Max Lucado Daily: The Prize is Yours
Imagine you’re an ice skater in competition. You’re in first place, one more round to go. The medal almost yours. Then just before your performance, your coach rushes up with the thrilling news: “You’ve won! The judges tabulated the scores and the person in second place can’t catch you. You’re too far ahead.” How will you feel? Exhilarated! And how will you skate? How about courageously and confidently? The prize is yours!
The Book of Hebrews says, “Therefore since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus. . .let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). The point is clear: the truth will triumph. The Father of truth will win, and the followers of truth will be saved!
So skate away, my friend! Skate away!
From The Applause of Heaven
Galatians 1
Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I’m God-commissioned. So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!
6-9 I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I’ll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed.
10-12 Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.
13-16 I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God’s church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother’s womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.
16-20 Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our Master’s brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I’m telling you the absolute truth in this.)
21-24 Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After all that time and activity I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea. There was only this report: “That man who once persecuted us is now preaching the very message he used to try to destroy.” Their response was to recognize and worship God because of me!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Galatians 5:1, 4–14
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:4-14 New International Version (NIV)
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b]
Footnotes:
Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
Insight
Circumcision was common in ancient Egyptian and Canaanite cultures (Jeremiah 9:25), but God made circumcision the physical sign of the covenant between Him and the Israelites (Genesis 17:11). Circumcision became the badge of Jewish spirituality; Gentiles became known as “the uncircumcision”—those outside of God’s love. Paul didn’t condemn circumcision in itself; he circumcised Timothy—a Greek—because of his ministry to the Jews (Acts 16:1–3). But Paul opposed the Judaizers who insisted it was needed for salvation (15:1–2). In the council of Jerusalem (vv. 6–29), the early church affirmed that salvation is by the grace of Christ alone (v. 11).
Tight Circles
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Galatians 5:1
A classmate gave my family a registered collie that had become too old to breed puppies. We soon learned this beautiful dog had, sadly, spent much of her life inside a small pen. She would only walk in tight circles. She couldn’t fetch or run in a straight line. And even with a large yard in which to play, she thought she was fenced in.
The first Christians, many who were Jews, were used to being fenced in by the Mosaic law. Though the law was good and had been given by God to convict them of sin and lead them to Jesus (Galatians 3:19–25), it was time to live out their new faith based in God’s grace and the freedom of Christ. They hesitated. After all this time, were they really free?
We may have the same problem. Perhaps we grew up in churches with rigid rules that fenced us in. Or we were raised in permissive homes and are now desperate for the security of rules. Either way, it’s time to embrace our freedom in Christ (Galatians 5:1). Jesus has freed us to obey Him out of love (John 14:21) and to “serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13). An entire field of joy and love is open for those who realize “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
How have you been kept from experiencing freedom in Christ? How can realizing this freedom help you serve others?
Jesus, help me to believe I am as free as You say.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, August 31, 2019
“My Joy…Your Joy”
These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. —John 15:11
What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?
Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God’s work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed. But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irritability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, “…the cares of this world,…choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in our cares. All that God has done for us is merely the threshold— He wants us to come to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who Jesus is.
Have the right relationship with God, finding your joy there, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Be a fountain through which Jesus can pour His “living water.” Stop being hypocritical and proud, aware only of yourself, and live “your life…hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A person who has the right relationship with God lives a life as natural as breathing wherever he goes. The lives that have been the greatest blessing to you are the lives of those people who themselves were unaware of having been a blessing.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Friday, August 30, 2019
Amos 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHY WE WORSHIP
Worship adjusts us. It lowers the chin of the haughty and straightens the back of the burdened. It bows the knees, singing to him our praise. It opens our hearts, offering to him our uniqueness. Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh, how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Cure any flare up of commonness by setting your eyes on our uncommon King. Worship lifts our eyes and sets them “on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power” (Colossians 3:1).
We worship God because we need to. But our need runs a distant second to the thoroughbred reason for worship– God deserves it. God would die for your sin before he’d let you die in your sin. What do you do with such a Savior? You lift up your gift in worship!
Amos 6
Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion,
who think Mount Samaria is the good life.
You assume you’re at the top of the heap,
voted the number-one best place to live.
Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal.
Take a look at Calneh.
Go and visit Great Hamath.
Look in on Gath of the Philistines.
Doesn’t that take you off your high horse?
Compared to them, you’re not much, are you?
3-6 Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster!
Catastrophe is just around the corner!
Woe to those who live in luxury
and expect everyone else to serve them!
Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain!
those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
7 But here’s what’s really coming:
a forced march into exile.
They’ll leave the country whining,
a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings.
8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word.
The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“I hate the arrogance of Jacob.
I have nothing but contempt for his forts.
I’m about to hand over the city
and everyone in it.”
9-10 Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, “Are there any more?” The answer: “Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place.”
11 Note well: God issues the orders.
He’ll knock large houses to smithereens.
He’ll smash little houses to bits.
12-13 Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks?
Do you plow the sea with oxen?
You’d cripple the horses
and drown the oxen.
And yet you’ve made a shambles of justice,
a bloated corpse of righteousness,
Bragging of your trivial pursuits,
beating up on the weak and crowing, “Look what I’ve done!”
14 “Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites.
I’ve got a pagan army on the move against you”
—this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“And they’ll make hash of you,
from one end of the country to the other.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, August 30, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of[a] Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.[b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes,[c] Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
Footnotes:
Psalm 126:1 Or Lord brought back the captives to
Psalm 126:1 Or those restored to health
Psalm 126:4 Or Bring back our captives
Insight
Psalm 126 is one of the songs of ascent, a title given to fifteen of the psalms (120–134). These psalms are also known as pilgrim songs and were most likely sung by Jewish worshipers as they ascended the road to the temple in Jerusalem to attend the three required festivals or feasts (Passover, or Festival of Unleavened Bread; Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks; and Tabernacles, also known as Tents or Booths). We read about this requirement in Deuteronomy 16:16. Other scholars believe these songs were sung by the Levite singers as they ascended the steps to minister at the temple. Psalm 126 calls worshipers to rejoice as they remember how God “restored the fortunes of Zion” (v. 1), or Jerusalem, most likely when the people returned from captivity in Babylon during Ezra’s time.
Great Things!
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
On November 9, 1989, the world was astonished by the news of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall that had divided Berlin, Germany, was coming down and the city that had been divided for twenty-eight years would be united again. Though the epicenter of joy was Germany, an onlooking world shared in the excitement. Something great had taken place!
When Israel returned to her homeland in 538 bc after being exiled for almost seventy years, it was also momentous. Psalm 126 begins with an over-the-shoulder look at that joy-filled time in the history of Israel. The experience was marked by laughter, joyful singing, and international recognition that God had done great things for His people (v. 2). And what was the response of the recipients of His rescuing mercy? Great things from God prompted great gladness (v. 3). Furthermore, His works in the past became the basis for fresh prayers for the present and bright hope for the future (vv. 4–6).
You and I need not look far in our own experiences for examples of great things from God, especially if we believe in God through His Son, Jesus. Nineteenth-century hymn writer Fanny Crosby captured this sentiment when she wrote, “Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son.” Yes, to God be the glory, great things He has done! By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
What great things have you experienced from the hand of God? How does reflecting on these increase your trust and hope?
Great things in the past can inspire great joy, great prayer, and great hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 30, 2019
Usefulness or Relationship?
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).
Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory…” (Hebrews 2:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 30, 2019
Piling it Instead of Passing it - #8515
Usually the system works pretty well, except for this one time. My wife and I were at a famous farmhouse restaurant in Amish country - one of those places where they serve you mouth-watering farm cooking. Man, family-style they serve it. We were seated at a table with about ten other guests when the food started to arrive. Actually, most of us had held off eating very much that day so we'd be hungry, and we were. Usually, people take a serving of each dish then they pass it down; that's family style. Right? Not this time. No, there was this one couple at the end of the table who somehow managed to shortstop every platter as it arrived: the fried chicken, the roast beef, the fresh mashed potatoes, the homemade noodles and bread. They would plop this big serving on their plate and then just set the platter down in front of them. They were stuffing; we were starving!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Piling it Instead of Passing it."
So the idea is you take some for yourself, and then you pass on the rest to others. Not just at a family-style dinner, but in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. He doesn't hand us what we have just for us to pile it all on our own plate. He gives it to us to take some and pass on the rest to a needy world.
Paul talks about God's delivery system to the world in our word for today from the Word of God. It's actually in 2 Corinthians 9, beginning with verse 10. "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way" - in other words, He'll trust to you a plateful of goodies from Him - "so that you can be generous on every occasion." Okay, so you can freely pass it on to others.
God's primary method for meeting human needs, for financing His work in the world, for helping the hurting is to give resources to His kids, expecting them to take a little for themselves and then pass on a lot of it to others. It comes from God; it's delivered through us.
Unless, of course, we shortstop the platter of supplies He's placed in our hands. When we do it, we are, in the words of the prophet Malachi, "robbing God" (Malachi 3:10). Sadly, too many of us are aborting God's delivery system by keeping for ourselves most of what He gave to us to give away. God's funds are trapped in our hands, so some of God's army is stuck without the ammunition they need to fight His battles.
I remember our four-year-old grandson got an award at church. Grandma and I couldn't be there for it, so we slipped him two one-dollar bills as our "proud of you" dollars. His first reaction: "Let's go to the Dollar Store!" Actually, he could go twice. But later, on the phone, he informed me of what he had actually done with those dollars. "I gave them to the church." He told me his uncles had each given him two dollars as well. He said, "I gave them to RHM (that's our ministry) so you could tell more people about Jesus."
At four, this little guy understood what many of us have forgotten. It's given to us to share with others, not just to spend on ourselves. In many places, great works of God are nearly paralyzed by growing shortfalls in giving. I don't believe that God, in most cases, is withholding what's needed for His work. It must be that we're sitting on or spending what we were supposed to invest in His kingdom.
Let's all take another look at what we're doing with the plateful, however modest, that God has entrusted to us. Is it mostly building our kingdom or His kingdom? Are we passing it on or just piling it on ourselves?
Worship adjusts us. It lowers the chin of the haughty and straightens the back of the burdened. It bows the knees, singing to him our praise. It opens our hearts, offering to him our uniqueness. Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh, how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Cure any flare up of commonness by setting your eyes on our uncommon King. Worship lifts our eyes and sets them “on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power” (Colossians 3:1).
We worship God because we need to. But our need runs a distant second to the thoroughbred reason for worship– God deserves it. God would die for your sin before he’d let you die in your sin. What do you do with such a Savior? You lift up your gift in worship!
Amos 6
Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion,
who think Mount Samaria is the good life.
You assume you’re at the top of the heap,
voted the number-one best place to live.
Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal.
Take a look at Calneh.
Go and visit Great Hamath.
Look in on Gath of the Philistines.
Doesn’t that take you off your high horse?
Compared to them, you’re not much, are you?
3-6 Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster!
Catastrophe is just around the corner!
