1 Chronicles 2 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: It’s Just Like Him

Think for a moment about your world.  Remember that voice, that face, that event?  Wasn’t there a time for you—maybe the birth of your child?   The tears of the widower?  The explosion of a sunset?  The impassioned sermon?   Wasn’t there a time when you heard God speak?

It isn’t the circumstance that matters; it’s God in the circumstance.  It isn’t the words; it’s God speaking them.  It wasn’t the mud that healed the eyes of the blind man; it was the finger of God in the mud.  The cradle and the cross were as common as grass.  What made them holy was the One laid upon them.

God speaks to us.   He may use a sermon.  He may inspire a conversation.  He may speak through a song.  He may even speak through this brief message.  But, isn’t that just like Him?  Oh, the lengths to which God will go to get our attention and win our affection! Listen to Him.

“Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

From A Gentle Thunder

Israel’s Sons

2 These were the sons of Israel:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Judah

To Hezron’s Sons

3 The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. 4 Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to Judah. He had five sons in all.

5 The sons of Perez:

Hezron and Hamul.

6 The sons of Zerah:

Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda[r]—five in all.

7 The son of Karmi:

Achar,[s] who brought trouble on Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things.[t]

8 The son of Ethan:

Azariah.

9 The sons born to Hezron were:

Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb.[u]

From Ram Son of Hezron

10 Ram was the father of

Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah. 11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon,[v] Salmon the father of Boaz, 12 Boaz the father of Obed and Obed the father of Jesse.

13 Jesse was the father of

Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea, 14 the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, 15 the sixth Ozem and the seventh David. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel. 17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.

Caleb Son of Hezron

18 Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah (and by Jerioth). These were her sons: Jesher, Shobab and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. 20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri the father of Bezalel.

21 Later, Hezron, when he was sixty years old, married the daughter of Makir the father of Gilead. He made love to her, and she bore him Segub. 22 Segub was the father of Jair, who controlled twenty-three towns in Gilead. 23 (But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth Jair,[w] as well as Kenath with its surrounding settlements—sixty towns.) All these were descendants of Makir the father of Gilead.

24 After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah the wife of Hezron bore him Ashhur the father[x] of Tekoa.

Jerahmeel Son of Hezron

25 The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron:

Ram his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem and[y] Ahijah. 26 Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.

27 The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel:

Maaz, Jamin and Eker.

28 The sons of Onam:

Shammai and Jada.

The sons of Shammai:

Nadab and Abishur.

29 Abishur’s wife was named Abihail, who bore him Ahban and Molid.

30 The sons of Nadab:

Seled and Appaim. Seled died without children.

31 The son of Appaim:

Ishi, who was the father of Sheshan.

Sheshan was the father of Ahlai.

32 The sons of Jada, Shammai’s brother:

Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without children.

33 The sons of Jonathan:

Peleth and Zaza.

These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.

34 Sheshan had no sons—only daughters.

He had an Egyptian servant named Jarha. 35 Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore him Attai.

36 Attai was the father of Nathan,

Nathan the father of Zabad,

37 Zabad the father of Ephlal,

Ephlal the father of Obed,

38 Obed the father of Jehu,

Jehu the father of Azariah,

39 Azariah the father of Helez,

Helez the father of Eleasah,

40 Eleasah the father of Sismai,

Sismai the father of Shallum,

41 Shallum the father of Jekamiah,

and Jekamiah the father of Elishama.

The Clans of Caleb

42 The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel:

Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and his son Mareshah,[z] who was the father of Hebron.

43 The sons of Hebron:

Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. 44 Shema was the father of Raham, and Raham the father of Jorkeam. Rekem was the father of Shammai. 45 The son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth Zur.

46 Caleb’s concubine Ephah was the mother of Haran, Moza and Gazez. Haran was the father of Gazez.

47 The sons of Jahdai:

Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah and Shaaph.

48 Caleb’s concubine Maakah was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 She also gave birth to Shaaph the father of Madmannah and to Sheva the father of Makbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Aksah. 50 These were the descendants of Caleb.

The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah:

Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim, 51 Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth Gader.

52 The descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim were:

Haroeh, half the Manahathites, 53 and the clans of Kiriath Jearim: the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites.

