We are eternal creatures. We ask eternal questions. Where did I come from? Where am I going? Is there life after death? These are the primal questions of the soul. And if left unanswered, such questions steal our rest.
Only one other living creature has as much trouble resting as we do. Not dogs…they doze. Cats invented the catnap. Most animals know how to rest-with one exception. These creatures are woolly, simpleminded, and slow. Sheep! Sheep can't sleep. For them to do so everything must be just right. No tension in the flock…no hunger in the belly…everything has to be just so. Unfortunately sheep cannot find safe pasture or find food. They need help. They need a shepherd to lead them, and help them to lie down in green pastures. Without a shepherd they can't rest. Without a Shepherd, neither can we!
From Traveling Light
1 Samuel 23
David Protects the Town of Keilah
One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors. 2 David asked the Lord, “Should I go and attack them?”
“Yes, go and save Keilah,” the Lord told him.
3 But David’s men said, “We’re afraid even here in Judah. We certainly don’t want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!”
4 So David asked the Lord again, and again the Lord replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”
5 So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah. 6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him.
7 Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah. “Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!” 8 So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men.
9 But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the Lord what he should do. 10 Then David prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. 11 Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him?[a] And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.”
And the Lord said, “He will come.”
12 Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?”
And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you.”
David Hides in the Wilderness
13 So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after all. 14 David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.
15 One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. 16 Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.” 18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
19 But now the men of Ziph went to Saul in Gibeah and betrayed David to him. “We know where David is hiding,” they said. “He is in the strongholds of Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which is in the southern part of Jeshimon. 20 Come down whenever you’re ready, O king, and we will catch him and hand him over to you!”
21 “The Lord bless you,” Saul said. “At last someone is concerned about me! 22 Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him there, for I know that he is very crafty. 23 Discover his hiding places, and come back when you are sure. Then I’ll go with you. And if he is in the area at all, I’ll track him down, even if I have to search every hiding place in Judah!” 24 So the men of Ziph returned home ahead of Saul.
Meanwhile, David and his men had moved into the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah Valley south of Jeshimon. 25 When David heard that Saul and his men were searching for him, he went even farther into the wilderness to the great rock, and he remained there in the wilderness of Maon. But Saul kept after him in the wilderness.
26 Saul and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his men, 27 an urgent message reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again. 28 So Saul quit chasing David and returned to fight the Philistines. Ever since that time, the place where David was camped has been called the Rock of Escape.[b] 29 [c]David then went to live in the strongholds of En-gedi.
Footnotes:
23:11 Some manuscripts lack the first sentence of 23:11.
23:28 Hebrew Sela-hammahlekoth.
23:29 Verse 23:29 is numbered 24:1 in Hebrew text.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 15, 2015
Read: Romans 9:1-5
God’s Selection of Israel
With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.[a] I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.[b] God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.[c]
Footnotes:
9:3 Greek my brothers.
9:4 Greek chosen for sonship.
9:5 Or May God, the one who rules over everything, be praised forever. Amen.
INSIGHT: Even though Paul was “an apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13; Gal. 2:8), his heart’s desire was to see his own people—the Jews—come to faith in Jesus (Rom. 9:2-3). In Romans 9–11 Paul discussed the continuing unbelief of the Jews, but he assured them that they had not been rejected. He reminded them of their privileged status (v. 4), and the climax of these privileges is that the Messiah—the Savior—is Himself a Jew (v. 5).
A Survivor’s Thoughts
By Mart DeHaan
I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren. —Romans 9:3
After a 71-year-old South Korean woman was rescued during the tragic sinking of a ferry boat, she struggled with survivor’s guilt. From her hospital bed she said she couldn’t understand how it could be right for her to have lived through an accident that had taken the lives of many who were so much younger. She also regretted not knowing the name of the young man who had pulled her out of the water after she had given up hope. Then she added, “I want to buy him a meal at least, or hold his hand, or give him a hug.”
This woman’s heart for others reminds me of the apostle Paul. He was so concerned about his neighbors and countrymen that he said he wished he could trade his own relationship with Christ for their rescue: “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren” (Rom. 9:2-3).
