Isaiah 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PURE GRACE - October 31, 2023

Each review of Jacob’s story leaves me amazed at his seeming inability to shape up, clean up, and stand up for everything decent and moral. He tricked and was tricked. His name was changed, but his heart seemed less so. Why couldn’t God replace him with someone more polished, more refined?

Yet, on the other hand, I’m so grateful God didn’t. I’ve wrestled with God, daring to think my might and muscles would impress him. I can be smarmy, wormy, and less than straightforward. I identify with Jacob – I limp.

Jacob’s story exists for the times that the Jacob within us wonders, “Can God use a person like me?” The reassuring and resounding answer is “Yes.”

Pure grace. Grace is God’s greatest idea. That he would treat us according to his heart and not ours. Amazing grace!

Isaiah 5

Looking for a Crop of Justice

1–2  5 I’ll sing a ballad to the one I love,

a love ballad about his vineyard:

The one I love had a vineyard,

a fine, well-placed vineyard.

He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,

and planted the very best vines.

He built a lookout, built a winepress,

a vineyard to be proud of.

He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,

but for all his pains he got junk grapes.

3–4  “Now listen to what I’m telling you,

you who live in Jerusalem and Judah.

What do you think is going on

between me and my vineyard?

Can you think of anything I could have done

to my vineyard that I didn’t do?

When I expected good grapes,

why did I get bitter grapes?

5–6  “Well now, let me tell you

what I’ll do to my vineyard:

I’ll tear down its fence

and let it go to ruin.

I’ll knock down the gate

and let it be trampled.

I’ll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for—

thistles and thorns will take over.

I’ll give orders to the clouds:

‘Don’t rain on that vineyard, ever!’ ”

7  Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies

is the country of Israel.

All the men and women of Judah

are the garden he was so proud of.

He looked for a crop of justice

and saw them murdering each other.

He looked for a harvest of righteousness

and heard only the moans of victims.

You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil

8–10  Doom to you who buy up all the houses

and grab all the land for yourselves—

Evicting the old owners,

posting no trespassing signs,

Taking over the country,

leaving everyone homeless and landless.

I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say:

“Those mighty houses will end up empty.

Those extravagant estates will be deserted.

A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,

a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.”

11–17  Doom to those who get up early

and start drinking booze before breakfast,

Who stay up all hours of the night

drinking themselves into a stupor.

They make sure their banquets are well-furnished

with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,

But they’ll have nothing to do with the work of God,

pay no mind to what he is doing.

Therefore my people will end up in exile

because they don’t know the score.

Their “big men” will starve to death

and the common people die of thirst.

Sheol developed a huge appetite,

swallowing people nonstop!

Big people and little people alike

down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.

The down-and-out on a par

with the high-and-mighty,

Windbag boasters crumpled,

flaccid as a punctured bladder.

But by working justice,

God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.

By working righteousness,

Holy God will show what “holy” is.

And lambs will graze

as if they owned the place,

Kids and calves

right at home in the ruins.

18–19  Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,

who haul sin to market by the truckload,

Who say, “What’s God waiting for?

Let him get a move on so we can see it.

Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,

we’d like to check it out.”

20  Doom to you who call evil good

and good evil,

Who put darkness in place of light

and light in place of darkness,

Who substitute bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter!

21–23  Doom to you who think you’re so smart,

who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!

All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers

who collect trophies from drinking bouts

And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty

while you violate the rights of the innocent.

24  But they won’t get by with it. As fire eats stubble

and dry grass goes up in smoke,

Their souls will atrophy,

their achievements crumble into dust,

Because they said no to the revelation

of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

Would have nothing to do

with The Holy of Israel.

25–30  That’s why God flamed out in anger against his people,

reached out and knocked them down.

The mountains trembled

as their dead bodies piled up in the streets.

But even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation,

whistles for people at the ends of the earth.

And here they come—

on the run!

None drag their feet, no one stumbles,

no one sleeps or dawdles.

Shirts are on and pants buckled,

every boot is spit-polished and tied.

Their arrows are sharp,

bows strung,

The hooves of their horses shod,

chariot wheels greased.

Roaring like a pride of lions,

the full-throated roars of young lions,

They growl and seize their prey,

dragging it off—no rescue for that one!

They’ll roar and roar and roar on that Day,

like the roar of ocean billows.

Look as long and hard as you like at that land,

you’ll see nothing but darkness and trouble.

Every light in the sky

will be blacked out by the clouds.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 61

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

1 O God, listen to my cry!

Hear my prayer!

2 From the ends of the earth,

I cry to you for help

when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the towering rock of safety,

3 for you are my safe refuge,

a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary,

safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

Interlude

5 For you have heard my vows, O God.

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.

6 Add many years to the life of the king!

May his years span the generations!

7 May he reign under God’s protection forever.

May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him.

8 Then I will sing praises to your name forever

as I fulfill my vows each day.

Insight

In Psalm 61, David describes his longing for God’s presence with metaphors of a “rock that is higher than I” (v. 2), a “refuge” or “strong tower” (v. 3), a “tent” and “the shelter of [God’s] wings” (v. 4). The combined reference to God’s “tent” and the “shelter of [His] wings” may allude to the cherubim wings on the tabernacle (Exodus 25:20). During God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt, He gave instructions for the building of a tabernacle through which He’d dwell with His people in a powerful and tangible way (v. 8). Later, the temple, modeled after the tabernacle, would become the centralized place to experience His presence. It also contained sculpted cherubim with wings in the inner sanctuary (1 Kings 6:23–27). Today, believers in Jesus experience God’s presence through His Spirit who dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). By: Monica La Rose

Under God’s Wings

I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Psalm 61:4

There are several Canada goose families with baby geese at the pond near our apartment complex. The little goslings are so fluffy and cute; it’s hard not to watch them when I go for a walk or run around the pond. But I’ve learned to avoid eye contact and give the geese a wide berth—otherwise, I risk a protective goose parent suspecting a threat and hissing and chasing me!

