Jeremiah 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE - April 26, 2024

In the game of life, many of us who cross home plate do so because we were born on third base. Others aren’t even on a team. Now some people are poor because they are lazy, and they need to get off their duffs. Others, however, are poor because they were born in the wrong place. A latitude largely vacant of libraries, vaccinations, clean water, and paved roads.

The ultimate solution to poverty is found in the compassion of God’s people. Scripture endorses not forced communism, but Spirit-led volunteerism among God’s people. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. What about you? Why not teach an inner-city Bible study? Use your vacation to build houses in hurricane-ravaged towns? Run for public office? Get out of your comfort zone, for Christ’s sake.

Jeremiah 22

Walking Out on the Covenant of God

1–3  22 God’s orders: “Go to the royal palace and deliver this Message. Say, ‘Listen to what God says, O King of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you and your officials and all the people who go in and out of these palace gates. This is God’s Message: Attend to matters of justice. Set things right between people. Rescue victims from their exploiters. Don’t take advantage of the homeless, the orphans, the widows. Stop the murdering!

4–5  “ ‘If you obey these commands, then kings who follow in the line of David will continue to go in and out of these palace gates mounted on horses and riding in chariots—they and their officials and the citizens of Judah. But if you don’t obey these commands, then I swear—God’s Decree!—this palace will end up a heap of rubble.’ ”

6–7  This is God’s verdict on Judah’s royal palace:

“I number you among my favorite places—

like the lovely hills of Gilead,

like the soaring peaks of Lebanon.

Yet I swear I’ll turn you into a wasteland,

as empty as a ghost town.

I’ll hire a demolition crew,

well-equipped with sledgehammers and wrecking bars,

Pound the country to a pulp

and burn it all up.

8–9  “Travelers from all over will come through here and say to one another, ‘Why would God do such a thing to this wonderful city?’ They’ll be told, ‘Because they walked out on the covenant of their God, took up with other gods and worshiped them.’ ”

Building a Fine House but Destroying Lives

10  Don’t weep over dead King Josiah.

Don’t waste your tears.

Weep for his exiled son:

He’s gone for good.

He’ll never see home again.

11–12  For this is God’s Word on Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah: “He’s gone from here, gone for good. He’ll die in the place they’ve taken him to. He’ll never see home again.”

13–17  “Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people,

who makes a fine house but destroys lives,

Who cheats his workers

and won’t pay them for their work,

Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion

with spacious rooms and fancy windows.

I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods

and the latest in interior decor.’

So, that makes you a king—

living in a fancy palace?

Your father got along just fine, didn’t he?

He did what was right and treated people fairly,

And things went well with him.

He stuck up for the down-and-out,

And things went well for Judah.

Isn’t this what it means to know me?”

God’s Decree!

“But you’re blind and brainless.

All you think about is yourself,

Taking advantage of the weak,

bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”

18–19  This is God’s epitaph on Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

“Doom to this man!

Nobody will shed tears over him,

‘Poor, poor brother!’

Nobody will shed tears over him,

‘Poor, poor master!’

They’ll give him a donkey’s funeral,

drag him out of the city and dump him.

You’ve Made a Total Mess of Your Life

20–23  “People of Jerusalem, climb a Lebanon peak and weep,

climb a Bashan mountain and wail,

Climb the Abarim ridge and cry—

you’ve made a total mess of your life.

I spoke to you when everything was going your way.

You said, ‘I’m not interested.’

You’ve been that way as long as I’ve known you,

never listened to a thing I said.

All your leaders will be blown away,

all your friends end up in exile,

And you’ll find yourself in the gutter,

disgraced by your evil life.

You big-city people thought you were so important,

thought you were ‘king of the mountain’!

You’re soon going to be doubled up in pain,

pain worse than the pangs of childbirth.

24–26  “As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—“even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, I’d pull you off and give you to those who are out to kill you, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, and then throw you, both you and your mother, into a foreign country, far from your place of birth. There you’ll both die.

27  “You’ll be homesick, desperately homesick, but you’ll never get home again.”

28–30  Is Jehoiachin a leaky bucket,

a rusted-out pail good for nothing?

Why else would he be thrown away, he and his children,

thrown away to a foreign place?

O land, land, land,

listen to God’s Message!

This is God’s verdict:

“Write this man off as if he were childless,

a man who will never amount to anything.

Nothing will ever come of his life.

He’s the end of the line, the last of the kings.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 26, 2024

Today's Scripture

Philippians 4:14-20

I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

15–17  You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I’ll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I’m looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.

18–20  And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.

Insight

Named for Philip II (father of Alexander the Great), the city of Philippi lay in Macedonia. The church in Macedonia received high praise from Paul. Not only were the Macedonians quick to respond to his needs, in this case they were the only church to do so (Philippians 4:15). Additionally, he notes, “You sent me aid more than once when I was in need” (v. 16). Indeed, in 2 Corinthians 8, Paul pointed to the economically poor Macedonian church as an example for the wealthy church in Corinth: “In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (v. 2). This is the context in which the apostle writes the oft-quoted verse, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). By: Tim Gustafson

Serving Together in Jesus

You sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Philippians 4:16

Rescue workers cooperated to help three men stranded on an island in Micronesia. Teamwork was necessary because a widespread health crisis required them to limit their exposure to each other. The pilot who first spotted the castaways radioed a nearby Australian Navy ship. The ship sent two helicopters which provided food, water, and medical care. Later, the US Coast Guard arrived to check on the men and deliver a radio. Finally, a Micronesian patrol boat taxied them to their destination.

We can accomplish a lot when we work together. The Philippian believers pooled their efforts to support the apostle Paul. Lydia and her family welcomed him into their home (Acts 16:13-15). Clement and even Euodia and Syntyche (who didn’t get along) all worked directly with the apostle to spread the good news (Philippians 4:2-3). Later, when Paul was imprisoned in Rome, the church gathered essentials for a care package and delivered it via Epaphroditus (vv. 14-18). Perhaps most importantly, the Philippians prayed for him throughout his ministry (1:19).

The examples of believers serving together in this ancient church can inspire us today. Cooperating with fellow believers to pray and serve others as God leads and empowers us accomplishes much more than we could ever do on our own. It has been said, “Individually, we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.” By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray

When have you served well with other believers in Jesus? What’s the basis for the spiritual bond you share with them?

Dear God, please show me how to join with others who are serving You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 26, 2024

Supreme Devotion

Take your son. . . . Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you. — Genesis 22:2

Character determines how a person interprets God’s will. When Abraham received the command to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, Abraham interpreted it to mean that God wanted Isaac put

to death; he was convinced of it. And yet when God sent an angel to stay his hand, Abraham obeyed. This is the great point of Abraham’s faith: he was prepared to do anything for God, even something that went against his own beliefs. If Abraham had placed his beliefs over his devotion to God, he would have slain Isaac, then claimed that the voice of the angel who came to stop him was the voice of the devil (Genesis 22:11). That is the reasoning of a fanatic.

