Max Lucado Daily: ENTRUST YOUR KIDS TO CHRIST
Fear turns some parents into paranoid prison guards who monitor every minute, check the background of every friend. A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. On the other hand, fear can also create permissive parents. Fearing that their child will feel too confined or fenced in, they are high on hugs and low on discipline. They don’t realize that appropriate discipline is an expression of love.
Permissive parents. Paranoid parents. How can we avoid the extremes? We pray. Jesus’ big message to moms and dads? Bring your children to me. Pray that your children have a profound sense of place in this world and a heavenly place in the next. Parents, we can entrust our kids to Christ.
Read more Fearless
John 3:16-36
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”
The Bridegroom’s Friend
22-26 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John’s disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us.”
27-29 John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?
29-30 “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.
31-33 “The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.
34-36 “The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 42:1-11
A psalm of the sons of Korah
42 1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks
from the creek;
I want to drink God,
deep draughts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, “Will I ever make it—
arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
I’m on a diet of tears—
tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
people knock at my door,
Pestering,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
right out in front,
Leading them all,
eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!
5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.
6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God’s prayer.
9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,
“Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears,
harassed by enemies?”
They’re out for the kill, these
tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day,
“Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.
Insight
For New Testament believers the question in Psalm 42:2, “When can I go and meet with God?” may seem odd because we understand we can meet with God any time. In ancient Israel, however, the presence of God was tied to a specific place—the temple. The writer laments that he’s separated from the corporate worship of God in the temple (see especially verse 4). His cry expresses the desire to know the time when he can again meet with God. What a wonderful gift to know that today we can always enjoy the presence of God because He dwells within us (1 Corinthians 6:19).,By: J.R. Hudberg
A Song in the Night
By Monica Brands
If we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.-Romans 8:25
My father’s life was one of longing. He longed for wholeness, even as Parkinson’s disease gradually crippled more and more of his mind and body. He longed for peace, but was tormented by the deep pain of depression. He longed to feel loved and cherished, but often felt utterly alone.
He found himself less alone when he read the words of Psalm 42, his favorite psalm. Like him, the psalmist knew a desperate longing, an unquenched thirst for healing (vv. 1–2). Like him, the psalmist knew a sadness that felt like it never went away (v. 3), leaving times of pure joy merely a distant memory (v. 6). Like my dad, as consuming waves of chaos and pain swept over him (v. 7), the psalmist felt abandoned by God and asked, “Why?” (v. 9).
And as the words of the psalm washed over him, assuring him he was not alone, my father felt the beginnings of a quiet peace enter in alongside his pain. He heard a tender voice surrounding him, a voice assuring him that even though he had no answers, even though the waves still crashed over him, still he was dearly loved (v. 8).
And somehow hearing that quiet song of love in the night was enough. Enough for my dad to quietly cling to glimmers of hope, love, and joy. And enough for him to wait patiently for the day when all his longings would finally be satisfied (vv. 5, 11).
Today's Reflection
Lord, we know that You have carried all our suffering and will one day turn it around into resurrection life. Still, there is so much healing that we wait and long for. As we wait for that morning, help us to rest in Your song of love in the night.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
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
Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Beautiful, Then Gone - #8352
My father-in-law gave my wife and her sister Grandma and Granddad's old farm house in the mountains, and so we had to do some restoring on that little special spot. And since we were able to be there only occasionally, my wife decided to plant accordingly. She said, "I'm planting perennials." Now I'm kind of horticulturally challenged, so my wife had to explain a little further. I'm beginning to understand better now that you can actually plant annuals or perennials. Annuals will bloom for a little while - let's say, like geraniums (How am I doing?) and then they'll be gone. Unless you replant geraniums the next year, which is extra work and hard to do when you're not there. Nope. We need perennials. So my wife planted things like crepe myrtle, and she planted azaleas, she planted honeysuckle. (Hey, I'm getting good at this.) Now as you might guess from their name, those perennials are not going to die on you. Perennials will always be there for you! We all need perennials!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beautiful, Then Gone."