Woe to those who live in luxury
and expect everyone else to serve them!
Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain!
those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
7 But here’s what’s really coming:
a forced march into exile.
They’ll leave the country whining,
a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings.
8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word.
The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“I hate the arrogance of Jacob.
I have nothing but contempt for his forts.
I’m about to hand over the city
and everyone in it.”
9-10 Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, “Are there any more?” The answer: “Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place.”
11 Note well: God issues the orders.
He’ll knock large houses to smithereens.
He’ll smash little houses to bits.
12-13 Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks?
Do you plow the sea with oxen?
You’d cripple the horses
and drown the oxen.
And yet you’ve made a shambles of justice,
a bloated corpse of righteousness,
Bragging of your trivial pursuits,
beating up on the weak and crowing, “Look what I’ve done!”
14 “Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites.
I’ve got a pagan army on the move against you”
—this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“And they’ll make hash of you,
from one end of the country to the other.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, August 30, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of[a] Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.[b]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes,[c] Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
Footnotes:
Psalm 126:1 Or Lord brought back the captives to
Psalm 126:1 Or those restored to health
Psalm 126:4 Or Bring back our captives
Insight
Psalm 126 is one of the songs of ascent, a title given to fifteen of the psalms (120–134). These psalms are also known as pilgrim songs and were most likely sung by Jewish worshipers as they ascended the road to the temple in Jerusalem to attend the three required festivals or feasts (Passover, or Festival of Unleavened Bread; Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks; and Tabernacles, also known as Tents or Booths). We read about this requirement in Deuteronomy 16:16. Other scholars believe these songs were sung by the Levite singers as they ascended the steps to minister at the temple. Psalm 126 calls worshipers to rejoice as they remember how God “restored the fortunes of Zion” (v. 1), or Jerusalem, most likely when the people returned from captivity in Babylon during Ezra’s time.
Great Things!
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
On November 9, 1989, the world was astonished by the news of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall that had divided Berlin, Germany, was coming down and the city that had been divided for twenty-eight years would be united again. Though the epicenter of joy was Germany, an onlooking world shared in the excitement. Something great had taken place!
When Israel returned to her homeland in 538 bc after being exiled for almost seventy years, it was also momentous. Psalm 126 begins with an over-the-shoulder look at that joy-filled time in the history of Israel. The experience was marked by laughter, joyful singing, and international recognition that God had done great things for His people (v. 2). And what was the response of the recipients of His rescuing mercy? Great things from God prompted great gladness (v. 3). Furthermore, His works in the past became the basis for fresh prayers for the present and bright hope for the future (vv. 4–6).
You and I need not look far in our own experiences for examples of great things from God, especially if we believe in God through His Son, Jesus. Nineteenth-century hymn writer Fanny Crosby captured this sentiment when she wrote, “Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son.” Yes, to God be the glory, great things He has done! By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
What great things have you experienced from the hand of God? How does reflecting on these increase your trust and hope?
Great things in the past can inspire great joy, great prayer, and great hope.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 30, 2019
Usefulness or Relationship?
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you do not have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).
Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory…” (Hebrews 2:10).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 30, 2019
Piling it Instead of Passing it - #8515
Usually the system works pretty well, except for this one time. My wife and I were at a famous farmhouse restaurant in Amish country - one of those places where they serve you mouth-watering farm cooking. Man, family-style they serve it. We were seated at a table with about ten other guests when the food started to arrive. Actually, most of us had held off eating very much that day so we'd be hungry, and we were. Usually, people take a serving of each dish then they pass it down; that's family style. Right? Not this time. No, there was this one couple at the end of the table who somehow managed to shortstop every platter as it arrived: the fried chicken, the roast beef, the fresh mashed potatoes, the homemade noodles and bread. They would plop this big serving on their plate and then just set the platter down in front of them. They were stuffing; we were starving!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Piling it Instead of Passing it."
So the idea is you take some for yourself, and then you pass on the rest to others. Not just at a family-style dinner, but in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. He doesn't hand us what we have just for us to pile it all on our own plate. He gives it to us to take some and pass on the rest to a needy world.
Paul talks about God's delivery system to the world in our word for today from the Word of God. It's actually in 2 Corinthians 9, beginning with verse 10. "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way" - in other words, He'll trust to you a plateful of goodies from Him - "so that you can be generous on every occasion." Okay, so you can freely pass it on to others.
God's primary method for meeting human needs, for financing His work in the world, for helping the hurting is to give resources to His kids, expecting them to take a little for themselves and then pass on a lot of it to others. It comes from God; it's delivered through us.
Unless, of course, we shortstop the platter of supplies He's placed in our hands. When we do it, we are, in the words of the prophet Malachi, "robbing God" (Malachi 3:10). Sadly, too many of us are aborting God's delivery system by keeping for ourselves most of what He gave to us to give away. God's funds are trapped in our hands, so some of God's army is stuck without the ammunition they need to fight His battles.
I remember our four-year-old grandson got an award at church. Grandma and I couldn't be there for it, so we slipped him two one-dollar bills as our "proud of you" dollars. His first reaction: "Let's go to the Dollar Store!" Actually, he could go twice. But later, on the phone, he informed me of what he had actually done with those dollars. "I gave them to the church." He told me his uncles had each given him two dollars as well. He said, "I gave them to RHM (that's our ministry) so you could tell more people about Jesus."
At four, this little guy understood what many of us have forgotten. It's given to us to share with others, not just to spend on ourselves. In many places, great works of God are nearly paralyzed by growing shortfalls in giving. I don't believe that God, in most cases, is withholding what's needed for His work. It must be that we're sitting on or spending what we were supposed to invest in His kingdom.
Let's all take another look at what we're doing with the plateful, however modest, that God has entrusted to us. Is it mostly building our kingdom or His kingdom? Are we passing it on or just piling it on ourselves?
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Amos 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: RELIGIOUS AND YET LOST
A person can be religious and yet lost. Attending church won’t make you God’s child. You must accept his offer. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
It makes no sense to seek your God-given strength until you trust in his. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11). Take a few moments and talk to God. Whether you are making a decision or reaffirming an earlier one, talk to your Maker about your eternal life. You might find this prayer helpful:
Immanuel, you are with me. You became a person and took on flesh. You became my Savior and took on my sin. I accept your gift. I receive you as my Lord, Savior, and friend. Because of you, I’ll never be alone again!
Amos 5
Listen to this, family of Israel,
this Message I’m sending in bold print, this tragic warning:
2 “Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face.
She’ll never stand up again.
She’s been left where she’s fallen.
No one offers to help her up.”
3 This is the Message, God’s Word:
“The city that marches out with a thousand
will end up with a hundred.
The city that marches out with a hundred
will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!”
4-5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:
“Seek me and live.
Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,
Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,
and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.
Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow
and Bethel is all show, no substance.”
6 So seek God and live! You don’t want to end up
with nothing to show for your life
But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.
For God will send just such a fire,
and the firefighters will show up too late.
7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos
star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
and gives the land a drink.
God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.
10-12 People hate this kind of talk.
Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
Because you run roughshod over the poor
and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.
13 Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
a waste of breath.
14 Seek good and not evil—
and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
and maybe it will happen.
15 Hate evil and love good,
then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will notice your remnant and be gracious.
16-17 Now again, my Master’s Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Go out into the streets and lament loudly!
Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom!
Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!’
Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces.
Enlist everyone in the general lament.
I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit.”
God’s Decree.
18-20 Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
a black cloud with no silver lining.
21-24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
25-27 “Didn’t you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you’ve stooped to dragging gimcrack statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all your star-gods here and there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I drive you into exile beyond Damascus.” God’s Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 12:1–14
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
Insight
To a Corinthian church struggling with deep divisions, Paul writes about the gifts of the Spirit. His intent is to help heal the divisions and adjust the perceptions of people about their own significance or superiority. One of the first things Paul says about the gifts is that they’re given for the common good. That means that whatever the gift, its use is for the benefit of others.
Use Your Voice
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 1 Corinthians 12:4
I was invited to meet a world-renowned pianist. Since I grew up immersed in music—playing the violin and piano, and primarily singing solos for church and other events—I was thrilled at the opportunity.
When I arrived to meet the pianist, I realized he spoke little English; and to my surprise he provided a cello for me to play—an instrument I’d never touched. He insisted that I play and he would accompany me. I screeched out a few notes, trying to mimic my violin training. Finally admitting that I was lost, we parted ways.
I awoke, realizing the scenario had been a dream. But since the musical background presented in my dream was true, in my mind lingered the words, Why didn’t you tell him you could sing?
God equips us to develop our natural talents and our spiritual gifts for others (1 Corinthians 12:7). Through prayerful reading of the Bible and the wise advice of others, we can better understand the spiritual gift (or gifts) that is uniquely ours. The apostle Paul reminds us that whatever our spiritual gift, we’re to take time to find it and use it, knowing that the Spirit distributes the gifts “just as he determines” (v. 11).
Let’s use the “voices” the Holy Spirit has given us to honor God and serve other believers in Jesus. By: Evan Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What’s your spiritual “voice,” and how can you use it today? Why is it wrong to want others’ spiritual gifts?
Father, show me how You’ve gifted me and how I’m to use those gifts for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, August 29, 2019
The Unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" —John 11:40
Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout, “It’s all a lie”? When you are on the mountaintop, it’s easy to say, “Oh yes, I believe God can do it,” but you have to come down from the mountain to the demon-possessed valley and face the realities that scoff at your Mount-of-Transfiguration belief (see Luke 9:28-42). Every time my theology becomes clear to my own mind, I encounter something that contradicts it. As soon as I say, “I believe ‘God shall supply all [my] need,’ ” the testing of my faith begins (Philippians 4:19). When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat?
Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…” (Hebrews 3:14). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5-6).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Peace in Daddy's Arms - #8514
It was chaos in our living room. Most of the family was there, and we're not a quiet bunch. Everybody's a communicator and everyone is communicating. The adults were involved in several conversations at once. And our two young grandsons were playing with, well let's call it enthusiasm - maybe hoping to command a little attention. They surveyed the uproar in our living room, and I suddenly noticed a precious scene in the corner. It was our son with his dark-haired then infant daughter, sprawled peacefully in her Daddy's arms. First they'd been there cheek to cheek, then she just simply fell asleep, oblivious to the storm going on around her and safe in her Daddy's arms.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace in Daddy's Arms."
Our granddaughter felt safe, not because she wasn't in the middle of chaos, she was. But because of the security she had being in her Father's arms. It's a kind of security maybe you can only wish for right now because everything around you is up for grabs. Divorce can do that. A bad report from the doctor can do that, losing your job can, losing someone you love, facing some frightening unknowns; so many upheavals that stress us, and scare us, and maybe sink us. They remind us of a search that we've been on all our life - the search for one safe place. No matter how out of control things are around us may become, I'd call it the search for peace.
