Proverbs 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:  We Don’t Like to Wait

We don’t like to wait.  We’re the giddy-up generation. We frown at the person who takes eleven items to the ten-item express checkout. We drum our fingers while the microwave heats our coffee. “Come on, come on.”  We really don’t like to wait!

Look around you. Do you realize where we sit?  This planet is God’s waiting room. The young couple? Waiting to get pregnant. The guy with the briefcase?  Waiting for work. Waiting on God to give or to help.  Waiting on God to come. The land of waiting. And you? Are you in God’s waiting room?

You may be infertile or inactive, in limbo, in between jobs or in search of a house, spouse, health, or help. Here’s what you need to know. While you wait, God works! God never twiddles His thumbs. He never stops. Just because you’re idle, don’t assume God is. Trust Him.  In the right time, you’ll get through this.

From You’ll Get Through This

Proverbs 3

Don’t Assume You Know It All

1–2  3 Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;

take to heart my commands.

They’ll help you live a long, long time,

a long life lived full and well.

3–4  Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.

Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.

Earn a reputation for living well

in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

5–12  Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

your wine vats will brim over.

But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;

don’t sulk under his loving correction.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects;

a father’s delight is behind all this.

The Very Tree of Life

13–18  You’re blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom,

when you make friends with Madame Insight.

She’s worth far more than money in the bank;

her friendship is better than a big salary.

Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth;

nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.

With one hand she gives long life,

with the other she confers recognition.

Her manner is beautiful,

her life wonderfully complete.

She’s the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her.

Hold her tight—and be blessed!

19–20  With Lady Wisdom, God formed Earth;

with Madame Insight, he raised Heaven.

They knew when to signal rivers and springs to the surface,

and dew to descend from the night skies.

Never Walk Away

21–26  Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;

don’t for a minute lose sight of them.

They’ll keep your soul alive and well,

they’ll keep you fit and attractive.

You’ll travel safely,

you’ll neither tire nor trip.

You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry,

you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep.

No need to panic over alarms or surprises,

or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner,

Because God will be right there with you;

he’ll keep you safe and sound.

27–29  Never walk away from someone who deserves help;

your hand is God’s hand for that person.

Don’t tell your neighbor “Maybe some other time”

or “Try me tomorrow”

when the money’s right there in your pocket.

Don’t figure ways of taking advantage of your neighbor

when he’s sitting there trusting and unsuspecting.

30–32  Don’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder,

always spoiling for a fight.

Don’t try to be like those who shoulder their way through life.

Why be a bully?

“Why not?” you say. Because God can’t stand twisted souls.

It’s the straightforward who get his respect.

33–35  God’s curse blights the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the home of the righteous.

He gives proud skeptics a cold shoulder,

but if you’re down on your luck, he’s right there to help.

Wise living gets rewarded with honor;

stupid living gets the booby prize.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, September 06, 2026

by Marvin Williams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Jude 1:20-23

But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!

22–23  Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.

Today's Insights

Because of the prevailing environment in Jude’s day—which included “ungodly” spiritual leaders who were promoting damaging doctrines (1:4)—he wrote an urgent, intense letter to believers in Jesus whom he addressed as “dear friends” (vv. 3, 17, 20), sometimes translated “beloved.” He strongly urged the believers “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (v. 3). The King James Version uses stronger language, rendering the Greek word epagonizomai as “earnestly contend.” It means “to struggle for,” “to exercise great effort and exertion for something.” It was used of athletic contests to describe the struggle and effort expended by the athletes. The faith refers to the teaching of Christ and the apostles that was believed and practiced by His followers. Today, God will help those who’ve heard and responded to the truth of Scripture to earnestly “contend for the faith,” remain faithful, and encourage others who are being deceived by false teachers.

For further study, read: Reclaiming Hope

Contending for the Faith

Save others by snatching them from the fire; ?to others show mercy, mixed with fear. Jude 1:23

A twenty-seven-year-old student studying in Japan had to be rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week! After being airlifted during his first climb due to dangerous conditions, he realized he’d left his phone and other belongings behind. Four days later, ignoring warnings, he returned to the mountain, only to need to be rescued again—this time suffering from altitude sickness. His story made headlines for its rarity but also because he’d knowingly trekked back into danger.

This account mirrors a spiritual reality—we often tend to head back to what God has rescued us from. Jude captures this tension in his little letter. Written to a church threatened by false teachers and moral compromises, he exhorted believers “to contend for the faith” (1:3), not just for themselves but for others too. Jude challenged them to snatch others “from the fire” (v. 23)—taking an active role in shielding struggling believers from false teachers. As believers in Jesus, we can’t simply stand back and watch others flounder and fail.

Today, God is calling us to rescue others and to resist returning to the place we were rescued from. His grace will rescue us more than once, but it also calls us to live like we’ve already been rescued. Through God’s strength, let’s contend for the faith and help others be built up in the “most holy faith” (v. 20).

Reflect & Pray

How can we show mercy to believers who doubt? ?What does it mean to show mercy mixed with reverent fear?

Dear God, please help me contend for the faith and help those experiencing doubt.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, September 06, 2026

Diffusiveness of Life

Rivers of living water . . . — John 7:38

A river touches places of which its source knows nothing. Jesus says that if we have received his fullness, it doesn’t matter how small the visible measure of our lives may be; out of us will flow rivers that will bless the farthest reaches of the earth. We have nothing to do with the outflow; it is the mighty work of God. God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing it is.

A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. It goes steadily along in its course, then comes to an obstacle and, for a while, is blocked. But it soon makes a pathway around. Or a river may drop out of sight for miles, then emerge again, broader and grander than ever. So it is with the Spirit of God.

Has an obstacle come into your life? Do you see God using others while you seem to be of no use? Keep paying attention to the source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all. Never focus on the obstacle or difficulty; the river is completely indifferent to anything in its path and will flow steadily through you when you remember to keep your sights on the source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ. Nothing—no emotion, no experience—must keep you from the one great source.

Think of the healing and far-flung rivers nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been awakening our minds to amazing truths, and each truth he awakens points to the wider power of the river he will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has nourished in you mighty torrents of blessings for others.

Psalms 148-150; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

Proverbs 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Moral Absolutes

When I was nine years old, I complimented a friend’s model airplane. He said, “I stole it!”  He could tell I was stunned because he asked, “Do you think that was wrong?” When I told him I did, he answered simply, “It may be wrong for you, but it’s not wrong for me. I know the owner. He’s rich…I’m not.”

