1 Chronicles 14 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: The Power of Election Prayer

Let others lose sleep over the election.  Let others grow bitter from party or petty rivalries.  Let others cast their hope with the people of the elephant or the donkey.  Not followers of Jesus.  We place our trust in the work of God.

How many kings has he seen come and go?  How many nations has he seen stand and fall?  He is above them all.  And he oversees them all.  So, while others get anxious, we don’t. Here is what we do:  we pray.

“First of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  (1 Tim.2:1-4 NIV).

It is time to take this job seriously.  Over the next hours and days ahead, turn your heart toward heaven and ask God to:

Unite our country
Strengthen us
Appoint and anoint our next president
God’s promise is clear:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  (2 Chron. 7:14 NIV).

Only God can unite the nations. On this election day, let’s ask him to do just that with ours.

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have given us this promise: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

So, we pray to you. We turn from evil and look to you, our God. Please:

         Unite us

                 Strengthen us

                         Appoint and anoint our next president

In the name of Christ we pray,

Amen

MaxLucado.com: His Grace

I had planned to nap during my trip.  But the fellow next to me had other ideas!  Knowing I couldn’t sleep, I opened my Bible.

“What ya’ studying there, buddy?”  I told him, but he never heard.

“The church is lost,” he declared.  “Hellbound and heartsick.”   “Christians are asleep.  They don’t pray. They don’t  love. They don’t care.”  With that he began listing all the woes and weaknesses of the church.

I shouldn’t have let it bug me, but it did.  God’s faithfulness has never depended on the faithfulness of his children.  He is faithful even when we are not.  When we lack courage, he doesn’t.

I’ll probably never see that proclaimer of pessimism again, but if you do, will you give him a message for me?  God’s blessings are dispensed according to the riches of his grace, not according to the depth of our faith.

That’s what makes God…God!   And that is what makes the church strong.

From A Gentle Thunder

1 Chronicles 14

David’s House and Family

14 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2 And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

3 In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada[d] and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines

8 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. 9 Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim; 10 so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.”

11 So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.[e] 12 The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn them in the fire.

13 Once more the Philistines raided the valley; 14 so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 15 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 16 So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

17 So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 119:9-16

Beth

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules[a] of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

From Head To Heart

November 7, 2012 — by Julie Ackerman Link

Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. —Psalm 119:11

My childhood piano teacher was a stickler for memorization. Being able to play a piece without error was not enough. I had to play several pieces flawlessly by memory. Her reasoning was this: She didn’t want her students to say, when asked to play, “I’m sorry, I don’t have my music with me.”

As a child, I also memorized Bible passages, including Psalm 119:11. Due to my limited understanding, I believed that simple memorization would keep me from sin. I worked hard at memorizing verses, and I even won a Moody Bible Story Book as an award.

Although memorizing the Bible is a good habit to develop, it’s not the act of memorizing that keeps us from sin. As I learned soon after my winning efforts, having the words of Scripture in my head made little difference in my behavior. In fact, instead of victory over sin, knowledge alone generated feelings of guilt.

Eventually I realized that the Word of God had to spread through my whole being. I needed to internalize Scripture, to hide it “in my heart” the way a musician does a piece of music. I had to live the Bible as well as I could quote it. As God’s Word spreads from our heads to our hearts, sin loses its power over us.

O Lord, my God, may Your Word become so
much a part of me that obedience comes
naturally and cheerfully from my heart.
Change me andmold me into Your image.
Let God’s Word fill your memory, rule your heart,
and guide your life.


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

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, “. . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession” in each of our lives (Romans 8:26). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Day After the "Votequake" - #6738

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Now, I've always been interested in following politics. But I've got to tell you, even I am sick of politics right now! I mean, we've OD'd on it these past few months! Suddenly, all those pundits on the news were starting to sound like that indistinct blather when adults speak on a Charlie Brown special. You know.

And the signs! I can't wait til they come down and I can see my neighbor's house again. Oh the joy to think, "Today I can turn on my TV and there will not be one political commercial, showing your opponent as Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein."

But sadly, America's a pretty fractured nation politically. Today some people are just all excited because their candidate won, and some are saying, "Boy, the end must be close because my candidate lost. The other guy won."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Day After the 'Votequake.'"

You know, after waking up and hearing election results in America, I thought of all the views I'd heard on TV describing how they see America. And you know what? This morning, I asked God to help me see my town, my country, my world through His eyes. "What do You see, Lord?"

And He said, "Ron, there are only two categories that really matter. When you look at people, see them as being on one of two lists." Then I remembered something I read about the days after the Titanic sank. White Star Lines, the owners of the Titanic, set up a room in Liverpool, England, where people could wait to learn the fate of a passenger that they loved. Occasionally, a company official would come in and add a name to one of two lists, posted on a large board. The lists simply read: "Known to be saved" ... "Known to be lost."

Everyone you love - everyone in your personal world - everyone hearing or reading this is on one of two lists. They're described in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 5:11-12. It says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; He that does not have the Son of God does not have life." Known to be saved...known to be lost.

It should not be what political list or religious list a person's on that defines my relationship with them - it should be which of God's lists they're on. When we get to heaven, there won't be any "Republicans" or "Democrats" or "liberals" or "conservatives." No "Baptists" or "Methodists" or "Roman Catholics." God sees people in terms of their eternal destination, and it defines His relationship with us.

We were all in one doomed category - sinners; people who have marginalized our Creator rather than enthroning Him. Who have defied His ways and done what we wanted to do, and cut off from Him because He's sinless and we're full of sin.

But in spite of our disregard and disrespect of the God who put us here, He refused to leave us lost. He sent His precious Son, Jesus, to do what only He could do - pay for our sin by paying our death penalty on the Cross. So heaven or hell all comes down to what I do with Jesus. Whether I leave Him outside of my life or put all my trust in Him as my only hope for rescue. "Have the Son, have life...don't have the Son, don't have life" (1 John 5:12).

Maybe today if you could see God's lists, you'd be on the "Known to be lost." But today you can change lists. Because Jesus stands ready to erase the sin of your life from God's book, forgive every one of those sins, and give you eternal life that you could never deserve, because He gave His life for you. Why don't you tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours" today. Go to our website and find out how to get started with Him. It's YoursForLife.net.

And in this season when we'll be hearing a lot of people being defined by their label, I want to see what God sees, don't you? Saved and Lost. I want to love those people like He does, because it breaks His heart. It should break my heart to see them lost.