That search is not going to end until you are safe in your Father's arms; that is your Heavenly Father. You weren't made to navigate life's white water alone. You were made for an intimate, trusting, love relationship with the God who created you. The peace we need so badly is exactly what Jesus Christ promised to every person who belongs to Him. In John 14:27, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Let those words sink into your storm-battered soul. "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you." That peace is within your reach this very day.
I've seen that peace - peace that has nothing to do with what's swirling around you. I saw it in my friend the day his largest account walked out the door and forced him to shut down his thriving business. But he had that peace. I saw it in my friend Cindy as she stood by her husband's gray casket with her three young children. We went to comfort her. She comforted us. She had that peace. The day the plane I was on prepared for an emergency crash landing, the frightened lady next to me asked how I could be so peaceful. I said, "When your peace comes from a personal relationship with Jesus, you can have peace no matter how frightening what's happening around you is." I could have died that day, but the peace held. And so it did when I lost the love of my life - the day she was suddenly taken to heaven. There was still that peace. Like my little granddaughter resting peacefully in her Daddy's arms.
That's the kind of relationship with God that Jesus is offering you. Only He can offer it because only He died to pay the price for the sin that keeps us from a sinless God. Because the peace we really need - that we've been looking for - is peace with God. Which the Bible says is "through our Lord Jesus Christ," who this very moment is working in your heart, urging you to give yourself to Him.
If you've never given yourself to the One the Bible calls the Prince of Peace, tell Him, "Jesus, today I'm Yours." And if you want to be sure you belong to Him, I think the information that will help you get there is at our website. We've set it up that way. It's for you for a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com. Get there as soon as you can today.
That peace that may have eluded you your whole life is within your reach today. It's peace that can only be found in your Daddy's arms.
A person can be religious and yet lost. Attending church won’t make you God’s child. You must accept his offer. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
It makes no sense to seek your God-given strength until you trust in his. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11). Take a few moments and talk to God. Whether you are making a decision or reaffirming an earlier one, talk to your Maker about your eternal life. You might find this prayer helpful:
Immanuel, you are with me. You became a person and took on flesh. You became my Savior and took on my sin. I accept your gift. I receive you as my Lord, Savior, and friend. Because of you, I’ll never be alone again!
Amos 5
Listen to this, family of Israel,
this Message I’m sending in bold print, this tragic warning:
2 “Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face.
She’ll never stand up again.
She’s been left where she’s fallen.
No one offers to help her up.”
3 This is the Message, God’s Word:
“The city that marches out with a thousand
will end up with a hundred.
The city that marches out with a hundred
will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!”
4-5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:
“Seek me and live.
Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,
Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,
and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.
Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow
and Bethel is all show, no substance.”
6 So seek God and live! You don’t want to end up
with nothing to show for your life
But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.
For God will send just such a fire,
and the firefighters will show up too late.
7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos
star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
and gives the land a drink.
God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.
10-12 People hate this kind of talk.
Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
Because you run roughshod over the poor
and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.
13 Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
a waste of breath.
14 Seek good and not evil—
and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
and maybe it will happen.
15 Hate evil and love good,
then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will notice your remnant and be gracious.
16-17 Now again, my Master’s Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Go out into the streets and lament loudly!
Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom!
Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!’
Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces.
Enlist everyone in the general lament.
I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit.”
God’s Decree.
18-20 Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
a black cloud with no silver lining.
21-24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
25-27 “Didn’t you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you’ve stooped to dragging gimcrack statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all your star-gods here and there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I drive you into exile beyond Damascus.” God’s Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 12:1–14
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28
1 Corinthians 12:13 Or with; or in
Insight
To a Corinthian church struggling with deep divisions, Paul writes about the gifts of the Spirit. His intent is to help heal the divisions and adjust the perceptions of people about their own significance or superiority. One of the first things Paul says about the gifts is that they’re given for the common good. That means that whatever the gift, its use is for the benefit of others.
Use Your Voice
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 1 Corinthians 12:4
I was invited to meet a world-renowned pianist. Since I grew up immersed in music—playing the violin and piano, and primarily singing solos for church and other events—I was thrilled at the opportunity.
When I arrived to meet the pianist, I realized he spoke little English; and to my surprise he provided a cello for me to play—an instrument I’d never touched. He insisted that I play and he would accompany me. I screeched out a few notes, trying to mimic my violin training. Finally admitting that I was lost, we parted ways.
I awoke, realizing the scenario had been a dream. But since the musical background presented in my dream was true, in my mind lingered the words, Why didn’t you tell him you could sing?
God equips us to develop our natural talents and our spiritual gifts for others (1 Corinthians 12:7). Through prayerful reading of the Bible and the wise advice of others, we can better understand the spiritual gift (or gifts) that is uniquely ours. The apostle Paul reminds us that whatever our spiritual gift, we’re to take time to find it and use it, knowing that the Spirit distributes the gifts “just as he determines” (v. 11).
Let’s use the “voices” the Holy Spirit has given us to honor God and serve other believers in Jesus. By: Evan Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What’s your spiritual “voice,” and how can you use it today? Why is it wrong to want others’ spiritual gifts?
Father, show me how You’ve gifted me and how I’m to use those gifts for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, August 29, 2019
The Unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" —John 11:40
Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout, “It’s all a lie”? When you are on the mountaintop, it’s easy to say, “Oh yes, I believe God can do it,” but you have to come down from the mountain to the demon-possessed valley and face the realities that scoff at your Mount-of-Transfiguration belief (see Luke 9:28-42). Every time my theology becomes clear to my own mind, I encounter something that contradicts it. As soon as I say, “I believe ‘God shall supply all [my] need,’ ” the testing of my faith begins (Philippians 4:19). When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat?
Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…” (Hebrews 3:14). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5-6).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Peace in Daddy's Arms - #8514
It was chaos in our living room. Most of the family was there, and we're not a quiet bunch. Everybody's a communicator and everyone is communicating. The adults were involved in several conversations at once. And our two young grandsons were playing with, well let's call it enthusiasm - maybe hoping to command a little attention. They surveyed the uproar in our living room, and I suddenly noticed a precious scene in the corner. It was our son with his dark-haired then infant daughter, sprawled peacefully in her Daddy's arms. First they'd been there cheek to cheek, then she just simply fell asleep, oblivious to the storm going on around her and safe in her Daddy's arms.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace in Daddy's Arms."
Our granddaughter felt safe, not because she wasn't in the middle of chaos, she was. But because of the security she had being in her Father's arms. It's a kind of security maybe you can only wish for right now because everything around you is up for grabs. Divorce can do that. A bad report from the doctor can do that, losing your job can, losing someone you love, facing some frightening unknowns; so many upheavals that stress us, and scare us, and maybe sink us. They remind us of a search that we've been on all our life - the search for one safe place. No matter how out of control things are around us may become, I'd call it the search for peace.
That search is not going to end until you are safe in your Father's arms; that is your Heavenly Father. You weren't made to navigate life's white water alone. You were made for an intimate, trusting, love relationship with the God who created you. The peace we need so badly is exactly what Jesus Christ promised to every person who belongs to Him. In John 14:27, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Let those words sink into your storm-battered soul. "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you." That peace is within your reach this very day.
I've seen that peace - peace that has nothing to do with what's swirling around you. I saw it in my friend the day his largest account walked out the door and forced him to shut down his thriving business. But he had that peace. I saw it in my friend Cindy as she stood by her husband's gray casket with her three young children. We went to comfort her. She comforted us. She had that peace. The day the plane I was on prepared for an emergency crash landing, the frightened lady next to me asked how I could be so peaceful. I said, "When your peace comes from a personal relationship with Jesus, you can have peace no matter how frightening what's happening around you is." I could have died that day, but the peace held. And so it did when I lost the love of my life - the day she was suddenly taken to heaven. There was still that peace. Like my little granddaughter resting peacefully in her Daddy's arms.
That's the kind of relationship with God that Jesus is offering you. Only He can offer it because only He died to pay the price for the sin that keeps us from a sinless God. Because the peace we really need - that we've been looking for - is peace with God. Which the Bible says is "through our Lord Jesus Christ," who this very moment is working in your heart, urging you to give yourself to Him.
If you've never given yourself to the One the Bible calls the Prince of Peace, tell Him, "Jesus, today I'm Yours." And if you want to be sure you belong to Him, I think the information that will help you get there is at our website. We've set it up that way. It's for you for a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com. Get there as soon as you can today.
That peace that may have eluded you your whole life is within your reach today. It's peace that can only be found in your Daddy's arms.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Amos 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: RELIGIOUS AND YET LOST
A person can be religious and yet lost. Attending church won’t make you God’s child. You must accept his offer. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
It makes no sense to seek your God-given strength until you trust in his. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11). Take a few moments and talk to God. Whether you are making a decision or reaffirming an earlier one, talk to your Maker about your eternal life. You might find this prayer helpful:
Immanuel, you are with me. You became a person and took on flesh. You became my Savior and took on my sin. I accept your gift. I receive you as my Lord, Savior, and friend. Because of you, I’ll never be alone again!
Amos 4
“Listen to this, you cows of Bashan
grazing on the slopes of Samaria.
You women! Mean to the poor,
cruel to the down-and-out!
Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands,
‘Bring us a tall, cool drink!’
2-3 “This is serious—I, God, have sworn by my holiness!
Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming!
They’re going to rope you up and haul you off,
keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods.
They’ll drag you through the ruined city walls,
forcing you out single file,
And kick you to kingdom come.”
God’s Decree.
4-5 “Come along to Bethel and sin!
And then to Gilgal and sin some more!
Bring your sacrifices for morning worship.
Every third day bring your tithe.
Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings.
Speak up—announce freewill offerings!
That’s the sort of religious show
you Israelites just love.”
God’s Decree.
6 “You know, don’t you, that I’m the One
who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards,
Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines?
But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
7-8 “Yes, and I’m the One who stopped the rains
three months short of harvest.
I’d make it rain on one village
but not on another.
I’d make it rain on one field
but not on another—and that one would dry up.
People would stagger from village to village
crazed for water and never quenching their thirst.
But you never got thirsty for me.
You ignored me.”
God’s Decree.
9 “I hit your crops with disease
and withered your orchards and gardens.
Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees,
but you continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
10 “I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues,
killed your choice young men and prize horses.
The stink of rot in your camps was so strong
that you held your noses—
But you didn’t notice me.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
11 “I hit you with earthquake and fire,
left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick
snatched from the flames.
But you never looked my way.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
12 “All this I have done to you, Israel,
and this is why I have done it.
Time’s up, O Israel!
Prepare to meet your God!”
13 Look who’s here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker!
He laid out the whole plot before Adam.
He brings everything out of nothing,
like dawn out of darkness.
He strides across the alpine ridges.
His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 12:9–21
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Footnotes:
Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22
Insight
Romans 12:9–21 is a difficult passage to outline—like the snippets of sayings in the book of Proverbs. But Paul is still on the subject of a renewed mind and a transformed life (12:1–2). And the central focus is love—the priority of love in the life of a believer in Jesus (v. 9). The clearest demonstration of a Christlike life is Christlike love. A transformed life is a life of radical loving and sacrificial giving. Paul tells us how we are to relate to both believers (vv. 9–16) and non-believers (vv. 17–21) in a world of evil. Love of others—especially of enemies—is a key test of the reality of a renewed mind and a transformed life (v. 21).
