Saturday, February 29, 2020
2 Chronicles 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: What’s Your Part?
“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. Ephesians 1:11-12”
The poster read: High School Musical - Oklahoma! Tryouts next Thursday and Friday.
I was a high school sophomore, brimming with untapped and undiscovered talent. Besides, I already had the boots, hat and accent. Why not?
My audition was stellar until I opened my mouth to sing. The director asked about my theater experience. I told him I went to the movies about once a month. That was enough for him. He gave me a script and the page number for my part. Page number, not numbers. As I knelt over the body of a just-shot cowboy, I was to cry in desperation, “He’s daid!” I poured my heart and soul into that line!
What’s your part? Don’t think for a moment you don’t have one. God wrote you into his story. No assignment too small. No lines too brief.
Play the part God prepared for you! And get ready for some great days!
2 Chronicles 22
The people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king. Raiders from the desert, who had come with the Arabs against the settlement, had killed all the older sons. That’s how Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, but reigned only one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, granddaughter of Omri. He lived and ruled just like the Ahab family had done, his mother training him in evil ways. God also considered him evil, related by both marriage and sin to the Ahab clan. After the death of his father, he attended the sin school of Ahab, and graduated with a degree in doom. He did what they taught him, went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel in the war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. Joram, wounded by the Arameans, retreated to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received in Ramah in his war with Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah paid a visit to Joram son of Ahab on his sickbed at Jezreel.
7-9 The fate of Ahaziah when he went to visit was God’s judgment on him. When Ahaziah arrived at Jezreel, he and Joram met with Jehu son of Nimshi, whom God had already authorized to destroy the dynasty of Ahab. Jehu, already at work, executing doom on the dynasty of Ahab, came upon the captains of Judah and Ahaziah’s nephews, part of the Ahaziah delegation, and killed them outright. Then he sent out a search party looking for Ahaziah himself. They found him hiding out in Samaria and hauled him back to Jehu. And Jehu killed him.
They didn’t, though, just leave his body there. Out of respect for his grandfather Jehoshaphat, famous as a sincere seeker after God, they gave him a decent burial. But there was no one left in Ahaziah’s family capable of ruling the kingdom.
10-12 When Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she took over. She began by massacring the entire royal family. Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram, took Ahaziah’s son Joash, and kidnapped him from among the king’s sons slated for slaughter. She hid him and his nurse in a private room away from Athaliah. So Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and Ahaziah’s sister—she was also the wife of Jehoiada the priest—saved Joash from the murderous Queen Athaliah. He was there with her, hidden away for six years in The Temple of God. Athaliah, oblivious to his existence, ruled the country.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Philippians 4:10–19
Thanks for Their Gifts
10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.w Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be contentx whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,y whether living in plenty or in want.z 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.a
14 Yet it was good of you to shareb in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early daysc of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia,d not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;e 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica,f you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.g 17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.h 18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditusi the gifts you sent. They are a fragrantj offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needsk according to the riches of his gloryl in Christ Jesus.
Insight
Paul truly did know how to find contentment in all situations. Born a Roman citizen, he came from an inherited privilege. As “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) who studied under the highly respected rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), Paul enjoyed a strong religious heritage as well. Yet he endured intense hardships. Second Corinthians 11 outlines the litany of travails he experienced, including imprisonment, beatings, floggings, stoning, shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, and sleeplessness (vv. 23–28). Keep these ordeals in mind as you hear Paul say, “I can do all this [remain content] through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). By: Tim Gustafson
The Secret
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. Philippians 4:12
Sometimes I suspect my cat Heathcliff suffers from a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out). When I come home with groceries, Heathcliff rushes over to inspect the contents. When I’m chopping vegetables, he stands up on his back paws peering at the produce and begging me to share. But when I actually give Heathcliff whatever’s caught his fancy, he quickly loses interest, walking away with an air of bored resentment.
But it’d be hypocritical for me to be hard on my little buddy. He reflects a bit of my own insatiable hunger for more, my assumption that “now” is never enough.
According to Paul, contentment isn’t natural—it’s learned (Philippians 4:11). On our own, we desperately pursue whatever we think will satisfy, moving on to the next thing the minute we realize it won’t. Other times, our discontent takes the form of anxiously shielding ourselves from any and all suspected threats.
Ironically, sometimes it takes experiencing what we’d feared the most in order to stumble into real joy. Having experienced much of the worst life has to offer, Paul could testify firsthand to “the secret” of true contentment (vv. 11–12)—the mysterious reality that as we lift up to God our longings for wholeness, we experience unexplainable peace (vv. 6–7), carried ever deeper into the depths of Christ’s power, beauty, and grace. By: Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced mysterious peace when you least expected it? What desperate longings or fears might you need to lift up to God?
Father, help me to surrender my attempts to secure my own happiness in exchange for embracing the gift of each moment with You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 29, 2020
What Do You Want The Lord to Do for You?
"What do you want Me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." —Luke 18:41
Is there something in your life that not only disturbs you, but makes you a disturbance to others? If so, it is always something you cannot handle yourself. “Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more…” (Luke 18:39). Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself. Don’t deify common sense. To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves only to deify our common sense. When Jesus asks what we want Him to do for us about the incredible problem that is confronting us, remember that He doesn’t work in commonsense ways, but only in supernatural ways.
Look at how we limit the Lord by only remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past. We say, “I always failed there, and I always will.” Consequently, we don’t ask for what we want. Instead, we think, “It is ridiculous to ask God to do this.” If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we have to ask. If it is not an impossible thing, it is not a real disturbance. And God will do what is absolutely impossible.
This man received his sight. But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining. God will do it if you will ask Him. But you have to come to the point of believing Him to be almighty. We find faith by not only believing what Jesus says, but, even more, by trusting Jesus Himself. If we only look at what He says, we will never believe. Once we see Jesus, the impossible things He does in our lives become as natural as breathing. The agony we suffer is only the result of the deliberate shallowness of our own heart. We won’t believe; we won’t let go by severing the line that secures the boat to the shore— we prefer to worry.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L
Friday, February 28, 2020
2 Corinthians 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PRAYER FOR REPENTANCE FROM ARROGANCE
I’m wondering if you’d be willing to join me in a prayer of repentance—repentance from arrogance. What have we done that God didn’t first do? What do we have that God didn’t first give us? Have any of us ever built anything that God could not destroy? Have we created any monument that the Master of the stars can’t reduce to dust?
God asked this question through the Prophet Isaiah:
“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing (Isaiah 40:25 -26).
Let’s humble ourselves before the hand of God. The Bible reminds us that those who walk in pride God is able to humble. And… we don’t want God to humble us, do we? Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 8
Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.
5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.
8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.
10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,
Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.
20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.
23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let them see it for themselves!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 27:27–38
The Shipwreck
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriaticc Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feetd deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feete deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboaty down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”z 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”a 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke itb and began to eat. 36 They were all encouragedc and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.d
Insight
The journey from Jerusalem to Rome consumed about three years of Paul’s life, beginning with his arrest in Jerusalem—which happened all the way back in Acts 21:27! That arrest wasn’t prompted by Paul’s actions but by those of his Jewish countrymen who had rioted. His arrest nearly resulted in a flogging (22:25–29) and generated a series of trials before Roman-appointed officials—none of whom found Paul guilty of anything (26:30–32). As was his right as a Roman citizen, Paul appealed his case to Caesar, and that choice set him on the journey that would include the shipwreck events in Acts 27.
To learn more about Paul, visit bit.ly/2M4RQag. By: Bill Crowder
The Faith to Endure
Suffering produces endurance. Romans 5:3 esv
Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) led an unsuccessful expedition to cross Antarctica in 1914. When his ship, aptly named Endurance, became trapped in heavy ice in the Weddell Sea, it became an endurance race just to survive. With no means of communicating with the rest of the world, Shackleton and his crew used lifeboats to make the journey to the nearest shore—Elephant Island. While most of the crew stayed behind on the island, Shackleton and five crewmen spent two weeks traveling 800 miles across the ocean to South Georgia to get help for those left behind. The “failed” expedition became a victorious entry in the history books when all of Shackleton’s men survived, thanks to their courage and endurance.
The apostle Paul knew what it meant to endure. During a stormy sea voyage to Rome to face trial for his belief in Jesus, Paul learned from an angel of God that the ship would sink. But the apostle kept the men aboard encouraged, thanks to God’s promise that all would survive, despite the loss of the ship (Acts 27:23–24).
When disaster strikes, we tend to want God to immediately make everything better. But God gives us the faith to endure and grow. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “Suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3 esv). Knowing that, we can encourage each other to keep trusting God in hard times. By: Linda Washington
Reflect & Pray
What’s your usual response to hardship? How can you encourage someone who’s going through difficult times?
Heavenly Father, I need Your help to keep going, even when it’s tough.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 28, 2020
“Do You Now Believe?”
"By this we believe…." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?" —John 16:30-31
“Now we believe….” But Jesus asks, “Do you…? Indeed the hour is coming…that you…will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.
We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to “walk in the light” of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to “walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation— just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
Bible in a Year: Numbers 20-22; Mark 7:1-13
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 28, 2020
How "Lost" Ends - #8645
Several years ago, it was like the talk of people watching TV. It was that show "Lost." I never got hooked on that series, but a whole lot of my friends did. I would often see the day after that they'd be shaking their heads, rolling their eyes, and they're kind of tongue-tied when it came to trying to explain what happened the night before. Well, one Sunday night, their long journey ended with this 2 ½ hour finale, creatively titled, "The End." I don't know how long they worked on that title.
The journey actually had started six years before with a plane crash on a remote island. And it ended that Sunday night in an ethereal chapel, somewhere on the other side of death. In between was this convoluted roller coaster of mysterious twists, unexplained dark forces, and revealing flashbacks of the checkered pasts of the crash survivors. Fans were left with a pile of questions and theories exchanged on the worldwide web trying to answer them.
But the journey finally ended that one night. "Lost" fans had a wide variety of feelings about the destination. Some loved it - some didn't. I, of course, didn't have an opinion because I didn't spend any time on what they called "the island." But I'll tell you this, I know about loss.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How 'Lost' Ends."
From the time that series roared into center stage in our pop culture, the title haunted me. Sure, one-word TV titles aren't new: "Seinfeld," "Survivor," "M.A.S.H." But this one got to me a little, probably because "lost" is a God-word.
Over and over in the Bible, God describes our spiritual condition using that word. In a way, "Lost" could be the title for the long-running series of every life on this planet. Jesus called us "lost sheep." He told a story about us being like a "lost son." And then in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 19:10, He said His whole reason for coming into our world was - here it is - "to seek and save what was lost." I was one of those "lost" that He came to save. That's why I know about "lost."
Lost means that you don't know for sure where you are. You don't know the way to get home. You're alone. You're afraid. That's a pretty vivid description of how we feel deep in ou
r soul so many times. It isn't that we haven't tried some roads to get home, to get off "the island"; none of which have taken us there so far.
That's why Jesus came! We wouldn't look for Him. He came looking for us, because "home" is a relationship with the One who made us. The Bible literally says that, "All things were created by Him and for Him." You could put your name in that. You were created by Him and for a relationship with Him.
But then the Bible says, "we have all wandered away like sheep" (Isaiah 53:6). We're away from God. We are lost. But Jesus went all the way to a cross to find us; to die for us, to pay our death penalty that keeps us from being forgiven, from going to God's heaven, from having the hole in our heart ever filled.
Today He wants to bring you home to a relationship with Him. If you've never begun that relationship and you're tired of "lost," I hope you'll go to our website today. It's a place where many have gone and walked through there the way they begin a relationship with God forever. It's called ANewStory.com. I hope you'll go there.
I'll tell you, I'll thank Him forever for the day He found me; the day I grabbed Him with both hands, this One who paid so much to bring me Home. See, "Lost" ends in Jesus' arms.
I’m wondering if you’d be willing to join me in a prayer of repentance—repentance from arrogance. What have we done that God didn’t first do? What do we have that God didn’t first give us? Have any of us ever built anything that God could not destroy? Have we created any monument that the Master of the stars can’t reduce to dust?
