Job 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IN THE MEANTIME - April 4, 2025

Is Peter speaking to us when he urges, “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it” (1 Peter 2:11 MSG)? We know our Father’s name, and he has claimed us, but he has yet to come for us. So here we are, caught between what is and what will be. No longer orphans but not yet home. What do we do in the meantime?

Indeed, it can be just that—a mean time. Time made mean with disease, deceit, death, and debt. How do we live in the mean time? How do we keep our hearts headed home? “Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect” (Hebrews 12:2 NCV). Look to Jesus. Ponder his life. Consider his ways. Meditate on his words. Jesus, just Jesus.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 33

“So please, Job, hear me out,

honor me by listening to me.

What I’m about to say

has been carefully thought out.

I have no ulterior motives in this;

I’m speaking honestly from my heart.

The Spirit of God made me what I am,

the breath of God Almighty gave me life!

God Always Answers, One Way or Another

5–7  “And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.

Lay out your arguments. Stand up for yourself!

Look, I’m human—no better than you;

we’re both made of the same kind of mud.

So let’s work this through together;

don’t let my aggressiveness overwhelm you.

8–11  “Here’s what you said.

I heard you say it with my own ears.

You said, ‘I’m pure—I’ve done nothing wrong.

Believe me, I’m clean—my conscience is clear.

But God keeps picking on me;

he treats me like I’m his enemy.

He’s thrown me in jail;

he keeps me under constant surveillance.’

12–14  “But let me tell you, Job, you’re wrong, dead wrong!

God is far greater than any human.

So how dare you haul him into court,

and then complain that he won’t answer your charges?

God always answers, one way or another,

even when people don’t recognize his presence.

15–18  “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night,

when men and women are deep in sleep,

fast asleep in their beds—

God opens their ears

and impresses them with warnings

To turn them back from something bad they’re planning,

from some reckless choice,

And keep them from an early grave,

from the river of no return.

19–22  “Or, God might get their attention through pain,

by throwing them on a bed of suffering,

So they can’t stand the sight of food,

have no appetite for their favorite treats.

They lose weight, wasting away to nothing,

reduced to a bag of bones.

They hang on the cliff-edge of death,

knowing the next breath may be their last.

23–25  “But even then an angel could come,

a champion—there are thousands of them!—

to take up your cause,

A messenger who would mercifully intervene,

canceling the death sentence with the words:

‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’

Before you know it, you’re healed,

the very picture of health!

26–28  “Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!

You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,

finding yourself set right with God.

You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,

testifying, ‘I messed up my life—

and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.

But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.

I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’

29–30  “This is the way God works.

Over and over again

He pulls our souls back from certain destruction

so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!

31–33  “Keep listening, Job.

Don’t interrupt—I’m not finished yet.

But if you think of anything I should know, tell me.

There’s nothing I’d like better than to see your name cleared.

Meanwhile, keep listening. Don’t distract me with interruptions.

I’m going to teach you the basics of wisdom.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 04, 2025

by James Banks

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Revelation 5:7-14

He came to the One Seated on the Throne and took the scroll from his right hand. The moment he took the scroll, the Four Animals and Twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. Each had a harp and each had a bowl, a gold bowl filled with incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. And they sang a new song:

Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals.

Slain! Paying in blood, you bought men and women,

Bought them back from all over the earth,

Bought them back for God.

Then you made them a Kingdom, Priests for our God,

Priest-kings to rule over the earth.

11–14  I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

The slain Lamb is worthy!

Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength!

Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!

Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!

The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength,

For age after age after age.

The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped.

Today's Insights

In Revelation 4, the apostle John heard a voice that said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place” (v. 1). Immediately, he was taken to heaven “in the Spirit” (v. 2), where he saw an incredible vision of heaven’s throne room (vv. 3-11). In chapter 5, Christ is introduced as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (v. 5). Almost immediately, though, He’s described as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (v. 6). This one who lovingly receives our prayers will also one day open the scroll we read of in today’s passage (vv. 7-14).

Our Father’s Treasures

They were holding golden bowls full of . . . the prayers of God’s people. Revelation 5:8

It’s just an old pocketknife, worn and tarnished with time. The blade is chipped and the handle notched, but it was one of my father’s treasures, kept in a box on his dresser until he gave it to me. “It’s one of the few things I have from your grandfather,” he told me. My grandfather died when my father was young, and Dad treasured the knife because he treasured his father.

The Bible tells us that God also has an unlikely treasure, something we might not expect. In Revelation, we see a throne in heaven encircled by “four living creatures” and “twenty-four elders,” bowing before Jesus in worship (chs. 4-5). Each one is holding “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (5:8). In ancient times, incense was something precious, used by kings (think of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh offered to Jesus in Matthew 2:11). Our prayers may not seem like much to us at times, but God wants them lifted before Him always.

Revelation 5 emphasizes the worthiness of Jesus because of His sinless life and loving death for us. Jesus’ worthiness points us to why God values our prayers. Our prayers are precious to God because we’re precious to Him. Because He loves us with such selfless, priceless, and merciful love, He longs for us to stay close to Him in prayer.

Reflect & Pray

How will you love God with your prayers today? Who and what can you bring before Him in loving prayer?

Loving Savior, You’re worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).

Discover more about the life-enriching power of prayer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 04, 2025

Spiritual Grit

A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered. — John 16:32

Jesus isn’t rebuking the disciples in this passage: he knows that their faith is real. But he also knows that their faith is disturbed. The disciples are scattered to their own interests, interests that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Their faith isn’t at work in the world in the way it should be.

God allowed the disciples to be scattered for a reason: so that they might develop spiritual grit. After we’ve been perfectly related to God in sanctification, we must learn to apply our faith to the actual stuff of life. Like the disciples, we will be scattered—not geographically, but emotionally. In this state, we will discover what internal death to God’s blessings means. Are we prepared for this experience? It’s not something we choose; it’s a discipline God puts us through. Until we’ve been through this experience, our faith is bolstered up by feelings and by blessings. After we’ve been through it, no matter where God places us, no matter our emotional state, we can praise him that all is well.

“You will leave me all alone” (John 16:32). Have we left Jesus alone because our circumstances are dark? God is never in a hurry. Darkness comes through his sovereign will. If we wait, we’ll see what he’s trying to show us: that we haven’t been interested in him, only in his blessings.

Are we prepared to let God separate us emotionally from his blessings, to scatter us into darkness and desolation? If we let him, spiritual grit will be our reward. Then no trouble great or small will be able to stop us from taking heart: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (v. 33).

Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6).

The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L

Job 32, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU ARE HEADED HOME - April 3, 2025

God sought you. He searched you out. Before you knew you needed adopting, he’d already filed the papers. Listen to this passage from Romans 8:29 (NLT): “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” What’s more, he covered the adoption fees. “God sent him,” speaking of Christ, “to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children” (Galatians 4:5 NLT).

You see, the moment we accept his offer we go from orphans to heirs. Heirs with a new name, new home, new life. Heaven knows no stepchildren or grandchildren. You and Christ share the same will. What he inherits, you inherit. You are headed home.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 32

ELIHU SPEAKS

God’s Spirit Makes Wisdom Possible

1–5  32 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch—wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.

6–10  This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said:

“I’m a young man,

and you are all old and experienced.

That’s why I kept quiet

and held back from joining the discussion.

I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell.

The longer you live, the wiser you become.’

But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person,

the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible.

The experts have no corner on wisdom;

getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.

So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well!

