Song of Songs 7, Bible Reading and Devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: We’re God’s Idea

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

We’re God’s idea.  His face.  His eyes.  His hands.  His touch.  We are him!

Look deeply into the face of every human being on earth and you’ll see his likeness.  Though some appear to be distant relatives, they’re not.  God has no cousins, only children.

You aren’t an accident or an incident; you’re a gift to the world.  A divine work of art—signed by God.

One of the best gifts I ever received is a football jersey signed by thirty former professional quarterbacks.  For all I know it was bought at a discount sports store.  What makes it unique are the signatures.

The same is true with us.  What makes us special is not our body, but the signature of God on our lives.  We’re his works of art, created in his image.

Significant, not because of what we do, but because of whose we are!

‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  Psalm 139:14”

Song of Songs

7 [c]How beautiful your sandaled feet,
    O prince’s daughter!
Your graceful legs are like jewels,
    the work of an artist’s hands.
2 Your navel is a rounded goblet
    that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
    encircled by lilies.
3 Your breasts are like two fawns,
    like twin fawns of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon
    by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
    looking toward Damascus.
5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
    Your hair is like royal tapestry;
    the king is held captive by its tresses.
6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!
7 Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9     and your mouth like the best wine.
She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.[d]
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.[e]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards
    to see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
    and if the pomegranates are in bloom —
    there I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.
8 If only you were to me like a brother,
    who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
    I would kiss you,
    and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you
    and bring you to my mother’s house —
    she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    the nectar of my pomegranates.
3 His left arm is under my head
    and his right arm embraces me.
4 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
    Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.
Friends

5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
    leaning on her beloved?
She

Under the apple tree I roused you;
    there your mother conceived you,
    there she who was in labor gave you birth.
6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy[f] unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.[g]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it[h] would be utterly scorned.
Friends

8 We have a little sister,
    and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
    we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
    we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
She

10 I am a wall,
    and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
    like one bringing contentment.
11 Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
    he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
    a thousand shekels[i] of silver.
12 But my own vineyard is mine to give;
    the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
    and two hundred[j] are for those who tend its fruit.
He

13 You who dwell in the gardens
    with friends in attendance,
    let me hear your voice!
She

14 Come away, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
    on the spice-laden mountains.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Proverbs 16:20-25

20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,[a]
    and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
21 The wise in heart are called discerning,
    and gracious words promote instruction.[b]
22 Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,
    but folly brings punishment to fools.
23 The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,
    and their lips promote instruction.[c]
24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
25 There is a way that appears to be right,
    but in the end it leads to death.

My Way?

April 30, 2012 — by Dave Branon

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. —Proverbs 16:25

Think about the worst intellectual matchups possible. For instance, what if we put Albert Einstein in a room with a first-grader to debate the theory of relativity? Or how about George Washington Carver versus a middle-schooler discussing biochemical engineering?

It’s silly to think of putting these pairs together for discussions. One is the ultimate expert; the other would know little if anything about the topic.

Here’s another one: God versus anyone arguing about His plan for mankind. Now we’re talking mismatch! Yet we often hear of people trying to explain away God’s matchless wisdom and how their way is better than His.

I received a letter from a man in prison who said: “I came to the point in my life where I finally accepted the fact that God is real and the Creator of everything. I grew tired of trying to do things my way. When I started humbling myself and accepting God’s Word, I found the answer.”

How ridiculous to reject God’s plan of salvation because we think we know better! Only by placing our trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins can we be reconciled to God (John 14:6; Rom 3:23; 6:23). Are you still trying to do things your own way, thinking you know best? (Prov. 16:25). Agree with God and go His way.

There aren’t many ways into heaven;
The Bible says there’s only one:
Confessing Christ Jesus as Savior,
Believing in God’s only Son. —Sper
Jesus is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is He the best of several ways; He is the only way. —Tozer


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 30, 2012

Spontaneous Love

Love suffers long and is kind . . . —1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is not premeditated—it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, “Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe.” No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.
The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it “has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5).
If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don’t love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Out of Service - #6601

Monday, April 30, 2012

If you've ever spent a lot of time in the city, you may have had the experience of waiting for a bus. You know, you've got a couple of packages, it's cold, some weird people are starting to cruise by for the second time, and suddenly you see the dim outline of a bus on the horizon. Biblically "your heart leapeth within you" as you see the bus approaching. Finally it gets close enough for you to read the sign in the window, and there are three words "Out of Service." Oh! Three very discouraging words.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of Service."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:6-7, a very interesting valedictory on Paul's life. Now, if you've ever tried to ride a bus, you may know how it feels to need a vehicle and find out that it's out of service. You know, not available for you to use? Well, God knows that feeling too.

And that takes us to Paul here at the end of his lifetime run. He has every right to rest. I mean, he has served the Lord with all his heart. He has every right to retire; move to Florida. He has every right to leave the battles to someone else; to hang out his sign that says, "Out of Service." Well, listen to what he says. "I am being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Wow!

Paul's picture at the end of his life, after 30 years of giving all he had to give, he said, "I still am. I'm still being poured out like a drink offering." I see an Olympic runner with veins bulging and every sweat gland pumping, fully extended, nothing left. He says, "When I cross the finish line into Jesus' arms, I want to collapse into His arms with nothing left in my pockets, nothing left in my energy. I will give it all to the finish line." Man!

