Psalm 111, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU’RE NOT ALONE - May 31, 2023

Have you ever gone to the grocery on an empty stomach? You’re a sitting duck when you do. You buy everything you don’t need. Doesn’t matter if it’s good for you—you just want to fill your tummy!

When you’re lonely, you do the same in life. Pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you’re hungry for love. Why do we do it? Because we fear facing life alone. For fear of not fitting in, we take the drugs. For fear of standing out, we wear the clothes. For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house. For fear of sleeping alone, we sleep with anyone. For fear of not being loved, we search for love in all the wrong places.

But all that changes when we discover God’s perfect love. 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” You are not alone!

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 111

 Hallelujah!

I give thanks to God with everything I’ve got—

Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.

God’s works are so great, worth

A lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!

Splendor and beauty mark his craft;

His generosity never gives out.

His miracles are his memorial—

This God of Grace, this God of Love.

He gave food to those who fear him,

He remembered to keep his ancient promise.

He proved to his people that he could do what he said:

Hand them the nations on a platter—a gift!

He manufactures truth and justice;

All his products are guaranteed to last—

Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.

All that he makes and does is honest and true:

He paid the ransom for his people,

He ordered his Covenant kept forever.

He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.

The good life begins in the fear of God—

Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.

His Hallelujah lasts forever!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Today's Scripture

Ezra 3:8–13

 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, in company with their brother priests and Levites and everyone else who had come back to Jerusalem from captivity, got started. They appointed the Levites twenty years of age and older to direct the rebuilding of The Temple of God. Jeshua and his family joined Kadmiel, Binnui, and Hodaviah, along with the extended family of Henadad—all Levites—to direct the work crew on The Temple of God.

10-11 When the workers laid the foundation of The Temple of God, the priests in their robes stood up with trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise God in the tradition of David king of Israel. They sang antiphonally praise and thanksgiving to God:

Yes! God is good!

Oh yes—he’ll never quit loving Israel!

11-13 All the people boomed out hurrahs, praising God as the foundation of The Temple of God was laid. As many were noisily shouting with joy, many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first Temple, when they saw the foundations of this Temple laid, wept loudly for joy. People couldn’t distinguish the shouting from the weeping. The sound of their voices reverberated for miles around.

Insight

The book of Ezra captures the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. Ezra 1–6 tells of the first return of fifty thousand led by Zerubbabel (538 bc). They rebuilt the altar (ch. 3), reinstituted the sacrifices, and attempted to rebuild the temple (536 bc). But the temple work stalled for sixteen years because of strong opposition from enemies (chs. 4–5). Under the ministry of Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was eventually completed in 516 bc. Ezra 7–10 records the second return of five thousand Jews eighty years later, now led by Ezra himself (458 bc). The third return led by Nehemiah (444 bc) is recorded in the book of Nehemiah. By: K. T. Sim

Sorrow and Joy

No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping. Ezra 3:13

Angela’s family reeled with sorrow as they experienced three bereavements in just four weeks. After the one involving the sudden death of their nephew, Angela and her two sisters gathered around the kitchen table for three days, only leaving to buy an urn, get takeout, and attend the funeral. As they wept over his death, they also rejoiced over the ultrasound photos of the new life growing within their youngest sister.

In time, Angela found comfort and hope from the Old Testament book of Ezra. It describes God’s people returning to Jerusalem after the Babylonians destroyed the temple and deported them from their beloved city (see Ezra 1). As Ezra watched the temple being rebuilt, he heard joyful praises to God (3:10–11). But he also listened to the weeping of those who remembered life before exile (v. 12).

One verse especially consoled Angela: “No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise” (v. 13). She realized that even if she was drenched in deep sorrow, joy could still appear.

We too might grieve the death of a loved one or mourn a different loss. If so, we can express our cries of pain along with our moments of rejoicing to God, knowing that He hears us and gathers us in His arms. By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

Why do you think you can experience both joy and sorrow at the same time? How can you cultivate joy today?

Loving God, in this world we experience pain and suffering. Spark joy in me as I look to You for hope and peace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Put God First

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

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

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

SPIRITUAL VETERANS, DANGER ZONE - #9493

I remember speaking at a baseball chapel years ago, and our boys were actually blown away. I mean, it's a while back, but they got to go with me to the Yankees chapel. And they said, "Oh, there's Don Mattingly!" Yeah, we're talking Hall of Fame here. He was a hero around our house since our kids were little. He was a Yankees first baseman. His home runs and batting average and consistent fielding made him possibly one of baseball's all time greats.

Interestingly enough, we were impressed at our house, not just by his baseball ability. But to this day, our guys talk about his attitude, which was a pretty refreshing one. See, he always, even though he was a well paid star, he didn't seem to fall prey to that well paid star attitude. He always seemed to be amazed and appreciative that he was where he was. You'd hear Don Mattingly being interviewed and he would say something like this, "I just love baseball. I still love it like when I was a kid. I feel so lucky to be wearing this uniform." He'd get to spring training early. He'd take extra batting practice. See, there's something really special about a seasoned veteran's ability that is coupled with kind of a positive rookie attitude, but it's hard to have both of those.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Veterans, Danger Zone."

Our word for today from the Word of God, John 9:16. It's about the man who was blind from birth. He's been healed by Jesus; the Pharisees are more interested though in analyzing the miracle. "Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.'" Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. Verse 24: "A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this man (speaking of Jesus) is a sinner.'"

Well, the conversation continues and they say, "'We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where He comes from.'" The man answered, 'Now that is remarkable! You don't know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.'"

You know what you've got here? A clash between spiritual veterans - the Pharisees - and a spiritual rookie. The Pharisees are Bible experts - religious professionals. But they are confronted with an amazing supernatural intervention. Are they excited? Are they celebrating? Are they seeking the Lord who did it? No, they're analyzing, debating, they're trying to protect their position. See, that's the danger of being around Jesus for a while, being professional where you used to be passionate in your faith. It happens to athletes. After a while their youthful enthusiasm fades, and they become hard and cynical and calculating sometimes, all about themselves. And they lose the wonder of the rookie.

