Max Lucado Daily: Childish Resistance
Jesus' promise is comprehensive. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6 ).
We usually get what we hunger and thirst for. The problem is, the treasures of earth don't satisfy. The promise is, the treasures of heaven do. Blessed are those, then, who hold their earthly possessions in open palms. Blessed are those who are totally dependent on Jesus for their joy.
Our resistance to our Father is childish. God, for our own good, tries to loosen our grip from something that will cause us to fall. But we won't let go. We say, "No, I won't give up my weekend rendezvous for eternal joy." "Trade my drugs and alcohol for a life of peace and a promise of heaven? Are you kidding?" There we are, desperately clutching the very things that cause us grief.
It's a wonder the Father doesn't give up!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 84[c]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[d] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[e]
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[f]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield,[g] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Psalm 84:1 In Hebrew texts 84:1-12 is numbered 84:2-13.
Psalm 84:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 84:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 8.
Psalm 84:6 Or blessings
Psalm 84:9 Or sovereign
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Mark 10:35-45
The Request of James and John
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Insight
Today’s reading reveals the ugliness of self-promotion. This spiritual cancer has plagued the human race since the fall. The remedy to pride is in following Jesus’ model of servanthood. He is the embodiment of a leader who served and a servant who led. Our desire should be to do the same.
True Greatness
January 20, 2014 — by Vernon C. Grounds
Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. —Mark 10:43
Some people feel like a small pebble lost in the immensity of a canyon. But no matter how insignificant we judge ourselves to be, we can be greatly used by God.
In a sermon early in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. quoted Jesus’ words from Mark 10 about servanthood. Then he said, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. . . . You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
When Jesus’ disciples quarreled about who would get the places of honor in heaven, He told them: “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
I wonder about us. Is that our understanding of greatness? Are we gladly serving, doing tasks that may be unnoticed? Is the purpose of our serving to please our Lord rather than to gain applause? If we are willing to be a servant, our lives will point to the One who is truly great.
No service in itself is small,
None great, though earth it fill;
But that is small that seeks its own,
And great that does God’s will. —Anon.
Little things done in Christ’s name are great things.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 20, 2014
Are You Fresh for Everything?
Jesus answered and said to him, ’Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ —John 3:3
Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes?
Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. It provides a freshness all the time in thinking, talking, and living— a continual surprise of the life of God. Staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light . . .” (1 John 1:7).
Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one”-with nothing in between (John 17:22). Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.
Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never-ending supply of the life of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Lonely World of 'Selfies' - #7051
Monday, January 20, 2014
Facebook has afforded us the wonderful privilege of knowing more about our friends than we ever really wanted to. "I just blew my nose. Thought you all should know." Or, "Status: mad at everybody." Best of all, we can share our "selfies"; pictures of me, taken by me. Because it's all about me, right? No! At least it's not supposed to be.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "The Lonely World of 'Selfies'."
One TV documentary said, "There's an epidemic of loneliness today." It's true. Even in a world that, in one way, is more connected than ever. Superficially, but strangely lacking in the kind of deep human connection that satisfies our love-starved hearts. Life was never meant to be a "selfie" existence. Where it's all about how I look, what I'm doing, what I'm feeling, what I want to talk about, what I need. The problem is that a world that's only as big as me is a world that's too small to live in. Status: lonely.
Years ago a young man wrote to Mother Teresa with a pretty compelling question. This woman who had buried her life in the needs of the most broken in Calcutta's slums was clearly the one who would know the answer. He asked, "What can I do to have a significant life like you have?" Mother Teresa's postcard reply was only four words: "Find your own Calcutta." Or, "Find some people who need you and be there for them."
You don't have to go to Calcutta to find them. They're in the local senior citizens' facility, the hospital, or they may be kids struggling in school who could flourish if someone took time to tutor them. "Calcutta" may be those homeless people, or the unemployed, or the medically sidelined people down the block.
In fact, you may not have to look any farther than the people you work with or play with or go to school with. On any given day, someone in your world needs a smile, a hug, a compliment, a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a helping hand, or just to be noticed or included. It's a matter of recalibrating your radar to see the people for whom you could make a difference.
On my good days, I wake up and ask the "make a difference" question: "Who needs me today?" It's a decision to be a giver today instead of a taker. But self-sacrifice is not without personal benefit, because the fastest way to get out of your pit is to pull someone else out of theirs. And the best antidote for being lonely is to be there for someone else. So turn your camera lens the other way to make your life a "you-ie" instead of a "selfie" where the other person is the picture. Where your life mission is simple: make each person feel like they matter.
In our word for today from the Word of God, in 2 Corinthians 5:15, God says, "Christ died for all that they should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again." See, we're not supposed to live for ourselves anymore.
Years ago, when I occasionally spoke for New York Giants chapels, I had the privilege of meeting their defensive end, George Martin. A great football player, yes - Super Bowl ring and all. But an even greater man, because he always made other people the big deal instead of himself. He spoke one year for our local high school football team. He had just been named the NFL's Man of the Year for his work with sick and dying children along with a bunch of charitable causes. It wasn't the only award he received for "finding his own Calcutta."
He told our players, "You need to know the real reason I'm doing these things that people give me awards for. I'm just copying my hero. My hero is Jesus Christ." He went on to explain how Jesus forgot about Himself to give us a chance to go to heaven someday. To have a relationship with the God whose love we were made for.
For that to happen, the wall between us and God had to come down. It's a wall I suspect many of us know is there without anyone telling us. And it could only come down if the penalty for us running our own life was paid; a death penalty. As the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). I'm dead meat if that Bible verse ends there. But thank God, it doesn't. It goes on to say, "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Living forever instead of punishment forever; heaven instead of hell.
Because as the Bible says, "the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). That's a love you need to experience for yourself if you never have. It's a relationship you've looked for your whole life, and you could begin today. I'd love to help you know how to do that. Would you go to our website and meet me there? It's ANewStory.com. He'll blow the walls off of your "selfie" world.
Life is never the same once you have experienced for yourself the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Psalm 83 Bible reading and Daily Devotions
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Gift To You
“Every perfect gift is from God.” James 1:17
An itinerant preacher from Nazareth can do something for the hurt that is in your heart. Maybe you’re trying to rebuild an estranged relationship . . . Maybe you’ve been trying to find God for longer than you can remember. There was something about this Nazarene preacher that made people cluster around him like he was God’s gift to humanity. He is your gift as well.
Psalm 83[a]
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[b]
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 11:30-37
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Insight
Although He had the power to heal Lazarus before he died (vv.1-5), Jesus delayed coming to the aid of His sick friend. Yet when Christ showed up at the funeral, He grieved with Lazarus’ loved ones. It would appear that Jesus wanted to call Lazarus back from the dead in order to testify of His divine power. God’s actions do not always operate according to our expectations. But how He chooses to respond will certainly result in the outcome that will ultimately glorify Him. The raising of Lazarus is a wonderful example of this.
Two Men
January 19, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. . . . Jesus wept. —John 11:33,35
Two men were killed in our city on the same day. The first, a police officer, was shot down while trying to help a family. The other was a homeless man who was shot while drinking with friends early that day.
The whole city grieved for the police officer. He was a fine young man who cared for others and was loved by the neighborhood he served. A few homeless people grieved for the friend they loved and lost.
I think the Lord grieved with them all.
When Jesus saw Mary and Martha and their friends weeping over the death of Lazarus, “He groaned in the spirit and was troubled” (John 11:33). He loved Lazarus and his sisters. Even though He knew that He would soon be raising Lazarus from the dead, He wept with them (v.35). Some Bible scholars think that part of Jesus’ weeping also may have been over death itself and the pain and sadness it causes in people’s hearts.
Loss is a part of life. But because Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (v.25), those who believe in Him will one day experience an end of all death and sorrow. In the meantime, He weeps with us over our losses and asks us to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).
Give me a heart sympathetic and tender;
Jesus, like Thine, Jesus, like Thine,
Touched by the needs that are surging around me,
And filled with compassion divine. —Anon.
Compassion helps to heal the hurts of others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 19, 2014
Vision and Darkness
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light-that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God . . .”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.
“Every perfect gift is from God.” James 1:17
An itinerant preacher from Nazareth can do something for the hurt that is in your heart. Maybe you’re trying to rebuild an estranged relationship . . . Maybe you’ve been trying to find God for longer than you can remember. There was something about this Nazarene preacher that made people cluster around him like he was God’s gift to humanity. He is your gift as well.
Psalm 83[a]
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear,
do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[b]
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
and became like dung on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God.”
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame, Lord,
so that they will seek your name.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 11:30-37
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Insight
Although He had the power to heal Lazarus before he died (vv.1-5), Jesus delayed coming to the aid of His sick friend. Yet when Christ showed up at the funeral, He grieved with Lazarus’ loved ones. It would appear that Jesus wanted to call Lazarus back from the dead in order to testify of His divine power. God’s actions do not always operate according to our expectations. But how He chooses to respond will certainly result in the outcome that will ultimately glorify Him. The raising of Lazarus is a wonderful example of this.
