Isaiah 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: VENGEANCE IS GOD’S

The Bible says vengeance is God’s. He will repay. What a great reminder. Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice, it just entrusts it to God. We tend to give too much or too little. But the God of justice has the precise prescription. God can discipline your abusive boss or soften your angry parent. He can bring your ex to his knees or her senses.

Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice, it just entrusts it to God. Unlike us, God never gives up on a person. Never. Long after we’ve moved on, God is still there, probing the conscience, stirring conviction, always orchestrating redemption. Fix your enemies? That’s God’s job. When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. No one owns a secret formula. Remember this–as long as you are trying to forgive, you are forgiving. Stay the course! You’ll find a way to be strong even when you’ve been hurt.  You will get through this.

From You’ll Get Through This

Isaiah 15
Poignant Cries Reverberate Through Moab

A Message concerning Moab:

Village Ar of Moab is in ruins,
    destroyed in a night raid.
Village Kir of Moab is in ruins,
    destroyed in a night raid.
Village Dibon climbs to its chapel in the hills,
    goes up to lament.
Moab weeps and wails
    over Nebo and Medba.
Every head is shaved bald,
    every beard shaved clean.
They pour into the streets wearing black,
    go up on the roofs, take to the town square,
Everyone in tears,
    everyone in grief.
Towns Heshbon and Elealeh cry long and loud.
    The sound carries as far as Jahaz.
Moab sobs, shaking in grief.
    The soul of Moab trembles.
5-9 Oh, how I grieve for Moab!
    Refugees stream to Zoar
    and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah.
Up the slopes of Luhith they weep;
    on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss.
The springs of Nimrim are dried up—
    grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.
They leave, carrying all their possessions
    on their backs, everything they own,
Making their way as best they can
    across Willow Creek to safety.
Poignant cries reverberate
    all through Moab,
Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim,
    heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim.
The banks of the Dibon crest with blood,
    but God has worse in store for Dibon:
A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives,
    to clean up whoever’s left in the land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, September 12, 2016

Read: Matthew 25:1–13

The Story of the Virgins

 “God’s kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. Five were silly and five were smart. The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. The bridegroom didn’t show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep.

6 “In the middle of the night someone yelled out, ‘He’s here! The bride-groom’s here! Go out and greet him!’

7-8 “The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The silly virgins said to the smart ones, ‘Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.’

9 “They answered, ‘There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.’

10 “They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked.

11 “Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, ‘Master, we’re here. Let us in.’

12 “He answered, ‘Do I know you? I don’t think I know you.’

13 “So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.

INSIGHT:
David Wenham, in his book The Parables of Jesus, comments on the parable of the ten virgins: “It speaks of waiting for the coming of the master—in this case the bridegroom—and of being prepared or unprepared for one’s appointed task and of being rewarded or punished . . . . This is a particularly suggestive picture of the outcome of final judgment.” We don’t know when we will see the Bridegroom. Perhaps we will be alive and looking for Him when he returns or we will be raised from the dead and meet Him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16–17). What is important is that we are ready when He comes.

Ready for the Wedding
By Amy Boucher Pye

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13

“I’m hungry,” said my eight-year-old daughter. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t have anything for you. Let’s play tic-tac-toe.” We had been waiting over an hour for the bride to arrive at the church for what was supposed to be a noon wedding. As I wondered how much longer it would be, I hoped I could occupy my daughter until the wedding started.

As we waited, I felt like we were enacting a parable. Although the vicarage where we live is a stone’s throw from the church, I knew if I went to fetch some crackers, the bride could come at any moment and I would miss her entrance. As I employed many distraction techniques with my hungry daughter, I also thought about Jesus’s parable about the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13). Five came prepared with enough oil for their lamps to stay lit as they waited for the bridegroom, but five did not. Just as it was too late for me to dash back to the vicarage, so it was too late for the young women to go and buy more oil for their lamps.

What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like in your life?
Jesus told this parable to emphasize that we need to be prepared, for when He comes again we will give an account over the state of our hearts. Are we waiting and ready?

What does waiting for Jesus’s return look like in your life? Have you left something undone that you could attend to today?

We need to be ready for Christ to come again.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 12, 2016
Going Through Spiritual Confusion
Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask." —Matthew 20:22
  
There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.

The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember— He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?

The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father— as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives…” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.

The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 12, 2016

Keeping the Weight Off - #7741

Sometimes I'll say kiddingly, "I've figured out what my thorn in the flesh is. My metabolism." Is that possible? Well, unfortunately, my metabolism just doesn't turn calories into energy fast enough. It seems like the more birthdays you have, the more that's true. In other words, I could get heavy pretty easily. Years ago, my not-very-tall body weighed in at 210 pounds. Yeah, well, I lost 40 or 50 pounds less, you know, and kept most of that off over the years. I want to stay that way. But I still have the same metabolism that got me to 210, and the bakery, and the candy store, and the ice cream place. They still look just as tempting, but I've got to remember what a battle it was to get that weight off! I mean, it is worth saying no to some temptations to avoid the struggle of having to get back in shape!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Keeping the Weight Off."

Okay, this isn't really about physical weight. No, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Galatians 5:1. Paul is addressing the issue of bondage...the bondage of legalism, but also the bondage of sin. He says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Or, like this goodies-loving, slow metabolism guy, you know – me? Why would you go back to a way that you hated, that you were hooked on, and that was very hard to get out of? You know how hard it is to get rid of that weight. Why would you go back to it?

Maybe you're facing the temptation, right now, to slip back to a sin that once enslaved you; weight you carried spiritually for way too long. Look back for a moment. Look at the spiritual weight that you used to carry – the impatience that caused you grief because you would not wait for man and you wouldn't wait for God. Or remember that destructive habit that mastered you for so long and how hard it was to get past it? That attitude that made you feel so dark inside and poisoned your relationships, and that selfishness or that anger that hurt most the people you love most? Remember the lust that used to take over so much of your thought life or the wrong use of sex that left you with scars and guilt and regrets?

You remember the weight and you remember how it made you feel, and you remember how hard it was to get that weight off of you. But now maybe there's a slow drift back toward that burden. You have no intention of going back to where you were. I have no intention of going back to what I used to weigh, but I could be back there pretty fast if I didn't fight the early weight gains. I have to do it all the time.

If you're going to keep from carrying that sin-weight again, you'll have to fight it at the first thought when it hits, the first time the temptation comes up, the first weakening, the erosion, that first little compromise, "Just this once. Not very much. Not for long." Notice God's words here are, "Stand firm! Do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." In other words, stop it now! Fight it when it's small! When it's easier to beat! It's only going to get tougher to stop.

Jesus gloriously liberated you from the sinful weight of that ugly old way of living, that old way of thinking, that old way of meeting your needs, of treating people. But it was painful getting the weight off, wasn't it? You can't afford to let it start coming back. Say no now to the first signs of that burden returning, the first weakening in your resolve!

Why revisit the burdens of the past? Why repeat the struggle of beating that sin again? You've got the weight off. Now with the strength of Jesus, keep it off!