Leviticus 16, bible reading and devotions.

MaxLucado.com: Pigeonholing

Life is so much easier if we can put labels on people!  Pigeonholing permits us to wash our hands and leave.

“Oh I know him—he’s an alcoholic.

“She’s a liberal Democrat.”

“He’s divorced.”

Categorizing others creates distance and gives us a convenient exit strategy for avoiding involvement.  Jesus took an entirely different approach.  He was all about including people.

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

Jesus touched lepers and loved foreigners. His Facebook page included the likes of Matthew the IRS agent, and some floozy he met at Simon’s house.  Jesus set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave.  He became human!

Jesus sends this message: Don’t call any person common.  Don’t call any person unfit! Every person matters to God.

From GRACE

Leviticus 16

The Day of Atonement

1–2  16 After the death of Aaron’s two sons—they died when they came before God with strange fire—God spoke to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter into the Holy of Holies, barging inside the curtain that’s before the Atonement-Cover on the Chest whenever he feels like it, lest he die, because I am present in the Cloud over the Atonement-Cover.

3–5  “This is the procedure for Aaron when he enters the Holy Place: He will bring a young bull for an Absolution-Offering and a ram for a Whole-Burnt-Offering; he will put on the holy linen tunic and the linen underwear, tie the linen sash around him, and put on the linen turban. These are the sacred vestments so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. Then from the Israelite community he will bring two male goats for an Absolution-Offering and a Whole-Burnt-Offering.

6–10  “Aaron will offer the bull for his own Absolution-Offering in order to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he will set the two goats before God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and cast lots over the two goats, one lot for God and the other lot for Azazel. He will offer the goat on which the lot to God falls as an Absolution-Offering. The goat on which the lot for Azazel falls will be sent out into the wilderness to Azazel to make atonement.

11–14  “Aaron will present his bull for an Absolution-Offering to make atonement for himself and his household. He will slaughter his bull for the Absolution-Offering. He will take a censer full of burning coals from the Altar before God and two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense and bring them inside the curtain and put the incense on the fire before God; the smoke of the incense will cover the Atonement-Cover which is over The Testimony so that he doesn’t die. He will take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the Atonement-Cover, then sprinkle the blood before the Atonement-Cover seven times.

15–17  “Next he will slaughter the goat designated as the Absolution-Offering for the people and bring the blood inside the curtain. He will repeat what he does with the bull’s blood, sprinkling it on and before the Atonement-Cover. In this way he will make atonement for the Holy of Holies because of the uncleannesses of the Israelites, their acts of rebellion, and all their other sins. He will do the same thing for the Tent of Meeting which dwells among the people in the midst of their uncleanness. There is to be no one in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Holy of Holies until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole community of Israel.

18–19  “Then he will come out to the Altar that is before God and make atonement for it. He will take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and smear it all around the four horns of the Altar. With his finger he will sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times to purify and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the Israelites.

20–22  “When Aaron finishes making atonement for the Holy of Holies, the Tent of Meeting, and the Altar, he will bring up the live goat, lay both hands on the live goat’s head, and confess all the iniquities of the People of Israel, all their acts of rebellion, all their sins. He will put all the sins on the goat’s head and send it off into the wilderness, led out by a man standing by and ready. The goat will carry all their iniquities to an empty wasteland; the man will let him loose out there in the wilderness.

23–25  “Finally, Aaron will come into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen clothes in which he dressed to enter the Holy of Holies and leave them there. He will bathe in water in a Holy Place, put on his priestly vestments, offer the Whole-Burnt-Offering for himself and the Whole-Burnt-Offering for the people, making atonement for himself and the people, and burn the fat of the Absolution-Offering on the Altar.

26–28  “The man who takes the goat out to Azazel in the wilderness then will wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. After that he will be permitted to come back into the camp. The bull for the Absolution-Offering and the goat for the Absolution-Offering, whose blood has been taken into the Holy of Holies to make atonement, are to be taken outside the camp and burned—their hides, their meat, and their entrails. The man assigned to burn them up will then wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he is free to come back into the camp.

29–31  “This is standard practice for you, a perpetual ordinance. On the tenth day of the seventh month, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you are to enter into a solemn fast and refrain from all work, because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. In the presence of God you will be made clean of all your sins. It is a Sabbath of all Sabbaths. You must fast. It is a perpetual ordinance.

32  “The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father is to make the atonement:

He puts on the sacred linen garments;

33  He purges the Holy of Holies by making atonement;

He purges the Tent of Meeting and the Altar by making atonement;

He makes atonement for the priests and all the congregation.

34  “This is a perpetual ordinance for you: Once a year atonement is to be made for all the sins of the People of Israel.”

And Aaron did it, just as God commanded Moses.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, August 31, 2025

by Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

41–45  Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

Today's Insights

After Jesus showed compassion and healed the man with leprosy, He gave him “a strong warning: ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone’ ” (Mark 1:43-44). He gave similar warnings in Mark 1:34; 3:12 (these commands were to evil spirits); 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; and 9:9. Why wouldn’t Christ want people to know He was the Messiah? Because it wasn’t yet time for His identity to be fully revealed. Jesus was still establishing His authority over our enemy the devil with His miracles and teaching. Christ understood how seeing these miracles might cause people to jump to the wrong conclusion about His mission and purpose. Regardless, He never sought publicity. In Mark 1, because the man spread the news of his healing despite Jesus’ warning, He chose to remain “outside [the towns] in lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere” (v. 45). We’re always drawn to this one who lovingly removes our shame as we believe in Him.

Jesus Reaches for You

Jesus . . . reached out his hand and touched the man. Mark 1:41

Letty, a cleaner in an office building, was known for walking fast—really fast. In doing so, she could easily avoid people. Wounded by poverty and accustomed to condescension, she passed others with one hand reflexively covering part of her face. Her shame, in her words, over not being “like normal, beautiful, educated people,” was profoundly deep. When a woman at work extended her friendship, Letty began to heal.

A man with leprosy lived with a shame perhaps deeper than Letty’s. His disease rendered him revolting and ceremonially unclean by standards of the Mosaic law, separating him from mainstream society. The man’s wounds weren’t just physical; they were also lesions of the soul and spirit. With this woundedness, the leper approached Christ, begging, “If you are willing, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Heal me, he was saying, but also remove my shame.

Jesus responded not with repulsion but with compassion. “I am willing,” He said, “Be clean!” as He reached out and touched the man (v. 41). Just like the friendship extended to Letty by a coworker, Jesus’ gesture was one of understanding all that the man had suffered and of acceptance despite it all.

We may walk through life hiding what we feel separates us from “normal, beautiful, educated people.” May we allow Jesus to touch and redeem these things that cause us shame. May we know that as God's children, we’re accepted and loved.

Reflect & Pray

What makes you feel shame? How can you entrust this to Christ’s redeeming love?

Dear Jesus, thank You for reaching out to me.

For further study, read Fully Human and Fully Free.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, August 31, 2025

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. — John 15:11

What is the joy Jesus mentions here? It isn’t mere happiness; using the word happiness in connection with Jesus Christ is an insult. The joy of Jesus was the joy of surrendering and sacrificing himself to his Father. It was the joy of doing exactly what his Father sent him to do: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Jesus prayed that our joy might go on fulfilling itself until it was the same joy as his. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce his joy to me?

