Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 12
He Wore Our Coat
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:14 (NCV)
God has only one requirement for entrance into heaven: that we be clothed in Christ.
Listen to how Jesus describes the inhabitants of heaven: "They will walk with me and wear white clothes, because they are worthy...." (Rev. 3:4).
Listen to the description of the elders: "Around the throne there were . . . twenty-four elders ....They were dressed in white and had golden crowns on their heads" (Rev. 4:4)....
All are dressed in white. The saints. The elders .... How would you suppose Jesus is dressed? In white? . . . "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).
Why is Christ's robe not white? Why is his cloak not spotless? Why is his garment dipped in blood?... Paul says simply, "He changed places with us" (Gal. 3:13)....
He wore our coat of sin to the cross.
Joshua 3
Crossing the Jordan
1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards [e] between you and the ark; do not go near it."
5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
6 Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' "
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea [f] ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 42
BOOK II : Psalms 42-72
1
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and
December 12, 2008
Ebenezer
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READ: Psalm 42:1-5
Samuel took a stone . . . and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” —1 Samuel 7:12
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the central character is Ebenezer Scrooge. As a boy, I enjoyed watching the old black-and-white version of that movie with Alastair Sim portraying Scrooge. Sim did a phenomenal job presenting the heartless, miserly, self-centered Scrooge. I still look in the television schedule each Christmas to learn when I can watch that particular rendition of Dickens’ tale.
Years of watching the travails of Scrooge have spoiled something for me though—the name “Ebenezer.” I have associated it with Scrooge, but its original meaning was light-years away from that. In 1 Samuel, following a decisive battle with the Philistines, the Israelites erected a stone as a reminder of the Lord’s help in the battle. They named that stone Ebenezer, which means “Stone of Help,” to remind people of how God rescued them from their enemies (7:12).
What a contrast! A name that I had come to associate with man’s selfishness can actually serve as a reminder of the readily available help of God. As we move through life, may we focus on the faithfulness of the Lord and not the selfishness of man. Let’s look to Him as our true Ebenezer—our help in the challenges of life. — Bill Crowder
God’s faithfulness we’ve known throughout the years,
His oneness with us in our joys and tears;
So many times the Lord has helped us through,
Has answered prayer and given strength anew. —F. Hess
Our only hope here below is help from God above.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 12, 2008
Personality
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. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . —John 17:22
Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.
Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— "I and My Father are one" ( John 10:30 ). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— ". . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . ." Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Monster In Your Closet - #5720 - December 12, 2008
Category: Your Hard Times
Friday, December 12, 2008
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When you're the parent of a little child, you know that one of your great challenges could be getting that little one to sleep at night. When you are the little child, you know why it's hard to get to sleep at night. First, there's that prayer. You know, the one where your Mommy has you pray, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep." OK, so far, so good. Then, "If I should die before I wake..." OK, that's it! I am not going to sleep! Who in the world put that line in that prayer? Then there's another reason little kids have a hard time getting to sleep. The monsters, you know the ones in the closet. Oh, I know we had them in my room, how about yours? See, parents never really seem to get it. But all of us kids knew that once the lights all went out, there was a really scary monster waiting in that closet. So, you lie there with your eyes wide open, afraid of what that monster might do if you fall asleep.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Monster In Your Closet."
Well, fortunately we're all grown up now. Right? And in a sense, there is still a monster in our closet that makes it very hard for us to be at peace. And this one isn't imaginary. It is all too real; life's ultimate, inevitable reality. Our deep, nagging fear of that monster actually is expressed in the possibility raised in that childhood prayer, "If I should die before I wake..."
The monster of death actually comes out of the closet every time we have to go to a funeral. It comes really close to us when the person who has died is someone about our age. It's not meant to be a morbid thing, but the reality is that one day it will be me in that casket...it will be you. And we know it. And the longer we live, the more quickly our years seem to slip away, right? One day the monster will catch every one of us. Beyond our last heartbeat is a lot of unknown and whatever it is, it's forever.
Of course, the only one who can really speak with total authority about death is God. He's the only One who knows what's on the other side. And in our word for today from the Word of God, there is some very good news about the monster - the monster that lurks in all of our futures. Hebrews 2:14, "(Jesus) shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
Wow! "Held in slavery by their fear of death." Now, we know it's inevitable. We don't know where it will take us. But we can. If you will put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ, you can be liberated from the fear of death. Why? Because you will know for sure that death for you will mean heaven forever. How can you know that? By having the only thing that could keep you out of God's heaven removed forever, and that's your sins. There is no way you can enter heaven with your sins. And there is no way they can be forgiven by anyone but the One who died to pay for those sins.
This same Bible chapter says that Jesus tasted "death for everyone," that He made "atonement for the sins of the people." Your sins have been paid for. You don't ever have to pay for them if you give yourself to Jesus. And death will be just your graduation to eternal life in heaven. But if you have never totally trusted Jesus as your Savior from your sin, you have no hope of heaven.
So, I urge you, if you want to begin a relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that now while you know you've got the opportunity? Don't risk your eternity by waiting. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I resign. I am yours because you died for me. You drive from here on."
You know, a lot of people have found help beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ just by visiting our website. We've kind of set it up to mark the path for you so you can be sure that you belong to Him. Would you go there today? It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be happy to send you my booklet Yours For Life. Just call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
That monster of death was put to death when Jesus died on the cross. And you can finally be free from the fear that haunts us all our lives until we meet Jesus. Until we know that if we die before we wake, we will be in heaven forever with Him.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Joshua 2, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 11
An Undeserved Gift
Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 (NCV)
We take our free gift of salvation and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying “thank you” and accepting it.
Ironic as it may appear, one of the hardest things to do is to be saved by grace. There’s something in us that reacts to God’s free gift. We have some weird compulsion to create laws, systems, and regulations that will make us “worthy” of our gift.
Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don’t like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren’t too keen on doing that either.
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Spies
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [b] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [c] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [d] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 4:10-17 (New International Version)
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
December 11, 2008
Absolutely Nobody
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READ: Exodus 4:10-17
Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. —Proverbs 30:2
He wanted to be a nobody. In 1992, a Seattle man running for the office of Washington State’s lieutenant governor legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” As he entered the race, he said he wanted to greet the voters, saying, “Hi, I’m Absolutely Nobody. Vote for me.” He later admitted that the purpose of his campaign was to abolish the office of lieutenant governor.
This man used a name as a gimmick, but the Bible has a lot to say to those of us who present ourselves to others as a nobody. The right kind of humility is healthy. The songwriters of Israel knew how important it is to see our foolishness apart from God (Ps. 73:22; Prov. 30:2). Jesus Himself showed us that without God we won’t accomplish anything of lasting value (John 5:30; 15:5).
But we read a warning in the story of Moses. There’s a downside to insisting that we are “nobody” if it is to avoid doing what God commands (Ex. 4:1-17). Our motives make us into somebody who resists the loving purposes of God.
We may treat ourselves and others as having no worth. But remember, God doesn’t make nobodies. Like Moses, if we surrender to God, we can do anything God wants us to do—in His strength. — Mart De Haan
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr
Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 11, 2008
Individuality
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Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24 ). It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother" ( Matthew 5:24 ). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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Our friends live in a rugged and majestic area really in the American West. They call it "Big Sky Country" out there. Their house has been there for a long, long time - long before many other people settled where they are. Sitting in their living room, you can't help but admire these beautiful old logs in the walls. But for years, no one ever saw those logs. Over the years, they have been covered by first one layer of material, then another, then another. Our friends actually had to strip away five layers of stuff: plaster, sheet rock, even manure - layers that were covering up the original beauty of this house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Painful Road to Beauty."
