Zechariah 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Change Your Heart

A woman battles with depression. What's the solution suggested by some well-meaning friend? Buy yourself a new outfit! A husband is in an affair that brings him as much guilt as it does adventure. The solution? Hang out with people who don't make you feel guilty. Change your style. Get a new haircut. Case after case of treating the outside while ignoring the inside.
And the result? The woman gets a new outfit, and the depression disappears…for a day, maybe. The husband finds a bunch of buddies who sanction his adultery.  The result…peace, until the crowd's gone. Then the guilt is back. The exterior polished, the interior corroding. The outside altered, the inside faltering. One thing is clear. Cosmetic changes are only skin deep!
Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8).  And the message of the Beatitude is a clear one. You change your life by changing your heart!
From The Applause of Heaven

Zechariah 4

Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees

The Messenger-Angel again called me to attention. It was like being wakened out of deep sleep.

2-3 He said, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top. Seven lamps, each with seven spouts, are set on the bowl. And there are two olive trees, one on either side of the bowl.”

4 Then I asked the Messenger-Angel, “What does this mean, sir?”

5-7 The Messenger-Angel said, “Can’t you tell?”

“No, sir,” I said.

Then he said, “This is God’s Message to Zerubbabel: ‘You can’t force these things. They only come about through my Spirit,’ says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. ‘So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel you’re nothing but a molehill. He’ll proceed to set the Cornerstone in place, accompanied by cheers: Yes! Yes! Do it!’”

8-10 After that, the Word of God came to me: “Zerubbabel started rebuilding this Temple and he will complete it. That will be your confirmation that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me to you. Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!”

Going back to the vision, the Messenger-Angel said, “The seven lamps are the eyes of God probing the dark corners of the world like searchlights.”

11-12 “And the two olive trees on either side of the lampstand?” I asked. “What’s the meaning of them? And while you’re at it, the two branches of the olive trees that feed oil to the lamps—what do they mean?”

13 He said, “You haven’t figured that out?”

I said, “No, sir.”

14 He said, “These are the two who stand beside the Master of the whole earth and supply golden lamp oil worldwide.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Read: Romans 12:9–21

Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes
Romans 12:16 Or willing to do menial work
Romans 12:19 Deut. 32:35
Romans 12:20 Prov. 25:21,22

INSIGHT
A distinctive of Paul’s letters is that they contain both biblical doctrine (teaching beliefs) and instruction on practical living. Having explained what the gospel is in Romans 1–11, in chapters 12–16, Paul applies it to the everyday relationships of the believer in Jesus, including our relationship with God (12:1–2), other believers (vv. 3–21), governing authorities (13:1–7), the community (vv. 8–14), the spiritually weak (14:1–15:3), and co-workers (ch. 16). Paul’s overarching emphasis in these five chapters is the importance of Christlike love in the life of the believer (12:9–10; 13:8–10; 14:15), for “love is the fulfillment of the law” (13:10). Today’s passage, Romans 12:9–21, may seem like a collection of unrelated sayings, but Paul is still talking about this love that reflects Jesus. Love for enemies (vv. 14–21) is the litmus test and demonstration of such a radical love (Matthew 5:43–48).

To learn more about the role forgiveness plays in a believer’s life, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF107.


A Future with Forgiveness By Monica La Rose
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

In 1994, when South Africa made the transition from government by apartheid (imposed racial segregation) to a democracy, it faced the difficult question of how to address the crimes committed under apartheid. The country’s leaders couldn’t ignore the past, but merely imposing harsh punishments on the guilty risked deepening the country’s wounds. As Desmond Tutu, the first black Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, explained in his book No Future Without Forgiveness, “We could very well have had justice, retributive justice, and had a South Africa lying in ashes.”

Through establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the new democracy chose the difficult path of pursuing truth, justice, and mercy. Those guilty of crimes were offered a path to restoration—if they were willing to confess their crimes and seek to make restitution. Only by courageously facing the truth could the country begin to find healing.

In a way, South Africa’s dilemma mirrors the struggle we all face. We’re called to pursue both justice and mercy (Micah 6:8), but mercy is often misunderstood to be a lack of accountability, while pursuing justice can become distorted into pursuing revenge.

Our only path forward is a love that not only “hates what is evil” (Romans 12:9) but also longs for the transformation and good of our “neighbor” (13:10). Through the power of Christ’s Spirit, we can learn what it means to have a future of overcoming evil with good (12:21).

When have you witnessed times when the goal of mercy and grace seemed distorted to enable injustice? When have you seen both justice and mercy working in harmony?

Loving God, when the pain and injustice around me breaks my heart, help me to still believe in Your love and power to transform and heal. Help me to point with my life to Your justice, mercy, and love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Do You See Your Calling?

…separated to the gospel of God… —Romans 1:1

Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell— it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.

Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when it pleased God, who separated me…” (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. “Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3).

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: Exodus 25-26; Matthew 20:17-34