Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 25
A Few More Scenes
"In [this] world you will have tribulation,” Jesus promises, "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (NKJV)
God has kept no secrets. He has told us that, while on this yellow brick road [of life], we will experience trouble. Disease will afflict bodies. Divorce will break hearts. Death will make widows and devastation will destroy countries. We should not expect any less. But just because the devil shows up and cackles, we needn't panic.
Our Master speaks of an accomplished deed.... "It is finished" (John 19:30). The battle is over. Be alert. But don't be alarmed.... The manuscript has been published. The book has been bound. Satan is loosed for a season, but the season is oh-so-brief.... Just a few more scenes, just a few more turns in the road, and his end will come
Job 2
Job's Second Test
1 On another day the angels [d] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
4 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."
6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish [e] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job's Three Friends
11 When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 4:12-20 (New International Version)
12I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. 13As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 14Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. 18It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. 19My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!
September 25, 2009
The Teacher As A Midwife
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 4:12-20
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. —Galatians 4:19
The mother of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates was a midwife. So Socrates grew up observing that she assisted women in bringing new life into the world. This experience later influenced his teaching method. Socrates said, “My art of midwifery is in general like theirs; the only difference is that my patients are men, not women, and my concern is not with the body but with the soul that is in travail of birth.”
Instead of just passing information on to his students, Socrates used the sometimes painful process of asking probing questions to help them arrive at their own conclusions. Teaching them to think seemed at times like the travail of childbirth.
Paul expressed a similar idea in discipling believers in the faith when he said, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). Paul was concerned that each believer grow to spiritual maturity in Christlikeness (Eph. 4:13).
Becoming like Christ is a lifelong experience; therefore, we need patience with others and ourselves. All of us will have challenges and disappointments along the way. But if we put our trust in Him, we’ll grow spiritually and have character qualities that will radiate new life. — Dennis Fisher
Lord, help us see how much we need each other
As we walk along the Christian way;
In fellowship with sister and with brother,
You will keep us growing day by day. —Hess
Conversion is the miracle of a moment; maturing takes a lifetime.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 25, 2009
The "Go" of Relationship
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READ:
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two—Matthew 5:41
Our Lord’s teaching can be summed up in this: the relationship that He demands for us is an impossible one unless He has done a super-natural work in us. Jesus Christ demands that His disciple does not allow even the slightest trace of resentment in his heart when faced with tyranny and injustice. No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant. Only one thing will bear the strain, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself— a relationship that has been examined, purified, and tested until only one purpose remains and I can truly say, "I am here for God to send me where He will." Everything else may become blurred, but this relationship with Jesus Christ must never be.
The Sermon on the Mount is not some unattainable goal; it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has changed my nature by putting His own nature in me. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount.
If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you. . ." ( John 15:16 ). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Very Expensive House - #5925
A Word With You - Your Personal Power
Friday, September 25, 2009
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It was one of those great night-night conversations that a father can have when he's with his son or daughter at bedtime. Our son-in-law tried to prepare our four-year-old grandson for sleeping by saying, "You know you don't have to worry at night because Jesus is with you." Our grandson, ever the thinker, said, "How do I know that Jesus can see me?" Dad told him, "Well, Jesus is up in heaven, watching everything we do. And He also lives inside each of us and He can see everything." Oh, ponder time! And then, "So that means I'm Jesus' house!" (He very clearly has asked Jesus into his heart.) Dad affirmed him, "Actually, that's exactly how the Bible describes it!" Then came our grandson's application questions, "Is Mommy Jesus' house?" "Yes." And you're Jesus' house?" "Yes." "And my little brother is Jesus' house?" (His little brother is too young to give his heart to Jesus yet.) Daddy said, "Well, not yet." Good. Sounds like Daddy passed the theology test.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Very Expensive House."
It's amazing how little kids figure out what we big kids tend to forget or don't ever get. Our grandson's got it. If you've asked Jesus to come into your life and be your personal Savior, you are "Jesus' house." Which is going to guide, or should guide, a lot of the choices you make.
One of the Bible's most radical truths is spelled out today in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 . In a world filled then with massive temples to many different gods, Paul says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Wow! If you know Jesus, that body of yours - whatever you or other people may think of it - is a temple where God Himself lives! I saw a teenager once with a shirt that simply said, "Property of God." That's the truth! Imagine how it might change things if every believer had that indelibly stamped on their forehead "property of God." Some couples wouldn't be messing around with each other the way they are if they remembered they were messing around with God's property. We'd think twice about some of the garbage we put in our body; some of the junk we allow ourselves to watch or listen to if we realized that we were dragging trash into the "property of God."
The pagans of old knew that you dared not pollute, or abuse, or dishonor the place where they believed their god lived. But the one true God really does live in you and me if we belong to Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit. Notice, that's Holy Spirit. Who must be saying to some of us, "What are you doing bringing that stuff into the temple of Almighty God!" In a sense, you drag God into everything you do with your body. It's not your body to do what you please with, to drink what you want, eat what you want, watch what you want, listen to what you want. You don't eat what you want, do what feels good with it, put poison into it, and use it for things God hates.
This house was bought at a very expensive price; in fact, the highest price ever paid - the life of the sinless Son of God. And now you've invited Him to move into this house He paid for with His life. Treat your body like what it really is. It's the property of God!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Job 1, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 24
What Worship Does
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
Psalm 22:23 (NKJV)
Worship humbles the smug and lifts the deflated.
Worship adjusts us, lowering the chin of the haughty, straightening the back of the burdened.
Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Five-talent folks swaggering: “I bet God’s glad to have me.” Two-talent folks struggling: “I bet God’s sick of putting up with me.” So sold on ourselves that we think someone died and made us ruler. Or so down on ourselves that we think everyone died and just left us.
Treat both conditions with worship.
Job 1
Prologue
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.
Job's First Test
6 One day the angels [a] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [b] also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 6:24-34 (New International Version)
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
September 24, 2009
Contentment
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 6:24-34
No one can serve two masters. —Matthew 6:24
A gripping photograph of an old woman sitting in a pile of garbage made me ponder. She was smiling as she ate a packet of food she had foraged from the garbage dump. It took so little for the woman to be satisfied.
There is much talk about a struggling economy and the cost of living going higher. And many are getting increasingly anxious about their livelihood. Is it possible to heed our Lord Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on”?
Our Lord was not saying that we don’t need to work, that we don’t need to eat, or that we shouldn’t bother about how we dress. He was warning against those things becoming so important that we become slaves of money instead of trusting Him. “No one can serve two masters,” He said (v.24).
Seeking first “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (v.33) is recognizing that no matter how much effort we expend to make a better life for ourselves and our families, ultimately it is the Lord who takes care of our needs. And since God is our heavenly Father, we will have enough. — C. P. Hia
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there. —Havergal
Money serves us well if we receive it as God’s provision.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24, 2009
The "Go" of Preparation
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. ". . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . ." The "go" of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, "I will not give up my right to myself"— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Dark Side - #5924
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I went out the other night and I saw this beautiful moon rising in the eastern sky. I ran inside and said, "Honey, you need to come outside. The moon is shining so brightly tonight." Actually, to be more accurate, I should say, "Half the moon is shining brightly tonight." Because there's one side of the moon that enjoys the sun's rays and reflects them back to earth, and there's another side that the sun doesn't touch. Of course, that's the dark side of the moon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Dark Side."
Where the light doesn't shine, now that's the dark side. The sad thing is that many of us have a dark side; parts of our life, our personality, our lifestyle where we don't let the light shine - the light of the S-o-n of God. And those parts, like the moon, are cold and barren; possibly hidden from everyone's view. Everyone, that is, except God.
It's an issue we might call selective Lordship, which is an oxymoron. If I get to decide which parts of my life I'm going to let Jesus have His way in, how can I call Him Lord? The Greek word for Lord, kurios, is all about who is the controller. If I'm deciding there are certain parts of me Jesus can't have, then who's in control here? I am hijacking my life from my Sovereign Lord and I'm effectively making me, His creation, the "lord" of my life.
Jesus asked a haunting question about all this in Luke 6:46. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He said, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" If you got to your room tonight and found Jesus there, He might very well ask you that question. If He did, what areas of your life do you think He'd have in mind when He said, "You're not doing what I say"?
Could it be that you're not letting His light shine on that bitterness that you're harboring? Or maybe that anger of yours is stubbornly defiant to Christ's control. Maybe the "dark side" of your "moon" is a sinful habit that you won't let Jesus get you out of, or the lust that continues to poison your heart with images and fantasies that thumb their nose at God's holiness. Pride is the sin that cost Lucifer heaven, but it's one that the Christian world will largely let you get by with un-condemned. But God hates it. Pride of position, pride of accomplishment, pride of appearance, pride of ability; they're all deep darkness that desperately need the light of Jesus to shine on them.