Paul also expressed a deep sense of personal gratitude. He knew he didn’t understand the ways and judgments of God (see vv.14-24). So while doing everything he could to proclaim the gospel to all, he found peace and joy in trusting the heart of a God who loves the whole world so much more than we ever could.
Lord God, Your ways are so far beyond our comprehension, yet we know without doubt that You love us. Help us trust Your loving heart with the things we don’t understand.
Gratitude to God leads to growth in godliness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 15, 2015
The Habit of Rising to the Occasion
…that you may know what is the hope of His calling… —Ephesians 1:18
Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.
You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.
God is the Master Designer, and He allows adversities into your life to see if you can jump over them properly— “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). God will never shield you from the requirements of being His son or daughter. First Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you….” Rise to the occasion— do what the trial demands of you. It does not matter how much it hurts as long as it gives God the opportunity to manifest the life of Jesus in your body.
May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality— a readiness to face anything He brings our way. The only proper goal of life is that we manifest the Son of God; and when this occurs, all of our dictating of our demands to God disappears. Our Lord never dictated demands to His Father, and neither are we to make demands on God. We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 15, 2015
Quake Insurance - #7395
I know about tornadoes. We had one go through our backyard when I was a kid. And then we moved to the East Coast, so I also got the opportunity to get acquainted with hurricanes. But there's one natural disaster I don't know too much about, and that's just fine - earthquakes! What I do know, I've learned from people who have been through them. Like Mike, for example, the man in the seat next to me on a long airplane flight. He had lived in Northridge, California until recently. You might remember that was the epicenter of a major earthquake in 1994.
Well, he told me that he and his family were lucky to be alive after that quake. And the day after, he was out in his backyard picking up some of the damage, and suddenly the ground started moving around him and he literally saw the ground moving in waves toward him. That was an after-shock and it was scary to see. And he summed up what he had learned from that earthquake in just a few words. He said, "Things you're sure will always be there - may not be."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Quake Insurance."
Now, you may have never been through an actual earthquake, but you may have had enough upheavals of your own to realize the truth of that man's conclusion. Things you're sure will always be there may not be. Life's moving along pretty much as usual, and suddenly the ground starts moving underneath you. One sudden malfunction in your heart, one medical report, one driver's mistake, and suddenly things you felt like would always be there are moving.
There's a lot we don't control. It might be something that happens work, your job, your paycheck, your income; so many things. It may be a relationship that suddenly is in turmoil. We can't control so many things, and the waves of one of life's quakes come rolling at you, rocking your security, rocking your world.
It's not a question of whether one of life's quakes hits you. It's only a question of when, which means you and I need to be sure we're fully covered with comprehensive quake insurance. And it's available from the only One who cannot be rocked by the quakes.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 8:37-39. This might be the best news you ever heard. After talking about many of life's most turbulent and destructive experiences, the writer says, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." This is a testimony of a man who's found a relationship that doesn't move, no matter what's moving.
He goes on to describe it, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Wow! The message here is that there is a love that is unloseable, unmovable, unconditional; a relationship that will sustain you when everything else is out-of-control. And there is only one love like that.
I learned that when my wife almost died of hepatitis years ago. There are some things that can separate you from the love of your life partner, the love of your children, your friends. But the Bible says, "Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
But this love is only yours if you've had the wall removed; the one that separates you and God. Once you've found Him, you will never be separated again. But you do have to find Him, and that's what Jesus' dying on the cross is all about; dying to pay for that sin that is what separates us from God. And that wall can only come down when you put all your trust in what Jesus did on that cross for you.
Here's the question, "Has there ever been a time when in your heart you've gone to that cross and said, 'Jesus, I'm putting all my trust in what you did here on this cross to tear down that wall between me and God. I'm yours.'" If not, let this be the day you do that.
You say, "Ron, I need to know more." Please go to our website. That's why it's there - ANewStory.com.
It's really true! Things you're sure will always be there may not be...except for one. Life has no quake so severe that it can touch the unshakable love of Jesus Christ for you.