Two Men
January 19, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. . . . Jesus wept. —John 11:33,35
Two men were killed in our city on the same day. The first, a police officer, was shot down while trying to help a family. The other was a homeless man who was shot while drinking with friends early that day.
The whole city grieved for the police officer. He was a fine young man who cared for others and was loved by the neighborhood he served. A few homeless people grieved for the friend they loved and lost.
I think the Lord grieved with them all.
When Jesus saw Mary and Martha and their friends weeping over the death of Lazarus, “He groaned in the spirit and was troubled” (John 11:33). He loved Lazarus and his sisters. Even though He knew that He would soon be raising Lazarus from the dead, He wept with them (v.35). Some Bible scholars think that part of Jesus’ weeping also may have been over death itself and the pain and sadness it causes in people’s hearts.
Loss is a part of life. But because Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (v.25), those who believe in Him will one day experience an end of all death and sorrow. In the meantime, He weeps with us over our losses and asks us to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).
Give me a heart sympathetic and tender;
Jesus, like Thine, Jesus, like Thine,
Touched by the needs that are surging around me,
And filled with compassion divine. —Anon.
Compassion helps to heal the hurts of others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 19, 2014
Vision and Darkness
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him —Genesis 15:12
Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light-that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).
Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God . . .”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Revelation 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Grace Makes All the Difference
If life is… "because I have to"-where's the joy in that? Too often I hear folks rejecting Christ because they think the Christian life is all about rules and regulations-all about stifling and suffocating ritual.
This happens when we confuse Christ with legalism. Legalism is joyless because it's endless. There's always another class to attend. Inmates incarcerated in self-salvation find work, but never joy!
Grace! It makes all the difference. I like this quote: "Gone are the exertions of law-keeping, gone the disciplines of legalism, the anxiety that having done everything we might not have done enough. We reach the goal, not by the stairs, but by the lift-God pledges his promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves!"1
Grace offers rest. Legalism? Never!
From GRACE
Revelation 8
New International Version (NIV)
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
The Trumpets
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
Footnotes:
Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is a bitter substance.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Jude 1:20-25
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[a]
Doxology
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Footnotes:
Jude 1:23 The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.
Insight
Jude’s beautiful benediction has been widely used in church services for hundreds of years (vv.24-25). It is a word of praise to God for His wonderful works of preserving and perfecting believers. The high priest Aaron similarly blessed Israel as a nation by reminding them of God’s character (Num. 6:24-26). Likewise, in the Pauline epistles we are admonished to praise God for both His provision to sustain our faith (Rom. 16:25-27) and for His unsearchable wisdom in providing our redemption (Rom. 11:33-36). Each of us is likely to stumble in our words and actions, but Jude’s admonition indicates that stumbling does not mean defeat. Instead, God’s power can pick us up again and move us forward.
All Spruced Up
January 18, 2014 — by Joe Stowell
[Jesus] is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless. —Jude 1:24
Getting our children to look good for church was always a challenge. Ten minutes after arriving at church all spruced up, our little Matthew would look like he didn’t have parents. I’d see him running down the hall with his shirt half untucked, glasses cockeyed, shoes scuffed up, and cookie crumbs decorating his clothes. Left to himself, he was a mess.
I wonder if that is how we look sometimes. After Christ has clothed us in His righteousness, we tend to wander off and live in ways that make us look like we don’t belong to God. That’s why Jude’s promise that Jesus is “able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless” gives me hope (Jude 1:24).
How can we keep from looking like we don’t have a heavenly Father? As we become more yielded to His Spirit and His ways, He will keep us from stumbling. Think of how increasingly righteous our lives would become if we would take time in His Word to be cleansed with “the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26).
What a blessing that Jesus promises to take our stumbling, disheveled lives and present us faultless to the Father! May we increasingly look like children of the King as we reflect His loving care and attention.
Lord, thank You for the blessing of being clothed
in Your beautiful righteousness and the promise
that You will keep me from stumbling and present
me faultless before Your Father and my God!
To reflect the presence of the Father, we must rely on the Son.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 18, 2014
“It Is the Lord!”
Thomas answered and said to Him, ’My Lord and my God!’ —John 20:28
Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?
If life is… "because I have to"-where's the joy in that? Too often I hear folks rejecting Christ because they think the Christian life is all about rules and regulations-all about stifling and suffocating ritual.
This happens when we confuse Christ with legalism. Legalism is joyless because it's endless. There's always another class to attend. Inmates incarcerated in self-salvation find work, but never joy!
Grace! It makes all the difference. I like this quote: "Gone are the exertions of law-keeping, gone the disciplines of legalism, the anxiety that having done everything we might not have done enough. We reach the goal, not by the stairs, but by the lift-God pledges his promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves!"1
Grace offers rest. Legalism? Never!
From GRACE
Revelation 8
New International Version (NIV)
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
The Trumpets
6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
Footnotes:
Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is a bitter substance.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Jude 1:20-25
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[a]
Doxology
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Footnotes:
Jude 1:23 The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.
Insight
Jude’s beautiful benediction has been widely used in church services for hundreds of years (vv.24-25). It is a word of praise to God for His wonderful works of preserving and perfecting believers. The high priest Aaron similarly blessed Israel as a nation by reminding them of God’s character (Num. 6:24-26). Likewise, in the Pauline epistles we are admonished to praise God for both His provision to sustain our faith (Rom. 16:25-27) and for His unsearchable wisdom in providing our redemption (Rom. 11:33-36). Each of us is likely to stumble in our words and actions, but Jude’s admonition indicates that stumbling does not mean defeat. Instead, God’s power can pick us up again and move us forward.
All Spruced Up
January 18, 2014 — by Joe Stowell
[Jesus] is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless. —Jude 1:24
Getting our children to look good for church was always a challenge. Ten minutes after arriving at church all spruced up, our little Matthew would look like he didn’t have parents. I’d see him running down the hall with his shirt half untucked, glasses cockeyed, shoes scuffed up, and cookie crumbs decorating his clothes. Left to himself, he was a mess.
I wonder if that is how we look sometimes. After Christ has clothed us in His righteousness, we tend to wander off and live in ways that make us look like we don’t belong to God. That’s why Jude’s promise that Jesus is “able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless” gives me hope (Jude 1:24).
How can we keep from looking like we don’t have a heavenly Father? As we become more yielded to His Spirit and His ways, He will keep us from stumbling. Think of how increasingly righteous our lives would become if we would take time in His Word to be cleansed with “the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26).
What a blessing that Jesus promises to take our stumbling, disheveled lives and present us faultless to the Father! May we increasingly look like children of the King as we reflect His loving care and attention.
Lord, thank You for the blessing of being clothed
in Your beautiful righteousness and the promise
that You will keep me from stumbling and present
me faultless before Your Father and my God!
To reflect the presence of the Father, we must rely on the Son.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 18, 2014
“It Is the Lord!”
Thomas answered and said to Him, ’My Lord and my God!’ —John 20:28
Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.
Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?
Friday, January 17, 2014
Psalm 82, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: True Courage
Are you timid? Cautious? Could you use some courage? Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). If you're in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy, they are the foundations of true courage!
When God looks at you, he doesn't see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. Failure's not a concern for you; your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous? In Hebrews 10:22, the writer says, "Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus-let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
The point is clear. The Father of Truth will win, and the followers of Truth will be saved. The prize is yours. Applaud the victory!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you[d] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?[e]
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
Footnotes:
Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural.
Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Insight
Christ-followers will experience trials and tribulation in this life. Christian ministry, like any other activity, carries with it the wear and tear of opposition, resistance, and disappointment. Paul acknowledges this reality but finds more than enough power and encouragement from his inner spiritual transformation to carry on. In Paul’s mind, the final outcome will be an “eternal weight of glory” (v.17). In all this, perspective is essential. “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (v.18). The Greek word temporary could be translated “for a season.” The good and ills we face each day are only seasonal, but the reality of Christ will last for all eternity. This perspective gives the believer staying power to face life’s challenges.
Heavenly Perspective
January 17, 2014 — by Dennis Fisher
The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. —2 Corinthians 4:18
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as an infant. Yet, amazingly, she went on to become one of the most well-known lyricists of Christian hymns. During her long life, she wrote over 9,000 hymns. Among them are such enduring favorites as “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Some people felt sorry for Fanny. A well-intentioned preacher told her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.” It sounds hard to believe, but she replied: “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind? . . . Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
Fanny saw life with an eternal perspective. Our problems look different in light of eternity: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
All our trials dim when we remember that one glorious day we will see Jesus!
Dear God, please help us to see this life
from a heavenly perspective. Remind us that
our trials, however difficult, will one day fade
from view when we see You face to face.
The way we view eternity will affect the way we live in time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 17, 2014
The Call of the Natural Life
When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . . —Galatians 1:15-16
The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles . . . .”
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Morning Turnover - #7050
Friday, January 17, 2014
Our daughter was just eight years old when we left her at a summer camp for the first time. That's kind of a milestone for the child and the parent. But our daughter was really excited. I guess it's the parents that have a little harder time letting go. But a beautiful island, Camp Tapawingo, is on an island in the middle of an Adirondack lake only accessible by boat. So as this boat pulls away, it really underscores the reality that you are leaving this girl. But to be honest with you, it wasn't all that tough.
