Job 38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Three Cookie Days

Every day, God prepares for us a plate of experiences.  Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not!  Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables, twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash.  Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good?  All are important and all are from God. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.”

The next time your plate has a portion you find hard to swallow, talk to God about it.  Jesus did. In the garden of Gethsemane His Father handed Him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to heaven.

“My Father,” He prayed, “if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me.  Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Mark 14:36).

from The Great House of God

Job 38

GOD CONFRONTS JOB

Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?

1  38 And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:

2–11  “Why do you confuse the issue?

Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?

Pull yourself together, Job!

Up on your feet! Stand tall!

I have some questions for you,

and I want some straight answers.

Where were you when I created the earth?

Tell me, since you know so much!

Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!

Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?

How was its foundation poured,

and who set the cornerstone,

While the morning stars sang in chorus

and all the angels shouted praise?

And who took charge of the ocean

when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?

That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,

and tucked it in safely at night.

Then I made a playpen for it,

a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose,

And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place.

Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’

12–15  “And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’

told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’

So you could seize Earth like a blanket

and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?

As the sun brings everything to light,

brings out all the colors and shapes,

The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked—

they’re caught in the very act!

16–18  “Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,

explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?

Do you know the first thing about death?

Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries?

And do you have any idea how large this earth is?

Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.

19–21  “Do you know where Light comes from

and where Darkness lives

So you can take them by the hand

and lead them home when they get lost?

Why, of course you know that.

You’ve known them all your life,

grown up in the same neighborhood with them!

22–30  “Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,

seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,

The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness

for times of trouble and battle and war?

Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,

or to the place from which the wind blows?

Who do you suppose carves canyons

for the downpours of rain, and charts

the route of thunderstorms

That bring water to unvisited fields,

deserts no one ever lays eyes on,

Drenching the useless wastelands

so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass?

And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,

the mother of ice and frost?

You don’t for a minute imagine

these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

31–33  “Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,

or distract Orion from his hunt?

Can you get Venus to look your way,

or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?

Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations

and how they affect things on Earth?

34–35  “Can you get the attention of the clouds,

and commission a shower of rain?

Can you take charge of the lightning bolts

and have them report to you for orders?

What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?

36–38  “Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis,

and storm-savvy to the rooster?

Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds

or tip over the rain barrels of heaven

When the earth is cracked and dry,

the ground baked hard as a brick?

39–41  “Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey

and satisfy the appetite of her cubs

As they crouch in their den,

waiting hungrily in their cave?

And who sets out food for the ravens

when their young cry to God,

fluttering about because they have no food?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, April 12, 2025

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 14:15-17, 25-31

The Spirit of Truth

15–17  “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

28  “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.

29–31  “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.

“Get up. Let’s go. It’s time to leave here.”

Today's Insights

On the night of His arrest, Jesus celebrated Passover together with His closest followers, which was a commemoration of their ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt (John 13; see Exodus 12:1-12). Christ reminded His disciples that they were special in the world (John 14:16-18, 22), just as God had reminded the Israelites of this through Moses in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 7:7-9; 10:14).

Jesus’ disciples won’t be removed from this world, but they’re to be distinct or set apart from it. Following God’s commands is what set Israel apart from the rest of the world, and it’s the thrust of Christ’s commands to those who believe in Him.

The Spirit’s Helpful Reminders

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, . . . will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26

One year, I agreed to sing a song before one of my son’s sporting events. I practiced for weeks, but I knew the song by heart already. So when I walked onto the field with the teams lined up on both sides of me, I closed my eyes and prayed. I started singing the first few lines. Then, I froze. In that moment I couldn’t remember the next line. A man behind me whispered the words I’d forgotten. As soon as I heard the helpful reminder, I belted out the rest of the lyrics with confidence.

We all need a little help sometimes. In John 14, Jesus explained that we love Him by obeying Him (v. 15), and He promised to ask the Father to give us a Helper—“the Spirit of truth” (v. 17). Jesus said, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (v. 17). Though Jesus taught the disciples a lot while with them (v. 25), He said “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (v. 26).

As we prayerfully read the Bible, the Holy Spirit helps us interpret, understand, and apply God’s wisdom. His leading always aligns with Scripture—guiding, comforting, and transforming us in love, one helpful reminder at a time.

Reflect & Pray

What can you do to better recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice? How do you acknowledge Him daily?

Holy Spirit, please help me recognize Your voice and submit to You as You make me more like Jesus, one helpful reminder at a time.

What does it mean that "God is with us"? Find out more by reading The Promise of Presence.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Moral Dominion

Death no longer has mastery over him. . . . The life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. — Romans 6:9-11

When Jesus Christ walked among us, the life he exhibited was eternal life. Eternal life is not a gift from God. It is the gift of God—the gift God makes of himself to his children. This same life, not a copy of it, is manifested in us when we are born of God.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). The power we receive isn’t a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit. The energy and the power which were manifested in Jesus will be manifested in us by the sheer sovereign grace of God once we’ve made the moral decision about sin. The life that was in Jesus is made ours by means of the cross when once we make the decision to be identified with him. As soon as we do make the decision, we receive the full life of God.

Jesus came to give us endless supplies of life: “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It isn’t life but Life, and its only source is the Lord Jesus Christ. The weakest among us can experience the power of Jesus Christ if we are willing to let go. If instead we cling to our own power, we will blur the life of Jesus inside us. We have to keep letting go, keep identifying with him. Slowly and surely, the great full life of God will invade us in every part of our being, and those we meet will sense that we have been with Jesus.

1 Samuel 19-21; Luke 11:29-54

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.

Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Matthew 15:1-20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WHAT GABRIEL NEVER EXPECTED - April 11, 2025

Prior to Bethlehem God gave us his messengers, his teachers, his words. But in the manger God gave us himself. Extraordinary, don’t you think? I imagine even Gabriel scratched his head at the idea of “God with us.” Gabriel surely was not one to question his God-given missions. When God sent, Gabriel went.

And when word got out that God was to become a human, Gabriel was no doubt enthused. He could envision the moment: The Messiah in a blazing chariot. The King descending on a fiery cloud. An explosion of light from which the Messiah would emerge. What he never expected, however, was a slip of paper with a Nazarene address. “God will become a baby,” it read. “Tell the mother to name the child Jesus. And tell her not to be afraid.”

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Matthew 15:1-20

What Pollutes Your Life

1–2  15 After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, “Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?”

3–9  But Jesus put it right back on them. “Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God’s commands? God clearly says, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel around that by saying, ‘Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I’ve given to God.’ That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God’s command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah’s prophecy of you hit the bull’s-eye:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn’t in it.

They act like they’re worshiping me,

but they don’t mean it.

They just use me as a cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”

10–11  He then called the crowd together and said, “Listen, and take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up.”

12  Later his disciples came and told him, “Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?”

13–14  Jesus shrugged it off. “Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”

15  Peter said, “I don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

16–20  Jesus replied, “You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that’s neither here nor there.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 11, 2025

by Mike Wittmer

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Kings 2:7-14

Meanwhile, fifty men from the guild of prophets gathered some distance away while the two of them stood at the Jordan.