In every garden or yard, there are always going to be those things that bloom for a little while and then they're gone. But it's nice to know there's something perennial, too, not just in your yard but in your life. Our life scrapbook is filled with relationships that were beautiful for a while and then were gone. Experiences, accomplishments that were enjoyable for a season and then they were gone or no longer satisfying. It's just part of life. There's a lot of temporary.
But the longer we live, the more we get tired of temporary and the more we want something perennial - something or someone we know will always be there for us. If you find yourself with a restless heart at this point in your life, there's a very good reason. It's explained in our word for today from the Word of God, Ecclesiastes 3:11. It says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." Let me tell you, those nine words explain so much of our search for peace and satisfaction!
God has created you and me with this vacancy inside that can only be filled with something eternal; something that has no ending. And that's why that hole in your heart has never really gone away. Friendships end, romances end, even marriages, by death or by divorce. And every pleasure ends; every experience ends. And our heart gets tired of saying again, "It's over." God made you for something that's never over--something perennial!
And obviously, only Someone eternal can fill the eternity hole in your heart. Only God can. The Bible introduces us to a woman Jesus met at a well one day; a woman who had searched for something lasting in a series of relationships with men. But nothing lasted; nothing satisfied. Actually, no earth-relationship can ever satisfy this eternity-appetite in your heart. Jesus used the woman's daily trips to this well as an illustration of her elusive search for satisfying love.
He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." Those words might describe exactly how you felt in your heart so many times...thirsty again. "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become a spring of water, welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14). There's that word eternal. Jesus said, "If you open your heart to Me, I'll come in and be the eternal relationship your heart's been looking for your whole life."
But He had to die to make that possible. It's sin-the running of our own life that cut us off from the God who made us. But Jesus' death on the cross paid for that sin and made possible an unloseable relationship with God.
The hole in your heart was made for Jesus. Why don't you let today be the day when you finally begin the one relationship that will always, always be there for you. Tell Him you want Him to be your personal Savior. Our website is all about this. It's about how to be sure you belong to Him. Would you let that be a landing place for you today? It's ANewStory.com. I invite you to go there. I think you could come away changed.
You've seen enough of life's temporary; things that are there for a while and then they're gone. You're about to walk into the perennial, that forever love-relationship with Jesus Christ that is never over.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Monday, January 14, 2019
Psalm 51, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: ARE YOU AFRAID YOU WON’T PROTECT YOUR KIDS?
Parenting comes loaded with fears. Dangers buzz in the background. No parent can sit still while his or her child suffers. Luke Chapter 8 tells us that Jairus couldn’t. “Then a man named Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come home with him. His only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying” (vs. 40-42).
Jesus heeded his fears…he still does. Jesus heeds the concerns in the parent’s heart. After all, our kids were his kids first. Even as they are ours, they are still his. We forget that fact. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
Parents, we can be loyal advocates, stubborn intercessors; and we can take our parenting fears to Christ.
Read more Fearless
Psalm 51
A David Psalm, After He Was Confronted by Nathan About the Affair with Bathsheba
Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I’ll let loose with your praise.
16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.
Then you’ll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 11:1-6
Faith in What We Don’t See
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
Insight
In Hebrews 11:1 we are presented with the powerful relationship between faith and hope (“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for”). This relationship becomes the foundation for all that follows in the Hebrews 11 “hall of faith.” In that light, each event of faith cited is anchored in the hope that the individuals held in God. That hope is what prompted Abel to offer a better sacrifice (v. 4), Enoch to walk with God (v. 5), Noah to build an ark (v. 7), Abraham to migrate to a far country (v. 8), and Isaac and Jacob to pronounce blessings on future generations (vv. 20–21). All of these expressions of faith were made by those anticipating a hope that would be fulfilled by the God in whom they had placed their faith.
For more on hope and faith, see Hope: Choosing Faith Instead of Fear at discoveryseries.org/q0733. - By: Bill Crowder
Hope’s Sure Foundation
By James Banks
Lessons on faith can come from unexpected places—like the one I learned from my 110-pound, black Labrador retriever, “Bear.” Bear’s large metal water bowl was located in a corner of the kitchen. Whenever it was empty, he wouldn’t bark or paw at it. Instead, he would lie down quietly beside it and wait. Sometimes he would have to wait several minutes, but Bear had learned to trust that I would eventually walk into the room, see him there, and provide what he needed. His simple faith in me reminded me of my need to place more trust in God.