At that time, there was a woman who had run the place for years; a tremendous Christian educator with a lot of wisdom, a lot of love, a lot of experience. And they took us on a tour of the camp. We loved the facilities and they had this very well-conceived program that they planned for the week. So we knew we'd miss our little girl for the week, but we felt really good about where she was. She wasn't going to be with us, but we could relax. She was in good hands.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Morning Turnover."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Job chapter 1. When you think of Job, you probably think of suffering, right? But he's also a great example of parenting. "There lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." Verse 3, "He was the greatest man among all the people of the East." Now the life of Job goes on to tell that he had 10 children - seven sons, three daughters - and it says of them after they were grown, his sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
The Bible says, "When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, 'Perhaps my children have sinned or cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job's regular custom." Later on, God and Satan are actually discussing Job's life and his righteousness in this incredible scene in heaven. And apparently the Devil is pretty frustrated, because he says to God, "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?"
Well, here's Job, like us in a lot of ways, worried about his children. They're obviously not in his hands anymore. But each morning (Did you get this?) he would meet with the Lord on their behalf. If you're a mom or dad, that's the most powerful life-shaping weapon you have in your parenting arsenal. We all know the feeling that my wife and I faced as we left our daughter; the concerns of a child who's going to be totally beyond your control, or your protection, your oversight, your influence.
We had her exclusively for only a very few short years, and then like all the others, she started school, began having friends we didn't pick. And they have ideas that are different from our own that are coming at them from every direction. And their time with us steadily decreases. And the influence of many other people and other forces steadily increases, and we start to worry.
And then sometimes there's a panic. We want to nag, or we've got to interrogate or pressure them, maybe even accuse or preach. And in the process of trying to protect them from mistakes, we sometimes end up driving them into mistakes unless we understand the power of the morning turnover when we surrender that child to the care and keeping of the living God. Who, by the way, goes all the places with your child you cannot go.
Now, one prayer is for that hedge; that God protection of your son or daughter from Satan, from sin, from themselves. Each of our children when they were infants, you know what? We'd dedicated them to the Lord at our church in some way. Now we couldn't carry them in our arms any more; they're a little big for that maybe. But all of us need to repeat that process daily; holding each child up to the Lord, committing them to the Lord, turning them over to Him again in serious intercession for them.
Remember, I said that my wife and I had peace when we left our daughter without us on that island that day and it was because we knew we were leaving her in such great hands? All of us parents can have that same peace if we'll leave our sons and daughters in God's strong hands each day. However far they may seem from you or from God, in the words of Isaiah 40:11, "He gathers the lambs in His arms and He carries them close to His heart."
Are you timid? Cautious? Could you use some courage? Scripture says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). If you're in Christ, these promises are not only a source of joy, they are the foundations of true courage!
When God looks at you, he doesn't see you; He sees the One who surrounds you. Failure's not a concern for you; your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous? In Hebrews 10:22, the writer says, "Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus-let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
The point is clear. The Father of Truth will win, and the followers of Truth will be saved. The prize is yours. Applaud the victory!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you[d] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?[e]
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
Footnotes:
Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural.
Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Insight
Christ-followers will experience trials and tribulation in this life. Christian ministry, like any other activity, carries with it the wear and tear of opposition, resistance, and disappointment. Paul acknowledges this reality but finds more than enough power and encouragement from his inner spiritual transformation to carry on. In Paul’s mind, the final outcome will be an “eternal weight of glory” (v.17). In all this, perspective is essential. “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (v.18). The Greek word temporary could be translated “for a season.” The good and ills we face each day are only seasonal, but the reality of Christ will last for all eternity. This perspective gives the believer staying power to face life’s challenges.
Heavenly Perspective
January 17, 2014 — by Dennis Fisher
The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. —2 Corinthians 4:18
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as an infant. Yet, amazingly, she went on to become one of the most well-known lyricists of Christian hymns. During her long life, she wrote over 9,000 hymns. Among them are such enduring favorites as “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Some people felt sorry for Fanny. A well-intentioned preacher told her, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.” It sounds hard to believe, but she replied: “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind? . . . Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
Fanny saw life with an eternal perspective. Our problems look different in light of eternity: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
All our trials dim when we remember that one glorious day we will see Jesus!
Dear God, please help us to see this life
from a heavenly perspective. Remind us that
our trials, however difficult, will one day fade
from view when we see You face to face.
The way we view eternity will affect the way we live in time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 17, 2014
The Call of the Natural Life
When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . . —Galatians 1:15-16
The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles . . . .”
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Morning Turnover - #7050
Friday, January 17, 2014
Our daughter was just eight years old when we left her at a summer camp for the first time. That's kind of a milestone for the child and the parent. But our daughter was really excited. I guess it's the parents that have a little harder time letting go. But a beautiful island, Camp Tapawingo, is on an island in the middle of an Adirondack lake only accessible by boat. So as this boat pulls away, it really underscores the reality that you are leaving this girl. But to be honest with you, it wasn't all that tough.
At that time, there was a woman who had run the place for years; a tremendous Christian educator with a lot of wisdom, a lot of love, a lot of experience. And they took us on a tour of the camp. We loved the facilities and they had this very well-conceived program that they planned for the week. So we knew we'd miss our little girl for the week, but we felt really good about where she was. She wasn't going to be with us, but we could relax. She was in good hands.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Morning Turnover."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Job chapter 1. When you think of Job, you probably think of suffering, right? But he's also a great example of parenting. "There lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." Verse 3, "He was the greatest man among all the people of the East." Now the life of Job goes on to tell that he had 10 children - seven sons, three daughters - and it says of them after they were grown, his sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
The Bible says, "When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, 'Perhaps my children have sinned or cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job's regular custom." Later on, God and Satan are actually discussing Job's life and his righteousness in this incredible scene in heaven. And apparently the Devil is pretty frustrated, because he says to God, "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?"
Well, here's Job, like us in a lot of ways, worried about his children. They're obviously not in his hands anymore. But each morning (Did you get this?) he would meet with the Lord on their behalf. If you're a mom or dad, that's the most powerful life-shaping weapon you have in your parenting arsenal. We all know the feeling that my wife and I faced as we left our daughter; the concerns of a child who's going to be totally beyond your control, or your protection, your oversight, your influence.
We had her exclusively for only a very few short years, and then like all the others, she started school, began having friends we didn't pick. And they have ideas that are different from our own that are coming at them from every direction. And their time with us steadily decreases. And the influence of many other people and other forces steadily increases, and we start to worry.
And then sometimes there's a panic. We want to nag, or we've got to interrogate or pressure them, maybe even accuse or preach. And in the process of trying to protect them from mistakes, we sometimes end up driving them into mistakes unless we understand the power of the morning turnover when we surrender that child to the care and keeping of the living God. Who, by the way, goes all the places with your child you cannot go.
Now, one prayer is for that hedge; that God protection of your son or daughter from Satan, from sin, from themselves. Each of our children when they were infants, you know what? We'd dedicated them to the Lord at our church in some way. Now we couldn't carry them in our arms any more; they're a little big for that maybe. But all of us need to repeat that process daily; holding each child up to the Lord, committing them to the Lord, turning them over to Him again in serious intercession for them.
Remember, I said that my wife and I had peace when we left our daughter without us on that island that day and it was because we knew we were leaving her in such great hands? All of us parents can have that same peace if we'll leave our sons and daughters in God's strong hands each day. However far they may seem from you or from God, in the words of Isaiah 40:11, "He gathers the lambs in His arms and He carries them close to His heart."
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Psalm 81, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Doing What Comes Naturally
My child's feelings are hurt, I tell her she's special. My child's injured, I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child's afraid, I won't go to sleep until she's secure. I'm not a hero. I'm not unusual. I'm a parent. When a child hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps.
Moments of comfort from a parent. I can tell you they're the sweetest moments in the day. They come naturally, willingly, joyfully. If all that's so true, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me?
Being a father has taught me that when I'm criticized, injured, or afraid, there's a Father who's ready to comfort me. A Father who'll hold me until I'm better. And who won't go to sleep when I'm afraid. Ever! And that's enough.
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 81
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[c]
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 1:1-12; 4:12
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Footnotes:
Colossians 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15.
Colossians 1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Colossians 1:7 Or slave
Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts your
Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
The Little Tent
January 16, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. —Colossians 1:19
During evangelist Billy Graham’s historic 1949 Los Angeles campaign, the big tent that held over 6,000 people was filled to overflowing every night for 8 weeks. Close by was a smaller tent set aside for counseling and prayer. Cliff Barrows, longtime music director and close friend and associate of Graham, has often said that the real work of the gospel took place in “the little tent,” where people gathered on their knees to pray before and during every evangelistic service. A local Los Angeles woman, Pearl Goode, was the heart of those prayer meetings and many that followed.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the followers of Christ in Colosse, he assured them that he and his colleagues were praying always for them (Col. 1:3,9). In closing he mentioned Epaphras, a founder of the Colossian church, who is “always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (4:12).
