Judges 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Christ Came to Open Eyes - May 31, 2022

Jesus still finds blind people and restores their sight. Did you know he promised that through his ministry “the blind shall see” (Luke 4:18 TLB). Christ came to give light and sight.

Consider what Jesus is doing in the Muslim world. According to Tom Doyle, “More Muslims have become Christians in the last couple of decades than in the previous fourteen hundred years since Muhammad,” and “about one out of every three Muslim-background believers has had a dream or vision prior to their salvation experience.”

Jesus, my friend, is in hot pursuit of the spiritually blind. And He finds them, he touches them. He may use a vision, or the kindness of a friend, or the message of a sermon, or the splendor of creation. But believe this: he came to bring sight to the blind. Remember friend, you are never alone.

Judges  21

Wives

 Back at Mizpah the men of Israel had taken an oath: “No man among us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”

2-3 Now, back in Bethel, the people sat in the presence of God until evening. They cried loudly; there was widespread lamentation. They said, “Why, O God, God of Israel, has this happened? Why do we find ourselves today missing one whole tribe from Israel?”

4 Early the next morning, the people got busy and built an altar. They sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings.

5 Then the Israelites said, “Who from all the tribes of Israel didn’t show up as we gathered in the presence of God?” For they had all taken a sacred oath that anyone who had not gathered in the presence of God at Mizpah had to be put to death.

* * *

6-7 But the People of Israel were feeling sorry for Benjamin, their brothers. They said, “Today, one tribe is cut off from Israel. How can we get wives for those who are left? We have sworn by God not to give any of our daughters to them in marriage.”

8-9 They said, “Which one of the tribes of Israel didn’t gather before God at Mizpah?”

It turned out that no one had come to the gathering from Jabesh Gilead. When they took a roll call of the people, not a single person from Jabesh Gilead was there.

10-11 So the congregation sent twelve divisions of their top men there with the command, “Kill everyone of Jabesh Gilead, including women and children. These are your instructions: Every man and woman who has had sexual intercourse you must kill. But keep the virgins alive.” And that’s what they did.

12 And they found four hundred virgins among those who lived in Jabesh Gilead; they had never had sexual intercourse with a man. And they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13-14 Then the congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the Rimmon Rock and offered them peace. And Benjamin came. They gave them the women they had let live at Jabesh Gilead. But even then, there weren’t enough for all the men.

15 The people felt bad for Benjamin; God had left out Benjamin—the missing piece from the Israelite tribes.

* * *

16-18 The elders of the congregation said, “How can we get wives for the rest of the men, since all the Benjaminite women have been killed? How can we keep the inheritance alive for the Benjaminite survivors? How can we prevent an entire tribe from extinction? We certainly can’t give our own daughters to them as wives.” (Remember, the Israelites had taken the oath: “Cursed is anyone who provides a wife to Benjamin.”)

19 Then they said, “There is that festival of God held every year in Shiloh. It’s north of Bethel, just east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and a little south of Lebonah.”

20-22 So they told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards. Stay alert—when you see the Shiloh girls come out to dance the dances, run out of the vineyards, grab one of the Shiloh girls for your wife, and then hightail it back to the country of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers come to lay charges against us, we’ll tell them, ‘We did them a favor. After all we didn’t go to war and kill to get wives for men. And it wasn’t as if you were in on it by giving consent. But if you keep this up, you will incur blame.’”

23 And that’s what the Benjaminites did: They carried off girls from the dance, wives enough for their number, got away, and went home to their inheritance. They rebuilt their towns and settled down.

24 From there the People of Israel dispersed, each man heading back to his own tribe and clan, each to his own plot of land.

25 At that time there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Today's Scripture
Psalm 107:23–32

    Some of you set sail in big ships;

you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.

Out at sea you saw God in action,

saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:

With a word he called up the wind—

an ocean storm, towering waves!

You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;

your hearts were stuck in your throats.

You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,

you didn’t know which end was up.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He quieted the wind down to a whisper,

put a muzzle on all the big waves.

And you were so glad when the storm died down,

and he led you safely back to harbor.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.

Lift high your praises when the people assemble,

shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

Insight

Psalm 107 is a song of thanksgiving (vv. 1, 31) celebrating God as the loving and merciful Deliverer, Savior, Protector, and Provider of people in crisis (see vv. 2, 41). Citing four groups of people in various situations of trouble and distress (vv. 4, 10, 17, 23), the psalmist describes how God had redeemed and rescued them from adversity, bondage, foolish ways, danger at sea, and ultimately death. God will save those who turn to Him for help (v. 41). The psalmist calls on the worshiper to “give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” This refrain occurs in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31. Highlighting God’s sovereignty and mighty power (vv. 33–42), the psalmist closes his song with an invitation: “Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord” (v. 43). By: K. T. Sim

Hope Cuts through Storms

He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
Psalm 107:29

In the spring of 2021, several storm-chasers recorded videos and took photos of a rainbow next to a tornado in Texas. In one video, long stalks of wheat in a field bent under the power of the whirling winds. A brilliant rainbow cut across the gray skyline and arched toward the twister. Bystanders in another video stood on the side of the road and watched the symbol of hope standing firm beside the twisting funnel-shaped cloud.

In Psalm 107, the psalmist offers hope and encourages us to turn to God during difficult times. He describes some who were in the middle of a storm, “at their wits’ end” (v. 27). “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress” (v. 28).

God understands His children will sometimes struggle to feel hopeful when life feels like a storm. We need reminders of His faithfulness, especially when the horizon looks dark and tumultuous.

Whether our storms come as substantial obstacles in our lives, as emotional turmoil, or as mental stress, God can still our storms “to a whisper” and guide us to a place of refuge (vv. 29–30). Though we may not experience relief in our preferred way or time, we can trust God to keep the promises He’s given in Scripture. His enduring hope will cut through any storm. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

When have you struggled to feel hopeful during a storm in your life? How has God given you reminders of His promises through Scripture and His people when you needed a burst of hope?

Loving God, thank You for being my hope-giver no matter what’s going on in my life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Put God First

Jesus did not commit Himself to them…for He knew what was in man. —John 2:24-25

Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be— absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.

Put God’s Will First. “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:9).

A person’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need— our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, “We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him.” But we must first make sure that God’s “needs” and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, “…tarry…until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the “needs” of God and His will. Once God’s “needs” in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His “needs” elsewhere.

Put God’s Son First. “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:5).

God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.” Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him.  The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 13-14; John 12:1-26

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Making Life an Adventure - #9232

I think it all started when the bananas started going bad. That's when our daughter decided to bake them up into four loaves of banana bread. Then she asked their church for some folks who might need a little lift right now. With that cheer-up list in hand and our then four-year-old and two-year-old grandchildren assisting, she proceeded to drop off some banana bread blessing at four homes. She took the boys with her into each house, and they actually are the ones who gave the resident the gift. First house, the man's wife had just died. He was so thrilled over their gift that he gave each boy a dollar which he refused to take back. Second house, a man with a very sick wife. He insisted on thanking the boys by giving them candy. Third house, a lady living alone, very serious, until the boys gave their gift. Big smile! And the fourth house, another lonely woman and a big hug for each boy. As our daughter debriefed her little banana ambassadors, our four-year-old recounted the unexpected gifts they had received in the process of giving, including a big smile and a big hug. Then the little guy summed up his feelings about the day: "Mommy, today was such an adventure."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making Life an Adventure."

