Max Lucado Daily: Holiness
God, examine me and know my heart…Lead me on the road to everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24
You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
Ezekiel 17
Two Eagles and a Vine
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.
5 “‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, 6 and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.
7 “‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. 8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’
9 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. 10 It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?’”
11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. 13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. 15 But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?
16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. 18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.
19 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant. 20 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there because he was unfaithful to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”
Footnotes:
Ezekiel 16:6 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts repeat and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”
Ezekiel 16:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
Ezekiel 16:29 Or Chaldea
Ezekiel 16:30 Or How feverish is your heart,
Ezekiel 16:57 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate Aram
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Exodus 32:21-35
He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
27 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
33 The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Stray Hearts
October 20, 2013 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
These people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! —Exodus 32:31
Last fall, an expressway in my city was shut down for several hours because a cattle truck had overturned. The cattle had escaped and were roaming across the highway. Seeing this news story about stray cattle made me think of something I had recently studied in Exodus 32 about the people of God who strayed from Him.
In the divided kingdom of ancient Israel, King Jeroboam erected two golden calves for the people to worship (1 Kings 12:25-32). But the idea of worshiping hunks of gold had not originated with him. Even after escaping brutal slavery and having seen the Lord’s power and glory mightily displayed, the Israelites had quickly allowed their hearts to stray from Him (Ex. 32). While Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the law from the Lord, his brother Aaron helped God’s people stray by constructing an idol in the shape of a golden calf. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of God’s anger over this idolatry and those who “go astray in their heart” (Heb. 3:10).
God knows that our hearts have a tendency to stray. His Word makes it clear that He is the Lord and that we are to worship “no other gods” (Ex. 20:2-6).
“The Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods” (Ps. 95:3). He is the one true God!
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above. —Robinson
As long as you want anything very much, especially more than you want God, it is an idol. —A. B. Simpson
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 20, 2013
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification . . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Ezekiel 16, bible reading and devotionals.
MaxLucado.com: What Are You Looking For?
Jesus said:
“I am the bread that gives life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
“I will come back and take you with me.”
Jesus, ever proclaiming– ever offering, but never forcing! It’s His voice. But, it’s our choice.
Near the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said, “Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?” (John 11:26)
The first time John hears Jesus speak, Jesus asks the question, “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38)
The honest questions. The thundering claims. The gentle touch. God will whisper. God will shout. God will touch and tug. God will take away our burdens; he’ll even take away our blessings. If there are a thousand steps between us and Him, he will take all but one. But he will leave the final one for us.
The choice is ours.
From A Gentle Thunder
Ezekiel 16
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”[a] 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.[b] 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.
20 “‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
23 “‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. 25 At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,[c] a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.
30 “‘I am filled with fury against you,[d] declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! 31 When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, 37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. 38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. 39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. 40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. 42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?
44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. 47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. 52 Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 “‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, 54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. 55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. 56 You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom[e] and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. 58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the Lord.
59 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. 62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Footnotes:
Psalm 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-6 is numbered 13:2-6.
How Long?
October 19, 2013 — by David H. Roper
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? —Psalm 13:1
For 9 long years, Saul hounded David as “one hunts a partridge in the mountains” (1 Sam. 26:20). “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” David prayed. “How long will You hide Your face from me? . . . How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” (Ps. 13:1-2).
Prolonged affliction often vexes us as well. We want a sudden solution, a quick fix. But some things can’t be fixed. They can only be borne.
But we can complain to God in our troubles. We have a heavenly Father who wants us to engage with Him in our struggles. He understands His children as no one else can.
When we turn to Him with our complaints, we come to our senses. In David’s case, his thoughts went back to life’s certainty: God’s love. David reminded himself: “I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (vv.5-6). Sufferings may persist, but David could sing in the midst of his trials, for he was God’s beloved child. That’s all he needed to know.
A. W. Thorold writes, “The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.”
Even in our troubles, God’s love can be trusted.
O yes, He cares; I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares! —Graeff
God’s love stands when all else fails.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 19, 2013
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
Jesus said:
“I am the bread that gives life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
“I will come back and take you with me.”
Jesus, ever proclaiming– ever offering, but never forcing! It’s His voice. But, it’s our choice.
Near the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said, “Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?” (John 11:26)
The first time John hears Jesus speak, Jesus asks the question, “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38)
The honest questions. The thundering claims. The gentle touch. God will whisper. God will shout. God will touch and tug. God will take away our burdens; he’ll even take away our blessings. If there are a thousand steps between us and Him, he will take all but one. But he will leave the final one for us.
The choice is ours.
From A Gentle Thunder
Ezekiel 16
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”[a] 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.[b] 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.
20 “‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
23 “‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. 25 At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,[c] a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.
30 “‘I am filled with fury against you,[d] declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! 31 When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, 37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. 38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. 39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. 40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. 42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?
44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. 47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. 52 Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
53 “‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, 54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. 55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. 56 You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom[e] and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. 58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the Lord.
59 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. 62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Footnotes:
Psalm 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-6 is numbered 13:2-6.
How Long?
October 19, 2013 — by David H. Roper
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? —Psalm 13:1
For 9 long years, Saul hounded David as “one hunts a partridge in the mountains” (1 Sam. 26:20). “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” David prayed. “How long will You hide Your face from me? . . . How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” (Ps. 13:1-2).
Prolonged affliction often vexes us as well. We want a sudden solution, a quick fix. But some things can’t be fixed. They can only be borne.
But we can complain to God in our troubles. We have a heavenly Father who wants us to engage with Him in our struggles. He understands His children as no one else can.
When we turn to Him with our complaints, we come to our senses. In David’s case, his thoughts went back to life’s certainty: God’s love. David reminded himself: “I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (vv.5-6). Sufferings may persist, but David could sing in the midst of his trials, for he was God’s beloved child. That’s all he needed to know.
A. W. Thorold writes, “The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.”
Even in our troubles, God’s love can be trusted.
O yes, He cares; I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares! —Graeff
God’s love stands when all else fails.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 19, 2013
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
Friday, October 18, 2013
2 Timothy 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: He is Preparing a Place
God's purpose from all eternity is to prepare a family to indwell the kingdom of God. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11).
God's plotting for our good. In all the setbacks, He is ordaining the best for our future. Every event of our day is designed to draw us toward our God and our destiny. When people junk you in the pit, God can use it for good. When family members sell you out, God will recycle the pain. Falsely accused? Utterly abandoned? You may stumble but you will not fall. You will get through this!
Not because you are strong, but because God is. Not because you are big, but because God is. Not because you're good, but because God is. He has a place prepared for you!
From You'll Get Through This
2 Timothy 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[b]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
1 Corinthians 15:55 Hosea 13:14
The End?
October 18, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57
Everything in this world eventually comes to an end, which at times can be disheartening. It’s the feeling you get when you read a book that’s so good you don’t want it to end. Or when you watch a movie that you wish would go on a little while longer.
But all things—good and bad—do come to “The End.” In fact, life ultimately does come to the end—sometimes sooner than we expect. All of us who have stood by the casket of a loved one know the painful emptiness of a heart that wishes it wasn’t over yet.
Thankfully, Jesus steps into the fray of terminal disappointments, and, through His death and resurrection, He interjects hope for us. In Him “the end” is a prelude to a death-free eternity, and words like “it’s over” are replaced by a joy-filled “forever.” Since our bodies are not an eternal reality, Paul assures us that “we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51) and reminds us that because of Christ’s conquering work we can confidently say, “O Death, . . . where is your victory?” (v.55).