The image of a bird protecting her young is one that Scripture uses to describe God’s tender, protective love for His children (Psalm 91:4). In Psalm 61, David seems to be struggling to experience God’s care in this way. He’d experienced God as his “refuge, a strong tower” (v. 3), but now he called desperately “from the ends of the earth,” pleading, “lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (v. 2). He longed to once more “take refuge in the shelter of [God’s] wings” (v. 4).

And in bringing his pain and longing for healing to God, David took comfort in knowing that He’d heard him (v. 5). Because of God’s faithfulness, he knew he would “ever sing in praise of [His] name” (v. 8).

Like the psalmist, when we feel distant from God’s love, we can run back to His arms to be assured that even in our pain, He’s with us, protecting and caring for us as fiercely as a mother bird guards her young. By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

How does it encourage you to remember God’s protective care for you? How have you experienced His care?

Dear God, thank You for Your fierce, protective love for me. Help me to rest securely in Your tender care.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

The Trial of Faith

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

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: Jeremiah 22-23; Titus 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Fireproof Fulfillment - #9602

The summer of '88 was a long time ago, but man, it left an indelible mark on Yellowstone National Park. Forest fires? They ravaged our national treasure. And you know, it left behind thousands of acres of charred landscape, displaced animals, dead animals. In fact, the fire almost reached that famous geyser called Old Faithful. It came really, really close to it.

There's a historic inn right nearby where people have stayed for almost a hundred years, and it was rescued from the wall of flames that was closing in on it, but it was close. A lot changed dramatically at Yellowstone when the fires hit. One thing didn't. No matter how hot the fire got, no matter how close; no matter what else was destroyed, Old Faithful went off right on time every day. The fire just could not affect her performance for one very simple reason.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4. It's a familiar story of Jesus talking to the woman of Samaria who has tried so many ways and so many men to fill that aching void in her life. They both meet at the same well for a drink on a hot afternoon and Jesus says to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water." I think we were just talking about that a moment ago, but it was a geyser, right? "...a spring of water" (in this case) "welling up to eternal life."

Jesus says, "I want to put in your life... In fact, I want to make you a faithful fountain and we'll be able to handle any fire, any storm, any hurt, any disappointment. Oh, you'll still be able to perform even with the fire closing in around you because of two words." Ready? He wants to put the source in you, which is different from it being something around you.

Old Faithful-that geyser that continued to function no matter how hot the fire got or how close? The source is underground and the fire cannot touch that source. Now, when you have Christ living in you and you're counting on Him-not on yourself-you believe He's your source of strength, you become an Old Faithful, or maybe a young faithful. See, your source is where it can't be touched. No depression, no bankruptcy, no election, no lost job, no illness, no personal loss, no national tragedy can touch that source of your strength because it's in you where it can't be touched.

Jesus spoke to a woman here who was depending on a source that she would lose; in her case, the men in her life. She'd been through a lot of guys, but always disappointed. Whenever your identity or your source of strength is something external-something you can lose-you're going to be up and down all the time. Your career can be touched by life's fires, your family can, your income, the body you've worked so hard to develop, your friendships, the person you love-you can lose those. The fire can get to them.

That's why Jesus makes you an offer of something that is everlasting. He said, "This will spring up into something eternal," what I'm about to plant in you, and it will be a life that will begin now but will last through all eternity. He's talking heaven there. Wouldn't this be a good time for you to open up to this Jesus and let Him, and your relationship to Him, be who you are; be where you get your security, be where you get your strength. Then you can be steady, you can be consistent no matter how hot the flames.

You say, "Well, Ron, I'm not sure I've ever begun a personal relationship with Jesus." Well, you can. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Our website's there to help you make sure you've gotten going with Him, how to belong to Him. Go there, please. Check out ANewStory.com.

A human "Old Faithful" with Christ as your underground source. Why, you could be counted on for fireproof faithfulness.

2 Corinthians 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS WOOING YOU - October 30, 2023

In 1890 Francis Thompson, a Roman Catholic poet, described God as “The Hound of Heaven.” He wrote:

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him,…”

Thompson speaks of Jesus as “this tremendous Lover” who pursues us “with un-hurrying chase, an unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, and majestic instancy.”

Would you open your heart to this possibility? God is wooing you, pursuing you, romancing you. Refuse him if you wish. Ignore him if you desire. But he will not give up. Did he not promise to lead you home? And has he ever broken a promise? Not on your life.

This is the message of God, the aggressive promise of grace. Trust it.

2 Corinthians 12

Strength from Weakness

1–5  12 You’ve forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we’re at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I’m not saying another word apart from the humiliations.

6  If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

7–10  Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

11–13  Well, now I’ve done it! I’ve made a complete fool of myself by going on like this. But it’s not all my fault; you put me up to it. You should have been doing this for me, sticking up for me and commending me instead of making me do it for myself. You know from personal experience that even if I’m a nobody, a nothing, I wasn’t second-rate compared to those big-shot apostles you’re so taken with. All the signs that mark a true apostle were in evidence while I was with you through both good times and bad: signs of portent, signs of wonder, signs of power. Did you get less of me or of God than any of the other churches? The only thing you got less of was less responsibility for my upkeep. Well, I’m sorry. Forgive me for depriving you.

14–15  Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don’t worry about it; you won’t have to put yourselves out. I’ll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what you have—only in you. Children shouldn’t have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I’d be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I’m loved?

16–18  And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where’s the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven’t we always been just as aboveboard, just as honest?