At the age of four, our grandson was starting to figure out what really makes life an adventure; it's called giving living. Living your life, not as a taker, but as a giver - not to make a name or make a fortune, but to make a difference. That's one reason we experience so much joy at Christmastime. There's something that feels really good about making others happy, sacrificing to give to them. Well, guess what? That's how we're supposed to live all year long!

Jesus taught this strange but wonderful truth. It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Luke 9:24. He simply said, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it." Those who try to hang onto their lives, their time, their money, and their stuff will end up losing it. But those who do it Jesus' way; those who release what they have will end up actually gaining life. You lose it by keeping it. You find it by giving it away.

You don't give in order to get - that ruins it. But when you give, you do get. Jesus put it this way: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38). You pick the measure with which God will give to you based on the measure you choose to give to others.

If your life has seemed a little claustrophobic lately, unsatisfying, boring, maybe you've been all wrapped up in yourself, maybe with some reason because of what you've been going through. But you're missing the adventure. You're missing the healing power of getting your eyes off yourself and onto who you can help. There is no more exciting way to begin each new day than to say, "Lord, who needs me today?" I can guarantee someone does need your smile, your encouragement, your random act of kindness, maybe your compliment, your help; someone at work, someone at school, where you live, where you shop, in your neighborhood, online, in your church.

The equation of giving living goes like this, as spelled out in Proverbs, "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:24-25).

Look, if you don't believe me, go back to my grandson. Remember what he said? He would tell you that a day full of giving is "such an adventure"!

Judges 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Receive Sight - May 30, 2022

Jesus told the blind man, “‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated sent)” (John 9:7). Access to the pool of Siloam involved the descent of three sets of stone-hewn steps, five steps each—no casual stroll for anyone, much less a blind man. But he did it, and he leaned over the edge of the pool and began to wash his eyes. And, from one moment to the next, he could see.

The question is often asked, “What does a person need to know to become a follower of Christ?” This story provides an answer. The man knew nothing of the virgin birth or the Beatitudes. He received sight, not because he deserved it, earned it, or found it.  He received sight because he trusted and obeyed the One who was sent to “open eyes that are blind” (Isaiah 42:7 NIV). Remember friends, you are never alone.

Judges 20 ... Then all the People of Israel came out. The congregation met in the presence of God at Mizpah. They were all there, from Dan to Beersheba, as one person! The leaders of all the people, representing all the tribes of Israel, took their places in the gathering of God’s people. There were four hundred divisions of sword-wielding infantry.

3 Meanwhile the Benjaminites got wind that the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah.

The People of Israel said, “Now tell us. How did this outrageous evil happen?”

4-7 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke: “My concubine and I came to spend the night at Gibeah, a Benjaminite town. That night the men of Gibeah came after me. They surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They gang-raped my concubine and she died. So I took my concubine, cut up her body, and sent her piece by piece—twelve pieces!—to every part of Israel’s inheritance. This vile and outrageous crime was committed in Israel! So, Israelites, make up your minds. Decide on some action!”

8-11 All the people were at once and as one person on their feet. “None of us will go home; not a single one of us will go to his own house. Here’s our plan for dealing with Gibeah: We’ll march against it by drawing lots. We’ll take ten of every hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (a hundred of every thousand, and a thousand of every ten thousand) to carry food for the army. When the troops arrive at Gibeah they will settle accounts for this outrageous and vile evil that was done in Israel.” So all the men in Israel were gathered against the city, totally united.

12-13 The Israelite tribes sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin saying, “What’s the meaning of this outrage that took place among you? Surrender the men right here and now, these hell-raisers of Gibeah. We’ll put them to death and burn the evil out of Israel.”

13-16 But they wouldn’t do it. The Benjaminites refused to listen to their brothers, the People of Israel. Instead they raised an army from all their cities and rallied at Gibeah to go to war against the People of Israel. In no time at all they had recruited from their cities twenty-six divisions of sword-wielding infantry. From Gibeah they got seven hundred hand-picked fighters, the best. There were another seven hundred supermarksmen who were ambidextrous—they could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

17 The men of Israel, excluding Benjamin, mobilized four hundred divisions of sword-wielding fighting men.

* * *

18 They set out and went to Bethel to inquire of God. The People of Israel said, “Who of us shall be first to go into battle with the Benjaminites?”

God said, “Judah goes first.”

19-21 The People of Israel got up the next morning and camped before Gibeah. The army of Israel marched out against Benjamin and took up their positions, ready to attack Gibeah. But the Benjaminites poured out of Gibeah and devastated twenty-two Israelite divisions on the ground.

22-23 The Israelites went back to the sanctuary and wept before God until evening. They again inquired of God, “Shall we again go into battle against the Benjaminites, our brothers?”

God said, “Yes. Attack.”

24-25 The army took heart. The men of Israel took up the positions they had deployed on the first day.

On the second day, the Israelites again advanced against Benjamin. This time as the Benjaminites came out of the city, on this second day, they devastated another eighteen Israelite divisions, all swordsmen.

26 All the People of Israel, the whole army, were back at Bethel, weeping, sitting there in the presence of God. That day they fasted until evening. They sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings before God.

27-28 And they again inquired of God. The Chest of God’s Covenant was there at that time with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, as the ministering priest. They asked, “Shall we again march into battle against the Benjaminites, our brothers? Or should we call it quits?”

And God said, “Attack. Tomorrow I’ll give you victory.”

29-31 This time Israel placed men in ambush all around Gibeah. On the third day when Israel set out, they took up the same positions before the Benjaminites as before. When the Benjaminites came out to meet the army, they moved out from the city. Benjaminites began to cut down some of the troops just as they had before. About thirty men fell in the field and on the roads to Bethel and Gibeah.

32 The Benjaminites started bragging, “We’re dropping them like flies, just as before!”

33 But the Israelites strategized: “Now let’s retreat and pull them out of the city onto the main roads.” So every Israelite moved farther out to Baal Tamar; at the same time the Israelite ambush rushed from its place west of Gibeah.

34-36 Ten crack divisions from all over Israel now arrived at Gibeah—intense, bloody fighting! The Benjaminites had no idea that they were about to go down in defeat—God routed them before Israel. The Israelites decimated twenty-five divisions of Benjamin that day—25,100 killed. They were all swordsmen. The Benjaminites saw that they were beaten.

The men of Israel acted like they were retreating before Benjamin, knowing that they could depend on the ambush they had prepared for Gibeah.

