Hebrews 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: REMEMBER - April 30, 2024

Frightening thing, pride. Doesn’t it sneak up on us? We begin spiritual journeys as small people. The act of conversion is a humbling one. We confess sins, beg for mercy, bend our knees. We come to God humbly. No swagger, no boasts.

And God works. He works the miracle of salvation. He immerses us in mercy. He stitches together our shredded souls. He deposits his Spirit in our hearts and implants heavenly gifts. Our big God blesses our small faith. Gradually our big God changes us, and people notice the difference. They applaud. They admire us. And kudos become ladder rungs, and we begin to elevate ourselves, and we forget. We forget who brought us here.

Take time to remember. “Look at what you were when God called you” (1 Corinthians 1:26 NCV). Remember who held you in the beginning. And remember who holds you today.

Hebrews 4

When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith

1–3  4 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said,

Exasperated, I vowed,

“They’ll never get where they’re going,

never be able to sit down and rest.”

3–7  God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,” but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.” So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation:

Today, please listen,

don’t turn a deaf ear …

8–11  And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.

12–13  God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

The High Priest Who Cried Out in Pain

14–16  Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Today's Scripture

1 John 4:15-21

Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

To Love, to Be Loved

17–18  God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

19  We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

20–21  If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

Insight

The books of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation were all written by the apostle John (one of the “sons of thunder”; Mark 3:17), who refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26). But rather than boasting, John seems to point with assurance and perhaps amazement to the knowledge that Christ loved him despite his failings. In our text today, John declares: “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Because of His perfect love, we need not fear our future or eternal destiny (vv. 17-18). By dying on the cross, Jesus made a way for us to be with Him (vv. 9-10; John 3:16). Nothing can separate believers in Christ from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). In response, we’re called to love others (1 John 4:11, 20-21). Through the Spirit, we have assurance of His love and are empowered to love others (v. 13; Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). By: Alyson Kieda

Can’t Out-Love God

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

When my now-grown son, Xavier, was in kindergarten, he stretched his arms wide and said, “I love you this much.”  I stretched my longer arms wide and said, “I love you this much.” Planting his fists on his hips, he said, “I loved you first.” I shook my head. “I loved you when God first put you in my womb.” Xavier’s eyes widened. “You win.” “We both win,” I said, “because Jesus loved both of us first.”

As Xavier prepares for the birth of his first child, I’m praying he’ll enjoy trying to out-love his son as they make sweet memories. But as I prepare to be a grandmother, I’m amazed at how much I loved my grandson from the moment Xavier and his wife told us they were expecting a baby.

The apostle John affirmed that Jesus’ love for us gives us the ability to love Him and others (1 John 4:19). Knowing He loves us gives us a sense of security that deepens our personal relationship with Him (vv. 15-17). As we realize the depth of His love for us (v. 19), we can grow in our love for Him and express love in other relationships (v. 20). Not only does Jesus empower us to love, but He also commands us to love: “And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (v. 21). When it comes to loving well, God always wins. No matter how hard we try, we can’t out-love God! By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

How has knowing God loves you helped you to love others? How can you show love to others this week?

Loving Savior, thank You for loving me first so I can love others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The Spontaneity of Love

Love is patient, love is kind. — 1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is not premeditated. Love is spontaneous, bursting up in extraordinary ways. Consider Paul’s description of love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). There is nothing calculating about the kind of love Paul describes. It is free and easy, arriving without conscious effort on our part. When the Spirit of the Lord is having his way with us, we pour out his love spontaneously, living up to God’s standard without even realizing it.

Like everything that has to do with the life of God in us, the true nature of a loving action can only be seen in hindsight. Looking back on some loving action we took, we are amazed at how we felt in the moment: unselfish and uncalculating. That is the evidence real love was there.

