they needed to go...including me. Finally, I just gave up on trying to get out that day and I reserved one of the last seats available the next morning for the city where I was supposed to be speaking. Well, 7:00 A.M. the next morning my partner and I were in our seats on a full flight. The engine was running - it seemed like we were ready to go. Until the cockpit came on and made this announcement, "Uh, folks, we've encountered one problem this morning. We can't find a captain for this flight." Oh, great! No captain! We're not going anywhere, folks! Well, thankfully, a captain finally came, and we finally got there!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everything But a Captain."
So the engine's running, the plane is full, the passengers are ready, but there was no one to take us there. There are a lot of flights like that - or more accurately, a lot of lives like that...maybe yours.
You've got basically a good life, things are running well, you've got plenty to do, you've got plenty of people in your life. But for all that, it just maybe doesn't seem like you're really going anywhere. Apparently, a lot of people feel like that. A recent survey in USA Today asked Americans what one question they would ask a Supreme Being if they were guaranteed an answer. The second largest group - 17% said they would ask about life after death. You might have thought that would come in number one. But by far the largest group - 34% wanted to ask, "What's the purpose of my life?" In other words, "What's it all for? What's the point? Where does all this go?"
That's not a new question. King Solomon was struggling with it in our word for today from the Word of God in the book of Ecclesiastes. After accumulating the greatest fortune of his time, building the most impressive structures of his time, trying every pleasure he wanted, and having the best of everything, he concludes in Ecclesiastes 1:14, "I have seen all the things that are under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
A little later he starts to uncover what's been missing in all his good times. He says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We've all got this hole inside us that can only be filled with something that lasts forever...which, of course, nothing on earth does. In the conclusion of his book, Solomon says, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). In other words, get a relationship with your Creator as soon as you can. He's what you've been missing all these years.
All these years our life has been a flight that doesn't go anywhere because we're missing our Captain - the God we were made by; the God we were made for. We've been trying to be our own captain, running a life that our Creator was supposed to run. So we're alienated from the only One who knows why we're here, the only One who can make it all make sense.
Which is why Jesus Christ came - to die to remove the sin-wall that is keeping us from the God we were made for. And until you open up your life to the Man who died for you, your life is going to be a flight without a Captain. But once you give yourself to Jesus, you belong to the One who can give each new day eternal meaning.
Maybe you've never begun a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or you're not sure if you have. Why don't you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." And I would encourage you as soon as you can to get over to our website, because there you will find a simple presentation I put together called Yours For Life, and it will help you be sure that you have begun this relationship you will never lose...that will introduce you to the purpose you were made for. The website is YoursForLife.net. Or you can call toll free if you would like to get this in booklet form. You can ask for Yours For Life at this number - 877-741-1200.
You've taken your life as far as it's going to go with you in the cockpit. The Captain is ready to come aboard as soon as you open the door. And He can take your life where you could never go without Him.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
1 Samuel 17, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 29
God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished.
Philippians 1:6 (NCV)
Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about
tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapters are yet unwritten?
....How can you dismiss a soul until God's work is complete?
Be careful! The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight's fire may proclaim
him with fire at tomorrow's Pentecost....
A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 17
David and Goliath
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet [f] tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [g] ; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. [h] His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." 11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah [i] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. [j] See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance [k] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."
20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel."
26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
29 "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath [l] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?"
Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."
56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.
58 "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 3
Faith or Observance of the Law
1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."[a] 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."[b] 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."[c] 11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."[d] 12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."[e]
November 29, 2009
The Galatia Church
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 3:1-12
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? —Galatians 3:3
I was driving through the countryside when I spotted a church building whose name surprised me. It said, “The Galatia Church.” The name caught my attention because I was certain no one would choose to name a church this unless it was a geographic necessity.
A study of the biblical book of Galatians reveals that it is Paul’s most fiery letter—criticizing the people for legalism, self-effort, and the exchange of grace for a different gospel. Galatia was not exactly the kind of church that you would see as an example to be followed.
This is true because the Galatians were trying to please God through their own efforts rather than by reliance on Him. Paul’s charge against them was this: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (3:3).
Just as we cannot earn a relationship with God by our works, neither can we develop spiritually through our own strength. Paul’s reminder to the Galatians (and us) is this: Dependence on God through the work of the Spirit in our lives is at the core of our walk with Christ.
If we think we can become like Jesus by our own efforts, we are, like the Galatians, fooling ourselves. — Bill Crowder
Cast your futile efforts down,
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete. —Proctor
The Holy Spirit is the Christian’s power supply.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 29, 2009
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
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READ:
He will glorify Me . . . —John 16:14
The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with "the blood of the Lamb" ( Revelation 12:11 ). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, "That is the work of God Almighty!" Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, ". . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He will glorify Me . . ." (John 16:13-14 ). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 29
God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished.
Philippians 1:6 (NCV)
Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about
tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapters are yet unwritten?
....How can you dismiss a soul until God's work is complete?
Be careful! The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight's fire may proclaim
him with fire at tomorrow's Pentecost....
A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 17
David and Goliath
1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet [f] tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels [g] ; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. [h] His shield bearer went ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." 11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah [i] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. [j] See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance [k] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."
20 Early in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel."
26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."
28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
29 "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."
33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath [l] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?"
Abner replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."
56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.
58 "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 3
Faith or Observance of the Law
1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."[a] 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."[b] 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."[c] 11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."[d] 12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."[e]
November 29, 2009
The Galatia Church
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 3:1-12
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? —Galatians 3:3
I was driving through the countryside when I spotted a church building whose name surprised me. It said, “The Galatia Church.” The name caught my attention because I was certain no one would choose to name a church this unless it was a geographic necessity.
A study of the biblical book of Galatians reveals that it is Paul’s most fiery letter—criticizing the people for legalism, self-effort, and the exchange of grace for a different gospel. Galatia was not exactly the kind of church that you would see as an example to be followed.
This is true because the Galatians were trying to please God through their own efforts rather than by reliance on Him. Paul’s charge against them was this: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (3:3).
Just as we cannot earn a relationship with God by our works, neither can we develop spiritually through our own strength. Paul’s reminder to the Galatians (and us) is this: Dependence on God through the work of the Spirit in our lives is at the core of our walk with Christ.
If we think we can become like Jesus by our own efforts, we are, like the Galatians, fooling ourselves. — Bill Crowder
Cast your futile efforts down,
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Stand in Him, in Him alone,
Gloriously complete. —Proctor
The Holy Spirit is the Christian’s power supply.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 29, 2009
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He will glorify Me . . . —John 16:14
The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with "the blood of the Lamb" ( Revelation 12:11 ). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, "That is the work of God Almighty!" Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, ". . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He will glorify Me . . ." (John 16:13-14 ). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
1 Samuel 16, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 28
God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does.
Psalm 145:13 (THE MESSAGE)
God never gives up.
When Moses said, "Here I am, send Aaron," God didn't give up....When Peter worshiped him at the supper and cursed him at the fire, he didn't give up....
So, the next time doubt walks into your life remember the cross, where in holy blood is written the promise, "God would give up his only son before he'd give up on you."
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 16
Samuel Anoints David
1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me."
The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate."
4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
5 Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one." 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." 11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down [d] until he arrives."
12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
David in Saul's Service
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil [e] spirit from the LORD tormented him.
15 Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."
17 So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."
18 One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."
23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Proverbs 26:20-28 (New International Version)
20 Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man's inmost parts.
23 Like a coating of glaze [a] over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,
but in his heart he harbors deceit.
25 Though his speech is charming, do not believe him,
for seven abominations fill his heart.
26 His malice may be concealed by deception,
but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it;
if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
November 28, 2009
Delivering The Dirt
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Proverbs 26:20-28
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. —Proverbs 26:20
Christian industrialist and inventor R. G. LeTourneau is known for his enormous earth-moving machines. One of his products was known simply by the name, “Model G.” A prospective buyer, hoping to stump a salesman, asked, “What does the ‘G’ stand for?”