I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.

11–14  “I hung on your words while you spoke,

listened carefully to your arguments.

While you searched for the right words,

I was all ears.

And now what have you proved? Nothing.

Nothing you say has even touched Job.

And don’t excuse yourselves by saying, ‘We’ve done our best.

Now it’s up to God to talk sense into him.’

Job has yet to contend with me.

And rest assured, I won’t be using your arguments!

15–22  “Do you three have nothing else to say?

Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!

Why should I wait any longer,

now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks?

I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right!

It’s my turn—and it’s about time!

I’ve got a lot to say,

and I’m bursting to say it.

The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth.

I’m a volcano ready to blow.

I have to speak—I have no choice.

I have to say what’s on my heart,

And I’m going to say it straight—

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I was never any good at bootlicking;

my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 03, 2025

by Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Exodus 15:22-27

Traveling Through the Wilderness

22–24  Moses led Israel from the Red Sea on to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled for three days through the wilderness without finding any water. They got to Marah, but they couldn’t drink the water at Marah; it was bitter. That’s why they called the place Marah (Bitter). And the people complained to Moses, “So what are we supposed to drink?”

25  So Moses cried out in prayer to God. God pointed him to a stick of wood. Moses threw it into the water and the water turned sweet.

26  That’s the place where God set up rules and procedures; that’s where he started testing them.

God said, “If you listen, listen obediently to how God tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I won’t strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians; I am God your healer.”

27  They came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. They set up camp there by the water.

Today's Insights

In the early phases of the exodus, God reintroduced Himself to His chosen people, who’d clearly drifted from Him after more than four hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the miracle plagues, God had shown His superiority over the gods of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, He’d displayed His superiority over Pharaoh and his armies. Now, in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, God showed His superiority over the harsh desert conditions by cleansing the bitter waters of Marah for the people. In the piece of wood mentioned in Exodus 15:25 (translated as “tree” or “log” in some versions), some see a picture of the cross, which can sweeten a bitter life. At Mount Sinai, God would continue revealing Himself to His grumbling people through signs, wonders, and the law, but His ultimate revelation would come many centuries later in Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Not Grumbling Against God

Moses cried out to the Lord. Exodus 15:25

As an answer to prayer, unexpected funds from Alex’s insurance had already paid for his dental treatment. Now, another treatment was necessary. Where will I get the money for that? Alex grumbled. Resentful thoughts of heavy expenses filled his mind.

At the time when a deposit to the dentist was due, however, a cash gift from a relative suddenly arrived. “I felt ashamed,” Alex said. “I’d already seen how God had provided for me with the insurance payment. I shouldn’t have grumbled but asked Him for help instead.”

When the Israelites entered the Desert of Shur, they’d just experienced God’s deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). His miraculous help, however, now seemed forgotten as they grumbled over the absence of drinkable water in the desert (15:22-24). The Hebrew word for “grumbling” refers to rebellion against God. The resentful response of the Israelites was very different from Moses’, who asked God for help (v. 25). Later, God graciously provided water for His people (vv. 25-27).

In times of need, we can avoid grumbling by asking God for help as Moses did. Whether His help comes in miraculous ways, practical provision, people’s assistance, or the strength to endure, we can trust that He hears us and cares for us.

Reflect & Pray

In the past, what may have caused you to grumble in times of need? How can you remind yourself to always turn to God for help just as Moses did?

Faithful God, You’re my provider. Please help me to look to You in trust and to rely on You in times of need.

Find comfort and strength in this deep dive into Moses's struggles in Exodus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 03, 2025

If You’d Only Known

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. — Luke 19:42

Jesus entered into Jerusalem in triumph, but a strange god was there: the pride of Pharisaism. The Pharisees were religious and proper, but Jesus saw straight through them: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27).

What is it that blinds me in my day? Do I have a strange god—not a disgusting monster, but a mindset that rules and dominates me? More than once, the Lord has brought me face-to-face with this strange god, but instead of yielding to the Lord, I scraped through. Now I am still in the strange god’s possession, still blind to the thing that would bring me peace.

“If you, even you, had only known …” These words imply culpability; God holds us responsible for what we do not see. It is appalling that we can be in the place where the Spirit of God should be ruling us and still be increasing our condemnation in his sight.

“Now it is hidden from your eyes.” God goes directly to the heart, and the tears of Jesus follow. The terrible sadness of the might-have-been! God never reopens doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but he reminds us that there are doors we’ve shut that need never have been shut.

Never be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God, with its rebuke and sorrow. God will turn the might-have-been into something wonderful in the future.

Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.

So Send I You, 1330 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 03, 2025

MORE LIKE JESUS? - #9974

Arnold Schwarzenegger - now, that's not exactly a stage name. But, boy, he became a star! And in case you haven't been around for a while, you know Arnold Schwarzenegger became one of Hollywood's hottest properties and then the Governor of California; the bodybuilder who became a movie star. In fact, I'm often mistaken for him on the street. Uh-huh. He's made the cover of magazines, and apparently when he's in a movie it has guaranteed a big draw at the gate.

Of course, he built his reputation first as a bodybuilder, he was Mr. Universe, or Mr. Milky Way or something. But he is impressively strong. He began lifting weight to train for the local soccer team back in his home country of Austria. And he got up early to lift in the morning, and then he'd race to the gym after school. His hero, he says, was a Mr. Universe who had starred in several Hercules movies. He said, "He was everything I wanted to be; a champion, a muscle film star, a great businessman. My parents," Arnold said, "thought it was strange. Most guys had posters of girls all over their walls; I had a guy flexing." Well, you know, that's an interesting insight into how we become a certain kind of person.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "More Like Jesus?"

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2, and I'll begin reading at verse 21. "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin, no deceit was found in His mouth. When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats." This says here that we have an example, and it's the way that Christ lived His life. In fact, this word example, if you go back to the original Greek language of the New Testament, is the word "copy head." It literally was the copy head that they put at the top of a school child's slate. So when he's trying to learn the alphabet, he kept looking at how the letters should be formed until he made it just like it was on the copy head.

Now, Peter says Christ is our copy head. He's saying, "Keep looking at Jesus, and you'll start to respond as He did." Arnold Schwarzenegger said he became strong because he kept looking at a picture of a strong man; someone who was "everything he wanted to be." Well, I'll tell you this, "Jesus is everything I want to be." How about you? Everything he said was trusted, because there was no deceit in His mouth. There were no marks on His holiness. He acted in situations; He did not react. He suffered with grace that embarrassed those who caused the suffering.

How do you get to be like that? By daily looking at Him. Read the Gospels frequently in your personal quiet time, and compare your responses to your Lord's. Review your major life situations with Jesus daily and ask Him to help you see what He sees. Make your magnificent obsession this question, "What would Jesus do?" It often won't be what you feel like doing, or what our culture says to do, or what seems to be your right to do, but risk everything on doing what your Master, your model would do. It means you have to dedicate yourself to becoming an expert on Jesus. See, there's no lazy way to do this.

If you will daily, consciously, and stubbornly model yourself after Him, you'll start to make the kind of difference He made. Be sure Jesus is the picture that you just keep looking at.

Matthew 13:31-58, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PERFECT PICTURE OF GOD - April 2, 2025

These words are found in the Book of Psalms: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Psalm 37:23–24 NLT). Do the words of the psalmist surprise you? Where did we get this idea of a God who does not care, who is not near? We certainly didn’t get it from Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the perfect picture of God. Want to know how God feels about the sick? Then look at Jesus. What angers God? Look at Jesus. Does God ever give up on people? Does he stand up for people? Find the answer in Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 (AMP) says, “The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God…he is the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence.”

