Psalm 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TURNING CHAOS INTO CALM - September 27, 2022
Anxiety. The emotion is not a sign of weakness, immaturity, or demon possession. It is simply the result of living in a fast-changing, challenging world. Anxiety is not a sign of weakness, but anxiety does weaken us. Yet help is here. The Holy Spirit is the calming presence of God in the world today.
His first act in earthly history was to turn chaos into calm. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 NKJV). The inaugural activity of the Holy Spirit was to hover over a frenzied world. Before God created the world, the Spirit of God calmed the world.

Psalm 13
Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.
3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.
5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Today's Scripture
Psalm 90:12–17
  Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
Insight
The superscription of Psalm 90 says that it’s “A prayer of Moses the man of God.” The description “man of God” is a term used some seventy-five times in the Old Testament to refer to one who’s a spokesman for God. Therefore, the term is used for the many prophets who ministered to the Israelites (see Judges 13:6; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1 Kings 12:22; 13:1), including Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 1:9; 4:16). As a title of honor, it’s applied often to Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6; 1 Chronicles 23:14; 2 Chronicles 30:16; Ezra 3:2) and David (2 Chronicles 8:14; Nehemiah 12:24, 36). That Psalm 90 is a song written by Moses (around 1526–1406 bc) makes it the oldest of the 150 psalms. Besides this song, Moses also wrote “The Song at the Sea” (Exodus 15:1–18) and “The Song of Moses” (Deuteronomy 31:19; 32:1–43).
By: K. T. Sim
God’s Help for Our Future
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14
According to psychologist Meg Jay, our minds tend to think about our future selves similarly to how we think about complete strangers. Why? It’s probably due to what’s sometimes called the “empathy gap.” It can be hard to empathize and care for people we don’t know personally—even future versions of ourselves. So in her work, Jay tries to help young people imagine their future selves and take steps to care for them. This includes working out actionable plans for who they will one day be—paving the way for them to pursue their dreams and to continue to thrive.
In Psalm 90, we’re invited to see our lives not just in the present, but as a whole—to ask God to help us “number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). Remembering that our time on earth is limited can remind us of our desperate need to rely on God. We need His help to learn how to find satisfaction and joy—not just now, but “all our days” (v. 14). We need His help to learn to think not just of ourselves, but of future generations (v. 16). And we need His help to serve Him with the time we’ve been given—as He establishes the work of our hands and hearts (v. 17).
By:  Monica La Rose
Reflect & Pray
How might you grow in taking care of your future self? How does keeping the bigger picture of your life in view help you to better serve others?
Dear God, thank You for the gift of life. Help me to cherish it with the time I’ve been given. Thank You that when my walk with You on earth is over, I can look forward to an eternity of fellowship with You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
The “Go” of Renunciation
…someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." —Luke 9:57 
Our Lord’s attitude toward this man was one of severe discouragement, “for He knew what was in man” (John 2:25). We would have said, “I can’t imagine why He lost the opportunity of winning that man! Imagine being so cold to him and turning him away so discouraged!” Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God. Our Lord’s answers were not based on some whim or impulsive thought, but on the knowledge of “what was in man.” If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.
Luke 9:58. These words destroy the argument of serving Jesus Christ because it is a pleasant thing to do. And the strictness of the rejection that He demands of me allows for nothing to remain in my life but my Lord, myself, and a sense of desperate hope. He says that I must let everyone else come or go, and that I must be guided solely by my relationship to Him. And He says, “…the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Luke 9:59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor did he want to show a lack of respect for his father. We put our sense of loyalty to our relatives ahead of our loyalty to Jesus Christ, forcing Him to take last place. When your loyalties conflict, always obey Jesus Christ whatever the cost.
Luke 9:61. The person who says, “Lord, I will follow You, but…,” is the person who is intensely ready to go, but never goes. This man had reservations about going. The exacting call of Jesus has no room for good-byes; good-byes, as we often use them, are pagan, not Christian, because they divert us from the call. Once the call of God comes to you, start going and never stop.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God engineers circumstances to see what we will do. Will we be the children of our Father in heaven, or will we go back again to the meaner, common-sense attitude? Will we stake all and stand true to Him? “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The crown of life means I shall see that my Lord has got the victory after all, even in me.  The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 530 L
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 3-4; Galatians 6

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
GOD'S MAGNIFICENT MAGNET - #9317
When we were living in New Jersey, boy, Giants Stadium - it was a mecca in northern New Jersey. At that time, 70,000 people. before the new stadium was built, were... I mean it's bigger now. But, boy, that's a lot of people descending on the Giants football game; cars clogging every artery anywhere near the stadium. And I was one of those crazy people sometimes! All across the New York area, countless others did nothing that afternoon but watch television to see what was going on there at the Meadowlands. It was like that stadium had a giant magnet inside it, with the power to pull multitudes of people to focus on one place and one event.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Magnificent Magnet."
For 2,000 years, there's been a magnet that has captured the hearts of millions of people, pulling people from every generation, every background, every corner of the world to one man. That man is Jesus Christ, and that magnet is an old rugged cross on a hill called Skull Hill, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. Even in our day, one of Hollywood's great blockbuster movies was "The Passion of the Christ," a vivid portrayal of the death of Jesus; the power of that cross to still move millions of people.
That should come as no surprise really. Jesus said it would happen before He ever died. In John 12:32-33, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself." Then the Bible goes on to explain His meaning: "He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die." So, Jesus said, "If I am lifted up on a cross, I'll draw people to Myself."
And, sure enough, for twenty centuries, His love poured out on that tree, has melted the hardest hearts and brought hope to the most hopeless hearts. If many people aren't being drawn to Him, maybe it's because those of us who know Him have been lifting up something other than Jesus and His cross; like our church, our politics, our causes.
Since that brutal day on Skull Hill, a lot has happened. Churches have been built in Jesus' name, a religion bearing His name has spread across the world, rituals and creeds and ceremonies have grown up around His teachings. A lot of good, and too much that wasn't good, has been done in His name. But a trip back to that blood-stained cross strips away all the Christianity that has grown up around Christ over the centuries, and it takes us back to what the central issue is for you and me.
It's you; it's me standing at the foot of that cross, looking into the face of the Son of God. It's you or me watching the blood trickle down from a crown of thorns jammed into His forehead; the spikes in His hands and feet. Beyond all the religious things you've done in His name, beyond those Christians who may have hurt you or confused you, beyond all the facts about Jesus that you have in your head - there's that man dying on that cross. And there's you, one of the people He's dying for, to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done. Your eternity will not be decided by what you do with Christianity. It will be decided by what you do with Christ.
This very day, I invite you to walk with me up Skull Hill, to stand there and say the two words that are the difference between heaven and hell, "for me." Maybe you've missed that decisive step of actually giving yourself to the Man who died for you, of abandoning your trust in anything else to make it with God and you put all your trust in Jesus. Tell Him today, "Jesus, you died for me. I can trust you. I'm Yours." And you won't just be believing in Jesus. You'll finally belong to Him.
If that's what you want, I invite you to visit our website. I've got a very simple explanation there of how to get started with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. That's the web address.
On the day you stand before God, there's only one thing He's going to ask you. "What did you do with My Son and His death for you on that cross?" Please, get that settled today.