It took the pain of a tremendous ordeal to set Abraham right. God couldn’t purify his faith in any other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere beliefs, God will break us from beliefs that misrepresent him. There are many traditional beliefs that misrepresent God—for instance, the belief that God permits the death of a child because the mother loves the child too much. This is a devil’s lie, and a travesty of the true nature of God.

If we remain true to God, he will lead us straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of knowledge of himself. The devil will always try to hold us back. There will always be a point along the way where we must give up sincere beliefs and traditions. Don’t ask God to test you. Don’t declare that you’ll never fail him. Abraham didn’t make declarations. He simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.

2 Samuel 23-24; Luke 19:1-27

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, April 26, 2024

False Hope of Heaven - #9730

One of the exciting episodes of my life was working on the Billy Graham Crusade at the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey. It was incredibly organized. One thing that was especially well organized was security. There were thousands of people coming and going, so of course, security had to be very well thought through. Now, it was my privilege to be the Chairman of that crusade. And I'll tell you, if I was stopped I still had to have my badge on. It didn't matter what your title was, because if you didn't wear your badge, you weren't going anywhere.

One night we were entering the arena, and one of Billy Graham's staff was with me. But he had forgotten his badge. Well, when the guard stopped us, I had my badge. He knew who I was. I said, "Now, this is really a good guy, honest. He's OK. In fact he's on Billy Graham's staff." But do you know how he finally got in? On my credentials. It worked.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "False Hope of Heaven."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 14. The second half of verse 10 says, "We will all stand before God's judgment seat." It's a sobering sentence isn't it? Then the verse says, "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." So when we're judged by God we will all be one-on-one with Him. Nobody's going to be standing there with you.

There are some who hope to make it with God because of a connection they have, like my friend from the Billy Graham staff who got in on my badge. Well, no one else's badge will count when you stand before God. You might try to say, "Lord, my parents were great Christians; my wife, what a spiritual lady! Think about how much my son, my daughter was into this, Lord. My brother's in the ministry. My grandmothers prayed for me for years. She prays all the time. You know, she's really religious."

Or maybe we could try other connections and say, "Lord, you know I was a good Presbyterian. I was a good Baptist. I was a strong Catholic." But none of our connections will matter to God. Nobody else's faith is going to impress Him. Every man will give account of himself to God.

You say, "Lord, I spent years in the church." Billy Sunday said years ago, "Being in church will not make you a Christian any more than being in a garage will make you a car." In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul says of Timothy, "I know the faith that was in your grandmother, Lois, and then in your mother, Eunice. And now lives in you also." See, God has no grandchildren. You have to have your own relationship with Him. You've got to have a badge of your own.

Have you personally been to that cross where Jesus paid for your sin? Because that's what the badge says to get you into heaven. See, I've been to the cross of Jesus. I went there to have my sins forgiven, knowing there was nothing I could do; no good works, no religion, no noble life that could ever get my sins forgiven because of the death penalty of my sin.

I know Jesus is my only hope. But you've got to go there for yourself. No one can go there for you. It could be He's brought us together today so you could actually feel His knocking on the door of your heart. Listen to it. Open up to the Savior.

All the other people you know who belong to Jesus Christ will not get you into heaven. They just make you all the more responsible because you've had so many chances to hear it. If you don't know Jesus; if you're not sure you belong to Him, let this be the day where you say, "Jesus, you who died for my sins, who came out of that grave to come in and change my life, I surrender that life to you. I am yours."

Our website is all about getting this relationship started. Would you make that the next thing you do? Would you go to ANewStory.com. If you're not sure you have a badge of your own, get to the cross of Jesus today. Don't miss heaven because you thought that someone else could get you in.

Jeremiah 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TAKE HYPOCRISY SERIOUSLY - April 25, 2024

Hypocrisy turns people against God, so God has a no-tolerance policy. Let’s take hypocrisy as seriously as God does. Expect no credit for good deeds. Give financial gifts in secret. Don’t fake spirituality. When you go to church, don’t select a seat just to be seen or sing just to be heard. And if you raise your hands in worship, raise holy ones, not showy ones.

Bottom line: don’t make a theater production out of your faith. Slay the desire to be noticed. Stir the desire to serve God. Heed the counsel of Christ: “First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too” (Matthew 23:26 NLT). Do good things. Just don’t do them to be noticed. You can be too good for your own good, you know.

 Jeremiah 13

People Who Do Only What They Want to Do

1–2  13 God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.

3–5  Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.

6–7  Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.

8–11  God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

12  “And then tell them this, ‘God’s Message, personal from the God of Israel: Every wine jug should be full of wine.’

“And they’ll say, ‘Of course. We know that. Every wine jug should be full of wine!’

13–14  “Then you’ll say, ‘This is what God says: Watch closely. I’m going to fill every person who lives in this country—the kings who rule from David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, the citizens of Jerusalem—with wine that will make them drunk. And then I’ll smash them, smash the wine-filled jugs—old and young alike. Nothing will stop me. Not an ounce of pity or mercy or compassion will slow me down. Every last drunken jug of them will be smashed!’ ”

The Light You Always Took for Granted

15–17  Then I said, Listen. Listen carefully: Don’t stay stuck in your ways!

It’s God’s Message we’re dealing with here.

Let your lives glow bright before God

before he turns out the lights,

Before you trip and fall

on the dark mountain paths.

The light you always took for granted will go out

and the world will turn black.

If you people won’t listen,

I’ll go off by myself and weep over you,

Weep because of your stubborn arrogance,

bitter, bitter tears,

Rivers of tears from my eyes,

because God’s sheep will end up in exile.

18–19  Tell the king and the queen-mother,

“Come down off your high horses.

Your dazzling crowns

will tumble off your heads.”

The villages in the Negev will be surrounded,

everyone trapped,

And Judah dragged off to exile,

the whole country dragged to oblivion.

20–22  Look, look, Jerusalem!

Look at the enemies coming out of the north!

What will become of your flocks of people,

the beautiful flocks in your care?

How are you going to feel when the people

you’ve played up to, looked up to all these years

Now look down on you? You didn’t expect this?

Surprise! The pain of a woman having a baby!

Do I hear you saying,

“What’s going on here? Why me?”

The answer’s simple: You’re guilty,

hugely guilty.

Your guilt has your life endangered,

your guilt has you writhing in pain.

23  Can an African change skin?

Can a leopard get rid of its spots?

So what are the odds on you doing good,

you who are so long-practiced in evil?

24–27  “I’ll blow these people away—

like wind-blown leaves.

You have it coming to you.

I’ve measured it out precisely.”

God’s Decree.

“It’s because you forgot me

and embraced the Big Lie,

that so-called god Baal.

I’m the one who will rip off your clothes,

expose and shame you before the watching world.

Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods,

your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries.

Gods on the hills, gods in the fields—

every time I look you’re off with another god.

O Jerusalem, what a sordid life!