Paul simply will not retire spiritually until he gets retired by his Lord to heaven. Well, that's the attitude we all should share, but we don't sometimes. Right? Oh, maybe you've worked hard for the Lord, you've done a lot of the jobs there are to do, and you're kind of tired. Now you're saying, "I think I've earned a little time out; I think I've earned a rest. Let's pass it on to others. I served my time."

Whoa! We don't have enough time to serve. Maybe 70 or 80 years is all we've got to make our mark for eternity. Please! There's too much to do; there's too few to do it. We need the seasoned leaders. Yeah, they're tired, but you've got experience. We need you. Don't hang out an "Out of Service" sign.

Maybe you're just really busy surviving, keeping your head above water. You say, "I don't have any time to serve the Lord. Maybe later, but, you know, right now someone else." Are you out of service? This life; this brief 70 years is all we have to do God's work on earth; to build something that we'll have for a hundred million years - to make a difference.


We're here to live poured-out lives, holding nothing back. We might retire to a different location, but never retiring from the front lines until God calls us home. You want to re-tire, that means to put new tires on so you can keep on going; get re-tired.

God is looking for human vehicles that He can use for heaven's sake. Don't pull up in front of Jesus with a sign that says "Out of Service."

Song of Songs 6, Bible Reading and Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: God is for You

“God is the strength of my heart.”  Psalm 73:26, NKJV

God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He’s picking you up. God is for you.

Song of Songs 6

Friends

6 Where has your beloved gone,
    most beautiful of women?
Which way did your beloved turn,
    that we may look for him with you?
She

2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
    to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
    he browses among the lilies.
He

4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,
    as majestic as troops with banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.
7 Your temples behind your veil
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.
8 Sixty queens there may be,
    and eighty concubines,
    and virgins beyond number;
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.
Friends

10 Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?
He

11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
    to look at the new growth in the valley,
to see if the vines had budded
    or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.[a]
Friends

13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite;
    come back, come back, that we may gaze on you!
He

Why would you gaze on the Shulammite
    as on the dance of Mahanaim?[b]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 142

A maskil[b] of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

1 I cry aloud to the Lord;
    I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out before him my complaint;
    before him I tell my trouble.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
    it is you who watch over my way.
In the path where I walk
    people have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look and see, there is no one at my right hand;
    no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
    no one cares for my life.
5 I cry to you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Listen to my cry,
    for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my prison,
    that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
    because of your goodness to me.

A Long And Winding Path

April 29, 2012 — by David H. Roper

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. —Psalm 142:3

Sometimes the path of life seems impossibly steep and lengthy. I have no strength and no will for the journey. Then I remember God knew this path long before I was called to walk it. He has always known the difficulties I would experience, the pain that I could never explain to another. He knows and offers His presence.

Perhaps you’re overwhelmed with sadness today. It may be the weight of a difficult ministry; the worry of a hard marriage; the sorrow of a struggling child; the care of an aging parent; other troubles that come with life. “Surely,” you say, “God would not have me walk this way. There must be another, easier path for me to travel.”

But are any of us wise enough to know that some other way would make us into better and wiser children? No, our Father in heaven knows the best path, out of all possible paths, to bring us to completion (Ps. 142:3).

His ways are higher than our ways; His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:9). We can humbly take the path He has marked out for us today, and do so in absolute trust in His infinite wisdom and love. He is wiser and more loving than we can ever know. He who sees has foreseen and will not lead us astray.

Be still and know that He is God
For pathways steep and rough;
Not what He brings, but what He is
Will always be enough. —Anon.
God will never lead you down a wrong path.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 29, 2012

Gracious Uncertainty

. . . it has not yet been revealed what we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life—gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “. . . believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in—but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

Acts 7, Bible Reading and Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: All Authority

“He ranks higher than everything that has been made.”  Colossians 1:15

Authority over everything? Find an exception. Peter’s mother-in-law has a fever; Jesus rebukes it. A tax needs to be paid; Jesus pays it by sending first a coin and then a fisherman’s hook into the mouth of a fish. When five thousand stomachs growl, Jesus renders a boy’s basket a bottomless buffet. Jesus exudes authority. He bats an eyelash, and nature jumps. No one argues when, at the end of his earthly life, the God-man declares, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18, NASB).

Acts 7:1-21
New International Version (NIV)
Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

7 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a]

4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Esther 7:1-10

Haman Impaled

7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted. ”

3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]”

5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits[b] stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

Self-Destructive Hatred

April 28, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

Repay no one evil for evil. —Romans 12:17

George Washington Carver (1864–1943) overcame terrible racial prejudice to establish himself as a renowned American educator. Spurning the temptation to give in to bitterness for the way he was treated, Carver wisely wrote, “Hate within will eventually destroy the hater.”

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In the book of Esther, we see how self-destructive hatred can be. Mordecai, a Jew, refused to bow down before Haman—a self-important dignitary in the Persian court. This angered Haman, who manipulated information to make Mordecai and his people appear as threats to the empire (3:8-9). When his scheming was complete, Haman called on the Persian king to kill all the Jews. The king proclaimed an edict to that effect, but before it could be carried out, Esther intervened and Haman’s devious plot was revealed (7:1-6). Enraged, the king had Haman executed on gallows the schemer had built for Mordecai (7:7-10).