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Matthew 13:31-58

Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”

33  Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.”

34–35  All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:

I will open my mouth and tell stories;

I will bring out into the open

things hidden since the world’s first day.

The Curtain of History

36  Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, “Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field.”

37–39  So he explained. “The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels.

40–43  “The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?

44  “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.

45–46  “Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

47–50  “Or, God’s kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That’s how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won’t do any good.”

51  Jesus asked, “Are you starting to get a handle on all this?”

They answered, “Yes.”

52  He said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.”

53–57  When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint.

58  But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

by Sheridan Voysey

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Luke 15:17-24

 “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

20–21  “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’

22–24  “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.

Today's Insights

Luke 15 contains three related parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The common theme in all is God’s great love for the lost. Why were these parables told in this sequence? Some have suggested it’s a matter of proportion (from smallest to largest): First, one out of a hundred sheep is lost; second, one out of ten coins; lastly, one out of two sons. No matter the reason, the last parable is the longest and most moving. Later in Luke, we read: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (19:10). The message is clear: God pursues and longs for us to turn to Him and be saved—to receive the forgiveness and salvation He offers through His Son’s sacrifice for our sins. Why? Because He loves us: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

All Is Forgiven

This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Luke 15:24

In one of his short stories, Ernest Hemingway tells a tale about a Spanish father who longs to reunite with his estranged son. He places an advertisement in a local newspaper: Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. When the father arrives, he finds a crowd waiting. Eight hundred Pacos had responded to his advertisement, longing to be forgiven by their fathers.

It’s a touching story that speaks to our own deep desire for forgiveness, and it reminds me of a story Jesus told. There, a young man leaves his father on a hunt for “wild living” but soon finds himself in trouble (Luke 15:13-14). When he “[comes] to his senses” and returns home (v. 17), his estranged father rushes to embrace him before he’s even had a chance to apologize (v. 20). “This son of mine was dead and is alive again,” the father cries in joy; “he was lost and is found” (v. 24). In this story, the father represents God, the son represents us, and heaven’s joy is glimpsed when we too return to our heavenly Father.

Forgiveness lifts a weight off a guilty soul. But like a gift, what’s offered to us must be received. Hemingway never tells us if the father in this story finds his own Paco. Will the Father in Jesus’ story have His sons and daughters return? His arms are outstretched, awaiting our response.

Reflect & Pray

How would you feel if you were Paco’s father? What can hold you back from receiving divine forgiveness?

Father, knowing what I’ve done, Your offer of forgiveness is overwhelming. I receive it, thank You!

For further study, read A Child’s Compassion.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

The Lord . . . has sent me so that you may see again. — Acts 9:17

When Paul’s vision was restored after three days of blindness, he also received something spiritual: insight into the person of Jesus Christ. At once Paul “began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). For the rest of Paul’s days, Jesus Christ was the whole of his life and the whole of his preaching. No other attraction was allowed to hold his mind and soul.

When we receive a vision of Jesus Christ, when the Spirit grants us insight into the character of our Lord, we must immediately begin to live up to the standard of what we’ve seen. The abiding characteristic of spiritual people is an ability to apply what they’ve seen of Jesus Christ to themselves and to share his purposes with others. Whenever we see people steadfastly applying Jesus Christ in this way, we know that they have been remade after God’s own heart. We know that the ruling passion of their life is Jesus Christ.

Never allow anything to distract you from insight into Jesus. It is the test of whether or not you are spiritual. To be unspiritual means that other things still hold fascination for you. The only thing fascinating to a disciple is the Lord. “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. 

My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 02, 2025

HEALING OTHERS, HEALING YOU - #9973

I've had days when my back felt about 20 years older than the rest of my body. Ever had that? Sciatica is what I think the doctor called it. I just called it "sorebacka." I'm grateful I haven't had a bout like that for several years, but I can tell you that when I wake up crooked, I feel like just staying in bed or in any comfortable position I can find. But I got some weird advice. Someone said, "Go for a walk when your back is hurting." Now, let me tell you this, walking is the last thing I feel like doing, but I decided to try it. I walked around our lake, and by the time I returned, the pain had basically gone away. I had to force myself to exercise, but it was exercise that actually made me feel better. Now there's a new scientific study that compared two groups of people with "sorebacka" (wait a minute, oh that's sciatica) - one that took it easy and one that exercised. The exercisers reported less pain and more mobility. Now, what you don't feel like doing when you're hurting is what will actually help you stop hurting!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Healing Others, Healing You."

Exercising to help the pain - that doesn't just work for a hurting back. It works for a hurting heart. This could be a stretch of your life that's particularly painful. You're hurting from a tragedy, a broken relationship, maybe financial struggles, or medical battles, some new wounds, or some old wounds. And just like me with an aching back, you're seeking some comfort. But just like me, you might find it, not by trying to get comfortable, but by going out and actually exercising spiritually.

Here's the prescription. It's from our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 11:25. "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So, God says something refreshing happens to your spirit when you reach out to refresh others. And that's the kind of exercise that helps a hurting heart - doing something for someone else who's in need.

Is that what you feel like doing? No. When you're hurting, you feel like withdrawing from people, not connecting with them. You want to pretty much just focus on yourself. Our human nature says, "I'm hurting right now, so hey, it's all about me." But that's only going to intensify the pain or even prolong the pain.

You can actually speed up your healing by doing what you don't feel like doing; getting involved with people when you feel like withdrawing from people, getting active when you feel like being inactive, charging into some ministry or helping role when you feel like retreating, looking for someone whose need you can meet instead of someone who can meet yours. The hurt you've been through will give you the sensitivity and the credentials to minister to other hurting people.

What you've been through may cause you to pull back, and maybe now you're just nursing the pain. That's what I felt like doing with my aching back. But I had to put the hurting parts to work in order to get any relief. That may be exactly where you are right now. You're not going to break out of this downer until you get busy, in the Bible's words, "refreshing others." That's when you'll finally be refreshed.

Jesus said, "Whoever hangs onto his life will lose it." It's the person who gives his life away that will find it. So force yourself to get out of your chair, out of your bed and look for some people who need you. As you exercise on their behalf, the healing of your own pain can finally begin.

Job 31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE FATHER KNOWS YOU - April 1, 2025

Are you open to the idea of a Father, a heavenly Father, who knows you? A soon-to-be home that awaits you? Would you consider this life-changing idea: the almighty and all-knowing God has set his affection on you. Every detail about you he knows. Your interests, your hang-ups, your fears, your failures. He knows you.

About his children God says, “The Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9 NIV). King David wrote, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my path” (Psalm 142:3 NKJV). Do you know this God who knows you? He knows your name, and he can’t wait to get you home. The ever-recurring, soul-lifting message of heaven: “The Lord delights in you” (Isaiah 62:4 NKJV).

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 31

What Can I Expect from God?

1–4  31 “I made a solemn pact with myself

never to undress a girl with my eyes.

So what can I expect from God?

What do I deserve from God Almighty above?

Isn’t calamity reserved for the wicked?

Isn’t disaster supposed to strike those who do wrong?

Isn’t God looking, observing how I live?

Doesn’t he mark every step I take?

5–8  “Have I walked hand in hand with falsehood,

or hung out in the company of deceit?

Weigh me on a set of honest scales

so God has proof of my integrity.

