Genesis 39 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Succeed at Home First

Quiet heroes dot the landscape of our society. They don't make the headlines, but they do sew the hemlines and check the outlines and stand on the sidelines. You won't find their names on the Nobel Prize short list, but you'll find their names on the carpool, and Bible teacher lists. They are parents!  Heroes!  Their kids call them mom. Dad.  And these moms and dads, more valuable than all the executives and lawmakers, quietly hold the world together.
Be numbered among them. Read books to your kids. Play ball while you can and they want you to. Make it your aim to watch every game they play, read every story they write, hear every recital in which they perform. Children spell love with four letters:  T-I-M-E. Not just quality time, but hang time, downtime, anytime, all the time! Cherish the children who share your name. Succeed at home first!

From Dad Time

Genesis 39

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   

Read: 1 John 1

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Footnotes:

    1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
    1 John 1:7 Or every

Insight
In today’s reading we see how God has provided a gracious means of cleansing us from our personal sins and reestablishing fellowship with God. It comes through confession of sin and redirecting our choices to the path of obedience (1 John 1:9).

The Big Comeback
By Bill Crowder

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9

Chad Pennington is a former American football player who has suffered multiple career-threatening injuries. Twice, his injuries forced him to endure surgery, months of physical therapy, and weeks of training to get back onto the field. Yet, both times he not only returned to playing but he also excelled at such a high level that he was named Comeback Player of the Year in the National Football League. For Pennington, his efforts were an expression of his determination to return to football.

Spiritually, when sin and failure break our relationship with God and sideline our service, determination alone is not what restores us to rightness with God and usefulness in His kingdom. When we are sidelined because of sin, the path to a comeback is confession as well. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

For us to be able to recover from our spiritual failings, we are absolutely dependent on the One who gave Himself for us. And that gives us hope. Christ, who died for us, loves us with an everlasting love and will respond with grace as we confess our faults to Him. Through confession, we can find His gracious restoration—the greatest of all comebacks.
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. —Elliott
Confession is the path that leads to restoration.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 30, 2014
Do It Now!

Agree with your adversary quickly . . . —Matthew 5:25

In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ’till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.” God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.

Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?

Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).

“Agree with your adversary quickly . . . .” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Life or Death Verb - #7166

Pete came to me with this very unusual request when we were freshmen in college together. He asked me who I thought were the five best girls to date in our class. (Just call me Dr. Love.) Well, I gave him my top five list; four of whom I had been out with on my mad "date them all" freshman rush.
The one on the list that I hadn't dated was this beautiful perky brunette. Well, after I gave Pete that list, I began to ask myself an obvious question, "Why haven't I dated her?" So I did, and I did it again, and again. In fact I still am. By the time we graduated, we were engaged to be married. Now, Pete was a New Englander, so he was a man of few words. He wrote only six words next to his picture in my senior yearbook: You believe in your product...Pete. Oh, yes I did! See, she and I got married one week later.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Life or Death Verb."
Now, my friend summed it up pretty well; I really believed in this girl. Not just intellectually. I mean, I believed in her with everything I had. Believe as in committing your whole life to. When it comes to God and where we spend the next hundred billion years, believe is the decisive action word. It's the life-or-death verb. Not in the official or intellectual sense like, "Pete, I believe this girl is a great catch for somebody." No, no! "I'm trusting my life to her."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 16:30-31. A man is asking the great missionary, Paul, this timeless question, "What must I do to be saved?" Well, the answer is so clear and so unmistakable, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Now obviously saved is a life-or-death word. Just ask the people who were saved from the rubble of the World Trade Center on December 11, 2001, or someone who was saved by an emergency medical team. If the rescuer saved you, you lived. If he didn't, you died.
Now, the kind of saving the Bible talks about is being rescued from the death penalty we are all under with God. Why? Well, the Bible says "all of us have wandered like sheep. We have turned each one to his own way." That's my way instead of God's way. And that is ultimate rebellion against the ultimate authority of the One who gave me my life to live for Him.
The death we suffer in this life is trying to make it without God's love, without God's peace, without God's purpose for our days. And if we die still away from Him, the penalty is what Jesus called hell. But that's where believing in Jesus comes in, because He's the only Rescuer, the only Savior that can keep you from dying spiritually. Because He died on the cross to bear all the guilt and the penalty of the sins we've committed. That's how much He loves you. But you've got to believe in the Lord Jesus if you're going to be saved.
You say, "Well, I believe in Jesus." But did you know you can have Him in your head but not in your heart? The Bible says in Romans 10:10, "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified." That means made right with God. Believe, like committing yourself in total trust to the One who died in your place.
Now, here's a question on which your eternity could depend, "Has there ever been a time in your life when you've told Jesus, 'I'm pinning all my hopes on You and what You did on the cross to rescue me from my sin.'" If there's never been a time like that, you're not saved. You're in eternal danger.
But that could change in the next few minutes if you would just reach out to this Savior that you've known about but never really known. If you want to know Him for sure, would you go to our website, ANewStory.com. It's time to make the Savior your Savior.
One day I walked into a church not married. I walked out married, because I believed in someone. You need a day like that; a day to commit yourself to the One who loves you the most-Jesus Christ. A day like today.

Matthew 21:1-22, bible reading and devotionals.

 

MaxLucado.com: Come and Drink

On  my list of things I wish I’d learned earlier, this truth hovers near the top.  Grace came my way packaged in a church.  Congregations and their leaders changed me.  But then the churches struggled, even divided.  Mature men acted less than that.  The box ripped, the faucet clogged, and my heart, for a time, sank.

Not a moment too soon, I heard the invitation of the still-running fountain.  “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.“  God describes himself as “the fountain of living water.”  (John 7:37-38).

Thank him for the faucets, but don’t trust them to nourish you.  Thank him for the boxes in which his gifts come, but don’t fail to open them.  And most of all, don’t fail to read the note:

Dear child of mine.  Are you thirsty?  Come and drink.  I delight in you.  I will never fail or forsake you!