Live. Pray. Love.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
Influenced by parents who were strong believers in Jesus, track star Jesse Owens lived as a courageous man of faith. During the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Owens, one of the few African Americans on the US team, received four gold medals in the presence of hate-filled Nazis and their leader, Hitler. He also befriended fellow athlete Luz Long, a German. Surrounded by Nazi propaganda, Owens’s simple act of living out his faith impacted Luz’s life. Later, Long wrote to Owens: “That hour in Berlin when I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, I knew you were in prayer . . . . I think I might believe in God.”
Owens demonstrated how believers can answer the apostle Paul’s charge to “hate what is evil” and be “devoted to one another in love” (Romans 12:9–10). Though he could have responded to the evil around him with hate, Owens chose to live by faith and show love to a man who would later become his friend and eventually consider belief in God.
As God’s people commit to being “faithful in prayer” (v. 12), He empowers us to “live in harmony with one another” (v. 16).
When we depend on prayer, we can commit to living out our faith and loving all who are made in God’s image. As we cry out to God, He’ll help us break down barriers and build bridges of peace with our neighbors. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How can you build a bridge of peace between you and a neighbor? When have you seen your faithfulness in prayer bear fruit?
Heavenly Father, please strengthen us to come together in prayer, fully committed to loving others and living peacefully.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
The Purpose of Prayer
…one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray…" —Luke 11:1
Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
“Ask, and you will receive…” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “…unless you…become as little children…” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.
To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him. So Send I You, 1301 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Not-So-Secret Service - #8513
They're those guys who wear the dark glasses and they talk to their wrist and wear that trademark stone face. Yep! They're the almost legendary Secret Service agents who guard the life of the President of the United States.
But even the President himself was joking about them one day at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. A number of years ago, the President at that time said, "I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew." I'm not sure they were laughing. He was, of course, referring to new rules that were issued since a scandal in Colombia over a few agents' outrageous compromises. Their alleged sexual and drinking escapades suddenly put the Secret Service in the unwelcome glare of a media searchlight.
Now, some of the reports said that some of the agents might argue that they were "off duty." But the people who were answering that aren't buying it. They're saying, "When you work for the President and you represent the nation, are you ever really off duty?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not-So-Secret Service."
Well, that's when the news story became personal for me. No, I don't work for the President, but I represent the King - of all kings. So does every one of us who belongs to Jesus. We are, as our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us, "Christ's ambassadors...we speak for Christ..." We serve, not the highest authority in the country, but the highest authority in the universe! And He has tied His reputation to ours. What an awesome honor! What a scary responsibility.
So when we blow our top, well, we give the people watching us a reason to think less of our Jesus; when we backstab, when we gripe all the time, when we talk trash, check out a girl, tell a lie, look grumpy or we're in the dumps most of the time. Yeah, we give them a reason to think less of our Jesus.
Most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. And most people who dismiss Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. We are either a reason for people to respect Jesus or reject Jesus. Now, in light of the eternal stakes, Paul said, "We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12). So my little "fling" - in my attitude or my actions – can be a very expensive act of selfishness. Because on my part it costs someone watching me their respect for Jesus. And ultimately, maybe their soul.
I remember being on the island of Nantucket and I saw a lightship by the same name. It's just a historic relic now, but once lives depended on that ship. In essence, it was a lighthouse on a ship, and it was stationed in the sometimes deadly Ambrose Channel - which is a very busy but very treacherous nautical "highway."
Now, as long as it was anchored in the channel, shining its light, no ship would hit the rocks. But should it ever drift off course, it would draw toward the rocks all the ships that looked to that light. That's us! "The light of the world," Jesus said. (Matthew 5:14). If we selfishly, carelessly drift from Him, we pull others with us and risk their destruction forever.
Off duty? As the face of Jesus to people whose eternity depends on believing in Him? God, help me to always – always – leave the light on for them.
A person can be religious and yet lost. Attending church won’t make you God’s child. You must accept his offer. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
It makes no sense to seek your God-given strength until you trust in his. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for” (Ephesians 1:11). Take a few moments and talk to God. Whether you are making a decision or reaffirming an earlier one, talk to your Maker about your eternal life. You might find this prayer helpful:
Immanuel, you are with me. You became a person and took on flesh. You became my Savior and took on my sin. I accept your gift. I receive you as my Lord, Savior, and friend. Because of you, I’ll never be alone again!
Amos 4
“Listen to this, you cows of Bashan
grazing on the slopes of Samaria.
You women! Mean to the poor,
cruel to the down-and-out!
Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands,
‘Bring us a tall, cool drink!’
2-3 “This is serious—I, God, have sworn by my holiness!
Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming!
They’re going to rope you up and haul you off,
keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods.
They’ll drag you through the ruined city walls,
forcing you out single file,
And kick you to kingdom come.”
God’s Decree.
4-5 “Come along to Bethel and sin!
And then to Gilgal and sin some more!
Bring your sacrifices for morning worship.
Every third day bring your tithe.
Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings.
Speak up—announce freewill offerings!
That’s the sort of religious show
you Israelites just love.”
God’s Decree.
6 “You know, don’t you, that I’m the One
who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards,
Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines?
But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
7-8 “Yes, and I’m the One who stopped the rains
three months short of harvest.
I’d make it rain on one village
but not on another.
I’d make it rain on one field
but not on another—and that one would dry up.
People would stagger from village to village
crazed for water and never quenching their thirst.
But you never got thirsty for me.
You ignored me.”
God’s Decree.
9 “I hit your crops with disease
and withered your orchards and gardens.
Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees,
but you continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
10 “I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues,
killed your choice young men and prize horses.
The stink of rot in your camps was so strong
that you held your noses—
But you didn’t notice me.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
11 “I hit you with earthquake and fire,
left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick
snatched from the flames.
But you never looked my way.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
12 “All this I have done to you, Israel,
and this is why I have done it.
Time’s up, O Israel!
Prepare to meet your God!”
13 Look who’s here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker!
He laid out the whole plot before Adam.
He brings everything out of nothing,
like dawn out of darkness.
He strides across the alpine ridges.
His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 12:9–21
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Footnotes:
Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22
Insight
Romans 12:9–21 is a difficult passage to outline—like the snippets of sayings in the book of Proverbs. But Paul is still on the subject of a renewed mind and a transformed life (12:1–2). And the central focus is love—the priority of love in the life of a believer in Jesus (v. 9). The clearest demonstration of a Christlike life is Christlike love. A transformed life is a life of radical loving and sacrificial giving. Paul tells us how we are to relate to both believers (vv. 9–16) and non-believers (vv. 17–21) in a world of evil. Love of others—especially of enemies—is a key test of the reality of a renewed mind and a transformed life (v. 21).
Live. Pray. Love.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
Influenced by parents who were strong believers in Jesus, track star Jesse Owens lived as a courageous man of faith. During the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Owens, one of the few African Americans on the US team, received four gold medals in the presence of hate-filled Nazis and their leader, Hitler. He also befriended fellow athlete Luz Long, a German. Surrounded by Nazi propaganda, Owens’s simple act of living out his faith impacted Luz’s life. Later, Long wrote to Owens: “That hour in Berlin when I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, I knew you were in prayer . . . . I think I might believe in God.”
Owens demonstrated how believers can answer the apostle Paul’s charge to “hate what is evil” and be “devoted to one another in love” (Romans 12:9–10). Though he could have responded to the evil around him with hate, Owens chose to live by faith and show love to a man who would later become his friend and eventually consider belief in God.
As God’s people commit to being “faithful in prayer” (v. 12), He empowers us to “live in harmony with one another” (v. 16).
When we depend on prayer, we can commit to living out our faith and loving all who are made in God’s image. As we cry out to God, He’ll help us break down barriers and build bridges of peace with our neighbors. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How can you build a bridge of peace between you and a neighbor? When have you seen your faithfulness in prayer bear fruit?
Heavenly Father, please strengthen us to come together in prayer, fully committed to loving others and living peacefully.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
The Purpose of Prayer
…one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray…" —Luke 11:1
Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
“Ask, and you will receive…” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “…unless you…become as little children…” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.
To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him. So Send I You, 1301 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Not-So-Secret Service - #8513
They're those guys who wear the dark glasses and they talk to their wrist and wear that trademark stone face. Yep! They're the almost legendary Secret Service agents who guard the life of the President of the United States.
But even the President himself was joking about them one day at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. A number of years ago, the President at that time said, "I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew." I'm not sure they were laughing. He was, of course, referring to new rules that were issued since a scandal in Colombia over a few agents' outrageous compromises. Their alleged sexual and drinking escapades suddenly put the Secret Service in the unwelcome glare of a media searchlight.
Now, some of the reports said that some of the agents might argue that they were "off duty." But the people who were answering that aren't buying it. They're saying, "When you work for the President and you represent the nation, are you ever really off duty?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Not-So-Secret Service."
Well, that's when the news story became personal for me. No, I don't work for the President, but I represent the King - of all kings. So does every one of us who belongs to Jesus. We are, as our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us, "Christ's ambassadors...we speak for Christ..." We serve, not the highest authority in the country, but the highest authority in the universe! And He has tied His reputation to ours. What an awesome honor! What a scary responsibility.
So when we blow our top, well, we give the people watching us a reason to think less of our Jesus; when we backstab, when we gripe all the time, when we talk trash, check out a girl, tell a lie, look grumpy or we're in the dumps most of the time. Yeah, we give them a reason to think less of our Jesus.
Most people who come to Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. And most people who dismiss Jesus do it because of a Christian they know. We are either a reason for people to respect Jesus or reject Jesus. Now, in light of the eternal stakes, Paul said, "We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12). So my little "fling" - in my attitude or my actions – can be a very expensive act of selfishness. Because on my part it costs someone watching me their respect for Jesus. And ultimately, maybe their soul.
I remember being on the island of Nantucket and I saw a lightship by the same name. It's just a historic relic now, but once lives depended on that ship. In essence, it was a lighthouse on a ship, and it was stationed in the sometimes deadly Ambrose Channel - which is a very busy but very treacherous nautical "highway."
Now, as long as it was anchored in the channel, shining its light, no ship would hit the rocks. But should it ever drift off course, it would draw toward the rocks all the ships that looked to that light. That's us! "The light of the world," Jesus said. (Matthew 5:14). If we selfishly, carelessly drift from Him, we pull others with us and risk their destruction forever.
Off duty? As the face of Jesus to people whose eternity depends on believing in Him? God, help me to always – always – leave the light on for them.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Acts 15:22-41, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE KINGDOM OF GOD NEEDS YOU
Christ takes away your sin, and in doing so, he takes away your commonness. You no longer need to say, “No one knows me” because God knows you! “LORD, you…know all about me,” David discovered. “You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do…You are all around me…and have put your hand on me” (Psalm 139:1-3, 5).