If I’ve strayed off the straight and narrow,

wanted things I had no right to,

messed around with sin,

Go ahead, then—

give my portion to someone who deserves it.

9–12  “If I’ve let myself be seduced by a woman

and conspired to go to bed with her,

Fine, my wife has every right to go ahead

and sleep with anyone she wants to.

For disgusting behavior like that,

I’d deserve the worst punishment you could hand out.

Adultery is a fire that burns the house down;

I wouldn’t expect anything I count dear to survive it.

13–15  “Have I ever been unfair to my employees

when they brought a complaint to me?

What, then, will I do when God confronts me?

When God examines my books, what can I say?

Didn’t the same God who made me, make them?

Aren’t we all made of the same stuff, equals before God?

16–18  “Have I ignored the needs of the poor,

turned my back on the indigent,

Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face

while they languished?

Wasn’t my home always open to them?

Weren’t they always welcome at my table?

19–20  “Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold

when they had no warm clothes?

Didn’t the poor bless me when they saw me coming,

knowing I’d brought coats from my closet?

21–23  “If I’ve ever used my strength and influence

to take advantage of the unfortunate,

Go ahead, break both my arms,

cut off all my fingers!

The fear of God has kept me from these things—

how else could I ever face him?

If Only Someone Would Give Me a Hearing!

24–28  “Did I set my heart on making big money

or worship at the bank?

Did I boast about my wealth,

show off because I was well-off?

Was I ever so awed by the sun’s brilliance

and moved by the moon’s beauty

That I let myself become seduced by them

and worshiped them on the sly?

If so, I would deserve the worst of punishments,

for I would be betraying God himself.

29–30  “Did I ever crow over my enemy’s ruin?

Or gloat over my rival’s bad luck?

No, I never said a word of detraction,

never cursed them, even under my breath.

31–34  “Didn’t those who worked for me say,

‘He fed us well. There were always second helpings’?

And no stranger ever had to spend a night in the street;

my doors were always open to travelers.

Did I hide my sin the way Adam did,

or conceal my guilt behind closed doors

Because I was afraid what people would say,

fearing the gossip of the neighbors so much

That I turned myself into a recluse?

You know good and well that I didn’t.

35–37  “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing!

I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer!

I want to see my indictment in writing.

Anyone’s welcome to read my defense;

I’ll write it on a poster and carry it around town.

I’m prepared to account for every move I’ve ever made—

to anyone and everyone, prince or pauper.

38–40  “If the very ground that I farm accuses me,

if even the furrows fill with tears from my abuse,

If I’ve ever raped the earth for my own profit

or dispossessed its rightful owners,

Then curse it with thistles instead of wheat,

curse it with weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job to his three friends were finished.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

by Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Peter 3:8-12

Suffering for Doing Good

8–12  Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life

and see the day fill up with good,

Here’s what you do:

Say nothing evil or hurtful;

Snub evil and cultivate good;

run after peace for all you’re worth.

God looks on all this with approval,

listening and responding well to what he’s asked;

But he turns his back

on those who do evil things.

Today's Insights

In 1 Peter 3:10-12, Peter strengthens his point on how to respond to suffering by quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, a psalm that came out of one of David’s frightening experiences. Having escaped King Saul’s murderous pursuit, David ended up in Gath—the home of his former Philistine opponent, Goliath. When David’s identity is exposed, he pretends to be insane (1 Samuel 21:10-15) and escapes from Gath. The account in 1 Samuel focuses on David’s apparent ingenuity in cleverly escaping danger, but in Psalm 34, as he reflects on the event, he sees that his rescue came from God, not his own scheme (v. 17). Peter’s use of this psalm captures the hopeful optimism of David, whose trust in God’s kind protection and care had been rewarded in his escape from Gath.

Triumph of Kindness in Christ

When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. Titus 3:4-5

When Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in modern-day Major League Baseball, played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on May 9, 1947, ten-year-old Doris was in the upper-deck stands with her father. When an elderly Black man made his way down the aisle to a seat next to them, her father led the way in getting acquainted. Doris said their conversation about scorekeeping made her feel “grown up.” She later reflected, “I’ve never forgotten that man and his smiling face.” The delightful interaction between Doris, a young White girl, and the kind, elderly man, who was the son of slaves, was a bright spot that day.

This was in stark contrast, however, to the hateful conduct Robinson had experienced at another game that season. He recounted that “in terms of race, they yelled everything at me; it was quite vicious.”

Vicious conduct isn’t limited to sports fields. Homes, neighborhoods, workspaces, and even our churches can be places where ugliness wins. Those who believe in the God who displayed kindness through His Son (see Titus 3:4), however, are called to do the same. Peter writes: “Be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult” (1 Peter 3:8-9). Kindness triumphs when those who’ve received it from God share it generously with others as the Spirit helps them.

Reflect & Pray

When are you tempted to be unkind? How have you been the recipient of kindness?

Dear Father, I’m grateful for the kindness You’ve given through Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

Heartlessness versus Heartiness

The Spirit intercedes for God’s people. . . . Christ Jesus . . . is also interceding for us. — Romans 8:34,27

Do we need anything beyond these verses to convince us that we, too, should intercede? Are we living in a vital relationship to others, doing the work of interceding for them in prayer as Spirit-taught children of God?

Consider your present circumstances—your home, your business, and your country. Consider the crises that are touching you and those around you. Are your burdens crushing you? Are they crowding out the presence of God, leaving you no time to worship and no time to pray for others? If so, call a time-out. Get yourself into such a living relationship with God that your relationship to others may be maintained through the intercession in prayer by which God works his marvels.

Often we become so overwhelmed by difficulties and by the needs of the people around us that we forget to worship and to intercede. God continually introduces us to people for whom we have no affinity, and if we aren’t in the habit of worshipping and interceding, the most natural thing to do is to treat these people heartlessly—to jab a bit of Scripture at them, or make some trite, impersonal quip about God, and get away as fast as we can.

We have to beware of outpacing God in our very longing to do his will. We run ahead of him in a thousand and one activities, attempting to tackle burdens and pressures on our own, instead of bringing them directly to him. If difficulties arise and we aren’t in the worshipping frame of mind, the result will be hardness toward God, heartlessness toward others, and despair in our souls.

A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord. Bring yourself into alignment with Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and begin to intercede as they do, “in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:27).

Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

What the Quake Can't Take - #9972

One moment they were in their apartment building. The next they were under it. Ninety people were trapped when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar suddenly leveled their building.Fifty Myanmar children went to preschool that day. At least a dozen died there in the sudden collapse of their school.

One doctor in Mandalay said: "Wherever I looked, I saw collapsed buildings. Only dust."

It's a tragedy that's almost incomprehensible. Especially when some scientists are estimating the death toll could even go to 10,000. Not numbers. Somebody's son or daughter. Husband or wife. Mom or dad.

In spite of the ferocity of the quake, many did not have to die. As one expert explained, building codes in this quake-prone area "fail to fully consider earthquake resistance measures." In other words, unlike places like Japan, structures are not built to withstand the shock of a major quake.

It's not just buildings with that kind of vulnerability. It's people.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What the Quake Can't Take."

Cancer. Stroke. Heart attack. The death of a child. Or, like me, the death of the love of your life. It's just been a litany of loss lately among friends and acquaintances. Bad news from the doctor. Financial collapse. A devastating fire or storm. The collapse of a marriage. Mental health and anxiety issues are off the charts.

