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
Genesis 47
Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him, “My father and brothers with their flocks and herds and everything they own have come from Canaan. Right now they are in Goshen.”
2-3 He had taken five of his brothers with him and introduced them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked them, “What kind of work do you do?”
3-4 “Your servants are shepherds, the same as our fathers were. We have come to this country to find a new place to live. There is no pasture for our flocks in Canaan. The famine has been very bad there. Please, would you let your servants settle in the region of Goshen?”
5-6 Pharaoh looked at Joseph. “So, your father and brothers have arrived—a reunion! Egypt welcomes them. Settle your father and brothers on the choicest land—yes, give them Goshen. And if you know any among them that are especially good at their work, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7-8 Next Joseph brought his father Jacob in and introduced him to Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How old are you?”
9-10 Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are 130—a short and hard life and not nearly as long as my ancestors were given.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left.
11-12 Joseph settled his father and brothers in Egypt, made them proud owners of choice land—it was the region of Rameses (that is, Goshen)—just as Pharaoh had ordered. Joseph took good care of them—his father and brothers and all his father’s family, right down to the smallest baby. He made sure they had plenty of everything.
13-15 The time eventually came when there was no food anywhere. The famine was very bad. Egypt and Canaan alike were devastated by the famine. Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan to pay for the distribution of food. He banked the money in Pharaoh’s palace. When the money from Egypt and Canaan had run out, the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Food! Give us food! Are you going to watch us die right in front of you? The money is all gone.”
16-17 Joseph said, “Bring your livestock. I’ll trade you food for livestock since your money’s run out.” So they brought Joseph their livestock. He traded them food for their horses, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. He got them through that year in exchange for all their livestock.
18-19 When that year was over, the next year rolled around and they were back, saying, “Master, it’s no secret to you that we’re broke: our money’s gone and we’ve traded you all our livestock. We’ve nothing left to barter with but our bodies and our farms. What use are our bodies and our land if we stand here and starve to death right in front of you? Trade us food for our bodies and our land. We’ll be slaves to Pharaoh and give up our land—all we ask is seed for survival, just enough to live on and keep the farms alive.”
20-21 So Joseph bought up all the farms in Egypt for Pharaoh. Every Egyptian sold his land—the famine was that bad. That’s how Pharaoh ended up owning all the land and the people ended up slaves; Joseph reduced the people to slavery from one end of Egypt to the other.
22 Joseph made an exception for the priests. He didn’t buy their land because they received a fixed salary from Pharaoh and were able to live off of that salary. So they didn’t need to sell their land.
23-24 Joseph then announced to the people: “Here’s how things stand: I’ve bought you and your land for Pharaoh. In exchange I’m giving you seed so you can plant the ground. When the crops are harvested, you must give a fifth to Pharaoh and keep four-fifths for yourselves, for seed for yourselves and your families—you’re going to be able to feed your children!”
25 They said, “You’ve saved our lives! Master, we’re grateful and glad to be slaves to Pharaoh.”
26 Joseph decreed a land law in Egypt that is still in effect, A Fifth Goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ lands were not owned by Pharaoh.
27-28 And so Israel settled down in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property and flourished. They became a large company of people. Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years. In all, he lived 147 years.
29-30 When the time came for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said, “Do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh, a sign that you’re loyal and true to me to the end. Don’t bury me in Egypt. When I lie down with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me alongside them.”
“I will,” he said. “I’ll do what you’ve asked.”
31 Israel said, “Promise me.” Joseph promised.
Israel bowed his head in submission and gratitude from his bed.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Read: Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
INSIGHT
All male Jews were to come to the temple to observe three annual feasts (Deuteronomy 16:16). As the pilgrims made their way up the highlands where Jerusalem is located, they sang from a collection of songs known as the “pilgrim psalms” (Psalms 120–134). The Hebrew title marks these psalms as “songs of ascents.” Psalm 121, the second of the pilgrim psalms, has been called “The Traveler’s Psalm.” The psalmist addresses our need for safety and protection as we journey through life, assuring us that our God will help us and keep us safe. In Psalm 124, David continues this same theme, deliberating the possible disastrous outcomes “if the Lord had not been on our side” (vv. 1–2). Undeniably, if God does not help us, we will not survive! (vv. 3–5). Concluding his deliberations, David assures us that God has not abandoned us. God is our defender and deliverer. With confidence we can say, “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (121:2).
How does Psalm 121 help you when you feel threatened by life’s journey? - K. T. Sim
My Help!
By Arthur Jackson
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2
For decades the renowned Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir has blessed multitudes through their soul-refreshing gospel songs. One example is their recording from Psalm 121 titled “My Help.”
Psalm 121 begins with a personal confession of faith in the Lord who brought all things into existence, and He was the source of the psalmist’s help (vv. 1–2). Just what did this mean? Stability (v. 3), around-the-clock care (vv. 3–4), constant presence and protection (vv. 5–6), and preservation from all kinds of evil for time and eternity (vv. 7–8).
Father, thank You that You are our source of help.
Taking their cues from Scripture, God’s people through the ages have identified the Lord as their source of “help” through their songs. My own worship experience includes lifting my voice with others who sang a soulful rendition of Charles Wesley’s, “Father, I stretch my hands to Thee, no other help I know; if Thou withdraw Thyself from me, ah! whither shall I go.” The great reformer Martin Luther got it right when he penned the words, “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.”
Do you feel alone, forsaken, abandoned, confused? Ponder the lyrics of Psalm 121. Allow these words to fill your soul with faith and courage. You’re not alone, so don’t try to do life on your own. Rather, rejoice in the earthly and eternal care of God as demonstrated in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever the next steps, take them with His help.
Father, how grateful we are that Scripture and song remind us that You are our source of help. Help me to not forget that this day.
The Maker of the universe is the helper of God’s people!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 20, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
Genesis 46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: ONE STEP AT A TIME
Arthur Hays Sulzberger was the publisher of the New York Times during the second World War. Because of the world conflict, he found it almost impossible to sleep. He was never able to set aside worries from his mind until he adopted as his motto these five words… “one step enough for me.” He took the words from the old hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”
“Lead, kindly Light. . .
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.”
Friend, God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene either, so you might as well quit looking for it. God promises a lamp to our feet but not a crystal ball into the future. We don’t need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know that Hebrews 4:16 promises that “we will find grace to help us when we need it!”
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 46
So Israel set out on the journey with everything he owned. He arrived at Beersheba and worshiped, offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 God spoke to Israel in a vision that night: “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Yes?” he said. “I’m listening.”
3-4 God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here. And when you die, Joseph will be with you; with his own hand he’ll close your eyes.”
5-7 Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons loaded their father and their little ones and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They arrived in Egypt with the livestock and the wealth they had accumulated in Canaan. Jacob brought everyone in his family with him—sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters. Everyone.
8 These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descendants, who went to Egypt:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (Er and Onan had already died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons that Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram. There was also his daughter Dinah. Altogether, sons and daughters, they numbered thirty-three.
16 Gad’s sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Also their sister Serah, and Beriah’s sons, Heber and Malkiel.
18 These are the children that Zilpah, the maid that Laban gave to his daughter Leah, bore to Jacob—sixteen of them.
19-21 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, from his marriage to Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. They were born to him in Egypt. Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the children born to Jacob through Rachel—fourteen.
23 Dan’s son: Hushim.
24 Naphtali’s sons: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are the children born to Jacob through Bilhah, the maid Laban had given to his daughter Rachel—seven.
26-27 Summing up, all those who went down to Egypt with Jacob—his own children, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six. Counting in the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who ended up in Egypt numbered seventy.
28-29 Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen, Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die. I’ve looked into your face—you are indeed alive.”
31-34 Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father’s family. “I’ll go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they’ve always made their living by raising livestock. And they’ve brought their flocks and herds with them, along with everything else they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what kind of work you do, tell him, ‘Your servants have always kept livestock for as long as we can remember—we and our parents also.’ That way he’ll let you stay apart in the area of Goshen—for Egyptians look down on anyone who is a shepherd.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 19, 2018
Read: Zechariah 4:1–7
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
INSIGHT
What keeps us from finishing the work entrusted to us? Eighteen years had passed since Cyrus, king of Persia, told Jewish captives of Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of their God (Ezra 6:3,14). Now the prophet Zechariah urged completion. This temple, like the Messiah who would someday enter its courts, represented the heart of God for the world. Anything done for His honor—and for the good of others—is done in His Spirit. - Mart DeHaan
By the Spirit’s Power
By Marvin Williams
What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Zechariah 4:7
What do you do when there is a mountain in your way? The story of Dashrath Manjhi can inspire us. When his wife died because he was unable to get her to the hospital to receive urgent medical care, Manjhi did what seemed impossible. He spent twenty-two years chiseling a massive gap in a mountain so other villagers could get to the local hospital to receive the medical care they needed. Before he died, the government of India celebrated him for his achievement.
Rebuilding the temple must have looked impossible to Zerubbabel, one of the leaders of Israel who returned from exile. The people were discouraged, faced opposition from their enemies, and lacked resources or a big army. But God sent Zechariah to remind Zerubbabel that the task would take something more powerful than military strength, individual power, or man-made resources. It would take the Spirit’s power (Zechariah 4:6). With the assurance of divine aid, Zerubbabel trusted that God would level any mountain of difficulty that stood in the way of rebuilding the temple and restoring the community (v. 7).
We have two options: rely on our own strength or trust the Spirit’s power.
What do we do when there is a “mountain” before us? We have two options: rely on our own strength or trust the Spirit’s power. When we trust His power, He will either level the mountain or give us the strength and endurance to climb over it.
What challenges stand in your way? How will you trust the power of God's Spirit in your life? Share it on Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
Human power is inadequate to accomplish God’s purposes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 19, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 19, 2018
Debt-Free - #8095
Our friend, Vicki, is one very happy woman. For many years now, she has carried a heavy load of nagging credit card debt. If you've ever been in debt for a while, you know how it always weighs you down like this heavy backpack on your back. Well, Vicki recently came into some money through an inheritance, and you know what she did with it! She had a party-a check writing party! All the debts are paid, and you can tell she feels like she just got out of prison!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Debt-Free."
There is tremendous joy in knowing that your debt is gone and you've got a new beginning. Especially when the debt is the one you owe to God - we all owe to God - for the wrong things we've done.
We all have things we've done that we're not proud of, that we're ashamed of, that we wish we could do over, but we can't. We've hurt the people we love, we've said so many things we wish we shouldn't have said, and we've done things we thought we would never do. The weight of all that is a very heavy burden on the human soul.
The weight even gets heavier when we read in the Bible what the penalty is for our spiritual debt. It says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). There is an eternal death penalty for the way that we've run our own lives instead of letting God run them. The prospect of a hopeless eternity makes the weight of our sin almost unbearable.
But that's why Jesus is such awesome good news. The prospect of being spiritually debt-free is wrapped up in three words Jesus spoke just before He died on that cross. They're recorded in our word for today from the Word of God in John 19:30, "Jesus said, 'It is finished.'" In the original Greek language this was written in, that's just one word, and it's used as an accounting word that actually means "paid in full."