Our friends had to strip away layer after layer of this accumulated junk to get what now looks so beautiful. There's a Master Builder who's working on you and me, and He's using that same method to help us display the beauty we were made for. In fact, some of what you're going through right now may be Jesus stripping away another layer of ugly or useless stuff; not to hurt you, but to make you into something more beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be.
In Malachi 3:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the process of His makeover miracles with another analogy, refining precious metal that really isn't very precious until it's refined. The Bible says the Lord Almighty "will be like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify...and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." God's method of getting people ready to do important things for Him is to put them through the fire; not to burn them, but to remove the impurities that keep them from being useful to Him and valuable to others. He strips away old attitudes, old pride, old sinful baggage and ways of doing things, old layers of selfishness, self-reliance and self-centeredness. Not to cause you pain, but to make you more precious and more powerful than you've ever been before.
That doesn't mean that having junk stripped away doesn't hurt. It usually does. God uses hard things in your life as tools to remove another ugly layer. Romans 5:2-4 provide this helpful perspective on the hard things we go through: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I like that part. I want to have the glory of God reflecting from my life like the glory of the sun reflects through the moon. I don't especially like the next part, though. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts."
Now why would we rejoice and be thankful for the hard things we're going through? Because we understand that they are the process by which the glory comes, by which the hope comes. I'm sure our friends in Big Sky Country must have gotten pretty tired of stripping away another layer after another layer. But I think I know what kept them going through the hard times. These words: "It's going to be worth it when it's done." And it is. I didn't see the process, but I sure saw the beauty that resulted.
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God. He knows what you can be, and He loves you too much to leave you like you are. Today's hard times are the tool of God to replace what's ugly and useless with something you will love and He can use. You won't always love the process, but you are going to love what He's making!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 11
An Undeserved Gift
Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 (NCV)
We take our free gift of salvation and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying “thank you” and accepting it.
Ironic as it may appear, one of the hardest things to do is to be saved by grace. There’s something in us that reacts to God’s free gift. We have some weird compulsion to create laws, systems, and regulations that will make us “worthy” of our gift.
Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don’t like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren’t too keen on doing that either.
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Spies
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [b] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [c] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [d] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 4:10-17 (New International Version)
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
December 11, 2008
Absolutely Nobody
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 4:10-17
Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. —Proverbs 30:2
He wanted to be a nobody. In 1992, a Seattle man running for the office of Washington State’s lieutenant governor legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” As he entered the race, he said he wanted to greet the voters, saying, “Hi, I’m Absolutely Nobody. Vote for me.” He later admitted that the purpose of his campaign was to abolish the office of lieutenant governor.
This man used a name as a gimmick, but the Bible has a lot to say to those of us who present ourselves to others as a nobody. The right kind of humility is healthy. The songwriters of Israel knew how important it is to see our foolishness apart from God (Ps. 73:22; Prov. 30:2). Jesus Himself showed us that without God we won’t accomplish anything of lasting value (John 5:30; 15:5).
But we read a warning in the story of Moses. There’s a downside to insisting that we are “nobody” if it is to avoid doing what God commands (Ex. 4:1-17). Our motives make us into somebody who resists the loving purposes of God.
We may treat ourselves and others as having no worth. But remember, God doesn’t make nobodies. Like Moses, if we surrender to God, we can do anything God wants us to do—in His strength. — Mart De Haan
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr
Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 11, 2008
Individuality
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READ:
Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24 ). It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother" ( Matthew 5:24 ). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our friends live in a rugged and majestic area really in the American West. They call it "Big Sky Country" out there. Their house has been there for a long, long time - long before many other people settled where they are. Sitting in their living room, you can't help but admire these beautiful old logs in the walls. But for years, no one ever saw those logs. Over the years, they have been covered by first one layer of material, then another, then another. Our friends actually had to strip away five layers of stuff: plaster, sheet rock, even manure - layers that were covering up the original beauty of this house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Painful Road to Beauty."
Our friends had to strip away layer after layer of this accumulated junk to get what now looks so beautiful. There's a Master Builder who's working on you and me, and He's using that same method to help us display the beauty we were made for. In fact, some of what you're going through right now may be Jesus stripping away another layer of ugly or useless stuff; not to hurt you, but to make you into something more beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be.
In Malachi 3:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the process of His makeover miracles with another analogy, refining precious metal that really isn't very precious until it's refined. The Bible says the Lord Almighty "will be like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify...and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." God's method of getting people ready to do important things for Him is to put them through the fire; not to burn them, but to remove the impurities that keep them from being useful to Him and valuable to others. He strips away old attitudes, old pride, old sinful baggage and ways of doing things, old layers of selfishness, self-reliance and self-centeredness. Not to cause you pain, but to make you more precious and more powerful than you've ever been before.
That doesn't mean that having junk stripped away doesn't hurt. It usually does. God uses hard things in your life as tools to remove another ugly layer. Romans 5:2-4 provide this helpful perspective on the hard things we go through: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I like that part. I want to have the glory of God reflecting from my life like the glory of the sun reflects through the moon. I don't especially like the next part, though. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts."
Now why would we rejoice and be thankful for the hard things we're going through? Because we understand that they are the process by which the glory comes, by which the hope comes. I'm sure our friends in Big Sky Country must have gotten pretty tired of stripping away another layer after another layer. But I think I know what kept them going through the hard times. These words: "It's going to be worth it when it's done." And it is. I didn't see the process, but I sure saw the beauty that resulted.
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God. He knows what you can be, and He loves you too much to leave you like you are. Today's hard times are the tool of God to replace what's ugly and useless with something you will love and He can use. You won't always love the process, but you are going to love what He's making!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Joshua 1, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 10
Run to Jesus
If we live, we are living for the Lord, and if we die, we are dying for the Lord.
Romans 14:8 (NCV)
Do you wonder where you can go for encouragement and motivation? Go back to that moment when you first saw the love of Jesus Christ. Remember the day when you were separated from Christ? You knew only guilt and confusion and then--a light. Someone opened a door and light came into your darkness, and you said in your heart, "I am redeemed!"
Run to Jesus. Jesus wants you to go to him. He wants to become the most important person in your life, the greatest love you'll ever know. He wants you to love him so much that there's no room in your heart and in your life for sin. Invite him to take up residence in your heart.
Joshua 1
The LORD Commands Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 1:18-25 (New International Version)
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[b]—which means, "God with us."
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
December 10, 2008
Marred
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 1:18-25
She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. —Matthew 1:21
During an all-night festival in Paris, five young people, apparently drunk, broke into the Orsay Museum and left a 4-inch gash in a priceless painting by Claude Monet. Culture Minister Christine Albanel said the painting could be restored, but she was deeply disturbed at the damage done by “a purely criminal act.”
One news headline read: “Monet Masterpiece Marred.” To mar is to injure or damage; to spoil, disfigure, or impair. It’s an apt description of sin’s effect on us. We know well the results of our own choices made in ignorance or defiance of God.
As we approach Christmas, it’s good to remember why Jesus was born. The Son of God did not come to establish a nostalgic, family-oriented, commercially successful holiday. The angel told Joseph: “[Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
Christmas began with a present from God to His sin-damaged world: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
The masterpiece of God’s human creation, marred by turning away from Him, can be restored when we give our hearts to Christ. — David C. McCasland
He came into this world a babe,
This world that He Himself had made;
He came to do the Father’s will,
That ended on dark Calvary’s hill. —Newstrom
Jesus came to earth to repair our sin-damaged lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 10, 2008
The Offering of the Natural
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman —Galatians 4:22
Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.
Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14 ). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to "present [our] bodies a living sacrifice . . ." ( Romans 12:1 ). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.
If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, "Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child." Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.
God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Most Off-Key Chorus Of All - #5718 - December 10, 2008
Category: Your Hindrances
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Oh, laugh if you will, but when I was in high school, I sang in the chorus. Today, I'm just a backup singer; when I sing, people back up. But back in high school, we had some good times learning our parts, mastering our songs, and performing our concerts. Sometimes, if I was late for our chorus class, I could hear them warming up as I approached the chorus room. And this one warm-up was particularly monotonous: "mi,mi,mi,mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi." Don't change stations. I'm done. I won't do any singing. But...
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I do want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Off-Key Chorus of All."
Now, the spelling is a little different, but the most monotonous chorus in the world still sounds the same, when someone's tune is "me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me me." It is the song of our selfishness; a song we sing far too often. It's the most off-key chorus of all! It's when I'm performing as if it's all about me.
Now, we can do better than this if we follow the blueprint laid out in our word for today from the Word of God in Philippians 2:3-8. We're told there, "...in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Now, this kind of self-sacrificing rather than self-seeking is not something we see very much. So we need an example, and we've got one.
The Bible goes on to say, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who...made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross." God tells us to follow His Son into an attitude that is all about "you, you, you, you" instead of "me, me, me, me." And especially in those moments when, like Jesus in His hours of suffering and dying, selflessness is the most amazing.
Basically, there are certain times when we tend to enter the Selfish Zone, where we act like things should pretty much revolve around us. We slip into the Selfish Zone when we're feeling sick, when we're feeling stressed, when we're suffering, or when we're just really tired and feeling shot. How do I know these are the selfish seasons? Because I have been there way too many times myself!
But the Bible says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." At the time of His greatest pain, His greatest suffering - the time of the greatest suffering any human being has ever experienced, He's carrying the sin of the world - He is dying on the cross and He is still all about others! In the middle of His agony, He's making sure His mother is cared for...He's reaching out to the thief on the cross next to Him, and He's asking His Father to forgive those who crucified Him.
Now, that is how your Savior handles being stressed, how He handles suffering, and it's how He wants to help you and me handle the moments when we just want to think about ourselves. It's at those times when I'm really tired, when I'm really stressed, when I'm really not feeling good, that I have to reach beyond my feelings and say, "Dear Lord, give me the grace to still think about others when I feel like just thinking about me." In other words, "Jesus, would you please help me, because I want to be just like You!"
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 10
Run to Jesus
If we live, we are living for the Lord, and if we die, we are dying for the Lord.
Romans 14:8 (NCV)
Do you wonder where you can go for encouragement and motivation? Go back to that moment when you first saw the love of Jesus Christ. Remember the day when you were separated from Christ? You knew only guilt and confusion and then--a light. Someone opened a door and light came into your darkness, and you said in your heart, "I am redeemed!"
Run to Jesus. Jesus wants you to go to him. He wants to become the most important person in your life, the greatest love you'll ever know. He wants you to love him so much that there's no room in your heart and in your life for sin. Invite him to take up residence in your heart.
Joshua 1
The LORD Commands Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 1:18-25 (New International Version)
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[b]—which means, "God with us."
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
December 10, 2008
Marred
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 1:18-25
She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. —Matthew 1:21
During an all-night festival in Paris, five young people, apparently drunk, broke into the Orsay Museum and left a 4-inch gash in a priceless painting by Claude Monet. Culture Minister Christine Albanel said the painting could be restored, but she was deeply disturbed at the damage done by “a purely criminal act.”
One news headline read: “Monet Masterpiece Marred.” To mar is to injure or damage; to spoil, disfigure, or impair. It’s an apt description of sin’s effect on us. We know well the results of our own choices made in ignorance or defiance of God.
As we approach Christmas, it’s good to remember why Jesus was born. The Son of God did not come to establish a nostalgic, family-oriented, commercially successful holiday. The angel told Joseph: “[Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
Christmas began with a present from God to His sin-damaged world: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
The masterpiece of God’s human creation, marred by turning away from Him, can be restored when we give our hearts to Christ. — David C. McCasland
He came into this world a babe,
This world that He Himself had made;
He came to do the Father’s will,
That ended on dark Calvary’s hill. —Newstrom
Jesus came to earth to repair our sin-damaged lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 10, 2008
The Offering of the Natural
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman —Galatians 4:22
Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.
Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14 ). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to "present [our] bodies a living sacrifice . . ." ( Romans 12:1 ). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.
If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, "Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child." Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.
God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Most Off-Key Chorus Of All - #5718 - December 10, 2008
Category: Your Hindrances
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Oh, laugh if you will, but when I was in high school, I sang in the chorus. Today, I'm just a backup singer; when I sing, people back up. But back in high school, we had some good times learning our parts, mastering our songs, and performing our concerts. Sometimes, if I was late for our chorus class, I could hear them warming up as I approached the chorus room. And this one warm-up was particularly monotonous: "mi,mi,mi,mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi." Don't change stations. I'm done. I won't do any singing. But...
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I do want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Off-Key Chorus of All."
Now, the spelling is a little different, but the most monotonous chorus in the world still sounds the same, when someone's tune is "me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me me." It is the song of our selfishness; a song we sing far too often. It's the most off-key chorus of all! It's when I'm performing as if it's all about me.
Now, we can do better than this if we follow the blueprint laid out in our word for today from the Word of God in Philippians 2:3-8. We're told there, "...in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Now, this kind of self-sacrificing rather than self-seeking is not something we see very much. So we need an example, and we've got one.
The Bible goes on to say, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who...made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross." God tells us to follow His Son into an attitude that is all about "you, you, you, you" instead of "me, me, me, me." And especially in those moments when, like Jesus in His hours of suffering and dying, selflessness is the most amazing.
Basically, there are certain times when we tend to enter the Selfish Zone, where we act like things should pretty much revolve around us. We slip into the Selfish Zone when we're feeling sick, when we're feeling stressed, when we're suffering, or when we're just really tired and feeling shot. How do I know these are the selfish seasons? Because I have been there way too many times myself!
But the Bible says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." At the time of His greatest pain, His greatest suffering - the time of the greatest suffering any human being has ever experienced, He's carrying the sin of the world - He is dying on the cross and He is still all about others! In the middle of His agony, He's making sure His mother is cared for...He's reaching out to the thief on the cross next to Him, and He's asking His Father to forgive those who crucified Him.
Now, that is how your Savior handles being stressed, how He handles suffering, and it's how He wants to help you and me handle the moments when we just want to think about ourselves. It's at those times when I'm really tired, when I'm really stressed, when I'm really not feeling good, that I have to reach beyond my feelings and say, "Dear Lord, give me the grace to still think about others when I feel like just thinking about me." In other words, "Jesus, would you please help me, because I want to be just like You!"
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Deuteronomy 34, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 9
A Finished Work
God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue until it is finished.
Philippians 1:6 (NCV)
The message of Jesus to the religious person is simple: It’s not what you do. It’s what I do. I have moved in.
Religious rule-keeping can sap your strength. It’s endless. There is always another class to attend, Sabbath to obey, Ramadan to observe. No prison is as endless as the prison of perfection. Her inmates find work but never find peace. How could they? They never know when they are finished.
Christ, however, gifts you with a finished work. He fulfilled the law for you. Bid farewell to the burden of religion. Gone is the fear that having done everything, you might not have done enough. You climb the stairs, not by your strength, but his. God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves.
Deuteronomy 34
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, [a] 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."