37-40 The ambush erupted and made quick work of Gibeah. The ambush spread out and massacred the city. The strategy for the main body of the ambush was that they send up a smoke signal from the city. Then the men of Israel would turn in battle. When that happened, Benjamin had killed about thirty Israelites and thought they were on their way to victory, yelling out, “They’re on the run, just as in the first battle!” But then the signal went up from the city—a huge column of smoke. When the Benjaminites looked back, there it was, the whole city going up in smoke.

41-43 By the time the men of Israel had turned back on them, the men of Benjamin fell apart—they could see that they were trapped. Confronted by the Israelites, they tried to get away down the wilderness road, but by now the battle was everywhere. The men of Israel poured out of the towns, killing them right and left, hot on their trail, picking them off east of Gibeah.

* * *

44 Eighteen divisions of Benjaminites were wiped out, all their best fighters.

45 Five divisions turned to escape to the wilderness, to Rimmon Rock, but the Israelites caught and slaughtered them on roads.

Keeping the pressure on, the Israelites brought down two more divisions.

46 The total of the Benjaminites killed that day came to twenty-five divisions of infantry, their best swordsmen.

47 Six hundred men got away. They made it to Rimmon Rock in the wilderness and held out there for four months.

48 The men of Israel came back and killed all the Benjaminites who were left, all the men and animals they found in every town, and then torched the towns, sending them up in flames.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, May 30, 2022
Today's Scripture
2 Corinthians 5:11–19

That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

A New Life

14–15     Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

16–20     Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.

Insight

Paul makes this sobering statement in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” Yet he uses this truth not as a scare tactic but as a tool to spur us on to useful service for God. This is why he says, “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others” (v. 11). Paul added, “Christ’s love compels us” (v. 14). Because Jesus “died for all, . . . those who live should no longer live for themselves” (v. 15). Jesus’ love motivates our service for Him. By: Tim Gustafson

Healing for the Whole World

God . . . reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18

Tucked into a remote gorge in western Slovenia, a secret medical facility (Franja Partisan Hospital) housed an extensive staff that tended to thousands of wounded soldiers during World War II—all the while staying hidden from the Nazis. Though avoiding detection from numerous Nazi attempts to locate the facility is in itself a remarkable feat, even more remarkable is that the hospital (founded and run by the Slovenia resistance movement) cared for soldiers from both the Allied and Axis armies. The hospital welcomed everyone.

Scripture calls us to help the whole world to be spiritually healed. This means we need to have compassion for all—regardless of their views. Everyone, no matter their ideology, deserves Christ’s love and kindness. Paul insists that Jesus’ all-embracing love “compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:14). All of us suffer the sickness of sin. All of us are in desperate need of the healing of Jesus’ forgiveness. And He’s moved toward all of us in order to heal us.

Then, in a surprising move, God entrusted us with “the message of reconciliation” (v. 19). God invites us to tend to wounded and broken people (like us). We participate in healing work where the sick are made healthy through union with Him. And this reconciliation, this healing, is for all who will receive it. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Who are the people you think God won’t (or shouldn’t) heal? Where might He call you to be a reconciler and a healer?

God, I need healing. And so it shouldn’t surprise me that everyone else needs healing too. Help me be part of Your healing of others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 30, 2022

Yes—But…!

Lord, I will follow You, but... —Luke 9:61

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back? If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing, until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about…?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”

Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.

By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 10-12; John 11:30-57

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 30, 2022

Why Lying's a Really Big Deal - #9231

Spiders build webs, and a lot of bugs get stuck in them. Well, that's because, see, the spiders know where the sticky spots are, so they don't get trapped in the webs they weave. But humans do.

I saw it once when I watched Oprah Winfrey's interview with Lance Armstrong. At that time, the kind of the world's greatest biker. "One big lie" - that's how he described what happened in his record-breaking sports career. It was all built on brilliantly concealed "doping" and a cascading series of cover-up lies. Lots of folks got caught in the web, from bicycle racing officials to teammates to a world of admirers.

Actually, the Latin root of the word "deceive" means "to ensnare." First of all, lying ensnares those being deceived. Ultimately, it ensnares the one doing the deceiving. Trust gets lost. Reputation is lost. Self-respect is lost. You get lost.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Lying's a Really Big Deal."

I'm sure a lot of people looked at that champion Lance Armstrong and said, "How could he do such a thing?" Well, how about we look in the mirror and ask, "How could I do such a thing?" Because here's what God says about the entire human race, "Their tongues practice deceit" (Romans 3:13).

The spotlight exposing the star athlete's lies actually spills over and I think it exposes some of our own dishonest ways of getting through life. Especially if you identify what lying really is. It is any intention to deceive; to mislead - to leave people believing something other than what's really true. You could do that by exaggerating, "spinning" the facts a little bit, covering up, leaving things out, making false promises, or telling people what they want to hear.

Oh, we have our reasons. Lance Armstrong back then said lying was part of "anything to control the outcome." We lie to get our way, we lie to get out of a jam, we lie to get people to like us, we lie to get ahead. We deceive our husband, our wife, our family, people at work, our pastor, the people at church. We lie to the doctor. We lie to people we want to impress.

More than we want to admit, the truth is often optional in how we do life, or at least bendable. And ultimately, we start to lose touch with reality and we can't even hear our own lies. Inevitably, we'll get caught in the web that we have woven.

We might think lying is no big deal. Well, It is to God, and we're going to answer to Him some day. On the Bible list of six things "the Lord hates," lying is the only one that appears twice in Proverbs 6:16-19. And in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 101:7, He bluntly declares that "no one who practices deceit will dwell in My house." Wow! God's a God of truth. Lying sets God against me. Dishonesty? It's a very big deal.

God hears lies when everyone else - maybe even the liar - thinks it's the truth. He says the one who "may dwell in (His) sanctuary" is the one "who speaks truth from his heart" (Psalm 15:1-2). That probing Scripture has given me a "lie detector" question to ask myself throughout the day: "Does what's coming out of my mouth match what's in my heart?" If it doesn't, it's a lie. Jesus tells me that the devil's "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). And that makes lying even scarier.

Some years ago, I started praying a prayer that God has been more than faithful to answer. "Lord, set off an alarm in my soul any time I'm saying something that is less than the truth"; asking the Lord for instant conviction of any statement that might be intended to deceive, followed by instant correction of that statement so I'm speaking the truth from my heart.

I am grateful that when "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:4), He paid for every lying thing, every selfish thing, every hurtful thing we've ever done. Which puts total forgiveness within our reach. Can you imagine a clean slate from the day you reach out and put your trust in Jesus? And if you've never had that day, let this be the day that every sin of your life is forgiven as you make the Savior your Savior. Wow! This could be the day you are finally clean.

