On Calvary's Hill, Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. Then the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. What did fifteen-hundred years of a curtain-draped Holy of Holies communicate? Simple: God is holy! God IS holy-separate from us and unapproachable. Even Moses was told, "You cannot see my face because no one can see me and live." God is holy and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us.
But Jesus hasn't left us with an unapproachable God. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ." When Jesus' flesh was torn on the cross, the curtain was torn in two. With no hesitation, we are welcome into God's presence-any day, any time. The barrier of sin is down. No more curtain!
From On Calvary's Hill
Judges 17
Micah’s Idols
There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces[e] of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.”
“The Lord bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. 3 He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.”
4 So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. 5 Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.
6 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
7 One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. 8 He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. 9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him.
He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”
10 “Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver[f] a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” 11 The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons.
12 So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. 13 “I know the Lord will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.”
18:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
18:12 Mahaneh-dan means “the camp of Dan.”
18:30 As in an ancient Hebrew tradition, some Greek manuscripts, and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads son of Manasseh.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Read: Psalm 56
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune “Dove on Distant Oaks.”
O God, have mercy on me,
for people are hounding me.
My foes attack me all day long.
2 I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,
and many are boldly attacking me.
3 But when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
4 I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 They are always twisting what I say;
they spend their days plotting to harm me.
6 They come together to spy on me—
watching my every step, eager to kill me.
7 Don’t let them get away with their wickedness;
in your anger, O God, bring them down.
8 You keep track of all my sorrows.[b]
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
9 My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.
This I know: God is on my side!
10 I praise God for what he has promised;
yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised.
11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?
12 I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.
13 For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.
Footnotes:
56:Title Hebrew miktam. This may be a literary or musical term.
56:8 Or my wanderings.
INSIGHT: Psalm 56 was written by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath, as stated in the superscription. One of the ironies of David’s life is that he killed the Philistine champion Goliath who was from Gath, but in fleeing from Saul he sought refuge in that same city. In both circumstances, his ultimate refuge was found in God.
Simply Trusting
By Joe Stowell
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. —Psalm 56:3
When our children were young, taking them to the doctor’s office was an interesting experience. The waiting room was filled with toys they could play with and children’s magazines I would read to them. So getting that far with them was no problem. But as soon as I picked them up to carry them into the appointment, everything changed. Suddenly the fun turned into fear as the nurse approached with the needle for the needed shot. The closer she got, the tighter they hugged my neck. They would cling to me for comfort, probably hoping for rescue, not knowing that it was for their own good.
Sometimes in this fallen world we move from times of peace and tranquility into the painful realm of trouble. At that point, the question is, “How will I respond?” We can be fearful and wonder why God allowed this to happen to us, or we can trust that in the midst of this trouble He is doing something that in the end is for our best, even if it hurts. We would do well to remember the words of the psalmist who wrote, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Ps. 56:3).
Like my children, the tougher it gets, the tighter we should hug His neck. Trust Him. His love never fails!
Come quickly, Lord, to help me. Teach me to trust You in times of trouble. Remind me of Your presence and of the fact that You hold me in Your loving arms.
Cling to your heavenly Father; He is your only hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Decreasing for His Purpose
He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30
If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”
Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.
Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
How the God of Surprises Leads You to His Will - #7357
Our youngest son was one week away from his sixteenth birthday, and we had surprised his older brother and sister. It was going to be tough to surprise this one for his sixteenth. So I picked him up from his friend's house and we went out to eat. I said, "Hey, you know what, we've got to go over to the next town." He asked why, and I said, "Well, I've got to check out this stable over there. We're thinking about having a Campus Life activity there and I need to find out what it will cost."
Well, that was all true. But there was a little more to it than that. See, his friends were waiting at the campfire at the stables. They were all dressed in western gear with cowboy hats, and bandanas and boots, and they were waiting to surprise him for a western party. It worked! My son thought I was taking him to the next town for one thing, but I had something much better in mind.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How the God of Surprises Leads You to His Will."
That takes us to our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 16:7. Paul and his companions are the people it's talking about. "When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." Don't get all caught up in the unfamiliar geography here, the principle is what's important. "They passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
Actually, this is the beginning of the invasion of the Gospel for the first time into Europe. But Paul hadn't planned on doing that. He went following the Holy Spirit's leading. He knew he was supposed to go to this area of Asia Minor that's across the Aegean Sea from Europe. And then he thought he was going to head West from there. God went, "Surprise! I want you to go East to Europe from here, not West into Asia Minor."
Basically, God was saying, "I got you to this point so I could send you in this surprising direction." Sounds kind of like my son on his birthday. I had to get him to a place where he wouldn't otherwise go so I could surprise him with things he never expected. That's probably like you and me. That's how our Father leads us. You know, I say, "I'm headed to point Y because I think God wants me to get to X." And God says, "No, I want you to go to point Y so you will get to Z." He's the God of surprises, and He'll lead you to a point and then He'll just take you off in a surprising direction.
What does this mean? It may seem like a risk, but you wholeheartedly follow in any direction that God seems to be leading you. Take a step, see a step; one step at a time. Go for it! All He asks you to do is do what you sense He is leading you to do this day. He'll make the days into God's will weeks, the God's will weeks into God's will months, and God's will months into God's will years. You don't have to worry about the macro will of God. It's made up of a thousand micro wills, obeying Him one thing at a time, one day at a time.
So you've got to stay flexible. Don't try to second guess all of the possible outcomes, "Oh boy, I wonder what will happen... Yeah, but..." No! Let God weave His tapestry however He wants on His schedule. And keep your fingerprints off your future. I've actually prayed, "Dear God, when I get to my future, may they find none of my fingerprints on my future." That's what you don't want to find on your future is your own fingerprints.
As a father, I understand bringing a child to the point where you can surprise him. We have a Heavenly Father who does that all the time. So would you just relax right now and enjoy the ride. Your life is being driven by a God you can totally trust who is the God of surprises.