From Come Thirsty

Matthew 21:1-22

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a]
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’[f]”

14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants
    you, Lord, have called forth your praise’[g]?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Footnotes:

Matthew 21:5 Zech. 9:9
Matthew 21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
Matthew 21:9 Psalm 118:25,26
Matthew 21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15
Matthew 21:13 Isaiah 56:7
Matthew 21:13 Jer. 7:11
Matthew 21:16 Psalm 8:2 (see Septuagint)


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Peter 1:2-11

 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Footnotes:

2 Peter 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family.

Insight
God has given us everything we need for living a holy life (2 Peter 1:3). Therefore, Peter exhorts us to respond diligently to these great promises and abundant provisions of divine power (vv.4-5) by making every effort to grow in faith, graciousness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, devotedness, kindness, and love (vv.5-7).

Focus On The Process
By David C. McCasland

If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 1:8

In William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well, he says that many writers suffer from “the tyranny of the final product.” They are so concerned with selling their article or book, they neglect learning the process of how to think, plan, and organize. A jumbled manuscript, Zinsser believes, is produced when “the writer, his eye on the finish line, never gave enough thought to how to run the race.”

Author and minister A. W. Tozer applies that principle to our spiritual lives. In his book The Root of the Righteous, Tozer describes our tendency to be “concerned only with the fruit . . . [and] ignore the root out of which the fruit sprang.”

The apostle Peter reminded first-century believers that Christlike living and effective service result from a process. He urged them to grow in eight areas of spiritual development: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, Peter said, “you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8).

God calls us to a wonderful process of learning to know Him, with the assurance that it will lead to productive service in His name and for His honor.

Lord, so often we want complete and perfect
solutions here and now. But You work graciously in
Your good time. Let Your goodness and patience and
virtue shine through us so that we may bless others.
The Christian life is a process in which we learn complete dependence on God.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 29, 2014

The Strictest Discipline

If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell —Matthew 5:30
Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.

When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Job 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS I HAVE LOVED YOU - June 28, 2021

The Greek word used for love—agape—denotes an unselfish affection. The final phrase is the essential one: “as I have loved you.” Have you let God love you? Please don’t hurry past the question.

We don’t love people because people are lovable. The truth is, people can be cranky, stubborn, selfish, and cruel. We love people for this reason: we have come to experience and believe the love that God has for us. We are beneficiaries of an unexpected, undeserved, yet undeniable gift — the love of God. And it is only by receiving our Father’s agape love that we can discover an agape love for others.

So be loved, and then love. Just as hurt people hurt people, loved people love people. So let God love you. This is how happiness happens.

Job 27

No Place to Hide

Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:

“God-Alive! He’s denied me justice!
    God Almighty! He’s ruined my life!
But for as long as I draw breath,
    and for as long as God breathes life into me,
I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.
    I refuse to confess to any charge that’s false.
There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations.
    I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.
I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip—
    and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.

7-10 “Let my enemy be exposed as wicked!
    Let my adversary be proven guilty!
What hope do people without God have when life is cut short?
    when God puts an end to life?
Do you think God will listen to their cry for help
    when disaster hits?
What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty?
    Have they ever been known to pray before?

11-12 “I’ve given you a clear account of God in action,
    suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.
The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves,
    so why do you keep talking nonsense?

13-23 “I’ll quote your own words back to you:

“‘This is how God treats the wicked,
    this is what evil people can expect from God Almighty:
Their children—all of them—will die violent deaths;
    they’ll never have enough bread to put on the table.
They’ll be wiped out by the plague,
    and none of the widows will shed a tear when they’re gone.
Even if they make a lot of money
    and are resplendent in the latest fashions,
It’s the good who will end up wearing the clothes
    and the decent who will divide up the money.
They build elaborate houses
    that won’t survive a single winter.
They go to bed wealthy
    and wake up poor.
Terrors pour in on them like flash floods—
    a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,
A cyclone sweeps them up—gone!
    Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
    they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide—
Pummeled by the weather,
    blown to smithereens by the storm.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, June 28, 2021
Read: Psalm 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
1 You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
    they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
    and become food for jackals.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;
    all who swear by God will glory in him,
    while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Footnotes
Psalm 63:1 In Hebrew texts 63:1-11 is numbered 63:2-12.

INSIGHT
Readers of the book of Psalms will notice that the majority of the psalms (more than one hundred) include headers or superscriptions. While these aren’t part of the psalm itself, the information provided can often enhance one’s understanding of the psalm’s content. The header of Psalm 63 is a good example: “A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.” David, the Israelite king, is believed to be the author. The setting was when he was in the wilderness (v. 1) and a king (v. 11). Most likely, the occasion is when David fled to the wilderness from his rebellious son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:1–19:15). Though in the midst of an unimaginable situation, David expressed hope in God’s protection: “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me” (Psalm 63:7–8).

By Monica La Rose God’s Protection

I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7–8

Needles, milk, mushrooms, elevators, births, bees, and bees in blenders—these are just a fraction of the many phobias attributed to Mr. Adrian Monk, detective and title character of the TV show Monk. But when he and longtime rival Harold Krenshaw find themselves locked in a car trunk, Monk has a breakthrough that allows him to cross off at least one fear from his list—claustrophobia.

It’s while Monk and Harold are both panicking that the epiphany comes, abruptly interrupting Monk’s angst. “I think we’ve been looking at this the wrong way,” he tells Harold. “This trunk, these walls . . . they’re not closing in on us . . . they’re protecting us, really. They’re keeping the bad stuff out . . . germs, and snakes, and harmonicas.” Eyes widening, Harold sees what he means and whispers in wonder, “This trunk is our friend.”

In Psalm 63, it’s almost as if David has a similar epiphany. Despite being in a “dry and parched land,” when David remembers God’s power, glory, and love (vv. 1–3), it’s as if the desert transforms into a place of God’s care and protection. Like a baby bird hiding in the shelter of a mother’s wings, David finds that when he clings to God, even in that barren place, he can feast “as with the richest of foods” (v. 5), finding nourishment and strength in a love that “is better than life” (v. 3).

When have you experienced God’s care for you while you were in a difficult place? In what current struggles might you learn to “sing in the shadow of [God’s] wings”?

Loving Creator, Sustainer, and Nourisher, thank You for the miraculous way Your love seeps into my heart in even the most difficult places, transforming them into the shelter of Your wings.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 28, 2021
Held by the Grip of God

I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12

Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (Deuteronomy 5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?

Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be.  Conformed to His Image, 354 L

Bible in a Year: Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 28, 2021

The Noise of Neglect - #8991

Okay, let's face it, I'm mechanically challenged. Now we've got that over with. I mean, I can take care of the basics on a car, but if it's beyond "A, B, C," I need outside help, I'm sorry. Sometimes your car starts talking to you, making those strange sounds, and doing strange things. I've noticed those things don't go away by themselves. Over time, those noises get louder; those strange things that it does come more often. Sometimes, it's just natural - just like us. You know, cars get old, parts start wearing out. But sometimes that noise and trouble can be avoided.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Noise of Neglect."

When you fail to maintain your car, you're neglecting that buggy, it's going to start making some strange noises. It's going to start doing some strange things. So do people; especially if the people is a woman who has committed her life to a man she married. If she starts making strange noises and doing some strange things, the cause may well be that silent destroyer called neglect.

Maybe there's a guy listening today who's been wondering, "What's the deal with my wife? She's becoming more stressed, more shrill, more negative, more hostile, more of a nag. Something's obviously wrong with the girl." Or maybe not. Maybe she's showing the signs of the neglect of a husband who promised his life for her but has little or no time for her, to really hear her heart - to find out where she's hurting inside, anxious inside, to find out what she really needs.

There are few things more heartbreaking and more hurtful to a woman than an inattentive husband. And even though I assume you love her, that inattentive, distracted husband might be you. And the malfunctions and strange sounds are really the result of your neglect.

God makes very clear the kind of treatment and priority He expects a man to give to the woman he married. In 1 Peter 3:7, our word for today from the Word of God, He says: "Husbands...be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." The New Living Translation says, "Give honor to your wives. Treat them with understanding as you live together."

Look at the action words: consider her - take her needs and her feelings into consideration. Treat her with respect. That means listening to her; regarding her as someone important. She's supposed to be the most important voice on earth to you. And some other voices might be drowning hers out. And treat her like a fellow-heir in God's family. We're talking royal treatment here. How much does this matter to God? He says if you don't treat her like this, don't expect Him to answer your prayers!

Could it be this woman you committed to cherish and honor is feeling ignored, marginalized and unheard? Maybe you've been trying to avoid conflict by not communicating with her on difficult subjects. All that does is postpone and intensify the conflict and leave her feeling frozen out. And it's getting harder for her to trust you.

It's in your power to change it, to put your wife back where you once had her, in the center of your affections, in the center of your attention. It begins by making it a commitment to give her all of you - your undivided attention - at least once a day. Don't let others push her out so she just gets your leftovers. She deserves your best. You promised.

The woman you married is a flower that can flourish with your care or wither with your neglect. She needs you. She was wired by God to need you. And you need her. Tell her that. Tell her you're sorry for so often running past her instead of running to her. And tell her, "Honey, I'm home," because you've been away too long.

Job 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: Parents’ Number One Assignment

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”

Straight teeth, straight A’s, or straight posture cannot hold a candle compared to placing a child on the straight spiritual path. The highest privilege and purpose you have as a parent is to lead your child in the way of Christ. The towering questions for Christian parents are these:

Do my kids know Christ?
Have they tasted His grace and found comfort at His cross?
Do they know their death is defeated and their hearts are empowered?

Parents, assignment number one is discipleship. Help your child walk in the way of the Master. What a phenomenal privilege is yours! Imagine the joy you will feel when you stand before Christ, flanked by your wife and children—when your child says, “Thanks, Dad.  Thanks for telling me about Christ.”

From Dad Time

Job 26

Job’s Defense
God Sets a Boundary Between Light and Darkness

Job answered:

“Well, you’ve certainly been a great help to a helpless man!
    You came to the rescue just in the nick of time!
What wonderful advice you’ve given to a mixed-up man!
    What amazing insights you’ve provided!
Where in the world did you learn all this?
    How did you become so inspired?

5-14 “All the buried dead are in torment,
    and all who’ve been drowned in the deep, deep sea.
Hell is ripped open before God,
    graveyards dug up and exposed.
He spreads the skies over unformed space,
    hangs the earth out in empty space.
He pours water into cumulus cloud-bags
    and the bags don’t burst.
He makes the moon wax and wane,
    putting it through its phases.
He draws the horizon out over the ocean,
    sets a boundary between light and darkness.
Thunder crashes and rumbles in the skies.
    Listen! It’s God raising his voice!
By his power he stills sea storms,
    by his wisdom he tames sea monsters.
With one breath he clears the sky,
    with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.
And this is only the beginning,
    a mere whisper of his rule.
    Whatever would we do if he really raised his voice!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, June 27, 2021

Read: Acts 9:36–42

 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

INSIGHT
Joppa was Judea’s primary port on the Mediterranean coast. After raising Dorcas from the dead, Peter stayed in Joppa in the house of Simon the tanner (Acts 9:43). While there, Peter went up on the roof to pray and saw a vision that reiterated that God’s salvation blessing is meant for gentiles too (10:9–16; 11:18). It was from Joppa that Jonah sailed for Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh to tell its citizens about God (Jonah 1:3). It’s significant that from Joppa God now calls Peter to go and proclaim the good news to the gentiles (Acts 10:24–48).

By Xochitl Dixon
Legacy of Kindness

All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Acts 9:39

Martha served as a teacher’s aide at an elementary school for over thirty years. Every year, she saved money to buy new coats, scarves, and gloves for students in need. After she lost her fight with leukemia, we held a celebration of life service. In lieu of flowers, people donated hundreds of brand-new winter coats to the students she loved and served for decades. Many people shared stories about the countless ways Martha encouraged others with kind words and thoughtful deeds. Her fellow teachers honored her memory with an annual coat drive for three years after her life ended on this side of eternity. Her legacy of kindness still inspires others to generously serve those in need.

In Acts 9, the apostle Luke shares a story about Dorcas, a woman who was “always doing good and helping the poor” (v. 36). After she got sick and died, the grieving community urged Peter to visit. All the widows showed Peter how Dorcas had lived to serve (v. 39). In a miraculous act of compassion, Peter brought Dorcas back to life. The news of Dorcas’ resurrection spread, and “many people believed in the Lord” (v. 42). But it was Dorcas’ commitment to serving others in practical ways that touched the hearts in her community and revealed the power of loving generosity.