God asked this question through the Prophet Isaiah:
“To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing (Isaiah 40:25 -26).
Let’s humble ourselves before the hand of God. The Bible reminds us that those who walk in pride God is able to humble. And… we don’t want God to humble us, do we? Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 8
Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.
5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.
8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.
10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,
Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.
20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.
23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let them see it for themselves!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 27:27–38
The Shipwreck
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriaticc Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feetd deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feete deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboaty down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”z 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”a 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke itb and began to eat. 36 They were all encouragedc and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.d
Insight
The journey from Jerusalem to Rome consumed about three years of Paul’s life, beginning with his arrest in Jerusalem—which happened all the way back in Acts 21:27! That arrest wasn’t prompted by Paul’s actions but by those of his Jewish countrymen who had rioted. His arrest nearly resulted in a flogging (22:25–29) and generated a series of trials before Roman-appointed officials—none of whom found Paul guilty of anything (26:30–32). As was his right as a Roman citizen, Paul appealed his case to Caesar, and that choice set him on the journey that would include the shipwreck events in Acts 27.
To learn more about Paul, visit bit.ly/2M4RQag. By: Bill Crowder
The Faith to Endure
Suffering produces endurance. Romans 5:3 esv
Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) led an unsuccessful expedition to cross Antarctica in 1914. When his ship, aptly named Endurance, became trapped in heavy ice in the Weddell Sea, it became an endurance race just to survive. With no means of communicating with the rest of the world, Shackleton and his crew used lifeboats to make the journey to the nearest shore—Elephant Island. While most of the crew stayed behind on the island, Shackleton and five crewmen spent two weeks traveling 800 miles across the ocean to South Georgia to get help for those left behind. The “failed” expedition became a victorious entry in the history books when all of Shackleton’s men survived, thanks to their courage and endurance.
The apostle Paul knew what it meant to endure. During a stormy sea voyage to Rome to face trial for his belief in Jesus, Paul learned from an angel of God that the ship would sink. But the apostle kept the men aboard encouraged, thanks to God’s promise that all would survive, despite the loss of the ship (Acts 27:23–24).
When disaster strikes, we tend to want God to immediately make everything better. But God gives us the faith to endure and grow. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “Suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3 esv). Knowing that, we can encourage each other to keep trusting God in hard times. By: Linda Washington
Reflect & Pray
What’s your usual response to hardship? How can you encourage someone who’s going through difficult times?
Heavenly Father, I need Your help to keep going, even when it’s tough.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 28, 2020
“Do You Now Believe?”
"By this we believe…." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?" —John 16:30-31
“Now we believe….” But Jesus asks, “Do you…? Indeed the hour is coming…that you…will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.
We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to “walk in the light” of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to “walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation— just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
Bible in a Year: Numbers 20-22; Mark 7:1-13
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 28, 2020
How "Lost" Ends - #8645
Several years ago, it was like the talk of people watching TV. It was that show "Lost." I never got hooked on that series, but a whole lot of my friends did. I would often see the day after that they'd be shaking their heads, rolling their eyes, and they're kind of tongue-tied when it came to trying to explain what happened the night before. Well, one Sunday night, their long journey ended with this 2 ½ hour finale, creatively titled, "The End." I don't know how long they worked on that title.
The journey actually had started six years before with a plane crash on a remote island. And it ended that Sunday night in an ethereal chapel, somewhere on the other side of death. In between was this convoluted roller coaster of mysterious twists, unexplained dark forces, and revealing flashbacks of the checkered pasts of the crash survivors. Fans were left with a pile of questions and theories exchanged on the worldwide web trying to answer them.
But the journey finally ended that one night. "Lost" fans had a wide variety of feelings about the destination. Some loved it - some didn't. I, of course, didn't have an opinion because I didn't spend any time on what they called "the island." But I'll tell you this, I know about loss.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How 'Lost' Ends."
From the time that series roared into center stage in our pop culture, the title haunted me. Sure, one-word TV titles aren't new: "Seinfeld," "Survivor," "M.A.S.H." But this one got to me a little, probably because "lost" is a God-word.
Over and over in the Bible, God describes our spiritual condition using that word. In a way, "Lost" could be the title for the long-running series of every life on this planet. Jesus called us "lost sheep." He told a story about us being like a "lost son." And then in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 19:10, He said His whole reason for coming into our world was - here it is - "to seek and save what was lost." I was one of those "lost" that He came to save. That's why I know about "lost."
Lost means that you don't know for sure where you are. You don't know the way to get home. You're alone. You're afraid. That's a pretty vivid description of how we feel deep in ou
r soul so many times. It isn't that we haven't tried some roads to get home, to get off "the island"; none of which have taken us there so far.
That's why Jesus came! We wouldn't look for Him. He came looking for us, because "home" is a relationship with the One who made us. The Bible literally says that, "All things were created by Him and for Him." You could put your name in that. You were created by Him and for a relationship with Him.
But then the Bible says, "we have all wandered away like sheep" (Isaiah 53:6). We're away from God. We are lost. But Jesus went all the way to a cross to find us; to die for us, to pay our death penalty that keeps us from being forgiven, from going to God's heaven, from having the hole in our heart ever filled.
Today He wants to bring you home to a relationship with Him. If you've never begun that relationship and you're tired of "lost," I hope you'll go to our website today. It's a place where many have gone and walked through there the way they begin a relationship with God forever. It's called ANewStory.com. I hope you'll go there.
I'll tell you, I'll thank Him forever for the day He found me; the day I grabbed Him with both hands, this One who paid so much to bring me Home. See, "Lost" ends in Jesus' arms.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Obadiah 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHY GOD HATES PRIDE
Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them” (Proverbs 26:12). God hates pride. How do we explain God’s abhorrence of the haughty heart? Simple. God resists the proud because the proud resist God. Arrogance will not admit to sin. The heart of pride never confesses, never repents, never asks for forgiveness. Pride is the hidden reef that shipwrecks the soul.
Pride comes at a high price. Don’t pay it. Choose instead to stand on the offer of grace. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Isn’t it easy to see why? Humility is happy to do what pride will not. The humble heart is quick to acknowledge the need for God, eager to confess sin, willing to kneel before heaven’s mighty hand. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
Obadiah 1
Obadiah’s Message to Edom
from God, the Master.
We got the news straight from God
by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations:
“On your feet, prepare for battle;
get ready to make war on Edom!
2-4 “Listen to this, Edom:
I’m turning you to a no-account,
the runt of the godless nations, despised.
You thought you were so great,
perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain,
Thinking to yourself,
‘Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!’
Think again. Even if, like an eagle,
you hang out on a high cliff-face,
Even if you build your nest in the stars,
I’ll bring you down to earth.”
God’s sure Word.
5-14 “If thieves crept up on you,
they’d rob you blind—isn’t that so?
If they mugged you on the streets at night,
they’d pick you clean—isn’t that so?
Oh, they’ll take Esau apart, piece by piece,
empty his purse and pockets.
All your old partners will drive you to the edge.
Your old friends will lie to your face.
Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back.
Your world will collapse. You won’t know what hit you.
So don’t be surprised”—it’s God’s sure Word!—
“when I wipe out all sages from Edom
and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.
Your great heroes will desert you, Teman.
There’ll be nobody left in Esau’s mountains.
Because of the murderous history compiled
against your brother Jacob,
You will be looked down on by everyone.
You’ll lose your place in history.
On that day you stood there and didn’t do anything.
Strangers took your brother’s army into exile.
Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem.
You stood there and watched.
You were as bad as they were.
You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother
when he was down-and-out.
You shouldn’t have laughed and joked at Judah’s sons
when they were facedown in the mud.
You shouldn’t have talked so big
when everything was so bad.
You shouldn’t have taken advantage of my people
when their lives had fallen apart.
You of all people should not have been amused
by their troubles, their wrecked nation.
You shouldn’t have taken the shirt off their back
when they were knocked flat, defenseless.
And you shouldn’t have stood waiting at the outskirts
and cut off refugees,
And traitorously turned in helpless survivors
who had lost everything.
15-18 “God’s Judgment Day is near
for all the godless nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
What you did will boomerang back
and hit your own head.
Just as you partied on my holy mountain,
all the godless nations will drink God’s wrath.
They’ll drink and drink and drink—
they’ll drink themselves to death.
But not so on Mount Zion—there’s respite there!
a safe and holy place!
The family of Jacob will take back their possessions
from those who took them from them.
That’s when the family of Jacob will catch fire,
the family of Joseph become fierce flame,
while the family of Esau will be straw.
Esau will go up in flames,
nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes.”
God said it, and it is so.
19-21 People from the south will take over the Esau mountains;
people from the foothills will overrun the Philistines.
They’ll take the farms of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will take Gilead.
Earlier, Israelite exiles will come back
and take Canaanite land to the north at Zarephath.
Jerusalem exiles from the far northwest in Sepharad
will come back and take the cities in the south.
The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion
will go into the mountains of Esau
And rule justly and fairly,
a rule that honors God’s kingdom.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 4:13–17
oasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen,f you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”g 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.h 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,i we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.j 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Insight
James warns the rich against arrogant boasting, a worldly and materialistic outlook, and exploiting the poor (James 4:13–17; 5:1–6). Instead of helping believers who were suffering because of persecution, rich believers were exploiting them (2:5–7). In contrast, we’re to use our material wealth to do good (4:15–17). James reminded self-confident and arrogant wealthy believers who believed they had the future in their hands not only to be aware of the uncertainties, brevity, and frailty of life, but also to trust in God who controls it (v. 14). Alluding to Christ’s parable of the rich man in Luke 12:16–21, he warns that trusting in their own selves is sin. The apostle Paul gave similar advice in 1 Timothy 6:17–19.
Unexpected Change
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. James 4:14
In January 1943, warm Chinook winds hit Spearfish, South Dakota, quickly raising the temperatures from –4° to 45°F (–20° to 7°C). That drastic weather change—a swing of 49 degrees—took place in just two minutes. The widest temperature change recorded in the USA over a twenty-four-hour period is an incredible 103 degrees! On January 15, 1972, Loma, Montana, saw the temperature jump from -54° to 49°F (–48° to 9°C).
Sudden change, however, is not simply a weather phenomenon. It’s sometimes the very nature of life. James reminds us, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow” (4:13–14). An unexpected loss. A surprise diagnosis. A financial reversal. Sudden changes.
Life is a journey with many unpredictable elements. This is precisely why James warns us to turn from “arrogant schemes” (v. 16) that do not take the Almighty into account. As he advised us, “You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’ ” (v. 15). The events of our lives may be uncertain, but one thing is sure: through all of life’s unexpected moments, our God will never leave us. He’s our one constant throughout life. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
When facing sudden change, how do you respond? What do you think an appropriate faith response to life’s surprises should look like?
Father, forgive me for the times I worry over things I couldn’t anticipate or can’t control, and help me to find my rest in You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 27, 2020
The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus
Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11
“The well is deep” — and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.
The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
Bible in a Year: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Drinking Dirt - #8644
When you use our kitchen sink, you might notice this little contraption attached to the faucet. It's one of those sophisticated water filters. Before the water arrives in your glass or your container, it passes through that filter. I don't like surprises in my H2O, you know? I don't know about you, but I don't. I was amazed the first time we took that filter off to clean it. Oh, it needed lots of cleaning! It had screened out of our drinking water this layer of dirty stuff. I didn't even want to think about that stuff going into my body. Let's hear it for the filter!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drinking Dirt."
That's actually what a lot of people are doing - drinking dirt. Mentally, that is. Just letting a lot of things that are spiritually and morally impure pour right into their soul - un-filtered input, like drinking dirt. And if you belong to Jesus Christ, the dirt is rushing into what the Bible describes as the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God literally lives in you through His Holy Spirit. That's Holy Spirit. Dirty stuff should never defile His temple.
In fact, our word for today from the Word of God, tells us that God clearly commands us to filter what's coming in. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." A lot of times we either don't have a spiritual filter for what we see and hear. Or we have a pretty wide screen on that filter; one porous enough to let in a lot that has no place in a heart or mind that's owned by Jesus and inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God.