Judges 19 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Let Him Decide

You've shared your disappointments with your neighbor, your relatives, your friends. But have you taken them to God? James 5:13 says, 'Anyone who is having troubles should pray."
Before you go anywhere else with your disappointments, go to God. Maybe you don't want to trouble Him with your hurts. "He's got famines and wars; He won't care about my little struggles," you think. Why don't you let Him decide that?
He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter's tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers. He cares about you! Your first step is to go to the right person. Go to God. Your second step is to assume the right posture. Bow before God. And-trust in Him!
Go. Bow. Trust. Worth a try-don't you think?
From Traveling Light

Judges 19

The Levite

It was an era when there was no king in Israel. A Levite, living as a stranger in the backwoods hill country of Ephraim, got himself a concubine, a woman from Bethlehem in Judah. But she quarreled with him and left, returning to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there four months. Then her husband decided to go after her and try to win her back. He had a servant and a pair of donkeys with him. When he arrived at her father’s house, the girl’s father saw him, welcomed him, and made him feel at home. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, pressed him to stay. He stayed with him three days; they feasted and drank and slept.

5-6 On the fourth day, they got up at the crack of dawn and got ready to go. But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a hearty breakfast and then you can go.” So they sat down and ate breakfast together.

6-7 The girl’s father said to the man, “Come now, be my guest. Stay the night—make it a holiday.” The man got up to go, but his father-in-law kept after him, so he ended up spending another night.

8-9 On the fifth day, he was again up early, ready to go. The girl’s father said, “You need some breakfast.” They went back and forth, and the day slipped on as they ate and drank together. But the man and his concubine were finally ready to go. Then his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said, “Look, the day’s almost gone—why not stay the night? There’s very little daylight left; stay another night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get an early start and set off for your own place.”

10-11 But this time the man wasn’t willing to spend another night. He got things ready, left, and went as far as Jebus (Jerusalem) with his pair of saddled donkeys, his concubine, and his servant. At Jebus, though, the day was nearly gone. The servant said to his master, “It’s late; let’s go into this Jebusite city and spend the night.”

12-13 But his master said, “We’re not going into any city of foreigners. We’ll go on to Gibeah.” He directed his servant, “Keep going. Let’s go on ahead. We’ll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah.”

14-15 So they kept going. As they pressed on, the sun finally left them in the vicinity of Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They left the road there to spend the night at Gibeah.

15-17 The Levite went and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them in to spend the night. Then, late in the evening, an old man came in from his day’s work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and lived temporarily in Gibeah where all the local citizens were Benjaminites. When the old man looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, he said, “Where are you going? And where are you from?”

18-19 The Levite said, “We’re just passing through. We’re coming from Bethlehem on our way to a remote spot in the hills of Ephraim. I come from there. I’ve just made a trip to Bethlehem in Judah and I’m on my way back home, but no one has invited us in for the night. We wouldn’t be any trouble: We have food and straw for the donkeys, and bread and wine for the woman, the young man, and me—we don’t need anything.”

20-21 The old man said, “It’s going to be all right; I’ll take care of you. You aren’t going to spend the night in the town square.” He took them home and fed the donkeys. They washed up and sat down to a good meal.

22 They were relaxed and enjoying themselves when the men of the city, a gang of local hell-raisers all, surrounded the house and started pounding on the door. They yelled for the owner of the house, the old man, “Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sex with him.”

23-24 He went out and told them, “No, brothers! Don’t be obscene—this man is my guest. Don’t commit this outrage. Look, my virgin daughter and his concubine are here. I’ll bring them out for you. Abuse them if you must, but don’t do anything so senselessly vile to this man.”

25-26 But the men wouldn’t listen to him. Finally, the Levite pushed his concubine out the door to them. They raped her repeatedly all night long. Just before dawn they let her go. The woman came back and fell at the door of the house where her master was sleeping. When the sun rose, there she was.

27 It was morning. Her master got up and opened the door to continue his journey. There she was, his concubine, crumpled in a heap at the door, her hands on the threshold.

28 “Get up,” he said. “Let’s get going.” There was no answer.

29-30 He lifted her onto his donkey and set out for home. When he got home he took a knife and dismembered his concubine—cut her into twelve pieces. He sent her, piece by piece, throughout the country of Israel. And he ordered the men he sent out, “Say to every man in Israel: ‘Has such a thing as this ever happened from the time the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until now? Think about it! Talk it over. Do something!’”

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, May 29, 2022
Today's Scripture
Joshua 9:7–15

The men of Israel said to these Hivites, “How do we know you aren’t local people? How could we then make a covenant with you?”

8     They said to Joshua, “We’ll be your servants.”

Joshua said, “Who are you now? Where did you come from?”

9–11     They said, “From a far-off country, very far away. Your servants came because we’d heard such great things about God, your God—all those things he did in Egypt! And the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth! Our leaders and everybody else in our country told us, ‘Pack up some food for the road and go meet them. Tell them, We’re your servants; make a covenant with us.’

12–13     “This bread was warm from the oven when we packed it and left to come and see you. Now look at it—crusts and crumbs. And our cracked and mended wineskins, good as new when we filled them. And our clothes and sandals, in tatters from the long, hard traveling.”

14     The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn’t ask God about it.

15     So Joshua made peace with them and formalized it with a covenant to guarantee their lives. The leaders of the congregation swore to it.

Insight

The account in Joshua 9 is known as the “Gibeonite deception.” The story is rather obscure, but the caution not to rely on our understanding but to seek counsel from God is seen in other Scripture passages. Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” The Hebrew word translated “understanding” in this passage refers to limited human discernment. Solomon’s prayerful posture is instructive as well. On the threshold of governing God’s people, he asked for a “discerning heart” (1 Kings 3:9). God’s answer? “I will give you a wise and discerning heart” (v. 12). By: Arthur Jackson

ressing Pause to Pray

[They] did not inquire of the Lord.
Joshua 9:14

The fire hydrant gushed into the street, and I saw my opportunity. Several cars had splashed through before me, and I thought, What a great way to get a free wash! My car hadn’t been cleaned for a month and the dust was thick. So I fired it up and headed into the deluge.

Crack!

It happened so fast. The sun had already beaten down on my black car that morning, heating its glass and interior. But the water from the hydrant was frigid. As soon as the cold gush hit the hot windshield, a crack struck like lightning from top to bottom. My “free” car wash ended up costing me plenty.

If only I had “pressed pause” beforehand to think or even to pray. Ever have a moment like that? The people of Israel did, under far weightier circumstances. God had promised to help them drive out other nations as they entered the land He’d given them (Joshua 3:10) so they wouldn’t be tempted by false gods (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). But one of the nations saw Israel’s victories and used stale bread to trick them into believing they lived far away. “The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace” (Joshua 9:14–15, italics added), unknowingly circumventing God’s instructions.

When we make prayer a first resort instead of a last, we invite God’s direction, wisdom, and blessing. May He help us remember to “press pause” today. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

What decision have you rushed into instead of talking it over with God? What do you need to discuss with Him today?

Thank You, Father, for giving wisdom “generously” and “without finding fault” (James 1:5) to those who ask. Please help me to pause more to talk to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 29, 2022

Untroubled Relationship

In that day you will ask in My name…for the Father Himself loves you… —John 16:26-27

“In that day you will ask in My name…,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but— “You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “…for the Father Himself loves you…”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.

“…whatever you ask the Father in My name…” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).