So let not your heart be troubled. Our sorrow is real, but we can be filled with gratitude because God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.57).
Lord, keep our eyes and hearts fixed not on the
temporary joys or disappointments but on the victorious
realities of eternity. Thank You for Your death and
resurrection that guarantee our forever future.
In Christ, the end is only the beginning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 18, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strategic Investing - #6985
Friday, October 18, 2013
It started a few years ago with a few pieces of colored cardboard. Our oldest son was about five years old, and I bought him a few baseball cards. Once he hit college, that baseball card collection paid for a lot of things in his life. In fact, other guys saw that he knew how to invest in a card that would appreciate quickly and give them a profit. So they gave him money to invest for them. Now that boy has become a man and the love for his hobby has been passed down to his son. But here's the thing. My son never had very much money to work with, but he knew how to take a limited amount and invest it in what would pay off.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strategic Investing."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Luke chapter 16. We're going to read one of the most curious parables I think Jesus ever told. He told His disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. This man's called on the carpet for doing that. And in verse 4 it says of this steward, "I know what I'll do. When I lose my job here, I want to make sure people will welcome me into their houses." So he goes on to call in all the people who owe his master money and he discounts their debt. Well, they say "Hey, what a great guy you are!" Then he loses his job, but boy has he got friends.
Verse 8, "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people in this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Now, what's going on here? What's the point?
Obviously Jesus is not commending the manager's morals. It's his shrewdness; strategic investing. He handled what he had in such a way that he insured he would have friends later on. That's why Jesus says, "Use your wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings." But He's talking here about forever friends; people who will be your friends in heaven.
The question is, "How can you use what resources you have on earth to in essence buy yourself friends in heaven?" Well, you use your resources to reach lost people for Jesus Christ. In Philippians 4:17 Paul asks for a financial gift from the people in Philippi, and he says, "I want you to give a gift, not because I need it, but so my fruit will be credited to your account."
See, when you invest in the work of a missionary, every person that missionary or that ministry brings to Christ you bring to Christ. That's true of any ministry you give to. In 1 Samuel 30:24 it says this: "The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle." Now, your faithful prayer for someone on the frontlines buys you a spiritual share in every person they reach.
Isn't that incredible? Your behind the scenes volunteer help; the gift of your time. That makes you a partner in the eternal results. It's no wonder the Bible talks about cheerful givers. When you give to the work of God, you are doing strategic investing with a tremendous ROI; a tremendous payoff and return on investment. Like a certain baseball card collector I know, you're taking what you have and you are investing as much of it as possible in things that will pay off later.
And remember, long after the mansions and the millions of earth are just dust, you can have friends in heaven - maybe from around the world; friends who will forever say to you, "Thank you for sacrificing what you had on earth so I could hear about Jesus and so I could be in heaven forever."
God's purpose from all eternity is to prepare a family to indwell the kingdom of God. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11).
God's plotting for our good. In all the setbacks, He is ordaining the best for our future. Every event of our day is designed to draw us toward our God and our destiny. When people junk you in the pit, God can use it for good. When family members sell you out, God will recycle the pain. Falsely accused? Utterly abandoned? You may stumble but you will not fall. You will get through this!
Not because you are strong, but because God is. Not because you are big, but because God is. Not because you're good, but because God is. He has a place prepared for you!
From You'll Get Through This
2 Timothy 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[b]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 15:54 Isaiah 25:8
1 Corinthians 15:55 Hosea 13:14
The End?
October 18, 2013 — by Joe Stowell
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57
Everything in this world eventually comes to an end, which at times can be disheartening. It’s the feeling you get when you read a book that’s so good you don’t want it to end. Or when you watch a movie that you wish would go on a little while longer.
But all things—good and bad—do come to “The End.” In fact, life ultimately does come to the end—sometimes sooner than we expect. All of us who have stood by the casket of a loved one know the painful emptiness of a heart that wishes it wasn’t over yet.
Thankfully, Jesus steps into the fray of terminal disappointments, and, through His death and resurrection, He interjects hope for us. In Him “the end” is a prelude to a death-free eternity, and words like “it’s over” are replaced by a joy-filled “forever.” Since our bodies are not an eternal reality, Paul assures us that “we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51) and reminds us that because of Christ’s conquering work we can confidently say, “O Death, . . . where is your victory?” (v.55).
So let not your heart be troubled. Our sorrow is real, but we can be filled with gratitude because God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.57).
Lord, keep our eyes and hearts fixed not on the
temporary joys or disappointments but on the victorious
realities of eternity. Thank You for Your death and
resurrection that guarantee our forever future.
In Christ, the end is only the beginning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 18, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Strategic Investing - #6985
Friday, October 18, 2013
It started a few years ago with a few pieces of colored cardboard. Our oldest son was about five years old, and I bought him a few baseball cards. Once he hit college, that baseball card collection paid for a lot of things in his life. In fact, other guys saw that he knew how to invest in a card that would appreciate quickly and give them a profit. So they gave him money to invest for them. Now that boy has become a man and the love for his hobby has been passed down to his son. But here's the thing. My son never had very much money to work with, but he knew how to take a limited amount and invest it in what would pay off.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Strategic Investing."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God; we're in Luke chapter 16. We're going to read one of the most curious parables I think Jesus ever told. He told His disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. This man's called on the carpet for doing that. And in verse 4 it says of this steward, "I know what I'll do. When I lose my job here, I want to make sure people will welcome me into their houses." So he goes on to call in all the people who owe his master money and he discounts their debt. Well, they say "Hey, what a great guy you are!" Then he loses his job, but boy has he got friends.
Verse 8, "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people in this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Now, what's going on here? What's the point?
Obviously Jesus is not commending the manager's morals. It's his shrewdness; strategic investing. He handled what he had in such a way that he insured he would have friends later on. That's why Jesus says, "Use your wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings." But He's talking here about forever friends; people who will be your friends in heaven.
The question is, "How can you use what resources you have on earth to in essence buy yourself friends in heaven?" Well, you use your resources to reach lost people for Jesus Christ. In Philippians 4:17 Paul asks for a financial gift from the people in Philippi, and he says, "I want you to give a gift, not because I need it, but so my fruit will be credited to your account."
See, when you invest in the work of a missionary, every person that missionary or that ministry brings to Christ you bring to Christ. That's true of any ministry you give to. In 1 Samuel 30:24 it says this: "The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle." Now, your faithful prayer for someone on the frontlines buys you a spiritual share in every person they reach.
Isn't that incredible? Your behind the scenes volunteer help; the gift of your time. That makes you a partner in the eternal results. It's no wonder the Bible talks about cheerful givers. When you give to the work of God, you are doing strategic investing with a tremendous ROI; a tremendous payoff and return on investment. Like a certain baseball card collector I know, you're taking what you have and you are investing as much of it as possible in things that will pay off later.
And remember, long after the mansions and the millions of earth are just dust, you can have friends in heaven - maybe from around the world; friends who will forever say to you, "Thank you for sacrificing what you had on earth so I could hear about Jesus and so I could be in heaven forever."
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Ezekiel 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Cares About Justice
A mother says, I'm so sorry for abandoning you-could we possibly get together?