Trying to prove to God how much we love him is a sure sign that we do not love him. The evidence that our love for him is true is that it comes naturally, bubbling up without our bidding at the command of the Holy Spirit. That is why we can’t see our own reasons for doing certain loving things: it is the Spirit in our hearts who does them. We can’t say, “Now I am going to always be patient.” The springs of love are in God, not in us. To look for the love of God in our hearts is absurd if we have not been born again by the Spirit: God’s love is there only when he is. “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Making Sure You'll be in Heaven - #9732

Well, all of us airline passengers have just squeezed down that narrow aisle to our seats, and everyone is just getting settled in. The ground agent comes on board and says, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a destination check. This is Flight 305 to Atlanta." The next part is what I love. It's so diplomatic it's almost ridiculous. "If Atlanta is not in your travel plans for today, this would be a good time for you to exit the aircraft." In other words, "Hey, pal, make sure this flight is going where you want to end up!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making Sure You'll be in Heaven."

It doesn't matter how nice the plane is, how nice the people are, how sure you are that this is the right one, if it isn't going where you want to go, you can't afford to be on it. That's obvious when it comes to our travel destination. It should be obvious when it comes to our eternal destination.

There was a survey that found that a majority of Americans thought their destination when they die will be heaven. Since this is the one thing you can't afford to be wrong about, there's an important question that those folks need to consider. All of us do. "I think I'm going to heaven." Really? Based on what? How nice you are? How nice your religion is? How much you think this ought to be the way to get to God? It's not true for airplane flights, and it's not true for getting to God and to His heaven.

Only God can tell us how to get to Him. What He said and only what He said is the final word. Everybody else is guessing. Here it is in the words of Jesus Christ himself. Our word for today from the Word of God in John 3:3 - "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Now, those two words have been overused, they've been misused, they've been abused, "born again."

But the words "born again" - it was the Son of God himself who told us that that's the way to give ourselves a destination check; to see if in fact I'm going to heaven.

The Bible explains just two chapters earlier how you can be born again. Speaking of Jesus it says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in Him, He gave them the right to become children of God." You have to be born into His family to be His child just like you were born into your earth family. And you are born again at the moment you "receive Jesus." What does that mean? That means opening up to Him, welcoming Him into your life.

And then it says, "when you believe in Him." That's totally putting your trust in Him as your only ticket to God's heaven. No trust in my religion. No trust in my goodness. No trust in all the things that I have done in my life. No, I am placing all my hopes on the man who died for my sin. I have no hope placed in anything else. It's like a drowning person grabbing a lifeguard, "You, Jesus, are my only hope."

Why is that? Well, it's because your sin will keep you out of heaven. Sin carries a death penalty according to the Bible. The Bible calls it hell. And only Jesus could, and only Jesus did die to pay that death penalty so you don't have to. That's how much He loves you. So only He can remove your sin from God's records. And only people with their sin forgiven can enter God's sinless heaven.

Jesus left no room for any questions. He said in John 3:5, "You must be born again." You have no more important thing in your life to do than to make sure you have boarded the flight that's going to heaven, to be sure you have told Jesus, "I'm putting all my faith in You alone to forgive my sin and get me to heaven." Only He died to make it possible. Only He walked out of his grave to prove He can give eternal life.

Have you ever grabbed Him in total trust and said, "Jesus, I'm yours." If not, let this be your day. I'd love to help you get that settled. Just go to our website - it's ANewStory.com.

If you're trusting anyone or anything other than Jesus to get you where you want to go, don't stay on that flight to disaster. That's the deadliest mistake you can make. Today there's still time to change and get on the only flight where God says the destination is His heaven.

Jeremiah 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WHO HOLDS YOU - April 29, 2024

Stephen was one of the seven men tasked to care for the Gentile widows. His ministry, however, provoked antagonism. A sect of jealous enemies falsely accused him of blasphemy. They marched him to the council of the Sanhedrin and demanded that he defend himself. And did he ever! He caused a stir before he even opened his mouth. “Everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s” (Acts 6:15 NLT).

Did heaven bathe him in a tunnel of brightness? I don’t know. I don’t know how to imagine the scene, but I know how to interpret it. This was God speaking. The sermon emerges, not from Stephen’s mind, but from God’s heart. This was not a lightweight message. Fifty-two verses led the listeners from Abraham to Jesus. Two thousand years of history resulted in this one indictment: “You’re forgetting who holds you.”

