Make God’s presence your passion. How? Be more sponge and less rock. Put a rock in the ocean, and what happens? Its surface gets wet. The exterior may change color, but the interior remains untouched. Yet place a sponge in the ocean, and notice the change. It absorbs the water. The ocean penetrates every pore and alters the essence of the sponge. God surrounds us in the same way the Pacific surrounds an ocean floor pebble. He is everywhere—above, below, on all sides.
We choose our response—rock or sponge? Resist or receive? Hard hearts never heal. Spongy ones do. The Psalmist determined, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Open every pore of your soul to God’s presence!
From You’ll Get Through This
2 Samuel 10
David Defeats the Ammonites
Some time after this, King Nahash[a] of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king. 2 David said, “I am going to show loyalty to Hanun just as his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death.
But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, their master, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so they can come in and conquer it!” 4 So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.
5 When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.
6 When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, they sent and hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from the lands of Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 from the land of Tob. 7 When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them. 8 The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.
9 When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields. 10 He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites. 11 “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me,” Joab told his brother. “And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. 12 Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”
13 When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away. 14 And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. After the battle was over, Joab returned to Jerusalem.
15 The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel. So when they regrouped, 16 they were joined by additional Aramean troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other side of the Euphrates River.[b] These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s forces.
17 When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and led the army to Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves in battle formation and fought against David. 18 But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s forces killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers,[c] including Shobach, the commander of their army. 19 When all the kings allied with Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to Israel and became their subjects. After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites.
Footnotes:
10:1 As in parallel text at 1 Chr 19:1; Hebrew reads the king.
10:16 Hebrew the river.
10:18 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 1 Chr 19:18); Hebrew reads charioteers.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, June 15, 2015
Read: Psalm 121
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.
7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
INSIGHT:
This psalm reminds us that God is our Helper (vv. 1-3) and Keeper (vv. 4-8). As Helper, the Creator of the universe (v. 2) assists us as we journey through life, giving us the security and stability (v. 3) we need. As Keeper, God is the vigilant watchman, fully aware of the events of our lives because He never sleeps (v. 4). This reality allows us to rest in safety and serenity (Ps. 3:5; 4:8; Prov. 3:24).
Look Up!
By David C. McCasland
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. —Psalm 121:2
In a park near our home there’s a trail I enjoy walking on. Along one section there’s a panoramic view of red sandstone rocks in the Garden of the Gods with the majestic 14,115-foot Pikes Peak behind them. From time to time, though, I find myself walking that section occupied with some problem and looking down at the wide, smooth trail. If no one is around, I may stop and say aloud, “David, look up!”
The psalms known as “Songs of Ascents” (Ps. 120–134) were sung by the people of Israel as they walked the road up to Jerusalem to attend the three annual pilgrim festivals. Psalm 121 begins, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help?” (v. 1). The answer follows, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (v. 2). The Creator is not an aloof being, but a companion who is always with us, always awake to our circumstances (vv. 3-7), guiding and guarding our journey through life “from this time forth, and even forevermore” (v. 8).
Along life’s path, how we need to keep our eyes fixed on God, our source of help. When we’re feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, it’s all right to say aloud, “Look up!”
I look up to You, Father, for You are the One who can help me. Thank You for the joys and trials in my life right now. I’m grateful that I never walk alone.
Keep your eyes on God—your source of help.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 15, 2015
Get Moving! (2)
Also…add to your faith… —2 Peter 1:5
In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, “Jesus…took a towel and…began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).
We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.
It is difficult for us to do the “adding” that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 15, 2015
Praise Talking and Stubborn Singing - #7416
Our dog, Missy, had to share our attention with another pet. Yeah, it was a canary that we named in honor of one of our Native American friends. We named the canary Cherokee. Now, this little yellow cheerleader was great for when you were in a bad mood because he never was! As soon as you uncovered his cage in the morning, he began warbling his repertoire of happy tunes. It might be a sunny day, and you had happy singing from him all day long. It might be a miserable day. Guess what? Happy singing all day long! It didn't matter how the people around our canary felt; happy, stressed, noisy, quiet, or down. It just didn't matter. No matter what, he was always singing!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Praise Talking and Stubborn Singing."
You know the bottom line today? We've got a lot to learn from the Hutchcraft canary. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15. It says, "Through Jesus, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name." Notice how frequently we're called to be praising God - continually. And notice that a lot of times praising God is a sacrifice.
Now watch! Why is that? Because we don't feel like it. There's a lot of unpleasant stuff going on. We've been praying, maybe, and we haven't gotten any answers that we can recognize. When times are tough and God seems largely silent, praise is not just the overflow of some gushy spiritual high, "Hey, praise the Lord!" No, it's a choice. It's a sacrifice.
And God's command to be praise talkers is not conditioned on our circumstances. He says "continually". Listen to 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." This sounds like the lifestyle of a certain yellow bird. No matter what, he was singing. His script for the day was already written. Everyone was going to hear positive sounds from him.
That's a choice we are all called to make each new day. Actually, the commitment to be a "praiser" is a new perspective on your day. You go into the day aggressively looking for the marks of God on that day, the subtle activity of God, the dramatic activity of God, the little things, the big things, the little surprises, the little encouragements. There's not a day in your life that doesn't have the fingerprints of God all over it.
But like human praise, they're not always immediately visible. You have to go looking for them. And that's what "praisers" do. I have seen the effect of a stubborn singer on the people who hear the songs. Our canary's happy sounds made it pretty tough to stay in a bad mood, and we really appreciated that bird's consistent positiveness.
I think you can have that effect on the people around you, lifting their load, lifting their spirits, changing the atmosphere if you lose the complaining, lose the cynicism, lose the negative and you dedicate yourself to continually praising your Lord. Not just with a rote "Praise the Lord!" But with specific praises for specific evidences of God's character and God's working in this very day.
You may be in a sick bed, an unemployment line, a lonely time, a time of loss, or a time of overwhelming stress. But is that what's going to determine your attitude or your talk? No, it needs to be the Christ in you, not the circumstances around you.
I want you to be like our little canary friend, singing no matter what and turning people's sadness into singing.