Sometimes it takes a child to show us "sophisticated" adults how we should be living. There was a time when the teacher was a five-year-old in our family - our grandson. Yeah, he was watching a whole new crop of kids' shows. You know, the old days of Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers are gone; and yes, Big Bird. Well, he's still flying around Sesame Street I guess. But then we started learning about Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, a tomato named Bob, a cucumber named Larry.
Well, anyway, that was going on when our five-year-old grandson had a few favorites he liked to watch. There was one he watched almost every day. But he walked over to the television one day and did something he didn't do with this program that he likes a lot. He turned it off in the middle of the show. The story was starting to involve some ghost and witch stuff. When Daddy asked our grandson why he had turned off one of his favorites, he just said, "It was a bad one, Daddy."
You know, the radar of a five-year-old boy in whom Jesus lives. He knew that no matter how much he liked the show, no matter how many shows they have when there's nothing bad, when it is bad, it isn't for him. That's a model for Jesus-followers of any age. But all too often, we watch portrayed, or we read about, or we listen to something that is part of the sin that Jesus had to die for.
The Bible says He carried our sins in His body on the tree "that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24). So what business do we have letting in things that portray premarital sex, or adultery, or occult practices that the Bible calls an "abomination," or that portrays violence, or disrespect for God and His Son? You can't turn on the TV or video, go to a website and then turn off being a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're most likely to let in the garbage when it's wrapped in a package that's funny, or entertaining, or brilliant, or clever, or popular. Satan's no dummy! He comes in under the radar, like a Stealth Bomber, when your guard is down.
It's not to be taken lightly when God gives a command that says, "Above all else..." He does in Proverbs 4:23 - "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart as the spiritual reservoir from which you drink all day
long. If it's a "bad one," you've got to turn it off if you're serious about really being His man or woman.
If you don't want to let dirt into the Holy Spirit's house, filter what you let come in. You wouldn't unknowingly let your mouth drink dirt. Well, then, don't let your soul do it!
Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them” (Proverbs 26:12). God hates pride. How do we explain God’s abhorrence of the haughty heart? Simple. God resists the proud because the proud resist God. Arrogance will not admit to sin. The heart of pride never confesses, never repents, never asks for forgiveness. Pride is the hidden reef that shipwrecks the soul.
Pride comes at a high price. Don’t pay it. Choose instead to stand on the offer of grace. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Isn’t it easy to see why? Humility is happy to do what pride will not. The humble heart is quick to acknowledge the need for God, eager to confess sin, willing to kneel before heaven’s mighty hand. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
Obadiah 1
Obadiah’s Message to Edom
from God, the Master.
We got the news straight from God
by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations:
“On your feet, prepare for battle;
get ready to make war on Edom!
2-4 “Listen to this, Edom:
I’m turning you to a no-account,
the runt of the godless nations, despised.
You thought you were so great,
perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain,
Thinking to yourself,
‘Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!’
Think again. Even if, like an eagle,
you hang out on a high cliff-face,
Even if you build your nest in the stars,
I’ll bring you down to earth.”
God’s sure Word.
5-14 “If thieves crept up on you,
they’d rob you blind—isn’t that so?
If they mugged you on the streets at night,
they’d pick you clean—isn’t that so?
Oh, they’ll take Esau apart, piece by piece,
empty his purse and pockets.
All your old partners will drive you to the edge.
Your old friends will lie to your face.
Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back.
Your world will collapse. You won’t know what hit you.
So don’t be surprised”—it’s God’s sure Word!—
“when I wipe out all sages from Edom
and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.
Your great heroes will desert you, Teman.
There’ll be nobody left in Esau’s mountains.
Because of the murderous history compiled
against your brother Jacob,
You will be looked down on by everyone.
You’ll lose your place in history.
On that day you stood there and didn’t do anything.
Strangers took your brother’s army into exile.
Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem.
You stood there and watched.
You were as bad as they were.
You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother
when he was down-and-out.
You shouldn’t have laughed and joked at Judah’s sons
when they were facedown in the mud.
You shouldn’t have talked so big
when everything was so bad.
You shouldn’t have taken advantage of my people
when their lives had fallen apart.
You of all people should not have been amused
by their troubles, their wrecked nation.
You shouldn’t have taken the shirt off their back
when they were knocked flat, defenseless.
And you shouldn’t have stood waiting at the outskirts
and cut off refugees,
And traitorously turned in helpless survivors
who had lost everything.
15-18 “God’s Judgment Day is near
for all the godless nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
What you did will boomerang back
and hit your own head.
Just as you partied on my holy mountain,
all the godless nations will drink God’s wrath.
They’ll drink and drink and drink—
they’ll drink themselves to death.
But not so on Mount Zion—there’s respite there!
a safe and holy place!
The family of Jacob will take back their possessions
from those who took them from them.
That’s when the family of Jacob will catch fire,
the family of Joseph become fierce flame,
while the family of Esau will be straw.
Esau will go up in flames,
nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes.”
God said it, and it is so.
19-21 People from the south will take over the Esau mountains;
people from the foothills will overrun the Philistines.
They’ll take the farms of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will take Gilead.
Earlier, Israelite exiles will come back
and take Canaanite land to the north at Zarephath.
Jerusalem exiles from the far northwest in Sepharad
will come back and take the cities in the south.
The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion
will go into the mountains of Esau
And rule justly and fairly,
a rule that honors God’s kingdom.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
James 4:13–17
oasting About Tomorrow
13 Now listen,f you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”g 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.h 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,i we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.j 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Insight
James warns the rich against arrogant boasting, a worldly and materialistic outlook, and exploiting the poor (James 4:13–17; 5:1–6). Instead of helping believers who were suffering because of persecution, rich believers were exploiting them (2:5–7). In contrast, we’re to use our material wealth to do good (4:15–17). James reminded self-confident and arrogant wealthy believers who believed they had the future in their hands not only to be aware of the uncertainties, brevity, and frailty of life, but also to trust in God who controls it (v. 14). Alluding to Christ’s parable of the rich man in Luke 12:16–21, he warns that trusting in their own selves is sin. The apostle Paul gave similar advice in 1 Timothy 6:17–19.
Unexpected Change
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. James 4:14
In January 1943, warm Chinook winds hit Spearfish, South Dakota, quickly raising the temperatures from –4° to 45°F (–20° to 7°C). That drastic weather change—a swing of 49 degrees—took place in just two minutes. The widest temperature change recorded in the USA over a twenty-four-hour period is an incredible 103 degrees! On January 15, 1972, Loma, Montana, saw the temperature jump from -54° to 49°F (–48° to 9°C).
Sudden change, however, is not simply a weather phenomenon. It’s sometimes the very nature of life. James reminds us, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow” (4:13–14). An unexpected loss. A surprise diagnosis. A financial reversal. Sudden changes.
Life is a journey with many unpredictable elements. This is precisely why James warns us to turn from “arrogant schemes” (v. 16) that do not take the Almighty into account. As he advised us, “You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’ ” (v. 15). The events of our lives may be uncertain, but one thing is sure: through all of life’s unexpected moments, our God will never leave us. He’s our one constant throughout life. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
When facing sudden change, how do you respond? What do you think an appropriate faith response to life’s surprises should look like?
Father, forgive me for the times I worry over things I couldn’t anticipate or can’t control, and help me to find my rest in You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 27, 2020
The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus
Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11
“The well is deep” — and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.
The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
Bible in a Year: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Drinking Dirt - #8644
When you use our kitchen sink, you might notice this little contraption attached to the faucet. It's one of those sophisticated water filters. Before the water arrives in your glass or your container, it passes through that filter. I don't like surprises in my H2O, you know? I don't know about you, but I don't. I was amazed the first time we took that filter off to clean it. Oh, it needed lots of cleaning! It had screened out of our drinking water this layer of dirty stuff. I didn't even want to think about that stuff going into my body. Let's hear it for the filter!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drinking Dirt."
That's actually what a lot of people are doing - drinking dirt. Mentally, that is. Just letting a lot of things that are spiritually and morally impure pour right into their soul - un-filtered input, like drinking dirt. And if you belong to Jesus Christ, the dirt is rushing into what the Bible describes as the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God literally lives in you through His Holy Spirit. That's Holy Spirit. Dirty stuff should never defile His temple.
In fact, our word for today from the Word of God, tells us that God clearly commands us to filter what's coming in. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." A lot of times we either don't have a spiritual filter for what we see and hear. Or we have a pretty wide screen on that filter; one porous enough to let in a lot that has no place in a heart or mind that's owned by Jesus and inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God.
Sometimes it takes a child to show us "sophisticated" adults how we should be living. There was a time when the teacher was a five-year-old in our family - our grandson. Yeah, he was watching a whole new crop of kids' shows. You know, the old days of Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers are gone; and yes, Big Bird. Well, he's still flying around Sesame Street I guess. But then we started learning about Dora the Explorer, Bob the Builder, a tomato named Bob, a cucumber named Larry.
Well, anyway, that was going on when our five-year-old grandson had a few favorites he liked to watch. There was one he watched almost every day. But he walked over to the television one day and did something he didn't do with this program that he likes a lot. He turned it off in the middle of the show. The story was starting to involve some ghost and witch stuff. When Daddy asked our grandson why he had turned off one of his favorites, he just said, "It was a bad one, Daddy."
You know, the radar of a five-year-old boy in whom Jesus lives. He knew that no matter how much he liked the show, no matter how many shows they have when there's nothing bad, when it is bad, it isn't for him. That's a model for Jesus-followers of any age. But all too often, we watch portrayed, or we read about, or we listen to something that is part of the sin that Jesus had to die for.
The Bible says He carried our sins in His body on the tree "that we might die to sins" (1 Peter 2:24). So what business do we have letting in things that portray premarital sex, or adultery, or occult practices that the Bible calls an "abomination," or that portrays violence, or disrespect for God and His Son? You can't turn on the TV or video, go to a website and then turn off being a temple of the Holy Spirit. We're most likely to let in the garbage when it's wrapped in a package that's funny, or entertaining, or brilliant, or clever, or popular. Satan's no dummy! He comes in under the radar, like a Stealth Bomber, when your guard is down.
It's not to be taken lightly when God gives a command that says, "Above all else..." He does in Proverbs 4:23 - "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Guard your heart as the spiritual reservoir from which you drink all day
long. If it's a "bad one," you've got to turn it off if you're serious about really being His man or woman.
If you don't want to let dirt into the Holy Spirit's house, filter what you let come in. You wouldn't unknowingly let your mouth drink dirt. Well, then, don't let your soul do it!
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
2 Chronicles 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHEN YOU SPEAK, GOD LISTENS
You may find yourself in an impossible situation; outnumbered and outmaneuvered. You want to quit. Could I implore you to memorize this promise and ask God to bring it to mind? Write it where you’ll find it. Tattoo it, if not on your skin, at least on your heart…“When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16).
If you’ve taken on the name of Christ, you have clout with the most powerful being in the universe. When you speak, God listens. Jesus said, “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action” (Matthew 18:19).
Prayer is just the first step! God has power you’ve never seen, strength you’ve never known; and he delights in answering prayer! And… because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable.
2 Chronicles 21
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the family cemetery in the City of David. Jehoram his son was the next king.
2-4 Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Their father had lavished them with gifts—silver, gold, and other valuables, plus the fortress cities in Judah. But Jehoram was his firstborn son and he gave him the kingdom of Judah. But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.
5-7 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. God considered him an evil man. But despite that, because of his covenant with David, God was not yet ready to destroy the descendants of David; he had, after all, promised to keep a light burning for David and his sons.
8-9 During Jehoram’s reign, Edom revolted from Judah’s rule and set up their own king. Jehoram responded by setting out with his officers and chariots. Edom surrounded him, but in the middle of the night he and his charioteers broke through the lines and hit Edom hard.
10-11 Edom continues in revolt against Judah right up to the present. Even little Libnah revolted at that time. The evidence accumulated: Since Jehoram had abandoned God, the God of his ancestors, God was abandoning him. He even went so far as to build pagan sacred shrines in the mountains of Judah. He brazenly led Jerusalem away from God, seducing the whole country.