Psalm 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: POWER IN ASSURANCE - September 26, 2022
Why do you need to know that you are adopted by the Father and sealed by the Spirit? Simple. There is power in assurance. A young college graduate requested that I pray for her to be accepted into law school. Each time we talked, she seemed increasingly anxious. The unknown future unsettled her. But then came the acceptance letter. She called me with the great news. Her thoughts were positive. Her future was secure.
The Holy Spirit provides a far more significant assurance. From him we receive an acceptance letter to heaven. “So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world” (1 John 4:17 NLT). The Holy Spirit will keep his promise. We’ve been sealed. He will get us home.

Psalm 12
Quick, God, I need your helping hand!
The last decent person just went down,
All the friends I depended on gone.
Everyone talks in lie language;
Lies slide off their oily lips.
They doubletalk with forked tongues.
3-4 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull
The braggart tongues from their mouths!
I’m tired of hearing, “We can talk anyone into anything!
Our lips manage the world.”
5 Into the hovels of the poor,
Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks:
“I’ve had enough; I’m on my way
To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”
6-8 God’s words are pure words,
Pure silver words refined seven times
In the fires of his word-kiln,
Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
God, keep us safe from their lies,
From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
From the wicked who collect honors
For their wonderful lies.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 26, 2022
Today's Scripture
John 11:38–44
Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days!”
40  Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41–42  Then, to the others, “Go ahead, take away the stone.”
They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me.”
43–44  Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”
Insight
After Jesus learned Lazarus was gravely ill, He waited two days to go to the home of his sisters, Mary and Martha (John 11:1–6). When Jesus and His disciples arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days (v. 17). This allowed a day for the news to reach Jesus and a day for Him to reach Bethany. So, Lazarus may have already been dead when the news reached Jesus that he was ill. That it had been four days was significant because in that warm climate, Lazarus’ body would have been severely decomposed (v. 39). If Jesus had left immediately and resurrected Lazarus, naysayers could’ve easily denied his resurrection, suggesting he’d only been in a deep sleep or coma. It was also significant because in that day some Jews believed the soul hovered over the body for three days, hoping to reenter. But by four days, even that hope would have expired.
By: Alyson Kieda
The Miracle of Salvation
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? John 11:40
Blogger Kevin Lynn’s life seemed to be falling apart. In a recent article he recounted, “I actually put a gun to my head . . . . It took for God to supernaturally step into my room and my life. And at that moment, I really found what I know is God now.” God intervened and prevented Lynn from taking his life. He filled him with conviction and gave him an overwhelming reminder of His loving presence. Instead of hiding this powerful encounter, Lynn shared his experience with the world, creating a YouTube ministry where he shares his own transformation story as well as the stories of others.
When Jesus’ follower and friend Lazarus died, many assumed that Jesus was too late (John 11:32). Lazarus had been in his tomb for four days before Christ arrived, but He turned this moment of anguish into a miracle when He raised him from the dead (v. 38). “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (v. 40).
Just as Jesus raised Lazarus from death to life, He offers us new life through Him. By sacrificing His life on the cross, Christ paid the penalty for our sins and offers us forgiveness when we accept His gift of grace. We’re freed from the bondage of our sins, renewed by His everlasting love, and given the opportunity to change the course of our lives.
By:  Kimya Loder
Reflect & Pray
What are some of the miraculous ways that God has turned your life around? How might you use your testimony to bring others closer to Him?
Heavenly Father, sometimes I take for granted how You’ve transformed my life. Thank You for never giving up on me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 26, 2022
The “Go” of Reconciliation
If you…remember that your brother has something against you… —Matthew 5:23
This verse says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you….” It is not saying, “If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity,” but, “If you…remember….” In other words, if something is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God— “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24). Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when He is instructing you down to the smallest detail.
“First be reconciled to your brother….” Our Lord’s directive is simple— “First be reconciled….” He says, in effect, “Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.” Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
“…and then come and offer your gift.” The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And finally there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 1-2; Galatians 5

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 26, 2022
THE POWER OF TOGETHER - #9316
They advertised a special on "flying sharks." And the TV channel didn't disappoint the people who tuned in. They showed an island off the coast of South Africa where great white sharks jump as much as 15 feet in the air with their prey, and the seals are their meal du jour. The area around this island is called the "Ring of Death"...and a whole lot of seals would agree. No one knows exactly why the sharks there get airborne as they do. It's apparently the only place on earth where they behave like this. But the TV special showed real footage of a shark suddenly coming up underneath an unsuspecting seal, grabbing it in his jaws, and soaring into the air with his catch. Now the seals have learned something about these jumping jaws. The sharks seldom attack when they're traveling together. So they tend to stay in groups of seven or eight. Smart! But occasionally a stubborn seal will just go off on his own. And the scientists say when a seal goes off by itself, he is just asking to be shark lunch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of Together."
There's a powerful lesson to be learned from those seals who live in the "Ring of Death." You want to avoid being your enemy's prey, stay with the pack!
We know from 1 Peter 5:8 that you and I have an enemy, the devil, who is "looking for someone to devour." And I'm convinced that he operates much like those sharks - he looks for someone who's off on their own and pounces on them. You're a lot less vulnerable as long as you're sticking close to your spiritual brothers and sisters, and to your family. The problem is that right now maybe you're allowing yourself to be isolated, distant, and even cut off from people who love you and people you love. The shark from hell loves that.
The first followers of Christ were living in a "ring of death" in Jerusalem after Jesus' death, resurrection, and return to heaven. But they knew one of the great secrets of safety and strength. In our word for today from the Word of God, Acts 2, beginning with verse 42, the Bible says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." Did you notice the key word here? Together. Right! They stayed together, and it was very difficult for any predator to get them.
So, here's the question. Have you allowed some walls, some distance, some resistance to develop between you and the people you've been close to? Maybe you've been wounded, maybe there's been misunderstanding, poor communication, some careless words spoken, a lot of frustration, maybe you didn't get your way. Or maybe you're just hurting or struggling and you don't want people to see you like this.
For whatever reason, you're like one of those seals. You're away from the protection of your brothers and sisters. Remember, God said way back in the Garden of Eden, "It is not good for man to be alone." That's still true. And you're allowing yourself to be way too alone. Shark bait! Out there by yourself. And that's where Satan can get you to believe all kinds of lies, get you to fall for all kinds of temptations, and get you to do all kinds of things you never thought you'd do.
Please, whatever your reasons for isolating yourself, get back to your family, get back to God's fellowship, get back to the church, get back to those you were serving the Lord with. You just can't afford to be swimming out there all by yourself. The sharks of hell love it when they can get you alone. So don't give them that opportunity to strike.