8  Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and hit the water with it. The river divided and the two men walked through on dry land.

9  When they reached the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I’m taken from you? Ask anything.”

Elisha said, “Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man just like you.”

10  “That’s a hard one!” said Elijah. “But if you’re watching when I’m taken from you, you’ll get what you’ve asked for. But only if you’re watching.”

11–14  And so it happened. They were walking along and talking. Suddenly a chariot and horses of fire came between them and Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it all and shouted, “My father, my father! You—the chariot and cavalry of Israel!” When he could no longer see anything, he grabbed his robe and ripped it to pieces. Then he picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him, returned to the shore of the Jordan, and stood there. He took Elijah’s cloak—all that was left of Elijah!—and hit the river with it, saying, “Now where is the God of Elijah? Where is he?”

When he struck the water, the river divided and Elisha walked through.

Today's Insights

After Elijah (Hebrew, “Yahweh is my God”) had completed his ministry assignments, he was miraculously taken from the earth (2 Kings 2:11). Plans were in place, however, for God’s work to continue among His people. Some years before, Elisha (Hebrew, “God is salvation”) had been designated as Elijah’s successor (see 1 Kings 19:16-21). Centuries later, Jesus or Yeshua (Hebrew, “Yah [Yahweh] saves”) also prepared for His departure after His death and resurrection. His work would go on through successors who saw Him when He ascended (Acts 1:10-11) and were empowered by the Holy Spirit. We also can press on in Him even as we grieve those who are no longer with us.

Good Grief

As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. 2 Kings 2:2

A man named Hidesaburo Ueno taught at Tokyo’s Imperial University in the 1920s. Every afternoon, he returned on the 3:00 p.m. train to find his dog, Hachiko, waiting for him. One day Professor Ueno suffered a stroke during class and died. When he didn’t get off the afternoon train, Hachiko lingered a while, then went home. The dog returned the next day at 3:00, and the next day, and the day after that, for ten years. Hachiko’s loyalty touched the hearts of many Japanese, who came to sit with him.

Elisha was similarly committed to his master, Elijah. On the day Elisha knew he would lose him, Elisha refused to let him out of his sight. Then a chariot of fire whisked Elijah to heaven. Elisha choked out what he saw: “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 2:12). He picked up Elijah’s cloak, the symbol of the prophet’s power that had parted the Jordan moments earlier (v. 8), and asked, “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” (v. 14). He struck the water, which parted as it had for his master. What a bittersweet day!

Have you lost someone you love? No words can do justice to your pain. Every sob releases memories of the love you shared. You hurt deeply because you loved deeply. How bittersweet! Thank God for this beloved person and for your capacity to love. Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak. What might you do?

Reflect & Pray

What tangible sign or ritual honors the memory of your loved one? How does Jesus help to carry your burden?

Dear Father, thank You for giving me people to love.

Learn more about Elijah and Elisha by reading A Tale of Two Prophets.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 11, 2025

Moral Divinity

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. — Romans 6:5

The proof that I have been through crucifixion with Jesus is that I resemble him in both attitude and behavior. Through his resurrection, Jesus has the authority to impart the life of God to me, and my outward life must be built on this basis. I can receive the resurrection life of Jesus Christ here and now, and it will show itself outwardly in holiness.

Romans 6:5 presents an idea that runs throughout the apostle Paul’s writings: after I’ve made the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in his death, the resurrection life of Jesus fills every aspect of my human nature. Once I’ve decided my old self—the self defined by the heredity of sin—will be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me and takes charge of everything. The Spirit isn’t a mere guest in the house; he fills every nook and cranny. My responsibility is to walk in the light and to obey everything he reveals to me.

When I’ve made the moral decision about sin, it is easy to conclude that, yes, I really am dead to sin, because wherever I look inside myself I find the life of Jesus there. Just as there is only one stamp of humanity, there is only one stamp of holiness: the holiness of Jesus Christ. God puts the holiness of his Son into me, and I belong to a new order of spirituality.

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 11:1-28

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, April 11, 2025

When You Know An Ugly Secret - #9980

When you're a little kid, they're pretty rough on you if you tell on somebody else. Remember? Oh, maybe that happened to you. Oh, the names they call you when you do that are not particularly complimentary: tattle tail, traitor, (depending on your generation) rat fink. Those are the nice names. It gets worse than that. Kids almost get to feeling that telling about something wrong is worse than doing something wrong. That's not true.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Know an Ugly Secret."

Well, our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Samuel 3. It's about a man named Eli. He was the main man at the temple in those days, and unfortunately for Eli, even though he wasn't carrying out any gross sin that we know about, his sons were out-of-control. They would have been the media scandal of the day, because they used their position as priests at the temple to take money for themselves, and to take women for themselves. And God passes His verdict as we look at 1 Samuel 3, beginning at verse 11.

"And the Lord said to Samuel: 'See, I'm about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family - from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them."

Did you notice that? God says, "I'm going to judge Eli because of the sin, not that he did, but that he knew about." See, with God, knowledge equals responsibility. Now, that's not just in God's scales of justice. Remember way back at the Watergate hearings and how they kept hammering home the question, "What did you know?" And, "When did you know it?"

People who know about a violation of the law and don't do anything about it can be convicted of charges like conspiracy, or obstruction of justice. See, God insists that you take action if you know about wrong that's being done. The Bible says, "He that covers sin will not prosper."

Think how much embarrassment has come to the cause of Christ because of scandals involving Christian leaders, TV evangelists, pastors, and how much of that could have been avoided if people who knew about sin had acted on that knowledge. Often we just bury the secret. Why? Sometimes it's blind loyalty, but sin's going to grow like a cancer. And it will be discovered, but by then the damage will be irreparable. Sometimes it's because of vested interest; we're afraid of what we might lose. But look at Eli. You'll lose a lot more if you don't.

There's a pattern for doing this in Matthew 18, beginning at verse 15. First, you go to the person one-on-one with the sin that you know about. Talk to them about it. If that doesn't work, you go with one or two others. Then Jesus said you go to the church or whatever large group is appropriate. And finally, if they don't respond, Jesus said you cut off fellowship from them, so they'll come to their senses. You do no one a favor when you know about sin and you don't deal with it.

What happens when you don't deal with it, when you don't confront it, is that you are condemning the one who is doing it to greater consequences, and you condemn others to being hurt by that covered-up sin. Oh, and you condemn yourself to judgment from God for covering it up. The longer you wait, the worse the fallout's going to be. So, don't be guilty of obstructing justice - God's justice that is. Remember, when you know an ugly secret, knowledge equals responsibility.

Job 37, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WITH US PROMISE - April 10, 2025

Jesus understands you. He’s faced hunger, sorrow, and death and wants to face them with you. The Bible says Jesus “understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NLT).