12-15 One day he got a letter from Elijah the prophet. It read, “From God, the God of your ancestor David—a message: Because you have not kept to the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and Asa your grandfather, kings of Judah, but have taken up with the ways of the kings of Israel in the north, leading Judah and Jerusalem away from God, going step by step down the apostate path of Ahab and his crew—why, you even killed your own brothers, all of them better men than you!—God is going to afflict your people, your wives, your sons, and everything you have with a terrible plague. And you are going to come down with a terrible disease of the colon, painful and humiliating.”
16-20 The trouble started with an invasion. God incited the Philistines and the Arabs who lived near the Ethiopians to attack Jehoram. They came to the borders of Judah, forced their way in, and plundered the place—robbing the royal palace of everything in it including his wives and sons. One son, his youngest, Ahaziah, was left behind. The terrible and fatal disease in his colon followed. After about two years he was totally incontinent and died writhing in pain. His people didn’t honor him by lighting a great bonfire, as was customary with his ancestors. He was thirty-two years old when he became king and reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. There were no tears shed when he died—it was good riddance!—and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Philippians 4:4–9
Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!o 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.p 6 Do not be anxious about anything,q but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.r 7 And the peace of God,s which transcends all understanding,t will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.u And the God of peacev will be with you.
Insight
Unlike many of Paul’s other epistles, his letter to the Philippians doesn’t seem to be a response to a serious crisis or conflict within the congregation (only one relational conflict is mentioned in 4:2). Instead, Paul’s primary motivation seems to be to express his deep gratitude for the support of the Philippian believers (vv. 14–18) as well as to rejoice with and encourage a greatly loved community of faith. The tone of the letter conveys that he shares a unique spirit of comradery and trust with this faith community, which he describes as his “joy and crown” (v. 1). Paul senses with these believers a deep unity as those who “share in God’s grace” (1:7). Instead of focusing on addressing weaknesses within the congregation, he’s able to joyfully encourage them to go deeper in their walk with Christ (v. 27), learning to experience joy in Christ even when suffering (v. 29). By: Monica La Rose
Thoughts of Joy
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4
In What We Keep, a collection of interviews by Bill Shapiro, each person tells of a single item that holds such importance and joy that he or she would never part with it.
This caused me to reflect on the possessions that mean the most to me and bring me joy. One is a simple forty-year-old recipe card in my mom’s handwriting. Another is one of my grandma’s pink teacups. Other people may value treasured memories—a compliment that encouraged them, a grandchild’s giggle, or a special insight they gleaned from Scripture.
What we often keep stashed away in our hearts, though, are things that have brought us great unhappiness: Anxiety—hidden, but easily retrieved. Anger—below the surface, but ready to strike. Resentment—silently corroding the core of our thoughts.
The apostle Paul addressed a more positive way to “think” in a letter to the church at Philippi. He encouraged the people of the church to always rejoice, to be gentle, and to bring everything to God in prayer (Philippians 4:4–9).
Paul’s uplifting words on what to think about helps us see that it’s possible to push out dark thoughts and allow the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (v. 7). It’s when the thoughts that fill up our minds are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy that we keep His peace in our hearts (v. 8). By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
What unwelcome thoughts have stubbornly taken residence in my mind and heart? What’s one way I can daily fill up my mind with good things?
Guide my thoughts this day, O God, as You hold my heart and life in Your care.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Our Misgivings About Jesus
The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep." —John 4:11
Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Challenger's Challenge For Us - #8643
It still sickens me to see it on a news replay. Those plumes of smoke over Cape Canaveral - the awful trail from what had been the Space Shuttle "Challenger." Teacher Christa McCauliffe and six other crew members were gone before our eyes. Hard to believe it was so many years ago. Hard to believe the memories and the feelings are still so vivid.
Once we had mourned those devastating losses, the national outcry was, "What happened? How could something like this happen?" The answer was found by an investigative commission, and it seemed so simple it was almost surreal. The shuttle blew up and seven American heroes died because a little "O-ring" seal on the solid-fuel rocket failed. An O-ring did this???
According to the commission report, it turns out that space officials had ignored warnings about the possible flaws in that seal. And so, something very small caused a disaster that was very big.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Challenger's Challenge For Us."
That happens a lot in our personal lives where something very small can cause a very big disaster. The life of a family, a church, a business, a ministry. You ignore a small problem, and ultimately everything blows up. A little "innocent" flirtation today becomes the betrayal of adultery you could never have imagined. You let the "sun go down on your anger" as Ephesians 4:27 says. Just tonight. Never dreaming that "stuffed" bitterness will grow into a bomb that can shatter your marriage. You put off dealing with a "small" problem until it morphs into a conflict that can ruin everything. Under pressure, you make a couple of small compromises in telling the truth, in doing everything with integrity - and later you drink the bitter cup of the trust you lost.
It's just so easy to bury it or ignore it because it seems so small. After all, you're on a mission, and who's got time for little malfunctions? You can be sure that ultimately you'll have time for it - when it's a raging inferno. When it's too big to ignore, maybe too big to fix.
So in our word for today from the Word of God in Song of Solomon 2:15, the Bible says it is "the little foxes that ruin the vineyards." So today would be a good day for me to look at my anchor relationships, my work, my personal walk with God and ask myself, "Is there a small problem that I've put off dealing with? It's not going to go away just because I ignore it." It will never be smaller than it is today. It will never be easier to deal than it is today. I don't need any more explosions from what I could have fixed when it was small.
I think about the people who have Jesus in the category of "something I'll deal with later." People who consider the sin-wall between us and God something that just doesn't seem as important as today's screaming agenda. You know, in reality, we have nothing more important to get settled than getting right with God. Nothing more urgent than facing Jesus and saying, "You died for me. I'm Yours."
And maybe all the hurriedness and the busyness and the trivia of life have kept you from getting eternity settled with Jesus. Would you do that today? He died for you. He rose again from the dead to show you He can guarantee you heaven. Today, say, "Jesus, I'm finally dealing with the most important thing in the whole world - You. And I'm yours."
Our website will help you do that. That's why it's there. It's ANewStory.com, and I urge you to go there today.
The bill for putting things off is unthinkably high. Especially if you're putting off God.
You may find yourself in an impossible situation; outnumbered and outmaneuvered. You want to quit. Could I implore you to memorize this promise and ask God to bring it to mind? Write it where you’ll find it. Tattoo it, if not on your skin, at least on your heart…“When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16).
If you’ve taken on the name of Christ, you have clout with the most powerful being in the universe. When you speak, God listens. Jesus said, “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action” (Matthew 18:19).
Prayer is just the first step! God has power you’ve never seen, strength you’ve never known; and he delights in answering prayer! And… because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable.
2 Chronicles 21
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the family cemetery in the City of David. Jehoram his son was the next king.
2-4 Jehoram’s brothers were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah—the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Their father had lavished them with gifts—silver, gold, and other valuables, plus the fortress cities in Judah. But Jehoram was his firstborn son and he gave him the kingdom of Judah. But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.
5-7 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. God considered him an evil man. But despite that, because of his covenant with David, God was not yet ready to destroy the descendants of David; he had, after all, promised to keep a light burning for David and his sons.
8-9 During Jehoram’s reign, Edom revolted from Judah’s rule and set up their own king. Jehoram responded by setting out with his officers and chariots. Edom surrounded him, but in the middle of the night he and his charioteers broke through the lines and hit Edom hard.
10-11 Edom continues in revolt against Judah right up to the present. Even little Libnah revolted at that time. The evidence accumulated: Since Jehoram had abandoned God, the God of his ancestors, God was abandoning him. He even went so far as to build pagan sacred shrines in the mountains of Judah. He brazenly led Jerusalem away from God, seducing the whole country.
12-15 One day he got a letter from Elijah the prophet. It read, “From God, the God of your ancestor David—a message: Because you have not kept to the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and Asa your grandfather, kings of Judah, but have taken up with the ways of the kings of Israel in the north, leading Judah and Jerusalem away from God, going step by step down the apostate path of Ahab and his crew—why, you even killed your own brothers, all of them better men than you!—God is going to afflict your people, your wives, your sons, and everything you have with a terrible plague. And you are going to come down with a terrible disease of the colon, painful and humiliating.”
16-20 The trouble started with an invasion. God incited the Philistines and the Arabs who lived near the Ethiopians to attack Jehoram. They came to the borders of Judah, forced their way in, and plundered the place—robbing the royal palace of everything in it including his wives and sons. One son, his youngest, Ahaziah, was left behind. The terrible and fatal disease in his colon followed. After about two years he was totally incontinent and died writhing in pain. His people didn’t honor him by lighting a great bonfire, as was customary with his ancestors. He was thirty-two years old when he became king and reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. There were no tears shed when he died—it was good riddance!—and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Philippians 4:4–9
Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!o 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.p 6 Do not be anxious about anything,q but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.r 7 And the peace of God,s which transcends all understanding,t will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.u And the God of peacev will be with you.
Insight
Unlike many of Paul’s other epistles, his letter to the Philippians doesn’t seem to be a response to a serious crisis or conflict within the congregation (only one relational conflict is mentioned in 4:2). Instead, Paul’s primary motivation seems to be to express his deep gratitude for the support of the Philippian believers (vv. 14–18) as well as to rejoice with and encourage a greatly loved community of faith. The tone of the letter conveys that he shares a unique spirit of comradery and trust with this faith community, which he describes as his “joy and crown” (v. 1). Paul senses with these believers a deep unity as those who “share in God’s grace” (1:7). Instead of focusing on addressing weaknesses within the congregation, he’s able to joyfully encourage them to go deeper in their walk with Christ (v. 27), learning to experience joy in Christ even when suffering (v. 29). By: Monica La Rose
Thoughts of Joy
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4
In What We Keep, a collection of interviews by Bill Shapiro, each person tells of a single item that holds such importance and joy that he or she would never part with it.
This caused me to reflect on the possessions that mean the most to me and bring me joy. One is a simple forty-year-old recipe card in my mom’s handwriting. Another is one of my grandma’s pink teacups. Other people may value treasured memories—a compliment that encouraged them, a grandchild’s giggle, or a special insight they gleaned from Scripture.
What we often keep stashed away in our hearts, though, are things that have brought us great unhappiness: Anxiety—hidden, but easily retrieved. Anger—below the surface, but ready to strike. Resentment—silently corroding the core of our thoughts.
The apostle Paul addressed a more positive way to “think” in a letter to the church at Philippi. He encouraged the people of the church to always rejoice, to be gentle, and to bring everything to God in prayer (Philippians 4:4–9).
Paul’s uplifting words on what to think about helps us see that it’s possible to push out dark thoughts and allow the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (v. 7). It’s when the thoughts that fill up our minds are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy that we keep His peace in our hearts (v. 8). By: Cindy Hess Kasper
Reflect & Pray
What unwelcome thoughts have stubbornly taken residence in my mind and heart? What’s one way I can daily fill up my mind with good things?
Guide my thoughts this day, O God, as You hold my heart and life in Your care.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Our Misgivings About Jesus
The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep." —John 4:11
Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Challenger's Challenge For Us - #8643
It still sickens me to see it on a news replay. Those plumes of smoke over Cape Canaveral - the awful trail from what had been the Space Shuttle "Challenger." Teacher Christa McCauliffe and six other crew members were gone before our eyes. Hard to believe it was so many years ago. Hard to believe the memories and the feelings are still so vivid.
Once we had mourned those devastating losses, the national outcry was, "What happened? How could something like this happen?" The answer was found by an investigative commission, and it seemed so simple it was almost surreal. The shuttle blew up and seven American heroes died because a little "O-ring" seal on the solid-fuel rocket failed. An O-ring did this???
According to the commission report, it turns out that space officials had ignored warnings about the possible flaws in that seal. And so, something very small caused a disaster that was very big.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Challenger's Challenge For Us."
