Malachi 4 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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

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

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

Malachi 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Alyson Kieda
The God of All Comfort

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

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

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

It All Depends On the Delivery Person - #8943

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Malachi 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: THE INTERSECTION OF THE CROSS

The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don’t you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. Its design could not be simpler. One beam horizontal, the other vertical. One reaches out, like God’s love. The other reaches up, as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of his love, the other the height of his holiness.

The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards. God treated his Son as a sinner so that Christ could make us acceptable to God. Why would he? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world.” Aren’t you glad the verse doesn’t read For God so loved the rich? …the famous, the sober, or the successful? No, it simply reads For God so loved the world.

Malachi 3

The Master You’ve Been Looking For
3 “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance?

He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God, as they used to be in the years long ago.

* * *

5 “Yes, I’m on my way to visit you with Judgment. I’ll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless—anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me.” A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

* * *

6-7 “I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“You ask, ‘But how do we return?’

8-11 “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day.

“You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’

“The tithe and the offering—that’s how! And now you’re under a curse—the whole lot of you—because you’re robbing me. Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers.” The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

12 “You’ll be voted ‘Happiest Nation.’ You’ll experience what it’s like to be a country of grace.” God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

The Difference Between Serving God and Not Serving Him
13 God says, “You have spoken hard, rude words to me.

“You ask, ‘When did we ever do that?’

14-15 “When you said, ‘It doesn’t pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about God-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.’”

16 Then those whose lives honored God got together and talked it over. God saw what they were doing and listened in. A book was opened in God’s presence and minutes were taken of the meeting, with the names of the God-fearers written down, all the names of those who honored God’s name.

17-18 God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “They’re mine, all mine. They’ll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. Once more you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving him.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, April 22, 2021

Read: Proverbs 15:1–7, 18

A gentle answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
    but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
    keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
    but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

5 A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
    but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

6 The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
    but the income of the wicked brings ruin.

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
    but the hearts of fools are not upright.

Read full chapter
Proverbs 15:18
New International Version
18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
    but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

INSIGHT
Proverbs 15 falls in the section of the book (chs. 10–29) that uses two-line poetic couplets. These couplets dispense sound wisdom and guidance for those who want to live in ways that honor God and people. This literary device is called parallelism and is one of the major features of Hebrew poetry. Parallelism is in play when several truths are laid down in a side-by-side fashion to drive home a major point. When the two couplets are joined by the conjunction and, it’s known as synonymous parallelism. When coupled by but, these arrangements are examples of antithetical parallelism, where the truth is emphasized through contrast. Antithetical parallelism is what we find almost exclusively in Proverbs 15. The repeated use of the word but alerts the reader that truths are being emphasized by highlighting differences.

By Sheridan Voysey
Difficult People

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

Lucy Worsley is a British historian and TV presenter. Like most people in the public eye, she sometimes receives nasty mail—in her case, over a mild speech impediment that makes her r’s sound like w’s. One person wrote this: “Lucy, I’ll be blunt: Please try harder to correct your lazy speech or remove r’s from your scripts—I couldn’t sit through your TV series because it made me so annoyed. Regards, Darren.”

For some people, an insensitive comment like this might trigger an equally rude reply. But here’s how Lucy responded: “Oh Darren, I think you’ve used the anonymity of the internet to say something you probably wouldn’t say to my face. Please reconsider your unkind words! Lucy.”

Lucy’s measured response worked. Darren apologized and vowed not to send anyone such an email again.

“A gentle answer turns away wrath,” Proverbs says, “but a harsh word stirs up anger” (15:1). While the hot-tempered person stirs things up, the patient person calms them down (v. 18). When we get a critical comment from a colleague, a snide remark from a family member, or a nasty reply from a stranger, we have a choice: to speak angry words that fuel the flames or gentle words that douse them.

May God help us to speak words that turn away wrath—and perhaps even help difficult people to change.

Think of a time you got defensive with someone. Why do you think you reacted that way? How could you respond differently in God’s power?

Loving God, give me the ability to respond to quarrelsome people with patient, gentle words.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 22, 2021

Don’t Hurt the Lord

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.

“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 22, 2021
A Poker Chip and a Super Bowl - #8944

I know you shouldn't yell, especially on a Sunday, but I did that Sunday. You know, it was during the Super Bowl some years ago.

But my New York Giants were playing for the championship. And they needed my help. You know, my encouragement and my suggestions of course. How could they hear me if I don't yell? It's okay, just earth stuff I know, but it was fun to watch them win; especially since I have a special attachment to the Giants that goes back to our years in the New York area, when I used to speak for some of their pre-game chapels.

What most people don't know is that some of the Giants' dramatic late-season turnaround that year is traceable, in part, to a chapel they had the previous November. The speaker was actually challenging the attendees to be "all in" as husbands and fathers, as spiritual leaders and as followers of Jesus. Then he gave them something I don't ever expect to get from my pastor - a poker chip.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Poker Chip and a Super Bowl."

The speaker asked them to write on that chip a part of their life where they needed to be "all in." Now I'm not a card player, but I know that "all in" is a poker term. It refers to a player's decision to throw in all his chips - nothing left, everything is on the line.

It didn't take long for "all in" to spread among a Giants team whose record at that time had them on the brink of missing the playoffs altogether. And they went on to play like champions after that from then on, all the way to winning the Super Bowl.

Laying it all on the line isn't just for football players. It's for all of us who claim to be playing for Jesus. Our word for today from the Word of God Colossians 3:17 explains "all in" faith: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Look, this is no compartmentalized Christianity where Jesus is just a slice of the pie of your life. No, this is all Jesus. It's His business, not yours. It's His house, His car, His body, His money, His relationship, His problem, His children.

There's only one way to live the Jesus-way - with intensity and with focus in everything you do. Or in the words of the Bible, "Whatever you do" - here we go again with those all-encompassing words, whatever you do - "work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men" (Colossians 3:23). When you pray, pray with all your heart. When you work, work with all your heart. When you study, when you listen, when you play, when you worship, when you goof off do it with all your heart.

It's just all too easy to slowly, unintentionally move Jesus from the center to the margins. You miss one day being with Him in His Word. Pretty soon you've gone weeks, maybe months with little exclusive Jesus-time. What John Calvin called the "idol-making machine" in our hearts makes something or someone else - even something good - the "sun" around which our life now revolves. It becomes the idol that replaces Jesus as the governing passion of your life. What once was warm is cold; what once was a passion becomes a profession. What used to be love is now just "crankin' it out."

The words of an old hymn just popped into my head as I was thinking about this: "But we never can prove the delights of His love until all on the altar we lay..." That's true. The best of Jesus is for those who are "all in." All control surrendered. Nothing I'm hanging onto. Abandoned to Jesus, because anyone who loved me enough to die for me would never do me wrong.

You know, for 2,000 years, folks have found in Jesus the cause, the passion, the purpose that's worth everything you've got. Because He gave everything He had for you on a cross. Maybe you've never begun a relationship with Him, and you're interested in exploring that. Come visit us today at ANewStory.com.

You know what? Today you will find in Jesus the One who is totally worthy of you being "all in" for.