If Jesus understands our weaknesses, then so does God. Jesus was God in human form. He was God with us. That’s why Jesus is called Immanuel. Immanu means “with us.” El refers to Elohim, or God. So Immanuel is not an “above-us God” or a “somewhere-in-the-neighborhood God.” He came as the “with-us God.” All of us.

“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NIV). Search for restrictions on the promise, and you’ll find none. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with us” promise. God is with us. What great news!

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 37

“Whenever this happens, my heart stops—

I’m stunned, I can’t catch my breath.

Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,

the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.

He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,

lighting up the earth from pole to pole.

In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,

powerful and majestic.

He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.

No one can mistake that voice—

His word thundering so wondrously,

his mighty acts staggering our understanding.

He orders the snow, ‘Blanket the earth!’

and the rain, ‘Soak the whole countryside!’

No one can escape the weather—it’s there.

And no one can escape from God.

Wild animals take shelter,

crawling into their dens,

When blizzards roar out of the north

and freezing rain crusts the land.

It’s God’s breath that forms the ice,

it’s God’s breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.

And yes, it’s God who fills clouds with rainwater

and hurls lightning from them every which way.

He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—

commands them to do what he says all over the world.

Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love,

he makes sure they make their mark.

A Terrible Beauty Streams from God

14–18  “Job, are you listening? Have you noticed all this?

Stop in your tracks! Take in God’s miracle-wonders!

Do you have any idea how God does it all,

how he makes bright lightning from dark storms,

How he piles up the cumulus clouds—

all these miracle-wonders of a perfect Mind?

Why, you don’t even know how to keep cool

on a sweltering hot day,

So how could you even dream

of making a dent in that hot-tin-roof sky?

19–22  “If you’re so smart, give us a lesson in how to address God.

We’re in the dark and can’t figure it out.

Do you think I’m dumb enough to challenge God?

Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble?

No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun

on a clear and cloudless day.

As gold comes from the northern mountains,

so a terrible beauty streams from God.

23–24  “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach!

Unsurpassable in power and justice!

It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly.

So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all!

If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 10, 2025

by Dave Branon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Romans 16:1-12

Be sure to welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Master, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for. I heartily endorse both her and her work. She’s a key representative of the church at Cenchrea. Help her out in whatever she asks. She deserves anything you can do for her. She’s helped many a person, including me.

3–5  Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila, who have worked hand in hand with me in serving Jesus. They once put their lives on the line for me. And I’m not the only one grateful to them. All the non-Jewish gatherings of believers also owe them plenty, to say nothing of the church that meets in their house.

Hello to my dear friend Epenetus. He was the very first follower of Jesus in the province of Asia.

6  Hello to Mary. What a worker she has turned out to be!

7  Hello to my cousins Andronicus and Junias. We once shared a jail cell. They were believers in Christ before I was. Both of them are outstanding leaders.

8  Hello to Ampliatus, my good friend in the family of God.

9  Hello to Urbanus, our companion in Christ’s work, and my good friend Stachys.

10  Hello to Apelles, a tried-and-true veteran in following Christ.

Hello to the family of Aristobulus.

11  Hello to my cousin Herodion.

Hello to those who belong to the Lord from the family of Narcissus.

12  Hello to Tryphena and Tryphosa—such diligent women in serving the Master.

Hello to Persis, a dear friend and hard worker in Christ.

Today's Insights

Paul’s list of greetings at the end of Romans represents the many people he met during his journeys of sharing the hope of Jesus. Many of the believers in Christ whom he impacted (and who impacted him in return) ended up in Rome, and so he had a great deal of people waiting there for him before he even arrived. Both men and women shared in the apostle’s work of evangelism, paving the way for him in Rome. As we join with other believers in caring for others, we reflect the hearts of those who assisted Paul.

The Wright Sister

Our sister Phoebe . . . has been the benefactor of many people, including me. Romans 16:1-2

Most people know about the Wright Brothers—Orville and Wilbur—who invented, built, and flew the first successful airplane in the early 1900s. But few know the name Katherine Wright. Yet in her brothers’ story of creating their flying machine, Katherine was essential to their success. While her brothers concentrated on the myriad details and experiments that led to their invention, Katherine chose to quietly and lovingly help them. She kept their bicycle shop going (the brothers’ source of income), left her teaching job to nurse Orville back to health after a plane crash, and managed the endless details of her brothers’ growing fame.

The value of the support of others is seen in Scripture as well. One example is Phoebe, mentioned by Paul as a “benefactor of many people” (Romans 16:2). And Priscilla and Aquila, a helpful couple presented in Paul’s writing, hosted churches where Paul ministered and even “risked their lives” for him (v. 4). Additionally, the apostle complimented Mark, saying he was “helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).

We can be the right brothers and sisters in Christ by serving others. The ongoing work of God needs helpers like Phoebe—and us—guided by Him to serve this way: “In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but . . . to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).  

Reflect & Pray

Who needs your help? What can you do to serve others in Jesus’ name?

Dear God, please show me how to humbly serve others for Your glory.

Learn to serve like Jesus by Going the Extra Mile.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Moral Decision about Sin

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. — Romans 6:6

Have I decided that sin will be killed in me? It takes a long time to come to a moral decision about sin, but when I do it is the great moment of my life. In this moment, I decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, so sin will be put to death in me. Sin won’t simply be curbed or suppressed or counteracted in me; it will be outright crucified.

No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may think that getting rid of sin is a good idea. We may agree that it’s what our religion asks of us. But what we must do is come to the decision Paul forces us to in Romans 6. Paul doesn’t describe something he hopes God will bring about in the future; he recounts a radical and definite experience: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2).

Am I prepared to let the Spirit of God search me until I see what it means to have a sinful disposition—to have something inside me that wars against the Spirit of God? Will I agree with God’s verdict on that disposition, that it must be identified with the death of Jesus? Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until the only life remaining in my body is the life of Christ? “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

If you haven’t done it already, make the moral decision about sin. Take time alone with God and tell him what you want. Say to him, “Lord, identify me with your death until sin is dead in me.” Only when we’ve been through this radical moment of decision can we consider ourselves dead to sin.

1 Samuel 15-16; Luke 10:25-42

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. 

Disciples Indeed, 388 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 10, 2025

When You're Marching Off the Map - #9979

Maybe you've seen those old world maps that were created when a lot of the world was still unexplored. When they reached the edge of what had been explored, they drew a line and then they showed dragons and monsters beyond it - which didn't exactly encourage exploration. The story is told of this first century Roman commander who had to lead his troops beyond the line on the map and into "dragon" territory. He sent a courier back to Rome with a straightforward message - "We have just marched off the map! Please send new orders!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You're Marching Off the Map."

That describes how a whole lot of us are feeling since things changed so dramatically back on September 11, 2001 and all of the cataclysmic, unpredictable, unimaginable events that have come since then. We have marched off the map! Things are up for grabs with the economy; a lot of people feel their jobs are insecure. Our personal sense of safety and security have really never been the same. It has turned to a sense of vulnerability. There are prospects of bioterrorism and cyber terrorism. USA Today talked about DEFCON 1, the military's phrase for their highest state of alert - and they said a lot of us feel like we're living at DEFCON 1.