John 8:1-27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Every Spiritual Blessing
You possess (get this!) every spiritual blessing possible. Ephesians 1:3 promises that "in Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms." This is the gift offered to the lowliest sinner on earth. Who could make such an offer but God? John 1:16 says, "From him we all received one gift after another."
Romans 11:33 asks, have you ever come upon anything quite like this extravagant love of God, this deep, deep, wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who's done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him. Everything comes through him. Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes, yes, and yes!
From In the Grip of Grace

John 8:1-27
To Throw the Stone
Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3-6 The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.
6-8 Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9-10 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11 “No one, Master.”
“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”]
Note: John 7:53–8:11 [the portion in brackets] is not found in the earliest handwritten copies.
You’re Missing God in All This
12 Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”
13 The Pharisees objected, “All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on.”
14-18 Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God’s Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me.”
19 They said, “Where is this so-called Father of yours?”
Jesus said, “You’re looking right at me and you don’t see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father.”
20 He gave this speech in the Treasury while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him because his time wasn’t yet up.
21 Then he went over the same ground again. “I’m leaving and you are going to look for me, but you’re missing God in this and are headed for a dead end. There is no way you can come with me.”
22 The Jews said, “So, is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by ‘You can’t come with me’?”
23-24 Jesus said, “You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You’re at a dead end. If you won’t believe I am who I say I am, you’re at the dead end of sins. You’re missing God in your lives.”
25-26 They said to him, “Just who are you anyway?”
Jesus said, “What I’ve said from the start. I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you, but if you don’t accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is who you are questioning—not me but the One who sent me.”
27-29 They still didn’t get it, didn’t realize that he was referring to the Father. So Jesus tried again. “When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am—that I’m not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me. The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing him.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Today's Scripture
Mark 8:34–38
Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
38  “If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”
Insight
Jesus’ words in Mark 8 come in the context of a situation in which He first praised Peter and then rebuked him. In Mark, we read how Peter recognized Jesus as “the Messiah” (8:29). Matthew’s gospel includes more details: Christ praised Peter for this confession (Matthew 16:17–19). Mark then tells us how Jesus explained that the Messiah would be killed (Mark 8:31). For this, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him” (v. 32). Christ’s response was strong: “Get behind me, Satan! . . . You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (v. 33). This is the context in which Jesus makes His well-known statement: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it” (v. 35). Jesus led by example, giving up His life for our benefit and His Father’s glory.
By: Tim Gustafson
Choose Wisely
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Mark 8:36
Astronaut Chris Ferguson made a difficult decision as the commander of the flight crew scheduled for a journey to the International Space Station. But that decision didn’t have anything to do with the mechanics of flight or the safety of his fellow astronauts. Instead, it pertained to what he considers his most important work: his family. Ferguson opted to keep his feet planted firmly on Earth so he could be present for his daughter’s wedding.
We all face difficult decisions at times—decisions that cause us to evaluate what matters most to us in life, because one option comes at the expense of the other. Jesus aimed to communicate this truth to His disciples and a crowd of onlookers regarding life’s most important decision—to follow Him. To be a disciple, He said, would require them to “deny themselves” in order to walk with Him (Mark 8:34). They might have been tempted to spare themselves the sacrifices required of following Christ and instead seek their own desires, but He reminded them it would come at the price of that which matters much more. 
We’re often tempted to pursue things that seem of great value, yet they distract us from following Jesus. Let’s ask God to guide us in the choices we face each day so we’ll choose wisely and honor Him.
By:  Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
What choices have you made that drew you away from Jesus? What choices have drawn you nearer?
Jesus, I want to walk with You. Please help me to recognize and choose the paths that will foster a deeper connection to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, September 25, 2022
The “Go” of Relationship
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. —Matthew 5:41 
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, “I am here for God to send me where He will.” Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
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: Song of Solomon 6-8; Galatians 4

Psalm 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Calls You His Child
You may know what it's like to carry a stigma.  Each time your name is mentioned, your calamity follows.
"Have you heard from John lately? You know, the fellow who got divorced?"
"We got a letter from Jerry. Remember him, the alcoholic?"
"I saw Melissa today. I don't know why she can't keep a job."
Like a pesky sibling, your past follows you wherever you go. Isn't there anyone who sees you for who you are and not what you did? Yes, there is One who does, your king. When God speaks of you, he doesn't mention your plight, pain, or problem; he lets you share in His glory. He calls you His child.
God proved His love for us by sacrificing His Son. Psalm 103:12 says, He has "taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west." Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
From In the Grip of Grace

Psalm 11
I’ve already run for dear life
    straight to the arms of God.
So why would I run away now
    when you say,
“Run to the mountains; the evil
    bows are bent, the wicked arrows
Aimed to shoot under cover of darkness
    at every heart open to God.
The bottom’s dropped out of the country;
    good people don’t have a chance”?
4-6 But God hasn’t moved to the mountains;
    his holy address hasn’t changed.
He’s in charge, as always, his eyes
    taking everything in, his eyelids
Unblinking, examining Adam’s flesh and blood
    inside and out, not missing a thing.
He tests the good and the bad alike;
    if anyone cheats, God’s outraged.
Fail the test and you’re out,
    out in a hail of firestones,
Drinking from a canteen
    filled with hot desert wind.
7 God’s business is putting things right;
    he loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall,
    we can look him straight in the eye.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, September 24, 2022
Today's Scripture
Genesis 17:1–8, 15–16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, “I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.”
3–8  Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.
Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: You’ll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that ‘I’m making you the father of many nations.’ I’ll make you a father of fathers—I’ll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I’m establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I’m giving you and your descendants this land where you’re now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I’ll be their God.”
God continued speaking to Abraham, “And Sarai your wife: Don’t call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I’ll bless her—yes! I’ll give you a son by her! Oh, how I’ll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her.”
Insight
At age seventy-five, God promised Abram he would be the father of “a great nation” and his descendants would possess Canaan (Genesis 12:2, 7). In Genesis 13:15–16, God elaborated on these two promises. Responding to his doubts, God assured Abram that his heir would come from his own body (15:3–5). God then incorporated these two promises into the Abrahamic covenant: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (v. 18). This is the first time the word covenant was used of God’s promises to Abram. Thirteen years later, He enlarged the posterity blessing, making Abram “the father of many nations” and changing his name from Abram to Abraham (17:4–5).
Learn more about the covenants of the Old Testament.
By: K. T. Sim
The Power of a Name
Your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

Genesis 17:5
Seeking to affirm some children who live on the streets in Mumbai, India, Ranjit created a song of their names. Coming up with a unique melody for each name, he taught them the tune, hoping to give them a positive memory related to what they’re called. For children who don’t regularly hear their name spoken in love, he bestowed on them a gift of respect.
Names are important in the Bible, often reflecting a person’s character traits or new role. For instance, God changed the names of Abram and Sarai when He made a covenant of love with them, promising that He would be their God and they would be His people. Abram, which means “exalted father,” became Abraham, which means “father of many.” And Sarai, which means “princess,” became Sarah, which means “princess of many” (see Genesis 17:5, 15).
God’s new names included the gracious promise that they would no longer be childless. When Sarah gave birth to their son, they were overjoyed and named him Isaac, which means “he laughs”: “Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me’ ” (Genesis 21:6).
We show honor and respect to people when we call them by name and affirm who God has created them to be. A loving nickname that affirms someone’s unique qualities as one created in the image of God can do the same.
By:  Amy Boucher Pye
Reflect & Pray
How do you feel about your name? When have you been able to name something in a friend or family member that reflects who they are?
God of all names, You made me in Your image and love me. Shape me and mold me to be more like You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, September 24, 2022