Some people are given the high visibility task of preaching the gospel in “the big tent.” But God has extended to us all, just as He did to Epaphras and Pearl Goode, the great privilege of kneeling in “the little tent” and bringing others before the throne of God.
They labor well who intercede
For others with a pressing need;
It’s on their knees they often work
And from its rigor will not shirk. —D. DeHaan
Prayer is not preparation for the work, it is the work. —Oswald Chambers
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Eagle Power - #7049
Thursday, January 16, 2014
I've always been fascinated by eagles. I just didn't get to see many of them around New York City. I mean, except for the ones that came from Philadelphia to play the Giants occasionally. But it's always been an exciting event for me to see an eagle. When one of my Navajo friends and I were together recently, I asked him about eagles. Of course he sees a lot more of them. And he told me about some amazing observations that he's made about them.
For example, he has watched an eagle leave their cliff-top nest and then begin to drop immediately into that valley below. Now you would expect them to start flapping their wings madly. Right? No, they don't do that to stop their fall. In fact, the eagle is virtually powerless to help himself. Does he crash? No. We've all seen pictures of that eagle soaring. So if the eagle can't do it, how does he fly? Wind currents from the valley below literally lift that eagle. His job isn't to flap his wings; it's to wait for the wind.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Eagle Power."
As my Navajo friend told me about where the power comes from for the eagle's flight, I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favorite passages in the Bible; maybe one of yours. Our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah chapter 40, beginning at verse 28, "Do you know? Have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God? He's the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint."
Now, here's a mighty God who is never tired, never weary and powerless people. Maybe this is where you get into the picture. Maybe weary is a good word for you right now. Maybe you're physically depleted or you're emotionally spent, mentally shot. This is great news for people who don't have much left. Maybe you're weak like it says here. Your resources are just no match for the challenges. Your wisdom is not enough to figure this one out. You can contribute little or nothing to an answer. Sounds like the eagle! This says you soar on wings like eagles.
The eagle virtually has nothing to do with his ability to fly. He's lifted by a force outside of himself to do things he could never do on his own. And God says He wants to do that for you. This is great! The eagle's flight has nothing to do with the eagle's strength. God says, "Your flight in these powerless times has nothing to do with your strength. So when you're in a time of weakness, or weariness, or powerlessness you have every reason to be expectant, not depressed. This is a time when there's not much of you, but when there's going to be a whole lot of God. What God? The everlasting God, Isaiah said, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
Do you know, it's at the moments of powerlessness that we finally recognize, even our starting point with a relationship with the God who made us. For that's when we realize we need someone else to lift us, even to ever get to heaven when we die, to ever have our sins forgiven, to ever have the emptiness in our heart filled, to find the love that's eluded us in a lifetime of relationships. And when we realize we have nothing to contribute, we cannot possibly fly our way out of this flapping our wings is when we finally surrender to a Savior named Jesus.
You are that one step of surrender away from experiencing the greatest love and power in the universe. I don't know if you've ever begun a relationship with Jesus. If you never have, and you want to get that settled, I hope you'll join me at our website ANewStory.com. I think you can come away from there having begun that relationship.
So those who hope in Him will renew their strength. You fly on your own, you're going to crash. Maybe you're in a weak or weary time. Well, don't start flapping your wings madly. God says you're an eagle. You'll eventually soar if you do what you're supposed to do; trust your Creator's strength and ride on His wind.
My child's feelings are hurt, I tell her she's special. My child's injured, I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child's afraid, I won't go to sleep until she's secure. I'm not a hero. I'm not unusual. I'm a parent. When a child hurts, a parent does what comes naturally. He helps.
Moments of comfort from a parent. I can tell you they're the sweetest moments in the day. They come naturally, willingly, joyfully. If all that's so true, then why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father comfort me?
Being a father has taught me that when I'm criticized, injured, or afraid, there's a Father who's ready to comfort me. A Father who'll hold me until I'm better. And who won't go to sleep when I'm afraid. Ever! And that's enough.
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 81
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[c]
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 “But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.
13 “If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Colossians 1:1-12; 4:12
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[d] behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Footnotes:
Colossians 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15.
Colossians 1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Colossians 1:7 Or slave
Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts your
Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
The Little Tent
January 16, 2014 — by David C. McCasland
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. —Colossians 1:19
During evangelist Billy Graham’s historic 1949 Los Angeles campaign, the big tent that held over 6,000 people was filled to overflowing every night for 8 weeks. Close by was a smaller tent set aside for counseling and prayer. Cliff Barrows, longtime music director and close friend and associate of Graham, has often said that the real work of the gospel took place in “the little tent,” where people gathered on their knees to pray before and during every evangelistic service. A local Los Angeles woman, Pearl Goode, was the heart of those prayer meetings and many that followed.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the followers of Christ in Colosse, he assured them that he and his colleagues were praying always for them (Col. 1:3,9). In closing he mentioned Epaphras, a founder of the Colossian church, who is “always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (4:12).
Some people are given the high visibility task of preaching the gospel in “the big tent.” But God has extended to us all, just as He did to Epaphras and Pearl Goode, the great privilege of kneeling in “the little tent” and bringing others before the throne of God.
They labor well who intercede
For others with a pressing need;
It’s on their knees they often work
And from its rigor will not shirk. —D. DeHaan
Prayer is not preparation for the work, it is the work. —Oswald Chambers
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Eagle Power - #7049
Thursday, January 16, 2014
I've always been fascinated by eagles. I just didn't get to see many of them around New York City. I mean, except for the ones that came from Philadelphia to play the Giants occasionally. But it's always been an exciting event for me to see an eagle. When one of my Navajo friends and I were together recently, I asked him about eagles. Of course he sees a lot more of them. And he told me about some amazing observations that he's made about them.
For example, he has watched an eagle leave their cliff-top nest and then begin to drop immediately into that valley below. Now you would expect them to start flapping their wings madly. Right? No, they don't do that to stop their fall. In fact, the eagle is virtually powerless to help himself. Does he crash? No. We've all seen pictures of that eagle soaring. So if the eagle can't do it, how does he fly? Wind currents from the valley below literally lift that eagle. His job isn't to flap his wings; it's to wait for the wind.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Eagle Power."
As my Navajo friend told me about where the power comes from for the eagle's flight, I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favorite passages in the Bible; maybe one of yours. Our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah chapter 40, beginning at verse 28, "Do you know? Have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God? He's the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint."
Now, here's a mighty God who is never tired, never weary and powerless people. Maybe this is where you get into the picture. Maybe weary is a good word for you right now. Maybe you're physically depleted or you're emotionally spent, mentally shot. This is great news for people who don't have much left. Maybe you're weak like it says here. Your resources are just no match for the challenges. Your wisdom is not enough to figure this one out. You can contribute little or nothing to an answer. Sounds like the eagle! This says you soar on wings like eagles.
The eagle virtually has nothing to do with his ability to fly. He's lifted by a force outside of himself to do things he could never do on his own. And God says He wants to do that for you. This is great! The eagle's flight has nothing to do with the eagle's strength. God says, "Your flight in these powerless times has nothing to do with your strength. So when you're in a time of weakness, or weariness, or powerlessness you have every reason to be expectant, not depressed. This is a time when there's not much of you, but when there's going to be a whole lot of God. What God? The everlasting God, Isaiah said, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
Do you know, it's at the moments of powerlessness that we finally recognize, even our starting point with a relationship with the God who made us. For that's when we realize we need someone else to lift us, even to ever get to heaven when we die, to ever have our sins forgiven, to ever have the emptiness in our heart filled, to find the love that's eluded us in a lifetime of relationships. And when we realize we have nothing to contribute, we cannot possibly fly our way out of this flapping our wings is when we finally surrender to a Savior named Jesus.
You are that one step of surrender away from experiencing the greatest love and power in the universe. I don't know if you've ever begun a relationship with Jesus. If you never have, and you want to get that settled, I hope you'll join me at our website ANewStory.com. I think you can come away from there having begun that relationship.
So those who hope in Him will renew their strength. You fly on your own, you're going to crash. Maybe you're in a weak or weary time. Well, don't start flapping your wings madly. God says you're an eagle. You'll eventually soar if you do what you're supposed to do; trust your Creator's strength and ride on His wind.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Revelation 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Prison of Pride
The prison of pride. You’ve seen the prisoners—the alcoholic who won’t admit his drinking problem; the woman who refuses to talk to anyone about her fears. Perhaps to see such a prisoner all you have to do is look in the mirror!
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us” (I John 1:9). The biggest word in Scripture just might be that two-letter one, if.
Confessing sins, admitting failure, is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do. They say, “Listen, I’m just as good as the next guy.” “I pay my taxes.” Justification. Rationalization. Comparison. These are the tools of the jailbird. But in the kingdom of God they sound hollow. Many know they’re wrong, yet pretend they are right. As a result they never taste the exquisite sorrow of repentance.
Blessed are those who know they’re in trouble and have enough sense to admit it!
From The Applause of Heaven
Revelation 7
New International Version (NIV)
144,000 Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
Footnotes:
Revelation 7:16 Isaiah 49:10
Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 49:10
Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 25:8
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Footnotes:
Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to your height
Insight
In today’s passage, we read our Lord’s admonition to trust in God’s provision instead of worrying. Managing our troubles by faith one day at a time is wise counsel indeed: “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (v.34). Leaving our struggles in God’s hands is a key to peaceful living.