The Bible tells us that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The foundation of this confidence and assurance is God Himself, who “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (v. 6). God is faithful to keep His promises to all who believe and come to Him through Jesus.
Sometimes having faith in “what we do not see” isn’t easy. But we can rest in God’s goodness and His loving character, trusting that His wisdom is perfect in all things—even when we have to wait. He is always faithful to do what He says: to save our eternal souls and meet our deepest needs, now and forever.
My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Today's Reflection
Almighty Father, thank You for Your faithfulness to always take care of me. Help me to trust You and to rest in Your perfect love today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 14, 2019
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 life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 14, 2019
Victim or Overcomer? - #8351
Now, CNN doesn’t often do a news stories about high school football player, but there was something very special about this South Carolina player they described this way: “Sometimes the biggest heart on the field can fit into the smallest player.” Well, the name of the player--Kos, a Siberian orphan, adopted by an American family, and as they told the story, he has no legs. He lost them the day he and his friend decided to hop aboard a freight train. For some reason, his friend pushed him and he landed under the wheels of that train.
Now, in this story, he was playing nose tackle on one of his high school’s football teams. As hard as that might be to imagine, he had several solo tackles the past season; he recovered two fumbles; he was such a threat that other teams had to assign two players to defend against him. He would just swing into the fray and knock them down with his strong arms and his head.
His heart on the field and his infectious personality affected more than one school. The football coach at Clemson University brought Kos in to demonstrate his skill to that college team. The coach said, “If my players would max out on what they can give like this young man has, we’d win a lot of games.” By the way, Kos’ goal is to get a good job and make enough money to build a big house with several bedrooms, so he can provide a home for as many disabled Russian orphans as possible.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Victim or Overcomer?”
Victim: That’s what a lot of people in our world feel like. And many of them have been victims of neglect, abuse, gossip, a broken family, tragedy, or rejection. The wounds are real. But that young football player is living proof that your wounds don’t have to define who you are. They don’t have to decide how you handle your life. If you’re living your life saying, “I’m a victim”, it’s ultimately not the fault of the people who hurt you. You have made the choice to let those who’ve hurt you and the wounds they gave you define your life.
That overcoming football player? He had the resume of a victim: no parents, no legs, abandonment, and disability. But he made another choice. He said in his interview that he could see how God was working in his life. He sounds like the great Apostle Paul, who had been through more hurt and abuse than most of us could imagine: whippings, prison, injustice, slander, hit squads determined to kill him, shipwreck, an incurable and painful physical condition. But listen to what he says in Romans 8 beginning with verse 31, our word for today from the Word of God. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?...Can anything ever separate us from God’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger?...No, despite all these things, (Paul says) overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Paul, and a Russian orphan who chose to live as an overcomer instead of a victim. They show us the secret of rising above our hurt and our limitations. First, choose to be defined by your love relationship with Jesus Christ, which is disease-proof, terror-proof, disaster-proof and death-proof. Secondly, focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do. Thirdly, dedicate yourself to use what you have and what you’ve been through to help other hurting people.
You decide what you’re going to let define you: your pain or your possibilities, your environment or your attitude, your past or your future, your wounds or Jesus’ wounds when He died for you. You can be, as one version says, “...more than conqueror through Him who loved you” (Romans 8:37 – NIV). Then, instead of sitting on life’s sidelines, nursing your wounds and making excuses, you can get in the game and you can play to win!
Parenting comes loaded with fears. Dangers buzz in the background. No parent can sit still while his or her child suffers. Luke Chapter 8 tells us that Jairus couldn’t. “Then a man named Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come home with him. His only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying” (vs. 40-42).
Jesus heeded his fears…he still does. Jesus heeds the concerns in the parent’s heart. After all, our kids were his kids first. Even as they are ours, they are still his. We forget that fact. Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God.
Parents, we can be loyal advocates, stubborn intercessors; and we can take our parenting fears to Christ.