Like our friend's credit card debt-nothing owed any more. So that when you stand before God on Judgment Day, where your sins once appeared in God's book, it will simply say, "Paid in full!" Which means the only thing that could keep you out of heaven is gone! WOW!
But you don't pay the bill. You can't! There's no amount of doing good that can ever pay a death penalty. If you think your religion is going to get you to heaven, there's no way in the world it can pay that death penalty. But God loves you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to that cross to pay for what only He could pay, so you won't have an eternity without Him. Jesus absorbed all the guilt and all the hell of every wrong thing you have ever done, and then He declared once and for all, "It is finished - paid in full!"
This very day you can experience the incredible joy of knowing that you are forever free from the weight of your sin; the joy of a brand new beginning. What Jesus did on His cross removes your sin when you tell Jesus you are putting all your trust in Him to forgive you and to take you to heaven when you die. No one else can. You will never have to face the judgment you deserve because Jesus faced the judgment you deserve.
Your new beginning starts the moment you open your heart to Jesus. Would you let that be today? Wherever you are right now, tell Him, "Jesus, I know that what You did on the cross is my only hope of a relationship with God, of going to heaven, and of having my sins erased from God's Book forever. And I know You walked out of your grave. You are alive! Would you walk into my life today?"
There's some wonderful information that I'd love to give you on all of this. It's at our website appropriately named ANewStory.com. Would you go there as soon as you can? This could very well be the beginning of your new story.
I am praying that you'll be able to go to sleep this very night saying, "I am forgiven. I am free!"
Arthur Hays Sulzberger was the publisher of the New York Times during the second World War. Because of the world conflict, he found it almost impossible to sleep. He was never able to set aside worries from his mind until he adopted as his motto these five words… “one step enough for me.” He took the words from the old hymn, “Lead Kindly Light.”
“Lead, kindly Light. . .
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.”
Friend, God isn’t going to let you see the distant scene either, so you might as well quit looking for it. God promises a lamp to our feet but not a crystal ball into the future. We don’t need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know that Hebrews 4:16 promises that “we will find grace to help us when we need it!”
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 46
So Israel set out on the journey with everything he owned. He arrived at Beersheba and worshiped, offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 God spoke to Israel in a vision that night: “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Yes?” he said. “I’m listening.”
3-4 God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here. And when you die, Joseph will be with you; with his own hand he’ll close your eyes.”
5-7 Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons loaded their father and their little ones and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They arrived in Egypt with the livestock and the wealth they had accumulated in Canaan. Jacob brought everyone in his family with him—sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters. Everyone.
8 These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descendants, who went to Egypt:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (Er and Onan had already died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These are the sons that Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram. There was also his daughter Dinah. Altogether, sons and daughters, they numbered thirty-three.
16 Gad’s sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah. Also their sister Serah, and Beriah’s sons, Heber and Malkiel.
18 These are the children that Zilpah, the maid that Laban gave to his daughter Leah, bore to Jacob—sixteen of them.
19-21 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, from his marriage to Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. They were born to him in Egypt. Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These are the children born to Jacob through Rachel—fourteen.
23 Dan’s son: Hushim.
24 Naphtali’s sons: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are the children born to Jacob through Bilhah, the maid Laban had given to his daughter Rachel—seven.
26-27 Summing up, all those who went down to Egypt with Jacob—his own children, not counting his sons’ wives—numbered sixty-six. Counting in the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who ended up in Egypt numbered seventy.
28-29 Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen, Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die. I’ve looked into your face—you are indeed alive.”
31-34 Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father’s family. “I’ll go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they’ve always made their living by raising livestock. And they’ve brought their flocks and herds with them, along with everything else they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what kind of work you do, tell him, ‘Your servants have always kept livestock for as long as we can remember—we and our parents also.’ That way he’ll let you stay apart in the area of Goshen—for Egyptians look down on anyone who is a shepherd.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 19, 2018
Read: Zechariah 4:1–7
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
INSIGHT
What keeps us from finishing the work entrusted to us? Eighteen years had passed since Cyrus, king of Persia, told Jewish captives of Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of their God (Ezra 6:3,14). Now the prophet Zechariah urged completion. This temple, like the Messiah who would someday enter its courts, represented the heart of God for the world. Anything done for His honor—and for the good of others—is done in His Spirit. - Mart DeHaan
By the Spirit’s Power
By Marvin Williams
What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Zechariah 4:7
What do you do when there is a mountain in your way? The story of Dashrath Manjhi can inspire us. When his wife died because he was unable to get her to the hospital to receive urgent medical care, Manjhi did what seemed impossible. He spent twenty-two years chiseling a massive gap in a mountain so other villagers could get to the local hospital to receive the medical care they needed. Before he died, the government of India celebrated him for his achievement.
Rebuilding the temple must have looked impossible to Zerubbabel, one of the leaders of Israel who returned from exile. The people were discouraged, faced opposition from their enemies, and lacked resources or a big army. But God sent Zechariah to remind Zerubbabel that the task would take something more powerful than military strength, individual power, or man-made resources. It would take the Spirit’s power (Zechariah 4:6). With the assurance of divine aid, Zerubbabel trusted that God would level any mountain of difficulty that stood in the way of rebuilding the temple and restoring the community (v. 7).
We have two options: rely on our own strength or trust the Spirit’s power.
What do we do when there is a “mountain” before us? We have two options: rely on our own strength or trust the Spirit’s power. When we trust His power, He will either level the mountain or give us the strength and endurance to climb over it.
What challenges stand in your way? How will you trust the power of God's Spirit in your life? Share it on Facebook.com/ourdailybread.
Human power is inadequate to accomplish God’s purposes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 19, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 19, 2018
Debt-Free - #8095
Our friend, Vicki, is one very happy woman. For many years now, she has carried a heavy load of nagging credit card debt. If you've ever been in debt for a while, you know how it always weighs you down like this heavy backpack on your back. Well, Vicki recently came into some money through an inheritance, and you know what she did with it! She had a party-a check writing party! All the debts are paid, and you can tell she feels like she just got out of prison!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Debt-Free."
There is tremendous joy in knowing that your debt is gone and you've got a new beginning. Especially when the debt is the one you owe to God - we all owe to God - for the wrong things we've done.
We all have things we've done that we're not proud of, that we're ashamed of, that we wish we could do over, but we can't. We've hurt the people we love, we've said so many things we wish we shouldn't have said, and we've done things we thought we would never do. The weight of all that is a very heavy burden on the human soul.
The weight even gets heavier when we read in the Bible what the penalty is for our spiritual debt. It says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). There is an eternal death penalty for the way that we've run our own lives instead of letting God run them. The prospect of a hopeless eternity makes the weight of our sin almost unbearable.
But that's why Jesus is such awesome good news. The prospect of being spiritually debt-free is wrapped up in three words Jesus spoke just before He died on that cross. They're recorded in our word for today from the Word of God in John 19:30, "Jesus said, 'It is finished.'" In the original Greek language this was written in, that's just one word, and it's used as an accounting word that actually means "paid in full."
Like our friend's credit card debt-nothing owed any more. So that when you stand before God on Judgment Day, where your sins once appeared in God's book, it will simply say, "Paid in full!" Which means the only thing that could keep you out of heaven is gone! WOW!
But you don't pay the bill. You can't! There's no amount of doing good that can ever pay a death penalty. If you think your religion is going to get you to heaven, there's no way in the world it can pay that death penalty. But God loves you so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to that cross to pay for what only He could pay, so you won't have an eternity without Him. Jesus absorbed all the guilt and all the hell of every wrong thing you have ever done, and then He declared once and for all, "It is finished - paid in full!"
This very day you can experience the incredible joy of knowing that you are forever free from the weight of your sin; the joy of a brand new beginning. What Jesus did on His cross removes your sin when you tell Jesus you are putting all your trust in Him to forgive you and to take you to heaven when you die. No one else can. You will never have to face the judgment you deserve because Jesus faced the judgment you deserve.
Your new beginning starts the moment you open your heart to Jesus. Would you let that be today? Wherever you are right now, tell Him, "Jesus, I know that what You did on the cross is my only hope of a relationship with God, of going to heaven, and of having my sins erased from God's Book forever. And I know You walked out of your grave. You are alive! Would you walk into my life today?"
There's some wonderful information that I'd love to give you on all of this. It's at our website appropriately named ANewStory.com. Would you go there as soon as you can? This could very well be the beginning of your new story.
I am praying that you'll be able to go to sleep this very night saying, "I am forgiven. I am free!"
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Genesis 45, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: TRUST GOD TO LEAD
Worrying is one job you cannot farm out—but you can overcome it! And there’s no better place to begin than Psalm 23:2. “He leads me beside the still waters,” David declares. He leads me! God isn’t behind me, yelling, Go! He’s ahead of me bidding, Come! He’s in front, clearing the path and cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks He warns watch your step there.
Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day, but He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says to give your entire attention to what God is doing right now and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. God is leading you– so leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow.
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 45
1-2 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.
4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.
9-11 “Hurry back to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’
12-13 “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here, but don’t take all day—hurry up and get my father down here.”
14-15 Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.
16 The story was reported in Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It was good news to Pharaoh and all who worked with him.
17-18 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is the plan: Load up your pack animals; go to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you on the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land.’
19-20 “Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do: Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’”
21-23 And they did just that, the sons of Israel. Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand-new clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back.
24 Then he sent his brothers off. As they left he told them, “Take it easy on the journey; try to get along with each other.”
25-28 They left Egypt and went back to their father Jacob in Canaan. When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived. Israel said, “I’ve heard enough—my son Joseph is still alive. I’ve got to go and see him before I die.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Read: Genesis 45:1–8
Joseph Makes Himself Known
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a]
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
Footnotes:
Genesis 45:7 Or save you as a great band of survivors
INSIGHT
When we are going through a difficult season, we can find comfort and encouragement by looking at how God worked in Joseph’s difficult—even seemingly hopeless—circumstances. We learn to ask the questions: Why does God have me here? What does He have in store for me or want to do through me? Joseph came to realize that it was God who had placed him in his situation (see Genesis 45:8; 50:20).
We also learn something about God’s timing. It only takes a few moments for us to read Joseph’s story, but his trial lasted for years. His imprisonment may have been to fulfill God’s purposes (interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams) but the timing was also God’s.
How does knowing that God is in control help you as you wait for Him to work?
For more about Joseph see Overcoming Life’s Challenges at discoveryseries.org/q0715. 0 - J.R. Hudberg
Dealing with Delay
By David C. McCasland
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8
A global computer system outage causes widespread flight cancellations, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers at airports. During a winter storm, multiple auto accidents close major highways. The person who promised to send a reply “right away” has failed to do so. Delays can often produce anger and frustration, but as followers of Jesus, we have the privilege of looking to Him for help.
One of the Bible’s great examples of patience is Joseph, who was sold to slave traders by his jealous brothers, falsely accused by his employer’s wife, and imprisoned in Egypt. “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:20–21). Years later, when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he was made second in command in Egypt (ch. 41).
Confidence in God enables us to live out our faith patiently.
The most remarkable fruit of his patience occurred when his brothers came to buy grain during a famine. “I am your brother Joseph,” he told them, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. . . . So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (45:4–5, 8).
