In Joshua Chapter 1 God said, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and you will have good success."
God's word to Joshua is God's word to us! I invite you to join me at GloryDaysToday.com for a 4-week journey in a Glory Days Scripture Memorization Challenge to memorize a verse a week.
Start with Joshua 1:9- the reminder that God has given you power. Then 2 Timothy 3:16-17- Scripture is a weapon useful in all situations. John 1:12- a reminder to inherit your inheritance. And then Joshua 21:43-45- the reminder that God fights for you, in the power of God's Word, to face down every stronghold that stands against us!
From Glory Days
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord:[b]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[c]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand[d];
he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way,[e]
and so he will lift his head high.
Footnotes:
Psalm 110:1 Or Lord
Psalm 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
Psalm 110:5 Or My lord is at your right hand, Lord
Psalm 110:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 14, 2015
Read: Matthew 21:28-32
Parable of the Two Sons
28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?”
They replied, “The first.”[a]
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.
Footnotes:
21:29-31 Other manuscripts read “The second.” In still other manuscripts the first son says “Yes” but does nothing, the second son says “No” but then repents and goes, and the answer to Jesus’ question is that the second son obeyed his father.
INSIGHT:
Matthew 21 describes several events in the life of Christ. This chapter opens with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (vv. 1-11) followed by the cleansing of the temple (vv. 12-17) and the cursing of the fig tree (vv. 18-22). Then the parable of the two sons follows a debate with the religious leaders about Jesus’ authority (vv. 23-32). It is this issue that forms the context of the parable, for it deals with how the sons responded to authority. The son who did his father’s wishes was the one who honored his father. Bill Crowder
Words and Actions
By Dave Branon
Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
The email from the student in my college writing class expressed urgency. It was the end of the semester, and he realized he needed a better grade to participate in sports. What could he do? He had missed some assignments, so I gave him two days to complete those papers and improve his grade. His response: “Thank you. I’ll do it.”
Two days—and the deadline—passed, and no papers appeared. He didn’t back up his words with action.
Jesus told about a young man who did something similar. The boy’s dad asked him to do some work in the vineyard. The son said, “I will, sir” (Matt. 21:30). But he was all talk and no action.
In commenting on this parable, Matthew Henry concluded: “Buds and blossoms are not fruit.” The buds and blossoms of our words, which breed anticipation of what we might do, are empty without the fruit of our follow-through. Jesus’ main application was to religious leaders who spoke of obedience yet refused to follow through with repentance. But the words apply to us as well. It is in following God “with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18)—not in making empty promises—that we honor our Lord and Savior.
Our actions in obeying God show Him more love, honor, and praise than any empty words we might say to try to appear good.
Dear Father, help me to follow through on my promises to You and to all who depend on me. Especially help me to do Your will and not just talk about it.
Words are the blossoms, action the fruit.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 14, 2015
Arguments or Obedience
…the simplicity that is in Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:3
Simplicity is the secret to seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly until a long time passes, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think through spiritual confusion to make things clear; to make things clear, you must obey. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual matters you will only think yourself into further wandering thoughts and more confusion. If there is something in your life upon which God has put His pressure, then obey Him in that matter. Bring all your “arguments and…every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” regarding the matter, and everything will become as clear as daylight to you (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your reasoning capacity will come later, but reasoning is not how we see. We see like children, and when we try to be wise we see nothing (see Matthew 11:25).
Even the very smallest thing that we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is completely sufficient to account for spiritual confusion, and spending all of our time thinking about it will still never make it clear. Spiritual confusion can only be conquered through obedience. As soon as we obey, we have discernment. This is humiliating, because when we are confused we know that the reason lies in the state of our mind. But when our natural power of sight is devoted and submitted in obedience to the Holy Spirit, it becomes the very power by which we perceive God’s will, and our entire life is kept in simplicity.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 14, 2015
When Idols Crash - #7481
I've lived long enough to see a lot of crashes. Not cars or planes - people. Actually, we see it in the news all too often don't we? Sometimes it happens to our teams that we root for. My football team, for example in the NFL went one year from the Super Bowl to a very embarrassing losing season. They had been at the top of the heap and they ended up at the bottom the next year. But we've watched heroes crash haven't we; pastors, Christian leaders, politicians, judges, athletes? We see it all the time. In fact, maybe you've heard some crashes in your own life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Idols Crash."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 5. Now, the Ark of God is where the presence of God was located in the Old Testament. So, remember that as we read this word, "After the Philistines had captured the Ark of God, they took it to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. (That's their god.) When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained."
Well, here's the idol, Dagon, the center of the Philistines' worship. They'd pinned their hopes on him, or it, and it kept falling over. I mean, what do you expect though, when you put that idol next to the Lord himself? The idol just couldn't stand up. Idols never can. They all eventually crash, leaving only God for us to worship.
It's interesting that the Apostle John concludes his book of 1 John written to Christians with this word, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." See, there's a tendency for us, even as Christians, to unintentionally make gods out of earthly things and earthly people. No, it's not a statue in the closet. You don't burn incense. It just becomes the main focus of your time, your energy, your planning, your money. And every idol either has let you down or is about to. That's why we keep hearing the crashes of idols.
I remember several years ago in the middle of an economic earthquake, how my friends on Wall Street would say, "Ron, we always thought we were depending on the Lord until this happened. And then we find out what we were really depending on. And when it let us down, we were a mess."
There is a man who has given so much to his career and his institution, only to be suddenly attacked by the people he's given so much for. Again, something was crashing. The dad who's worked and planned so hard for his son to receive a top honor, only to watch him lose it in the final round. He said, "Ron, it was the death of a dream."
See, our idols are subtle. Your career can become your focus, your children can, a position you really want, maybe someone you're in love with, a financial goal, a home, a dream - just an idolatrous dream you have. And instead of it revolving around God, you've drifted into having God revolve around it. It is an idol.
The First Commandment said, "You shall have no other gods before Me." Either it has crashed, it is crashing, or it will crash. It has to, so you'll come back to where you started; depending on, living for the Lord Christ alone. The hymn writer said it so well, "The dearest idol I have known; help me tear it from the throne."
It hurts to have an idol crash, but it's a loss that will bring you back to God's best. Your idol will crash; it has to. But that's okay. When it does, the only God worth worshiping is there for you, beckoning for you to come back home.
