Could someone actually be forgiven a debt of millions and be unable to forgive a debt of hundreds? Could a person be set free and then imprison another? You don't have to be a theologian to answer those questions; just look in the mirror.
Who among us hasn't begged God for mercy on Sunday and then demanded justice on Monday? Is there anyone who doesn't, at one time or another, show contempt for the riches of God's kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Look into the face of the One who forgave you. Who wept when you pleaded for mercy. Look into the face of the Father who gave you grace when no one else gave you a chance. "Blessed are the merciful," Jesus said (Matthew 5:7). Why? "Because they will be shown mercy."
You see, forgiving others allows us to see how God has forgiven us!
From The Applause of Heaven
Revelation 9
New International Version (NIV)
9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 4:7-11
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Insight
The Bible Reader’s Companion provides these helpful insights into today’s reading: “Peter has described the pagan’s choice: to satisfy their human desires. He now describes the lifestyle that pagans can make no sense of, but which reflects the will of God for His people. This includes: self-control, prayer, mutual love, unstinting hospitality, using gifts for the benefit of others, serving wholeheartedly and ‘with the strength God provides.’”
In Harmony
January 21, 2014 — by Dennis Fisher
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. —1 Peter 4:10
I love playing the 5-string banjo. But it has one drawback. The fifth string will harmonize with only a limited number of simple chords. When other musicians want to play more complicated music, the banjoist has to adapt. He can lend marvelous melodic tones to a jam session only by making the right adjustments.
Just as musicians adjust with their instruments, we as believers also need to make adjustments with our spiritual gifts if we want to harmonize with others to serve God. For instance, those who have the gift of teaching must coordinate with those who have the gift of organizing meetings and with those who make sure meeting rooms are set up and cleaned. All of us have spiritual gifts, and we must work together if God’s work is to get done.
The apostle Peter said, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Stewardship requires cooperation. Think about your spiritual gifts (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4; 1 Peter 4). Now reflect on how you can dovetail their use with the gifts of other believers. When our talents are used in a complementary way, the result is harmony and glory to God.
Without a note we sing in tune,
An anthem loud we bring,
When willingly we give our gifts
Of labor to our King. —Branon
Keeping in tune with Christ keeps harmony in the church.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 21, 2014
Recall What God Remembers
Thus says the Lord: ’I remember . . . the kindness of your youth . . .’ —Jeremiah 2:2
Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?
God is saying to His people, “You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were.” He says, “I remember . . . the love of your betrothal . . .” (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?
As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and “godly sorrow produces repentance . . .” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Which Way Are You Looking? - #7052
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Several years ago I had the opportunity to be in London. And I got to see some things that we don't see much of in America: the palace, the double-decked buses, the Bobbies, the nice, neat, courteous lines at bus and train stops where people are actually polite, buildings that represent up to 1,000 years of history. And there's one thing that's very new there for an American. It could be dangerous. It's the direction of traffic.
Cars drive on the left side, and it really messes up American drivers and in this case an American pedestrian. You step off a curb, looking to the left of course. We've been conditioned for a lifetime to look to the left. You do that in London, and you may not be using your return ticket. I mean, as in any city, there's busy traffic. But the British must know that there will be confused Yanks like me there. They paint these signs and arrows on the pavement that say "Look Right." They saved my life! It's very important. If you're not looking the right way, you can get run over.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Which Way Are You Looking?"
Our word for today from the Word of God, Luke chapter 9, and we're in the middle of that feeding of the five thousand where the disciples have seen the size of the crowd and said, "Boy, they've got to eat. We'd better send them away." And Jesus said, "You give them something to eat." The disciples aren't quite sure what to do with that command. They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. (About five thousand men were there.) But He said to His disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. The disciples did so and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate. (They all ate. Did you get that?) and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."
Okay, Jesus and the disciples are facing an overwhelming need. Maybe like you right now. Maybe you're looking at a financial need, or family, or personal, or ministry situation, and it's like a Mission Impossible. See, that's when miracles happen. It's kind of like crossing streets in London. The outcome depends on which way you're looking.
There are three ways you can look when you're facing an overwhelming situation. First, you can look out at the need. That's what the disciples did. It's a huge crowd; a huge need. Secondly, you can look down at your resources. In John 6 that's what the disciples did. Andrew said, "Here's a boy with five small (notice small) barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" "Hey, our resources are no match for this need!" Maybe that's how you feel right now. You just don't have the money, the wisdom, the strength, the help, the answers. Well, in both cases you're going to be paralyzed or panicky.
There's a third way to look though, and that's what Jesus did. It says, "And looking up to heaven He gave thanks for the loaves." Jesus chose to look in the Lord's direction, not out at the need, not down at the resources, but where the resources are unlimited. The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, "God will supply all your need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." So Jesus thanked God for what He did have, though it was nowhere near enough. And not enough was miraculously multiplied into more than enough.
Do you know that's exactly what happens when somebody puts their life into Jesus' hands? Your life could be so much more than you ever imagined. Jesus said, "I've come that you may have life and have it to the full." And we do as much as we can do with our lives, until one day we say, "Jesus, You who died on the cross to pay for my sin, You who walked out of your grave under your own power, You who will be returning one day to wrap up human history, it's time I took this life that I have thwarted and put it in the hands of the one who was meant to be controlling it all."
I'd invite you to do that today. He's inviting you to do that today. I'd love to help you do that if you'd just meet me at our website. It's ANewStory.com, and there's information there that will help you know how to get started.
You know, if we hadn't looked the right way in heavy traffic in London, we would have been run over. If you don't look the right way in your heavy traffic, you're going to be run over. But God has written in this feeding of the five thousand, clear direction. Don't look out at the staggering need, don't look down at the puny resources. Look up to heaven and focus on the unlimited resources of your God.