Perhaps the most amazing response to God's gift is our reluctance to accept it. We feel better if we earn it. So we create religious hoops and hop through them-making God a trainer, us his pets, and religion a circus.
If only, when God smiles and says we are saved, we'd salute him, thank him, and live like those who've just received a gift from the commander in chief. We seldom do that, though. To accept grace is to admit failure. We opt to impress God with how good we are rather than confessing how great he is. We dizzy ourselves with doctrine. Burden ourselves with rules. We think that God will smile on our efforts. But He doesn't. God's smile is not for the healthy hiker who boasts that he made the journey alone. It is, instead, for the crippled leper who begs God for a back on which to ride!
From In the Eye of the Storm
Exodus 25
Offerings for the Tabernacle
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather[a]; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
The Ark
10 “Have them make an ark[b] of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.[c] 11 Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. 15 The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. 16 Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.
17 “Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
The Table
23 “Make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.[d] 24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. 25 Also make around it a rim a handbreadth[e] wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 28 Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. 29 And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. 30 Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.
The Lampstand
31 “Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35 One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 36 The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
37 “Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38 Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. 39 A talent[f] of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. 40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
August 03, 2014
Read: Psalm 112
Praise the Lord.[b]
Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.
2 Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
they will be remembered forever.
7 They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn[c] will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked will see and be vexed,
they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
Footnotes:
Psalm 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 112:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
Psalm 112:9 Horn here symbolizes dignity.
Insight
While there is no designation of the author of Psalm 112, the common speculation is for Davidic authorship. It may well have been written as a companion to Psalm 111. In both songs, the verses are written in alphabetical order, and both share the theme of the characteristics and life of the person blessed by God. Psalm 111 focuses on the God who blesses, while Psalm 112 focuses on the person who is blessed.
Live In Love
By Dave Branon
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; he is gracious, and full of compassion. —Psalm 112:4
In the African country where my friend Roxanne lives, water is a precious commodity. People often have to travel long distances to collect water from small, contaminated creeks—leading to sickness and death. It’s difficult for organizations like orphanages and churches to serve the people because of a lack of water. But that’s beginning to change.
Through Roxanne’s leadership and the unselfish gifts of some loving people in established churches, clean water wells are being dug. At least six new wells are now operational, allowing churches to be centers of hope and encouragement. A health center and a home for 700 orphans will also be able to be opened because of access to water.
That’s the kind of love that can flow from believers in Christ when we have experienced the love and generosity of God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that if we don’t have love, our voices clang on people’s ears and our faith means nothing. And the apostle John says that if we have material possessions and see others in need and take action, that’s evidence that God’s love is abiding in us (1 John 3:16).
God desires that we deal “graciously” (Ps. 112:5) with those in need, for His heart is gracious toward us.
Be not weary in your serving;
Do your best for those in need;
Kindnesses will be rewarded
By the Lord who prompts the deed. —Anon.
Kindness is Christianity with its working clothes on.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 22, 2014
“I Indeed . . . But He”
I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire —Matthew 3:11
Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, “I indeed . . . but He . . .”? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— but He begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.
Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you . . . .” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.
“I indeed” was this in the past, “but He” came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 22, 2014
Running Into Yourself - #7205
Some friends said, "How would you like to use our condominium down by the ocean in Florida?" It was a very hard decision, but it took us ten seconds. I'll tell you what, it was really a great place. I never thought I'd stay in a place like that. It had some very distinctive furnishings. Well, yeah, the mirrors! They were everywhere. And they were very strategically placed so you could see the ocean from almost any spot in the house.
I was the first one up that first morning. I was alone. Now, I'm not familiar with this place, okay? I'm puttering around in the kitchen for breakfast. I went over to the kitchen table. I leaned over to get something and suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw this hand reaching for me. It scared me! Of course I spun around to see who was sneaking up on me. It was me. I hadn't realized that there was a mirror on the wall right next to me reflecting everything I did. Everywhere I went in this place I kept running into me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running Into Yourself."
One of the writers of the Bible kept running into himself everywhere, and he didn't like what he saw. He wrote words that people have been able to identify with very closely for a long time. His name is Paul. He wrote much of the New Testament, and it says in Romans 7:18, "I have the desire to do what is good, but I can't carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do. No, the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing." Oh for goodness sake, who can't relate to that, in our marriage, with our kids, with our friends?
Then he says in verse 21, "I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me." And finally he is desperate. In verse 24 he says, "What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Then he's got an answer. He says, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
In spite of being a very religious man, Paul kept running into this dark side of himself that was selfish and sinful. Is that unique to him? No! Like that condo we were in, we've got a lot of mirrors that show us some things that scare us. If you're married, your spouse is probably a mirror for you. Your parents are a mirror; showing you things that you may not like about yourself; you may not like to hear.
Our children - man, are they our mirrors! They reflect our inadequacies, our weaknesses, our baggage, our mistakes, and our pain. And even our critics; they're mirrors. Even if we throw away a lot of what they say as being bias, they still show us things we'd rather not see. And a crisis - now there's a mirror. Where things are coming apart - that's where you see the real you.
Now, when our dark side is suddenly staring us in the face, we try to run from it, we try to rationalize it, blame someone else until one day we finally get honest and say, "You know what? There is a darkness inside of me that scares me. I can't change the ugly parts of me. If I could have, I would have." And that's where Paul was here, "Who will rescue me?" And then there's the answer: God would through Jesus Christ. See, life's mirrors all seem to say the same thing, "You need a Savior." And we do.
That's why the Bible says in Romans 5:8, "While we were still sinners (That's means running our own lives that God was supposed to run.) God proved His love for us by Christ dying for us. We have this killer disease called sin, and God's Son came to break its' power, to die for your sin and mine to be our Rescuer. And then He showed His power over the most powerful force on earth - death, by conquering it on Easter morning.
Couldn't you use that power in your life, in your relationships, in your family? There's a new beginning that comes when you get every sin and every mistake forgiven by God. This all happens when you go to the cross of Jesus and you surrender to this wonderful Savior. Have you ever done that? Have you ever started your relationship with Him? If you haven't and you want to, can I ask you to take the next step on that journey and go to our website ANewStory.com? I want to help you get this going.
Maybe you are even running into yourself in life's mirrors recently and you don't like what you see. Look again. Right behind you, just over your shoulder, there's someone there. That's Jesus extending His hand to you. Grab Him right now. He's helped you run into yourself so you'll run into Him.