“I guess the G stands for gossip,” was the salesman’s quick reply. “Because, like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt, and moves it fast!”
The Proverbs have a lot to say about gossip: Those who gossip are untrustworthy (11:13) and should be avoided (20:19). Gossip separates the closest of friends (16:28) and keeps relational strife boiling (18:8). It pours fuel on the coals of conflict, feeding the flames of hurt and misunderstanding (26:21-22).
The Hebrew word for “gossip” or “talebearing” actually means “whispering that is damaging.” We fool ourselves into thinking that those juicy, whispered comments here and there are harmless. But gossip leaves behind a wide swath of destruction and is never a victimless crime. Someone is always hurt. So here’s a word to the wise: “Where there is no talebearer, strife ceases” (Prov. 26:20). Let’s leave the dirt-moving to big machines. Put the shovels away and revel in the joy of gossip-free relationships! — Joe Stowell
Many things that others say
Are not for us to tell;
Help us, Lord, to watch our tongue—
We need to guard it well. —Branon
Destroy gossip by ignoring it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 28, 2009
The Riches of the Destitute
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . being justified freely by His grace . . . —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are "rich," particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was "beyond" us and places it "within" us. And immediately, once "the beyond" has come "within," it rises up to "the above," and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5 ).
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 28
God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does.
Psalm 145:13 (THE MESSAGE)
God never gives up.
When Moses said, "Here I am, send Aaron," God didn't give up....When Peter worshiped him at the supper and cursed him at the fire, he didn't give up....
So, the next time doubt walks into your life remember the cross, where in holy blood is written the promise, "God would give up his only son before he'd give up on you."
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 16
Samuel Anoints David
1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me."
The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate."
4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
5 Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one." 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." 11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down [d] until he arrives."
12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
David in Saul's Service
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil [e] spirit from the LORD tormented him.
15 Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better."
17 So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."
18 One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him."
23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Proverbs 26:20-28 (New International Version)
20 Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man's inmost parts.
23 Like a coating of glaze [a] over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,
but in his heart he harbors deceit.
25 Though his speech is charming, do not believe him,
for seven abominations fill his heart.
26 His malice may be concealed by deception,
but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it;
if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
November 28, 2009
Delivering The Dirt
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Proverbs 26:20-28
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. —Proverbs 26:20
Christian industrialist and inventor R. G. LeTourneau is known for his enormous earth-moving machines. One of his products was known simply by the name, “Model G.” A prospective buyer, hoping to stump a salesman, asked, “What does the ‘G’ stand for?”
“I guess the G stands for gossip,” was the salesman’s quick reply. “Because, like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt, and moves it fast!”
The Proverbs have a lot to say about gossip: Those who gossip are untrustworthy (11:13) and should be avoided (20:19). Gossip separates the closest of friends (16:28) and keeps relational strife boiling (18:8). It pours fuel on the coals of conflict, feeding the flames of hurt and misunderstanding (26:21-22).
The Hebrew word for “gossip” or “talebearing” actually means “whispering that is damaging.” We fool ourselves into thinking that those juicy, whispered comments here and there are harmless. But gossip leaves behind a wide swath of destruction and is never a victimless crime. Someone is always hurt. So here’s a word to the wise: “Where there is no talebearer, strife ceases” (Prov. 26:20). Let’s leave the dirt-moving to big machines. Put the shovels away and revel in the joy of gossip-free relationships! — Joe Stowell
Many things that others say
Are not for us to tell;
Help us, Lord, to watch our tongue—
We need to guard it well. —Branon
Destroy gossip by ignoring it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 28, 2009
The Riches of the Destitute
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . being justified freely by His grace . . . —Romans 3:24
The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are "rich," particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was "beyond" us and places it "within" us. And immediately, once "the beyond" has come "within," it rises up to "the above," and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5 ).
Friday, November 27, 2009
1 Samuel 15, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 27
The True Son of God
“Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
Matthew 14:33 (NIV)
They [the disciples] had never, as a group, done that before. Never. Check it out. Open your Bible. Search for a time when the disciples corporately praised him.
You won't find it.
You won't find them worshiping when he heals the leper. Forgives the adulteress. Preaches to the masses. They were willing to follow. Willing to leave family. Willing to cast out demons. Willing to be in the army.
But only after the incident on the lake did they worship him. Why?
Simple. This time it was one of them who cried out and was saved.
From: In the Eye of the Storm
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1991)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 15
The LORD Rejects Saul as King
1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [a] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves [b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?"
20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
22 But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
26 But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites."
Agag came to him confidently, [c] thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
33 But Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Ephesians 3:14-21 (New International Version)
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
November 27, 2009
Loved Well
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Ephesians 3:14-21
That you . . . may be able to comprehend . . . what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ. —Ephesians 3:17-19
We were gathered with family for Thanksgiving dinner when someone asked if each person would share what he or she was thankful for. One by one we talked. Three-year-old Joshua was thankful for “music,” and Nathan, aged 4, for “horses.” We were all silenced, though, when Stephen (who was soon to turn 5) answered, “I’m thankful that Jesus loves me so well.” In his simple faith, he understood and was grateful for the love of Jesus for him personally. He told us that Jesus showed His love by dying on a cross.
The apostle Paul wanted the believers in the church at Ephesus to understand how well God loved them, and that was his prayer: “That [they would] be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:17-19). He prayed that they would be rooted and grounded in that love.
To ground ourselves in God’s love, it would be helpful to review these verses frequently or even memorize them. We can also take a few minutes each day to thank the Lord for the specific ways He shows His love to us. This will help us to grow in our belief and be thankful—as Stephen is—that Jesus loves us “so well.” — Anne Cetas
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song. —Lehman
To renew your love for Christ, review Christ’s love for you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 27, 2009
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" ( John 17:15 ). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (seeJohn 17:16 ).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When There's Nothing Left to Hold - #5970
Friday, November 27, 2009
It was a stark picture of what's happening on Indian reservations across this country. It was the funeral of another Native American young person. There are so many of them - way too many of them. Their number one cause of death is accidental death, often attributable to alcohol or drugs, followed by suicide, and then homicide. Seventy-five percent of Native young people die a violent death, and James was one of those. Our On Eagles' Wings team of Native young people had brought the hope that they have found in Jesus Christ to his reservation. Later, James and his brother traveled with our team to other reservations. But one deadly night, James became one of those awful statistics. We were honored to be invited by his family to the wake, the funeral and the burial in a small tribal cemetery. The men there stepped up to the open grave and they threw a handful of dirt on James' casket. Then most of the folks there left, except for his family and a few close friends. There wa s a large, homemade wooden cross at the head of the grave. I'll never forget the scene of James' brother, visibly shattered by shock and grief, just resting all his weight on that cross, hanging onto it for dear life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When There's Nothing Left to Hold."
For a grieving brother, for so many of us in moments when we have lost what we never thought we could never live without, there's one thing to hold onto that has supported broken people for 2,000 years. It is that cross where God's Son died a shameful public death, bearing the grief and the payment for every sinful thing ever done on this planet.
Several years ago, I toured the Catacombs beneath the Appian Way in Rome - the underground caverns where thousands of early Christians are buried in the sandstone walls; people who died rather than renounce this Savior who had died for them. In those sandstone walls, those brave first followers of Jesus inscribed some of the earliest Christian symbols including what we now know as the anchor cross. It's a cross that has a loop at the bottom, thus making it resemble an anchor. How appropriate for those back then who didn't know if they would live another day, and who had buried so many they loved. That cross was their anchor, as it was for a grieving young Native American by his brother's reservation grave, 20 centuries later.
It's an anchor because of the victory that was won that dark day on Skull Hill. In Hebrews 2:9 and 18, our word for today from the Word of God, we learn that Jesus "suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." Translation: Jesus took your hell so you could go to His heaven. He did this, the Bible says, "so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Later, this same book says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
The question is, do you have this anchor for your soul? Yes, if you've grabbed the One who died on that cross as your only hope of having your sins forgiven. If you've never done that, you're missing the one love you'll never lose; the One who can guarantee that you will see again whoever belongs to Him; the only One who can heal your broken heart. There has to be that "for me" moment when you look at that cross and say with all your heart, "Jesus, what You did there was for me. And I'm turning from the sin You died for and I'm placing my total trust in You."
