I know this is a crazy thought—but what would happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their names simply to “church?” And then when people chose which church to attend, they wouldn’t do so by the sign outside, they’d do so by the hearts of the people inside.
And then, when people were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn’t be a label but just a location. And then, we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us—our common Father.
Crazy idea? Perhaps. But I think God would like it. It was His idea to begin with!
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 26
A Prophecy Against Tyre
In the eleventh month of the twelfth[b] year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,’ 3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers; I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock. 5 Out in the sea she will become a place to spread fishnets, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. She will become plunder for the nations, 6 and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: From the north I am going to bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar[c] king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a great army. 8 He will ravage your settlements on the mainland with the sword; he will set up siege works against you, build a ramp up to your walls and raise his shields against you. 9 He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. 10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. 11 The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. 13 I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more. 14 I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Will not the coastlands tremble at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in you? 16 Then all the princes of the coast will step down from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. 17 Then they will take up a lament concerning you and say to you:
“‘How you are destroyed, city of renown,
peopled by men of the sea!
You were a power on the seas,
you and your citizens;
you put your terror
on all who lived there.
18 Now the coastlands tremble
on the day of your fall;
the islands in the sea
are terrified at your collapse.’
19 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I make you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and when I bring the ocean depths over you and its vast waters cover you, 20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place[d] in the land of the living. 21 I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 26:1 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text does not have month of the twelfth.
Ezekiel 26:7 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Ezekiel and Jeremiah
Ezekiel 26:20 Septuagint; Hebrew return, and I will give glory
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Footnotes:
Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22
Leap The Wall
November 4, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. —Proverbs 25:21
Sgt. Richard Kirkland was a Confederate soldier in the US Civil War (1861–1865). When the Union’s failed charge at Marye’s Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg left wounded soldiers abandoned in no-man’s land, Kirkland got permission to help them. Collecting canteens, he leaped the stone wall and bent over the first soldier to lend assistance. At great personal risk, the “Angel of Marye’s Heights” extended the mercy of Christ to enemy soldiers.
While few of us will face an enemy on the battlefield, those who suffer can be found all around us—people struggling against loneliness, loss, health issues, and sin. Their cries, muted by our many distractions, plead for mercy and comfort, for hope and help.
Kirkland’s example of Christlike compassion put action to Jesus’ command to “love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44). Paul expanded on that theme when he quotes Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink” (Rom. 12:20). “Do not be overcome by evil,” he instructed us, “but overcome evil with good” (v.21).
Paul’s challenge compels us to emulate Sgt. Kirkland. Today is the day for us to “leap the wall” of safety to lend comfort from God to those in need.
Father, give me the courage to reach out to those
I may not want to reach. Show Your love
through me in ways that will bring glory to You
and true peace in my corner of the world.
Kindness is in our power even when fondness is not. —Samuel Johnson
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 4, 2013
The Authority of Truth
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me . . .” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Dealing With the Leaves of Life
Monday, November 4, 2013
One of the nice things about our yard there in New Jersey was the trees. One of the frustrating things about that yard was the trees. See, every fall we would take out about a hundred bags or more stuffed with the leaves that come from those trees. We appreciate those leaves most of the year, but there is a little month there where they're not much fun at all.
I think back to one afternoon, typical of many, when we conquered the backyard. My son and I, we tackled that backyard and we carried out lots of bags of leaves. Got up the next morning (man, did we ever feel it the next morning!). We got up and we discovered that the yard that had been totally clean the night before was covered with leaves once again! It was depressing! So, we got back out there with our rakes and went at it again. Of course, it should be no surprise. Leaves fall every day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dealing With the Leaves of Life."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Psalm 4:4. David reflects on his own daily lifestyle and says, "In your anger, do not sin. When you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent." David here seems to be saying that at night - at the end of each day - just kind of lie there silently on your bed and evaluate what's happened during the day and listen to what the Lord wants to say about it. And then the next verse says, "Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord."
Psalm 139:23-24, we hear David with this familiar prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." I believe David's saying here that every day he deals on a 24-hour basis with the sin that may have fallen into his life that day. That's why at the end of the day he's searching his heart; he's listening to what God wants to say about his day, and he's asking God to regularly search him.
See, sin is like the leaves in our yard in the fall. More leaves fall every day, and they've got to be cleaned up shortly after they fall. Now, we like to clean up our lives in one great binge of spiritual raking. You know, "I went to the altar several years ago." "Well, I had a great spiritual experience several months ago and really got right with the Lord."
It's got to be a daily experience. David says here, "Every night I reflect on that day to see what happened."
Every day we have new ways that we miss God's mark. So how often do we need to confess our sin? Daily. How often do we need to repent? Daily. How often do we need to visit the cross? You know. Daily. God blesses purity. He blesses clean yards, and purity involves daily clean-up. It involves specific clean-up; reviewing this past 24 hours and laying it before the Holy Spirit. Letting Him show me where I have not been like Jesus.
Oftentimes we need to repent right at the moment when we know we've done the wrong thing, and then going to the cross with those specific transgressions and then getting clean again. So many of us, I think, live powerless lives because of all the leaves that we've allowed to accumulate. They choke out the life that comes from a life that's totally exposed to the sun - the Son of God.
When it comes to spiritual yard care, you'd be amazed how many leaves can fall in 24 hours. So clean up daily and start each new day with all the dead leaves of yesterday raked, and bagged, and left at the curb.