The fullness of my life lies not in bodily health, not in external events, not in seeing God’s work succeed. It lies in the perfect understanding of God, and in the communion with him that Jesus himself had. The first thing that will upset this communion is the irritation that comes from trying to control my circumstances. The worries of this life, said Jesus, will choke the word of God (Mark 4:19). God’s aim is to get me beyond worry to the place where I will be his witness and proclaim who Jesus is. Everything God has done for me until now is the mere threshold of this deeper relationship with him.

Be rightly related to God, find your joy in him, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a center through which Jesus Christ can pour living water. Stop being self-conscious, stop being smug and self-righteous, and start living the life that is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing. The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those which were unconscious of their influence.

Psalms 132-134; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The main characteristic which is the proof of the indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word.

Disciples Indeed, 386 R

Leviticus 15, Bible reading and devotions.

Max Lucado Daily: God Keeps His Promises

God keeps His promises. Shouldn't God's promise-keeping inspire yours?

People can exhaust you. And 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. 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. When you love the unloving, you get a glimpse of what God does everyday 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.

from Facing Your Giants

Leviticus 15

Bodily Discharges

1–3  15 God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When a man has a discharge from his genitals, the discharge is unclean. Whether it comes from a seepage or an obstruction he is unclean. He is unclean all the days his body has a seepage or an obstruction.

4–7  “Every bed on which he lies is ritually unclean, everything on which he sits is unclean. If someone touches his bed or sits on anything he’s sat on, or touches the man with the discharge, he has to wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening.

8–11  “If the man with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, that person has to wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every saddle on which the man with the discharge rides is unclean. Whoever touches anything that has been under him becomes unclean until evening. Anyone who carries such an object must wash his clothes and bathe with water; he remains unclean until evening. If the one with the discharge touches someone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water; he remains unclean until evening.

12  “If a pottery container is touched by someone with a discharge, you must break it; a wooden article is to be rinsed in water.

13–15  “When a person with a discharge is cleansed from it, he is to count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe in running water. Then he is clean. On the eighth day he is to take two doves or two pigeons and come before God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. The priest then offers one as an Absolution-Offering and one as a Whole-Burnt-Offering and makes atonement for him in the presence of God because of his discharge.

16–18  “When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water; he remains unclean until evening. Every piece of clothing and everything made of leather which gets semen on it must be washed with water; it remains unclean until evening. When a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both are to wash in water; they remain unclean until evening.

19–23  “When a woman has a discharge of blood, the impurity of her menstrual period lasts seven days. Anyone who touches her is unclean until evening. Everything on which she lies or sits during her period is unclean. Anyone who touches her bed or anything on which she sits must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening.

24  “If a man sleeps with her and her menstrual blood gets on him, he is unclean for seven days and every bed on which he lies becomes unclean.

25–27  “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, but not at the time of her monthly period, or has a discharge that continues beyond the time of her period, she is unclean the same as during the time of her period. Every bed on which she lies during the time of the discharge and everything on which she sits becomes unclean the same as in her monthly period. Anyone who touches these things becomes unclean and must wash his clothes and bathe in water; he remains unclean until evening.

28–30  “When she is cleansed from her discharge, she is to count off seven days; then she is clean. On the eighth day she is to take two doves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest will offer one for an Absolution-Offering and the other for a Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will make atonement for her in the presence of God because of the discharge that made her unclean.

31  “You are responsible for keeping the People of Israel separate from that which makes them ritually unclean, lest they die in their unclean condition by defiling my Dwelling which is among them.

32–33  “These are the procedures to follow for a man with a discharge or an emission of semen that makes him unclean, and for a woman in her menstrual period—any man or woman with a discharge and also for a man who sleeps with a woman who is unclean.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, August 30, 2025

by Tom Felten

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ecclesiastes 8:14-17

Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.

15  So, I’m all for just going ahead and having a good time—the best possible. The only earthly good men and women can look forward to is to eat and drink well and have a good time—compensation for the struggle for survival these few years God gives us on earth.

16–17  When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you’ll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you’re not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won’t get to the bottom of it.

Today's Insights

Ecclesiastes exposes the futility of pursuing things that life has to offer (good or not-so-good) rather than the God who gives life. The word vanity (hebel), often repeated in the book, means “emptiness,” “futility,” “uselessness.” It’s also used to describe situations that defy common sense, as in 8:14, where hebel is translated “meaningless”: “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.” While we vainly pursue many things in life, our search for wisdom isn’t normally one of them. Those who sincerely seek and dig deep for wisdom—which is “more precious than rubies” (Proverbs 8:11)—will find it. Scripture encourages us to do so: “I [wisdom] love those who love me, and those who seek me find me” (v. 17).

Digging Deep for Wisdom

I saw all that God has done. Ecclesiastes 8:17

A Florida construction crew working on a $42 million drain project unearthed a valuable treasure. Deep in the soil, they found a well-preserved fishing boat from the 1800s. The vessel contained interesting artifacts, including part of a kerosene lamp, drinking cups made from coconut shells, and coins. The ship is being studied with the hope that it will provide details of what life was like in that region more than one hundred years ago. “[It’s] more than just the vessel itself. [It’s] this reminder of everyday people,” said one maritime archaeologist. By digging deep, knowledge and wisdom were gained.

Ecclesiastes contains great treasures of wisdom as we study it—ancient wisdom reflecting on the everyday events of that time and ours as well. Solomon reveals how a “wise heart will know the . . . proper time and procedure for every matter” (Ecclesiastes 8:5-6). He wrote that wisdom is found in remembering “all that God has done” (v. 17) and who He is (12:1). God alone provides meaning to life that—apart from Him—is “meaningless” (8:14). His wisdom allows us to experience a contented, joy-filled life in His presence (v. 15).

Ecclesiastes reveals that people will “come and . . . go” (1:4), as evidenced by the ship found in Florida. But God’s wisdom leads to real and lasting life and purpose (John 10:10). Let’s dig deep into the Scriptures to find the ancient wisdom He provides.

Reflect & Pray

How do the Scriptures provide wisdom for you? How can you dig deeply into them?

All-wise God, thank You for providing real wisdom.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Rightly Related to Him

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

When the disciples came back from their first mission, they were filled with joy because the spirits had submitted to them. Jesus replied that they should rejoice instead that their “names are written in heaven.” He was telling them, “Don’t rejoice in successful service; rejoice because you are rightly related to me.”

The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in how much you’ve done or in the fact that God has used you. If you are rightly related to Jesus Christ, you won’t be able to measure what God does through you. Jesus will pour rivers of living water through you all the time (John 7:38), and by his mercy he will not let you know what he’s doing.

Once you have been rightly related to God through salvation and sanctification, you can rest assured that wherever you find yourself, you have been put there by God. As long as you keep in the light as God is in the light, you will fulfill his purpose, simply by the way your life reacts to the circumstances around you.

Our tendency is to place the emphasis on service rather than relationship. Beware of people who make usefulness their standard. If usefulness is the measure of our success, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. Consider how our Lord spent his time on earth: for three years all he did was to walk about saying things and healing sick people—a useless life according to every human standard of success and of enterprise.

When we are following the example of our Lord, we know that what counts is the work God does through us, not the work we do for him. The only standard our Lord takes note of in our lives is our relationship to God, which is meant to be the relationship between a Father and his children. Jesus is “bringing many sons and daughters to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).

Psalms 129-131; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.