How can you love someone with your kind words and deeds today? How has God used someone else’s kindness to draw you closer to Him?

Loving God, please help me to love others in practical ways each day so I can leave a legacy of kindness that points others straight to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 27, 2021
The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance

"…I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord. —Jeremiah 1:8

God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “…your life shall be as a prize to you…” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, “Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard— we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! Biblical Ethics, 107 R

Bible in a Year: Job 8-10; Acts 8:26-40

Job 25 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: She Called Me Daddy

When my daughter Sara was in the second grade, we took her desk hunting at a store that specializes in unpainted furniture. But when she learned we weren't taking the desk home that day, she was upset. "But, Daddy, I wanted to take it home today." Much to her credit, she didn't stomp her feet and demand her way. She did, however, set out on an urgent course to change her father's mind.
"Daddy, don't you think we could paint it ourselves?" "Daddy, please, let's take it home today." After a bit she disappeared, only to return, arms open wide, bubbling with a discovery. "Guess what, Daddy.  It'll fit in the back of the car!" The fact that she'd measured the trunk with her arms softened my heart.  The clincher, though, was the name she called me… Daddy.  The Lucado family took a desk home that day.
From Dad Time

Job 25

Bildad’s Third Attack
Even the Stars Aren’t Perfect in God’s Eyes

Bildad the Shuhite again attacked Job:

“God is sovereign, God is fearsome—
    everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.
Can anyone count his angel armies?
    Is there any place where his light doesn’t shine?
How can a mere mortal presume to stand up to God?
    How can an ordinary person pretend to be guiltless?
Why, even the moon has its flaws,
    even the stars aren’t perfect in God’s eyes,
So how much less, plain men and women—
    slugs and maggots by comparison!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, June 26, 2021

Read: Jeremiah 29:10–14

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Footnotes
Jeremiah 29:14 Or will restore your fortunes

INSIGHT
Because the people of Judah had been chronically unfaithful and disobedient (Jeremiah 7:22–26; 11:7–10), God brought a pagan nation from afar to discipline them (1:15–16; 5:15–19; 6:22–23). They’d be exiled to Babylon for seventy years (25:9–11). Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the deportations of the Israelites to Babylon (ch. 52), which included Daniel and his friends (Daniel 1:6). But God didn’t abandon His people in Babylon forever. He promised to bring His people back to the promised land (Jeremiah 29:10). Some eight hundred years earlier, Moses had prophesized the exile and the return (Deuteronomy 30:3–5). Daniel read Jeremiah toward the end of the seventy years of exile, which led him to ask God to act upon His promise to bring the Israelites back to Canaan (Daniel 9:1–4).

By Con Campbell
He Hears Us

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House. As the story is told, he complained that no one paid attention to what was said. So, he decided to experiment at a reception. To everyone who passed down the line and shook his hand, he said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. God bless you, Sir.” It wasn’t until the end of the line, greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”

Do you ever wonder if people are really listening? Or worse, do you fear that God isn’t listening? We can tell if people are listening based on their responses or eye contact. But how do we know if God is listening? Should we rely on feelings? Or see if God answers our prayers?

After seventy years of exile in Babylon, God promised to bring His people back to Jerusalem and secure their future (Jeremiah 29:10–11). When they called upon Him, He heard them (v. 12). They knew that God heard their prayers because He promised to listen. And the same is true for us (1 John 5:14). We don’t need to rely on feelings or wait for a sign to know that God listens to us. He’s promised to listen, and He always keeps His promises (2 Corinthians 1:20).

When have you felt that God wasn’t listening? Why did you feel that way?

Dear God, thank You for hearing my prayers, though I may sometimes doubt it. Help me to trust Your promise that You listen to me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Drawing on the Grace of God— Now

We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. —2 Corinthians 6:1

The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians 6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.

“…in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors…” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

“…having nothing….” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “…and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (2 Corinthians 6:10).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.  Disciples Indeed, 386 R

Bible in a Year: Job 5-7; Acts 8:1-25

Matthew 12:1-23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: UNDESERVED MERCY - June 25, 2021

Forgiveness is the act of applying your undeserved mercy to your undeserved hurts. You didn’t deserve to be hurt, but neither do you deserve to be forgiven. Does it not make sense to give grace to others? You’ve been immersed in forgiveness, submerged in grace. Can you, standing as you are, shoulder-high in God’s ocean of grace, not fill a cup and offer the happiness of forgiveness to others?

In 2015 the world watched in horror as ISIS released its hatred on the streets of Paris. Antoine Leiris lost his wife to their bullets. But he did not lose his heart to hate. He resolved to focus his energy on loving his son, not hating his attackers.

Let’s do likewise. Offer to others the grace you’ve been given. It’s time to forgive, just as God, in Christ, forgave you. This is how happiness happens.

Matthew 12:1-23

In Charge of the Sabbath

One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them. Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: “Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!”

3-5 Jesus said, “Really? Didn’t you ever read what David and his companions did when they were hungry, how they entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat? And didn’t you ever read in God’s Law that priests carrying out their Temple duties break Sabbath rules all the time and it’s not held against them?

6-8 “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant—‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’—you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no yes-man to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.”

9-10 When Jesus left the field, he entered their meeting place. There was a man there with a crippled hand. They said to Jesus, “Is it legal to heal on the Sabbath?” They were baiting him.

11-14 He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus.

In Charge of Everything
15-21 Jesus, knowing they were out to get him, moved on. A lot of people followed him, and he healed them all. He also cautioned them to keep it quiet, following guidelines set down by Isaiah:

Look well at my handpicked servant;
    I love him so much, take such delight in him.
I’ve placed my Spirit on him;
    he’ll decree justice to the nations.
But he won’t yell, won’t raise his voice;
    there’ll be no commotion in the streets.
He won’t walk over anyone’s feelings,
    won’t push you into a corner.
Before you know it, his justice will triumph;
    the mere sound of his name will signal hope, even
        among far-off unbelievers.