19  I hope you don’t think that all along we’ve been making our defense before you, the jury. You’re not the jury; God is the jury—God revealed in Christ—and we make our case before him. And we’ve gone to all the trouble of supporting ourselves so that we won’t be in the way or get in the way of your growing up.

20–21  I do admit that I have fears that when I come you’ll disappoint me and I’ll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces—quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam. I don’t look forward to a second humiliation by God among you, compounded by hot tears over that crowd that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways, who refuse to turn away from the pigsty of evil, sexual disorder, and indecency in which they wallow.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, October 30, 2023

Today's Scripture

Exodus 34:1–8

God spoke to Moses: “Cut out two tablets of stone just like the originals and engrave on them the words that were on the original tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb Mount Sinai and get set to meet me on top of the mountain. Not a soul is to go with you; the whole mountain must be clear of people, even animals—not even sheep or oxen can be grazing in front of the mountain.”

4–7  So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out, “God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”

8–9  At once, Moses fell to the ground and worshiped,

Insight

God’s revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6–7 takes place soon after the rebellion of His people through worshiping a golden calf, an act which so angered Moses that he broke the tablets containing God’s law (32:19). Chapters 33–34 describe a gradual process of restoring God’s rebellion-prone people. In chapter 33, after threatening not to accompany the people to the promised land (vv. 3–5), He promises once more to be faithful to them despite their sin (vv. 14, 17). Not only that, but He promises to reveal His character to Moses once more (v. 19) and to restore the tablets of the law that Moses broke (34:1). Despite their sin, God’s people would have a future because of who He is—“compassionate and gracious,” “slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (vv. 6–7). By: Monica La Rose

Smartphone Compassion

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6

Was the driver late with your food? You can use your phone to give him a one-star rating. Did the shopkeeper treat you curtly? You can write her a critical review. While smartphones enable us to shop, keep up with friends, and more, they have also given us the power to publicly rate each other. And this can be a problem.

Rating each other this way is problematic because judgments can be made without context. The driver gets rated poorly for a late delivery due to circumstances out of his control. The shopkeeper gets a negative review when she’d been up all night with a sick child. How can we avoid rating others unfairly like this?

By imitating God’s character. In Exodus 34:6–7, God describes Himself as “compassionate and gracious”—meaning He wouldn’t judge our failures without context; “slow to anger”—meaning He wouldn’t post a negative review after one bad experience; “abounding in love”—meaning His correctives are for our good, not to get revenge; and “forgiving [of] sin”—meaning our lives don’t have to be defined by our one-star days. Since God’s character is to be the basis of ours (Matthew 6:33), we can avoid the harshness smartphones enable by using ours as He would.

In the online age, we can all rate others harshly. May the Holy Spirit empower us to bring a little compassion today. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

How can you show more compassion to others? What characteristic of God do you most need to imitate when online?

Holy Spirit, please grow the fruit of godly character in me today, especially when I’m online.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, October 30, 2023

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.

For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

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: Jeremiah 20-21; 2 Timothy 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, October 30, 2023

Racing to Get There, Missing the View - #9601

It was another one of Daddy's great vacation adventures! I announced to the family that we were going to climb Panther Mountain that day. The idea was greeted with underwhelming enthusiasm, but off we went, hiking up the gentle uphill trail that would get us to our goal: the rock fortress I had been told was at the top. As we trudged up the trail, my wife kept pointing out nice things along the way, "Oh, look at the chipmunk! Look at that tree growing out of the rock! Oh, don't you love the sound of the wind blowing through the pines?" I would smile and politely acknowledge her little observations, all the while keeping my male mind firmly focused on the real reason for this activity-getting to the top of the mountain. You can imagine how un-thrilled I was when my wife suddenly said, "Well, the kids are getting tired, and this has been a really neat hike. Let's head back." What? Head back? We were only halfway to our goal? If we went back now, this would all have been a waste of time!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Racing To Get There, Missing the View."

I learned a lesson that day on Panther Mountain. My wife said, " Honey, this has been a great hike. We've seen a lot of neat things God made, we've had a nice time together as a family, there's no need to keep pushing." I objected, "But what about our goal? What about getting to the top?" That's when the wise woman I married pointed out something to me that I've never forgotten. She said, "Ron, it isn't just the result that matters. It's the process!"

The process is as important as the result? It's not just my wife who feels that way. Now I'm learning that the process is important to God; maybe more important than the result. Many of us are like I was the day we hiked up the mountain. We're so focused on getting to our goal that we miss the good things along the way to get to our goal. But I'm beginning to think that the process is more important to God than the result. He could answer your prayers and deliver you to your destination immediately if He wanted to.

But God has a process, a journey; and He wants to take us through that first and show us things that we've never seen before. But we miss those things because of our race to get there. We only care about the destination. God cares about the process and what we'll learn and what we'll become through that process.

He talks about that process in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 84 beginning with verse 5. "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (now, here's the process), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength 'til each appears before God in Zion" - okay, there's the goal. The Lord blesses those who enjoy the journey...who make a difference along the way...who look for Him in the process.

Most pregnant women? They'd probably like to shorten the process and have their baby in three months or six months; those nine months, that gets pretty long. But it's the process that makes the baby what he or she is. It's the time on the potter's wheel, spinning and being shaped that makes the pottery the masterpiece it becomes. It's the same for you and me.

You may be in God's waiting room right now, frustrated. Your answer hasn't come. The process is taking so long! But that's the plan! Take in the scenery, enjoy what God's doing along the way, look for "God sightings." Look for the lessons God is trying to teach you. Light up each spot along the way.

Here's a great prayer: "Lord, I'm not only trusting You for the result, I'm asking You to do it in the way that will bring You the greatest glory and make me what You want me to be." Whether or not you make it to that mountaintop, enjoy the great things that God wants to show you along the way!