If that's what you want, tell Him that today. And then, please go to our website, and you'll find there what many others have found. The best I can explain there in non-religious language how to be sure you've begun your relationship with Him. I think it will encourage you. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there at your first chance today.
It's a fact of life. We will ultimately lose whatever, or whoever, we've been hanging onto except for the love of Jesus Christ, poured out on that cross. It's not just a cross. It's the only anchor that will be there when there's nothing left to hold onto.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 27
The True Son of God
“Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
Matthew 14:33 (NIV)
They [the disciples] had never, as a group, done that before. Never. Check it out. Open your Bible. Search for a time when the disciples corporately praised him.
You won't find it.
You won't find them worshiping when he heals the leper. Forgives the adulteress. Preaches to the masses. They were willing to follow. Willing to leave family. Willing to cast out demons. Willing to be in the army.
But only after the incident on the lake did they worship him. Why?
Simple. This time it was one of them who cried out and was saved.
From: In the Eye of the Storm
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1991)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 15
The LORD Rejects Saul as King
1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [a] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves [b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?"
20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
22 But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
26 But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites."
Agag came to him confidently, [c] thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."
33 But Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Ephesians 3:14-21 (New International Version)
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
November 27, 2009
Loved Well
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Ephesians 3:14-21
That you . . . may be able to comprehend . . . what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ. —Ephesians 3:17-19
We were gathered with family for Thanksgiving dinner when someone asked if each person would share what he or she was thankful for. One by one we talked. Three-year-old Joshua was thankful for “music,” and Nathan, aged 4, for “horses.” We were all silenced, though, when Stephen (who was soon to turn 5) answered, “I’m thankful that Jesus loves me so well.” In his simple faith, he understood and was grateful for the love of Jesus for him personally. He told us that Jesus showed His love by dying on a cross.
The apostle Paul wanted the believers in the church at Ephesus to understand how well God loved them, and that was his prayer: “That [they would] be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:17-19). He prayed that they would be rooted and grounded in that love.
To ground ourselves in God’s love, it would be helpful to review these verses frequently or even memorize them. We can also take a few minutes each day to thank the Lord for the specific ways He shows His love to us. This will help us to grow in our belief and be thankful—as Stephen is—that Jesus loves us “so well.” — Anne Cetas
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song. —Lehman
To renew your love for Christ, review Christ’s love for you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 27, 2009
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" ( John 17:15 ). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (seeJohn 17:16 ).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When There's Nothing Left to Hold - #5970
Friday, November 27, 2009
It was a stark picture of what's happening on Indian reservations across this country. It was the funeral of another Native American young person. There are so many of them - way too many of them. Their number one cause of death is accidental death, often attributable to alcohol or drugs, followed by suicide, and then homicide. Seventy-five percent of Native young people die a violent death, and James was one of those. Our On Eagles' Wings team of Native young people had brought the hope that they have found in Jesus Christ to his reservation. Later, James and his brother traveled with our team to other reservations. But one deadly night, James became one of those awful statistics. We were honored to be invited by his family to the wake, the funeral and the burial in a small tribal cemetery. The men there stepped up to the open grave and they threw a handful of dirt on James' casket. Then most of the folks there left, except for his family and a few close friends. There wa s a large, homemade wooden cross at the head of the grave. I'll never forget the scene of James' brother, visibly shattered by shock and grief, just resting all his weight on that cross, hanging onto it for dear life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When There's Nothing Left to Hold."
For a grieving brother, for so many of us in moments when we have lost what we never thought we could never live without, there's one thing to hold onto that has supported broken people for 2,000 years. It is that cross where God's Son died a shameful public death, bearing the grief and the payment for every sinful thing ever done on this planet.
Several years ago, I toured the Catacombs beneath the Appian Way in Rome - the underground caverns where thousands of early Christians are buried in the sandstone walls; people who died rather than renounce this Savior who had died for them. In those sandstone walls, those brave first followers of Jesus inscribed some of the earliest Christian symbols including what we now know as the anchor cross. It's a cross that has a loop at the bottom, thus making it resemble an anchor. How appropriate for those back then who didn't know if they would live another day, and who had buried so many they loved. That cross was their anchor, as it was for a grieving young Native American by his brother's reservation grave, 20 centuries later.
It's an anchor because of the victory that was won that dark day on Skull Hill. In Hebrews 2:9 and 18, our word for today from the Word of God, we learn that Jesus "suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." Translation: Jesus took your hell so you could go to His heaven. He did this, the Bible says, "so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Later, this same book says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
The question is, do you have this anchor for your soul? Yes, if you've grabbed the One who died on that cross as your only hope of having your sins forgiven. If you've never done that, you're missing the one love you'll never lose; the One who can guarantee that you will see again whoever belongs to Him; the only One who can heal your broken heart. There has to be that "for me" moment when you look at that cross and say with all your heart, "Jesus, what You did there was for me. And I'm turning from the sin You died for and I'm placing my total trust in You."
If that's what you want, tell Him that today. And then, please go to our website, and you'll find there what many others have found. The best I can explain there in non-religious language how to be sure you've begun your relationship with Him. I think it will encourage you. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there at your first chance today.
It's a fact of life. We will ultimately lose whatever, or whoever, we've been hanging onto except for the love of Jesus Christ, poured out on that cross. It's not just a cross. It's the only anchor that will be there when there's nothing left to hold onto.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
1 Samuel 12, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 26
Dealing with the Past
Don't get angry. Don't be upset; it only leads to trouble.
Psalm 37:8 (NCV)
Anger. It's easy to define: the noise of the soul. Anger. The unseen irritant of the heart. Anger. The relentless invader of silence....
The louder it gets the more desperate we become....
Some of you are thinking . . . you don't have any idea how hard my life has been. And you're right, I don't. But I have a very clear idea how miserable your future will be unless you deal with your anger.
X-ray the world of the vengeful and behold the tumor of bitterness: black, menacing, malignant. Carcinoma of the spirit. Its fatal fibers creep around the edge of the heart and ravage it. Yesterday you can't alter, but your reaction to yesterday you can. The past you cannot change, but your response to your past you can.
From: When God Whispers Your Name
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1994)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 12
Samuel's Farewell Speech
1 Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."
4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."
5 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand."
"He is witness," they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. 7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.
8 "After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 "But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 They cried out to the LORD and said, 'We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.' 11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, [a] Barak, [b] Jephthah and Samuel, [c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.
12 "But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'-even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God-good! 15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 "Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king."
18 Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."
20 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Nehemiah 9:32-37 (New International Version)
32 "Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
36 "But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
November 26, 2009
Confession And Thanksgiving
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Nehemiah 9:32-37
They have not served You . . . in the many good things that You gave them. —Nehemiah 9:35
During a Sunday worship service, our congregation said this prayer of confession in unison: “Gracious God, like many believers before us, we complain when things do not go our way. We want abundance of everything rather than what is sufficient to sustain us. We would rather be elsewhere than where we are at the moment. We would rather have the gifts You give to others than what You provide for us. We would rather have You serve us than serve You. Forgive our lack of gratitude for what You give.”
Abundance is no guarantee of gratefulness or thanksgiving. Prosperity may even turn our hearts away from the Lord.
When a group of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon with Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they gathered to confess their sins and those of their fathers. They prayed: “Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law . . . . For they have not served You in their kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land which You set before them, nor did they turn from their wicked works” (Neh. 9:34-35).
