1 Samuel 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WE HAVE A SIN PROBLEM - March 17, 2026

Can you live without sin for one day? No. How about one hour? Can you do it? No…nor can I. And if we can’t live without sin, we have a problem. Proverbs 10:16 says, we’re evil and “evil people are paid with punishment.” What can we do?

Well, observe what Jesus does with our filth. He carries it to the Cross. God speaks to Isaiah in chapter 50:6, “I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” You see, mingled with his blood and sweat was the essence of our sin. Angels were a prayer away. Couldn’t they have taken the spittle away? They could have, but Jesus never commanded them to. Why? The sinless One took on the face of a sinner, so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint.

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

1 Samuel 11

 So Nahash went after them and prepared to go to war against Jabesh Gilead. The men of Jabesh petitioned Nahash: “Make a treaty with us and we’ll serve you.”

2  Nahash said, “I’ll make a treaty with you on one condition: that every right eye among you be gouged out! I’ll humiliate every last man and woman in Israel before I’m done!”

3  The town leaders of Jabesh said, “Give us time to send messengers around Israel—seven days should do it. If no one shows up to help us, we’ll accept your terms.”

4–5  The messengers came to Saul’s place at Gibeah and told the people what was going on. As the people broke out in loud wails, Saul showed up. He was coming back from the field with his oxen.

Saul asked, “What happened? Why is everyone crying?”

And they repeated the message that had come from Jabesh.

6–7  The Spirit of God came on Saul when he heard the report and he flew into a rage. He grabbed the yoke of oxen and butchered them on the spot. He sent the messengers throughout Israel distributing the bloody pieces with this message: “Anyone who refuses to join up with Saul and Samuel, let this be the fate of his oxen!”

7–8  The terror of God seized the people, and they came out, one and all, not a laggard among them. Saul took command of the people at Bezek. There were 300,000 men from Israel, another 30,000 from Judah.

9–11  Saul instructed the messengers, “Tell this to the folk in Jabesh Gilead: ‘Help is on the way. Expect it by noon tomorrow.’ ”

The messengers set straight off and delivered their message. Elated, the people of Jabesh Gilead sent word to Nahash: “Tomorrow we’ll give ourselves up. You can deal with us on your terms.” Long before dawn the next day, Saul had strategically placed his army in three groups. At first light they broke into the enemy camp and slaughtered Ammonites until noon. Those who were left ran for their lives, scattering every which way.

12  The people came to Samuel then and said, “Where are those men who said, ‘Saul is not fit to rule over us’? Hand them over. We’ll kill them!”

13–14  But Saul said, “Nobody is going to be executed this day. This is the day God saved Israel! Come, let’s go to Gilgal and there reconsecrate the kingship.”

15  They all trooped out to Gilgal. Before God, they crowned Saul king at Gilgal. And there they worshiped, sacrificing peace offerings. Saul and all Israel celebrated magnificently.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 17, 2026

by Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.

41–42  At this, because he said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven,” the Jews started arguing over him: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?”

43–46  Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.

47–51  “I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”

Today's Insights

The events in John 6:35-51 occur the day after Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two small fish (vv. 5-14). Because of this astonishing miracle, the crowd “intended to come and make him king by force,” but Christ eluded them (v. 15). When the crowd caught up with Him the next day (v. 25), Jesus knew they were there because of the multiplied loaves of bread. He said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v. 27). True satisfaction and spiritual nourishment are found only in Christ.

Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

Jesus—Food for the Soul

I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. John 6:35 nlt

In the African American home I was raised in, meals often included scrumptious “soul food.” The term originated in the mid-1960s when “soul” was a common term used to describe African American culture. Soul food menu items included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens, sweet potatoes, corn bread, and more. Desserts were a bonus; the “tastebud-tickling” peach cobbler was the most satisfying to me. What a feast!

Feasting in different cultures looks different, but because food is essential for life, Jesus’ words in John 6:35 are significant for all people: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Such claims as these would be outrageous if they were made by a mere human being. But Jesus, the Christ, could make such astounding claims because He’s the very Son of God. He told “sign-seekers”—those seeking immediate, short-term benefit (see vv. 2, 14, 26, 30)—that satisfaction of physical hunger wasn’t enough. As the Son of God, Jesus is the source of true life (14:6) and the sustainer of life. All those who believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins through His death and resurrection (11:25-26) share His life. Jesus is the essential food for the soul. Life, nourishment, and true satisfaction are found in Him alone.

Reflect & Pray

How does Jesus nourish and satisfy you? What’s keeping you from seeking the one who says, “I am the bread of life”?

Dear Jesus, You’re the giver and sustainer of life. May I find satisfaction in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

The Ruling Passion

We make it our goal to please him. — 2 Corinthians 5:9

Staying focused on the goal Paul sets in 2 Corinthians 5:9 is difficult work. It means holding ourselves, year in and year out, to the highest ideal: not the ideal of winning souls or establishing churches or ushering in revivals but the ideal of pleasing Jesus Christ. Failure in spiritual work isn’t caused by a lack of spiritual experience; it’s caused by a lack of effort to maintain the highest ideal.

At least once a week, take stock before God and see if you are keeping your life up to the standard he has set. The standard must be your ruling passion, your master ambition. Paul is like a musician who cares nothing about the approval of his audience—so long as he catches the look of approval from his master.

Follow a lesser ambition to its natural conclusion, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord. Any ambition that is separated from the highest goal, even by the tiniest degree, may end in our disqualification. “Therefore,” Paul says, “I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:26–27). Paul was constantly watching himself, constantly keeping himself in line, lest he lose sight of the ideal.

I have to learn to relate everything to the master ambition, maintaining it at all times. My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my master ambition to please him and be acceptable to him, or is it something less, no matter how noble?

Deuteronomy 30-31; Mark 15:1-25

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him.

Approved Unto God, 10 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 17, 2026

THE DANGER OF BEING RELIGIOUS - #10222

Years ago I heard a friend tell about a scene from his childhood that he never forgot. My friend was around on that black day in 1929 that marked the beginning of the Great Depression. One of the great traumas of America's financial collapse, of course, was that many banks just went under almost overnight. Well, my friend literally remembered seeing a neighbor at the locked gates of his bank, and he was literally pounding his fists bloody on those gates, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Give me my money! Give me my money!" There was no money to give.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Danger of Being Religious."

That desperate man, and millions like him, placed their security in an institution. An institution that sure seemed safe but that ultimately and suddenly failed them. A lot of church folks are making that mistake today. Did you know that? Placing their eternal security in their church; in believing its beliefs, attending its meetings, even taking church leadership. Sadly, none of that's enough to get your sins forgiven or to get you into God's heaven.

Sometimes religious folks argue over which church is the right church. Well, in Jeremiah's time there was no argument. God's people were the Jews and their temple was God's self-declared house on earth. But even that wasn't enough.

In our word for today from the Word of God, in Jeremiah 7, beginning with verse 10, God says, "You come and stand before Me in this house, which bears my Name, and you say 'We are safe'...'But I have been watching,' declares the Lord." God goes on to point out the sin in their lives - sin that no amount of "church" can make right. He goes on to describe His pending destruction of what God calls (listen to these words) "the temple you trust in."

Boy, that's the danger of being religious. You tend to trust in your religiousness instead of in Christ. Christianity will never get anyone to heaven. Only Christ can get you there. Only Christ died to pay for the sin that disqualifies every one of us from going to heaven. Jesus established the Church to represent Him on earth, to do His work on earth. But church can be the most dangerous place in the world if that's where your trust is.