Mark 8:1-21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: “ONLY GOD” MOMENTS - August 29, 2025

There is something unique about your story. Would you be willing to share it? Become well versed in your “only God” moments. Those precious events in your life that only God could have orchestrated.

There was an occasion when Jesus healed a deranged man. The fellow had made his home in a cemetery and cut himself with rocks. When Jesus delivered him from the affliction, the man wanted to go with Jesus. Christ, however, said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you…” (Mark 5:19 NKJV).

In other words, speak up! Do you feel ill equipped to do so? That’s okay. You have God’s Spirit to help you, and God’s plan is reduced to one strategy: ordinary folks telling the extraordinary story of Jesus with the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit.

Help Is Here

Mark 8:1-21

A Meal for Four Thousand

1–3  8 At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”

4  His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”

5  He asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they said.

6–10  So Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples and set out for Dalmanoutha.

11–12  When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”

Contaminating Yeast

13–15  He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”

16–19  Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

They said, “Twelve.”

20  “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”

“Seven.”

21  He said, “Do you still not get it?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, August 29, 2025

by Alyson Kieda

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Samuel 6:1-2, 6-15

David mustered the pick of the troops of Israel—thirty divisions of them. Together with his soldiers, David headed for Baalah to recover the Chest of God, which was called by the Name God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who was enthroned over the pair of angels on the Chest.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Chest of God. God blazed in anger against Uzzah and struck him hard because he had profaned the Chest. Uzzah died on the spot, right alongside the Chest.

8–11  Then David got angry because of God’s deadly outburst against Uzzah. That place is still called Perez Uzzah (The-Explosion-Against-Uzzah). David became fearful of God that day and said, “This Chest is too hot to handle. How can I ever get it back to the City of David?” He refused to take the Chest of God a step farther. Instead, David removed it off the road and to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The Chest of God stayed at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And God prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household.

12–16  It was reported to King David that God had prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household because of the Chest of God. So David thought, “I’ll get that blessing for myself,” and went and brought up the Chest of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David, celebrating extravagantly all the way, with frequent sacrifices of choice bulls. David, ceremonially dressed in priest’s linen, danced with great abandon before God. The whole country was with him as he accompanied the Chest of God with shouts and trumpet blasts.

Today's Insights

The ark of the covenant (or ark of God) was the physical manifestation of God’s presence with the Israelites (2 Samuel 6:2; see Exodus 25:22; 30:6). In one of their battles, they brought the ark to the battlefield. The Philistines captured it, holding it in Philistine territory for seven months before they returned it to Israel (1 Samuel 4-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of the Israelites, the ark was neglected and remained in the Israelite town of Kiriath Jearim for another twenty years (7:1-2) before David brought it to Jerusalem and placed it in the tabernacle (2 Samuel 6). Today, God’s presence is with all who believe in Christ.

The Lost Ark

David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 2 Samuel 6:12

During his church’s fall retreat at a nearby camp, Pastor Jeff took a walk with my son, who led him through a wooded trail to the outdoor chapel. Suddenly they came upon the ark of the covenant! Of course, it wasn’t the real ark but a life-sized, gold-colored replica begun by my husband years ago, with Jeff’s encouragement, and recently completed by my son as a surprise.

Jeff was so thrilled he hurried to enlist others to help him bring the ark to the camp dining hall. What a sight to see the men carrying the ark down the road as two of the pastor’s little grandsons trailed behind hand in hand!

Scripture tells of the joyous occasion when the real ark of the covenant, which symbolized God’s presence with His people, was brought from the house where it had been kept into its proper place in Jerusalem, “the City of David” (2 Samuel 6:12). King David was so overjoyed he danced “before the Lord with all his might” as the people shouted and trumpets sounded (vv. 14-15).

Years later, the Israelites were taken captive to Babylon, and Jerusalem was destroyed (2 Kings 25). We don't know what happened to the ark. Legends abound, but we no longer need it to enjoy God’s presence (John 14:16-17). Through Jesus’ death, resurrection, and sending of the Spirit, God is with all who believe in Christ. That’s an excellent reason to rejoice!

Reflect & Pray

How does it impact you to know God is with you? When have you felt His presence?

Dear God, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit.

For further study, read A Story of a Life Led by the Spirit.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, August 29, 2025Sublime Intimacy

Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? — John 11:40

Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something which, from a commonsense standpoint, flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. They stand in the relation of the natural to the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ when your common sense fails? Can you venture heroically on his words when the facts of your life shout, “It’s a lie”? Up on the mountaintop with God, it’s easy to say, “I believe God can do anything.” But you have to come down from the heights into the valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at your belief.

Every time my program of belief is clear to my own mind, I will come across something that contradicts it. Let me say to myself, “I believe God will meet all my needs,” then my provisions run dry; I have no idea how they’ll be replenished. Then let me see whether I will go through the trial of faith or whether I will sink back to a lower level.

Faith must be tested. It can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? Either the test will prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Matthew 11:6). The supreme thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly in him, and all you come up against will strengthen and develop your faith. There’s continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death.

May God keep us in fighting shape! Faith is indescribable trust in God, trust which never dreams he will not stand by us.

Psalms 126-128; 1 Corinthians 10:19-33

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, August 29, 2025

YOUR BIBLE - INFORMED OR TRANSFORMED? - #10080

I'll bet you didn't know that Christianity is like suntan lotion. Huh? Neither did I until I was speaking at a conference, and I took my oldest son with me. He was about 12 or 13 I think (my poor kids had to listen to their Dad speak so many times).

Well, we were on our way home on the plane, and all of a sudden on this long trip from the West, my son said to me, "Hey, Dad, you know what? I finally listened to a lot of your talks this time." Let's see, was that's good news/bad news. I don't know what he was doing before. But he said, "You know what? I've figured out that Christianity is a lot like suntan lotion." I said what you would have said, "What?" He said, "You know, if you put a big, old blob of suntan lotion on your arm, it doesn't do you any good until you rub it in."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Bible - Informed or Transformed?"

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Joshua 1:8 where we have God's formula for success. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth: meditate on it day and night..." By the way, that word meditate is used in Hebrew to talk about a cow chewing its cud. So, chew it over and over again. Why? "...so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Now, you get what God is saying to Joshua? I think it's His message to you and me today. The purpose of reading is not just to know something. It's to find something to do. When Jesus was talking to the 12 disciples about going out in the Great Commission to disciple people all around the world, He said, "Go and make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Don't just tell them what there is to know; teach them to do it.

James 1 again says that the Bible is like a mirror. When you look in a mirror, you're supposed to change something because of what you see there. Right? The one reason there's such a gap between our beliefs and our behavior is because we won't in my son's words, "Rub it in." We have these great big blobs of spiritual truth all over us. We've been hearing it forever. We went to church a couple of times this week, we've got this guy that keeps coming at us on the radio, we've got Bible studies, we've got websites. The problem is that we tend to go for information rather than transformation; for application of what God says. To answer the question, "So what? What's this supposed to do in my life." It's one thing to read the Bible; it's another thing to let the Bible read you.

God's interested in what difference His Word is making in you today, not just whether you can pass a Bible quiz. What did you read today? What are you doing differently today because of it? When God says meditate on it, what does that mean? Does that mean you stare into space blankly, kind of an Eastern mysticism thing? Not at all! You think about something you read in the Bible until you have made a connection between what you read and something you're going to face today. That's Christian meditation. It's not focusing on nothing; it's focusing on what God said and then you've meditated when you've connected that there's something you should do with it today. I think you ought to keep a spiritual journal and write down every day, "What did I read today in my own words? What did God say today and what am I going to do differently because God said it?"