5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. 6 He buried him [b] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit [c] of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Romans 5:15-21 (New International Version)
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
December 9, 2008
Lessons Of The Coke Bottle
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Romans 5:15-21
Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. —Romans 5:20
Pastor Louie was preaching on the pervasiveness of sin. “It’s everywhere!” he stated emphatically. He told about waiting for a traffic light when he saw the man in the car in front of him finish his Coke, open the door, set the glass bottle on the street, and drive away.
“That was wrong!” Louie said. “It was a selfish sin! He could have caused someone to have a flat tire or even an accident.” We don’t typically think of littering as sin, but it is clear evidence of our inherent selfishness.
Later, as Louie was greeting people by the door, a Bible professor at a local Christian university said quietly as he walked by, “Sin puts the bottle on the street, but grace picks it up.”
Now, many years later, Louie has not forgotten the lesson of that scriptural principle. It comes right out of Romans 5, one of the most uplifting texts in the Bible describing the grace of God. Adam’s transgression brought sin into the world (v.12), and its consequences spread to all people. But God responded with grace, offering forgiveness through His Son to all who choose to believe. The human race sinned, and God answered with abounding grace (v.20).
God does much more than just “pick up the bottle,” He cleanses the heart of the transgressor! — David C. Egner
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? —Johnston
Confession of sin is the soil in which forgiveness flourishes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 9, 2008
The Opposition of the Natural
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires —Galatians 5:24
The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. "Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh . . . ." The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself. . ." ( Matthew 16:24 ). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Settling for So Little - #5717 - December 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We were visiting with some of my wife's cousins the other day, and we got to talking about the incredible fishing results that Cousin Marty gets. It doesn't seem to matter when he fishes or where he fishes, he brings back a stringer of big ones. He would not understand at all a fisherman that I heard about recently. It was one of those days when it wasn't just the bugs who were biting; the big fish really were. And this particular angler kept reeling in fish that were at least a foot long, and then he kept throwing them back. A fisherman in a nearby boat kept watching this with a mixture of amazement and disgust. Finally, he couldn't resist. He called over to the fisherman after he had just thrown back another fish that was over a foot long. He said, "Hey! Why are you throwing back all those big fish?" The answer was more disturbing than his not keeping them. He replied, "Hey! I've only got an eight-inch pan!" What?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Settling for So Little."
So this fisherman is settling for little stuff because he's only prepared for little stuff. Dumb. But then, I wonder if that isn't how some of us pray. We pray for what humans could do, not what Almighty God could do. We go to God with an "eight-inch pan" when He wants to give us something much, much bigger. When you consider the size and the power of the God to whom we pray, a lot of our prayers are - well, they're pretty pathetic.
Let's go to our word for today from the Word of God and see if we can pick up a much bigger "pan" for answers to our prayers. We begin in Jeremiah 32:17: "Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm." Think about that when you come to Him with a need, a problem, a challenge. In the words of John Newton, "You are coming to a King; great petitions with thee bring, for His love and power are such, none can ever ask too much."
Jeremiah goes on to celebrate the one to whom we pray with these words: "O great and powerful God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds." Later in this chapter, God responds to Jeremiah: "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" You may have an issue in your life that's totally beyond your control, beyond your ability to fix it, beyond your ability to change it or even understand it. But is anything too hard for "the Lord Almighty," the one who "made the heavens and the earth?" Does the number of zeroes on the amount of money you need make it harder for God? Do the medical odds affect God's power to take care of it? Does the number of people you're up against mean God's going to have a harder time pulling this one out? The size of your need is absolutely inconsequential to a God for whom nothing is too hard!
So we shouldn't be surprised that a few verses later, in Jeremiah 33:3, this all-mighty Lord extends this invitation: "Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things..." We get man-sized answers because we expect man-sized answers. We believe God for what we can conceive, but your God is the God of the inconceivable. We've settled for so much less than what He could do because we continually overestimate the situation and underestimate God.
How often has God been ready to give us a bigger answer than we've ever seen, and we miss it because we've only got this "eight-inch pan?" It's time to blow the lid off your prayers by trusting your God, within the parameters of His perfect will, for something only God could do!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 9
A Finished Work
God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue until it is finished.
Philippians 1:6 (NCV)
The message of Jesus to the religious person is simple: It’s not what you do. It’s what I do. I have moved in.
Religious rule-keeping can sap your strength. It’s endless. There is always another class to attend, Sabbath to obey, Ramadan to observe. No prison is as endless as the prison of perfection. Her inmates find work but never find peace. How could they? They never know when they are finished.
Christ, however, gifts you with a finished work. He fulfilled the law for you. Bid farewell to the burden of religion. Gone is the fear that having done everything, you might not have done enough. You climb the stairs, not by your strength, but his. God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves.
Deuteronomy 34
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, [a] 3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."
5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. 6 He buried him [b] in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit [c] of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Romans 5:15-21 (New International Version)
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
December 9, 2008
Lessons Of The Coke Bottle
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Romans 5:15-21
Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. —Romans 5:20
Pastor Louie was preaching on the pervasiveness of sin. “It’s everywhere!” he stated emphatically. He told about waiting for a traffic light when he saw the man in the car in front of him finish his Coke, open the door, set the glass bottle on the street, and drive away.
“That was wrong!” Louie said. “It was a selfish sin! He could have caused someone to have a flat tire or even an accident.” We don’t typically think of littering as sin, but it is clear evidence of our inherent selfishness.
Later, as Louie was greeting people by the door, a Bible professor at a local Christian university said quietly as he walked by, “Sin puts the bottle on the street, but grace picks it up.”
Now, many years later, Louie has not forgotten the lesson of that scriptural principle. It comes right out of Romans 5, one of the most uplifting texts in the Bible describing the grace of God. Adam’s transgression brought sin into the world (v.12), and its consequences spread to all people. But God responded with grace, offering forgiveness through His Son to all who choose to believe. The human race sinned, and God answered with abounding grace (v.20).
God does much more than just “pick up the bottle,” He cleanses the heart of the transgressor! — David C. Egner
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? —Johnston
Confession of sin is the soil in which forgiveness flourishes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 9, 2008
The Opposition of the Natural
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires —Galatians 5:24
The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. "Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh . . . ." The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself. . ." ( Matthew 16:24 ). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Settling for So Little - #5717 - December 9, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We were visiting with some of my wife's cousins the other day, and we got to talking about the incredible fishing results that Cousin Marty gets. It doesn't seem to matter when he fishes or where he fishes, he brings back a stringer of big ones. He would not understand at all a fisherman that I heard about recently. It was one of those days when it wasn't just the bugs who were biting; the big fish really were. And this particular angler kept reeling in fish that were at least a foot long, and then he kept throwing them back. A fisherman in a nearby boat kept watching this with a mixture of amazement and disgust. Finally, he couldn't resist. He called over to the fisherman after he had just thrown back another fish that was over a foot long. He said, "Hey! Why are you throwing back all those big fish?" The answer was more disturbing than his not keeping them. He replied, "Hey! I've only got an eight-inch pan!" What?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Settling for So Little."
So this fisherman is settling for little stuff because he's only prepared for little stuff. Dumb. But then, I wonder if that isn't how some of us pray. We pray for what humans could do, not what Almighty God could do. We go to God with an "eight-inch pan" when He wants to give us something much, much bigger. When you consider the size and the power of the God to whom we pray, a lot of our prayers are - well, they're pretty pathetic.
Let's go to our word for today from the Word of God and see if we can pick up a much bigger "pan" for answers to our prayers. We begin in Jeremiah 32:17: "Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm." Think about that when you come to Him with a need, a problem, a challenge. In the words of John Newton, "You are coming to a King; great petitions with thee bring, for His love and power are such, none can ever ask too much."