In all our delays, brief or long, may we, like Joseph, gain patience, perspective, and peace as we trust in the Lord.
Father in heaven, in all of our delays may we trust Your faithful hand of guidance and experience Your presence with us in every situation.
Confidence in God enables us to live out our faith patiently.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 18, 2018
“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?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Seeing What's Far, Missing What's Close - #8094
When I look out my window I can see everything clearly. But if I need to read these notes right in front of me, I have to put my glasses on. When I'm driving down the road later today, I won't need my glasses. I've got no problem seeing the road ahead, the cars around me, that road kill I want to avoid. But if I need to pull over and look at my map, forget it – I'd better have my glasses or I'll never find that small town I'm looking for. I am, as they say, farsighted.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Seeing What's Far, Missing What's Close."
Farsighted – that means you can see what's far from you, but you've got a problem seeing what's right in front of you. It's a problem many people with perfect eyes have – when it comes to seeing the flaws and the failures that are right in front of them.
Jesus talked about this spiritual farsightedness in our word for today from the Word of God. In Matthew 7, beginning with verse 1, Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Jesus is hitting hard here at a tendency we all have – to see very clearly the mistakes and the faults far away – in others, and to miss the mistakes and faults that are right in front of us – in ourselves. Oh, we're good at seeing the flaws in the person we're married to, in our children, in our parent – and being totally oblivious to the things we're doing wrong. We're quick to jump on the failings of a friend, or a coworker, or a supervisor, or a spiritual leader, and totally ignore where we're missing it.
Maybe, if you're honest with yourself, you'd have to admit that you've become a pretty critical person, quick to point out where the people around you are messing up. People feel judged, diminished, categorized, put down when they're around you. There are lots of reasons we're hard on other people. Sometimes, it's because we like to feel superior.
Other times, it's because we feel inferior and we're trying to feel better at their expense. This "attacking the speck and missing the plank" thing can be because we tend to look for someone to blame, because we want to excuse our failings by pointing out theirs. Because we actually see in them something that bugs us about ourselves.
Whatever the reason, Jesus really doesn't like it. He calls us to self-examination, to cleaning up our own yard, and to attacking the garbage that's in us. Yes, there will be times when God will use you to hold up a mirror for someone and help them deal with an issue. But because we're so aware of our own sinfulness, our own failings, we'll do it with humility, not arrogance. We'll do it with gentleness, not harshness. We'll do it reluctantly, not eagerly.
It may be that you can think even now of someone who's felt the hurt or the condemnation, or the belittling of your criticism. You know, you could both experience some wonderful healing if you would tell them you're sorry and ask for their forgiveness.
If you're spiritually farsighted – you tend to see their faults, not yours. Let God give you His glasses to see the man or woman in the mirror. Getting you to be what Jesus wants you to be should be pretty much a full-time job!
Worrying is one job you cannot farm out—but you can overcome it! And there’s no better place to begin than Psalm 23:2. “He leads me beside the still waters,” David declares. He leads me! God isn’t behind me, yelling, Go! He’s ahead of me bidding, Come! He’s in front, clearing the path and cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks He warns watch your step there.
Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day, but He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says to give your entire attention to what God is doing right now and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. God is leading you– so leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow.
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 45
1-2 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.
3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.
4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.
9-11 “Hurry back to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’
12-13 “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here, but don’t take all day—hurry up and get my father down here.”
14-15 Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.
16 The story was reported in Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It was good news to Pharaoh and all who worked with him.
17-18 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is the plan: Load up your pack animals; go to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you on the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land.’
19-20 “Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do: Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’”
21-23 And they did just that, the sons of Israel. Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand-new clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back.
24 Then he sent his brothers off. As they left he told them, “Take it easy on the journey; try to get along with each other.”
25-28 They left Egypt and went back to their father Jacob in Canaan. When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived. Israel said, “I’ve heard enough—my son Joseph is still alive. I’ve got to go and see him before I die.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Read: Genesis 45:1–8
Joseph Makes Himself Known
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.[a]
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
Footnotes:
Genesis 45:7 Or save you as a great band of survivors
INSIGHT
When we are going through a difficult season, we can find comfort and encouragement by looking at how God worked in Joseph’s difficult—even seemingly hopeless—circumstances. We learn to ask the questions: Why does God have me here? What does He have in store for me or want to do through me? Joseph came to realize that it was God who had placed him in his situation (see Genesis 45:8; 50:20).
We also learn something about God’s timing. It only takes a few moments for us to read Joseph’s story, but his trial lasted for years. His imprisonment may have been to fulfill God’s purposes (interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams) but the timing was also God’s.
How does knowing that God is in control help you as you wait for Him to work?
For more about Joseph see Overcoming Life’s Challenges at discoveryseries.org/q0715. 0 - J.R. Hudberg
Dealing with Delay
By David C. McCasland
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45:8
A global computer system outage causes widespread flight cancellations, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers at airports. During a winter storm, multiple auto accidents close major highways. The person who promised to send a reply “right away” has failed to do so. Delays can often produce anger and frustration, but as followers of Jesus, we have the privilege of looking to Him for help.
One of the Bible’s great examples of patience is Joseph, who was sold to slave traders by his jealous brothers, falsely accused by his employer’s wife, and imprisoned in Egypt. “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:20–21). Years later, when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he was made second in command in Egypt (ch. 41).
Confidence in God enables us to live out our faith patiently.
The most remarkable fruit of his patience occurred when his brothers came to buy grain during a famine. “I am your brother Joseph,” he told them, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. . . . So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (45:4–5, 8).
In all our delays, brief or long, may we, like Joseph, gain patience, perspective, and peace as we trust in the Lord.
Father in heaven, in all of our delays may we trust Your faithful hand of guidance and experience Your presence with us in every situation.
Confidence in God enables us to live out our faith patiently.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 18, 2018
“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?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Seeing What's Far, Missing What's Close - #8094
When I look out my window I can see everything clearly. But if I need to read these notes right in front of me, I have to put my glasses on. When I'm driving down the road later today, I won't need my glasses. I've got no problem seeing the road ahead, the cars around me, that road kill I want to avoid. But if I need to pull over and look at my map, forget it – I'd better have my glasses or I'll never find that small town I'm looking for. I am, as they say, farsighted.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Seeing What's Far, Missing What's Close."
Farsighted – that means you can see what's far from you, but you've got a problem seeing what's right in front of you. It's a problem many people with perfect eyes have – when it comes to seeing the flaws and the failures that are right in front of them.
Jesus talked about this spiritual farsightedness in our word for today from the Word of God. In Matthew 7, beginning with verse 1, Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Jesus is hitting hard here at a tendency we all have – to see very clearly the mistakes and the faults far away – in others, and to miss the mistakes and faults that are right in front of us – in ourselves. Oh, we're good at seeing the flaws in the person we're married to, in our children, in our parent – and being totally oblivious to the things we're doing wrong. We're quick to jump on the failings of a friend, or a coworker, or a supervisor, or a spiritual leader, and totally ignore where we're missing it.
Maybe, if you're honest with yourself, you'd have to admit that you've become a pretty critical person, quick to point out where the people around you are messing up. People feel judged, diminished, categorized, put down when they're around you. There are lots of reasons we're hard on other people. Sometimes, it's because we like to feel superior.
Other times, it's because we feel inferior and we're trying to feel better at their expense. This "attacking the speck and missing the plank" thing can be because we tend to look for someone to blame, because we want to excuse our failings by pointing out theirs. Because we actually see in them something that bugs us about ourselves.
Whatever the reason, Jesus really doesn't like it. He calls us to self-examination, to cleaning up our own yard, and to attacking the garbage that's in us. Yes, there will be times when God will use you to hold up a mirror for someone and help them deal with an issue. But because we're so aware of our own sinfulness, our own failings, we'll do it with humility, not arrogance. We'll do it with gentleness, not harshness. We'll do it reluctantly, not eagerly.
It may be that you can think even now of someone who's felt the hurt or the condemnation, or the belittling of your criticism. You know, you could both experience some wonderful healing if you would tell them you're sorry and ask for their forgiveness.
If you're spiritually farsighted – you tend to see their faults, not yours. Let God give you His glasses to see the man or woman in the mirror. Getting you to be what Jesus wants you to be should be pretty much a full-time job!
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Genesis 44, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GIVE UP YOUR BAG OF BURDENS
Worry is the burlap bag of burdens. It’s overflowing with “whaddifs” and “howells.” Whaddif after all my dieting, I find that lettuce is fattening and chocolate isn’t? Howell we pay our baby’s tuition?” Whaddifs and howells…the burlap bag of worry. Cumbersome. Chunky. Unattractive. Scratchy. Irritating to carry and impossible to give away!
No one wants your worries. The truth is, you don’t want them either. No one has to remind you of the high cost of anxiety, but I will anyway. Worry divides the mind. It splits our energy between today’s priorities and tomorrow’s problems. The result is half-minded living!
Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to “boldly approach the throne of our gracious God, where we may receive mercy and, in His grace, find timely help.” God’s help is timely! God will do the right thing at the right time. And what a difference that makes!
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 44
1-2 Joseph ordered his house steward: “Fill the men’s bags with food—all they can carry—and replace each one’s money at the top of the bag. Then put my chalice, my silver chalice, in the top of the bag of the youngest, along with the money for his food.” He did as Joseph ordered.
3-5 At break of day the men were sent off with their donkeys. They were barely out of the city when Joseph said to his house steward, “Run after them. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why did you pay me back evil for good? This is the chalice my master drinks from; he also uses it for divination. This is outrageous!’”
6 He caught up with them and repeated all this word for word.
7-9 They said, “What is my master talking about? We would never do anything like that! Why, the money we found in our bags earlier, we brought back all the way from Canaan—do you think we’d turn right around and steal it back from your master? If that chalice is found on any of us, he’ll die; and the rest of us will be your master’s slaves.”
10 The steward said, “Very well then, but we won’t go that far. Whoever is found with the chalice will be my slave; the rest of you can go free.”
11-12 They outdid each other in putting their bags on the ground and opening them up for inspection. The steward searched their bags, going from oldest to youngest. The chalice showed up in Benjamin’s bag.
13 They ripped their clothes in despair, loaded up their donkeys, and went back to the city.
14 Joseph was still at home when Judah and his brothers got back. They threw themselves down on the ground in front of him.
15 Joseph accused them: “How can you have done this? You have to know that a man in my position would have discovered this.”
16 Judah as spokesman for the brothers said, “What can we say, master? What is there to say? How can we prove our innocence? God is behind this, exposing how bad we are. We stand guilty before you and ready to be your slaves—we’re all in this together, the rest of us as guilty as the one with the chalice.”
17 “I’d never do that to you,” said Joseph. “Only the one involved with the chalice will be my slave. The rest of you are free to go back to your father.”
18-20 Judah came forward. He said, “Please, master; can I say just one thing to you? Don’t get angry. Don’t think I’m presumptuous—you’re the same as Pharaoh as far as I’m concerned. You, master, asked us, ‘Do you have a father and a brother?’ And we answered honestly, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother who was born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only son left from that mother. And his father loves him more than anything.’