That happens a lot in our personal lives where something very small can cause a very big disaster. The life of a family, a church, a business, a ministry. You ignore a small problem, and ultimately everything blows up. A little "innocent" flirtation today becomes the betrayal of adultery you could never have imagined. You let the "sun go down on your anger" as Ephesians 4:27 says. Just tonight. Never dreaming that "stuffed" bitterness will grow into a bomb that can shatter your marriage. You put off dealing with a "small" problem until it morphs into a conflict that can ruin everything. Under pressure, you make a couple of small compromises in telling the truth, in doing everything with integrity - and later you drink the bitter cup of the trust you lost.
It's just so easy to bury it or ignore it because it seems so small. After all, you're on a mission, and who's got time for little malfunctions? You can be sure that ultimately you'll have time for it - when it's a raging inferno. When it's too big to ignore, maybe too big to fix.
So in our word for today from the Word of God in Song of Solomon 2:15, the Bible says it is "the little foxes that ruin the vineyards." So today would be a good day for me to look at my anchor relationships, my work, my personal walk with God and ask myself, "Is there a small problem that I've put off dealing with? It's not going to go away just because I ignore it." It will never be smaller than it is today. It will never be easier to deal than it is today. I don't need any more explosions from what I could have fixed when it was small.
I think about the people who have Jesus in the category of "something I'll deal with later." People who consider the sin-wall between us and God something that just doesn't seem as important as today's screaming agenda. You know, in reality, we have nothing more important to get settled than getting right with God. Nothing more urgent than facing Jesus and saying, "You died for me. I'm Yours."
And maybe all the hurriedness and the busyness and the trivia of life have kept you from getting eternity settled with Jesus. Would you do that today? He died for you. He rose again from the dead to show you He can guarantee you heaven. Today, say, "Jesus, I'm finally dealing with the most important thing in the whole world - You. And I'm yours."
Our website will help you do that. That's why it's there. It's ANewStory.com, and I urge you to go there today.
The bill for putting things off is unthinkably high. Especially if you're putting off God.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
2 Corinthians 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PRAYERS MATTER TO GOD
God delights in hearing your prayers! We can’t even get the plumber to call us back, so why would God listen to our prayers? Your prayers matter to God because you matter to God. You aren’t just anybody, you are his child.
When God saved you, he enlisted you. He gave not only forgiveness for your past but also authority in the present and a role in the future. This life is on-the-job training for eternity. “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12).
When you, as God’s child, seek to honor the family business, God hears your requests. Will God do what you ask? Perhaps. Or perhaps he will do more than you imagined. He knows what is best. Stand firmly on this promise– “When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16). And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 7
With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.
2-4 Trust us. We’ve never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone. Don’t think I’m finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I’m with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.
5-7 When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn’t settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn’t relax because we didn’t know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!
8-9 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
10 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
11-13 And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That’s what happened—and we felt just great.
13-16 And then, when we saw how Titus felt—his exuberance over your response—our joy doubled. It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did. If I went out on a limb in telling Titus how great I thought you were, you didn’t cut off that limb. As it turned out, I hadn’t exaggerated one bit. Titus saw for himself that everything I had said about you was true. He can’t quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn’t be more pleased—I’m so confident and proud of you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Timothy 6:6–11
But godliness with contentmenty is great gain.z 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.a 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.b 9 Those who want to get richc fall into temptation and a trapd and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of moneye is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faithf and pierced themselves with many griefs.g
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God,h flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness,i faith, love,j endurance and gentleness.
Insight
Paul’s words to Timothy about money reflect his words in Acts 20:35 where he quotes Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Yet nowhere in the New Testament do we hear Jesus saying those exact words. So where did Paul get them? One possibility is that he was quoting an oral tradition passed down from eyewitnesses. Another is that Paul was just saying in his own words what he learned from the life and words of Jesus.
Paul had been educated in a system that tended to produce leaders who loved money at the expense of the poor (Luke 16:14; 20:46–47). It took a dramatic conversion of his soul to be able to hear and believe what Jesus said by both word and example—that the net worth of our lives isn’t determined by how much we possess (12:15). By: Mart DeHaan
Rich Toward God
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
Growing up during the Great Depression, my parents knew deep hardship as children. As a result, they were hard-working and grateful money stewards. But they were never greedy. They gave time, talent, and treasury to their church, charity groups, and the needy. Indeed, they handled their money wisely and gave cheerfully.
As believers in Jesus, my parents took to heart the apostle Paul’s warning: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).
Paul gave this advice to Timothy, the young pastor of the city of Ephesus, a wealthy city where riches tempted all.
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” Paul warned. “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (v. 10).
What, then, is the antidote to greed? Being “rich toward God,” said Jesus (see Luke 12:13–21). By pursuing, appreciating, and loving our heavenly Father above all, He remains our chief delight. As the psalmist wrote, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).
Rejoicing in Him daily relieves us of coveting, leaving us contented. May Jesus redeem our heart’s desires, making us rich toward God! By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How have you mishandled money, or made it more than it ought to be? How might you give your financial concerns to God this day?
Satisfy us in the morning, God, with Your unfailing love—replacing our greed with holy hunger for You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
The Destitution of Service
…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
When There's Nothing Left to Hold - #8642
It was a stark picture of what's happening on Indian reservations across this country. It was the funeral of another Native American young person. There are so many of them, and I've been to too many of them. Their number one cause of death is accidental death. It's often attributable to alcohol or drugs, honestly, followed by suicide, and then homicide. Seventy-five percent of Native young people die a violent death, and James was one of those. Our On Eagles' Wings team of Native young people had brought the hope that they have found in Jesus Christ to his reservation. Later, James and his brother actually traveled with our team to other reservations in the early years of our ministry there. But one deadly night, James became one of those awful statistics. We were honored to be invited by his family to the wake, the funeral and the burial in a small tribal cemetery. The men there stepped up to the open grave and they threw a handful of dirt on James' casket. Then most of the folks there left, except for his family and a few close friends. We stayed. There was a large, homemade wooden cross at the head of the grave. I'll never forget the scene of James' brother, visibly just shattered by shock and grief, hugging and just resting all his weight on that cross, like hanging onto it for dear life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When There's Nothing Left to Hold."
For a grieving brother, for so many of us in moments when we've lost what we never thought we could live without, there's one thing to hold onto that has supported broken people for 2,000 years. It is that cross where God's Son died a shameful public death, bearing the grief and the payment for every sinful thing ever done on this planet.
Several years ago, I toured the Catacombs beneath the Appian Way in Rome - the underground caverns where thousands of early Christians are buried in the sandstone walls; people who died rather than renounce this Savior who had died for them. In those sandstone walls, those brave first followers of Jesus inscribed some of the earliest Christian symbols including what we now know as the anchor cross. It's a cross that has a loop at the bottom - You've probably seen it - thus making it resemble an anchor. How appropriate for those back then who didn't know if they would live another day, and who had buried so many that they loved. That cross was their anchor, as it was for a grieving young Native American by his brother's reservation grave, 20 centuries later.
It's an anchor because of the victory that was won that dark day on Skull Hill. In Hebrews 2:9 and verse 18, our word for today from the Word of God, we learn that Jesus "suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." Translation: Jesus took your hell so you could go to His heaven. He did this, the Bible says, "so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Later, this same book says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
The question is, do you have this anchor for your soul? Yes, you have that anchor if you've grabbed the One who died on that cross as your only hope of having your sins forgiven. But if you've never done that, you're missing the one love you'll never lose; the One who can guarantee that you will see again whoever belongs to Him; the only One who can heal your broken heart. There has to b
e that "for me" moment when you look at that cross and say with all your heart, "Jesus, what You did there was for me. And I'm turning from the sin You died for and I'm placing my total trust in You."
Look, our website is there to literally help you cross that line today. Go to it today - ANewStory.com.
It's a fact of life. We will ultimately lose whatever, or whoever, we've been hanging onto except for the love of Jesus Christ, poured out on that cross. It's not just a cross. It's the only anchor that will be there when there's nothing left to hold onto.
God delights in hearing your prayers! We can’t even get the plumber to call us back, so why would God listen to our prayers? Your prayers matter to God because you matter to God. You aren’t just anybody, you are his child.
When God saved you, he enlisted you. He gave not only forgiveness for your past but also authority in the present and a role in the future. This life is on-the-job training for eternity. “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12).
When you, as God’s child, seek to honor the family business, God hears your requests. Will God do what you ask? Perhaps. Or perhaps he will do more than you imagined. He knows what is best. Stand firmly on this promise– “When a believing person prays, great things happen” (James 5:16). And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 7
With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.
2-4 Trust us. We’ve never hurt a soul, never exploited or taken advantage of anyone. Don’t think I’m finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I’m with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles.
5-7 When we arrived in Macedonia province, we couldn’t settle down. The fights in the church and the fears in our hearts kept us on pins and needles. We couldn’t relax because we didn’t know how it would turn out. Then the God who lifts up the downcast lifted our heads and our hearts with the arrival of Titus. We were glad just to see him, but the true reassurance came in what he told us about you: how much you cared, how much you grieved, how concerned you were for me. I went from worry to tranquility in no time!
8-9 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
10 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
11-13 And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That’s what happened—and we felt just great.
13-16 And then, when we saw how Titus felt—his exuberance over your response—our joy doubled. It was wonderful to see how revived and refreshed he was by everything you did. If I went out on a limb in telling Titus how great I thought you were, you didn’t cut off that limb. As it turned out, I hadn’t exaggerated one bit. Titus saw for himself that everything I had said about you was true. He can’t quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn’t be more pleased—I’m so confident and proud of you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Timothy 6:6–11
But godliness with contentmenty is great gain.z 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.a 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.b 9 Those who want to get richc fall into temptation and a trapd and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of moneye is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faithf and pierced themselves with many griefs.g
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God,h flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness,i faith, love,j endurance and gentleness.
Insight
Paul’s words to Timothy about money reflect his words in Acts 20:35 where he quotes Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Yet nowhere in the New Testament do we hear Jesus saying those exact words. So where did Paul get them? One possibility is that he was quoting an oral tradition passed down from eyewitnesses. Another is that Paul was just saying in his own words what he learned from the life and words of Jesus.
Paul had been educated in a system that tended to produce leaders who loved money at the expense of the poor (Luke 16:14; 20:46–47). It took a dramatic conversion of his soul to be able to hear and believe what Jesus said by both word and example—that the net worth of our lives isn’t determined by how much we possess (12:15). By: Mart DeHaan
Rich Toward God
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
Growing up during the Great Depression, my parents knew deep hardship as children. As a result, they were hard-working and grateful money stewards. But they were never greedy. They gave time, talent, and treasury to their church, charity groups, and the needy. Indeed, they handled their money wisely and gave cheerfully.
As believers in Jesus, my parents took to heart the apostle Paul’s warning: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).
Paul gave this advice to Timothy, the young pastor of the city of Ephesus, a wealthy city where riches tempted all.
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” Paul warned. “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (v. 10).
What, then, is the antidote to greed? Being “rich toward God,” said Jesus (see Luke 12:13–21). By pursuing, appreciating, and loving our heavenly Father above all, He remains our chief delight. As the psalmist wrote, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).
Rejoicing in Him daily relieves us of coveting, leaving us contented. May Jesus redeem our heart’s desires, making us rich toward God! By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How have you mishandled money, or made it more than it ought to be? How might you give your financial concerns to God this day?
Satisfy us in the morning, God, with Your unfailing love—replacing our greed with holy hunger for You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
The Destitution of Service
…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15
Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
When There's Nothing Left to Hold - #8642
It was a stark picture of what's happening on Indian reservations across this country. It was the funeral of another Native American young person. There are so many of them, and I've been to too many of them. Their number one cause of death is accidental death. It's often attributable to alcohol or drugs, honestly, followed by suicide, and then homicide. Seventy-five percent of Native young people die a violent death, and James was one of those. Our On Eagles' Wings team of Native young people had brought the hope that they have found in Jesus Christ to his reservation. Later, James and his brother actually traveled with our team to other reservations in the early years of our ministry there. But one deadly night, James became one of those awful statistics. We were honored to be invited by his family to the wake, the funeral and the burial in a small tribal cemetery. The men there stepped up to the open grave and they threw a handful of dirt on James' casket. Then most of the folks there left, except for his family and a few close friends. We stayed. There was a large, homemade wooden cross at the head of the grave. I'll never forget the scene of James' brother, visibly just shattered by shock and grief, hugging and just resting all his weight on that cross, like hanging onto it for dear life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When There's Nothing Left to Hold."