The blind man here? He's a rookie. He's fresh from being touched by Jesus. He's excited, he's expectant. But the veterans...they just make it all complicated. It's simple for a rookie. "I was changed, and Jesus did it." Sometimes the rookie who has just experienced Christ knows more instinctively than the veterans who are analyzing Christ.

And it could be that for all your years of being around Christian things you've missed Jesus. You've missed Christ, because it's all been a head trip. He's in your head, but He's not in your heart, because you've never moved Him from your head to your heart. Let this be the day He becomes your Savior from your sins.

Now, here's a question: Have you gone from experiencing God's working to just analyzing it? Maybe what used to be the simplicity of a warm give-and-take love with Jesus has become the complexity of rules and organization and politics and theological hairsplitting. A veteran should be the most excited of all. They've had the most years to have it all happen to them. There's something very special about someone who's got that seasoned veteran ability and a positive rookie attitude. Listen, don't ever lose the wonder.

Psalm 106, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GIVE GOD YOUR FEAR - May 30, 2023

How did Jesus endure the terror of the crucifixion? He went first to the Father with his fears. He modeled the words of Psalm 56:3: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Do the same with your fears. Enter them—just don’t enter them alone. And while there, be honest. Pounding the ground is permitted. Tears are allowed.“Take this cup” Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Give God your fears. Give God the number of the flight. Share the details of the job transfer. He has plenty of time. He also has plenty of compassion. He won’t tell you to “buck up” or “get tough.” He knows how you feel.

That’s why we punctuate our prayers as Jesus did: “Father, if you’re willing….” Was God willing? Yes and no. He didn’t take away the cross from Christ, but he took the fear. Who’s to say he won’t do the same for you?

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 106

 Hallelujah!

Thank God! And why?

    Because he’s good, because his love lasts.

But who on earth can do it—

    declaim God’s mighty acts, broadcast all his praises?

You’re one happy man when you do what’s right,

    one happy woman when you form the habit of justice.

4-5 Remember me, God, when you enjoy your people;

    include me when you save them;

I want to see your chosen succeed,

    celebrate with your celebrating nation,

    join the Hallelujahs of your pride and joy!

6-12 We’ve sinned a lot, both we and our parents;

    We’ve fallen short, hurt a lot of people.

After our parents left Egypt,

    they took your wonders for granted,

    forgot your great and wonderful love.

They were barely beyond the Red Sea

    when they defied the High God

    —the very place he saved them!

    —the place he revealed his amazing power!

He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot

    —he paraded them right through!

    —no one so much as got wet feet!

He saved them from a life of oppression,

    pried them loose from the grip of the enemy.

Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors;

    there wasn’t a single survivor.

Then they believed his words were true

    and broke out in songs of praise.

13-18 But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing,

    wouldn’t wait to be told what to do.

They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert,

    provoked God with their insistent demands.

He gave them exactly what they asked for—

    but along with it they got an empty heart.

One day in camp some grew jealous of Moses,

    also of Aaron, holy priest of God.

The ground opened and swallowed Dathan,

    then buried Abiram’s gang.

Fire flared against that rebel crew

    and torched them to a cinder.

19-22 They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb

    and worshiped the statue they’d made.

They traded the Glory

    for a cheap piece of sculpture—a grass-chewing bull!

They forgot God, their very own Savior,

    who turned things around in Egypt,

Who created a world of wonders in the Land of Ham,

    who gave that stunning performance at the Red Sea.

23-27 Fed up, God decided to get rid of them—

    and except for Moses, his chosen, he would have.

But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God’s anger,

    prevented it from destroying them utterly.

They went on to reject the Blessed Land,

    didn’t believe a word of what God promised.

They found fault with the life they had

    and turned a deaf ear to God’s voice.

Exasperated, God swore

    that he’d lay them low in the desert,

Scattering their children here and there,

    strewing them all over the earth.

28-31 Then they linked up with Baal Peor,

    attending funeral banquets and eating idol food.

That made God so angry

    that a plague spread through their ranks;

Phinehas stood up and pled their case

    and the plague was stopped.

This was counted to his credit;

    his descendants will never forget it.

32-33 They angered God again at Meribah Springs;

    this time Moses got mixed up in their evil;

Because they defied God yet again,

    Moses exploded and lost his temper.

34-39 They didn’t wipe out those godless cultures

    as ordered by God;

Instead they intermarried with the heathen,

    and in time became just like them.

They worshiped their idols,

    were caught in the trap of idols.

They sacrificed their sons and daughters

    at the altars of demon gods.

They slit the throats of their babies,

    murdered their infant girls and boys.

They offered their babies to Canaan’s gods;

    the blood of their babies stained the land.

Their way of life reeked;

    they lived like prostitutes.

40-43 And God was furious—a wildfire anger;

    he couldn’t stand even to look at his people.

He turned them over to the heathen

    so that the people who hated them ruled them.

Their enemies made life hard for them;

    they were tyrannized under that rule.

Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned—

    until finally their sins destroyed them.

44-46 Still, when God saw the trouble they were in

    and heard their cries for help,

He remembered his Covenant with them,

    and, immense with love, took them by the hand.

He poured out his mercy on them

    while their captors looked on, amazed.

47-48 Save us, God, our God!

    Gather us back out of exile

So we can give thanks to your holy name

    and join in the glory when you are praised!

Blessed be God, Israel’s God!

Bless now, bless always!

Oh! Let everyone say Amen!