If you're in a position where you teach God's Word to people, even if you're just a parent doing that, make sure you always answer the unspoken question I think people are asking, "So what? Okay, it's true. So, what do you want me to do with it?" By all means answer that question for yourself. Look, have you gotten a little lazy as you read God's Word, just sort of accumulating more Bible information? That leads to boredom, it leads to powerlessness, and the illusion of spiritual life.

Those Bible blobs? They're not going to do you much good until you rub them in.

Leviticus 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: UNCOMMON FORCES - August 28, 2025

“Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say… For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you’” (Matthew 10:19-20 ESV). Best I can tell, this promise of Jesus has not been rescinded.

On the day Brenda Jones went to see the plastic surgeon, she was in a battle with breast cancer. She asked if she could share a story, and Dr. Pete politely said “yes.” He listened to the story about the God who became a baby, then a man, and then a sacrifice for humanity. “He died for you, Dr. Pete,” she told him. The fifteen-minute conversation changed Dr. Pete forever!

The promise of Pentecost. The Spirit turns common folk into uncommon forces, and turns those who are lost into those who are saved. Might the Spirit do the same with us? With you?

Help Is Here

Leviticus 14

God spoke to Moses: “These are the instructions for the infected person at the time of his cleansing. First, bring him to the priest. The priest will take him outside the camp and make an examination; if the infected person has been healed of the serious skin disease, the priest will order two live, clean birds, some cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop to be brought for the one to be cleansed. The priest will order him to kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. The priest will then take the live bird with the cedar wood, the scarlet thread, and the hyssop and dip them in the blood of the dead bird over fresh water and then sprinkle the person being cleansed from the serious skin disease seven times and pronounce him clean. Finally, he will release the live bird in the open field. The cleansed person, after washing his clothes, shaving off all his hair, and bathing with water, is clean. Afterwards he may again enter the camp, but he has to live outside his tent for seven days. On the seventh day, he must shave off all his hair—from his head, beard, eyebrows, all of it. He then must wash his clothes and bathe all over with water. He will be clean.

10–18  “The next day, the eighth day, he will bring two lambs without defect and a yearling ewe without defect, along with roughly six quarts of fine flour mixed with oil. The priest who pronounces him clean will place him and the materials for his offerings in the presence of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest will take one of the lambs and present it and the pint of oil as a Compensation-Offering and lift them up as a Wave-Offering before God. He will slaughter the lamb in the place where the Absolution-Offering and the Whole-Burnt-Offering are slaughtered, in the Holy Place, because like the Absolution-Offering, the Compensation-Offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy. The priest will now take some of the blood of the Compensation-Offering and put it on the right earlobe of the man being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Following that he will take some oil and pour it into the palm of his left hand and then with the finger of his right hand sprinkle oil seven times before God. The priest will put some of the remaining oil on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, placing it on top of the blood of the Compensation-Offering. He will put the rest of the oil on the head of the man being cleansed and make atonement for him before God.

19–20  “Finally the priest will sacrifice the Absolution-Offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness, slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering and offer it with the Grain-Offering on the Altar. He has made atonement for him. He is clean.

21–22  “If he is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he will bring one male lamb as a Compensation-Offering to be offered as a Wave-Offering to make atonement for him, and with it a couple of quarts of fine flour mixed with oil for a Grain-Offering, a pint of oil, and two doves or pigeons which he can afford, one for an Absolution-Offering and the other for a Whole-Burnt-Offering.

23–29  “On the eighth day he will bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the presence of God. The priest will take the lamb for the Compensation-Offering together with the pint of oil and wave them before God as a Wave-Offering. He will slaughter the lamb for the Compensation-Offering, take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest will pour some of the oil into the palm of his left hand, and with his right finger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before God. He will put some of the oil that is in his palm on the same places he put the blood of the Compensation-Offering, on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. The priest will take what is left of the oil in his palm and put it on the head of the one to be cleansed, making atonement for him before God.

30–31  “At the last, he will sacrifice the doves or pigeons which are within his means, one as an Absolution-Offering and the other as a Whole-Burnt-Offering along with the Grain-Offering. Following this procedure the priest will make atonement for the one to be cleansed before God.”

32  These are the instructions to be followed for anyone who has a serious skin disease and cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.

33–42  God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I’m giving to you as a possession, and I put a serious fungus in a house in the land of your possession, the householder is to go and tell the priest, ‘I have some kind of fungus in my house.’ The priest is to order the house vacated until he can come to examine the fungus, so that nothing in the house is declared unclean. When the priest comes and examines the house, if the fungus on the walls of the house has greenish or rusty swelling that appears to go deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest is to walk out the door and shut the house up for seven days. On the seventh day he is to come back and conduct another examination; if the fungus has spread in the walls of the house, he is to order that the stones affected by the fungus be torn out and thrown in a garbage dump outside the city. He is to make sure the entire inside of the house is scraped and the plaster that is removed be taken away to the garbage dump outside the city. Then he is to replace the stones and replaster the house.

43–47  “If the fungus breaks out again in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and plastered, the priest is to come and conduct an examination; if the fungus has spread, it is a malignant fungus. The house is unclean. The house has to be demolished—its stones, wood, and plaster are to be removed to the garbage dump outside the city. Anyone who enters the house while it is closed up is unclean until evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.

48–53  “But if when the priest comes and conducts his examination, he finds that the fungus has not spread after the house has been replastered, the priest is to declare that the house is clean; the fungus is cured. He then is to purify the house by taking two birds, some cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop. He will slaughter one bird over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet thread, and the living bird, dip them in the blood of the killed bird and the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times, cleansing the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet thread. Last of all, he will let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field. He has made atonement for the house; the house is clean.

54–57  “These are the procedures to be followed for every kind of serious skin disease or itch, for mildew or fungus on clothing or in a house, and for a swelling or blister or shiny spot in order to determine when it is unclean and when it is clean. These are the procedures regarding infectious skin diseases and mildew and fungus.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, August 28, 2025

by Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 31:10-14

“Hear this, nations! God’s Message!

Broadcast this all over the world!

Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israel

will gather them together again.

From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,

like a shepherd with his flock.’

I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;

I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.

The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,

their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—

Grain and wine and oil,

flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.

Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,

never again left to dry up.

Young women will dance and be happy,

young men and old men will join in.

I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,

lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.

I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a day

and that my people have more than enough.’ ” God’s Decree.

Today's Insights

Jeremiah 31 proclaimed hope to God’s people still devastated by the suffering of the exile when He promised to return them to their home (vv. 8-10). Not only that, but He promised to undo completely the harm that had been done, so that they’d have in abundance everything they needed to flourish (vv. 12-14). In the ancient Near East, drought was a constant threat, so the promise that God’s people would “be like a well-watered garden” (v. 12) would’ve been a particularly rich metaphor.

The foundation of this promise was God’s “everlasting love” (v. 3) and faithfulness. He reminded His people that His grace had been there even during their exile—just as they’d experienced His grace during their journey from Egypt to Canaan while wandering in the wilderness because of their sin (v. 2). God’s faithfulness in the past reminds us that we can trust Him to be faithful in our circumstances today.