Her daughter thinks to herself, That's it? She wants to get together and I'm supposed to just forgive her?
Seems too easy. Doesn't mom need to experience what she gave? Spend a few years wondering if she'll see her daughter again? Some pain-filled nights? A bit of justice? Isn't some vengeance in order? Of course it is. God cares about justice more than we do.
In Romans 12:17, Paul tells us to never pay back evil for evil. Leave that to God, for He has said that he will repay those who deserve it.
We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished. Not to worry. God will repay-not He might repay. God will execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness. Fix your enemies? That's God's job. Forgive your enemies? Ahh, that's where you and I come in. We forgive.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 15
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 23:37-39
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
Barrier-Free Love
October 17, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
O Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37
Not long ago I heard the distressed chirping of a bird coming from the side of my neighbor’s house. I discovered that a nest of baby birds was inside a vent covered by a screen, placing a barrier between the mother bird who was trying to feed her hungry chicks. After I told the neighbors, they removed the screen and took the nest and chicks to a safe place to be cared for.
Few things are as heartbreaking as a barrier to love. Christ, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, experienced a barrier to His love when His chosen people rejected Him. He used the word picture of a hen and her baby chicks to describe their unwillingness to receive it: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37).
Our sin is a barrier that separates us from God (Isa. 59:2). But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus took care of the barrier to God’s love by His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection (Rom. 5:8-17; 8:11). Now He longs for us to experience His love and accept this gift.
My heart is stirred whene’er I think of Jesus,
That blessed Name that sets the captive free;
The only Name through which I find salvation,
No name on earth has meant so much to me. —Eliason
Through His cross, Jesus rescues and redeems.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 17, 2013
The Key of the Greater Work
. . . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . .” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Never More Vulnerable - #6984
Thursday, October 17, 2013
No one could have ever guessed the outcome. It was the first round of the playoffs for Illinois' high school football championship. There was this one team, we'll call them Goliath. They were ranked sixth in the nation; first in the state of course. When they beat teams they didn't just defeat them, they buried them. In the first round they were matched up with the team most likely to be eliminated in the state playoffs. This team had lost three games; they had just squeaked into the playoffs. We'll call them David. Final score: 14 to 13. Yeah, you guessed it! The number sixth team in the nation was defeated that day by a team few people had ever heard of. The sports writers seemed to agree that the problem with the champions had been overconfidence. Well, that's happened to number one ranked teams in college football and many other sports. It really can be dangerous to be a winner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never More Vulnerable."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 5:8. God says, "Be self-controlled and alert..." In other words, stay awake! "...your enemy, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Now, we need to find out how he attacks and what his opening is so we're not the one he devours. When you want to do that, you've got to go back to chapter 5, verse 5. Here's what it says, "All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time."
So God is talking about pride and humility in the same passage where He talks about the Devil being able to bring you down. See, I think you're never more vulnerable than you are after a major victory. The sports world has plenty of evidence of that; the spiritual world proves it to us. God is warning against the pride that sets you up to be a lion lunch. When it's in sports, you win, you think you're good, you lower your guard, you under-prepare, you lose. There were pictures in the papers of defeated players of that Goliath high school football team, and the young players were in a state of shock and depression. In the wreckage of their championship hopes they're asking, "How could this happen to us?"
That's happened to a lot of men and women who could have been spiritual champions. We start out very dependent on God when we start doing things for Him. We know how much we need Him. We're scared to death. And then He trusts us with some success, and we begin to think that the success is achievement. It's not achievement. It's a gift from God. We begin to think, "Aren't I something?" Instead of, "Isn't He something?" And we begin to get spiritually careless. That's all the Devil needs to bring you down.
You see, as long as you're trusting Jesus, he can't get to you. The Devil can't beat Jesus. But as soon as you start trusting in you, he can beat you. You're ready for a fall. Often when we're facing a spiritual challenge we draw very close to the Lord don't we? But as soon as it's over, there's a tendency to let down. I've experienced it. Then you let your time with Jesus start to slide, and you let proud thoughts begin to creep in, and you compromise a little since you sacrificed so much before, right?
So we are never more vulnerable than after major victories. That's when we really, really need to keep our guard up. We need to pray much. We need to get others praying for us. If you understand this simple principle of post-victory danger, you can build a wall against it. God sees in you a champion for the cause of Jesus. The question is can He trust you with some victories? Defeat will drive you to the Lord. Just make sure that victory drives you to Him as well.
And if you'll guard against the dangers of victory, then it won't be you sitting in the pain of a sudden and stunning defeat saying, "How could this happen to me?" See, if you can handle winning, you're really championship material.
A mother says, I'm so sorry for abandoning you-could we possibly get together?
Her daughter thinks to herself, That's it? She wants to get together and I'm supposed to just forgive her?
Seems too easy. Doesn't mom need to experience what she gave? Spend a few years wondering if she'll see her daughter again? Some pain-filled nights? A bit of justice? Isn't some vengeance in order? Of course it is. God cares about justice more than we do.
In Romans 12:17, Paul tells us to never pay back evil for evil. Leave that to God, for He has said that he will repay those who deserve it.
We fear the evildoer will slip into the night, unknown and unpunished. Not to worry. God will repay-not He might repay. God will execute justice on behalf of truth and fairness. Fix your enemies? That's God's job. Forgive your enemies? Ahh, that's where you and I come in. We forgive.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 15
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 23:37-39
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Footnotes:
Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26
Barrier-Free Love
October 17, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher
O Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37
Not long ago I heard the distressed chirping of a bird coming from the side of my neighbor’s house. I discovered that a nest of baby birds was inside a vent covered by a screen, placing a barrier between the mother bird who was trying to feed her hungry chicks. After I told the neighbors, they removed the screen and took the nest and chicks to a safe place to be cared for.
Few things are as heartbreaking as a barrier to love. Christ, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, experienced a barrier to His love when His chosen people rejected Him. He used the word picture of a hen and her baby chicks to describe their unwillingness to receive it: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37).
Our sin is a barrier that separates us from God (Isa. 59:2). But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus took care of the barrier to God’s love by His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection (Rom. 5:8-17; 8:11). Now He longs for us to experience His love and accept this gift.
My heart is stirred whene’er I think of Jesus,
That blessed Name that sets the captive free;
The only Name through which I find salvation,
No name on earth has meant so much to me. —Eliason
Through His cross, Jesus rescues and redeems.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 17, 2013
The Key of the Greater Work
. . . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . .” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Never More Vulnerable - #6984
Thursday, October 17, 2013
No one could have ever guessed the outcome. It was the first round of the playoffs for Illinois' high school football championship. There was this one team, we'll call them Goliath. They were ranked sixth in the nation; first in the state of course. When they beat teams they didn't just defeat them, they buried them. In the first round they were matched up with the team most likely to be eliminated in the state playoffs. This team had lost three games; they had just squeaked into the playoffs. We'll call them David. Final score: 14 to 13. Yeah, you guessed it! The number sixth team in the nation was defeated that day by a team few people had ever heard of. The sports writers seemed to agree that the problem with the champions had been overconfidence. Well, that's happened to number one ranked teams in college football and many other sports. It really can be dangerous to be a winner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never More Vulnerable."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 5:8. God says, "Be self-controlled and alert..." In other words, stay awake! "...your enemy, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Now, we need to find out how he attacks and what his opening is so we're not the one he devours. When you want to do that, you've got to go back to chapter 5, verse 5. Here's what it says, "All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up in due time."