Hallelujah!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Today's Scripture

Ezekiel 37:4–14

He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”

5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”

7-8 I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”

10 So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

11 Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’

12-14 “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’”

* * *

Insight

We don’t know specific details about the valley that Ezekiel describes he was transported to “by the Spirit of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:1). It could have been a vision of a valley that was the scene of a major tragedy or battle because having so many unburied bones in one place suggests a battle. God tells Ezekiel that this valley of bones symbolizes the nation of Israel as a whole (v. 11). Even the despair and death they were experiencing could be reversed by God’s Spirit breathing new life into them (v. 6) and returning them to their land (v. 12). By: Monica La Rose

The God Who Restores

I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. Ezekiel 37:5

On November 4, 1966, a disastrous flood swept through Florence, Italy, submerging Giorgio Vasari’s renowned work of art The Last Supper under a pool of mud, water, and heating oil for more than twelve hours. With its paint softened and its wooden frame significantly damaged, many believed that the piece was beyond repair. However, after a tedious fifty-year conservation effort, experts and volunteers were able to overcome monumental obstacles and restore the valuable painting.

When the Babylonians conquered Israel, the people felt hopeless—surrounded by death and destruction and in need of restoration (see Lamentations 1). During this period of turmoil, God took the prophet Ezekiel to a valley and gave him a vision where he was surrounded by dry bones. “Can these bones live?” God asked. Ezekiel responded, “Lord, you alone know” (Ezekiel 37:3). God then told him to prophesy over the bones so they might live again. “As I was prophesying,” Ezekiel recounted, “there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together” (v. 7). Through this vision, God revealed to Ezekiel that Israel’s restoration could only come through Him.

When we feel as if things in life have been broken and are beyond repair, God assures us He can rebuild our shattered pieces. He’ll give us new breath and new life. By:  Adam Holz

Reflect & Pray

What’s broken in your life? How might you rely on God to bring restoration?

Dear God, parts of my life seem like they’ll never be restored. I’ve tried to fix them on my own, but my only hope of restoration is found in You.

For further study, read Wounded in Worship.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Yes—But…! Lord, I will follow You, but... —Luke 9:61

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

REPLAYING YOUR FALLS - #9492

There's reality TV. And then there's the real reality TV called the Olympics. And, you know, when you watch that, you see the real deal. I mean, you've got the triple axles on the ice, you've got amazing jumps on the ski slopes, you've got those gravity-defying flights of the snowboarders. Oh, yeah, and the falls and the crashes.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Replaying Your Falls."

I'm fine with showing the good stuff again and again. It's the replays of what they did wrong that bother me. Probably because I've been working with young people and their families for so long. And, over and over, I've seen the damage that's done when parents keep replaying their children's mistakes. Sometimes too seldom replaying what their son or daughter did right.

Consequently, there are a lot of young people who know very well what's wrong with them. But they have a hard time thinking what's right with them, so they don't feel like they're worth much. They act like they're not worth much. You can see it in the friends they choose, the music they listen to, the way they retreat into themselves. The things they'll do for attention. For just a few minutes of feeling better about themselves.

Oh, there's a lot that goes into our feelings of value or worthlessness. But we moms and dads, we have life-shaping power like nobody else. Our son or daughter's perception of how much we think they're worth is a huge factor in how much they think they're worth.

Too often, we use the replays of our kids' shortcomings to somehow get them to change, to do better just to vent our frustrations. And yet, how many of us still carry in our head those critical, negative words that our parents said over and over to us? They still hurt. They're still part of our adult struggle to feel right about ourselves. What was constantly replayed by our parents has shaped our life. And so it is with our children. It's part of the legacy we leave them, and it's one that it's never too late to change.

That's why this one statement from the Bible went deep into my soul as a parent. It says in Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths" - that would be words that tear them down - "but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs." So you've got construction and you've got demolition. My words to my children are one or the other.

I don't need much help seeing where I've blown it. I'm painfully aware of how I've failed. What saves me, literally, is that my Father, my Heavenly Father, does not replay all the dark episodes of my life. Of all the people who could nail me for my many sins, God has that undisputed right. He gave me this life. So often, I've dissed the One who made me and I've done what I want to do. I've defied this sinless, totally holy God.

I would run from Him, except for one thing. What the Bible tells me about Him. It'sI our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 130:3, "If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness." What a word! Forgiveness. What an expensive word. Not for me, but for the God I've sinned against, because of what His Son did so I would never meet my sins on Judgment Day.

The Bible says, "He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5-6). My sins removed, never again to be replayed, by a God who loved me so much He would do whatever it took not to lose me. And it took His very best. It took His Son.

This full pardon from an all-perfect God is within anyone's reach. It's within your reach if you'll take for yourself what Jesus died to give you. That's what our website's about. I would encourage you to go there. It's ANewStory.com. Today could be the day that all the falls, all the mistakes, all the regrets, all the sins are erased from God's Book forever. And you'll never meet your sins when you stand before God. Because Jesus paid it all for you on the cross.

1 Thessalonians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WORTH BRAGGING ABOUT - May 29, 2023

God loves humility. Could that be the reason he offers so many tips on cultivating it? May I (ahem) humbly articulate a few? Do you want to be humble? Assess yourself honestly. Don’t take success too seriously. Celebrate the significance of others. Don’t demand your own parking place. Never announce your success before it occurs. Speak humbly. And one last thought: live at the foot of the cross.

Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for bragging.” Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self-esteem need attention? You don’t need to drop names or show off. You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this: the maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that’s a fact. So if you need to brag, brag about that!

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

1 Thessalonians 1

 I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace!

Convictions of Steel

2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

7-10 Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, May 29, 2023

Today's Scripture

Habakkuk 3:11–19

God, is it River you’re mad at?

    Angry at old River?

Were you raging at Sea when you rode

    horse and chariot through to salvation?

You unfurled your bow

    and let loose a volley of arrows.

    You split Earth with rivers.

Mountains saw what was coming.

    They twisted in pain.

Flood Waters poured in.

    Ocean roared and reared huge waves.

Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks.

    Your flashing arrows stopped them,

    your lightning-strike spears impaled them.

Angry, you stomped through Earth.

    Furious, you crushed the godless nations.

You were out to save your people,

    to save your specially chosen people.

You beat the stuffing

    out of King Wicked,

Stripped him naked

    from head to toe,

Set his severed head on his own spear

    and blew away his army.

Scattered they were to the four winds—

    and ended up food for the sharks!