What do you say to that argument? If the majority opinion determines good and evil, what happens when the majority is wrong? A godly view of the world has something to say to my childhood thief. You may think it’s right. Society may think it’s okay. But the God who made you said, ‘You shall not steal’—and he wasn’t kidding. The hedonist’s world of no moral absolutes works fine on paper and sounds great in a college philosophy course, but in life? Paul described it best in Romans 1:21, “Their foolish minds were filled with darkness.”

From In the Grip of Grace

Proverbs 2

Make Insight Your Priority

1–5  2 Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you;

collect my counsels and guard them with your life.

Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;

set your heart on a life of Understanding.

That’s right—if you make Insight your priority,

and won’t take no for an answer,

Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,

like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,

Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;

you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

6–8  And here’s why: God gives out Wisdom free,

is plainspoken in Knowledge and Understanding.

He’s a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well,

a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere.

He keeps his eye on all who live honestly,

and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.

9–15  So now you can pick out what’s true and fair,

find all the good trails!

Lady Wisdom will be your close friend,

and Brother Knowledge your pleasant companion.

Good Sense will scout ahead for danger,

Insight will keep an eye out for you.

They’ll keep you from making wrong turns,

or following the bad directions

Of those who are lost themselves

and can’t tell a trail from a tumbleweed,

These losers who make a game of evil

and throw parties to celebrate perversity,

Traveling paths that go nowhere,

wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends.

16–19  Wise friends will rescue you from the Temptress—

that smooth-talking Seductress

Who’s faithless to the husband she married years ago,

never gave a second thought to her promises before God.

Her whole way of life is doomed;

every step she takes brings her closer to hell.

No one who joins her company ever comes back,

ever sets foot on the path to real living.

20–22  So—join the company of good men and women,

keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.

It’s the men who walk straight who will settle this land,

the women with integrity who will last here.

The corrupt will lose their lives;

the dishonest will be gone for good.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, September 05, 2026

by Monica La Rose

Numbers 22:22-23, 25-31

As he was going, though, God’s anger flared. The angel of God stood in the road to block his way. Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the angel blocking the road and brandishing a sword, she veered off the road into the ditch. Balaam beat the donkey and got her back on the road.

the donkey again saw God’s angel blocking the way and veered into the fence, crushing Balaam’s foot against the fence. Balaam hit her again.

26–27  God’s angel blocked the way yet again—a very narrow passage this time; there was no getting through on the right or left. Seeing the angel, Balaam’s donkey sat down under him. Balaam lost his temper; he beat the donkey with his stick.

28  Then God gave speech to the donkey. She said to Balaam: “What have I ever done to you that you have beat me these three times?”

29  Balaam said, “Because you’ve been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now.”

30  The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your trusty donkey on whom you’ve ridden for years right up until now? Have I ever done anything like this to you before? Have I?”

He said, “No.”

31  Then God helped Balaam see what was going on: He saw God’s angel blocking the way, brandishing a sword. Balaam fell to the ground, his face in the dirt.

Today's Insights

One wonders how Balaam, a non-Jewish prophet, knew about Yahweh, the one true God. Balaam had a reputation as an effective prophet; that’s why Midian’s King Balak commissioned him (Numbers 22:5-6). Yet even though God spoke to Balaam (v. 9), he wasn’t righteous. He later advised Midianite women to seduce Israelite men into sexual sin and idolatry (see 25:1-9; 31:15-16). We serve the God who can open the mouth of a donkey (22:28) and the eyes of a wicked prophet (vv. 31, 34). We can expect Him to open the eyes of those who trust Him and want to serve Him.

For further study, read: Who is Your Neighbor

When God Opens Our Eyes

The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?” Numbers 22:32

In thirteenth-century France, legend has it that a knight left his baby boy at home guarded by his greyhound dog Guinefort. The knight returned to find chaos—the crib overturned, his son nowhere to be seen, and his hound’s mouth covered in blood. Assuming the dog had harmed his son, he killed it. Afterward, he found the body of a large snake covered in dog bites—and his son unharmed under the cradle. Guinefort had saved the baby’s life. The dog’s heroism and unjust fate so moved people that they misguidedly revered Guinefort as a saint.

Scripture records a similar incident, in which an animal was unjustly punished for protecting its owner. The prophet Balaam had been hired by the Moabite king to curse God’s people (Numbers 22:4-6). On Balaam’s journey, an “angel of the Lord . . . with a drawn sword” (v. 23) blocked his path. Balaam’s donkey, seeing the danger, avoided the angel twice—only to be beaten for his efforts (vv. 23, 25). When the donkey could no longer evade the angel, he refused to move and was again punished (vv. 26-27).

Finally, God enabled the donkey to speak and defend itself (vv. 29-30), and then He opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel and heed God’s instructions (v. 31-32).

We’re not likely to hear an animal talk back to us anytime soon, but God can still open our eyes in unexpected ways. When that happens, let’s be prepared to listen.

Reflect & Pray

When has God opened your eyes? How has that changed you?

Gracious God, please help me to hear and respond to Your leading.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, September 05, 2026

Keeping Watch

Watch with Me. — Matthew 26:38

When Jesus says, “Watch with me,” he is telling us to watch with no private point of view at all. In the early stages of our life with him, we do not watch with Jesus; we watch for him and expect him to watch with us. It takes us time to begin to view everything that happens in the way our Lord views it—through the revelation of the Bible.

Jesus asked his disciples to watch with him in the garden of Gethsemane, when peril was close at hand. In the same way, he comes to us, in some present-day Gethsemane where his honor is at stake, and says, “Watch with me.” He does this to teach us to identify ourselves with him and to see things from his perspective. But we will not. We say, “No, Lord. I can’t see the meaning of this. It’s too awful.”

If we don’t understand our Lord, if we don’t even know what his suffering is for, how can we ever watch with him? The disciples loved Jesus to the limits of their natural capacity, but they didn’t understand what he was after; they couldn’t grasp why his goal was to go to his death. In the garden of Gethsemane, they allowed themselves to be consumed by their own sorrow, and they fell asleep instead of keeping watch. At the end of three years of the closest intimacy with their Lord, “all the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

And yet, the disciples did eventually learn to watch with Jesus. How? After Gethsemane, a series of wonderful things happened. Our Lord died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven; he sent the Holy Spirit, telling his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). This is how the disciples were changed. On the day of Pentecost, “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (2:4), and they learned to watch with Jesus for the rest of their lives.

Psalms 146-147; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be.

My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R

John 20:16-31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE LORD HE IS GOD - September 4, 2026

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel on Mt. Carmel. He dared them to call on Baal to send fire. From morning to evening they cried. Satan had no response. With the prophets of Baal exhausted and defeated, Elijah “repaired the altar of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:30 NASB).