Maybe your impatience is a part of you that you just won't let Jesus challenge, or your spiritual coldness, or your neglect of people who are depending on you. It could be that you're manipulative and you're a controller. Maybe there's a relationship you won't let him touch - the dark side - dark because you will not let His light shine there. You will not let King Jesus shine His light on it and show you how ugly it is, how dirty it really is so that you will repent of it and release it to Him so He can perform that life-transforming miracle within you that only He can do.
The parts of you where you have really let Jesus shine, well think about it for a minute. Aren't they the brightest parts of you? Aren't they the most beautiful things about you - the things that now light up other people's galaxy? And the dark side has been dark, and cold, and barren long enough. Today let the light in!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 24
What Worship Does
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
Psalm 22:23 (NKJV)
Worship humbles the smug and lifts the deflated.
Worship adjusts us, lowering the chin of the haughty, straightening the back of the burdened.
Worship properly positions the worshiper. And oh how we need it! We walk through life so bent out of shape. Five-talent folks swaggering: “I bet God’s glad to have me.” Two-talent folks struggling: “I bet God’s sick of putting up with me.” So sold on ourselves that we think someone died and made us ruler. Or so down on ourselves that we think everyone died and just left us.
Treat both conditions with worship.
Job 1
Prologue
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.
Job's First Test
6 One day the angels [a] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [b] also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 6:24-34 (New International Version)
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
September 24, 2009
Contentment
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 6:24-34
No one can serve two masters. —Matthew 6:24
A gripping photograph of an old woman sitting in a pile of garbage made me ponder. She was smiling as she ate a packet of food she had foraged from the garbage dump. It took so little for the woman to be satisfied.
There is much talk about a struggling economy and the cost of living going higher. And many are getting increasingly anxious about their livelihood. Is it possible to heed our Lord Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on”?
Our Lord was not saying that we don’t need to work, that we don’t need to eat, or that we shouldn’t bother about how we dress. He was warning against those things becoming so important that we become slaves of money instead of trusting Him. “No one can serve two masters,” He said (v.24).
Seeking first “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (v.33) is recognizing that no matter how much effort we expend to make a better life for ourselves and our families, ultimately it is the Lord who takes care of our needs. And since God is our heavenly Father, we will have enough. — C. P. Hia
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there. —Havergal
Money serves us well if we receive it as God’s provision.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24, 2009
The "Go" of Preparation
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. ". . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . ." The "go" of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, "I will not give up my right to myself"— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Dark Side - #5924
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I went out the other night and I saw this beautiful moon rising in the eastern sky. I ran inside and said, "Honey, you need to come outside. The moon is shining so brightly tonight." Actually, to be more accurate, I should say, "Half the moon is shining brightly tonight." Because there's one side of the moon that enjoys the sun's rays and reflects them back to earth, and there's another side that the sun doesn't touch. Of course, that's the dark side of the moon.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Dark Side."
Where the light doesn't shine, now that's the dark side. The sad thing is that many of us have a dark side; parts of our life, our personality, our lifestyle where we don't let the light shine - the light of the S-o-n of God. And those parts, like the moon, are cold and barren; possibly hidden from everyone's view. Everyone, that is, except God.
It's an issue we might call selective Lordship, which is an oxymoron. If I get to decide which parts of my life I'm going to let Jesus have His way in, how can I call Him Lord? The Greek word for Lord, kurios, is all about who is the controller. If I'm deciding there are certain parts of me Jesus can't have, then who's in control here? I am hijacking my life from my Sovereign Lord and I'm effectively making me, His creation, the "lord" of my life.
Jesus asked a haunting question about all this in Luke 6:46. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He said, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" If you got to your room tonight and found Jesus there, He might very well ask you that question. If He did, what areas of your life do you think He'd have in mind when He said, "You're not doing what I say"?
Could it be that you're not letting His light shine on that bitterness that you're harboring? Or maybe that anger of yours is stubbornly defiant to Christ's control. Maybe the "dark side" of your "moon" is a sinful habit that you won't let Jesus get you out of, or the lust that continues to poison your heart with images and fantasies that thumb their nose at God's holiness. Pride is the sin that cost Lucifer heaven, but it's one that the Christian world will largely let you get by with un-condemned. But God hates it. Pride of position, pride of accomplishment, pride of appearance, pride of ability; they're all deep darkness that desperately need the light of Jesus to shine on them.
Maybe your impatience is a part of you that you just won't let Jesus challenge, or your spiritual coldness, or your neglect of people who are depending on you. It could be that you're manipulative and you're a controller. Maybe there's a relationship you won't let him touch - the dark side - dark because you will not let His light shine there. You will not let King Jesus shine His light on it and show you how ugly it is, how dirty it really is so that you will repent of it and release it to Him so He can perform that life-transforming miracle within you that only He can do.
The parts of you where you have really let Jesus shine, well think about it for a minute. Aren't they the brightest parts of you? Aren't they the most beautiful things about you - the things that now light up other people's galaxy? And the dark side has been dark, and cold, and barren long enough. Today let the light in!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Genesis 22, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 23
One Secure Place
I will be with you always.
Matthew 28:20
David, the man after God's own heart, said: "I'm asking Yahweh for one thing, only one thing: to live with him in his house my whole life long" ... (Ps 27:4 MSG).
What is this house of God which David seeks? Is David describing a physical structure? Does he long for a building with four walls and a door through which he can enter but never exit? No. "Our Lord does not live in temples built by human hands" (Acts 17:24). When David says, "I will live in the house of the LORD forever" (Ps. 23:6), he's not saying he wants to get away from people. He's saying that he yearns to be in God's presence, wherever he is.
Genesis 22
Abraham Tested
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor's Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel." 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
John 14:12-14 (New International Version)
12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
September 23, 2009
Julie’s Prayer
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: John 14:12-14
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. —John 14:13
In 2008, the Day of Discovery film crew traveled to China on a special assignment—to retrace the life of missionary Eric Liddell, the 1924 Olympic gold medalist whose story was told in the movie Chariots of Fire. The crew took with them Eric’s three daughters, Patricia, Heather, and Maureen—allowing them to revisit some of the places where the two older sisters had lived in China. Also along on the trip was their elderly Aunt Louise.
On one occasion, after the entourage had arrived in Beijing, they had to walk quite a distance with their luggage. As they did, Aunt Louise grew short of breath. Julie Richardson, a Day of Discovery crew member, sat down beside her, put her hand on her knee, and prayed simply, “Dear Jesus, help Aunt Louise to breathe.” Immediately, she began to catch her breath.
Later, Heather retold the story and shared that Julie’s prayer had rekindled her faith. Julie’s simple act of faith reminded Heather of the continual connection we have with Jesus—a reality she had set aside in her life.
Sometimes we need reminders that God is near. When trials come and God seems far away, remember Julie’s prayer and the truth that we are just one prayer from connecting with the God of the universe (John 14:13). — Dave Branon
God answers prayer, it is His sovereign way
To freely give His blessings day by day;
One earnest plea and lo! from heaven’s throne
The answer comes, for God has heard His own. —Anon.
God delights in the earnest prayers of His people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2009
The Missionary’s Goal
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?". . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ." ( Ephesians 4:13 ), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go "up to Jerusalem."
"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" ( Matthew 10:24 ). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our "Jerusalem." There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going "up to [our] Jerusalem."
". . . there they crucified Him . . ." ( Luke 23:33 ). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, "I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ "
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
One Life-or-Death Moment - #5923
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Our friend Jack was heading out on a recent canoe trip with some friends, undaunted by a river that was rising from recent heavy rains. No sooner had they pushed off into the water but the stronger-than-expected current dumped their canoe. All their supplies for the weekend were suddenly headed downstream. Instinctively, Jack started swimming after the supplies to retrieve them. He, too, was caught up in the current, and he was caught off guard at how cold the water was. In no time, he was beginning to feel the first indications of hypothermia with no way to get out. At that seemingly hopeless moment, a life jacket floated by. Jack knew this was his chance. He grabbed that life jacket in that one moment of hope and it saved his life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Life-or-Death Moment."
That's what my friend had on the river - an opportunity to reach out and grab the only thing that could save him. It's the kind of opportunity talked about in our word for today from the Word of God; a chance to grab what is your only hope of being saved.
Here is God's important statement in Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Implication: God will put His spiritual life preserver within your reach, but you need to grab it while the opportunity is there. Because, apparently, there will be a time when the Lord can't be found, and when He's no longer near.