We need some certainty after covid and all the upheavals; we need some leadership. We want to hear from our national leaders, from our military leaders, from our financial leaders, but none of them can give us that sense of peace and security that we're needing in this "new world" that's off the map. What we're looking for can ultimately only be found in the leader. That would be the One who created us. The issues of our day and the questions of our heart are just too big to be answered by anyone other than God Himself.

In times like these, I am so glad Jesus described His relationship with those who belong to Him as one of a shepherd. Because with no clear direction these days, we're feeling a little like sheep. Here's what Jesus offered to people like us in times like these - it's in our word for today from the Word of God in John 10, beginning in verse 3, "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out - He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him." Later, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand."

There is someone who knows the way to go when there is no map and He's the Lord of this universe! And Jesus leads those who belong to Him, giving them daily direction and daily provision, no matter what's happening in the headlines. And He never loses anyone that's His - because, in the words of John 10, He "laid down His life for the sheep." Jesus died for every wrong thing you've ever done so you could belong to Him forever. He's not about to lose you after paying that price for you!

The Bible tells us that Jesus weeps for those who are, as He says, "sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). That might be you today. But it doesn't have to be you for one more day. He's reaching out to you right now. He's ready to be your Shepherd in these confusing times; your anchor in the stormy times we live in and the storms of our own personal lives.

Your relationship with Him begins when you tell Him you're done trying to be your own shepherd, running your own life and that you want to put your total trust in Him to forgive every sin you've ever committed, to direct your life from this day on, and to get you to heaven when you die.

That's what He's waiting to give you. He's waiting for you to say, "Jesus, I'm Yours. You are my only hope. Your death on the cross, your resurrection from the dead...I want to belong to you, beginning today." Our website is all about helping you get that relationship started. I would invite you to go there. It is ANewStory.com.

We have marched off the map. But Jesus knows exactly where we are - and what the future holds. And He can take you there safely...but, you have to grab His hand.

Job 36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TO BE NEAR YOU - April 9, 2025

John 1:14 (MSG) says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

Let’s begin where the earthly ministry of Jesus began—in the womb of Mary. The God of the universe, for a time, kicked against the wall of that womb. He was born in the poverty of a peasant, spent his first night in the feed trough of a cow. He didn’t have to, did he? Jesus could have become a voice—a voice in the air. Jesus could have become a message—a message in the night. Jesus could have become a light—a light in the night. But he became flesh. Why?

Jesus came to be near you. And any concerns you might have about his power and love were removed from the discussion the moment he became flesh and entered the world. What a beginning. What an entrance. And what a moment.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 36

Those Who Learn from Their Suffering

1–4  36 Here Elihu took a deep breath, but kept going:

“Stay with me a little longer. I’ll convince you.

There’s still more to be said on God’s side.

I learned all this firsthand from the Source;

everything I know about justice I owe to my Maker himself.

Trust me, I’m giving you undiluted truth;

believe me, I know these things inside and out.

5–15  “It’s true that God is all-powerful,

but he doesn’t bully innocent people.

For the wicked, though, it’s a different story—

he doesn’t give them the time of day,

but champions the rights of their victims.

He never takes his eyes off the righteous;

he honors them lavishly, promotes them endlessly.

When things go badly,

when affliction and suffering descend,

God tells them where they’ve gone wrong,

shows them how their pride has caused their trouble.

He forces them to heed his warning,

tells them they must repent of their bad life.

If they obey and serve him,

they’ll have a good, long life on easy street.

But if they disobey, they’ll be cut down in their prime

and never know the first thing about life.

Angry people without God pile grievance upon grievance,

always blaming others for their troubles.

Living it up in sexual excesses,

virility wasted, they die young.

But those who learn from their suffering,

God delivers from their suffering.

Obsessed with Putting the Blame on God

16–21  “Oh, Job, don’t you see how God’s wooing you

from the jaws of danger?

How he’s drawing you into wide-open places—

inviting you to feast at a table laden with blessings?

And here you are laden with the guilt of the wicked,

obsessed with putting the blame on God!

Don’t let your great riches mislead you;

don’t think you can bribe your way out of this.

Did you plan to buy your way out of this?

Not on your life!

And don’t think that night,

when people sleep off their troubles,

will bring you any relief.

Above all, don’t make things worse with more evil—

that’s what’s behind your suffering as it is!

22–25  “Do you have any idea how powerful God is?

Have you ever heard of a teacher like him?

Has anyone ever had to tell him what to do,

or correct him, saying, ‘You did that all wrong!’?

Remember, then, to praise his workmanship,

which is so often celebrated in song.

Everybody sees it;

nobody is too far away to see it.

No One Can Escape from God

26  “Take a long, hard look. See how great he is—infinite,

greater than anything you could ever imagine or figure out!

27–33  “He pulls water up out of the sea,

distills it, and fills up his rain-cloud cisterns.

Then the skies open up

and pour out soaking showers on everyone.

Does anyone have the slightest idea how this happens?

How he arranges the clouds, how he speaks in thunder?

Just look at that lightning, his sky-filling light show

illumining the dark depths of the sea!

These are the symbols of his sovereignty,

his generosity, his loving care.

He hurls arrows of light,

taking sure and accurate aim.

The High God roars in the thunder,

angry against evil.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

by Amy Boucher Pye

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 43:18-25

“Forget about what’s happened;

don’t keep going over old history.

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.

It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,

rivers in the badlands.

Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’

—the coyotes and the buzzards—

Because I provided water in the desert,

rivers through the sun-baked earth,

Drinking water for the people I chose,

the people I made especially for myself,

a people custom-made to praise me.

22–24  “But you didn’t pay a bit of attention to me, Jacob.

You so quickly tired of me, Israel.

You wouldn’t even bring sheep for offerings in worship.

You couldn’t be bothered with sacrifices.

It wasn’t that I asked that much from you.

I didn’t expect expensive presents.

But you didn’t even do the minimum—

so stingy with me, so closefisted.

Yet you haven’t been stingy with your sins.

You’ve been plenty generous with them—and I’m fed up.

25  “But I, yes I, am the one

who takes care of your sins—that’s what I do.

I don’t keep a list of your sins.

Today's Insights

In Isaiah 43:22-24, God grieves His people’s failure to turn from their sins; yet He offers hope. He’s a loving God who forgives. He alone can blot out sins (v. 25). He’s the one who “forgives all [our] sins” and “redeems [our] life from the pit” (Psalm 103:3-4). “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (vv. 11-12). Jesus accomplished this once and for all through His sacrificial death on the cross. Now “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). John tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just” to forgive and make us clean (1 John 1:9). Finally, when we trust in Jesus, God “remembers [our] sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25).