Twelve stones symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. They saturated the altar with water three times so that everything was soaked. Then Elijah prayed. He didn’t even request fire. But the Lord sent it. A blaze from heaven consumed the water, the rocks, the wood, even the dust. For the first time in three generations, the nation of Israel cried to Jehovah, “The Lord, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:39 NASB).

Is it time for our generation to rebuild the altar?

Unbreakable Courage

John 20:16-31

Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

17  Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’ ”

18  Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

To Believe

19–20  Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side.

20–21  The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”

22–23  Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

24–25  But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”

But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”

26  Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

27  Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”

28  Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”

29  Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

30–31  Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, September 04, 2026

By Adam R. Holz

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 12:1-7, 10, 14

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

1–3  12 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

4–11  In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,

but don’t be crushed by it either.

It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;

the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training,

While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best.

Hebrews 12:14

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

14–17  Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God.

Today's Insights

The original audience of the letter to the Hebrews were Jewish believers in Jesus who may have considered reverting back to Judaism or were straying toward false teachings (see 2:1-4; 3:1-4). Many scholars believe the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in ad 70 because it includes references to Jewish ceremonies and sacrifices. Hebrews encourages believers to endure and hold fast to Christ (2:1-4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:2). In chapter 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” the author commends the many men and women of the Bible who lived by faith and sometimes died because of it. Therefore, because of their witness and example, believers in Jesus are prompted to “throw off everything that hinders” us—including sin—and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (12:1). 

For further study, read: Sin is Awful, God is Gracious

Junk Files

Let us throw off everything that hinders ?and the sin that so easily entangles. Hebrews 12:1

My smartphone occasionally reminds me I’m not good at digital housekeeping. “Junk files are taking up space,” the message reads. “Delete 675MB of junk files.” Now, I dislike being nagged by my phone. But if I clean out those files, I’ve got more space for things that really matter. Then, when I’m at my daughter’s swim meet, for instance, I’ll have enough digital storage to actually shoot a video of her winning a race instead of unexpectedly realizing that those pesky “junk files” have sabotaged my ability to capture the moment.

Junk files on our phones are easy to delete. But what about the “junk files” in our souls? Like our phones, our souls can be clogged with stuff that keeps us from flourishing spiritually. The author of Hebrews understood this reality, encouraging us to pay close attention to anything that trips us up in our walk with God. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” he writes, followed by this challenge: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

What weighs you down? What trips you up? Hebrews encourages us to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2), who alone can help us identify and delete the “junk files” that hinder our abundant life in Him.

Reflect & Pray

What most trips you up in your relationship with God? How does your faith help you identify and throw off sinful influences?

Dear Father, please give me the wisdom and courage to “throw off . . . the sin that so easily entangles” me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, September 04, 2026

His

They were yours; you gave them to me. — John 17:6

A disciple is one in whom the Holy Spirit has forged this realization: “I am not my own.” To say “I am not my own” is to have reached a point of great spiritual nobility. If I am a disciple, I make a sovereign decision to give myself over to Jesus Christ. Then the Holy Spirit comes in to teach me his nature. He teaches me this not so that I’ll hold myself apart from others, like a showroom exhibit of holiness, but in order to make me one with my Lord. Until I am made one with him, he won’t send me out. Jesus Christ waited until after the resurrection to send his disciples to preach the gospel, because only then did the power of the Holy Spirit come upon them, enabling them to perceive who Jesus Christ was and to become one with him.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children . . . such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus doesn’t say, “Such a person cannot be a good and moral individual.” He says, “Such a person cannot be one over whom I write the word mine.” Any of the relationships Jesus mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my father or my mother, to my spouse or to myself. If I do, Jesus says I cannot be his disciple. This doesn’t mean I won’t be saved; it simply means I won’t be his.

“You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Our Lord makes his disciples his own possessions. He becomes responsible for them. The spirit the disciple receives isn’t the spirit of hard work or of doing practical things for Jesus. It’s the spirit of love and devotion, of being a perfect delight to him. The secret of the disciple is “I am entirely his, and he is carrying out his work through me.”

Be entirely his.

Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, September 04, 2026

Orphan in Your Heart - #10345

Scripture:  John 14:18

As your parents get older, they love to tell those stories again, and again, and again. We’ve enjoyed hearing some of the family stories that my wife’s dad had to tell. And, you know what? It filled in a lot of blanks, as we tried to put together the history of the last couple of generations. We asked him once about that little girl named Ada. My wife’s grandfather, Granddad Glenn, had one child – her dad. And he wanted a sister! So, Granddad Glenn traveled from their small town to a major city to check out the adoption possibilities at an orphanage there. I don’t know if he was prepared for the reception he got there. Everywhere he went, children asked him if they could go home with him. But there was this one dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl who just would not leave his side. Her name was Ada. She wouldn’t let go of Granddad’s hand, and she kept looking up at him with her big brown eyes and begging him, “Please let me go home with you. Please take me.” He did. And my wife’s dad got his sister.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Orphan in Your Heart.”

The heart of an orphan desperately reaching for someone to love and take care of her. Maybe that’s a feeling you know even though you’re not physically an orphan. But life can get pretty lonely; relationships that were supposed to bring you love and happiness ended up bringing disappointment and hurt. You live enough years, there’s a good chance you end up feeling abandoned at some point, left out, rejected, alone – even with a lot of people around you.

And the biggest mistakes we make in our life are often mistakes we make for love. We keep reaching for a hand that might offer love and saying, “Take me. If you do, I’ll be OK.” But we’ve never really been totally OK. No love has ever been enough love, and sometimes we’ve paid too high a price to get someone to take us.

It’s this orphan feeling in the human heart that Jesus Christ speaks to in our word for today from the Word of God, recorded in John 14:18. He says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus says, “I can give you the ‘never leave you’ love that your heart's always been hungry for.’” Actually, He’s the only one who can finally bring us spiritual orphans home.

The loneliness we just keep feeling is ultimately cosmic loneliness. We’re lonely for God. Why? Well, He made us for His love and we’ve left Him. It isn’t that we don’t have a Father. We feel like emotional and spiritual orphans because we’ve never begun a relationship with this Father who loves us so very much.

In Isaiah 53:6, God describes how we have missed His love. It says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Our sin – our "my way" living has cut us off from the love we were made for, and only Jesus could bring us back. The rest of that verse says, “The Lord laid on him (that’s Jesus) the wrongdoing of us all.”

In other words, Jesus died on the cross, carrying all the guilt and all the hell of all your sin and mine. That’s why He cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Reason: He was cut off from His Father so you would never have to be cut off from Him again.

