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The sign said: “Found: Pot-bellied Pig.”
Did I just read what I think I read? I’d never seen such an announcement. Similar ones, sure. But “Found: Potbellied Pig?” Who loses a pig? The sign presupposes a curious moment. Someone spots the pig lumbering down the sidewalk. “Poor thing. Climb in little piggy. The street is no place for you. I’ll take you home.” I wouldn’t claim one. But God did.
God did when he claimed us. We assume God cares for the purebreds of the world. The tidy-living. But what about the rest of us? Do we warrant his oversight?
Psalm 91:1-2 offers a rousing yes! “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name!”
From Come Thirsty
2 Kings 7
7 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah[a] of the finest flour will sell for a shekel[b] and two seahs[c] of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”
“You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
The Siege Lifted
3 Now there were four men with leprosy[d] at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” 7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
9 Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.
12 The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”
13 One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”
14 So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” 15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said.
17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. 18 It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
19 The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 6:27-36
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Cornered
June 26, 2012 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Pray for those who spitefully use you. —Luke 6:28
One Sunday morning, D. L. Moody entered a house in Chicago to escort some children to Sunday school. During his visit, three men backed him into a corner and threatened him. “Look here,” Moody said. “Give a fellow a chance to say his prayers, won’t you?” The men actually allowed him to call out to God, and Moody prayed for them so earnestly that they left the room.
Had I been in Moody’s situation, I might have called for help or looked for the back door. I’m not sure I would have acted on Jesus’ command to His followers: “Pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28 NIV).
Praying for the people who treat us with contempt is one way to “do good to those who hate [us]” (v.27). Jesus explained that Christians get no credit for swapping acts of kindness with other “nice” people. He said, “Even sinners do the same” (v.33). However, blessing our persecutors (Rom. 12:14) sets us apart from them and aligns us with the Most High, because God is kind even to wicked people (Luke 6:35).
Today, if you feel “cornered” by someone, seek safety if the situation calls for it, and follow Jesus’ teaching: Pray for that person (Luke 23:34). Prayer is your best defense.
We want to know Your heart, Lord, and have Your
wisdom to know how to handle opposition.
Give us patience to show kindness.
Guide us, we pray.
Returning good for good is human; returning good for evil is divine.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 26, 2012
Drawing on the Grace of God— Now
We . . . plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain —2 Corinthians 6:1
The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “. . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians 6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.
“. . . in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors . . .” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.
“. . . having nothing . . . .” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “. . . and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (2 Corinthians 6:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
How can I have sex at its best?
Don't Open Your Gift Too Soon - #6642
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
One time Andy told me about the worst Christmas he ever had. Oh, he'd always had a hard time waiting for Christmas morning. I think most kids do. He felt that Christmas Eve was the longest night of the year just waiting. But there were a lot of long nights before then. And he was a little unsure of that Santa Claus business, and didn't quite have all that figured out.
So a few days before Christmas, he managed to discover the closet in which all of his presents were kept. Well, he got in there, saw them before they were wrapped, and saw everything he was getting. He felt so smart...briefly. He put them all back where he found them, closed the door, and then came Christmas morning. Well, Christmas - needless to say - was a bit of a drag that year. Everyone else is jumping up and down and going, "Hey, look at this!" and celebrating their surprises.
And there's Andy over there just moping through the motions trying to look like it's fun and look like it's a surprise. He said, "You know, Ron, I decided I'd never do that again." Something special could be ruined if you open it too early.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Don't Open Your Gift Too Soon."
Our word for today from the Word of God, Hebrews 13:4. It says this: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure." Now, this is a verse about a gift. It's a gift you don't want to open too soon. The gift is the gift of sexual love as it was meant to be by its Creator. And God says, "Do not open that gift until you are married and have made that lifetime commitment to each other."
Now, of course, that message is all through scripture. Proverbs 5:15 says in more figurative language, "Drink water from your own cistern and running water only from your own well." Okay, do not open until you are married. See, the excitement of married love is based on its specialness. It's not unlike my friend Andy and the excitement of those gifts. They were very special when you opened them at Christmas. But when he opened them too soon, they weren't special any more.
This gift God's given us, the ability to give sexual love, is the same thing. You're supposed to keep it special to express a lifetime commitment. Like Andy, if you open it before, you miss the thrill of opening it at the right time.
Oh, hey! There are tons of temptations to open it too soon. You say, "Well, there's someone I might not be able to keep in my life if I don't do this. I might lose them." I'm not sure they're worth keeping if that's the price they're asking for. You say, "Well, I've been single for a while, and you know, maybe I need to get it while I can, and have this relationship while I have this chance." Don't believe that lie. You say, "Well, I'm sure we'll get married some day. You'll be so sorry you rushed it, and so outside of the blessing of God!
You'll always wonder if that person will think the fence is important enough to keep them in, because see, it wasn't important enough to uh...keep them out was it? Sex before marriage, even a day before, costs you so much in guilt, resentment, loss of worth, loss of specialness, and loss of the blessing of God.
Someone is listening right now and you say, "Ron, I wish I'd heard this, or I wish I'd heeded it earlier." And there are memories, and there is guilt, and there are regrets. The good news is that I speak on behalf of a Jesus who said, "I will remember your sins no more." I come speaking to you from a Bible that says, "The blood of Jesus' Son purifies us from all sin." Did you get that...made pure again? That's because all the things that you wish you hadn't done, that He wishes you hadn't done, He died to pay for on a cross. And then He came back to life again on Easter morning, so He can come into your life, forgive you, and give you that clean heart and new beginning that only He can.
If that's something you want, if you'd like to have that new beginning and to be clean inside, would you tell Jesus that? And go to our website. There you'll find a simple explanation of how to be sure you've been forgiven by God and you belong to Jesus. It's YoursForLife.net.
Whatever you've done until now, commit yourself to protect and restore the specialness of sex. And don't ruin it by opening it too soon.