Colossians 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WILL YOU BE SOMEONE FOR ANOTHER?

When disaster strikes, the human spirit responds by reaching out to help those afflicted.  People stand in line to give blood.  Rescue teams work for endless hours. But the most essential effort is accomplished by another valiant team.  Their task?  To gird the world with prayer. For the most part, we don’t even know their names.

Such is the case of someone who prayed on a day long ago. He went to Jesus on behalf of a friend who was sick. No one was more vital than the one who went to Jesus.  John writes, “So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick” (John 11:3 NCV).  Someone went to Jesus on behalf of Lazarus. And because someone went, Jesus responded!  Would you be someone for someone else?

Colossians 4

And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.

Pray for Open Doors
2-4 Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don’t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

5-6 Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

7-9 My good friend Tychicus will tell you all about me. He’s a trusted minister and companion in the service of the Master. I’ve sent him to you so that you would know how things are with us, and so he could encourage you in your faith. And I’ve sent Onesimus with him. Onesimus is one of you, and has become such a trusted and dear brother! Together they’ll bring you up-to-date on everything that has been going on here.

10-11 Aristarchus, who is in jail here with me, sends greetings; also Mark, cousin of Barnabas (you received a letter regarding him; if he shows up, welcome him); and also Jesus, the one they call Justus. These are the only ones left from the old crowd who have stuck with me in working for God’s kingdom. Don’t think they haven’t been a big help!

12-13 Epaphras, who is one of you, says hello. What a trooper he has been! He’s been tireless in his prayers for you, praying that you’ll stand firm, mature and confident in everything God wants you to do. I’ve watched him closely, and can report on how hard he has worked for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

14 Luke, good friend and physician, and Demas both send greetings.

15 Say hello to our friends in Laodicea; also to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

16 After this letter has been read to you, make sure it gets read also in Laodicea. And get the letter that went to Laodicea and have it read to you.

17 And, oh, yes, tell Archippus, “Do your best in the job you received from the Master. Do your very best.”

18 I’m signing off in my own handwriting—Paul. Remember to pray for me in this jail. Grace be with you.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, September 03, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 49:14–19

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
    the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate
    and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
    and those who devoured you will be far away.

Insight
The prophet Isaiah’s name means “Salvation is of the Lord,” which summarizes his emphasis in the book on prophecies about Christ. Isaiah also portrays God as the God of comfort. We see this theme particularly throughout the later chapters of Isaiah (chs. 40–66). In today’s passage (49:14–19), we see God’s assurance that He won’t forget or abandon His people (Israel and the church). In 43:1–2, God says He walks with us through our trials and gives us this assurance: “I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” In 44:21–24, God declares, “I will not forget you” and reminds us He “formed [us] in the womb.” In 46:4, He promises, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.” And finally, in 66:13, He assures us, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”

Irrational Fears
I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:15

It makes no logical sense, but when my parents died within a three-month period, I feared they would forget me. Of course they were no longer on earth, but that left me with a large uncertainty. I was a young, unmarried adult and wondered how to navigate life without them. Feeling really single and alone, I sought God.

One morning I told Him about my irrational fear and the sadness it brought (even though He knew it already). The Scripture passage that came from the devotional I read that day was Isaiah 49: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast . . . ? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (v. 15). God reassured His people through Isaiah that He had not forgotten them and later promised to restore them to Himself through sending His Son Jesus. But the words ministered to my heart too. It’s rare for a mother or a father to forget their child, yet it’s possible. But God? No way. “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,” He said.

God’s answer to me could have brought more fear. But the peace He gave because of His own remembrance of me was exactly what I needed. It was the start of discovering that God is even closer than a parent or anyone else, and He knows the way to help us with everything—even our irrational fears. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray
What fears do you face? How might you seek God’s help to address them?