No Neutral Ground
22-23 Next a poor demon-afflicted wretch, both blind and deaf, was set down before him. Jesus healed him, gave him his sight and hearing. The people who saw it were impressed—“This has to be the Son of David!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, June 25, 2021

Read: Ephesians 4:32–5:10

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

Footnotes
Ephesians 5:5 Or kingdom of the Messiah and God

INSIGHT
It’s fundamental to believers in Jesus that we understand we are children of the living God. In Ephesians 5, Paul gives us the key to how we’re to live in that knowledge: “as dearly loved children, . . . walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us” (vv. 1–2). Then Paul outlines some of the things this love will compel us to avoid, including sexual immorality, greed, and vulgar language (vv. 3–4). The apostle urges us by the power of His Spirit to replace these sinful behaviors with a lifestyle of thanks. Paul concludes his thought with this encouragement: “Live as children of light . . . and find out what pleases the Lord” (vv. 8–10). This instruction is in keeping with a major theme of Paul’s letters—transformation: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

By Sheridan Voysey
Children of God

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love. Ephesians 5:1–2

I once spoke at a secular conference for childless couples. Heartbroken over their infertility, many attendees despaired at their future. Having walked the childless path too, I tried to encourage them. “You can have a meaningful identity without becoming parents,” I said. “I believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and there’s new purpose for you to find.”

A woman later approached me in tears. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve felt worthless being childless and needed to hear that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.” I asked the woman if she was a believer in Jesus. “I walked away from God years ago,” she said. “But I need a relationship with Him again.”

Times like this remind me how profound the gospel is. Some identities, like “mother” and “father,” are hard for some to attain. Others, like those based on a career, can be lost through unemployment. But through Jesus we become God’s “dearly loved children”—an identity that can never be stolen (Ephesians 5:1). And then we can “walk in the way of love”—a life purpose that transcends any role or employment status (v. 2).

All human beings are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), and those who follow Jesus become children of God (John 1:12–13). Once in despair, that woman left in hope—about to find an identity and purpose bigger than this world can give.

Is there someone in despair whom you can affirm as “wonderfully made” today? With whom can you share the offer of becoming a child of God?

Father, life in all its fullness is Yours alone to give. I open my hands to accept it.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 25, 2021
Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow

…what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." —John 12:27-28

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

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

Bible in a Year: Job 3-4; Acts 7:44-60

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 25, 2021

The Only Identities That Really Matter - #8990

Much of my life I've been interested in following politics. But even I'm sick of politics right now! And you know what? Maybe you've OD'd on it. You know, all those pundits on the news. You know, they start to sound like indistinct blather when adults speak out on a Charlie Brown special. You know?

Oh, and the signs during an election! I never could wait til they come down and I can see my neighbor's house again. Oh, and the joy to think, "I can turn on my TV and there will not be one political commercial, showing your opponent as Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein."

But sadly, America's a very fractured nation politically. You know, after an election some people are all excited because their candidate won, and some are saying, "Boy, the end of everything must be close because my candidate lost. The other guy won."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Only Identities That Really Matter."

You know, after waking up and hearing election results in America, sometimes I think of all the views that I'd heard on TV describing how they see America. And you know what? That's the time I ask God to help me see my town, my country, my world through His eyes. "What do You see, Lord?"

And He said, "Ron, there are only two categories that really matter. When you look at people, see them as being on one of two lists." And it wasn't Republican or Democrat or Independent. No, I remembered something I read about the days after the Titanic sank. White Star Lines, the owners of the Titanic, set up a room in Liverpool, England, where people could wait to learn the fate of a passenger that they loved. Occasionally, a company official would come in and add a name to one of two lists, posted on a large board. The lists simply read: "Known to be saved" ... "Known to be lost."

Everyone you love - everyone in your personal world - everyone hearing or reading this is on one of two lists. They're described in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 5:11-12. It says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; He that does not have the Son of God does not have life." Known to be saved...Known to be lost.

It shouldn't be what political list or religious list a person's on that defines my relationship with them - it should be which of God's lists they're on. When we get to heaven, there won't be any "Republicans," or "Democrats," or "progressives," or "conservatives." No "Baptists," no "Methodists," or "Roman Catholics." God sees people in terms of their eternal destination, and it defines His relationship with us.

We were all in one doomed category - sinners; people who have marginalized our Creator rather than enthroning Him. Who have defied His ways and done what we wanted to do, and cut off from Him because He's sinless and we're full of sin.

But in spite of our disregard and disrespect of the God who put us here, He refused to leave us lost. He sent His precious Son, Jesus, to do what only He could do - pay for our sin by paying our death penalty on the Cross. So heaven or hell all comes down to what I do with Jesus. Whether I leave Him outside my life or put all my trust in Him as my only hope for rescue. "You have the Son, you have life," the Bible said. "You don't have the Son, you don't have life" (1 John 5:12).

Today if you could see God's lists, you'd be on the "Known to be lost" list, huh? But today you could change lists. Because Jesus stands ready to erase the sin of your life from God's book, forgive every one of those sins, and give you eternal life that you could never deserve, because He gave His life for you.

Let today be the day you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Check out our website. It will show you how to get started with Him. ANewStory.com - that's the site.

You know, we've heard a lot of people being defined by their label. I want to see what God sees, don't you? Saved - Lost. I want to love those people like He does, because it breaks His heart. It breaks His heart for you to be lost. That's why He sent His Son. It's time you belong to Him.

Job 24 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER - June 24, 2021

The question is not “Did you get hurt?” The question is “Are you going to let the hurt harden you?” Wouldn’t you prefer to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another”? Try these steps:

Decide what you need to forgive. Be specific. Narrow it down to the identifiable offense.

Ask yourself why it hurts. Why does this offense sting? What about it leaves you wounded?

Take it to Jesus. Talk to Jesus about the offense until the anger subsides. And when it returns, talk to Jesus again.

Tell your offender. If it feels safe, simply explain the offense and the way it makes you feel.

Pray for your offender. You cannot force reconciliation, but you can offer intercession.

Conduct a funeral. Bury the offense in the cemetery known as “Moving on with Life.”

This is how happiness happens.