Food In The Cupboard
January 15, 2014 — by Dave Branon
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about . . . what you will put on. —Matthew 6:25
My friend Marcia, the director of the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, recently illustrated an important way to look at things. In a newsletter article she titled “A Blessed Start,” she pointed out that for the first time in 7 years the school began the new year with a surplus. And what was that surplus? A thousand dollars in the bank? No. Enough school supplies for the year? No. It was simply this: A month’s supply of food in the cupboard.
When you’re in charge of feeding 30 hungry kids on a shoestring budget, that’s big! She accompanied her note with this verse from 1 Chronicles 16:34, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Year after year Marcia trusts God to provide for the children and staff at her school. She never has much—whether it’s water or food or school supplies. Yet she is always grateful for what God sends, and she is faithful to believe that He will continue to provide.
As we begin a new year, do we have faith in God’s provision? To do so is to take our Savior at His word when He said, “Do not worry about your life . . . . Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:25,34).
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. —Corrie ten Boom
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 15, 2014
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral”-the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ’white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Original Love - #7048
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Our friend, Kathy, has walked to get around most of her life. Recently she started floating. Yeah, she got the glow, a new bounce in her voice when she answers the phone, a new confidence. Kathy's more alive than we've ever seen her. Now, what magic could bring about all these wonders? If you haven't guessed, you've been away too long. She's in love! She's in her twenties, and this is her first really big romance. It might be her lifelong romance. It's pretty exciting to watch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Original Love."
Well, there is nothing quite so beautiful as original love. God thinks so. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 2. God is talking to a powerhouse group of believers. He says in verse 2, "I know your deeds. I know your hard work. I know your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men. You've tested those who claimed to be apostles but are not; you've found them false. You've persevered. You've endured hardship for My name and have not grown weary."
Man, these are believers who were doing a lot of things right, and maybe they describe you: working hard for the Lord, staying true when others are wandering, taking a stand against false teaching, biblically loyal, enduring hardships for Jesus. These folks are going to get the Church of the Year award, right? No! They're missing what Jesus valued most.
Listen to Revelation 2:4, "Yet I hold this against you; you have forsaken your first love.Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place." Jesus says, "You've fallen! You don't love Me like you used to." You've got the right theology, the right lifestyle, the right activities, but that's not the height. The height was when you loved Him more with original love.
Could Jesus be saying that to you right now? I mean, so much is right in your life, and I'm grateful for that. But the big thing isn't right. You don't love Me like you used to. See, first love takes on flesh and blood as I watch it come alive in Kathy's romance. First love isn't cerebral; it's emotional. Do you have deep feelings for Jesus, or has the passion of your love grown cold? I want to be more moved by Jesus; more moved by what He did for me on the cross than I've ever been in my life.
And Kathy's original love is expectant. She looks forward to each new day of being with, or talking with, and going places with the man she loves. That's how a Jesus lover looks at his day or her day; being with Him, talking with Jesus in the many experiences of this day. And I'm watching in Kathy a love that's buoyant. You know, no problem seems big enough to sink her now because of a love that's bigger than all that. Well, those who deeply love Jesus experience a similar buoyancy. Jesus is simply so overwhelming to me that nothing else really is.
It's so easy for the first love to die. In our relationship with Jesus, first love gets quenched by the rules, the rat race, the rats, the religiosity, the responsibilities, or sometimes by spiritual adultery when we let something else have the best of our love. Maybe Jesus is calling you back to that love you had when you knew Him a lot less but you loved Him more. It's so easy to lose. Loving Jesus has always begun at the same place. The hymn says, "That old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, has a wondrous attraction for me, where the dear Lamb of God left His glory above to bear it to dark Calvary."
In the middle of all our Christianity, it's easy to forget what it's all about. It's a relationship. It's a love affair with the Lord Jesus. Maybe right now He's got His hands on your shoulders. He's asking you what He asked Peter, "Do you love Me? "Oh, yes, Lord, if ever I loved You, my Jesus, 'tis now."
The prison of pride. You’ve seen the prisoners—the alcoholic who won’t admit his drinking problem; the woman who refuses to talk to anyone about her fears. Perhaps to see such a prisoner all you have to do is look in the mirror!
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us” (I John 1:9). The biggest word in Scripture just might be that two-letter one, if.
Confessing sins, admitting failure, is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do. They say, “Listen, I’m just as good as the next guy.” “I pay my taxes.” Justification. Rationalization. Comparison. These are the tools of the jailbird. But in the kingdom of God they sound hollow. Many know they’re wrong, yet pretend they are right. As a result they never taste the exquisite sorrow of repentance.
Blessed are those who know they’re in trouble and have enough sense to admit it!
From The Applause of Heaven
Revelation 7
New International Version (NIV)
144,000 Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”
Footnotes:
Revelation 7:16 Isaiah 49:10
Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 49:10
Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 25:8
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Footnotes:
Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to your height
Insight
In today’s passage, we read our Lord’s admonition to trust in God’s provision instead of worrying. Managing our troubles by faith one day at a time is wise counsel indeed: “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (v.34). Leaving our struggles in God’s hands is a key to peaceful living.
Food In The Cupboard
January 15, 2014 — by Dave Branon
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about . . . what you will put on. —Matthew 6:25
My friend Marcia, the director of the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, recently illustrated an important way to look at things. In a newsletter article she titled “A Blessed Start,” she pointed out that for the first time in 7 years the school began the new year with a surplus. And what was that surplus? A thousand dollars in the bank? No. Enough school supplies for the year? No. It was simply this: A month’s supply of food in the cupboard.
When you’re in charge of feeding 30 hungry kids on a shoestring budget, that’s big! She accompanied her note with this verse from 1 Chronicles 16:34, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Year after year Marcia trusts God to provide for the children and staff at her school. She never has much—whether it’s water or food or school supplies. Yet she is always grateful for what God sends, and she is faithful to believe that He will continue to provide.
As we begin a new year, do we have faith in God’s provision? To do so is to take our Savior at His word when He said, “Do not worry about your life . . . . Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:25,34).
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. —Corrie ten Boom
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 15, 2014
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4
No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral”-the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.
Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).
Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ’white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”
“This is the will of God, your sanctification . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Original Love - #7048
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Our friend, Kathy, has walked to get around most of her life. Recently she started floating. Yeah, she got the glow, a new bounce in her voice when she answers the phone, a new confidence. Kathy's more alive than we've ever seen her. Now, what magic could bring about all these wonders? If you haven't guessed, you've been away too long. She's in love! She's in her twenties, and this is her first really big romance. It might be her lifelong romance. It's pretty exciting to watch.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Original Love."
Well, there is nothing quite so beautiful as original love. God thinks so. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 2. God is talking to a powerhouse group of believers. He says in verse 2, "I know your deeds. I know your hard work. I know your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men. You've tested those who claimed to be apostles but are not; you've found them false. You've persevered. You've endured hardship for My name and have not grown weary."
Man, these are believers who were doing a lot of things right, and maybe they describe you: working hard for the Lord, staying true when others are wandering, taking a stand against false teaching, biblically loyal, enduring hardships for Jesus. These folks are going to get the Church of the Year award, right? No! They're missing what Jesus valued most.
Listen to Revelation 2:4, "Yet I hold this against you; you have forsaken your first love.Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place." Jesus says, "You've fallen! You don't love Me like you used to." You've got the right theology, the right lifestyle, the right activities, but that's not the height. The height was when you loved Him more with original love.
Could Jesus be saying that to you right now? I mean, so much is right in your life, and I'm grateful for that. But the big thing isn't right. You don't love Me like you used to. See, first love takes on flesh and blood as I watch it come alive in Kathy's romance. First love isn't cerebral; it's emotional. Do you have deep feelings for Jesus, or has the passion of your love grown cold? I want to be more moved by Jesus; more moved by what He did for me on the cross than I've ever been in my life.
And Kathy's original love is expectant. She looks forward to each new day of being with, or talking with, and going places with the man she loves. That's how a Jesus lover looks at his day or her day; being with Him, talking with Jesus in the many experiences of this day. And I'm watching in Kathy a love that's buoyant. You know, no problem seems big enough to sink her now because of a love that's bigger than all that. Well, those who deeply love Jesus experience a similar buoyancy. Jesus is simply so overwhelming to me that nothing else really is.
It's so easy for the first love to die. In our relationship with Jesus, first love gets quenched by the rules, the rat race, the rats, the religiosity, the responsibilities, or sometimes by spiritual adultery when we let something else have the best of our love. Maybe Jesus is calling you back to that love you had when you knew Him a lot less but you loved Him more. It's so easy to lose. Loving Jesus has always begun at the same place. The hymn says, "That old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, has a wondrous attraction for me, where the dear Lamb of God left His glory above to bear it to dark Calvary."
In the middle of all our Christianity, it's easy to forget what it's all about. It's a relationship. It's a love affair with the Lord Jesus. Maybe right now He's got His hands on your shoulders. He's asking you what He asked Peter, "Do you love Me? "Oh, yes, Lord, if ever I loved You, my Jesus, 'tis now."