The spiritual rescue that God has sent to us is nothing less than His one and only Son. God explains Jesus' life-saving mission very clearly in 1 John 4:9-10. "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." That's the life-or-death issue - the penalty for a lifetime of living pretty much our way instead of God's way. Our culture may not take sin very seriously, but God has said since the Garden of Eden, that sin would cost us our relationship with Him and our eternity in heaven. It is called spiritual death. There's no way to escape the deadly current of sin and hell in our own strength.
You can be sure if there was any other way that we could be forgiven, any other way we could go to heaven, God would have never had His Son go through what He did on that cross. But all the goodness, all the spirituality, all the religion in the world cannot pay our death penalty. Somebody has to die and somebody did. You and I did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying. He is your only hope, and He's offering you a chance to reach out and grab Him as your Savior today. He may be found today. He's near today. Tomorrow, there's no guarantee.
If you've never grabbed Jesus with all the faith you've got, when you've held onto Him as if He's your only hope, it's just not something to put off. Not if He's working in your heart to come to Him right now, because you don't come to Jesus when you're ready. You come when He's ready. And if you feel that tug His direction, He is ready right now. Your eternal rescue happens when you say, "Jesus, I have no other hope of rescue but You and Your death for my sins on that cross. I'm grabbing You today with all the faith I've got."
People have told us that at this moment of reaching for Jesus that our website was a great help to them in understanding how to begin that relationship with Him. I want to urge you to go there. If you feel the tug of Jesus in your heart, would you take a couple of minutes and go to our website and follow there the road, the path, the Scripture that will help you be sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net. Or if you'd rather get it in booklet form, I'll send that to you if you'll just call for it toll free. The number's 877-741-1200.
Life is within your reach right now. It won't always be. Call on the Lord while He is near.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 23
One Secure Place
I will be with you always.
Matthew 28:20
David, the man after God's own heart, said: "I'm asking Yahweh for one thing, only one thing: to live with him in his house my whole life long" ... (Ps 27:4 MSG).
What is this house of God which David seeks? Is David describing a physical structure? Does he long for a building with four walls and a door through which he can enter but never exit? No. "Our Lord does not live in temples built by human hands" (Acts 17:24). When David says, "I will live in the house of the LORD forever" (Ps. 23:6), he's not saying he wants to get away from people. He's saying that he yearns to be in God's presence, wherever he is.
Genesis 22
Abraham Tested
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahor's Sons
20 Some time later Abraham was told, "Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel." 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
John 14:12-14 (New International Version)
12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
September 23, 2009
Julie’s Prayer
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: John 14:12-14
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. —John 14:13
In 2008, the Day of Discovery film crew traveled to China on a special assignment—to retrace the life of missionary Eric Liddell, the 1924 Olympic gold medalist whose story was told in the movie Chariots of Fire. The crew took with them Eric’s three daughters, Patricia, Heather, and Maureen—allowing them to revisit some of the places where the two older sisters had lived in China. Also along on the trip was their elderly Aunt Louise.
On one occasion, after the entourage had arrived in Beijing, they had to walk quite a distance with their luggage. As they did, Aunt Louise grew short of breath. Julie Richardson, a Day of Discovery crew member, sat down beside her, put her hand on her knee, and prayed simply, “Dear Jesus, help Aunt Louise to breathe.” Immediately, she began to catch her breath.
Later, Heather retold the story and shared that Julie’s prayer had rekindled her faith. Julie’s simple act of faith reminded Heather of the continual connection we have with Jesus—a reality she had set aside in her life.
Sometimes we need reminders that God is near. When trials come and God seems far away, remember Julie’s prayer and the truth that we are just one prayer from connecting with the God of the universe (John 14:13). — Dave Branon
God answers prayer, it is His sovereign way
To freely give His blessings day by day;
One earnest plea and lo! from heaven’s throne
The answer comes, for God has heard His own. —Anon.
God delights in the earnest prayers of His people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 23, 2009
The Missionary’s Goal
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?". . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . ." ( Ephesians 4:13 ), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go "up to Jerusalem."
"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master" ( Matthew 10:24 ). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our "Jerusalem." There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going "up to [our] Jerusalem."
". . . there they crucified Him . . ." ( Luke 23:33 ). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, "I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ "
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
One Life-or-Death Moment - #5923
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Our friend Jack was heading out on a recent canoe trip with some friends, undaunted by a river that was rising from recent heavy rains. No sooner had they pushed off into the water but the stronger-than-expected current dumped their canoe. All their supplies for the weekend were suddenly headed downstream. Instinctively, Jack started swimming after the supplies to retrieve them. He, too, was caught up in the current, and he was caught off guard at how cold the water was. In no time, he was beginning to feel the first indications of hypothermia with no way to get out. At that seemingly hopeless moment, a life jacket floated by. Jack knew this was his chance. He grabbed that life jacket in that one moment of hope and it saved his life.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Life-or-Death Moment."
That's what my friend had on the river - an opportunity to reach out and grab the only thing that could save him. It's the kind of opportunity talked about in our word for today from the Word of God; a chance to grab what is your only hope of being saved.
Here is God's important statement in Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Implication: God will put His spiritual life preserver within your reach, but you need to grab it while the opportunity is there. Because, apparently, there will be a time when the Lord can't be found, and when He's no longer near.
The spiritual rescue that God has sent to us is nothing less than His one and only Son. God explains Jesus' life-saving mission very clearly in 1 John 4:9-10. "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." That's the life-or-death issue - the penalty for a lifetime of living pretty much our way instead of God's way. Our culture may not take sin very seriously, but God has said since the Garden of Eden, that sin would cost us our relationship with Him and our eternity in heaven. It is called spiritual death. There's no way to escape the deadly current of sin and hell in our own strength.
You can be sure if there was any other way that we could be forgiven, any other way we could go to heaven, God would have never had His Son go through what He did on that cross. But all the goodness, all the spirituality, all the religion in the world cannot pay our death penalty. Somebody has to die and somebody did. You and I did the sinning, but Jesus did the dying. He is your only hope, and He's offering you a chance to reach out and grab Him as your Savior today. He may be found today. He's near today. Tomorrow, there's no guarantee.
If you've never grabbed Jesus with all the faith you've got, when you've held onto Him as if He's your only hope, it's just not something to put off. Not if He's working in your heart to come to Him right now, because you don't come to Jesus when you're ready. You come when He's ready. And if you feel that tug His direction, He is ready right now. Your eternal rescue happens when you say, "Jesus, I have no other hope of rescue but You and Your death for my sins on that cross. I'm grabbing You today with all the faith I've got."
People have told us that at this moment of reaching for Jesus that our website was a great help to them in understanding how to begin that relationship with Him. I want to urge you to go there. If you feel the tug of Jesus in your heart, would you take a couple of minutes and go to our website and follow there the road, the path, the Scripture that will help you be sure you belong to Him. It's YoursForLife.net. Or if you'd rather get it in booklet form, I'll send that to you if you'll just call for it toll free. The number's 877-741-1200.
Life is within your reach right now. It won't always be. Call on the Lord while He is near.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Genesis 15, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 22
Majestic Message
“You will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 (NCV)
Many of the names in the Bible that refer to our Lord are nothing less that palatial and august: Son of God, The Lamb of God, The Light of the World, The Resurrection and the Life, The Bright and Morning Starr, He that Should Come, Alpha and Omega.
They are phrases that stretch the boundaries of human language in an effort to capture the uncapturable, the grandeur of God. And try as they might to draw as near as they may, they always fall short. Hearing them is somewhat like hearing a Salvation Army Christmas band on the street corner play Handel’s Messiah. Good try, but it doesn’t work. The message is too majestic for the medium.
And such it is with language. The phrase “There are no words to express…” is really the only one that can honestly be applied to God. No names do him justice.
Genesis 15
God's Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, [a]
your very great reward. [b] "
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [d] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Revelation 5:8-14 (New International Version)
8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
September 22, 2009
Everyone Sings!
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Revelation 5:8-14
Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! —Revelation 5:13
Each summer I enjoy attending many of the free outdoor concerts presented in our city. During one performance by a brass band, several of the members briefly introduced themselves and told how much they enjoyed practicing and playing together.
The pleasure of sharing music in community has drawn people together for centuries. As followers of Christ, whether we are in small groups, choirs, or congregations, bringing praise to God is one of the key elements in our own expression of faith. And one day, we’ll be singing in a concert that defies imagination.
In a sweeping vision of the tumultuous events at the end of time, John records a chorus of praise that begins with a few and swells to a company beyond number. In honor of the Lamb of God, who with His blood has redeemed people from every tribe and nation (Rev. 5:9), the song begins at the throne of God, is joined by multiplied thousands of angels, and finally includes every creature in heaven, earth, and sea. Together we will sing, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (v.13).