You galloped through the Sea on your horses,

    racing on the crest of the waves.

When I heard it, my stomach did flips.

    I stammered and stuttered.

My bones turned to water.

    I staggered and stumbled.

I sit back and wait for Doomsday

    to descend on our attackers.

* * *

17-19 Though the cherry trees don’t blossom

    and the strawberries don’t ripen,

Though the apples are worm-eaten

    and the wheat fields stunted,

Though the sheep pens are sheepless

    and the cattle barns empty,

I’m singing joyful praise to God.

    I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.

Counting on God’s Rule to prevail,

    I take heart and gain strength.

I run like a deer.

    I feel like I’m king of the mountain!

Insight

The context of Habakkuk 3:11–19 is Habakkuk’s prayer in verse 2: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.” The prophet implored God to perform such mighty acts once again. Included among these miracles for the benefit of God’s people are the plagues against Egypt (v. 5; see also Exodus 7–13), Gideon’s victory over Midian (Habakkuk 3:7; Judges 6–7), the stopping of the sun in the sky as Joshua’s army fought the Amorites (Habakkuk 3:11; Joshua 10:12–14), and the deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea (Habakkuk 3:15; Exodus 14). Habakkuk had an appropriate fear of his powerful God, and he knew he could trust Him to the end in any circumstance (Habakkuk 3:16–19). By: Tim Gustafson

Hope That Holds

I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:18

“I know Daddy’s coming home because he sent me flowers.” Those were my seven-year-old sister’s words to our mother when Dad was missing in action during wartime. Before Dad left for his mission, he preordered flowers for my sister’s birthday, and they arrived while he was missing. But she was right: Dad did come home—after a harrowing combat situation. And decades later, she still keeps the vase that held the flowers as a reminder to always hold on to hope.

Sometimes holding on to hope isn’t easy in a broken, sinful world. Daddies don’t always come home, and children’s wishes sometimes go unfulfilled. But God gives hope in the most difficult circumstances. In another time of war, the prophet Habakkuk predicted the Babylonian invasion of Judah (Habakkuk 1:6; see 2 Kings 24) but still affirmed that God is always good (Habakkuk 1:12–13). Remembering God’s kindness to His people in the past, Habakkuk proclaimed: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:17–18).  

Some commentators believe Habakkuk’s name means “to cling.” We can cling to God as our ultimate hope and joy even in trials because He holds on to us and will never let go. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

How does rejoicing in God help you in difficult times? What can you do to praise Him today?

Father, thank You that come what may, my future is bright with You!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, May 29, 2023

Untroubled Relationship

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.

Disciples Indeed

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, May 29, 2023

How to Know Where You're Going When You Can't See a Thing

Hooper Bay, Alaska! It's not the first remote place we went with the outreach teams of Native young people that we go with, but it's a tough one. Each Summer of Hope, it's our privilege to take these teams of Indian and Native Alaskan spiritual warriors to the reservations and the villages where America's most devastated young people live and die too young. The suicide rate among young Native Americans is something like three or four times that of the rest of America's young. And in some places in Alaska, it's twenty times greater. Hooper Bay, Alaska, is one of the hardest places in this country to grow up. We had to take our team there.

But getting there the first time was a real adventure. My wife was on the first plane into this village 400 miles from the nearest road. Sitting in the co-pilot's seat, she should have had a great view as they approached over the Bering Sea. But there was no view. It was like zero visibility. But those missionary pilots - they are amazing! My wife watched him with his flight plan on his knee, constantly comparing it to the readings on his instruments. Looking out the window sure wasn't going to help find this flight, I'll tell you. That ain't going to help you find a landing strip. Ultimately, they were so close to the ocean their propellers were whipping up the ocean around them. A Native Alaskan in the back just kept praying over and over, "Oh, Jesus, Jesus, help us!" Suddenly, right below my wife's window, she saw the landing strip, and they landed right where they were supposed to land!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Know Where You're Going When You Can't See a Thing."

Maybe that's how you feel right now, like, about the flight of your life; you're flying blind. There's no clear path ahead. Visibility is close to zero, and it's scary. It would be easy to make a big mistake right now and you can't afford one.

I'm happy to report there is a flight plan, laid out by the God who says in the Bible, "I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). You don't want to miss that. But your feelings are all over the map, your circumstances are up for grabs, and you could crash if you don't know where you're supposed to go. Take a lesson from the pilot in the fog over that Native Alaskan village. He knew he couldn't trust his feelings. He couldn't trust His surroundings. He could trust only one thing - what His instruments were saying. He kept checking his course by the unfailing accuracy of the one thing that was not affected by the environment - his instruments.

For you, that's the Bible, the unchanging Word of God. Here's His promise in Psalm 119:105, our word for today from the Word of God, His Word is "a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." And that psalm says, "Your Word, O Lord...stands firm in the heavens." It won't change if the earth melts away. And you're going to make it if you risk everything, if you base everything on what God's Word, His unchanging, eternal Word says to you, each new day. No matter what your feelings are saying; no matter what your surroundings are saying to you.

Through His forever trustworthy words, God will keep His promise for the days when you can't see where you're going. You can stake everything on this promise: Isaiah 42:16 - you're going to love this: "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."

That, my brother, my sister, is all you need to know to land exactly where you're supposed to land!

Psalm 105, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Sitting Duck

If you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, you're a sitting duck! You buy everything you don't need. Doesn't matter if it's good for you, you just want to fill your tummy.

When you're lonely-you do the same, pulling stuff off the shelf, not because you need it, but because you're hungry for love. For fear of not fitting in, we take drugs. For fear of appearing small, we go into debt and buy the house. For fear of going unnoticed, we dress to impress. But all that changes when we discover God's perfect love. The perfect love that 1 John 4:18 says "casts out fear."

Loneliness. Could it be one of God's finest gifts? If a season of solitude is His way to teach you to know His love, don't you think it's worth it? So do I.

From Traveling Light

Psalm 105

Thank God! Pray to him by name!

    Tell everyone you meet what he has done!