Isaiah 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Pray About Everything

The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ.

“Max, if I take my problems to Jesus every time I have one, I’m going to be talking to Jesus all day long.”

Now you’re getting the point! An un-prayed for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers. We can only wonder how many disasters would be averted if we would go first to Jesus?

Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.”

Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes—simple, powerful prayers.  It’ll change your prayer life forever!

Before Amen

Isaiah 4

That will be the day when seven women

will gang up on one man, saying,

“We’ll take care of ourselves,

get our own food and clothes.

Just give us a child. Make us pregnant

so we’ll have something to live for!”

God’s Branch

2–4  And that’s when God’s Branch will sprout green and lush. The produce of the country will give Israel’s survivors something to be proud of again. Oh, they’ll hold their heads high! Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as “holy”—alive and therefore precious. God will give Zion’s women a good bath. He’ll scrub the bloodstained city of its violence and brutality, purge the place with a firestorm of judgment.

5–6  Then God will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 9:7–10

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.

Insight

The NIV footnote on Psalms 9 and 10 tells us they “may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.”  Psalm 9 provides a musical notation that it’s to be sung “to the tune of ‘The Death of the Son.’ ” Apparently, this was a tune known to the Israelites at that time. Other psalms with musical notations include Psalms 22, 45, 56–60, 69, 75, and 80.

Psalm 9 can be divided into two parts—praise and proclamation. David gives thanks and praise to God who’d rescued and protected him from his enemies in response to his prayers (vv. 1–6). The psalmist also proclaims and exalts God as the Sovereign King who “rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity” (v. 8). By: K. T. Sim

You Can Trust God

Those who know your name trust in you. Psalm 9:10

When my cat Mickey had an eye infection, I put eye drops in his eyes daily. As soon as I placed him on the bathroom counter, he’d sit, look at me with frightened eyes, and brace himself for the spurt of liquid. “Good boy,” I’d murmur. Even though he didn’t understand what I was doing, he never jumped off, hissed, or scratched me. Instead, he would press himself closer against me—the person putting him through the ordeal. He knew he could trust me.

When David wrote Psalm 9, he’d probably already experienced much of God’s love and faithfulness. He’d turned to Him for protection from his enemies, and God had acted on his behalf (vv. 3-6). During David’s times of need, God hadn’t failed him. As a result, David came to know what He was like—He was powerful and righteous, loving and faithful. And so, David trusted Him. He knew God was trustworthy.

I’ve cared for Mickey through several illnesses since the night I found him as a tiny, starving kitten on the street. He knows he can trust me—even when I do things to him that he doesn’t understand. In a similar way, remembering God’s faithfulness to us and His character helps us trust Him when we can’t understand what He’s doing. May we continue to trust God through the difficult times in life. By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

Recall a tough situation when God showed you His love and faithfulness. What else did you learn about His character? How can this encourage you today?

Father, You’re always faithful. Help me trust You. Let difficult times draw me closer to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Substitution

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. —2 Corinthians 5:21

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Prayer Wimps Anonymous

I'm a card carrying member of the PWA: Prayer Wimps Anonymous. Can you relate? We pray-we pray to stay sober, centered, solvent. We pray when the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. We all pray-some.

But wouldn't we like to pray more? Like the disciples when they asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray!" Teach us to find strength in prayer. To banish fear in prayer.

Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and you!  A prayer as simple as this one:

Father, You are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me.

They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Pray for 4 weeks, 4 minutes every day. Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and get ready to connect with God like never before!

Before Amen

 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Many a Long and Lonely Night

16–21  Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

21–23  Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

23–27  I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28–29  And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30–33  If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Peter 2:4–10

The Stone

4–8  Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:

Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,

a cornerstone in the place of honor.

Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation

will never have cause to regret it.

To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,

The stone the workmen threw out

is now the chief foundation stone.

For the untrusting it’s

… a stone to trip over,

a boulder blocking the way.

They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.

9–10  But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

Insight

Traditionally, a cornerstone was the first stone placed at the bottom corner of a building. All other stones were laid in reference to it. Old Testament prophecy points to Christ as “a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16). Yet, He’s the “stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (8:14). The psalmist wrote, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Jesus quotes from this psalm to reference how His own people would reject Him as Messiah (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17) and to point to Him as the most important part of the church. He’s “the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). In 1 Peter 2:4–10, the apostle quotes all three Old Testament verses to emphasize our choice: either reject Him or choose Him as Savior. By: Alyson Kieda

More Precious than Gold

Come to [Jesus], the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him. 1 Peter 2:4

Have you ever looked through low-priced items at a yard sale and dreamed that you might find something of incredible value? It happened in Connecticut when a floral Chinese antique bowl purchased for just $35 at a yard sale was sold at a 2021 auction for more than $700,000. The piece turned out to be a rare, historically significant artifact from the fifteenth century. It’s a stunning reminder that what some people consider of little worth can actually have great value.

Writing to believers scattered throughout the known world, Peter explained that their faith in Jesus was belief in the One who’d been rejected by the wider culture. Despised by most of the religious Jewish leaders and crucified by the Roman government, Christ was deemed worthless by many because He didn’t fulfill their expectations and desires. But though others had dismissed Jesus’ worth, He was “chosen by God and precious to him” (1 Peter 2:4). His value for us is infinitely more precious than silver or gold (1:18–19). And we have the assurance that whoever chooses to trust Jesus will never be ashamed of their choice (2:6).

When others reject Jesus as worthless, let’s take another look. God’s Spirit can help us see the priceless gift of Christ, who offers to all people the invaluable invitation to become part of the family of God (v. 10). By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

Why do people miss the true value of Jesus? How might you share the blessings of trusting Him?

Dear Jesus, thank You for living a life of obedience so that I could become part of the family of God. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Justification by Faith

If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Romans 5:10

I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.