Jeremiah 24

Two Baskets of Figs

1–2  24 God showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple of God. This was after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon, along with the leaders of Judah, the craftsmen, and the skilled laborers. In one basket the figs were of the finest quality, ripe and ready to eat. In the other basket the figs were rotten, so rotten they couldn’t be eaten.

3  God said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

“Figs,” I said. “Excellent figs of the finest quality, and also rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten.”

4–6  Then God told me, “This is the Message from the God of Israel: The exiles from here that I’ve sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and I’ll make sure they get good treatment. I’ll keep my eye on them so that their lives are good, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up, not tear them down; I’ll plant them, not uproot them.

7  “And I’ll give them a heart to know me, God. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts.

8–10  “But like the rotten figs, so rotten they can’t be eaten, is Zedekiah king of Judah. Rotten figs—that’s how I’ll treat him and his leaders, along with the survivors here and those down in Egypt. I’ll make them something that the whole world will look on as disgusting—repugnant outcasts, their names used as curse words wherever in the world I drive them. And I’ll make sure they die like flies—from war, starvation, disease, whatever—until the land I once gave to them and their ancestors is completely rid of them.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, April 29, 2024

Today's Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-20

A Fight to the Finish

10–12  And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13–18  Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

19–20  And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.

Insight

Paul often uses military images to illustrate the life of the believer in Jesus (Romans 13:12; 1 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3-4). Paul reminds us that the believer is engaged in a spiritual battle against Satan and his evil forces (Ephesians 6:11-12). Just as physical armor protects the soldier in the battlefield, the armor of God protects us in our spiritual battle. Most of this armor is defensive, except for the “sword of the Spirit” (v. 17). Christ used the Scripture to overcome the devil (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:4-12). We too must use God’s truth to respond to the enemy’s attacks (John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12). By: K. T. Sim

Pray and Watch

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions . . . be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18

When fighting spiritual battles, believers in Jesus should take prayer seriously. A Florida woman found out how dangerous it can be, however, to practice it unwisely. When she prayed, she closed her eyes. But while driving one day and praying (with eyes shut!), she failed to stop at a stop sign, flew through an intersection, and went offroad into a homeowner’s yard. She then tried unsuccessfully to back off the lawn. Though not injured, she was given a police citation for reckless driving and property damage. This prayer warrior missed a key part of Ephesians 6:18: be alert.

As part of the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul includes two final pieces. First, we should fight spiritual battles with prayer. This means praying in the Spirit—relying on His power. Also, resting in His guidance and responding to His promptings—praying all kinds of prayers on all occasions (v. 18). Second, Paul encouraged us to “be alert.” Spiritual alertness can aid us in being prepared for Jesus’ return (Mark 13:33), gaining victory over temptation (14:38), and interceding for other believers (Ephesians 6:18).

As we fight spiritual battles daily, let’s permeate our lives with a “pray and watch” approach—combating evil powers and piercing the darkness with the light of Christ. By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

How can having a “pray and watch” mindset help you fight spiritual battles? What does it mean for you to stay spiritually alert?

Dear God, please help me to watch and pray for myself and others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, April 29, 2024

The Graciousness of Uncertainty

What we will be has not yet been made known. — 1 John 3:2

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some goal, but this isn’t the nature of the spiritual life.

The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain of the rest, never knowing what a day may bring. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should be said with a burst of breathless expectation: we’re uncertain of the next step, but we’re certain of God.

The instant we abandon ourselves to God, he begins to fill our life with constant surprises. But when we become advocates of a creed, something within us dies. If we are clinging to a creed or a belief, we aren’t believing God himself; we are merely believing our beliefs about him.

Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children …” (Matthew 18:3). Spiritual life is the life of a child. A child isn’t uncertain of God, only of what God will do next. If we are sure of our beliefs, we are haughty and absolutely set in our opinions. Jesus said, “Believe also in me” (John 14:1). He didn’t say, “Believe your own ideas about me.” When we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

Leave everything to God. It is gloriously uncertain how he will come, but he will come.

1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, April 29, 2024

Jumping Before You've Heard It All - #9731

When I was in high school, I was a part of Youth For Christ's very active Bible Quiz program. Now, it was a long time ago, but I still remember a lot that I learned in studying books of the Bible in this highly competitive atmosphere.