Christianity is all about Jesus, but it can actually cause you to miss Jesus. It's called false security; feeling like you're okay with God because you speak the language, you agree with the teachings, and you've been around it all these years. Why, no one would even question that you have a relationship with Jesus - except Jesus. And He's the only One who matters.

Could it be that somehow in the midst of a religion all about Jesus you've missed a personal relationship with Jesus even while you've been a good church person for a long time? Jesus described some active church folks to whom He will say on Judgment Day, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:21-23).

Somehow, they have never actually given themselves in total faith to the One who died to pay for their sins. There has to be that time when you say, "Jesus, some of those sins You died for were mine, and I have no hope of heaven except You and what You did on the cross for me. So beginning right now, Jesus, I'm yours."

Have you taken that step? I would say that if you don't know, you probably haven't. If you've missed it, don't go another day without moving Christ from your head to your heart... from being a belief to being your own personal Savior. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours."

Look, let me invite you to go to our website today. It's ANewStory.com. You can have the information there to nail down and be sure once and for all that you do belong to Him.

The church you've trusted in, the religion you've trusted in, the goodness you've trusted in are inadequate substitutes for the real thing - putting your total trust in Jesus. Because, my friend, it's all about Jesus!

1 Samuel 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: UNWRAP THE GIFTS OF GRACE - March 16, 2026

Much has been said about Jesus’ “gift of the Cross.” But what of the other gifts? What of the nails, the crown of thorns? The garments taken by the soldiers? Have you taken time to open these gifts?  He didn’t have to give us these gifts, you know. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more. So much more.

Search the scene of the Cross and what do you find? A wine-soaked sponge. Two crosses beside Christ. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, “You did this for ME?”  Let’s unwrap these gifts of grace…as if for the first time.  Pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper, “I did it just for you!”

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

1 Samuel 13

“You’ll Be a New Person”

1–2  10 Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, and kissed him. He said, “Do you see what this means? God has anointed you prince over his people.

“This sign will confirm God’s anointing of you as prince over his inheritance: After you leave me today, as you get closer to your home country of Ben-jamin, you’ll meet two men near Rachel’s Tomb. They’ll say, ‘The donkeys you went to look for are found. Your father has forgotten about the donkeys and is worried about you, wringing his hands—quite beside himself!’

3–4  “Leaving there, you’ll arrive at the Oak of Tabor. There you’ll meet three men going up to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three young goats, another carrying three sacks of bread, and the third a jug of wine. They’ll say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept.

5–6  “Next, you’ll come to Gibeah of God, where there’s a Philistine garrison. As you approach the town, you’ll run into a bunch of prophets coming down from the shrine, playing harps and tambourines, flutes and drums. And they’ll be prophesying. Before you know it, the Spirit of God will come on you and you’ll be prophesying right along with them. And you’ll be transformed. You’ll be a new person!

7  “When these confirming signs are accomplished, you’ll know that you’re ready: Whatever job you’re given to do, do it. God is with you!

8  “Now, go down to Gilgal and I will follow. I’ll come down and join you in worship by sacrificing burnt offerings and peace offerings. Wait seven days. Then I’ll come and tell you what to do next.”

9  Saul turned and left Samuel. At that very moment God transformed him—made him a new person! And all the confirming signs took place the same day.

Saul Among the Prophets

10–12  When Saul and his party got to Gibeah, there were the prophets, right in front of them! Before he knew it, the Spirit of God came on Saul and he was prophesying right along with them. When those who had previously known Saul saw him prophesying with the prophets, they were totally surprised. “What’s going on here? What’s come over the son of Kish? How on earth did Saul get to be a prophet?” One man spoke up and said, “Who started this? Where did these people ever come from?”

That’s how the saying got started, “Saul among the prophets! Who would have guessed?!”

13–14  When Saul was done prophesying, he returned home. His uncle asked him and his servant, “So where have you two been all this time?”

“Out looking for the donkeys. We looked and looked and couldn’t find them. And then we found Samuel!”

15  “So,” said Saul’s uncle, “what did Samuel tell you?”

16  Saul said, “He told us not to worry—the donkeys had been found.” But Saul didn’t breathe a word to his uncle of what Samuel said about the king business.

“We Want a King!”

17–18  Samuel called the people to assemble before God at Mizpah. He addressed the children of Israel, “This is God’s personal message to you:

18–19  “I brought Israel up out of Egypt. I delivered you from Egyptian oppression—yes, from all the bullying governments that made your life miserable. And now you want nothing to do with your God, the very God who has a history of getting you out of troubles of all sorts.

“And now you say, ‘No! We want a king; give us a king!’

“Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get! Present yourselves formally before God, ranked in tribes and families.”

20–21  After Samuel got all the tribes of Israel lined up, the Ben-jamin tribe was picked. Then he lined up the Ben-jamin tribe in family groups, and the family of Matri was picked. The family of Matri took its place in the lineup, and the name Saul, son of Kish, was picked. But when they went looking for him, he was nowhere to be found.

22  Samuel went back to God: “Is he anywhere around?”

God said, “Yes, he’s right over there—hidden in that pile of baggage.”

23  They ran and got him. He took his place before everyone, standing tall—head and shoulders above them.

24  Samuel then addressed the people, “Take a good look at whom God has chosen: the best! No one like him in the whole country!”

Then a great shout went up from the people: “Long live the king!”

25  Samuel went on to instruct the people in the rules and regulations involved in a kingdom, wrote it all down in a book, and placed it before God. Then Samuel sent everyone home.

26–27  Saul also went home to Gibeah, and with him some true and brave men whom God moved to join him. But the riffraff went off muttering, “Deliverer? Don’t make me laugh!” They held him in contempt and refused to congratulate him. But Saul paid them no mind.

Saul Is Crowned King

Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was brutalizing the tribes of Gad and Reuben, gouging out their right eyes and intimidating anyone who would come to Israel’s help. There were very few Israelites living on the east side of the Jordan River who had not had their right eyes gouged out by Nahash. But seven thousand men had escaped from the Ammonites and were now living safely in Jabesh.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 16, 2026

by Karen Pimpo

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Exodus 35:20-29

 So everyone in the community of Israel left the presence of Moses. Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God for building the Tent of Meeting, furnishing it for worship and making the holy vestments. They came, both men and women, all the willing spirits among them, offering brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces—anything made of gold—offering up their gold jewelry to God. And anyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned leather; and dolphin skins brought them. Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to God brought it. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in the work, brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and their fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning, spun the goats’ hair.

27–29  The leaders brought onyx and other precious stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece. They also brought spices and olive oil for lamp oil, anointing oil, and incense. Every man and woman in Israel whose heart moved them freely to bring something for the work that God through Moses had commanded them to make, brought it, a voluntary offering for God.

Today's Insights

Building the tabernacle represented a critical moment in the early history of Israel. Having escaped bondage in Egypt, the Israelites were now assembled at the base of Mount Sinai, where the God of their father Abraham reintroduced Himself to His chosen people. The establishment of the tabernacle wasn’t only intended to represent God’s presence among the people but to serve as the center of their national life. This would continue years later when the tabernacle was replaced by Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, where the people would continue to give of their best in service to God. Today, as the Holy Spirit helps us, one way we bring praise to God is by offering Him our resources.

For further study, read Worshipping God Means More than Singing.

Lives Offered to God

All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings. Exodus 35:29

“I am thankful to God for His goodness,” reads the plaque, “in permitting me to have a part in building this broad thoroughfare as a frame to the beautiful picture which He created.” The inscription is attributed to highway engineer Samuel Christopher Lancaster in 1915. It stands at a beautiful scenic overlook on the highway he designed, a road that takes drivers along the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge, with forests, waterfalls, and rocky cliffs.