21-22 “Then you told us, ‘Bring him down here so I can see him.’ We told you, master, that it was impossible: ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he leaves, his father will die.’
23 “And then you said, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come with you, you won’t be allowed to see me.’
24-26 “When we returned to our father, we told him everything you said to us. So when our father said, ‘Go back and buy some more food,’ we told him flatly, ‘We can’t. The only way we can go back is if our youngest brother is with us. We aren’t allowed to even see the man if our youngest brother doesn’t come with us.’
27-29 “Your servant, my father, told us, ‘You know very well that my wife gave me two sons. One turned up missing. I concluded that he’d been ripped to pieces. I’ve never seen him since. If you now go and take this one and something bad happens to him, you’ll put my old gray, grieving head in the grave for sure.’
30-32 “And now, can’t you see that if I show up before your servant, my father, without the boy, this son with whom his life is so bound up, the moment he realizes the boy is gone, he’ll die on the spot. He’ll die of grief and we, your servants who are standing here before you, will have killed him. And that’s not all. I got my father to release the boy to show him to you by promising, ‘If I don’t bring him back, I’ll stand condemned before you, Father, all my life.’
33-34 “So let me stay here as your slave, not this boy. Let the boy go back with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? Oh, don’t make me go back and watch my father die in grief!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Read: Romans 11:33–36
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Footnotes:
Romans 11:33 Or riches and the wisdom and the
Romans 11:34 Isaiah 40:13
Romans 11:35 Job 41:11
INSIGHT
Do you tend to think of yourself as more or less thankful than other people? Consider how the apostle Paul used that question to set a love-trap for some of his readers. Early in his letter to the Romans he describes those who have no interest in worshiping or giving thanks to their Creator (Romans 1:21). For the rest of chapter he describes the unraveling lives of those who refuse to acknowledge the goodness of their God.
Then it happens. Paul anticipates that someone has taken the bait. With no warning he asks his readers whether they really think they are any different than the unthankful sinners he has been condemning (2:1). Paul then spends much of the rest of his letter giving his readers reasons to give thanks to God for revealing in Christ the greatest good news the world has ever heard. Just before erupting in his great expression of worshipful praise to God (11:33–36), Paul concludes, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (v. 32).
In the smallest kindness, a thankful heart can sense the greatness of our God. - Mart DeHaan
Growing Gratitude
By Lisa Samra
For from him and through him and for him are all things. Romans 11:36
Would you like to cultivate a greater sense of gratitude? George Herbert, a seventeenth-century British poet, encourages readers toward that goal in his poem “Gratefulness”: “Thou that hast given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart.”
Herbert recognized the only thing he needed in order to be thankful was simply an awareness of the blessings God had already given him.
For from him and through him and for him are all things. Romans 11:36
The Bible declares Christ Jesus as the source of all blessing in Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” “All things” encompasses both the extravagant and the mundane, everyday gifts in our lives. Everything we receive in life comes directly from our heavenly Father (James 1:17), and He willingly gives us those gifts out of His love for us.
To expand my awareness of God’s blessings in my life, I am learning to cultivate a heart that acknowledges the source of all the joys I experience each day, but especially the ones I often take for granted. Today those included a crisp morning to run, the anticipation of an evening with friends, a stocked pantry so I could make French toast with my daughters, the beauty of the world outside my window, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
What is the “so much” that God has already given to you? Opening our eyes to those blessings will help us to develop grateful hearts.
Take a few minutes to thank God for what comes to your mind right now. Try to do that throughout the day as well.
When you think of all that’s good, thank God.
Welcome to Lisa Samra! Meet all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
The Surprising Reason You Are Where You Are - #8093
Some years ago, we took a delegation of teenagers to a youth conference at the Jersey Shore, and one of our volunteers was one of the counselors. One evening she left the meeting early to check on one of the kids from our group. She started walking down the Boardwalk. Suddenly she hears this cry for help from the water down below. She realized that a girl was out there in that dark ocean about to drown. So she yelled for others to come, she pulled off her shoes and she jumped into the water. She knew this was a life-or-death situation, and she said, "I just had to do something." Pretty soon a couple of men jumped in to help her and together they were able to rescue that young woman. And you know what? Our friend realized the real reason she had been out on the Boardwalk that night. Much to her surprise, she had literally been placed there to save a life!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising Reason You Are Where You Are."
Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from the amazing story of Esther, which is told in the book in the Bible that carries her name. Esther was a young Jewish woman who was in Persia as part of the Jews who had been brought there when the Persians conquered her people. But through an amazing series of events, she becomes the Queen of Persia, the wife of the most powerful man in the world, but no one knew she was a Jew.
When a power-mad member of the king's court engineered this royal decree to have the Jews annihilated, the man who raised Esther sent her a message, challenging her to use her access to the king to save her people. To do so, she would literally have to risk her life because the law required that anyone who came to the king uninvited - even the queen - would be put to death unless the king extended his golden scepter to spare them, and Esther had not been summoned by the king for a month.
The challenge Esther receives is in our word for today from the Word of God, Esther 4:14, and it may very well be the challenge that our Savior has for you at this point in your life. Here it is. "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" In other words, God has placed you where you are, not just to enjoy the benefits of your position, but to save lives!
Have you considered that maybe that's the same reason you've been positioned where you are? You work where you work, you live where you live, you go to school where you go to school, you do what you do because God has assigned you there to be those people's link to Jesus!
Some years ago, my friend Gary was talking with a woman whose dad teaches at one of America's military academies. This woman was really spiritually burdened for her dad. Gary knows a lot of influential people and he offered to call the then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to invite her dad to an upcoming adult outreach. Or, he said, "I'll even call a Christian cabinet member I know in this administration." But to my friend's surprise, this woman said, "No, that won't work." Gary asked her what would work - who could get through to her father. Her answer? "Another professor. Someone like him."
That's probably how the people around you are going to be reached for Christ - through someone who does what they do, lives where they live, faces what they face. And for the people around you, that would be you.
I don't know what you think of when I say the word "evangelist" - probably someone preaching on a crusade platform - but I hope you'll start to think of the man or woman in the mirror. Because all that is, is someone who carries the Good News of Jesus to people who need Him. Of all of the millions of God's children, you're the one He has positioned to rescue the people around you. And where you are is your stretch of the beach and you're His designated lifeguard.
Like a young woman near the ocean that night, like that Jewish girl placed in a strategic spot, you've been placed where you are to save someone who is dying - eternally if they die without Christ. You're not there just to enjoy your spot. You are there to save lives!
Worry is the burlap bag of burdens. It’s overflowing with “whaddifs” and “howells.” Whaddif after all my dieting, I find that lettuce is fattening and chocolate isn’t? Howell we pay our baby’s tuition?” Whaddifs and howells…the burlap bag of worry. Cumbersome. Chunky. Unattractive. Scratchy. Irritating to carry and impossible to give away!
No one wants your worries. The truth is, you don’t want them either. No one has to remind you of the high cost of anxiety, but I will anyway. Worry divides the mind. It splits our energy between today’s priorities and tomorrow’s problems. The result is half-minded living!
Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to “boldly approach the throne of our gracious God, where we may receive mercy and, in His grace, find timely help.” God’s help is timely! God will do the right thing at the right time. And what a difference that makes!
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 44
1-2 Joseph ordered his house steward: “Fill the men’s bags with food—all they can carry—and replace each one’s money at the top of the bag. Then put my chalice, my silver chalice, in the top of the bag of the youngest, along with the money for his food.” He did as Joseph ordered.
3-5 At break of day the men were sent off with their donkeys. They were barely out of the city when Joseph said to his house steward, “Run after them. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why did you pay me back evil for good? This is the chalice my master drinks from; he also uses it for divination. This is outrageous!’”
6 He caught up with them and repeated all this word for word.
7-9 They said, “What is my master talking about? We would never do anything like that! Why, the money we found in our bags earlier, we brought back all the way from Canaan—do you think we’d turn right around and steal it back from your master? If that chalice is found on any of us, he’ll die; and the rest of us will be your master’s slaves.”
10 The steward said, “Very well then, but we won’t go that far. Whoever is found with the chalice will be my slave; the rest of you can go free.”
11-12 They outdid each other in putting their bags on the ground and opening them up for inspection. The steward searched their bags, going from oldest to youngest. The chalice showed up in Benjamin’s bag.
13 They ripped their clothes in despair, loaded up their donkeys, and went back to the city.
14 Joseph was still at home when Judah and his brothers got back. They threw themselves down on the ground in front of him.
15 Joseph accused them: “How can you have done this? You have to know that a man in my position would have discovered this.”
16 Judah as spokesman for the brothers said, “What can we say, master? What is there to say? How can we prove our innocence? God is behind this, exposing how bad we are. We stand guilty before you and ready to be your slaves—we’re all in this together, the rest of us as guilty as the one with the chalice.”
17 “I’d never do that to you,” said Joseph. “Only the one involved with the chalice will be my slave. The rest of you are free to go back to your father.”
18-20 Judah came forward. He said, “Please, master; can I say just one thing to you? Don’t get angry. Don’t think I’m presumptuous—you’re the same as Pharaoh as far as I’m concerned. You, master, asked us, ‘Do you have a father and a brother?’ And we answered honestly, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother who was born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only son left from that mother. And his father loves him more than anything.’
21-22 “Then you told us, ‘Bring him down here so I can see him.’ We told you, master, that it was impossible: ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he leaves, his father will die.’
23 “And then you said, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come with you, you won’t be allowed to see me.’
24-26 “When we returned to our father, we told him everything you said to us. So when our father said, ‘Go back and buy some more food,’ we told him flatly, ‘We can’t. The only way we can go back is if our youngest brother is with us. We aren’t allowed to even see the man if our youngest brother doesn’t come with us.’
27-29 “Your servant, my father, told us, ‘You know very well that my wife gave me two sons. One turned up missing. I concluded that he’d been ripped to pieces. I’ve never seen him since. If you now go and take this one and something bad happens to him, you’ll put my old gray, grieving head in the grave for sure.’
30-32 “And now, can’t you see that if I show up before your servant, my father, without the boy, this son with whom his life is so bound up, the moment he realizes the boy is gone, he’ll die on the spot. He’ll die of grief and we, your servants who are standing here before you, will have killed him. And that’s not all. I got my father to release the boy to show him to you by promising, ‘If I don’t bring him back, I’ll stand condemned before you, Father, all my life.’
33-34 “So let me stay here as your slave, not this boy. Let the boy go back with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? Oh, don’t make me go back and watch my father die in grief!”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Read: Romans 11:33–36
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Footnotes:
Romans 11:33 Or riches and the wisdom and the
Romans 11:34 Isaiah 40:13
Romans 11:35 Job 41:11
INSIGHT
Do you tend to think of yourself as more or less thankful than other people? Consider how the apostle Paul used that question to set a love-trap for some of his readers. Early in his letter to the Romans he describes those who have no interest in worshiping or giving thanks to their Creator (Romans 1:21). For the rest of chapter he describes the unraveling lives of those who refuse to acknowledge the goodness of their God.