God knows you and he is near you! See how these four words look taped to your bathroom mirror: “God is for me!” (Psalm 56:9). And his kingdom needs you to discover and deploy your unique skill. The poor need you; the lonely need you; the church needs you, the cause of God needs you. Get the word out. God is with us. We are not alone!
Acts 15:22-41
Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:
From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Hello!
24-27 We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.
28-29 It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.
These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!
30-33 And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them.
35 Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren’t alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch.
36 After a few days of this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let’s see how they’re doing.”
37-41 Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn’t have him; he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways: Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up muscle and sinew in those congregations.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Insight
Psalm 121 is a song of ascent that would have been sung by worshipers on their annual journey to Jerusalem. The assurance that God “watches over” His people is repeated five times (vv. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8). The psalm is structured poetically into four couplets, each with a different theme, but all pertaining in some way to God’s protection. Verses 1 and 2 reverently declare that help comes from the “Maker of heaven and earth.” Verses 3–4 emphasize that He never slumbers as He watches over His people. Verses 5 and 6 proclaim His protection over Israel both day and night. And verses 7 and 8 point out God’s eternal protection both “now and forevermore.” By: Julie Schwab
A Reason to Sing
He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4
For a man who lives by a code, so to speak, it felt like a major failure. What’d I do? Well, I fell asleep. Our kids have a curfew to meet when they’re out for the evening. They’re good kids, but my practice is to wait up until I hear their hands turn the front doorknob. I want to know they’re home safe. I don’t have to do this: I choose to. But one night I awoke to my daughter saying through a smile, “Dad, I’m safe. You should go to bed.” Despite our best intentions, sometimes fathers fall asleep at their posts. It was very humbling, and also very human.
But that never happens with God. Psalm 121 is a reassuring song about Him as guardian and protector of His children. The psalmist declares that God who watches over us “will not slumber” (v. 3). And for emphasis, he repeats that truth in verse 4: He “will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Can you even imagine? God never falls asleep at His post. He is always keeping watch over us—the sons and daughters and aunts and uncles and mothers, and even fathers. It’s not so much that He has to do this, but rather that, out of His great love, He chooses to. That promise is definitely something to sing about. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you sense God’s presence? When you don’t, what truths can you depend upon?
Father, thank You for Your constant care over our lives. We know that doesn’t mean a life absent of trouble, but rather a life held close by Your love and presence. Help us to confidently rest in the assurance that You’re always at Your post.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Living Your Theology
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you… —John 12:35
Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.
The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.
Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, “…unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried. He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Your Answer - #8512
Our youngest son had waited a long time for this. He had loved this girl for a long time and she had loved him. And now it was time to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. So, he asked her to go with him on an old horse-drawn carriage ride along some beautiful mountain paths. He was in cahoots with the driver, so he asked if they could stop to take a picture on a nearby footbridge - just out of sight, of course. Well, the driver was loving every minute of this. On that bridge, overlooking a picturesque little stream, our son declared his lifetime love and he asked the woman he loves to become his wife. She was not surprised that he would ask someday, but this day she was overwhelmed. I love this! He awaited her answer and it was more beautiful than our son could have ever scripted. She just said, "It would be my highest honor." P.S. - the wedding was awesome.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Answer."
There's someone who loves you very much, who has dramatically declared His love for you, and whose offer of a lifelong relationship requires an answer. He's the One who it says in Revelation 3:20, our word for today from the Word of God: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in..." And while that invitation was initially addressed to some people who already belonged to Jesus, it's also a powerful picture of His offer of His love to those who have never begun a personal relationship with Him - and that might be you.
If you have any doubt about Jesus' love for you and His commitment to you, just pay a visit in your heart to an old rugged cross where He is nailed to that cross, bleeding and dying to pay for every wrong thing you have ever done. That's how much He loves you. That's how much He wants you to be in heaven with Him forever. That's how much He doesn't want to lose you.
His love for you and me? It's not based on how good we are. The Bible says we've chosen to hijack the running of our life from our Creator, and all our religiousness doesn't cover up our rebellion against a holy God. We deserve the hell that sin requires, but we're offered a heaven we could never deserve because Jesus took our hell for us.
And now He awaits your response to this blood-bought offer of forgiveness and eternal life. In the words of the Bible, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life ... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:16, 36). See, there's just no neutral response. It's "Jesus, I'm Yours" or "Jesus, forget about it."
When our son said, "Will you marry me?" what if his beloved had said, "Sure. You're a nice guy" or "You have some great points" or "We get along great." Well, those are polite answers, but it's not a commitment. That's how it often is when Jesus knocks on the door of your heart. Maybe he's doing it right now. Anything other than "Jesus, I'm Yours" is just polite rejection. And "whoever rejects the Son will not see life."
Jesus has dramatically declared His love for you. Look at the nail prints in His hands. He's offering to forgive every sin, to never leave you, and to take you to heaven when you die. But you've got to give Him your answer. If you want this to be your Jesus-day, the day that you consciously know forever you've said "yes" to Him, the day you begin your personal love relationship with Him, tell Him that right now where you are.
And let me urge you to go to our website. It is there for you at a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com.
I'm thinking of the words of an old hymn that pretty much sum up the choice that's in front of you. It says this, "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For some day your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with me?'"
Christ takes away your sin, and in doing so, he takes away your commonness. You no longer need to say, “No one knows me” because God knows you! “LORD, you…know all about me,” David discovered. “You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do…You are all around me…and have put your hand on me” (Psalm 139:1-3, 5).
God knows you and he is near you! See how these four words look taped to your bathroom mirror: “God is for me!” (Psalm 56:9). And his kingdom needs you to discover and deploy your unique skill. The poor need you; the lonely need you; the church needs you, the cause of God needs you. Get the word out. God is with us. We are not alone!
Acts 15:22-41
Everyone agreed: apostles, leaders, all the people. They picked Judas (nicknamed Barsabbas) and Silas—they both carried considerable weight in the church—and sent them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas with this letter:
From the apostles and leaders, your friends, to our friends in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Hello!
24-27 We heard that some men from our church went to you and said things that confused and upset you. Mind you, they had no authority from us; we didn’t send them. We have agreed unanimously to pick representatives and send them to you with our good friends Barnabas and Paul. We picked men we knew you could trust, Judas and Silas—they’ve looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. We’ve sent them to confirm in a face-to-face meeting with you what we’ve written.
28-29 It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.
These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you!
30-33 And so off they went to Antioch. On arrival, they gathered the church and read the letter. The people were greatly relieved and pleased. Judas and Silas, good preachers both of them, strengthened their new friends with many words of courage and hope. Then it was time to go home. They were sent off by their new friends with laughter and embraces all around to report back to those who had sent them.
35 Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of God. But they weren’t alone. There were a number of teachers and preachers at that time in Antioch.
36 After a few days of this, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit all our friends in each of the towns where we preached the Word of God. Let’s see how they’re doing.”
37-41 Barnabas wanted to take John along, the John nicknamed Mark. But Paul wouldn’t have him; he wasn’t about to take along a quitter who, as soon as the going got tough, had jumped ship on them in Pamphylia. Tempers flared, and they ended up going their separate ways: Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up muscle and sinew in those congregations.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Insight
Psalm 121 is a song of ascent that would have been sung by worshipers on their annual journey to Jerusalem. The assurance that God “watches over” His people is repeated five times (vv. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8). The psalm is structured poetically into four couplets, each with a different theme, but all pertaining in some way to God’s protection. Verses 1 and 2 reverently declare that help comes from the “Maker of heaven and earth.” Verses 3–4 emphasize that He never slumbers as He watches over His people. Verses 5 and 6 proclaim His protection over Israel both day and night. And verses 7 and 8 point out God’s eternal protection both “now and forevermore.” By: Julie Schwab
A Reason to Sing
He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4
For a man who lives by a code, so to speak, it felt like a major failure. What’d I do? Well, I fell asleep. Our kids have a curfew to meet when they’re out for the evening. They’re good kids, but my practice is to wait up until I hear their hands turn the front doorknob. I want to know they’re home safe. I don’t have to do this: I choose to. But one night I awoke to my daughter saying through a smile, “Dad, I’m safe. You should go to bed.” Despite our best intentions, sometimes fathers fall asleep at their posts. It was very humbling, and also very human.
But that never happens with God. Psalm 121 is a reassuring song about Him as guardian and protector of His children. The psalmist declares that God who watches over us “will not slumber” (v. 3). And for emphasis, he repeats that truth in verse 4: He “will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Can you even imagine? God never falls asleep at His post. He is always keeping watch over us—the sons and daughters and aunts and uncles and mothers, and even fathers. It’s not so much that He has to do this, but rather that, out of His great love, He chooses to. That promise is definitely something to sing about. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you sense God’s presence? When you don’t, what truths can you depend upon?
Father, thank You for Your constant care over our lives. We know that doesn’t mean a life absent of trouble, but rather a life held close by Your love and presence. Help us to confidently rest in the assurance that You’re always at Your post.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Living Your Theology
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you… —John 12:35
Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.
The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.
Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, “…unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried. He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Your Answer - #8512
Our youngest son had waited a long time for this. He had loved this girl for a long time and she had loved him. And now it was time to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. So, he asked her to go with him on an old horse-drawn carriage ride along some beautiful mountain paths. He was in cahoots with the driver, so he asked if they could stop to take a picture on a nearby footbridge - just out of sight, of course. Well, the driver was loving every minute of this. On that bridge, overlooking a picturesque little stream, our son declared his lifetime love and he asked the woman he loves to become his wife. She was not surprised that he would ask someday, but this day she was overwhelmed. I love this! He awaited her answer and it was more beautiful than our son could have ever scripted. She just said, "It would be my highest honor." P.S. - the wedding was awesome.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Answer."
There's someone who loves you very much, who has dramatically declared His love for you, and whose offer of a lifelong relationship requires an answer. He's the One who it says in Revelation 3:20, our word for today from the Word of God: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in..." And while that invitation was initially addressed to some people who already belonged to Jesus, it's also a powerful picture of His offer of His love to those who have never begun a personal relationship with Him - and that might be you.
If you have any doubt about Jesus' love for you and His commitment to you, just pay a visit in your heart to an old rugged cross where He is nailed to that cross, bleeding and dying to pay for every wrong thing you have ever done. That's how much He loves you. That's how much He wants you to be in heaven with Him forever. That's how much He doesn't want to lose you.
His love for you and me? It's not based on how good we are. The Bible says we've chosen to hijack the running of our life from our Creator, and all our religiousness doesn't cover up our rebellion against a holy God. We deserve the hell that sin requires, but we're offered a heaven we could never deserve because Jesus took our hell for us.
And now He awaits your response to this blood-bought offer of forgiveness and eternal life. In the words of the Bible, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life ... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:16, 36). See, there's just no neutral response. It's "Jesus, I'm Yours" or "Jesus, forget about it."