It's like we're all living in a quake prone zone. The question is not, "Will there be a lifequake?" The question is, "Is what I'm building my life on strong enough to withstand the trauma that shakes everything in my world?"

So many things we live for... we depend on... our "go to's" fail us when the quake hits. We look around and there's "only dust." What is there that the quake can't take?

That's something the Biblical psalmist addresses when he wrote these words in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with surging... Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall". He's saying here that literally, everything is collapsing. But listen... "The Lord Almighty is with us."

A ship in a storm can be tossed around violently. But the anchor holds. Mine did nine years ago next month. It shook my world like nothing else ever could. The Great Quake - death - suddenly took my Karen, the love of my life since I was 19.

But there's something it couldn't take. My personal relationship with the only Person who ever beat death. The one man who walked out of His grave under His own power. Jesus. The Christ. The Son of God.

Yes, the one who promised to love me "til death do us part" kept her promise. But death did us part. But, in the words of Scripture, "Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). It's the love we saw poured out for our sins on the day we call Good Friday. A love that didn't turn its back then. A love that never will.

Millions of people for two thousand years have anchored their life to this Jesus, and found that "we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). It seems appropriate that on that morning we call Easter the Bible says, "there was a violent earthquake" at the tomb of Jesus. For that is the day He walked out of that grave to conquer the Great Quake of death.

Listen, if you want to be sure you belong to Him in an uncertain world, our website is there to help you begin a relationship with Him. Would you go there today? It's ANewStory.com.

Someday I will face the Great Quake. But not alone. For, as the Bible says, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For YOU are with me!" (Psalm 23:4)

Job 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES - March 31, 2025

God keeps his promises. Shouldn’t God’s promise-keeping inspire yours? People can exhaust you. There are times when all we can do is not enough. When a spouse chooses to leave, we can’t force him or her to stay. And you’re tired, you’re angry, you’re disappointed. This isn’t the marriage you expected or the life you wanted. But looming in your past is a promise you made. Whatever that is, may I urge you to do all you can to keep it? To give it one more try? Why should you? So you can understand the depth of God’s love.

You see, when you love the unloving, you get a glimpse of what God does every day for you and me. When you keep the porch light on for the prodigal child, you do what God does every single moment. Pay attention. Take notes on your struggles. God invites you to understand his love by loving others the way he does.

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 30

The Pain Never Lets Up

1–8  30 “But no longer. Now I’m the butt of their jokes—

young ruffians! whippersnappers!

Why, I considered their fathers

mere inexperienced pups.

But they are worse than dogs—good for nothing,

stray, mangy animals,

Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys,

howling at the moon;

Homeless guttersnipes

chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;

Outcasts from the community,

cursed as dangerous delinquents.

Nobody would put up with them;

they were driven from the neighborhood.

You could hear them out there at the edge of town,

yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,

A gang of beggars and no-names,

thrown out on their ears.

9–15  “But now I’m the one they’re after,

mistreating me, taunting and mocking.

They abhor me, they abuse me.

How dare those scoundrels—they spit in my face!

Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap,

they hold nothing back. Anything goes.

They come at me from my blind side,

trip me up, then jump on me while I’m down.

They throw every kind of obstacle in my path,

determined to ruin me—

and no one lifts a finger to help me!

They violate my broken body,

trample through the rubble of my ruined life.

Terrors assault me—

my dignity in shreds,

salvation up in smoke.

16–19  “And now my life drains out,

as suffering seizes and grips me hard.

Night gnaws at my bones;

the pain never lets up.

I am tied hand and foot, my neck in a noose.

I twist and turn.

Thrown facedown in the muck,

I’m a muddy mess, inside and out.

What Did I Do to Deserve This?

20–23  “I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer!

I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!

You’ve turned into my tormenter—

you slap me around, knock me about.

You raised me up so I was riding high

and then dropped me, and I crashed.

I know you’re determined to kill me,

to put me six feet under.

24–31  “What did I do to deserve this?

Did I ever hit anyone who was calling for help?

Haven’t I wept for those who live a hard life,

been heartsick over the lot of the poor?

But where did it get me?

I expected good but evil showed up.

I looked for light but darkness fell.

My stomach’s in a constant churning, never settles down.

Each day confronts me with more suffering.

I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone.

I stand in the congregation and protest.

I howl with the jackals,

I hoot with the owls.

I’m black-and-blue all over,

burning up with fever.

My fiddle plays nothing but the blues;

my mouth harp wails laments.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 31, 2025

by Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Timothy 1:12-17

I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

15–19  Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.

Deep honor and bright glory

to the King of All Time—

One God, Immortal, Invisible,

ever and always. Oh, yes!

Today's Insights

The apostle Paul (Saul) was there at the very beginning of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-4), but at the time, he held no love or loyalty for Jesus and His people. Instead, he approved of the murder of Stephen, a leader in the new church (6:1-6; 7:57–8:1) and then actively hunted down believers in Christ in Jerusalem and “put them in prison” (8:3). He requested letters to travel around the area with the full intention of murdering any believer he could get his hands on or—at the very least—imprisoning them (9:1-2). It’s that very violence—something Paul thought he was doing in the name of God—that the apostle said made him the “worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16). Jesus took a violent, angry man and turned him into someone who would lay down his own life for the salvation of the very people he once sought to murder (Romans 9:3).

Just Right for Jesus

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

Eric’s childhood challenges included a severe skin rash, difficulties in school, and getting high on alcohol or drugs daily from a very early age. Yet the one who dubbed himself as the “king of bad” found that he excelled on the baseball field—until he abandoned baseball after becoming discouraged by discrimination. This allowed him even more time for using and dealing drugs.

Things changed for Eric, however, when he had a life-altering encounter with Jesus while attending a church service. At his job the next day, a dedicated believer in Jesus invited Eric to attend yet another church service, where he heard these words that encouraged him in his newfound faith: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 kjv). Eric’s life has never been the same.

Like Eric, Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) would’ve been classified as a “tough case.” He said, “I am the worst” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He was “once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (v. 13). Like Saul, Eric was just right for Jesus. And so are we, even if we don’t view ourselves in the same league as Saul or Eric, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re all just right for Jesus.

Reflect & Pray

How do Eric and Saul’s stories help you to see God as a forgiving God? What does it mean for you to be just right for Jesus?  

Dear God in heaven, please help me to see that the blood of Jesus cleanses from “big” and “little” sins.

Read more about overcoming sin.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 31, 2025

Spiritual Hypocrisy

If we aren’t mindful of the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. Instead of interceding in prayer when we see another person failing, we’ll turn our discernment into criticism.

Be very careful that you don’t act like a hypocrite and try to fix other people before you yourself are right with God. The Holy Spirit isn’t revealed to us through the intellectual workings of our mind, but through the direct penetration of our souls. If we aren’t alert to the source of the revelation—to the fact that it is God, not us—we will become cauldrons of criticism. We’ll forget what Scripture says about our dealings with others: “You should pray and God will give them life.”

One of the subtlest burdens God puts on his disciples is this burden of using discernment when it comes to other souls. Why does he reveal certain things about others to us? It isn’t so we’ll criticize them. It’s so we’ll take their burden before God. It’s so we’ll form the mind of Christ regarding them, interceding with him on their behalf. God says he will give them life if we pray in this way.

To intercede in prayer isn’t to tell God our opinions or to let him in on the workings of our minds. It’s to stir ourselves up to get at his mind, his thoughts, about the people for whom we intercede. Is Jesus Christ seeing the workings of his soul in us? He can’t—not until we are so identified with him that we strive to know his mind. If we want Jesus to be satisfied with us, we must learn to intercede wholeheartedly on others’ behalf, as he intercedes for us: “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Judges 11-12; Luke 6:1-26

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? 