Then it happens. Paul anticipates that someone has taken the bait. With no warning he asks his readers whether they really think they are any different than the unthankful sinners he has been condemning (2:1). Paul then spends much of the rest of his letter giving his readers reasons to give thanks to God for revealing in Christ the greatest good news the world has ever heard. Just before erupting in his great expression of worshipful praise to God (11:33–36), Paul concludes, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (v. 32).
In the smallest kindness, a thankful heart can sense the greatness of our God. - Mart DeHaan
Growing Gratitude
By Lisa Samra
For from him and through him and for him are all things. Romans 11:36
Would you like to cultivate a greater sense of gratitude? George Herbert, a seventeenth-century British poet, encourages readers toward that goal in his poem “Gratefulness”: “Thou that hast given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart.”
Herbert recognized the only thing he needed in order to be thankful was simply an awareness of the blessings God had already given him.
For from him and through him and for him are all things. Romans 11:36
The Bible declares Christ Jesus as the source of all blessing in Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” “All things” encompasses both the extravagant and the mundane, everyday gifts in our lives. Everything we receive in life comes directly from our heavenly Father (James 1:17), and He willingly gives us those gifts out of His love for us.
To expand my awareness of God’s blessings in my life, I am learning to cultivate a heart that acknowledges the source of all the joys I experience each day, but especially the ones I often take for granted. Today those included a crisp morning to run, the anticipation of an evening with friends, a stocked pantry so I could make French toast with my daughters, the beauty of the world outside my window, and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
What is the “so much” that God has already given to you? Opening our eyes to those blessings will help us to develop grateful hearts.
Take a few minutes to thank God for what comes to your mind right now. Try to do that throughout the day as well.
When you think of all that’s good, thank God.
Welcome to Lisa Samra! Meet all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
The Surprising Reason You Are Where You Are - #8093
Some years ago, we took a delegation of teenagers to a youth conference at the Jersey Shore, and one of our volunteers was one of the counselors. One evening she left the meeting early to check on one of the kids from our group. She started walking down the Boardwalk. Suddenly she hears this cry for help from the water down below. She realized that a girl was out there in that dark ocean about to drown. So she yelled for others to come, she pulled off her shoes and she jumped into the water. She knew this was a life-or-death situation, and she said, "I just had to do something." Pretty soon a couple of men jumped in to help her and together they were able to rescue that young woman. And you know what? Our friend realized the real reason she had been out on the Boardwalk that night. Much to her surprise, she had literally been placed there to save a life!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Surprising Reason You Are Where You Are."
Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from the amazing story of Esther, which is told in the book in the Bible that carries her name. Esther was a young Jewish woman who was in Persia as part of the Jews who had been brought there when the Persians conquered her people. But through an amazing series of events, she becomes the Queen of Persia, the wife of the most powerful man in the world, but no one knew she was a Jew.
When a power-mad member of the king's court engineered this royal decree to have the Jews annihilated, the man who raised Esther sent her a message, challenging her to use her access to the king to save her people. To do so, she would literally have to risk her life because the law required that anyone who came to the king uninvited - even the queen - would be put to death unless the king extended his golden scepter to spare them, and Esther had not been summoned by the king for a month.
The challenge Esther receives is in our word for today from the Word of God, Esther 4:14, and it may very well be the challenge that our Savior has for you at this point in your life. Here it is. "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" In other words, God has placed you where you are, not just to enjoy the benefits of your position, but to save lives!
Have you considered that maybe that's the same reason you've been positioned where you are? You work where you work, you live where you live, you go to school where you go to school, you do what you do because God has assigned you there to be those people's link to Jesus!
Some years ago, my friend Gary was talking with a woman whose dad teaches at one of America's military academies. This woman was really spiritually burdened for her dad. Gary knows a lot of influential people and he offered to call the then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to invite her dad to an upcoming adult outreach. Or, he said, "I'll even call a Christian cabinet member I know in this administration." But to my friend's surprise, this woman said, "No, that won't work." Gary asked her what would work - who could get through to her father. Her answer? "Another professor. Someone like him."
That's probably how the people around you are going to be reached for Christ - through someone who does what they do, lives where they live, faces what they face. And for the people around you, that would be you.
I don't know what you think of when I say the word "evangelist" - probably someone preaching on a crusade platform - but I hope you'll start to think of the man or woman in the mirror. Because all that is, is someone who carries the Good News of Jesus to people who need Him. Of all of the millions of God's children, you're the one He has positioned to rescue the people around you. And where you are is your stretch of the beach and you're His designated lifeguard.
Like a young woman near the ocean that night, like that Jewish girl placed in a strategic spot, you've been placed where you are to save someone who is dying - eternally if they die without Christ. You're not there just to enjoy your spot. You are there to save lives!
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Genesis 43, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: REMEMBER THE SABBATH
When God gave the Ten Commandments, He needed only five English words to condemn adultery; four to denounce thievery and murder. But when he came to the topic of rest? Listen to this:
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath Day of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servants, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day…” (Exodus 20:8-11).
Wow! One word after another… but still we object. We offer up one reason after another. We don’t like to rest. Please repeat these words after me, “It is not my job to run the world.” In the long run we will do more by doing less!
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 43
1-2 The famine got worse. When they had eaten all the food they had brought back from Egypt, their father said, “Go back and get some more food.”
3-5 But Judah said, “The man warned us most emphatically, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’ If you’re ready to release our brother to go with us, we’ll go down and get you food. But if you’re not ready, we aren’t going. What would be the use? The man told us, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why are you making my life so difficult! Why did you ever tell the man you had another brother?”
7 They said, “The man pressed us hard, asking pointed questions about our family: ‘Is your father alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How did we know that he’d say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8-10 Judah pushed his father Israel. “Let the boy go; I’ll take charge of him. Let us go and be on our way—if we don’t get going, we’re all going to starve to death—we and you and our children, too! I’ll take full responsibility for his safety; it’s my life on the line for his. If I don’t bring him back safe and sound, I’m the guilty one; I’ll take all the blame. If we had gone ahead in the first place instead of procrastinating like this, we could have been there and back twice over.”
11-14 Their father Israel gave in. “If it has to be, it has to be. But do this: stuff your packs with the finest products from the land you can find and take them to the man as gifts—some balm and honey, some spices and perfumes, some pistachios and almonds. And take plenty of money—pay back double what was returned to your sacks; that might have been a mistake. Take your brother and get going. Go back to the man. And may The Strong God give you grace in that man’s eyes so that he’ll send back your other brother along with Benjamin. For me, nothing’s left; I’ve lost everything.”
15-16 The men took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin. They lost no time in getting to Egypt and meeting Joseph. When Joseph saw that they had Benjamin with them, he told his house steward, “Take these men into the house and make them at home. Butcher an animal and prepare a meal; these men are going to eat with me at noon.”
17-18 The steward did what Joseph had said and took them inside. But they became anxious when they were brought into Joseph’s home, thinking, “It’s the money; he thinks we ran off with the money on our first trip down here. And now he’s got us where he wants us—he’s going to turn us into slaves and confiscate our donkeys.”
19-22 So they went up to Joseph’s house steward and talked to him in the doorway. They said, “Listen, master. We came down here one other time to buy food. On our way home, the first night out we opened our bags and found our money at the mouth of the bag—the exact amount we’d paid. We’ve brought it all back and have plenty more to buy more food with. We have no idea who put the money in our bags.”
23 The steward said, “Everything’s in order. Don’t worry. Your God and the God of your father must have given you a bonus. I was paid in full.” And with that, he presented Simeon to them.
24-25 He then took them inside Joseph’s house and made them comfortable—gave them water to wash their feet and saw to the feeding of their donkeys. The brothers spread out their gifts as they waited for Joseph to show up at noon—they had been told that they were to have dinner with him.
26 When Joseph got home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought and bowed respectfully before him.
27 Joseph welcomed them and said, “And your old father whom you mentioned to me, how is he? Is he still alive?”
28 They said, “Yes—your servant our father is quite well, very much alive.” And they again bowed respectfully before him.
29 Then Joseph picked out his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son. He asked, “And is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”
30-31 Deeply moved on seeing his brother and about to burst into tears, Joseph hurried out into another room and had a good cry. Then he washed his face, got a grip on himself, and said, “Let’s eat.”
32-34 Joseph was served at his private table, the brothers off by themselves and the Egyptians off by themselves (Egyptians won’t eat at the same table with Hebrews; it’s repulsive to them). The brothers were seated facing Joseph, arranged in order of their age, from the oldest to the youngest. They looked at one another wide-eyed, wondering what would happen next. When the brothers’ plates were served from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s plate came piled high, far more so than his brothers. And so the brothers feasted with Joseph, drinking freely.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Read: 1 Samuel 7:7–14
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[a] saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Footnotes:
1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help.
INSIGHT
Samuel led his people to worship of the one true God (1 Samuel 7:1–6). Prayer was central to Samuel’s ministry (v. 9); in response to his intercession, God gave the nation victory over the Philistines (vv. 7–13). To commemorate this God-inspired victory, Samuel erected a remembrance stone he called Ebenezer, which means “stone of help.” It can also serve as a reminder to us not to underestimate the power of God to respond to our prayers!
For further study see Let’s Pray at discoveryseries.org/hp135. - Dennis Fisher
The Power of Prayer
By Amy Boucher Pye
Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us. 1 Samuel 7:8
One day, when I was deeply concerned about the welfare of one close to me, I found encouragement in part of the Old Testament story of Samuel, a wise leader of the Israelites. As I read how Samuel interceded for God’s people as they faced trouble, I strengthened my resolve to pray for the one I loved.
The Israelites faced the threat of the Philistines, who had previously defeated them when God’s people didn’t trust in Him (see 1 Samuel 4). After repenting of their sins, they heard that the Philistines were about to attack. This time, however, they asked Samuel to continue praying for them (7:8), and the Lord answered clearly by throwing their enemy into confusion (v. 10). Though the Philistines may have been mightier than the Israelites, the Lord was the strongest of them all.
Father, strengthen my faith, that I will always believe in Your goodness and love.
When we ache over the challenges facing those we love, and fear the situation won’t change, we may be tempted to believe that the Lord will not act. But we should never underestimate the power of prayer, for our loving God hears our pleas. We don’t know how He will move in response to our petitions, but we know that as our Father He longs for us to embrace His love and to trust in His faithfulness.
Do you have someone you can pray for today?
Father God, the way You hear and answer my prayers amazes me. Strengthen my faith, that I will always believe in Your goodness and love.
Share your prayer request or pray for others at YourDailyBread.org/prayer.
God hears us when we pray.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Overdrawing Grace - #8092
There's one kind of mail from the bank that nobody wants to get - you know, that notice that you've overdrawn your checking account! Yeah, especially when they sock you with a penalty for it! It can happen because you've been traveling or unusually busy, or you know, kind of cutting things pretty close financially, or just because you inadvertently wrote some checks before your recent deposit has cleared. You can't try to buy or pay before the money is there to cover it, or you'll just end up paying for that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Overdrawing Grace."
You get in trouble when you run ahead of the deposit that you need to cover what you're doing. Especially when it's God's deposit to provide the resources you need to cover the challenge you're facing. See, He's promised He would do that, but only in daily deposits.