What a choir! What a concert! What a privilege to start rehearsing today! — David C. McCasland
Give me a spirit of praise, dear Lord,
That I may adore Your name,
Sing praises from a grateful heart
To the One who is always the same. —Dawe
Those who know Christ now will sing His praise forever.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22, 2009
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . .—John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— ". . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . ." ( Matthew 23:8 ).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
"You call Me Teacher and Lord . . ."— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. ". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . ." (Hebrews 5:8 ). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it—a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Taking it to the Boss - #5922
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I know you've experienced it. Let's call it consumer frustration or customer frustration. Maybe it's all about a bill you believe there's a mistake on, or a problem with your phone or some other service, or maybe it's a store policy that seems to have you going in circles trying to find an answer. You've talked yourself blue in the face, trying to get some resolution from this salesperson or this customer rep. Then it dawns on you - this person doesn't have any authority to make any difference in this situation. They're just reading from the company script. So what do you do? You ask for the boss, the manager, the owner. That's where I usually get an answer, because they've got the authority to do something!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Taking it to the Boss."
Authority is really the decisive factor in getting anything done; putting it in the hands of the person who is in charge. Now that's a fundamental secret of getting things done when you pray! Those who understand that mountain-moving faith is about realizing who's in charge are people who pray with power and who get results.
Jesus made that clear in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 7, beginning with verse 7, we hear the message a desperate Roman officer sent to Jesus about his dying servant. He was as Scripture says, "valued highly." The centurion says to Jesus, "Say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Then Luke records Jesus' unique response. "When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turning to the crowds following Him, He said, 'I tell you, I have not found such great faith in Israel.' Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and they found the servant well." Now Jesus had described His own disciples as "you of little faith." But He says this Gentile soldier has great faith. It's the only time in the Bible when we're told Jesus was amazed at someone's faith. Usually, He's amazed at their lack of faith.
So what kind of faith amazes Jesus, and by the way, prays down miracles? Well, it's all about authority. This officer was saying, "Just as I have total authority over my soldiers, Jesus, so You have total authority over this disease my servant has. This disease will do what You tell it to do, Lord!" So when you pray, you pray to Jesus as the Lord over every germ, every virus, every disease on this planet. He is the Lord over every heart of every person in your situation. He is the Lord over every weather system, every home, every piece of land, every human authority, every resource, every corner of this world and this universe. "Jesus, the economy isn't going to decide what happens to me - You are. This condition isn't going to decide it - You are. These people aren't going to decide it - You are. The odds aren't going to decide it - You are, Jesus!"
No matter how big the need, no matter how limited the resources, no matter how short the time, Jesus has whatever it takes to do what needs to be done! So quit coming to Jesus as if He's limited to what we can see and what we can come up with. He's the Boss of everything and everyone that touches your life! If you want something done, go to the person in charge of the whole universe!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 22
Majestic Message
“You will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21 (NCV)
Many of the names in the Bible that refer to our Lord are nothing less that palatial and august: Son of God, The Lamb of God, The Light of the World, The Resurrection and the Life, The Bright and Morning Starr, He that Should Come, Alpha and Omega.
They are phrases that stretch the boundaries of human language in an effort to capture the uncapturable, the grandeur of God. And try as they might to draw as near as they may, they always fall short. Hearing them is somewhat like hearing a Salvation Army Christmas band on the street corner play Handel’s Messiah. Good try, but it doesn’t work. The message is too majestic for the medium.
And such it is with language. The phrase “There are no words to express…” is really the only one that can honestly be applied to God. No names do him justice.
Genesis 15
God's Covenant With Abram
1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, [a]
your very great reward. [b] "
2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
9 So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river [d] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Revelation 5:8-14 (New International Version)
8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
September 22, 2009
Everyone Sings!
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Revelation 5:8-14
Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! —Revelation 5:13
Each summer I enjoy attending many of the free outdoor concerts presented in our city. During one performance by a brass band, several of the members briefly introduced themselves and told how much they enjoyed practicing and playing together.
The pleasure of sharing music in community has drawn people together for centuries. As followers of Christ, whether we are in small groups, choirs, or congregations, bringing praise to God is one of the key elements in our own expression of faith. And one day, we’ll be singing in a concert that defies imagination.
In a sweeping vision of the tumultuous events at the end of time, John records a chorus of praise that begins with a few and swells to a company beyond number. In honor of the Lamb of God, who with His blood has redeemed people from every tribe and nation (Rev. 5:9), the song begins at the throne of God, is joined by multiplied thousands of angels, and finally includes every creature in heaven, earth, and sea. Together we will sing, “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (v.13).
What a choir! What a concert! What a privilege to start rehearsing today! — David C. McCasland
Give me a spirit of praise, dear Lord,
That I may adore Your name,
Sing praises from a grateful heart
To the One who is always the same. —Dawe
Those who know Christ now will sing His praise forever.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22, 2009
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . .—John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— ". . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . ." ( Matthew 23:8 ).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
"You call Me Teacher and Lord . . ."— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. ". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . ." (Hebrews 5:8 ). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it—a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Taking it to the Boss - #5922
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I know you've experienced it. Let's call it consumer frustration or customer frustration. Maybe it's all about a bill you believe there's a mistake on, or a problem with your phone or some other service, or maybe it's a store policy that seems to have you going in circles trying to find an answer. You've talked yourself blue in the face, trying to get some resolution from this salesperson or this customer rep. Then it dawns on you - this person doesn't have any authority to make any difference in this situation. They're just reading from the company script. So what do you do? You ask for the boss, the manager, the owner. That's where I usually get an answer, because they've got the authority to do something!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Taking it to the Boss."
Authority is really the decisive factor in getting anything done; putting it in the hands of the person who is in charge. Now that's a fundamental secret of getting things done when you pray! Those who understand that mountain-moving faith is about realizing who's in charge are people who pray with power and who get results.
Jesus made that clear in our word for today from the Word of God. In Luke 7, beginning with verse 7, we hear the message a desperate Roman officer sent to Jesus about his dying servant. He was as Scripture says, "valued highly." The centurion says to Jesus, "Say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Then Luke records Jesus' unique response. "When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turning to the crowds following Him, He said, 'I tell you, I have not found such great faith in Israel.' Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and they found the servant well." Now Jesus had described His own disciples as "you of little faith." But He says this Gentile soldier has great faith. It's the only time in the Bible when we're told Jesus was amazed at someone's faith. Usually, He's amazed at their lack of faith.
So what kind of faith amazes Jesus, and by the way, prays down miracles? Well, it's all about authority. This officer was saying, "Just as I have total authority over my soldiers, Jesus, so You have total authority over this disease my servant has. This disease will do what You tell it to do, Lord!" So when you pray, you pray to Jesus as the Lord over every germ, every virus, every disease on this planet. He is the Lord over every heart of every person in your situation. He is the Lord over every weather system, every home, every piece of land, every human authority, every resource, every corner of this world and this universe. "Jesus, the economy isn't going to decide what happens to me - You are. This condition isn't going to decide it - You are. These people aren't going to decide it - You are. The odds aren't going to decide it - You are, Jesus!"
No matter how big the need, no matter how limited the resources, no matter how short the time, Jesus has whatever it takes to do what needs to be done! So quit coming to Jesus as if He's limited to what we can see and what we can come up with. He's the Boss of everything and everyone that touches your life! If you want something done, go to the person in charge of the whole universe!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Genesis 12, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
One Incredible Plan
He humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death--death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8 (NCV)
When human hands fastened the divine hands to a cross with spikes, it wasn't the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. Those same hands that formed the oceans and built the mountains. Those same hands that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud. Those same hands that blueprinted one incredible plan for you and me.
Take a stroll out to the hill. Out to Calvary. Out to the cross where, with holy blood, the hand that placed you on the planet wrote the promise, "God would give up his only Son before he'd give up on you."
Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 23
Seven Woes
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.[b] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.[c]
15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
September 21, 2009
Whitewashed Tombs
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 23:1-15
You . . . have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. —Matthew 23:23
As I study the life of Jesus, one fact consistently surprises me: the group that made Jesus angriest was one that He outwardly resembled. Jesus obeyed the Mosaic Law and quoted leading Pharisees (Mark 9:11-12; 12:28-34). Yet He singled out the Pharisees for His strongest attacks. He called them serpents, a brood of vipers, fools, and hypocrites (Matt. 23:13-33).
What provoked such outbursts? The Pharisees devoted their lives to following God, gave away an exact tithe (v.23), obeyed every law in the Torah, and sent out missionaries to gain new converts (v.15). Against the relativists and secularists of the first century, they held firm to traditional values.