There was a lot of intense excitement when we would get together. Sometimes, believe it or not, thousands of people would be there for the competition as the championship quiz teams would be pitted against each other, seated on chairs that used, well what was then sophisticated equipment, and it registered who got off the chair first. A light would go on and then they had the first opportunity to answer the question. If they jumped during the question, which I often did, that was the best way to make sure you got the opportunity, you had to finish the question correctly and then give the answer.

So here is the Quiz Master asking, jump as soon as you think you can finish this question. Many times we were so high-strung that we'd jump too soon...ridiculously soon. For example we'd be quizzing on the whole Gospel of John, and the Quiz Master would say, "Wh..." And suddenly you'd see three people on their feet, and he'd call, "Number one." Oh, you almost always lost that question, "Wh..." Who could figure that out? Of course, you always lose when you jump too soon.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jumping Before You've Heard It All."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 18:13 - the great wisdom of Solomon. He says, "He who answers before listening..." Okay, sounds like that old Bible quiz doesn't it? "He who answers before listening, that is his folly; that is his shame." Well, the New Testament version of that might be James 1:19, which says this: "Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak." Now we have just slightly re-written that one. We're quick to speak and slow to listen. And notice the listening comes before the speaking.

Solomon tells us that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. It's our folly! It's foolish! It's shameful if we speak before we listen. See, we hear the beginning of what someone is trying to tell us and we assume we know the rest. And like the old Bible quizzers, we jump with our reply. It happens in our marriage conversations. It happens between parents and children. We anticipate the rest and we don't understand each other as a result. Biblically-wise people don't just listen to the sentence, they listen to the whole paragraph. They don't respond to the opening line. Oh, they may listen to the whole page. When you jump too soon, you usually end up misunderstanding. You react to the symptom, not the problem.

See, the person doesn't pay attention to what you're saying because you didn't pay attention to them. Conflict erupts, walls go up. If you played back the recording of you today, would we often hear you being quick to speak? If so, you might be inflicting hurt, frustration, misunderstanding and causing people to just shut down and not even want to tell you anymore.

How are you perceived by your mate, your children, your parents, your friends when it comes to listening? Maybe someone has basically stopped trying. But tell them you want another chance. It takes patience; it takes self-control to listen; not just to a person's words, but to their heart. It is, according to the Word of God, foolish not to listen before you speak.

Now, we're told that part of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 is patience and self-control. You know, that's what it takes to listen before you speak. So, "Dear Lord, give me patience. Give me self-control. Teach me, Lord, to listen."

Take it from an old Bible quizzer who sometimes couldn't wait, "When you jump too soon, you usually get it wrong."

Jeremiah 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Lu-KAH-doh or Lu-KAY-doh?

My last name has created some awkward moments. A woman said, “Max Lu-KAH-do—I’ve been wanting to meet you.”  I let it go thinking that was the end of it.  But then a man said to me, “My wife and I’ve been trying to figure out how you say your name.  Is it Lu-KAY-doh or Lu-KAH-doh! I felt trapped…as I looked at my new friend who had been mispronouncing my name.

On an infinitely grander scale, God faces with humankind a similar issue I faced with the woman. How can He be both just and kind?  How can He redeem the sinner without endorsing the sin?  From our perspective there are only two equally unappealing solutions. From God’s perspective, however, there is a third. It’s called the Cross of Christ!  And that’s one phrase you want to say correctly!

From He Chose the Nails

Jeremiah 23

An Authentic David-Branch

1–4  23 “Doom to the shepherd-leaders who butcher and scatter my sheep!” God’s Decree. “So here is what I, God, Israel’s God, say to the shepherd-leaders who misled my people: ‘You’ve scattered my sheep. You’ve driven them off. You haven’t kept your eye on them. Well, let me tell you, I’m keeping my eye on you, keeping track of your criminal behavior. I’ll take over and gather what’s left of my sheep, gather them in from all the lands where I’ve driven them. I’ll bring them back where they belong, and they’ll recover and flourish. I’ll set shepherd-leaders over them who will take good care of them. They won’t live in fear or panic anymore. All the lost sheep rounded up!’ God’s Decree.”