Jeremiah goes on to celebrate the one to whom we pray with these words: "O great and powerful God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds." Later in this chapter, God responds to Jeremiah: "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" You may have an issue in your life that's totally beyond your control, beyond your ability to fix it, beyond your ability to change it or even understand it. But is anything too hard for "the Lord Almighty," the one who "made the heavens and the earth?" Does the number of zeroes on the amount of money you need make it harder for God? Do the medical odds affect God's power to take care of it? Does the number of people you're up against mean God's going to have a harder time pulling this one out? The size of your need is absolutely inconsequential to a God for whom nothing is too hard!
So we shouldn't be surprised that a few verses later, in Jeremiah 33:3, this all-mighty Lord extends this invitation: "Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things..." We get man-sized answers because we expect man-sized answers. We believe God for what we can conceive, but your God is the God of the inconceivable. We've settled for so much less than what He could do because we continually overestimate the situation and underestimate God.
How often has God been ready to give us a bigger answer than we've ever seen, and we miss it because we've only got this "eight-inch pan?" It's time to blow the lid off your prayers by trusting your God, within the parameters of His perfect will, for something only God could do!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Deuteronomy 31, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 8
The Gift Is God-Given
Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows.
James 1:17 (NCV)
The conclusion is unavoidable: self-salvation simply does not work. Man has no way to save himself.
But Paul announces that God has a way. Where man fails God excels. Salvation comes from heaven downward, not earth upward. "Every good action and every perfect gift is from God" (James 1:17).
Please note: Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man.
Deuteronomy 31
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross the Jordan.' 3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. 4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
Israel's Rebellion Predicted
14 The LORD said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him." So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. 16 And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."
24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD : 26 "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them. 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made."
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Joshua 7:16-22 (New International Version)
16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was taken. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, [a] the God of Israel, and give him the praise. [b] Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me."
20 Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, [c] two hundred shekels [d] of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, [e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
December 8, 2008
Here Comes The Boss!
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Joshua 7:16-22
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9
A number of computer games come with a special feature called the “Boss Key.” If you’re playing a game when you’re supposed to be working, and someone (like the boss) walks into your office, you quickly strike the Boss Key. Your computer screen changes immediately, hiding what you’ve been doing.
Trying to hide from others when we’ve done something wrong comes naturally. We may feel guilty, but our desire to avoid admitting our responsibility is often stronger than our guilt.
Achan tried to hide his sin. He had stolen silver and gold and hidden it in his tent (Josh. 7:20-21). But when the Israelites were defeated in battle, the Lord told their leader Joshua that the loss was due to sin in the camp (vv.11-12). The Lord identified Achan as the one who had sinned. And even though Achan confessed, he and his family were executed (v.25).
We may not understand why God dealt so harshly with Achan’s sin, but we do know He was instructing His people in His holiness and their need for obedience to His commands (Ex. 20:17).
If you’ve been disobedient, it’s time to come out of hiding. God is lovingly calling you and offering His cleansing, forgiveness, and restoration. — Anne Cetas
O Lord, help me to come to You
When I would rather hide my sin;
Give me the courage to confess
So I can be made clean within. —Sper
Confession is the key that opens the door to forgiveness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 8, 2008
The Impartial Power of God
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READ:
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified —Hebrews 10:14
We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. ". . . Christ Jesus . . . became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.
No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, "But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner." God’s response, through Peter, is, ". . . there is no other name . . . by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12 ). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. "In Him we have redemption through His blood . . ." ( Ephesians 1:7 ). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.
God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Whatever it Takes to Save a Life - #5716 - December 8, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Monday, December 12, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I've had the chance to meet some fascinating people with our Native American outreaches when I go out with our On Eagles' Wings Teams. One of those would have to be Chad. He was raised to actually be the last traditional chief in his tribe and a spiritual shaman. Like many Native Americans over the years, he was sent to a religious boarding school, and in Christ's name he was forced to dress, look and speak like a white man - punished if he accidentally spoke a word of his own language. The anger that built up in him made him a most unlikely candidate to ever give his heart to the one that he was sure was "the white man's God." Chad actually said he wanted to die, so he went to Vietnam, hoping that someone would kill him. He became one of the few good that were good enough to be called a Navy Seal and then he went through the horrors of being a prisoner of war. When he returned from the war, he became a gang leader in a major city with some 10,000 people in his organization. Stabbed twice, shot three times, and one night he found himself on an operating table with surgeons fighting very long odds to save his life.
Chad remembers vividly the near-death experience he had. He actually found himself looking down on his own life-or-death surgery. As he looked down on the operating room, Chad testifies that a big man with shoulder-length hair appeared next to him - a man wearing a long white robe with a gold sash around it. He spoke to Chad and He said, "I died for you, Chad. I want you to give your life to me." What blew Chad away was that this man spoke to him in his own native language! That night Chad realized this Jesus could not just be a white man's God. As Chad said, "No white man's God would have spoken to me in my language!" Since 1996, he's been a powerful leader for Jesus Christ among native people, and now a great friend and partner with us in reaching his people.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Whatever it Takes to Save a Life."
Our friend Chad is living proof of something about our Jesus that you might need for your own encouragement right now. He will do whatever it takes to find and rescue someone that He died for. Including that one that you've been praying for who shows absolutely no signs of ever caring about Jesus. They don't come much harder than Chad, and Jesus knew exactly what it would take to change his heart and He did it.
Matthew 18:12-14, that's our word for today from the Word of God. It is a vivid picture of what Jesus is doing right now on behalf of someone you care about who's far from Him right now. The Bible says "If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it ... he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off." Jesus is actively, lovingly, and skillfully pursuing the lost person you have on your heart. Or you might be that lost person who He is pursuing right now.
In Peter's words, God does not "want anyone to perish" (2 Peter 3:9). He knows exactly what will get their attention, exactly what kind of messenger they will listen to. The prayer needs to be, "Lord Jesus, please rescue this one I care about, whatever it takes, within your will." There are no limits to His saving love, no limits to His saving power, no limits to His creativity and persistence in reaching them where they are.
The question may be: how far are you willing to go to rescue them? What's God waiting for you to do and be part of the answer to your own prayers? Please do whatever He asks you to do, whatever that takes, whatever that costs to assist in the rescue. And don't stop praying for them, don't stop loving them, don't stop believing God for their eternal soul. As long as there's breath, there's hope, especially with Jesus pursuing them with His stubborn love.
And if you're the one who He's been pursuing, it could just be that He's found you right here, and He's offering His nail-pierced hand for you to grab. You've lived long enough without Him. You could tell Him just this very day, "Jesus, I'm yours." We'd love to help you get connected with Him. I think you'd find some help at our website. It's YoursForLife.net. Why don't you grab Him now, while He's close?
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 8
The Gift Is God-Given
Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows.
James 1:17 (NCV)
The conclusion is unavoidable: self-salvation simply does not work. Man has no way to save himself.
But Paul announces that God has a way. Where man fails God excels. Salvation comes from heaven downward, not earth upward. "Every good action and every perfect gift is from God" (James 1:17).
Please note: Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man.
Deuteronomy 31
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 "I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross the Jordan.' 3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. 4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."
Israel's Rebellion Predicted
14 The LORD said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him." So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. 16 And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
19 "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."
24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, 25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD : 26 "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! 28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them. 29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made."
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Joshua 7:16-22 (New International Version)
16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was taken. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD, [a] the God of Israel, and give him the praise. [b] Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me."