The “Go” of Preparation
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24 
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “…go your way. First be reconciled to your brother….” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….”  So Send I You, 1325 R
Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 4-5; Galatians 3

Psalm 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ADOPTED BY GOD - September 23, 2022
“You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, ‘Papa! Father!'” (Galatians 4:6-7 MSG).
The natural attitude of people toward God is not like this. We do not really trust him, love him, or pursue him. But upon conversion, a supernatural change occurs. Our affection toward God begins to warm, and we turn to him. The Spirit convinces your spirit of this truth: your destiny is in the hands of a loving Father. He is a good father, who has recorded your name in the Book of Life with the blood of the Lamb. And the Spirit of God is urging you to listen as he affirms in your spirit that you are a child of God. You have been adopted into the family.

Psalm 9
I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,
    I’m writing the book on your wonders.
I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;
    I’m singing your song, High God.
3-4 The day my enemies turned tail and ran,
    they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.
You took over and set everything right;
    when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.
5-6 You blow the whistle on godless nations;
    you throw dirty players out of the game,
    wipe their names right off the roster.
Enemies disappear from the sidelines,
    their reputation trashed,
    their names erased from the halls of fame.
7-8 God holds the high center,
    he sees and sets the world’s mess right.
He decides what is right for us earthlings,
    gives people their just deserts.
9-10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,
    a sanctuary during bad times.
The moment you arrive, you relax;
    you’re never sorry you knocked.
11-12 Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God,
    tell his stories to everyone you meet:
How he tracks down killers
    yet keeps his eye on us,
    registers every whimper and moan.
13-14 Be kind to me, God;
    I’ve been kicked around long enough.
Once you’ve pulled me back
    from the gates of death,
I’ll write the book on Hallelujahs;
    on the corner of Main and First
    I’ll hold a street meeting;
I’ll be the song leader; we’ll fill the air
    with salvation songs.
15-16 They’re trapped, those godless countries,
    in the very snares they set,
Their feet all tangled
    in the net they spread.
They have no excuse;
    the way God works is well-known.
The shrewd machinery made by the wicked
    has maimed their own hands.
17-20 The wicked bought a one-way
    ticket to hell.
No longer will the poor be nameless—
    no more humiliation for the humble.
Up, God! Aren’t you fed up with their empty strutting?
    Expose these grand pretensions!
Shake them up, God!
    Show them how silly they look.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 23, 2022
Today's Scripture
Matthew 6:9–13
With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Insight
In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord’s Prayer is a key part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teaching on prayer particularly challenged the religiosity of the day because He indicted both the hypocritical religious leaders who used their worship of God as a means of drawing attention to themselves (6:5) and the pagans who used their prayers as a means of binding their gods with “babbling” incantations or heaped up words (v. 7).
Jesus offered instead an alternative that’s both intimate and submissive. The Lord’s Prayer is a quiet and private conversation between the one praying and God Himself. It doesn’t seek to toss a bridle around the Creator of the universe but positions the one praying in trusting submission to the compassionate Father. Prayer in Jesus’ teaching is an expression of trust, devoid of pride and pretense.
By: Jed Ostoich
The Story Isn’t Over
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
When British drama Line of Duty concluded, record numbers watched to see how its fight against organized crime would end. But many viewers were left disappointed when the finale implied that evil would ultimately win. “I wanted the bad guys brought to justice,” one fan said. “We needed that moral ending.”
Sociologist Peter Berger once noted that we hunger for hope and justice—hope that evil will one day be overcome and that those who caused it will be made to face their crimes. A world where the bad guys win goes against how we know the world should work. Without probably realizing it, those disappointed fans were expressing humanity’s deep longing for the world to be made right again.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is realistic about evil. It exists not only between us, requiring forgiveness (Matthew 6:12), but on a grand scale, requiring deliverance (v. 13). This realism, however, is matched with hope. There’s a place where evil doesn’t exist—heaven—and that heavenly kingdom is coming to earth (v. 10). One day God’s justice will be complete, His “moral ending” will come, and evil will be banished for good (Revelation 21:4).
So when the real-life bad guys win and disappointment sets in, let’s remember this: until God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven,” there is always hope—because the story isn’t over.
By:  Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
Why do you think we hunger for hope and justice? How can praying the Lord’s Prayer help you face evil and disappointment?
Heavenly Father, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!
For further study, read Living Justly, Loving Mercy.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 23, 2022
The Missionary’s Goal
He…said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…" —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”
“…there they crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ‘up to Jerusalem.’ ”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L
Bible in a Year: Song of Solomon 1-3; Galatians 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 23, 2022
THE DANGER OF WAITING - #9315
Okay, I'm traveling. I get off the road because it's lunch time. I have a choice. My vehicle is empty, and I'm empty. Which one shall I fill up first? Well, there's a gas station on one side of the road; a restaurant on the other. Guess which one I fill up first? Yep, me. So, I went in, ordered my food. Looking out the window, I noticed that the attendant over there was changing the sign out in front. Does this sound familiar? He's posting a new gasoline price, and it's several cents higher per gallon than the price it had been a few minutes earlier. Oh, you can believe that can't you?. That was a costly choice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Danger of Waiting."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God, James 1:15, and there's a sobering equation here. Listen to the sequence of events, "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." This verse describes the escalation in the cost of sin. First it's a desire, you're just thinking about it. Then you begin to do it. Then you do it some more, and sin ultimately will kill everything that really matters, because when it is full grown it will give birth to death.
When I waited to fill up with gas and I waited to take care of things, it cost me more. Sin is like that. The longer you wait to deal with that sinful compromise; that dark corner in your life, the more it's going to cost you. And after you're done you say, "Well, man, why did I do that? I shouldn't do that any more; I feel so crummy when I do." Oh, it's not that you haven't thought about cleaning things up, but you're still doing it dishonestly, you're still doing it immorally, you're still doing it selfishly, bitterly. I want to urge you now, deal with it today. Why?
Well, first, because that sin will never be smaller than it is now. Every day you wait, it strengthens its grip on your heart. And it will, inevitably, follow the biblical sequence: desire will become sin, and sin will become death. It will never be easier to change than it is today. Fight it when it's the smallest it will ever be. And that is right now!
Secondly, deal with it now because it's going to be doing more and more damage. There was a prominent preacher whose sexual problems brought great embarrassment to the name of Christ. He had reportedly struggled with pornography since he had been a teenage boy. And the Devil let him get away with it for years and years. The Devil always does this. And then he waits until it will do the maximum damage to the most people, and he yanks your chain and says, "See, you were never getting away with it."
Maybe you feel like you're getting away with it right now, and all the while the Devil is just raising the price on the pump. It will cost you in your reputation, your relationships, in your distance from God, in the slavery that it creates And the worst of all, God's judgment.
The Bible says that "man is destined to die once, and after this the judgment." And when you and I stand before God with an appointment we don't know when it's scheduled, and we can't really postpone or cancel it. When we have that appointment with God, there we will stand to answer for the sin of a lifetime. Unless it has been forgiven and erased. Of course there is only one person who can do that. That would be the only person who died to pay for it. That would be God's Son, Jesus.
It is so good to know that every sin of my life has been erased from God's Book, not because of what I have done, but because of what Jesus did for me by shedding His blood on the cross. And then He walked out of His grave under His own power three days later. He's alive! He waits to walk into your life and be your Savior from your sin today, and to give you the resurrection power He has so you can be free from the sin you've never been able to stop. Why don't you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website and there you can find how to begin that relationship with Him. The website's ANewStory.com.
The bill's never going to be smaller than today. Victory will never be more within your reach than it is today. The cost is going up! Take care of it before the price goes up any more.