Carver’s words and Haman’s actions remind us that hatred is self-destructive. The biblical response is to turn hatred around and return good for evil. “Repay no one evil for evil,” Paul said (Rom. 12:17). When offended, “do not avenge yourselves” (v.19). Instead, do what is right (v.17) that you may live “peaceably with all men” (v.18).

Harboring hatred in the heart
Will not lead to success;
But following truth and love and grace
Will lead to blessedness. —Hess
Hatred promotes self-destruction;
love fulfills Christ’s instruction.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 28, 2012


What You Will Get

I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go —Jeremiah 45:5

This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him— “I will give your life to you . . . .” What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. “. . . your life . . . as a prize . . .” means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go— the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?” Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, “I will give your life to you as a prize . . . .” The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything— they have not been given their life “as a prize.” The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough.

Song of Songs 5, Bible reading and Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: His Forgetful Natue

“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. ?Psalm 103:12”

Recently I was thanking the Father for his mercy.  And I began listing the sins he’d forgiven.  “Remember the time I…” But I stopped.  Something was wrong.  It didn’t fit.
Does he remember?

Then I remembered.  I remembered his words in Hebrews 8:12: “And I will remember their sins no more.”  Wow!

God doesn’t just forgive, he forgets.  He erases the board.  He destroys the evidence.
He burns the microfilm.  He clears the computer.  He doesn’t remember!

No, he doesn’t, but I do, you do.  That horrid lie.  The time you exploded in anger.  That date.  That jealousy.  That habit.  Spiteful specters that slyly suggest, “Are you really forgiven?”

Do you think God was teasing when he said, “I will remember your sins no more?”  Of course you don’t.  You and I just need an occasional reminder of God’s nature.  His
forgetful nature!

5 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
    I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
    I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Friends

Eat, friends, and drink;
    drink your fill of love.
She

2 I slept but my heart was awake.
    Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
    my dove, my flawless one.
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”
3 I have taken off my robe—
    must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet—
    must I soil them again?
4 My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening;
    my heart began to pound for him.
5 I arose to open for my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
6 I opened for my beloved,
    but my beloved had left; he was gone.
    My heart sank at his departure.[c]
I looked for him but did not find him.
    I called him but he did not answer.
7 The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.
They beat me, they bruised me;
    they took away my cloak,
    those watchmen of the walls!
8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you —
    if you find my beloved,
what will you tell him?
    Tell him I am faint with love.
Friends

9 How is your beloved better than others,
    most beautiful of women?
How is your beloved better than others,
    that you so charge us?
She

10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
    outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is purest gold;
    his hair is wavy
    and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves
    by the water streams,
washed in milk,
    mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spice
    yielding perfume.
His lips are like lilies
    dripping with myrrh.
14 His arms are rods of gold
    set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
    decorated with lapis lazuli.
15 His legs are pillars of marble
    set on bases of pure gold.
His appearance is like Lebanon,
    choice as its cedars.
16 His mouth is sweetness itself;
    he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, this is my friend,
    daughters of Jerusalem.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Luke 9:57-62

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

A Call To Commitment

April 27, 2012 — by David C. McCasland

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. —Luke 9:62

Many health and fitness centers expect a flood of people to join every January who will come only a few times. They don’t mind if people pay the fee and never return. But fitness trainer Jesse Jones takes the opposite approach. If you sign up and don’t show up, he will terminate your membership. Jones says, “Save your money. Come see me in a few months when you’re serious. My passion is not for another three-month payment . . . we’re making people accountable to reach their goals.”

In Luke 9:57-62, we encounter three people who told Jesus they wanted to follow Him, and all received what seem to be harsh replies from the Lord: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (v.58). “Let the dead bury their own dead” (v.60). “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (v.62). For each person, Jesus stated the sacrifice and commitment required to become His disciple.

A man I admire as a dedicated and sensitive follower of Christ says that Christians need to be “ready for radical commitment and change.” The Lord calls us not only to leave the status quo, but also to take that calling seriously by following Him.

Lord, I want to be sold out for You. I want to
love You with my whole heart, soul, mind, and
strength. Give me the power to be who You want me
to be, and to walk in Your ways.
Following Jesus demands our all.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 27, 2012

What Do You Want?

Do you seek great things for yourself? —Jeremiah 45:5

Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.
If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.” And instantly God puts His finger on the reason-you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.
Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, “Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit”? If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He’s continually working out His ultimate perfection for you— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Most Powerful Magnet In the World - #6600

Friday, April 27, 2012

Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of northern New Jersey. Seventy thousand people descending on the New York Giants football game with cars clogging every artery anywhere near the stadium. Sometimes I was one of those crazy people! And all across the New York area, countless others did nothing that afternoon but watch television to see what was going on there at the Meadowlands. It's like that stadium has a giant magnet inside it, with the power to pull multitudes of people to focus on one place and on one event.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Powerful Magnet In the World."

For 2,000 years, there has been a magnet that has captured the hearts of millions of people, pulling people from every generation, every background, every corner of the world to one man. That man is Jesus Christ, and that magnet is an old rugged cross on a hill called Skull Hill, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. Even in our day, one of Hollywood's great blockbuster movies was "The Passion of the Christ," a vivid portrayal of the death of Jesus; the power of that cross to still move millions of people.

That should come as no surprise really. Jesus said it would happen before He ever died. In John 12:32-33, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." Then the Bible goes on to explain His meaning: "He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die." So, Jesus said, "If I am lifted up on a cross, I'll draw people to Myself."