Is there any hope for you!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Today's Scripture

Joshua 14:6-12

Caleb

6–12  The people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke: “You’ll remember what God said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me back at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back an honest and accurate report. My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.”

Insight

Caleb was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to explore Canaan. Based on the report of ten of the spies, the Israelites concluded that they couldn’t conquer the land (Numbers 13-14). Caleb challenged their lack of faith (13:30), and God took note of his faithfulness (Deuteronomy 1:34-36). Caleb is consistently described as one who “followed the Lord wholeheartedly” (v. 36; see Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:8, 9, 14). Caleb and Joshua were the only two living octogenarians who entered the promised land. Because of their unbelief, the rest of their generation aged twenty and above had all died in the desert (Numbers 14:29-30). Even Moses wasn’t permitted to enter Canaan (Deuteronomy 3:23-27). By: K. T. Sim

God Is My Helper

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. Hebrews 13:6

My friend Raleigh is sprinting toward his eighty-fifth birthday! Since my first conversation with him more than thirty-five years ago, he’s been a source of inspiration. When he recently mentioned that since retiring he’d completed a book manuscript and started another ministry initiative—I was intrigued but not surprised.  

At eighty-five, Caleb in the Bible wasn’t ready to stop either. His faith and devotion to God had sustained him through decades of wilderness living and wars to secure the inheritance God had promised Israel. He said, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then” (Joshua 14:11). By what means would he conquer? Caleb declared that by “the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said” (v. 12).

Regardless of age, stage in life, or circumstances, God will help all who wholeheartedly trust Him. In Jesus, our Savior who helps us, God was made visible. The Gospel books inspire faith in God through what we see in Christ. He demonstrated God’s care and compassion for all who looked to Him for help. As the writer of Hebrews acknowledged, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6). Young or old, weak or strong, bound or free, sprinting or limping—what’s keeping us from asking for His help today? By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

Who has inspired your faith in God? How do you see God as your source of help in all things?

Almighty God, please help me to see You as my source of help in all circumstances

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Prepared in Season

In this verse, the word season doesn’t refer to a time of year; it refers to our emotional state. To be prepared “in season and out of season” is to be ready whether we feel like it or not. If we only ever do what we feel like doing, we may do nothing, forever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain—spiritually decrepit people who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the great dangers is making a fetish of rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, do you say, “Now I’ll always be like this”? You won’t; God will make sure of it. Such times are entirely a gift from him. You can’t give them to yourself. If you say that your plan is always to be your best, you become an intolerable burden on God. It’s as though you’re telling him that you’ll never do anything unless he keeps you consciously inspired.

If you make a god of your times of inspiration, the Lord God will fade out of your life and never come back—not until you do the duty that lies nearest. This is how you show him you’ve committed to doing his will, in season and out.

2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Family Leftovers, Family Regrets - #9729

Oh, it happens every year after Thanksgiving and Christmas...leftovers. I cannot believe the infinite possibilities for preparing turkey. You know how it goes: You have turkey crispies for breakfast, and turkey, butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, etc. I mean, listen, there are so many ways to get rid of that turkey! Actually, any time of the year, it's just hard to get a lot of enthusiasm for dinner when it's leftovers. It's just not fair how many times you and I serve just that to our family. They deserve much better.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Family Leftovers, Family Regrets."

I'm not talking about food here. I'm talking about leftover me; leftover you. Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Psalm 101, and I'm going to read verses 2-3, and yes, it does have something to do with something better than leftovers. Here's what it says. David is speaking. He says, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." Now, Before we go on to the next verse, let's think about that word blameless for a minute. What does he mean? What's a blameless life?

Well, it means living your life in such a way that you have nothing to regret. Isn't it nice to wake up in the morning with no extra baggage, no emotional hangover, nothing to regret, nothing to repair, nothing to hide? That's a blameless life.

Okay, now listen to the next verse, "I will walk in my house with a blameless heart." Actually, these verses in this Psalm give us several arenas in life. After he says, "I'm going to be careful to be blameless" he gives us several arenas in which he wants to do that. But the number one is my family. He says, "When I'm with them, I want them to get blameless living from me. They will not get my leftovers. They are going to get my emotional and spiritual best." Is that how it is with your family and you?

I'll tell you, it often is not the case, is it? Our friends get much better treatment sometimes than our family does. In fact, if we treated our friends as we treat our family, our friends wouldn't stand for it. We'd be out of friends pretty quick. But our friends shouldn't be getting our best. Our family should get that.

David says, "You start in your house with blameless living." Sometimes we save our best for the kids at school, or the people at work, people at church. Oh, they see a wonderful person that the people at home so seldom see. We use up all our patience, all our listening, all our love, our helpfulness, our unselfishness some place else. And guess what we dish out to our family when we get home? Yep! Leftovers!

And that's wrong!

Here's the way it ought to be. Everyone should just be getting the overflow of the respect, and love, and patience that you're practicing at home. And David says, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." See, there's a tendency to let down on living in a way we won't have regrets, and won't have anything to fix, or repair, or hide. It's easy to let down at home. That's why we have to be careful to lead a blameless life. When we get home, we let down; we're careless because we think no one's watching. But the biblical priority is put on how you live at home.

Like David, let's make it a commitment; give your family your best, your very best. You've served them enough leftovers.

Jeremiah 49, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TO DO A GOOD THING - April 24, 2024

When Jesus saw the religious hypocrite, he exposed every self-righteous mole and pimple. “All their works they do to be seen by men” (Matthew 23:5 NKJV). This is the working definition of hypocrisy: “to be seen by men.”

We must do good works. And some works, such as benevolence or teaching, must be seen in order to have an impact. To do a good thing is a good thing. To do a good thing to be seen, however, is a serious offense. Here’s why: hypocrisy turns people away from God.

When people enter a church to see God yet can’t see God because of the church, don’t think for a second that God does not react. “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding” (Matthew 6:1 MSG).

Jeremiah 49

You’re a Broken-Down Has-Been

1–6  49 God’s Message on the Ammonites:

“Doesn’t Israel have any children,

no one to step into her inheritance?

So why is the god Milcom taking over Gad’s land,

his followers moving into its towns?

But not for long! The time’s coming”

—God’s Decree—

“When I’ll fill the ears of Rabbah, Ammon’s big city,

with battle cries.

She’ll end up a pile of rubble,

all her towns burned to the ground.

Then Israel will kick out the invaders.

I, God, say so, and it will be so.

Wail Heshbon, Ai is in ruins.

Villages of Rabbah, wring your hands!

Dress in mourning, weep buckets of tears.

Go into hysterics, run around in circles!

Your god Milcom will be hauled off to exile,

and all his priests and managers right with him.

Why do you brag of your once-famous strength?

You’re a broken-down has-been, a castoff

Who fondles his trophies and dreams of glory days

and vainly thinks, ‘No one can lay a hand on me.’

Well, think again. I’ll face you with terror from all sides.”

Word of the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“You’ll be stampeded headlong,

with no one to round up the runaways.