For a grieving brother, for so many of us in moments when we've lost what we never thought we could live without, there's one thing to hold onto that has supported broken people for 2,000 years. It is that cross where God's Son died a shameful public death, bearing the grief and the payment for every sinful thing ever done on this planet.
Several years ago, I toured the Catacombs beneath the Appian Way in Rome - the underground caverns where thousands of early Christians are buried in the sandstone walls; people who died rather than renounce this Savior who had died for them. In those sandstone walls, those brave first followers of Jesus inscribed some of the earliest Christian symbols including what we now know as the anchor cross. It's a cross that has a loop at the bottom - You've probably seen it - thus making it resemble an anchor. How appropriate for those back then who didn't know if they would live another day, and who had buried so many that they loved. That cross was their anchor, as it was for a grieving young Native American by his brother's reservation grave, 20 centuries later.
It's an anchor because of the victory that was won that dark day on Skull Hill. In Hebrews 2:9 and verse 18, our word for today from the Word of God, we learn that Jesus "suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." Translation: Jesus took your hell so you could go to His heaven. He did this, the Bible says, "so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Later, this same book says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
The question is, do you have this anchor for your soul? Yes, you have that anchor if you've grabbed the One who died on that cross as your only hope of having your sins forgiven. But if you've never done that, you're missing the one love you'll never lose; the One who can guarantee that you will see again whoever belongs to Him; the only One who can heal your broken heart. There has to b
e that "for me" moment when you look at that cross and say with all your heart, "Jesus, what You did there was for me. And I'm turning from the sin You died for and I'm placing my total trust in You."
Look, our website is there to literally help you cross that line today. Go to it today - ANewStory.com.
It's a fact of life. We will ultimately lose whatever, or whoever, we've been hanging onto except for the love of Jesus Christ, poured out on that cross. It's not just a cross. It's the only anchor that will be there when there's nothing left to hold onto.
Monday, February 24, 2020
2 Chronicles 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHEN YOU FACE A WALL OF FEAR
Perhaps standing before you is a wall of fear. Brick upon brick of anxiety and dread. Haunting you are the kings of confusion. Thanks to them, you’ve struggled with your identity and destiny. You’ve bought the lie that life has no absolutes or purpose. As a child of God, it comes down to a simple decision to believe and receive your position as an heir of God and coheir with Christ.
“In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:17). Our inheritance is every bit as abundant as that of Jesus himself. What he receives, we receive. What message are you carving on that wall of fear? What words are you writing? Choose hope, not despair. Choose life, not death. Choose God’s promises. You’re a new person so live like one! Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 20
Some time later the Moabites and Ammonites, accompanied by Meunites, joined forces to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received this intelligence report: “A huge force is on its way from beyond the Dead Sea to fight you. There’s no time to waste—they’re already at Hazazon Tamar, the oasis of En Gedi.”
3-4 Shaken, Jehoshaphat prayed. He went to God for help and ordered a nationwide fast. The country of Judah united in seeking God’s help—they came from all the cities of Judah to pray to God.
5-9 Then Jehoshaphat took a position before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at The Temple of God in front of the new courtyard and said, “O God, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below? You hold all power and might in your fist—no one stands a chance against you! And didn’t you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor you, saying, ‘When the worst happens—whether war or flood or disease or famine—and we take our place before this Temple (we know you are personally present in this place!) and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory.’
10-12 “And now it’s happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn’t let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn’t lay a hand on them. And now they’ve come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won’t you take care of them? We’re helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don’t know what to do; we’re looking to you.”
13 Everyone in Judah was there—little children, wives, sons—all present and attentive to God.
14-17 Then Jahaziel was moved by the Spirit of God to speak from the midst of the congregation. (Jahaziel was the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah the Levite of the Asaph clan.) He said, “Attention everyone—all of you from out of town, all you from Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat—God’s word: Don’t be afraid; don’t pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God’s war, not yours. Tomorrow you’ll go after them; see, they’re already on their way up the slopes of Ziz; you’ll meet them at the end of the ravine near the wilderness of Jeruel. You won’t have to lift a hand in this battle; just stand firm, Judah and Jerusalem, and watch God’s saving work for you take shape. Don’t be afraid, don’t waver. March out boldly tomorrow—God is with you.”
18-19 Then Jehoshaphat knelt down, bowing with his face to the ground. All Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping God. The Levites (both Kohathites and Korahites) stood to their feet to praise God, the God of Israel; they praised at the top of their lungs!
20 They were up early in the morning, ready to march into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were leaving, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen Judah and Jerusalem! Listen to what I have to say! Believe firmly in God, your God, and your lives will be firm! Believe in your prophets and you’ll come out on top!”
21 After talking it over with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed a choir for God; dressed in holy robes, they were to march ahead of the troops, singing,
Give thanks to God,
His love never quits.
22-23 As soon as they started shouting and praising, God set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir as they were attacking Judah, and they all ended up dead. The Ammonites and Moabites mistakenly attacked those from Mount Seir and massacred them. Then, further confused, they went at each other, and all ended up killed.
24 As Judah came up over the rise, looking into the wilderness for the horde of barbarians, they looked on a killing field of dead bodies—not a living soul among them.
25-26 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry off the plunder they found more loot than they could carry off—equipment, clothing, valuables. It took three days to cart it away! On the fourth day they came together at the Valley of Blessing (Beracah) and blessed God (that’s how it got the name, Valley of Blessing).
27-28 Jehoshaphat then led all the men of Judah and Jerusalem back to Jerusalem—an exuberant parade. God had given them joyful relief from their enemies! They entered Jerusalem and came to The Temple of God with all the instruments of the band playing.
29-30 When the surrounding kingdoms got word that God had fought Israel’s enemies, the fear of God descended on them. Jehoshaphat heard no more from them; as long as Jehoshaphat reigned, peace reigned.
31-33 That about sums up Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and ruled as king in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He continued the kind of life characteristic of his father Asa—no detours, no dead-ends—pleasing God with his life. But he failed to get rid of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines—people continued to pray and worship at these idolatrous god shops.
34 The rest of Jehoshaphat’s life, from start to finish, is written in the memoirs of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the Royal Annals of Israel’s Kings.
35-37 Late in life Jehoshaphat formed a trading syndicate with Ahaziah king of Israel—which was very wrong of him to do. He went in as partner with him to build ocean-going ships at Ezion Geber to trade with Tarshish. Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah preached against Jehoshaphat’s venture: “Because you joined forces with Ahaziah, God has shipwrecked your work.” The ships were smashed and nothing ever came of the trade partnership.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 24, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 5:1–20
Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.a 2 When Jesus got out of the boat,p a man with an impure spiritq came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,r Jesus, Son of the Most High God?s In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,”t he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legionu of demons,v sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell themw how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolisb x how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
Insight
Demons believe in God, but their belief isn’t saving faith (James 2:19). They know Jesus is the “Son of the Most High God” who has authority over them (Mark 5:7; also 1:24) and that He’ll send them to the abyss (Matthew 25:41; Luke 8:31). Jews believe the abyss or “the place of the dead” (Romans 10:7 nlt) is the underworld prison of evil spirits or fallen angels, a place of torture and torment (Matthew 8:29; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
Liberated by Jesus
[He] began to tell . . . how much Jesus had done for him. Mark 5:20
“I lived with my mother so long that she moved out!” Those were the words of KC, whose life before sobriety and surrender to Jesus was not pretty. He candidly admits supporting his drug habit by stealing—even from loved ones. That life is behind him now and he rehearses this by noting the years, months, and days he’s been clean. When KC and I regularly sit down to study God’s Word together, l’m looking at a changed man.
Mark 5:15 speaks of a former demon-possessed individual who had also been changed. Prior to his healing, helpless, hopeless, homeless, and desperate are words that fit the man (vv. 3–5). But all of that changed after Jesus liberated him (v. 13). But, as with KC, his life before Jesus was far from normal. His internal turmoil that he expressed externally is not unlike what people experience today. Some hurting people dwell in abandoned buildings, vehicles, or other places; some live in their own homes but are emotionally alone. Invisible chains shackle hearts and minds to the point that they distance themselves from others.
In Jesus, we have the One who can be trusted with our pain and the shame of the past and present. And, as with Legion and KC, He waits with open arms of mercy for all who run to Him today (v. 19). By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
How has Jesus changed you? Who do you know that needs to hear about it?
God, I’m so grateful that, through Jesus, things that controlled me in the past can indeed remain in the past.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 24, 2020
The Delight of Sacrifice
I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 24, 2020
Defiant Defense - #8641
Both our boys played high school football if I signed the permission slip. My wife was not willing to sign on for what football might do to the bodies of her sons. And the more that's happening in the news these days, the wiser she looks. Well, part of the standard preparation for the next week's game was to study films of their upcoming opponent. You wanted to see how they operated because, well, you wanted to know how to defend against them. Most teams have a coach who is called the "defensive coordinator." It's a good idea to have a coordinated defense, or else your opponent is going to run right through you or right over you, which doesn't go over well with a mom who didn't even want to sign the permission slip!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Defiant Defense."
The Bible makes it clear that, if you belong to Jesus Christ, His opponent is your opponent. Of course, that's the destroyer, Satan, who wanted you in hell with him forever. He lost you forever the day you put your trust in Jesus. But he didn't quit playing against you. No, now he wants to use you to try to shame the Savior who died for you. He wants to keep you enslaved to the old you and keep you from ever really making any difference for Christ.
Thankfully, we have the great Defensive Coordinator in heaven who has laid out for us the strategy for thwarting the devil's attacks on us. In its simplest form, it's there in James 4:7, our word for today from the Word of God. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you."
Sadly, our opponent is used to us surrendering to his temptations as he pushes all those buttons that have always helped him have his way with you. We don't resist the devil, we respond to the devil. But what if we actually do say, "Hey, I'm not going there." He runs. It doesn't say "resist the devil and he will fight you." It says he will "flee from you."
You've seen the points where the devil's scored on your life when you haven't defended against him. You know what works. You know all the important ground you've lost. If you're ready to resist him, then you need to know how. Here's how to effectively defend against the opponent who wants to take everything from you. First, you have to recognize it's him. You say, "Devil, I know who's behind this temptation, and I'm just not going there this time." Ephesians 6:12 says "our struggle is not against flesh and blood," but against the spiritual forces of hell itself.
The second step in resisting the devil is to announce the changes that you're committed to make, or as Ephesians 6:11 says, "Take your stand against the devil's schemes." You have to tell the people you've sinned with that things are going to be different from now on. You're on the line now to take your stand. Then, you have to stop the devil at the door. Or, "do not give the devil a foothold," as Ephesians 4:27 says. Say "no" to that very first compromise, no matter how small.
Then, you also need to starve the darkness. Ephesians 5:11, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness." Avoid the music, the shows, the websites, the people, the places, the influences that just feed that dark side that you're trying to defeat.
Ultimately, resisting the devil means that you turn your weakness over to the winner. Each day, you consciously and completely tell Jesus, "I can't beat this, but you can. And I'm surrendering it again to you for this new day." Because, as the Bible says, "The Son of God appeared...to destroy the works of the evil one" (1 John 3:8). Including his works that have always destroyed you. Resisting in the Holy Spirit's power - that's your defense. Jesus is your offense.
You've been complying with the devil long enough, haven't you? Isn't it time you started defying the one who hates you? You don't have to be his little puppet anymore!
Perhaps standing before you is a wall of fear. Brick upon brick of anxiety and dread. Haunting you are the kings of confusion. Thanks to them, you’ve struggled with your identity and destiny. You’ve bought the lie that life has no absolutes or purpose. As a child of God, it comes down to a simple decision to believe and receive your position as an heir of God and coheir with Christ.
