Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS IN CHARGE
It does twice as much good to think about God as it does to think about anyone or anything else. The more we focus up there, the more inspired we are down here.
The Psalmist said, Oh Magnify the Lord with me! (Psalm 34:3). When you magnify an object, you enlarge it so that you can understand it. When we magnify God, we do the same. We enlarge our awareness of him so we can understand him more. This is exactly what happens when we worship. We take our minds off ourselves and set them on God. I love the way the final phrase of the Lord’s Prayer as translated in The Message (Matthew 6:13):
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Could it be any simpler? God is in charge!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 51
Committed to Seeking God
“Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
but once I blessed him, he multiplied.
Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
thankful voices and melodic songs.
4-6 “Pay attention, my people.
Listen to me, nations.
Revelation flows from me.
My decisions light up the world.
My deliverance arrives on the run,
my salvation right on time.
I’ll bring justice to the peoples.
Even faraway islands will look to me
and take hope in my saving power.
Look up at the skies,
ponder the earth under your feet.
The skies will fade out like smoke,
the earth will wear out like work pants,
and the people will die off like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my setting-things-right will never be obsolete.
7-8 “Listen now, you who know right from wrong,
you who hold my teaching inside you:
Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked
don’t let it get you down.
Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten,
from brains that are termite-ridden,
But my setting-things-right lasts,
my salvation goes on and on and on.”
9-11 Wake up, wake up, flex your muscles, God!
Wake up as in the old days, in the long ago.
Didn’t you once make mincemeat of Rahab,
dispatch the old chaos-dragon?
And didn’t you once dry up the sea,
the powerful waters of the deep,
And then made the bottom of the ocean a road
for the redeemed to walk across?
In the same way God’s ransomed will come back,
come back to Zion cheering, shouting,
Joy eternal wreathing their heads,
exuberant ecstasies transporting them—
and not a sign of moans or groans.
What Are You Afraid of—or Who?
12-16 “I, I’m the One comforting you.
What are you afraid of—or who?
Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead?
Some poor wretch destined for dust?
You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you,
who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth.
And here you are, quaking like an aspen
before the tantrums of a tyrant
who thinks he can kick down the world.
But what will come of the tantrums?
The victims will be released before you know it.
They’re not going to die.
They’re not even going to go hungry.
For I am God, your very own God,
who stirs up the sea and whips up the waves,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
I teach you how to talk, word by word,
and personally watch over you,
Even while I’m unfurling the skies,
setting earth on solid foundations,
and greeting Zion: ‘Welcome, my people!’”
17-20 So wake up! Rub the sleep from your eyes!
Up on your feet, Jerusalem!
You’ve drunk the cup God handed you,
the strong drink of his anger.
You drank it down to the last drop,
staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk.
And nobody to help you home,
no one among your friends or children
to take you by the hand and put you in bed.
You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble
—does anyone care?
Assault and battery, hunger and death
—will anyone comfort?
Your sons and daughters have passed out,
strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits,
Sleeping off the strong drink of God’s anger,
the rage of your God.
21-23 Therefore listen, please,
you with your splitting headaches,
You who are nursing the hangovers
that didn’t come from drinking wine.
Your Master, your God, has something to say,
your God has taken up his people’s case:
“Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling.
No more drinking from that jug of my anger!
I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you,
‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’
And you had to do it. Flat on the ground,
you were the dirt under their feet.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 31, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 1:3–9
A New Life
3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
INSIGHT:
Revelation 21:15–21 describes heaven by referring to twelve sparkling, colorful gems and “gold as pure as transparent glass” (v. 21). Those who belong to Christ are heirs of heaven—it is called our “inheritance” (1 Peter 1:4). And we “are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (v. 5). Peter says that this reality fills the believer with “inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8). The Bible assures us that even though we “may have . . . to suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” we can be assured that even the worst imaginable pain or problem is only “for a little while” (v. 6).
It Never Runs Out
By Dave Branon
He has given us new birth into . . . an inheritance that can never perish. 1 Peter 1:3–4
When I asked a friend who is about to retire what she feared about her next stage of life, she said, “I want to make sure I don’t run out of money.” The next day as I was talking to my financial counselor he gave me advice on how I might avoid running out of money. Indeed, we all want the security of knowing we’ll have the resources we need for the rest of our lives.
No financial plan can provide an absolute guarantee of earthly security. But there is a plan that extends far beyond this life and indefinitely into the future. The apostle Peter describes it like this: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3–4).
He has given us new birth into an inheritance that can never perish. 1 Peter 1:3–4
When we place our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins we receive an eternal inheritance through God’s power. Because of this inheritance, we’ll live forever and never run short of what we need.
Planning for retirement is a good idea if we’re able to do so. But more important is having an eternal inheritance that never runs out—and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Dear God, I want that assurance of an eternal inheritance—the certainty of everlasting life with You. I put my faith in Jesus to forgive my sins and make me His child. Thank You for saving me and reserving a place for me in Your eternal kingdom.
The promise of heaven is our eternal hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 31, 2016
The Trial of Faith
If you have faith as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 31, 2016
The Most Powerful Position On Earth - #7776
John Ashcroft was a United States Senator from Missouri and the committed follower of Jesus Christ, later to become the Attorney General in some of the most recent turbulent days in our country. When Dr. James Dobson interviewed him on his radio program, I was touched by the story Senator Ashcroft told about the day he was sworn into the Senate. He really wanted to be prayed into his new position that day, so he asked about 25 family members and close friends to join him in a room in the Capitol for a time of prayer before his inauguration into the Senate. Great idea! Senator Ashcroft asked his loved ones to stand in a circle around him in a time of dedicatory prayer.
The senator's father remained seated in a big chair because he had a heart condition – a serious one. It turned out that was to be his last day on earth. Believe it or not, the day his son became a United States Senator. The Lord took him to heaven on his way home from Washington. But as everyone stood in that prayer circle, Senator Ashcroft glanced over at his dad, only to see him trying to get up out of that big chair. He said, "Dad, you don't have to struggle to stand." To which his father replied, "Oh, I'm not struggling to stand, John. I'm struggling to kneel." Aren't we all?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Powerful Position On Earth."
Perhaps the most important question Jesus ever asked is, "Do you love Me? (John 21:15). If there is one person in the Gospels whose life shouts "Yes, I do!" it's Mary. The one who lived in a Jerusalem suburb called Bethany. And recently I noticed that there is something that always happens every time Mary is with Jesus.
Incident 1 - Luke 10 - Jesus comes for dinner at the home of Mary and her older sister Martha. While Martha is running around all stressed out over all she's got to do for Jesus, here's what the Bible says Mary is doing. "Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said." Where is Mary? At her Lord's feet, listening to His heart. And when Martha wants Jesus to tell Mary to get busy serving, Jesus says, "Martha, Mary has chosen what is better" (Luke 10:38-42).
Incident 2 - John 12 - A dinner is being given in Jesus' honor at Mary and Martha's house. Mary appears with a jar of expensive perfume, and the Bible says, "She poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair" (John 12:3). Again, Mary is at the feet of Jesus, kneeling, pouring out her love and her worship.
And then comes the darkest moment of her life to that point. Her beloved brother Lazarus dies. She has sent for Jesus to come heal her brother, but Jesus doesn't come in time. When He finally arrives, four days after the funeral, Mary's really struggling. But notice where we find her in our word for today from the Word of God in John 11:32, "When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet." And then after that came the awesome resurrection miracle of her brother.
Mary knows where we belong when we're with Jesus – at His feet; on our knees. She's at Jesus' feet to listen to what He says. Are you there each new day? She's at His feet, worshipping with a total surrender and amazement. We need that kind of lavish praise and worship regularly. And Mary is on her knees, at Jesus' feet with her struggle in her darkest hour; when life makes no sense, on your knees in front of Jesus is the only place to be.
It was a struggle for the Senator's father to kneel. It's a struggle spiritually and emotionally for some of us who are strong-willed, independent, make-it-happen, controlling type people. We resist being totally vulnerable, totally surrendered in front of Jesus. We just hate to lose control. Because of our pride and our hard heart, we are missing the amazingness of our Savior, the miracles He would love to do, and the deep intimacy with Christ that's reserved for those who are often at His feet with their worship, their questions, and their struggle.
It's not so much a struggle to stand next to Jesus or to do things for Jesus. We're still in control then. But it's a struggle to kneel. But as the Senator's father seemed to understand so deeply, this seemingly powerless position is the most powerful position on earth!
Monday, October 31, 2016
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Isaiah 50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Don’t Waste Your Failures
My wife and I spent some years as missionaries in Brazil. Our first two years felt fruitless and futile. More often than not I went home frustrated. So we asked God for another plan. We prayed and reread the Epistles, especially focused on Galatians. It occurred to me I was preaching a limited grace. When I compared our gospel message with Paul’s, I saw a difference. His was high-octane good news. Mine was soured legalism. We focused on the gospel, proclaiming forgiveness of sins and resurrection from the dead. We baptized forty people in twelve months! God wasn’t finished with us. We just needed to put the past in the past and God’s plan in place.
Don’t waste your failures by failing to learn from them. Rise up! God hasn’t forgotten you. Keep your head up. You never know what good awaits you.
From Glory Days
Isaiah 50
Who Out There Fears God?
God says:
“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers
proving I got rid of her?
Can you produce a receipt
proving I sold you?
Of course you can’t.
It’s your sins that put you here,
your wrongs that got you shipped out.
So why didn’t anyone come when I knocked?
Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?
Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?
Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?
I’m as powerful as ever,
and can reverse what I once did:
I can dry up the sea with a word,
turn river water into desert sand,
And leave the fish stinking in the sun,
stranded on dry land . . .
Turn all the lights out in the sky
and pull down the curtain.”
4-9 The Master, God, has given me
a well-taught tongue,
So I know how to encourage tired people.
He wakes me up in the morning,
Wakes me up, opens my ears
to listen as one ready to take orders.
The Master, God, opened my ears,
and I didn’t go back to sleep,
didn’t pull the covers back over my head.
I followed orders,
stood there and took it while they beat me,
held steady while they pulled out my beard,
Didn’t dodge their insults,
faced them as they spit in my face.
And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me,
so I’m not disgraced.
Therefore I set my face like flint,
confident that I’ll never regret this.
My champion is right here.
Let’s take our stand together!
Who dares bring suit against me?
Let him try!
Look! the Master, God, is right here.
Who would dare call me guilty?
Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare
socks and shirts, fodder for moths!
10-11 Who out there fears God,
actually listens to the voice of his servant?
For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going,
anyone groping in the dark,
Here’s what: Trust in God.
Lean on your God!
But if all you’re after is making trouble,
playing with fire,
Go ahead and see where it gets you.
Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames,
But don’t expect me to just stand there and watch.
I’ll hold your feet to those flames.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Read: 1 Samuel 3:1–10
“Speak, God. I’m Ready to Listen”
The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli’s direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God, where the Chest of God rested.
4-5 Then God called out, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Yes? I’m here.” Then he ran to Eli saying, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” And so he did.
6-7 God called again, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel got up and went to Eli, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Again Eli said, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” (This all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally.)
8-9 God called again, “Samuel!”—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.”
That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, “Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, God. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’” Samuel returned to his bed.
10 Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.”
INSIGHT:
God has communicated in various ways throughout history (Heb. 1:1). One way God speaks today is through our conscience (Rom. 2:14–16). Our conscience is like a moral monitor. An important way we discern whether a spiritual communication has God as its source is to ask: Does the message agree with the Bible, God's written Word? If it does not align with God’s previously revealed truth, then we cannot put our stamp of approval on it.