Sing him songs, belt out hymns,

    translate his wonders into music!

Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,

    you who seek God. Live a happy life!

Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;

    be alert for signs of his presence.

Remember the world of wonders he has made,

    his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

        O seed of Abraham, his servant,

        O child of Jacob, his chosen.

7-15 He’s God, our God,

    in charge of the whole earth.

And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—

    for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.

It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,

    the same oath he swore to Isaac,

The very statute he established with Jacob,

    the eternal Covenant with Israel,

Namely, “I give you the land.

    Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”

When they didn’t count for much,

    a mere handful, and strangers at that,

Wandering from country to country,

    drifting from pillar to post,

He permitted no one to abuse them.

    He told kings to keep their hands off:

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,

    don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”

16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country,

    he broke every last blade of wheat.

But he sent a man on ahead:

    Joseph, sold as a slave.

They put cruel chains on his ankles,

    an iron collar around his neck,

Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,

    and God confirmed his promise.

God sent the king to release him.

    The Pharaoh set Joseph free;

He appointed him master of his palace,

    put him in charge of all his business

To personally instruct his princes

    and train his advisors in wisdom.

23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,

    Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.

God gave his people lots of babies;

    soon their numbers alarmed their foes.

He turned the Egyptians against his people;

    they abused and cheated God’s servants.

Then he sent his servant Moses,

    and Aaron, whom he also chose.

They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,

    miracles in the Land of Ham.

He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—

    they couldn’t see what they were doing.

He turned all their water to blood

    so that all their fish died;

He made frogs swarm through the land,

    even into the king’s bedroom;

He gave the word and flies swarmed,

    gnats filled the air.

He substituted hail for rain,

    he stabbed their land with lightning;

He wasted their vines and fig trees,

    smashed their groves of trees to splinters;

With a word he brought in locusts,

    millions of locusts, armies of locusts;

They consumed every blade of grass in the country

    and picked the ground clean of produce;

He struck down every firstborn in the land,

    the first fruits of their virile powers.

He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,

    and not one among his tribes even stumbled.

Egypt was glad to have them go—

    they were scared to death of them.

God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day

    and a fire to light their way through the night;

They prayed and he brought quail,

    filled them with the bread of heaven;

He opened the rock and water poured out;

    it flowed like a river through that desert—

All because he remembered his Covenant,

    his promise to Abraham, his servant.

43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;

    his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!

He made them a gift of the country they entered,

    helped them seize the wealth of the nations

So they could do everything he told them—

    could follow his instructions to the letter.

Hallelujah!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Today's Scripture

Acts 2:1–13

A Sound Like a Strong Wind

 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5-11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were blown away. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;

Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,

    Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,

    Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;

Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;

Even Cretans and Arabs!

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”

12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”

13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”

Insight

Pentecost, mentioned here in Acts 2:1, was always celebrated fifty days after the first Sunday following Passover. It served as a centerpiece of Jewish worship and occurred during the Festival of Weeks (see Leviticus 23:15–21). Elsewhere, it’s referred to as the “Festival of Harvest” (Exodus 23:16) and the “day of firstfruits” (Numbers 28:26). The Pentecost in Acts 2 occurred on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Jesus. It’s significant that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on this Day of Pentecost. They were the “firstfruits” of the new covenant God was implementing through His Son, Jesus (see Romans 8:23). Pentecost is a prime example of how the Old Testament points to Jesus and His work in our behalf on the cross. By: Tim Gustafson

What Only the Spirit Can Do

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:4

During the discussion of a book on the Holy Spirit written by a ninety-four-year-old German theologian named Jürgen Moltmann, an interviewer asked him: “How do you activate the Holy Spirit? Can you take a pill? Do the pharmaceutical companies [deliver the Spirit]?” Moltmann’s bushy eyebrows shot up. Shaking his head, he grinned, answering in accented English. “What can I do? Don’t do anything. Wait on the Spirit, and the Spirit will come.”

Moltmann highlighted our mistaken belief that our energy and expertise make things happen. Acts reveals that God makes things happen. At the start of the church, it had nothing to do with human strategy or impressive leadership. Rather, the Spirit arrived “like the blowing of a violent wind” into a room of frightened, helpless, and bewildered disciples (2:2). Next, the Spirit shattered all ethnic superiorities by gathering people who were at odds into one new community. The disciples were as shocked as anyone to see what God was doing within them. They didn’t make anything happen; “the Spirit enabled them” (v. 4).

The church—and our shared work in the world—isn’t defined by what we can do. We’re entirely dependent on what only the Spirit can do. This allows us to be both bold and restful. On this day—the day we celebrate Pentecost—may we wait for the Spirit and respond. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

How are you tempted to rely on your own efforts or tenacity? Where do you need to wait for what the Spirit can do?

God, I’ve exhausted myself by believing that I must make things happen. Holy Spirit, come and help me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Unquestioned Revelation

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

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

Psalm 104, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Looking Unto Jesus

The writer of Hebrews urges us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Heart disease runs in our family, so I run each morning. And as I'm running, my body is groaning. Things hurt. And as things hurt, I've learned I have options. Go home. Meditate on my hurts until I start imagining I'm having chest pains-or-I can keep running and watch the sun come up. I have a front-row seat to watch God's world go from dark to golden. Guess what? The same happens to my attitude.

Wasn't that the counsel of the Hebrew epistle…"Looking unto Jesus?" Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God."

Now-what were you looking at?

From Traveling Light

Psalm 104

O my soul, bless God!

God, my God, how great you are!

    beautifully, gloriously robed,

Dressed up in sunshine,

    and all heaven stretched out for your tent.

You built your palace on the ocean deeps,

    made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.

You commandeered winds as messengers,

    appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.

You set earth on a firm foundation

    so that nothing can shake it, ever.

You blanketed earth with ocean,

    covered the mountains with deep waters;

Then you roared and the water ran away—

    your thunder crash put it to flight.

Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out

    in the places you assigned them.

You set boundaries between earth and sea;

    never again will earth be flooded.