And now He’s reaching out His hand for you to offer you the relationship – the love you were made for. The question is, “Are you going to reach back?” Won't you grab the hand of Jesus and tell Him, “Lord, take me. You’re this orphan’s only hope. You died for me. I am yours. I want to be a child of the Heavenly Father, born into His family this day because of what You did on the cross for me.”

Listen, if that’s where your heart is, go to our website. It has all the information you need to confirm that you belong to God through Jesus. That website is ANewStory.com.

Your Heavenly Father has come to where you are today to bring you into His family, to bring you home to His love. Like a little orphan many years ago, reach up and say, “Take me.” Oh He will. And you will be an orphan no more.

Proverbs 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TATTOOED ON GOD’S HAND - September 3, 2026

On the second day of the D-Day invasion, Leon was taken captive by the Nazis. While being marched to a POW camp, he and another soldier escaped. A farmer found them and put them in touch with the French underground. They took his US credentials and created a French ID card for him.

He made it back to the Allied camp. Yet with no American ID, he was suspected of being a spy. He rolled up his sleeve and said, “Would this prove I’m an American?” It was a tattoo of an eagle, and on its breast was an American flag with the word Mother written across it. That convinced them.

Sound familiar? God says, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16 NIV). Satan is vicious, but he will not be victorious. Why? Your name is tattooed on God’s hand.

Unbreakable Courage

Proverbs 1

WISE SAYINGS OF SOLOMON

A Manual for Living

1–6  1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,

David’s son, Israel’s king—

Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,

to understand what life means and where it’s going;

A manual for living,

for learning what’s right and just and fair;

To teach the inexperienced the ropes

and give our young people a grasp on reality.

There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,

still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—

Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,

the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

Start with God

7  Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;

only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

8–19  Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;

never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.

Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair,

like rings on your fingers.

Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,

don’t go along with them.

If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell.

Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.

Let’s pick them clean

and get them ready for their funerals.

We’ll load up on top-quality loot.

We’ll haul it home by the truckload.

Join us for the time of your life!

With us, it’s share and share alike!”—

Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look;

don’t listen to them for a minute.

They’re racing to a very bad end,

hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.

Nobody robs a bank

with everyone watching,

Yet that’s what these people are doing—

they’re doing themselves in.

When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:

the more you get, the less you are.

Lady Wisdom

20–21  Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.

At the town center she makes her speech.

In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.

At the busiest corner she calls out:

22–24  “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?

Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?

Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?

About face! I can revise your life.

Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you;

I’m ready to tell you all I know.

As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear;

I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.

25–28  “Since you laugh at my counsel

and make a joke of my advice,

How can I take you seriously?

I’ll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!

What if the roof falls in,

and your whole life goes to pieces?

What if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing

to show for your life but rubble and ashes?

You’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect an answer.

No matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.

29–33  “Because you hated Knowledge

and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,

Because you wouldn’t take my advice

and brushed aside all my offers to train you,

Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it;

you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it?

Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?

Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.

First pay attention to me, and then relax.

Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, September 03, 2026

By Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

14–18  Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now.

Today's Insights

“Moses summoned all Israel” (Deuteronomy 5:1), and he began to publicly review the covenant God had made with His people. They were about to cross the Jordan River (Joshua 3), and Moses would soon step across a “metaphorical” Jordan into eternity (Deuteronomy 34:7). Much of his speech recounts Israel’s rebellion during their meandering forty-year journey out of Egypt (9:7-24). Even as he assured them of their future success in inhabiting the promised land, Moses warned, “It is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess” (v. 6). It was because God had chosen them, in spite of their failure: “They are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm” (v. 29). Because God was their God, Israel was to follow Him. Although His holiness can’t tolerate sin, His Spirit enables believers in Jesus today to “fear” Him, “[obey]” Him, and worship Him (10:12).

For further study, read: The Fear of the Lord

Reverent Fear of God

Fear the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 10:12

“I killed people in the past,” Tanitan said, “but ever since I chose to believe in Jesus Christ, He will not allow me to commit such practices anymore.” Tanitan, a member of the Ilongot tribe from the Sierra Madre mountains in the Philippines, came from a culture of head-hunting—the practice of hunting humans and severing their heads. In comparing his life before he knew God to his life now, Tanitan said, “Before, I was afraid to die but not afraid to kill. Now, I am afraid to kill but not afraid to die.”

As I read Tanitan’s story in the book To the Headhunters of Sierra Madre by Florentino Santos, I thought of how his newfound fear of or reverence toward God developed his desire to obey Him. I remembered Moses’ words to the Israelites before they entered the land God promised them: “What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 10:2). Reverence toward God was to be reflected in obedience to Him. God’s people were to “walk in obedience to Him, to love Him . . . and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees” (vv. 12-13).

As believers in Jesus, our deep respect for God’s holiness compels us to hate evil and do what pleases Him (Proverbs 8:13). Let’s ask Him to help us make reverence toward God a way of life.

Reflect & Pray

From today’s Scripture, how would you describe the “fear [of] the Lord”? Where do you find obeying God difficult, and how can the command to fear Him help you?

Holy God, please help me to experience reverent fear in Your presence.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, September 03, 2026

The Waters of Satisfaction Scattered

The three mighty warriors . . . drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord. — 2 Samuel 23:16

Have you recently received something that is like water from the well near Bethlehem? Has God given you love? Friendship? Spiritual blessings? It’s at the peril of your soul’s well-being that you use his gift to satisfy yourself. If you do, you cannot pour it out before the Lord. Remember that you can never sacrifice to God that with which you long to satisfy yourself. Satisfy yourself with one of his blessings and it will corrupt you. Rather, you must do what common sense says is an absurd waste and pour it out.

How am I to pour out before the Lord the love I receive from others? There’s only one way: through the determination of my mind. People may do certain things for me which are humanly impossible to repay, things I could never accept if I didn’t know God. Since I do know him, I am able to accept others’ loving acts because I know that God will repay them—so long as I give the thing back to him in my mind. I do this by saying, “This is too great and worthy for me; it’s not meant for a human being at all. I must pour it out.” The moment I commit something to the Lord, it will begin to flow in rivers of living water all around. If instead I hoard the love others give me, it will turn to poison. Love has to be transfigured by being poured out before the Lord.

Have you become bitter and sour because you have clutched one of God’s blessings for yourself? If instead you had poured it out to him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. God wants to use you to enlarge other people’s horizons. Get into the habit of immediately giving back to him everything he gives to you, and he will make you an immeasurable blessing to others.

