Psalm 106 bible reading and devotions.

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Ezekiel 36:26b- “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

From GRACE

Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
    or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,
    who always do what is right.
4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,
    come to my aid when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may share in the joy of your nation
    and join your inheritance in giving praise.
6 We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
    they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
    and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.[b]
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
    to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
    he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
    from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
    not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
    and did not wait for his plan to unfold.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
    in the wilderness they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
    but sent a wasting disease among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
    and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
    it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
    a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
    and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
    for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
    and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
    to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
    they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
    and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
    and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,
    and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
    for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,
    and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
    and rash words came from Moses’ lips.[c]
34 They did not destroy the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
    and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to false gods.
38 They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
    by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40 Therefore the Lord was angry with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hands of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
    and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
    but they were bent on rebellion
    and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
    and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.
47 Save us, Lord our God,
    and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Job 37:1-16

“At this also my heart trembles
    and leaps out of its place.
2 Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
    and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
    and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
    he thunders with his majestic voice,
    and he does not restrain the lightnings[a] when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
    he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
    likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
7 He seals up the hand of every man,
    that all men whom he made may know it.
8 Then the beasts go into their lairs,
    and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
    and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
    and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
    the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn around and around by his guidance,
    to accomplish all that he commands them
    on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction or for his land
    or for love, he causes it to happen.
14 “Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings[b] of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,

Consider The Clouds

September 7, 2012 — by David H. Roper

Do you know how the clouds are balanced? —Job 37:16

One day many years ago my boys and I were lying on our backs in the yard watching the clouds drift by. “Dad,” one asked, “why do clouds float?” “Well, son,” I began, intending to give him the benefit of my vast knowledge, but then I lapsed into silence. “I don’t know,” I admitted, “but I’ll find out for you.”

The answer, I discovered, is that condensed moisture, descending by gravity, meets warmer temperatures rising from the land. That moisture then changes into vapor and ascends back into the air. That’s a natural explanation for the phenomenon.

But natural explanations are not final answers. Clouds float because God in His wisdom has ordered the natural laws in such a way that they reveal the “wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge” (Job 37:16). Clouds then can be thought of as a symbol—an outward and visible sign of God’s goodness and grace in creation.

So someday when you’re taking some time to see what images you can imagine in the clouds, remember this: The One who made all things beautiful makes the clouds float through the air. He does so to call us to wonder and adoration. The heavens—even the cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds—declare the glory of God.

The Lord’s creation you’ll adore
As you observe each day unfold;
Let your imagination soar
As you His handiwork behold. —Branon
Creation is filled with signs that point to the Creator.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 7, 2012

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life —John 4:14

The picture our Lord described here is not that of a simple stream of water, but an overflowing fountain. Continue to “be filled” (Ephesians 5:18) and the sweetness of your vital relationship to Jesus will flow as generously out of you as it has been given to you. If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame— something is obstructing the flow. Was Jesus saying to stay focused on the Source so that you may be blessed personally? No, you are to focus on the Source so that out of you “will flow rivers of living water”— irrepressible life (John 7:38).

We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as “rivers of living water” in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus. As surely as we receive blessings from Him, He will pour out blessings through us. But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Is there anything between you and Jesus Christ? Is there anything hindering your faith in Him? If not, then Jesus says that out of you “will flow rivers of living water.” It is not a blessing that you pass on, or an experience that you share with others, but a river that continually flows through you. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.

Is it excessive to say that rivers will flow out of one individual believer? Do you look at yourself and say, “But I don’t see the rivers”? Through the history of God’s work you will usually find that He has started with the obscure, the unknown, the ignored, but those who have been steadfastly true to Jesus Christ.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The "One More Thing" Syndrome - #6695

Friday, September 7, 2012

This has got to be one of the great engineering feats in the world - packing the trunk of our car for a family trip. Oh, boy, those were the days. Maybe you can relate to that. We had a family of five; quite a challenge to get all of that luggage in one trunk. So, I would stuff every corner, trying the suitcases every which way, and then I'd see if there was something the kids could sit on during the trip. And if all else failed, I called my wife and she could figure it out. Finally, you get it all in, but just barely of course.

And then the big moment comes. There's a drum roll as I try to close the trunk, and after a couple of tries, it closes - barely! Then along comes one of the kids with one more bag I didn't know about. So, the frustrating search begins - looking for a place to put just one more thing. We would try to cram one more thing in this space that was already jammed. Wait a minute! That sounds a lot like our lives doesn't it?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'One More Thing' Syndrome."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God catches Jesus in the middle of that in Luke 4, and beginning at verse 40. It says, "When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness." Okay, His day is almost over, but it looks like it's just about to begin again. "And laying His hands on each one, He healed them." Now, listen to this, "At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him, and when they came to where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said, 'I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.' And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."

Now, here's a side of Jesus we don't often think about. Jesus knew how to say "no." Did you notice that? There were more needs; they begged Him to stay. But He said, "No, I can't." He had set His priorities, and the people were crying, "Just one more!" And He said, "No." Maybe some of us should learn to do that. We live in a constant state of being behind, I think, because of the "one more thing" syndrome.

You know, it's time to leave and we say, "Oh, just one more call; just one more email. I'll just get one more task done." And we end up frazzled, over-extended, late and not at our best. Oh, you can add peace and sanity to your life if you discipline yourself to say no to that one more thing before you go. Look at the bigger picture. There are so many needs crying for your time, for your attention, and you can only do as much as you can do well. Maybe you're doing that right now.

And then like the child running out to the over-packed trunk, "One more thing!" Why do we say yes? Usually because we underestimate the job; we don't really count the cost of what it's going to take, or we over-estimate ourselves and think it's got to be us that does it. Hey, realize you can't meet every need; not even Jesus did.

Five liberating words from the mouth of John the Baptist in John 1: "I am not the Messiah." See, God might want to develop somebody else to do it, and you'll get in the way if you do it. Maybe the people who asked you are ahead of God's schedule. Maybe you need to unpack something else before you put this in. You don't do anyone a favor by taking on more than you can really do well. You're saying to people, "Depend on me" but you know you won't be able to be dependable; not in all of that.

Now, we're telling teenagers today when it comes to drugs, "Just say no." Well, that's not just good for drugs. It's good for us responsibility addicts too. I'm one. I know. The next time you're tempted to over-commit yourself, think of that trunk that's jam packed with all that it should hold.

Have the wisdom and courage to resist that temptation to add just one more thing.