Yet Jesus’ fierce denunciations of the Pharisees show how seriously He viewed the toxic threat of legalism. Its dangers are elusive, slippery, hard to pin down. I believe these dangers remain a great threat today.
Jesus condemned the emphasis on externals: “You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (v.25). Expressions of love for God had become ways to impress others.
The proof of spiritual maturity is not how “pure” you are but your awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to God’s grace. — Philip Yancey
Thinking It Through
According to Romans 7:18-24, what is the
apostle Paul’s view of his own spiritual condition?
What did Paul say is the answer? (Rom. 7:25–8:4).
Legalism destroys our loving relationship with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21, 2009
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world. . . ."
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Life-Saving Pain - #5921
Monday, September 21, 2009
One of the first clues that something was wrong with little Ashlyn showed up when her baby teeth were coming in. She would chew her lips bloody in her sleep and bite through her tongue while she was eating. When she was three, she laid her hand on a hot pressure washer in the back yard. She didn't cry; she just stared bewildered at the red blister in her palm. Ashlyn was diagnosed with a rare condition that makes her unable to feel pain. She gulps down scalding hot food with no internal warning that she's hurting herself. One child with this same condition had appendicitis that went untreated until her appendix burst - no pain. Ashlyn's five now and her inability to feel pain is downright scary.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Pain."
At first thought, we might think it would be nice not to feel pain, but only on first thought. God has given us pain as His internal warning system that something is wrong; something that will cause us far more pain, or even kill us, if we don't deal with it. Pain is our friend. It's our life-saving friend; not only physically, but spiritually.
God has built into our soul a capacity to feel guilty when we do something wrong. We might call guilt moral pain. Feeling guilty, and feeling shame over what we have or haven't done, feeling dirty inside - those aren't nice feelings. But they are God's alarm to deal with what's wrong before it causes greater pain, or even spiritual death.
In Psalm 32, our word for today from the Word of God, David candidly pours out what moral pain feels like and two ways to respond to the pain. He tried them both. He begins with his conclusion: "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him." Now, there's a declaration of spiritual freedom!
But first came the pain. David says, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." He's talking about a deep soul anguish that he couldn't even put into words. "Day and night," he says to God, "Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Maybe those are feelings you know all too well - that heavy weight. That turns out to be the weight of God's hand on you: the dwindling energy - dwindling enthusiasm for life, the dark feelings of shame and guilt, the fears of getting caught. Moral pain, given to you by God, not to make you miserable, but to make you well.
Your guilt is not meant to crush you, but to save you. And David got the message. He said, "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' and You forgave my sin." Guilt removed - pain over.
It can be that way for you if you'll quit trying to rationalize your sin, or cover up your sin, or justify your sin. The longer you refuse to repent of your sin, the more God is going to turn up the pain, and the higher price you're going to pay. Not because He doesn't love you, but because He does; too much to let you keep going down a road that's destroying you. The message from heaven to your heart today is this summons from Acts 3:19: "Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Relief from your pain, healing for your heart, cleansing for your soul; you'll find them at the foot of the cross of Jesus where everything you've done was paid for in full with His blood.
It may be that you have never personally in your heart gone to that cross and said, "Jesus, what You did there is for me. Your dying for every wrong thing I have ever done, and I'm tired of the guilt. I want to be forgiven. I want to be clean." Tell Him that today; put your life in His hands. Put your total trust in Him to be your own Savior from your own sin. And it is done! You are forgiven.
If you want to know more about how to get that done in your heart today, I encourage you to go to our website today. It will help you I think; it's helped a lot of others - YoursForLife.net.
Listen to that pain in your soul. It's life-saving pain.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 21
One Incredible Plan
He humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death--death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8 (NCV)
When human hands fastened the divine hands to a cross with spikes, it wasn't the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. Those same hands that formed the oceans and built the mountains. Those same hands that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud. Those same hands that blueprinted one incredible plan for you and me.
Take a stroll out to the hill. Out to Calvary. Out to the cross where, with holy blood, the hand that placed you on the planet wrote the promise, "God would give up his only Son before he'd give up on you."
Genesis 12
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 23
Seven Woes
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.[b] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.[c]
15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
September 21, 2009
Whitewashed Tombs
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Matthew 23:1-15
You . . . have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. —Matthew 23:23
As I study the life of Jesus, one fact consistently surprises me: the group that made Jesus angriest was one that He outwardly resembled. Jesus obeyed the Mosaic Law and quoted leading Pharisees (Mark 9:11-12; 12:28-34). Yet He singled out the Pharisees for His strongest attacks. He called them serpents, a brood of vipers, fools, and hypocrites (Matt. 23:13-33).
What provoked such outbursts? The Pharisees devoted their lives to following God, gave away an exact tithe (v.23), obeyed every law in the Torah, and sent out missionaries to gain new converts (v.15). Against the relativists and secularists of the first century, they held firm to traditional values.
Yet Jesus’ fierce denunciations of the Pharisees show how seriously He viewed the toxic threat of legalism. Its dangers are elusive, slippery, hard to pin down. I believe these dangers remain a great threat today.
Jesus condemned the emphasis on externals: “You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (v.25). Expressions of love for God had become ways to impress others.
The proof of spiritual maturity is not how “pure” you are but your awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to God’s grace. — Philip Yancey
Thinking It Through
According to Romans 7:18-24, what is the
apostle Paul’s view of his own spiritual condition?
What did Paul say is the answer? (Rom. 7:25–8:4).
Legalism destroys our loving relationship with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21, 2009
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world. . . ."
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Life-Saving Pain - #5921
Monday, September 21, 2009
One of the first clues that something was wrong with little Ashlyn showed up when her baby teeth were coming in. She would chew her lips bloody in her sleep and bite through her tongue while she was eating. When she was three, she laid her hand on a hot pressure washer in the back yard. She didn't cry; she just stared bewildered at the red blister in her palm. Ashlyn was diagnosed with a rare condition that makes her unable to feel pain. She gulps down scalding hot food with no internal warning that she's hurting herself. One child with this same condition had appendicitis that went untreated until her appendix burst - no pain. Ashlyn's five now and her inability to feel pain is downright scary.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Pain."
At first thought, we might think it would be nice not to feel pain, but only on first thought. God has given us pain as His internal warning system that something is wrong; something that will cause us far more pain, or even kill us, if we don't deal with it. Pain is our friend. It's our life-saving friend; not only physically, but spiritually.
God has built into our soul a capacity to feel guilty when we do something wrong. We might call guilt moral pain. Feeling guilty, and feeling shame over what we have or haven't done, feeling dirty inside - those aren't nice feelings. But they are God's alarm to deal with what's wrong before it causes greater pain, or even spiritual death.
In Psalm 32, our word for today from the Word of God, David candidly pours out what moral pain feels like and two ways to respond to the pain. He tried them both. He begins with his conclusion: "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him." Now, there's a declaration of spiritual freedom!
But first came the pain. David says, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." He's talking about a deep soul anguish that he couldn't even put into words. "Day and night," he says to God, "Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Maybe those are feelings you know all too well - that heavy weight. That turns out to be the weight of God's hand on you: the dwindling energy - dwindling enthusiasm for life, the dark feelings of shame and guilt, the fears of getting caught. Moral pain, given to you by God, not to make you miserable, but to make you well.
Your guilt is not meant to crush you, but to save you. And David got the message. He said, "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' and You forgave my sin." Guilt removed - pain over.
It can be that way for you if you'll quit trying to rationalize your sin, or cover up your sin, or justify your sin. The longer you refuse to repent of your sin, the more God is going to turn up the pain, and the higher price you're going to pay. Not because He doesn't love you, but because He does; too much to let you keep going down a road that's destroying you. The message from heaven to your heart today is this summons from Acts 3:19: "Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Relief from your pain, healing for your heart, cleansing for your soul; you'll find them at the foot of the cross of Jesus where everything you've done was paid for in full with His blood.
It may be that you have never personally in your heart gone to that cross and said, "Jesus, what You did there is for me. Your dying for every wrong thing I have ever done, and I'm tired of the guilt. I want to be forgiven. I want to be clean." Tell Him that today; put your life in His hands. Put your total trust in Him to be your own Savior from your own sin. And it is done! You are forgiven.
If you want to know more about how to get that done in your heart today, I encourage you to go to our website today. It will help you I think; it's helped a lot of others - YoursForLife.net.
Listen to that pain in your soul. It's life-saving pain.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Genesis 3, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 20
All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:27 (NIV)
While on the cross, Jesus felt the indignity and disgrace of a criminal.
No, He was not guilty. No, He had not committed a sin. And, no, He did not deserve to be sentenced. But you and I were, we had, and we did.