The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

Isaiah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ACCEPT YOUR ACCEPTANCE - October 27, 2023

“He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ—such being His gracious will and pleasure” (Ephesians 1:5). God moved you into his family. He changed your name, your address, he gave you a seat at the dining table.

A young woman once approached me after hearing a sermon on forgiveness. She had battled much rejection in her young life.  On this day she felt something different. She said, “I’ve made a discovery. I’m not an exception to acceptance.”

Neither are you. For heaven’s sake, accept your acceptance. No more self-recrimination. No more self-accusation. No more self-condemnation. Make grace your permanent address. God has made a covenant to love you with an everlasting love, and He will keep it. God never gives up on you.

Isaiah 2

Climb God’s Mountain

1–5  2 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

There’s a day coming

when the mountain of God’s House

Will be The Mountain—

solid, towering over all mountains.

All nations will river toward it,

people from all over set out for it.

They’ll say, “Come,

let’s climb God’s Mountain,

go to the House of the God of Jacob.

He’ll show us the way he works

so we can live the way we’re made.”

Zion’s the source of the revelation.

God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.

He’ll settle things fairly between nations.

He’ll make things right between many peoples.

They’ll turn their swords into shovels,

their spears into hoes.

No more will nation fight nation;

they won’t play war anymore.

Come, family of Jacob,

let’s live in the light of God.

6–9  God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob

because their world is full of hokey religion,

Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,

a world rolling in wealth,

Stuffed with things,

no end to its machines and gadgets,

And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes.

These people make their own gods and worship what they make.

A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.

Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving!

Pretentious Egos Brought Down to Earth

10  Head for the hills,

hide in the caves

From the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence.

11–17  People with a big head are headed for a fall,

pretentious egos brought down a peg.

It’s God alone at front-and-center

on the Day we’re talking about,

The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies

is matched against all big-talking rivals,

against all swaggering big names;

Against all giant sequoias

hugely towering,

and against the expansive chestnut;

Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,

against the ranges of Alps and Andes;

Against every soaring skyscraper,

against all proud obelisks and statues;

Against ocean-going luxury liners,

against elegant three-masted schooners.

The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,

the pretentious egos brought down to earth,

Leaving God alone at front-and-center

on the Day we’re talking about.

18  And all those sticks and stones

dressed up to look like gods

will be gone for good.

19  Clamber into caves in the cliffs,

duck into any hole you can find.

Hide from the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence,

When he assumes his full stature on earth,

towering and terrifying.

20–21  On that Day men and women will take

the sticks and stones

They’ve decked out in gold and silver

to look like gods and then worshiped,

And they will dump them

in any ditch or gully,

Then run for rock caves

and cliff hideouts

To hide from the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence,

When he assumes his full stature on earth,

towering and terrifying.

22  Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,

so full of themselves, so full of hot air!

Can’t you see there’s nothing to them?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, October 27, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 21:4–7, 16–20

But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.

5–7  Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. God considered him an evil man. But despite that, because of his covenant with David, God was not yet ready to destroy the descendants of David; he had, after all, promised to keep a light burning for David and his sons.

16 Some Philistines and Arabs lived near where some Ethiopiansi had settle along the coast. The Lord incited them to go to war against Jehoram. 17They invaded Judah, looted the royal palace, and carried off as prisoners all the king’s wives and sons except Ahaziah, his youngest son.

18 Then after all this, the Lord brought on the king a painful disease of the intestines. 19For almost two years it grew steadily worse until finally the king died in agony. His subjects did not light a bonfire in mourning for him as had been done for his ancestors.

20 Jehoram had become king at the age of 32 and had ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. Nobody was sorry when he died. They buried him in David’s City, but not in the royal tombs.

Insight

First and Second Chronicles cover the history of the Jewish people and monarchy in the Southern Kingdom of Judah from the death of Saul until the Babylonian exile—the same period covered in 2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings. Written after the Babylonian exile, the author of 1–2 Chronicles (Jewish tradition identifies Ezra) seeks to assure postexilic Jews that though they were unfaithful, Yahweh remains faithful to His covenant. In 2 Chronicles 21:7, the chronicler affirmed that God kept His promise that there would always be a descendant of David on the throne (see 2 Samuel 7:12–17), a promise that has its final fulfillment in Jesus (Matthew 1:1). By: K. T. Sim

Three Kings

His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors. 2 Chronicles 21:19

In the hit musical Hamilton, England’s King George III is humorously portrayed as a cartoonish, deranged villain. However, a new biography on King George said he was not the tyrant described in Hamilton or America’s Declaration of Independence. If George had been the brutal despot that Americans said he was, he would have stopped their drive for independence with extreme, scorched-earth measures. But he was restrained by his “civilized, good-natured” temperament.

Who knows if King George died with regret? Would his reign have been more successful if he’d been harsher with his subjects?

Not necessarily. In the Bible we read of King Jehoram, who solidified his throne by putting “all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel” (2 Chronicles 21:4). Jehoram “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 6). His ruthless reign alienated his people, who neither wept for his gruesome death nor made a “funeral fire in his honor” (v. 19).

Historians may debate whether George was too soft; Jehoram was surely too harsh. A better way is that of King Jesus, who is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Christ’s expectations are firm (He demands truth), yet He embraces those who fail (He extends grace). Jesus calls us who believe in Him to follow His lead. Then, through the leading of His Holy Spirit, He empowers us to do so. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

Who are you responsible to lead? How might you show both grace and truth to them?  

Dear Jesus, I aim to lead others by following You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, October 27, 2023

The Method of Missions

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… —Matthew 28:19

Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go…make disciples of all the nations….” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.