Read more Fearless
Psalm 51
A David Psalm, After He Was Confronted by Nathan About the Affair with Bathsheba
Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I’ll let loose with your praise.
16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.
Then you’ll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, January 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 11:1-6
Faith in What We Don’t See
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
Insight
In Hebrews 11:1 we are presented with the powerful relationship between faith and hope (“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for”). This relationship becomes the foundation for all that follows in the Hebrews 11 “hall of faith.” In that light, each event of faith cited is anchored in the hope that the individuals held in God. That hope is what prompted Abel to offer a better sacrifice (v. 4), Enoch to walk with God (v. 5), Noah to build an ark (v. 7), Abraham to migrate to a far country (v. 8), and Isaac and Jacob to pronounce blessings on future generations (vv. 20–21). All of these expressions of faith were made by those anticipating a hope that would be fulfilled by the God in whom they had placed their faith.
For more on hope and faith, see Hope: Choosing Faith Instead of Fear at discoveryseries.org/q0733. - By: Bill Crowder
Hope’s Sure Foundation
By James Banks
Lessons on faith can come from unexpected places—like the one I learned from my 110-pound, black Labrador retriever, “Bear.” Bear’s large metal water bowl was located in a corner of the kitchen. Whenever it was empty, he wouldn’t bark or paw at it. Instead, he would lie down quietly beside it and wait. Sometimes he would have to wait several minutes, but Bear had learned to trust that I would eventually walk into the room, see him there, and provide what he needed. His simple faith in me reminded me of my need to place more trust in God.
The Bible tells us that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The foundation of this confidence and assurance is God Himself, who “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (v. 6). God is faithful to keep His promises to all who believe and come to Him through Jesus.
Sometimes having faith in “what we do not see” isn’t easy. But we can rest in God’s goodness and His loving character, trusting that His wisdom is perfect in all things—even when we have to wait. He is always faithful to do what He says: to save our eternal souls and meet our deepest needs, now and forever.
My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Today's Reflection
Almighty Father, thank You for Your faithfulness to always take care of me. Help me to trust You and to rest in Your perfect love today.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, January 14, 2019
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 life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, January 14, 2019
Victim or Overcomer? - #8351
Now, CNN doesn’t often do a news stories about high school football player, but there was something very special about this South Carolina player they described this way: “Sometimes the biggest heart on the field can fit into the smallest player.” Well, the name of the player--Kos, a Siberian orphan, adopted by an American family, and as they told the story, he has no legs. He lost them the day he and his friend decided to hop aboard a freight train. For some reason, his friend pushed him and he landed under the wheels of that train.
Now, in this story, he was playing nose tackle on one of his high school’s football teams. As hard as that might be to imagine, he had several solo tackles the past season; he recovered two fumbles; he was such a threat that other teams had to assign two players to defend against him. He would just swing into the fray and knock them down with his strong arms and his head.
His heart on the field and his infectious personality affected more than one school. The football coach at Clemson University brought Kos in to demonstrate his skill to that college team. The coach said, “If my players would max out on what they can give like this young man has, we’d win a lot of games.” By the way, Kos’ goal is to get a good job and make enough money to build a big house with several bedrooms, so he can provide a home for as many disabled Russian orphans as possible.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Victim or Overcomer?”
Victim: That’s what a lot of people in our world feel like. And many of them have been victims of neglect, abuse, gossip, a broken family, tragedy, or rejection. The wounds are real. But that young football player is living proof that your wounds don’t have to define who you are. They don’t have to decide how you handle your life. If you’re living your life saying, “I’m a victim”, it’s ultimately not the fault of the people who hurt you. You have made the choice to let those who’ve hurt you and the wounds they gave you define your life.