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Psalm 80, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A New Definition
With God-all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26).
Consider Abram. Pushing a century of years, his wife, Sarai, ninety. The wallpaper in the nursery faded, baby furniture out of date. The topic of a promised child brings sighs and tears. . . and God tells them they'd better select a name for their new son. They laugh! Partly because it's too good to happen and partly because it might. They've given up hope, and hope born anew is always funny before it's real. They laugh a little at God, and a lot with God-for God is laughing too.
With the smile still on His face, He gets busy doing what He does the best-the unbelievable. Abram, the father of one, will now be Abraham, the father of a promised multitude. Sarai, the barren one, will now be Sarah, the mother.
Their names aren't the only thing God changes. He changes the way they define the word impossible!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 80
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision[b] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,[c]
its shoots as far as the River.[d]
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son[e] you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
Footnotes:
Psalm 80:1 In Hebrew texts 80:1-19 is numbered 80:2-20.
Psalm 80:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text contention
Psalm 80:11 Probably the Mediterranean
Psalm 80:11 That is, the Euphrates
Psalm 80:15 Or branch
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 4
Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods[b]?[c]
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble and[d] do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Footnotes:
Psalm 4:1 In Hebrew texts 4:1-8 is numbered 4:2-9.
Psalm 4:2 Or seek lies
Psalm 4:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 4.
Psalm 4:4 Or In your anger (see Septuagint)
Insight
The Bible is not an unrealistic book, for it expresses the full range of human experience. Yet the negative is often accompanied by a redeeming faith in God that helped the writers to endure trials and strengthened their character—and it does the same for us today. This psalm by King David is animated with a variety of life experiences. He takes both the good and the bad and projects them heavenward to God in prayer. He writes: “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (v.8). The peace available to us in God quiets us in a way that the world does not understand or enjoy.
Sweet Rest
January 14, 2014 — by David C. Egner
You have put gladness in my heart. —Psalm 4:7
Try as we might—tossing, turning, fluffing the pillow, pounding the pillow—sometimes we just can’t fall asleep. After offering some good suggestions on how to get a better night’s sleep, a news article concluded that there really is no “right way” to sleep.
There are numerous reasons why sleep eludes us, many of which we can’t do much about. But sometimes unwanted wakefulness is caused by anxious thoughts, worry, or guilt. It’s then that the example of David in Psalm 4 can help. He called out to God, asking for mercy and for God to hear his prayer (v.1). He also reminded himself that the Lord does hear him when he calls on Him (v.3). David encourages us: “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still” (v.4). Focusing our minds on the goodness, mercy, and love of God for His world, our loved ones, and ourselves can aid us in trusting the Lord (v.5).
The Lord desires to help us set aside our worries about finding solutions to our problems and place our trust in Him to work things out. He can “put gladness” in our hearts (v.7), so that we might “lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make [us] dwell in safety” (v.8).
Give me a spirit of peace, dear Lord,
Midst the storms and the tempests that roll,
That I may find rest and quiet within,
A calm buried deep in my soul. —Dawe
Even when we cannot sleep, God can give us rest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 14, 2014
Called By God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me’ —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “. . . who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “. . . who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard-”the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Next Exciting Episode - #7047
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
You can become fairly addicted to a predictable television adventure series. You know how it's going to go. There's a victim you like; there's a villain you don't like, and there's a predicament. And you want to see the predicament resolved, but what if the predicament isn't resolved? You see this wrong sense of values as it goes down to three minutes, two minutes, one minute. You know it's going to end very quickly and it's getting worse. The villain you don't like is winning. The victim you really do like, well how are they going to fix it? And finally, one of the heroes appears on the scene and it's resolved.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Next Exciting Episode."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 8, and I'll begin reading at verse 39. It's the familiar story of Jesus being asked to heal Jairus' daughter. She was very sick with a fever, and then as Jairus comes to Him, Jesus has stopped, and He's healed someone else. We pick up the story there, "While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus and said, 'Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher any more.' Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, 'Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.'" Now, this is kind of like on those TV shows where they just put "Continued" and you're hanging on to see what will happen in the next episode.
Well, finally He arrives at the house of Jairus. It says, "He did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said, 'She is not dead but asleep.'" Then Jesus spoke to her and she returned to life. The servant had said, "Don't bother Jesus any more. Wrap it up. Go home. It's too late. The end!" Like a television adventure, it was time to give up; all was lost!
But when God writes a series, it continues. That's always how it is when your life is in God's hands. It ain't over till it's over! And it ain't over because God isn't finished yet. You might be. You might have tried every human solution you can think of, but God isn't finished yet. And He doesn't need much time to change the ending.
No matter how dark a chapter you're living in, no matter how final it seems to be, in Christ there is always another chapter. This might be just like the middle of the book. Don't act like it's the end of the book. Don't give up.
If it weren't for the dark episodes, you would never have the opportunity to see how powerful your Savior is. He does His best work when we are powerless. See, if you look at the book of your life, there is a word that God writes over every hopeless situation - the word "continued." Jairus thought it was over, but it wasn't. "She's dead. It's over." It wasn't over. "I'm not finished yet," Jesus said, "no matter how it looks."
You know, one of the strange things is that when we reach a point in our life where it is hopeless for us, we are at the edge of the greatest hope a human being can discover. When you get to the point where there is something you can't fix, and you can't change, and you can't control, that's the time you begin to look around for someone bigger and more powerful than you. And those are the times when people finally discover the Jesus who has all the power to conquer death, who walked out of His grave under His own power. But only after He died on the cross to pay for every wrong thing we've ever done, demonstrating beyond any shadow of a doubt how loved you are by Jesus.
This very day He may have brought you to what seems like the end of the story to begin a whole new story. And, actually, I want to invite you to a website called ANewStory.com, because I'd like to meet you there and explain to you how this day you can begin your personal relationship with this all-powerful, all-loving Savior named Jesus, who's changed the lives of so many. That's ANewStory.com.
If you know Jesus, don't let anybody treat you like you're over. Because when you've got Jesus, you can always say about your life, "Stay tuned for the next exciting episode."
With God-all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26).
Consider Abram. Pushing a century of years, his wife, Sarai, ninety. The wallpaper in the nursery faded, baby furniture out of date. The topic of a promised child brings sighs and tears. . . and God tells them they'd better select a name for their new son. They laugh! Partly because it's too good to happen and partly because it might. They've given up hope, and hope born anew is always funny before it's real. They laugh a little at God, and a lot with God-for God is laughing too.
With the smile still on His face, He gets busy doing what He does the best-the unbelievable. Abram, the father of one, will now be Abraham, the father of a promised multitude. Sarai, the barren one, will now be Sarah, the mother.
Their names aren't the only thing God changes. He changes the way they define the word impossible!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 80
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision[b] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,[c]
its shoots as far as the River.[d]
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son[e] you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
Footnotes:
Psalm 80:1 In Hebrew texts 80:1-19 is numbered 80:2-20.
Psalm 80:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text contention
Psalm 80:11 Probably the Mediterranean
Psalm 80:11 That is, the Euphrates
Psalm 80:15 Or branch
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 4
Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods[b]?[c]
3 Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble and[d] do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
Footnotes:
Psalm 4:1 In Hebrew texts 4:1-8 is numbered 4:2-9.
Psalm 4:2 Or seek lies
Psalm 4:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 4.
Psalm 4:4 Or In your anger (see Septuagint)
Insight
The Bible is not an unrealistic book, for it expresses the full range of human experience. Yet the negative is often accompanied by a redeeming faith in God that helped the writers to endure trials and strengthened their character—and it does the same for us today. This psalm by King David is animated with a variety of life experiences. He takes both the good and the bad and projects them heavenward to God in prayer. He writes: “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (v.8). The peace available to us in God quiets us in a way that the world does not understand or enjoy.
Sweet Rest
January 14, 2014 — by David C. Egner
You have put gladness in my heart. —Psalm 4:7
Try as we might—tossing, turning, fluffing the pillow, pounding the pillow—sometimes we just can’t fall asleep. After offering some good suggestions on how to get a better night’s sleep, a news article concluded that there really is no “right way” to sleep.
There are numerous reasons why sleep eludes us, many of which we can’t do much about. But sometimes unwanted wakefulness is caused by anxious thoughts, worry, or guilt. It’s then that the example of David in Psalm 4 can help. He called out to God, asking for mercy and for God to hear his prayer (v.1). He also reminded himself that the Lord does hear him when he calls on Him (v.3). David encourages us: “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still” (v.4). Focusing our minds on the goodness, mercy, and love of God for His world, our loved ones, and ourselves can aid us in trusting the Lord (v.5).
The Lord desires to help us set aside our worries about finding solutions to our problems and place our trust in Him to work things out. He can “put gladness” in our hearts (v.7), so that we might “lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make [us] dwell in safety” (v.8).
Give me a spirit of peace, dear Lord,
Midst the storms and the tempests that roll,
That I may find rest and quiet within,
A calm buried deep in my soul. —Dawe
Even when we cannot sleep, God can give us rest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 14, 2014
Called By God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ’Here am I! Send me’ —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, “. . . who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking, “. . . who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now, you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom, could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19). If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will hear what Isaiah heard-”the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will say, “Here am I! Send me.”