The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me….Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ.  The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 12-14; 2 Timothy 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, October 27, 2023

I Want to Drive! - #9600

I know the flight attendant was trying to be polite. The kid wasn't! No. We're on this plane and everyone's eager to take off, everybody's got their seatbelt on and we're ready to go, except for this mother and her four-year-old boy who were standing in the aisle of the plane. The son wouldn't sit down. He's crying, he's yelling at his mother, and the flight attendant was making the announcement, "We'll be able to leave as soon as everyone is seated."

The mother was trying. Oh yeah, but this boy went rigid. He started yelling his reason for standing up. "I want to drive!" The more she pressured him the louder he got, "I want to drive!" This is a very big plane. He's a very little boy. He really shouldn't drive.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I Want to Drive!"

The boy wanted to "drive" that airplane. We wanted the pilot to "drive." The boy didn't seem to understand he wasn't capable of driving. Well, guess what? We've got the same problem.

Our word for today from the Word of God - Isaiah 53:6. Here we go, "We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." Life, kind of like that airplane, is too big for us to drive. We've taken over the cockpit anyway. Again in the Bible's words, "Everyone has turned to his own way."

God gave us our life. He's supposed to run it. He's doing a very good job of running a hundred billion galaxies, but we shake our fist and we say, "Excuse me, God, I'll pilot my own life." He's the only One who can pilot your life properly. But see, "We want to drive!" Like the little boy, if we try to fly, we're going to crash.

Maybe you're facing right now some of the wreckage of trying to run a life that God was supposed to run. Or maybe you're cruising along right now but you're headed for a crash. See, no one ultimately gets away with hijacking God's property. And that's what we all do.

I once asked a Navajo shepherdess what happens to sheep when they get away from the shepherd. She answered with one word. She said, "Coyotes." See, it always ends up in disaster when we get away from the Shepherd, or from the Pilot. "We all like sheep have gone astray." That means we're away from God. And you know what? Maybe you can even feel that loneliness right now. Maybe you can sense the confusion, the lostness of being away from God. Unless you're rescued, I'll tell you, it always leads to death.

The Bible puts it this way, "The wages of sin is death." But the Bible says, "God placed the penalty for all our wrong doing on Jesus Christ, His Son. God's only Son has paid the price for the sin you and I have done. Isaiah 53:5 says, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." You and I did the sinning; Jesus did the dying.

If you can get yourself to that cross in your heart, get to that cross where Jesus paid your death penalty for your sin and give yourself to Him, you can trade death for life. Jesus Christ sacrificed His life, shed His blood. He was dying in exchange for your life; taking your death penalty. Why would anyone reject Him? Is it pride? Is it stubbornness? Is it thinking somehow our religion will get us there, our goodness? Well, if it could, He would have never gone to that cross.

This is the day to let go of that wheel and start to become who you were meant to be in the relationship you were made for. If you want to get that started today? Go to our website. I can help you there, I believe, know that you actually belong to Him from this day on. That's ANewStory.com.

Can you just picture Jesus reaching out a nail-pierced hand to you? Are you going to keep saying, "I want to drive!" Or are you going to say today, "Jesus, I don't want to drive. I want to live."

Isaiah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 

Max Lucado Daily: WIDER AND DEEPER - October 26, 2023

Each day seems to bring a new way for us to wander off course. The Christian life is not difficult; it’s impossible. Need proof?  Consider the Everest-level standard set in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:22). Or “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (verse 28). “Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other” (verse 39). “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (verse 44). Exactly how can we fulfill these commands? What hope do we have?

The same hope Jacob did: grace. “Though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still!” (Romans 5:20 PHILLIPS). God never gives up on you.

Isaiah 3

Jerusalem on Its Last Legs

1–7  3 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

is emptying Jerusalem and Judah

Of all the basic necessities,

plain bread and water to begin with.

He’s withdrawing police and protection,

judges and courts,

pastors and teachers,

captains and generals,

doctors and nurses,

and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all-trades.

He says, “I’ll put little kids in charge of the city.

Schoolboys and schoolgirls will order everyone around.

People will be at each other’s throats,

stabbing one another in the back:

Neighbor against neighbor, young against old,

the no-account against the well-respected.

One brother will grab another and say,

‘You look like you’ve got a head on your shoulders.

Do something!

Get us out of this mess.’

And he’ll say, ‘Me? Not me! I don’t have a clue.

Don’t put me in charge of anything.’

8–9  “Jerusalem’s on its last legs.

Judah is soon down for the count.

Everything people say and do

is at cross-purposes with God,

a slap in my face.

Brazen in their depravity,

they flaunt their sins like degenerate Sodom.

Doom to their eternal souls! They’ve made their bed;

now they’ll sleep in it.

10–11  “Reassure the righteous

that their good living will pay off.

But doom to the wicked! Disaster!

Everything they did will be done to them.

12  “Skinny kids terrorize my people.

Silly girls bully them around.

My dear people! Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley.

They’re sending you off on a wild-goose chase.”

A City Brought to Her Knees by Her Sorrows

13–15  God enters the courtroom.

He takes his place at the bench to judge his people.

God calls for order in the court,

hauls the leaders of his people into the dock:

“You’ve played havoc with this country.

Your houses are stuffed with what you’ve stolen from the poor.

What is this anyway? Stomping on my people,

grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?”

That’s what the Master,

God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says.

16–17  God says, “Zion women are stuck-up,

prancing around in their high heels,

Making eyes at all the men in the street,

swinging their hips,

Tossing their hair,

gaudy and garish in cheap jewelry.”

The Master will fix it so those Zion women

will all turn bald—

Scabby, bald-headed women.

The Master will do it.

18–23  The time is coming when the Master will strip them of their fancy baubles—the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets, combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces, the rings on their fingers and the rings on their toes, the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes, all the world’s finest in fabrics and design.