It’s tempting to take credit for our resources and accomplishments or use them to bring ourselves praise. What would it look like, instead, to think of them as a lowly “frame” around God’s masterpiece? One example is when Moses invited the Israelites to bring gifts to build the tabernacle (Exodus 35:5). “Everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them” contributed what they had: precious metal and stone, linen, leather, wood, spices, and oil (vv. 21-28). These costly goods were offered from willing hearts to fulfill what God had commanded (v. 29). Some master craftsmen were especially gifted. But everyone could contribute something, like the women who skillfully spun goat hair (v. 26).

What mattered most then, and today, is the posture of the giver’s heart. “From what you have, take an offering for the Lord” (v. 5). That’s when our resources are put to their best use.

Reflect & Pray

What resources are at your disposal? How could they be used to bring praise to God?

Dear God, I can get caught up in seeking my own praise. Please help my life bring You glory!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 16, 2026

The Judgment Seat of Christ

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. — 2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that, no matter who we are, we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We tend to think of this moment of judgment as some far-off event, but it needn’t be. Right here and now, we can learn to live in the white light of Christ’s penetrating gaze. However difficult his judgment may be to face at first, it will eventually bring us delight, revealing all the wonderful work God has done inside us.

Keep yourself steadily before Christ’s judgment, and remember his command: “Do not judge” (Matthew 7:1). A wrong temper of mind about another soul will end in the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One worldly judgment about another person, and the end of it will be hell inside you.

Whenever you are tempted to judge, drag the impulse at once to the light and say, “My God, I am guilty.” If you don’t, hardness will set in. It isn’t only God who punishes us for sin. Sin establishes itself in the sinner and pays the sinner back in full: the price is that, gradually, you become so used to sinning that you no longer recognize it as sin.

No amount of struggling or praying will enable us to stop sinning. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to come in and set it right. “Walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Many of us think that walking in the light means walking according to the standard we’ve set for other people. That is not God’s standard. Walk in the light of the holiest you know—the Lord Jesus Christ—and let his judgment have its way with you.

Deuteronomy 28-29; Mark 14:54-72

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. 

Facing Reality, 34 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 16, 2026

You are here:  HomeWhat We DoA Word With YouA Word With YouYour HindrancesThe No Regrets Alarm - #10221

THE NO REGRETS ALARM - #10221

I opened the refrigerator and there it was again - the pig! Yes, years ago someone bought it, put it in the refrigerator for a while and then it disappeared. I thought maybe he'd gone to the bacon factory, but then the pig was back. See, this pig was actually plastic, and whenever you would open the door, the plastic pig started oinking at you. It's annoying, but it does make you think about what you're about to do to yourself.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The No Regrets Alarm."

Our word for today from the Word of God - very familiar verses from Matthew 6, beginning at verse 9, "This then is how you should pray." And this is what we commonly call The Lord's Prayer of course. "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." How many times have you prayed that? That's an important prayer. We almost don't think about those words. "Lead me not into temptation; deliver me from evil."

In other words, "Lord, help me see where the temptation is. Help me steer away from it. Keep me from anything that the Devil might be trying to get me to do." Well, how do you do that? That's through His Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, who He called the Comforter, would do that. He said it in John 16:8. He promises "that the Holy Spirit - the Comforter - when He is come, He will convict the world of sin." He also said in John 14:26 He will "bring to your remembrance all the things that I have taught you." In other words, the Holy Spirit's going to bring to mind how Jesus feels about this.

The day you put your trust in Jesus as your Savior, God plants in your soul a sin alarm. Now somebody planted a gluttony alarm in our refrigerator; this noise that makes you stop and think before you reach for something. It was annoying, but the pig could keep you from doing something you would regret later; like how you'll feel when you step on the scale tomorrow.

We do need some noise inside of us when we're about to reach for something we're going to later regret. And God delivers us from evil if we will listen to the inner alarms He triggers when we are about to sin. He says something like, "That's not the truth; don't lie. That's not pure; don't watch it. That's going to hurt; don't say it. That's going too far; don't do it."

See, one alarm in us is what I call Scripture brakes. God brings to your mind a statement from the Word of God that keeps you from making a mistake if you listen. It's the brakes; step on the brakes. D. L. Moody said that "When you think sin you ought to think Scripture." That's why it's important to commit to memory verses that God can later use to warn you away from the edge. Psalm 119: "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I will not sin against You."

Now, another sin alarm is what I call shame warnings. See, many of us don't carry a sense of shame from the sins of the past, and God erased those from His books if you've brought those sins to Jesus. But sometimes the shame feelings are there a long time after God has forgiven us. And that's actually not all bad, because God can remind you of the damage that comes from saying yes to that temptation, using the shame warnings from the past. Listen to those.

One other sin alarm that God uses when you're reaching for something that could hurt you is Spirit tremors. It's an uneasiness in your spirit that says, "This just isn't right." That's probably the stirring of the Holy Spirit. Listen to that inner warning. But respond immediately and put on the Scripture brakes, respond to the shame warnings, to the Spirit tremors before sin drowns them out and you grab a plateful of regrets.

After a while, I have to admit I got immune to that pig warning in the fridge. I finally just put it away. Don't do that with the Holy Spirit alarm system inside you. Do not quench the Spirit, because He knows the price tag for what you are about to grab.

Luke 19:28-48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GIVE GOD ALL YOUR MISTAKES - March 18, 2026

God not only wants the mistakes we’ve made—He wants the ones we’re making. Are you drinking too much?  Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage?  Mismanaging your life?

Don’t pretend nothing’s wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross. 1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”

Start with your bad moments. And while you’re there, give God your “mad” moments. There’s a story about a man bitten by a dog. When he learned the dog had rabies, he began a list. The doctor said, “There’s no need for you to make a will—you’ll be fine.” “Oh, I’m not making a will” he said, “I’m making a list of all the people I want to bite!” God wants that list!  He wants you to leave it at the cross.

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

Luke 19:28-48

Zacchaeus

1–4  19 Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

5–7  When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

8  Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

9–10  Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

The Story About Investment

11  While he had their attention, and because they were getting close to Jerusalem by this time and expectation was building that God’s kingdom would appear any minute, he told this story:

12–13  “There was once a man descended from a royal house who needed to make a long trip back to headquarters to get authorization for his rule and then return. But first he called ten servants together, gave them each a sum of money, and instructed them, ‘Operate with this until I return.’

14  “But the citizens there hated him. So they sent a commission with a signed petition to oppose his rule: ‘We don’t want this man to rule us.’

15  “When he came back bringing the authorization of his rule, he called those ten servants to whom he had given the money to find out how they had done.

16  “The first said, ‘Master, I doubled your money.’

17  “He said, ‘Good servant! Great work! Because you’ve been trustworthy in this small job, I’m making you governor of ten towns.’

18  “The second said, ‘Master, I made a fifty percent profit on your money.’

19  “He said, ‘I’m putting you in charge of five towns.’

20–21  “The next servant said, ‘Master, here’s your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don’t suffer fools gladly.’

22–23  “He said, ‘You’re right that I don’t suffer fools gladly—and you’ve acted the fool! Why didn’t you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?’

24  “Then he said to those standing there, ‘Take the money from him and give it to the servant who doubled my stake.’

25  “They said, ‘But Master, he already has double …’

26  “He said, ‘That’s what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.

27  “ ‘As for these enemies of mine who petitioned against my rule, clear them out of here. I don’t want to see their faces around here again.’ ”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

by Alyson Kieda

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.

