We speak of a short life, but compared to eternity, who has a long one? A person's days on earth may seem like a thimbleful. But compared to the Pacific of eternity, even the years of Methuselah filled no more than a glass. James was not speaking just to the young when he said, "Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away." (James 4:4 NCV).
In God's plan every life is long enough and every death is timely. And though you and I might wish for a longer life, God knows better.
And this is important. Though you and I may wish a longer life for our loved ones who have gone on before us, they don't. Ironically, the first to accept God's decision of death is the one who dies.
While we're mourning at a grave, they're marveling at heaven. While we're questioning God, they're praising Him!
from Lucado Inspirational Reader
Ezekiel 27
A Lament Over Tyre
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. 3 Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘You say, Tyre,
“I am perfect in beauty.”
4 Your domain was on the high seas;
your builders brought your beauty to perfection.
5 They made all your timbers
of juniper from Senir[a];
they took a cedar from Lebanon
to make a mast for you.
6 Of oaks from Bashan
they made your oars;
of cypress wood[b] from the coasts of Cyprus
they made your deck, adorned with ivory.
7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail
and served as your banner;
your awnings were of blue and purple
from the coasts of Elishah.
8 Men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen;
your skilled men, Tyre, were aboard as your sailors.
9 Veteran craftsmen of Byblos were on board
as shipwrights to caulk your seams.
All the ships of the sea and their sailors
came alongside to trade for your wares.
10 “‘Men of Persia, Lydia and Put
served as soldiers in your army.
They hung their shields and helmets on your walls,
bringing you splendor.
11 Men of Arvad and Helek
guarded your walls on every side;
men of Gammad
were in your towers.
They hung their shields around your walls;
they brought your beauty to perfection.
12 “‘Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.
13 “‘Greece, Tubal and Meshek did business with you; they traded human beings and articles of bronze for your wares.
14 “‘Men of Beth Togarmah exchanged chariot horses, cavalry horses and mules for your merchandise.
15 “‘The men of Rhodes[c] traded with you, and many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.
16 “‘Aram[d] did business with you because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple fabric, embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies for your merchandise.
17 “‘Judah and Israel traded with you; they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections,[e] honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.
18 “‘Damascus did business with you because of your many products and great wealth of goods. They offered wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar 19 and casks of wine from Izal in exchange for your wares: wrought iron, cassia and calamus.
20 “‘Dedan traded in saddle blankets with you.
21 “‘Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats.
22 “‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.
23 “‘Harran, Kanneh and Eden and merchants of Sheba, Ashur and Kilmad traded with you. 24 In your marketplace they traded with you beautiful garments, blue fabric, embroidered work and multicolored rugs with cords twisted and tightly knotted.
25 “‘The ships of Tarshish serve
as carriers for your wares.
You are filled with heavy cargo
as you sail the sea.
26 Your oarsmen take you
out to the high seas.
But the east wind will break you to pieces
far out at sea.
27 Your wealth, merchandise and wares,
your mariners, sailors and shipwrights,
your merchants and all your soldiers,
and everyone else on board
will sink into the heart of the sea
on the day of your shipwreck.
28 The shorelands will quake
when your sailors cry out.
29 All who handle the oars
will abandon their ships;
the mariners and all the sailors
will stand on the shore.
30 They will raise their voice
and cry bitterly over you;
they will sprinkle dust on their heads
and roll in ashes.
31 They will shave their heads because of you
and will put on sackcloth.
They will weep over you with anguish of soul
and with bitter mourning.
32 As they wail and mourn over you,
they will take up a lament concerning you:
“Who was ever silenced like Tyre,
surrounded by the sea?”
33 When your merchandise went out on the seas,
you satisfied many nations;
with your great wealth and your wares
you enriched the kings of the earth.
34 Now you are shattered by the sea
in the depths of the waters;
your wares and all your company
have gone down with you.
35 All who live in the coastlands
are appalled at you;
their kings shudder with horror
and their faces are distorted with fear.
36 The merchants among the nations scoff at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
A Season For Everything
November 6, 2013 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt
To everything there is a season. —Ecclesiastes 3:1
In the 1960s, the folk-rock band The Byrds popularized the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” It climbed to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and gained worldwide popularity. People seemed captivated by the lyrics. Interestingly, though, except for the last line, those lyrics are from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.