Forgetting Our Sins

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake. Isaiah 43:25

Julie and her husband felt sadness and regret when they learned that their daughter had been shoplifting. But with God’s help, when she came to them weighed down with sorrow, they forgave her—and they helped her make restitution and receive counseling. Some months after the revelation, when their daughter made an offhand comment about how they might not trust her anymore, Julie wondered, What does she mean? She didn’t immediately think about her daughter’s offense because God had removed the sting of it from her mind. She had decided not to dwell in the past but had asked God to help her forgive.

In that moment, God gave Julie a taste of His goodness and grace as she experienced the love He extends to His people. God told His people not to “dwell on the past” because He was “doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18-19). He also made the beautiful declaration, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (v. 25). God could choose to hold our sins against us, but because of His love and mercy, He doesn’t. When we repent, He wipes our record clean.

Although our forgiven wrongdoing may have a negative impact on our lives and that of others, God will never hold that offense against us. He will enfold us in His mercy and grace.

Reflect & Pray

When have you experienced the surprising love of God? How does His grace change and transform you?

Forgiving Father, thank You for running toward me with love. Please help me to turn from my sinful ways and return to You.

Learn how we are called to love our enemies by watching Surprised by Grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Have I Seen Him?

Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. — Mark 16:12

Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many have accepted God’s grace who have never seen Jesus. Always distinguish between seeing Jesus and seeing what he has done for you. If you see only what Jesus has done for you, you do not have a big enough God; you’ve confused him with your personal experience.

Once you have seen Jesus, you are never the same again. You remain unshaken though experiences come and go, your gaze fixed on “him who is invisible.” Moses “left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

We cannot dictate when we see Jesus; he comes in his own time. He may be at work in our lives, helping us, long before he actually appears. In John 9, Jesus heals a man who has been blind since birth, but the man does not know who Jesus is. Only later does Jesus appear to the man, revealing his true identity. “Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him” (John 9:38).

When Jesus appears, he appears to each of us individually. No one can see Jesus through another’s eyes; he must appear to your friend as well as to you. A severance takes place when one person and not the other has seen Jesus. If you’ve seen Jesus, you will be eager to tell others about it. But remember that you can’t bring anyone else into fellowship with God; God must do it. “These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe” (Mark 16:13). Keep telling, even if they do not believe.

Oh could I tell ye surely would believe it!

Oh could I only say what I have seen!

How should I tell or how can ye receive it, How, till He bringeth you where I have been?

—Frederic W. H. Myers

1 Samuel 13-14; Luke 10:1-24

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. 

Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Putting Life Within Their Reach - #9978

When you work at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, you know there will be no physical link to the outside world for you between February and October. You are 840 miles from the nearest populated site and you're facing average winter temperatures of 80 below zero. Now, imagine being one of the women stationed there and discovering a lump that indicates you may have breast cancer. Distant medical authorities determined that this lady had to receive some emergency medical supplies. (And it really happened.) Getting those supplies though? Well, easier said than done.

A U.S. Air Force plane took on the mission, flying in driving snow and limited visibility, with just enough fuel to get back, searching in that dark polar winter for a C-shaped chain of burning barrels somewhere down there in the snow. Those barrels were marking the drop point. Once the life-giving supplies were dropped, the ground people had just seven minutes to collect those bundles before the cold weather damaged or destroyed their contents. It was an incredible true adventure, and it worked. The pilot for this amazing mercy mission said it was his most difficult mission. I'll bet! He said, "The whole thing is a loss if we don't put it where they can get it."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Putting Life Within Their Reach."

When you're bringing a delivery that can mean life-or-death, you do whatever it takes to get it there and put it where they can reach it. If you know Jesus, and you know someone who doesn't, God has assigned you to a life-or-death mission. He says, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:12). People without the Savior who died for them are dying people according to God.

So, God clearly commands you and me to "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter" (Proverbs 24:11). God sent His Son on the ultimate rescue mission - to give His life for people you know - so they can live forever. But "the whole thing is a loss if we don't put it where they can get it."

That's where you come in. In our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 3:7, the Lord is telling Moses about His plans to rescue Moses' very hurting people. The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of My people - I have heard them crying out - I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them." I can just hear Moses saying, "Yes! God's going to do something about the lostness of my people! All right!"

Then God says, "So now, go. I am sending you." I could just hear Moses saying, "Wait a minute here!" But God was reaching to desperate people by bringing life within their reach - by putting Moses in the middle of them - Moses, His chosen representative. Now God says to you, speaking of the people you live close to, that you work with, that you go to school with, "I have seen their misery, I have heard them crying out, and I am coming down to rescue them, and I am sending you."

That's why you are where you are. That's why you are with the people you're with. God has dropped eternal life right in the middle of them and you're the one carrying it. It's like that Air Force crew. God went to great lengths to bring them life, and He went all the way to a cross on Skull Hill. Now He's trusting you to be His connection to some of the people He died for on that cross, who He came and died to rescue.

When it's life-or-death, you do whatever it takes to deliver the life. This is eternal life-or-death for someone you know. And you are life within their reach. Don't miss your mission. Don't let them miss heaven. Look in the mirror and say, "I am someone's chance."

Matthew 14:22-36 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DO YOU KNOW THIS JESUS? - April 8, 2025

Jesus. J-E-S-U-S. Five letters. Six hours. One cross. Three nails. We live because of Jesus. We live because he lives, hope because he works, and matter because he matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Jesus—not by an idea or doctrine or creed or or church membership, but by Jesus. Our redeemer himself, who will sweep into heaven anyone who so much as gives him the nod.

Timid Jesus? Not on your life. Timid Jesus happens only on Christmas and Easter. The real Jesus claims every tick of the clock. Timid Jesus winks at sin, but the real Jesus nukes it. Timid Jesus is a lucky charm crucifix on a necklace. Jesus is a tiger in your heart. Do you know this Jesus? Let’s talk about Jesus.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Matthew 14:22-36

Walking on the Water

22–23  As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

24–26  Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.

27  But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

28  Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”

29–30  He said, “Come ahead.”

Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”

31  Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”

32–33  The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”

34–36  On return, they beached the boat at Gennesaret. When the people got wind that he was back, they sent out word through the neighborhood and rounded up all the sick, who asked for permission to touch the edge of his coat. And whoever touched him was healed.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

by Nancy Gavilanes

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 4:1-6

To Be Mature

1–3  4 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

4–6  You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

Today's Insights

When calling for gentleness and patience as believers in Jesus relate with each other, Paul recognized how difficult this can be. “Bearing with one another” (Ephesians 4:2) could also be translated “putting up with one another.” The same word is used in Mark 9:19, where Jesus says, “You unbelieving generation . . . . How long shall I put up with you?” Paul doesn’t naively imagine that maintaining unity in relationships with fellow believers will be easy, and he doesn’t call for believers to always have positive feelings for each other. Instead, following Christ’s example of humble, patient service, believers make the choice to “make every effort” (Ephesians 4:3) to press on in the difficult work of cultivating unity. Even within significant differences and relational friction, it’s possible to demonstrate Christlike love for each other.

Bearing with One Another

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

I stopped behind a car at a red light the other day and noticed a bright sticker on the rear window boldly stating: “New Driver. Please Be Patient.” Given all the road rage we hear about (or experience), what a great reminder to be patient with other drivers.