Disciples Indeed, 389 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 31, 2025

THE SECRET OF STAYING SAFE - #9971

I was out of the country, and my wife was visiting her father, along with our daughter and son-in-law. My wife convinced her dad to hike with them back into the woods to see the spring where they used to go to get water when she was a little girl. That spring gushing from the rocks, just beneath a cave above it.

They spent a few minutes exploring and then they headed back. That night our son-in-law pulled out the video that he'd shot of their little expedition. As the picture panned past that darkened cave, he stopped the video and rewound it to get a closer look. And there, gleaming in the darkness, were the two eyes of a big cat - as in panther or cougar. They had not seen that cat - they had been exploring right beneath that cat - and they never knew the danger they were in.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Secret of Staying Safe."

I wonder how many of those you and I have had in our lives; the things that could have hurt us or destroyed us that we never knew about - the cats that never pounced. In an increasingly dangerous world, isn't it great to know that you are under that kind of protection?

Paul wrote about that security in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 4:17-18. He said, "I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom." Now there is a pretty powerful antidote to fear! The Lord is going to rescue me from every threat, except one - the one that's designed to take me home, right on time. That's right on time according to the life plan He made for me before there was a me.

That doesn't mean we don't take precautions, the ones that God directs us to. Paul often continued to preach boldly, even when he knew there were forces who wanted to kill him in the city. But other times he left town quickly or sneaked out of the city in a basket. When Nehemiah and his workers were threatened, he said, "We prayed to our God and we posted a guard day and night" (Nehemiah 4:9). Now, look! Our faith is not in that guard but in our God. But sometimes God chooses to protect us through practical steps that He asks us to take.

But ultimately we're safe because Almighty God is watching over us. In just six verses in Psalm 121, it says "The Lord watches over you" five times! It concludes by saying, "The Lord will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

So, when is the last time you praised the Lord for all those cats that never pounced? For all those times you've been delivered from danger and never even knew it! Wait 'till we watch the video in heaven. I think we're going to be amazed at what could have happened that didn't!

By the way, something amazing happens when we finally come to the end of trying to make it to God our own way, and understand that God had to come for us in the person of His Son, Jesus. And the only way that the sin that keeps me out of heaven could be paid for was by His Son dying for me. See, we're totally not safe. We will never be safe forever. We will pay the price for the sin against the God that put us here unless that sin is forgiven by the only One who can, and that's the One who died to pay its penalty. That's God's Son, Jesus.

What happens when we put our life in His hands is for the first time in your life and finally and forever you are safe in the arms of the Savior. Have you ever given yourself to Him? Let this be the day. Open your heart to Him. Tell Him, "I'm Yours, Jesus." Go to our website and find out how - ANewStory.com.

When our kids were little, we used to put them to sleep every night singing a little chorus: "Safe am I, safe am I, in the hollow of His hand. Sheltered o'er, sheltered o'er, with His love forevermore. No ill can harm me, no foe alarm me, for He keeps both day and night. Safe am I, in the hollow of His hand." If that's where you are, you're really safe forever. If you've never put your life in Jesus' hands, come home. It's safe there.

Matthew 13:1-30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

On Behalf Of Jesus: by Max Lucado

“This man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41

Finally someone is defending Jesus. Peter fled. The disciples hid. The Jews accused. Pilate washed his hands. Many could have spoken on behalf of Jesus, but none did. Until now.

Kind words from the lips of a thief. He makes his request. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

The Savior turns his heavy head toward the prodigal child and promises, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Matthew 13:1-30

A Harvest Story

1–3  13 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. 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.

9  “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”

Why Tell Stories?

10  The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”

11–15  He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:

Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.

Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.

The people are blockheads!

They stick their fingers in their ears

so they won’t have to listen;

They screw their eyes shut

so they won’t have to look,

so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face

and let me heal them.

16–17  “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.

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.”

24–26  He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

27  “The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’

28  “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’

“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’

29–30  “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’ ”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 30, 2025

by Sheridan Voysey

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Galatians 4:13-15

You were well aware that the reason I ended up preaching to you was that I was physically broken, and so, prevented from continuing my journey, I was forced to stop with you. That is how I came to preach to you.

14–16  And don’t you remember that even though taking in a sick guest was most troublesome for you, you chose to treat me as well as you would have treated an angel of God—as well as you would have treated Jesus himself if he had visited you? What has happened to the satisfaction you felt at that time? There were some of you then who, if possible, would have given your very eyes to me—that is how deeply you cared!

Today's Insights

Christianity was birthed from Judaism. As more and more gentiles became believers in Jesus, the role of Judaism in the Christian faith became an issue. Judaizers, a group of Jewish teachers, taught that believers in Jesus must convert to Judaism and be circumcised to be saved (Galatians 5:2-6; 6:12). Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counter and condemn this false gospel (1:8-9), reminding them that “a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ.” He said, “No one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law” (2:16 nlt) because “the righteous will live by faith” (3:11). Paul makes a personal appeal, reminding them how they had lovingly welcomed him and embraced his teachings fully when he first brought the gospel to them (4:13-14). The apostle warns them of the evil intentions of these false teachers in drawing them away from the true gospel (v. 17).

Beauty from Infirmity

As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Galatians 4:13

The artist Degas suffered retina disease for the last fifty years of his life, switching from paint to pastel because the chalk lines were easier to see. Renoir had to have brushes placed between his fingers when arthritis made them clench like claws. And when surgery left Matisse immobile, he turned to collage, directing assistants to attach colored pieces of paper to a larger sheet on the wall. What followed in each case was a creative breakthrough: Degas’ Blue Dancers, Renoir’s Girls at the Piano, Matisse’s The Sorrows of the King, and other masterpieces. By adapting to their trial, beauty emerged from their infirmity.

In a similar way, Paul wasn’t planning to visit Galatia during his early missionary journeys. An illness forced him there (Galatians 4:13). Apparently, Paul sought a different climate, wound up in Galatia and, even though he was ill, started preaching. Ironically, the Holy Spirit performed miracles through him (3:2-5) and the Galatian church was born. This surprising outcome may never have happened without Paul’s illness.

What trial have you faced, and how did it change the direction of your life? By refocusing your gifts, you too may see God bring beauty out of your infirmity.

Reflect & Pray

How have you seen God turn illness and other trials into opportunities for service? How are both Paul and those artists examples to follow in times of trial?

Dear God, You are genius at bringing beauty out of infirmity. Here are my trials and my talents.

How does faith grow through trials? Join the conversation here!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Holiness versus Hardness

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. — 1 Timothy 2:1

The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that our interest in prayer is merely sentimental. We read books that say prayer is beneficial, that it quiets the mind and uplifts the soul, and this makes us feel good. It makes us feel right to say we pray. But prayer, in God’s eyes, must go together with intercession. One is impossible without the other.

To intercede in prayer on another’s behalf is to seek the mind of God about that person. Too often, instead of worshipping during prayer, we construct arguments about how prayer works. “I don’t see how you’re going to do this,” we say to God. If we’re arguing with God like this, it’s a sure sign that we aren’t worshipping. We’re hurling demands at his throne and dictating what we want him to do. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic toward him. And when we become hard toward God, we become hard toward other people.