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Next Exciting Episode - #7047
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
You can become fairly addicted to a predictable television adventure series. You know how it's going to go. There's a victim you like; there's a villain you don't like, and there's a predicament. And you want to see the predicament resolved, but what if the predicament isn't resolved? You see this wrong sense of values as it goes down to three minutes, two minutes, one minute. You know it's going to end very quickly and it's getting worse. The villain you don't like is winning. The victim you really do like, well how are they going to fix it? And finally, one of the heroes appears on the scene and it's resolved.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Next Exciting Episode."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 8, and I'll begin reading at verse 39. It's the familiar story of Jesus being asked to heal Jairus' daughter. She was very sick with a fever, and then as Jairus comes to Him, Jesus has stopped, and He's healed someone else. We pick up the story there, "While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus and said, 'Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher any more.' Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, 'Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.'" Now, this is kind of like on those TV shows where they just put "Continued" and you're hanging on to see what will happen in the next episode.
Well, finally He arrives at the house of Jairus. It says, "He did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said, 'She is not dead but asleep.'" Then Jesus spoke to her and she returned to life. The servant had said, "Don't bother Jesus any more. Wrap it up. Go home. It's too late. The end!" Like a television adventure, it was time to give up; all was lost!
But when God writes a series, it continues. That's always how it is when your life is in God's hands. It ain't over till it's over! And it ain't over because God isn't finished yet. You might be. You might have tried every human solution you can think of, but God isn't finished yet. And He doesn't need much time to change the ending.
No matter how dark a chapter you're living in, no matter how final it seems to be, in Christ there is always another chapter. This might be just like the middle of the book. Don't act like it's the end of the book. Don't give up.
If it weren't for the dark episodes, you would never have the opportunity to see how powerful your Savior is. He does His best work when we are powerless. See, if you look at the book of your life, there is a word that God writes over every hopeless situation - the word "continued." Jairus thought it was over, but it wasn't. "She's dead. It's over." It wasn't over. "I'm not finished yet," Jesus said, "no matter how it looks."
You know, one of the strange things is that when we reach a point in our life where it is hopeless for us, we are at the edge of the greatest hope a human being can discover. When you get to the point where there is something you can't fix, and you can't change, and you can't control, that's the time you begin to look around for someone bigger and more powerful than you. And those are the times when people finally discover the Jesus who has all the power to conquer death, who walked out of His grave under His own power. But only after He died on the cross to pay for every wrong thing we've ever done, demonstrating beyond any shadow of a doubt how loved you are by Jesus.
This very day He may have brought you to what seems like the end of the story to begin a whole new story. And, actually, I want to invite you to a website called ANewStory.com, because I'd like to meet you there and explain to you how this day you can begin your personal relationship with this all-powerful, all-loving Savior named Jesus, who's changed the lives of so many. That's ANewStory.com.
If you know Jesus, don't let anybody treat you like you're over. Because when you've got Jesus, you can always say about your life, "Stay tuned for the next exciting episode."
Monday, January 13, 2014
Psalm 79, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: You Cannot Save Yourself
You work hard, pay your dues, and "zap"-your account with God is paid in full. Jesus says, "No way."
What you want costs far more than you can pay. You don't need a system of payment, you need a Savior. You don't need a resume, you need a Redeemer.
The Bible says, "For what is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). Don't miss the thrust of this verse. You cannot save yourself. Not through the right rituals. The right doctrine. Not through the right goose bumps. Jesus' point is crystal clear. It is impossible for human beings to save themselves.
It's not the possessions-it's the pomp that hinders us. It's a different path. Admission of failure isn't usually admission into joy. Complete confession isn't commonly followed by total pardon. But then again, God has never been governed by what's common!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:7
Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians
17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
Insight
In today’s passage, Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers about the great opposition to the gospel that accompanied his ministry to them. This young congregation had experienced its share of persecution, so Paul’s transparency about his struggles helped strengthen their faith.
Much More Than Survival
January 13, 2014 — by C. P. Hia
Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love. —1 Thessalonians 3:6
In April 1937, Mussolini’s invading armies forced all the missionaries serving in the Wallamo region to flee Ethiopia. They left behind just 48 Christian converts, who had little more than the gospel of Mark to feed their growth. Few even knew how to read. But when the missionaries returned 4 years later, the church had not just survived; it numbered 10,000!
When the apostle Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica (see Acts 17:1-10), he yearned to learn about the survival of the small band of Christians he left behind (1 Thess. 2:17). But when Timothy visited the Thessalonian church later, he brought word to Paul in Athens about their “faith and love” (1 Thess. 3:6). They had become “examples” to the believers in the surrounding regions in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess. 1:8).
Paul never claimed credit for any numerical increase in his ministry. Nor did he attribute it to anyone else. Rather, he gave credit to God. He wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6).
Difficult circumstances may thwart even our best intentions, separating friends from each other for a season. But God is growing His church through every difficulty. We need only be faithful and leave the results to Him.
Lord, we are so prone to be fearful when we face
opposition, yet so often we want to take credit
for every little success. Help us see that You are
the One who blesses and builds Your church.
I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. —Jesus (Matthew 16:18)
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 13, 2014
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
When He was alone . . . the twelve asked Him about the parable —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
If you are having trouble reading this message, please view the web version.
Leaky People - #7046
Monday, January 13, 2014
For many years I was kind of an old fashioned sort of guy in shaving. You know, I wasn't going to have any of those electric shavers for me. I've sort of succumbed now. But for many years I shaved, well, what I thought was like real men. Which meant cooking my beard with hot water first. And that required filling that sink with hot water; as hot as I could stand it. Now, in order for that to happen, the sink has to be able to hold water for a few minutes. And you know what I've noticed traveling around? They don't all do it. I can get them all full; I just couldn't keep them all full. So I'd close the drain, but they just didn't all hold water. I have to keep filling the sink, filling the sink because it leaked.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaky People."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5:17-18. Here's the real secret of spiritual power. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead, (Now listen to these words.) be filled with the Spirit." Now, those words cover one of the most powerful possibilities in the Bible. When you trust Jesus, God - the Holy Spirit - moves into your body. It becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6. He brings with Him all the power of God right into your body.
The question isn't a believer getting the Holy Spirit; it's how much of you the Holy Spirit is getting. You live supernaturally when you're filled with the Spirit. Now the Greek word means to be saturated, to be controlled by, to be taken over by the Holy Spirit. It's a command here, "be filled with the Spirit."
If you read it in English, you might conclude that you just show up once at the Holy Spirit pump and get your lifetime fill-up. "There, I've been filled with the Spirit." But the Greek is what they call a progressive tense verb, "Be filled with the Spirit over and over again. Keep on being filled with the Spirit." It's not a once-and-for-all spiritual zap.
Somebody once asked the great evangelist, D. L. Moody, why he kept praying for the filling of the Holy Spirit. He said, "Madam, I leak." Well, we all do! It's like filling those sinks with hot water when I was shaving. I could get them full but I couldn't keep them full. They leak. So a leaky sink requires repeated refilling. Fill it just once and pretty soon it will be empty. A Holy Spirit take-over yesterday does not guarantee one for today. There are so many other things that fill you up in a day's time.
We Western Christians are products of an instant, get-it-now, get-it-fast culture. We want instant money from those machines, instant food from a restaurant, instant cooking from a microwave. We like to get it done. So we want to find a quick and final spiritual experience that we can go on for the rest of our lives. Being filled with the Spirit sounds like a good choice, but we leak like D. L. Moody said. He said, "I need a fresh filling for Boston, then for Philadelphia. When I'm in New York, I need to get a fresh filling for New York."
Well, we need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit for Wednesday, and for Thursday, and we need another one for Friday, for today's calls, for today's conversations, for today's To Do List, today's challenges and surprises and stress. Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let each day begin with a sacred rendezvous between you and your God; a time when you identify what else may have taken over; what else you may be filled with. And then repent of it. And then open yourself up to let your Lord again take over your personality, and take over your tongue, and your thoughts and your judgment. To take over your body and your plans.
Just keep on being filled with the Spirit. Remember, we're leaky people, and God - the Holy Spirit - offers free refills so you can have a supernatural day.
You work hard, pay your dues, and "zap"-your account with God is paid in full. Jesus says, "No way."
What you want costs far more than you can pay. You don't need a system of payment, you need a Savior. You don't need a resume, you need a Redeemer.
The Bible says, "For what is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27). Don't miss the thrust of this verse. You cannot save yourself. Not through the right rituals. The right doctrine. Not through the right goose bumps. Jesus' point is crystal clear. It is impossible for human beings to save themselves.
It's not the possessions-it's the pomp that hinders us. It's a different path. Admission of failure isn't usually admission into joy. Complete confession isn't commonly followed by total pardon. But then again, God has never been governed by what's common!
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you forever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:7
Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians
17 But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. 19 For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20 Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
Insight
In today’s passage, Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers about the great opposition to the gospel that accompanied his ministry to them. This young congregation had experienced its share of persecution, so Paul’s transparency about his struggles helped strengthen their faith.