Psalms 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20 

 

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.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, September 03, 2026

Spiritual Spectators - #10344

Scripture:  John 9:13

I guess I’m just too sensitive. I feel guilty when I walk in a store, knowing I’m not going to buy anything. And some bored salesperson sees me come in, and then you see that look of hope, that look of expectancy on their face, “At last I can justify my existence. At last I’ve got a customer! At last I can accomplish something. At last I can sell something.” And so they very pleasantly ask, “May I help you?” And then come those two most hated words to the ears of a salesperson, “Just looking.” Suddenly they lose all interest in me and they retire dejectedly back to their corner. Did I say I’m too sensitive? Well, I’ll tell you this, nobody ever gets very excited about someone who is just looking.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Spiritual Spectators.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 9. I’ll begin reading at verse 13. It’s the story of the man who had been born blind who Jesus healed. Now, Jesus has always been troubled by people who are just looking. For example in this passage, “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was the Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked Him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes’ the man replied, ‘and I washed and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath.’”

This is amazing! You want to say to the Pharisees, “Guys, wake up! A man who could never see before was just healed! Do you understand what just happened?” And they are busy doing their theological analysis of the situation. They have no intention of buying into what Jesus is doing. They’re just looking. Everywhere Jesus performed miracles it seemed that there were two groups of people: the "expectors" who had faith, who wanted to get in on the supernatural and who did, and the "dissectors" who stood off with their arms folded and said, “What shall we call this? Where does this fit in our theology?” And they saw no miracle.

What bothers me is that the dissectors were the religious folks, the spiritual veterans, the Bible people. That’s me. That might be you. And they were always so busy analyzing

the miracle, they missed the miracle. You know, as you get more settled into Christian things and you know more Christian ideas, and hold more Christian jobs, a subtle numbness can start to grow inside of you. You go to church to watch God speak to others. You make spiritual events happen, but you stop letting them happen to you. You start to become a discusser of God’s working rather than an experiencer of His working. You used to have an experience now you just have knowledge.

You start to become critical of His leaders and their methods. Can you see that creeping sleep in your soul? Somewhere you stepped out of the middle of God’s life-changing work and you moved to the edges to watch, to analyze, to categorize, to criticize. Hey, it’s cold out there. You show up at God’s store, you look around, but you don’t buy into the wonder of it all. Why don’t you get back into the mainstream where the miracles are? Let God happen to you again, not just happen around you.

When Jesus is offering such supernatural merchandise, it would be a shame if you were just on the edges and just looking.

1 Kings 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ONE PLUS GOD - September 2, 2026

The devil knows your name. He has a wrecking ball with your name on it. As General Eisenhower wrote to US troops on the eve of the great D-Day invasion, “Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.”

But the steadfast soul does not fear Satan. Elijah didn’t. Elijah entered Scriptures talking about the living God. He served and obeyed the living God. He sought the living God. And because he did, the 850+ prophets of Baal meant nothing to him. The equation is never 850 to 1. It is 850 to 1 plus God.

F. B. Meyer said, “God will never fail the man who trusts him utterly….Be sure that you are on God’s plan, then go forward in God’s name.”

Unbreakable Courage

1 Kings 4

King Solomon was off to a good start ruling Israel.

These were the leaders in his government:

2–6  Azariah son of Zadok—the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud—historian;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada—commander of the army;

Zadok and Abiathar—priests;

Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the regional managers;

Zabud son of Nathan—priest and friend to the king;

Ahishar—manager of the palace;

Adoniram son of Abda—manager of the slave labor.

7–19  Solomon had twelve regional managers distributed throughout Israel. They were responsible for supplying provisions for the king and his administration. Each was in charge of bringing supplies for one month of the year. These are the names:

Ben-Hur in the Ephraim hills;

Ben-Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan;

Ben-Hesed in Arubboth—this included Socoh and all of Hepher;

Ben-Abinadab in Naphoth Dor (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath);

Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah over to Jokmeam;

Ben-Geber in Ramoth Gilead—this included the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead and the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty large walled cities with bronze-studded gates;

Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basemath);

Baana son of Hushai in Asher and Aloth;

Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

Shimei son of Ela in Ben-jamin;

Geber son of Uri in Gilead—this was the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and also of Og king of Bashan; he managed the whole district by himself.

Solomon’s Prosperity

20–21  Judah and Israel were densely populated—like sand on an ocean beach! All their needs were met; they ate and drank and were happy. Solomon was sovereign over all the kingdoms from the River Euphrates in the east to the country of the Philistines in the west, all the way to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and were vassals of Solomon all his life.

22–23  One day’s food supply for Solomon’s household was:

185 bushels of fine flour

375 bushels of meal

10 grain-fed cattle

20 range cattle

100 sheep

and miscellaneous deer, gazelles, roebucks, and choice fowl.

24–25  Solomon was sovereign over everything, countries and kings, west of the River Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza. Peace reigned everywhere. Throughout Solomon’s life, everyone in Israel and Judah lived safe and sound, all of them from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south—content with what they had.

26–28  Solomon had forty thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen. The district managers, each according to his assigned month, delivered food supplies for King Solomon and all who sat at the king’s table; there was always plenty. They also brought to the designated place their assigned quota of barley and straw for the horses.

29–34  God gave Solomon wisdom—the deepest of understanding and the largest of hearts. There was nothing beyond him, nothing he couldn’t handle. Solomon’s wisdom outclassed the vaunted wisdom of wise men of the East, outshone the famous wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, wiser than Calcol and Darda the sons of Mahol. He became famous among all the surrounding nations. He created 3,000 proverbs; his songs added up to 1,005. He knew all about plants, from the huge cedar that grows in Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows in the cracks of a wall. He understood everything about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Sent by kings from all over the earth who had heard of his reputation, people came from far and near to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

by Kenneth Petersen

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

13–15  We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16–18  So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Today's Insights

The encouragement about suffering that the apostle Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 is similarly noted in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (v. 18). How encouraging it is to know that as believers in Jesus in a fallen world, we’ve been given God’s Spirit (v. 23) to be with us as we traverse life’s pleasant and unpleasant territory. When we face trials, the Bible reminds us that they’re “achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

For further study, read: Paul's Pain and His Passion 

The Ultimate Snapshot

Therefore we do not lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Before our trip to Switzerland, my mental snapshot was of snowy Alps, goats grazing, and mountain farmers blowing alpine horns. However, as we drove south from Zurich, the landscape was the same drab tangle of highways we saw in any city. When we got close to our lodging, we had to drive up a precarious one-lane dirt road. At our rental place, we hauled our suitcases up steep stone stairways. Exhausted and disappointed, we finally made our way onto the patio. And there, opening up before us, stretched an extraordinary vista: the Alps rising up majestically over the blue expanse of Lake Lucerne, with small towns glittering like fireflies below us. The ordeal was worth it.

