Every time Satan sets out to score for evil, he ends up scoring a point for good. Consider Paul. Satan hoped prison would silence his pulpit, and it did, but it also unleashed his pen. The letters to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians were all written in a jail cell.
Satan is the Colonel Klink of the Bible. Remember Klink? He was the fall guy for Hogan on the television series, Hogan’s Heroes. Klink supposedly ran a German POW camp during World War 2. Those inside the camp, however, knew better. They knew who really ran the camp: the prisoners. They listened to Klink’s calls and read his mail. They even gave Klink ideas, all the while using him for their own cause.
Over and over the Bible makes it clear who really runs the earth. Satan may strut and prance, but it is God who calls the shots.
from The Great House of God
Matthew 10:21-42
New International Version (NIV)
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[b]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 10:29 Or will; or knowledge
Matthew 10:36 Micah 7:6
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
Insight
For centuries, the Jewish community of faith had called to memory God’s provision of their deliverance out of bondage in Egypt. This memorial was celebrated through the Passover meal (Ex. 12:1-28). A roasted lamb, unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs, and other items helped them remember their salvation from slavery. In our reading today, we see how our Lord took that sacred feast and transformed it into a memorial of His own sacrificial death (see Luke 22:19).
Tears Of Gratitude
By Bill Crowder
You proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. —1 Corinthians 11:26
At a communion service my wife and I attended, the congregation was invited to come forward to receive the bread and cup from one of the pastors or elders. They told each one personally of Jesus’ sacrifice for him or her. It was an especially moving experience during what can often become just routine. After we returned to our seats, I watched as others slowly and quietly filed past. It was striking to see how many had tears in their eyes. For me, and for others I talked with later, they were tears of gratitude.
The reason for tears of gratitude is seen in the reason for the communion table itself. Paul, after instructing the church at Corinth about the meaning of the memorial supper, punctuated his comments with these powerful words: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). With the elements of communion pointing directly to the cross and the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, that service was about so much more than ritual—it was about Christ. His love. His sacrifice. His cross. For us.
How inadequate words are to convey the extraordinary worth of Christ! Sometimes tears of gratitude speak what words can’t fully express.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. —Watts
The love Christ showed for us on the cross is greater than words could ever express.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 04, 2014
Vicarious Intercession
. . having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . —Hebrews 10:19
Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.
Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
No One to Welcome - #7121
If you want to make friends fast in an airport sometime, just stand there with a big Welcome Home banner. Well, we were contacted by a young woman who had been part of our Native American work in the past. She was going through a time of severe struggle and she really wanted to turn things around. So she asked us if she could come and spend some recovery time with our team in New Jersey. We'd been praying for her, so we were wide open to her coming.
Well, we scrambled to find a way to get an airplane ticket for her, and we decided to try to let her know how special she was by giving her this special airport welcome. We got some colorful helium balloons, we got a bright Welcome Home banner, and five of us stationed ourselves at the end of the concourse that she was scheduled to come in on. It was really funny to watch the reactions of these expressionless arriving passengers. And suddenly they see that sign, and they're laughing, they're waving, they're thanking us as if the welcome party was for them. It was fun...until we saw the last flight attendant coming down the concourse with no other passengers coming behind her. See, the person we'd come to welcome? She never came.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No One to Welcome."
Even though she wasn't on the plane, of course we still prayed for that young woman to follow through and to leave the dark situation she was in. It's a pretty sad feeling when you prepare a big welcome and the one you did it for never comes. Jesus knows that feeling. He's prepared a Welcome Home, an expensive welcome for some people who've never come - maybe you.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:41, "As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, 'If you'd only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it's hidden from your eyes. You did not recognize the time of God's coming.'" Now that scene, that feeling has been repeated many times since then as someone Jesus has been inviting to have a relationship with Him has been too busy or too disinterested to respond.
He actually weeps over those who do not respond to His love, because of what He wants to do for them. He said, "If you had only known what would bring you peace." Could it be that the peace that has eluded you for so long is peace that only God's Son can give you? Could it be there's never been peace because there's never been room for Jesus?
I know how sad I felt when the person we worked to bring home never came. Imagine how Jesus feels when someone He died for doesn't come. The Bible clearly spells out the uncomfortable fact that we are all on death row spiritually. We've sinned against the God who made us. We've insisted on living our way instead of His way. And the Bible says, "The soul that sins will die." Life here without God and His love, and then a life forever without God and His love and no pain relievers to cover the pain, except for the loving intervention of God's Son, Jesus.
The Bible declares "Christ died for our sins." For your sins. We did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying. And having purchased your rescue with His blood, He holds up a banner for you - Welcome Home. He's been holding it for a long time, waiting for you to come to Him in faith, telling Him you're putting your total trust in Him for a relationship with God. But you haven't come home, and someday you won't be able to. The banner will be gone; the open arms will be gone. But today you can still come.
You want to get started with Him? You want to come home to the One you were made for? If you want to begin that personal relationship with Jesus today, let me encourage you to visit our website, ANewStory.com. It will help you get the rest of the way home. That's ANewStory.com. It's time to say, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
Too many times the banner's been up and Jesus has been waiting for you and you didn't come. Please, come today. Make this the day when you finally experience the wonderful "Welcome Home" of Jesus Christ.