Job 24

An Illusion of Security

“But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,
    why are we kept in the dark?
There are people out there getting by with murder—
    stealing and lying and cheating.
They rip off the poor
    and exploit the unfortunate,
Push the helpless into the ditch,
    bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
The poor, like stray dogs and cats,
    scavenge for food in back alleys.
They sort through the garbage of the rich,
    eke out survival on handouts.
Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;
    they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,
    they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;
    the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
They go about patched and threadbare;
    even the hard workers go hungry.
No matter how backbreaking their labor,
    they can never make ends meet.
People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.
    The wretched cry out for help
    and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!

13-17 “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,
    who scorn the light-filled path.
When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—
    kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,
    thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’
Burglars do their work at night,
    but keep well out of sight through the day.
    They want nothing to do with light.
Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;
    they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.

18-25 “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—
    useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,
    sinners disappear in the grave.
The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—
    nothing that is evil lasts.
Unscrupulous,
    they prey on those less fortunate.
However much they strut and flex their muscles,
    there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.
They may have an illusion of security,
    but God has his eye on them.
They may get their brief successes,
    but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.
Like yesterday’s newspaper,
    they’re used to wrap up the garbage.
You’re free to try to prove me a liar,
    but you won’t be able to do it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:5–10

 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

INSIGHT
Responding to false teachers who said he wasn’t a genuine apostle because he didn’t have ecstatic spiritual experiences, Paul deliberately boasted about the many visions he had (2 Corinthians 12:1–4; see Acts 9:1–9; 16:6–10). Paul considered such boasting utterly distasteful (2 Corinthians 12:1, 6) but necessary to appropriately respond to his critics’ misguided spirituality and pride. Paul preferred to boast about his weaknesses (v. 5), speaking of “a thorn in [his] flesh” (v. 7). The word thorn was used for anything pointed such as a stake, the sharp end of a fishhook, or a splinter. The implication is that Paul endured physical pain. Some think he may have had an eye affliction (Galatians 4:14–15; 6:11), a weakness resulting from his being blinded on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:9), or a chronic ailment like migraine headaches or epilepsy. While we don’t know what the thorn was, its purpose was to keep Paul humble (2 Corinthians 12:7).

By Amy Boucher Pye
Sharing Your Faith

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

When author and evangelist Becky Pippert lived in Ireland, she longed to share the good news of Jesus with Heather, who’d done her nails for two years. But Heather hadn’t seemed remotely interested. Feeling unable to start a conversation, Becky prayed before her appointment.

While Heather worked on her nails, Becky flipped through an old magazine and paused at a picture of one of the models. When Heather asked why she was so riveted, Becky told her the photograph was of a close friend who’d years before been a Vogue cover model. Becky shared some of her friend’s story of coming to faith in God, which Heather listened to with rapt attention.

Becky left for a trip, and later when she returned to Ireland, she learned that Heather had moved to a new location. Becky reflected, “I had asked God to provide an opportunity to share the gospel, and He did!”

Becky looked to God for help in her weakness, inspired by the apostle Paul. When Paul was weak and pleaded with God to remove the thorn in his flesh, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul had learned to rely on God in all things—the big and the small.

When we depend on God to help us love those around us, we too will find opportunities to share our faith authentically.

When has God helped you to share your faith with someone? How could you pray for someone today whom you wish would come to know God?

Loving Jesus, You work through my weaknesses to bring glory to Your Father. Move in my life today, that I might share Your good news of grace.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin

This is your hour, and the power of darkness. —Luke 22:53

Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.  The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

Bible in a Year: Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Everything You Need - #8989

Nobody thought Gladys Aylward was good enough. During the 1920s, she had heard about the great spiritual need of China, and she sensed God's strong call on her life to go there. But she was only a chambermaid. When she applied to China Inland Mission in London, they rejected her because she wasn't educated enough and she was probably too old to learn the language they said. But Gladys Aylward made it to China and she made such a difference there that a number of books have been written about her life. Hollywood even based a movie on her life, "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" got an Academy Award winning actress in it too.

In her later years, as she told her story to audiences in many places, they were surprised to hear the commanding speech coming from this very tiny lady who had to stand on a box to even be seen over the pulpit. She said to them: "As I was growing up, I had two great sorrows. First, as my friends kept getting taller, I stopped growing. Secondly, as my friends grew beautiful blonde curly hair, mine was straight black. Then I went to China. And as I looked over the people to whom Jehovah God had sent me, I said to myself, 'These people have hair as black and straight as mine...and they stopped growing when I did.' I bowed my head and I said, 'Lord God, you know what you are doing!'" Yes, He does.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everything You Need."

Much to her surprise, and much to everyone's surprise, little Gladys Aylward had been equipped with God for everything she needed to carry out His plan for her life. And so have you. I know that because He says so in Ephesians 2:10, our word for today from the Word of God: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

That's the message I've given to each of my grandchildren on the day they were born. It's the message I hope will grip your heart and help shape the rest of your life. God has created you for a destiny, and whether or not anyone else can see it, whether or not you've seen it, you are God's workmanship. And don't tell me that God makes things with parts missing or mistakes in them. There are some things God put you on this planet to do for Him. He's had them planned since before there was a you, and He's wired you with everything you need to get it done - everything.

Maybe you're thinking of all the things you're not, all the things you don't have that others have. Stop it! Everything you need for carrying out God's mission for you, you have. And what you don't have, you don't need! Moses argued with God that he wasn't qualified to go to Pharaoh and rescue God's people. But what kind of person did God need? Well, let's see. Someone who knew Egypt, who knew the Jews, and who knew the wilderness. Well, that's three different guys right there. Wrong! Moses was a Jew who had been raised by the Egyptians and who had spent many ye

ars in the wilderness. Moses was perfectly equipped to make a difference for the Lord, and so are you. When Moses continued to plead his inadequacy, he asked, "Who am I that I should go?" God's answer was: "I will be with you...go; I will help you" (Exodus 3:11-12; 4:12).

When you ask, "Who am I, Lord?" He answers, "Wrong question. Who am I?" It's not about who you are. It's about who He is. And all your abilities, your experiences, your battles, your weaknesses, and your strengths - they're all a divine tapestry to make you everything you need to be to do everything He put you here to do. Maybe you've been under-living!

You're His workmanship; you're His masterpiece. This day, open yourself up to Moses' God, to Gladys Aylward's God - the One who loves to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Him. Make this the day that you surrender to everything He wants you to be, everything He wants you to do. And let the adventure begin!