I recalled the verse, “Therefore we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The apostle Paul writes of his own struggles: “We are hard pressed on every side, but . . . not in despair” (v. 8). He reveals his positive outlook: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (v. 17). He advises us to “fix our eyes . . . on what is unseen” (v. 18), to hope for that eternal landscape.

Sometimes our journey is drab and difficult. But in Christ, we’re assured that we’ll witness the ultimate snapshot. The ordeal will be worth it: His eternal glory far surpasses anything we can imagine.

Reflect & Pray

What are the difficult roads in your life these days? What does “eternal glory” mean to you?

Loving God, I need encouragement through this tough journey. I pray for assurance of Your eternal glory.?For further study, read Paul’s Pain and His Passion: 2 Corinthians 5 at odbm.org.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

The Sacrament of Sacrifice

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. — John 7:38

Jesus didn’t say, “Whoever believes in me, every blessing they receive will be theirs to keep.” He said, “Whoever believes in me, every blessing they receive will escape from them.” Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose isn’t to develop our personal qualities. It’s to make us exactly like him—and his chief characteristic is self-sacrifice.

If we believe in Jesus, it isn’t what we gain but what he pours through us that counts. God doesn’t turn us into beautifully rounded grapes; he squeezes sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we can’t measure our lives by success. We can only measure them by what God pours through us—and we can’t measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany broke a box of precious perfume and poured it over Jesus’s head, no one else thought the act necessary. Even the disciples were scornful. “‘Why this waste?’ they asked” (Matthew 26:8). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion. He said that wherever his gospel was preached, “what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (v. 13). Our Lord is carried away by joy whenever he sees any of us acting as Mary did, abandoning ourselves to him with no thought of the cost.

“Whoever believes in me . . .” If we believe in Jesus, hundreds of lives will continually be refreshed through us. It’s time to break our ceaseless craving for personal satisfaction. God poured out the life of his Son so that the world might be saved. Are we ready to pour out our lives for him?

Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” 

So Send I You, 1325 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

Running Out of Ammo in the Battle for Lives - #10343

For many years, it was an inspiring book. Then it became a hit Broadway musical. Then it was made into a movie several times. The story is Victor Hugo’s classic, Lés Misérables. One of the many dramas in the book portrays the efforts of this group of valiant young men and women to fight to free their fellow Frenchmen from a tyrannical government. They make their stand against a massive French army at a makeshift wall they have constructed. They call it the “barricade of freedom.” They fight bravely, but their cause is threatened by a major problem that develops. They begin to run out of ammunition. Well, this one little boy realizes that their fight for freedom can only continue if they can find more ammunition. So, he risks his own life to crawl across the battle zone, picking up bullets from wounded and dying French soldiers. Because you can’t win the battle when you’re running out of bullets.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Running Out of Ammo in the Battle for Lives.”

Right now, there’s an ammunition shortage in the most decisive battle of all—that would be the battle for human souls, the battle for human lives. It began at the cross where Jesus died to make eternal life possible. It moved out across the planet at Jesus’ command and in the power of His resurrection, and it continues this very day in cities and towns across this country and in every country of the world. It is a fight to liberate people Jesus died for from the penalty and the power of their sin, from an unspeakable eternity, and from Satan’s chains.

But on so many fronts in the battle, Jesus’ forces are running out of bullets. In many places God’s soldiers are beating back the enemy, taking prisoners from the enemy and pushing back the darkness. But they’re running short of bullets. The money just isn’t there to keep pressing the battle.

All those letters and appeals you get asking for money for ministry—they’re about a lot more than money. For ministries that are really making a difference, it’s all about ammunition to keep fighting the battle for lives. But something’s gone wrong. It can’t be that God isn’t giving the money to people through whom He wants to meet these needs. It must be that some of us are sitting on the ammunition instead of sending it to the front lines. And when we lose one of these battles, it’s lives we lose—maybe forever.

Our word for today from the Word of God lays out how the supply line for God’s army is supposed to work. And thinking of the economic battles and struggles and sometimes the downturns of our time, it seems particularly relevant to go back to those Macedonian believers that Paul cited as an example for all of us. Here’s what Paul says, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity…they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3).

It was sacrificial giving so the believers in Jerusalem would have the ammunition they needed to fight their battles. Why? It goes on to say, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty we might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus impoverished Himself to make us rich, and He’s the Son of God. So, how can we hang onto what He’s given us so we can stay in our comfort zone? The battle for a lost and dying world is every believer’s battle, not just the battle for a few spiritual daredevils who take all the risks, exercise all the faith, and make all the sacrifices.

For those who are fighting on the front lines, it’s our responsibility to make every bullet count, to stay on mission, to always take the high road of integrity, and put our faith in Jehovah Jireh, not in our contributors. And for every one of us, we need to hear the cries from the front lines, “We’re winning, but we’re running out of ammunition!” Listen, while there's time, let’s throw everything we can into this battle for which Jesus gave everything He had!

1 Kings 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BOUND BY SOVEREIGNTY - September 1, 2026

Do you recall the day God sent fire from heaven? The display of power occurred on Mount Carmel in the days of Elijah. The prophet laid the ground rules for the event: Your team has 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah; my team has me. You ask Baal for fire, and I’ll ask Jehovah for fire “…and the God who answers by fire, He is God” (1 Kings 18:24 NASB).

And when it came time to blast a fire, the devil was powerless. No spark, no flames. In the decisive moment Baal was shown to be no match for the living God. Satan is impotent to defy the plans of God. He is bound by the ropes of God’s sovereignty, gagged by God’s righteous plan.

Unbreakable Courage

1 Kings 3

Solomon arranged a marriage contract with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he had completed building his royal palace and God’s Temple and the wall around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people were worshiping at local shrines because at that time no temple had yet been built to the Name of God. Solomon loved God and continued to live in the God-honoring ways of David his father, except that he also worshiped at the local shrines, offering sacrifices and burning incense.

4–5  The king went to Gibeon, the most prestigious of the local shrines, to worship. He sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on that altar. That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”

6  Solomon said, “You were extravagantly generous in love with David my father, and he lived faithfully in your presence, his relationships were just and his heart right. And you have persisted in this great and generous love by giving him—and this very day!—a son to sit on his throne.

7–8  “And now here I am: God, my God, you have made me, your servant, ruler of the kingdom in place of David my father. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.