Still, the time will come

when I will make things right with Ammon.” God’s Decree.

Strutting Across the Stage of History

7–11  The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on Edom:

“Is there nobody wise left in famous Teman?

no one with a sense of reality?

Has their wisdom gone wormy and rotten?

Run for your lives! Get out while you can!

Find a good place to hide,

you who live in Dedan!

I’m bringing doom to Esau.

It’s time to settle accounts.

When harvesters work your fields,

don’t they leave gleanings?

When burglars break into your house,

don’t they take only what they want?

But I’ll strip Esau clean.

I’ll search out every nook and cranny.

I’ll destroy everything connected with him,

children and relatives and neighbors.

There’ll be no one left who will be able to say,

‘I’ll take care of your orphans.

Your widows can depend on me.’ ”

12–13  Indeed. God says, “I tell you, if there are people who have to drink the cup of God’s wrath even though they don’t deserve it, why would you think you’d get off? You won’t get off. You’ll drink it. Oh yes, you’ll drink every drop. And as for Bozrah, your capital, I swear by all that I am”—God’s Decree—“that that city will end up a pile of charred ruins, a stinking garbage dump, an obscenity—and all her daughter-cities with her.”

14  I’ve just heard the latest from God.

He’s sent an envoy to the nations:

“Muster your troops and attack Edom.

Present arms! Go to war!”

15–16  “Ah, Edom, I’m dropping you to last place among nations,

the bottom of the heap, kicked around.

You think you’re so great—

strutting across the stage of history,

Living high in the impregnable rocks,

acting like king of the mountain.

You think you’re above it all, don’t you,

like an eagle in its aerie?

Well, you’re headed for a fall.

I’ll bring you crashing to the ground.” God’s Decree.

17–18  “Edom will end up trash. Stinking, despicable trash. A wonder of the world in reverse. She’ll join Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors in the sewers of history.” God says so.

“No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.

19  “Watch this: Like a lion coming up

from the thick jungle of the Jordan

Looking for prey in the mountain pastures,

I will come upon Edom and pounce.

I’ll take my pick of the flock—and who’s to stop me?

The shepherds of Edom are helpless before me.”

20–22  So, listen to this plan that God has worked out against Edom, the blueprint of what he’s prepared for those who live in Teman:

“Believe it or not, the young, the vulnerable—

mere lambs and kids—will be dragged off.

Believe it or not, the flock

in shock, helpless to help, will watch it happen.

The very earth will shudder because of their cries,

cries of anguish heard at the distant Red Sea.

Look! An eagle soars, swoops down,

spreads its wings over Bozrah.

Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.”

The Blood Will Drain from the Face of Damascus

23–27  The Message on Damascus:

“Hamath and Arpad will be in shock

when they hear the bad news.

Their hearts will melt in fear

as they pace back and forth in worry.

The blood will drain from the face of Damascus

as she turns to flee.

Hysterical, she’ll fall to pieces,

disabled, like a woman in childbirth.

And now how lonely—bereft, abandoned!

The once famous city, the once happy city.

Her bright young men dead in the streets,

her brave warriors silent as death.

On that day”—Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies—

“I’ll start a fire at the wall of Damascus

that will burn down all of Ben-hadad’s forts.”

Find a Safe Place to Hide

28–33  The Message on Kedar and the sheikdoms of Hazor who were attacked by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. This is God’s Message:

“On your feet! Attack Kedar!

Plunder the Bedouin nomads from the east.

Grab their blankets and pots and pans.

Steal their camels.

Traumatize them, shouting, ‘Terror! Death! Doom!

Danger everywhere!’

Oh, run for your lives,

You nomads from Hazor.” God’s Decree.

“Find a safe place to hide.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

has plans to wipe you out,

to go after you with a vengeance:

‘After them,’ he says. ‘Go after these relaxed nomads

who live free and easy in the desert,

Who live in the open with no doors to lock,

who live off by themselves.’

Their camels are there for the taking,

their herds and flocks, easy picking.

I’ll scatter them to the four winds,

these defenseless nomads on the fringes of the desert.

I’ll bring terror from every direction.

They won’t know what hit them.” God’s Decree.

“Jackals will take over the camps of Hazor,

camps abandoned to wind and sand.

No one will live there,

no mortal soul move in there.”

The Winds Will Blow Away Elam

34–39  God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah on Elam at the outset of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says:

“Watch this! I’ll break Elam’s bow,

her weapon of choice, across my knee.

Then I’ll let four winds loose on Elam,

winds from the four corners of earth.

I’ll blow them away in all directions,

landing homeless Elamites in every country on earth.

They’ll live in constant fear and terror

among enemies who want to kill them.

I’ll bring doom on them,

my anger-fueled doom.

I’ll set murderous hounds on their heels

until there’s nothing left of them.

And then I’ll set up my throne in Elam,

having thrown out the king and his henchmen.

But the time will come when I make

everything right for Elam again.” God’s Decree.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Today's Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 21-27

You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

14–18  I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.

Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

25–26  The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

27–31  You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

Insight

Paul couldn’t have chosen a better metaphor for the harmonious working together of the church than the human body. Instinctively, the members of our bodies work together for useful, purposeful living. Before commenting about body parts functioning differently according to design (1 Corinthians 12:14-26), the apostle elaborated on what believers in Jesus have in common (vv. 4-13). The same trinitarian God (“Spirit,” v. 4; “Lord,” v. 5; “God,” v. 6) is at work in and through the dynamic but different kinds of gifts, services, and workings in the church. The same Spirit at work in those with speaking gifts (v. 8) sovereignly manifests Himself through other gifts (vv. 9-10). “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit” (v. 11). Understanding our “spiritual sameness” liberates us to love, accept, and serve others who are different. By: Arthur Jackson

United Diversity in Christ

God has placed the parts in the body . . . just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:18

In his essay “Service and the Spectrum,” Professor Daniel Bowman Jr. writes of the difficulty of navigating decisions about how to serve his church as an autistic person. He explains, “Autistic people have to forge a new path forward every single time, a unique path that takes into account . . . mental, emotional, and physical energy . . . alone/recharging time; sensory inputs and comfort level . . . time of day; whether or not we’re being valued for our strengths and accommodated for our needs rather than excluded for perceived deficits; and much more.” For many people, Bowman writes, such decisions, “while reorienting people’s time and energy, likely will not undo them. Those same decisions might well undo me.”

Bowman believes that the vision of mutuality Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12 could be a healing solution. There, in verses 4-6, Paul describes God uniquely gifting each of His people for “the common good” (v. 7). Each is an “indispensable” member of Christ’s body (v. 22). When churches come to understand each person’s unique, God-given wiring and gifting, instead of pressuring everyone to help in the same way, they can support their members to serve in ways that fit their giftings.

In this way, each person can find flourishing and wholeness and be secure in their valued place in Christ’s body (v. 26). By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

How have you been blessed by others’ unique gifts? How can churches encourage diverse ways to serve?