Hearing God
By Amy Boucher Pye
Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
I felt like I was underwater, sounds muffled and muted by a cold and allergies. For weeks I struggled to hear clearly. My condition made me realize how much I take my hearing for granted.
Young Samuel in the temple must have wondered what he was hearing as he struggled out of sleep at the summons of his name (1 Sam. 3:4). Three times he presented himself before Eli, the high priest. Only the third time did Eli realize it was the Lord speaking to Samuel. The word of the Lord had been rare at that time (v. 1), and the people were not in tune with His voice. But Eli instructed Samuel how to respond (v. 9).
The Lord speaks to His children, but we need to discern His voice.
The Lord speaks much more now than in the days of Samuel. The letter to the Hebrews tells us, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets . . . but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (1:1–2). And in Acts 2 we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (vv. 1–4), who guides us in the things Christ taught us (John 16:13). But we need to learn to hear His voice and respond in obedience. Like me with my cold, we may hear as if underwater. We need to test what we think is the Lord’s guidance with the Bible and with other mature Christians. As God’s beloved children, we do hear His voice. He loves to speak life into us.
Open our eyes, Lord, that we might see You. Open our ears, that we may hear You. Open our mouths, that we might speak Your praise.
The Lord speaks to His children, but we need to discern His voice.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6
Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
My wife and I spent some years as missionaries in Brazil. Our first two years felt fruitless and futile. More often than not I went home frustrated. So we asked God for another plan. We prayed and reread the Epistles, especially focused on Galatians. It occurred to me I was preaching a limited grace. When I compared our gospel message with Paul’s, I saw a difference. His was high-octane good news. Mine was soured legalism. We focused on the gospel, proclaiming forgiveness of sins and resurrection from the dead. We baptized forty people in twelve months! God wasn’t finished with us. We just needed to put the past in the past and God’s plan in place.
Don’t waste your failures by failing to learn from them. Rise up! God hasn’t forgotten you. Keep your head up. You never know what good awaits you.
From Glory Days
Isaiah 50
Who Out There Fears God?
God says:
“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers
proving I got rid of her?
Can you produce a receipt
proving I sold you?
Of course you can’t.
It’s your sins that put you here,
your wrongs that got you shipped out.
So why didn’t anyone come when I knocked?
Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?
Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?
Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?
I’m as powerful as ever,
and can reverse what I once did:
I can dry up the sea with a word,
turn river water into desert sand,
And leave the fish stinking in the sun,
stranded on dry land . . .
Turn all the lights out in the sky
and pull down the curtain.”
4-9 The Master, God, has given me
a well-taught tongue,
So I know how to encourage tired people.
He wakes me up in the morning,
Wakes me up, opens my ears
to listen as one ready to take orders.
The Master, God, opened my ears,
and I didn’t go back to sleep,
didn’t pull the covers back over my head.
I followed orders,
stood there and took it while they beat me,
held steady while they pulled out my beard,
Didn’t dodge their insults,
faced them as they spit in my face.
And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me,
so I’m not disgraced.
Therefore I set my face like flint,
confident that I’ll never regret this.
My champion is right here.
Let’s take our stand together!
Who dares bring suit against me?
Let him try!
Look! the Master, God, is right here.
Who would dare call me guilty?
Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare
socks and shirts, fodder for moths!
10-11 Who out there fears God,
actually listens to the voice of his servant?
For anyone out there who doesn’t know where you’re going,
anyone groping in the dark,
Here’s what: Trust in God.
Lean on your God!
But if all you’re after is making trouble,
playing with fire,
Go ahead and see where it gets you.
Set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames,
But don’t expect me to just stand there and watch.
I’ll hold your feet to those flames.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Read: 1 Samuel 3:1–10
“Speak, God. I’m Ready to Listen”
The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli’s direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God, where the Chest of God rested.
4-5 Then God called out, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Yes? I’m here.” Then he ran to Eli saying, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” And so he did.
6-7 God called again, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel got up and went to Eli, “I heard you call. Here I am.”
Again Eli said, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” (This all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally.)
8-9 God called again, “Samuel!”—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.”
That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, “Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, God. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’” Samuel returned to his bed.
10 Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.”
INSIGHT:
God has communicated in various ways throughout history (Heb. 1:1). One way God speaks today is through our conscience (Rom. 2:14–16). Our conscience is like a moral monitor. An important way we discern whether a spiritual communication has God as its source is to ask: Does the message agree with the Bible, God's written Word? If it does not align with God’s previously revealed truth, then we cannot put our stamp of approval on it.
Hearing God
By Amy Boucher Pye
Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
I felt like I was underwater, sounds muffled and muted by a cold and allergies. For weeks I struggled to hear clearly. My condition made me realize how much I take my hearing for granted.
Young Samuel in the temple must have wondered what he was hearing as he struggled out of sleep at the summons of his name (1 Sam. 3:4). Three times he presented himself before Eli, the high priest. Only the third time did Eli realize it was the Lord speaking to Samuel. The word of the Lord had been rare at that time (v. 1), and the people were not in tune with His voice. But Eli instructed Samuel how to respond (v. 9).
The Lord speaks to His children, but we need to discern His voice.
The Lord speaks much more now than in the days of Samuel. The letter to the Hebrews tells us, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets . . . but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (1:1–2). And in Acts 2 we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (vv. 1–4), who guides us in the things Christ taught us (John 16:13). But we need to learn to hear His voice and respond in obedience. Like me with my cold, we may hear as if underwater. We need to test what we think is the Lord’s guidance with the Bible and with other mature Christians. As God’s beloved children, we do hear His voice. He loves to speak life into us.
Open our eyes, Lord, that we might see You. Open our ears, that we may hear You. Open our mouths, that we might speak Your praise.
The Lord speaks to His children, but we need to discern His voice.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6
Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Isaiah 49, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Leave the Past Behind
Remember the story of the prodigal son? He squandered his inheritance on wild living and bad choices. He lost every penny. His trail dead-ended in a pigpen. One day he was so hungry he leaned over the pig trough, took a sniff, and drooled. He was just about to dig in when something within him awoke. Wait a second. What am I doing wallowing in the mud?Then he made a decision that changed his life forever. “I will arise and go to my father.”
You can do that. You can’t undo all the damage you’ve done. But you can arise and go to your Father. Even the apostle Paul had to make this choice. He said, “I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, I go straight for the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Landing in a pigpen stinks. But staying there…is just plain stupid.
From Glory Days
Isaiah 49
A Light for the Nations
Listen, far-flung islands,
pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”
4 But I said, “I’ve worked for nothing.
I’ve nothing to show for a life of hard work.
Nevertheless, I’ll let God have the last word.
I’ll let him pronounce his verdict.”
5-6 “And now,” God says,
this God who took me in hand
from the moment of birth to be his servant,
To bring Jacob back home to him,
to set a reunion for Israel—
What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
That God should be my strength!
He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—
just to recover the tribes of Jacob,
merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
so that my salvation becomes global!”
7 God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel,
says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations,
slave labor to the ruling class:
“Kings will see, get to their feet—the princes, too—
and then fall on their faces in homage
Because of God, who has faithfully kept his word,
The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you.”
8-12 God also says:
“When the time’s ripe, I answer you.
When victory’s due, I help you.
I form you and use you
to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out. You’re free!’
and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’
There’ll be foodstands along all the roads,
picnics on all the hills—
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
takes them to the best springs.
I’ll make all my mountains into roads,
turn them into a superhighway.
Look: These coming from far countries,
and those, out of the north,
These streaming in from the west,
and those from all the way down the Nile!”
13 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!
Mountains, send up cheers!
God has comforted his people.
He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.
14 But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me.
My Master has forgotten I even exist.”
15-18 “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
I’d never forget you—never.
Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.
The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.
Your builders are faster than your wreckers.
The demolition crews are gone for good.
Look up, look around, look well!
See them all gathering, coming to you?
As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—
“you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,
you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.
19-21 “And your ruined land?
Your devastated, decimated land?
Filled with more people than you know what to do with!
And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory.
The children born in your exile will be saying,
‘It’s getting too crowded here. I need more room.’
And you’ll say to yourself,
‘Where on earth did these children come from?
I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless.
So who reared these children?
How did these children get here?’”
22-23 The Master, God, says:
“Look! I signal to the nations,
I raise my flag to summon the people.
Here they’ll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms,
men carrying your little girls on their shoulders.
Kings will be your babysitters,
princesses will be your nursemaids.
They’ll offer to do all your drudge work—
scrub your floors, do your laundry.
You’ll know then that I am God.
No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”
24-26 Can plunder be retrieved from a giant,
prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant?
But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder
and a tyrant holds my people prisoner,
I’m the one who’s on your side,
defending your cause, rescuing your children.
And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves,
killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.
Then everyone will know that I, God,
have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Read: John 17:6–19
I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
The Praying Patient
By David McCasland
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11
The obituary for Alan Nanninga, a man in my city, identified him as “foremost, a dedicated witness for Christ.” After a description of his family life and career, the article mentioned nearly a decade of declining health. It concluded by saying, “His hospital stays . . . earned him the honorary title of ‘The Praying Patient’” because of his ministry to other patients. Here was a man who, in his times of distress, reached out to pray for and with the people in need around him.
Hours before Judas betrayed Him, Jesus prayed for His disciples. “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11). Knowing what was about to happen, Jesus looked beyond Himself to focus on His followers and friends.
Jesus looked beyond Himself to focus on His followers and friends.
During our times of illness and distress, we long for and need the prayers of others. How those prayers help and encourage us! But may we also, like our Lord, lift our eyes to pray for those around us who are in great need.
Lord, even in our difficult times, may we honor You and encourage others by praying for those who are suffering today.
Our troubles can fill our prayers with love and empathy for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Substitution
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. —2 Corinthians 5:21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R
Remember the story of the prodigal son? He squandered his inheritance on wild living and bad choices. He lost every penny. His trail dead-ended in a pigpen. One day he was so hungry he leaned over the pig trough, took a sniff, and drooled. He was just about to dig in when something within him awoke. Wait a second. What am I doing wallowing in the mud?Then he made a decision that changed his life forever. “I will arise and go to my father.”
You can do that. You can’t undo all the damage you’ve done. But you can arise and go to your Father. Even the apostle Paul had to make this choice. He said, “I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, I go straight for the goal” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Landing in a pigpen stinks. But staying there…is just plain stupid.
From Glory Days
Isaiah 49
A Light for the Nations
Listen, far-flung islands,
pay attention, faraway people:
God put me to work from the day I was born.
The moment I entered the world he named me.
He gave me speech that would cut and penetrate.
He kept his hand on me to protect me.
He made me his straight arrow
and hid me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You’re my dear servant,
Israel, through whom I’ll shine.”
4 But I said, “I’ve worked for nothing.
I’ve nothing to show for a life of hard work.
Nevertheless, I’ll let God have the last word.
I’ll let him pronounce his verdict.”
5-6 “And now,” God says,
this God who took me in hand
from the moment of birth to be his servant,
To bring Jacob back home to him,
to set a reunion for Israel—
What an honor for me in God’s eyes!
That God should be my strength!
He says, “But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—
just to recover the tribes of Jacob,
merely to round up the strays of Israel.
I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
so that my salvation becomes global!”
7 God, Redeemer of Israel, The Holy of Israel,
says to the despised one, kicked around by the nations,
slave labor to the ruling class:
“Kings will see, get to their feet—the princes, too—
and then fall on their faces in homage
Because of God, who has faithfully kept his word,
The Holy of Israel, who has chosen you.”
8-12 God also says:
“When the time’s ripe, I answer you.