And, sure enough, for 20 centuries, His love poured out on that tree, has melted the hardest hearts and brought hope to the most hopeless hearts. If many people aren't being drawn to Him, maybe it's because those of us who know Him have been lifting up something other than Jesus and His cross; like our church, our denomination, our politics, our programs, our causes - even ourselves.

Since that brutal day on Skull Hill, a lot has happened. Churches have been built in Jesus' name, a religion bearing His name has spread across the world, rituals and creeds and ceremonies have grown up around His teachings. A lot of good, and too much that wasn't good, has been done in His name. But a trip back to that blood-stained cross strips away all the Christianity that has grown up around Christ over the centuries, and takes us back to what the central issue is for you and me.

It's you; it's me standing at the foot of that cross, looking into the face of the Son of God that has been beaten virtually beyond recognition. It's you or me watching the blood trickle down from a crown of thorns jammed into His forehead; the spikes in His hands and feet. Beyond all the religious things you've done in His name, beyond those Christians who may have hurt you or confused you, beyond all the facts about Jesus you have in your head - there's that man dying on that cross. And there's you, one of the people He's dying for, to pay for every wrong thing you have ever done. Your eternity will not be decided by what you do with Christianity or with Christians. It will be decided by what you do with Christ.

This very day, I invite you to walk with me up Skull Hill, to stand there and say the two words that are the difference between heaven and hell, "for me." Maybe you've missed that decisive step of actually giving yourself to the man who died for you; of abandoning your trust in anything else to make it with God and to put all your trust in Jesus. Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, you died for me. I can trust you. I'm Yours." And you won't just be believing in Jesus. No, you'll finally belong to Him.


And if that's what you want, I'd invite you to visit our website. I've got a brief and simple explanation there of how you get started with Jesus Christ. You can listen to it or you can read it there. It's YoursForLife.net.

On the day you stand before God, there's only one thing He's going to ask you. "What did you do with My Son and His death for you on that cross?" You could settle that question today.

Song of Songs 4, Bible reading and Devotionals

Click to listen to God's teaching.
Max Lucado Daily: Whoever Includes You

“For God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16”

Whoever!  A word that is God’s wonderful word of welcome.

I love to hear my wife say, “whoever!”  Especially when I detect my favorite frangrance wafting from the kitchen:  strawberry cake!  I follow that smell like a bird dog follows a trail, until I’m standing over the just-baked pan of pure pleasure!  Yet, I’ve learned to still my fork until Denalyn gives clearance.

“Who is it for?”  I ask.  She might break my heart.  “It’s for a birthday party, Max, don’t touch it!”  Or “it’s for a friend.  Stay away!”

Or she might throw open the door of delight and say,  “Whoever!”  And since I qualify as a ‘whoever,” I say, “yes!”

I so hope you will too.  Not ‘yes’ to cake, but to God.  However.  Whenever.  Wherever.  Whoever includes you—forever!

Song of Songs 4

   He

 1 How beautiful you are, my darling!
   Oh, how beautiful!
   Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
   descending from the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
   coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
   not one of them is alone.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
   your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
   are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
   built with courses of stone[a];
on it hang a thousand shields,
   all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
   like twin fawns of a gazelle
   that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
   and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
   there is no flaw in you.

 8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
   come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
   from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions’ dens
   and the mountain haunts of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
   you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
   with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
   How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume
   more than any spice!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
   milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments
   is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
   you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
   with choice fruits,
   with henna and nard,
 14 nard and saffron,
   calamus and cinnamon,
   with every kind of incense tree,
   with myrrh and aloes
   and all the finest spices.
15 You are[b] a garden fountain,
   a well of flowing water
   streaming down from Lebanon.

   She

 16 Awake, north wind,
   and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
   that its fragrance may spread everywhere.
Let my beloved come into his garden
   and taste its choice fruits.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: James 1:19-27

Listening and Doing

 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

True Religion

April 26, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. —James 1:27

I recently saw an ad for a brand of clothing geared toward youth. It consists of blue jeans and all the accessories designed to go with them. There is nothing novel about that. What got my attention, however, was the name of this clothing line. It is called “True Religion.” That caused me to stop and think. Why was that name chosen? Am I missing some deeper significance? What is the connection between a brand of jeans and true religion? What do they mean by it? My musings left me with questions for which I had no answers.

I am thankful that the book of James is clear when describing true religion or true faith: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (1:27). That is refreshing. “True religion”—genuine faith—is an expression of how we relate to our God. One evidence of our new identity in Christ is the way we care for one another—reaching to the most frail and vulnerable among us, to those most in need of help.

True religion is not a garment to be taken on and off. It is a lofty challenge about how we live before a holy God and others.

True religion is to know
The love that Christ imparts;
True religion is to show
His love to burdened hearts. —D. De Haan
You don’t advertise your religion by wearing a label—
you do it by living a life.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 26, 2012


The Supreme Climb

Take now your son . . . and offer him . . . as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you —Genesis 22:2

A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed-for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.
The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go . . . both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Hurricane Heroes - #6599

Thursday, April 26, 2012

As Hurricane Irene took aim on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I flashed back to an old white frame building there. And to the story I heard there that has followed me ever since.

Our family vacation took us to those beautiful Hatteras beaches and to the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. That's where I heard about, and saw demonstrated by re-enactors, the heroism of the United States Life-Saving Service.