9–10  It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

11  Two in a bed warm each other.

Alone, you shiver all night.

12  By yourself you’re unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

Today's Insights

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon—“the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1)—examines life as he’s lived it. He discusses human life—achievements, hard work, pleasures, and the pursuit of knowledge—to show that without God our human endeavors won’t give us a meaningful life. In chapter 4, Solomon extols the value of community. A person driven by his selfish, competitive spirit to outdo his neighbors (v. 4) is one who lives a lonely, miserable, and meaningless existence (vv. 7-8). In contrast, Solomon writes of another person, who works in collaboration with others instead of in competition. He commends the advantages of companionship in times of inadequacy and adversity. Cooperation is better because it’s mutually beneficial. As believers in Jesus, we belong to the body of Christ, the church, so that we don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. We can reach out and help each other succeed (see vv. 9-10).

Join Rasool Berry as he speaks with Grammy award-winning artist Lecrae as he shares how his community supported him through his career.

Made for Community

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

When my husband, Alan, and I decided to move across the country to Philadelphia to further his education, I didn’t have a job lined up, and we had no idea how we would afford student housing. On a Sunday, shortly before we were to leave, a church acquaintance introduced us to a former student of the university Alan was to attend who knew of an affordable apartment. Then, before we left, a workmate gave me the name of a contact at a Christian ministry. God answered our prayers and gave us opportunities—including an apartment and a job—through His people. Friends and family helped us move and ushered us on with prayer.

The author of Ecclesiastes wrote about the benefits of not going through life alone: “Two are better than one” (4:9). Two get more work done, can help each other through struggles, offer companionship, and ward against danger (vv. 9-11). He went on to say, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). A community has even greater benefits. More resources, more support.

Alan and I benefited from the community we left behind. And God helped us build a new community to help us feel at home in the big city. If you feel alone, ask God to help you find a friend, a good church, or a place to serve in a community.

Reflect & Pray

What communities are you a part of? How do you help each other?

Dear God, thank You for surrounding me with friends and family. Please help me to invite others into Your community.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves . . . perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. — 2 Corinthians 7:1

Have I recognized that God, through his promises, has a claim on me? We delight in God’s promises to us and count on their fulfillment, and it is right that we should. But Paul reminds us that this is only the human side of the equation. The divine side is that God wishes us to become pure and holy out of reverence to him.

Have I understood that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Or do I have a habit that obviously can’t stand the light of God upon it? Through sanctification, the Son of God is formed inside me, but the story doesn’t end there. I must transform my natural, physical life into a spiritual life through obedience. God educates us down to the scruple, examining every aspect of our character. Keep yourself clean in your daily walk, and when God begins his inspection, rid yourself at once of any impurity his gaze reveals. The goal is to bring yourself, in both body and spirit, into perfect harmony with the nature of God.

Are my thoughts and outlook in perfect agreement with the Spirit inside me? Or am I intellectually defiant? Am I forming the mind of Christ and obeying God? Jesus never spoke of his right to himself. Rather, he maintained an inner watchfulness, continually submitting his spirit to his Father. I too have the responsibility of keeping my spirit in agreement with the Lord’s Spirit. If I do, then by degrees Jesus will lift me up to where he lived—in perfect consecration to his Father’s will, paying no attention to anything else.

Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God getting his way with me? Are other people seeing more and more evidence of him in my life? Be serious with God and happily leave the rest alone. Literally, put God first.

Deuteronomy 32-34; Mark 15:26-47

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything. 

Shade of His Hand, 1200 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

STUCK IN A HOLDING PATTERN - #10223

I was on a flight from Chicago to Newark, and I was busily working until suddenly the pilot put on the brakes. We weren't really near Newark yet, so I tried to figure out what's going on. It looked as if the plane was beginning to circle, and our wing was dipped down a little bit. So pretty soon I said, "You know, I believe I've seen that house before. Those trees look familiar." I got to see them again, and again, and another time. Yep, we were in that time warp that is dreaded by every frequent flier called the holding pattern. We weren't standing still. No, I'm happy to say we were not standing still. That wouldn't have been good. But we were using up time, we were using up fuel. We were in constant motion; we just weren't making any progress.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stuck in a Holding Pattern."

That leads us to our word for today from the Word of God from Philippians 3, beginning in verse 12, where Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Now, if anyone could have been satisfied with where he was spiritually it would be the Apostle Paul. He was living one of the greatest Christian lives in history. You can tell from this passage that in spite of that he is refusing to stay in spiritual neutral. He's certainly not going to go in reverse and live on his spiritual memories. "Forgetting the things that are behind" he says. No, he's in high gear. He says, "I'm forgetting what's back there. I'm pressing on. I haven't got it all yet. I want the rest of Jesus. I want to know Christ!"

Paul never flew, but I don't think he would have liked the holding pattern. You know, maybe you're in a holding pattern right now spiritually. You started on your journey with Jesus. You've made some progress, but somewhere along the way you slowed down and you're circling ground that you've covered before. You're not standing still; you're just circling in this holding pattern.

Churches get in holding patterns. Ministry organizations get in holding patterns. Oh they keep their calendar full: time for the banquet, time for this activity, time for the board, time for the committee. But are they taking any new ground for the Lord?

Spiritually healthy people are restless people. They're aggressively pursuing more of God's power in their lives than they've ever tasted before. They want a more intimate relationship with Jesus than they've experienced yet. They desire to have a greater effectiveness in praying than they've ever had before. They want to make a greater difference with the rest of their life than they've ever made before. Am I describing you - this restlessness for more in prayer, more of God's power, more intimacy with Jesus; knowing Him better than you've ever known Him; making a greater difference for Him?

These kinds of spiritual healthy people want to make more of a difference than they've ever made. Is that you? Is that your church? Let it begin with you, breaking out of your holding pattern, getting moving again. See, it begins when you say, "Lord, I'm tired of this plateau. Activity is not obedience. I know that. Busyness is not power. I want all You have, Lord, I want more of You than I've ever tasted before. I want to make more of a difference with my life than I've ever made before."

Find some other people who feel the same way and pursue the Lord together in prayer times. Make it a discipline to find new ground in God's Word, to get to Him daily. Circling the same ground in that airplane, I was restless to get on toward the goal. And it was a good feeling when we finally started moving in the right direction.

Aren't you tired of a spiritual holding pattern?

Judges 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: An Advocate

Not all guilt is bad.  God uses appropriate doses of guilt to awaken us to sin! God's guilt brings enough regret to change us! Satan's guilt, on the other hand, brings enough regret to enslave us.  Don't let Satan lock his shackles on you!
Colossians 3:3 reminds us, "your life is hidden with Christ in God."  When God looks at you, he sees Jesus first.  In the Chinese language the word for "righteousness" is a combination of two characters, the figure of a lamb and a person.  The lamb is on top, covering the person.  Whenever God looks down at you, this is what he sees:  The perfect Lamb of God covering you.
So, do you trust your Advocate, Jesus, or do you trust your Accuser-Satan?  Give no heed to Satan's voice!  You have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous! (I John 2:1).
From GRACE

Judges 10

Tola Becomes Israel’s Judge

After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Jair Becomes Israel’s Judge
3 After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. 4 His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair.[j] 5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

The Ammonites Oppress Israel
6 Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. 7 So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). 9 The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.

The Israelites were in great distress. 10 Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

11 The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

15 But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” 16 Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

17 At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, and the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 14, 2015

Read: Exodus 20:18-26

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

19 And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

20 “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

21 As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Proper Use of Altars
22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven. 23 Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.