“…He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation— to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name— in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “…whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.  The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 7-9; John 11:1-29

Luke 15:11-32 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Sitting Duck

If you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, you're a sitting duck! You buy everything you don't need. Doesn't matter if it's good for you, you just want to fill your tummy.
When you're lonely-you do the same, pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you're hungry for love. For fear of not fitting in, we take drugs. For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house. For fear of going unnoticed, we dress to impress. But all that changes when we discover God's perfect love. The perfect love that 1 John 4:18 says "casts out fear."
Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? If a season of solitude is His way to teach you to know His love, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.
From Traveling Light

Luke 15:11-32

The Story of the Lost Son

11-12 Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’

12-16 “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to feel it. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

17-20 “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

20-21 “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’

22-24 “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a prize-winning heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.

25-27 “All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’

28-30 “The older brother stomped off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’

31-32 “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, May 28, 2022

Today's Scripture
Luke 13:22–30

He went on teaching from town to village, village to town, but keeping on a steady course toward Jerusalem.

23–25     A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?”

He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’

26–27     “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’

28–30     “That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s kingdom. You’ll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God’s kingdom. And all the time you’ll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last.”

Insight

Jesus’ words in Luke 13:22–30 are directed to the people of Israel. They were literally eating and drinking with Him and listening to His teaching (v. 26). Yet there’s a larger truth for all of us. When Christ refers to people from all directions coming to God’s feast (v. 29), He’s signaling the inclusion of gentiles in the kingdom of God. This is what’s meant by “those who are last [the gentiles] will be first” (v. 30). Jesus’ somewhat lengthy response to the original question, “Are only a few people going to be saved?” (v. 23), doesn’t necessarily mean that the number of the saved will be few. Rather, the “narrow door” (v. 24) is a reference to the exclusive way to God—only through Jesus the Son. As many as are willing to enter through Christ will be admitted to the kingdom. By: Tim Gustafson

Narrow Door Cafe

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.
Luke 13:24

Croissants, dumplings, pork curry, and all sorts of scrumptious food await those who find and enter the Narrow Door Cafe. Located in the Taiwanese city of Tainan, this cafe is literally a hole in the wall. Its entrance is barely forty centimeters wide (less than sixteen inches)—just enough for the average person to squeeze his way through! Yet, despite the challenge, this unique cafe has attracted large crowds.

Will this be true of the narrow door described in Luke 13:22–30? Someone asked Jesus, “Are only a few people going to be saved?” (v. 23). In reply, Jesus challenged the person to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door” to God’s kingdom (v. 24). He was essentially asking, “Will the saved include you?” Jesus used this analogy to urge the Jews not to be presumptuous. Many of them believed they’d be included in God’s kingdom because they were Abraham’s descendants or because they kept the law. But Jesus challenged them to respond to Him before “the owner of the house . . . closes the door” (v. 25).

Neither our family background nor our deeds can make us right with God. Only faith in Jesus can save us from sin and death (Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:5–7). The door is narrow, but it’s wide open to all who will put their faith in Jesus. He’s inviting us today to seize the opportunity to enter through the narrow door to His kingdom. By:  Poh Fang Chia

Reflect & Pray

How can you have confidence you’ll enter through the narrow door and be assured of eternal life with Jesus? Why is this decision so important?

Jesus, thank You for inviting me into Your kingdom. I believe You came to die for me and You rose from the grave. Come into my life and be my Savior.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 28, 2022

Unquestioned Revelation

In that day you will ask Me nothing. —John 16:23

When is “that day”? It is when the ascended Lord makes you one with the Father. “In that day” you will be one with the Father just as Jesus is, and He said, “In that day you will ask Me nothing.” Until the resurrection life of Jesus is fully exhibited in you, you have questions about many things. Then after a while you find that all your questions are gone— you don’t seem to have any left to ask. You have come to the point of total reliance on the resurrection life of Jesus, which brings you into complete oneness with the purpose of God. Are you living that life now? If not, why aren’t you?

“In that day” there may be any number of things still hidden to your understanding, but they will not come between your heart and God. “In that day you will ask Me nothing”— you will not need to ask, because you will be certain that God will reveal things in accordance with His will. The faith and peace of John 14:1 has become the real attitude of your heart, and there are no more questions to be asked. If anything is a mystery to you and is coming between you and God, never look for the explanation in your mind, but look for it in your spirit, your true inner nature— that is where the problem is. Once your inner spiritual nature is willing to submit to the life of Jesus, your understanding will be perfectly clear, and you will come to the place where there is no distance between the Father and you, His child, because the Lord has made you one. “In that day you will ask Me nothing.”

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

It is impossible to read too much, but always keep before you why you read. Remember that “the need to receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Spirit” is before all else. Approved Unto God, 11 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 4-6; John 10:24-42

Judges 18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Mud Moments - May 27, 2022

“After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. (John 9:6 NIV)

Now there is something you don’t expect to read in the Bible: Jesus spitting. A prayer would’ve seemed appropriate. Perhaps a “hallelujah!” But who expected a heavenly spit into the dirt? The God who sent manna and fire dispatched a blob of saliva. And as calmly as a painter spackles a hole in the wall, Jesus streaked miracle mud on the man’s eyes.

Sometimes God uses the less than-pleasant. He initiates the miracle through “mud moments”:  layoffs, letdowns, and bouts of loneliness. Can you relate? If so, do not assume that Jesus is absent or oblivious to your struggle. Just the opposite. He is using it to reveal himself to you. He wants you to see him. Remember friend, you are never alone.

Judges 18

The Danites Settle in Laish

In those days Israel had no king.

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. 3 When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

6 The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.[i] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.[j]

8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

9 They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. 10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

11 Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan[k] to this day. 13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.” 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.

18 When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

19 They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” 20 The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”

25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,[l] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, May 27, 2022

Today's Scripture
Jeremiah 23:16–22

A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.

It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.

They make it all up.

Not a word they speak comes from me.

They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon

to congregations with no taste for God,

Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon

to people who are set in their own ways.

18–20     “Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me,

the true God?

bothered to take in what I have to say?

listened to and then lived out my Word?

Look out! God’s hurricane will be let loose—

my hurricane blast,

Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!

God’s raging anger won’t let up

Until I’ve made a clean sweep,

completing the job I began.

When the job’s done,

you’ll see that it’s been well done.

Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk

21–22     “I never sent these prophets,

but they ran anyway.

I never spoke to them,

but they preached away.

If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me,

they’d have preached my Message to my people.

They’d have gotten them back on the right track,

gotten them out of their evil ruts.

nsight

In Jeremiah 23, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah against the “shepherds” (kings and priests, vv. 1–2) and prophets (vv. 9–40) for their continued disobedience and for leading the people astray. The shepherds were called to be godly leaders who guided and protected; instead, they’d destroyed and scattered “the sheep of [God’s] pasture” (v. 1). And rather than speaking God’s truths, the prophets “prophesied by Baal and led [God’s] people Israel astray” (v. 13). They “live[d] a lie” and strengthened “the hands of evildoers” so that they didn’t turn back “from their wickedness” (v. 14). God warned the people not to listen to the false prophets who weren’t speaking for God and offered only “false hopes” (v. 16). Because of their refusal to listen, Judah would be exiled at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet God wouldn’t forsake them forever (vv. 3–8). By: Alyson Kieda

The Forecaster’s Mistake

Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully.
Jeremiah 23:28

At noon on September 21, 1938, a young meteorologist warned the U.S. Weather Bureau of two fronts forcing a hurricane northward toward New England. But the chief of forecasting scoffed at Charles Pierce’s prediction. Surely a tropical storm wouldn’t strike so far north.