You started the springs and rivers,

    sent them flowing among the hills.

All the wild animals now drink their fill,

    wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Along the riverbanks the birds build nests,

    ravens make their voices heard.

You water the mountains from your heavenly reservoirs;

    earth is supplied with plenty of water.

You make grass grow for the livestock,

    hay for the animals that plow the ground.

14-23 Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,

    wine to make people happy,

Their faces glowing with health,

    a people well-fed and hearty.

God’s trees are well-watered—

    the Lebanon cedars he planted.

Birds build their nests in those trees;

    look—the stork at home in the treetop.

Mountain goats climb about the cliffs;

    badgers burrow among the rocks.

The moon keeps track of the seasons,

    the sun is in charge of each day.

When it’s dark and night takes over,

    all the forest creatures come out.

The young lions roar for their prey,

    clamoring to God for their supper.

When the sun comes up, they vanish,

    lazily stretched out in their dens.

Meanwhile, men and women go out to work,

    busy at their jobs until evening.

24-30 What a wildly wonderful world, God!

    You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,

    made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.

Oh, look—the deep, wide sea,

    brimming with fish past counting,

    sardines and sharks and salmon.

Ships plow those waters,

    and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.

All the creatures look expectantly to you

    to give them their meals on time.

You come, and they gather around;

    you open your hand and they eat from it.

If you turned your back,

    they’d die in a minute—

Take back your Spirit and they die,

    revert to original mud;

Send out your Spirit and they spring to life—

    the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.

31-32 The glory of God—let it last forever!

    Let God enjoy his creation!

He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake,

    points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.

33-35 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long,

    sing hymns to my God as long as I live!

Oh, let my song please him;

    I’m so pleased to be singing to God.

But clear the ground of sinners—

    no more godless men and women!

O my soul, bless God!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Today's Scripture

Zechariah 4:4–10

Then I asked the Messenger-Angel, “What does this mean, sir?”

5-7 The Messenger-Angel said, “Can’t you tell?”

“No, sir,” I said.

Then he said, “This is God’s Message to Zerubbabel: ‘You can’t force these things. They only come about through my Spirit,’ says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. ‘So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel you’re nothing but a molehill. He’ll proceed to set the Cornerstone in place, accompanied by cheers: Yes! Yes! Do it!’”

8-10 After that, the Word of God came to me: “Zerubbabel started rebuilding this Temple and he will complete it. That will be your confirmation that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me to you. Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!”

Going back to the vision, the Messenger-Angel said, “The seven lamps are the eyes of God probing the dark corners of the world like searchlights.”

Insight

The Old Testament records more than thirty men named Zechariah, a name that means “the Lord remembers.” However, none is more prominent than the prophet Zechariah who wrote the book that bears his name. Zechariah is the longest of the twelve prophetic books from Hosea to Malachi and is thus classified among the Minor Prophets because it’s relatively shorter than other prophetic books, such Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (Major Prophets). Zechariah was a postexilic prophet; his ministry took place after the Babylonian exile (after 538 bc). Information within the book helps to determine the time of his service. Zechariah 1:1 and 1:7 mention Zechariah receiving a message from God in the second year of Darius. Zechariah 7:1 mentions “the fourth year of King Darius,” who was the Persian king from 522 to 486 bc. By: Arthur Jackson

Small But Great

Who dares despise the day of small things? Zechariah 4:10

Will I make the Olympics? The college swimmer worried her speed was too slow. But when math professor Ken Ono studied her swim techniques, he saw how to improve her time by six full seconds—a substantial difference at that level of competition. Attaching sensors to the swimmer’s back, he didn’t identify major changes to improve her time. Instead, Ono identified tiny corrective actions that, if applied, could make the swimmer more efficient in the water, making the winning difference.

Small corrective actions in spiritual matters can make a big difference for us too. The prophet Zechariah taught a similar principle to a remnant of discouraged Jews struggling, along with their builder Zerubbabel, to rebuild God’s temple after their exile. But “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” the Lord Almighty told Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:6).

As Zechariah declared, “Who dares despise the day of small things?” (v. 10). The exiles had worried that the temple wouldn’t match the one built during King Solomon’s reign. But just as Ono’s swimmer made the Olympics—winning a medal after surrendering to small corrections—Zerubbabel’s band of builders learned that even a small, right effort made with God’s help can bring victorious joy if our small acts glorify Him. In Him, small becomes great. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

Where have big, splashy actions led you to spiritual frustration? What small changes have enhanced your spiritual life?

Point me to small, good actions, dear God, that make a big difference in me for You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, May 27, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 1-3; John 10:1-23

Acts 17:16-34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FOR HIS GLORY - May 26, 2023

Proverbs 16:18 reminds us as humility goes before honor, “pride goes before a fall.” Ever wonder why churches are powerful in one generation but empty the next? The Bible says the Lord will tear down the house of the proud (Proverbs 12:5). God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven’t done anything to be arrogant about. Is there a Pulitzer for ink? Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant? Of course not. They are only tools. So are we. We may be the canvas, the paper, or the scalpel, but we are not the one who deserves the applause.

David declares who does in the twenty-third Psalm. “He makes me, he leads me, he restores my soul…for his name’s sake.” For his name’s sake! No other name. This is all done for God’s glory. He takes the credit, not because he needs it, but because he knows we cannot handle it.

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Acts 17:16-34

Athens

16 The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.

17-18 He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: “What a moron!” But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: “That’s a new slant on the gods. Tell us more.”

19-21 These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, “This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.” Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.

22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.