24 “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use. 26 And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.

INSIGHT: On Mount Sinai, God manifested His presence loudly and visibly through thunder, lightning, the sound of a trumpet, and a smoking mountain (v. 18). Moses explained that this display of power and majesty was to demonstrate God’s incomparable holiness. His power and glory were displayed so that the Israelites would revere and worship Him (v. 20).

The Go-Between

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt

The people stood afar off, but Moses drew near . . . where God was. —Exodus 20:21

Imagine standing at the bottom of a mountain, elbow-to-elbow with everyone in your community. Thunder and lightning flash; you hear an earsplitting trumpet blast. Amid flames, God descends on the mountaintop. The summit is enveloped in smoke; the entire mountain begins to shake, and so do you (Ex. 19:16-20).

When the Israelites had this terrifying experience near Mount Sinai, they begged Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (20:19). The Israelites were asking Moses to mediate between them and the Almighty. “So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was” (v.21). After meeting with God, Moses brought God’s messages back down the mountain to the people below.

Today, we worship the same God who displayed His staggering greatness on Mount Sinai. Because God is perfectly holy and we are desperately sinful, we cannot relate to Him. Left to ourselves we too would (and should) shake in terror. But Jesus made it possible for us to know God when He took our sins on Himself, died, and rose again (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Even now, Jesus is the go-between for us to a holy and perfect God (Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5).

Dear Jesus, thank You for laying down Your life so that I could know God. I worship You as the only one who bridges the gap between God and me.
Jesus bridges the gap between God and us.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 14, 2015

Yielding

…you are that one’s slaves whom you obey… —Romans 6:16

The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “…He has anointed Me…to proclaim liberty to the captives…” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s 

1 Samuel 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: RECONCILLIATION - March 13, 2026

The most notorious road in the world is the Via Dolorosa, “the Way of Sorrows.” According to tradition, it’s the route Jesus took from Pilate’s hall to Calvary. The path is marked by stations frequently used by Christians for their devotions— each one a reminder of the events of Christ’s final journey. No one actually knows the exact route Christ followed that Friday. But we do know where the path began. In heaven.

Jesus began his journey when he left his home in search of us. The Bible has a word for this quest:  reconciliation. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Reconciliation re-stiches the unraveled, reverses the rebellion, and rekindles the cold passion. Reconciliation touches the shoulder of the wayward and woos him homeward. The path to the cross tells us exactly how far God will go to call us back!

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

1 Samuel 9

Saul—Head and Shoulders Above the Crowd

1–2  9 There was a man from the tribe of Ben-jamin named Kish. He was the son of Abiel, grandson of Zeror, great-grandson of Becorath, great-great-grandson of Aphiah—a Ben-jaminite of stalwart character. He had a son, Saul, a most handsome young man. There was none finer—he literally stood head and shoulders above the crowd!

3–4  Some of Kish’s donkeys got lost. Kish said to his son, “Saul, take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys.” Saul took one of the servants and went to find the donkeys. They went into the hill country of Ephraim around Shalisha, but didn’t find them. Then they went over to Shaalim—no luck. Then to Jabin, and still nothing.

5  When they got to Zuph, Saul said to the young man with him, “Enough of this. Let’s go back. Soon my father is going to forget about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

6  He replied, “Not so fast. There’s a holy man in this town. He carries a lot of weight around here. What he says is always right on the mark. Maybe he can tell us where to go.”

7  Saul said, “If we go, what do we have to give him? There’s no more bread in our sacks. We’ve nothing to bring as a gift to the holy man. Do we have anything else?”

8–9  The servant spoke up, “Look, I just happen to have this silver coin! I’ll give it to the holy man and he’ll tell us how to proceed!” (In former times in Israel, a person who wanted to seek God’s word on a matter would say, “Let’s visit the Seer,” because the one we now call “the Prophet” used to be called “the Seer.”)

10  “Good,” said Saul, “let’s go.” And they set off for the town where the holy man lived.

11  As they were climbing up the hill into the town, they met some girls who were coming out to draw water. They said to them, “Is this where the Seer lives?”

12–13  They answered, “It sure is—just ahead. Hurry up. He’s come today because the people have prepared a sacrifice at the shrine. As soon as you enter the town, you can catch him before he goes up to the shrine to eat. The people won’t eat until he arrives, for he has to bless the sacrifice. Only then can everyone eat. So get going. You’re sure to find him!”

14  They continued their climb and entered the city. And then there he was—Samuel!—coming straight toward them on his way to the shrine!

15–16  The very day before, God had confided in Samuel, “This time tomorrow, I’m sending a man from the land of Ben-jamin to meet you. You’re to anoint him as prince over my people Israel. He will free my people from Philistine oppression. Yes, I know all about their hard circumstances. I’ve heard their cries for help.”

17  The moment Samuel laid eyes on Saul, God said, “He’s the one, the man I told you about. This is the one who will keep my people in check.”

18  Saul came up to Samuel in the street and said, “Pardon me, but can you tell me where the Seer lives?”

19–20  “I’m the Seer,” said Samuel. “Accompany me to the shrine and eat with me. In the morning I’ll tell you all about what’s on your mind, and send you on your way. And by the way, your lost donkeys—the ones you’ve been hunting for the last three days—have been found, so don’t worry about them. At this moment, Israel’s future is in your hands.”

21  Saul answered, “But I’m only a Ben-jaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and from the most insignificant clan in the tribe at that. Why are you talking to me like this?”

22–23  Samuel took Saul and his servant and led them into the dining hall at the shrine and seated them at the head of the table. There were about thirty guests. Then Samuel directed the chef, “Bring the choice cut I pointed out to you, the one I told you to reserve.”

24  The chef brought it and placed it before Saul with a flourish, saying, “This meal was kept aside just for you. Eat! It was especially prepared for this time and occasion with these guests.”

Saul ate with Samuel—a memorable day!

25  Afterward they went down from the shrine into the city. A bed was prepared for Saul on the breeze-cooled roof of Samuel’s house.

26  They woke at the break of day. Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up and I’ll send you off.” Saul got up and the two of them went out in the street.

27  As they approached the outskirts of town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell your servant to go on ahead of us. You stay with me for a bit. I have a word of God to give you.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 13, 2026

by Adam R. Holz

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Job 2:7-13

Satan left God and struck Job with terrible sores. Job was ulcers and scabs from head to foot. They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes.

9  His wife said, “Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!”

10  He told her, “You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?”

Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God.

Job’s Three Friends

11–13  Three of Job’s friends heard of all the trouble that had fallen on him. Each traveled from his own country—Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuhah, Zophar from Naamath—and went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him. When they first caught sight of him, they couldn’t believe what they saw—they hardly recognized him! They cried out in lament, ripped their robes, and dumped dirt on their heads as a sign of their grief. Then they sat with him on the ground. Seven days and nights they sat there without saying a word. They could see how rotten he felt, how deeply he was suffering.

Today's Insights

Job’s friends were doing very well in their mission of comfort until they started talking. For seven days, they were a silent presence with their suffering friend (Job 2:13). Silence tends to make us uncomfortable, so we may try to fill that void with words. But in times of great suffering (like Job’s), words alone are often inadequate to express the comfort or help that the hurting person truly needs. We can credit Job’s friends for their sacrificial seven days of silent presence, but they caused hurt when they began to offer answers that didn’t ease Job’s hurt, pain, or loss. We can ask God to give us wisdom to know when to speak and when to offer the comfort of a silent presence with those who are hurting.

