MaxLucado.com: A Hero in the Bible
Behold a hero of the west. A thousand head of cattle pass behind him. He needs no one. He’s a cowboy. The American hero.
Behold a hero in the Bible: the shepherd. He too is rugged. Like the cowboy he makes his roof the stars and the pasture his home.
But that’s where the similarities end. The shepherd loves his sheep. The cowboy leads the cow to slaughter. The cowboy drives the cattle. The shepherd leads the sheep. The shepherd calls each sheep by name. Aren’t we glad Christ didn’t call Himself the Good Cowboy?
Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
We don’t need a cowboy to herd us. We need a shepherd. A shepherd to care for us and to guide us. And we have One. One who knows us by name.
From A Gentle Thunder
1 Corinthians 8
New International Version (NIV)
Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols
8 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3 But whoever loves God is known by God.[a]
4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 3:18–4:1
Rules for Christian Households
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants,[a] obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,[b] not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
4 Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Beyond Just And Fair
November 5, 2012 — by Dennis Fisher
Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. —Colossians 4:1
Working conditions in England during the 19th century were abysmal. Men, women, and children labored in dangerous factories during the day and went home to dirty tenement slums at night. Many of the factory owners cared little for the well-being of their employees.
But during that time, the owners of the Cadbury chocolate company were different. Quakers by conviction and business entrepreneurs by giftedness, they focused on improving the working conditions of their 200 workers. The Cadburys built a state-of-the-art factory with heated dressing rooms, a kitchen, and recreational areas. And to care for the employees’ spiritual needs, the workday started with Bible study.
Colossians 4:1 tells us: “Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” Certainly the Cadburys sought to give their employees what was just and fair. But their heavenly orientation motivated them to go a step further to meet physical and spiritual needs.
Though we may not own a company, we do have regular contact with a variety of people. As believers, it is important to be ethical in our dealings. We can also, with God’s enablement, care about others’ well-being through prayer, encouragement, and the meeting of physical needs (Gal. 6:10).
Lord, thank You for loving us and meeting our needs.
Often You bring people into our lives who need Your
love and care. Give us wisdom to creatively reach
out a helping hand that we might share Your kindness.
God blesses us so that we can bless others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 5, 2012
Partakers of His Suffering
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
ameras Everywhere - #6736
Monday, November 5, 2012
Who ever thought up cell phone cameras? Oh, they're nice if something suddenly pops up that you want to capture. But how many times have I been looking goofy or just plain ol' ugly and some smart aleck quietly "permanent-tizes" that moment with his cute little camera? Is there nowhere we are safe from the lens that never forgets?
Apparently not! Just ask the politicians, the celebrities, even the royals who suddenly have been unpleasantly and even angrily surprised by photos they never even knew existed.
Recently a former paparazzi was in the news showing just how far the prying eye can reach. He set up his monster-lens camera across the river from where the reporter in this segment was standing in New York City. And he got amazing pictures of her - from half a mile away! The reporter's only comment: "Good thing I was dressed modestly." (Yeah, no kidding!) Well, Mr. Ex-Paparazzi made this suggestion: "Always assume there's a camera."
Well, I've been thinking about that "assume there's a camera" thing. It's actually pretty good advice, because God doesn't miss a thing.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cameras Everywhere."
Now, the Bible makes sure that we're not surprised by that. Our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 5:21 says, "A man's ways are in full view of the Lord" and "nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight." And in Hebrews 4:13 it says, "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
Wow! Those last words are the disturbing part. "We must give account." There really will be a day when we will answer for our lives - including our darkest secrets. Romans 2 says, "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." Martin Luther said he had only two days on his calendar: today and Judgment Day. Not bad.
But it's not just our actions. God knows every word I speak, every thought in my mind. And the Bible says He will even "expose the motives of men's hearts" (1 Corinthians 4:5). First thought: do I - does anybody - stand a chance when God holds me accountable for everything I've ever said or thought or done? What about when all the closets are opened, all the secrets exposed, all the sin laid bare before His holy eyes?
I wouldn't stand a chance if Jesus hadn't died on a cross to erase it all. He absorbed all the guilt and all the punishment of all the sin of my life. The Bible says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). He chose to. Not because I, in any way, deserve a sacrifice like that. He simply loves me that much; He simply loves you that much.
And as the Bible says, "perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18) - including my very well-founded fear of facing a holy God with all my sin laid bare before Him. Jesus has taken away that fear because of the Judgment Day that Jesus had in my place when He took my judgment all alone on a cross. He did that for you too. He does what no one else in the universe can do. He hits the delete button that erases a lifetime of sin.
You know, it's pretty awesome to know that every sin of your life is erased forever from God's book; to know you are finally clean, and you're safe. If you'd like to experience that wonderful forgiving miracle that only Jesus can do, I encourage you to check out our website and find out there exactly how to begin your personal relationship with this amazing, sin-forgiving Savior, Jesus. Go to YoursForLife.net, and find out how this cleansing miracle can happen for you.