When victory’s due, I help you.
I form you and use you
to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out. You’re free!’
and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’
There’ll be foodstands along all the roads,
picnics on all the hills—
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
takes them to the best springs.
I’ll make all my mountains into roads,
turn them into a superhighway.
Look: These coming from far countries,
and those, out of the north,
These streaming in from the west,
and those from all the way down the Nile!”
13 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!
Mountains, send up cheers!
God has comforted his people.
He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.
14 But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me.
My Master has forgotten I even exist.”
15-18 “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
I’d never forget you—never.
Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.
The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.
Your builders are faster than your wreckers.
The demolition crews are gone for good.
Look up, look around, look well!
See them all gathering, coming to you?
As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—
“you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,
you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.
19-21 “And your ruined land?
Your devastated, decimated land?
Filled with more people than you know what to do with!
And your barbarian enemies, a fading memory.
The children born in your exile will be saying,
‘It’s getting too crowded here. I need more room.’
And you’ll say to yourself,
‘Where on earth did these children come from?
I lost everything, had nothing, was exiled and penniless.
So who reared these children?
How did these children get here?’”
22-23 The Master, God, says:
“Look! I signal to the nations,
I raise my flag to summon the people.
Here they’ll come: women carrying your little boys in their arms,
men carrying your little girls on their shoulders.
Kings will be your babysitters,
princesses will be your nursemaids.
They’ll offer to do all your drudge work—
scrub your floors, do your laundry.
You’ll know then that I am God.
No one who hopes in me ever regrets it.”
24-26 Can plunder be retrieved from a giant,
prisoners of war gotten back from a tyrant?
But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder
and a tyrant holds my people prisoner,
I’m the one who’s on your side,
defending your cause, rescuing your children.
And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves,
killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction.
Then everyone will know that I, God,
have saved you—I, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Read: John 17:6–19
I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
13-19 Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
The Praying Patient
By David McCasland
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11
The obituary for Alan Nanninga, a man in my city, identified him as “foremost, a dedicated witness for Christ.” After a description of his family life and career, the article mentioned nearly a decade of declining health. It concluded by saying, “His hospital stays . . . earned him the honorary title of ‘The Praying Patient’” because of his ministry to other patients. Here was a man who, in his times of distress, reached out to pray for and with the people in need around him.
Hours before Judas betrayed Him, Jesus prayed for His disciples. “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11). Knowing what was about to happen, Jesus looked beyond Himself to focus on His followers and friends.
Jesus looked beyond Himself to focus on His followers and friends.
During our times of illness and distress, we long for and need the prayers of others. How those prayers help and encourage us! But may we also, like our Lord, lift our eyes to pray for those around us who are in great need.
Lord, even in our difficult times, may we honor You and encourage others by praying for those who are suffering today.
Our troubles can fill our prayers with love and empathy for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Substitution
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. —2 Corinthians 5:21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R
Friday, October 28, 2016
Isaiah 48 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PROBLEMS HAPPEN
You’ll never have a problem-free life. Ever! This headline will never appear in the paper or on your screen: We Have Only Good News to Report!” You might discover a way to e-mail pizza and become a billionaire. You might be called out of the stands to pinch-hit when your team is down to its final out of the World Series. You might hit a home run. It’s not likely, but it is possible. But a problem-free, no-hassle, blue-sky existence of smooth sailing? Don’t hold your breath.
But not all people see problems the same way. Some people are overcome by problems. Others overcome problems. Some people are left bitter; others are left better. Some people face their challenges with fear, others with faith. You don’t have a choice about having problems, but you do have a choice about what you do with them. Choose faith, won’t you?
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 48
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction
“And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
you who use God’s name to back up your promises
and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:
I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.
I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,
obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can’t say,
‘My god-idol did this.’
‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’
You have all this evidence
confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
Shouldn’t you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
I have a lot more to tell you,
things you never knew existed.
This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.
This is new, brand-new,
something you’d never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won’t be able to say,
‘I knew that all along.’
You’ve never been good listeners to me.
You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
I don’t wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I’ve done?
I’ve refined you, but not without fire.
I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
I have my reputation to keep up.
I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.
12-13 “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—
I’m the One who named you!
I’m the One.
I got things started and, yes, I’ll wrap them up.
Earth is my work, handmade.
And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon.
When I speak, they’re on their feet, at attention.
14-16 “Come everybody, gather around, listen:
Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus, and I’m using him
to do what I want with Babylon.
I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve called him.
I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful.
Come close, listen carefully:
I’ve never kept secrets from you.
I’ve always been present with you.”
Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand
16-19 And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
with this Message from God,
your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
who teaches you how to live right and well.
I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
your life would have flowed full like a river,
blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
no danger of losing touch with me.”
20 Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!
Shout the news. Broadcast it.
Let the world know, the whole world.
Tell them, “God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!”
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water pour out of the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed.
22 “There is no peace,” says God, “for the wicked.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 28, 2016
Read: Psalm 139:14–18
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!
INSIGHT:
Psalm 139:15 is one of the most well-known and beloved verses in all of Scripture. Because it is difficult to translate, it might have a broader and fuller meaning than the English represents. The Hebrew could also be rendered, “My bones were not crushed because of You, when I was secretly made.” Not only does this verse tell us that God knew us before we were born, but it also tells us that He was actively protecting and sustaining us as we were being formed in the secret place of our mother’s womb.
Learning to Count
By Keila Ochoa
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! Psalm 139:17
My son is learning to count from one to ten. He counts everything from toys to trees. He counts things I tend to overlook, like the wildflowers on his way to school or the toes on my feet.
My son is also teaching me to count again. Often I become so immersed in things I haven’t finished or things I don’t have that I fail to see all the good things around me. I have forgotten to count the new friends made this year and the answered prayers received, the tears of joy shed and the times of laughter with good friends.
Lord, Your works are so many and good I can’t count them all.
My ten fingers are not enough to count all that God gives me day by day. “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare” (Ps. 40:5). How can we even begin to count all the blessings of salvation, reconciliation, and eternal life?
Let us join David as he praises God for all His precious thoughts about us and all He has done for us, when he says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand” (139:17–18).
Let’s learn to count again!
Lord, Your works are so many and good I can’t count them all. But I thank You for each one.
Let’s thank God for His countless blessings.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 28, 2016
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 28, 2016
Why It's Taking So Long - #7775
Our daughter was really in a hurry to get home that night in February, and her aunt wasn't. Her aunt had taken her shopping and was taking her time. One more thing to buy, one more stop, and one more store. By the time our daughter finally got home, she was pretty frustrated. She sort of sputtered as she walked in the front door, only to hear 25 of her best friends shout, "Surprise!" It was her birthday, and yes, it was a surprise! After some oxygen and smelling salts, she began to realize the reason for all those delays. It was all time needed to get her surprise ready. It was worth the wait.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why It's Taking So Long."
Our word for today form the Word of God, we're in Ecclesiastes 3:11. It's a short but very revealing insight into the ways of God in our lives, and possibly into why you're still waiting. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." That same issue of God's timing comes up in Galatians 4:4, where it says, "In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son." In other words, not until everything was ready; not until it would be truly beautiful.
I heard about a pastor whose secretary walked into his office, and she just found him pacing back and forth. When the secretary asked what was wrong, the pastor said, 'I'm in a hurry and God isn't." I get that. We've all been there, huh? And it may describe your life right now. You're asking, "Where is that answer? What's taking so long?"
Answer: God is following a careful process, largely invisible to you, that will bring glory to Him and lasting joy to you. But right now you're like our daughter, wondering what was taking so long. Her surprise wasn't quite ready yet. And maybe yours isn't either. God's taking time to get you ready for the answer! It's very possible God wants to use this waiting time to recreate you into someone who has mountain-moving faith; or who has done some necessary self-examination and said, "Lord, I see now where I need to change"; someone who will take steps in Him that maybe you never would have considered before if what you were waiting for had come.
But God may also be taking time to get the answer ready for you: a person, a position, a place, some needed resources, or an open door. But He is working. Like the flowers that appear suddenly in spring, but not suddenly. No, God's answer will be the result of months of preparation that you can't see. Then one day, boom! There it is.
But if you panic while He's getting everything ready, you're going to ruin the plan and maybe end up with a short-term fix but a long-term mess. If God gave it to you now, it might very well be like a premature baby, and a preemie is never as healthy as full-term.
Trust your Father's timing, even if it seems late. On her birthday, my daughter learned that the delays were only to set up a wonderful surprise. As your Heavenly Father delays your answer, be patient with all the stops and holdups right now. Because at the end of your wait is your Father's wonderful "Surprise!"
You’ll never have a problem-free life. Ever! This headline will never appear in the paper or on your screen: We Have Only Good News to Report!” You might discover a way to e-mail pizza and become a billionaire. You might be called out of the stands to pinch-hit when your team is down to its final out of the World Series. You might hit a home run. It’s not likely, but it is possible. But a problem-free, no-hassle, blue-sky existence of smooth sailing? Don’t hold your breath.
But not all people see problems the same way. Some people are overcome by problems. Others overcome problems. Some people are left bitter; others are left better. Some people face their challenges with fear, others with faith. You don’t have a choice about having problems, but you do have a choice about what you do with them. Choose faith, won’t you?
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 48
Tested in the Furnace of Affliction
“And now listen to this, family of Jacob,
you who are called by the name Israel:
Who got you started in the loins of Judah,
you who use God’s name to back up your promises
and pray to the God of Israel?
But do you mean it?
Do you live like it?
You claim to be citizens of the Holy City;
you act as though you lean on the God of Israel,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
For a long time now, I’ve let you in on the way I work:
I told you what I was going to do beforehand,
then I did it and it was done, and that’s that.
I know you’re a bunch of hardheads,
obstinate and flint-faced,
So I got a running start and began telling you
what was going on before it even happened.
That is why you can’t say,
‘My god-idol did this.’
‘My favorite god-carving commanded this.’
You have all this evidence
confirmed by your own eyes and ears.
Shouldn’t you be talking about it?
And that was just the beginning.
I have a lot more to tell you,
things you never knew existed.
This isn’t a variation on the same old thing.
This is new, brand-new,
something you’d never guess or dream up.
When you hear this you won’t be able to say,
‘I knew that all along.’
You’ve never been good listeners to me.
You have a history of ignoring me,
A sorry track record of fickle attachments—
rebels from the womb.
But out of the sheer goodness of my heart,
because of who I am,
I keep a tight rein on my anger and hold my temper.
I don’t wash my hands of you.
Do you see what I’ve done?
I’ve refined you, but not without fire.
I’ve tested you like silver in the furnace of affliction.
Out of myself, simply because of who I am, I do what I do.
I have my reputation to keep up.
I’m not playing second fiddle to either gods or people.
12-13 “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—
I’m the One who named you!
I’m the One.
I got things started and, yes, I’ll wrap them up.
Earth is my work, handmade.
And the skies—I made them, too, horizon to horizon.
When I speak, they’re on their feet, at attention.
14-16 “Come everybody, gather around, listen:
Who among the gods has delivered the news?
I, God, love this man Cyrus, and I’m using him
to do what I want with Babylon.
I, yes I, have spoken. I’ve called him.
I’ve brought him here. He’ll be successful.
Come close, listen carefully:
I’ve never kept secrets from you.
I’ve always been present with you.”
Your Progeny, Like Grains of Sand
16-19 And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
with this Message from God,
your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
who teaches you how to live right and well.
I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
your life would have flowed full like a river,
blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
no danger of losing touch with me.”