They call that stretch of shoreline the "Graveyard of the Atlantic." Hundreds of ships have gone down there, victims of that Cape's violent storms; it's treacherous shoals. But many who would have been buried in that "graveyard" made it out alive. Those people survived, because of the men of the Life-Saving Service. They call them the "surf men." They risk their lives again and again, heading into deadly storms in these little boats, to do whatever it took to save the people on a sinking ship.

The motto of the Life-Saving Service is tattooed on my soul: "You have to go out. You don't have to come back."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hurricane Heroes."

Those guys have shown me the meaning of rescue - the life mission of my Jesus, because He came "to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10) He said. And in our word for today from the Word of God, John 20:20, Jesus says, "As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you." So, if you belong to Jesus, He is sending you into the surf and the storm to do what He did; to risk whatever you must to save a life.

The life-saving station is a great place to get strong for the rescue; to bring people back to when they've been rescued. But, you know, never in the history of the Life-Saving Service did anyone ever knock on the door and say, "I'm drowning. Could you please come and save me?" No! No, in every case, the rescuers had to leave the comfort of the life-saving station and go where the dying people were. Just like our Jesus. He left the greatest Comfort Zone in the universe to come to our "graveyard" to die.

So how can I, for whom He sacrificed so much, let my comfort and my fears decide what I will do? He has commanded me in Proverbs 24, to "rescue those who are being led away to death" (Proverbs 24:11).


And how much longer can we, as His Church, just keep waiting for the dying people to come to us? They're not. We have to take the life-saving Gospel of Jesus outside the walls of the life-saving station; to the street, to the office, to the plant, to the campus, the neighborhood, our service club, that nursing home, take it to the jail, take it to the gym. How can we be content any longer to sit inside our stained glass cocoon while just outside so many are dying in the storm?

We have to go out. We don't have to come back.

Acts 6, Bible reading and Devotionals.

Click to listen to God's teaching.
Max Lucado Daily: Missing the Target

“Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Psalm 32:1”

One year my brother got a BB gun for Christmas.  We spent the afternoon shooting at an archery target.  When he decided to try it looking over his shoulder, he missed.  He also missed the storehouse behind the target and the fence behind the storehouse.  We had no idea where that BB went.

Our neighbor across the alley knew!  He was at our back fence asking who’d shot the BB gun and who was going to pay for his sliding glass door.  I disowned my brother, changed my last name and claimed to be a visitor from Canada.  My father, more noble than I, said, “Yes, these are my children and I’ll pay for their mistakes.”

Christ says the same about you.  He knows you miss the target.  He knows you can’t pay for your mistakes.  But he can.

And since he loves you—he did!

Acts 6

The Choosing of the Seven

 1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Stephen Seized

 8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Joel 2:18-27

The LORD’s Answer

 18 Then the LORD was jealous for his land
   and took pity on his people.
 19 The LORD replied[a] to them:

   “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,
   enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
   an object of scorn to the nations.

 20 “I will drive the northern horde far from you,
   pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
   and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stench will go up;
   its smell will rise.”

   Surely he has done great things!
 21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
   be glad and rejoice.
Surely the LORD has done great things!
 22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
   for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
   the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
   rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
   because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
   both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
   the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

 25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
   the great locust and the young locust,
   the other locusts and the locust swarm[b]—
my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
   and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
   who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
   that I am the LORD your God,
   and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

Everything Is Beautiful

April 25, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. —Joel 2:25

The beauty of the black lacy design against the pastel purple and orange background grabbed my attention. The intricacy of the fragile pattern led me to assume that it had been created by a skilled artist. As I looked more closely at the photo, however, I saw the artist admiring his work from a corner of the photo. The “artist” was a worm, and its work of art was a partially eaten leaf.

What made the image beautiful was not the destruction of the leaf but the light glowing through the holes. As I gazed at the photo, I began thinking about lives that have been eaten by the “worms” of sin. The effects are ravaging. Sin eats away at us as we suffer the consequences of our own bad choices or those of others. We are all its victims.

But the photo also reminded me of the hope we have in God. Through the prophet Joel, God said to Israel, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25). And from Isaiah we learn that the Lord appointed him to “console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes” (Isa. 61:3).

Satan does everything he can to make us ugly, but the Light of the World can make us beautiful—despite Satan’s best efforts.

Sin ravages a fruitful life
When it is not addressed;
But God restores and makes us right
Once sin has been confessed. —Sper
God doesn’t remove all of our imperfections,
but He makes us beautiful by shining through them.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 25, 2012

"Ready in Season"

Be ready in season and out of season —2 Timothy 4:2

Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to “be ready” only “out of season.” The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season.” In other words, we should “be ready” whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.
One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Splitter-Upper - #6598

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

When you have three children, of course only one can be the first, and that one becomes to the others the measuring stick for all privileges, all fairness, and all comparisons.

Now, in our family, our daughter is the oldest. The three kids would be getting along perfectly one day, and then suddenly the boys would learn about something their big sister got. Then I would hear the march of determined feet to my desk, and then those words, "How come she gets to...?"

