, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Higher Purpose
God promises, "When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, nor will the flame scorch you." (Isaiah 43:2).
Will your unhappy marriage become happy in a heartbeat? Not likely. Does God guarantee the absence of struggle? Not in this life. But He does pledge to reweave your pain for a higher purpose.
It won't be quick. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers abandoned him. He was 37 when he saw them again. Another year passed before he saw his father. Sometimes God takes His time. But remember this: You are a version of Joseph in your generation. His story is in the Bible for this reason: To teach us to trust God to trump evil. What Satan intends for evil, God redeems for good. You will get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 3
And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. 8 But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9 I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”
10 And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11 Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen.”
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.[a] 13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. 14 The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 15 I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed.
Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman
16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[b] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”
22 The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.
24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 148
Praise the Lord.[a]
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,[b]
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
Footnotes:
Psalm 148:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 14
Psalm 148:14 Horn here symbolizes strength.
Hubble, Zoos, And Singing Children
October 1, 2013 — by Dave Branon
Praise Him, all you stars of light! —Psalm 148:3
What do the Hubble Space Telescope, a zoo, and singing children have in common? According to the teaching of Psalm 148, we could conclude that they all point to God’s magnificent creation.
The idea that God created our world is often questioned, so perhaps it’s a good time for a reminder of the praise we and all creation should heap on our heavenly Father for His magnificent handiwork.
Hubble can help us with that through its eye-popping pictures of our universe. Every one of those brilliant photos points to stars that focus attention on God’s creative majesty. “Praise Him, all you stars of light!” says verse 3.
A visit to a zoo points us to the great diversity of wildlife God created. We look at verses 7 and 10 and say thank you to God for sea creatures, wild animals, insects, and birds.
And a few minutes of watching little children singing uninhibited praises to God symbolizes the truth that all people of earth should lift their voices in honor of our Creator (vv.11-13).
Stars, animals, and children: “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted” (v.13). Let’s join in saying thanks for His creation. “Praise the Lord!”
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration! —Neander
Creation displays God’s power.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 1, 2013
The Place of Exaltation
. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Appropriate 'Wow' - #6972
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Over the years my sons didn't really ask about my upcoming speaking engagements. Well, with one exception. They always asked me when I was going to do a professional sports chapel, "Dad, when are you going to talk to the Giants...or the Jets...or the Yankees?" Well, occasionally, when the guys were little, they actually would get to go with me, and even as they were growing up. And it was great to take them along, but there were some rules.
I talked to my youngest about it and he actually remembers his first chapel being a New York Jets football chapel. It happens before the game. And here he is sitting next to these larger-than-life, not only larger than him and larger than me, but larger-than-life heroes. These are players whose names you're hearing all the time. And then to actually eat breakfast with them and eat at the table with them! Oh, man! My sons were like on cloud nine.
Now, there was only one problem for a little kid. I told them they couldn't act impressed. The reason was that this was the athlete's personal time, and they were appropriately sensitive. See, this was church time; this was meal time, and they didn't really want to be celebrities giving autographs and all that jazz. So I said, "Guys, if you want to continue to have this privilege, you've got to be cool when you're here." Well, my youngest would be cool on the outside, acting as if he was eating breakfast or sitting next to any old man on the street instead of some sports heroes. But when he got to the car, he let it all out. "Wow!" he said. He had been very impressed over who he was with and he'd been stifling a "Wow!" the whole time.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Appropriate 'Wow!'"
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah chapter 6 beginning at verse 1. Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord..." Now, here's a great vision. "...seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling one to the other: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe is me!' I cried, 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'"
Can you hear the awe and the wonder in Isaiah? He shows us what it's supposed to be like in the presence of God. One word would do it, "Wow!" Like my son, really impressed by who he was with at those chapels. That's how we are supposed to be when we pray; on a much higher level, very impressed by who we're with but not stifling "Wow!"
Isaiah had a special vision. Today we get this in our prayer time; we could be in a throne room of God simply through prayer. To be honest, prayer seems to be one of the more boring parts of the Christian life for a lot of people. It's not supposed to be. My son might not have been so excited if he was just asked to eat breakfast with a bunch of nameless big guys, or sit in a seminar room with the same 20 guys. What made it so powerful was being with someone so important.
It's the same with prayer. At Mount Palomar they will tell you that they've discovered 100 billion galaxies. Prayer is consciously entering the throne room from which those hundred billion galaxies are governed. Wow! Do you know who you are with when you pray? Do you know where you are? It will change how you pray. Prayer will never be boring, never mundane again. You'll pray humbly; deeply dependant, understanding who you're with; laying aside your little powerless power for His unlimited power. You'll pray boldly, when you pray to this God, knowing you're in that throne room. You pray for supernatural things; things only God could do - God-sized things. And you pray passionately; overwhelmed, not by your problems but by God's majesty and God's love.
The One who is totally in charge is totally committed to you. When you pray, make sure you are consciously entering the throne room from which the galaxies are governed. Maybe the first word we ought to say every time we pray is "Wow!"