54 The descendants of Salma:

Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites, 55 and the clans of scribes[aa] who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, Shimeathites and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the Rekabites.[ab]


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

Give Thanks

October 22, 2012 — by Marvin Williams

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. —1 Thessalonians 5:18

In Lansing, Michigan, during the winter, we don’t get many sunny days. But last year God blessed us with one of those beautiful days, and it seemed that almost everyone was thanking God, except me. As I left my office, a man said, “What a wonderful day we’re having. This is a gift from God!” To which I replied, “Yes, but we’re getting snow later this week.” What ingratitude!

In his letters, the apostle Paul helped his readers to develop a theology of gratitude. He wrote about thanksgiving more often than any other New Testament author. From the 23 times he used the word, we learn a few lessons about thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was always directed toward God and never toward people. People were gifts from God, and Paul thanked God for their growth, love, and faith (1 Cor. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:2).

Thanksgiving is given through Jesus for everything (Col. 3:15,17). Paul believed followers of Jesus could be thankful for everything because God is sovereign, and He is working things out for the believers’ good (1 Thess. 5:18).

May we intentionally be aware of God’s gifts all around us, and respond with gratitude. In response to God’s gifts, it’s natural to say, “Thank You, Lord.”

Lord, for days that are sunny or gray we simply
want to say, Thank You! And for the daily grace
You give us in Your Son, may we always be faithful
to say, Thank You! You are so good to us.
Gratitude is a natural response to God’s grace.


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

The Witness of the Spirit

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . . —Romans 8:16

We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.

Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28 , “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden . . . .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9-13).

The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Don't Count On An Extension - #6726

Monday, October 22, 2012

Teenagers are chronic procrastinators. It really shows up when you're trying to get them to register for a camp or a retreat, which I've done plenty of. Oh, they're planning to go, but you wouldn't know it by their registration. They will wait until they hear the bus starting up to sign up. That happened at a retreat we had. There was this deadline, but many of the kids we most wanted to go, particularly for spiritual reasons, missed the deadline. Oh, we still had room. So did we take their registrations late? You bet we did. But you know, deadlines are often flexible, and it seems like you can usually get an extension. But don't count on that extension when it really, really counts.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Count On An Extension."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Proverbs 27:1. Basically it says, "Don't count on an extension." God's words go like this: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Now, I think that counsel from the Scriptures is most urgent when it comes to that tug in your heart that seems to be pulling you in the direction of Jesus. Maybe you've felt that. See, that's the Holy Spirit making it possible for you to surrender yourself to your Savior. According to the Scripture, if He stops calling you, you'll never know Christ. You'll never see heaven.

Now, in a world of flexible deadlines, we feel like there'll always be, "Hey, one more chance to sign up." Right? Well, when it comes to choosing Christ, that's deadly logic. In the book of Genesis God says, "My Spirit will not always strive with man." In the book of Isaiah He says, "Call upon the Lord while He is near; while He may be found." See, if He's ready, and you know He's ready because you feel a pull toward Christ, you'd better receive Him now. And of course death, well that's a non-negotiable deadline. Someone your age, however old or young you are, died unexpectedly today. That's just a fact. And for them, there are no more chances. Someday that will be you.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church tells a story that's frequently told, he said in the Middle East. A wealthy merchant sent his servant to Baghdad on some errands, and while the servant was there he met Lady Death. He was frightened, he ran back, told his master he wanted to run as far and as fast as he could, because he didn't want to run into Lady Death again. So he asked for his master's fastest horse. He said, "I'm going to ride all day. I'm not going to stop until I reach Samara tonight." Well, later that day, according to the story, the merchant himself met Lady Death, and he asked her, "Why did you startle my servant?" Lady Death said, "Well, actually, he startled me. He confused me when I met him in Baghdad. You see, I have an appointment with him tonight in Samara."

The Bible says, "It is appointed to man once to die, and after this the judgment." Hell is populated with people for whom Christ died, and who didn't ever have to go there, but people perhaps who were counting on one more chance to put their faith in Him. And they had passed by unknowingly their last chance because the Spirit moved on or their life suddenly ended.

So, perhaps for you, this is a chance provided by God, His Holy Spirit, for you to finally know you belong to Jesus; to get this done; to get this settled. There's eternity at stake here. This is urgent; this is life or death! If there's never been a moment when you've said, "Jesus, I am putting all my trust in You and Your death on the cross for my sins. I am Yours," make it today.

I hope you'll go to our website. There's where you'll find, as many have, the way to begin your relationship with Him. It's YoursForLife.net. Eternity is forever! Don't count on an extension.

Here's what the Bible says: "Now is the acceptable time! Today is your day of salvation."