Malachi 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: HOW WIDE IS GOD’S LOVE - April 22, 2021

It’s nice to be included. You aren’t always. Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough. And sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough. But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of his love, he stretched one hand to the right and the other hand to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know he died loving you.

Surely there has to be a limit to this love. You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But David the adulterer never found it. Paul the murderer never found it. Peter the liar never found it. When it came to life, they hit bottom. But when it came to God’s love, they never did. How wide is God’s love? Wide enough for the whole world, and you’re included.

Malachi 4

The Sun of Righteousness Will Dawn
4 1-3 “Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash—a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking. And you’ll tromp on the wicked. They’ll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day.” God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

4 “Remember and keep the revelation I gave through my servant Moses, the revelation I commanded at Horeb for all Israel, all the rules and procedures for right living.

5-6 “But also look ahead: I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I’ll come and put the land under a curse.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3–7

Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

INSIGHT
Scholars believe Paul wrote at least four letters to the struggling group of believers in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 5:9–11, Paul alludes to a previous letter in which he warned them against associating with “anyone who claims to be a brother or sister [in Christ] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler.” In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul refers to a letter written between 1 and 2 Corinthians. “I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears,” he said of this missive (v. 4). Apparently, he used strong words in that letter in order to correct a problem of gross immorality in the church. This shines additional light on Paul’s opening words in 2 Corinthians, the last of the four letters. His timely words of comfort and encouragement in 1:3–7 show genuine love and leadership.

Visit ChristianUniversity.org/NT224 to learn more about the letters of First and Second Corinthians.

By Alyson Kieda
The God of All Comfort

[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Radamenes was just a kitten when his owner dropped him off at an animal shelter, thinking he was too ill to recover. The kitten was nursed back to health and adopted by the vet. He then became a fulltime resident at the shelter and now spends his days “comforting” cats and dogs—just out of surgery or recovering from an illness—through his warm presence and gentle purr.

That story is a small picture of what our loving God does for us—and what we can do for others in return. He cares for us in our sickness and struggles, and He soothes us with His presence. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians calls our God, “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (1:3). When we are discouraged, depressed, or mistreated, He’s there for us. When we turn to Him in prayer, He “comforts us in all our troubles” (v. 4).

But verse 4 doesn’t end there. Paul, who had experienced intense suffering, continues, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” Our Father comforts us, and when we’ve experienced His comfort, we’re enabled to comfort others.

Our compassionate Savior, who suffered for us, is more than able to comfort us in our suffering and distress (v. 5). He helps us through our pain and equips us to do the same for others.

When have you experienced God’s comfort during a difficult time? When have you offered God’s comfort to others?

Dear God, thank You for Your comforting presence in my pain and sorrow. Help me in turn to be a comfort to others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 22, 2021
The Light That Never Fails

We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me….But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.  Conformed to His Image, 357 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 22, 2021

It All Depends On the Delivery Person - #8943

I'm a newspaper man! Not a career journalist. I'm a guy who likes his newspaper. But, I have to admit I get frustrated occasionally when it's not there; which means the delivery guy either goofed up or goofed off. See, there are many reporters all around the world who worked to collect that news, and then there's this expensive process of getting it all laid out, and edited, and printed. And the products of all that expense and all that effort ends up on the doorstep of one delivery person; some man or woman who's going to deliver it. You know what? If they don't deliver it, all that expensive effort doesn't get to me...it never reaches me. You know something? We're all in the delivery business.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "It All Depends On the Delivery Person."

All right, let's climb in the time machine and go back through 20 centuries of people who have accepted Christ; millions and millions of followers of Christ, and go back to the very, very first one. At least it looks like he might be the first one. Where did it all begin?

We go back to John 1 for our word for today from the Word of God, and I'll read some excerpts to you. "The next day John" (that's John the Baptist) "was there again with two of His disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, 'Look, the Lamb of God.' Well, when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, 'What do you want?' They said, 'Rabbi, where are you staying?' He replied, 'Come and you will see.'"

Okay, this is how Andrew gets to Christ. And then verse 41 tells us that the first thing Andrew did - the first thing - was to go find his brother. His name was Simon, and he told him. "The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, 'Follow Me.'" He was a neighbor of Andrew and Peter. Then verse 45 says, "Philip found Nathaniel. And he said, 'We have found the one the prophets wrote about.' Nathaniel said, 'How can any good thing come from Nazareth?' And Philip said, 'Come and see.'"

You see what's going on here? The good news about Jesus is spreading as each of His followers becomes a delivery boy or a delivery girl as the case may be. So, Andrew goes and gets Simon, and apparently they have some contact with Philip. Philip goes and gets Nathaniel, and then his faith is born. That's how we got to be millions of followers of Christ. It started through a chain of each one reaching one; that "come and see" chain, that "check out Jesus" chain. Come on and check Him out! They're not trying to change people's religion or their bad habits. But if you say, "Would you just take a look at Jesus; just consider what He's like." Make it about Jesus.

Now, you are somewhere in the middle of that chain. Someone delivered the news to you, thank God, and changed your eternity. And now you're the deliverer for someone around you. Are you having the good news put on your doorstep but then undelivered? We tend to hope that they'll be reached without us maybe having to do it. Very few are. Even the research on the great ministry of someone as powerful as the late Billy Graham showed that over 80% of the people that were there, were there because of a friend they knew who was a Christian.

God's plan is that each of us steps up to our part in the "check out Jesus" chain. You're the link in the chain to someone, and you are the best hope of being in heaven, humanly speaking, is you. There's someone in your life that you're closer to than any other Christian on this planet. You're their link. The good news was very expensive; it cost God's Son His life. Through the centuries it reached you because of people who risked to pass it on, saving a life, and now it sits on your doorstep ready to be delivered.

Don't miss this chance. God has done His part, now it's all in the hands of the delivery person. That's you!