Though we come to the cross dressed in sin, we leave the cross dressed in "garments of salvation" (Isa. 61:10, NIV). Indeed, we leave dressed in Christ Himself.
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [m] and hers;
he will crush [n] your head,
and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
20 Adam [o] named his wife Eve, [p] because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [q] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:32-40 (New International Version)
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[a]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
September 20, 2009
The Others
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 11:32-40
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. . . . Great is your reward in heaven. —Matthew 5:11-12
When I was growing up, I often spent a week each summer with my grandparents. Many afternoons I would lie in the backyard hammock and read books I found in Grandpa’s bookcase. One was Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It was heavy reading for a young girl, but I was absorbed by the detailed accounts of Christian martyrs, believers who were told to deny their faith in Christ but refused—thus suffering horrific deaths.
Hebrews 11 tells similar stories. After listing the familiar names of those who demonstrated immense faith in God, the chapter tells of the torture and death of people referred to simply as “others” (vv.35-36). While their names are not mentioned, verse 38 pays them this tribute: “The world was not worthy” of them. They died boldly for their faith in Jesus.
Today, we hear of persecuted Christians around the world, yet many of us have not been tested to that extent. When I examine my own faith, I wonder how I would respond to the prospect of martyrdom. I hope I would have the attitude of Paul, who said that although “chains and tribulations” awaited him (Acts 20:23), he looked forward to finishing life’s race “with joy” (v.24). Are we facing life with that kind of trusting attitude? — Cindy Hess Kasper
When pressures mount because we walk
The path of truth and right,
We can rejoice to know that we
Are pleasing in God’s sight. —D. De Haan
The way to have joy in persecution is to find your joy in Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20, 2009
The Divine Commandment of Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" ( 1 John 1:7 ), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. ". . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35 ).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 20
All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Galatians 3:27 (NIV)
While on the cross, Jesus felt the indignity and disgrace of a criminal.
No, He was not guilty. No, He had not committed a sin. And, no, He did not deserve to be sentenced. But you and I were, we had, and we did.
Though we come to the cross dressed in sin, we leave the cross dressed in "garments of salvation" (Isa. 61:10, NIV). Indeed, we leave dressed in Christ Himself.
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [m] and hers;
he will crush [n] your head,
and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
20 Adam [o] named his wife Eve, [p] because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [q] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Hebrews 11:32-40 (New International Version)
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[a]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
September 20, 2009
The Others
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Hebrews 11:32-40
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. . . . Great is your reward in heaven. —Matthew 5:11-12
When I was growing up, I often spent a week each summer with my grandparents. Many afternoons I would lie in the backyard hammock and read books I found in Grandpa’s bookcase. One was Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It was heavy reading for a young girl, but I was absorbed by the detailed accounts of Christian martyrs, believers who were told to deny their faith in Christ but refused—thus suffering horrific deaths.
Hebrews 11 tells similar stories. After listing the familiar names of those who demonstrated immense faith in God, the chapter tells of the torture and death of people referred to simply as “others” (vv.35-36). While their names are not mentioned, verse 38 pays them this tribute: “The world was not worthy” of them. They died boldly for their faith in Jesus.
Today, we hear of persecuted Christians around the world, yet many of us have not been tested to that extent. When I examine my own faith, I wonder how I would respond to the prospect of martyrdom. I hope I would have the attitude of Paul, who said that although “chains and tribulations” awaited him (Acts 20:23), he looked forward to finishing life’s race “with joy” (v.24). Are we facing life with that kind of trusting attitude? — Cindy Hess Kasper
When pressures mount because we walk
The path of truth and right,
We can rejoice to know that we
Are pleasing in God’s sight. —D. De Haan
The way to have joy in persecution is to find your joy in Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20, 2009
The Divine Commandment of Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" ( 1 John 1:7 ), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. ". . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35 ).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Genesis 2, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 19
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again.
John 13:12 (NCV)
Please note, he finished washing their feet.
That means he left no one out....He washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. He gave this traitor equal attention. In just a few hours Judas' feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus.
But at this moment they are caressed by Christ....
That's not to say it was easy....That is to say that God will never call you to do what he hasn't already done.
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [c] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- the LORD God formed the man The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) it is also the name Adam (see Gen. 2:20). from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin [g] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [h] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [i] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [j] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [k] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [l] '
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 5
The Calling of the First Disciples
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
September 19, 2009
A Much Greater Plan
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 5:1-11
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” —Luke 5:10
Recently our family was in Erie, Pennsylvania, visiting a relative. While there, we had a chance to swim in the community swimming pool. It was fun, but our host wanted to take us to Lake Erie to enjoy the sandy beaches, the cresting waves, and the beauty of the setting sun. My children protested because they wanted to swim in the pool. But I tried to get them to see that going to the beaches of Presque Isle would be a much greater plan.
I believe Jesus wanted Simon Peter to see He had something much greater in mind for him—he would “catch men” (Luke 5:10) instead of fish. Jesus told Peter to go to the deeper water and let down his nets for a catch (v.4). Peter had just returned from an unsuccessful night of fishing, but at Jesus’ command he obeyed and said, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (v.5). Humbled by the miraculous catch of fish, Peter bowed in awe before the Lord, who then told him that from that point on He wanted him to fish for men. Peter left everything and followed Him.
God’s greater plan for us may not be to leave our occupation. But it’s His plan that we use our time, resources, and careers to bring others into the kingdom. — Marvin Williams
For Further Study
To learn how to share Jesus’ love with others,
read the online booklet The Compassion of Jesus
at www.discoveryseries.org/q0208
The next person you meet may need to meet Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19, 2009
Are You Going on With Jesus?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" ( John 6:66 ).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on "outside the camp" ( Hebrews 13:13 ). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, "FollowMe" ( Matthew 4:19 )
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 19
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again.
John 13:12 (NCV)
Please note, he finished washing their feet.
That means he left no one out....He washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. He gave this traitor equal attention. In just a few hours Judas' feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus.
But at this moment they are caressed by Christ....
That's not to say it was easy....That is to say that God will never call you to do what he hasn't already done.
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested [c] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- the LORD God formed the man The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) it is also the name Adam (see Gen. 2:20). from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin [g] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [h] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam [i] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs [j] and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [k] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, [l] '
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 5
The Calling of the First Disciples
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
September 19, 2009
A Much Greater Plan
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Luke 5:1-11
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” —Luke 5:10
Recently our family was in Erie, Pennsylvania, visiting a relative. While there, we had a chance to swim in the community swimming pool. It was fun, but our host wanted to take us to Lake Erie to enjoy the sandy beaches, the cresting waves, and the beauty of the setting sun. My children protested because they wanted to swim in the pool. But I tried to get them to see that going to the beaches of Presque Isle would be a much greater plan.
I believe Jesus wanted Simon Peter to see He had something much greater in mind for him—he would “catch men” (Luke 5:10) instead of fish. Jesus told Peter to go to the deeper water and let down his nets for a catch (v.4). Peter had just returned from an unsuccessful night of fishing, but at Jesus’ command he obeyed and said, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (v.5). Humbled by the miraculous catch of fish, Peter bowed in awe before the Lord, who then told him that from that point on He wanted him to fish for men. Peter left everything and followed Him.
God’s greater plan for us may not be to leave our occupation. But it’s His plan that we use our time, resources, and careers to bring others into the kingdom. — Marvin Williams
For Further Study
To learn how to share Jesus’ love with others,
read the online booklet The Compassion of Jesus
at www.discoveryseries.org/q0208
The next person you meet may need to meet Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19, 2009
Are You Going on With Jesus?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" ( John 6:66 ).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on "outside the camp" ( Hebrews 13:13 ). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, "FollowMe" ( Matthew 4:19 )
Friday, September 18, 2009
Genesis 1, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 18
The Fire of Your Heart
My God, I want to do what you want. Your teachings are in my heart.
Psalm 40:8 (NCV)
Want to know God's will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? The outer limits?
Heed the fire within!
Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing! Are you stirred to manage? Then manage! Do you ache for the ill? Then treat them! Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them!
As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me, I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. "Don't preach," he said, "unless you have to."
As I pondered his words I found my answer: "I have to. If I don't, the fire will consume me."
What is the fire that consumes you?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 13:10-18 (New International Version)
10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [a] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
September 18, 2009
Later On
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 13:10-18
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. —Romans 8:18
It seems there are two kinds of people in this world: those who have an eternal perspective and those who are preoccupied with the present.