John 7:28-53 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: 
IRREVERSIBLE FORGIVENESS - September 22, 2022
 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14 NLT).
The father-child relationship is one of assurance. In the Old Testament, God is described as father only fifteen times. In the New Testament, he is referred to as our father more than two hundred times. So what happened between the Old and New? Well, Christ happened. His death on the cross was the final payment for our sins. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12 NIV).
If you travel north or south, you’ll eventually reach the North or South Pole and change directions, but east and west have no turning points. Neither does God. His forgiveness is irreversible. Headline this truth: when God sees you, he does not see your sin.

John 7:28-53

That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, “Yes, you think you know me and where I’m from, but that’s not where I’m from. I didn’t set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don’t know him at all. I come from him—that’s how I know him. He sent me here.”

30-31 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn’t yet God’s time. Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, “Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?”

32-34 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him. Jesus rebuffed them: “I am with you only a short time. Then I go on to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you won’t find me. Where I am, you can’t come.”

35-36 The Jews put their heads together. “Where do you think he is going that we won’t be able to find him? Do you think he is about to travel to the Greek world to teach the Jews? What is he talking about, anyway: ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”

37-39 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

40-44 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, “This has to be the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Don’t the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David’s line and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” So there was a split in the crowd over him. Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.

45 That’s when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

46 The police answered, “Have you heard the way he talks? We’ve never heard anyone speak like this man.”

47-49 The Pharisees said, “Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don’t see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? It’s only this crowd, ignorant of God’s Law, that is taken in by him—and damned.”

50-51 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. “Does our Law decide about a man’s guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?”

52-53 But they cut him off. “Are you also campaigning for the Galilean? Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee.”

[Then they all went home.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Today's Scripture
Romans 16:3–16
  Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.
Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.
6  Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!
7  Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.
8  Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.
9  Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.
10  Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.
Hello to the family of Aristobulus.
11  Hello to my cousin Herodion.
Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.
12  Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.
Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.
13  Hello to Rufus—a good choice by the Master!—and his mother. She has also been a dear mother to me.
14  Hello to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and also to all of their families.
15  Hello to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas—and all the followers of Jesus who live with them.
16  Holy embraces all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!
Insight
Paul understood that the strength and effectiveness of his ministry was the result of the efforts of many coworkers who partnered with and supported him. Concluding his letter to the Romans (ch. 16), Paul specifically named a number of individuals who’d tirelessly ministered with and to him. That many were women attests to the significant role they played in the early church. Paul showed his appreciation for more than eighty coworkers (see Colossians 4:7–18; 2 Timothy 1:15–18; Titus 3:12–14), which gives us a window into his pastoral heart.
By: K. T. Sim
People Who Need People
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

Romans 16:16
In his hall-of-fame career as a sportswriter, Dave Kindred covered hundreds of major sporting events and championships and wrote a biography of Muhammad Ali. Growing bored in retirement, he started attending girls’ basketball games at a local school. Soon he began writing stories about each game and posting them online. And when Dave’s mother and grandson died and his wife suffered a debilitating stroke, he realized the team he’d been covering provided him with a sense of community and purpose. He needed them as much as they needed him. Kindred said, “This team saved me. My life had turned dark . . . [and] they were light.”
How does a legendary journalist come to depend on a community of teenagers? The same way a legendary apostle leaned on the fellowship of those he met on his missionary journeys. Did you notice all the people Paul greeted as he closed his letter? (Romans 16:3–15). “Greet Andronicus and Junia,” he wrote, “my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me” (v. 7). “Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord” (v. 8). He mentions more than twenty-five people in all, most of whom are not mentioned in Scripture again. But Paul needed them.
Who’s in your community? The best place to begin is with your local church. Anyone there whose life has turned dark? As God leads, you can be a light that points them to Jesus. Someday they may return the favor.
By:  Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
Who are the people you know you can count on? Ask God to give you that kind of friend. How can you be a friend like that?
Father, what a friend I have in Jesus! May I be that kind of friend to others.
For further study, read Who’s My Neighbor?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 22, 2022
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am ….I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master… —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “…for One is your Teacher, the Christ…” (Matthew 23:8).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord…”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it— a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 10-12; Galatians 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 22, 2022
ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY LIVES - #9314
Traveling with our On Eagles' Wings team of young Native Americans, we had an opportunity to make an interesting scenic stop at the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River; except the Mississippi isn't very mighty at that point. Now I've crossed the Mississippi many times - you know, over long bridges that span the "Father of Waters" at places like St. Louis and Memphis and it's impressive. But not where it begins. No, after walking this little trail through the woods, you come to this very unimpressive little stream. Actually, "stream" is probably a compliment. It's sort of an overgrown puddle at that point. I mean, you can easily wade through the shallow water. You can walk through the Mississippi without even getting very wet. That's at the headwaters. And it takes less than a minute to walk across, or through, the Mississippi. But as it flows down its 2,500-mile course to the south, something amazing happens to this humble little puddle. But who would ever guess that just standing there looking at where it comes from?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives."
The Mississippi River is actually a living example of how God loves to work. Something very big comes from something very small. Something very impressive comes from something very unimpressive. It's how He makes mighty rivers...and mighty lives.
Paul expressed these strange ways of God in 1 Corinthians 1, beginning with verse 26. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...so that no one may boast before Him." No kidding. God loves to make something great out of something, or someone, that seems small and unimpressive, because it's obvious to everyone, then, that God has to get all the glory.
The Old Testament spells out this same principle in Ecclesiastes 9:11. It says, "The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong..." See, we have a God who delights in surprising the world with who He uses, what He uses for great things. Maybe you feel pretty inadequate. You say, "I don't have much to give." Maybe you feel that you're like terminally average or terminally uncool - an unlikely candidate for God to use mightily. Hey, you're His type! He loves to start big things from little churches, for example. Revelation describes seven churches, some of which are big and rich - none of which God will use. But He says to the church that has, in His words, "little strength," "I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut."
See, God loves to use small, unseen acts of kindness that we do to start great things. He loves to take a little seed that we sow quietly in someone's life and do a miracle through it one day. He looks for people who aren't full of themselves, who know their only real asset is their God, to be in the middle of awesome things that He wants us to do. And all these years, He's been feeding into your life the tributaries that increased the strength of your Mississippi.
You've been growing in spiritual strength and power, maybe you haven't even realized it. And now He's ready to enlarge your territory, to lead you into something really important for Him, to use you beyond your wildest dreams. Unless you just settle for being a puddle when He wants to make you a mighty river that touches many lives.
The world may look at you and see an unimpressive little pond or a little puddle. But God has great plans for you if you'll let Him take you where He wants you to go. As you go with His flow, He will take you from your humble beginning to being a mighty river for Him.