As I looked at the sticker, I wondered what would happen if people carried around signs that alerted us that they’re a “New Parent” or “New Christian.” If we knew what our neighbors, coworkers, or others we encounter throughout our day were going through, would we be more patient and even help them deal with their struggles?

We may be rushing through our days, trying to avoid being interrupted by others, but let’s consider how Jesus treated people. He wasn’t in a hurry. He had compassion on people and took the time to comfort and teach and show love to those He encountered.

As believers in Jesus, we’re called to “live a life worthy of the calling [we] have received” (Ephesians 4:1). The apostle Paul says that includes being “completely humble and gentle; [being] patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2); and making every effort to live in peace and unity with each other (v. 3).

We may not know what challenges people are facing, but we can be patient with them. Let’s be an expression of Jesus’ love to everyone we encounter on our daily path.

Reflect & Pray

How can you be more patient with others? Who can you be a blessing to today?

Dear God, please help me to be more loving and patient with those You place in my path.

Patience can be a hard discipline. Thankfully, Jesus provides the ultimate model in patience. Find out how more by reading Learning Patience from Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

His Resurrection Destiny

Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? — Luke 24:26

Our Lord’s cross is the gateway into his life. When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he rose into a life that was absolutely new, a life he did not live before he was incarnate. This new life came with new power and a new destiny: to bring souls into glory. “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (John 17:2 kjv). This is how the Bible says we know our Lord: by “the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).

Our Lord’s resurrection power means that now he is able to impart his life to all of us. When we are born again from above, we aren’t born into a new life of our own. We are resurrected into his life—the eternal life of the risen Lord. The name the Bible gives to Eternal Life working inside us here and now is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the deity in proceeding power; he is God applying the atonement to our immediate experience. One day, we will have a body like our Lord’s glorious body; here and now, we can know the power of his resurrection and walk in newness of life.

Thank God it is gloriously and majestically true that the Holy Spirit can work in us the very nature of Jesus if we will obey him. We will never have the exact relationship with the Father that the Son does, but if we will obey, the Son will make us sons and daughters of God, bringing us into oneness with him. “That they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11). This is the meaning of the “at-one-ment.”

1 Samuel 10-12; Luke 9:37-62

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

EASTER 2025 - SO MUCH HURT, SO MUCH HOPE - #9977

My phone's been blowing up for a week or more. Mostly not good news.

Lots of storms. Lots of sadness.

Severe thunderstorm alerts, tornado and flood watches and warnings. Stacked up in my texts like planes waiting to land at O'Hare. Like much of the country, it's been a "Groundhog Day" cycle of one stormy day after another. I miss the sun.

But that's just been the backdrop for days of accumulating grief. I often get "breaking news" on my phone. This week it's been mostly heartbreaking news.

One of my family members, suddenly crushed by the tragic loss of a third brother. The painful death of a coworker's dad - and a dark diagnosis for the father of another. A lifetime friend living the final days of his beloved wife's battle with dementia. Other friends, faced with brutal decisions on behalf of declining parents. And yesterday's medical emergency for a dear friend who's expecting a baby - she went from ER to ambulance to surgery.

Yes, it's been a season of storms and sadness.

But it's also almost Easter.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Easter 2025 - So Much Hurt, So Much Hope."

And, oh, what a difference that "Easter" makes! Not the holiday. The Man!

We all have seasons of compounding loss and grief. Storms that won't stop. Dark clouds that keep obscuring the sun. Times when hope seems swamped by hurt. But the Bible puts an amazing word in front of hope - and that word has the power to change every dark moment we face.

In our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:3-6 - it's talking about suffering "grief in all kinds of trials." But then it reveals the divine antidote to despair: "In His great mercy, God has given us a new birth into a" - here's that word - "living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Not sympathy card hope or "positive thoughts" hope. Not hope, the idea or the wish. This is hope, the Person! The One who, as testified to by six historians, 12 disciples and hundreds of eyewitnesses, literally walked out of His grave on Easter morning!

In short, Jesus is alive! He's present. Powerful - having conquered the one force that has stopped every other person who has ever lived.

As the sadnesses and grievings mounted these past few days, I felt increasingly powerless to be of much help.

But since the day I put my trust in Jesus' death for my sins, I have the Living Hope Man to turn to. As I did on that shattering spring day my Karen - my love since I was 19 - was suddenly gone.

On that first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene had found Jesus' tomb empty. She was grieving inconsolably in the graveyard garden - when suddenly she heard a familiar voice speaking one life-changing word. "Mary" (John 20:16). And on my darkest day, it was my name He called.

I have asked Jesus to speak to each weeping one on my heart - and speak their name. For Scripture promises that He is "close to brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18). And that He can go deep in the human heart where no one else can go and bring hope and healing no one else can bring.

Our times of greatest loss are the times of our greatest experiences of His love. I have lived it. I can't carry all the burdens of my wounded loved ones. But if my Jesus has beaten death, surely He can bear their burdens and bring back the sun.

Jesus can simultaneously be holding and hugging each one as if they are the only one. I have felt that hug. I have been carried by Him when I could not take another step.

If you want to have this personal relationship with Jesus, tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website and see how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

The storms keep coming. But, Jesus, You are our safe room. And hope wins.

Job 35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE REAL JESUS - April 7, 2025

You know, the Jesus of many people is small enough to be contained in an aquarium that fits on the cabinet. Never causes any trouble, never demands any attention. Now if you want a goldfish bowl of Jesus, you need to steer clear of the real Jesus because he changes everything.

Now he doesn’t make you sexy, skinny, or clever. He doesn’t change what you see in the mirror, but he changes how you see what you see. He will not be silenced, packaged, or predicted. He is the pastor who chased people out of church. He’s the prophet who had a soft spot for crooks and whores. He’s the king who washed the grime off the feet of the betrayer—his betrayer. He turned a bread basket into a buffet and a dead friend into a living one. And most of all, he transformed the tomb into a womb out of which was born life—your life.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Job 35

ELIHU’S THIRD SPEECH

When God Makes Creation a Classroom

1–3  35 Elihu lit into Job again:

“Does this kind of thing make any sense?

First you say, ‘I’m perfectly innocent before God.’

And then you say, ‘It doesn’t make a bit of difference

whether I’ve sinned or not.’

4–8  “Well, I’m going to show you

that you don’t know what you’re talking about,

neither you nor your friends.

Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look.

See those clouds towering above you?

If you sin, what difference could that make to God?

No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him?

Even if you’re good, what would God get out of that?

Do you think he’s dependent on your accomplishments?

The only ones who care whether you’re good or bad

are your family and friends and neighbors.

God’s not dependent on your behavior.

9–15  “When times get bad, people cry out for help.

They cry for relief from being kicked around,

But never give God a thought when things go well,

when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,

When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,

using birds and beasts to teach wisdom.

People are arrogantly indifferent to God—

until, of course, they’re in trouble,

and then God is indifferent to them.