One is absorbed with the permanent; the other with the passing. One stores up treasure in heaven; the other accumulates it here on earth. One stays with a challenging marriage because this isn’t all there is; another looks for happiness in another mate, believing this life is all there is. One is willing to suffer poverty, hunger, indignity, and shame because of “the glory which shall be revealed” (Rom. 8:18); another believes that happiness is being rich and famous. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Abraham had an “other world” perspective. That’s what enabled him to give up a piece of well-watered land by the Jordan (Gen. 13). He knew that God had something better for him later on. The Lord told him to look in every direction as far as he could see and then said that his family would someday have it all. What a land grant! And God promised that his descendants would be as numerous “as the dust” (v.16).
That’s an outlook many people can’t understand. They go for all the gusto right now. But God’s people have another point of view. They know that God has something better later on! — David H. Roper
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today. —Miller
Live for Jesus, and you’ll live for eternity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18, 2009
His Temptation and Ours
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19 ), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One "who takes away the sin of the world" ( John 1:29 ) He "was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness" ( Matthew 4:1 ) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation "without sin," and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Difference is Inches - #5920
Friday, September 18, 2009
They call them the chain gang. They wear stripes, but they're not prison inmates. They're football officials, and they carry this chain that measures whether or not a team has made a first down. Now not everyone is a football fan, so let me explain this. A team has four tries to move the ball ten yards. If they succeed, they get a "first down" and they get four more plays. If they fail, they have to turn the ball over to the other team at that point on the field. Many times it's impossible to tell with the naked eye if the ball has made it those ten yards, because it's very close. So they call out the chain gang. They come trotting out, they extend the chain to its full length, and then they set it down. If it extends beyond the ball, the team falls short. If it falls short, the team has succeeded. And as many who have played or watched football know, winning or losing a game can, in moments like those, literally be a matter of inches no matter how far you've bro ught the ball.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference is Inches."
Some of us were talking recently about a friend of ours who died suddenly and how what seemed to be a passive faith in Christ had become a very active faith in Christ in his last months. I said, "Maybe he discovered the '18-inch difference.'" As you might expect, I got some quizzical expressions. I said, "You know, 18 inches - that's how far it is from your head to your heart." Those inches can be the difference between winning spiritually or losing it all. Between knowing all about Jesus and really knowing Jesus!
In Mark 12, beginning with verse 28, Jesus has a conversation that may help you see exactly where you stand in relation to Him. It's our word for today from the Word of God. An honest seeker asks Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus responds by saying that loving God with everything you've got is the first commandment and loving your neighbor as yourself is the second commandment.
This man totally agrees with Jesus like a lot of church folks do today. The man said, "You are right in saying God is one and there is no other but Him. To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." This man had so much right. He agreed with Jesus' teachings. Maybe you do, too. He understood that the issue wasn't religion or rituals but your personal relationship with God. Hopefully, you understand that, too.
But then comes the startling bottom line: "When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'" He's not far, but he's not in. Maybe that's you, too. You've got Jesus in your head, but somehow you've missed having Him in your heart. And as Romans 10:10 says, "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified." Eighteen inches! That could be, for you, the difference between going to heaven and going to hell.
You know Jesus died to pay for your sins, that He rose from the dead, that a person needs to turn from their sin and put all their trust in Jesus to be spiritually rescued. You know it, but maybe you've never done it. Every day you wait, your heart gets a little harder and your last day on earth gets a little closer. Please, if you don't know you've consciously given yourself to Jesus, do that today while the Holy Spirit of God is drawing you to do it. Open your heart and tell Him, "Jesus, I don't want to just know about You. I finally want to know You for real. Take me, I'm Yours."
We'd love to help you be sure you belong to Him. There's some practical steps at our website which I'd invite you to check out as soon as you can today to get this done with Jesus. The website is YoursForLife.net. Or if you prefer, I'd send you my little booklet Yours For Life if you call the toll free number and ask for it. That's 877-741-1200.
It could be that Jesus is saying to you right now, "You're not far, but you're not in." You can change that right here and right now. Jesus in your head won't get you where you want to go. Jesus in your heart will get you to heaven.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 18
The Fire of Your Heart
My God, I want to do what you want. Your teachings are in my heart.
Psalm 40:8 (NCV)
Want to know God's will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? The outer limits?
Heed the fire within!
Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing! Are you stirred to manage? Then manage! Do you ache for the ill? Then treat them! Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them!
As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me, I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. "Don't preach," he said, "unless you have to."
As I pondered his words I found my answer: "I have to. If I don't, the fire will consume me."
What is the fire that consumes you?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 13:10-18 (New International Version)
10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [a] forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
September 18, 2009
Later On
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 13:10-18
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. —Romans 8:18
It seems there are two kinds of people in this world: those who have an eternal perspective and those who are preoccupied with the present.
One is absorbed with the permanent; the other with the passing. One stores up treasure in heaven; the other accumulates it here on earth. One stays with a challenging marriage because this isn’t all there is; another looks for happiness in another mate, believing this life is all there is. One is willing to suffer poverty, hunger, indignity, and shame because of “the glory which shall be revealed” (Rom. 8:18); another believes that happiness is being rich and famous. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Abraham had an “other world” perspective. That’s what enabled him to give up a piece of well-watered land by the Jordan (Gen. 13). He knew that God had something better for him later on. The Lord told him to look in every direction as far as he could see and then said that his family would someday have it all. What a land grant! And God promised that his descendants would be as numerous “as the dust” (v.16).
That’s an outlook many people can’t understand. They go for all the gusto right now. But God’s people have another point of view. They know that God has something better later on! — David H. Roper
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today. —Miller
Live for Jesus, and you’ll live for eternity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18, 2009
His Temptation and Ours
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19 ), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One "who takes away the sin of the world" ( John 1:29 ) He "was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness" ( Matthew 4:1 ) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation "without sin," and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Difference is Inches - #5920
Friday, September 18, 2009
They call them the chain gang. They wear stripes, but they're not prison inmates. They're football officials, and they carry this chain that measures whether or not a team has made a first down. Now not everyone is a football fan, so let me explain this. A team has four tries to move the ball ten yards. If they succeed, they get a "first down" and they get four more plays. If they fail, they have to turn the ball over to the other team at that point on the field. Many times it's impossible to tell with the naked eye if the ball has made it those ten yards, because it's very close. So they call out the chain gang. They come trotting out, they extend the chain to its full length, and then they set it down. If it extends beyond the ball, the team falls short. If it falls short, the team has succeeded. And as many who have played or watched football know, winning or losing a game can, in moments like those, literally be a matter of inches no matter how far you've bro ught the ball.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Difference is Inches."
Some of us were talking recently about a friend of ours who died suddenly and how what seemed to be a passive faith in Christ had become a very active faith in Christ in his last months. I said, "Maybe he discovered the '18-inch difference.'" As you might expect, I got some quizzical expressions. I said, "You know, 18 inches - that's how far it is from your head to your heart." Those inches can be the difference between winning spiritually or losing it all. Between knowing all about Jesus and really knowing Jesus!
In Mark 12, beginning with verse 28, Jesus has a conversation that may help you see exactly where you stand in relation to Him. It's our word for today from the Word of God. An honest seeker asks Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus responds by saying that loving God with everything you've got is the first commandment and loving your neighbor as yourself is the second commandment.
This man totally agrees with Jesus like a lot of church folks do today. The man said, "You are right in saying God is one and there is no other but Him. To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." This man had so much right. He agreed with Jesus' teachings. Maybe you do, too. He understood that the issue wasn't religion or rituals but your personal relationship with God. Hopefully, you understand that, too.
But then comes the startling bottom line: "When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'" He's not far, but he's not in. Maybe that's you, too. You've got Jesus in your head, but somehow you've missed having Him in your heart. And as Romans 10:10 says, "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified." Eighteen inches! That could be, for you, the difference between going to heaven and going to hell.
You know Jesus died to pay for your sins, that He rose from the dead, that a person needs to turn from their sin and put all their trust in Jesus to be spiritually rescued. You know it, but maybe you've never done it. Every day you wait, your heart gets a little harder and your last day on earth gets a little closer. Please, if you don't know you've consciously given yourself to Jesus, do that today while the Holy Spirit of God is drawing you to do it. Open your heart and tell Him, "Jesus, I don't want to just know about You. I finally want to know You for real. Take me, I'm Yours."
We'd love to help you be sure you belong to Him. There's some practical steps at our website which I'd invite you to check out as soon as you can today to get this done with Jesus. The website is YoursForLife.net. Or if you prefer, I'd send you my little booklet Yours For Life if you call the toll free number and ask for it. That's 877-741-1200.
It could be that Jesus is saying to you right now, "You're not far, but you're not in." You can change that right here and right now. Jesus in your head won't get you where you want to go. Jesus in your heart will get you to heaven.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Revelation 22, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 17
A Next Door Savior
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Mark 4:41 (NCV)
He was, at once, man and God.