Psalm 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: SEALED WITH THE SPIRIT - September 21, 2022
To whom does the Trinity entrust your protection? You “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13 ESV). We have been once-and-for-all-time sealed by the Spirit for redemption.
Seal. You know the verb. You twist a jar to seal the pickles; you notarize the contract to seal the deal. Sealing declares ownership and secures contents. Sealing says, “This is mine, and this is protected.”
When you accepted Christ, God sealed you with the Spirit. He cocooned you, assuring your safekeeping. Satan might woo you, discourage you, and, for a time, influence you. But he cannot have you. Christ “has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 NLT).
Psalm 8
God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.
2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
    toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
    and silence atheist babble.
3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?
5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
    repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us stewards of sheep and cattle,
    even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
    whales singing in the ocean deeps.
9 God, brilliant Lord,
    your name echoes around the world.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Today's Scripture
John 7:37–39
On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
Insight
In the law of Moses, God commanded every adult male Jew to come to the temple in Jerusalem to observe three annual harvest festivals or feasts (see Exodus 23:14–17; Deuteronomy 16:1–17): the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover [Pesach]), the Feast of Harvest (or Weeks [Shavuot] or Pentecost), and the Feast of Ingathering (or Tabernacles [Sukkoth] or Booths). In John 7, Jesus came to the temple to observe the Feast of the Tabernacles (vv. 2, 37). The Jews celebrated this weeklong festival to commemorate God’s provision during their forty-year journey in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:33–44). The lighting of giant menorahs in the temple courtyard reminded them of the pillar of fire that had guided them (Exodus 13:21–22), and a water-pouring ritual reminded them of the water from the rock which quenched their thirst (17:6; Numbers 20:8–11). Against this background, Jesus offered “rivers of living water” (John 7:38) and proclaimed, “I am the light of the world” (8:12).
By: K. T. Sim
Living Water
Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

John 7:37
The cut flowers came from Ecuador. By the time they arrived at my house, they were droopy and road-weary. Instructions said revive them with a cool drink of refreshing water. Before that, however, the flower stems had to be trimmed so they could drink the water more easily. But would they survive?
The next morning, I discovered my answer. The Ecuadorian bouquet was a glorious sight, featuring flowers I’d never seen before. Fresh water made all the difference—a reminder of what Jesus said about water and what it means to believers.
When Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink of water—implying He’d drink from what she fetched from the well—He changed her life. She was surprised by His request. Jews looked down on Samaritans. But Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Later, in the temple, He cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (7:37). Among those who believed in Him, “rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (vv. 38–39).
God’s refreshing Spirit revives us today when we’re life-weary. He’s the Living Water, dwelling in our souls with holy refreshment. May we drink deeply today.
By:  Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What areas of your life feel parched and dry? What may be preventing you from asking Jesus to give you this living water?
Loving God, when life leaves me road-weary and thirsty, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit, the living water, who dwells in every believer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant… —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in John 3:16— “For God so loved the world….”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 13

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
YOUR MISSION LIVES DEPEND ON - #9313
I got this wonderful letter from Mark, who was a teenager in one of my Campus Life Clubs a looong time ago. He was reflecting on those high school years and his summer job as a lifeguard. I'll just quote from his letter. He said, "Lots of city folk who couldn't swim came out to our beach, and we went in many, many times for them. I was paranoid that I'd lose someone on my watch and we never did." Then he went on to describe another nearby beach as a place where "suburban trained swimmers go. They did lose a child when no one else was looking."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Mission Lives Depend On."
There was a reason Mark wrote to me about his lifeguard experiences. He put it in the context of how hard it was to get the folks in his church involved in being spiritual rescuers for the lost and dying people in their own world. Pouring out his heart, my friend said, "I can't think in terms of not reaching my neighbors, my co-workers, and the people I run into for Jesus."
My friend understands something a lot of us forget all too easily - that every believer in Jesus Christ is God's lifeguard on their stretch of beach. And just like the lifeguard job, the stakes of doing it or not doing it are life-or-death.
Our word for today from the Word of God, which makes it crystal clear, in Ezekiel 33:6 God says, "If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood." God reinforces the seriousness of our assignment again in verse 8, "When I say to the wicked, 'You wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood."
If the watchman of the city knows the people of the city are in mortal danger and does nothing about it, isn't the watchman accountable for their blood? If the lifeguard knows that someone is in danger of drowning and does nothing about it, he's accountable. If you know someone who's in eternal danger because they don't really understand what Jesus did on the cross for them, you're accountable for their blood.
When Jesus sees the people in your neighborhood, where you work, where you go to school, where you exercise, the club, He sees them through a rescuer's eye, which sees dying people. And He does whatever it takes to give them a chance to live. Would you ask Jesus to help you see what He sees when He looks at the people around you? This stretch of beach is up to you. He's given you an eternal responsibility for the people there. If they go down forever, will it be like my lifeguard friend said, "because no one was looking"?
Would you pray daily for a natural way to tell those dear people about your Jesus? I suggest what I call the 3-open prayer. "Lord, open a door." That means the Lord will give you a natural opportunity to bring up the difference Jesus makes in your life. "Lord, open a door." And then, "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready to hear what you're asking me to tell them. And then, "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the words. Give me the approach. Give me the tone that I need. Give me the courage to say it.
Get closer to them so you're in a position to rescue them. You can't rescue them from a distance. Love them as Jesus would. Then tell them about His love.
The price of failure, the price of looking away, the price of your fear could be a life that Jesus died to save. Somebody has got to tell them, and God's assigned you. Don't let anyone be lost on your watch because no one was watching, or because no one went in to save them.

Psalm 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE HOLY SPIRIT PRAYS FOR YOU - September 20, 2022
Right now, at this moment, the Spirit of the living God is talking to the rest of the Trinity about you. The eternal, ever-creating Spirit is speaking on your behalf. Help is here! The greatest force, the only true force, in the universe is your ally, your advocate. “[He] keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:28 MSG).
You may be stuck in a dark place with no visible exit. If so, please hear this. When we are in times of weakness, it is all hands on deck as the Trinity works to bring about what is good for us. We do not know how to pray. That is okay. The Spirit knows. And he prays for you.