Sitting with the Suffering

No one said a word to [Job], because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2:13

“Daddy, my head hurts.” “Daddy, I’m so cold.” “Daddy, can you rub my feet?”

A high fever, chills, and body aches recently descended cruelly upon my teenage daughter. She wanted me to make it better. But mostly she just wanted me near. Eventually we took her to urgent care. “Virus,” we were told. Nothing to do but ride it out.

I sat with my sick girl for hours that day. Rubbing her feet. Getting her medicine. Desperately wanting her to feel better. Occasionally, my selfish side complained, This is hard. Indeed, it is hard to sit with people’s suffering, to witness their hurt up close.

Job’s friends saw his suffering up close too. These three guys are often—fairly!—criticized for their later poor treatment of Job. But it’s easy to forget that, initially, they simply sat with him: “They sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13).

Jobs’ friends remind us that when someone we love is hurting, it’s our presence—our being there, whether we speak or not—that often matters most. Their example reminds us that even though we may not always know what to say, simply sitting with someone in their suffering may be the greatest gift we can give.

Reflect & Pray

Who do you know who’s struggling? How might you be present for them?

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to save our suffering world. Please help me to see those whom You might have me encourage amid their struggles and pain.  

Obadiah is the least-read book of the Bible. Check out this book from Reclaim Today to help navigate the book of Obadiah and learn to hear God's voice through it.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 13, 2026

His Abandonment to Us

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16

We will never understand how to abandon ourselves to God until we understand how God abandoned himself to us. When God gave his Son in love to the world, he didn’t give just a part of himself. He gave all of himself, absolutely and entirely. He gave with total abandon, holding nothing back. We must beware of talking about abandonment if we don’t really know about it, and we won’t know—not until we realize the full meaning of John 3:16.

That God gave with total abandon is the very essence of salvation. Salvation isn’t merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. Salvation is deliverance out of self and into union with God. What I experience of salvation may be a sense of personal holiness, but what salvation actually means is that the Spirit of God has brought me into contact with God himself. I am thrilled by the contact with something infinitely greater than myself, and I wonder how it is possible. It is possible because God has given himself completely for our sake.

Abandonment is never self-conscious. If we are abandoned to God, our whole life is his. There is no awareness of striving to let go, no struggling to abandon. We aren’t torn between our old life and our new. We are simply given over to our Lord. Our entire existence is wrapped up in him, and the consequences of abandoning ourselves never enter into our thinking.

Deuteronomy 20-22; Mark 13:21-37

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. 

Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 13, 2026

TIMEOUT TRAGEDIES - #10220

At first I thought some apocalyptic event had hit our town. Schools were all empty, there wasn't a school bus in sight, lots of people suddenly disappeared. Not to worry. It was just Spring Break.

Of course, for many of America's young people, Spring Break is code for "party like there's no tomorrow, baby." Well, after downing lots of booze and sometimes drugs, your internal censors just go off duty. So a lot of folks come back from break with little memory of some big mistakes. Partying that lasts for a night; regrets and scars that can last a lifetime. Going for "break" and coming back broken.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Timeout Tragedies."

There's this lie that sets people up for expensive choices, hurtful choices. What you do when you're away, or when you're alone, or when you're anonymous doesn't count. It's not just a lie students fall for. Businessmen on trips, women home alone, guys on the Internet, girls texting, people on vacation or at a party. I'm almost sure there's someone listening right now who would do anything to erase what they did when they believed it wouldn't matter.

It does, doesn't it? Because while you can turn off your internal controls, you can't turn off your conscience. It picks up every wrong thing we do - or, in God's vocabulary, every sin. As observed by the wife of a governor who was disgraced by the discovery of his long - distance affair, she said, "You can pick your sin; you can't pick your consequences." It's so true.

So your conscience is always running and so is your calculator. It's adding up the consequences, because as the Bible says, "whatever a man sows, he reaps." That's an inescapable law of the universe. Worst of all, the camera's always running, too. In our word for today from the Word of God, God's camera is described this way, "A man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths." You know that "Sin City" commercial that says, "What you do here stays here"? No, forget about it! If God knows, you're caught. Oh, believe me, God knows.

It doesn't matter how drunk you are, how depressed you are, how devious you are, how deserving you think you are. The Bible says, "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). So, first the thrill, then the bill. The fear of discovery, the trail of cover-up deceit, the guilt, the shame, the loss of self-respect, the ugly consequences, and the judgment of Almighty God. "For," as the Bible says, "God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

See, nothing good happens when we blow past God's stop signs. That's why we've got to run from the rocks that we've been drifting toward and saying "no!" to that seductive, but devilish voice that says "Forget about tomorrow; now is all that matters." Oh, tomorrow really does matter.

But what about the memories? What about the shame of the mistakes that it's too late to change? Well, there's hope in a word called "forgiven." The very God whose plans for us we trash has made this stunning promise: "I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12). Like the wonderful feeling of a shower when you're disgustingly dirty, God says He'll make us clean inside; every sin erased from His book, with our eternal sin-bill paid in full because of a cross. Where Jesus, God's one and only Son, in the Bible's words, "carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24) and He absorbed the judgment I deserve: The choices that accuse us. Gone! Forgiven!

That's what happens when a sinner grabs the Savior. It's nothing less than a new beginning.

And that's why our website is called ANewStory.com. It's where you can find the information that will help you begin your new story with Jesus Christ. Please go there. The rebirth miracle is within your reach right now if you'll just tell Jesus, "I'm Yours from today on."

1 Samuel 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD - March 12, 2026

Can a holy God overlook our mistakes? Should a kind God punish our mistakes? From our perspective there are only two equally unappealing solutions.  But from God’s perspective there’s a third.  It’s called “the Cross of Christ.”

The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.  How could he do this? In a sentence:  God put our sin on his Son and punished it there. “God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 MSG).

Why did he do it? Because “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” (John 3:16 NLT).  Aren’t you glad the verse doesn’t read “For God so loved the rich”?  Or “For God so loved the famous”? No. We simply (and happily) read: “For God so loved the world!” And you my friend, are included in that love!

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

1 Samuel 8

Rejecting God as the King

1–3  8 When Samuel got to be an old man, he set his sons up as judges in Israel. His firstborn son was named Joel, the name of his second, Abijah. They were assigned duty in Beer-sheba. But his sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice.

4–5  Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.”

6  When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.

7–9  God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.”

10–18  So Samuel told them, delivered God’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.”

19–20  But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king to rule us! Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles.”

21–22  Samuel took in what they said and rehearsed it with God. God told Samuel, “Do what they say. Make them a king.”

Then Samuel dismissed the men of Israel: “Go home, each of you to your own city.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 12, 2026

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Timothy 1:6-14

And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

8–10  So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

11–12  This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.

13–14  So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.

Today's Insights

Imprisonment in the first century was filled with shame. Paul spent a great deal of time in Roman incarceration (see Acts 16; 21; 25-28). As a result, some churches struggled to see him as someone they could claim as their founding apostle (see 2 Corinthians 6:3-12). From that full knowledge of the shame associated with his chains, the apostle writes to Timothy, challenging him to endure all things out of love for God and in the grace that’s been offered through Jesus. No suffering is too shameful in light of everything that God has accomplished on our behalf through Christ.

The Cost of Commitment

The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

A group of twenty-two Christian leaders traveled half a day to secretly meet and learn from a pastor who came from another country. If caught, the pastor would be deported, and the others would spend three years in prison. Eighteen of the twenty-two had already been imprisoned for their faith in Jesus.