That overcoming football player? He had the resume of a victim: no parents, no legs, abandonment, and disability. But he made another choice. He said in his interview that he could see how God was working in his life. He sounds like the great Apostle Paul, who had been through more hurt and abuse than most of us could imagine: whippings, prison, injustice, slander, hit squads determined to kill him, shipwreck, an incurable and painful physical condition. But listen to what he says in Romans 8 beginning with verse 31, our word for today from the Word of God. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?...Can anything ever separate us from God’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger?...No, despite all these things, (Paul says) overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Paul, and a Russian orphan who chose to live as an overcomer instead of a victim. They show us the secret of rising above our hurt and our limitations. First, choose to be defined by your love relationship with Jesus Christ, which is disease-proof, terror-proof, disaster-proof and death-proof. Secondly, focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do. Thirdly, dedicate yourself to use what you have and what you’ve been through to help other hurting people.
You decide what you’re going to let define you: your pain or your possibilities, your environment or your attitude, your past or your future, your wounds or Jesus’ wounds when He died for you. You can be, as one version says, “...more than conqueror through Him who loved you” (Romans 8:37 – NIV). Then, instead of sitting on life’s sidelines, nursing your wounds and making excuses, you can get in the game and you can play to win!
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Psalm 32, 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
Psalm 32
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—
you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.
2 Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.
3 When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
4 The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
5 Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.
6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we’ll be on high ground, untouched.
7 God’s my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.
8 Let me give you some good advice;
I’m looking you in the eye
and giving it to you straight:
9 “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule
that needs bit and bridle
to stay on track.”
10 God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
every time they turn around.
11 Celebrate God.
Sing together—everyone!
All you honest hearts, raise the roof!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Thessalonians 5:11-18
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
The Way He Wants You to Live
12-13 And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
13-15 Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Insight
The book of 1 Thessalonians was written by the apostle Paul to the young church in Thessalonica, a Roman colony. Thessalonica was the largest and most important city in Macedonia and the province’s capital. Because of its fine harbor, central location, and access to many roads, the city enjoyed flourishing trade. First Thessalonians was probably one of Paul’s first letters, written around ad 51 or 52 from Corinth. Only two or three years earlier, Paul, accompanied by Silas, had visited Thessalonica during his second missionary journey and established the church there. According to Acts 17:1–4, Paul taught there for just “three Sabbaths” before opposition forced him to flee the city. But during that short time some Jews as well as many God-fearing Greeks and prominent women “were persuaded” to follow Jesus. Paul penned this letter to encourage the new believers in their faith and to assure them of Christ’s return.
Plight of the Crawdads
By Xochitl Dixon
When my cousin invited me to join him to fish for crawdads (crayfish), I couldn’t help but be excited. I grinned when he handed me a plastic pail. “No lid?”
“You won’t need one,” he said, picking up the fishing rods and the small bag of chicken chunks we’d use for bait.
Later, as I watched the small crustaceans climbing over one another in a futile attempt to escape the almost-full bucket, I realized why we wouldn’t need a lid. Whenever one crawdad reached the rim, the others would pull it back down.
The plight of the crawdads reminds me how destructive it is to be selfishly concerned about our own gain instead of the benefit of a whole community. Paul understood the need for uplifting, interdependent relationships when he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica. He urged them to “warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak,” and “be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
Commending their caring community (v. 11), Paul spurred them toward even more loving and peaceful relationships (vv. 13–15). By striving to create a culture of forgiveness, kindness, and compassion, their relationships with God and others would be strengthened (vv. 15, 23).
The church can grow and witness for Christ through this kind of loving unity. When believers honor God, committing to lift others up instead of pulling them down with words or actions, we and our communities thrive.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 13, 2019
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
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
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
Psalm 32
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—
you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.
2 Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.
3 When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
4 The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
5 Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.
6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we’ll be on high ground, untouched.
7 God’s my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.
8 Let me give you some good advice;
I’m looking you in the eye
and giving it to you straight:
9 “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule
that needs bit and bridle
to stay on track.”
10 God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
every time they turn around.
11 Celebrate God.
Sing together—everyone!