God’s Superior Strength

The Lord will deliver Jacob . . . from the hand of those stronger than they. Jeremiah 31:11

In his book From the Pit to the Pulpit, John Stroup shares about powerful, unfriendly forces of life that battered and bruised him physically, sexually, and emotionally. He notes, “I started using drugs before I could drive a car. . . . I quit school and began to get farther and farther into the criminal lifestyle.” Eventually John’s crimes landed him behind bars. While serving a five-year sentence, the Bible became real to him, and he was humbled before God. By God’s grace, he was liberated from habits that were previously stronger than he was.

Ancient Israel’s experience often included oppression and sometimes captivity “from the hand of those stronger than they” (Jeremiah 31:11). Even when their predicaments were because of their own folly, God Himself exercised His mercy and might on behalf of His wayward people. Renewal—including joyful singing, abundant harvests, and celebration (vv. 12-14)—was to be expected when God exercised His superior strength for their good.

John Stroup’s life is a testimony to God’s might on behalf of those who place their faith in God’s Son, Jesus. The Gospels witness to Christ’s power to counter the ugly forces of evil in human life. And the strength and power of Jesus can be accessed today through sincere, faith-filled prayer, and heartfelt surrender for “everyone who calls” on Him (Acts 2:21).

Reflect & Pray

What life forces are you facing that are too strong for you? What’s keeping you from calling on Jesus for help?

Heavenly Father, please exercise Your superior strength in my life today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, August 28, 2025

What’s the Good of Prayer?

Lord, teach us to pray. — Luke 11:1

Prayer isn’t part of natural human life. It’s often said that those who don’t pray will suffer; I question it. What suffers is the life of Christ inside them, because the life of the Son of God is nourished not by food but by prayer.

When we are born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born inside us. Whether we starve this life or nourish it through prayer is up to us. Our ordinary views of prayer—as a way of getting blessings for ourselves from God or of having an emotional experience—are not found in the Bible. The Bible views prayer as a way of getting to know God himself.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). We grumble before God; we are apologetic or apathetic, but we ask very few things. Our Lord says, “Unless you change and become like little children” (18:3). What wonderful audacity a child has! The child of God goes to God with every concern and desire, ready to lay it all out before him and ask. We don’t do this unless we are at our wits’ end. Before then, we think asking is cowardly or weak. Praying in our moment of need isn’t cowardly; it’s the only way we can get in touch with the reality of God. Be yourself before God. Lay before him what you’re at your wits’ end about, the issue you know you can’t deal with yourself. As long as you are self-sufficient, you don’t need to ask him for anything.

It isn’t so much that prayer changes things as that prayer changes me, and then I change things. Prayer isn’t a question of altering external circumstances but of working wonders in our disposition. One of God’s amazing gifts is that prayer on the basis of the redemption has the power to entirely transform a person’s perspective.

Psalms 123-125; 1 Corinthians 10:1-18

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. 

Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Peace in the Midst of the Storm - #10079

Years ago a major art gallery sponsored a competition for painters. They were offering prizes for the best painting on the subject of "Peace." As the attenders browsed through the entries, most had decided that one certain painting was almost sure to win. It portrayed this lush green pasture under a vivid blue sky, with the cows grazing lazily and a little boy walking through the grass with his fishing pole over his shoulder. It really made you feel all peaceful. But it came in second. The painting that won was a big surprise. The scene was the ocean in a violent storm. The sky was ominous, the lightning was cutting across the sky, and the waves were crashing into the rock walls of the cliffs by the shore. No peace. But you had to look twice to understand what was going on. There, about halfway up the cliff was a birds' nest, tucked into a tiny hollow in the rock. A mother bird was sitting on that nest with her little babies, tucked underneath her, sleeping soundly. That was peace!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Peace in the Midst of the Storm."

Now, that was the title of the prize-winning painting - and rightly so, because peace is not just the absence of a storm. It's peace in the middle of the storm. The kind of peace many of us could use right now; the kind of peace maybe you could have right now if you're resting where you ought to be.

As our headlines have become more dominated with new dangers, as so many hearts have been struggling with new anxieties and new fears, I think we're ready for the incredible peace offered in Psalm 46. I call it "Good News for Troubled Times." It's our word for today from the Word of God. Maybe it should be our word for every day right now!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." So, the more troubled things are, the more present God makes Himself. The psalmist then says, "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Everything's collapsing here - things that have always been there for us. But no fear. Why? "God is our refuge and strength."

This psalm continues: "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where The Most High dwells." Where does God live today? Well, it's in those who belong to Him through faith in Jesus. So this might be about you. "God is within her, and she will not fall...Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall...the Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Then as everything seems to be melting down, God says, "Be still, and know that I am God."

OK, turn off the news, leave those other voices, and get where you can just be with God. And realize that as long as you're in His hands, there's no such thing as out of control. He is still God and you are still His!

And if you have never given yourself to Jesus, the Man who died for you to pay for your sin, I'd say there's never been a better time than this. With so much uncertainty, it's so great to know that you're safe forever in a relationship with Him.

I wonder if there's ever been a time when you began your personal relationship with Jesus. Not just have a religion about Jesus or agree with Jesus, but when you've pinned all your hopes on Him as the man who died for your sin and rose from the grave to give you eternal life. If you want that security, if you want that anchor, if you want that forgiveness, that rock to stand on, tell Him that today. Say, "Jesus, I want to belong to You. I'm giving myself to You because You gave yourself for me."

I'd love to have you go to our website today because there is help to be sure that you are anchored to Jesus Christ from this day on and forever. It's called ANewStory.com. Would you check it out?

When you are nesting in the care of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can rest through any storm, because you belong to the One who can give you peace in the middle of the storm.

Mark 7:14-37, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DAY OF PENTECOST - August 27, 2025

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1 NIV).

Pentecost was one of the three feast days on which all the Jewish men were required to appear in Jerusalem at least once in their lifetime. The divine timing was precise. Now, with the apostles gathered in one place, awaiting the power of the Spirit. Now, with representatives of at least fifteen nations gathered in one city…it was time. The Spirit came suddenly and from heaven! Because of the Holy Spirit, each prayerful follower could speak with such power that people from all over the world heard the story of Jesus in “their own language” (Acts 2:6 NIV).

Compelling communication was the first fruit of the Holy Spirit.  He empowered and empowers Christ followers to declare the wonders of God in the heart languages of the world.

Help Is Here

Mark 7:14-37

Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”

17  When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, “We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

18–19  Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)

20–23  He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”

24–26  From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.

27  He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”

28  She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”

29–30  Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

31–35  Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.

36–37  Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Revelation 21:2-5, 9-11

I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.

3–5  I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”

 One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.

Today's Insights

God gave the apostle John a glimpse of “what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1) when Jesus returns to rule the world as king and usher in eternity (vv. 1-3). Satan and the unbelieving, sinful world will be judged and punished for their evil and wickedness (chs. 4-20). John saw “a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1). Eight hundred years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied that God would create “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; see 66:22). Scholars say both Isaiah and John are describing heaven or “paradise” (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7), “God’s dwelling place” where God will live with His people forever (Revelation 21:3). Jesus affectionately called heaven “my Father’s house” (John 14:2). “Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life” (Revelation 21:27) will be allowed to experience the fullness of joy in God’s home.

A Beautiful Ending

I saw the Holy City . . . coming down out of heaven from God. Revelation 21:2

On a warm evening, I met up with friends in a downtown area. We were excited to eat at a restaurant that offered live jazz music outside, but when we arrived, the patio was full. Disappointed, we left and had to walk several blocks to find another place to eat.