When our son said, "Will you marry me?" what if his beloved had said, "Sure. You're a nice guy" or "You have some great points" or "We get along great." Well, those are polite answers, but it's not a commitment. That's how it often is when Jesus knocks on the door of your heart. Maybe he's doing it right now. Anything other than "Jesus, I'm Yours" is just polite rejection. And "whoever rejects the Son will not see life."
Jesus has dramatically declared His love for you. Look at the nail prints in His hands. He's offering to forgive every sin, to never leave you, and to take you to heaven when you die. But you've got to give Him your answer. If you want this to be your Jesus-day, the day that you consciously know forever you've said "yes" to Him, the day you begin your personal love relationship with Him, tell Him that right now where you are.
And let me urge you to go to our website. It is there for you at a moment like this. It's ANewStory.com.
I'm thinking of the words of an old hymn that pretty much sum up the choice that's in front of you. It says this, "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For some day your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with me?'"
Monday, August 26, 2019
Amos 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE GREAT GOSPEL OF GOD
No one knows me, we think. People know my name, but not my heart. They know my face but not my feelings. I have a social security number, but not a soul mate. No one really knows me.
The response of heaven is that God does! Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do and angels won’t suffice. God sent more than miracles and messages. He sent himself; he sent his Son. In God’s great gospel, he not only sends, he becomes. He lives with us… as one of us. He knows our hurt. He knows our hunger. He knows betrayal. Most of all, he knows our sins. He knows them better than you do. He knows their price because he paid it. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). God knows you!
Amos 3
Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account—and I mean all of you, everyone connected with the family that he delivered out of Egypt. Listen!
2 “Out of all the families on earth,
I picked you.
Therefore, because of your special calling,
I’m holding you responsible for all your sins.”
3-7 Do two people walk hand in hand
if they aren’t going to the same place?
Does a lion roar in the forest
if there’s no carcass to devour?
Does a young lion growl with pleasure
if he hasn’t caught his supper?
Does a bird fall to the ground
if it hasn’t been hit with a stone?
Does a trap spring shut
if nothing trips it?
When the alarm goes off in the city,
aren’t people alarmed?
And when disaster strikes the city,
doesn’t God stand behind it?
The fact is, God, the Master, does nothing
without first telling his prophets the whole story.
8 The lion has roared—
who isn’t frightened?
God has spoken—
what prophet can keep quiet?
9-11 Announce to the forts of Assyria,
announce to the forts of Egypt—
Tell them, “Gather on the Samaritan mountains, take a good, hard look:
what a snake pit of brutality and terror!
They can’t—or won’t—do one thing right.” God said so.
“They stockpile violence and blight.
Therefore”—this is God’s Word—“an enemy will surround the country.
He’ll strip you of your power and plunder your forts.”
12 God’s Message:
“In the same way that a shepherd
trying to save a lamb from a lion
Manages to recover
just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear,
So will little be saved of the Israelites
who live in Samaria—
A couple of old chairs at most,
the broken leg of a table.
13-15 “Listen and bring witness against Jacob’s family”—
this is God’s Word, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
“Note well! The day I make Israel pay for its sins,
pay for the sin-altars of worship at Bethel,
The horned altars will all be dehorned
and scattered around.
I’ll tear down the winter palace,
smash the summer palace—all your fancy buildings.
The luxury homes will be demolished,
all those pretentious houses.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, August 26, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Micah 7:1–3, 18–20
What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;
not one upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait to shed blood;
they hunt each other with nets.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
Insight
Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, ministered some sixty-five years to both Israel and Judah (Micah 1:1; Hosea 1:1). Both kingdoms were at this time characterized by idolatry, corruption, injustice, and oppression of the poor (Micah 7:2–3). Even as he speaks of God’s disciplining hand, warning that Israel would be destroyed by the Assyrians (1:6), of the exile (v. 16), and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (3:12), Micah also speaks unequivocally of God’s benevolence and blessings if they would repent and “act justly . . . love mercy, and walk humbly with [their] God” (6:8). Micah also prophesied of the blessings of the return of a remnant back to Jerusalem (2:12) and the birth of the Messiah (5:2). Micah thus concludes with a proclamation, “Who is a God like you” (7:18), reminiscent of God’s own self-revelation in Exodus 34:6–7. Interestingly, Micah’s name means “Who is like Jehovah.”
Visit christianuniversity.org/OT223 to learn more about the prophet Micah.
Another Chance
Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! Micah 7:19 nlt
At the Second Chance Bike Shop near our neighborhood, volunteers rebuild cast-off bicycles and donate them to needy kids. Shop founder Ernie Clark also donates bikes to needy adults, including the homeless, the disabled, and military veterans struggling to make it in civilian life. Not only do the bicycles get a second chance but sometimes the recipients get a new start too. One veteran used his new bike to get to a job interview.
Second chances can transform a person’s life, especially when the second chance comes from God. The prophet Micah extoled such grace during a time the nation of Israel groveled in bribery, fraud, and other despicable sins. As Micah lamented, “The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth” (Micah 7:2 nlt).
God would rightly punish evil, Micah knew. But being loving, He would give those who repented another chance. Humbled by such love, Micah asked, “Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people?” (v. 18 nlt).
We too can rejoice that God doesn’t abandon us because of our sins if we ask for forgiveness. As Micah declared of God, “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” (v. 19 nlt). God’s love gives second chances to all who seek Him. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What sin will you repent of and gain a second chance from our loving God?
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the grace of second chances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 26, 2019
Are You Ever Troubled?
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you… —John 14:27
There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “…My peace I give to you…”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.
Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.
With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 26, 2019
Birds and Shaking Nests - #8511
Birds usually build their nests in trees. We had some that tried a creative alternative at our house. While we were on vacation, this mother and father bird built a nest in the exhaust fan for our kitchen range. Problem: the nest was so huge it made the exhaust fan unworkable. Problem two: when we returned from vacation, spiders were hanging down from the hood of the range. Mmm, yum yum. We knew babies had also hatched out up there in that nest. We couldn't see them, but we could sure hear the little noises when they were hungry. We didn't want to kill a whole nest full of babies, so we waited until Mom and Dad Bird had taken the babies out. I got a long stick and I proceeded to take out the nest. But as the nest came out, we discovered a little surprise - actually a big surprise - the fattest baby bird we had ever seen, seated in that nest. My wife went in to get gloves and a box. In the meantime, he got away. How long would this Big Bird have stayed in the nest if we hadn't shaken up his world?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Birds and Shaking Nests."
That bird had gotten so big he literally couldn't get out of his nest, just like a lot of God's children. You see, it took a shaking that dislodged his whole world to get him out of the nest! Just like a lot of God's children.
The fact is we believers have a tendency to settle into a comfortable spiritual routine, soak up the teaching, the fellowship, the blessings, and spiritually we're just getting bigger and bigger, fatter and fatter spiritually. One veteran of years under the Soviet system said, "The problem with you Western Christians is that you are over-feeded." Either that, or under-exercised! It's so tempting just to settle into the Christian nest, to define our Christian commitment by what's comfortable, and to settle for being a spiritual consumer but not a producer.
Here's God's stick poking our nest in our word for today from the Word of God. Romans 13:11-12 says this, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." God says, "It's just too late in the game for you to be sitting comfortably in the stands. Time is running out! You need to get out of the stands and get into the game!" Or out of the nest, as the case may be.
Realistically, though, we're often like that large bird. We will not move out of our nest until God shakes up our world. Then we start thinking, "Lord, what are You trying to say to me?" If your world has been stirred lately, some things have been dislodged, let me encourage you to respond by asking that question and by considering whether your Lord is trying to move you where you can make a much greater difference for Him. Lord, what are you trying to say to me by all this shaking that's going on? That restlessness you've been feeling, the un-fulfillment you've been wondering about, the turbulence you've been through, could those be God trying to get your attention; to shake up your life so He can take your life where it's never gone before?
If your nest is suddenly not as comfortable as it was, maybe it's because your Lord is trying to move you out of your nest. Don't be afraid to go where you've never gone, to try what you've never tried, or to attempt what is way beyond you.
The nest may be safe, but if you stay there, you will never do what you were born to do, because you were born to fly!
No one knows me, we think. People know my name, but not my heart. They know my face but not my feelings. I have a social security number, but not a soul mate. No one really knows me.
The response of heaven is that God does! Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do and angels won’t suffice. God sent more than miracles and messages. He sent himself; he sent his Son. In God’s great gospel, he not only sends, he becomes. He lives with us… as one of us. He knows our hurt. He knows our hunger. He knows betrayal. Most of all, he knows our sins. He knows them better than you do. He knows their price because he paid it. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). God knows you!
Amos 3
Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account—and I mean all of you, everyone connected with the family that he delivered out of Egypt. Listen!
2 “Out of all the families on earth,
I picked you.
Therefore, because of your special calling,
I’m holding you responsible for all your sins.”
3-7 Do two people walk hand in hand
if they aren’t going to the same place?
Does a lion roar in the forest
if there’s no carcass to devour?
Does a young lion growl with pleasure
if he hasn’t caught his supper?
Does a bird fall to the ground
if it hasn’t been hit with a stone?
Does a trap spring shut
if nothing trips it?
When the alarm goes off in the city,
aren’t people alarmed?
And when disaster strikes the city,
doesn’t God stand behind it?
The fact is, God, the Master, does nothing
without first telling his prophets the whole story.
8 The lion has roared—
who isn’t frightened?
God has spoken—
what prophet can keep quiet?
9-11 Announce to the forts of Assyria,
announce to the forts of Egypt—
Tell them, “Gather on the Samaritan mountains, take a good, hard look:
what a snake pit of brutality and terror!
They can’t—or won’t—do one thing right.” God said so.
“They stockpile violence and blight.
Therefore”—this is God’s Word—“an enemy will surround the country.
He’ll strip you of your power and plunder your forts.”
12 God’s Message:
“In the same way that a shepherd
trying to save a lamb from a lion
Manages to recover
just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear,
So will little be saved of the Israelites
who live in Samaria—
A couple of old chairs at most,
the broken leg of a table.
13-15 “Listen and bring witness against Jacob’s family”—
this is God’s Word, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
“Note well! The day I make Israel pay for its sins,
pay for the sin-altars of worship at Bethel,
The horned altars will all be dehorned
and scattered around.
I’ll tear down the winter palace,
smash the summer palace—all your fancy buildings.
The luxury homes will be demolished,
all those pretentious houses.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, August 26, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Micah 7:1–3, 18–20
What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;
not one upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait to shed blood;
they hunt each other with nets.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
Insight
Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, ministered some sixty-five years to both Israel and Judah (Micah 1:1; Hosea 1:1). Both kingdoms were at this time characterized by idolatry, corruption, injustice, and oppression of the poor (Micah 7:2–3). Even as he speaks of God’s disciplining hand, warning that Israel would be destroyed by the Assyrians (1:6), of the exile (v. 16), and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (3:12), Micah also speaks unequivocally of God’s benevolence and blessings if they would repent and “act justly . . . love mercy, and walk humbly with [their] God” (6:8). Micah also prophesied of the blessings of the return of a remnant back to Jerusalem (2:12) and the birth of the Messiah (5:2). Micah thus concludes with a proclamation, “Who is a God like you” (7:18), reminiscent of God’s own self-revelation in Exodus 34:6–7. Interestingly, Micah’s name means “Who is like Jehovah.”