So God is talking about pride and humility in the same passage where He talks about the Devil being able to bring you down. See, I think you're never more vulnerable than you are after a major victory. The sports world has plenty of evidence of that; the spiritual world proves it to us. God is warning against the pride that sets you up to be a lion lunch. When it's in sports, you win, you think you're good, you lower your guard, you under-prepare, you lose. There were pictures in the papers of defeated players of that Goliath high school football team, and the young players were in a state of shock and depression. In the wreckage of their championship hopes they're asking, "How could this happen to us?"
That's happened to a lot of men and women who could have been spiritual champions. We start out very dependent on God when we start doing things for Him. We know how much we need Him. We're scared to death. And then He trusts us with some success, and we begin to think that the success is achievement. It's not achievement. It's a gift from God. We begin to think, "Aren't I something?" Instead of, "Isn't He something?" And we begin to get spiritually careless. That's all the Devil needs to bring you down.
You see, as long as you're trusting Jesus, he can't get to you. The Devil can't beat Jesus. But as soon as you start trusting in you, he can beat you. You're ready for a fall. Often when we're facing a spiritual challenge we draw very close to the Lord don't we? But as soon as it's over, there's a tendency to let down. I've experienced it. Then you let your time with Jesus start to slide, and you let proud thoughts begin to creep in, and you compromise a little since you sacrificed so much before, right?
So we are never more vulnerable than after major victories. That's when we really, really need to keep our guard up. We need to pray much. We need to get others praying for us. If you understand this simple principle of post-victory danger, you can build a wall against it. God sees in you a champion for the cause of Jesus. The question is can He trust you with some victories? Defeat will drive you to the Lord. Just make sure that victory drives you to Him as well.
And if you'll guard against the dangers of victory, then it won't be you sitting in the pain of a sudden and stunning defeat saying, "How could this happen to me?" See, if you can handle winning, you're really championship material.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Ezekiel 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Generational Garbage
Your family history doesn't have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now.
Don't give your kids what your ancestors gave to you. Talk to God about it, in detail. God, everyday I came home from school to find mom drunk, lying on the couch. I had to take care of baby brother, do homework on my own. It's not right, God. Difficult, for certain. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Let Him replace "childish thinking" with mature truth.
A dear friend of mine was called to identify the body of his father who'd been shot by his ex-wife. The blast was just another in a long line of angry, violent family moments. He made this resolution: "It stops with me." And it has!
God wants to help you-for your sake! Trust Him-with His help, you'll get through this.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 14
Idolaters Condemned
14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
6 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
7 “‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9 “‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel[a] and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
21 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! 22 Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes:
Ezekiel 14:14 Or Danel, a man of renown in ancient literature; also in verse 20
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b]
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”[c]
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 2:5 Or into a temple of the Spirit
1 Peter 2:6 Isaiah 28:16
1 Peter 2:7 Psalm 118:22
1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14
Coade Stone
October 16, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. —1 Peter 2:4
Throughout London, there are statues and other items made from a unique building material called Coade stone. Developed by Eleanor Coade for her family business in the late 1700s, this artificial stone is virtually indestructible and has the capacity to withstand time, weather, and man-made pollution. Though it was a marvel during the Industrial Revolution, Coade stone was phased out in the 1840s following Eleanor’s death, and it was replaced by Portland cement as a building material. In spite of that, however, there remain today dozens of examples of this sturdy, ceramic-like stone that have withstood the harsh London environment for over 150 years.
The apostle Peter described Jesus as a living stone. He wrote, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Precious in the eyes of the Father is the sacrifice of the Rock of our salvation. Christ is the enduring stone upon which the Father has built our salvation and the only foundation for meaningful life (1 Cor. 3:11).
It is only as our lives are built upon His strength that we will be able to endure the harshness of life in a fallen world.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. —Mote
We have nothing to fear if we stay close to the Rock of Ages.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 16, 2013
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . .” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Treasure in the Dirt - #6983
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
A friend of ours told us about a lady in his area who just lost her husband. They had this beautiful farm, but it was really more than she wanted to maintain without him. Some of it was devoted to a wonderful vegetable garden that she'd cared for many years. After her husband's death, she offered to let her neighbors treat that garden as if it was their garden. Well, one day the man next door was picking carrots. and he suddenly stopped to examine one carrot that was very unusual. It seemed to have grown into an hourglass shape; it was wide at the top and the bottom. It was really like narrow at the center. As he brushed the dirt off that carrot, he was shocked at what he found. There was a gold ring right in the center of the carrot!
Somehow this carrot had grown all around and through that ring. And inside that ring was a date from 50 years ago. So the neighbor took it to the widow who promptly melted into tears. Her husband, who had died just after their 50th anniversary, had given her this ring on their wedding day. But she'd lost it many years ago. And now this precious treasure had been found in a most unlikely place.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Treasure in the Dirt."
Our word for today from the Word of God Philippians 3:10. It expresses the passion of the Apostle Paul's heart in five little words that really framed his whole life. Here they are: "I want to know Christ." See, Paul understood that this Jesus relationship is the center of this life and it's what our life will be all about for all eternity.
So, after 30 years of a dynamic walk with and ministry for Jesus, he is still in pursuit, "I want to know Christ." And he goes on, "And I want to know the power of His resurrection." Well, couldn't you use more of that resurrection power in your life to handle what's happening right now? Then he says, "And the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings; becoming like Him in His death." "The power of His resurrection"-good. Suffering? Not so much.
But the way to the power is through the pain. See, you can't have an Easter without a Good Friday. And you may be living your Good Friday part of the process right now. But remember what happened in that garden. They found precious treasure in the dirt, in a place you would never expect to find it.
That's how it is with getting really close to Jesus. The greatest treasures are often found in the grit and the dirt of our pain and our pressure. Notice the beautiful word that redeems that painful word suffering, "The fellowship of sharing in His suffering." You can touch Jesus in the valley in ways you'll never touch Him on the mountain top. Those who know Jesus most intimately, who radiate His power most evidently, are those who have walked through the deepest valleys with Him.
There's a bonding with Jesus that can happen when you've run out of you; when you've run out of your resources and you just collapse in His strong and loving arms. There's a release of His power in your life that wasn't possible when you were still able to go on your power. Those who know Jesus best are those who have needed Him the most. Those who need Him the most are those who are going through the most.
You don't get to choose whether or not you go through this painful time. But you can decide that you will capture this time to know Jesus as you have never known Him before. If you're going to get the pain, you might as well get the point.
You're in a position now to discover what that gardener found in a very unlikely place; what suffering believers have discovered in God's garden for centuries. There is great treasure in the dirt.
Your family history doesn't have to be your future. The generational garbage can stop here and now.
Don't give your kids what your ancestors gave to you. Talk to God about it, in detail. God, everyday I came home from school to find mom drunk, lying on the couch. I had to take care of baby brother, do homework on my own. It's not right, God. Difficult, for certain. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Let Him replace "childish thinking" with mature truth.
A dear friend of mine was called to identify the body of his father who'd been shot by his ex-wife. The blast was just another in a long line of angry, violent family moments. He made this resolution: "It stops with me." And it has!
God wants to help you-for your sake! Trust Him-with His help, you'll get through this.