24  Instead of wearing seductive scents,

these women are going to smell like rotting cabbages;

Instead of modeling flowing gowns,

they’ll be sporting rags;

Instead of their stylish hairdos,

scruffy heads;

Instead of beauty marks,

scabs and scars.

25–26  Your finest fighting men will be killed,

your soldiers left dead on the battlefield.

The entrance gate to Zion will be clotted

with people mourning their dead—

A city stooped under the weight of her loss,

brought to her knees by her sorrows.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 61:1–4

Announce Freedom to All Captives

1–7  61 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me

because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—

a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—

and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”

planted by God to display his glory.

They’ll rebuild the old ruins,

raise a new city out of the wreckage.

They’ll start over on the ruined cities,

take the rubble left behind and make it new.

Insight

“The year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:2) is a reference to the year of Jubilee, established by God in His instructions to Moses (Leviticus 25:8–28). After every six years of farming, the people were to let their fields lie fallow for a sabbath year (vv. 2–7). God intended Jubilee to take place after every seven sets of sabbath years—after every forty-nine years. During Jubilee, all slaves were to be freed, all debts forgiven, and land that had been sold was to be returned to its original owners. Scholars debate how often Jubilee was practiced as there is little mention of it in Scripture or other historical writings.

Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1–4 in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16–19). At that time, He said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law the people disregarded. By: Tim Gustafson

Beauty for Ashes

The Lord has anointed me . . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. Isaiah 61:1, 3

In the aftermath of the Marshall Fire, the most destructive fire in Colorado history, one ministry offered to help families search through the ashes for valuable items. Family members mentioned precious objects they hoped were still preserved. Very little was. One man spoke tenderly of his wedding ring. He’d placed it on his dresser in the upstairs bedroom. The house now gone, its contents had charred or melted into a single layer of debris at the basement level. Searchers looked for the ring in that same corner where the bedroom had been—without success.

The prophet Isaiah wrote mournfully of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, which would be leveled. Likewise, there are times we feel the life we’ve built has been reduced to ashes. We feel we have nothing left, emotionally and spiritually. But Isaiah offers hope: “He [God] has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted . . . to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1–2). God converts our tragedy into glory: “[He will] bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes” (v. 3). He promises to “rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated” (v. 4).

At that Marshall Fire site, one woman searched the ashes on the opposite side. There, still in its case, she unearthed the husband’s wedding ring. In your despair, God reaches into your ashes and pulls out the one truly precious thing. You. By:  Kenneth Petersen

Reflect & Pray

What experience in your life made you feel you had lost everything? How did God pull you out of the difficulty?

Dear God, please turn my ashes into beauty.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, October 26, 2023

What is a Missionary?

Jesus said to them again, "…As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." —John 20:21

A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front— to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him— to carry out His plans.

Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and to His perspective is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, that every power of the mind falters and fails. We tend to forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary work is not primarily the elevation of the people, their education, nor their needs, but is first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ— “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19).

When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 9-11; 1 Timothy 6

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Plowing the Road for Your Journey - #9599

I had been scheduled to speak at a winter retreat in Pennsylvania. I lived in New Jersey. It was the kind of thing where I could drive to Well, that day, winter decided it was time to do some serious wintering. We had heavy snow all day long and I knew it was going to be a very exciting drive along Interstate 80 out to Pennsylvania.

Actually, it turned out to be much easier than I expected. Much of the way I managed to get behind snow plows. Yeah, they were out, and they were doing a good job, and it was a whole lot easier because I was right behind them. So, where I was driving, the plows had already been. Now, if you have a snow plow ahead of you, you're a lot less likely to end up in a ditch.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Plowing the Road for Your Journey."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in John 10, and we're going to begin reading at verse 3. It's that great Good Shepherd passage. It says, "He calls His own sheep by name and He leads them out. And when He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them." I love that!

These verses took on a very personal meaning for my wife and me some years ago. We were getting ready to leave the city of Chicago, where we had lived for many years, and we were going to move to northern New Jersey to begin a ministry in the New York area. And I'll tell you what, we were stepping into a total unknown. We had no office, no supporters, we had nobody that we knew, no friends, no kids to work with, and no staff. Other than that, everything was ready for us. Well, in Chicago, I knew people, I knew how to get things done, I knew what number to call, I knew where the resources were, I knew where all the roads were. New Jersey, New York-a total unknown.

And then, as we asked the Lord for some reassurance, guess what? He gave us John 10:4. I just read it. I like that because you know, the troopers say that on a CB before they sign off - everything's under control. They go, "10-4 good buddy." Well, this is the "10-4 good buddy" verse. It says, "When He brings out all His sheep, He goes on ahead of them." We learned that the Shepherd always goes where he is about to take his sheep. He gets there before you do.

The Shepherd also makes sure that there's going to be food there, no wolves, no danger of walking off the edge. Kind of like that snow plow I was following, plowing the path in front of me, making it a lot safer.

And when we got there, boy did we find that out! The apartment we needed, the friends we needed, the office we needed, the open arms that we needed. Everywhere we went we found the footsteps of our Shepherd. And so will you. He promised.

Anywhere Jesus takes you; He will always get there ahead of you and get it ready. It may be that fear is holding you back right now from God's next step for you. Fear of the "might's" and the "could's" and the "what if's." Maybe you can't go any farther in Christ without taking some risks; trying some things you've never tried, or leaving some things you've never done without, going into situations that are unfamiliar to you, or reaching some people whose reactions you can't be sure of. Maybe you're in a transition time and you're about to move from one season or one stage to another.

There's a wonderful answer to the fear that spreads that shadow on your future, and it's in this verse, "the Shepherd goes ahead of you." How often I've claimed that verse, the big things and the little things. I've gone into offices and found the Lord had gotten there ahead of me, into meetings, taxi cabs, doctor's offices, ministry situations. You can count on it. He promised!