That's why Jesus tells us three times in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not worry" (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34). He concludes His challenge to live without worry in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Matthew 6:34. "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus portrays worrying as borrowing tomorrow's trouble before you get to tomorrow. When you do that, you overdraw God's grace deposit in your account because He puts enough in there for today, but not for tomorrow.
In Deuteronomy 33:25, God promises that "Your strength will equal your days." You get Monday's strength for Monday's burdens. If you try to run ahead emotionally to what may happen on Tuesday or Wednesday or a week from now or a month from now, you're on your own. You won't have Tuesday's grace until Tuesday. You won't have next month's grace until next month. So you're overdrawn and you don't have what you need to cover your anxiety. Worry hauls tomorrow into today and it's just too much.
God makes this wonderful promise in Psalm 68:19 that He "daily bears our burdens." Again, His help is distributed in 24-hour increments. And those classic verses in Lamentations 3:22-23 remind us that His compassions "are new every morning." Today's mercies...for today's challenges.
You may be looking ahead at something that looks totally unmanageable, unbearable, unsolvable. The strength, the grace, the wisdom that it's going to require is more than you've ever had in your life maybe. But you've never had this much grace in your account because you've never needed this much grace before. But when you get there, God has promised He'll deposit everything you need to cover those demands. However, if you insist on worrying about it today, you're running ahead of the deposit. And there's always a price to pay when you overdraw your account because you try to write the check before God's resources are there. God's grace is inexhaustible. There will always be enough, but God dispenses it in just this 24 hours.
If you're feeling overstressed and you're feeling overwhelmed today, one major reason may be that you're bringing too many of tomorrow's burdens into today. It's called worrying. And "one day at a time" is the only way God has ever prepared us to live: daily bread, daily strength, daily mercies.
So, would you just do today? God will never let your daily need be more than the grace that He puts into your account to cover that need. If you live one day at a time, you will never overdraw His grace.
When God gave the Ten Commandments, He needed only five English words to condemn adultery; four to denounce thievery and murder. But when he came to the topic of rest? Listen to this:
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath Day of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servants, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day…” (Exodus 20:8-11).
Wow! One word after another… but still we object. We offer up one reason after another. We don’t like to rest. Please repeat these words after me, “It is not my job to run the world.” In the long run we will do more by doing less!
Read more Traveling Light
Genesis 43
1-2 The famine got worse. When they had eaten all the food they had brought back from Egypt, their father said, “Go back and get some more food.”
3-5 But Judah said, “The man warned us most emphatically, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’ If you’re ready to release our brother to go with us, we’ll go down and get you food. But if you’re not ready, we aren’t going. What would be the use? The man told us, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’”
6 Israel said, “Why are you making my life so difficult! Why did you ever tell the man you had another brother?”
7 They said, “The man pressed us hard, asking pointed questions about our family: ‘Is your father alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How did we know that he’d say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8-10 Judah pushed his father Israel. “Let the boy go; I’ll take charge of him. Let us go and be on our way—if we don’t get going, we’re all going to starve to death—we and you and our children, too! I’ll take full responsibility for his safety; it’s my life on the line for his. If I don’t bring him back safe and sound, I’m the guilty one; I’ll take all the blame. If we had gone ahead in the first place instead of procrastinating like this, we could have been there and back twice over.”
11-14 Their father Israel gave in. “If it has to be, it has to be. But do this: stuff your packs with the finest products from the land you can find and take them to the man as gifts—some balm and honey, some spices and perfumes, some pistachios and almonds. And take plenty of money—pay back double what was returned to your sacks; that might have been a mistake. Take your brother and get going. Go back to the man. And may The Strong God give you grace in that man’s eyes so that he’ll send back your other brother along with Benjamin. For me, nothing’s left; I’ve lost everything.”
15-16 The men took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin. They lost no time in getting to Egypt and meeting Joseph. When Joseph saw that they had Benjamin with them, he told his house steward, “Take these men into the house and make them at home. Butcher an animal and prepare a meal; these men are going to eat with me at noon.”
17-18 The steward did what Joseph had said and took them inside. But they became anxious when they were brought into Joseph’s home, thinking, “It’s the money; he thinks we ran off with the money on our first trip down here. And now he’s got us where he wants us—he’s going to turn us into slaves and confiscate our donkeys.”
19-22 So they went up to Joseph’s house steward and talked to him in the doorway. They said, “Listen, master. We came down here one other time to buy food. On our way home, the first night out we opened our bags and found our money at the mouth of the bag—the exact amount we’d paid. We’ve brought it all back and have plenty more to buy more food with. We have no idea who put the money in our bags.”
23 The steward said, “Everything’s in order. Don’t worry. Your God and the God of your father must have given you a bonus. I was paid in full.” And with that, he presented Simeon to them.
24-25 He then took them inside Joseph’s house and made them comfortable—gave them water to wash their feet and saw to the feeding of their donkeys. The brothers spread out their gifts as they waited for Joseph to show up at noon—they had been told that they were to have dinner with him.
26 When Joseph got home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought and bowed respectfully before him.
27 Joseph welcomed them and said, “And your old father whom you mentioned to me, how is he? Is he still alive?”
28 They said, “Yes—your servant our father is quite well, very much alive.” And they again bowed respectfully before him.
29 Then Joseph picked out his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son. He asked, “And is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”
30-31 Deeply moved on seeing his brother and about to burst into tears, Joseph hurried out into another room and had a good cry. Then he washed his face, got a grip on himself, and said, “Let’s eat.”
32-34 Joseph was served at his private table, the brothers off by themselves and the Egyptians off by themselves (Egyptians won’t eat at the same table with Hebrews; it’s repulsive to them). The brothers were seated facing Joseph, arranged in order of their age, from the oldest to the youngest. They looked at one another wide-eyed, wondering what would happen next. When the brothers’ plates were served from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s plate came piled high, far more so than his brothers. And so the brothers feasted with Joseph, drinking freely.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Read: 1 Samuel 7:7–14
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[a] saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Footnotes:
1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help.
INSIGHT
Samuel led his people to worship of the one true God (1 Samuel 7:1–6). Prayer was central to Samuel’s ministry (v. 9); in response to his intercession, God gave the nation victory over the Philistines (vv. 7–13). To commemorate this God-inspired victory, Samuel erected a remembrance stone he called Ebenezer, which means “stone of help.” It can also serve as a reminder to us not to underestimate the power of God to respond to our prayers!
For further study see Let’s Pray at discoveryseries.org/hp135. - Dennis Fisher
The Power of Prayer
By Amy Boucher Pye
Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us. 1 Samuel 7:8
One day, when I was deeply concerned about the welfare of one close to me, I found encouragement in part of the Old Testament story of Samuel, a wise leader of the Israelites. As I read how Samuel interceded for God’s people as they faced trouble, I strengthened my resolve to pray for the one I loved.
The Israelites faced the threat of the Philistines, who had previously defeated them when God’s people didn’t trust in Him (see 1 Samuel 4). After repenting of their sins, they heard that the Philistines were about to attack. This time, however, they asked Samuel to continue praying for them (7:8), and the Lord answered clearly by throwing their enemy into confusion (v. 10). Though the Philistines may have been mightier than the Israelites, the Lord was the strongest of them all.
Father, strengthen my faith, that I will always believe in Your goodness and love.
When we ache over the challenges facing those we love, and fear the situation won’t change, we may be tempted to believe that the Lord will not act. But we should never underestimate the power of prayer, for our loving God hears our pleas. We don’t know how He will move in response to our petitions, but we know that as our Father He longs for us to embrace His love and to trust in His faithfulness.
Do you have someone you can pray for today?
Father God, the way You hear and answer my prayers amazes me. Strengthen my faith, that I will always believe in Your goodness and love.
Share your prayer request or pray for others at YourDailyBread.org/prayer.
God hears us when we pray.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Overdrawing Grace - #8092
There's one kind of mail from the bank that nobody wants to get - you know, that notice that you've overdrawn your checking account! Yeah, especially when they sock you with a penalty for it! It can happen because you've been traveling or unusually busy, or you know, kind of cutting things pretty close financially, or just because you inadvertently wrote some checks before your recent deposit has cleared. You can't try to buy or pay before the money is there to cover it, or you'll just end up paying for that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Overdrawing Grace."
You get in trouble when you run ahead of the deposit that you need to cover what you're doing. Especially when it's God's deposit to provide the resources you need to cover the challenge you're facing. See, He's promised He would do that, but only in daily deposits.
That's why Jesus tells us three times in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not worry" (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34). He concludes His challenge to live without worry in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Matthew 6:34. "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus portrays worrying as borrowing tomorrow's trouble before you get to tomorrow. When you do that, you overdraw God's grace deposit in your account because He puts enough in there for today, but not for tomorrow.
In Deuteronomy 33:25, God promises that "Your strength will equal your days." You get Monday's strength for Monday's burdens. If you try to run ahead emotionally to what may happen on Tuesday or Wednesday or a week from now or a month from now, you're on your own. You won't have Tuesday's grace until Tuesday. You won't have next month's grace until next month. So you're overdrawn and you don't have what you need to cover your anxiety. Worry hauls tomorrow into today and it's just too much.
God makes this wonderful promise in Psalm 68:19 that He "daily bears our burdens." Again, His help is distributed in 24-hour increments. And those classic verses in Lamentations 3:22-23 remind us that His compassions "are new every morning." Today's mercies...for today's challenges.
You may be looking ahead at something that looks totally unmanageable, unbearable, unsolvable. The strength, the grace, the wisdom that it's going to require is more than you've ever had in your life maybe. But you've never had this much grace in your account because you've never needed this much grace before. But when you get there, God has promised He'll deposit everything you need to cover those demands. However, if you insist on worrying about it today, you're running ahead of the deposit. And there's always a price to pay when you overdraw your account because you try to write the check before God's resources are there. God's grace is inexhaustible. There will always be enough, but God dispenses it in just this 24 hours.
If you're feeling overstressed and you're feeling overwhelmed today, one major reason may be that you're bringing too many of tomorrow's burdens into today. It's called worrying. And "one day at a time" is the only way God has ever prepared us to live: daily bread, daily strength, daily mercies.
So, would you just do today? God will never let your daily need be more than the grace that He puts into your account to cover that need. If you live one day at a time, you will never overdraw His grace.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Matthew 22:23-46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A PASTURE FOR THE SOUL
When God gave the Ten Commandments and it came to Sabbath rest, His message was clear: If creation didn’t crash when I rested, it won’t crash when you do! You know we need to rest. For a field to bear fruit, it must occasionally lie fallow. And for you to be healthy, you must rest. When David says in the 23rd Psalm, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures,” he’s saying, “My shepherd makes me lie down in his finished work.”
With His own pierced hands, Jesus created a pasture for the soul. He pried loose the huge boulders of sin. In their place He planted seeds of grace and dug ponds of mercy. Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of the shepherd when the work is completed and he sees his sheep rest in the tender grass? Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of God when we do the same?