From You'll Get Through This
Ezekiel 14
Idolaters Condemned
14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’
6 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
7 “‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. 8 I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9 “‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11 Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Jerusalem’s Judgment Inescapable
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, 14 even if these three men—Noah, Daniel[a] and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.
17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.
19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
21 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! 22 Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Footnotes:
Ezekiel 14:14 Or Danel, a man of renown in ancient literature; also in verse 20
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b]
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”[c]
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”[d]
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Footnotes:
1 Peter 2:5 Or into a temple of the Spirit
1 Peter 2:6 Isaiah 28:16
1 Peter 2:7 Psalm 118:22
1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14
Coade Stone
October 16, 2013 — by Bill Crowder
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. —1 Peter 2:4
Throughout London, there are statues and other items made from a unique building material called Coade stone. Developed by Eleanor Coade for her family business in the late 1700s, this artificial stone is virtually indestructible and has the capacity to withstand time, weather, and man-made pollution. Though it was a marvel during the Industrial Revolution, Coade stone was phased out in the 1840s following Eleanor’s death, and it was replaced by Portland cement as a building material. In spite of that, however, there remain today dozens of examples of this sturdy, ceramic-like stone that have withstood the harsh London environment for over 150 years.
The apostle Peter described Jesus as a living stone. He wrote, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Precious in the eyes of the Father is the sacrifice of the Rock of our salvation. Christ is the enduring stone upon which the Father has built our salvation and the only foundation for meaningful life (1 Cor. 3:11).
It is only as our lives are built upon His strength that we will be able to endure the harshness of life in a fallen world.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. —Mote
We have nothing to fear if we stay close to the Rock of Ages.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 16, 2013
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . .” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Treasure in the Dirt - #6983
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
A friend of ours told us about a lady in his area who just lost her husband. They had this beautiful farm, but it was really more than she wanted to maintain without him. Some of it was devoted to a wonderful vegetable garden that she'd cared for many years. After her husband's death, she offered to let her neighbors treat that garden as if it was their garden. Well, one day the man next door was picking carrots. and he suddenly stopped to examine one carrot that was very unusual. It seemed to have grown into an hourglass shape; it was wide at the top and the bottom. It was really like narrow at the center. As he brushed the dirt off that carrot, he was shocked at what he found. There was a gold ring right in the center of the carrot!
Somehow this carrot had grown all around and through that ring. And inside that ring was a date from 50 years ago. So the neighbor took it to the widow who promptly melted into tears. Her husband, who had died just after their 50th anniversary, had given her this ring on their wedding day. But she'd lost it many years ago. And now this precious treasure had been found in a most unlikely place.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Treasure in the Dirt."
Our word for today from the Word of God Philippians 3:10. It expresses the passion of the Apostle Paul's heart in five little words that really framed his whole life. Here they are: "I want to know Christ." See, Paul understood that this Jesus relationship is the center of this life and it's what our life will be all about for all eternity.
So, after 30 years of a dynamic walk with and ministry for Jesus, he is still in pursuit, "I want to know Christ." And he goes on, "And I want to know the power of His resurrection." Well, couldn't you use more of that resurrection power in your life to handle what's happening right now? Then he says, "And the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings; becoming like Him in His death." "The power of His resurrection"-good. Suffering? Not so much.
But the way to the power is through the pain. See, you can't have an Easter without a Good Friday. And you may be living your Good Friday part of the process right now. But remember what happened in that garden. They found precious treasure in the dirt, in a place you would never expect to find it.
That's how it is with getting really close to Jesus. The greatest treasures are often found in the grit and the dirt of our pain and our pressure. Notice the beautiful word that redeems that painful word suffering, "The fellowship of sharing in His suffering." You can touch Jesus in the valley in ways you'll never touch Him on the mountain top. Those who know Jesus most intimately, who radiate His power most evidently, are those who have walked through the deepest valleys with Him.
There's a bonding with Jesus that can happen when you've run out of you; when you've run out of your resources and you just collapse in His strong and loving arms. There's a release of His power in your life that wasn't possible when you were still able to go on your power. Those who know Jesus best are those who have needed Him the most. Those who need Him the most are those who are going through the most.
You don't get to choose whether or not you go through this painful time. But you can decide that you will capture this time to know Jesus as you have never known Him before. If you're going to get the pain, you might as well get the point.
You're in a position now to discover what that gardener found in a very unlikely place; what suffering believers have discovered in God's garden for centuries. There is great treasure in the dirt.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
1 Timothy 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Stay the Course
Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do. Themselves!
Keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent. God's healing includes a move out of the House of Spite, toward the spacious ways of grace, away from hardness toward forgiveness. Can he really, you wonder? Can He really clean up this mess? This history of sexual abuse? This raw anger at the father who left my mother? Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?
Begin the process of forgiveness. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Jesus did for you. Stay the course. You'll spend less time in the spite house and more in the grace house. And as one who's walked the hallways of both, believe me, you're going to love the space of grace. You'll get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Timothy 6
New International Version (NIV)
6 All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare[a] of their slaves.
False Teachers and the Love of Money
These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Footnotes:
1 Timothy 6:2 Or and benefit from the service
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Footnotes:
Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:5 Or than God
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his
Dreams Of Childhood
October 15, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength. —Psalm 8:2
Years ago, I asked fifth-grade students to prepare a list of questions to ask Jesus if He were to show up in person the following week. I also asked groups of adults to do the same thing. The results were startlingly different. The kids’ questions ranged from adorable to poignant: “Will we have to sit around in robes and sing all day in heaven? Will my puppy be in heaven? Were the whales in or out of the ark? How’s my grandpa doing up there with You?” Almost without fail, their questions were free from doubt that heaven existed or that God acts supernaturally.
Adults, on the other hand, featured a completely different line of questioning: “Why do bad things happen to good people? How do I know You’re listening to my prayers? Why is there only one way to heaven? How could a loving God let this tragedy happen to me?”
For the most part, children live life unfettered by the cares and sorrows that burden adults. Their faith lets them trust God more readily. While we adults often get lost in trials and sorrows, children retain the psalmist’s view of life—an eternal perspective that sees the greatness of God (Ps. 8:1-2).
God can be trusted, and He longs for us to trust Him the way children do (Matt. 18:3).
O Father, may I find again the dreams of childhood
when thoughts of You filled me with peace
and I longed to know You more. Give me
a faith that trusts You implicitly.
An intimate walk with God lifts our eyes from today’s trials and into eternity’s triumphs.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 15, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the “remissionary” aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. “. . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . .” (Luke 24:47). The greatest message of limitless importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . .” The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Identifying the Killer - #6982
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
My wife and I had some of the most special weeks of our lives on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. But there was a cloud over one visit during a summer ministry we had there. See, there had been this mystery illness; it was all over the news. It had already taken some 20 lives. People suddenly were developing severe breathing problems, and in a short time they were gone. Well, since then, that same disease has surfaced in places all over the country. That demonstrated that the killer was not a reservation disease. But in the early stages, there was panic on the reservation.
Health experts and researchers from all over descended on the area to find the cause. Finally, they isolated this rodent-born cause that they called the Hantavirus, and then victims had some hope of recovery. Before that, the medical personnel were just trying to treat the symptoms, but everyone knew that the killer would continue to claim victims until the culprit was identified.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Identifying the Killer."