9  “Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”

10–14  God, the Master, was delighted with Solomon’s response. And God said to him, “Because you have asked for this and haven’t grasped after a long life, or riches, or the doom of your enemies, but you have asked for the ability to lead and govern well, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for—I’m giving you a wise and mature heart. There’s never been one like you before; and there’ll be no one after. As a bonus, I’m giving you both the wealth and glory you didn’t ask for—there’s not a king anywhere who will come up to your mark. And if you stay on course, keeping your eye on the life-map and the God-signs as your father David did, I’ll also give you a long life.”

15  Solomon woke up—what a dream! He returned to Jerusalem, took his place before the Chest of the Covenant of God, and worshiped by sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. Then he laid out a banquet for everyone in his service.

16–21  The very next thing, two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone—there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!—and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby.”

22  “Not so!” said the other woman. “The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours.”

The first woman countered, “No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one.”

They went back and forth this way in front of the king.

23  The king said, “What are we to do? This woman says, ‘The living son is mine and the dead one is yours,’ and this woman says, ‘No, the dead one’s yours and the living one’s mine.’ ”

24  After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.

25  Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two—give half to one and half to the other.”

26  The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!”

But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him—cut away!”

27  The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”

28  The word got around—everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Acts 2:1-6, 36-37

A Sound Like a Strong Wind

1–4  2 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5–11  There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck.

“All Israel, then, know this: There’s no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.”

37  Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?”

Today's Insights

The Feasts of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22), known as the day of Pentecost in the New Testament (Acts 2:1), is one of the seven feasts or festivals God commanded His people to commemorate (see Leviticus 23). The Feast of Weeks, a spring harvest festival, is also one of the three major feasts where the worshipers were required to come to the temple in Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices (Deuteronomy 16:1-16). In the New Testament, the day of Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after Passover, the day Jesus died (John 18:28). It’s remembered as the birthday of the church, the day God gave the Holy Spirit to indwell believers in Christ and bonded His children into His family (Romans 8:15-16). Imitating the practices of the early church today, God’s people continue to grow as a community, fellowship together, joyfully worship Him, earnestly study the Bible, lovingly care for one another, and boldly proclaim Jesus as Savior to the unbelieving world (Acts 2:42-48).

For further study, read: I Have Jesus - Why Do I Need the Church

Gathering to Grow in Christ

[The believers] devoted themselves to ?the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, ?to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

In Monterey Bay, California, a boat captain saw fifteen Pacific white-sided dolphins join a super pod of more than two thousand dolphins. Various types and ages of dolphins gather in pods to fend off predators, feed, and socialize. Still, the size and diversity of this super pod was a rare sight to behold.

The Bible records a rare gathering of diverse people that’s foundational in our faith history. As the disciples celebrated Pentecost in Jerusalem, “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). They were “filled with the Holy Spirit,” who enabled them to speak in different languages (v. 4). People God created “from every nation under heaven” had also gathered for Pentecost (v. 5). When they investigated the loud noise, each person “heard their own language being spoken” by the disciples (v. 6). Then Peter proclaimed Jesus as “both Lord and Messiah” (v. 36). About three thousand believed and were baptized (v. 41). As God’s people lived in community like never before, He “added to their number daily those who were being saved” (v. 47).

By the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s people around the world still gather to grow in community and proclaim Jesus as Lord. Through us, He will continue expanding His kingdom.

Reflect & Pray

How are you gathering to grow with God’s diverse people? How has He used people who are different from you to grow your faith and His church?

Dear God, please grow Your church as I gather to grow with others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Destiny of Holiness

Be holy, because I am holy. — 1 Peter 1:16

Continually restate to yourself the purpose of your life: God’s destiny for humanity isn’t happiness or wealth; it’s holiness. His one aim, for all men and women, is to turn us into his sons and daughters. God isn’t an eternal blessing machine, and he didn’t come to save humanity out of pity. He came to save humanity because he created us to be holy. The atonement means that through the death of Jesus Christ, God can put each of us back into perfect union with himself, without a shadow in between.

Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe God can come into me and make me holy? If a preacher, by preaching the gospel, convinces me that I am unholy, I will resent it. The preaching of the gospel always awakens intense resentment, because it reveals that I am unholy. Yet it also awakens an intense craving: the craving to realize the destiny God has for me.

Today, far too many things are calling to us. Some of these things aren’t inherently bad; they’re good and noble and morally justifiable things. But if they are distracting us from our relationship with God, he will take them away until we get right with him. What matters is that we accept the God who will make us holy. At all costs, we must be rightly related to him.

Never adopt any practice that isn’t in keeping with a holy God. Guard against any sympathy for yourself or for others that causes you to tolerate unholy thoughts or deeds. Holiness means keeping every detail of your life under God’s scrutiny. It means unsullied thinking with the mind, unsullied talking with the tongue, and unsullied walking with the feet. Holiness is not only what God gives; it’s manifesting what God gives: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Psalms 135-136; 1 Corinthians 12

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Why We're Restless - #10342

Scripture:  2 Chronicles 7:14

It’s not my habit usually to go home for lunch but sometime ago my travels had me at the right place at the right time. I had an early breakfast that morning, and I usually do get up that early. Finally, I got around to lunch, I was really hungry. I came in ready for a major lunch. I grilled a hot dog in the toaster oven. That was a good start, and then my wife went to cook some more things on the stove for me. Would you believe that the stove decided not to work at that point? And she said, “Wait a minute! Nothing’s heating up.” I said, “Well, that’s okay. I know there are some chips here. I’ll just load up on potato chips.” So, I went to get the chips out of the cabinet. What chips? My son had fed them to his friends. So, I enjoyed my lonesome hot dog very slowly. I ate everything I was served. I was still hungry.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Why We're Restless.”

I’ve spoken in different congregations over the years and I’ve often told them, "I’m a restless Christian. I keep feeling like there’s got to be something more than I’ve experienced.” You should see the reaction. I don’t think I’ve been in a place where there haven’t been a number of people who have come up and said, “You too? Well, restless, that’s what I am.”

I’m still discovering believers all across this country who are feeling as I did after my little lunch. They’re eating everything they’re being served spiritually. They go to the meetings, they’re going to the activities, they’re serving in their places that they need to serve, but they’re still not satisfied. Are you like that? You say, “I’ve eaten everything I’ve been given and I’m not satisfied.” Good! That kind of unsatisfied appetite sets the stage for a banquet that God wants to feed His people, and He calls it revival.

It’s time for our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” Now you know, for centuries, restless people have been drawn to this verse; it’s the appetizer for the banquet called revival. It calls God’s people to create the conditions in which God can spawn revival.