20 Get out of Babylon! Run from the Babylonians!
Shout the news. Broadcast it.
Let the world know, the whole world.
Tell them, “God redeemed his dear servant Jacob!”
21 They weren’t thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water pour out of the rock;
he split the rock and the water gushed.
22 “There is no peace,” says God, “for the wicked.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 28, 2016
Read: Psalm 139:14–18
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!
INSIGHT:
Psalm 139:15 is one of the most well-known and beloved verses in all of Scripture. Because it is difficult to translate, it might have a broader and fuller meaning than the English represents. The Hebrew could also be rendered, “My bones were not crushed because of You, when I was secretly made.” Not only does this verse tell us that God knew us before we were born, but it also tells us that He was actively protecting and sustaining us as we were being formed in the secret place of our mother’s womb.
Learning to Count
By Keila Ochoa
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! Psalm 139:17
My son is learning to count from one to ten. He counts everything from toys to trees. He counts things I tend to overlook, like the wildflowers on his way to school or the toes on my feet.
My son is also teaching me to count again. Often I become so immersed in things I haven’t finished or things I don’t have that I fail to see all the good things around me. I have forgotten to count the new friends made this year and the answered prayers received, the tears of joy shed and the times of laughter with good friends.
Lord, Your works are so many and good I can’t count them all.
My ten fingers are not enough to count all that God gives me day by day. “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare” (Ps. 40:5). How can we even begin to count all the blessings of salvation, reconciliation, and eternal life?
Let us join David as he praises God for all His precious thoughts about us and all He has done for us, when he says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand” (139:17–18).
Let’s learn to count again!
Lord, Your works are so many and good I can’t count them all. But I thank You for each one.
Let’s thank God for His countless blessings.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 28, 2016
Justification by Faith
If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 28, 2016
Why It's Taking So Long - #7775
Our daughter was really in a hurry to get home that night in February, and her aunt wasn't. Her aunt had taken her shopping and was taking her time. One more thing to buy, one more stop, and one more store. By the time our daughter finally got home, she was pretty frustrated. She sort of sputtered as she walked in the front door, only to hear 25 of her best friends shout, "Surprise!" It was her birthday, and yes, it was a surprise! After some oxygen and smelling salts, she began to realize the reason for all those delays. It was all time needed to get her surprise ready. It was worth the wait.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why It's Taking So Long."
Our word for today form the Word of God, we're in Ecclesiastes 3:11. It's a short but very revealing insight into the ways of God in our lives, and possibly into why you're still waiting. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." That same issue of God's timing comes up in Galatians 4:4, where it says, "In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son." In other words, not until everything was ready; not until it would be truly beautiful.
I heard about a pastor whose secretary walked into his office, and she just found him pacing back and forth. When the secretary asked what was wrong, the pastor said, 'I'm in a hurry and God isn't." I get that. We've all been there, huh? And it may describe your life right now. You're asking, "Where is that answer? What's taking so long?"
Answer: God is following a careful process, largely invisible to you, that will bring glory to Him and lasting joy to you. But right now you're like our daughter, wondering what was taking so long. Her surprise wasn't quite ready yet. And maybe yours isn't either. God's taking time to get you ready for the answer! It's very possible God wants to use this waiting time to recreate you into someone who has mountain-moving faith; or who has done some necessary self-examination and said, "Lord, I see now where I need to change"; someone who will take steps in Him that maybe you never would have considered before if what you were waiting for had come.
But God may also be taking time to get the answer ready for you: a person, a position, a place, some needed resources, or an open door. But He is working. Like the flowers that appear suddenly in spring, but not suddenly. No, God's answer will be the result of months of preparation that you can't see. Then one day, boom! There it is.
But if you panic while He's getting everything ready, you're going to ruin the plan and maybe end up with a short-term fix but a long-term mess. If God gave it to you now, it might very well be like a premature baby, and a preemie is never as healthy as full-term.
Trust your Father's timing, even if it seems late. On her birthday, my daughter learned that the delays were only to set up a wonderful surprise. As your Heavenly Father delays your answer, be patient with all the stops and holdups right now. Because at the end of your wait is your Father's wonderful "Surprise!"
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Isaiah 47, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A SECOND CHANCE
Out in a fishing boat, empty and exhausted, Peter discovered the wonder of God’s second chance. The crowd on the beach was so great that Jesus needed a buffer. So he preached from Peter’s boat. Then he told Peter to take him fishing. The apostle-to-be was tired; he had fished all night. He’d caught nothing. He was dubious. What did Jesus know about catching fish? And maybe Peter was self-conscious. People packed the beach. Who wants to fail in public? But Jesus insisted. And Peter relented. “At Your word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5).
This was a moment of truth for Peter. He was saying, I will try again– your way. When he did, the catch of fish was so great the boat nearly sank. Sometimes we just need to try again with Jesus in the boat. Failures are fatal only if we fail to learn from them.
From: God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 47
The Party’s Over
“Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,
virgin daughter of Babylon.
No more throne for you—sit on the ground,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’
and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.
Get a job, any old job:
Clean gutters, scrub toilets.
Hock your gowns and scarves,
put on overalls—the party’s over.
Your nude body will be on public display,
exposed to vulgar taunts.
It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.
No one gets let off the hook.”
You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe
4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:
“Shut up and get out of the way,
daughter of Chaldeans.
You’ll no longer be called
‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’
I was fed up with my people,
thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.
I turned them over to you,
but you had no compassion.
You put old men and women
to cruel, hard labor.
You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.
I’ll always be the pampered darling.’
You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,
never gave tomorrow a thought.
Well, start thinking, playgirl.
You’re acting like the center of the universe,
Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.
I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’
Those two things are going to hit you both at once,
suddenly, on the same day:
Spouse and children gone, a total loss,
despite your many enchantments and charms.
You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,
saying, ‘No one sees me.’
You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.
What delusion!
Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’
Ruin descends—
you can’t charm it away.
Disaster strikes—
you can’t cast it off with spells.
Catastrophe, sudden and total—
and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!
But don’t give up. From your great repertoire
of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.
You’ve been at this a long time.
Surely something will work.
I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,
but don’t give up.
Call in the astrologers and stargazers.
They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!
14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws
that are already in the fire,
A fire that is even now raging.
Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.
It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,
not a fire to warm you on a winter night!
That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician buddies
you’ve been in cahoots with all your life.
They reel, confused, bumping into one another.
None of them bother to help you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Read: Numbers 33:1–15, 36–37
Campsites from Rameses to Jordan-Jericho
1-2 These are the camping sites in the journey of the People of Israel after they left Egypt, deployed militarily under the command of Moses and Aaron. Under God’s instruction Moses kept a log of every time they moved, camp by camp:
3-4 They marched out of Rameses the day after the Passover. It was the fifteenth day of the first month. They marched out heads high and confident. The Egyptians, busy burying their firstborn whom God had killed, watched them go. God had exposed the nonsense of their gods.
5-36 The People of Israel:
left Rameses and camped at Succoth;
left Succoth and camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness;
left Etham, circled back to Pi Hahiroth east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol;
left Pi Hahiroth and crossed through the Sea into the wilderness; three days into the Wilderness of Etham they camped at Marah;
left Marah and came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; they camped there;
left Elim and camped by the Red Sea;
left the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin;
left the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah;
left Dophkah and camped at Alush;
left Alush and camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink;
left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai;
left the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah;
left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth;
left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah;
left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez;
left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah;
left Libnah and camped at Rissah;
left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah;
left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher;
left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah;
left Haradah and camped at Makheloth;
left Makheloth and camped at Tahath;
left Tahath and camped at Terah;
left Terah and camped at Mithcah;
left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah;
left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth;
left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan;
left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad;
left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah;
left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah;
left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber;
left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
Numbers 33:36-39
The People of Israel:
left Rameses and camped at Succoth;
left Succoth and camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness;
left Etham, circled back to Pi Hahiroth east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol;
left Pi Hahiroth and crossed through the Sea into the wilderness; three days into the Wilderness of Etham they camped at Marah;
left Marah and came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; they camped there;
left Elim and camped by the Red Sea;
left the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin;
left the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah;
left Dophkah and camped at Alush;
left Alush and camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink;
left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai;
left the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah;
left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth;
left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah;
left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez;
left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah;
left Libnah and camped at Rissah;
left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah;
left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher;
left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah;
left Haradah and camped at Makheloth;
left Makheloth and camped at Tahath;
left Tahath and camped at Terah;
left Terah and camped at Mithcah;
left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah;
left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth;
left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan;
left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad;
left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah;
left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah;
left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber;
left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
37-39 After they left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor at the border of Edom, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor at God’s command and died there. It was the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the People of Israel had left Egypt. Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
INSIGHT:
Stage by stage God leads His dear children along. Sometimes (as in Israel’s case), God’s leading in our lives may seem quite mystifying; we may feel we are traveling in circles. Nevertheless, when we trust in the Lord, He will direct us (Prov. 3:5–6). God is faithful to all who put their trust in Him.
Stage by Stage
By David Roper
At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. Numbers 33:2
Numbers 33 is a chapter in the Bible we might pass by without reflection. It appears to be nothing more than a long list of places tracing Israel's pilgrimage from Rameses in Egypt to their arrival in the plains of Moab. But it must be important because it’s the only section in Numbers that follows with the words: “At the Lord’s command Moses recorded . . .” (v. 2).
Why keep a record of this? Could it be that this list provides a framework upon which the Israelites emerging from the wilderness could retrace that forty-year journey in their thoughts and recall God's faithfulness at each location?
Remember all the ways God has shown you His faithful, covenant love.
I envision an Israelite father, sitting near a campfire, reminiscing with his son: “I will never forget Rephidim! I was dying of thirst, nothing but sand and sage for hundreds of miles. Then God directed Moses to take his staff and strike a rock—actually a hard slab of flint. I thought, What a futile gesture; he’ll never get anything out of that stone. But to my amazement water gushed out of that rock! A generous flow that satisfied the thirst of the thousands of Israelites. I’ll never forget that day!” (see Ps. 114:8; Num. 20:8–13; 33:14).
So why not give it a try? Reflect on your life—stage by stage—and remember all the ways God has shown you His faithful, covenant love.
Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Johnson Oatman Jr.
For reflection on the faithfulness of God, listen to this Discover the Word program: discovertheword.org/faithfulness.
God’s faithfulness extends to all generations.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 27, 2016
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go…make disciples of all the nations….” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me….Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-19).
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
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Out of the Salt Shaker - #7774
I heard mooing from our kitchen. Yeah, but there wasn't a cow in the kitchen. No, it was my wife. No, she wasn't mooing. She was doing something that caused the mooing sound. I bought my wife these charming salt and pepper shakers in honor of her farm upbringing. The pepper shaker is a pig and the salt shaker is a cow. Whenever you turn over the pepper shaker, you cause it to start this pig-snorting sound, which I will not demonstrate. The salt shaker cow works in the same way. So when I hear that mooing from the kitchen, I know it's announcing that the salt is doing what the salt is supposed to do-which is get out of that salt shaker!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of the Salt Shaker."
I'm sure God would love to hear the sounds of His salt getting out of the shaker more often. After all, the work salt is supposed to do is not inside the salt shaker, all clustered together with the other salt. It's supposed to get out and change the flavor of something!
Well, according to Jesus, "You are the salt of the earth." That's His word to His followers in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 5:13. He goes on to say that "You are the light of the world," and that light is supposed to be "put on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." You don't put all the light bulbs in one room in the house, right? You'd have one blazing bright room and the rest of the house would be totally dark. You don't keep the salt all stored up together in the shaker. You scatter it around so it will be in contact with the things that need their flavor changed.