Read more Traveling Light
Matthew 22:23-46
Marriage and Resurrection
23-28 That same day, Sadducees approached him. This is the party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow and get her with child. Here’s a case where there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no child, and his wife passed to his brother. The second brother also left her childless, then the third—and on and on, all seven. Eventually the wife died. Now here’s our question: At the resurrection, whose wife is she? She was a wife to each of them.”
29-33 Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.” Hearing this exchange the crowd was much impressed.
The Most Important Command
34-36 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”
37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”
David’s Son and Master
41-42 As the Pharisees were regrouping, Jesus caught them off balance with his own test question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “David’s son.”
43-45 Jesus replied, “Well, if the Christ is David’s son, how do you explain that David, under inspiration, named Christ his ‘Master’?
God said to my Master,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
“Now if David calls him ‘Master,’ how can he at the same time be his son?”
46 That stumped them, literalists that they were. Unwilling to risk losing face again in one of these public verbal exchanges, they quit asking questions for good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 15, 2018
Read: Colossians 3:9–17
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
INSIGHT
Colossians 3:11 lists ancient Colossae’s diverse people groups. Most familiar are the Jews (the children of Israel) and the Greeks (Gentiles in general—all non-Jews). Paul describes these two groups with the terms circumcised (Jews) and uncircumcised (Gentiles). Then he adds barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free. The distinctions between slave and free are obvious. Scythian refers to wild nomadic tribes and barbarian describes those who didn’t speak Greek and therefore were considered uncultured. The result is a spectrum of ethnically, linguistically, economically, and socially diverse people—all who found the ground to be level at the foot of the cross. - Bill Crowder
Pursuing Unity
By David C. McCasland
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:11
Growing up during the 1950s, I never questioned racism and the segregation practices that permeated daily life in the city where we lived. In schools, restaurants, public transportation, and neighborhoods, people with different shades of skin color were separated.
My attitude changed in 1968 when I entered US Army Basic Training. Our company included young men from many different cultural groups. We soon learned that we needed to understand and accept each other, work together, and accomplish our mission.
Jesus, unite our hearts in love so we may encourage each other and honor You.
When Paul wrote to the first-century church at Colossae, he was well aware of the diversity of its members. He reminded them, “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). In a group where surface as well as deeper differences could easily divide people, Paul urged them to “clothe [themselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (v. 12). And over all these virtues, he told them to put on love “which binds them all together in perfect unity” (v. 14).
Putting these principles into practice may often be a work in progress, but that is what Jesus calls us to. What we as believers hold in common is our love for Him. On that basis, we pursue understanding, peace, and unity as members of the body of Christ.
Amid all our wonderful diversity, we pursue an even greater unity in Christ.
Christ’s love creates unity in the midst of diversity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 15, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. Biblical Psychology, 189 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 19, 2015
Unpacking Before You Get Home - #7311
My family calls it an idiosyncrasy, or maybe they say idiot-syncrasy? I'm not sure, but no matter whenever we have been on a trip, and whenever we get in, I've got to unpack as soon as we get home. Oh, yeah, it might be 2:00 in the morning, but there's Ron putting his clothes in the closet where they belong. Making sure his toothbrush is where it needs to be the next morning. Putting my books back where they came from. Everybody else is zonked! They're in a coma, and here's Mr. Compulsive busily restoring order. See, I'm not home until I'm unpacked.
Once everything is put away, I can start enjoying being home. Well actually, we should all unpack even sooner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unpacking Before You Get Home."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in 1 Chronicles 16:43; it's one of those great examples out of a real flesh and blood life that is given to us in the Old Testament. It says, "Then all the people left each for his own home. And David returned home..." Notice these words, "...to bless his family." He knows what his mission is. "When I get home, I'm going to bless my family."
Now, David's been a pretty busy guy. He's busy with major battles. He's busy organizing God's people. He's busy running this whole kingdom. But now it's time to go home and he's going to bless them. It doesn't say, "David returned home to rest, or to recover, or to get his needs met." It says, "to bless his family." I'll tell you what, that's a great example for all of us, this selfless attitude; this others attitude when you get home no matter what the battles of the day have been.
Whether you're coming home from work, or school, or errands you've been on, I wonder if it could be said of you, (and let's put your name in there) "______ returned home to bless her family/to bless his family." Are you going home determined to be a blessing when you walk in the door? Now, that means you've got to unpack before you get home. You know why? Because we collect baggage all day long.
So, on your way home, as you're driving or riding, you need to unpack all those frustrations, all the stuff you left undone. It will be there again tomorrow. You don't carry it all in the door with you. And, as they say, you focus on the family. Leave your work at work, get ready to be with your family, not just around your family.
Be with them, it's a discipline. You sit there and you think through their day. What were they going through today? What were their needs when I left them this morning? What was on their mind? What was on their agenda? It's just kind of like loving your neighbor like you love yourself except that it's the people closest to you. Picture each one of them. Pray for them as you're headed home. And leave your concerns with your Lord. Don't dump them on them.
The alternative is to walk in the door completely preoccupied with yourself. Make sure that when you get home, you make it a point to lovingly touch every member of your family. Express an interest in each one's day. See if there's anything they need help on. You say, "Come on man, I'm out of gas when I get home!" Well, the Bible says, "He that refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So you get home and you set a climate of caring, and giving, listening, unselfishness. And you know what? You will reap what you sow. And you've come in loaded down with the stress of the day, you sow stress...uh huh, same law... except you're going to reap more stress.
So it doesn't matter if you're a Mom, or a Dad, a son, a daughter, or a brother, a sister - on your way home unpack your day. You're not really home until you're unpacked. Then pray this simple prayer, "Lord, make me a blessing from the moment I walk in the door." I think you'll like the results.
When God gave the Ten Commandments and it came to Sabbath rest, His message was clear: If creation didn’t crash when I rested, it won’t crash when you do! You know we need to rest. For a field to bear fruit, it must occasionally lie fallow. And for you to be healthy, you must rest. When David says in the 23rd Psalm, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures,” he’s saying, “My shepherd makes me lie down in his finished work.”
With His own pierced hands, Jesus created a pasture for the soul. He pried loose the huge boulders of sin. In their place He planted seeds of grace and dug ponds of mercy. Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of the shepherd when the work is completed and he sees his sheep rest in the tender grass? Can you imagine the satisfaction in the heart of God when we do the same?
Read more Traveling Light
Matthew 22:23-46
Marriage and Resurrection
23-28 That same day, Sadducees approached him. This is the party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow and get her with child. Here’s a case where there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no child, and his wife passed to his brother. The second brother also left her childless, then the third—and on and on, all seven. Eventually the wife died. Now here’s our question: At the resurrection, whose wife is she? She was a wife to each of them.”
29-33 Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.” Hearing this exchange the crowd was much impressed.
The Most Important Command
34-36 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”
37-40 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”
David’s Son and Master
41-42 As the Pharisees were regrouping, Jesus caught them off balance with his own test question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “David’s son.”
43-45 Jesus replied, “Well, if the Christ is David’s son, how do you explain that David, under inspiration, named Christ his ‘Master’?
God said to my Master,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
“Now if David calls him ‘Master,’ how can he at the same time be his son?”
46 That stumped them, literalists that they were. Unwilling to risk losing face again in one of these public verbal exchanges, they quit asking questions for good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 15, 2018
Read: Colossians 3:9–17
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
INSIGHT
Colossians 3:11 lists ancient Colossae’s diverse people groups. Most familiar are the Jews (the children of Israel) and the Greeks (Gentiles in general—all non-Jews). Paul describes these two groups with the terms circumcised (Jews) and uncircumcised (Gentiles). Then he adds barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free. The distinctions between slave and free are obvious. Scythian refers to wild nomadic tribes and barbarian describes those who didn’t speak Greek and therefore were considered uncultured. The result is a spectrum of ethnically, linguistically, economically, and socially diverse people—all who found the ground to be level at the foot of the cross. - Bill Crowder
Pursuing Unity
By David C. McCasland
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all. Colossians 3:11
Growing up during the 1950s, I never questioned racism and the segregation practices that permeated daily life in the city where we lived. In schools, restaurants, public transportation, and neighborhoods, people with different shades of skin color were separated.
My attitude changed in 1968 when I entered US Army Basic Training. Our company included young men from many different cultural groups. We soon learned that we needed to understand and accept each other, work together, and accomplish our mission.
Jesus, unite our hearts in love so we may encourage each other and honor You.
When Paul wrote to the first-century church at Colossae, he was well aware of the diversity of its members. He reminded them, “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). In a group where surface as well as deeper differences could easily divide people, Paul urged them to “clothe [themselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (v. 12). And over all these virtues, he told them to put on love “which binds them all together in perfect unity” (v. 14).
Putting these principles into practice may often be a work in progress, but that is what Jesus calls us to. What we as believers hold in common is our love for Him. On that basis, we pursue understanding, peace, and unity as members of the body of Christ.
Amid all our wonderful diversity, we pursue an even greater unity in Christ.
Christ’s love creates unity in the midst of diversity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 15, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. Biblical Psychology, 189 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 19, 2015
Unpacking Before You Get Home - #7311
My family calls it an idiosyncrasy, or maybe they say idiot-syncrasy? I'm not sure, but no matter whenever we have been on a trip, and whenever we get in, I've got to unpack as soon as we get home. Oh, yeah, it might be 2:00 in the morning, but there's Ron putting his clothes in the closet where they belong. Making sure his toothbrush is where it needs to be the next morning. Putting my books back where they came from. Everybody else is zonked! They're in a coma, and here's Mr. Compulsive busily restoring order. See, I'm not home until I'm unpacked.
Once everything is put away, I can start enjoying being home. Well actually, we should all unpack even sooner.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unpacking Before You Get Home."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in 1 Chronicles 16:43; it's one of those great examples out of a real flesh and blood life that is given to us in the Old Testament. It says, "Then all the people left each for his own home. And David returned home..." Notice these words, "...to bless his family." He knows what his mission is. "When I get home, I'm going to bless my family."
Now, David's been a pretty busy guy. He's busy with major battles. He's busy organizing God's people. He's busy running this whole kingdom. But now it's time to go home and he's going to bless them. It doesn't say, "David returned home to rest, or to recover, or to get his needs met." It says, "to bless his family." I'll tell you what, that's a great example for all of us, this selfless attitude; this others attitude when you get home no matter what the battles of the day have been.
Whether you're coming home from work, or school, or errands you've been on, I wonder if it could be said of you, (and let's put your name in there) "______ returned home to bless her family/to bless his family." Are you going home determined to be a blessing when you walk in the door? Now, that means you've got to unpack before you get home. You know why? Because we collect baggage all day long.
So, on your way home, as you're driving or riding, you need to unpack all those frustrations, all the stuff you left undone. It will be there again tomorrow. You don't carry it all in the door with you. And, as they say, you focus on the family. Leave your work at work, get ready to be with your family, not just around your family.
Be with them, it's a discipline. You sit there and you think through their day. What were they going through today? What were their needs when I left them this morning? What was on their mind? What was on their agenda? It's just kind of like loving your neighbor like you love yourself except that it's the people closest to you. Picture each one of them. Pray for them as you're headed home. And leave your concerns with your Lord. Don't dump them on them.