Father, my emotions and fears can be overwhelming and controlling. Thank You for being kind by helping me with them.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 03, 2020
Pouring Out the Water of Satisfaction
He would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. —2 Samuel 23:16

What has been like “water from the well of Bethlehem” to you recently— love, friendship, or maybe some spiritual blessing (2 Samuel 23:16)? Have you taken whatever it may be, even at the risk of damaging your own soul, simply to satisfy yourself? If you have, then you cannot pour it out “to the Lord.” You can never set apart for God something that you desire for yourself to achieve your own satisfaction. If you try to satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you. You must sacrifice it, pouring it out to God— something that your common sense says is an absurd waste.

How can I pour out “to the Lord” natural love and spiritual blessings? There is only one way— I must make a determination in my mind to do so. There are certain things other people do that could never be received by someone who does not know God, because it is humanly impossible to repay them. As soon as I realize that something is too wonderful for me, that I am not worthy to receive it, and that it is not meant for a human being at all, I must pour it out “to the Lord.” Then these very things that have come to me will be poured out as “rivers of living water” all around me (John 7:38). And until I pour these things out to God, they actually endanger those I love, as well as myself, because they will be turned into lust. Yes, we can be lustful in things that are not sordid and vile. Even love must be transformed by being poured out “to the Lord.”

If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you hoarded it. Yet if you had poured it out to Him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. If you are always keeping blessings to yourself and never learning to pour out anything “to the Lord,” other people will never have their vision of God expanded through you.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed

Bible in a Year: Psalms 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 03, 2020
No Such Thing As a Secret - #8779

A friend of mine was commenting on what was then some recent news stories, and there was something very shocking and very violent and seemingly unexplainable that had happened within a family. It was an ugly story really. He concluded with a comment that was based on an old country song he knew, "No one knows what goes on behind closed doors." Actually, that's not true.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Such Thing As a Secret."

It's a fact that there are plenty of secrets behind closed doors. No one on earth probably knows the real you like the people you live with. They see you unmasked and unedited. There's some ugly stuff behind some of our closed doors. Then there are the things we do when no one seems to be watching or hearing; our secrets. I'm reminded of old commercials that advertised a resort city that said, "What you do here stays here."

Well, I've got some bad news for anyone who thinks their secrets are safe behind closed doors. Actually, I'll let the Bible give you the news. It's recorded in Romans 2:16. It's our word for today from the Word of God. The Bible talks about "...the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ." Guess what? Someone has been watching; someone has been listening. Someone knows everything that happens behind your closed doors. What you do there won't stay there. You'll meet it on Judgment Day - standing before the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He will, the Bible says, "bring to light what is hidden in darkness" (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Maybe you feel relieved that you haven't been caught. Wrong. If God knows, you're caught, and He does know. The Bible says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is...laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." All the dark secrets of our life will be "outed" and we will face the penalty for them. The Bible makes that penalty clear: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). That's death as in eternal separation from God and from His love.

Without a way to remove all the sins of my life from God's records, I have no hope of ever knowing God, of avoiding hell, and of ever living in His heaven. The Bible makes it clear there's no religion, no human goodness that can erase our sins. Amazingly, it was the very God we rebelled against who reached out to give us a way to belong to Him. A way that cost Him the most precious thing He had - His one and only Son. In God's own words, "He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). In other words, Jesus had all the guilt and all the hell of our sin and shame dumped on Him when He died on the cross; including the darkest secrets of your life and mine.

When He hung on that cross, He said, "Father, forgive them." I think He was thinking of us. God says, "Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sin through His name" (Acts 10:43). That could be you today if you'll acknowledge your sin - even the hidden sin - and grab Jesus like He's the only One who can rescue you spiritually.

Boy, I'll tell you, if you do that, imagine going to bed tonight knowing that you are clean and forgiven, knowing every sin has been erased from God's book forever. Knowing you're right with God. Knowing you're ready to meet Him whenever that time comes. You want this? You want to begin your relationship with Jesus that changes everything? Tell Him that. This is a faith transaction between you and the man who literally died for your sin.

I think our website might help you at a point like this, because we've loaded it up with the information you need in order to be sure you belong to Jesus Christ. A lot of people have found some help and encouragement there. I think you could too. Here's the address: ANewStory.com. Just go there today. I hope you check it out.

You're on the edge of something that you may have thought could never happen - a clean slate and a brand new beginning.