5–6  “Time’s coming”—God’s Decree—

“when I’ll establish a truly righteous David-Branch,

A ruler who knows how to rule justly.

He’ll make sure of justice and keep people united.

In his time Judah will be secure again

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name they’ll give him:

‘God-Who-Puts-Everything-Right.’

7–8  “So watch for this. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when no one will say, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,’ but, ‘As sure as God lives, the God who brought the descendants of Israel back from the north country and from the other countries where he’d driven them, so that they can live on their own good earth.’ ”

The “Everything Will Turn Out Fine” Sermon

9  My head is reeling,

my limbs are limp,

I’m staggering like a drunk,

seeing double from too much wine—

And all because of God,

because of his holy words.

10–12  Now for what God says regarding the lying prophets:

“Can you believe it? A country teeming with adulterers!

faithless, promiscuous idolater-adulterers!

They’re a curse on the land.

The land’s a wasteland.

Their unfaithfulness

is turning the country into a cesspool,

Prophets and priests devoted to desecration.

They have nothing to do with me as their God.

My very own Temple, mind you—

mud-spattered with their crimes.” God’s Decree.

“But they won’t get by with it.

They’ll find themselves on a slippery slope,

Careening into the darkness,

somersaulting into the pitch-black dark.

I’ll make them pay for their crimes.

It will be the Year of Doom.” God’s Decree.

13–14  “Over in Samaria I saw prophets

acting like silly fools—shocking!

They preached using that no-god Baal for a text,

messing with the minds of my people.

And the Jerusalem prophets are even worse—horrible!—

sex-driven, living a lie,

Subsidizing a culture of wickedness,

and never giving it a second thought.

They’re as bad as those wretches in old Sodom,

the degenerates of old Gomorrah.”

15  So here’s the Message to the prophets from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“I’ll cook them a supper of maggoty meat

with after-dinner drinks of strychnine.

The Jerusalem prophets are behind all this.

They’re the cause of the godlessness polluting this country.”

16–17  A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

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

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

They make it all up.

Not a word they speak comes from me.

They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon

to congregations with no taste for God,

Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon

to people who are set in their own ways.

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

the true God?

bothered to take in what I have to say?

listened to and then lived out my Word?

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

my hurricane blast,

Spinning the heads of the wicked like tops!

God’s raging anger won’t let up

Until I’ve made a clean sweep,

completing the job I began.

When the job’s done,

you’ll see that it’s been well done.

Quit the “God Told Me This” Kind of Talk

21–22  “I never sent these prophets,

but they ran anyway.

I never spoke to them,

but they preached away.

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

they’d have preached my Message to my people.

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

gotten them out of their evil ruts.

23–24  “Am I not a God near at hand”—God’s Decree—

“and not a God far off?

Can anyone hide out in a corner

where I can’t see him?”

God’s Decree.

“Am I not present everywhere,

whether seen or unseen?”

God’s Decree.

25–27  “I know what they’re saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!’ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other’s delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal.

28–29  “You prophets who do nothing but dream—

go ahead and tell your silly dreams.

But you prophets who have a message from me—

tell it truly and faithfully.

What does straw have in common with wheat?

Nothing else is like God’s Decree.

Isn’t my Message like fire?” God’s Decree.

“Isn’t it like a sledgehammer busting a rock?

 30–31  “I’ve had it with the ‘prophets’ who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. Yes, I’ve had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it’s a real sermon.

32  “Oh yes, I’ve had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies.

“I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people—nothing!” God’s Decree.

33  “And anyone, including prophets and priests, who asks, ‘What’s God got to say about all this, what’s troubling him?’ tell him, ‘You, you’re the trouble, and I’m getting rid of you.’ ” God’s Decree.

34  “And if anyone, including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly ‘God’s Message! God’s Message!’ I’ll punish him and his family.

35–36  “Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this … God told me that.…’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

37–38  “You can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this … God told me that …’ kind of talk.