Two hours later, the 1938 New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island. By 4:00 p.m. it had reached New England, tossing ships onto land as homes crumbled into the sea. More than six hundred people died. Had the victims received Pierce’s warning—based on solid data and his detailed maps—they likely would have survived.

The concept of knowing whose word to heed has precedent in Scripture. In Jeremiah’s day, God warned His people against false prophets. “Do not listen [to them],” He said. “They fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16). God said of them, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (v. 22).

“False prophets” are still with us. “Experts” dispense advice while ignoring God altogether or twisting His words to suit their purposes. But through His Word and Spirit, God has given us what we need to begin to discern the false from the true. As we gauge everything by the truth of His Word, our own words and lives will increasingly reflect that truth to others. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What’s the standard you use when you decide whether something is true? What in your attitude needs to change toward those who disagree with you?

Loving God, so many claim to speak for You these days. Help me learn what You really have to say. Make me sensitive to Your Spirit, not the spirit of this world.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 27, 2022

The Life To Know Him

…tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. —Luke 24:49

The disciples had to tarry, staying in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, not only for their own preparation but because they had to wait until the Lord was actually glorified. And as soon as He was glorified, what happened? “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). The statement in John 7:39— “…for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”— does not pertain to us. The Holy Spirit has been given; the Lord is glorified— our waiting is not dependent on the providence of God, but on our own spiritual fitness.

The Holy Spirit’s influence and power were at work before Pentecost, but He was not here. Once our Lord was glorified in His ascension, the Holy Spirit came into the world, and He has been here ever since. We have to receive the revealed truth that He is here. The attitude of receiving and welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives is to be the continual attitude of a believer. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive reviving life from our ascended Lord.

It is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that changes people, but the power of the ascended Christ coming into their lives through the Holy Spirit. We all too often separate things that the New Testament never separates. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience apart from Jesus Christ— it is the evidence of the ascended Christ.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit does not make you think of time or eternity— it is one amazing glorious now. “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” (John 17:3). Begin to know Him now, and never finish.

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: 2 Chronicles 1-3; John 10:1-23

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 27, 2022
How to Avoid a Spiritual Crash - #9230

I usually leave airplanes to the experts. I fly on commercial airplanes and I don't usually give a lot of thought to the maintenance or the flying of the plane - usually, but not on a very wintry day in Toronto. The plane was warming up at the gate, all the passengers were seated. I was as usual really busy at work until I glanced out of the window at the wing which was covered with snow and getting more covered. Now look, I don't know a lot about airplanes technically, but I know you have to de-ice them before you take-off. Yeah, a little ice on the wings affects the lift on an aircraft and causes you to go "boom." Now, I'm used to the de-icer truck taking care of things at the gate before we leave, and we were preparing to leave the gate iced and snowed. Finally, the pilot told us that they would do that on the runway which is actually a better idea. But I told my wife later that if they hadn't done something about those wings, I was off that plane. I mean, it's unbelievable how much damage a thin layer of ice can do.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Avoid a Spiritual Crash."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about, well I guess you could say, crash prevention in your life. Hebrews 12:1-2 - "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." Actually this verse is talking about a runner not a flyer, but the principal is still the same: get rid of anything that's slowing you down or hindering you. I think pilots call it drag.

Now in terms of your commitment to live for Christ, are there too many days when you've crashed? The same old sinful attitudes or thoughts; same old reactions keep tripping you up? Or you go through the day depressed and discouraged instead of with the joy you used to have. Or you just forget about God a lot of the day. Your crashes haven't been fatal, but they've done too much damage. The problem may be a thin coating of sin, a compromise on your wings. It doesn't take much to bring you down. That's why the Bible says to deal with it forcefully and aggressively. It says, "throw it off." Personal purity is not a passive thing. It actively attacks anything that's a drag on your flight plan of following Jesus.

Every new day means another take-off into that day - people, pressures, temptations. Before you leave the gate, be sure you de-ice. Spiritual flight preparation means you get on your knees before your Savior and you pray through what you know will be the temptations of that day. Anticipate them; walk through them with Jesus before you get to them. Claim His power for each one. Commit yourself to send Him to the door when that temptation knocks.

There are going to be surprises, but you'll be ready for them if you've prepared yourself for the ones you know are coming. One major source of spiritual ice on your wings is a negative, complaining attitude. Has there been too much of that? It will make everything look dark all day long. Lose it at the beginning of the day and replace it with praise and thanks.

De-icing also means checking your motives before you take off. Ask the Lord to expose any things you might be doing for your own glory, or out of bitterness, or jealousy, or to get your own way. Throw it off! And ask the Lord to show you where there's any breakage in your relationships, and make that right with God and then later make it right with that person.

As you examine your day looking at it through Jesus' eyes, you'll begin to see the weight that can bring you down. Get rid of it there before you're airborne and it's too late. You can prevent a lot of crashes if you deal with what could cause a crash before you ever take off.

Judges 17 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Always Sees You - May 26, 2022

“As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth” (John 9:1). No one else saw him. The disciples saw only a theological case study. “‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” (vs. 2). They didn’t see a human being. They saw a topic of discussion.

Jesus, by contrast, saw a man who was blind from birth, a man who’d never seen a sunrise, who couldn’t distinguish purple from pink. He dwelled in a dark world. Others had reason to hope; he had reason to despair.

But then Jesus saw him. And he sees you. The first lesson of this event is a welcome one. You and I aren’t invisible. We aren’t overlooked. Jesus spots us on the side of the road, and he makes the first move. Remember my friend, you are never alone.

Judges 17

Micah’s Idols

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels[e] of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”

4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels[f] of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way[g] he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels[h] of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, May 26, 2022

To Laodicea

14     Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says:

15–17     “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

18     “Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

19     “The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they’ll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

20–21     “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

22     “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.”

Insight

Laodicea, a rich commercial city famed for its high-quality black wool and medicinal eye ointment, was dependent for its water supply on the hot springs from Hierapolis six miles north. By the time the piped water reached Laodicea, it had become lukewarm. The stern rebuke to the Laodiceans describing them as “lukewarm” and “blind and naked” (Revelation 3:16–17) as well as Jesus’ call to repentance in verse 18 are couched in terms of these economic activities. Earlier, the apostle Paul had expressed concern for the Laodicean believers. His letter to the Colossians was also meant to be shared with them and likewise a letter sent to Laodicea was to be shared with the Colossians (Colossian 4:16). Some scholars believe this letter is the one sent to the Ephesians. By: K. T. Sim

Turn Up the Heat

Be earnest and repent.
Revelation 3:19

Temperatures where we live in Colorado can change quickly—sometimes within a few minutes. So my husband, Dan, was curious about the temperature differences in and around our home. As a fan of gadgets, he was excited to unpack his latest “toy”—a thermometer showing temperature readings from four “zones” around our house. Joking that it was a “silly” gadget, I was surprised to find myself frequently checking the temperatures too. The differences inside and out fascinated me.