20 Achan replied, "It is true! I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, [c] two hundred shekels [d] of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, [e] I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
December 8, 2008
Here Comes The Boss!
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Joshua 7:16-22
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9
A number of computer games come with a special feature called the “Boss Key.” If you’re playing a game when you’re supposed to be working, and someone (like the boss) walks into your office, you quickly strike the Boss Key. Your computer screen changes immediately, hiding what you’ve been doing.
Trying to hide from others when we’ve done something wrong comes naturally. We may feel guilty, but our desire to avoid admitting our responsibility is often stronger than our guilt.
Achan tried to hide his sin. He had stolen silver and gold and hidden it in his tent (Josh. 7:20-21). But when the Israelites were defeated in battle, the Lord told their leader Joshua that the loss was due to sin in the camp (vv.11-12). The Lord identified Achan as the one who had sinned. And even though Achan confessed, he and his family were executed (v.25).
We may not understand why God dealt so harshly with Achan’s sin, but we do know He was instructing His people in His holiness and their need for obedience to His commands (Ex. 20:17).
If you’ve been disobedient, it’s time to come out of hiding. God is lovingly calling you and offering His cleansing, forgiveness, and restoration. — Anne Cetas
O Lord, help me to come to You
When I would rather hide my sin;
Give me the courage to confess
So I can be made clean within. —Sper
Confession is the key that opens the door to forgiveness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 8, 2008
The Impartial Power of God
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READ:
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified —Hebrews 10:14
We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. ". . . Christ Jesus . . . became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.
No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, "But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner." God’s response, through Peter, is, ". . . there is no other name . . . by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12 ). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. "In Him we have redemption through His blood . . ." ( Ephesians 1:7 ). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.
God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Whatever it Takes to Save a Life - #5716 - December 8, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Monday, December 12, 2008
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I've had the chance to meet some fascinating people with our Native American outreaches when I go out with our On Eagles' Wings Teams. One of those would have to be Chad. He was raised to actually be the last traditional chief in his tribe and a spiritual shaman. Like many Native Americans over the years, he was sent to a religious boarding school, and in Christ's name he was forced to dress, look and speak like a white man - punished if he accidentally spoke a word of his own language. The anger that built up in him made him a most unlikely candidate to ever give his heart to the one that he was sure was "the white man's God." Chad actually said he wanted to die, so he went to Vietnam, hoping that someone would kill him. He became one of the few good that were good enough to be called a Navy Seal and then he went through the horrors of being a prisoner of war. When he returned from the war, he became a gang leader in a major city with some 10,000 people in his organization. Stabbed twice, shot three times, and one night he found himself on an operating table with surgeons fighting very long odds to save his life.
Chad remembers vividly the near-death experience he had. He actually found himself looking down on his own life-or-death surgery. As he looked down on the operating room, Chad testifies that a big man with shoulder-length hair appeared next to him - a man wearing a long white robe with a gold sash around it. He spoke to Chad and He said, "I died for you, Chad. I want you to give your life to me." What blew Chad away was that this man spoke to him in his own native language! That night Chad realized this Jesus could not just be a white man's God. As Chad said, "No white man's God would have spoken to me in my language!" Since 1996, he's been a powerful leader for Jesus Christ among native people, and now a great friend and partner with us in reaching his people.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Whatever it Takes to Save a Life."
Our friend Chad is living proof of something about our Jesus that you might need for your own encouragement right now. He will do whatever it takes to find and rescue someone that He died for. Including that one that you've been praying for who shows absolutely no signs of ever caring about Jesus. They don't come much harder than Chad, and Jesus knew exactly what it would take to change his heart and He did it.
Matthew 18:12-14, that's our word for today from the Word of God. It is a vivid picture of what Jesus is doing right now on behalf of someone you care about who's far from Him right now. The Bible says "If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it ... he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off." Jesus is actively, lovingly, and skillfully pursuing the lost person you have on your heart. Or you might be that lost person who He is pursuing right now.
In Peter's words, God does not "want anyone to perish" (2 Peter 3:9). He knows exactly what will get their attention, exactly what kind of messenger they will listen to. The prayer needs to be, "Lord Jesus, please rescue this one I care about, whatever it takes, within your will." There are no limits to His saving love, no limits to His saving power, no limits to His creativity and persistence in reaching them where they are.
The question may be: how far are you willing to go to rescue them? What's God waiting for you to do and be part of the answer to your own prayers? Please do whatever He asks you to do, whatever that takes, whatever that costs to assist in the rescue. And don't stop praying for them, don't stop loving them, don't stop believing God for their eternal soul. As long as there's breath, there's hope, especially with Jesus pursuing them with His stubborn love.
And if you're the one who He's been pursuing, it could just be that He's found you right here, and He's offering His nail-pierced hand for you to grab. You've lived long enough without Him. You could tell Him just this very day, "Jesus, I'm yours." We'd love to help you get connected with Him. I think you'd find some help at our website. It's YoursForLife.net. Why don't you grab Him now, while He's close?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Deuteronomy 30, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 7
The person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.
Luke 7:47 (NCV)
To believe we are totally and eternally debt free is seldom easy. Even if we've stood before the throne and heard it from the king himself, we still doubt.
As a result, many are forgiven only a little, not because the grace of the king is limited, but because the faith of the sinner is small.
God is willing to forgive all. He's willing to wipe the slate completely clean. He guides us to a pool of mercy and invites us to bathe.
Some plunge in, but others just touch the surface.
Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the LORD
1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes [c] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Offer of Life or Death
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 26:20-30 (New International Version)
20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?"
Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."[a]
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
December 7, 2008
Eat This Bread
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 26:20-30
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel. —Micah 5:2
Christmas isn’t the time of year when our thoughts naturally turn to the Last Supper—or what the Jews called Passover. But that particular Passover is critical to Christmas. After breaking bread and giving it to His disciples, Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is My body” (Matt. 26:26). Breaking bread was a traditional part of Passover, but adding “this is my body” was a striking departure from the familiar liturgy. The disciples must have been bewildered.
Later the meaning became clear. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of Bread.” He was laid in a manger—a feeding trough. He once said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh” (John 6:51).
The prophet Micah indicated that One born in Bethlehem would rule over Israel (5:2). But not until Jesus came did anyone realize the uniqueness of this Kingdom. Christ’s rule would not be imposed upon anyone; it would be imparted to those who accepted this new citizenship.
As we sing of Bethlehem’s manger, let’s remember that the heaven-sent infant King came so that we might “eat this bread” and partake of His divine nature. — Julie Ackerman Link
Thou art the bread of life, O Lord, to me,
Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me;
Give me to eat and live with Thee above,
Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love. —Lathbury
Only Christ the Living Bread can satisfy our spiritual hunger.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 7, 2008
Repentance
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation . . . —2 Corinthians 7:10
Conviction of sin is best described in the words:
My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.
Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8 ). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight . . ." ( Psalm 51:4 ). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, "I have sinned." The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.
The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19 ). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 7
The person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.
Luke 7:47 (NCV)
To believe we are totally and eternally debt free is seldom easy. Even if we've stood before the throne and heard it from the king himself, we still doubt.
As a result, many are forgiven only a little, not because the grace of the king is limited, but because the faith of the sinner is small.
God is willing to forgive all. He's willing to wipe the slate completely clean. He guides us to a pool of mercy and invites us to bathe.
Some plunge in, but others just touch the surface.
Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the LORD
1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes [c] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Offer of Life or Death
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 26:20-30 (New International Version)
20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?"
Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."[a]
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
December 7, 2008
Eat This Bread
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 26:20-30
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel. —Micah 5:2
Christmas isn’t the time of year when our thoughts naturally turn to the Last Supper—or what the Jews called Passover. But that particular Passover is critical to Christmas. After breaking bread and giving it to His disciples, Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is My body” (Matt. 26:26). Breaking bread was a traditional part of Passover, but adding “this is my body” was a striking departure from the familiar liturgy. The disciples must have been bewildered.
Later the meaning became clear. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “house of Bread.” He was laid in a manger—a feeding trough. He once said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh” (John 6:51).
The prophet Micah indicated that One born in Bethlehem would rule over Israel (5:2). But not until Jesus came did anyone realize the uniqueness of this Kingdom. Christ’s rule would not be imposed upon anyone; it would be imparted to those who accepted this new citizenship.
As we sing of Bethlehem’s manger, let’s remember that the heaven-sent infant King came so that we might “eat this bread” and partake of His divine nature. — Julie Ackerman Link
Thou art the bread of life, O Lord, to me,
Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me;
Give me to eat and live with Thee above,
Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love. —Lathbury
Only Christ the Living Bread can satisfy our spiritual hunger.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 7, 2008
Repentance
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation . . . —2 Corinthians 7:10
Conviction of sin is best described in the words:
My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.
Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8 ). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight . . ." ( Psalm 51:4 ). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, "I have sinned." The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.
The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19 ). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Deuteronomy 29, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 6
I will come back and take you to be with me.
John 14:3 (NCV)
We don't know when Christ will come for us. We don't know how he will come for us. And, we really don't even know why he would come for us....Most of what we have is faith.
Faith that he has ample space and a prepared place and, at the right time, he will come so that we can be where he is.
He will do the taking. It's up to us to do the trusting.
Deuteronomy 29
Renewal of the Covenant
1 These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:
Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.
7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
9 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God but also with those who are not here today.
16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. 17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.
19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. [b] 20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.
22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it. 23 The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger. 24 All the nations will ask: "Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?"
25 And the answer will be: "It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the LORD's anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. 28 In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now."
29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 5:18-24 (New International Version)
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
December 6, 2008
A Commitment To Walk
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 5:18-24
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. —Genesis 5:24
One thing that impresses me about my wife is her commitment to walk two to four times a week for at least an hour. Come rain, snow, sleet, or shine, my wife layers up or down (depending on the weather), puts on her headphones, and off she goes walking through our community.
My wife’s commitment to walking reminds me of a man named Enoch. Genesis 5:18-24 is a short paragraph about his life, and it shines like a diamond amid the earthly record of deaths. In a storyline where the funeral bells tolled out their mournful drone (“and he died” is repeated eight times in the chapter), there is a ray of hope—Enoch walked with God.
What did it mean for Enoch to walk with God? It describes Enoch’s close communion with God—as if literally walking by His side. Also, it refers to Enoch’s unswerving obedience to God in a corrupt culture. God rewarded Enoch’s faithfulness by taking him to heaven while he was still alive. Death would not have the final word in God’s creation.
Enoch’s walk with God reminds us that it is possible for all of us to enjoy intimate communion with the Lord. Let’s commit ourselves to walking faithfully with Him every day. — Marvin Williams
He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known. —Miles
© Renewal 1940 The Rodeheaver Co.
You’re headed in the right direction when you walk with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 6, 2008
"My Rainbow in the Cloud"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth —Genesis 9:13
It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.
Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God--a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, "Now I believe." There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, "Look to Me, and be saved . . ." ( Isaiah 45:22 ).
When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 6
I will come back and take you to be with me.
John 14:3 (NCV)
We don't know when Christ will come for us. We don't know how he will come for us. And, we really don't even know why he would come for us....Most of what we have is faith.
Faith that he has ample space and a prepared place and, at the right time, he will come so that we can be where he is.
He will do the taking. It's up to us to do the trusting.
Deuteronomy 29
Renewal of the Covenant
1 These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:
Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. 3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. 6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.
7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
9 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, 11 together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, 13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you 15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God but also with those who are not here today.
16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. 17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.
19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. [b] 20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.
22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it. 23 The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger. 24 All the nations will ask: "Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?"
25 And the answer will be: "It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. 27 Therefore the LORD's anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. 28 In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now."
29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 5:18-24 (New International Version)
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
December 6, 2008
A Commitment To Walk
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 5:18-24
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. —Genesis 5:24
One thing that impresses me about my wife is her commitment to walk two to four times a week for at least an hour. Come rain, snow, sleet, or shine, my wife layers up or down (depending on the weather), puts on her headphones, and off she goes walking through our community.
My wife’s commitment to walking reminds me of a man named Enoch. Genesis 5:18-24 is a short paragraph about his life, and it shines like a diamond amid the earthly record of deaths. In a storyline where the funeral bells tolled out their mournful drone (“and he died” is repeated eight times in the chapter), there is a ray of hope—Enoch walked with God.
What did it mean for Enoch to walk with God? It describes Enoch’s close communion with God—as if literally walking by His side. Also, it refers to Enoch’s unswerving obedience to God in a corrupt culture. God rewarded Enoch’s faithfulness by taking him to heaven while he was still alive. Death would not have the final word in God’s creation.
Enoch’s walk with God reminds us that it is possible for all of us to enjoy intimate communion with the Lord. Let’s commit ourselves to walking faithfully with Him every day. — Marvin Williams
He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known. —Miles
© Renewal 1940 The Rodeheaver Co.
You’re headed in the right direction when you walk with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 6, 2008
"My Rainbow in the Cloud"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth —Genesis 9:13
It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.
Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God--a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, "Now I believe." There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, "Look to Me, and be saved . . ." ( Isaiah 45:22 ).
When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Deuteronomy 28, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 5
God Is for You
He will rejoice over you. You will rest in his love; he will sing and be joyful about you.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NCV)
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you.
God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, he's carved your name in the bark....
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" God asks in Isaiah 49:15 (NIV). What a bizarre question. Can you mothers imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, "What was that baby's name?" No. I've seen you care for your young. You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over. Can a mother forget? No way. But "even if she could forget,... I will not forget you," God pledges (Isa. 49:15).
Deuteronomy 28
Blessings for Obedience
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Curses for Disobedience
15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. [a] 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
53 Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. 56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- 59 the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. 68 The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
December 5, 2008
Seeing Jesus
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 53:1-6
He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. —Isaiah 53:2
When I was young, I thought I knew exactly what Jesus looked like. After all, I saw Him every day whenever I looked at some pictures in my bedroom. One showed Jesus knocking at a door and the other depicted Him as a Shepherd with His sheep.
What I didn’t know was that a mere decade before I was born, those pictures of Jesus didn’t exist. Warner Sallman painted the well-known “Head of Christ” and other portraits of Jesus in the 1940s. Those images were just one man’s idea of what Jesus might have looked like.
The Bible never gives a physical description of Jesus. Even the men who saw Him every day didn’t tell us what He looked like. In fact, the only clue we have is a passage in Isaiah that says: “There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (53:2). It seems that Jesus’ human form was deliberately de-emphasized. He looked like an ordinary man. People weren’t drawn to Him because of a regal appearance but because of what He said and did and because of the message of love He came to give (John 3:16).
But the next time Jesus comes to earth, it will be different. When our Savior returns, we will recognize Him as the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords! (1 Tim. 6:14-15). — Cindy Hess Kasper
The more I see His beauty,
The more I know His grace,
The more I long, unhindered,
To gaze upon His face. —Anon.