And Christians were never meant to be all clustered together in their spiritual salt shaker, just salting each other and soaking up more blessing and more fellowship. The salt's got to be in direct contact with the meat or the vegetables that need it. So guess what? You and I have to be in meaningful contact with the people who really, really need our Jesus. We're not supposed to be hiding out, playing defense all the time, trying to keep from being contaminated by avoiding the world that Jesus left us here to change!
If your social life, if your discretionary time is pretty much all with Christians, well you're missing your mission! We'll do that in heaven. We'll hang out together all that time. Right now we've got to be involved with some people who aren't going to heaven yet! It's time for you to take all that you've been storing up spiritually and start taking it to places and people where it's really needed.
It's time to be intentional about building relationships with that neighbor of yours, you know that lost co-worker, with some of your fellow students who need Jesus. It's time to look around your community and find some human needs that you can be involved in meeting in Jesus' name; to build some bridges into lives. They're all around.
It's time to look around your community for a place to volunteer so you can be in contact with some unreached people with some really deep needs. You just need a community connection, not just a church connection; something that will put the salt of your life in Jesus in contact with some of the lives that really need the flavor of Jesus; with some lives He gave His life for but they don't know it yet.
We need to be actively involved in the life of our church no doubt. God wants that. You need it, but not to the exclusion of connecting with the world that God so loves. You are the spiritual salt where you live. Get out of that salt shaker!
Out in a fishing boat, empty and exhausted, Peter discovered the wonder of God’s second chance. The crowd on the beach was so great that Jesus needed a buffer. So he preached from Peter’s boat. Then he told Peter to take him fishing. The apostle-to-be was tired; he had fished all night. He’d caught nothing. He was dubious. What did Jesus know about catching fish? And maybe Peter was self-conscious. People packed the beach. Who wants to fail in public? But Jesus insisted. And Peter relented. “At Your word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5).
This was a moment of truth for Peter. He was saying, I will try again– your way. When he did, the catch of fish was so great the boat nearly sank. Sometimes we just need to try again with Jesus in the boat. Failures are fatal only if we fail to learn from them.
From: God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 47
The Party’s Over
“Get off your high horse and sit in the dirt,
virgin daughter of Babylon.
No more throne for you—sit on the ground,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
Nobody will be calling you ‘charming’
and ‘alluring’ anymore. Get used to it.
Get a job, any old job:
Clean gutters, scrub toilets.
Hock your gowns and scarves,
put on overalls—the party’s over.
Your nude body will be on public display,
exposed to vulgar taunts.
It’s vengeance time, and I’m taking vengeance.
No one gets let off the hook.”
You’re Acting Like the Center of the Universe
4-13 Our Redeemer speaks,
named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, The Holy of Israel:
“Shut up and get out of the way,
daughter of Chaldeans.
You’ll no longer be called
‘First Lady of the Kingdoms.’
I was fed up with my people,
thoroughly disgusted with my progeny.
I turned them over to you,
but you had no compassion.
You put old men and women
to cruel, hard labor.
You said, ‘I’m the First Lady.
I’ll always be the pampered darling.’
You took nothing seriously, took nothing to heart,
never gave tomorrow a thought.
Well, start thinking, playgirl.
You’re acting like the center of the universe,
Smugly saying to yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.
I’ll never be a widow, I’ll never lose my children.’
Those two things are going to hit you both at once,
suddenly, on the same day:
Spouse and children gone, a total loss,
despite your many enchantments and charms.
You were so confident and comfortable in your evil life,
saying, ‘No one sees me.’
You thought you knew so much, had everything figured out.
What delusion!
Smugly telling yourself, ‘I’m Number One. There’s nobody but me.’
Ruin descends—
you can’t charm it away.
Disaster strikes—
you can’t cast it off with spells.
Catastrophe, sudden and total—
and you’re totally at sea, totally bewildered!
But don’t give up. From your great repertoire
of enchantments there must be one you haven’t yet tried.
You’ve been at this a long time.
Surely something will work.
I know you’re exhausted trying out remedies,
but don’t give up.
Call in the astrologers and stargazers.
They’re good at this. Surely they can work up something!
14-15 “Fat chance. You’d be grasping at straws
that are already in the fire,
A fire that is even now raging.
Your ‘experts’ are in it and won’t get out.
It’s not a fire for cooking venison stew,
not a fire to warm you on a winter night!
That’s the fate of your friends in sorcery, your magician buddies
you’ve been in cahoots with all your life.
They reel, confused, bumping into one another.
None of them bother to help you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Read: Numbers 33:1–15, 36–37
Campsites from Rameses to Jordan-Jericho
1-2 These are the camping sites in the journey of the People of Israel after they left Egypt, deployed militarily under the command of Moses and Aaron. Under God’s instruction Moses kept a log of every time they moved, camp by camp:
3-4 They marched out of Rameses the day after the Passover. It was the fifteenth day of the first month. They marched out heads high and confident. The Egyptians, busy burying their firstborn whom God had killed, watched them go. God had exposed the nonsense of their gods.
5-36 The People of Israel:
left Rameses and camped at Succoth;
left Succoth and camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness;
left Etham, circled back to Pi Hahiroth east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol;
left Pi Hahiroth and crossed through the Sea into the wilderness; three days into the Wilderness of Etham they camped at Marah;
left Marah and came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; they camped there;
left Elim and camped by the Red Sea;
left the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin;
left the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah;
left Dophkah and camped at Alush;
left Alush and camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink;
left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai;
left the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah;
left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth;
left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah;
left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez;
left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah;
left Libnah and camped at Rissah;
left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah;
left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher;
left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah;
left Haradah and camped at Makheloth;
left Makheloth and camped at Tahath;
left Tahath and camped at Terah;
left Terah and camped at Mithcah;
left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah;
left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth;
left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan;
left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad;
left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah;
left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah;
left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber;
left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
Numbers 33:36-39
The People of Israel:
left Rameses and camped at Succoth;
left Succoth and camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness;
left Etham, circled back to Pi Hahiroth east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol;
left Pi Hahiroth and crossed through the Sea into the wilderness; three days into the Wilderness of Etham they camped at Marah;
left Marah and came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; they camped there;
left Elim and camped by the Red Sea;
left the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin;
left the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah;
left Dophkah and camped at Alush;
left Alush and camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink;
left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai;
left the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah;
left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth;
left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah;
left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez;
left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah;
left Libnah and camped at Rissah;
left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah;
left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher;
left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah;
left Haradah and camped at Makheloth;
left Makheloth and camped at Tahath;
left Tahath and camped at Terah;
left Terah and camped at Mithcah;
left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah;
left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth;
left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan;
left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad;
left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah;
left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah;
left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber;
left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
37-39 After they left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor at the border of Edom, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor at God’s command and died there. It was the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the People of Israel had left Egypt. Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
INSIGHT:
Stage by stage God leads His dear children along. Sometimes (as in Israel’s case), God’s leading in our lives may seem quite mystifying; we may feel we are traveling in circles. Nevertheless, when we trust in the Lord, He will direct us (Prov. 3:5–6). God is faithful to all who put their trust in Him.
Stage by Stage
By David Roper
At the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. Numbers 33:2
Numbers 33 is a chapter in the Bible we might pass by without reflection. It appears to be nothing more than a long list of places tracing Israel's pilgrimage from Rameses in Egypt to their arrival in the plains of Moab. But it must be important because it’s the only section in Numbers that follows with the words: “At the Lord’s command Moses recorded . . .” (v. 2).
Why keep a record of this? Could it be that this list provides a framework upon which the Israelites emerging from the wilderness could retrace that forty-year journey in their thoughts and recall God's faithfulness at each location?
Remember all the ways God has shown you His faithful, covenant love.
I envision an Israelite father, sitting near a campfire, reminiscing with his son: “I will never forget Rephidim! I was dying of thirst, nothing but sand and sage for hundreds of miles. Then God directed Moses to take his staff and strike a rock—actually a hard slab of flint. I thought, What a futile gesture; he’ll never get anything out of that stone. But to my amazement water gushed out of that rock! A generous flow that satisfied the thirst of the thousands of Israelites. I’ll never forget that day!” (see Ps. 114:8; Num. 20:8–13; 33:14).
So why not give it a try? Reflect on your life—stage by stage—and remember all the ways God has shown you His faithful, covenant love.
Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Johnson Oatman Jr.
For reflection on the faithfulness of God, listen to this Discover the Word program: discovertheword.org/faithfulness.
God’s faithfulness extends to all generations.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 27, 2016
The Method of Missions
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… —Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go…make disciples of all the nations….” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me….Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-19).
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
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Out of the Salt Shaker - #7774
I heard mooing from our kitchen. Yeah, but there wasn't a cow in the kitchen. No, it was my wife. No, she wasn't mooing. She was doing something that caused the mooing sound. I bought my wife these charming salt and pepper shakers in honor of her farm upbringing. The pepper shaker is a pig and the salt shaker is a cow. Whenever you turn over the pepper shaker, you cause it to start this pig-snorting sound, which I will not demonstrate. The salt shaker cow works in the same way. So when I hear that mooing from the kitchen, I know it's announcing that the salt is doing what the salt is supposed to do-which is get out of that salt shaker!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out of the Salt Shaker."
I'm sure God would love to hear the sounds of His salt getting out of the shaker more often. After all, the work salt is supposed to do is not inside the salt shaker, all clustered together with the other salt. It's supposed to get out and change the flavor of something!
Well, according to Jesus, "You are the salt of the earth." That's His word to His followers in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 5:13. He goes on to say that "You are the light of the world," and that light is supposed to be "put on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." You don't put all the light bulbs in one room in the house, right? You'd have one blazing bright room and the rest of the house would be totally dark. You don't keep the salt all stored up together in the shaker. You scatter it around so it will be in contact with the things that need their flavor changed.
And Christians were never meant to be all clustered together in their spiritual salt shaker, just salting each other and soaking up more blessing and more fellowship. The salt's got to be in direct contact with the meat or the vegetables that need it. So guess what? You and I have to be in meaningful contact with the people who really, really need our Jesus. We're not supposed to be hiding out, playing defense all the time, trying to keep from being contaminated by avoiding the world that Jesus left us here to change!
If your social life, if your discretionary time is pretty much all with Christians, well you're missing your mission! We'll do that in heaven. We'll hang out together all that time. Right now we've got to be involved with some people who aren't going to heaven yet! It's time for you to take all that you've been storing up spiritually and start taking it to places and people where it's really needed.
It's time to be intentional about building relationships with that neighbor of yours, you know that lost co-worker, with some of your fellow students who need Jesus. It's time to look around your community and find some human needs that you can be involved in meeting in Jesus' name; to build some bridges into lives. They're all around.
It's time to look around your community for a place to volunteer so you can be in contact with some unreached people with some really deep needs. You just need a community connection, not just a church connection; something that will put the salt of your life in Jesus in contact with some of the lives that really need the flavor of Jesus; with some lives He gave His life for but they don't know it yet.
We need to be actively involved in the life of our church no doubt. God wants that. You need it, but not to the exclusion of connecting with the world that God so loves. You are the spiritual salt where you live. Get out of that salt shaker!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Romans 9:1-18 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: SIMPLE OIL CHANGES
When I was 15 years old, I inherited a Rambler station wagon from my big brother. It wasn’t much to look at—but it was mine! “You have to keep gas in the tank,” my Dad advised. “I know,” I quickly replied. “Can you change the oil and keep the car washed?” he asked. “Of course I can,” I lied.
