Insensitivity makes a wound that heals slowly!
Words like, "Whoa-she's put on some weight!" Or a question carelessly asked, "Trish, is it true you and Brian are separated?"
If you were to tell the one who threw these thoughtless darts about the pain they caused, the response would be, "Oh, but I had no intention. . . it was just a slip of the tongue." No one's at fault. No harm done.
But as the innocent attackers go on their way excusing themselves, a wounded soul is left in the dust. God says, "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin" (Proverbs 13:3).
The message is clear. Excuses are shallow when they come from those who claim to be followers and imitators of God. Insensitive slurs may be accidental-but they're not excusable!
From God Came Near
Zechariah 12
Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed
A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.
7 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Mourning for the One They Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
Footnotes:
Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
Zechariah 12:10 Or to
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 8:31-39
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers
In His Grip
December 31, 2013 — by David H. Roper
I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12
When we cross a busy street with small children in tow, we put out our hand and say, “Hold on tight,” and our little ones grasp our hand as tightly as they can. But we would never depend on their grasp. It is our grip on their hand that holds them and keeps them secure. So Paul insists, “Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). Or more exactly, “Christ has a grip on me!”
One thing is certain: It is not our grip on God that keeps us safe, but the power of Jesus’ grasp. No one can take us out of His grasp—not the devil, not even ourselves. Once we’re in His hands, He will not let go.
We have this assurance: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).
Doubly safe: Our Father on one side and our Lord and Savior on the other, clasping us in a viselike grip. These are the hands that shaped the mountains and oceans and flung the stars into space. Nothing in this life or the next “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).
Father, I thank You for the nail-pierced hands
that reached out in love and took me by my hand.
You have led me by Your right hand throughout life.
I trust You to hold me and keep me safe to the end.
The One who saved us is the One who keeps us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 31, 2013
Yesterday
You shall not go out with haste, . . . for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard —Isaiah 52:12
Security from Yesterday. “. . . God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.
Security for Tomorrow. “. . . the Lord will go before you . . . .” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.
Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste . . . .” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
More-Itis - #7037
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
My son and I were trying to remember those basic food groups the other day. And we decided that there's one more than we learned in school. Haven't they added junk food as a basic food group? The problem with all that stuff, you know, the chips, candies, and cookies. They're habit forming! A long time ago, before you could actually skip the commercials, there was one that showed a well-known comedian reaching into a bag for one chip, then he got another and another. And he finally says, "You can't eat just one."
Frankly, I can eat just one of those chips, but just don't put a bag of chocolate covered peanuts in front of me. I'll eat the bag too. My desire for just one, "Sure, I'll have just one right now. I'll save the rest for later. I'll spread them over several days." Then I'll spread them over my body permanently, because my desire for one leads to one more and one more. Don't be too quick to judge me. I'll bet you have your weakness too. You know, you get a little, and you can never get enough.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More-Itis."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 4. You need to remember that Paul writes this from a prison cell, chained to a Roman guard. "I am not saying this (He says) because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."
Some missionary friends of ours were recently asked to house sit for some friends of theirs, and they're having a great time. It's a refreshing change to be out of their apartment for a week and they're enjoying a well-furnished home. I said to them, "Hey, don't get spoiled." They said, "I'm afraid we will." I said, "Did you ever notice when God gives us a special gift, it's hard to just enjoy it and then move on. We want more." Like those chips; we can't have just one.
Paul's attitude is one of wonderful emotional freedom. He sees God as his provider, his trainer, and he's learned the secret of personal peace. It's called contentment. Someone has said that contentment is not getting everything you always wanted; it's realizing how much you already have. You know, that's a good thing to think about on the edge of a brand new year isn't it?
Unfortunately you and I are easily afflicted with that growing restlessness I call "more-itis". We get a little; we've got to have more. God answers your prayer or just surprises you with some material goodies, and instead of gratitude we move to grabitude-I've got to grab more of this. He gives you that opportunity you always wanted. Briefly celebrate it, and then we're hankering for another opportunity-a bigger one. God gives us a little more house, a little more money, or a car. And instead of feeding our contentment, it fuels the monster of more.
What more has you restless today: Got to have more recognition, more glory, more money, more position, more people? Why can't we just say, "Thank you for the gift" and leave it there? Our eyes always seem to be on what we don't have. You have so much more than your Master did. So do I.
The contented child of God doesn't compare, doesn't compete, and doesn't complain. Contentment simply trusts God to give the gifts as you need them and then to trust Him in between gifts. So, celebrate today and each gift that God gave you yesterday, and then be glad for what's already in your hand.
Let God turn your appetite for more into contentment with enough, and it will be a much happier new year.