There’s nothing behind such prayers except panic;

the Almighty pays them no mind.

So why would he notice you

just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard,

Or waiting for him to get good and angry

and do something about the world’s problems?

16  “Job, you talk sheer nonsense—

nonstop nonsense!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, April 07, 2025

by Kenneth Petersen

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 46:3-9

 “Listen to me, family of Jacob,

everyone that’s left of the family of Israel.

I’ve been carrying you on my back

from the day you were born,

And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.

I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.

I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,

carrying you on my back, saving you.

5–7  “So to whom will you compare me, the Incomparable?

Can you picture me without reducing me?

People with a lot of money

hire craftsmen to make them gods.

The artisan delivers the god,

and they kneel and worship it!

They carry it around in holy parades,

then take it home and put it on a shelf.

And there it sits, day in and day out,

a dependable god, always right where you put it.

Say anything you want to it, it never talks back.

Of course, it never does anything either!

8–11  “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it.

This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart.

Remember your history,

your long and rich history.

I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—

incomparable, irreplaceable—

Today's Insights

In Isaiah 46:5, God asks, “With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?” The answer to this rhetorical question is that no one is like God. Often when the question “Who is like God?” is asked in the Bible, it’s answered in part by reflecting on an aspect of His matchless character. For example, in Psalm 71:19, the psalmist reflects on God’s surpassing righteousness, and in Micah 7:18, the prophet ponders God’s “unfailing love” (nlt). Other verses in the Old Testament that ponder the character of God, the one who will be with us forever, include Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 3:24; 2 Samuel 7:22; Psalm 86:8, 10; 89:6, 8; 113:5; and Isaiah 40:18, 25.

God with Us Age to Age

You whom I have upheld since your birth. . . . Even to your old age . . . I am he who will sustain you. Isaiah 46:3-4

A Danish study explored the phenomenon most of us have experienced: perceiving ourselves as younger than we really are. The findings suggest a constant—whatever our current age, we all see ourselves as 20 percent younger. A fifty-year-old tends to imagine herself as forty years old. (This conjures up a comical scenario in which a child thinks, “Wow, I’m five, but I feel I have the energy and looks of a four-year-old!”)

It doesn’t take a scientific study to state the obvious: We’re all growing older. And Scripture has much to say about this. Isaiah’s words were issued to an Israel that had aged and become weary, but as one commentator says, “This promise to Israel, enfeebled and grown old as a nation, is applicable to every aged follower of Christ.”

The prophet reminds us of God’s provision throughout the life of everyone who has been faithful to Him: “I have upheld [you] since your birth, and have carried [you] since you were born” (Isaiah 46:3).

So as we stew and fret about growing older, we’re reminded that God is still with us. He promises: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you” (v. 4). Whatever age you are (or the 20-percent-younger version you imagine yourself to be!), embrace today God’s promise: “I have made you and I will carry you” (v. 4).

Reflect & Pray

In what ways do you wrestle with concerns about aging? How do you find comfort in Isaiah’s words?

Dear God, I’m feeling weary and tired. Please give me Your strength. I ask that You sustain me and carry me.

The book of Isaiah mentions Cyrus the Great and how he will be used to accomplish God's will. Learn more by clicking here.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, April 07, 2025

The Light of Understanding

Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. — Mark 9:9

Say nothing until the Son of Man is risen in you. As Jesus instructed the disciples who were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, we too should keep silent until the life of the risen Christ dominates us. Only then will we understand what the historic Christ—the Christ of the New Testament—taught. When we get to the right state on the inside, when the resurrection life of Christ lives in us, the meaning of the words Jesus spoke will be so clear that we’ll be amazed we didn’t understand them before.

Our Lord never hid the meaning of his message; the meaning is simply unbearable to us until we get our spiritual life into proper shape. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear” (John 16:12). Has Jesus established his risen life inside us? The evidence that he has is that the words he spoke are becoming clearer and easier to interpret.

God can’t reveal anything to us if we don’t have his Spirit. A stubborn and willful attitude will eventually prevent God from showing us hidden truths. If there’s some bit of doctrine we’ve already made up our minds about, the light of God won’t shine upon it for us; we won’t be able to get at its true meaning. This stubborn, uncomprehending stage will end the instant the Lord’s resurrection life is established in us.

Until then, we must stay silent: “Jesus gave them orders not to tell.” So many of us rush to tell what we’ve seen of Christ. We can’t wait to testify about it. But the vision isn’t reflected in our lives because the Son of Man hasn’t risen in us yet. When will he rise in you and in me?

1 Samuel 7-9; Luke 9:18-36

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Disciples Indeed, 385 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, April 07, 2025

GOING FOR BROKE WITH TWO MINUTES LEFT - #9976

Our local high school team won the state championship in football one year, and the coach gave at least one reason in the newspaper. He said, "We have mastered the two-minute offense. In other words, you have to know how to do the "hurry up" offense and get a lot done in a short time in order to be a championship team, like when there's only two minutes left in the first half or the end of the game.

In fact, I watched this happen in a game for the conference championship. They were ahead 13-6, and the other team was gaining momentum. There was about a minute and 30 seconds left in the first half. A minute and a half later our team went to the locker room up by 26-6! They'd scored twice. They knew how to go for broke when there wasn't much time. That's actually not a bad idea for all of us.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going For Broke With Two Minutes Left."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the words of Jesus in John 9:4. "As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work." Notice Jesus says the word "must" here. "We must work the works of Him who sent me." And the must; the imperative, the "I don't have any choice" comes from knowing what time it is. It's like somebody trying to gather in the harvest and night is coming. You know the harvest is going to rot and you don't say, "Well, maybe today, maybe tomorrow." We've got to do it now because time is running out.

Now, short time brings out the best in a football team - that two-minute offense. And it brings out the best in a follower of Christ. I think we might be living in a two-minute warning time right now. You know, as we look at our world right now, it looks increasingly like the kind that Jesus said He would return to. Historic stirrings in the Middle East, the power of Russia - the biblical king of the north, many believe, is coming back again. Natural disasters - a lot of them are unprecedented in their severity and their frequency. Israel, of course the center of world attention. This is no time to be a casual Christian.

See, time is short for other reasons - our freedom to proclaim the Gospel of Christ in our own culture - that's a fragile freedom. And the people around you? Well, they turn so hard so fast. Have you noticed? You may be their only window to get to heaven, and if you don't reach them, they may never know, and they may never go where He is. Night is coming, and who knows how long this window is going to be open.

See, when you set goals and you think about your priorities, would you take a look at God's clock? You know, it could be late in His plan for planet earth. And it's certainly late in the lives of the people around you, and late and lazy don't go together. It's time to, well as they say in football, throw the bomb, go public for Christ. Have that long postponed conversation about your Jesus.

Don't wait any more. Time's going to run out. To fix that broken relationship, to get involved in the work of God's Kingdom. To deal with that hidden sin, and most of all, to live so there will be some people in heaven with you that you told about Christ. The Bible talks about this urgency when it says, "Redeem the time," "buy up the time" because the days are evil. And think of the urgency in the verse that says, "Snatch others from the fire and save them."