Confession is a powerful prelude to a prayer of thanks-giving. Obedience is the Amen. — David C. McCasland
Lord, before we come to ask Your blessing
On this special day we call Thanksgiving,
We would bow to You, our sins confessing,
Then we’ll lift our praise in grateful living. —Hess
Confession opens the door to thanksgiving.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 26, 2009
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. "Look to Me. . ." (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Grabbing Opportunities - #5969
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Try to picture it. Maybe you don't have to picture it. Maybe you've been there. It's the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, just before doors open at Wal-Mart. It's still dark, but a lot of people are lined up, anxiously waiting to enter. It's the day of those fabulous sales that stores like this have to encourage early Christmas shopping. And for a short time after doors open, there are some absolutely amazing prices on many popular items. But you have to move quickly to find them and scoop them up. One year recently, the crush of people was so great, at one store a lady was nearly trampled to death when the doors opened. And at another store, another year, a man actually was trampled to death. Once you're in the store, you know what to do. No browsing. No chatting. Just look for those sales opportunities and you grab them while you can!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Grabbing Opportunities."
Aggressively seizing opportunities because time is short - that's not just a picture of a sale day shopper. That's supposed to be the picture of every follower of Jesus Christ. Not just browsing and cruising through our days, but really making them count...really making a difference with your life.
If you read our word for today from the Word of God in the original language of the New Testament, you can see just that kind of urgency and intensity. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise" - now here's God's definition of what it means to "live smart" - "making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." The original Greek conveys the idea of aggressively buying up every opportunity you have to do something about the darkness around you.
Near the end of this letter that Paul wrote from a prison cell, probably chained to a Roman guard, he gives us a living example of this "make a difference" mindset in action. He says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel...pray that I will declare it fearlessly, as I should." In another letter, we learn that there were believers ultimately in Caesar's household; likely some of those soldiers Paul spent so much time with. He saw his imprisonment, not so much as an ordeal, but as an opportunity to tell people there about Jesus and to rescue them from evil.
Life is full of life-saving opportunities for those with eyes to see them; for those who understand that we're supposed to be looking for them, wherever we are. When one of our family was in the hospital lately, the reason seemed clear. This was a patient who left a trail of Jesus all through that hospital. There just to get well? No. They were also there positioned by God to help spiritually rescue some of the people there.
If you want to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life, if you want to help some people be in heaven with you, if you want to obey your Savior, then each morning pray for natural opportunities to bring up your Jesus. Then look for those opportunities to open up. Buy them up like an alert shopper.
When someone shares a burden or a concern with you, don't just promise to pray for them. Ask if you can pray with them right there. Chances are they have never heard their name in a prayer in all their life! I've never had anyone turn down that offer. And if God opens the door, tell them after you pray that you weren't always able to talk to God like that because there was a wall between you and Him that Jesus took down. Look for opportunities to share your personal hope story - the story of the difference Jesus has made for you in a particular need or life situation.
Look for those opportunities. Pray for those opportunities. Grab those opportunities. Why? Because God is putting people in your life so they can have a chance at Jesus...and a chance at heaven. That's an opportunity you must not miss.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 26
Dealing with the Past
Don't get angry. Don't be upset; it only leads to trouble.
Psalm 37:8 (NCV)
Anger. It's easy to define: the noise of the soul. Anger. The unseen irritant of the heart. Anger. The relentless invader of silence....
The louder it gets the more desperate we become....
Some of you are thinking . . . you don't have any idea how hard my life has been. And you're right, I don't. But I have a very clear idea how miserable your future will be unless you deal with your anger.
X-ray the world of the vengeful and behold the tumor of bitterness: black, menacing, malignant. Carcinoma of the spirit. Its fatal fibers creep around the edge of the heart and ravage it. Yesterday you can't alter, but your reaction to yesterday you can. The past you cannot change, but your response to your past you can.
From: When God Whispers Your Name
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1994)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 12
Samuel's Farewell Speech
1 Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."
4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."
5 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand."
"He is witness," they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. 7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.
8 "After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 "But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. 10 They cried out to the LORD and said, 'We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.' 11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, [a] Barak, [b] Jephthah and Samuel, [c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.
12 "But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'-even though the LORD your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God-good! 15 But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 "Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king."
18 Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
19 The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."
20 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Nehemiah 9:32-37 (New International Version)
32 "Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
36 "But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.
November 26, 2009
Confession And Thanksgiving
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READ: Nehemiah 9:32-37
They have not served You . . . in the many good things that You gave them. —Nehemiah 9:35
During a Sunday worship service, our congregation said this prayer of confession in unison: “Gracious God, like many believers before us, we complain when things do not go our way. We want abundance of everything rather than what is sufficient to sustain us. We would rather be elsewhere than where we are at the moment. We would rather have the gifts You give to others than what You provide for us. We would rather have You serve us than serve You. Forgive our lack of gratitude for what You give.”
Abundance is no guarantee of gratefulness or thanksgiving. Prosperity may even turn our hearts away from the Lord.
When a group of Jewish exiles returned from Babylon with Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they gathered to confess their sins and those of their fathers. They prayed: “Neither our kings nor our princes, our priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law . . . . For they have not served You in their kingdom, or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land which You set before them, nor did they turn from their wicked works” (Neh. 9:34-35).
Confession is a powerful prelude to a prayer of thanks-giving. Obedience is the Amen. — David C. McCasland
Lord, before we come to ask Your blessing
On this special day we call Thanksgiving,
We would bow to You, our sins confessing,
Then we’ll lift our praise in grateful living. —Hess
Confession opens the door to thanksgiving.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 26, 2009
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
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READ:
. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. "Look to Me. . ." (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.
The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Grabbing Opportunities - #5969
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Try to picture it. Maybe you don't have to picture it. Maybe you've been there. It's the Friday morning after Thanksgiving, just before doors open at Wal-Mart. It's still dark, but a lot of people are lined up, anxiously waiting to enter. It's the day of those fabulous sales that stores like this have to encourage early Christmas shopping. And for a short time after doors open, there are some absolutely amazing prices on many popular items. But you have to move quickly to find them and scoop them up. One year recently, the crush of people was so great, at one store a lady was nearly trampled to death when the doors opened. And at another store, another year, a man actually was trampled to death. Once you're in the store, you know what to do. No browsing. No chatting. Just look for those sales opportunities and you grab them while you can!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Grabbing Opportunities."
Aggressively seizing opportunities because time is short - that's not just a picture of a sale day shopper. That's supposed to be the picture of every follower of Jesus Christ. Not just browsing and cruising through our days, but really making them count...really making a difference with your life.
If you read our word for today from the Word of God in the original language of the New Testament, you can see just that kind of urgency and intensity. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise" - now here's God's definition of what it means to "live smart" - "making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." The original Greek conveys the idea of aggressively buying up every opportunity you have to do something about the darkness around you.
Near the end of this letter that Paul wrote from a prison cell, probably chained to a Roman guard, he gives us a living example of this "make a difference" mindset in action. He says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel...pray that I will declare it fearlessly, as I should." In another letter, we learn that there were believers ultimately in Caesar's household; likely some of those soldiers Paul spent so much time with. He saw his imprisonment, not so much as an ordeal, but as an opportunity to tell people there about Jesus and to rescue them from evil.
Life is full of life-saving opportunities for those with eyes to see them; for those who understand that we're supposed to be looking for them, wherever we are. When one of our family was in the hospital lately, the reason seemed clear. This was a patient who left a trail of Jesus all through that hospital. There just to get well? No. They were also there positioned by God to help spiritually rescue some of the people there.
If you want to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life, if you want to help some people be in heaven with you, if you want to obey your Savior, then each morning pray for natural opportunities to bring up your Jesus. Then look for those opportunities to open up. Buy them up like an alert shopper.
When someone shares a burden or a concern with you, don't just promise to pray for them. Ask if you can pray with them right there. Chances are they have never heard their name in a prayer in all their life! I've never had anyone turn down that offer. And if God opens the door, tell them after you pray that you weren't always able to talk to God like that because there was a wall between you and Him that Jesus took down. Look for opportunities to share your personal hope story - the story of the difference Jesus has made for you in a particular need or life situation.
Look for those opportunities. Pray for those opportunities. Grab those opportunities. Why? Because God is putting people in your life so they can have a chance at Jesus...and a chance at heaven. That's an opportunity you must not miss.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
1 Samuel 10, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 25
Stubborn Love
“My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!”