Jesus used temperature to describe the “lukewarm” church in Laodicea, one of the richest of the seven cities cited in the book of Revelation. A bustling banking, clothing, and medical hub, the city was hampered by a poor water supply, so it needed an aqueduct to carry water from a hot spring. By the time the water arrived in Laodicea, however, it was neither hot nor cold.

The church was tepid too. Jesus said, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15–16). As Christ explained, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (v. 19).

Our Savior’s plea remains urgent for us too. Are you spiritually neither hot nor cold? Accept His correction and ask Him to help you live an earnest, fired-up faith. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

What’s the temperature of your faith? If your commitment to God is lukewarm, how will you pray to seek more loving heat and zeal?

If my commitment to You cools down, Father, send the loving heat of Your Holy Spirit to awaken and warm up my faith.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 26, 2022

Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.  Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Chronicles 28-29; John 9:24-41

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 26, 2022

Satisfying Your Thirsty Soul - #9229

It's a miracle my wife made it through college. No, not because of her grades. You say, "Yeah, well probably because she was dating you." No, that's not the reason either - because of finances. Halfway through, her parent's financial help suddenly stopped. It wasn't because they didn't want to help her through college. Suddenly they just didn't have it. Her folks were running a small dairy farm at the time, a little family farm, and they needed a well desperately. So they sank most of their money into digging a well. A drought came and the well came up dry. Wells have a way of doing that.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Satisfying Your Thirsty Soul."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4. A great story; one I love, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 13. You'll recognize this as an account of Jesus' trip through Samaria where He met a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water from the well. She had a pretty sordid background; she'd been pretty busy with the men in town, and she has a reputation that goes with it.

Now Jesus says to her after offering her living water, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. (I can almost picture Him pointing to the well.) But whoever drinks the water that I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'"

"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to come here and draw water.' He told her, 'Go call your husband and come back.' 'Well, I have no husband' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You're right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.'"

This lady went to a well that day to meet her need. She'd been doing that for a long time emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. You see, emotionally, I think her well was men. She kept trying to quench her incurable heart thirst with male attention. "Maybe this relationship... maybe this will finally do it." But she always needed one more, and the one more never did it.

Jesus proposed something better. Jesus said, "I want to give you an internal life source that will allow you to finally relax, and end your search, and have peace." See, we all have wells we depend on for our emotional life. Maybe your well is people's applause. Maybe it's another career conquest, buying things that make you feel secure, or maybe it's really depending on one of your children, your position, your power, your money.

But there's a problem with wells. First of all, they dry up during droughts and they leave you adrift. Secondly, you always need another shot, you're always restless, you're never filled, you're always driving for more, always thirsty again.

The Bible uses this wonderful word to describe the result of beginning a personal relationship with Jesus. In Colossians 2:10, it says that with Jesus you're "complete in Him." Complete. Not always having to look for something to fill me up, make me feel loved, make me feel important, satisfied. The reason only Jesus can do that is, according to the Bible, we are "created by Him and for Him" but we haven't lived for Him. We've lived pretty much for ourselves. So we're chronically restless because there's this missing person in our life. The person we were made by and made for. It wasn't His choice that we be away from Him. But it was His choice to do whatever it took to bring us back. It took Him taking my hell for my sin so I could be with Him for time and eternity.

And today, He's knocking on the door of your heart, giving you this chance to finally be complete in Him. Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours."And let me invite you to check out our website. I've tried to lay out there as simply as I could in non-religious language how you can be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. We'd be honored if you'd pay us a visit.

Jesus wants to make you secure by putting your life source inside you. The key to peace, the end of roller coaster living, is to depend on the spring of water welling up inside of you. And that's the identity Christ can give you.

So, be sure you know who you are without your wells. They go dry. They're never enough. That's the trouble with wells.

Judges 16 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Can You See the Light? - May 25, 2022

From heaven’s viewpoint our earth is populated by sightless people. They do not see the meaning of life or the love of God. How else do we explain the confusion and chaos? How else do we explain the constant threat of world war, plagues of hunger, racism, and the holocaust of the unborn?

Billions of people simply cannot see. The scripture says, “The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

We need a spiritual ophthalmologist. We need Jesus to do for us what he did for the man on the side of the Jerusalem road.  He restored his sight, and he will do the same for us. Remember my friends, you are never alone.


Judges 16

Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute. He went to her. The news got around: “Samson’s here.” They gathered around in hiding, waiting all night for him at the city gate, quiet as mice, thinking, “At sunrise we’ll kill him.”

3 Samson was in bed with the woman until midnight. Then he got up, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, bolts and all, hefted them on his shoulder, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

* * *

4-5 Some time later he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek (Grapes). Her name was Delilah. The Philistine tyrants approached her and said, “Seduce him. Discover what’s behind his great strength and how we can tie him up and humble him. Each man’s company will give you a hundred shekels of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, dear, the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and humbled.”

7 Samson told her, “If they were to tie me up with seven bowstrings—the kind made from fresh animal tendons, not dried out—then I would become weak, just like anyone else.”

8-9 The Philistine tyrants brought her seven bowstrings, not dried out, and she tied him up with them. The men were waiting in ambush in her room. Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He snapped the cords as though they were mere threads. The secret of his strength was still a secret.

10 Delilah said, “Come now, Samson—you’re playing with me, making up stories. Be serious; tell me how you can be tied up.”

11 He told her, “If you were to tie me up tight with new ropes, ropes never used for work, then I would be helpless, just like anybody else.”

12 So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. She said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The men were hidden in the next room. He snapped the ropes from his arms like threads.

13-14 Delilah said to Samson, “You’re still playing games with me, teasing me with lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.”

He said to her, “If you wove the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight, then I would be as helpless as any other mortal.”

When she had him fast asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight. Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He woke from his sleep and ripped loose from both the loom and fabric!

15 She said, “How can you say ‘I love you’ when you won’t even trust me? Three times now you’ve toyed with me, like a cat with a mouse, refusing to tell me the secret of your great strength.”

16-17 She kept at it day after day, nagging and tormenting him. Finally, he was fed up—he couldn’t take another minute of it. He spilled it.

He told her, “A razor has never touched my head. I’ve been God’s Nazirite from conception. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would be as helpless as any other mortal.”

18 When Delilah realized that he had told her his secret, she sent for the Philistine tyrants, telling them, “Come quickly—this time he’s told me the truth.” They came, bringing the bribe money.

19 When she got him to sleep, his head on her lap, she motioned to a man to cut off the seven braids of his hair. Immediately he began to grow weak. His strength drained from him.