The alternative is to walk in the door completely preoccupied with yourself. Make sure that when you get home, you make it a point to lovingly touch every member of your family. Express an interest in each one's day. See if there's anything they need help on. You say, "Come on man, I'm out of gas when I get home!" Well, the Bible says, "He that refreshes others will himself be refreshed." So you get home and you set a climate of caring, and giving, listening, unselfishness. And you know what? You will reap what you sow. And you've come in loaded down with the stress of the day, you sow stress...uh huh, same law... except you're going to reap more stress.
So it doesn't matter if you're a Mom, or a Dad, a son, a daughter, or a brother, a sister - on your way home unpack your day. You're not really home until you're unpacked. Then pray this simple prayer, "Lord, make me a blessing from the moment I walk in the door." I think you'll like the results.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Matthew 22:1-22 , 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
Matthew 22:1-22
The Story of the Wedding Banquet
1-3 Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come!
4 “He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’
5-7 “They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.
8-10 “Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.
11-13 “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’
14 “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’”
Paying Taxes
15-17 That’s when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in, to ask, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don’t pander to your students. So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18-19 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” They handed him a silver piece.
20 “This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”
21 They said, “Caesar.”
“Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”
22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Read: John 10:7–16
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Footnotes:
John 10:9 Or kept safe
INSIGHT
When we experience difficulties, it helps to read about God’s faithfulness to others. Psalms 77 and 78 describe Asaph’s trials that caused him to doubt God’s love for him (77:7–9). Having experienced God’s presence in the past, he yearned to experience that same closeness yet again (vv. 1–6). As he recalled how God had mightily rescued and redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt (vv. 10–20; 78:1–55), he is assured of God’s presence. He confidently speaks of God as the Shepherd who “brought his people out like a flock” and “led them like sheep through the wilderness” (78:52).
How does the image of God as a Shepherd help you as you go through difficult days? - K. T. Sim
Knowing and Loving
By Bill Crowder
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so” is the message of one of Christian music’s most enduring songs, particularly for children. Written by Anna B. Warner in the 1800s, this lyric tenderly affirms our relationship with Him—we are loved.
Someone gave my wife a plaque for our home that gives these words a fresh twist by flipping that simple idea. It reads, “Jesus knows me, this I love.” This provides a different perspective on our relationship with Him—we are known.
The wonder of it all—just to think that Jesus loves me!
In ancient Israel, loving and knowing the sheep distinguished a true shepherd from a hired hand. The shepherd spent so much time with his sheep that he developed an abiding care for and a deep knowledge of his lambs. Little wonder then that Jesus tells His own, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:14, 27).
He knows us and He loves us! We can trust Jesus’s purposes for us and rest in the promise of His care because His Father “knows what [we] need before [we] ask him” (Matthew 6:8). As you deal with the ups and downs of life today, be at rest. You are known and loved by the Shepherd of your heart.
Dear Lord, thank You for how You tenderly love and care for me. Help me to trust You in all areas of my life.
The wonder of it all—just to think that Jesus loves me!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 14, 2018
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.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
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
Matthew 22:1-22
The Story of the Wedding Banquet
1-3 Jesus responded by telling still more stories. “God’s kingdom,” he said, “is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn’t come!
4 “He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, ‘Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!’
5-7 “They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city.
8-10 “Then he told his servants, ‘We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled.
11-13 “When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in.’
14 “That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it.’”
Paying Taxes
15-17 That’s when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in, to ask, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don’t pander to your students. So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18-19 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” They handed him a silver piece.
20 “This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”
21 They said, “Caesar.”
“Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”
22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Read: John 10:7–16
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
Footnotes:
John 10:9 Or kept safe
INSIGHT
When we experience difficulties, it helps to read about God’s faithfulness to others. Psalms 77 and 78 describe Asaph’s trials that caused him to doubt God’s love for him (77:7–9). Having experienced God’s presence in the past, he yearned to experience that same closeness yet again (vv. 1–6). As he recalled how God had mightily rescued and redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt (vv. 10–20; 78:1–55), he is assured of God’s presence. He confidently speaks of God as the Shepherd who “brought his people out like a flock” and “led them like sheep through the wilderness” (78:52).
How does the image of God as a Shepherd help you as you go through difficult days? - K. T. Sim
Knowing and Loving
By Bill Crowder
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so” is the message of one of Christian music’s most enduring songs, particularly for children. Written by Anna B. Warner in the 1800s, this lyric tenderly affirms our relationship with Him—we are loved.
Someone gave my wife a plaque for our home that gives these words a fresh twist by flipping that simple idea. It reads, “Jesus knows me, this I love.” This provides a different perspective on our relationship with Him—we are known.
The wonder of it all—just to think that Jesus loves me!
In ancient Israel, loving and knowing the sheep distinguished a true shepherd from a hired hand. The shepherd spent so much time with his sheep that he developed an abiding care for and a deep knowledge of his lambs. Little wonder then that Jesus tells His own, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:14, 27).
He knows us and He loves us! We can trust Jesus’s purposes for us and rest in the promise of His care because His Father “knows what [we] need before [we] ask him” (Matthew 6:8). As you deal with the ups and downs of life today, be at rest. You are known and loved by the Shepherd of your heart.
Dear Lord, thank You for how You tenderly love and care for me. Help me to trust You in all areas of my life.
The wonder of it all—just to think that Jesus loves me!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 14, 2018
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.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Genesis 42, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Season of Suffering
God uses our struggles for His glory! The last three years of my dad's life were scarred by ALS. The disease took him from being a healthy mechanic to being a bed-bound paralytic. He lost his voice and his muscles, but he never lost his faith. Visitors noticed. Not so much in what he said, but more in what he didn't say. Never outwardly angry or bitter, Jack Lucado suffered with dignity.
His faith led one man to seek a like faith. This man sought me out and told me because of my dad's example, he became a Jesus follower. Did God orchestrate my father's illness for that very reason? Knowing the value God places on one soul, I wouldn't be surprised. And imagining the splendor of heaven, I know my father is not complaining. A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the great reward!
From Max on Life
Genesis 42
1-2 When Jacob learned that there was food in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you sit around here and look at one another? I’ve heard that there is food in Egypt. Go down there and buy some so that we can survive and not starve to death.”
3-5 Ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to get food. Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something bad might happen to him. So Israel’s sons joined everyone else that was going to Egypt to buy food, for Canaan, too, was hit hard by the famine.
6-7 Joseph was running the country; he was the one who gave out rations to all the people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they treated him with honor, bowing to him. Joseph recognized them immediately, but treated them as strangers and spoke roughly to them.
He said, “Where do you come from?”
“From Canaan,” they said. “We’ve come to buy food.”
8 Joseph knew who they were, but they didn’t know who he was.
9 Joseph, remembering the dreams he had dreamed of them, said, “You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”
10-11 “No, master,” they said. “We’ve only come to buy food. We’re all the sons of the same man; we’re honest men; we’d never think of spying.”
12 He said, “No. You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”
13 They said, “There were twelve of us brothers—sons of the same father in the country of Canaan. The youngest is with our father, and one is no more.”
14-16 But Joseph said, “It’s just as I said, you’re spies. This is how I’ll test you. As Pharaoh lives, you’re not going to leave this place until your younger brother comes here. Send one of you to get your brother while the rest of you stay here in jail. We’ll see if you’re telling the truth or not. As Pharaoh lives, I say you’re spies.”
17 Then he threw them into jail for three days.
18-20 On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. “Do this and you’ll live. I’m a God-fearing man. If you’re as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. But you have to bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech—and not one of you will die.” They agreed.
21 Then they started talking among themselves. “Now we’re paying for what we did to our brother—we saw how terrified he was when he was begging us for mercy. We wouldn’t listen to him and now we’re the ones in trouble.”
22 Reuben broke in. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t hurt the boy’? But no, you wouldn’t listen. And now we’re paying for his murder.”
23-24 Joseph had been using an interpreter, so they didn’t know that Joseph was understanding every word. Joseph turned away from them and cried. When he was able to speak again, he took Simeon and had him tied up, making a prisoner of him while they all watched.
25 Then Joseph ordered that their sacks be filled with grain, that their money be put back in each sack, and that they be given rations for the road. That was all done for them.
26 They loaded their food supplies on their donkeys and set off.
27-28 When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get food for his donkey; there at the mouth of his bag was his money. He called out to his brothers, “My money has been returned; it’s right here in my bag!” They were puzzled—and frightened. “What’s God doing to us?”
29-32 When they got back to their father Jacob, back in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened, saying, “The man who runs the country spoke to us roughly and accused us of being spies. We told him, ‘We are honest men and in no way spies. There were twelve of us brothers, sons of one father; one is gone and the youngest is with our father in Canaan.’
33-34 “But the master of the country said, ‘Leave one of your brothers with me, take food for your starving families, and go. Bring your youngest brother back to me, proving that you’re honest men and not spies. And then I’ll give your brother back to you and you’ll be free to come and go in this country.’”
35 As they were emptying their food sacks, each man came on his purse of money. On seeing their money, they and their father were upset.
36 Their father said to them, “You’re taking everything I’ve got! Joseph’s gone, Simeon’s gone, and now you want to take Benjamin. If you have your way, I’ll be left with nothing.”
37 Reuben spoke up: “I’ll put my two sons in your hands as hostages. If I don’t bring Benjamin back, you can kill them. Trust me with Benjamin; I’ll bring him back.”
38 But Jacob refused. “My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead and he is all I have left. If something bad happens to him on the road, you’ll put my gray, sorrowing head in the grave.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Read: Exodus 33:18–19; 34:1–7
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Exodus 34:1-7New International Version (NIV)
The New Stone Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
INSIGHT
Being exposed to God’s perfect character drew two responses from Moses. He first responded with worship (34:8), and then he acknowledged the need for forgiveness (v. 9). These continue to be important responses toward our loving God who is perfectly holy, compassionate, and forgiving.
What is your response to God’s loving forgiveness? - Bill Crowder
An Angry God?
By Linda Washington
The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6
When I studied Greek and Roman mythology in college, I was struck by how moody and easily angered the mythological gods were in the stories. The people on the receiving end of their anger found their lives destroyed, sometimes on a whim.
I was quick to scoff, wondering how anyone could believe in gods like that. But then I asked myself, Is my view of the God who actually exists much different? Don’t I view Him as easily angered whenever I doubt Him? Sadly, yes.
Father God, I’m grateful that You are always compassionate, forgiving, and faithful.
That’s why I appreciate Moses’s request of God to “show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). Having been chosen to lead a large group of people who often grumbled against him, Moses wanted to know that God would indeed help him with this great task. Moses’s request was rewarded by a demonstration of God’s glory. God announced to Moses His name and characteristics. He is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (34:6).
This verse reminded me that God is not impulsive, suddenly striking out in anger. That’s reassuring, especially when I consider the times I’ve lashed out at Him in anger or impatience. Also, He continually works to make me more like Himself.
We can see God and His glory in His patience with us, the encouraging word of a friend, a beautiful sunset, or—best of all—the whisper of the Holy Spirit inside of us.
Father God, I’m grateful that You are always compassionate, forgiving, and faithful.
Though we often change, God never does.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 13, 2018
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L
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