Luke 15:24 (NCV)
Jesus...summarized God's stubborn love with a parable. He told about a teenager who decided that life at the farm was too slow for his tastes. So with pockets full of inheritance money, he set out to find the big time. What he found instead were hangovers, fair-weather friends, and long unemployment lines. When he had had just about as much of the pig's life as he could take, he swallowed his pride, dug his hands deep into his empty pockets, and began the long walk home; all the while rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his father.
He never used it. Just when he got to the top of the hill, his father, who'd been waiting at the gate, saw him. The boy's words of apology were quickly muffled by the father's words of forgiveness....
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world....look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.
From: No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2003)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 10
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? [f] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?" '
3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, [g] but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."
Saul Made King
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
12 A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?"
"Looking for the donkeys," he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."
15 Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."
16 Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."
20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?"
And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people."
Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 1
1Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.[b]
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
November 25, 2009
What A Ride!
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READ: 1 Thessalonians 1
The word of the Lord has sounded forth . . . in every place. —1 Thessalonians 1:8
Francis Asbury rode 6,000 miles a year on horseback for nearly half a century. Despite ill health, he drove himself tirelessly. He sustained himself with venison jerky—a food that wouldn’t spoil during his extended travels. Asbury is remembered for introducing the Methodist “circuit-riding preacher” as an effective way to capture the American frontier for Christ. Planting new churches in remote areas was central to his approach.
At the close of Asbury’s ministry, he had recruited over 700 traveling preachers. In 1771, when Asbury arrived in the colonies, there were only about 600 Methodists in America. Forty-five years later, there were 200,000!
In many ways, Asbury’s strategy for planting churches reflects the approach of the apostle Paul. To the church he had planted in Thessalonica, Paul wrote: “From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (1 Thess. 1:8; see Acts 17:1-10).
The days of the “circuit-riding preacher” have come and gone. But each of us has a “frontier” where friends, relatives, and neighbors are our mission field. Can you think of someone today who needs to hear the good news? — Dennis Fisher
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me;
And may I nobly do my part
To win that soul for Thee. —Tucker
Those who love Christ have a love for the lost.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 25, 2009
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
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READ:
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:21, 23 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith - #5968
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
We were with our precious two-year-old granddaughter at a theme park, and we took her to a part of the park that's usually a children's favorite; they call it "Happy Harbor." It's got water cannons that shoot out into this pond and water squirting up randomly from these holes in the sidewalk. One whole section has these cannons that propel styrofoam balls all over the place. It's usually raining styrofoam in there. Our granddaughter's three- and six-year-old cousins were already in there having a ball. Actually, having a good time. But our little princess, well, she didn't like loud noises very much. She'd be frightened even by the loud train whistle in the park all day long.
I watched a very interesting little drama play out as she battled with two conflicting impulses. She was frightened by the sounds of those air cannons going off. She covered her ears and she refused to uncover them. But she was very intrigued with all those styrofoam balls and she wanted to go in and play with them and with her cousins. It was obviously a hard decision. Finally, she looked up at me as if to say, "Go with me." And together we ventured into that loud but exciting place. She still covered her ears, but she went in. Within minutes, ears uncovered, playing with her cousins, throwing little balls everywhere, oblivious to the noise that had almost kept her out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith."
I saw myself that day, in my little granddaughter. Afraid to go where I know I ought to be - letting the cannons of fear decide what I do. That's the very kind of thinking that cost an entire generation of God's people the Promised Land. They saw all those scary people and walled cities in Canaan, and they let that make them decide not to go in and take the land that God said He would give them. Fear trumped faith, and they got 40 years of wilderness instead of 40 years of wonderful.
Ever made any decisions like that? Most of us have. We need to hear the words God spoke to Israel's new leader in Joshua 1:9. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It's 40 years later, and they're facing all the same "cannons" that scared them away before. But God says to Joshua: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." And this time, they went.
Like our granddaughter that day, their fear was still strong, but they didn't let it be decisive. Why? For the same reasons our granddaughter ventured into that scary place. First, she went with someone she trusted who was bigger than she is. That's what God was saying to Joshua and what He's trying to say to you. Whatever is bigger than you are, He is bigger than it is! As an old hymn says, "Anywhere He leads me I can safely go."
The second reason you go into the unknown and the unnerving is that there's something very good there! Seldom will you find the will of God in your comfort zone. All our "Promised Lands" require us to cross a flooded Jordan River and face daunting obstacles, but we do it because our eyes are on the Lord who is also our God!
Fear often keeps us from God's best - parenting out of fear, leading (or failing to lead) because of fear, resisting God's call or God's assignment because of fear, missing God's best because of fear of failure, leaving someone we know spiritually lost because of fear of sharing Jesus with them. Faith, on the other hand, focuses on the greatness of your Lord and reaches for His hand, and says, "I'll go if You're going with me."
I saw what happened when a little girl disregarded the cannons of fear and let the courage of faith decide. She experienced a joy and excitement in a way that she had not experienced before, and so will you.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 25
Stubborn Love
“My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!”
Luke 15:24 (NCV)
Jesus...summarized God's stubborn love with a parable. He told about a teenager who decided that life at the farm was too slow for his tastes. So with pockets full of inheritance money, he set out to find the big time. What he found instead were hangovers, fair-weather friends, and long unemployment lines. When he had had just about as much of the pig's life as he could take, he swallowed his pride, dug his hands deep into his empty pockets, and began the long walk home; all the while rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his father.
He never used it. Just when he got to the top of the hill, his father, who'd been waiting at the gate, saw him. The boy's words of apology were quickly muffled by the father's words of forgiveness....
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world....look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.
From: No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2003)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 10
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? [f] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?" '
3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, [g] but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."
Saul Made King
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
12 A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?"
"Looking for the donkeys," he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."
15 Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."
16 Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."
20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?"
And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people."
Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 1
1Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.[b]
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
November 25, 2009
What A Ride!
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Thessalonians 1
The word of the Lord has sounded forth . . . in every place. —1 Thessalonians 1:8
Francis Asbury rode 6,000 miles a year on horseback for nearly half a century. Despite ill health, he drove himself tirelessly. He sustained himself with venison jerky—a food that wouldn’t spoil during his extended travels. Asbury is remembered for introducing the Methodist “circuit-riding preacher” as an effective way to capture the American frontier for Christ. Planting new churches in remote areas was central to his approach.
At the close of Asbury’s ministry, he had recruited over 700 traveling preachers. In 1771, when Asbury arrived in the colonies, there were only about 600 Methodists in America. Forty-five years later, there were 200,000!
In many ways, Asbury’s strategy for planting churches reflects the approach of the apostle Paul. To the church he had planted in Thessalonica, Paul wrote: “From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (1 Thess. 1:8; see Acts 17:1-10).
The days of the “circuit-riding preacher” have come and gone. But each of us has a “frontier” where friends, relatives, and neighbors are our mission field. Can you think of someone today who needs to hear the good news? — Dennis Fisher
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me;
And may I nobly do my part
To win that soul for Thee. —Tucker
Those who love Christ have a love for the lost.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 25, 2009
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:21, 23 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith - #5968
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
We were with our precious two-year-old granddaughter at a theme park, and we took her to a part of the park that's usually a children's favorite; they call it "Happy Harbor." It's got water cannons that shoot out into this pond and water squirting up randomly from these holes in the sidewalk. One whole section has these cannons that propel styrofoam balls all over the place. It's usually raining styrofoam in there. Our granddaughter's three- and six-year-old cousins were already in there having a ball. Actually, having a good time. But our little princess, well, she didn't like loud noises very much. She'd be frightened even by the loud train whistle in the park all day long.
I watched a very interesting little drama play out as she battled with two conflicting impulses. She was frightened by the sounds of those air cannons going off. She covered her ears and she refused to uncover them. But she was very intrigued with all those styrofoam balls and she wanted to go in and play with them and with her cousins. It was obviously a hard decision. Finally, she looked up at me as if to say, "Go with me." And together we ventured into that loud but exciting place. She still covered her ears, but she went in. Within minutes, ears uncovered, playing with her cousins, throwing little balls everywhere, oblivious to the noise that had almost kept her out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith."
