Genesis 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Satan’s Condemnation

Satan’s condemnation brings no repentance or resolve, just regret! Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). To steal your peace, kill your dreams, and destroy your future. Satan has deputized people to peddle his poison.  Friends dredge up your past. Preachers proclaim all guilt and no grace.  And parents, oh, your parents. “Why can’t you grow up?” they say.  “When are you going to make me proud?” they say. But your accusers will not have the last word!  Jesus has acted on your behalf.  Jesus Christ has risen to your defense.

Hebrews 10:22 urges “. . .let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience.”

Not just for our past mistakes but also for our future ones.  Behold the fruit of grace: saved by God, raised by God, seated with God! Gifted, equipped, and commissioned!

From GRACE

Genesis 1

The Beginning

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Isaiah 40:27-31; 41:10

Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Insight
To say the least, coping with life’s many demands can be fatiguing at times. But the reading for today uses wonderful poetic imagery to describe the buoyancy that faith can provide. The believer who depends upon the Lord can “mount up with wings like eagles” (40:31). The text also mentions the supernatural staying power and stamina that only God can provide. In contrast to the strength that youth and health provide, the person of faith can persevere long after others have given up on the race of life. Finally, Isaiah 41:10 extends a wonderful promise of protection and care through life’s threats and troubles.

Without Power

By David C. McCasland

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. —Isaiah 40:29

In late October 2012, a hurricane-spawned superstorm struck the heavily populated northeastern US, leaving massive flooding and destruction in its wake. During the storm, more than 8 million customers lost electricity. Power outages alone caused shortages of food, fuel, and water, along with the chaos of gridlocked transportation. The howling winds and surging waters left many neighborhoods crushed, flooded, and choked with mountains of sand. Media coverage of the event reported: “Millions Without Power.”

Like a storm of nature, a personal tragedy can often leave us feeling powerless and in the dark. During such times, God’s Word assures us of His help: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isa. 40:29).

At our lowest point, drained of emotional resources, we can place our hope in the Lord and find our strength in Him. He promises us that, for each new day, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (v.31).

God is our spiritual power source in every storm of life.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home! —Watts
It takes the storm to prove the real shelter.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 13, 2014

God’s Total Surrender to Us

For God so loved the world that He gave . . . —John 3:16
Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.

To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification is to miss the main point. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is actually part of the effect of His wonderful and total surrender to us.

If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Knocking Out the Light - #7089

Thursday, March 13, 2014

It was about noon when I heard the news. Fortunately, I was safe in my office. All the power was out at Newark Airport. Now, I had used that airport so many times I could very well have been one of those poor travelers who I saw on the evening news groping their way through a totally darkened terminal. There was no electricity to the terminal for an entire day. What a mess! No lights, no computers, no baggage equipment. It was a good day to be in my office. And the reason there were no lights? A pile driver that was being used on an airport construction project somehow punched right through the main power line. With the power and lights out, it was just a very dark day.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Knocking Out the Light."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 22:31-32 , where Jesus says to Simon Peter, "Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Okay, now here's Peter, perhaps the brightest light of the disciples. And basically Jesus is saying, "Satan wants to knock you out, man." And he wants to do that to anyone who is a light in a dark spot-like you maybe.

See, if it's dark where you work, and you're Jesus' light there if you belong to Him. And the enemy wants the light out so it's totally dark. Maybe it's dark in your school, your area, your family, but God has installed a light there-you. And Satan's trying to knock out the light. He wants to sift you as wheat, and God may be preparing you to spread the light to an even larger circle of people. Don't be surprised if you're suddenly taking a pounding from hell's pile driver. The enemy's only hope of keeping his prisoners in the dark is to knock out the light. So does this explain maybe some of what's been hitting you? You're making a difference, or you're about to. And the forces of darkness want to destroy or at least dim your light.

One wise old preacher gave a young evangelist this advice. He said, "The ferocity of Satan's attack upon you will increase in direct proportion to your potential usefulness for Jesus Christ." So the difficulties and feelings and temptations you've been dealing with lately may not mean there's anything wrong at all. In fact, there may be something wonderfully right. You're starting to make an impact for Jesus. You've attracted attention in hell. You're not wrestling with flesh and blood but against principalities and powers-spiritual forces. There's no reason to be afraid. There's no reason to be discouraged. According to Colossians 2:15 , Jesus has "disarmed the powers and authorities. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by His cross." Wow!

Remember the simple principles of winning against any attack from the dark side. Number one; depend on spiritual weapons to win spiritual battles. That means prayer and fasting. You need to recruit a team of prayer warriors to cover you now with daily prayer as you're becoming a make-a-difference person. You're a target now, and God's people praying for you will cover you with the blood of Jesus and a hedge of His protection.

Number two, regularly put on the spiritual armor of God. Read-memorize if you can-Ephesians 6:10-18 . Thirdly, don't give the devil a foothold. Remove any sin, any compromise that your enemy can use to get into your life. And number four; keep your power lines strong. Don't miss a day of being with Jesus through His Word.

Yes, Satan may desire to have you. But Jesus says, "I prayed for you." Your enemy wants the people around you to spend this life and forever like those people at the airport that day. He wants them stumbling in the dark. He has only one way to make this happen-knock out the light.

If you wander away from Jesus, they'll go there with you. You're either going to be a reason for somebody to be attracted to Jesus or say, "He doesn't really work." There's a lot riding on you keeping the light on. So stay close to the awesome power of the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself is the light of the world.