Much More Than Survival
January 13, 2014 — by C. P. Hia
Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love. —1 Thessalonians 3:6
In April 1937, Mussolini’s invading armies forced all the missionaries serving in the Wallamo region to flee Ethiopia. They left behind just 48 Christian converts, who had little more than the gospel of Mark to feed their growth. Few even knew how to read. But when the missionaries returned 4 years later, the church had not just survived; it numbered 10,000!
When the apostle Paul was forced to leave Thessalonica (see Acts 17:1-10), he yearned to learn about the survival of the small band of Christians he left behind (1 Thess. 2:17). But when Timothy visited the Thessalonian church later, he brought word to Paul in Athens about their “faith and love” (1 Thess. 3:6). They had become “examples” to the believers in the surrounding regions in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess. 1:8).
Paul never claimed credit for any numerical increase in his ministry. Nor did he attribute it to anyone else. Rather, he gave credit to God. He wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6).
Difficult circumstances may thwart even our best intentions, separating friends from each other for a season. But God is growing His church through every difficulty. We need only be faithful and leave the results to Him.
Lord, we are so prone to be fearful when we face
opposition, yet so often we want to take credit
for every little success. Help us see that You are
the One who blesses and builds Your church.
I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. —Jesus (Matthew 16:18)
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 13, 2014
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (2)
When He was alone . . . the twelve asked Him about the parable —Mark 4:10
His Solitude with Us. When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us. Notice Jesus Christ’s training of the Twelve. It was the disciples, not the crowd outside, who were confused. His disciples constantly asked Him questions, and He constantly explained things to them, but they didn’t understand until after they received the Holy Spirit (see John 14:26).
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing to you. We think we understand another person’s struggle until God reveals the same shortcomings in our lives. There are vast areas of stubbornness and ignorance the Holy Spirit has to reveal in each of us, but it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now? Or are we more concerned with our own ideas, friendships, and cares for our bodies? Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
If you are having trouble reading this message, please view the web version.
Leaky People - #7046
Monday, January 13, 2014
For many years I was kind of an old fashioned sort of guy in shaving. You know, I wasn't going to have any of those electric shavers for me. I've sort of succumbed now. But for many years I shaved, well, what I thought was like real men. Which meant cooking my beard with hot water first. And that required filling that sink with hot water; as hot as I could stand it. Now, in order for that to happen, the sink has to be able to hold water for a few minutes. And you know what I've noticed traveling around? They don't all do it. I can get them all full; I just couldn't keep them all full. So I'd close the drain, but they just didn't all hold water. I have to keep filling the sink, filling the sink because it leaked.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaky People."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 5:17-18. Here's the real secret of spiritual power. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead, (Now listen to these words.) be filled with the Spirit." Now, those words cover one of the most powerful possibilities in the Bible. When you trust Jesus, God - the Holy Spirit - moves into your body. It becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6. He brings with Him all the power of God right into your body.
The question isn't a believer getting the Holy Spirit; it's how much of you the Holy Spirit is getting. You live supernaturally when you're filled with the Spirit. Now the Greek word means to be saturated, to be controlled by, to be taken over by the Holy Spirit. It's a command here, "be filled with the Spirit."
If you read it in English, you might conclude that you just show up once at the Holy Spirit pump and get your lifetime fill-up. "There, I've been filled with the Spirit." But the Greek is what they call a progressive tense verb, "Be filled with the Spirit over and over again. Keep on being filled with the Spirit." It's not a once-and-for-all spiritual zap.
Somebody once asked the great evangelist, D. L. Moody, why he kept praying for the filling of the Holy Spirit. He said, "Madam, I leak." Well, we all do! It's like filling those sinks with hot water when I was shaving. I could get them full but I couldn't keep them full. They leak. So a leaky sink requires repeated refilling. Fill it just once and pretty soon it will be empty. A Holy Spirit take-over yesterday does not guarantee one for today. There are so many other things that fill you up in a day's time.
We Western Christians are products of an instant, get-it-now, get-it-fast culture. We want instant money from those machines, instant food from a restaurant, instant cooking from a microwave. We like to get it done. So we want to find a quick and final spiritual experience that we can go on for the rest of our lives. Being filled with the Spirit sounds like a good choice, but we leak like D. L. Moody said. He said, "I need a fresh filling for Boston, then for Philadelphia. When I'm in New York, I need to get a fresh filling for New York."
Well, we need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit for Wednesday, and for Thursday, and we need another one for Friday, for today's calls, for today's conversations, for today's To Do List, today's challenges and surprises and stress. Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let each day begin with a sacred rendezvous between you and your God; a time when you identify what else may have taken over; what else you may be filled with. And then repent of it. And then open yourself up to let your Lord again take over your personality, and take over your tongue, and your thoughts and your judgment. To take over your body and your plans.
Just keep on being filled with the Spirit. Remember, we're leaky people, and God - the Holy Spirit - offers free refills so you can have a supernatural day.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Revelation 6 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Three Proclamations
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” Romans 15:7 NIV
Grace makes three proclamations.
Dealing with my sins is God’s responsibility. I repent, I confess, but only God can forgive. (And he does.) . . .
Dealing with my neighbor is God’s responsibility. I must speak; I must pray. But only God can convince. (And he does.) . . .
God loves me and makes me his child. God loves my neighbor and makes him my brother.
Revelation 6
New International Version (NIV)
The Seals
6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
Footnotes:
Revelation 6:6 Or about 1 kilogram
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:6 Or about 3 kilograms
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10.
Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 2:41-47
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Insight
In today’s reading, we see a preview of many of the functions of the local church. The early pattern of acceptance into church fellowship included believing the gospel, personal conversion, and baptism (v.41). Central to the spiritual nurture of these new believers was teaching in the Word of God. The regular observance of communion by partaking of the bread and the cup reminded them of Christ’s sacrifice (v.42). Then through the fellowship of believers, the gospel was shared as a way of life (v.46).
A Neighbor On The Fence
January 12, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
All who believed were together. —Acts 2:44
The fence around the side yard of our home was showing some wear and tear, and my husband, Carl, and I decided we needed to take it down before it fell down. It was pretty easy to disassemble, so we removed it quickly one afternoon. A few weeks later when Carl was raking the yard, a woman who was walking her dog stopped to give her opinion: “Your yard looks so much better without the fence. Besides, I don’t believe in fences.” She explained that she liked “community” and no barriers between people.
While there are some good reasons to have physical fences, isolating us from our neighbors is not one of them. So I understood our neighbor’s desire for the feeling of community. The church I attend has community groups that meet once a week to build relationships and to encourage one another in our journey with God. The early church gathered together daily in the temple (Acts 2:44,46). They became one in purpose and heart as they fellowshiped and prayed. If they struggled, they would have companions to lift them up (see Eccl. 4:10).
Connection to a community of believers is vital in our Christian walk. One way that God chooses to show His love to us is through relationships.
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love!
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above. —Fawcett
We all need Christian fellowship to build us up and hold us up.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 12, 2014
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” Romans 15:7 NIV
Grace makes three proclamations.
Dealing with my sins is God’s responsibility. I repent, I confess, but only God can forgive. (And he does.) . . .
Dealing with my neighbor is God’s responsibility. I must speak; I must pray. But only God can convince. (And he does.) . . .
God loves me and makes me his child. God loves my neighbor and makes him my brother.
Revelation 6
New International Version (NIV)
The Seals
6 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
Footnotes:
Revelation 6:6 Or about 1 kilogram
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:6 Or about 3 kilograms
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10.
Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Acts 2:41-47
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Insight
In today’s reading, we see a preview of many of the functions of the local church. The early pattern of acceptance into church fellowship included believing the gospel, personal conversion, and baptism (v.41). Central to the spiritual nurture of these new believers was teaching in the Word of God. The regular observance of communion by partaking of the bread and the cup reminded them of Christ’s sacrifice (v.42). Then through the fellowship of believers, the gospel was shared as a way of life (v.46).
A Neighbor On The Fence
January 12, 2014 — by Anne Cetas
All who believed were together. —Acts 2:44
The fence around the side yard of our home was showing some wear and tear, and my husband, Carl, and I decided we needed to take it down before it fell down. It was pretty easy to disassemble, so we removed it quickly one afternoon. A few weeks later when Carl was raking the yard, a woman who was walking her dog stopped to give her opinion: “Your yard looks so much better without the fence. Besides, I don’t believe in fences.” She explained that she liked “community” and no barriers between people.
While there are some good reasons to have physical fences, isolating us from our neighbors is not one of them. So I understood our neighbor’s desire for the feeling of community. The church I attend has community groups that meet once a week to build relationships and to encourage one another in our journey with God. The early church gathered together daily in the temple (Acts 2:44,46). They became one in purpose and heart as they fellowshiped and prayed. If they struggled, they would have companions to lift them up (see Eccl. 4:10).
Connection to a community of believers is vital in our Christian walk. One way that God chooses to show His love to us is through relationships.
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love!
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above. —Fawcett
We all need Christian fellowship to build us up and hold us up.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 12, 2014
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
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