39–40  “Are you paying attention? You’d better, because I’m about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I’ve had it with the lot of you. You’re never going to live this down. You’re going down in history as a disgrace.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Today's Scripture

Insight

Exodus 20-23 contain legal requirements God demanded of His people Israel, including the Ten Commandments (20:1-17). In 23:20-26, He promised them His protection as they prepared to take the promised land. The specific angel mentioned is literal (23:20), but he’s also representative of God’s presence. God said, “My Name is in him” (v. 21). For the people of Israel, the protection was contingent upon their obedience. “Do not rebel against him,” God said (v. 21). He warned them not to be like the people currently occupying the promised land: “Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices” (v. 24). By contrast, worshiping God alone would bring His blessing (vv. 25-26). This promise isn’t directed to us, yet the principle holds true today. By: Tim Gustafson

Exodus 23:20-26

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way

20 “See, I am sending an angelx ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.y 21 Pay attention to him and listenz to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgivea your rebellion,b since my Namec is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and dod all that I say, I will be an enemye to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,f and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worshipg them or follow their practices.h You must demolishi them and break their sacred stonesj to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God,k and his blessingl will be on your food and water. I will take away sicknessm from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barrenn in your land. I will give you a full life span.

Angel Companions

I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way. Exodus 23:20

As medical test after medical test filled up Bev’s schedule, she grew overwhelmed and weary. Doctors alarmed her when they told her they were looking for cancer somewhere in her body. Each day God faithfully encouraged her with the promises of His presence and an abiding peace when she turned to Him or read the Bible. She battled with the uncertainties and frequently learned to roll the “what ifs” onto God’s shoulders. One morning, Bev came across a verse in Exodus 23 that popped out from the page to her heart before a serious surgery: “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way” (v. 20).

Those words were spoken by God through Moses to His people, the Israelites. He was giving His laws for His people to follow and leading them to a new land (vv. 14-26). But in the middle of those instructions, He told them He would send an angel ahead of them “to guard [them] along the way” (v. 20). Even though this wasn’t Bev’s life’s situation, she remembered that the care of angels is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture too. Psalm 91:11 says, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” And Hebrews 1:14 tells us God sends angels as “ministering spirits” to serve believers in Jesus.

If we know Christ, He’s got an angel or angels near us to minister to us as well. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

What might God be doing for you through His angels? How does this encourage you?

I’m grateful, dear God, that You’re always near, and You also have Your angels watching over Your children.

For further study, read What Can We Learn from Angels?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 28, 2024

What You Will Get

Wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. — Jeremiah 45:5

The scribe Baruch was seeking much more than his life from God; he wanted great things for himself and was full of self-pity that he hadn’t gotten them. “Woe to me!” he lamented. “The Lord has added sorrow to my pain” (Jeremiah 45:3). God told Baruch to stop seeking great things for himself, highlighting the futility of earthly blessings: “For I will bring disaster on all people” (v. 5). Yet God didn’t send Baruch away empty-handed. Instead, he said, “I will let you escape with your life.”

What more do we want than life? It is the essential thing. So many of us are caught up in the show of things—not necessarily in possessions, but in blessings. Both blessings and possessions will go one day, but there is something grander that will never go: the life that is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Are you prepared to let God take you into union with him? Are you prepared to stop paying attention to the things you consider “great”? To abandon entirely and let go? The test of abandonment lies in refusing to say, “But what about this?” Beware of such questions. They mean that you don’t really trust God—not enough to abandon yourself to him. The moment you truly abandon yourself to God, you no longer worry about what he is going to do. Abandonment means refusing yourself the luxury of asking questions.

The reason people are tired of life is that God hasn’t given them anything; they haven’t received their life from him. The way out is abandonment. When you do abandon yourself to him, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth: God has got you absolutely and has given you your life! If you’re not in this place, it is because of either disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough.

1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26

Hebrews 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Uncommon Use

Uncommon Use

“He gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Heaven may have a shrine to honor God’s uncommon use of the common.

It’s a place you won’t want to miss. Stroll through and see Rahab’s rope, Paul’s bucket, David’s sling, and Samson’s jawbone. Wrap your hand around the staff that split the sea and smote the rock. Sniff the ointment that soothed Jesus’ skin and lifted his heart . . .

I don’t know if these items will be there. But I am sure of one thing—the people who used them will.