Dear God, thank You for creating us all uniquely. Please help me to value every member of Christ’s body.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Spiritual Discipline

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. — Luke 10:20

As Christian disciples, worldliness isn’t our snare; sin isn’t our snare. Our snare—the thing that threatens to entrap us—is a lack of spiritual discipline. If we are spiritually undisciplined, we shamelessly strive to fit in with the religious age we live in, drawn by the lure of spiritual “success.”

Never court anything besides the approval of God. Take yourself “outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercial viewpoint, tallying up how many souls have been saved and sanctified on our watch. We forget that our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace. Our work is to disciple lives until they are entirely given over to God. One life wholly devoted to God is more valuable to him than a hundred lives reawakened by his Spirit. God brings his disciples to a standard of life by his grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others.

Unless we are living a life hidden with Christ in God, we are likely to become irritating dictators instead of indwelling disciples. Many of us are dictators. We dictate when we pray and when we preach, telling God what he must do, telling others how they must be. Jesus never dictated. When Jesus talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an “if,” not with a “must” (Matthew 16:24 kjv). Discipleship carries an option with it.

2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Do - #9728

Professional tennis star - a nun. What? Sounds like two different stories doesn't it? In this case, it's the same life story. Andrea Jaeger first picked up a tennis racket at the age of eight. By 14, she was a tennis pro. Soon she was challenging tennis greats like Chris Evert and Tracy Austin; she was ranked number two in the world. Then came a serious shoulder injury that required seven surgeries and she was forced to retire. She took her prize money, she moved to Colorado, and started a charitable foundation that helps sick, abused, and at-risk children. So she became an Episcopal nun, and she was actually burying her life in a ministry to needy children. According to USA Today, after her injury she was told, "Your life's over. You've failed. You'll never amount to anything." Oh, were they wrong! The article on her new life concluded this way: "Her name will never be etched on Grand Slam hardware, but she can live with that. She says, 'It's like I have kids' names in my heart, that is life's trophy.'"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Do."

Priorities. They keep getting jumbled, don't they? Stuff that really matters slips to the edges, and stuff that really doesn't matter much fills up our life. Until something happens that reminds us what really matters; like a tragedy, a funeral, or some kind of wakeup call. There was a little saying I heard so many times as a teenager that I think I became immune to it. But it's still packed with truth that can give you the most significant, most satisfying life possible. It simply says, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."

A tennis pro turned angel of mercy said the trophy she wants for life is those "names in her heart." The Apostle Paul was thinking like that when he penned our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20. He's looking ahead to eternity where only things that last forever will survive. He said to the people he had introduced to Jesus Christ, "What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy." See, Paul had names in his heart; the names of people who were going to be in heaven because he loved them enough to tell them about Jesus.

I hope you have names like that. Do you? There's something so much more important than a championship, or a scholarship, or a business accomplishment. And that's the people who will be in heaven forever because you introduced them to your Jesus. We pour out so much of our life-energy into things that won't last. But the people you work with every day, go to school with every day, recreate with, live around; those are people who will live forever in heaven or hell. For some, you are God's designated rescuer, positioned in their life by Jesus to be their hope of hearing about Jesus. And it starts when you allow God to burn in your heart the names of people He wants you to reach. You carry those names in your heart all day, every day. You pray for those names in your heart every day. You ask God for open doors to tell them about Jesus. You look for those open doors, and you go through them when they open.

The great legacy of your life will be the names you carry in your heart. Because when you rescue someone spiritually, that name in your heart is written by God in His Book of Life in heaven. And you can't do anything more important or more lasting than that.

The prophet Daniel tells us about the two groups of people we will see on Judgment Day: "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." Then he explains the part you could play in helping to change someone's eternal address: "Those who lead many to righteousness (will shine) like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3). Now my friend, that is a life that matters.

Hebrews 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS WE LIVE WITH JESUS - April 23, 2024

I’m reading from Acts 4:13 (NKJV). “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

What set Peter and John apart was the fact that they had been with Jesus. Could you use some high-octane boldness? Could you use some courage? Are you being criticized, mocked, persecuted? If so, imitate the disciples. Linger long and offend in the presence of Christ. Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words. Gaze into his face. Talk to him. Courage comes as we live with Jesus.

 Hebrews 2

 It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.

The Salvation Pioneer

5–9  God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture,

What is man and woman that you bother with them;

why take a second look their way?

You made them not quite as high as angels,

bright with Eden’s dawn light;

Then you put them in charge

of your entire handcrafted world.

When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.” In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.

10–13  It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters,

all I know about you;

I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.

Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

Even I live by placing my trust in God.

And yet again,

I’m here with the children God gave me.

14–15  Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

16–18  It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Today's Scripture & Insight : John 16:25-33

“I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.”

29–30  His disciples said, “Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.”

31–33  Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

Insight

Preparing His disciples for His arrest and death, Jesus warned that they too would face difficult times and persecution (John 15:20; 16:2, 32). Christ comforted His distraught disciples with the provision of heaven, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and His abiding presence and peace (chs. 14-16). Jesus offered them and us the much-needed gift of peace: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27 nlt). Living in a world broken by sin and devastated by pain and suffering, we have God’s promised peace: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:3-4). By: K. T. Sim

Jesus—The True Peacemaker

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. John 16:33

On December 30, 1862, the US Civil War raged. Union and Confederate troops camped seven hundred yards apart on opposing sides of Tennessee’s Stones River. As they warmed themselves around campfires, Union soldiers picked up their fiddles and harmonicas and began playing “Yankee Doodle.” In reply, the Confederate soldiers offered “Dixie.” Remarkably, both sides joined for a finale, playing “Home, Sweet Home” in unison. Sworn enemies shared music in the dark night, glimmers of an unimagined peace. The melodic truce was short-lived, however. The next morning, they put down their fiddles and picked up their rifles, and 24,645 soldiers died.

Our human efforts to create peace inevitably wear thin. Hostilities cease in one place, only to ignite somewhere else. One relational dispute finds harmony, only to be embroiled in distress again months later. The Scriptures tell us that God is our only trustworthy peacemaker. Jesus said it plainly, “In me you . . . have peace” (John 16:33). We have peace in Jesus. While we participate in His peacemaking mission, it’s God’s reconciliation and renewal that make real peace possible.

Christ tells us we can’t escape conflict. “In this world [we] will have trouble,” Jesus says. Strife abounds. “But take heart!” He adds, “I have overcome the world” (v. 33). While our efforts often prove futile, our loving God (v. 27) makes peace in this fractious world. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where do you see humans working for peace? How is God’s peacemaking different?

Dear God, please show me the way of peace.

For further study, read Finding Peace in a Troubled World.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

The Worship of Work

For we are co-workers in God’s service. — 1 Corinthians 3:9

Beware of any work you do for God that allows you to avoid concentrating on him. A great many Christian workers worship their work. The one concern of a Christian worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the facets of life—physical, mental, moral, and spiritual—are free. They are free with the freedom of a child—a worshipping child, not a wayward child. A worker without this solemn, ruling note of concentration on God is likely to be crushed by work, to have no delight in life, no margin of freedom in body, mind, or spirit. The nerves, mind, and heart become so crushingly burdened that God’s blessing cannot settle.