The Bible-God's book-identifies the greatest killer of all time; the greatest problem you and I have. Strangely, many of us wouldn't even put this disease on our list of problems that need a solution. We'd put its deadly symptoms on our list. We see the damage from this disease in our family, our working relationships, some of the dark feelings inside of us, in the brokenness between people.
Okay, here's the diagnosis. Isaiah 59:1-2, our word for today from the Word of God. "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. But our iniquities (That's our sins; our wrong doings.) have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear." There is a killer on the loose in your world and mine called sin. And because of it the Bible says here we are away from God, and that single missing relationship is responsible for so much of our misery.
First of all, sin needs a definition. What is it? Well, I think the middle letter says it pretty well - s-I-n. "I will run my life, not you, God." No matter how religious we are, the Bible says we have all made that defiant choice about the central control of our life. Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious ideal." And out of that hijacking of our life has come thousands of little life choices that disregard what God wants and just plow ahead with what we want.
This sin virus puts a wall between us and the God that we can't live without. The symptoms? They read like a list of the greatest struggles and needs of our life: chronic loneliness. Why? We're lonely for God. We're away from Him. A low view of our own worth. Why? Because we're away from the One who gave us our worth. Disappointing relationships. Why? Because we haven't got the central relationship right and all the others aren't working, a lot of times because of selfishness.
Those dark feelings that frighten us sometimes, depression and anger. They're there because there's no God to help us control them and change them. We're nervous about death and we're nervous about eternity because we're not ready to meet God; we are away from Him. We've got struggles in our marriages, in our parenting, in finding peace and trying to find some closeness. It's all so hard because we're doing it without the love of God; without the power of God.
Maybe you have battled the symptoms all your life without knowing what caused them - the sin virus. If you're ready for a cure, listen to Isaiah 53:5-6. "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (that's Christ). We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (the sin) of us all." Jesus took the punishment for your sin when He died on the cross, and the wall between you and God comes down the moment you make the Savior your Savior by saying, "Jesus, I'm pinning all my hopes on You. Come into my life. Forgive my sin and bring me into a relationship with my God."
If you're not sure you've begun that relationship and you want to, I would love to help you by just visiting our website ANewStory.com. Join me there and let me explain to you how to be sure you belong to Him.
Right now, right where you are, you can open your life up to the One, not who has the cure. No, He is the cure.
Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do. Themselves!
Keep a sharp eye out for the weeds of bitter discontent. God's healing includes a move out of the House of Spite, toward the spacious ways of grace, away from hardness toward forgiveness. Can he really, you wonder? Can He really clean up this mess? This history of sexual abuse? This raw anger at the father who left my mother? Can God heal this ancient hurt in my heart?
Begin the process of forgiveness. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Jesus did for you. Stay the course. You'll spend less time in the spite house and more in the grace house. And as one who's walked the hallways of both, believe me, you're going to love the space of grace. You'll get through this!
From You'll Get Through This
1 Timothy 6
New International Version (NIV)
6 All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. 2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare[a] of their slaves.
False Teachers and the Love of Money
These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Final Charge to Timothy
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Footnotes:
1 Timothy 6:2 Or and benefit from the service
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Footnotes:
Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:5 Or than God
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his
Dreams Of Childhood
October 15, 2013 — by Randy Kilgore
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength. —Psalm 8:2
Years ago, I asked fifth-grade students to prepare a list of questions to ask Jesus if He were to show up in person the following week. I also asked groups of adults to do the same thing. The results were startlingly different. The kids’ questions ranged from adorable to poignant: “Will we have to sit around in robes and sing all day in heaven? Will my puppy be in heaven? Were the whales in or out of the ark? How’s my grandpa doing up there with You?” Almost without fail, their questions were free from doubt that heaven existed or that God acts supernaturally.
Adults, on the other hand, featured a completely different line of questioning: “Why do bad things happen to good people? How do I know You’re listening to my prayers? Why is there only one way to heaven? How could a loving God let this tragedy happen to me?”
For the most part, children live life unfettered by the cares and sorrows that burden adults. Their faith lets them trust God more readily. While we adults often get lost in trials and sorrows, children retain the psalmist’s view of life—an eternal perspective that sees the greatness of God (Ps. 8:1-2).
God can be trusted, and He longs for us to trust Him the way children do (Matt. 18:3).
O Father, may I find again the dreams of childhood
when thoughts of You filled me with peace
and I longed to know You more. Give me
a faith that trusts You implicitly.
An intimate walk with God lifts our eyes from today’s trials and into eternity’s triumphs.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 15, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the “remissionary” aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. “. . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . .” (Luke 24:47). The greatest message of limitless importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . .” The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Identifying the Killer - #6982
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
My wife and I had some of the most special weeks of our lives on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. But there was a cloud over one visit during a summer ministry we had there. See, there had been this mystery illness; it was all over the news. It had already taken some 20 lives. People suddenly were developing severe breathing problems, and in a short time they were gone. Well, since then, that same disease has surfaced in places all over the country. That demonstrated that the killer was not a reservation disease. But in the early stages, there was panic on the reservation.
Health experts and researchers from all over descended on the area to find the cause. Finally, they isolated this rodent-born cause that they called the Hantavirus, and then victims had some hope of recovery. Before that, the medical personnel were just trying to treat the symptoms, but everyone knew that the killer would continue to claim victims until the culprit was identified.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Identifying the Killer."
The Bible-God's book-identifies the greatest killer of all time; the greatest problem you and I have. Strangely, many of us wouldn't even put this disease on our list of problems that need a solution. We'd put its deadly symptoms on our list. We see the damage from this disease in our family, our working relationships, some of the dark feelings inside of us, in the brokenness between people.
Okay, here's the diagnosis. Isaiah 59:1-2, our word for today from the Word of God. "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear. But our iniquities (That's our sins; our wrong doings.) have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear." There is a killer on the loose in your world and mine called sin. And because of it the Bible says here we are away from God, and that single missing relationship is responsible for so much of our misery.
First of all, sin needs a definition. What is it? Well, I think the middle letter says it pretty well - s-I-n. "I will run my life, not you, God." No matter how religious we are, the Bible says we have all made that defiant choice about the central control of our life. Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious ideal." And out of that hijacking of our life has come thousands of little life choices that disregard what God wants and just plow ahead with what we want.
This sin virus puts a wall between us and the God that we can't live without. The symptoms? They read like a list of the greatest struggles and needs of our life: chronic loneliness. Why? We're lonely for God. We're away from Him. A low view of our own worth. Why? Because we're away from the One who gave us our worth. Disappointing relationships. Why? Because we haven't got the central relationship right and all the others aren't working, a lot of times because of selfishness.
Those dark feelings that frighten us sometimes, depression and anger. They're there because there's no God to help us control them and change them. We're nervous about death and we're nervous about eternity because we're not ready to meet God; we are away from Him. We've got struggles in our marriages, in our parenting, in finding peace and trying to find some closeness. It's all so hard because we're doing it without the love of God; without the power of God.
Maybe you have battled the symptoms all your life without knowing what caused them - the sin virus. If you're ready for a cure, listen to Isaiah 53:5-6. "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (that's Christ). We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (the sin) of us all." Jesus took the punishment for your sin when He died on the cross, and the wall between you and God comes down the moment you make the Savior your Savior by saying, "Jesus, I'm pinning all my hopes on You. Come into my life. Forgive my sin and bring me into a relationship with my God."