24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, May 26, 2023

Today's Scripture

Daniel 3:15–28

Insight

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s “no compromise” commitment didn’t begin when they faced the fiery furnace. Their commitment to Jewish dietary protocols (Daniel 1) and their faithfulness to the God who’d prescribed them readied them for an even bigger test in Daniel 3. Indeed, the diet test prepared them for the death test. They passed with flying colors, thereby earning them a place in the annals of faith in Hebrews 11. Though not mentioned by name, Hebrews 11:34 most likely refers to these three, who through faith “quenched the fury of the flames.” By: Arthur Jackson

Jesus Is the Answer

Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Daniel 3:25

The tale is told that after yet another stop on Albert Einstein’s lecture tour, his chauffeur mentioned that he’d heard enough of the speech that he could give it. Einstein suggested they switch places at the next college, as no one there had seen his picture. The chauffer agreed and delivered a fine lecture. Then came the question-and-answer period. To one aggressive inquirer, the chauffer replied, “I can see you’re a brilliant professor, but I’m surprised you would ask a question so simple that even my chauffeur could answer it.” Then his “chauffeur”—Albert Einstein himself—did answer it! So ends the fun but fictional story.

Daniel’s courageous three friends were truly on the hot seat. King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into a blazing furnace if they didn’t worship his idol. He asked, “What god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:15). The friends still refused to bow, so the king heated the furnace seven times hotter and had them tossed in.

They didn’t go alone. An “angel” (v. 28), perhaps Jesus Himself, joined them in the fire, keeping them from harm and providing an undeniable answer to the king’s question (vv. 24–25). Nebuchadnezzar praised the “God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego” and conceded that “no other god can save in this way” (vv. 28–29).

At times, we may feel in over our heads. But Jesus stands with those who serve Him. He’ll carry us. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

What problem are you unable to solve? How might Jesus relieve the pressure that you feel to fix your challenge?

Jesus, You’re the answer when there’s no answer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, May 26, 2023

Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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: 1 Chronicles 28-29; John 9:24-41

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, May 26, 2023

PEACE IN THE CHAOS - #9490

There's almost nothing more chaotic than moving. Some years ago we moved our office to something more suitable that God had wonderfully provided. The result was terrific! The process - horrendous.

Unfortunately, the work didn't stop just because it was time to move. We had to press on and not let all the inconveniences stop our work. I had some real deadlines to meet. So as the files and the furniture were flying, I just retreated to my office. Pretty soon my office started to go. I moved my little computer to a small tray in the corner, and I just kept typing, like Schroeder on his piano. I had to! At one point, someone literally carried my desk away while I was typing away on my little tray. In the midst of this growing chaos, I actually managed to carve out my own little peaceful corner.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace In the Chaos."

Our word for today from the Word of God, right from the lips of Jesus Christ, John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Boy, I've got to tell you, this was not spoken at some quiet, spiritual retreat in the mountains. The soldiers were on their way to arrest Jesus; His cross was coming.

And yet in the middle of this chaos, Jesus is talking about peace. "I will give you peace; an island of sanity in an otherwise insane situation." But He's saying that this peace won't come from what's going on around you; that's the kind the world gives. This island of sanity will be in you; deeply anchored in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which nothing can touch.

I was on a plane some years ago, and they announced that we were suddenly being re-routed; flying from Chicago to Newark. Suddenly we were headed to Detroit, because we had hydraulic problems. The guy two seats over went, "That's it! That's it! That's the landing gear." That really helped. "Thank you, sir." Next to me was this little grandma. She was terrified. I mean, this was really scary to her. And the flight attendants? They're running back and forth saying, "Seat belts. Seat belts. Seat belts."

I just kept working, because I really didn't feel any particular panic. I kind of tried to calm down this grandma next to me. I said, "Hey, we're going to Detroit and they're not charging anything extra." She laughed. I kept trying to provide some calm for her. Well, it ended up we landed amid this fleet of emergency vehicles, but we were safe. After it was all over she said, "How can you stay so calm?" I said, "Well, I have to tell you, it's because of a personal relationship that I have with Jesus. See, when you have that - the peace doesn't come from what is going on around you, but the peace comes from what's going on inside you...actually who's going on inside you." When you have this all-knowing, all-powerful Savior you've got nothing to fear.

The Bible says this of Jesus, "He Himself is our peace." I've tested that peace over and over: when we've been very concerned about a child, when the finances have been impossible, the day my wife was suddenly gone. Jesus has been that peaceful corner, like that chaotic moving day. He wants to be your island of sanity.

If you're not sure you belong to this one the Bible calls the Prince of Peace, would you open your heart to Him today. The Bible says until we have our sin forgiven, there is "no peace." But when you put your total trust in this man who died for your sin, that wall between you and God comes down and you have what you've chased all these years - real peace.

If you want to belong to Him, would you go to our website. It's all about how to begin a relationship with Him. Would you check it out? It's ANewStory.com. In our stressful world, it's like moving day every day. There's no peace except in a heart where Jesus has come to live at your invitation, because beyond the chaos, there will always be His peace.

Psalm 102, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SPIRITUAL BAGGAGE - May 25, 2023

Carry a load of guilt? So many do. If our spiritual baggage were visible, you know what you’d see? Suitcases of guilt, bulging with binges, blowups, and compromises. The kid with the baggy jeans and the nose ring? He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother, but he can’t. So he tows them along. The woman in the business suit? Looks like she could run for Senator. She can’t run at all, not hauling that carpet bag wherever she goes.

So what do we do? In Psalm 23:3, David said it like this: “He leads me in the paths of righteousness.” The path of righteousness. A narrow, winding trail up a steep hill. At the top is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags, countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well?

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 102

God, listen! Listen to my prayer,

    listen to the pain in my cries.

Don’t turn your back on me

    just when I need you so desperately.

Pay attention! This is a cry for help!

    And hurry—this can’t wait!

3-11 I’m wasting away to nothing,

    I’m burning up with fever.

I’m a ghost of my former self,

    half-consumed already by terminal illness.

My jaws ache from gritting my teeth;

    I’m nothing but skin and bones.

I’m like a buzzard in the desert,

    a crow perched on the rubble.

Insomniac, I twitter away,

    mournful as a sparrow in the gutter.

All day long my enemies taunt me,

    while others just curse.

They bring in meals—casseroles of ashes!

    I draw drink from a barrel of my tears.

And all because of your furious anger;

    you swept me up and threw me out.

There’s nothing left of me—

    a withered weed, swept clean from the path.