I saw myself that day, in my little granddaughter. Afraid to go where I know I ought to be - letting the cannons of fear decide what I do. That's the very kind of thinking that cost an entire generation of God's people the Promised Land. They saw all those scary people and walled cities in Canaan, and they let that make them decide not to go in and take the land that God said He would give them. Fear trumped faith, and they got 40 years of wilderness instead of 40 years of wonderful.
Ever made any decisions like that? Most of us have. We need to hear the words God spoke to Israel's new leader in Joshua 1:9. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It's 40 years later, and they're facing all the same "cannons" that scared them away before. But God says to Joshua: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." And this time, they went.
Like our granddaughter that day, their fear was still strong, but they didn't let it be decisive. Why? For the same reasons our granddaughter ventured into that scary place. First, she went with someone she trusted who was bigger than she is. That's what God was saying to Joshua and what He's trying to say to you. Whatever is bigger than you are, He is bigger than it is! As an old hymn says, "Anywhere He leads me I can safely go."
The second reason you go into the unknown and the unnerving is that there's something very good there! Seldom will you find the will of God in your comfort zone. All our "Promised Lands" require us to cross a flooded Jordan River and face daunting obstacles, but we do it because our eyes are on the Lord who is also our God!
Fear often keeps us from God's best - parenting out of fear, leading (or failing to lead) because of fear, resisting God's call or God's assignment because of fear, missing God's best because of fear of failure, leaving someone we know spiritually lost because of fear of sharing Jesus with them. Faith, on the other hand, focuses on the greatness of your Lord and reaches for His hand, and says, "I'll go if You're going with me."
I saw what happened when a little girl disregarded the cannons of fear and let the courage of faith decide. She experienced a joy and excitement in a way that she had not experienced before, and so will you.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
1 Samuel 9, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 24
The Fire Within
Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures.
Luke 24:27 (NCV)
"When [the disciples] saw who he was, he disappeared. They said to each other, 'It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us'" (Luke 24:31-32).
Don't you love that verse? They knew they had been with Jesus because of the fire within them. God reveals his will by setting a torch to your soul. He gave Jeremiah a fire for hard hearts. He gave Nehemiah a fire for a forgotten city. He set Abraham on fire for a land he'd never seen. He set Isaiah on fire with a vision he couldn't resist. Forty years of fruitless preaching didn't extinguish the fire of Noah....
Mark it down: Jesus comes to set you on fire! He walks as a torch from heart to heart, warming the cold and thawing the chilled and stirring the ashes.... He comes to purge infection and illuminate your direction.
From: The Great House of God
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1997)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 9
Samuel Anoints Saul
1 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.
3 Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.
5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."
6 But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take."
7 Saul said to his servant, "If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?"
8 The servant answered him again. "Look," he said, "I have a quarter of a shekel [e] of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take." 9 (Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, "Come, let us go to the seer," because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)
10 "Good," Saul said to his servant. "Come, let's go." So they set out for the town where the man of God was.
11 As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, "Is the seer here?"
12 "He is," they answered. "He's ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. 13 As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time."
14 They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.
15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16 "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me."
17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."
18 Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, "Would you please tell me where the seer's house is?"
19 "I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20 As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father's family?"
21 Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?"
22 Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited—about thirty in number. 23 Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside."
24 So the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion, from the time I said, 'I have invited guests.' " And Saul dined with Samuel that day.
25 After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. 26 They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get ready, and I will send you on your way." When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. 27 As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us"-and the servant did so-"but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Mark 10:35-45 (New International Version)
The Request of James and John
35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
36"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
37They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."
38"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
39"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."
41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
November 24, 2009
Called To Serve
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Mark 10:35-45
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. —Mark 10:45
When George W. Bush was President, he made a surprise visit to serve Thanksgiving Day dinner to soldiers deployed overseas. One reporter covering the story thought that some might save their meal as a souvenir, explaining, “It’s not often that anyone is served by the President.”
All elected officials are public servants—in a global, symbolic way—so they are always serving. So it seems that an act of service should not have been one of the biggest news items of the day.
Many people have a genuine desire to serve others, but for some, service is really self-serving. This was true when Jesus was training His disciples. They were under the impression that following Him would make them great.
But Jesus quickly set them straight: “Those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you” (Mark 10:42-43). Jesus made it clear to them that they were in training to become servants: “Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (v.44).
We can sign up for any number of leadership training seminars, but the only good leaders are those who are first and foremost good servants. — Julie Ackerman Link
They truly lead who lead by love,
And humbly serve the Lord;
Their lives will bear the Spirit’s fruit
And magnify His Word. —D. De Haan
A good leader is a good servant.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 24, 2009
Direction of Focus
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters . . . , so our eyes look to the Lord our God . . . —Psalm 123:2
This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (seeIsaiah 53:1 ). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, "I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person." We have to realize that no effort can be too high.
For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— "Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?" Your "rational" friends come and say, "Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure." You respond by saying, "Well, I suppose I was expecting too much." That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Why It Doesn't Have To Be the Way It's Always Been - #5967
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Everyone in our family knows if Dad gets in a checkout line at a store, be sure you pick another line. My line always seems to be the wrong one, the long one, no matter how good a choice it seemed at the time I pick it. The cash register blows up or the one lady who was in line in front of me goes into labor or something. But there's one blissfully happy moment for me when I'm in a slow checkout line - when they open a new checkout line near me. You can be sure I will do my best to start that line.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why It Doesn't Have To Be the Way It's Always Been."
When you're in a long line that seems to be going nowhere fast, it's a great feeling to be able to be the first person in a new line. That's God's dream for you, that you be the first one in a new line for your family. By making a choice today that can literally change the future, not only for you, not only for those you love, but for people who will come after you that you will never see.
All of us are carrying some negative baggage from the way we were raised even if we had great parents. Every family has some hurtful ways of doing things. And our natural tendency is to reproduce those weaknesses in our generation, even though we've seen the damage they do. And as surely as physical family resemblances get passed on from one generation to another, so do family flaws, family sins, family baggage. Except for the miracle that makes it possible for one person to say, "It stops here. I'm not going to be another one in that same old line. I'm going to be the first one in a brand new line in our family!"
The only One who can make that kind of transformation possible is Jesus Christ because He died to pay for all our wrong ways of living; because He died and rose again to break that power over us. The Bible can make this awesome promise because of all of that. In our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:18-19: "You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers...with the precious blood of Christ." Because of what Jesus did, things don't always have to be the way they've always been. When you open your life to Jesus, God's Rescuer from our sin, you receive His supernatural power to beat the darkness inside you.
My friend, Craig Smith, with whom we've worked in a lot of outreach to the Native people of North America, has a powerful story to tell from his own family. His Ojibwe grandfather was, like generations before him, an alcoholic and a very angry and violent man. Craig's grandmother was one of the first of her tribe to give her heart to Christ. Her husband was so amazed by the change in his wife that he wanted her Jesus, and from that day on, he never touched alcohol again. He was what the Bible calls a "new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Craig's children, all Christ-loving college graduates, are the fourth generation who have lived totally different lives because one man chose Christ. And the farther each generation gets from the garbage of the past, the more it loses its hold. We have seen that miracle happen over and over again in the lives of countless Native American young people who were on the same road to destruction so many around them had taken, until they met the Liberator, and that is Jesus Christ.
He's waiting to do that miracle for you. If you want that new beginning that only Jesus can give, would you tell Him that today? Many people have gone to our website and found a lot of help there in beginning their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's actually why it's there. And I've tried to explain the best way I can the information you need to know that you belong to Him. I want to invite you to check it out today. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can today.
There have been enough people in that line that ends up going nowhere, haven't there, and hurting the people who follow? This very day, Jesus can begin to make you the first person in a whole new line that will change the future for generations to come!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 24
The Fire Within
Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures.