If you're not sure you've begun that relationship and you want to, I would love to help you by just visiting our website ANewStory.com. Join me there and let me explain to you how to be sure you belong to Him.
Right now, right where you are, you can open your life up to the One, not who has the cure. No, He is the cure.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Ezekiel 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Let God Do His Work
Let God Do His Work ·
Were your growing up years hard years? Family pain is the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early; it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides, the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them.
As a result, you’ve been operating on faulty data. “You’re stupid, slow, dumb like your daddy, fat like your momma.” Decades later, these voices of defeat still echo in our subconscious. But they don’t have to! Romans 12:2 says to let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
You are God’s child. His creation. You’ll get through this! You’re part of His family.
From You’ll Get Through This
Ezekiel 13
False Prophets Condemned
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish[b] prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it[c] falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’
17 “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? 19 You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, 23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 13:3 Or wicked
Ezekiel 13:14 Or the city
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 13:1-9
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Seeds & Soils
October 14, 2013 — by Brent Hackett
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 3:18
If you like growing pumpkins, you have probably heard of Dill’s Atlantic Giant variety of premium pumpkin seeds. Developed on a family farm in Atlantic Canada, the pumpkins grown from these seeds have set records around the world. In 2011, a pumpkin grown in Quebec set a new world record at 1,818.5 pounds (825 kg). That size of pumpkin could yield almost 1,000 pieces of pie!
When news reporters asked how this pumpkin could grow to such a size, the farmer replied that it had to do with the soil. The seeds were of a special large variety, but the soil still had to be right or the pumpkin wouldn’t grow properly.
The Lord Jesus used an illustration in which He compared different types of ground to a person’s response to God’s Word (Matt. 13). Some seeds were eaten by the birds, others started to grow but were choked by the weeds, and some grew up instantly but had no soil to further their growth. But the seeds that fell on the good soil “yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (v.8).
Each of us needs to ask, “What kind of soil am I?” The Lord wants to plant His Word in our hearts so we can grow in our knowledge of Him.
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt
The fruit of the Spirit grows in the soil of obedience.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . .” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . .”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore . . . .” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . .” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . .” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Still Missing - #6981
Monday, October 14, 2013
You know, I flew out of Newark Airport a lot. And I was usually in a hurry when I was there. And because I was in a hurry, I was focused on getting to my gate, and I wasn't real observant of the little changes at the airport. But one day I was flying down the concourse when a little poster grabbed my attention. It was a picture of a smiling, attractive teenage girl, and there were two words in bold, black letters that grabbed me - STILL MISSING. Now the smaller print revealed that she lived more than a thousand miles away, but someone who loves this girl has spread the word all over the place. Those two words on that poster went straight to my heart.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Still Missing."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke chapter 15. There are posters in many places with a picture and name of some lost child. Somewhere that means that there's a parent desperately hoping that "Still Missing" will somehow come home. I want you to know God knows that feeling.
Here we go! Luke 15:3, "Then Jesus told them this parable. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Boy, this is a good news story, because Jesus is saying here that the shepherd notices every missing sheep. And he not only hopes that the sheep will come home, he goes looking for him or her. Now, the Shepherd is really our Heavenly Father, and the sheep are His children. And some of them are gone.
Could it be that, in a sense, there's a poster in heaven with your name and your picture on it with those two words "Still Missing?" Today through this visit your Father is trying to bring you home. See, most of God's children who get away from Him didn't plan to.
The Bible says all of us have wandered away like sheep. You don't run away from Him usually; you wander away. Little steps at a time, and suddenly you realize you're away from the One that you used to be so close to. Or maybe you realize you've never really been close to Him.
Maybe others can't even tell. Maybe you haven't done anything terribly rebellious outwardly. In fact, you're doing the same things, going to the same meetings, saying the same religious words maybe. But in your heart, if not in your lifestyle, you know you're away. Maybe the question is, "How do I start home?" First of all, you tell Jesus, "I want to come home." See, He has to come after you. Lost sheep never find their way back to the shepherd. The shepherd comes looking for them. And tell Jesus you're sorry you got away. Retrace your steps back to the first detour. Where did you start to leave Him? Then go back and ask for His forgiveness beginning right there, that first step away from Him, and then each step after that.
And then think about the times you were closest to Jesus. What were you doing differently then? Would you do that again now? Start with just one day with Him. Pray your real heart to Him. Look for something in His Word that you can apply to today, and then stay in touch with Him all day long. And tell some other believers that you need their help and you need their prayer so you can come home. Don't let pride stop you. Don't let stubbornness stop you. Don't let fear of failure stop you. Don't let any person stop you. They don't love you as much as He does. They can't. He loves you unconditionally.
Maybe you've never begun a personal relationship with this Jesus. You've never allowed Him to bring you home on His shoulders and say, "Rejoice! I've found this lost sheep." If you're a lost sheep, you probably know you are. If you'd like to come home to the relationship you were made for, that Jesus died to give you, would you tell Him that today? Go to our website. Let me show you there how to be sure you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com.
You come home to Jesus, there'll be a party in heaven in your honor. Till now it's been saying "Still Missing" over your picture. But today it could say, "Found". Or better yet, "Home."
Let God Do His Work ·
Were your growing up years hard years? Family pain is the deepest pain because it was inflicted so early; it involves people who should have been trustworthy. You were too young to process the mistreatment. You didn’t know how to defend yourself. Besides, the perpetrators of your pain were so large. Your dad, mom, uncle, big brother—they towered over you, usually in size, always in rank. When they judged you falsely, you believed them.
As a result, you’ve been operating on faulty data. “You’re stupid, slow, dumb like your daddy, fat like your momma.” Decades later, these voices of defeat still echo in our subconscious. But they don’t have to! Romans 12:2 says to let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
You are God’s child. His creation. You’ll get through this! You’re part of His family.
From You’ll Get Through This
Ezekiel 13
False Prophets Condemned
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish[b] prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.
10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it[c] falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’
17 “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? 19 You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, 23 therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 13:3 Or wicked
Ezekiel 13:14 Or the city
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 13:1-9
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Seeds & Soils
October 14, 2013 — by Brent Hackett
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 3:18
If you like growing pumpkins, you have probably heard of Dill’s Atlantic Giant variety of premium pumpkin seeds. Developed on a family farm in Atlantic Canada, the pumpkins grown from these seeds have set records around the world. In 2011, a pumpkin grown in Quebec set a new world record at 1,818.5 pounds (825 kg). That size of pumpkin could yield almost 1,000 pieces of pie!
When news reporters asked how this pumpkin could grow to such a size, the farmer replied that it had to do with the soil. The seeds were of a special large variety, but the soil still had to be right or the pumpkin wouldn’t grow properly.
The Lord Jesus used an illustration in which He compared different types of ground to a person’s response to God’s Word (Matt. 13). Some seeds were eaten by the birds, others started to grow but were choked by the weeds, and some grew up instantly but had no soil to further their growth. But the seeds that fell on the good soil “yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (v.8).
Each of us needs to ask, “What kind of soil am I?” The Lord wants to plant His Word in our hearts so we can grow in our knowledge of Him.