“To everything there is a season,” proclaims the writer of Ecclesiastes, “a time for every purpose under heaven” (3:1). He then lists some of the seasons in human experience: birth and death, gain and loss, tears and laughter, mourning and dancing. Just as the seasons in nature change, so do the seasons in our lives. Our circumstances never stay the same for long.
Sometimes we welcome change in our lives. But often it is difficult, especially when it involves sorrow and loss. Yet even then we can be thankful that God does not change. “I am the Lord,” He said through the prophet Malachi, “I do not change” (Mal. 3:6).
Because God remains the same, we can rely on Him through the shifting seasons of life. His presence is always with us (Ps. 46:1), His peace has the power to guard our hearts (Phil. 4:7), and His love provides security for our souls (Rom. 8:39).
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing. —Luther
God’s unchanging nature is our security during seasons of change.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 6, 2013
Intimate Theology
Do you believe this? —John 11:26
Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . .” (John 11:27).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— “Do you believe this?” Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, “Do you believe this?” I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
One-Way Calls - #6998
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
I'm on the road a lot, and the phone in my room is still a very important tool (especially when I'm in those areas when I don't have cell signal). But years ago, even before cell phones, it was even more frustrating. I was staying in this campus guest room provided by the school where I was ministering. I appreciated the room; I just didn't appreciate the phone. See, I couldn't call out, even collect or with a credit card. The school had programmed the phone so it blocked any outgoing calls, because I guess they didn't want to get stuck with long distance bills.
It was frustrating! Especially early in the morning or late at night when I wasn't dressed and I couldn't easily get down to the public phone seven floors down in the "good old days." One morning we were in the middle of something that required daily communication with my office, and I literally prayed that someone from our team would call and deliver me from my one-way telephone prison. And God answered the prayer - they did call. Then they called the people that I needed to hear from. Oh, I could get calls; I just couldn't initiate them. So I was stuck being able to talk only when someone wanted to talk to me. Too bad if I wanted to talk to them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One-Way Calls."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 3:8-9. It's right at the beginning of Samuel's life as he is a young man staying with the priest, Eli. And it says, "The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, 'Here am I. You called me.'" This had happened twice before that same night. "Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if He calls you say, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening." So Samuel went and lay down in his place." And that's exactly what happened. The Lord did come and that's what Samuel said, "Speak for your servant is listening."
See, God wanted to talk to Samuel, and He had a little difficulty getting the call through. He had to dial three times. God has some things He'd like to say to you about your future, your pain, your questions, the decisions you need to make, maybe the struggle you're going through. But maybe there's just a one-way phone most of the time. Oh, you're calling God whenever you feel like it. You're talking about whatever is on your mind. But maybe you're not allowing much opportunity for God to whisper something to your soul. He wants prayer to be dialogue, not monologue.
The problem is we rewrite this verse. We say, "Listen Lord. Your servant is speaking." Oh, and He does. He listens. We initiate a call to God, we say what we want to say and hang up. But we miss so much when we don't allow God to call us with important things that He wants to show us.
What happens when you have a two-way phone system from earth to heaven and heaven to earth? Well, verse 11, God said to him, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it tingle." I mean, exciting news! God wants to show you some amazing things, but you have to stop talking to hear them. It says, "Samuel went and laid down in his place and the Lord came and stood there." David said, "Be still and know that I am God."
So when you pray about something, allow some silent time at the beginning and at the end. Allow a space where God could call you. You probably won't hear an audible voice like Samuel; that's not needed so much today when God lives inside His children through the Holy Spirit. But He'll speak to you as you meditate on a verse of Scripture. He'll light up your situation suddenly with a personal application of those words or maybe as you're praying. I tend to trust the ideas or the insights that come into my mind while I'm talking to God about an issue, when I've turned off everything else, not looking at my cell phone, not looking at texts, not listening to the radio, no TV, nothing else around, and I'm just listening to God solo - to let Him say something to my soul. I can trust pretty much what I hear then.
I know the frustration of just receiving information without being able to send any, and so does God. If your heaven-link phone has only been calling out, why not try Samuel's prayer every new day, "Speak Lord. Your servant is listening." It's important that God receives calls from you; it's much more important that you get those calls from God.