Job 23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: WASH FEET - June 23, 2021

Jesus has seen every backstreet, backseat, backhanded moment of our lives. And he has resolved My grace is enough. I can cleanse these people. I will wash away their betrayals. For that reason we must make the Upper Room of Mercy our home address.

Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14–15).

You are the creation of a good God, you are made in his image. You are destined to reign in an eternal kingdom. Secure in who you are, you can do what Jesus did.  Throw aside the robe of rights and expectation and make the most courageous of moves: wash feet. This is how happiness happens.

Job 23

Job’s Defense
I’m Completely in the Dark

Job replied:

“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
    My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—
    it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him,
    I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,
    give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,
    discover what’s going on in his head.
Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?
    No, he’d take me seriously.
He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;
    my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.

8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;
    then West, but not a trace;
I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;
    then South, but not even a glimpse.

10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.
    He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.
I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,
    not once swerving from his way.
I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,
    and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.

13-17 “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?
    He does what he wants, when he wants to.
He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,
    and whatever else he determines to do.
Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?
    Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.
God makes my heart sink!
    God Almighty gives me the shudders!
I’m completely in the dark,
    I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Read: Isaiah 65:17–25

New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes
Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

INSIGHT
Along with the portrayal of the new heavens and earth found in Isaiah 65, we catch another glimpse in 11:6–9 of this glorious place where animals and mankind live together in peace. Revelation 21–22 echoes many of these wonders and tells us more: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (21:4). “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face . . . . And they will reign for ever and ever” (22:3–5).

By Arthur Jackson
Imagine This!

I will create new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17

During the course of a popular home renovation television program, viewers often hear the host say, “Imagine this!” Then she unveils what could be when old things are restored and drab walls and floors are painted or stained. In one episode, after the renovation the homeowner was so overjoyed that, along with other expressions of elation, the words “That’s beautiful!” gushed from her lips three times.

One of the stunning “Imagine this!” passages in the Bible is Isaiah 65:17–25. What a dazzling re-creation scene! The future renovation of heaven and earth is in view (v. 17), and it’s not merely cosmetic. It’s deep and real, life-altering and life-preserving. “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit” (v. 21). Violence will be a thing of the past: “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain” (v. 25).

While the reversals envisioned in Isaiah 65 will be realized in the future, the God who will orchestrate universal restoration is in the business of life-change now. The apostle Paul assures us, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In need of restoration? Has your life been broken by doubt, disobedience, and pain? Life-change through Jesus is real and beautiful and available to those who ask and believe.

What changes can you imagine the God of restoration making in your life? What’s keeping you from believing in Jesus for life-change today?

God of restoration and renovation, You know what changes are needed in my life for me to look more like You. Please work in my heart and life today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
“Acquainted With Grief”

He is…a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. —Isaiah 53:3

We are not “acquainted with grief” in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin— and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.  Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Bible in a Year: Esther 9-10; Acts 7:1-21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Night Lights That Know When to Shine - #8988

I guess we got in the habit when our kids were little. Like night lights. Yeah, we put one in their room. Actually I heard it keeps the monsters in the closet. I hope that's true. Well, we always had one in the bathroom so you wouldn't fall in if you had to go there in the middle of the night. Actually, we always had a night light in the bathroom years later. The new and improved kind. It only went on when the lights went out. But, of course, that's when you need it, right, when it's dark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Night Lights That Know When to Shine."

It's nice to have a light that turns on when it gets dark - especially if that light is a person. Because when you're going through a dark time, you really need someone who brings some light into your life; sort of a human night light. Which I hope you are; which someone you know probably needs right now.

It's the kind of friend described in our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 17:17. God says, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." In other words, a real friend, a real brother is one who's walking in when everybody else is walking out! And that takes the kind of love Jesus has, the kind of love Jesus can give you to give someone else. It's called unconditional love - the kind that has absolutely nothing to do with how the other person is acting, how the other person is treating you, or what the other person can do for you.

But I'm guessing there's someone you know who really needs you to be their night light right now. But you might be holding back. Maybe they've experienced a big hurt, and frankly, you don't know what to say. So, you're avoiding them. They just need your presence, not your words; they need your hug, not your talk; they need your help with some of the everyday stuff that's become too much for them in their dark time.

Or maybe the person who needs you isn't acting very loveable right now. They're angry, they're negative, they're lashing out, they're withdrawn, they're sending off "leave me alone" signals that don't exactly make people feel like trying to reach out to them. But often when people are the least loveable, they need our love the most.

It may, in fact, be a child of yours, another family member, who is acting pretty ugly right now. You can almost bet that it's because they've been wounded somehow, and they're bleeding all over the people close to them. Someone has to disregard all those negative vibes and reach out to them with some love, some tenderness. I'm suspecting that God's "someone" who is supposed to love them might be you.

It's possible there's a fellow believer who has made some serious mistakes, and they've been pretty much written off by other Christians. Maybe God's calling on you to extend the hand of Jesus to them in spite of what they've done. Not to condone it, not to bless what God can't bless, but to let them know there's someone they're safe with.

There are lots of reasons not to be that friend who, according to the Bible, "loves at all times," not to be that brother or sister who is "born for adversity." But here's the real bottom line. It's the nature of Jesus to pursue the most unlovable, the most hurting, and often even the most undeserving. And it's supposed to be the nature of those of us who carry His name.

It's time for that phone call, that text, that email, that letter. It's time for that listening ear. It's time to extend a helping hand. It's time for that visit. It's time for someone to bring the healing love of Jesus into their darkness. Because when it's dark, when the lights have gone out, you need a night light. It's time for you to shine.

Job 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU - June 22, 2021

The Scripture says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

It was the eve of the Crucifixion and Jesus’ final meal with his followers. He stood up, he hung his cloak on a hook, and he wrapped a towel around his waist, and he poured water into a basin. He washed feet. Jesus used some of his precious final moments in this silent sacrament of humility.

The disciples pledged to stay with their Master. But later that night, when the soldiers marched in, the disciples ran out. And when they looked at their feet in shame, they realized Jesus forgave his betrayers before they betrayed him. Hasn’t he done the same for us? We each have a basin. We’ve each been wounded. But before we knew we needed grace, we were offered it. This is how happiness happens.