There he was, the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; he is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity's best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him.
Dismiss him? We can't.
Resist him? Equally difficult. Don't we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next door Savior.
A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.
Revelation 22
The River of Life
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
Jesus Is Coming
7"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."
8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
10Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[f] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Corinthians 10
Paul's Defense of His Ministry
1By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7You are looking only on the surface of things.[a] If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
September 17, 2009
The Thinking Christian
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Cor. 10:1-11
Casting down arguments and . . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5
David McCullough’s biography of John Adams, one of America’s founding fathers and early presidents, describes him as “both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in that.” I am struck by that statement, for it carries a note of surprise, suggesting that Christians are somehow naïve or unenlightened, and that the idea of a “thinking Christian” is a contradiction.
Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the great benefits of salvation is that it causes the believer’s mind to be guarded by the peace of God (Phil. 4:7), which can foster clear thinking, discernment, and wisdom. Paul described this in his second letter to Corinth when he wrote that in Christ we are equipped for “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
To sift through an argument wisely, to embrace the clarity of the knowledge of God, and to align our thinking with the mind of Christ are valuable skills when living in a world lacking in discernment. These skills enable us to use our minds to represent Christ. Every Christian should be a thinking Christian. Are you? — Bill Crowder
If you grasp the message of God’s Word,
If you’ve learned to think things through,
Then you can defend the Christian faith
With wise words both clear and true. —Branon
Faith was never intended as a substitute for intelligence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 17, 2009
Is There Good in Temptation?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else--what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations--He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Healthy Appetite - #5919
Thursday, September 17, 2009
I'm told that many new babies actually lose a little weight between the time they're born and the checkup they have two weeks later. Oh, not when our little granddaughter was new! No! No! And we know why. She was extremely dedicated to eating often and eating a lot. Her mother's milk obviously agreed with her. She had been one happy little girl, until it was time to eat again. At which point she would crank it up and let us know in no uncertain terms that "I'm hungry and I will not be delayed and I will not be denied!" I think that's what she said.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Healthy Appetite."
Watching my granddaughter's demand for mama's milk has actually helped me understand even more how God uses that example in showing us how to grow in Him. I feel like He's talking about my little darlin' when He says in 1 Peter 2:2, our word for today from the Word of God, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation."
I know how our granddaughter was about her milk - insistent on getting it on a regular basis. Is that how you are about the spiritual milk of God's Word, the Bible? Are you insistent on getting into His Scriptures on a regular basis? Or do you consult God's Word when you have time - when you're in a jam - when you feel like it?
We're not talking here about some mechanical, grudging fulfillment of my Christian duty to read my Bible. Our granddaughter didn't seem to be saying, "Well, I know I'm supposed to be getting some milk. I guess it's my duty. I'd better stop and eat." No, it's not a duty for her; it's an insatiable desire. It's not occasional either; it's regular. Just like our time with the Lord in His Word needs to be. Almost every detour from God's way and God's will can ultimately be traced to one thing - neglecting our time with Him.
Time with Jesus in His Book has to be a commitment - something you insist on, no matter what. It's easy to quote the verse about "seeking first the kingdom of God" but it's hard to believe you mean that if your time with the King isn't the highest priority of your personal schedule. So, is it? Better yet, is He? Because it's all about Jesus. It's all about being with Him, not being with a Book. But like the person you love connecting with you through the love letter that they write to you, our main connection to Jesus is His Love Letter called the Bible.
Frankly, we are so clueless about how to handle this day's challenges without time getting God's perspective and God's direction. God's Word is designed to be your anchor, the one thing that does not move when everything else is. God gave you His Word to be your flashlight to illuminate the ground you have to walk on today. It's your harbor where you can find God's peace in any storm. And in His words, God reveals your orders from heaven for this day.
So without the heaven-link of time in God's Word, you are living a day without your flashlight, without your anchor, without your harbor, without your orders. It's time for you to make your time with God in His Word the non-cancelable, non-negotiable of your daily schedule.
It all comes down to appetite. If you've allowed an appetite for TV, or sports, or music, or news, or friends, or the Internet, or anything else to marginalize your appetite for God's Word, things are messed up. Ask God to give you, like a baby, a desperate appetite for more of what He has to say. It's the only way to "grow up in your salvation."
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 17
A Next Door Savior
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Mark 4:41 (NCV)
He was, at once, man and God.
There he was, the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; he is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity's best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him.
Dismiss him? We can't.
Resist him? Equally difficult. Don't we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next door Savior.
A Savior found by millions to be irresistible.
Revelation 22
The River of Life
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
Jesus Is Coming
7"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."
8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
10Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[f] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
2 Corinthians 10
Paul's Defense of His Ministry
1By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7You are looking only on the surface of things.[a] If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
September 17, 2009
The Thinking Christian
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 2 Cor. 10:1-11
Casting down arguments and . . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5
David McCullough’s biography of John Adams, one of America’s founding fathers and early presidents, describes him as “both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in that.” I am struck by that statement, for it carries a note of surprise, suggesting that Christians are somehow naïve or unenlightened, and that the idea of a “thinking Christian” is a contradiction.
Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the great benefits of salvation is that it causes the believer’s mind to be guarded by the peace of God (Phil. 4:7), which can foster clear thinking, discernment, and wisdom. Paul described this in his second letter to Corinth when he wrote that in Christ we are equipped for “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
To sift through an argument wisely, to embrace the clarity of the knowledge of God, and to align our thinking with the mind of Christ are valuable skills when living in a world lacking in discernment. These skills enable us to use our minds to represent Christ. Every Christian should be a thinking Christian. Are you? — Bill Crowder
If you grasp the message of God’s Word,
If you’ve learned to think things through,
Then you can defend the Christian faith
With wise words both clear and true. —Branon
Faith was never intended as a substitute for intelligence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 17, 2009
Is There Good in Temptation?
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else--what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations--He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
A Healthy Appetite - #5919
Thursday, September 17, 2009
I'm told that many new babies actually lose a little weight between the time they're born and the checkup they have two weeks later. Oh, not when our little granddaughter was new! No! No! And we know why. She was extremely dedicated to eating often and eating a lot. Her mother's milk obviously agreed with her. She had been one happy little girl, until it was time to eat again. At which point she would crank it up and let us know in no uncertain terms that "I'm hungry and I will not be delayed and I will not be denied!" I think that's what she said.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Healthy Appetite."
Watching my granddaughter's demand for mama's milk has actually helped me understand even more how God uses that example in showing us how to grow in Him. I feel like He's talking about my little darlin' when He says in 1 Peter 2:2, our word for today from the Word of God, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation."
I know how our granddaughter was about her milk - insistent on getting it on a regular basis. Is that how you are about the spiritual milk of God's Word, the Bible? Are you insistent on getting into His Scriptures on a regular basis? Or do you consult God's Word when you have time - when you're in a jam - when you feel like it?
We're not talking here about some mechanical, grudging fulfillment of my Christian duty to read my Bible. Our granddaughter didn't seem to be saying, "Well, I know I'm supposed to be getting some milk. I guess it's my duty. I'd better stop and eat." No, it's not a duty for her; it's an insatiable desire. It's not occasional either; it's regular. Just like our time with the Lord in His Word needs to be. Almost every detour from God's way and God's will can ultimately be traced to one thing - neglecting our time with Him.
Time with Jesus in His Book has to be a commitment - something you insist on, no matter what. It's easy to quote the verse about "seeking first the kingdom of God" but it's hard to believe you mean that if your time with the King isn't the highest priority of your personal schedule. So, is it? Better yet, is He? Because it's all about Jesus. It's all about being with Him, not being with a Book. But like the person you love connecting with you through the love letter that they write to you, our main connection to Jesus is His Love Letter called the Bible.
Frankly, we are so clueless about how to handle this day's challenges without time getting God's perspective and God's direction. God's Word is designed to be your anchor, the one thing that does not move when everything else is. God gave you His Word to be your flashlight to illuminate the ground you have to walk on today. It's your harbor where you can find God's peace in any storm. And in His words, God reveals your orders from heaven for this day.
So without the heaven-link of time in God's Word, you are living a day without your flashlight, without your anchor, without your harbor, without your orders. It's time for you to make your time with God in His Word the non-cancelable, non-negotiable of your daily schedule.
It all comes down to appetite. If you've allowed an appetite for TV, or sports, or music, or news, or friends, or the Internet, or anything else to marginalize your appetite for God's Word, things are messed up. Ask God to give you, like a baby, a desperate appetite for more of what He has to say. It's the only way to "grow up in your salvation."
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