To see Jesus will be heaven’s greatest joy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 5, 2008
"The Temple of the Holy Spirit"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you —Genesis 41:40
I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not "set aside the grace of God"— make it ineffective ( Galatians 2:21 ). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To "work out [my] own salvation" ( Philippians 2:12 ) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 9:27 ). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all "the temple of the Holy Spirit," including our thoughts and desires ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, "I beseech you . . . that you present your bodies a living sacrifice . . ." ( Romans 12:1 ). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit."
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Skin Goes Everywhere - #5715 - December 5, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, December 5, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Some days you'd find me wearing a suit and tie; it's the appropriate cultural uniform for what I might be doing that day. At home, on other hand, you'd probably find me in jeans and an old shirt. Again, appropriate for the work I need to do there. If I'm in a wedding, let's say, well I'll show how much I'm willing to sacrifice for the bride and groom by wearing a tuxedo. Of course, if I go to the beach, I probably won't wear what I wear to the wedding. I change my clothes for the occasion. But there's something I wear that I never change, no matter how many times I change my clothes - my skin. I always have the same skin.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Skin Goes Everywhere."
Question: is your commitment to Jesus Christ just spiritual "clothes" you wear sometimes and then change when it's not a Christian situation? Or is it skin that you never change, no matter what environment you're put in?
Our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 10:31 calls us to a Christlike lifestyle that is full-time, not part-time. God says, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Notice: "Whatever you do." This business of living for Jesus is so practical that you can even eat or drink in a God-glorifying way. There should never be a situation where you "take off" your commitment to Christ to fit in, to get ahead, or to avoid embarrassment. If that commitment is spiritual skin, it never comes off!
A while back I had just finished speaking on giving God your best when a man came to me and said, "I just never feel like I'm doing enough spiritually." As we talked, it turned out that "enough" meant doing more "spiritual" things. But that isn't primarily what the Lord is looking for. He wants to make more things spiritual!
Our problem is that we reduce our Christ-life to a compartment, and Jesus isn't interested in being a compartment in your life. He expects to be, in fact He deserves to be, in each area - Lord of each area. So, being a Christian doesn't mean adding a list of spiritual things to do. It means letting Christ make the things you're already doing His things. So, you drive unselfishly, you dedicate your car to helping others, you shop for Jesus; trying to bring some of His joy and love into the grocery store where you're shopping.
Colossians 3:17 says, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus..." Immediately, then, that passage begins to describe the kind of wife a woman needs to be...the kind of man a husband needs to be...how a child will obey his or her parents and say as they do, "Lord, I'm doing this for You."
It talks about fathering in positive ways and then it talks about employees working with all their heart as if Jesus were their boss. See your Christ-life isn't something you take off when you go to work, or when you're at home with your family, it's all about Jesus every day, all day.
Living for Christ isn't just a set of spiritual clothes you put on to do some spiritual work - your uniform you wear for spiritual settings. It is the spiritual skin you wear no matter what.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 5
God Is for You
He will rejoice over you. You will rest in his love; he will sing and be joyful about you.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NCV)
God is for you. Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you.
God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, he's carved your name in the bark....
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" God asks in Isaiah 49:15 (NIV). What a bizarre question. Can you mothers imagine feeding your infant and then later asking, "What was that baby's name?" No. I've seen you care for your young. You stroke the hair, you touch the face, you sing the name over and over. Can a mother forget? No way. But "even if she could forget,... I will not forget you," God pledges (Isa. 49:15).
Deuteronomy 28
Blessings for Obedience
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Curses for Disobedience
15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. [a] 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.
25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.
38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.
45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.
53 Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. 56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.
58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- 59 the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. 68 The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
December 5, 2008
Seeing Jesus
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READ: Isaiah 53:1-6
He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. —Isaiah 53:2
When I was young, I thought I knew exactly what Jesus looked like. After all, I saw Him every day whenever I looked at some pictures in my bedroom. One showed Jesus knocking at a door and the other depicted Him as a Shepherd with His sheep.
What I didn’t know was that a mere decade before I was born, those pictures of Jesus didn’t exist. Warner Sallman painted the well-known “Head of Christ” and other portraits of Jesus in the 1940s. Those images were just one man’s idea of what Jesus might have looked like.
The Bible never gives a physical description of Jesus. Even the men who saw Him every day didn’t tell us what He looked like. In fact, the only clue we have is a passage in Isaiah that says: “There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (53:2). It seems that Jesus’ human form was deliberately de-emphasized. He looked like an ordinary man. People weren’t drawn to Him because of a regal appearance but because of what He said and did and because of the message of love He came to give (John 3:16).
But the next time Jesus comes to earth, it will be different. When our Savior returns, we will recognize Him as the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords! (1 Tim. 6:14-15). — Cindy Hess Kasper
The more I see His beauty,
The more I know His grace,
The more I long, unhindered,
To gaze upon His face. —Anon.
To see Jesus will be heaven’s greatest joy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 5, 2008
"The Temple of the Holy Spirit"
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READ:
. . . only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you —Genesis 41:40
I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not "set aside the grace of God"— make it ineffective ( Galatians 2:21 ). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To "work out [my] own salvation" ( Philippians 2:12 ) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 9:27 ). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all "the temple of the Holy Spirit," including our thoughts and desires ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.
Paul said, "I beseech you . . . that you present your bodies a living sacrifice . . ." ( Romans 12:1 ). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is "the temple of the Holy Spirit."
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Skin Goes Everywhere - #5715 - December 5, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, December 5, 2008
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Some days you'd find me wearing a suit and tie; it's the appropriate cultural uniform for what I might be doing that day. At home, on other hand, you'd probably find me in jeans and an old shirt. Again, appropriate for the work I need to do there. If I'm in a wedding, let's say, well I'll show how much I'm willing to sacrifice for the bride and groom by wearing a tuxedo. Of course, if I go to the beach, I probably won't wear what I wear to the wedding. I change my clothes for the occasion. But there's something I wear that I never change, no matter how many times I change my clothes - my skin. I always have the same skin.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Skin Goes Everywhere."
Question: is your commitment to Jesus Christ just spiritual "clothes" you wear sometimes and then change when it's not a Christian situation? Or is it skin that you never change, no matter what environment you're put in?
Our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 10:31 calls us to a Christlike lifestyle that is full-time, not part-time. God says, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Notice: "Whatever you do." This business of living for Jesus is so practical that you can even eat or drink in a God-glorifying way. There should never be a situation where you "take off" your commitment to Christ to fit in, to get ahead, or to avoid embarrassment. If that commitment is spiritual skin, it never comes off!
A while back I had just finished speaking on giving God your best when a man came to me and said, "I just never feel like I'm doing enough spiritually." As we talked, it turned out that "enough" meant doing more "spiritual" things. But that isn't primarily what the Lord is looking for. He wants to make more things spiritual!
Our problem is that we reduce our Christ-life to a compartment, and Jesus isn't interested in being a compartment in your life. He expects to be, in fact He deserves to be, in each area - Lord of each area. So, being a Christian doesn't mean adding a list of spiritual things to do. It means letting Christ make the things you're already doing His things. So, you drive unselfishly, you dedicate your car to helping others, you shop for Jesus; trying to bring some of His joy and love into the grocery store where you're shopping.
Colossians 3:17 says, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus..." Immediately, then, that passage begins to describe the kind of wife a woman needs to be...the kind of man a husband needs to be...how a child will obey his or her parents and say as they do, "Lord, I'm doing this for You."
It talks about fathering in positive ways and then it talks about employees working with all their heart as if Jesus were their boss. See your Christ-life isn't something you take off when you go to work, or when you're at home with your family, it's all about Jesus every day, all day.
Living for Christ isn't just a set of spiritual clothes you put on to do some spiritual work - your uniform you wear for spiritual settings. It is the spiritual skin you wear no matter what.
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