Yet the opposite is just as true. Once your concentration is fixed on God, all the facets of your life are free because they are under God’s dominion. There is no responsibility on you for your work. The only responsibility you have is to keep in living, constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to interfere with your cooperation with him.

The freedom that follows sanctification is the freedom of the child. Once you are born again in the Spirit, you find that the things that used to keep your life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been set free for one thing only: to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to judge where we should be placed in God’s service. We have no right to our preconceived ideas about what God is preparing us for. God engineers everything. Wherever he puts us, our one great aim is to pour out wholehearted devotion to him in that particular work.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17:20-37

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Making God Cry - #9727

Now, men can handle conflict, and they can handle confrontation, they can handle challenges, but they can't handle tears. You know, most men, tears are like the toughest thing for them to take. But you know something? Tears are a powerful language; they're very powerful. They have a language of their own. Oftentimes when someone is counseling with us and they're crying, I will ask them the question, "Can you tell me what your tears are trying to say?" See, when I see your tears, I know how deeply I may have hurt you. Did you know that we can do that to God?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making God Cry."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Ephesians 4 - I'm going to start with verse 30. Here's what it says: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Now you notice here that it is actually possible to make the Holy Spirit grieve, or to cry as it were.

Now, you say, "What in the world would be so bad that I would do that would actually make God the Holy Spirit cry?" Well, the answer to that is in the verse that immediately precedes it, Ephesians 4:29. Here's what it says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen." In other words God is saying here that when we say something that tears down another person, we make Him cry.

Many years ago, my youngest son had an erector set, and occasionally he built these monumental, high-towering (not always real stable) structures in our living room. Could you imagine if his big brother had come in (and I'm glad he didn't), but if he had come in and said, "Hey, boy, that's really nice!" and gave it one swift kick and knocked down what he had been taking hours to build? Well, you would expect the guy to be in tears because someone tore down what he was building.

Well, see, God knows that feeling. That's what He's talking about here. He's saying, "You know, I'm trying to build that husband of yours; I'm trying to build that wife of yours; that son or daughter, that friend, that coworker, those folks at church. I'm doing things in their life.

I've paid a high price for them; I've been doing all kinds of work and craftsmanship; I've been bringing things into their life to make them strong, and more confident, and more patient, more understanding of how valuable they are. I've been bringing things into their life to make them more gentle and more caring. And now you have come along, with a thoughtless word, with a put-down, with your sarcasm, with some attempt to manipulate them with guilt or shame. You've come in now with your destructive words, you have kicked down what I was building." That's what God is saying.

Your anger will do it. Gossip tears down people God is trying to build. Proverbs tells us that "Reckless words pierce like a sword, and the tongue has the power of life and death." Comparing someone to other people will do it, criticizing people will do it. And isn't it amazing that God's heart is broken with our words that hurt other people?

David prayed a great prayer, and it is a great one for all of us to echo, probably on a daily basis. I probably need to echo it several times a day. He simply said, "Lord, set a watch before my mouth." Put a guard there. Be very careful to never tear down someone that God is building.

Jeremiah 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S STRATEGY FOR HUMAN HURT - April 22, 2024

Bzuneh Tulema lives in Ethiopia. Just a few years ago he and his wife were so consumed with alcohol that they farmed out their kids to neighbors and resigned themselves to a drunken demise. But then someone saw them. A member of an area church shared Jesus with them. Then Meskerem Trango, a World Vision worker, arranged a loan through the World Vision microfinance department. Within a year Bzuneh had repaid the loan, built his house, and reclaimed his kids.

Could this be God’s strategy for human hurt? Kind eyes meet desperate ones, strong hands help weak ones, then the miracle of God. We do our small part, he does the big part, and life begins again.

Jeremiah 48

Get Out While You Can!

1–10  48 The Message on Moab from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel:

“Doom to Nebo! Leveled to the ground!

Kiriathaim demeaned and defeated,

The mighty fortress reduced to a molehill,

Moab’s glory—dust and ashes.

Conspirators plot Heshbon’s doom:

‘Come, let’s wipe Moab off the map.’

Dungface Dimon will loudly lament,

as killing follows killing.

Listen! A cry out of Horonaim:

‘Disaster—doom and more doom!’

Moab will be shattered.

Her cries will be heard clear down in Zoar.

Up the ascent of Luhith

climbers weep,

And down the descent from Horonaim,

cries of loss and devastation.

Oh, run for your lives! Get out while you can!

Survive by your wits in the wild!

You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes?

But it won’t help you now.

Your big god Chemosh will be hauled off,

his priests and managers with him.

A wrecker will wreck every city.

Not a city will survive.

The valley fields will be ruined,

the plateau pastures destroyed, just as I told you.

Cover the land of Moab with salt.

Make sure nothing ever grows here again.

Her towns will all be ghost towns.

Nobody will ever live here again.

Sloppy work in God’s name is cursed,

and cursed all halfhearted use of the sword.

11–17  “Moab has always taken it easy—

lazy as a dog in the sun,

Never had to work for a living,

never faced any trouble,

Never had to grow up,

never once worked up a sweat.

But those days are a thing of the past.

I’ll put him to work at hard labor.

That will wake him up to the world of hard knocks.

That will smash his illusions.

Moab will be as ashamed of god Chemosh

as Israel was ashamed of her Bethel calf-gods,

the calf-gods she thought were so great.

For how long do you think you’ll be saying, ‘We’re tough.

We can beat anyone anywhere’?

The destruction of Moab has already begun.

Her choice young soldiers are lying dead right now.”

The King’s Decree—

his full name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“Yes. Moab’s doom is on countdown,

disaster targeted and launched.

Weep for Moab, friends and neighbors,

all who know how famous he’s been.

Lament, ‘His mighty scepter snapped in two like a toothpick,

that magnificent royal staff!’

18–20  “Come down from your high horse, pampered beauty of Dibon.

Sit in dog dung.

The destroyer of Moab will come against you.

He’ll wreck your safe, secure houses.

Stand on the roadside,

pampered women of Aroer.

Interview the refugees who are running away.

Ask them, ‘What’s happened? And why?’

Moab will be an embarrassing memory, nothing left of the place.

Wail and weep your eyes out!

Tell the bad news along the Arnon river.

Tell the world that Moab is no more.

21–24  “My judgment will come to the plateau cities: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath; on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim; on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon; on Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of Moab, far and near.

25  “Moab’s link to power is severed.

Moab’s arm is broken.” God’s Decree.

The Sheer Nothingness of Moab

26–27  “Turn Moab into a drunken sot, drunk on the wine of my wrath, a dung-faced drunk, filling the country with vomit—Moab a falling-down drunk, a joke in bad taste. Wasn’t it you, Moab, who made crude jokes over Israel? And when they were caught in bad company, didn’t you cluck and gossip and snicker?

