Psalm 123 bible reading and devotionals.

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Maxlucado.com: A Radical Reliance on Grace ·

One day it dawned on me.  I had become the very thing I hate:  a hypocrite.  A pretender.  Two-faced.

I’d written sermons about people like me.  Christians who care more about appearance than integrity.  I knew what I needed to do.  I’d written sermons about that, too.

1st John 1:8-9 says:  “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.”

Confession is not complaining.  If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining.  Pointing fingers at others without pointing any at me feels good, but it doesn’t promote healing.  Confession is a radical reliance on grace.  A proclamation of our trust in God’s goodness.

Great grace creates honest confession!

From GRACE

Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to you,
    to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
    as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
    for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
    of ridicule from the arrogant,
    of contempt from the proud.



Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Acts 1:1-8

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying[a] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

To The End

September 27, 2012 — by Bill Crowder

You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. —Acts 1:8

It was my first day of class at the Moscow Bible Institute where I was teaching Russian pastors. I began by asking the students to give their names and where they served, but one student shocked me as he boldly declared, “Of all the pastors, I am the most faithful to the Great Commission!” I was taken aback momentarily until, smiling, he continued, “The Great Commission says we are to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. I pastor north of the Arctic Circle in a village nicknamed ‘The End of the Earth’!” Everyone laughed and we continued with the session.

The words of that pastor, who ministered in the Yamal (which means “end of the world”) Peninsula, carry great significance. In Jesus’ final message to His disciples, He said, “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Every corner of our world, no matter how remote, must be touched by the message of the cross. The Savior died for the world—and that includes people both near and far.

Each of us has the opportunity to take the gospel to people in our “end of the earth.” No matter where you are, you can tell someone about the love of Christ. Who can you tell today?

People can’t believe in Jesus
If the gospel they don’t hear,
So we must proclaim its message
To the world—both far and near. —Sper
Any place can be the right place to witness for Christ.


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

The “Go” of Renunciation

. . . someone said to Him, ’Lord, I will follow You wherever You go’ —Luke 9:57

Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.

Luke 9:58 . These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “. . . the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Luke 9:59 . This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.

Luke 9:61 . The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but . . .,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Great Door Opener - #6709

Thursday, September 27, 2012

I had a funny conversation with the owner of a local restaurant one day. The restaurant was close to our office, so I was there pretty frequently. I usually ran in and grabbed the quickest thing I could and ran out. Well, I was at the cash register and there were two or three others waiting to pay when Tony, the owner, said, "What do you do anyway?" Well, I wanted an opportunity there, and I thought this might be the first chance I've had to really let him know that I know Christ.

On the spur of the moment I gave him what I thought was a creative answer that might get him thinking a little bit. I said, "Oh, I'm a manufacturer's representative." He said, "What?" I said, "Well, you probably want to know what manufacturer." He said, "Yeah." I said, "The manufacturer of you and me. Yeah, I represent Him." He said, "Oh, you work for my mother?" I said, "No, no, no. I work for the person who manufactured your mother, and her mother before her, and her mother before her." And I know it's an odd conversation. He said, "That's funny! You don't look Italian."

Well, we went around on this merry-go-round a couple of times, and finally I said, "Actually, I lead a Christian organization that works with young people and their families." He said, "Oh, you're one of those born again things?" I said, "Well, it depends on what you mean by that. If you mean a cult with people who have antennas, do I have any antenna? No." I said, "Do you know who said those words first?" He said, "No." I said, "You know, Jesus said those words first. He invented that whole idea. It's referred to in the Bible, and it actually refers to a brand new start you have when you come to Christ called "being born again."

Then he looked at me, and I was actually caught up short by his next comment. He explained why he had these questions about my life in the first place. He simply said, "All I know is that you're happy all the time." I thought, "Man, we are being watched." And you know, it's something pretty simple that can start something pretty eternal.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Great Door Opener."

Our word for today from the Word of God, we're in the book of Nehemiah. Now, he's a servant. Actually, a cupbearer or waiter as it were to the king. And in chapter 2 and verse 1, he says, "I had not been sad in the kings' presence, so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This could be nothing but sadness of heart.'" Of course we know that Nehemiah was very sad because he wanted to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, his home city.

"'I was very much afraid,' Nehemiah said, 'But I said to the king, "May the king live forever. Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruin?" The king said to me, 'What is it that you want?' Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king." Well, from that point on, he shares his dream, the king supports it, and the rest... well, it's miraculous history of the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.

Now, notice here the king says, "How come you're sad today?" So, apparently Nehemiah had a reputation for being a pretty happy camper at work. Do you? See, for Nehemiah, a bad mood at work must have been the exception. Is that how it is for you?

If you've ever been to an antique store, you know that something becomes more valuable as it becomes harder to find. Well, today, a smile is precious because it's getting hard to find. So much so that it eventually demands an explanation, "Hey, what kind of work do you do?" The restaurant owner said, "Well, I guess the reason you're happy all the time is you enjoy your work." I said, "No, it's because I enjoy my relationship with Him. He's the reason."

What attracted him, he said, was happiness. Let's consider your usual attitude at work or at school. Is it kind of dark, complaining, kind of a dull let's-get-through-it attitude? Or do you carry the presence of Christ into your school or your work place? Your greatest attention getter for Christ may be that you have a smile in a sea of sour. A Christian draws his joy, not from what's going on around him, but who Jesus is going on inside him. Nehemiah said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

You might be wondering how to get an open door to the people around you. You might prove that Jesus works by your smile, your consistent joy, your positive spirit.

Those are the greatest door openers in the world.