“In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:17). Our inheritance is every bit as abundant as that of Jesus himself. What he receives, we receive. What message are you carving on that wall of fear? What words are you writing? Choose hope, not despair. Choose life, not death. Choose God’s promises. You’re a new person so live like one! Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 20
Some time later the Moabites and Ammonites, accompanied by Meunites, joined forces to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received this intelligence report: “A huge force is on its way from beyond the Dead Sea to fight you. There’s no time to waste—they’re already at Hazazon Tamar, the oasis of En Gedi.”
3-4 Shaken, Jehoshaphat prayed. He went to God for help and ordered a nationwide fast. The country of Judah united in seeking God’s help—they came from all the cities of Judah to pray to God.
5-9 Then Jehoshaphat took a position before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at The Temple of God in front of the new courtyard and said, “O God, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below? You hold all power and might in your fist—no one stands a chance against you! And didn’t you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor you, saying, ‘When the worst happens—whether war or flood or disease or famine—and we take our place before this Temple (we know you are personally present in this place!) and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory.’
10-12 “And now it’s happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn’t let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn’t lay a hand on them. And now they’ve come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won’t you take care of them? We’re helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don’t know what to do; we’re looking to you.”
13 Everyone in Judah was there—little children, wives, sons—all present and attentive to God.
14-17 Then Jahaziel was moved by the Spirit of God to speak from the midst of the congregation. (Jahaziel was the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah the Levite of the Asaph clan.) He said, “Attention everyone—all of you from out of town, all you from Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat—God’s word: Don’t be afraid; don’t pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God’s war, not yours. Tomorrow you’ll go after them; see, they’re already on their way up the slopes of Ziz; you’ll meet them at the end of the ravine near the wilderness of Jeruel. You won’t have to lift a hand in this battle; just stand firm, Judah and Jerusalem, and watch God’s saving work for you take shape. Don’t be afraid, don’t waver. March out boldly tomorrow—God is with you.”
18-19 Then Jehoshaphat knelt down, bowing with his face to the ground. All Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping God. The Levites (both Kohathites and Korahites) stood to their feet to praise God, the God of Israel; they praised at the top of their lungs!
20 They were up early in the morning, ready to march into the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were leaving, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Listen Judah and Jerusalem! Listen to what I have to say! Believe firmly in God, your God, and your lives will be firm! Believe in your prophets and you’ll come out on top!”
21 After talking it over with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed a choir for God; dressed in holy robes, they were to march ahead of the troops, singing,
Give thanks to God,
His love never quits.
22-23 As soon as they started shouting and praising, God set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir as they were attacking Judah, and they all ended up dead. The Ammonites and Moabites mistakenly attacked those from Mount Seir and massacred them. Then, further confused, they went at each other, and all ended up killed.
24 As Judah came up over the rise, looking into the wilderness for the horde of barbarians, they looked on a killing field of dead bodies—not a living soul among them.
25-26 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry off the plunder they found more loot than they could carry off—equipment, clothing, valuables. It took three days to cart it away! On the fourth day they came together at the Valley of Blessing (Beracah) and blessed God (that’s how it got the name, Valley of Blessing).
27-28 Jehoshaphat then led all the men of Judah and Jerusalem back to Jerusalem—an exuberant parade. God had given them joyful relief from their enemies! They entered Jerusalem and came to The Temple of God with all the instruments of the band playing.
29-30 When the surrounding kingdoms got word that God had fought Israel’s enemies, the fear of God descended on them. Jehoshaphat heard no more from them; as long as Jehoshaphat reigned, peace reigned.
31-33 That about sums up Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and ruled as king in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He continued the kind of life characteristic of his father Asa—no detours, no dead-ends—pleasing God with his life. But he failed to get rid of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines—people continued to pray and worship at these idolatrous god shops.
34 The rest of Jehoshaphat’s life, from start to finish, is written in the memoirs of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the Royal Annals of Israel’s Kings.
35-37 Late in life Jehoshaphat formed a trading syndicate with Ahaziah king of Israel—which was very wrong of him to do. He went in as partner with him to build ocean-going ships at Ezion Geber to trade with Tarshish. Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah preached against Jehoshaphat’s venture: “Because you joined forces with Ahaziah, God has shipwrecked your work.” The ships were smashed and nothing ever came of the trade partnership.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 24, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Mark 5:1–20
Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.a 2 When Jesus got out of the boat,p a man with an impure spiritq came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,r Jesus, Son of the Most High God?s In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,”t he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legionu of demons,v sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell themw how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolisb x how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
Insight
Demons believe in God, but their belief isn’t saving faith (James 2:19). They know Jesus is the “Son of the Most High God” who has authority over them (Mark 5:7; also 1:24) and that He’ll send them to the abyss (Matthew 25:41; Luke 8:31). Jews believe the abyss or “the place of the dead” (Romans 10:7 nlt) is the underworld prison of evil spirits or fallen angels, a place of torture and torment (Matthew 8:29; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
Liberated by Jesus
[He] began to tell . . . how much Jesus had done for him. Mark 5:20
“I lived with my mother so long that she moved out!” Those were the words of KC, whose life before sobriety and surrender to Jesus was not pretty. He candidly admits supporting his drug habit by stealing—even from loved ones. That life is behind him now and he rehearses this by noting the years, months, and days he’s been clean. When KC and I regularly sit down to study God’s Word together, l’m looking at a changed man.
Mark 5:15 speaks of a former demon-possessed individual who had also been changed. Prior to his healing, helpless, hopeless, homeless, and desperate are words that fit the man (vv. 3–5). But all of that changed after Jesus liberated him (v. 13). But, as with KC, his life before Jesus was far from normal. His internal turmoil that he expressed externally is not unlike what people experience today. Some hurting people dwell in abandoned buildings, vehicles, or other places; some live in their own homes but are emotionally alone. Invisible chains shackle hearts and minds to the point that they distance themselves from others.
In Jesus, we have the One who can be trusted with our pain and the shame of the past and present. And, as with Legion and KC, He waits with open arms of mercy for all who run to Him today (v. 19). By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
How has Jesus changed you? Who do you know that needs to hear about it?
God, I’m so grateful that, through Jesus, things that controlled me in the past can indeed remain in the past.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 24, 2020
The Delight of Sacrifice
I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 24, 2020
Defiant Defense - #8641
Both our boys played high school football if I signed the permission slip. My wife was not willing to sign on for what football might do to the bodies of her sons. And the more that's happening in the news these days, the wiser she looks. Well, part of the standard preparation for the next week's game was to study films of their upcoming opponent. You wanted to see how they operated because, well, you wanted to know how to defend against them. Most teams have a coach who is called the "defensive coordinator." It's a good idea to have a coordinated defense, or else your opponent is going to run right through you or right over you, which doesn't go over well with a mom who didn't even want to sign the permission slip!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Defiant Defense."
The Bible makes it clear that, if you belong to Jesus Christ, His opponent is your opponent. Of course, that's the destroyer, Satan, who wanted you in hell with him forever. He lost you forever the day you put your trust in Jesus. But he didn't quit playing against you. No, now he wants to use you to try to shame the Savior who died for you. He wants to keep you enslaved to the old you and keep you from ever really making any difference for Christ.
Thankfully, we have the great Defensive Coordinator in heaven who has laid out for us the strategy for thwarting the devil's attacks on us. In its simplest form, it's there in James 4:7, our word for today from the Word of God. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you."
Sadly, our opponent is used to us surrendering to his temptations as he pushes all those buttons that have always helped him have his way with you. We don't resist the devil, we respond to the devil. But what if we actually do say, "Hey, I'm not going there." He runs. It doesn't say "resist the devil and he will fight you." It says he will "flee from you."
You've seen the points where the devil's scored on your life when you haven't defended against him. You know what works. You know all the important ground you've lost. If you're ready to resist him, then you need to know how. Here's how to effectively defend against the opponent who wants to take everything from you. First, you have to recognize it's him. You say, "Devil, I know who's behind this temptation, and I'm just not going there this time." Ephesians 6:12 says "our struggle is not against flesh and blood," but against the spiritual forces of hell itself.
The second step in resisting the devil is to announce the changes that you're committed to make, or as Ephesians 6:11 says, "Take your stand against the devil's schemes." You have to tell the people you've sinned with that things are going to be different from now on. You're on the line now to take your stand. Then, you have to stop the devil at the door. Or, "do not give the devil a foothold," as Ephesians 4:27 says. Say "no" to that very first compromise, no matter how small.
Then, you also need to starve the darkness. Ephesians 5:11, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness." Avoid the music, the shows, the websites, the people, the places, the influences that just feed that dark side that you're trying to defeat.
Ultimately, resisting the devil means that you turn your weakness over to the winner. Each day, you consciously and completely tell Jesus, "I can't beat this, but you can. And I'm surrendering it again to you for this new day." Because, as the Bible says, "The Son of God appeared...to destroy the works of the evil one" (1 John 3:8). Including his works that have always destroyed you. Resisting in the Holy Spirit's power - that's your defense. Jesus is your offense.
You've been complying with the devil long enough, haven't you? Isn't it time you started defying the one who hates you? You don't have to be his little puppet anymore!
Sunday, February 23, 2020
2 Chronicles 19, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: We’ve Been Found Guilty
Romans 3:10 introduces an essential truth. “There is no one righteous, not even one. . .no one who seeks God. All have turned away, there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We must start where God starts. We won’t appreciate what grace does until we understand who we are. We are rebels. We deserve to die. Four prison walls, thickened with hurt, and hate, surround us. Incarcerated by our past, our low-road choices, and our high-minded pride. We have been found guilty.
Our executioner’s footsteps echo against stone walls. We don’t look up as he opens the door and begins to speak. We know what he’s going to say– “Time to pay for your sins.” But we hear something else. “You’re free to go. They took Jesus instead of you.” The light shines, the shackles are gone, and our crimes are pardoned.
What just happened? Grace happened!
From GRACE
2 Chronicles 19
But Jehoshaphat king of Judah got home safe and sound. Jehu, son of Hanani the seer, confronted King Jehoshaphat: “You have no business helping evil, cozying up to God-haters. Because you did this, God is good and angry with you. But you’re not all bad—you made a clean sweep of the polluting sex-and-religion shrines; and you were single-minded in seeking God.”
4 Jehoshaphat kept his residence in Jerusalem but made a regular round of visits among the people, from Beersheba in the south to Mount Ephraim in the north, urging them to return to God, the God of their ancestors.
5-7 And he was diligent in appointing judges in the land—each of the fortress cities had its judge. He charged the judges: “This is serious work; do it carefully. You are not merely judging between men and women; these are God’s judgments that you are passing on. Live in the fear of God—be most careful, for God hates dishonesty, partiality, and bribery.”
8-10 In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed Levites, priests, and family heads to decide on matters that had to do with worship and mediating local differences. He charged them: “Do your work in the fear of God; be dependable and honest in your duties. When a case comes before you involving any of your fellow citizens, whether it seems large (like murder) or small (like matters of interpretation of the law), you are responsible for warning them that they are dealing with God. Make that explicit, otherwise both you and they are going to be dealing with God’s wrath. Do your work well or you’ll end up being as guilty as they are.
11 “Amariah the chief priest is in charge of all cases regarding the worship of God; Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, is in charge of all civil cases; the Levites will keep order in the courts. Be bold and diligent. And God be with you as you do your best.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 53:1–6
Who has believed our messageu
and to whom has the armv of the Lord been revealed?w
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,x
and like a rooty out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearancez that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering,a and familiar with pain.b
Like one from whom people hidec their faces
he was despised,d and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,e
yet we considered him punished by God,f
stricken by him, and afflicted.g
5 But he was piercedh for our transgressions,i
he was crushedj for our iniquities;
the punishmentk that brought us peacel was on him,
and by his woundsm we are healed.n
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,o
each of us has turned to our own way;p
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquityq of us all.