My ineptness surfaced the following Saturday. “You want me to help you?” Dad asked. Nah! I spent an hour looking for the oil pan; another wrestling with the plug. But I finally finished and Dad was waiting for me. “All done?” he asked. “All done,” I answered. “Then what is that?” he asked as he pointed to a stream of oil running down the driveway. I’d forgotten to replace the plug. My dad said, “Son, what is hard for you is simple to me. Let me help you. I’m a mechanic. And, besides, I’m your dad.”
Here’s what I think! Our toughest challenges are simple oil changes to God!
From God is With You Every Day
Romans 9:1-18
God Is Calling His People
At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It’s an enormous pain deep within me, and I’m never free of it. I’m not exaggerating—Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses. It’s the Israelites . . . If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I’d do it in a minute. They’re my family. I grew up with them. They had everything going for them—family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises, to say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ, who is God over everything, always. Oh, yes!
6-9 Don’t suppose for a moment, though, that God’s Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn’t Abraham’s sperm that gave identity here, but God’s promise. Remember how it was put: “Your family will be defined by Isaac”? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, “When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son”?
10-13 And that’s not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb—incapable of good or bad—she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. God told Rebecca, “The firstborn of your twins will take second place.” Later that was turned into a stark epigram: “I loved Jacob; I hated Esau.”
14-18 Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, “I’m in charge of mercy. I’m in charge of compassion.” Compassion doesn’t originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God’s mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, “I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power.” All we’re saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Read: Matthew 5:1–16
You’re Blessed
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Salt and Light
13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading deals with the Beatitudes in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Those who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy will be helped as they “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). The gift of God’s grace in our lives manifests itself in doing good to others, which brings glory to God (5:16). We are blessed by God so we can bless others.
Mending Hearts
By Dennis Fisher
You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14
Not long ago I went to a seamstress to have some clothing altered. As I entered her shop I was encouraged by what I saw on the walls. One sign read, “We can mend your clothes but only God can mend your heart.” Near it was a painting of Mary Magdalene weeping in anguish as the risen Christ was about to reveal Himself to her. Another sign asked, “Need prayer? Let us pray with you.”
The owner told me that she had run this small business for fifteen years. “We’ve been surprised how the Lord has worked here through the statements of faith we have posted in different places. A while back someone trusted Christ as their Savior right here. It is amazing to watch God work.” I told her I too was a Christian and commended her for telling others about Christ in her workplace.
God pours His love into our hearts to flow out to others’ lives.
Not all of us are able to be so bold in our workplace, but we can find many creative and practical ways of showing others unexpected love, patience, and kindness wherever we are. Since leaving that shop, I’ve been thinking about how many ways there are to live out our Lord’s statement: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).
Dear Father, use me to be a light today to the world around me. I love You and want others to know and love You too.
How can you be a light in your world? Read Truth With Love: Sharing the Story of Jesus by Ajith Fernando at discoveryseries.org/hp141.
God pours His love into our hearts to flow out to others’ lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
What is a Missionary?
Jesus said to them again, "…As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." —John 20:21
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19).
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
All-Season Comfort - #7773
When you drive into Missouri and Arkansas, you are entering cave country. And the tourist signs prove it...believe me. You could spend an entire vacation just touring all the caverns, using your imagination to see how that stalagmite looks like Snoopy or an Indian chief. As we were roaring down the Interstate one very chilly day, we saw this sign that said, "Fantastic Caverns – a warm 60 degrees." In winter, 60 sounds pretty warm. In summer, 60 sounds pretty cool. So, seasons change and the temperatures change, the cave never does.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "All-Season Comfort."
You have a place like that to go where the climate never changes no matter how the seasons of your life change. David knew that place. He found it when King Saul wanted him dead and chased him across the countryside to kill him. Now delivered by God, David writes about the all-season comfort he has found.
It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 18:1-2. "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I take refuge." Notice, a rock which never moves, never changes. "The Lord is my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield...my stronghold." David is just like thinking up every analogy he can to try to describe what stability, what safety, what comfort he has found in his relationship with his Lord, no matter how cold or hot the weather of his life may have been.
Just like that cave where you can always depend on the climate, the Lord you belong to, if you know Christ, is always your dependable place. You know how quickly the seasons of your life can change. Maybe there's someone you thought was your refuge just isn't there for you anymore, or a place or position you thought would always be there and it changed.
It could be that your body is letting you down, or your family, or your co-workers. Maybe your church, maybe your spiritual leader has let you down. Life really is like the weather – if you don't like it, hang on, it'll change soon. If you do like it, it will change eventually, too. But your anchor relationship will never, never change.
So run to your Jesus when sin is strong, when no one can help, when you're wounded and bleeding. Run to Him when you're angry, when you're very afraid, when the burden is just unbearable, or when the need is un-meetable. Sometimes we're hesitant to run to the Lord when we're feeling or acting ugly. In fact, we feel like running from Him. But that's when we need Him most, and His arms are open to you, no matter what. The cross proves that.
What a Savior we have! You will never hit a season – including the valley of the shadow of death – where your Lord will not be enough. Like those caverns, He is your place to cool off when you're hot. He is your place to get warm when it's cold.
I still remember the night my now grown son was just a little boy snuggling in my lap, his nose buried in my chest. After a few minutes, I heard his little voice say, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe." For you – for me – the arms of Jesus are that always safe place. No matter what the season, His love and His power never, never change.
When I was 15 years old, I inherited a Rambler station wagon from my big brother. It wasn’t much to look at—but it was mine! “You have to keep gas in the tank,” my Dad advised. “I know,” I quickly replied. “Can you change the oil and keep the car washed?” he asked. “Of course I can,” I lied.
My ineptness surfaced the following Saturday. “You want me to help you?” Dad asked. Nah! I spent an hour looking for the oil pan; another wrestling with the plug. But I finally finished and Dad was waiting for me. “All done?” he asked. “All done,” I answered. “Then what is that?” he asked as he pointed to a stream of oil running down the driveway. I’d forgotten to replace the plug. My dad said, “Son, what is hard for you is simple to me. Let me help you. I’m a mechanic. And, besides, I’m your dad.”
Here’s what I think! Our toughest challenges are simple oil changes to God!
From God is With You Every Day
Romans 9:1-18
God Is Calling His People
At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It’s an enormous pain deep within me, and I’m never free of it. I’m not exaggerating—Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses. It’s the Israelites . . . If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I’d do it in a minute. They’re my family. I grew up with them. They had everything going for them—family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises, to say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ, who is God over everything, always. Oh, yes!
6-9 Don’t suppose for a moment, though, that God’s Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn’t Abraham’s sperm that gave identity here, but God’s promise. Remember how it was put: “Your family will be defined by Isaac”? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, “When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son”?
10-13 And that’s not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb—incapable of good or bad—she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. God told Rebecca, “The firstborn of your twins will take second place.” Later that was turned into a stark epigram: “I loved Jacob; I hated Esau.”
14-18 Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, “I’m in charge of mercy. I’m in charge of compassion.” Compassion doesn’t originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God’s mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, “I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power.” All we’re saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Read: Matthew 5:1–16
You’re Blessed
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Salt and Light
13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
INSIGHT:
Today’s reading deals with the Beatitudes in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Those who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy will be helped as they “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). The gift of God’s grace in our lives manifests itself in doing good to others, which brings glory to God (5:16). We are blessed by God so we can bless others.
Mending Hearts
By Dennis Fisher
You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14
Not long ago I went to a seamstress to have some clothing altered. As I entered her shop I was encouraged by what I saw on the walls. One sign read, “We can mend your clothes but only God can mend your heart.” Near it was a painting of Mary Magdalene weeping in anguish as the risen Christ was about to reveal Himself to her. Another sign asked, “Need prayer? Let us pray with you.”
The owner told me that she had run this small business for fifteen years. “We’ve been surprised how the Lord has worked here through the statements of faith we have posted in different places. A while back someone trusted Christ as their Savior right here. It is amazing to watch God work.” I told her I too was a Christian and commended her for telling others about Christ in her workplace.
God pours His love into our hearts to flow out to others’ lives.
Not all of us are able to be so bold in our workplace, but we can find many creative and practical ways of showing others unexpected love, patience, and kindness wherever we are. Since leaving that shop, I’ve been thinking about how many ways there are to live out our Lord’s statement: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).
Dear Father, use me to be a light today to the world around me. I love You and want others to know and love You too.
How can you be a light in your world? Read Truth With Love: Sharing the Story of Jesus by Ajith Fernando at discoveryseries.org/hp141.
God pours His love into our hearts to flow out to others’ lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
What is a Missionary?
Jesus said to them again, "…As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." —John 20:21
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19).
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
All-Season Comfort - #7773
When you drive into Missouri and Arkansas, you are entering cave country. And the tourist signs prove it...believe me. You could spend an entire vacation just touring all the caverns, using your imagination to see how that stalagmite looks like Snoopy or an Indian chief. As we were roaring down the Interstate one very chilly day, we saw this sign that said, "Fantastic Caverns – a warm 60 degrees." In winter, 60 sounds pretty warm. In summer, 60 sounds pretty cool. So, seasons change and the temperatures change, the cave never does.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "All-Season Comfort."
You have a place like that to go where the climate never changes no matter how the seasons of your life change. David knew that place. He found it when King Saul wanted him dead and chased him across the countryside to kill him. Now delivered by God, David writes about the all-season comfort he has found.
It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 18:1-2. "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, in whom I take refuge." Notice, a rock which never moves, never changes. "The Lord is my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield...my stronghold." David is just like thinking up every analogy he can to try to describe what stability, what safety, what comfort he has found in his relationship with his Lord, no matter how cold or hot the weather of his life may have been.
Just like that cave where you can always depend on the climate, the Lord you belong to, if you know Christ, is always your dependable place. You know how quickly the seasons of your life can change. Maybe there's someone you thought was your refuge just isn't there for you anymore, or a place or position you thought would always be there and it changed.
It could be that your body is letting you down, or your family, or your co-workers. Maybe your church, maybe your spiritual leader has let you down. Life really is like the weather – if you don't like it, hang on, it'll change soon. If you do like it, it will change eventually, too. But your anchor relationship will never, never change.
So run to your Jesus when sin is strong, when no one can help, when you're wounded and bleeding. Run to Him when you're angry, when you're very afraid, when the burden is just unbearable, or when the need is un-meetable. Sometimes we're hesitant to run to the Lord when we're feeling or acting ugly. In fact, we feel like running from Him. But that's when we need Him most, and His arms are open to you, no matter what. The cross proves that.
What a Savior we have! You will never hit a season – including the valley of the shadow of death – where your Lord will not be enough. Like those caverns, He is your place to cool off when you're hot. He is your place to get warm when it's cold.
I still remember the night my now grown son was just a little boy snuggling in my lap, his nose buried in my chest. After a few minutes, I heard his little voice say, "Daddy, when I'm in your arms, I feel so safe." For you – for me – the arms of Jesus are that always safe place. No matter what the season, His love and His power never, never change.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Romans 8:22-39 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: OUR INHERITANCE
When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God’s royal family. And since you are a part of the family, you have access to the family blessings. All of them. Scripture says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1:11 NIV).
Surprised? You ain’t heard nuttin’ yet! The apostle Paul described the value of your portfolio: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17 NIV). We are joint heirs with Christ. We share the same inheritance as Christ! We don’t inherit leftovers. We don’t wear hand-me-downs. In the traditions of Paul’s day, the firstborn son received a double portion while the rest of the siblings divvied up the remainder. Not so in the family of Christ. His portion is our portion! Whatever he has, we have!