Then the rest would be whatever they were comparing. They would discuss whatever blessing she had gotten that they had not. Actually knowing that kind of question was coming helped me make better decisions. It could help you too.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Splitter-Upper."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 27:45. We're reading about Rebekah, the mother of two boys - Jacob and Esau. Those two boys are very much against each other at this point. The older, Esau, has a tremendous grudge and even an urge to kill his younger brother, Jacob. And now Rebekah says to her younger son, "When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back." He's going to have to be sent many miles away. "Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

Man! She says, "I'm losing both of my sons." She's sending Jacob away for his own safety; Esau wants to kill him. How did they get in this mess? Well, Jacob's Mom and he have tricked Father, Isaac, into giving Jacob Esau's blessing. How did this family end up with all this hatred and conflict, deceit between a husband and wife, and a mother who's physically losing one son and emotionally losing the other?

The answer: the splitter-upper. In Genesis 25 it says at the boys' early ages, "The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob."

Did you get it? Here are two godly people who fell into the trap that divides parents from children, children from parents, employees and employers, spiritual leaders and the people they're trying to lead. It's the word partiality. It's the great splitter-upper. When my sons were asking, "How come she gets to...?" they were forcing me to take a partiality check. "Am I showing favoritism here?" It inevitably leads to conflict, bitterness, getting even, and loss of respect for the person who's been partial.

If you're a parent, you just can't afford to choose between your children. If you're a son or a daughter, you can't afford to pick one parent to be close to and the other one to kind of freeze out or ignore. In spiritual leadership you can't afford to get close to one person over another. If people work for you, you've got to treat them the same.


There's a natural attraction - a natural compatibility - sometimes between one or the other, but it can never be the basis for relationships. Rebekah lost both the insider and the outsider in her love game. You'll lose too if you fall into the favoritism trap. It's just way too expensive!

Partiality? It's the great splitter-upper.

Song of Songs 3, and Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: Surprise!

“No one has ever seen this, and no one has ever heard about it. No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. Isaiah 64:4”

For my birthday recently, Denalyn planned a surprise family evening at a restaurant.  I knew about the restaurant part, but not about the half dozen families joining us.

It had been a lazy day and I wasn’t all that eager to go out, so I suggested we postpone dinner.  Boy, was I surprised!  My family made it clear.  We were going out to eat.  Not only that, we were leaving on time.

My attitude was “why hurry?”  My daughters’ attitude was “hurry up!”  Why the big deal?  Only when we arrived did it all make sense.

Surprise!

They knew what I hadn’t.  They knew about the party—and they did everything necessary to make sure I didn’t miss it.

Jesus does the same for us.  He knows about the party.  Jesus is happiest when the lost are found.  For him, no moment is greater than the moment of salvation!

Song of Songs 3

 1 All night long on my bed
   I looked for the one my heart loves;
   I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go about the city,
   through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
   So I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
   as they made their rounds in the city.
   “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
   when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
   till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
   to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.

 6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
   like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and incense
   made from all the spices of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
   escorted by sixty warriors,
   the noblest of Israel,
8 all of them wearing the sword,
   all experienced in battle,
each with his sword at his side,
   prepared for the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
   he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
   its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
   its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
   and look, you daughters of Zion.
Look[h] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
   the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
   the day his heart rejoiced.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Proverbs 4:1-7

Get Wisdom at Any Cost

 1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
   pay attention and gain understanding.
2 I give you sound learning,
   so do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I too was a son to my father,
   still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4 Then he taught me, and he said to me,
   “Take hold of my words with all your heart;
   keep my commands, and you will live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
   do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
   love her, and she will watch over you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get[a] wisdom.
   Though it cost all you have,[b] get understanding.

Cutting A Trail

April 24, 2012 — by David C. Egner

Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding. —Proverbs 4:1

The Native Americans of Michigan were the state’s first highway route engineers. With few exceptions, Michigan’s major highways follow the trails they cut through the wilderness hundreds of years before the white man came. A trail was 12-18 inches wide, and for safety the people followed single file. Then pack horses followed these trails, widening them. Later came wagons, and the trails became dirt roads and then highways.

In a similar way, Solomon followed the trail of his father and in turn paved the way for his sons and grandsons. He did this by encouraging his sons to heed his instructions just as he had followed the sound teaching of his father (Prov. 4:4-5). So this father, giving his sons good practical and spiritual counsel, was passing on what he had learned from the boys’ grandfather, David, who was called a “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). The younger generation of believers often learns best about God from the family.

Our physical and spiritual children watch the path we’re taking. As God’s men and women, let’s make certain we cut a righteous, wise, and clear trail. Then if ongoing generations choose to follow, the trail can become a highway—an ongoing legacy to God’s glory.

Lord, as I walk my path of life,
Help my feet step straight and true;
That those who follow after me,
Will be tracking straight with You. —Egner
When we follow God, we blaze a trail
for those who would follow.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 24, 2012

The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you . . . —Luke 10:20

Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20  , Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God’s testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.
Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an “if,” never with the forceful or dogmatic statement— “You must.” Discipleship carries with it an option.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Two-Word Tranquilizer - #6597

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Some people have wall-to-wall carpet. Me? I have a wall-to-wall schedule. Maybe you do too. It was like that even when I had to take my daughter to college years ago. She had just returned from a missions trip to Manila and so had I. We had one day to get her to Chicago for college. Not only did we have to get her to school that day, but on that particular Friday, I had to produce some of these radio programs.

So I had to produce radio, deliver a daughter, I mean everything was perfectly timed. No room for anything to go wrong. And then we landed at O'Hare Airport to learn that there had been nine inches of rain over night. It closed the airport totally, flooded it closed. O'Hare was Camp O'Hare, an island for a day.