The Lord will never lead you anywhere that He has not first scouted and prepared for you. The snow plow clears the road ahead of you, and so does the Shepherd. And because He does, my friend, you will never end up stuck.

2 Corinthians 11:16-33 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 

Max Lucado Daily: ALL GRACE - October 25, 2023

The ancient Japanese art of kintsugi is believed to have developed in the fifteenth century as a unique way to repair broken pottery. The artist uses a lacquer to mend the fractures, then covers the adhesive with a fine gold or silver powder. The result is something beautiful and unimagined.

By the time we reach the end of Jacob’s story, the old earthen vessel is held together by Elmer’s glue and duct tape. “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph. And he worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff” (Hebrews 11:21).

Jacob died worshipping. May the same be said about us. We don’t have to be strong to be saved. We simply need to trust the God of Jacob. He is the God of second chances and new beginnings. And he never gives up on you.

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Many a Long and Lonely Night

16–21  Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

21–23  Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

23–27  I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28–29  And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30–33  If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Today's Scripture

Romans 10:8–13

So what exactly was Moses saying?

The word that saves is right here,

as near as the tongue in your mouth,

as close as the heart in your chest.

It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”

11–13  Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”

Insight

After declaring that we’re all sinners (Romans 1–3), Paul explains how God justifies us through Christ’s death on the cross (chs. 4–8). In chapters 9–11, he explains that many Jews are still not saved because they’ve rejected God’s way of salvation and maintain that they must meticulously keep the law to have a right relationship with Him (10:3–4). Paul explains, “People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (3:25 nlt). The apostle calls these Jewish brothers and sisters—and everyone—to believe in Christ: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (10:9). God’s way of salvation is the same for all people—whether Jews or gentiles (v. 12): “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v. 13). By: K. T. Sim

One Door for All

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13

The protocols at the restaurant in my childhood neighborhood were consistent with social and racial dynamics in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The kitchen helpers—Mary, the cook, and dishwashers like me—were Black; however, the in-restaurant patrons were White. Black customers could order food, but they had to pick it up at the back door. Such policies reinforced the unequal treatment of Blacks in that era. Though we’ve come a long way since then, we still have room for growth in how we relate to each other as people made in the image of God.

Passages of Scripture like Romans 10:8–13 help us to see that all are welcome in the family of God; there’s no back door. All enter the same way—through belief in Jesus’ death for cleansing and forgiveness. The biblical word for this transformative experience is saved (vv. 9, 13). Your social situation or racial status or that of others doesn’t factor into the equation. “As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (vv. 11–12). Do you believe in your heart the Bible’s message about Jesus? Welcome to the family!

By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

What evidence is there in your life that you’ve believed the Bible’s message about forgiveness through Jesus? Who do you know that needs to hear the good news about Christ?

Father, my heart rejoices that You so loved the world that You sent Jesus.

Learn more about forgiveness through Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Submitting to God’s Purpose

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. —1 Corinthians 9:22

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “…Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“I chose you…” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside…to the right or the left…” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him.   So Send I You, 1301 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 6-8; 1 Timothy 5

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

No Conquest Without Risk - #9598

Now, excuse me, but I don't expect to be inspired when I eat at McDonald's. I mean, fed, but not inspired. There was a time when there was a little inspiration with my burger and fries. It was a striking poster on the wall. It showed two mountain climbers near the peak of this Alpine mountain, straining to reach the top. But it was the inscription that impressed me most. "Conquest without risk is a triumph without glory." Oh! That's pretty good.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft,and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Conquest Without Risk."

That doesn't just apply to reaching the top of a mountain. In fact, it pretty much describes everything worth doing in life. No risk, no meaningful conquest - a triumph without glory. Low risk - low return. High risk - high return. It's a principle that defines spiritual greatness or spiritual mediocrity.

In Numbers 13, the conquest was not a mountain; it was the taking of the Promised Land that God had promised. Of course, it was currently inhabited by fierce people who, of course, didn't plan to hand it over. And whether or not they would ever experience all God had for them depended on whether or not they would trust Him enough to take some really big risks. Now whether or not you experience all God has for you may depend on that same thing.

Twelve scouts had explored the land of Canaan, and they reported back on the fabulous beauty and bounty they found there. But ten of those scouts chose to focus on the risks, two on the Lord who had promised them this land. It boiled down to an exchange like this, recorded in our word for today from the Word of God in Numbers 13, beginning with verse 30.

"Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land for we certainly can do it.' But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, 'The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people there are of great size...we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.'"

You probably know the result. The people followed the lead of the ten scouts who said, "The risks are too great." And they never saw the Promised Land. They chose what was safe, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They could have had wonderful. Instead, they lived and died in the wilderness. Many of God's children over the years have made that same tragic miscalculation at their crossroads. And they have lived that same sad result.

Right now your Lord may be asking you to follow Him into something risky. To obey Him is going to mean taking a financial risk, or a geographical risk, a social risk, doing something that's way beyond your comfort zone. In fact, serious obedience usually involves risk. But the great danger is not in obeying God's "risky" leading; it's in not obeying because you won't risk it. You'll miss the top of the mountain. You'll miss the best God has for you. You'll miss the promised land.

Almost always, God's will means going out of your comfort zone. If you're addicted to your comfort zone, you're almost sure to miss God's best.

Maybe you're all settled in at your little base camp at the bottom of the mountain. You're safe, but you'll never see the view from the top if you stay where you've always been. You can dare to risk if you know your security is never in your situation - it's in your Savior, and He's everywhere you go. Like the old hymn says, "Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go" - even if He's leading you where it just doesn't look very safe.

The conquest, the triumph, the glory of living for Christ is for those who are willing to risk.