Are we worshipping when we pray, lifting our minds up to know God’s thoughts? Are we living in a holy relationship to him? Or are we hard and dogmatic?

“He was appalled that there was no one to intervene” (Isaiah 59:16). If there is no one, do the job yourself. Become the one who worships God and lives in holy relationship to him. Commit to the hard work of intervening in prayer on others’ behalf, and remember that it is, truly, work. But it is work that will sustain you, as the Lord’s “own righteousness sustained him” (v. 16).

Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

Job 29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday

Six hours, one Friday.  Mundane to the casual observer.   A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients.  But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross.  The creator of the universe is being executed.

It is no normal six hours.  It is no normal Friday.  Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart.  And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history?  What do you do with its claims?  They were the most critical hours in history.

Nails didn’t hold God to a cross.  Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!

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

from Six Hours One Friday

Job 29

When God Was Still by My Side

1–6  29 Job now resumed his response:

“Oh, how I long for the good old days,

when God took such very good care of me.

He always held a lamp before me

and I walked through the dark by its light.

Oh, how I miss those golden years

when God’s friendship graced my home,

When the Mighty One was still by my side

and my children were all around me,

When everything was going my way,

and nothing seemed too difficult.

7–20  “When I walked downtown

and sat with my friends in the public square,

Young and old greeted me with respect;

I was honored by everyone in town.

When I spoke, everyone listened;

they hung on my every word.

People who knew me spoke well of me;

my reputation went ahead of me.

I was known for helping people in trouble

and standing up for those who were down on their luck.

The dying blessed me,

and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.

All my dealings with people were good.

I was known for being fair to everyone I met.

I was eyes to the blind

and feet to the lame,

Father to the needy,

and champion of abused aliens.

I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck

and made them give back what they’d stolen.

I thought, ‘I’ll die peacefully in my own bed,

grateful for a long and full life,

A life deep-rooted and well-watered,

a life limber and dew-fresh,

My soul suffused with glory

and my body robust until the day I die.’

21–25  “Men and women listened when I spoke,

hung expectantly on my every word.

After I spoke, they’d be quiet,

taking it all in.

They welcomed my counsel like spring rain,

drinking it all in.

When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it;

their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!

I was their leader, establishing the mood

and setting the pace by which they lived.

Where I led, they followed.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 29, 2025

by Winn Collier

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 31:1-6

The Charge

1–2  31 Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel. He said, “I’m 120 years old today. I can’t get about as I used to. And God told me, ‘You’re not going to cross this Jordan River.’

3–5  “God, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as God said he would.) God will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he’ll destroy them. God will hand the nations over to you, and you’ll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.

6  “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”

Today's Insights

Echoes from Moses’ writings in Deuteronomy 31 can be heard in Psalm 27. Though the genre is different, God, through these inspired writers, calls His people to place their confidence in His care during times of uncertainty. Moses wrote, “Be strong and courageous” (Deuteronomy 31:6). The same combination of Hebrew words appears in Psalm 27:14: “Be strong and take heart.” Moses commanded, “Do not be afraid or terrified because of them” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and David said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). The assurance of God’s presence is likewise expressed by these writers. In the words of Moses, “He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8). From the pen of David we’re assured, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close” (Psalm 27:10 nlt).

God Never Loses Us

[God] will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

The US Department of Transportation reported that in 2021, US airlines mishandled two million bags. Thankfully, many pieces were delayed or lost for only a short period. Thousands of bags were lost for good, however. No wonder there’s a surging market for GPS devices that attach to gear, allowing you to track bags when airlines have given up. We’re all afraid that those in charge can’t be trusted to keep track of what’s important.

Israel had a similar fear about God, only they feared that He was going to lose them. As the people prepared to enter their new homeland, Moses shared the unsettling news that he wouldn’t be guiding them. He explained that he was old and “no longer able to lead [them]” (Deuteronomy 31:2). The people were likely stunned. Moses represented God’s presence and offered His words. Would God forget about them now? Would He lose them in this wilderness?

“Do not be afraid or terrified,” Moses said, “for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (v. 6). He promised that God would always be with them and assured them that He’d never ever lose them. And in the person of Jesus, God makes us this same steady, unbreakable promise. Christ will be with us “to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God will never lose us. Never.

Reflect & Pray

When have you feared God had lost you? How has He shown you that He never forgets you?

Dear God, I often fear that I’m out of Your sight and mind. Please help me to trust that You hold me and will never lose me.

God calls us to be strong and courageous. Find out more by reading The Promise and the Warning.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Our Lord’s Surprise Visits

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. — Luke 12:40

As disciples, we must be ready for Jesus to appear at every moment. This isn’t easy, no matter what our experience is. Our battle isn’t so much against sin or difficulties or circumstances; it’s against being so absorbed in our work that we fail to notice the Son of Man when he comes. And yet, this is the great need: not answering questions about our beliefs or our creeds or whether we are useful but being ready for him.

Jesus rarely comes where we expect him. He comes where we do not expect him, and through the most illogical chains of events. The only way a disciple can be true to God is by being ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. It isn’t service that matters; it’s intense spiritual reality; it’s being ready to welcome Jesus Christ at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder God wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus, we have to stop being “religious.” That is, we have to stop treating religion as a higher kind of culture and become spiritually real. When we are spiritually real, Jesus is able to use us as he likes; at any second, he can visit others through us.

If you are looking to Jesus, if you’re setting your heart on what he wants and avoiding the call of the religious age you live in, you will be considered unpractical and dreamy. But when he appears in the burden and the heat of the day, you will be the one who is ready.

Trust no one who blocks your sight of Jesus Christ, not even the most devout Christian who ever walked the earth. Be always ready to greet the Lord, especially where you least expect him.

Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. 

Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Job 28, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LISTEN TO GOD’S VOICE - March 28, 2025

Two kinds of voices vie for our attention. One says, “God will help you.” The other lies, “God has left you.” And here’s the great news: you select the voices you hear. Why give ear to the pea-brains and scoffers when you can, with the same ear, listen to the voice of God?

I had a friend who battled alcohol. He tried a fresh tactic. He gave me and a few others permission to slug him in the nose if we ever saw him drinking. You know, if the wall is too tall, just try the tunnel. Try something different.

Ephesians 1:19-20 (NCV) says, “God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world.” You turn to God, and he will give you what you need. Turn a deaf ear to the old voices. Open a wide eye to the new choices!

Facing Your Giants: God Still Does the Impossible

Job 28

Where Does Wisdom Come From?

1–11  28 “We all know how silver seams the rocks,

we’ve seen the stuff from which gold is refined,

We’re aware of how iron is dug out of the ground

and copper is smelted from rock.

Miners penetrate the earth’s darkness,

searching the roots of the mountains for ore,

digging away in the suffocating darkness.

Far from civilization, far from the traffic,

they cut a shaft,

and are lowered into it by ropes.

Earth’s surface is a field for grain,

but its depths are a forge

Firing sapphires from stones

and chiseling gold from rocks.

Vultures are blind to its riches,

hawks never lay eyes on it.

Wild animals are oblivious to it,

lions don’t know it’s there.

Miners hammer away at the rock,

they uproot the mountains.

They tunnel through the rock

and find all kinds of beautiful gems.

They discover the origins of rivers,

and bring earth’s secrets to light.

12–19  “But where, oh where, will they find Wisdom?

Where does Insight hide?

Mortals don’t have a clue,

haven’t the slightest idea where to look.

Earth’s depths say, ‘It’s not here’;

ocean deeps echo, ‘Never heard of it.’