12-17 Yet you, God, are sovereign still,

    always and ever sovereign.

You’ll get up from your throne and help Zion—

    it’s time for compassionate help.

Oh, how your servants love this city’s rubble

    and weep with compassion over its dust!

The godless nations will sit up and take notice

    —see your glory, worship your name—

When God rebuilds Zion,

    when he shows up in all his glory,

When he attends to the prayer of the wretched.

    He won’t dismiss their prayer.

18-22 Write this down for the next generation

    so people not yet born will praise God:

“God looked out from his high holy place;

    from heaven he surveyed the earth.

He listened to the groans of the doomed,

    he opened the doors of their death cells.”

Write it so the story can be told in Zion,

    so God’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets

And wherever people gather together

    along with their rulers to worship him.

23-28 God sovereignly brought me to my knees,

    he cut me down in my prime.

“Oh, don’t,” I prayed, “please don’t let me die.

    You have more years than you know what to do with!

You laid earth’s foundations a long time ago,

    and handcrafted the very heavens;

You’ll still be around when they’re long gone,

    threadbare and discarded like an old suit of clothes.

You’ll throw them away like a worn-out coat,

    but year after year you’re as good as new.

Your servants’ children will have a good place to live

    and their children will be at home with you.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Today's Scripture

Colossians 3:15–24

 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

* * *

18 Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

19 Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.

20 Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.

21 Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.

22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

Insight

Paul wrote the book of Colossians to believers in Jesus whom he described as “God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ” (Colossians 1:2). His purpose was to correct false teaching about who Christ is—His divinity and ministry (chs. 1–2)—and to instruct readers on how to live godly lives (chs. 3–4), lives that would “always honor and please the Lord” and “produce every kind of good fruit” (1:10 nlt).

In Colossians 3, Paul taught them how to relate to one another in three key relationships: the spiritual family—the church (vv. 15–17), the natural family—husbands, wives, and children (vv. 18–21), and slaves and masters, which today pertains in principle to workers and employers (vv. 22–25; 4:1). In all these relationships, through the power of the Spirit believers are to display the character of Christ: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and unconditional love (3:12–14). By: K. T. Sim

All for Jesus

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Colossians 3:17

When Jeff was fourteen, his mom took him to see a famous singer. Like many musicians of his era, B. J. Thomas had gotten caught up in a self-destructive lifestyle while on music tours. But that was before he and his wife were introduced to Jesus. Their lives were radically changed when they became believers in Christ.

On the night of the concert, the singer began to entertain the enthusiastic crowd. But after performing a few of his well-known songs, one guy yelled out from the audience, “Hey, sing one for Jesus!” Without any hesitation, B. J. responded, “I just sang four songs for Jesus.”

It’s been a few decades since then, but Jeff still remembers that moment when he realized that everything we do should be for Jesus—even things that some might consider to be “nonreligious.”

We’re sometimes tempted to divvy up the things we do in life. Read the Bible. Share our story of coming to faith. Sing a hymn. Sacred stuff. Mow the lawn. Go for a run. Sing a country song. Secular stuff.

Colossians 3:16 reminds us that the message of Christ indwells us in activities like teaching, singing, and being thankful, but verse 17 goes even further. It emphasizes that as God’s children, “whatever [we] do, whether in word or deed, [we] do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

We do it all for Him. By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray

How can you do all things in the name of Jesus? How might you allow God to use your actions and words for His glory?

Loving God, help me to surrender every one of my activities and words to You.

For further study, read God’s Expectations.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, May 25, 2023

The Good or The Best?

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, May 25, 2023

WHY OUR ENEMY WINS - #9489

Several years ago, there was a blockbuster movie called "Independence Day." You can catch it occasionally on TV now. From what I heard, it wasn't about Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. No, it was about an alien invasion of Planet Earth. A unique concept. As this alien force moves across the world, the American military throws its most sophisticated weapons at it. They can't stop it. Even the White House gets destroyed and the President barely escapes with his life. Other countries try to resist with their military. No one's even close to a match for this invading force. Well, something very interesting happens. The world's leaders begin to wake up to the fact that suddenly they all have a common enemy and it isn't each other anymore. Allies and enemies begin to work together to defeat their enemy, and they win big! Yea!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Our Enemy Wins."

If that movie had a moral, it had something to do with uniting to beat an enemy that threatened them all; an enemy that no one could have ever beaten alone.

Now, our enemy - the enemy of every believer in Jesus, every Christian church, every Christian family - has his way all too often. Not so much because he's so strong, but because he exploits our tendency to fight each other and to forget the real enemy that threatens us all. Someone said, "Christians are the only soldiers who form their firing squads in a circle." Isn't it true! We shoot at each other so much; wasting our ammunition that should only be aimed one direction - at Satan and his forces.

Okay, our word for today from the Word of God - Ephesians 6:11-12. It's a clarion call to fight the right enemy. "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood." Woah, let's stop there. I want you to think of someone in your family that maybe there's conflict with right now, or in your church or your ministry; someone who's driving you crazy. Put their name in that verse. "My struggle is not against ______." Fill in the blank with another Christian group or denomination you don't agree with. Your struggle is not ultimately against them!

It says it's "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The one to shoot at is the devil.

And the one who is trying to drive a wedge between you and that family member or that fellow believer is none other than the prince of darkness himself. But he wants you to think that they're the problem. He's the problem!

We play right into his hands when we allow ourselves to focus on our differences, on our wounded feelings, on our turf, on our frustrations. We're doing what Paul calls two chapters earlier giving "the devil a foothold." My guess is that somewhere in your life right now, your enemy is trying to divide you from another believer or believers so he can divide and conquer. The question is, are you falling for it?

In that movie, until the forces of earth realized they were up against a common enemy, they fought separately and they lost. God is calling us to wake up to our common enemy and to do whatever we have to do to remove the walls and fight together. To, as it says in Philippians 1, "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed."

We've battled the enemy separately long enough haven't we? It's time we come together to win what we could never win alone.