Hebrews 3

The Centerpiece of All We Believe

1–6  3 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.

6–11  Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! That’s why the Holy Spirit says,

Today, please listen;

don’t turn a deaf ear as in “the bitter uprising,”

that time of wilderness testing!

Even though they watched me at work for forty years,

your ancestors refused to let me do it my way;

over and over they tried my patience.

And I was provoked, oh, so provoked!

I said, “They’ll never keep their minds on God;

they refuse to walk down my road.”

Exasperated, I vowed,

“They’ll never get where they’re going,

never be able to sit down and rest.”

12–14  So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.

These words keep ringing in our ears:

Today, please listen;

don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.

15–19  For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Today's Scripture

Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23

Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

3–8  “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

The Meaning of the Harvest Story

18–19  “Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

20–21  “The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

22  “The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

23  “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”

Insight

Matthew 13 contains eight parables: the parables of the sower (vv. 1-23), the seeds (vv. 24-30, 36-43), the mustard seed (vv. 31-32), the yeast (vv. 33-35), the hidden treasure (v. 44), the pearls (vv. 45-46), the net (vv. 47-50), and the house owner (vv. 51-52). They’re known as “kingdom” parables because they usually begin with the characteristic phrase, “The kingdom of heaven is like . . . ” (vv. 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47, 52). Though the first parable is called the parable of the sower, its focus isn’t on the sower but on the soil upon which the seed falls.

Unlock more wisdom from the parables of Jesus. By: K. T. Sim

Pull the Weeds of Worry

[They hear] the word, but the worries of this life . . . choke the word. Matthew 13:22

After burying a few seeds in a planter in my backyard, I waited to see the results. Reading that the seeds would sprout within ten to fourteen days, I checked often as I watered the soil. Soon I saw a few green leaves pushing their way out of the soil. But my bubble burst quickly when my husband told me those were weeds. He encouraged me to pull them quickly so that they wouldn’t choke the plants I was trying to grow.

Jesus also told of the importance of dealing with intruders that can impede our spiritual growth. He explained a portion of His parable this way: when a sower cast his seeds, some “fell among thorns . . . and choked the plants” (Matthew 13:7). Thorns, or weeds, will do just that to plants—stop their growth (v. 22). And worry will surely stunt our spiritual growth. Reading Scripture and praying are great ways to grow our faith, but I’ve found I need to watch out for the thorns of worry. They’ll “choke” the good word that has been planted in me, making me focus on what could go wrong. 

The fruit of the Spirit, found in Scripture, includes such things as love, joy, peace (Galatians 5:22). But in order for us to bear that fruit, in God’s strength we need to pull any weeds of doubt or worry that may distract us and cause us to focus on anything other than Him. By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

How is God helping you grow the seeds He’s planted within you? How can you pull the weeds of worry?

Dear heavenly Father, please remind me to pull weeds often, discarding worry and deceitful thoughts so I may grow and bear fruit in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, April 27, 2024

What Do You Want?

Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. — Jeremiah 45:5

Are you seeking great things for yourself? Not seeking to become a great man or woman, but seeking great gifts from God? God wants your relationship with him to be closer than a relationship based on receiving his gifts. He wants you to get to know him. Nothing is easier than getting into a right relationship with God, except when you’re only looking for what you can get out of it.

If, in your walk in faith, you’ve only come as far as asking God for blessings, you haven’t begun to approach full abandonment to him. You’ve become a Christian, but you’ve become one on your own terms rather than his. “I asked God for the Holy Spirit,” you say, “but he did not give me the peace I expected.” God puts his finger on the reason at once: you aren’t seeking him at all; you’re seeking things for yourself.

Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Luke 11:9). You cannot ask if you are not asking for a right thing. Are you asking God for the great gift of the Holy Spirit? If he has not given it, it is because you are not abandoned enough: there is still something you will not do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what you want from God and why you want it? “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why ask? So that you may get to know him. When you draw near to God, you will stop asking for anything other than him.

God ignores present perfection for ultimate perfection. He isn’t concerned about making you blessed and happy right now. He is working out his ultimate perfection: “That they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11).

1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48

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.