28  “Leave town! Leave! Look for a home in the cliffs,

you who grew up in Moab.

Try living like a dove

who nests high in the river gorge.

29–33  “We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride,

that legendary pride,

The strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride,

the insufferable arrogance.

I know”—God’s Decree—“his rooster-crowing pride,

the inflated claims, the sheer nothingness of Moab.

But I will weep for Moab,

yes, I will mourn for the people of Moab.

I will even mourn for the people of Kir-heres.

I’ll weep for the grapevines of Sibmah

and join Jazer in her weeping—

Grapevines that once reached the Dead Sea

with tendrils as far as Jazer.

Your summer fruit and your bursting grapes

will be looted by brutal plunderers,

Lush Moab stripped

of song and laughter.

And yes, I’ll shut down the winepresses,

stop all the shouts and hurrahs of harvest.

34  “Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

35  “I will put a stop in Moab”—God’s Decree—“to all hiking to the high places to offer burnt sacrifices to the gods.

36  “My heart moans for Moab, for the men of Kir-heres, like soft flute sounds carried by the wind. They’ve lost it all. They’ve got nothing.

37  “Everywhere you look are signs of mourning:

heads shaved, beards cut,

Hands scratched and bleeding,

clothes ripped and torn.

38  “In every house in Moab there’ll be loud lamentation, on every street in Moab, loud lamentation. As with a pottery jug that no one wants, I’ll smash Moab to bits.” God’s Decree.

39  “Moab ruined!

Moab shamed and ashamed to be seen!

Moab a cruel joke!

The stark horror of Moab!”

40–42  God’s verdict on Moab. Indeed!

“Look! An eagle is about to swoop down

and spread its wings over Moab.

The towns will be captured,

the fortresses taken.

Brave warriors will double up in pain, helpless to fight,

like a woman giving birth to a baby.

There’ll be nothing left of Moab, nothing at all,

because of his defiant arrogance against me.

43–44  “Terror and pit and trap

are what you have facing you, Moab.” God’s Decree.

“A man running in terror

will fall into a trap.

A man climbing out of a pit

will be caught in a trap.

This is my agenda for Moab

on doomsday.” God’s Decree.

45–47  “On the outskirts of Heshbon,

refugees will pull up short, worn out.

Fire will flame high from Heshbon,

a firestorm raging from the capital of Sihon’s kingdom.

It will burn off Moab’s eyebrows,

will scorch the skull of the braggarts.

That’s all for you, Moab!

You worshipers of Chemosh will be finished off!

Your sons will be trucked off to prison camps;

your daughters will be herded into exile.

But yet there’s a day that’s coming

when I’ll put things right in Moab.

“For now, that’s the judgment on Moab.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, April 22, 2024

Today's Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Why Am I Working Like a Dog?

I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.

9–10  It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

11  Two in a bed warm each other.

Alone, you shiver all night.

12  By yourself you’re unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

Insight

Along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is classified as one of the Wisdom books of Scripture. Wisdom books, which emphasize the supreme value of fearing God (Ecclesiastes 8:13; 12:13), help the reader navigate the good and not-so-good—the bitter and sweet of this life—from God’s perspective and to trust Him. Given Wisdom Literature’s goal—to help its readers to “live skillfully”—it shouldn’t surprise us to find numerous occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes of the word better or the phrase better than. The comparative value of wisdom is stressed in passages such as “Wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness” (2:13); “Wisdom is better than strength” (9:16); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (9:18). We also see this emphasis in Proverbs: “For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold” (3:14).

Discover the life-changing wisdom of Ecclesiastes. By: Arthur Jackson

Community in Christ

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

“I knew that the only way to succeed was to forget about home and my wife, son, and daughter,” said Jordon. “I’ve found I can’t do that. They’re woven into the fabric of my heart and soul.” Alone in a remote area, Jordon was participating in a reality show where contestants are asked to survive outdoors with minimal supplies for as long as possible. What forced him to forfeit was not the grizzly bears, freezing temperatures, injury, or hunger, but an overwhelming loneliness and desire to be with his family.

We might have all the survival skills necessary for the wilderness, but separating ourselves from community is a sure way to fail. The wise author of Ecclesiastes said, “Two are better than one, because . . . one can help the other up” (4:9-10). Christ-honoring community, even with all its messiness, is essential to our thriving. We don’t stand a chance against the trials of this world if we try to tackle them on our own. Someone who toils alone, toils in vain (v. 8). Without community, we’re more susceptible to danger (vv. 11-12). Unlike a single thread, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). The gift of a loving, Christ-focused community is one that not only provides encouragement, but also gives us strength to thrive despite challenging situations. We need each other. By:  Karen Pimpo

Reflect & Pray

How can you commit to spending time with the family of believers? Who around you is isolated and in need?

Father, thank You for the gift of community! Open my heart to love and spend time with others today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, April 22, 2024

The Light That Never Fails

And we all … with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory. — 2 Corinthians 3:18

Servants of God must stand so much alone that they never know they are alone. In the first phase of Christian life, disheartenments come. People who are bright lights for us flicker out; those who stand with us pass away. We have to get used to this—so used to it that no matter what happens, we never feel we are standing alone.

“Everyone deserted me… But the Lord stood at my side” (2 Timothy 4:16–17). We must build our faith on the light that never fails, not on the light that fades. When “great” men and women go, we are sad— until we see that they were meant to go, and that the only thing that remains is looking on the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking God squarely in the face about yourself and your doctrine. Every time you preach, every time you pray, every time you testify, look God in the face first. Seek his mind on your subject before you begin and his glory will sound in every word. A Christian disciple is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to people. Moses, when he’d been with God, “was not aware that his face was radiant” (Exodus 34:29). That unconscious glory is characteristic of the one who ministers for Christ. The secret of our life as disciples is that we keep in tune with God all the time.

2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, April 22, 2024

Temporary Pain, Permanent Gain - #9726

One day some years ago during the lunch hour, my Administrative Assistant decided to bring her two young nephews into the office. She wanted them to meet the people she worked with and vise-versa. Daniel was probably about five, and I'm sure he left wondering who that weird guy is that his aunt works with. See, when I met Daniel, he flashed a big smile. He revealed some missing teeth in the process and I asked him what happened. He said, "I lost those teeth."

I told Daniel I was sorry he lost them and I wanted to help him find them, after which I got down on the floor and proceeded to crawl around looking for them. Mercifully he told me I didn't have to keep looking. He said he didn't mind losing those teeth. He said, "Hey, I got permanent ones!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Temporary Pain, Permanent Gain."

The first time a child loses a tooth it can be pretty disconcerting. But every child quickly learns that this is no big problem. You lose the temporary, but you're going to be trading it for the permanent.