On earth, disappointments come in all sizes, both big and small. Beloved pets pass away. Careers fizzle. Health problems occur. We lose relationships with loved ones. In our setbacks, we have God’s comfort, but our life stories don’t always contain the blissful endings we long for. Believers in Jesus, however, have the hope of a joyful eternity.

The book of Revelation records God giving John a breathtaking vision. John saw “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem” (21:2). “Prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband” (v. 2), it radiated God’s glory. God would inhabit the place along with all His people. In His city there would be no crime, no darkness, and no fear (vv. 25-27). Light, peace, and goodwill would abound.

On the night I met my friends for dinner, we ended up walking back past the first restaurant. White lights lit the sidewalk, and we stopped to listen to the music as we ate ice cream. I savored the moment, but we know that no earthly joy can compare with the ultimate ending believers will enjoy forever.

Reflect & Pray

What are you most looking forward to in the next life? How does the promise of a joyful future encourage you?

Dear God, please help me see my pain in light of eternity, knowing You have a better future prepared for me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Theology Alive

Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. — John 12:35

Beware of not acting on what God shows you when you are up on the mountaintop with him. You have to obey the light you receive on high after you come back down into the valley. If you don’t, the light will turn to darkness. “If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The instant you brush aside an insight from God, you will begin to get dry rot in your spiritual life. Continually bring the truth out into your daily life. Work it out in everything you do. When you don’t, the light you’ve been given will prove a curse.

The most difficult kind of person to deal with is the one who has the smug satisfaction of recalling some past mountaintop experience, but who isn’t working out that experience in day-to-day life. If you say that you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it’s evident in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent. No matter how beautiful it sounds, it comes from the devil.

Theology has to work itself out in the most practical ways. “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees . . . you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). You must be more moral than the most moral being you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you putting it to work in the practical issues of life? Every aspect of your life—physical, moral, and spiritual—is to be judged by the standard of the atonement of our Lord.

Psalms 120-122; 1 Corinthians 9

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.

The Place of Help

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Missing Your Mission - #10078

Having seen far too many traffic accidents in my travels over the years, I appreciated a story I heard some years ago from Adrian Rogers. A lady was driving down the highway when she came upon the scene of a terrible accident. She got out of the car, and she saw this driver who had been thrown from the car. He was seriously injured and he was bleeding profusely. Later the lady recounted her response to this heart-rending scene. She said, "Thank goodness, I remembered my First Aid just when it was needed the most, and I immediately put my head between my knees to keep from passing out!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Missing Your Mission."

This lady is not about to be a hero on the nightly news! No, she's oblivious to the desperate need in front of her and instead she's just all focused on herself. The question is, "could that be us?" On the scene where there are people in front of us who are spiritually dying, without Christ, without any hope of heaven and we're just standing there, worrying about ourselves.

Our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Kings 7:9 is a pretty shocking Old Testament picture of a modern spiritual tragedy. The city of Samaria is under siege, and the people of the city are facing such extreme starvation, some of them are even resorting to cannibalism believe it or not. Every morning you can hear the screams of mothers who have awakened to find that their child has starved to death during the night or the sobs of children who just watched their mother die of starvation.

Meanwhile, four lepers, who are living as outcasts outside the city wall, are also on the edge of starvation. Of course, they just depend on handouts from the city. So they choose a course that they consider their only hope for survival. They're going to surrender to the enemy and hope they'll get fed by them. Well, during the night, the Lord has done a miracle that has caused the enemy to retreat, and they have left their camp and their supplies behind. So the lepers stumble into this empty camp and a mountain of food.

The Bible says that as they sat there gorging themselves, "They said to each other, 'We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once...'" Question: how can you have what dying people need and not tell them about it?

Tragically, that's many of us who belong to Jesus Christ. We do it day after day. We keep feasting on the Jesus-banquet, filling up with more and more blessings while never telling the spiritually starving people we know about our Jesus. We can't imagine having one day without Jesus, and they've never had one day with Him. And without Him, they have no chance of heaven. They will never be in heaven with you.

God is trying to open your eyes to the life-or-death emergency that is right in front of you day after day. He's put you on the scene where you could save some lives, where you could rescue some spiritually dying people. As inadequate as you may feel, you are the one that Jesus placed in their lives so you could help some of those folks be in heaven with you!

Is it risky to step out and try to rescue someone? Sure it is. Just ask Jesus. But if He could die for those people we know, how can we not at least tell them that He died for them? Please don't let them die without a chance at Jesus. See, you are that chance.

Leviticus 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LET THIRSTY SOULS COME - August 26, 2025

Let’s pray prayers like this one: God, please release living water upon and through your children. Let us be sources of life and love everywhere we go.

One of the most famous revivals happened early in the twentieth century in Wales. One hundred thousand people came to Christ in less than a year. Almost-empty bars were closed for lack of business. Magistrates saw their courts emptied of criminals. Miners even had to retrain the mules that worked in the coal mines. Many of the animals had been trained to respond to vulgar commands. But when the men got cleaned up, their language did as well, and the mules had to learn a new vocabulary.

May the need arise to retrain some mules today. Let the thirsty souls come to Christ. And let the rivers of living water flow again.

Help Is Here

Leviticus 13

Infections

1–3  13 God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “When someone has a swelling or a blister or a shiny spot on the skin that might signal a serious skin disease on the body, bring him to Aaron the priest or to one of his priest sons. The priest will examine the sore on the skin. If the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears more than skin deep, it is a serious skin disease and infectious. After the priest has examined it, he will pronounce the person unclean.

4–8  “If the shiny spot on the skin is white but appears to be only on the surface and the hair has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will examine it again; if, in his judgment, the sore is the same and has not spread, the priest will keep him in quarantine for another seven days. On the seventh day the priest will examine him a second time; if the sore has faded and hasn’t spread, the priest will declare him clean—it is a harmless rash. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean. But if the sore spreads after he has shown himself to the priest and been declared clean, he must come back again to the priest who will conduct another examination. If the sore has spread, the priest will pronounce him unclean—it is a serious skin disease and infectious.

9–17  “Whenever someone has a serious and infectious skin disease, you must bring him to the priest. The priest will examine him; if there is a white swelling in the skin, the hair is turning white, and there is an open sore in the swelling, it is a chronic skin disease. The priest will pronounce him unclean. But he doesn’t need to quarantine him because he’s already given his diagnosis of unclean. If a serious disease breaks out that covers all the skin from head to foot, wherever the priest looks, the priest will make a thorough examination; if the disease covers his entire body, he will pronounce the person with the sore clean—since it has turned all white, he is clean. But if they are open, running sores, he is unclean. The priest will examine the open sores and pronounce him unclean. The open sores are unclean; they are evidence of a serious skin disease. But if the open sores dry up and turn white, he is to come back to the priest who will reexamine him; if the sores have turned white, the priest will pronounce the person with the sores clean. He is clean.

18–23  “When a person has a boil and it heals and in place of the boil there is white swelling or a reddish-white shiny spot, the person must present himself to the priest for an examination. If it looks like it has penetrated the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest will pronounce him unclean. It is a serious skin disease that has broken out in the boil. But if the examination shows that there is no white hair in it and it is only skin deep and has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days. If it then spreads over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean. It is infectious. But if the shiny spot has not changed and hasn’t spread, it’s only a scar from the boil. The priest will pronounce him clean.