Revival isn’t some special series of meetings that we hold. Charles Finley, the great revival preacher, said, “It is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God.” Revival is the supernatural arrival and presence of the Holy Spirit in a way we’ve never seen Him - a unique power. Christians open up everything to the Lord; whole churches are changed. People begin to deal with all the darkness in their lives. Christians run to reconcile with each other. The lost are swept into the church even without evangelistic crusades. Aren’t you hungry for something like that? Oh, it’s happened. But it happens when you are restless enough to pay the price for it.

Why don’t you begin to band together with some other restless Christians and beseech God to do a reviving work where you are? That prayer movement is growing around the world. Let it start with you. Humble yourself in a desperate prayer to God, “Lord, I give up on trying to make things happen myself.” Forget the programs and the schedules, and all the old ways and the boxes we’ve kept God in. And then this verse says, “Pray.” Seek His face; look for intimacy with Him. Root out those sinful strongholds. You’ll begin to know Christ as you’ve never known Him before.

If all your work, and all your meetings, and your study, and your experience, and your theology still have you hungry, go for the banquet. Join the growing ranks of believers all over the world who are saying, “Lord, I’m radically Yours. Whatever it takes, satisfy our hungry hearts with a revival from heaven. We will pay the price. Jesus, please give us all of You.”

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

Max Lucado Daily: PICK A SIDE - August 31, 2026

We cannot win both the applause of people and the “well done” of Christ. Do you play both sides?

Many in the West did in the years leading up to World War II. In 1938 Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler. The British prime minister had long championed a policy of appeasing the dictator’s aggressions, so he agreed to Hitler’s demands. Six months later Hitler occupied all of Czechoslovakia. Next he invaded Poland, and the war began. For a decade the world watched as Hitler flexed his muscles. Yet freedom-loving nations waffled between apathy and fear. Many simply couldn’t pick a side.

The prophet Elijah once asked, “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him” (1 Kings 18:21 NASB).

Unbreakable Courage

John 20:1-15

Resurrection!

1–2  20 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

3–10  Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

11–13  But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

13–14  “They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

15  Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, August 31, 2026

by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Galatians 2:19-21

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Today's Insights

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed,” Jesus said. “But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Christ spoke these words during the week He was killed. It’s a lesson Paul had learned as he wrote to people in danger of relying on keeping the law to earn salvation. In Romans 3:10-20, he outlines why law-keeping will never save us. He then explains that it’s “apart from the law [that] the righteousness of God has been made known” (v. 21). “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (v. 22). He goes on: “Our old self was crucified with him . . . that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (6:6). Because “Christ [lived]” in him (Galatians 2:20), the apostle could live a life honoring to God that would draw others to Christ. Today, God can help us surrender to the Spirit so others will see Christ in us.

Jesus never called the church to be a country club. In fact, He commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and bring people in. Rather than keeping outside people out, Jesus sent inside people out to bring outside people in. Read more on the community of Christ: The community of Christ

Christ in Me

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer became famous for his talent at age twenty. The art critics of his day called him “the greatest mind that ever expressed itself in line.” As his fame spread, influential people tried to hire him with promises of luxury and ease. Even other acclaimed artists such as Giovanni Bellini and Raphael revered his work.

In what experts consider to be his best self-portrait, Dürer mingled his physical characteristics with what he thought Jesus might have looked like. He painted himself with long, wavy hair, a beard, and eyes that seemed to convey a sense of divine purpose. While many assumed this was the artist’s prideful opinion of himself, others who knew him believed Dürer wanted to live a life that would allow people to see Jesus in him.

If we truly know Christ, this is our desire as well. Believing in Him and accepting His death and resurrection as the basis for our relationship with God means we should now live for Jesus—not for ourselves (Galatians 2:19). We live for Him, and He lives in us and works through us. The apostle Paul said this about his spiritual transformation: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (v. 20). May the glory of Christ shine through our lives today so that the world sees Him in us. 

Reflect & Pray

How do you feel when you sense Jesus working through you to make Himself known? What challenges prevent this from happening at times?

Father in heaven, please help me to stop living to satisfy my desires. Help me to surrender to Your Spirit so others will see Christ in me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, August 31, 2026

My Joy, Your Joy

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 vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. 

The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, August 31, 2026

When You Know You're Not Staying - #10341

One of the great chapters in the history of the modern church has been the Billy Graham crusades, reaching millions of people around the world. Now carried on through his son and grandson. We were preparing for one in our area, and it was amazing to watch the Billy Graham Crusade Team move in to help us organize what was an unprecedented effort. One of our first jobs was a pretty practical one. The setup team needed housing for the year. A lot of people had ideas of what kind of places the team members should live in, but the Crusade Team, they had experience. They knew what it took to come in for a year.

For one thing, they moved every year, if you can imagine that. We're talking committed people here. I heard the Crusade Director explaining to a realtor just what they were looking for. He said something like this, "We need a one-year lease. We won't be here long." Okay. "We need the most reasonable price; we can't spend a lot. We need a place that will require minimal yard work and maintenance. We'll be so busy we won't have much time." Well, you know what? I think they've got it right.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Know You're Not Staying."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:11. Listen to how you and I are spoken of as believers. "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul." The King James Version uses "pilgrims in this world." Well, whatever word you use, the point is clear; we're just passing through. We're like those Billy Graham Team members. We're not staying in the area too long.

Jesus told His disciples to keep it simple. He said, for example, in Luke 9:2-4, "He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God, and He told them, 'Take nothing for the journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house where you stay, remain there until you leave that town.'" In other words, "Travel light. Don't get bogged down with earth stuff. You're not staying here for too long."

Many of us sure act like this is our final destination. We're building quite a kingdom of house, a kingdom of car, we've got our recreational equipment, we've got our nest egg all built up for the future. Hey, we're just pilgrims! And pilgrims keep it simple. They travel light. I like what those Billy Graham staff people said before that crusade, "We won't be here for long. We can't really spend a lot on this stuff. We won't have much time to spend on maintaining a base."

That's how we all ought to be living. The tragedy of many North American Christians is that we are so encumbered. We can't go very far for the Lord or give very much for the Lord, or get too involved in the Lord's work. We are owned by what we own. These are times when I think God is calling us to think about our lifestyle in terms of what really matters forever. If it isn't going to matter there, how much should it matter here? To simplify our lifestyle; to stop this growing buildup of earth stuff and debt obligations. He wants us to be less attached to earth and more attached to heaven.

Jesus is still looking for some modern day apostolic type people who aren't burdened down with a lot of baggage. Think about it. Pray about it. Does your Lord want you to simplify your life in some ways? Does He want you to lighten up on the baggage a little bit? Does He want you to start to untangle your life some?

You see, you live very differently when you know you're not staying.