Visit christianuniversity.org/OT223 to learn more about the prophet Micah.
Another Chance
Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! Micah 7:19 nlt
At the Second Chance Bike Shop near our neighborhood, volunteers rebuild cast-off bicycles and donate them to needy kids. Shop founder Ernie Clark also donates bikes to needy adults, including the homeless, the disabled, and military veterans struggling to make it in civilian life. Not only do the bicycles get a second chance but sometimes the recipients get a new start too. One veteran used his new bike to get to a job interview.
Second chances can transform a person’s life, especially when the second chance comes from God. The prophet Micah extoled such grace during a time the nation of Israel groveled in bribery, fraud, and other despicable sins. As Micah lamented, “The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth” (Micah 7:2 nlt).
God would rightly punish evil, Micah knew. But being loving, He would give those who repented another chance. Humbled by such love, Micah asked, “Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people?” (v. 18 nlt).
We too can rejoice that God doesn’t abandon us because of our sins if we ask for forgiveness. As Micah declared of God, “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” (v. 19 nlt). God’s love gives second chances to all who seek Him. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What sin will you repent of and gain a second chance from our loving God?
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the grace of second chances.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, August 26, 2019
Are You Ever Troubled?
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you… —John 14:27
There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “…My peace I give to you…”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.
Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.
With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, August 26, 2019
Birds and Shaking Nests - #8511
Birds usually build their nests in trees. We had some that tried a creative alternative at our house. While we were on vacation, this mother and father bird built a nest in the exhaust fan for our kitchen range. Problem: the nest was so huge it made the exhaust fan unworkable. Problem two: when we returned from vacation, spiders were hanging down from the hood of the range. Mmm, yum yum. We knew babies had also hatched out up there in that nest. We couldn't see them, but we could sure hear the little noises when they were hungry. We didn't want to kill a whole nest full of babies, so we waited until Mom and Dad Bird had taken the babies out. I got a long stick and I proceeded to take out the nest. But as the nest came out, we discovered a little surprise - actually a big surprise - the fattest baby bird we had ever seen, seated in that nest. My wife went in to get gloves and a box. In the meantime, he got away. How long would this Big Bird have stayed in the nest if we hadn't shaken up his world?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Birds and Shaking Nests."
That bird had gotten so big he literally couldn't get out of his nest, just like a lot of God's children. You see, it took a shaking that dislodged his whole world to get him out of the nest! Just like a lot of God's children.
The fact is we believers have a tendency to settle into a comfortable spiritual routine, soak up the teaching, the fellowship, the blessings, and spiritually we're just getting bigger and bigger, fatter and fatter spiritually. One veteran of years under the Soviet system said, "The problem with you Western Christians is that you are over-feeded." Either that, or under-exercised! It's so tempting just to settle into the Christian nest, to define our Christian commitment by what's comfortable, and to settle for being a spiritual consumer but not a producer.
Here's God's stick poking our nest in our word for today from the Word of God. Romans 13:11-12 says this, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." God says, "It's just too late in the game for you to be sitting comfortably in the stands. Time is running out! You need to get out of the stands and get into the game!" Or out of the nest, as the case may be.
Realistically, though, we're often like that large bird. We will not move out of our nest until God shakes up our world. Then we start thinking, "Lord, what are You trying to say to me?" If your world has been stirred lately, some things have been dislodged, let me encourage you to respond by asking that question and by considering whether your Lord is trying to move you where you can make a much greater difference for Him. Lord, what are you trying to say to me by all this shaking that's going on? That restlessness you've been feeling, the un-fulfillment you've been wondering about, the turbulence you've been through, could those be God trying to get your attention; to shake up your life so He can take your life where it's never gone before?
If your nest is suddenly not as comfortable as it was, maybe it's because your Lord is trying to move you out of your nest. Don't be afraid to go where you've never gone, to try what you've never tried, or to attempt what is way beyond you.
The nest may be safe, but if you stay there, you will never do what you were born to do, because you were born to fly!
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Amos 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Dancing Amidst the Common
There's one word that describes the night Jesus came-ordinary. A beautiful night but nothing to keep a person awake. The sheep were ordinary. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. And the shepherds…peasants they were, probably wearing all the clothes they owned. You won't find their staffs in a museum or their writings in a library. They were nameless and simple. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of ordinary, the night might have gone unnoticed.
But God dances amidst the common. And that night He did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because that's when lights are best seen and most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.
From The Applause of Heaven
Amos 2
God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Moab
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She violated the corpse of Edom’s king,
burning it to cinders.
For that, I’m burning down Moab,
burning down the forts of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the shouting,
go out in the blare of war trumpets.
I’ll remove the king from the center
and kill all his princes with him.”
God’s Decree.
4-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Judah
—make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They rejected God’s revelation,
refused to keep my commands.
But they swallowed the same old lies
that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads.
For that, I’m burning down Judah,
burning down all the forts of Jerusalem.”
6-8 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Israel
—make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They buy and sell upstanding people.
People for them are only things—ways of making money.
They’d sell a poor man for a pair of shoes.
They’d sell their own grandmother!
They grind the penniless into the dirt,
shove the luckless into the ditch.
Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore’—
a sacrilege against my Holy Name.
Stuff they’ve extorted from the poor
is piled up at the shrine of their god,
While they sit around drinking wine
they’ve conned from their victims.
9-11 “In contrast, I was always on your side.
I destroyed the Amorites who confronted you,
Amorites with the stature of great cedars,
tough as thick oaks.
I destroyed them from the top branches down.
I destroyed them from the roots up.
And yes, I’m the One who delivered you from Egypt,
led you safely through the wilderness for forty years
And then handed you the country of the Amorites
like a piece of cake on a platter.
I raised up some of your young men to be prophets,
set aside your best youth for training in holiness.
Isn’t this so, Israel?”
God’s Decree.
12-13 “But you made the youth-in-training break training,
and you told the young prophets, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
You’re too much for me.
I’m hard-pressed—to the breaking point.
I’m like a wagon piled high and overloaded,
creaking and groaning.
14-15 “When I go into action, what will you do?
There’s no place to run no matter how fast you run.
The strength of the strong won’t count.
Fighters won’t make it.
Skilled archers won’t make it.
Fast runners won’t make it.
Chariot drivers won’t make it.
Even the bravest of all your warriors
Won’t make it.
He’ll run off for dear life, stripped naked.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 1:18–25
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
Insight
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia, sometime near the end of his three-year ministry there (around ad 55–57). According to author Ray Stedman in his commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians, the wealthy seaport city of Corinth was a “hub of trade” and a resort city, but it was also “a city of moral depravity—a place where prostitution and other forms of sexual immorality were rampant” and where people “worshiped Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex.” And so, the Christians in the young church Paul had planted in Corinth during his second missionary journey faced a culture at odds with the gospel. In this letter, Paul offers guidelines and encouragement to the struggling new believers caught between their culture and living for Jesus. He addresses issues such as disunity and immorality, and he talks about what it means to be free in Christ.
Surprised by Wisdom
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Romans 11:33
“It seems like the older I get, the wiser you become. Sometimes when I talk to my son I even hear your words coming out of my mouth!”
My daughter’s candor made me laugh. I felt the same way about my parents and frequently found myself using their words as I raised my kids. Once I became a dad, my perspective on my parents’ wisdom changed. What I once “wrote off” as foolishness turned out to be far wiser than I had thought—I just couldn’t see it at first.
The Bible teaches that “the foolishness of God is wiser” than the cleverest human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25). “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness” of the message of a suffering Savior to rescue “those who believe” (v. 21).
God always has ways of surprising us. Instead of the triumphant king the world would expect, the Son of God came as a suffering servant and died a humbling death by crucifixion—before He was raised in unsurpassable glory.
In God’s wisdom, humility is valued over pride and love shows its worth in undeserved mercy and kindness. Through the cross, our unconquerable Messiah became the ultimate victim—in order to “save completely” (Hebrews 7:25) all who place their faith in Him! By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
When have God’s ways left you confused? How does it help to know His ways are not our own?
Heavenly Father, I praise You for the wisdom of Your ways. Help me to trust You and walk humbly with You today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Sacrifice and Friendship
I have called you friends… —John 15:15
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if…!” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God….” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).
Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.
“I have called you friends….” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
There's one word that describes the night Jesus came-ordinary. A beautiful night but nothing to keep a person awake. The sheep were ordinary. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. And the shepherds…peasants they were, probably wearing all the clothes they owned. You won't find their staffs in a museum or their writings in a library. They were nameless and simple. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of ordinary, the night might have gone unnoticed.
But God dances amidst the common. And that night He did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because that's when lights are best seen and most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.
From The Applause of Heaven
Amos 2
God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Moab
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She violated the corpse of Edom’s king,
burning it to cinders.
For that, I’m burning down Moab,
burning down the forts of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the shouting,
go out in the blare of war trumpets.
I’ll remove the king from the center
and kill all his princes with him.”
God’s Decree.
4-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Judah
—make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They rejected God’s revelation,
refused to keep my commands.
But they swallowed the same old lies
that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads.
For that, I’m burning down Judah,
burning down all the forts of Jerusalem.”
6-8 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Israel
—make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They buy and sell upstanding people.
People for them are only things—ways of making money.
They’d sell a poor man for a pair of shoes.
They’d sell their own grandmother!
They grind the penniless into the dirt,
shove the luckless into the ditch.
Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore’—
a sacrilege against my Holy Name.
Stuff they’ve extorted from the poor
is piled up at the shrine of their god,
While they sit around drinking wine
they’ve conned from their victims.
9-11 “In contrast, I was always on your side.
I destroyed the Amorites who confronted you,
Amorites with the stature of great cedars,
tough as thick oaks.
I destroyed them from the top branches down.
I destroyed them from the roots up.
And yes, I’m the One who delivered you from Egypt,
led you safely through the wilderness for forty years
And then handed you the country of the Amorites
like a piece of cake on a platter.
I raised up some of your young men to be prophets,
set aside your best youth for training in holiness.
Isn’t this so, Israel?”
God’s Decree.
12-13 “But you made the youth-in-training break training,
and you told the young prophets, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
You’re too much for me.
I’m hard-pressed—to the breaking point.
I’m like a wagon piled high and overloaded,
creaking and groaning.
14-15 “When I go into action, what will you do?
There’s no place to run no matter how fast you run.
The strength of the strong won’t count.
Fighters won’t make it.
Skilled archers won’t make it.
Fast runners won’t make it.
Chariot drivers won’t make it.
Even the bravest of all your warriors
Won’t make it.