Luke 24:27 (NCV)
"When [the disciples] saw who he was, he disappeared. They said to each other, 'It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us'" (Luke 24:31-32).
Don't you love that verse? They knew they had been with Jesus because of the fire within them. God reveals his will by setting a torch to your soul. He gave Jeremiah a fire for hard hearts. He gave Nehemiah a fire for a forgotten city. He set Abraham on fire for a land he'd never seen. He set Isaiah on fire with a vision he couldn't resist. Forty years of fruitless preaching didn't extinguish the fire of Noah....
Mark it down: Jesus comes to set you on fire! He walks as a torch from heart to heart, warming the cold and thawing the chilled and stirring the ashes.... He comes to purge infection and illuminate your direction.
From: The Great House of God
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1997)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 9
Samuel Anoints Saul
1 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.
3 Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.
5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."
6 But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take."
7 Saul said to his servant, "If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?"
8 The servant answered him again. "Look," he said, "I have a quarter of a shekel [e] of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take." 9 (Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, "Come, let us go to the seer," because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)
10 "Good," Saul said to his servant. "Come, let's go." So they set out for the town where the man of God was.
11 As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, "Is the seer here?"
12 "He is," they answered. "He's ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. 13 As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time."
14 They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.
15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16 "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me."
17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."
18 Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, "Would you please tell me where the seer's house is?"
19 "I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20 As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father's family?"
21 Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?"
22 Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited—about thirty in number. 23 Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside."
24 So the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion, from the time I said, 'I have invited guests.' " And Saul dined with Samuel that day.
25 After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. 26 They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get ready, and I will send you on your way." When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. 27 As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us"-and the servant did so-"but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Mark 10:35-45 (New International Version)
The Request of James and John
35Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
36"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
37They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."
38"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
39"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."
41When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
November 24, 2009
Called To Serve
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Mark 10:35-45
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. —Mark 10:45
When George W. Bush was President, he made a surprise visit to serve Thanksgiving Day dinner to soldiers deployed overseas. One reporter covering the story thought that some might save their meal as a souvenir, explaining, “It’s not often that anyone is served by the President.”
All elected officials are public servants—in a global, symbolic way—so they are always serving. So it seems that an act of service should not have been one of the biggest news items of the day.
Many people have a genuine desire to serve others, but for some, service is really self-serving. This was true when Jesus was training His disciples. They were under the impression that following Him would make them great.
But Jesus quickly set them straight: “Those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you” (Mark 10:42-43). Jesus made it clear to them that they were in training to become servants: “Whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (v.44).
We can sign up for any number of leadership training seminars, but the only good leaders are those who are first and foremost good servants. — Julie Ackerman Link
They truly lead who lead by love,
And humbly serve the Lord;
Their lives will bear the Spirit’s fruit
And magnify His Word. —D. De Haan
A good leader is a good servant.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 24, 2009
Direction of Focus
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters . . . , so our eyes look to the Lord our God . . . —Psalm 123:2
This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (seeIsaiah 53:1 ). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, "I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person." We have to realize that no effort can be too high.
For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— "Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?" Your "rational" friends come and say, "Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure." You respond by saying, "Well, I suppose I was expecting too much." That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Why It Doesn't Have To Be the Way It's Always Been - #5967
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Everyone in our family knows if Dad gets in a checkout line at a store, be sure you pick another line. My line always seems to be the wrong one, the long one, no matter how good a choice it seemed at the time I pick it. The cash register blows up or the one lady who was in line in front of me goes into labor or something. But there's one blissfully happy moment for me when I'm in a slow checkout line - when they open a new checkout line near me. You can be sure I will do my best to start that line.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why It Doesn't Have To Be the Way It's Always Been."
When you're in a long line that seems to be going nowhere fast, it's a great feeling to be able to be the first person in a new line. That's God's dream for you, that you be the first one in a new line for your family. By making a choice today that can literally change the future, not only for you, not only for those you love, but for people who will come after you that you will never see.
All of us are carrying some negative baggage from the way we were raised even if we had great parents. Every family has some hurtful ways of doing things. And our natural tendency is to reproduce those weaknesses in our generation, even though we've seen the damage they do. And as surely as physical family resemblances get passed on from one generation to another, so do family flaws, family sins, family baggage. Except for the miracle that makes it possible for one person to say, "It stops here. I'm not going to be another one in that same old line. I'm going to be the first one in a brand new line in our family!"
The only One who can make that kind of transformation possible is Jesus Christ because He died to pay for all our wrong ways of living; because He died and rose again to break that power over us. The Bible can make this awesome promise because of all of that. In our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:18-19: "You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers...with the precious blood of Christ." Because of what Jesus did, things don't always have to be the way they've always been. When you open your life to Jesus, God's Rescuer from our sin, you receive His supernatural power to beat the darkness inside you.
My friend, Craig Smith, with whom we've worked in a lot of outreach to the Native people of North America, has a powerful story to tell from his own family. His Ojibwe grandfather was, like generations before him, an alcoholic and a very angry and violent man. Craig's grandmother was one of the first of her tribe to give her heart to Christ. Her husband was so amazed by the change in his wife that he wanted her Jesus, and from that day on, he never touched alcohol again. He was what the Bible calls a "new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Craig's children, all Christ-loving college graduates, are the fourth generation who have lived totally different lives because one man chose Christ. And the farther each generation gets from the garbage of the past, the more it loses its hold. We have seen that miracle happen over and over again in the lives of countless Native American young people who were on the same road to destruction so many around them had taken, until they met the Liberator, and that is Jesus Christ.
He's waiting to do that miracle for you. If you want that new beginning that only Jesus can give, would you tell Him that today? Many people have gone to our website and found a lot of help there in beginning their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's actually why it's there. And I've tried to explain the best way I can the information you need to know that you belong to Him. I want to invite you to check it out today. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can today.
There have been enough people in that line that ends up going nowhere, haven't there, and hurting the people who follow? This very day, Jesus can begin to make you the first person in a whole new line that will change the future for generations to come!
Monday, November 23, 2009
1 Samuel 8, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 23
Praise to God
Let us always offer to God our sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews 13:15 (NCV)
You are a great God.
Your character is holy.
Your truth is absolute.
Your strength is unending.
Your discipline is fair. . . .
Your provisions are abundant for our needs.
Your light is adequate for our path.
Your grace is sufficient for our sins. . . .
You are never early, never late. . . .
You sent your Son in the fullness of time and will return at the consummation
of time.
Your plan is perfect.
Bewildering. Puzzling. Troubling.
But perfect.
From: “He Reminded Us of You
(A prayer for a friend)
Copyright Max Lucado
1 Samuel 8
Israel Asks for a King
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [c] us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [d] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Samuel 18:31-19:4 (New International Version)
31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! The LORD has delivered you today from all who rose up against you."
32 The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"
The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man."
33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!"
2 Samuel 19
1 Joab was told, "The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom." 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, "The king is grieving for his son." 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"
November 23, 2009
Preventing Regret
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Samuel 18:31–19:4
The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. —2 Samuel 18:33
In the 1980s, the British band Mike and the Mechanics recorded a powerful song titled, “The Living Years.” The songwriter mourns his father’s death, because their relationship had been strained and marked by silence rather than sharing. The singer remorsefully says, “I didn’t get to tell him all the things I had to say.” Struggling with regret over words unsaid and love unexpressed, he laments, “I just wish I could have told him in the living years.”
King David similarly regretted his broken relationship with his son Absalom. Angered over David’s refusal to punish Amnon for raping his sister Tamar, Absalom killed Amnon and fled (2 Sam. 13:21-34). David’s servant Joab knew that he longed to go to his fugitive son, so he arranged for Absalom to be brought to him. But their relationship was never the same again. Absalom’s bitterness sparked a conflict that ended with his death (18:14). It was a bitter victory for King David, causing him to lament his lost son and their failed relationship (18:33). No amount of grieving, however, could undo David’s heartache.
We can learn from David’s regret when dealing with broken relationships. The pain of trying to make things right can be hard. But it’s much better to do what we can to make things right “in the living years.” — Bill Crowder
For Further Study
Do you have a strained relationship with someone?