From God is With You Every Day
Romans 8:22-39
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:6–10
If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.
7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
INSIGHT:
Paul possessed “a thorn in [his] flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7), which prayer did not eliminate. Whatever it was, it was painful and physical. Some Bible teachers believe it was an eye disease, since elsewhere Paul refers to having eye problems (Gal. 4:15; 6:11) and that others might have treated him “with contempt or scorn” (4:14) because of an illness he had when he “first preached the gospel” to the Galatians (4:13). Paul’s enemies seemed to ride him because of his physical limitations. I imagine them asserting, “God doesn’t even answer his prayers or heal him” (see 2 Cor. 12:8–10). Nevertheless, Paul viewed his limitations as a reflective mirror to magnify God’s greatness.
This Gift
By David Roper
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
A number of years ago I wrote an essay about my collection of canes, staffs, and walking sticks and mused that I might someday graduate to a walker. Well, the day has come. A combination of back issues and peripheral neuropathy has left me pushing a three-wheel walker. I can’t hike; I can’t fish; I can’t do many of the things that used to bring me great joy.
I’m trying to learn, however, that my limitation, whatever it may be, is a gift from God, and it is with this gift that I am to serve Him. This gift and not another. This is true of all of us, whether our limits are emotional, physical, or intellectual. Paul was so bold as to say that he boasted in his weakness for it was in weakness that God's power was revealed in him (2 Cor. 12:9).
Lord, I trust You to give me everything I need for today.
Seeing our so-called liabilities this way enables us to go about our business with confidence and courage. Rather than complain, feel sorry for ourselves, or opt out, we make ourselves available to God for His intended purposes.
I have no idea what He has in mind for you and me, but we shouldn’t worry about that. Our task today is just to accept things as they are and to be content, knowing that in the love, wisdom, and providence of God this moment is as good as it can possibly be.
Dear Lord, I know that You are good and You love me. I trust You to give me everything I need for today.
Contentment enables you to grow where God has planted you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Submitting to God’s Purpose
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. —1 Corinthians 9:22
A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “…Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
“I chose you…” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.
Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside…to the right or the left…” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
There For You When You Fall - #7772
Our son-in-law is pretty much a natural when it comes to sports. And if there's something he hasn't done before, he's anxious to give it a try. I was there for the first time he tried to jet-ski. You've probably seen those little water machines that look like a baby snowmobile. They're a lot of fun, but it takes some skill to keep it balanced. He handled it pretty well for a while, but it was probably inevitable that he would eventually fall off on his first ride. Of course, the jet-ski kept going-and I expected it to take off without him. But instead, that jet-ski is designed to start going in a circle near you-and it circles for you until you can get back on. It's nice to know it will be there when you fall off.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "There For You When You Fall."
Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of God, also knew about failure. You can tell from our word for today from the Word of God. It begins with Lamentations 3:19. "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet I call this to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Familiar words maybe-sometimes survival words.
Jeremiah is thinking about the times he fell off and how those times have made him feel. Discouraged, depressed, like "What's the use?" He calls it a soul that is downcast by his failures. But every new day there is the Lord circling near him to pick him up.
When I saw how that jet-ski operated, I couldn't help but think of how our Lord has dealt with me; deals with all of us. It could be that even now you're feeling crushed by a feeling of failure. You've let the Lord down, you've let people you love down, you've let yourself down. Maybe you've done some things you never thought you would do. Maybe you've broken some promises you thought you would keep. In some way, you've fallen-and you may feel like you're just going to stay down. In fact, at times like this, your feelings say, "Look, you fell off-and the Lord's gone on without you."
Wrong! "His compassions never fail." That's what it says, "His compassions never fail." They don't fail even when you do. No matter how badly or how often you have failed, "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." No failure needs to last more than a day. God does not want you to carry the wreckage from yesterday into your today. He has new mercies for this new day, and His great love is unconditional. What will sink you won't be that God won't forgive you. It's that you won't bring it to the cross and get up and accept a new beginning from your Savior.
It's Satan that keeps pointing to your past. The Bible calls him "the accuser". Jesus is pointing to your future. It's the devil's lies that God has left you; that He doesn't love you when you're like this; that it's over.
Today, your Lord's right there. He is circling faithfully. He stopped when you fell off and He's been lovingly waiting to pick you up and get you off to a fresh new start.
When you were born into Christ, you were placed in God’s royal family. And since you are a part of the family, you have access to the family blessings. All of them. Scripture says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance” (Ephesians 1:11 NIV).
Surprised? You ain’t heard nuttin’ yet! The apostle Paul described the value of your portfolio: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17 NIV). We are joint heirs with Christ. We share the same inheritance as Christ! We don’t inherit leftovers. We don’t wear hand-me-downs. In the traditions of Paul’s day, the firstborn son received a double portion while the rest of the siblings divvied up the remainder. Not so in the family of Christ. His portion is our portion! Whatever he has, we have!
From God is With You Every Day
Romans 8:22-39
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:6–10
If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.
7-10 Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
INSIGHT:
Paul possessed “a thorn in [his] flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7), which prayer did not eliminate. Whatever it was, it was painful and physical. Some Bible teachers believe it was an eye disease, since elsewhere Paul refers to having eye problems (Gal. 4:15; 6:11) and that others might have treated him “with contempt or scorn” (4:14) because of an illness he had when he “first preached the gospel” to the Galatians (4:13). Paul’s enemies seemed to ride him because of his physical limitations. I imagine them asserting, “God doesn’t even answer his prayers or heal him” (see 2 Cor. 12:8–10). Nevertheless, Paul viewed his limitations as a reflective mirror to magnify God’s greatness.
This Gift
By David Roper
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
A number of years ago I wrote an essay about my collection of canes, staffs, and walking sticks and mused that I might someday graduate to a walker. Well, the day has come. A combination of back issues and peripheral neuropathy has left me pushing a three-wheel walker. I can’t hike; I can’t fish; I can’t do many of the things that used to bring me great joy.
I’m trying to learn, however, that my limitation, whatever it may be, is a gift from God, and it is with this gift that I am to serve Him. This gift and not another. This is true of all of us, whether our limits are emotional, physical, or intellectual. Paul was so bold as to say that he boasted in his weakness for it was in weakness that God's power was revealed in him (2 Cor. 12:9).
Lord, I trust You to give me everything I need for today.
Seeing our so-called liabilities this way enables us to go about our business with confidence and courage. Rather than complain, feel sorry for ourselves, or opt out, we make ourselves available to God for His intended purposes.
I have no idea what He has in mind for you and me, but we shouldn’t worry about that. Our task today is just to accept things as they are and to be content, knowing that in the love, wisdom, and providence of God this moment is as good as it can possibly be.
Dear Lord, I know that You are good and You love me. I trust You to give me everything I need for today.
Contentment enables you to grow where God has planted you.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Submitting to God’s Purpose
I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. —1 Corinthians 9:22
A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “…Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
“I chose you…” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.
Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside…to the right or the left…” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
There For You When You Fall - #7772
Our son-in-law is pretty much a natural when it comes to sports. And if there's something he hasn't done before, he's anxious to give it a try. I was there for the first time he tried to jet-ski. You've probably seen those little water machines that look like a baby snowmobile. They're a lot of fun, but it takes some skill to keep it balanced. He handled it pretty well for a while, but it was probably inevitable that he would eventually fall off on his first ride. Of course, the jet-ski kept going-and I expected it to take off without him. But instead, that jet-ski is designed to start going in a circle near you-and it circles for you until you can get back on. It's nice to know it will be there when you fall off.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "There For You When You Fall."
Jeremiah, one of the great prophets of God, also knew about failure. You can tell from our word for today from the Word of God. It begins with Lamentations 3:19. "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet I call this to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Familiar words maybe-sometimes survival words.
Jeremiah is thinking about the times he fell off and how those times have made him feel. Discouraged, depressed, like "What's the use?" He calls it a soul that is downcast by his failures. But every new day there is the Lord circling near him to pick him up.
When I saw how that jet-ski operated, I couldn't help but think of how our Lord has dealt with me; deals with all of us. It could be that even now you're feeling crushed by a feeling of failure. You've let the Lord down, you've let people you love down, you've let yourself down. Maybe you've done some things you never thought you would do. Maybe you've broken some promises you thought you would keep. In some way, you've fallen-and you may feel like you're just going to stay down. In fact, at times like this, your feelings say, "Look, you fell off-and the Lord's gone on without you."
Wrong! "His compassions never fail." That's what it says, "His compassions never fail." They don't fail even when you do. No matter how badly or how often you have failed, "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." No failure needs to last more than a day. God does not want you to carry the wreckage from yesterday into your today. He has new mercies for this new day, and His great love is unconditional. What will sink you won't be that God won't forgive you. It's that you won't bring it to the cross and get up and accept a new beginning from your Savior.
It's Satan that keeps pointing to your past. The Bible calls him "the accuser". Jesus is pointing to your future. It's the devil's lies that God has left you; that He doesn't love you when you're like this; that it's over.
Today, your Lord's right there. He is circling faithfully. He stopped when you fell off and He's been lovingly waiting to pick you up and get you off to a fresh new start.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Isaiah 46 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: CLICK THE SAVE BUTTON
Does the Bible work? Does its teachings change us? There’s one way to find out. Click the Save button! There’s great satisfaction when having created a document, we reach up and press the Save button. The click reshapes the landscape of the hard drive. As long as the words are limited to the screen, they are vulnerable and exposed to the irascible cursor. We curse the little monster as it gobbles up our hard work.But once we save it, it is safe.
Are you clicking the button on Scripture? We save truth when we deliberately and consciously allow what we’ve heard to become a part of who we are. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Only when you allow the truth of Scripture to be the authority in your life can you know whether it works!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 46
This Is Serious Business, Rebels
The god Bel falls down, god Nebo slumps.
The no-god hunks of wood are loaded on mules
And have to be hauled off,
wearing out the poor mules—
Dead weight, burdens who can’t bear burdens,
hauled off to captivity.
3-4 “Listen to me, family of Jacob,
everyone that’s left of the family of Israel.
I’ve been carrying you on my back
from the day you were born,
And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.
I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.
I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,
carrying you on my back, saving you.
5-7 “So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable?
Can you picture me without reducing me?
People with a lot of money
hire craftsmen to make them gods.
The artisan delivers the god,
and they kneel and worship it!
They carry it around in holy parades,
then take it home and put it on a shelf.
And there it sits, day in and day out,
a dependable god, always right where you put it.
Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.
Of course, it never does anything either!
8-11 “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.
This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.
Remember your history,
your long and rich history.
I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—
incomparable, irreplaceable—
From the very beginning
telling you what the ending will be,
All along letting you in
on what is going to happen,
Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul,
I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’
Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east,
from a far country the man I chose to help me.
I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it.
I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.
12-13 “Now listen to me:
You’re a hardheaded bunch and hard to help.
I’m ready to help you right now.
Deliverance is not a long-range plan.
Salvation isn’t on hold.
I’m putting salvation to work in Zion now,
and glory in Israel.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 24, 2016
Read: Ezekiel 18:25–32
“Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’?
“Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die.
29 “And yet Israel keeps on whining, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair.’
“I’m not fair, Israel? You’re the ones who aren’t fair.
30-32 “The upshot is this, Israel: I’ll judge each of you according to the way you live. So turn around! Turn your backs on your rebellious living so that sin won’t drag you down. Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel? I take no pleasure in anyone’s death. Decree of God, the Master.
“Make a clean break! Live!”