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt
The fruit of the Spirit grows in the soil of obedience.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14, 2013
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . .” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . .”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore . . . .” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . .” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . .” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Still Missing - #6981
Monday, October 14, 2013
You know, I flew out of Newark Airport a lot. And I was usually in a hurry when I was there. And because I was in a hurry, I was focused on getting to my gate, and I wasn't real observant of the little changes at the airport. But one day I was flying down the concourse when a little poster grabbed my attention. It was a picture of a smiling, attractive teenage girl, and there were two words in bold, black letters that grabbed me - STILL MISSING. Now the smaller print revealed that she lived more than a thousand miles away, but someone who loves this girl has spread the word all over the place. Those two words on that poster went straight to my heart.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Still Missing."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke chapter 15. There are posters in many places with a picture and name of some lost child. Somewhere that means that there's a parent desperately hoping that "Still Missing" will somehow come home. I want you to know God knows that feeling.
Here we go! Luke 15:3, "Then Jesus told them this parable. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Boy, this is a good news story, because Jesus is saying here that the shepherd notices every missing sheep. And he not only hopes that the sheep will come home, he goes looking for him or her. Now, the Shepherd is really our Heavenly Father, and the sheep are His children. And some of them are gone.
Could it be that, in a sense, there's a poster in heaven with your name and your picture on it with those two words "Still Missing?" Today through this visit your Father is trying to bring you home. See, most of God's children who get away from Him didn't plan to.
The Bible says all of us have wandered away like sheep. You don't run away from Him usually; you wander away. Little steps at a time, and suddenly you realize you're away from the One that you used to be so close to. Or maybe you realize you've never really been close to Him.
Maybe others can't even tell. Maybe you haven't done anything terribly rebellious outwardly. In fact, you're doing the same things, going to the same meetings, saying the same religious words maybe. But in your heart, if not in your lifestyle, you know you're away. Maybe the question is, "How do I start home?" First of all, you tell Jesus, "I want to come home." See, He has to come after you. Lost sheep never find their way back to the shepherd. The shepherd comes looking for them. And tell Jesus you're sorry you got away. Retrace your steps back to the first detour. Where did you start to leave Him? Then go back and ask for His forgiveness beginning right there, that first step away from Him, and then each step after that.
And then think about the times you were closest to Jesus. What were you doing differently then? Would you do that again now? Start with just one day with Him. Pray your real heart to Him. Look for something in His Word that you can apply to today, and then stay in touch with Him all day long. And tell some other believers that you need their help and you need their prayer so you can come home. Don't let pride stop you. Don't let stubbornness stop you. Don't let fear of failure stop you. Don't let any person stop you. They don't love you as much as He does. They can't. He loves you unconditionally.
Maybe you've never begun a personal relationship with this Jesus. You've never allowed Him to bring you home on His shoulders and say, "Rejoice! I've found this lost sheep." If you're a lost sheep, you probably know you are. If you'd like to come home to the relationship you were made for, that Jesus died to give you, would you tell Him that today? Go to our website. Let me show you there how to be sure you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com.
You come home to Jesus, there'll be a party in heaven in your honor. Till now it's been saying "Still Missing" over your picture. But today it could say, "Found". Or better yet, "Home."
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Ezekiel 12,bible reading and devotionals.
Max Lucado Daily: Who Can We Trust
We can come before God’s throne where…we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16
Don’t we need someone to trust who is bigger than we are? Aren’t we tired of trusting the people of this earth for understanding? Aren’t we weary of trusting the things of this earth for strength? A drowning sailor doesn’t call on another drowning sailor for help… He knows he needs someone who is stronger than he is.
Jesus’ message is this: I am that person.
Ezekiel 12
The Exile Symbolized
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
3 “Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people. 4 During the daytime, while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening, while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile. 5 While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it. 6 Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the Israelites.”
7 So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.
8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, ‘What are you doing?’
10 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.’ 11 Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’
“As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.
12 “The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. 13 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. 14 I will scatter to the winds all those around him—his staff and all his troops—and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
15 “They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. 19 Say to the people of the land: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. 20 The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
There Will Be No Delay
21 The word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. 24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. 25 But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
26 The word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’
28 “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 9:20-30
New International Version (NIV)
20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Footnotes:
Acts 9:29 That is, Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture
Facing Our Past
October 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
He tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. —Acts 9:26
Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, spent 40 years helping people hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. When he died in April 2012, one newspaper article carried the headline, “Charles Colson, Nixon’s ‘dirty tricks’ man, dies at 80.” It seemed surprising that a man so transformed by faith should be identified with things he did as a politically ruthless presidential aide decades earlier before he knew the Savior.
The apostle Paul’s conversion and his early Christian witness were greeted with skepticism and fear. When he began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God, people said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose?” (Acts 9:21). Later when Paul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, they were afraid of him (v.26). In years to come, Paul never ignored his past, but spoke of it as evidence of the mercy of God (1 Tim. 1:13-14).
Like Paul, we don’t need to parade our failures or to pretend they didn’t happen. Instead, we can thank the Lord that through His grace and power, our past is forgiven, our present is changed, and our future is bright with hope for all He has prepared for us.
Transformed by grace divine,
The glory shall be Thine;
To Thy most holy will, O Lord,
We now our all resign. —Burroughs
Only Jesus can transform our life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13, 2013
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, ” ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ ” (Exodus 3:10-11). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, “Who am I that I should go . . . ?” We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— “I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be “well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, “I know this is what God wants me to do.” But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
We can come before God’s throne where…we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16
Don’t we need someone to trust who is bigger than we are? Aren’t we tired of trusting the people of this earth for understanding? Aren’t we weary of trusting the things of this earth for strength? A drowning sailor doesn’t call on another drowning sailor for help… He knows he needs someone who is stronger than he is.
Jesus’ message is this: I am that person.
Ezekiel 12
The Exile Symbolized
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
3 “Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people. 4 During the daytime, while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening, while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile. 5 While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it. 6 Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the Israelites.”
7 So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.
8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, ‘What are you doing?’
10 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.’ 11 Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’
“As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.
12 “The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. 13 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. 14 I will scatter to the winds all those around him—his staff and all his troops—and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
15 “They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. 19 Say to the people of the land: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. 20 The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
There Will Be No Delay
21 The word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. 24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. 25 But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
26 The word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’
28 “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 9:20-30
New International Version (NIV)
20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Footnotes:
Acts 9:29 That is, Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture
Facing Our Past
October 13, 2013 — by David C. McCasland
He tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. —Acts 9:26
Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, spent 40 years helping people hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. When he died in April 2012, one newspaper article carried the headline, “Charles Colson, Nixon’s ‘dirty tricks’ man, dies at 80.” It seemed surprising that a man so transformed by faith should be identified with things he did as a politically ruthless presidential aide decades earlier before he knew the Savior.
The apostle Paul’s conversion and his early Christian witness were greeted with skepticism and fear. When he began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God, people said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose?” (Acts 9:21). Later when Paul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, they were afraid of him (v.26). In years to come, Paul never ignored his past, but spoke of it as evidence of the mercy of God (1 Tim. 1:13-14).
Like Paul, we don’t need to parade our failures or to pretend they didn’t happen. Instead, we can thank the Lord that through His grace and power, our past is forgiven, our present is changed, and our future is bright with hope for all He has prepared for us.
Transformed by grace divine,
The glory shall be Thine;
To Thy most holy will, O Lord,
We now our all resign. —Burroughs
Only Jesus can transform our life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13, 2013
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, ” ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ ” (Exodus 3:10-11). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, “Who am I that I should go . . . ?” We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— “I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be “well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, “I know this is what God wants me to do.” But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
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