24–28  “When a person has a burn on his skin and the raw flesh turns into a reddish-white or white shiny spot, the priest is to examine it. If the hair has turned white in the shiny spot and it looks like it’s more than skin deep, a serious skin disease has erupted in the area of the burn. The priest will pronounce him unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious. But if on examination there is no white hair in the shiny spot and it doesn’t look to be more than skin deep but has faded, the priest will put him in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will reexamine him. If by then it has spread over the skin, the priest will diagnose him as unclean; it is a serious skin disease and infectious. If by that time the shiny spot has stayed the same and has not spread but has faded, it is only a swelling from the burn. The priest will pronounce him clean; it’s only a scar from the burn.

29–37  “If a man or woman develops a sore on the head or chin, the priest will offer a diagnosis. If it looks as if it is under the skin and the hair in it is yellow and thin, he will pronounce the person ritually unclean. It is an itch, an infectious skin disease. But if when he examines the itch, he finds it is only skin deep and there is no black hair in it, he will put the person in quarantine for seven days. On the seventh day he will reexamine the sore; if the itch has not spread, there is no yellow hair in it, and it looks as if the itch is only skin deep, the person must shave, except for the itch; the priest will send him back to quarantine for another seven days. If the itch has not spread, and looks to be only skin deep, the priest will pronounce him clean. The person can go home and wash his clothes; he is clean. But if the itch spreads after being pronounced clean, the priest must reexamine it; if the itch has spread in the skin, he doesn’t have to look any farther, for yellow hair, for instance; he is unclean. But if he sees that the itch is unchanged and black hair has begun to grow in it, the itch is healed. The person is clean and the priest will pronounce him clean.

38–39  “When a man or woman gets shiny or white shiny spots on the skin, the priest is to make an examination; if the shiny spots are dull white, it is only a rash that has broken out: The person is clean.

40–44  “When a man loses his hair and goes bald, he is clean. If he loses his hair from his forehead, he is bald and he is clean. But if he has a reddish-white sore on scalp or forehead, it means a serious skin disease is breaking out. The priest is to examine it; if the swollen sore on his scalp or forehead is reddish-white like the appearance of the sore of a serious skin disease, he has a serious skin disease and is unclean. The priest has to pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.

45–46  “Any person with a serious skin disease must wear torn clothes, leave his hair loose and unbrushed, cover his upper lip, and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as anyone has the sores, that one continues to be ritually unclean. That person must live alone; he or she must live outside the camp.

47–58  “If clothing—woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted cloth of linen or wool, leather or leatherwork—is infected with a patch of serious fungus and if the spot in the clothing or the leather or the woven or the knitted material or anything made of leather is greenish or rusty, that is a sign of serious fungus. Show it to the priest. The priest will examine the spot and then confiscate the material for seven days. On the seventh day he will reexamine the spot. If it has spread in the garment—the woven or knitted or leather material—it is the spot of a persistent serious fungus and the material is unclean. He must burn the garment. Because of the persistent and contaminating fungus, the material must be burned. But if when the priest examines it the spot has not spread in the garment, the priest will command the owner to wash the material that has the spot, and he will confiscate it for another seven days. He’ll then make another examination after it has been washed; if the spot hasn’t changed in appearance, even though it hasn’t spread, it is still unclean. Burn it up, whether the fungus has affected the back or the front. If, when the priest makes his examination, the spot has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear the spot from the garment. But if it reappears, it is a fresh outbreak—throw whatever has the spot in the fire. If the garment is washed and the spot has gone away, then wash it a second time; it is clean.

59  “These are the instructions regarding a spot of serious fungus in clothing of wool or linen, woven or knitted material, or any article of leather, for pronouncing them clean or unclean.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

by Kirsten Holmberg

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ezekiel 34:11-16

“ ‘God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited.

Today's Insights

In the Old Testament, Israel’s kings were also known as shepherds of God’s people (Numbers 27:17; 2 Samuel 5:2; Ezekiel 37:24). As monarchs, kings were to rule the nation with justice and righteousness. As shepherds, they were to provide for, guide, care, and protect God’s flock. Israel’s kings failed in their dual roles of kingship and shepherding (Ezekiel 34). God declared, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them” (v. 11). Isaiah speaks of God as the Shepherd-King: “[The Sovereign Lord] rules with a mighty arm. . . . He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (40:10-11). Micah prophesied of a “ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,” born in Bethlehem, who will come and “shepherd [God’s] flock” (5:2, 4). Jesus, the God-Shepherd, is our Good Shepherd who knows us and lays down His life for us (John 10:11, 14).

Visit GO.ODB.org/082625 to learn more about shepherding in the Middle East.

Sheep Crossing

I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. Ezekiel 34:15

Traffic came to a halt, but I had no idea why. There were few cars on the road, and I could see no obvious reason to be stopped. And then, suddenly—to my great surprise and delight—thousands of sheep emerged and crossed the freeway. As a newcomer to Idaho, I wasn’t yet familiar with the annual migration of the sheep into the Boise foothills each spring. Local ranchers escort their flocks into the foothills, where they graze on the native grasses over the summer.

Because I’d only lived in urban and suburban areas throughout my life, the sight was something of a spectacle to me. Yet sheep were a regular part of living in the days of Ezekiel (and much of the Bible’s recorded history). The prophet drew on something familiar to the people—sheep and shepherding—to convey God’s message to them of comfort and hope. 

Ezekiel offered comforting, hopeful words to the Israelites, telling them that despite the years of hardship in Babylon—the consequence of their recurrent rebellion against God—He’d one day restore them to “their own land” (Ezekiel 34:13). God would then, like a shepherd, “tend them in a good pasture,” and they would “lie down in good grazing land” (v. 14).

God shows similar care for His people. We can trust Him, our Shepherd, to lead us forward through life—though we may feel “scattered” like sheep in the midst of difficulties (v. 12)—toward good pastures (vv. 13-14).

Reflect & Pray

When has God led you through seasons of difficulty? How can you trust Him to be your Shepherd today?

Thank You, God, for being my tender, trustworthy Shepherd.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Are You Ever Troubled?

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you . . . —John 14:27

There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “. . . My peace I give to you. . .”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.

Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.

With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:27).

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

The Light Right In Front of You - #10077

Our daughter's got this thing about lighthouses. Thanks to her family indulging that passion at Christmas and birthday time, she's got lighthouses all over her house. She's got lighthouse stationery, lighthouse rugs, and lighthouse books; sad to say, even a lighthouse on the cover of her commode. In many places, real lighthouses are mostly reminders of the maritime past when lives actually depended on seeing the light that marked the shore and the rocks. Sometimes lives still depend on them, as in the case of a Greek ferry called the Express Samina.

There were 540 passengers aboard that September evening, sailing from Athens to an Aegean Island. An hour out, the wind came up and the temperature suddenly dropped. Five hours into the voyage, passengers felt the ferry's engines surge, and most of them assumed they were getting close to their destination. They were wrong. The crew was frantically trying to steer clear of this small, rocky island, two miles from their destination. Tragically, the ferry plowed right into those rocks. It took only thirty-eight minutes to sink. Rescue vessels got there quickly, but eighty people died that night, and you know, it didn't have to happen. There was a functioning lighthouse, sitting atop that rock, warning vessels away. It could be seen for several miles around. For some reason, the ferry just kept heading straight for the rocks.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Light Right In Front of You."