Our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 4:14 and 16. This is the perspective of a man who has been severely hammered and he's got the scars to prove it physically and emotionally. He opens by saying, "We do not lose heart." Now, how can he be unsinkable like this when there's so much hardship and pain? He says, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

Now, you might be going through a pretty low time right now and you're sinking physically, or financially, or emotionally. Wouldn't it be nice to know what Paul's secret of daily renewal is? Well, it's sort of the Daniel with the missing teeth perspective. Paul goes on to say, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not only on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary. But what is unseen is eternal."

Paul's telling us that when you feel the weight of heavy trouble, get out your scale. Put your troubles on one side; put your eternal rewards on the other and the scale will go "boom" on the side of the blessings - the rewards - because your eternity with your Savior far outweighs any pain now. In fact, Paul says in Romans 8:18, "Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." If you focus on what's going to last forever rather than what's going to last for just a little while. That's what's so wonderful about the promise of God's heaven with no pain, no tears, no sin.

It's wonderful to hear about the prospect of God's unimaginable rewards for those who remain faithful to Him even in the darkest hours. Listen to 1 Corinthians 2:9 - "No one has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." That's what you focus on. When you focus on the temporary hurt, you're vulnerable to try to do something or anything to relieve your pain, often making a permanent mistake to get through some temporary pain. But you don't have to do that when your eye is on the prize, not on the pain.

This is only temporary and nothing compares to what you're going to have forever.

You know the wonderful thing that Jesus did when He came? He added a word to the word life - everlasting. He added eternity to our possibilities for what our future will be. You will spend eternity either with or without this Jesus. And today, knowing your pain, knowing your hurt, knowing your sin, He stands ready to come into your life and forgive the sins that He died for and give you a fresh start and carry the burden with you from now on.

If you've never begun a relationship with Him, tell Him you want to do that today. Go to our website and we'll show you how to be sure you belong to him - ANewStory.com. Because everything changes when you know that this life isn't all you have. You've got an eternity with God ahead of you.

Jeremiah 47, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Invites You In

If you were told you were free to enter the Oval Office at the White House, you’d shake your head and chuckle, “You’re one brick short of a load, buddy.” Multiply your disbelief by a thousand, and you’ll have an idea how a Jew would feel if someone told him he could enter the Holy of Holies–a part of the Temple no one could enter except the high priest and then only one day a year. Why? Because the glory of God was present there.

God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Like Job we say, “If only there were a mediator who could bring us together.” 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.”

God welcomes you. He’s not avoiding you. The door is open. God invites you in!

From He Chose the Nails

Jeremiah 47

It’s Doomsday for Philistines

1–5  47 God’s Message to the prophet Jeremiah regarding the Philistines just before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. This is what God says:

“Look out! Water will rise in the north country,

swelling like a river in flood.

The torrent will flood the land,

washing away city and citizen.

Men and women will scream in terror,

wails from every door and window,

As the thunder from the hooves of the horses will be heard,

the clatter of chariots, the banging of wheels.

Fathers, paralyzed by fear,

won’t even grab up their babies

Because it will be doomsday for Philistines, one and all,

no hope of help for Tyre and Sidon.

God will finish off the Philistines,

what’s left of those from the island of Crete.

Gaza will be shaved bald as an egg,

Ashkelon struck dumb as a post.

You’re on your last legs.

How long will you keep flailing?

6  “Oh, Sword of God,

how long will you keep this up?

Return to your scabbard.

Haven’t you had enough? Can’t you call it quits?

7  “But how can it quit

when I, God, command the action?

I’ve ordered it to cut down

Ashkelon and the seacoast.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 20:11-17

 Young people eventually reveal by their actions

if their motives are on the up and up.

Drinking from the Chalice of Knowledge

12  Ears that hear and eyes that see—

we get our basic equipment from God!

13  Don’t be too fond of sleep; you’ll end up in the poorhouse.

Wake up and get up; then there’ll be food on the table.

14  The shopper says, “That’s junk—I’ll take it off your hands,”

then goes off boasting of the bargain.

15  Drinking from the beautiful chalice of knowledge

is better than adorning oneself with gold and rare gems.

16  Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;

beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.

17  Stolen bread tastes sweet,

but soon your mouth is full of gravel.

Insight

It might seem difficult to detect a theme to the proverbs in chapter 20, but theologian John E. Goldingay identifies one. Noting the difficulty of finding good examples of individual integrity, he points out that “openness is not common (v. 5), . . . and human evasiveness is difficult to penetrate (v. 15).” We must keep in mind that the Proverbs don’t always tell us how to live; sometimes they’re observations about life—for instance, “the buyer” who considers a product yet disparages its value in order to bargain for a lower price (v. 14). Solomon, who wrote many of the Proverbs, isn’t advising us to imitate this dishonest bartering tactic; rather, this is his observation of human nature. Goldingay suggests that verse 5 is key to understanding the chapter: “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” By: Tim Gustafson

Bitterness of Stolen Sweets

Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel. Proverbs 20:17

Thieves in Germany stole a truck’s refrigerated trailer filled with more than twenty tons of chocolate. The estimated worth of the stolen sweetness was $80,000. Local police asked anyone who was offered large quantities of chocolate via unconventional channels to report it immediately. Surely those who stole the massive amount of sweets will be facing bitter and unsatisfying consequences if they’re caught and prosecuted!

Proverbs confirms this principle: “Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel” (20:17). Things we acquire deceptively or wrongfully may seem to be sweet at first—seasoned with excitement and temporary enjoyment. But the flavor will eventually wear off and our deception will lead to our being left wanting and in trouble. The bitter consequences of guilt, fear, and sin can end up ruining our lives and reputations. “Even small children are known by their actions, [if] their conduct [is] really pure and upright” (v. 11). May our words and actions reveal a pure heart for God—not the bitterness of selfish desires.

When we’re tempted, let’s ask God to strengthen us and help us remain faithful to Him. He can help us look behind the short-term “sweetness” of giving in to temptation and guide us to carefully consider the long-term consequences of our choices. By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

When has temptation led to bitter consequences for you? How can you remain faithful to God?

Dear God, I need Your strength to fight temptation and remain faithful to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Now Don’t Hurt the Lord!

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” — John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astonished by us—by how un-simple we are. We complicate the simple things God shows us by adding in opinions of our own, and it is opinions of our own that lead us into

confusion. When we are simple, our sight is clear, and we discern what’s before us all the time.

Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the Person who was standing before him. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). Philip couldn’t see what was right before his eyes. He couldn’t grasp that the mystery of God lies in what is, not in what will be. Philip expected the mystery to reveal itself soon, in some cataclysmic event; he didn’t expect it now. Jesus set him right, saying in essence, “God is here now—always here, or nowhere.”

We look for God to manifest himself to his children, but God only manifests himself in his children. Others see the manifestation; the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God, but we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and stay sane. If we are constantly asking God to give us conscious experiences, we are hurting our Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the simple questions of a child.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). Am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and his character, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing something to disturb my heart, asking myself morbid questions? I have to get to the steadfast relationship with Jesus that takes everything he gives as it comes.

God never guides soon, always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and his revelation is immediate.

2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16