So, here were the five Hutchcrafts in a mountain of moving to college with luggage all around us. Well, my plans said I had to be at that radio studio. Uh... No, I didn't! My plan said my daughter had to be at college that day. Uh... No! In fact, thousands of people were fighting over telephones there (before cell phones) to change their plans. Every one of them probably had to be somewhere that day. No, they didn't! There are lots of days like that.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Two-Word Tranquilizer."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from James 4 - I'll begin at verse 13. "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, make money.'" Or take your daughter to college, do radio programs. You know. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

Now, I have a confession to make. For years I have been a little turned off by the people who just, you know, kind of clichéishly say, "Lord willing" every other sentence. I said that was a confession; I do confess that. You know what? I'm actually beginning to understand the peace-giving power of those two words, "Lord willing."

James says here, "When you make your plans say, "If the Lord wills, we will." See, now, I'm a planner. I want to make every time, space, and every segment of my life count. So I schedule very well, and you should. Psalm 90:12 says, "Lord, teach us to number our days aright so we may apply our hearts to wisdom." But in our wall-to-wall schedules, we rule out God's right to re-schedule our day, to interrupt, to slow us down, to cancel, and He often does.


I began to realize how much of my own stress I create by not saying, "Lord, here's my list, here's my goal, here's my plan, here's my schedule. Now, Lord, you have every right to change it, and I'll assume if it changes, the changes are from you." There is so much frustration when car trouble wrecks the plan, or illness, or a tragedy you have to respond to, or a flooded airport. But I can avoid so much frustration if I allow the God of heaven to be the Lord of my almighty, untouchable schedule. And I do that with two words, "Lord willing" spoken or unspoken, but consciously recognizing the sovereignty of Almighty God.

You can actually relax if you'll turn over the schedules and the lists of your life to Him. "Lord willing." It is for us stress filled planners a powerful two-word tranquilizer.

Song of Songs 2, Bible reading and devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: God is For You

“I have written your name on my hand! Isaiah 49:16”

Romans 8:31 asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Indulge me a moment.  Four words in this verse deserve your attention.  God is for us.

Say it out loud.  God is for us.

Repeat it, emphasizing each word.  Come on, you’re not in that big of a hurry.

God is for us!  GOD IS FOR YOU.

Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you; but within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans.  God!

God is for you!  If he had a calendar, your birthday would be circled.  If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark.

Isaiah 49:16 says, “I have written your name on my hand!”  No one can defeat you.  You are protected.  God is for you!

Song of Songs 2

   She[d]

 1 I am a rose[e] of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.

   He

 2 Like a lily among thorns
   is my darling among the young women.

   She

 3 Like an apple[f] tree among the trees of the forest
   is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
   and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
   and let his banner over me be love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples,
   for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
   and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.

 8 Listen! My beloved!
   Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
   bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
   Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
   peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said to me,
   “Arise, my darling,
   my beautiful one, come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
   the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
   the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
   is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
   the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
   my beautiful one, come with me.”

   He

 14 My dove in the clefts of the rock,
   in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
   let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
   and your face is lovely.
15 Catch for us the foxes,
   the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
   our vineyards that are in bloom.

   She

 16 My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he browses among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
   and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
   on the rugged hills.[g]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18

Final Instructions

 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

All Day With God

April 23, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher

Pray without ceasing. —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Brother Lawrence (1614–1691) felt intimately close to God as he humbly scrubbed pots and pans in the monastery kitchen. Certainly Brother Lawrence practiced specific times of devotional prayer. But what he found more life-transforming was prayer during the workday. In his devotional classic Practicing the Presence of God, he says, “It is a great delusion to think our times of prayer ought to differ from other times. We are as strictly obliged to cleave to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the season of prayer.” In short, he advocated that we “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).

That’s a helpful reminder, because sometimes we tend to compartmentalize our lives. Perhaps we pray only during church worship, small-group Bible study, family devotions, and personal quiet times. But what about during our workday? To pray on the job does not mean we have to fall to our knees with clasped hands and pray aloud. But it does mean that work decisions and relationships can be brought to God throughout the day.

Wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, God wants to be a part of it. When prayer enters every aspect of our lives, who knows what God might do for His glory!

Let’s always keep the prayer lines open,
Knowing God is always there;
For we upon His name may call
Anytime and anywhere. —D. De Haan
True prayer is a way of life, not an emergency detour!


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 23, 2012

Do You Worship The Work?

We are God’s fellow workers . . . —1 Corinthians 3:9

Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one. A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.
But the opposite case is equally true–once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone. There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work. The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. The freedom that comes after sanctification is the freedom of a child, and the things that used to hold your life down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been freed for only one thing–to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.
We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might . . .” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Beautiful But Broken - #6596

Monday, April 23, 2012

Well, it's another sad story from the "entertainment capital of the world." There's a lot of it behind all that Hollywood hype.

The sadness behind the stardom hit me again when I read about something that happened to a woman who at times, has been the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She's been married to two of Hollywood's biggest actors; she's been a cover girl on national magazines. But recently she was the subject of a friend's urgent 911 call. She was rushed to the hospital for her reaction to the dangerous drugs she was using.