After the pastor handed out fifteen Bibles he’d brought with him, one woman gave hers to someone else. Like many others, she’d memorized chapters of Scripture so she would have its wisdom secured in her heart if she were to go to prison. She later asked the pastor to pray that their church would be free to gather just like his. Instead, marveling at how they sacrificed, suffered persecution, and risked imprisonment, he prayed that his church would be just like theirs. 

Believers around the world are persecuted for their faith in Christ, some more severely than others. And all believers can be tempted to cower when the stakes of living for Christ are raised. But the Holy Spirit enables us to use our God-given gifts with “power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). God will help us share the gospel with boldness and compassion, wherever He leads. Because of all He did for us (vv. 9-10), we can embrace the sacrificial cost of commitment to Christ and preserve “sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (v. 13).

Reflect & Pray

How have you sacrificed to seek and share Jesus? Who will you share the gospel with today?

Mighty God, please deepen my commitment to know You and boldly share You with others.

For further study, read The Power of Prayer in Sharing the Gospel.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Our Abandonment to Him

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” — Mark 10:28

Jesus replies to Peter that the disciples will be amply rewarded for their sacrifice. But he also makes clear that their reason for following him shouldn’t be anything they’ll get in return. It must be entirely for Jesus himself: “for me and the gospel” (Mark 10:29).

Beware of an abandonment that has a self-interested spirit in it. Too often, we abandon ourselves to God because we want to be made holy or delivered from sin. We will be, if we are rightly related to him, but this demanding spirit is not in line with the essential nature of Christianity.

Abandonment is not for any thing at all. We’ve become so commercialized in our thinking that we go to God only when we want something. It’s as if we’re saying, “I don’t want you, God. I want myself: a clean, Spirit-filled version of myself. I want to be put on display in your showroom, and to be able to say, ‘See what God has done for me.’”

If we give something to God only because we want something in return, there is nothing of the Holy Spirit in our abandonment: it is miserable, commercial self-interest. To gain heaven, to be delivered from sin, to be made useful to God: real abandonment never considers these things. Real abandonment is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ himself.

When we are forced to choose between our natural relationships and Jesus Christ, most of us desert him. “I did hear your call, Lord,” we say. “But my spouse needs me; my mother needs me; my self- interest needs me.” “Such a person,” Jesus replies, “cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). It is always natural devotion that tests abandonment. Rise to the test, and God will embrace all those you hurt when you abandoned yourself to him.

Deuteronomy 17-19; Mark 13:1-20

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible.

Biblical Psychology, 199 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 12, 2026

PRAYER - THE LASER FROM HEAVEN - #10219

My wife and I were on a ministry trip to Phoenix, and much to my surprise she decided to have her gall bladder out there. Actually, it was much of a surprise to her, too. You don't plan these things. I remember that night she left dinner early, and I found her about an hour later in unbearable pain. Nothing was making a dent in that pain. Finally we went to the emergency room and they said, "Time for this gallbladder to come out."

Okay, I would never have chosen to do this out of town, a couple of thousand miles away from home. But in the providence of God it was a great hospital, and one of the best surgeons in this field practiced at that hospital. The classic gallbladder operation used to take several weeks to recover from. You know, they just make this big, long cut. Well, this doctor said, "I hope to do it by laser." Great news! He did, and there were only three little wounds. The gallbladder was gone, and she took just a few days to recover - all because of what a laser could do. One ray of focused energy aimed at this problem and you've got what feels like a miracle.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Prayer - The Laser From Heaven."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 4:16. What a great prayer promise this is! "Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Now, first in this verse you've got the macro - the Throne of Grace. You are going into the throne room to be with the One who created and manages 100 billion galaxies. Man! But then He brings all that power down to the micro. He says, "Come into that throne room with your little time of need." It's so little compared to His power. But He says, "Bring it in." And you focus all of His power on one person on earth who needs God's touch; one need, one situation, one impossibility.

The specific prayer for a supernatural intervention is like laser power. It's a ray of focused energy from heaven, aimed by your prayer at one need on earth. Wow! The power of that prayer laser is described in Matthew 18:18. It says there, "Whatever you will bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Several great things happen when you focus the energy of God on someone or something on earth. First, God really loves it. Revelation 5:8, Our prayers are a bowl of incense in heaven. It's like incense for God to smell. Secondly, your faith grows. You're stretching your faith to trust Him for a supernatural intervention, and the larger your faith, the bigger things you'll be able to trust God for in the future.

Thirdly, Satan's grip is broken when you focus God's laser on something on earth that he's holding onto. Pray for that. And if you really want to turn up the laser power, get others to pray with you, focusing their faith and God's power on that need. Matthew 18:19 says, "If two of you agree on earth on anything you ask it will be done for you by My Father in heaven."

Jesus told us in Luke 18:1 we "should always pray and not give up." So while you're waiting, let God turn His laser on your life. He may want to do some laser surgery first to remove some infection in you before that answer can come.

When that doctor aimed his laser at my wife's point of need, we experienced what seemed like a medical miracle. When you pray specifically, in faith believing, you focus the healing, heart-changing, mountain-moving power of God on something or someone that you care about. So expect a miracle!

1 Samuel 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE SEAMLESS CHARACTER OF JESUS - March 11, 2026

Garments can symbolize character, and like his garment, Jesus’ character was seamless. He was like his robe: uninterrupted perfection. A seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth…from God’s thoughts to Jesus’ actions. From God’s tears to Jesus’ compassion. From God’s word to Jesus’ response. All one piece. All a picture of the character of Jesus.

But when Christ was nailed to the cross, he took off his robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe– the wardrobe of indignity. Shamed before his family. The indignity of nakedness. The indignity of failure. Shamed before his accusers. Worst of all he bore the indignity of sin. The scripture says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV).  The clothing of Christ on the cross? Sin. It was yours and mine.

He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart

1 Samuel 7

And they did. The men of Kiriath Jearim came and got the Chest of God and delivered it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. They ordained his son, Eleazar, to take responsibility for the Chest of God.

2  From the time that the Chest came to rest in Kiriath Jearim, a long time passed—twenty years it was—and throughout Israel there was a widespread, fearful movement toward God.

3  Then Samuel addressed the house of Israel: “If you are truly serious about coming back to God, clean house. Get rid of the foreign gods and fertility goddesses, ground yourselves firmly in God, worship him and him alone, and he’ll save you from Philistine oppression.”

4  They did it. They got rid of the gods and goddesses, the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and gave their exclusive attention and service to God.

5  Next Samuel said, “Get everybody together at Mizpah and I’ll pray for you.”

6  So everyone assembled at Mizpah. They drew water from the wells and poured it out before God in a ritual of cleansing. They fasted all day and prayed, “We have sinned against God.”

So Samuel prepared the Israelites for holy war there at Mizpah.

The Place Where God Helped Us

7  When the Philistines heard that Israel was meeting at Mizpah, the Philistine leaders went on the offensive. Israel got the report and became frightened—Philistines on the move again!

8  They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray with all your might! And don’t let up! Pray to God, our God, that he’ll save us from the boot of the Philistines.”

9  Samuel took a young lamb not yet weaned and offered it whole as a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God. He prayed fervently to God, interceding for Israel. And God answered.

10–12  While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines came within range to fight Israel. Just then God thundered, a huge thunderclap exploding among the Philistines. They panicked—mass confusion!—and ran helter-skelter from Israel. Israel poured out of Mizpah and gave chase, killing Philistines right and left, to a point just beyond Beth Car. Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it “Ebenezer” (Rock of Help), saying, “This marks the place where God helped us.”