20 Then she said, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He woke up, thinking, “I’ll go out, like always, and shake free.” He didn’t realize that God had abandoned him.

21-22 The Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. They shackled him in irons and put him to the work of grinding in the prison. But his hair, though cut off, began to grow again.

23-24 The Philistine tyrants got together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They celebrated, saying,

Our god has given us
Samson our enemy!

And when the people saw him, they joined in, cheering their god,

Our god has given
Our enemy to us,
The one who ravaged our country,
Piling high the corpses among us.

25-27 Then this: Everyone was feeling high and someone said, “Get Samson! Let him show us his stuff!” They got Samson from the prison and he put on a show for them.

They had him standing between the pillars. Samson said to the young man who was acting as his guide, “Put me where I can touch the pillars that hold up the temple so I can rest against them.” The building was packed with men and women, including all the Philistine tyrants. And there were at least three thousand in the stands watching Samson’s performance.

28 And Samson cried out to God:

Master, God!
    Oh, please, look on me again,
    Oh, please, give strength yet once more.

God!
    With one avenging blow let me be avenged
    On the Philistines for my two eyes!

29-30 Then Samson reached out to the two central pillars that held up the building and pushed against them, one with his right arm, the other with his left. Saying, “Let me die with the Philistines,” Samson pushed hard with all his might. The building crashed on the tyrants and all the people in it. He killed more people in his death than he had killed in his life.

* * *

31 His brothers and all his relatives went down to get his body. They carried him back and buried him in the tomb of Manoah his father, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

He judged Israel for twenty years.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Today's Scripture
Matthew 26:47–56

With Swords and Clubs

47–49     The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him.” He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, “How are you, Rabbi?” and kissed him.

50–51     Jesus said, “Friend, why this charade?”

Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant, cut off his ear.

52–54     Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don’t you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?”

55–56     Then Jesus addressed the mob: “What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You’ve done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings.”

Then all the disciples cut and ran.

Insight

The betrayal and arrest of Jesus is recorded in all four gospels (Matthew 26:47–56; Mark 14:43–50; Luke 22:47–50; John 18:1–14). In Matthew 26, Jesus declared that His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane “must happen in this way” (v. 54) so that Scripture “might be fulfilled” (v. 56). Christ had forewarned His disciples three times about His betrayal and death in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21; 17:22; 20:18–19), and they didn’t understand what He meant (Luke 18:34). Peter expressed disbelief saying, “Never, Lord!” (Matthew 16:22). Perhaps that’s why he was so quick to draw his sword to resist Jesus’ arrest (John 18:10). By: K. T. Sim

Run Away

How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?
Matthew 26:54

The introductory lesson on aikido, a traditional Japanese form of martial arts, was an eye-opener. The sensei, or teacher, told us that when faced with an attacker, our first response should be to “run away.” “Only if you can’t run away, then you fight,” he said seriously.

Run away? I was taken aback. Why was this highly skilled self-defense instructor telling us to run away from a fight? It seemed counterintuitive—until he explained that the best form of self-defense is to avoid fighting in the first place. Of course!

When several men came to arrest Jesus, Peter responded as some of us might have by drawing his sword to attack one of them (Matthew 26:51; see John 18:10). But Jesus told him to put it away, saying, “How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:54).

While a sense of justice is important, so is understanding God’s purpose and kingdom—an “upside-down” kingdom that calls us to love our enemies and return evil with kindness (5:44). It’s a stark contrast to how the world might react, yet it’s a response that God seeks to nurture in us.

Luke 22:51 even describes Jesus healing the ear of the man Peter had struck. May we learn to respond to difficult situations as He did, always seeking peace and restoration as God provides what we need. By:  Leslie Koh

Reflect & Pray

How did you respond to a difficult situation recently? How does this compare with how you think Jesus might have responded?

Father God, give me a new understanding of Your greater purposes in Your kingdom, and a godly, loving, and peace-seeking heart to respond to situations as Your Son did.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
The Good or The Best?

If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. —Genesis 13:9

As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice.

Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing.

Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “…walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.
Biblical Psychology

Bible in a Year: 1 Chronicles 25-27; John 9:1-23

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Praying For Real - #9228

It is no fun to be sick on Thanksgiving Day. My honey was. Much of the family was together for Thanksgiving, but she was the one person who just felt too sick to join the festivities. I mean after all, she had 101-plus degree fever, swollen glands, a burning sore throat, a full nose and ears. Nothing fatal, just really feeling crummy. And she didn't want to give any of us a Thanksgiving gift that we would not be thankful for.

It also happened that our daughter and son-in-law and our two grandsons weren't able to be with the rest of the family, so we connected by phone that day and each of them passed the phone around so we could talk to them. And, of course, I asked each one if they would pray for their grandma. And each person said they would. Well except for our little two-year-old treasure. When I asked him if he would pray for Grandma that day, I suddenly heard something like this on the end of the line: "Jesus - pray - Grandma - sick - better - Amen." No, he wasn't going to pray for her, he just jumped right in and started doing it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Praying For Real."

Remember that Jesus didn't say little children need to become like us adults to belong to Him. No, He said we need to become like little children, and that day when my grandson just started praying - that's a good example of why. Everyone said they would pray for Grandma, and I'm sure they did. But that would be later. Not the little guy. No, he started right in praying as soon as he heard the need. You know what, that's not a bad idea.

How many times have we sincerely promised we'd pray for someone and we forgot? And while someone's promised to pray for us might be an encouragement, I'll tell you what, it's nothing like actually hearing them pray for you right then and there. Don't you think it's time we got over this feeling that some of us have? It's kind of a feeling of awkwardness and timidity about praying with each other, about bringing up that possibility? That day when Grandma was sick, I appreciated everyone's promise to pray for her, but I was touched when our grandson just went ahead and did it. I think we all need to be doing more of that. It will exponentially increase your personal ministry, and the impact of your life, and even open doors to talk about Jesus with folks who don't know Him.

This kind of ongoing, immediate, spontaneous prayer must be part of what Paul had in mind in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 6:18. After his classic passage on spiritual warfare, he says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

Now this prayer is triggered by the occasion. And no prayer ministers like immediate prayer. Going right into God's presence, in the presence of the one you're praying for, and bringing together their need with God's great love and power. And that's what prayer really is all about. It's not some religious exercise you force on a person, it's a real-life acknowledgement of God's "always there" presence and power and love.

So, as God provides appropriate opportunities, would you let it become an instinct to respond to people's needs and struggles by asking them if you can start praying for them right then and there. I've asked that of many people who didn't even know Christ, and I've never had anybody say no. In fact, many times when I open my eyes, there are tears in their eyes. It often happens that when they see me initiating a conversation with God, and they see with their own eyes that I have a personal relationship with Him, it gives me the opportunity to explain that I didn't always have that kind of personal relationship with Him and how that relationship got started. Let them experience your relationship with God as you pray for them.

If you're going to go to God on someone's behalf anyway, why not go there with them? It's one simple, but very meaningful way that you can make an unforgettable difference.