Insight
Beginning in chapter 42 of Isaiah, we find many references to the “Servant of the Lord.” From chapters 42–48, the “Servant” sometimes refers to Israel or to a godly remnant with indirect references to Jesus Christ. But chapters 49–53 clearly indicate the “Servant” is Jesus. For example: The Servant’s extreme humiliation through a beating that grotesquely disfigures Him will be followed by such exaltation that men will bow in awe before Him (52:13–15; Philippians 2:1–11). The Servant will be despised and rejected because His appearance will differ from Jewish Messianic expectations (53:1–3). The Servant will suffer and die a violent death for our transgressions as the Lord lays on Him the suffering we deserve (vv. 4–6).
Adapted from Knowing God through Isaiah. Read it at discoveryseries.org/sb151.
Pierced Love
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Isaiah 53:5
She’d called. She’d texted. Now Carla stood outside her brother’s gated entry, unable to rouse him to answer. Burdened with depression and fighting addiction, her brother had hidden himself away in his home. In a desperate attempt to penetrate his isolation, Carla gathered several of his favorite foods along with encouraging Scriptures and lowered the bundle over the fence.
But as the package left her grip, it snagged on one of the gate spikes, tearing an opening and sending its contents onto the gravel below. Her well-intended, love-filled offering spilled out in seeming waste. Would her brother even notice her gift? Would it accomplish the mission of hope she’d intended? She can only hope and pray as she waits for his healing.
God so loved the world that—in essence—He lowered His one and only Son over the wall of our sin, bringing gifts of love and healing into our weary and withdrawn world (John 3:16). The prophet Isaiah predicted the cost of this act of love in Isaiah 53:5. This very Son would be “pierced for our transgressions, . . . crushed for our iniquities.” His wounds would bring the hope of ultimate healing. He took on Himself “the iniquity of us all” (v. 6).
Pierced by spikes for our sin and need, God’s gift of Jesus enters our days today with fresh power and perspective. What does His gift mean to you? By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God’s pierced love? How have you seen Him transform a broken life by His amazing grace?
Dear God, thank You for Your gift of Jesus, sent over the fences in my heart to meet my need today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 23, 2020
The Determination to Serve
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… —Matthew 20:28
Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “…ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.
Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Romans 3:10 introduces an essential truth. “There is no one righteous, not even one. . .no one who seeks God. All have turned away, there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We must start where God starts. We won’t appreciate what grace does until we understand who we are. We are rebels. We deserve to die. Four prison walls, thickened with hurt, and hate, surround us. Incarcerated by our past, our low-road choices, and our high-minded pride. We have been found guilty.
Our executioner’s footsteps echo against stone walls. We don’t look up as he opens the door and begins to speak. We know what he’s going to say– “Time to pay for your sins.” But we hear something else. “You’re free to go. They took Jesus instead of you.” The light shines, the shackles are gone, and our crimes are pardoned.
What just happened? Grace happened!
From GRACE
2 Chronicles 19
But Jehoshaphat king of Judah got home safe and sound. Jehu, son of Hanani the seer, confronted King Jehoshaphat: “You have no business helping evil, cozying up to God-haters. Because you did this, God is good and angry with you. But you’re not all bad—you made a clean sweep of the polluting sex-and-religion shrines; and you were single-minded in seeking God.”
4 Jehoshaphat kept his residence in Jerusalem but made a regular round of visits among the people, from Beersheba in the south to Mount Ephraim in the north, urging them to return to God, the God of their ancestors.
5-7 And he was diligent in appointing judges in the land—each of the fortress cities had its judge. He charged the judges: “This is serious work; do it carefully. You are not merely judging between men and women; these are God’s judgments that you are passing on. Live in the fear of God—be most careful, for God hates dishonesty, partiality, and bribery.”
8-10 In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed Levites, priests, and family heads to decide on matters that had to do with worship and mediating local differences. He charged them: “Do your work in the fear of God; be dependable and honest in your duties. When a case comes before you involving any of your fellow citizens, whether it seems large (like murder) or small (like matters of interpretation of the law), you are responsible for warning them that they are dealing with God. Make that explicit, otherwise both you and they are going to be dealing with God’s wrath. Do your work well or you’ll end up being as guilty as they are.
11 “Amariah the chief priest is in charge of all cases regarding the worship of God; Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, is in charge of all civil cases; the Levites will keep order in the courts. Be bold and diligent. And God be with you as you do your best.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 53:1–6
Who has believed our messageu
and to whom has the armv of the Lord been revealed?w
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,x
and like a rooty out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearancez that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering,a and familiar with pain.b
Like one from whom people hidec their faces
he was despised,d and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,e
yet we considered him punished by God,f
stricken by him, and afflicted.g
5 But he was piercedh for our transgressions,i
he was crushedj for our iniquities;
the punishmentk that brought us peacel was on him,
and by his woundsm we are healed.n
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,o
each of us has turned to our own way;p
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquityq of us all.
Insight
Beginning in chapter 42 of Isaiah, we find many references to the “Servant of the Lord.” From chapters 42–48, the “Servant” sometimes refers to Israel or to a godly remnant with indirect references to Jesus Christ. But chapters 49–53 clearly indicate the “Servant” is Jesus. For example: The Servant’s extreme humiliation through a beating that grotesquely disfigures Him will be followed by such exaltation that men will bow in awe before Him (52:13–15; Philippians 2:1–11). The Servant will be despised and rejected because His appearance will differ from Jewish Messianic expectations (53:1–3). The Servant will suffer and die a violent death for our transgressions as the Lord lays on Him the suffering we deserve (vv. 4–6).
Adapted from Knowing God through Isaiah. Read it at discoveryseries.org/sb151.
Pierced Love
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Isaiah 53:5
She’d called. She’d texted. Now Carla stood outside her brother’s gated entry, unable to rouse him to answer. Burdened with depression and fighting addiction, her brother had hidden himself away in his home. In a desperate attempt to penetrate his isolation, Carla gathered several of his favorite foods along with encouraging Scriptures and lowered the bundle over the fence.
But as the package left her grip, it snagged on one of the gate spikes, tearing an opening and sending its contents onto the gravel below. Her well-intended, love-filled offering spilled out in seeming waste. Would her brother even notice her gift? Would it accomplish the mission of hope she’d intended? She can only hope and pray as she waits for his healing.
God so loved the world that—in essence—He lowered His one and only Son over the wall of our sin, bringing gifts of love and healing into our weary and withdrawn world (John 3:16). The prophet Isaiah predicted the cost of this act of love in Isaiah 53:5. This very Son would be “pierced for our transgressions, . . . crushed for our iniquities.” His wounds would bring the hope of ultimate healing. He took on Himself “the iniquity of us all” (v. 6).
Pierced by spikes for our sin and need, God’s gift of Jesus enters our days today with fresh power and perspective. What does His gift mean to you? By: Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God’s pierced love? How have you seen Him transform a broken life by His amazing grace?
Dear God, thank You for Your gift of Jesus, sent over the fences in my heart to meet my need today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 23, 2020
The Determination to Serve
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… —Matthew 20:28
Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “…ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.
Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Saturday, February 22, 2020
2 Corinthians 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Spend Time with Him
C. S. Lewis wrote: “The moment you wake up each morning your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, letting that other, stronger, larger, quieter life come flowing in.”
Here’s how the psalmist began his day: “Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer” (Psalm 5:3).
Spend time waiting on God. And, at the end of the day, thank God for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take this assurance into your sleep: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.
From Just Like Jesus
2 Corinthians 6
Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us,
I heard your call in the nick of time;
The day you needed me, I was there to help.
Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Numbers 6:22–27
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to blessd the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless youe
and keep you;f
25 the Lord make his face shine on youg
and be gracious to you;h
26 the Lord turn his facei toward you
and give you peace.j” ’
27 “So they will put my namek on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Insight
The Aaronic priestly blessing of Numbers 6 is echoed in Psalm 67. It begins with a request for God’s favor: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us.” Three times the word bless is used (vv. 1, 6, 7). As in Numbers 6, the word translated “bless” is the Hebrew word barak. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, “To bless in the OT means ‘to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc.’ ”
Why the plea of Psalm 67:1? It’s not simply for the blessing of the nation Israel, but that through them God would be known among the nations: “So that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations” (v. 2). By: Arthur Jackson
Ancient Promises
The Lord bless you and keep you. Numbers 6:24
In 1979, Dr. Gabriel Barkay and his team discovered two silver scrolls in a burial ground outside the Old City of Jerusalem. In 2004, after twenty-five years of careful research, scholars confirmed that the scrolls were the oldest biblical text in existence, having been buried in 600 bc. What I find particularly moving is what the scrolls contain—the priestly blessing that God wanted spoken over His people: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you” (Numbers 6:24–25).
In giving this benediction, God showed Aaron and his sons (through Moses) how to bless the people on His behalf. The leaders were to memorize the words in the form God gave so they would speak to them just as God desired. Note how these words emphasize that God is the one who blesses, for three times they say, “the Lord.” And six times He says, “you,” reflecting just how much God wants His people to receive His love and favor.
Ponder for a moment that the oldest existing fragments of the Bible tell of God’s desire to bless. What a reminder of God’s boundless love and how He wants to be in a relationship with us. If you feel far from God today, hold tightly to the promise in these ancient words. May the Lord bless you; may the Lord keep you. By: Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to you that God desires to bless you? How can you share His love with others?
Father God, I give thanks for the many blessings You give to me. Help me to notice the ways You bring me joy and peace, that I might praise You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 22, 2020
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance
Be still, and know that I am God… —Psalm 46:10
Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).
Continue to persevere spiritually.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
C. S. Lewis wrote: “The moment you wake up each morning your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job of each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, letting that other, stronger, larger, quieter life come flowing in.”
Here’s how the psalmist began his day: “Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer” (Psalm 5:3).
Spend time waiting on God. And, at the end of the day, thank God for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take this assurance into your sleep: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.
From Just Like Jesus
2 Corinthians 6
Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us,
I heard your call in the nick of time;
The day you needed me, I was there to help.
Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
14-18 Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:
“I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Numbers 6:22–27
The Priestly Blessing
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to blessd the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless youe
and keep you;f
25 the Lord make his face shine on youg
and be gracious to you;h
26 the Lord turn his facei toward you
and give you peace.j” ’
27 “So they will put my namek on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Insight
The Aaronic priestly blessing of Numbers 6 is echoed in Psalm 67. It begins with a request for God’s favor: “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us.” Three times the word bless is used (vv. 1, 6, 7). As in Numbers 6, the word translated “bless” is the Hebrew word barak. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, “To bless in the OT means ‘to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc.’ ”
Why the plea of Psalm 67:1? It’s not simply for the blessing of the nation Israel, but that through them God would be known among the nations: “So that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations” (v. 2). By: Arthur Jackson
Ancient Promises
The Lord bless you and keep you. Numbers 6:24
In 1979, Dr. Gabriel Barkay and his team discovered two silver scrolls in a burial ground outside the Old City of Jerusalem. In 2004, after twenty-five years of careful research, scholars confirmed that the scrolls were the oldest biblical text in existence, having been buried in 600 bc. What I find particularly moving is what the scrolls contain—the priestly blessing that God wanted spoken over His people: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you” (Numbers 6:24–25).
In giving this benediction, God showed Aaron and his sons (through Moses) how to bless the people on His behalf. The leaders were to memorize the words in the form God gave so they would speak to them just as God desired. Note how these words emphasize that God is the one who blesses, for three times they say, “the Lord.” And six times He says, “you,” reflecting just how much God wants His people to receive His love and favor.
Ponder for a moment that the oldest existing fragments of the Bible tell of God’s desire to bless. What a reminder of God’s boundless love and how He wants to be in a relationship with us. If you feel far from God today, hold tightly to the promise in these ancient words. May the Lord bless you; may the Lord keep you. By: Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to you that God desires to bless you? How can you share His love with others?
Father God, I give thanks for the many blessings You give to me. Help me to notice the ways You bring me joy and peace, that I might praise You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 22, 2020
The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance
Be still, and know that I am God… —Psalm 46:10
Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.
If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).
Continue to persevere spiritually.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
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