He’ll run off for dear life, stripped naked.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Corinthians 1:18–25
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[a]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
Insight
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia, sometime near the end of his three-year ministry there (around ad 55–57). According to author Ray Stedman in his commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians, the wealthy seaport city of Corinth was a “hub of trade” and a resort city, but it was also “a city of moral depravity—a place where prostitution and other forms of sexual immorality were rampant” and where people “worshiped Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex.” And so, the Christians in the young church Paul had planted in Corinth during his second missionary journey faced a culture at odds with the gospel. In this letter, Paul offers guidelines and encouragement to the struggling new believers caught between their culture and living for Jesus. He addresses issues such as disunity and immorality, and he talks about what it means to be free in Christ.
Surprised by Wisdom
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Romans 11:33
“It seems like the older I get, the wiser you become. Sometimes when I talk to my son I even hear your words coming out of my mouth!”
My daughter’s candor made me laugh. I felt the same way about my parents and frequently found myself using their words as I raised my kids. Once I became a dad, my perspective on my parents’ wisdom changed. What I once “wrote off” as foolishness turned out to be far wiser than I had thought—I just couldn’t see it at first.
The Bible teaches that “the foolishness of God is wiser” than the cleverest human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:25). “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness” of the message of a suffering Savior to rescue “those who believe” (v. 21).
God always has ways of surprising us. Instead of the triumphant king the world would expect, the Son of God came as a suffering servant and died a humbling death by crucifixion—before He was raised in unsurpassable glory.
In God’s wisdom, humility is valued over pride and love shows its worth in undeserved mercy and kindness. Through the cross, our unconquerable Messiah became the ultimate victim—in order to “save completely” (Hebrews 7:25) all who place their faith in Him! By: James Banks
Reflect & Pray
When have God’s ways left you confused? How does it help to know His ways are not our own?
Heavenly Father, I praise You for the wisdom of Your ways. Help me to trust You and walk humbly with You today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Sacrifice and Friendship
I have called you friends… —John 15:15
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if…!” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God….” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).
Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.
“I have called you friends….” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Amos 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Tender Moments
You don't have to be brilliant to remember that a child is not an adult. Or a child psychologist to know that kids are "under construction." Or possess the wisdom of Solomon to realize that they didn't ask to be here in the first place. And that spilled milk can be wiped up and broken plates can be replaced.
I'm not a prophet, nor the son of one, but something tells me that in the whole scheme of things the tender moments with a child are infinitely more valuable than anything I do in front of a computer or a congregation. Something tells me that the moments of comfort I've given my children are a small price to pay for the joy of seeing my daughter do for her daughter what her dad did for her! Moments of comfort from a parent. They are the sweetest moments in a parent's day! Make sure your child knows of your love and concern.
From The Applause of Heaven
Amos 1
The Message of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he received on behalf of Israel. It came to him in visions during the time that Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the big earthquake.
2 The Message:
God roars from Zion,
shouts from Jerusalem!
The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds,
shrivels Mount Carmel’s proud peak.
3-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Damascus
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She pounded Gilead to a pulp, pounded her senseless
with iron hammers and mauls.
For that, I’m setting the palace of Hazael on fire.
I’m torching Ben-hadad’s forts.
I’m going to smash the Damascus gates
and banish the crime king who lives in Sin Valley,
the vice boss who gives orders from Paradise Palace.
The people of the land will be sent back
to where they came from—to Kir.”
God’s Decree.
6-8 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Gaza
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns
and then sold the people to Edom.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Gaza,
burning up all her forts.
I’ll banish the crime king from Ashdod,
the vice boss from Ashkelon.
I’ll raise my fist against Ekron,
and what’s left of the Philistines will die.”
God’s Decree.
9-10 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Tyre
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns to Edom,
breaking the treaty she had with her kin.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Tyre,
burning up all her forts.”
11-12 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Edom
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She hunts down her brother to murder him.
She has no pity, she has no heart.
Her anger rampages day and night.
Her meanness never takes a timeout.
For that, I’m burning down her capital, Teman,
burning up the forts of Bozrah.”
13-15 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Ammon
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
to get more land for herself.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah,
burning up her forts.
Battle shouts! War whoops!
with a tornado to finish things off!
The king has been carted off to exile,
the king and his princes with him.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:1–9
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
Insight
It’s said that those who’ve come close to death become more acutely aware of the value of life and the imperative of walking right before God. In this psalm, the unnamed psalmist thanks Him for delivering him from the jaws of death (116:3, 8). Assured of God’s sovereignty over his life even in death, he writes, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Given another chance at life, the psalmist gratefully asked: “What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?” (v. 12 nlt). In response, he dedicated his “extended” years to a life of service to God out of thanksgiving for His goodness (vv. 13–19). He resolved to “walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!” (v. 9 nlt). Hezekiah and Jonah offered similar prayers of thanksgiving after their lives were spared (Isaiah 38:10–20; Jonah 2:1–9).
You Have to Relax!
Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7
“You must relax,” pronounces a doctor crisply in Disney’s Rescuers Down Under, attempting to treat the injured albatross Wilbur, a reluctant patient. “Relax? I am relaxed!” a clearly not relaxed Wilbur responds sarcastically as his panic grows. “If I were any more relaxed, I’d be dead!”
Can you relate? In light of the doctor’s dubious methods (such as a chainsaw dubbed an “epidermal tissue disruptor”), Wilbur’s misgivings seem justified. But the scene is funny because it captures how we tend to feel when we’re panicking—whether or not what we’re facing is actually life-threatening.
When we’re terrified, encouragement to relax can feel ridiculous. I know when I feel life’s terrors piling up around me, and when painful “cords of death” (Psalm 116:3) tighten my stomach into knots, my every instinct is to fight back, not to relax.
And yet . . . more often than not, my panicked attempts to fight back only tighten anxiety’s vice-grip, leaving me crippled by fear. But when I, albeit reluctantly, allow myself to feel my pain and lift it up to God (v. 4), something surprising happens. The knot inside me relaxes a bit (v. 7), and a peace I can’t understand rushes through me.
And as the Spirit’s comforting presence surrounds me, I understand a bit more the truth at the heart of the gospel: we fight best when we surrender into the powerful arms of God (1 Peter 5:6–7). By: Monica Brands
Reflect & Pray
What struggles do you think of as “cords of death” in your life? How could you grow in surrendering to God’s love and care in the hard times?
God, help us surrender our desperate attempts at control and let go of the burdens we weren’t meant to bear to find rest in Your grace and goodness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, August 24, 2019
The Spiritual Search
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
You don't have to be brilliant to remember that a child is not an adult. Or a child psychologist to know that kids are "under construction." Or possess the wisdom of Solomon to realize that they didn't ask to be here in the first place. And that spilled milk can be wiped up and broken plates can be replaced.
I'm not a prophet, nor the son of one, but something tells me that in the whole scheme of things the tender moments with a child are infinitely more valuable than anything I do in front of a computer or a congregation. Something tells me that the moments of comfort I've given my children are a small price to pay for the joy of seeing my daughter do for her daughter what her dad did for her! Moments of comfort from a parent. They are the sweetest moments in a parent's day! Make sure your child knows of your love and concern.
From The Applause of Heaven
Amos 1
The Message of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he received on behalf of Israel. It came to him in visions during the time that Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the big earthquake.
2 The Message:
God roars from Zion,
shouts from Jerusalem!
The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds,
shrivels Mount Carmel’s proud peak.
3-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Damascus
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She pounded Gilead to a pulp, pounded her senseless
with iron hammers and mauls.
For that, I’m setting the palace of Hazael on fire.
I’m torching Ben-hadad’s forts.
I’m going to smash the Damascus gates
and banish the crime king who lives in Sin Valley,
the vice boss who gives orders from Paradise Palace.
The people of the land will be sent back
to where they came from—to Kir.”
God’s Decree.
6-8 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Gaza
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns
and then sold the people to Edom.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Gaza,
burning up all her forts.
I’ll banish the crime king from Ashdod,
the vice boss from Ashkelon.
I’ll raise my fist against Ekron,
and what’s left of the Philistines will die.”
God’s Decree.
9-10 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Tyre
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns to Edom,
breaking the treaty she had with her kin.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Tyre,
burning up all her forts.”
11-12 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Edom
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She hunts down her brother to murder him.
She has no pity, she has no heart.
Her anger rampages day and night.
Her meanness never takes a timeout.
For that, I’m burning down her capital, Teman,
burning up the forts of Bozrah.”
13-15 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Ammon
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
to get more land for herself.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah,
burning up her forts.
Battle shouts! War whoops!
with a tornado to finish things off!
The king has been carted off to exile,
the king and his princes with him.”
God’s Decree.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:1–9
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
Insight
It’s said that those who’ve come close to death become more acutely aware of the value of life and the imperative of walking right before God. In this psalm, the unnamed psalmist thanks Him for delivering him from the jaws of death (116:3, 8). Assured of God’s sovereignty over his life even in death, he writes, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Given another chance at life, the psalmist gratefully asked: “What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?” (v. 12 nlt). In response, he dedicated his “extended” years to a life of service to God out of thanksgiving for His goodness (vv. 13–19). He resolved to “walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!” (v. 9 nlt). Hezekiah and Jonah offered similar prayers of thanksgiving after their lives were spared (Isaiah 38:10–20; Jonah 2:1–9).
You Have to Relax!
Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7
“You must relax,” pronounces a doctor crisply in Disney’s Rescuers Down Under, attempting to treat the injured albatross Wilbur, a reluctant patient. “Relax? I am relaxed!” a clearly not relaxed Wilbur responds sarcastically as his panic grows. “If I were any more relaxed, I’d be dead!”
Can you relate? In light of the doctor’s dubious methods (such as a chainsaw dubbed an “epidermal tissue disruptor”), Wilbur’s misgivings seem justified. But the scene is funny because it captures how we tend to feel when we’re panicking—whether or not what we’re facing is actually life-threatening.
When we’re terrified, encouragement to relax can feel ridiculous. I know when I feel life’s terrors piling up around me, and when painful “cords of death” (Psalm 116:3) tighten my stomach into knots, my every instinct is to fight back, not to relax.
And yet . . . more often than not, my panicked attempts to fight back only tighten anxiety’s vice-grip, leaving me crippled by fear. But when I, albeit reluctantly, allow myself to feel my pain and lift it up to God (v. 4), something surprising happens. The knot inside me relaxes a bit (v. 7), and a peace I can’t understand rushes through me.
And as the Spirit’s comforting presence surrounds me, I understand a bit more the truth at the heart of the gospel: we fight best when we surrender into the powerful arms of God (1 Peter 5:6–7). By: Monica Brands
Reflect & Pray
What struggles do you think of as “cords of death” in your life? How could you grow in surrendering to God’s love and care in the hard times?
God, help us surrender our desperate attempts at control and let go of the burdens we weren’t meant to bear to find rest in Your grace and goodness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, August 24, 2019
The Spiritual Search
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
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