It can’t be bought with the finest gold;

no amount of silver can get it.

Even famous Ophir gold can’t buy it,

not even diamonds and sapphires.

Neither gold nor emeralds are comparable;

extravagant jewelry can’t touch it.

Pearl necklaces and ruby bracelets—why bother?

None of this is even a down payment on Wisdom!

Pile gold and African diamonds as high as you will,

they can’t hold a candle to Wisdom.

20–22  “So where does Wisdom come from?

And where does Insight live?

It can’t be found by looking, no matter

how deep you dig, no matter how high you fly.

If you search through the graveyard and question the dead,

they say, ‘We’ve only heard rumors of it.’

23–28  “God alone knows the way to Wisdom,

he knows the exact place to find it.

He knows where everything is on earth,

he sees everything under heaven.

After he commanded the winds to blow

and measured out the waters,

Arranged for the rain

and set off explosions of thunder and lightning,

He focused on Wisdom,

made sure it was all set and tested and ready.

Then he addressed the human race: ‘Here it is!

Fear-of-the-Lord—that’s Wisdom,

and Insight means shunning evil.’ ”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 28, 2025

by Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

James 4:13-17

Nothing but a Wisp of Fog

13–15  And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”

16–17  As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

Today's Insights

James, the half brother of Christ and leader of the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 1:19; 2:9), wrote to Jewish believers in Jesus living outside of Israel (James 1:1). James deals with a church characterized by a rich-poor divide, with favoritism shown to the wealthy, and the rich exploiting the poor (2:1-10; 5:1-6). The rich espoused a worldly and materialistic outlook (4:4-17). James warns these arrogant and self-confident wealthy believers—who think they have the future securely in their hand—that they too are precariously subjected to the uncertainties, brevity, and the frailty of life (v. 14; 5:1-3). Boasting and trusting in themselves is sin. Instead, James tells them to put their trust in God for their future (4:15-16) and to use their material wealth to do good and to help the poor (1:27). The apostle Paul gave a similar command to rich believers in 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Following God’s Plans

If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. James 4:15

I was unable to focus on a work project because of anxiety; I was afraid that my plans for it wouldn’t succeed. My anxiety came from pride. I believed my timeline and plans were best, so I wanted them to proceed unhindered. A question broke through my thoughts, however: Are your plans God’s plans?

The problem wasn’t my planning—God calls us to be wise stewards of our time, opportunities, and resources. The problem was my arrogance. I was fixated on my understanding of events and how I wanted them to turn out, not on God’s purpose and how He wanted my plans to turn out.

James encourages us to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (4:15). We’re to plan not with a presumptuous mindset, thinking we know everything and have control over our life, but from a position of submission to God’s sovereignty and wisdom. After all, we “do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” In our humanness, we’re helpless and weak, like “a mist that appears . . . and then vanishes” (v. 14).

Only God has authority and power over everything in our lives; we don’t. Through the Scriptures and the people, resources, and circumstances He allows each day, He guides us to live in submission to His will and ways. Our plans aren’t to come from following ourselves but from following Him.

Reflect & Pray

When you make plans apart from God’s leading, what’s the outcome? What plans can you submit to His authority?

Dear God, please help me to submit to You and to let go of my plans for my life and embrace Yours.

For further study, read When Fear Seems Overwhelming—Finding Courage and Hope.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 28, 2025

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” — John 11:8

At times, we are like the disciples in John 11: confused about what Jesus is saying and convinced that there must be some misunderstanding. It is dangerous to believe that simply because I don’t understand Jesus, he must be mistaken. Perhaps I think that if I obey God’s word, I’ll bring dishonor to him. I won’t. The only thing that brings dishonor to God is disobedience. To put my idea of his honor above what he is clearly telling me to do is never right, even if it’s coming from a genuine desire to prevent his being slandered or shamed.

You can always tell when an instruction comes from God, because it comes with quiet persistence. When you begin to weigh the pros and cons, you bring in an element that isn’t of God. This is when you risk coming to the conclusion that what he’s saying must be a mistake. Many of us are loyal to our own ideas about Jesus, but how many of us are loyal to him? Loyalty to Jesus means you step out even when there is no path; loyalty to your own ideas means that you try to map out the path first, using your own intelligence. Faith is not intelligent understanding; faith is deliberate commitment to a person when we see no way.

Are you loyal to Jesus, or to your idea of Jesus? Are you loyal to what he says, or are you trying to compromise, bringing in your own rationalizations? When he says something and you start to debate, it’s because you have an idea of his honor that isn’t right.

“Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Stop debating, and obey your Lord with a glad and reckless joy.

Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 28, 2025

Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More - #9970

Clark Kent! What a wimp! I started watching Clark Kent when he was a "mild-mannered reporter," it said, "for a great metropolitan newspaper." I was a kid then. Poor Clark! He always seemed pretty easy to push around, kind of Joe Ordinary; "Clark Can't" really. Of course there was a secret no one in Metropolis suspected. No one knew that underneath that ordinary exterior was his real identity - Superman! Clark knew that he was a whole lot more than meets the eye.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Secret Identity, a Secret No More."

For many years the ancient Jews had been sort of Clark Kent - pushed around, ordinary, powerless. They had been the slave labor force of the Egyptian Empire, exploited, they were beaten and they were stripped of their dignity. In a word, they were victims. But not any more. No, God had delivered them. They were free! Outside that is, but they hadn't gotten that message inside. The Lord was giving them a super new identity, but they were still "Clark Kent-ing."

Our word for today from the Word of God, Leviticus 26, beginning at verse 12 (you're going to like this). God says, "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." Man, listen to who they are! God says, "You are My people, no longer slaves. The bars that have held you have been broken. You can walk with your head held high." God's saying, "I know what you were, but you can stop living like that now. You are liberated! You're Mine!"

They were out of Egypt, sure. But Egypt wasn't out of them. They were out of slavery, but the slavery wasn't out of them. You say, "What does that have to do with me?" A lot, especially if that word victim rings a bell in your heart. Because maybe you've been carrying around a lot of hurt. Honestly, there's been rejection, abuse, maybe rape, abandonment, betrayal. In some form, or maybe in many forms you have been the victim of someone else's sin. If you've been through a lot of pain, it is very natural to see your identity as a victim. Like a business card that has your name and your position on it, except yours has a name and it says "Victim."

But it doesn't have to be that way if you have given your heart to Jesus Christ. He's called Savior, Redeemer, Healer, and if you have Christ, you have a secret identity. A secret because maybe only He knows who you really are now. You don't have to be what you have been. You are no longer a slave He says. He's broken the bars that held you. You can walk with your head held high. You've been loved by God Himself. You've been cleaned up from the sins of the past - yours and those of others because of Jesus' death on the cross. He's made you a son of the King and daughter of the King. You're a prince; you're a princess. You don't have to make the future an extension of your painful or sinful past.

Ask for His grace to turn the page on your past and not be defined by it anymore. To begin a whole new volume. Begin to act as if you are who God says you are, not a victim but a victor.

Clark, maybe your secret identity has been secret even to you. But God says you're free! You're royalty! It's not a secret any more. You don't have to crawl anymore. Because of Jesus, you were meant to fly. It all comes together the day you begin your personal relationship with Jesus. That could be right now when you say, "Jesus, I am Yours."

He'll make you "a new creation," the Bible says. And our website will help you know you belong to Him. If you can get there today, it's ANewStory.com. This is who you were meant to be - new, because of Jesus.