Job 22Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2
“Can a man be of benefit to God?
    Can even a wise person benefit him?
3
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4
“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?
5
Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins endless?
6
You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7
You gave no water to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,
8
though you were a powerful man, owning land—
    an honored man, living on it.
9
And you sent widows away empty-handed
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10
That is why snares are all around you,
    why sudden peril terrifies you,
11
why it is so dark you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.

12
“Is not God in the heights of heaven?
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13
Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
    Does he judge through such darkness?
14
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15
Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked have trod?
16
They were carried off before their time,
    their foundations washed away by a flood.
17
They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’
18
Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
    

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19
The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
    the innocent mock them, saying,
20
‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
    and fire devours their wealth.’

21
“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
    in this way prosperity will come to you.
22
Accept instruction from his mouth
    and lay up his words in your heart.
23
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24
and assign your nuggets to the dust,
    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25
then the Almighty will be your gold,
    the choicest silver for you.
26
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
    and will lift up your face to God.
27
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will fulfill your vows.
28
What you decide on will be done,
    and light will shine on your ways.
29
When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.
30
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Read: Genesis 28:10–15, 20–22

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Footnotes
Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

INSIGHT
The significance of the words, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14), must not be lost in the dynamics of Jacob’s dream. Jacob wasn’t the first to hear God’s promise concerning the destiny of his offspring. Similar words were communicated to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, in Genesis 12:3 (see also 22:16–18) and to Isaac (26:3–4). In the New Testament, Peter pointed to this promise in his preaching (Acts 3:25–26; see Genesis 22:18; 26:4). Paul’s writings similarly show that these promises found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus (Galatians 3:16).

By Tim Gustafson
God Is There

If God will be with me and watch over me . . . then the Lord will be my God. Genesis 28:20–21

Aubrey bought a fleece-lined coat for her aging father, but he died before he could wear it. So she tucked a note of encouragement with a $20 bill into the pocket and donated the jacket to charity.

Ninety miles away, unable to endure his family’s dysfunction any longer, nineteen-year-old Kelly left his house without grabbing a coat. He knew of only one place to turn—the home of his grandmother who prayed for him. Hours later he stepped off a bus and into his grandma’s arms. Shielding him from the winter wind, she said, “We’ve got to get you a coat!” At the mission store, Kelly tried on a coat he liked. Slipping his hands into the pockets he found an envelope—with a $20 bill and Aubrey’s note.

Jacob fled his dysfunctional family in fear for his life (Genesis 27:41–45). When he stopped for the night, God revealed Himself to Jacob in a dream. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go,” God told him (28:15). Jacob vowed, “If God will . . . give me food to eat and clothes to wear . . . , then the Lord will be my God” (vv. 20–21).

Jacob made a rudimentary altar and named the spot “God’s house” (v. 22). Kelly takes Aubrey’s note and that $20 wherever he goes. Each serves as a reminder that no matter where we run, God is there.

When you’ve had to “run,” whether literally or metaphorically, where did you go and to whom did you turn? How can you remind yourself of God’s presence in your life?

Father, You’re the One I can always run to. Help me turn to You first.
Read Who’s My Neighbor? at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0308.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

The Unchanging Law of Judgment

With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. —Matthew 7:2

This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution— “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God’s throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26).

Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”

Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.  My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

Bible in a Year: Esther 6-8; Acts 6

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Your "No Vacancy" Sign - #8987

You always have to hold your breath when your little children are with other adults, because you never know what they might reveal about life at home. It pays to live with nothing to hide. Right? A friend was babysitting his three-year-old grandson not long ago, and this little guy kept the conversation active with a stream of consciousness, a series of comments on a lot of subjects. Suddenly the three-year-old brought up things he wanted to do when he was an adult. One of them was potentially a little revealing. He said, "I'm going to have an office in my house, and I'm going to tell my children not to bother me." Oooo! His daddy has an office in the house. I wonder if this little guy learned that script at home?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your 'No Vacancy' Sign."

Over the years, you've probably driven to some motel all tired and very ready to stop, only to be greeted by that discouraging sign, "No Vacancy." Unfortunately, we sometimes do that to our children and our spouse. We hang out a "no vacancy" sign that says, "I don't have any room for you right now." If it happens pretty often, you could have one very sad, very frustrated, and maybe a very explosive family.

Honestly, there are those times when we do need to close the door and focus. But it can't help any child to be associated with the word "bother." You can explain why you need to work without interruption, as long as they know that you're available if they really need you, and as long as you let them know when you will be available. But in too many homes, this business of being unavailable to the people who need us most is not the exception. It's like a way of life. And without meaning to, we may be telling someone we love very much that whatever always takes you away is more important to you than they are. After all, you keep leaving them and excluding them to do it. Right?

There's a wonderful blueprint for human relationships in Ephesians, chapters 4 and 5. In chapter 5, beginning with verse 1, our word for today from the Word of God, we get a fundamental equation of what it means to love someone. It says, "Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a...sacrifice to God." The equation is simple but challenging: "love equals sacrifice." And sacrifice means giving something you really value for the person you love.

In your busy life, there might be nothing you have less of than time. And your time, your availability, is what your children and your spouse need most. To love them is to give them time you think you don't have because no one else on earth can be daddy or mommy to them; no one else can be husband or wife. It's really the only role in your life where you're irreplaceable and indispensable.

In a later verse, this passage tells us to "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." That submit word means to put someone ahead of you. Then it proceeds to talk about husbands, wives, children, and parents - all of whom, as God's kind of person, will put the other ahead of themselves.

Your family needs your availability to them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It's best if you actually offer your availability to them right away, then they don't have to burn down the house or raise the roof to get your attention. You gave it willingly. Make it a goal to take time with each one to make them feel like the only person in the world at that moment. Think about each one's emotional ledger. Every time you're unavailable or gone, there's a debit in their life. So you need to consciously and as soon as possible, balance that account with the credit of some focused time with them.

Don't make your child, your husband, your wife feel shut out of your life by an invisible but very real "no vacancy" sign. Just always have room for them even if it means sacrifice. People who know they're loved and important and listened to don't have to start looking somewhere else for what you didn't give them - somewhere that could scar their life and break your heart.