13–14  The Philistines learned their lesson and stayed home—no more border crossings. God was hard on the Philistines all through Samuel’s lifetime. All the cities from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored. Israel also freed the surrounding countryside from Philistine control. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

15–17  Samuel gave solid leadership to Israel his entire life. Every year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He gave leadership to Israel in each of these places. But always he would return to Ramah, where he lived, and preside from there. That is where he built an altar to God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

by Mike Wittmer

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Jeremiah 3:11-17

 Then God told me, “Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:

12–15  “ ‘Turn back, fickle Israel.

I’m not just hanging back to punish you.

I’m committed in love to you.

My anger doesn’t see the nonstop.

Just admit your guilt.

Admit your God-defiance.

Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners,

pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves

While turning a deaf ear to me.’ ”

God’s Decree.

“Come back, wandering children!”

God’s Decree.

“I, yes I, am your true husband.

I’ll pick you out one by one—

This one from the city, these two from the country—

and bring you to Zion.

I’ll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way,

who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.

16  “And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come”—God’s Decree!—“when no one will say any longer, ‘Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?’ It won’t even occur to anyone to say it—‘the good old days.’ The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.

17  “Jerusalem will be the new Ark—‘God’s Throne.’ All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God.

Today's Insights

Jeremiah was a prophet to Judah, the Southern Kingdom, and its capital city of Jerusalem during the reign of its last five kings (Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah). Because of its idolatry and wickedness, the Northern Kingdom, Israel, had fallen to Assyria in 722 bc. During Jeremiah’s time, Judah was following in Israel’s footsteps, despite the reign of a few good kings like Josiah. The people had turned away from God and were worshiping idols. Through Jeremiah, God warned them that their wickedness would lead to discipline, yet He urged them repeatedly to repent and return to Him (Jeremiah 2:19; 3:14). In 586 bc, Judah fell to Babylon. Yet God restored a remnant to the land and promised a Savior, Jesus (23:5-6). Today, God still offers forgiveness and love to all who repent and turn to Him.

Rebellion and Return

No longer will [the Israelites] follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. Jeremiah 3:17

The Wild One is a 1953 movie starring Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler, a troubled, brooding leader of a motorcycle gang. In one scene, a young woman notices a gang member’s jacket with the initials, B.R.M.C. When she learns that the R stands for “rebels,” she laughs and touches the arm of Brando as he idly pats a drum. “Hey, Johnny. What are you rebelling against?” He replies, “What do you got?”

What an apt description of our problem! We’re born with a drive to assert ourselves. We want to be in charge, preferably by getting our way. If that doesn’t work, we’ll assert ourselves by dragging our feet. The rebellion is the point.

Why did Israel foolishly worship idols of “stone and wood” (Jeremiah 3:9)? And why did Israel’s “unfaithful sister Judah” only pretend to return to God (v. 10)? Because that’s how they expressed their independence—“the stubbornness of their evil hearts” (v. 17). The rebellion was the point.

But God’s love is stronger. Jesus died for rebels and leaves the door open for their return. “ ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful . . . . Only acknowledge your guilt—you have rebelled against the Lord your God’ ” (vv. 12-13).

We may be born rebels, but we can return. Let’s run home to our Father, where we find His forgiveness, love, and help.

Reflect & Pray

When do you take charge in foolish or bad ways? How have you been ignoring God, and how might you return to Him?

Dear Father, thank You for Your forgiveness. I’m coming home to You.

Obeying God takes practice, check out this article to learn more.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Vision

I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. — Acts 26:19

When Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and told him to preach the gospel, there was nothing hesitant about Paul’s response: he obeyed, keeping the vision from heaven bright before him as he began fulfilling his commission (Acts 26:12–19). If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible; it means that we’ve been lax and careless in our spiritual lives. The only way to be obedient to the vision God sends is to give our utmost for his highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision, while working steadily to realize it. The test is to keep the vision in our sights not only during times of prayer and devotion but sixty seconds of every minute, sixty minutes of every hour.

“Though it linger, wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot rush the fulfillment of a vision; we have to live in its light until it accomplishes itself through us. Sometimes, after we receive a vision, we grow impatient. We go racing off into practical work, hoping to speed things along. Then the work becomes our focus, and we lose sight of the vision. We don’t even notice when it has been fulfilled! Working to realize the vision is necessary, but we must work steadily, without rush or force, and only when and where God chooses. Our ability to wait for the vision that lingers is a test of our loyalty to him.

After God gives a vision to his disciple, he always sends a whirlwind, flinging his disciple to the place where the seed of the vision will take root and grow. Are you ready to be sown, so that the vision can fulfill itself through you? The answer depends on whether or not you’re living in the light of what you’ve seen. Let God fling you out, and don’t go until he does. If you try to dictate where you’ll go, you’ll prove empty. But if you let God sow you, you will bring forth fruit.

Deuteronomy 14-16; Mark 12:28-44

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word.

Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

FROM THE BACKSEAT TO THE BATTLE - #10218

Ever since I was little I've been fascinated by the American Revolution, and I always wanted to see Concord Bridge, where it sort of all began. You know, the shot heard around the world? By the time I got there, I had two little boys of my own who were not fascinated by the American Revolution. I wanted to spend a while at Concord Bridge, imagining those Colonial farmers descending and the Red Coats stepping up to the bridge in their rigid formation.

Unfortunately my sons were not interested in all of that. I tried to tell them the story; yawn! Come on, this is vacation. Who cares about history, right? One last idea. I got their tricorn hats that we bought them and we got some sticks for them to use as muskets. I made them the Americans and I played Red Coat. So they came charging across one side of the Concord Bridge. I went running away from them. I eventually ended up fatally wounded. And when we were done they said, "Let's do it again, Daddy!" Of course they won every time. They became interested, but not until they had a part.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "From the Backseat to the Battle."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 20:6-7. Jesus is telling a story about a man who needs help at harvest time. He's gone out three times during the day to get more and more help. And finally, he goes out near the end of the working day, and it says this: "About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 'Because no one has hired us' they answered. He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'"

There's an urgent job to be done! Harvest time passes fast; you've got to get to it. There's only a few days to make it all happen. Big job - urgent job with not enough help. Men standing around? Why? Because they said they didn't have a job to do. So Jesus says here basically there's a job for everyone in the harvest; the harvest of human hearts.

See, a lot of church folks are like my sons at Concord Bridge. You hear the facts about the battle. You hear stories of what other people have done to reach people, but you're not playing any active part. You're just watching.

Actually God doesn't intend to have any of His kids just be spectators. This is a war with life-or-death stakes going on. He wants you out of the stands and into the game. Maybe your Christianity is kind of gray and boring. And it is until you get a mission, not just hear about people with a mission.

You need a job to do for Jesus, and you can be sure He's got one. You're surrounded by work He needs done. There are boys who need you. There are girls who need you to reach out to them. There are senior citizens who are lonely and need to hear about Christ in their few remaining years. There are teenagers maybe you could connect with. There are homeless people. There are Christian workers who are buried in administrative detail and you could help relieve them for the work that only they can do. You are urgently needed somewhere I'll tell you.

When you get a mission, when you get a piece of the action, your faith comes alive. You read the Bible with a new appetite, you pray with a new intensity, and you listen with a new openness. You can't just go to church to get filled up and meet your needs. It's a staging area for God's rescue operation on earth launched at the cross. It's a place for God's soldiers. It's a place to get ready for the battles that affect people's eternities.

Christianity seems hollow, meaningless and boring without a personal mission, and you are needed. So don't just listen to secondhand facts about the battle for human souls and for eternities. Do what my boys did. Grab a musket and run to the battle in Jesus' name.