Psalm 7
 God! God! I am running to you for dear life;
    the chase is wild.
If they catch me, I’m finished:
    ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
    dragged into the forest and left
    unlooked for, unremembered.
3-5 God, if I’ve done what they say—
    betrayed my friends,
    ripped off my enemies—
If my hands are really that dirty,
    let them get me, walk all over me,
    leave me flat on my face in the dirt.
6-8 Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
    against my furious enemies.
Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
    the courtroom; it’s judgment time.
Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
    throw out the false charges against me.
I’m ready, confident in your verdict:
    “Innocent.”
9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
    but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
    you probe for our soft spots,
    you knock off our rough edges.
And I’m feeling so fit, so safe:
    made right, kept right.
God in solemn honor does things right,
    but his nerves are sandpapered raw.
11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
    God is already in action—
Sword honed on his whetstone,
    bow strung, arrow on the string,
Lethal weapons in hand,
    each arrow a flaming missile.
14 Look at that guy!
    He had sex with sin,
    he’s pregnant with evil.
Oh, look! He’s having
    the baby—a Lie-Baby!
15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
    digging, then concealing, his man-trap
    down that lonely stretch of road?
Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst,
    legs waving in the breeze.
That’s what happens:
    mischief backfires;
    violence boomerangs.
17 I’m thanking God, who makes things right.
I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Today's Scripture
Numbers 20:1–12
Camp Kadesh
1  20 In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh.
Miriam died there, and she was buried.
2–5  There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. They attacked Moses: “We wish we’d died when the rest of our brothers died before God. Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates—and now not even any water!”
6  Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God.
7–8  God spoke to Moses: “Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that’s right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink.”
9–10  Moses took the staff away from God’s presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: “Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?”
11  With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.
12  God said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t trust me, didn’t treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren’t going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them.”
Insight
It’s sometimes debated why Moses was judged so harshly when frustration against the Israelites after decades of their frequent rebellion is understandable (Numbers 20:10–20). One interpretation is that Moses’ words (“must we bring you water” v. 10) seemed to take the credit for the miracle himself, almost like pagan magicians might portray themselves as having godlike powers. Another interpretation is that his question was rhetorical, implying he didn’t believe God could or would provide water from a rock. Yet what we know is that God said Moses failed to “trust in [Him] enough to honor [Him] as holy in the sight of the Israelites” (v. 12).
By: Monica La Rose
Reckless Decisions
Because you did not trust in me . . . , you will not bring this community into the land.

Numbers 20:12
As a teen, I was driving way too fast trying to follow my friend to his home after a high school basketball practice. It was raining hard, and I was having a hard time keeping up with his car. Suddenly, my wipers cleared the watery windshield only to reveal my friend’s sedan stopped in front of me! I slammed on the brakes, slid off the street, and struck a large tree. My car was destroyed. Later I awoke in the comatose ward of a local hospital. While by God’s grace I survived, my reckless ways had proved to be very costly.
Moses made a reckless decision that cost him greatly. His poor choice, however, involved a lack of water—not too much of it (as in my case). The Israelites were without water in the Desert of Zin, and “the people gathered in opposition to Moses” (Numbers 20:2). God told the frazzled leader to speak to a rock and it would “pour out its water” (v. 8). Instead, he “struck the rock twice” (v. 11). God said, “Because you did not trust in me . . . , you will not [enter the promised land]” (v. 12).
When we make reckless decisions, we pay the consequences. “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!” (Proverbs 19:2). May we prayerfully, carefully seek God’s wisdom and guidance in the choices and decisions we make today.
By:  ???
Reflect & Pray
What regrettable decisions have you made based on impulse? Why is it vital to slow down and prayerfully seek God’s wisdom before reacting?
Jesus, please help me to follow Your wise instruction as Your Spirit leads me.
For further study, read Making Decisions God’s Way.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
The Divine Commandment of Life
…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. “…be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
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: Ecclesiastes 4-6; 2 Corinthians 12

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
A TREASURE CALLED "FAITHFUL" - #9312
Our grandsons experienced an unforgettable vacation when Mom and Dad took them out West to see the Tetons, Big Sky country, and Yellowstone National Park. God made sure they got plenty of memories; the herd of buffalo that basically surrounded their vehicle, the moose that was right by the side of the road, that elk that posed patiently for all the pictures anyone wanted to take. But as impressive as all that was, nothing impressed them so much as this water that kept shooting high out of the ground. You guessed it - that amazing geyser known as Old Faithful. In fact, our older guy told his mom, "I want a geyser." We're working on that. That geyser! That really is something to see. This tower of water and steam, exploding out of the ground, high into the air, and always at the same time intervals. Well, of course, it's Old Faithful.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Treasure Called 'Faithful.'"
Our grandson said he wanted an Old Faithful of his own. Well, so does God. He's looking for some "old faithfuls" He can count on. The Bible makes it clear that a lot of the things we do don't really impress God much, if at all. But there is one trait that gets His attention and triggers His blessing. It is faithfulness. Like a certain geyser, always being there, always doing what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it. To all of us who know someone like that, (Maybe you're thinking of someone.) those folks are the anchors of our life. To God, they are the folks He loves to reward.
God expresses what He values in a man or woman in our word for today from the Word of God. It's not flashiness. It's not friendliness. It's faithfulness. In 1 Corinthians 4:2, He says plainly: "It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." Notice, He doesn't say you have to be successful - faithful. A friend of mine said, "Ron, I think I've figured out your job description: stay pure and show up." That pretty much says it. Keep pure and keep showing up. Paul put it this way in his final challenge to his son in the faith, Timothy, "Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship...discharge all the duties of your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5).
See, faithfulness is so valuable because it's so rare. Today people stick with a responsibility or a commitment as long as it feels good, as long as it's fun, until the novelty wears off, or so long as I'm being treated right or appreciated. But our Lord modeled something much more noble - seeing your job through, even when everyone deserts you, even when you want out, even when the world's against you, even when they nail you to a cross. He is faithfulness. That's why He wants faithfulness. The Book of Revelation says that when He makes His glorious appearance at His Second Coming, He will be the rider on the white horse who "is called Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:12).
I hope that's what they call you. Or they will start to call you as you move from being one who's in and out of commitments to becoming one of God's "Old Faithfuls." However small your assignment, however tired you may feel, however unappreciated you are - by people that is, stay faithful.
What an honor to be a man or woman about whom Almighty God can say, "I can count on her. I can count on him." He is looking for warriors who will continue to stay at their post, whose commitments He and others can depend on, who will finish what they started. If that's hard for you, remember that faithfulness is part of what the Bible describes as "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22). You can actually ask God to produce His faithfulness in you!
And up ahead, there stands your Lord Jesus at the finish line, and listen to what He's going to reward. It's not success. He's telling His champions, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Oh, live for that, warrior!