For help, read on the Internet What Do You Do With A Broken Relationship? at www.discoveryseries.org/q0703
A broken relationship can be repaired— but only if you’re willing to try.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 23, 2009
The Distraction of Contempt
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16 ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19 ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Noise of Neglect - #5966
Monday, November 23, 2009
Okay, let's face it, I'm mechanically challenged. Oh, I can take care of the basics on a car, but if it's beyond "A, B, C," I need outside help. Sometimes your car starts talking to you, making these strange sounds, and doing these strange things. I've noticed those things don't go away by themselves. Over time, those noises get louder; those strange things that it does come more often. Sometimes, it's just natural - just like us. You know, cars get old, parts start wearing out. But sometimes that noise and trouble can be avoided.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Noise of Neglect."
When you fail to maintain your car, when you neglect that buggy, it's going to start making some strange noises and doing some strange things. So do people; especially if the people is a woman who has committed her life to a man she married. If she starts making strange noises and doing some strange things, the cause may well be that silent destroyer called neglect.
Maybe there's a man listening today who's been wondering, "What's the deal with my wife? She's becoming more stressed, more shrill, more negative, more hostile, more of a nag. Something's obviously wrong with the girl." Or maybe not. Maybe she's showing the signs of neglect of a husband who promised his life to her but has little or no time for her, to really hear her heart - to find out where she's hurting or anxious inside, to find out what she really needs. There are few things more heartbreaking and more hurtful to a woman than an inattentive husband. And even though I assume you love her, that inattentive, distracted husband might be you. And the malfunctions and strange sounds are really the result of your neglect.
God makes very clear the kind of treatment and priority He expects a man to give to the woman he married. In 1 Peter 3:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "Husbands...be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." The New Living Translation says, "Give honor to your wives. Treat them with understanding as you live together."
Look at the action words: consider her - take her needs and feelings into consideration. Treat her with respect. That means listening to her; regarding her as someone important. She's supposed to be, after all, the most important voice on earth to you. Are some other voices drowning hers out? And treat her like a fellow-heir in God's family. We're talking royal treatment here. How much does this matter to God? He says if you don't treat her like this, don't expect Him to answer your prayers!
Could it be this woman you committed to cherish and honor is feeling ignored, marginalized and unheard? Maybe you've been trying to avoid conflict by not communicating with her on difficult subjects. All that does is postpone and intensify the conflict and leave her feeling frozen out. And it's getting harder for her to trust you.
It's in your power to change it, though, to put your wife back where you once had her, in the center of your affections, in the center of your attention. It begins by making it a commitment to give her all of you - your undivided attention - at least once a day. Don't let others push her out, leaving her with your leftovers. She deserves your best. You promised.
The woman you married is a flower that can flourish with your care or wither with your neglect. She needs you. She was wired by God to need you. And you need her. Tell her that. Tell her you're sorry for so often running past her instead of running to her. And tell her, "Honey, I'm home," because you've been away too long.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 23
Praise to God
Let us always offer to God our sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews 13:15 (NCV)
You are a great God.
Your character is holy.
Your truth is absolute.
Your strength is unending.
Your discipline is fair. . . .
Your provisions are abundant for our needs.
Your light is adequate for our path.
Your grace is sufficient for our sins. . . .
You are never early, never late. . . .
You sent your Son in the fullness of time and will return at the consummation
of time.
Your plan is perfect.
Bewildering. Puzzling. Troubling.
But perfect.
From: “He Reminded Us of You
(A prayer for a friend)
Copyright Max Lucado
1 Samuel 8
Israel Asks for a King
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [c] us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [d] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Samuel 18:31-19:4 (New International Version)
31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! The LORD has delivered you today from all who rose up against you."
32 The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?"
The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man."
33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!"
2 Samuel 19
1 Joab was told, "The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom." 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, "The king is grieving for his son." 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"
November 23, 2009
Preventing Regret
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Samuel 18:31–19:4
The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. —2 Samuel 18:33
In the 1980s, the British band Mike and the Mechanics recorded a powerful song titled, “The Living Years.” The songwriter mourns his father’s death, because their relationship had been strained and marked by silence rather than sharing. The singer remorsefully says, “I didn’t get to tell him all the things I had to say.” Struggling with regret over words unsaid and love unexpressed, he laments, “I just wish I could have told him in the living years.”
King David similarly regretted his broken relationship with his son Absalom. Angered over David’s refusal to punish Amnon for raping his sister Tamar, Absalom killed Amnon and fled (2 Sam. 13:21-34). David’s servant Joab knew that he longed to go to his fugitive son, so he arranged for Absalom to be brought to him. But their relationship was never the same again. Absalom’s bitterness sparked a conflict that ended with his death (18:14). It was a bitter victory for King David, causing him to lament his lost son and their failed relationship (18:33). No amount of grieving, however, could undo David’s heartache.
We can learn from David’s regret when dealing with broken relationships. The pain of trying to make things right can be hard. But it’s much better to do what we can to make things right “in the living years.” — Bill Crowder
For Further Study
Do you have a strained relationship with someone?
For help, read on the Internet What Do You Do With A Broken Relationship? at www.discoveryseries.org/q0703
A broken relationship can be repaired— but only if you’re willing to try.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 23, 2009
The Distraction of Contempt
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16 ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19 ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Noise of Neglect - #5966
Monday, November 23, 2009
Okay, let's face it, I'm mechanically challenged. Oh, I can take care of the basics on a car, but if it's beyond "A, B, C," I need outside help. Sometimes your car starts talking to you, making these strange sounds, and doing these strange things. I've noticed those things don't go away by themselves. Over time, those noises get louder; those strange things that it does come more often. Sometimes, it's just natural - just like us. You know, cars get old, parts start wearing out. But sometimes that noise and trouble can be avoided.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Noise of Neglect."
When you fail to maintain your car, when you neglect that buggy, it's going to start making some strange noises and doing some strange things. So do people; especially if the people is a woman who has committed her life to a man she married. If she starts making strange noises and doing some strange things, the cause may well be that silent destroyer called neglect.
Maybe there's a man listening today who's been wondering, "What's the deal with my wife? She's becoming more stressed, more shrill, more negative, more hostile, more of a nag. Something's obviously wrong with the girl." Or maybe not. Maybe she's showing the signs of neglect of a husband who promised his life to her but has little or no time for her, to really hear her heart - to find out where she's hurting or anxious inside, to find out what she really needs. There are few things more heartbreaking and more hurtful to a woman than an inattentive husband. And even though I assume you love her, that inattentive, distracted husband might be you. And the malfunctions and strange sounds are really the result of your neglect.
God makes very clear the kind of treatment and priority He expects a man to give to the woman he married. In 1 Peter 3:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "Husbands...be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." The New Living Translation says, "Give honor to your wives. Treat them with understanding as you live together."
Look at the action words: consider her - take her needs and feelings into consideration. Treat her with respect. That means listening to her; regarding her as someone important. She's supposed to be, after all, the most important voice on earth to you. Are some other voices drowning hers out? And treat her like a fellow-heir in God's family. We're talking royal treatment here. How much does this matter to God? He says if you don't treat her like this, don't expect Him to answer your prayers!
Could it be this woman you committed to cherish and honor is feeling ignored, marginalized and unheard? Maybe you've been trying to avoid conflict by not communicating with her on difficult subjects. All that does is postpone and intensify the conflict and leave her feeling frozen out. And it's getting harder for her to trust you.
It's in your power to change it, though, to put your wife back where you once had her, in the center of your affections, in the center of your attention. It begins by making it a commitment to give her all of you - your undivided attention - at least once a day. Don't let others push her out, leaving her with your leftovers. She deserves your best. You promised.
The woman you married is a flower that can flourish with your care or wither with your neglect. She needs you. She was wired by God to need you. And you need her. Tell her that. Tell her you're sorry for so often running past her instead of running to her. And tell her, "Honey, I'm home," because you've been away too long.
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