INSIGHT:
God promises to perform a spiritual heart transplant, giving everyone who repents “an undivided heart and a new spirit” and replacing a “heart of stone” with “a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19). Ezekiel talked about this work of God in saving those who would repent (Ezek. 36:25–27). God will give us His Holy Spirit to enable us to obey Him (v. 27). Jeremiah calls this “a new covenant” (Jer. 31:31–34). Hours before He died on the cross, Jesus spoke of “the new covenant in [His] blood” (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). Because of Jesus’s death, He is now the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 8:6–13; 9:17; 12:24). Under the terms of the new covenant, God has made it possible for everyone who repents to “get a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:31).
Choosing to Change
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:31
When my son acquired a small robot, he had fun programming it to perform simple tasks. He could make it move forward, stop, and then retrace its steps. He could even get it to beep and replay recorded noises. The robot did exactly what my son told it to do. It never laughed spontaneously or veered off in an unplanned direction. It had no choice.
When God created humans, He didn’t make robots. God made us in His image, and this means we can think, reason, and make decisions. We’re able to choose between right and wrong. Even if we have made a habit of disobeying God, we can decide to redirect our lives.
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.
When the ancient Israelites found themselves in trouble with God, He spoke to them through the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel said, “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. . . . Get a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:30–31).
This kind of change can begin with just one choice, empowered by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13). It might mean saying no at a critical moment. No more gossip. No more greed. No more jealousy. No more ___________. (You fill in the blank.) If you know Jesus, you’re not a slave to sin. You can choose to change, and with God’s help, this personal revolution can start today.
Dear God, all things are possible with You. Through the power of Jesus’s resurrection help me to take the first step toward a life of greater devotion to You.
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 24, 2016
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 24, 2016
The 'As Soon As' Syndrome - #7771
Sylvester Stallone's been in the ring for a lot of rounds. Even though he, a few years ago, hit the big 6-0 birthday, he was still doing Rocky-Rocky 6. It was called, "Rocky's final round." Sylvester Stallone is one of the millions of Baby Boomers who have hit a challenge for which some have not been prepared – aging. I was intrigued with what Stallone had to say about people he knows. He said, "You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they're still the same lonely, insecure people." You think you've got it all figured out, but when you turn 60 or, you know, whatever age seems to make you feel like you're getting older, there's this little hole inside you. You realize you're always going to be somewhat half full…or are we.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'As Soon As' Syndrome."
That's what I call the cycle so many of us go through in our life journey. I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled as soon as I graduate, as soon as I get a good job, as soon as I get a better job, as soon as I'm going with someone, as soon as I'm married, as soon as I have kids, as soon as I'm not married, as soon as I can get a home, as soon as I can get a bigger home, as soon as I make good money, as soon as I make more money, as soon as I retire; it just never ends. And 'as soon as' never comes. It's one disappointing answer after another. Until, like Rocky's creator says, we just give up and accept 'this little hole inside' us as being 'unfillable."
The ancient Jewish king Solomon knew that feeling. He was so wealthy and so powerful he was able to own or experience every "as soon as" that his heart could conceive: every purchase, every woman, every achievement, every pleasure. Here's his conclusion, recorded in his personal diary, the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.
I'm reading from chapter 1, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God. He says: "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Pretty sad, huh? And pretty much the human experience.
But Solomon went on to diagnose why nothing and no one on earth can ever fill the hole in our heart. He said, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 3:11; 12:1, 13). What we've been looking for all our life is something that will last forever, because we've got this eternity thing in our heart. The hole in your heart can only be filled by something as big as all eternity. And that means only the God who made you can fill it. Not a religion about God, but God Himself, living in your heart.
And that's impossible because of the choice we've made over and over again to do our life our way instead of God's way. God calls it sin and He says that our sins "have separated us" from our God. But He's also acted with unspeakable love to demolish this wall that keeps us from the God we were made for. In God's own words, "He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Translation: I did the sinning; Jesus did the dying. Then three days later, He came back from His grave to prove that He and He alone can give us life that's eternal.
For millions, the search for what goes in that hole in our heart has ended at the cross of Jesus Christ. In a transforming moment when you say to Him, "Jesus, the wrong person's been running my life. I resign. I'm holding onto You as my only hope because only You can remove the wall between me and my God. So, Jesus, I'm Yours."
If you've never had that liberating, load-lifting experience, purpose-filling, hole-in-your-heart-filling experience with Jesus, let this be the day. In fact, I want to invite you to go to our website. There's a lot of wonderful information I'd love to give you. You've just got to go there to get it. It's ANewStory.com
That hole inside you is so big only God can fill it. And at your invitation, He will-today.
Does the Bible work? Does its teachings change us? There’s one way to find out. Click the Save button! There’s great satisfaction when having created a document, we reach up and press the Save button. The click reshapes the landscape of the hard drive. As long as the words are limited to the screen, they are vulnerable and exposed to the irascible cursor. We curse the little monster as it gobbles up our hard work.But once we save it, it is safe.
Are you clicking the button on Scripture? We save truth when we deliberately and consciously allow what we’ve heard to become a part of who we are. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Only when you allow the truth of Scripture to be the authority in your life can you know whether it works!
From God is With You Every Day
Isaiah 46
This Is Serious Business, Rebels
The god Bel falls down, god Nebo slumps.
The no-god hunks of wood are loaded on mules
And have to be hauled off,
wearing out the poor mules—
Dead weight, burdens who can’t bear burdens,
hauled off to captivity.
3-4 “Listen to me, family of Jacob,
everyone that’s left of the family of Israel.
I’ve been carrying you on my back
from the day you were born,
And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.
I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.
I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,
carrying you on my back, saving you.
5-7 “So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable?
Can you picture me without reducing me?
People with a lot of money
hire craftsmen to make them gods.
The artisan delivers the god,
and they kneel and worship it!
They carry it around in holy parades,
then take it home and put it on a shelf.
And there it sits, day in and day out,
a dependable god, always right where you put it.
Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.
Of course, it never does anything either!
8-11 “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.
This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.
Remember your history,
your long and rich history.
I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—
incomparable, irreplaceable—
From the very beginning
telling you what the ending will be,
All along letting you in
on what is going to happen,
Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul,
I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’
Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east,
from a far country the man I chose to help me.
I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it.
I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done.
12-13 “Now listen to me:
You’re a hardheaded bunch and hard to help.
I’m ready to help you right now.
Deliverance is not a long-range plan.
Salvation isn’t on hold.
I’m putting salvation to work in Zion now,
and glory in Israel.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 24, 2016
Read: Ezekiel 18:25–32
“Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’?
“Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die.
29 “And yet Israel keeps on whining, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair.’
“I’m not fair, Israel? You’re the ones who aren’t fair.
30-32 “The upshot is this, Israel: I’ll judge each of you according to the way you live. So turn around! Turn your backs on your rebellious living so that sin won’t drag you down. Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel? I take no pleasure in anyone’s death. Decree of God, the Master.
“Make a clean break! Live!”
INSIGHT:
God promises to perform a spiritual heart transplant, giving everyone who repents “an undivided heart and a new spirit” and replacing a “heart of stone” with “a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19). Ezekiel talked about this work of God in saving those who would repent (Ezek. 36:25–27). God will give us His Holy Spirit to enable us to obey Him (v. 27). Jeremiah calls this “a new covenant” (Jer. 31:31–34). Hours before He died on the cross, Jesus spoke of “the new covenant in [His] blood” (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). Because of Jesus’s death, He is now the mediator of the new covenant (Heb. 8:6–13; 9:17; 12:24). Under the terms of the new covenant, God has made it possible for everyone who repents to “get a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:31).
Choosing to Change
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:31
When my son acquired a small robot, he had fun programming it to perform simple tasks. He could make it move forward, stop, and then retrace its steps. He could even get it to beep and replay recorded noises. The robot did exactly what my son told it to do. It never laughed spontaneously or veered off in an unplanned direction. It had no choice.
When God created humans, He didn’t make robots. God made us in His image, and this means we can think, reason, and make decisions. We’re able to choose between right and wrong. Even if we have made a habit of disobeying God, we can decide to redirect our lives.
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.
When the ancient Israelites found themselves in trouble with God, He spoke to them through the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel said, “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. . . . Get a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:30–31).
This kind of change can begin with just one choice, empowered by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13). It might mean saying no at a critical moment. No more gossip. No more greed. No more jealousy. No more ___________. (You fill in the blank.) If you know Jesus, you’re not a slave to sin. You can choose to change, and with God’s help, this personal revolution can start today.
Dear God, all things are possible with You. Through the power of Jesus’s resurrection help me to take the first step toward a life of greater devotion to You.
For a new start, ask God for a new heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 24, 2016
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.
The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37).
“We are to God the fragrance of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 24, 2016
The 'As Soon As' Syndrome - #7771
Sylvester Stallone's been in the ring for a lot of rounds. Even though he, a few years ago, hit the big 6-0 birthday, he was still doing Rocky-Rocky 6. It was called, "Rocky's final round." Sylvester Stallone is one of the millions of Baby Boomers who have hit a challenge for which some have not been prepared – aging. I was intrigued with what Stallone had to say about people he knows. He said, "You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they're still the same lonely, insecure people." You think you've got it all figured out, but when you turn 60 or, you know, whatever age seems to make you feel like you're getting older, there's this little hole inside you. You realize you're always going to be somewhat half full…or are we.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'As Soon As' Syndrome."
That's what I call the cycle so many of us go through in our life journey. I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled as soon as I graduate, as soon as I get a good job, as soon as I get a better job, as soon as I'm going with someone, as soon as I'm married, as soon as I have kids, as soon as I'm not married, as soon as I can get a home, as soon as I can get a bigger home, as soon as I make good money, as soon as I make more money, as soon as I retire; it just never ends. And 'as soon as' never comes. It's one disappointing answer after another. Until, like Rocky's creator says, we just give up and accept 'this little hole inside' us as being 'unfillable."
The ancient Jewish king Solomon knew that feeling. He was so wealthy and so powerful he was able to own or experience every "as soon as" that his heart could conceive: every purchase, every woman, every achievement, every pleasure. Here's his conclusion, recorded in his personal diary, the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.
I'm reading from chapter 1, beginning with verse 8, our word for today from the Word of God. He says: "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Pretty sad, huh? And pretty much the human experience.
But Solomon went on to diagnose why nothing and no one on earth can ever fill the hole in our heart. He said, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 3:11; 12:1, 13). What we've been looking for all our life is something that will last forever, because we've got this eternity thing in our heart. The hole in your heart can only be filled by something as big as all eternity. And that means only the God who made you can fill it. Not a religion about God, but God Himself, living in your heart.
And that's impossible because of the choice we've made over and over again to do our life our way instead of God's way. God calls it sin and He says that our sins "have separated us" from our God. But He's also acted with unspeakable love to demolish this wall that keeps us from the God we were made for. In God's own words, "He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Translation: I did the sinning; Jesus did the dying. Then three days later, He came back from His grave to prove that He and He alone can give us life that's eternal.
For millions, the search for what goes in that hole in our heart has ended at the cross of Jesus Christ. In a transforming moment when you say to Him, "Jesus, the wrong person's been running my life. I resign. I'm holding onto You as my only hope because only You can remove the wall between me and my God. So, Jesus, I'm Yours."
If you've never had that liberating, load-lifting experience, purpose-filling, hole-in-your-heart-filling experience with Jesus, let this be the day. In fact, I want to invite you to go to our website. There's a lot of wonderful information I'd love to give you. You've just got to go there to get it. It's ANewStory.com
That hole inside you is so big only God can fill it. And at your invitation, He will-today.
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