You know, we talk about every year A.D. being the year of our Lord. Let's go for victory to make this that kind of a time, going for broke with two minutes on the clock.

Job 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday

“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”

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!

Job 34

ELIHU’S SECOND SPEECH

It’s Impossible for God to Do Evil

1–4  34 Elihu continued:

“So, my fine friends—listen to me,

and see what you think of this.

Isn’t it just common sense—

as common as the sense of taste—

To put our heads together

and figure out what’s going on here?

5–9  “We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,

but God won’t give me a fair trial.

When I defend myself, I’m called a liar to my face.

I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway.’

Have you ever heard anything to beat this?

Does nothing faze this man Job?

Do you think he’s spent too much time in bad company,

hanging out with the wrong crowd,

So that now he’s parroting their line:

‘It doesn’t pay to try to please God’?

10–15  “You’re veterans in dealing with these matters;

certainly we’re of one mind on this.

It’s impossible for God to do anything evil;

no way can the Mighty One do wrong.

He makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done—no more, no less.

Our chickens always come home to roost.

It’s impossible for God to do anything wicked,

for the Mighty One to subvert justice.

He’s the one who runs the earth!

He cradles the whole world in his hand!

If he decided to hold his breath,

every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.

God Is Working Behind the Scenes

16–20  “So, Job, use your head;

this is all pretty obvious.

Can someone who hates order, keep order?

Do you dare condemn the righteous, mighty God?

Doesn’t God always tell it like it is,

exposing corrupt rulers as scoundrels and criminals?

Does he play favorites with the rich and famous and slight the poor?

Isn’t he equally responsible to everybody?

Don’t people who deserve it die without notice?

Don’t wicked rulers tumble to their doom?

When the so-called great ones are wiped out,

we know God is working behind the scenes.

21–28  “He has his eyes on every man and woman.

He doesn’t miss a trick.

There is no night dark enough, no shadow deep enough,

to hide those who do evil.

God doesn’t need to gather any more evidence;

their sin is an open-and-shut case.

He deposes the so-called high and mighty without asking questions,

and replaces them at once with others.

Nobody gets by with anything; overnight,

judgment is signed, sealed, and delivered.

He punishes the wicked for their wickedness

out in the open where everyone can see it,

Because they quit following him,

no longer even thought about him or his ways.

Their apostasy was announced by the cry of the poor;

the cry of the afflicted got God’s attention.

Because You Refuse to Live on God’s Terms

29–30  “If God is silent, what’s that to you?

If he turns his face away, what can you do about it?

But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling,

so that those who hate God won’t take over

and ruin people’s lives.

31–33  “So why don’t you simply confess to God?

Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.

Teach me to see what I still don’t see.

Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’

Just because you refuse to live on God’s terms,

do you think he should start living on yours?

You choose. I can’t do it for you.

Tell me what you decide.

34–37  “All right-thinking people say—

and the wise who have listened to me concur—

‘Job is an ignoramus.

He talks utter nonsense.’

Job, you need to be pushed to the wall and called to account

for wickedly talking back to God the way you have.

You’ve compounded your original sin

by rebelling against God’s discipline,

Defiantly shaking your fist at God,

piling up indictments against the Almighty One.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 06, 2025

by 

Katara Patton

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Acts 16:11-15

Putting out from the harbor at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days.

13–14  On the Sabbath, we left the city and went down along the river where we had heard there was to be a prayer meeting. We took our place with the women who had gathered there and talked with them. One woman, Lydia, was from Thyatira and a dealer in expensive textiles, known to be a God-fearing woman. As she listened with intensity to what was being said, the Master gave her a trusting heart—and she believed!

15  After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, “If you’re confident that I’m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests.” We hesitated, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Today's Insights

Genuine, selfless expressions of hospitality and kindness can be used by Jesus to encourage His workers. In addition to the “open heart, open home” dynamic in play with Lydia in Acts 16:14-15, we see a similar pattern with the jailer in Philippi. Upon hearing and believing what he and his household needed to do to be saved, he “washed [Paul and Silas’] wounds” (v. 33). Then “the jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them” (v. 34). Acts 28 also records instances of extreme kindness. When Paul was sailing to Rome as a prisoner, a storm forced the ship to come ashore on the island of Malta. He exercised his apostolic gifts among the islanders, and their hospitality was a balm for him (vv. 3-10).

Hospitality in Jesus

When [Lydia] and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. Acts 16:15

During the US civil rights movement, famed New Orleans cook Leah Chase did what she could. She prepared food and fed those who were marching for equal rights for all people. She said, “I was just feeding people. They were fighting for something, and they didn’t know what they would find when they went out there. They didn’t know what would happen to them on the streets. But when they were here, they knew I’d feed them. That’s what I could do for them.”

The gift of hospitality may sometimes be overlooked, but it can be just as important as other forms of serving one another in Christ. A businesswoman named Lydia—“a dealer in purple cloth” (Acts 16:14)—showed hospitality to Paul and the other preachers spreading the good news about Jesus to the people of Macedonia (vv. 11-15). She used what she had—her home—to help the traveling team. After accepting the gospel message, Lydia insisted on providing a place for the preachers to rest, saying, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, . . . come and stay at my house” (v. 15). Much like the civil rights workers, Paul and his coworkers didn’t need to worry about a meal due to Lydia’s hospitality.

Gifts of hospitality can go a long way in helping all people—both fellow believers and those who still need Jesus. Let’s serve others as God provides what we need to help them.

Reflect & Pray

When has someone’s hospitality helped you? How can you serve others today and help meet their practical needs?

Dear God, thank You for those who’ve shown hospitality to me. Please show me how to serve others in love.

Love in Action ? Why Should We Help?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 06, 2025

The Collision of God and Sin

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. — 1 Peter 2:24

There is nothing more certain in time or eternity than what Jesus Christ did upon the cross. He made redemption the basis of human life, restoring the whole of humanity to a right relationship with God. The cross of Jesus stands unique and alone. It is not the cross of a man or a woman; it is the cross of God, the exhibition of his nature. No parallel to it exists in human experience.

The cross was a superb triumph. It was the revelation of God’s judgment on sin; it shook the foundations of hell. Never tolerate the idea that Jesus Christ went to the cross as a martyr. The cross didn’t happen to Jesus; he came on purpose for it. Jesus is “the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world ” (Revelation 13:8). God became flesh in order to defeat sin, not for self-realization. The incarnation was entirely for the redemption.

The cross is the center of time and eternity, the answer to the enigmas of both. It is the gateway by which any member of humanity can enter into union with God—yet when we get to the cross we do not pass through it. Rather, we abide in the life it has made possible for us, a life of communion with God.

The center of salvation is the cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much. The cross is the point where God and sinful humanity merge with a crash and the way to life is opened—but the crash is on the heart of God.

1 Samuel 4-6; Luke 9:1-17

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ.

Approved Unto God, 4 R