John 7:1-27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: PRAYERS OF A WEARY SOUL - September 19, 2022
There is often a gap between what we want from life and what we get in life. And during such times of weakness “we do not know what to pray for as we ought” (Romans 8:26 NKJV). What should the cancer patient request? Healing or deliverance into heaven? For what should the father of the prodigal pray? God’s patience for his son or a pigpen for his son? For what should the persecuted prisoner ask? Release from captivity or endurance in captivity?
We do not know how to pray as we ought. What if our prayers are too sparse to deserve an audience with God? What if he turns us away? Does heaven hear the enfeebled prayers of a weary soul? Thanks to our heavenly helper the answer is yes. “The Spirit himself intercedes for us” (Romans 8:26 NIV).

John 7:1-27
Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
3-5 His brothers said, “Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either.
6-8 Jesus came back at them, “Don’t pressure me. This isn’t my time. It’s your time—it’s always your time; you have nothing to lose. The world has nothing against you, but it’s up in arms against me. It’s against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. I’m not ready. It’s not the right time for me.”
9-11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, “Where is that man?”
12-13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” But others said, “Not so. He’s selling snake oil.” This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
Could It Be the Messiah?
14-15 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: “How does he know so much without being schooled?”
16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The crowd said, “You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”
21-24 Jesus said, “I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you’re still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I’m up to. Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it’s the Sabbath. You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Don’t be hypercritical; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.”
25-27 That’s when some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the one they were out to kill? And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah? And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, September 19, 2022
Today's Scripture
Isaiah 55:6–13
Turn to the Lord and pray to him,
now that he is near.
7 Let the wicked leave their way of life
and change their way of thinking.
Let them turn to the Lord, our God;
he is merciful and quick to forgive.
8 “My thoughts,” says the Lord, “are not like yours,
and my ways are different from yours.
9 As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.
10* “My word is like the snow and the rain
that come down from the sky to water the earth.
They make the crops grow
and provide seed for sowing and food to eat.
11 So also will be the word that I speak—
it will not fail to do what I plan for it;
it will do everything I send it to do.
12 “You will leave Babylon with joy;
you will be led out of the city in peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into singing,
and the trees will shout for joy.
13 Cypress trees will grow where now there are briars;
myrtle trees will come up in place of thorns.
This will be a sign that will last for ever,
a reminder of what I, the Lord, have done.”
Insight
Reading the prophetic books can be challenging, because we must pay close attention to know who’s speaking. In Isaiah 55:1–5, God speaks; verses 6–7 mark a switch to Isaiah as the speaker. The prophet urges his listeners to heed God’s message. What’s that message? God invites everyone who is needy to “come, buy and eat!” (v. 1) and to “give ear and come to me” (v. 3). Isaiah reinforces this message by imploring the people to “seek the Lord while he may be found” (v. 6). This requires repentance: “Let the wicked forsake their ways,” including even “their thoughts” (v. 7). Left to ourselves, neither our actions nor our thoughts can please God (v. 8). For that, we need “the Holy One of Israel” (v. 5)—Jesus Himself.
By: Tim Gustafson
Imaginative Faith
The mountains and hills will burst into song before you.

Isaiah 55:12
“Look, Papa! Those trees are waving at God!” As we watched young birches bending in the wind before an oncoming storm, my grandson’s excited observation made me smile. It also made me ask myself, Do I have that kind of imaginative faith?
Reflecting on the story of Moses and the burning bush, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote that “Earth’s crammed with heaven, / And every common bush afire with God; / But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.” God’s handiwork is evident all around us in the wonders of what He has made, and one day, when the earth is made new, we’ll see it like never before.
God tells us about this day when He proclaims through the prophet Isaiah, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12). Singing mountains? Clapping trees? Why not? Paul noted that “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
Jesus once spoke of stones crying out (Luke 19:40), and His words echo Isaiah’s prophecy about what lies ahead for those who come to Him for salvation. When we look to Him with faith that imagines what only God can do, we'll see His wonders continue forever!
By:  James Banks
Reflect & Pray
What do you imagine the new earth will be like in God’s forever kingdom? How will you serve Him with imagination today?
Loving God, I praise You that no one is more creative than You are! I look forward to seeing the wonder of all that You are and all that You can do!
For further study, read All Creation Sings.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, September 19, 2022
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials. —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child.  Not Knowing Whither, 882 L
Bible in a Year: Ecclesiastes 1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, September 19, 2022
LOOKING CHRISTIAN, REALLY NOT - #9311
I had to stop at a convenience store on Halloween night. I was not "trick or treating." I was just trying to pay for the gas I put in my car. That's when I saw this interesting sign they had posted; it was a sign I had never seen anywhere else. It simply said, "Please remove your mask before you enter." I wasn't wearing one. But for one unhappy moment, I did remember what they used to tell me in school long after Halloween, "Hey, Ron, Halloween's over! Take off your mask." I wasn't wearing one then either. But the sign was no joke. Obviously, they didn't want someone to try to pull off a Halloween heist, wearing a mask that would conceal their identity from the security cameras. Honestly, I didn't see anyone in the store that night with a mask.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Christian, Really Not."
I can almost imagine a sign like that one at the store, being displayed at the entrance to the Throne Room of Almighty God. And that's what we enter when we pray. Can you imagine a sign there, "Please remove your mask before you enter"? See, God isn't impressed by our religious words or our religious image. He doesn't want to hear a recitation of the same tired old prayer script that we often repeat without thinking. He insists that we come as we really are - totally unmasked. The real God can only help the real you.
The futility of pretending or masquerading before God is abundantly clear in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Hebrews 4, beginning with verse 13. It says: "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." So it's useless to come before God pretending we feel how we're "supposed" to feel instead of how we really do feel. It's a waste of time to come with our rationalizations, our cover-ups. We are laid bare before Him.
There's no point in putting on a tie when you're spiritually and emotionally naked before Him. Tell it all. Let it go. Be real with Him. He won't love you less. He already knows what's behind the mask that you show everybody else. You won't shock Him. You won't surprise Him, but God operates on an invitation basis. He comes into a part of your life when you open it up to Him. So He's asking you to check your mask at the door of His Throne Room and come, as the hymn says, "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me."
This passage goes on to tell us that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin. Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." So, come in with your burdens and leave with His grace, which is always greater than the burdens. But come honestly.
Maybe you've prayed many times, acting as if you really belong to God, as if He's really your Father, when in fact, you've never really put all your trust in His Son, Jesus. You've never trusted Jesus to be your personal rescuer from the death penalty for your sins. You've never turned your back on the sin that killed Jesus and said, "Jesus, You're my only hope of having my sins forgiven." So while everyone around you may think you really know Him, even though you may have fooled them and maybe even yourself, for years, Jesus knows there's never been that moment of personal surrender to Him.
He may be in your head, but not in your heart. This very day; this is the only day you're sure you'll have, you need to "remove your mask before entering." All that Christianity, that religion, leave it at the door and let God know you're just in desperate need of His Son to be your Savior. I'd love to help you with that. Just go to our website. It's ANewStory.com.
When you come to God honestly, and you admit your need, you can begin your relationship with Him. Well, you know what? You will enter His presence lost. But you'll leave there found, and you will finally know that you belong to Jesus for real.