It's possible to have the light right in front of you and miss it - with tragic results. It's been happening to nice church folks for a long time. If you're a nice church folk, it could happen to you. There are a lot of great things about growing up in a Christian environment, or of being a part of a church where you hear about Jesus a lot. But there are some dangers, too; like missing the light that's right in front of you.

Jesus had some sobering things to say to some of the most religious people of His day. They are still sobering words for those of us who are Bible folks - church folks. Here are the words of Jesus from John 5:39-40, our word for today from the Word of God: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, and yet you refuse to come to Me to have life." You can have the light of the Bible, the light of the Gospel in front of you your whole life, and yet you could still miss Jesus. When you miss Jesus, you miss God and you miss heaven. Jesus made clear that many people who have lived for years in sight of the lighthouse will miss heaven's destination and sail right into the rocks of eternal punishment for their sins.

The Bible describes eternal life as "the gift of God" (Romans 6:23). You can know all about a gift, you can appreciate a gift, and you can have the gift right in front of you and still miss the gift because you never took it for yourself. Could that be you? Somehow, there's never been a time when you actually reached out and personally took Jesus into your life for yourself. For all you know, you don't know Jesus. For all you've experienced, you've never experienced Him. Don't you want to?

God, in His great love for you, has laid this on my heart so you could have this chance to know Him for real. It's probably going to be hard to admit that you've missed Jesus all this time, but it's not nearly as hard as an eternity without Him. Don't let your pride, don't let your self-deception make you miss heaven. Right where you are, tell Him, "Jesus, I've never actually put my trust in You to be my own Savior from my own sin. But today I am. Beginning this day, Jesus, I'm Yours."

I want you to be sure beyond any shadow of a doubt that you belong to Jesus for now and for eternity. That's why our website is there. Please go there today. It's ANewStory.com.

You've seen the lighthouse, but maybe you've never changed your course. This time, turn to Jesus while there's time.

Mark 7:1-13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PRESENCE OF WATER - August 25, 2025

I did not grow up on a ranch, but I was raised in the land of ranches. I learned that there are two ways to increase the value of ranch land: strike oil or discover water. If a ranch has a river or creek running through it or drillable water within it, it will be advertised as a ranch with “live water.” The presence of water changes dry ranch land into useful property.

The presence of Spirit-filled Christ followers does the same to society. The Holy Spirit flows out of us into the dry places of the world. This is how revival happens. There are 2.3 billion Christians in the world. Suppose each one each day responded to the prompting of the Spirit to bless someone else. Might revival happen in our day?

Help Is Here

Mark 7:1-13

The Source of Your Pollution

1–4  7 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans).

5  The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?”

6–8  Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:

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

but their heart isn’t in it.

They act like they are worshiping me,

but they don’t mean it.

They just use me as a cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy,

Ditching God’s command

and taking up the latest fads.”

9–13  He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, August 25, 2025

by Lisa M. Samra

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

16–18  Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Today's Insights

In his final exhortation to the Thessalonian believers in Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:12-28), Paul isn’t just giving unrelated, random instructions but is still instructing believers “how to live in order to please God” (4:1). They’re to “encourage one another and build each other up” (5:11), admonish the troublemakers, comfort the disheartened, strengthen the weak, and be patient with everyone (v. 14). Believers are to be radically different from non-believers when responding to those who’ve wronged or hurt them. Instead of pursuing retribution, believers are to “always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (v. 15). The church is a forgiven community, and a forgiven person is a forgiving person. Elsewhere, Paul writes, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10). Doing what’s good for each person and the community is pleasing to God.

Being a Blessing

Always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:15

During a heated game between two long-standing local high school soccer rivals, the Eagles and the Pioneers, the Eagles kicked the ball into the goal. The ball went into the net but exited the back of the net through a hole. The referee didn’t see the ball enter the goal, and seeing the ball outside the net ruled it was not a score. The Pioneers’ coach saw the goal and voluntarily confirmed the Eagles coach’s claim, even though he could have remained silent. The referee counted the goal. The Pioneers lost the game 3–2.

While it’s easy to speak up when it’s for our benefit, the Bible encourages believers in Jesus to “always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Going beyond our normal inclination to do good for our friends, the difficult aspect of this command is working to do good for even our rivals without benefiting from our actions or “expecting to get anything back” in return (Luke 6:35). 

Doing good for a rival or competitor may mean speaking up for a coworker’s effort to complete a sale even if that means she might get the bigger bonus. Doing good might mean raking a neighbor’s leaves even if he’s unlikely to say thank you.

As we actively make an effort to do good toward others, we demonstrate that God’s love extends to everyone.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, August 25, 2025

Sacrifice and Friendship

I have called you friends . . . —John 15:15

We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if . . . !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . . .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friends. . . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, August 25, 2025

Drowning Out the Disturbing Music - #10076

There's a 7-Eleven store owner in Texas who won my respect some years ago. Never met the man, but I really respect his creativity. He had this particular problem every night in his parking lot. A bunch of teenagers would gather there and their rock music would blare from their cars and then they kind of took over their neighborhood with decibels. And when they left, they'd leave a trail of litter and broken bottles.

Now, he could have gone out in the parking lot and yelled and screamed, and said, "You crazy kids, get out of here!" But he was much more creative and effective than that. He installed his own speakers on the roof of his store and started playing Mozart in the parking lot at night. His speakers were so big he was drowning out their speakers. I'll bet you could guess and guess correctly what happened! No more teenagers in the parking lot! They're not going to go near that Mozart stuff. His music cleared the parking lot. Now, that's a great way to win.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drowning Out the Disturbing Music."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy 6. It is addressed to parents who have just moved out of the wilderness. They're moving into the Promised Land of Canaan, but it's a pagan place. They've been raising their children around people who believe what they believe. Now, they're going to have to raise their children in a pagan culture, a pleasure-mad, godless environment. There's going to be a lot of temptation for their kids, and the children will be hearing the siren song of Canaan blasting through the neighborhood.

How do parents deal with all these pagan influences? It sounds like the atmosphere in which we're raising our kids, doesn't it? Do you go out and yell and scream against all the sin? That might not be the best approach. Deuteronomy 6, beginning with verse 6: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Seems like the strategy that God suggests here is to drown out the music of a godless earth with the music of a Christ-centered home. You can create in your family an island of sanity in an otherwise insane world. We hear all the appealing voices and temptations of a sinful culture, and oftentimes we act like we're afraid of that as if they really have something to offer. We cloister our kids; we try to pretend there is no other music. But God says in essence, "You can't stop the world from playing its alluring attractions for your children, but you can play the music of Jesus louder. How do you do that? Impress His teachings on your children. It doesn't just say tell them or teach them. It says to impress them.

Now, if you want to make an impression on something physically, you've got to be right next to it, in touch with it. That's how you impress something. Well, see, this is close-up time! It's not just teaching Christian answers; it's spending lots of that close-up time with them. It's interweaving God talk and God values into their everyday activities. Wrapping them in your God stories. The best place to learn about Him, to see the reality of your faith is in the classroom of everyday life. It's debriefing your child daily from their venture into the world. The greater impression is when they see you loving Jesus, enjoying Jesus, meeting with Jesus yourself. Not so much pushing Jesus - enjoying Him; a spontaneous faith treats Jesus like the unseen member of our family; the decisive person in all the things that matter to you.

The world can't play music like that, so don't waste a lot of time trying to fight the world's blaring music. Just play Jesus' song louder, with a living faith in your family.