Her own words in a recent interview reveal the hurting heart behind the glamour. "What scares me is that I'm going to ultimately find out at the end of my life that I'm really not loveable; that I'm not worthy of being loved. That there's something fundamentally wrong with me." And sadly, a lot of us non-celebrity types hear those words and think, "I know the feeling."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful But Broken."

We've all had disappointing relationships; people who've made us feel like we weren't "worth loving." Experiences that have caused us to conclude that there's "something wrong with me." We know the ugliness behind our smiling facade. I know all too well the things about me that are anything but loveable.

But we're made to be loved. Literally, made by God to be loved. Loved by Him. Love with two words attached that give our lonely hearts a safe harbor - unconditional, and unloseable.

God doesn't care how unloveable we are. His love isn't "I love you if..." or "I love you because..." It's just, "I love you." His love for me is all about Him and nothing about me. How do I know? Because He says in His Book, "God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners." That's our word for today from the Word of God, Romans 5:8.

God initiated the greatest act of love in the history of this planet when He sent His Son to die an unspeakable death on a cross. Not because I was so loveable, but because I was so lost. I'm a rebel against God. I defy the One who runs the universe by refusing to let Him run me. According to the Bible, we're all rebels, pushing God to the margins, dissing His laws, acting like we're God, and breaking the heart of God.

But still He loves us. He offered up His Son to do the dying for my rebellion. As the Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son..." (John 3:16). Love without conditions; love that has nothing to do with your performance or your loveableness. It's a love like no other.

And since it's all about Him and not about you or me, it's unloseable love. If God was ever going to turn His back on me, it would have been when His Son was hanging on that cross. But He turned His back on His Son, who was carrying our sin, so He would never have to turn His back on us. So, in the Bible's words, "nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

His is the only love in the world that will never disappoint you, never divorce you, never die on you. It is a love that you can finally begin to experience for yourself beginning this very day if you will respond to that love and say, "Jesus, nobody loves me like You do. You died on a cross for me. You're powerful enough to walk out of Your grave and into my life, and I want You to do that today. I'm Yours starting today."


At our website I've tried to lay out there as simply and briefly as I can how to be sure you know Jesus for yourself. Let me urge you to go there; it's YoursForLife.net.

I think of the mistakes we make and the hurt we experience looking for this love anywhere else. The little kids singing their little church song, they "get" it: "Jesus loves me, this I know." You know that when you finally open your heart to His love. And your lifetime search for love ends in His welcoming arms.

Song of Songs 1, Bible reading and Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: His Public Offer

“All of us became part of Christ when we were baptized.”  Romans 6:3

We owe God a perfect life. Perfect obedience to every command. Not just the command of baptism, but the commands of humility, honesty, integrity. We can’t deliver. Might as well charge us for the property of Manhattan. But Christ can and he did. His plunge into the Jordan is a picture of his plunge into our sin. His baptism announces, “Let me pay.”

Your baptism responds, “You bet I will.” He publicly offers. We publicly accept.

Song of Songs 1

 1 Solomon’s Song of Songs.

   She[a]

 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
   for your love is more delightful than wine.
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
   your name is like perfume poured out.
   No wonder the young women love you!
4 Take me away with you—let us hurry!
   Let the king bring me into his chambers.

   Friends

   We rejoice and delight in you[b];
   we will praise your love more than wine.

   She

   How right they are to adore you!

 5 Dark am I, yet lovely,
   daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
   like the tent curtains of Solomon.[c]
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
   because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
   and made me take care of the vineyards;
   my own vineyard I had to neglect.
7 Tell me, you whom I love,
   where you graze your flock
   and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
   beside the flocks of your friends?

   Friends

 8 If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
   follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
   by the tents of the shepherds.

   He

 9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare
   among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
   your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make you earrings of gold,
   studded with silver.

   She

 12 While the king was at his table,
   my perfume spread its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
   resting between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
   from the vineyards of En Gedi.

   He

 15 How beautiful you are, my darling!
   Oh, how beautiful!
   Your eyes are doves.

   She

 16 How handsome you are, my beloved!
   Oh, how charming!
   And our bed is verdant.

   He

 17 The beams of our house are cedars;
   our rafters are firs.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Undiscovered Country

April 22, 2012 — by Cindy Hess Kasper

The Word of God is living and powerful. —Hebrews 4:12

I studied the map as my husband and I drove up the east coast of Virginia. We were looking for any road that would take us to the seashore. Finally, I found one and we turned toward the sun.

In only a few minutes, we were laughing in delight when—just before the seashore—we happened upon a national wildlife refuge. All around us were dunes and marsh and beach grasses and an abundance of gulls, egrets, and blue herons. It was active and loud and wonderful! We had arrived at Chincoteague and Assateague Islands—famous for the annual pony swim from one island to the other. Others had realized its value and beauty long before, but to us it was undiscovered country.

The Scriptures are like “undiscovered country” to many. They have never discovered the valuable treasures found in the eternal words of the Bible. The Bible is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, exposing our innermost thoughts and desires (Heb. 4:12). It is like a lamp to illuminate our path (Ps. 119:105), and it has been given to equip us for God’s purposes (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Open the Bible and read it so you can find these treasures. It’s time . . . to discover!

Exhaustless store of treasured gems
Within this Book I hold;
And as I read, it comes alive,
New treasures to unfold. —Mortenson
Rich treasures of God’s truth
are waiting to be discovered by you.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 22, 2012

The Light That Never Fails

We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . . —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “. . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . .” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “. . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.