All you honest hearts, raise the roof!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Thessalonians 5:11-18
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
The Way He Wants You to Live
12-13 And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
13-15 Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Insight
The book of 1 Thessalonians was written by the apostle Paul to the young church in Thessalonica, a Roman colony. Thessalonica was the largest and most important city in Macedonia and the province’s capital. Because of its fine harbor, central location, and access to many roads, the city enjoyed flourishing trade. First Thessalonians was probably one of Paul’s first letters, written around ad 51 or 52 from Corinth. Only two or three years earlier, Paul, accompanied by Silas, had visited Thessalonica during his second missionary journey and established the church there. According to Acts 17:1–4, Paul taught there for just “three Sabbaths” before opposition forced him to flee the city. But during that short time some Jews as well as many God-fearing Greeks and prominent women “were persuaded” to follow Jesus. Paul penned this letter to encourage the new believers in their faith and to assure them of Christ’s return.
Plight of the Crawdads
By Xochitl Dixon
When my cousin invited me to join him to fish for crawdads (crayfish), I couldn’t help but be excited. I grinned when he handed me a plastic pail. “No lid?”
“You won’t need one,” he said, picking up the fishing rods and the small bag of chicken chunks we’d use for bait.
Later, as I watched the small crustaceans climbing over one another in a futile attempt to escape the almost-full bucket, I realized why we wouldn’t need a lid. Whenever one crawdad reached the rim, the others would pull it back down.
The plight of the crawdads reminds me how destructive it is to be selfishly concerned about our own gain instead of the benefit of a whole community. Paul understood the need for uplifting, interdependent relationships when he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica. He urged them to “warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak,” and “be patient with everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
Commending their caring community (v. 11), Paul spurred them toward even more loving and peaceful relationships (vv. 13–15). By striving to create a culture of forgiveness, kindness, and compassion, their relationships with God and others would be strengthened (vv. 15, 23).
The church can grow and witness for Christ through this kind of loving unity. When believers honor God, committing to lift others up instead of pulling them down with words or actions, we and our communities thrive.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 13, 2019
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
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man. Disciples Indeed, 388 L
Saturday, January 12, 2019
John 3:1-15 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Can Use You
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger—Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan—sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God can use you. Because you’re imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you’re a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
John 3:1-15
Born from Above
3 1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”
3 Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”
4 “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”
5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”
9 Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”
10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?
13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 25:37-40
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
Insight
Matthew’s gospel presents Jesus’s surprising vision of the kingdom of God. From His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) to His teaching on the sheep and the goats (25:31–33), Jesus turned the religious thinking of His day upside down and inside out. Instead of condemning sinners and praising those known for defending the law of Moses, He left the impression that judgment day would bring some of the biggest surprises of all (25:45–46). Then, in a stunning turn of events beginning with chapter 26, the unthinkable happens: Jesus allows Himself to be judged, condemned, and crucified.
By His resurrection He shows that what He’s been saying all along is true. The kingdom of God is found in a different kind of King. His citizens are a different kind of people, whose joy and goodness are found in hearts changed by His Spirit and love.
Jesus Is Right Behind You
By John Blase
My daughter was ready for school a little earlier than usual, so she asked if we could stop by the coffee shop on our way. I agreed. As we approached the drive-thru lane, I said, “Do you feel like spreading some joy this morning?” She said, “Sure.”
We placed our order, then pulled up to the window where the barista told us what we owed. I said, “We’d like to pay for the young woman’s order behind us too.” My daughter had a huge smile on her face.
In the grand scheme of things, a cup of coffee may not seem like a big deal. Or is it? I wonder, could this be one way we carry out Jesus’s desire for us to care for those He called “the least of these”? (Matthew 25:40). Here’s a thought: How about simply considering the person behind us or next in line a worthy candidate? And then do “whatever”—maybe it’s a cup of coffee, maybe it’s something more, maybe something less. But when Jesus said “whatever you did” (v. 40) that gives us a great deal of freedom in serving Him while serving others.
As we drove away we caught the faces of the young woman behind us and the barista as she handed over the coffee. They were both grinning from ear to ear.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these . . . you did for me. Matthew 25:40
Today's Reflection
Lord, help me not to overthink serving others. Sometimes the small, simple things mean more than I’ll ever know. And help me to remember that whatever I do for others, I’m doing for You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
If God chose only righteous people to change the world, you could count them all on one finger—Jesus! Instead he included others in his plan—sinners, the ungodly, the imperfect. God used and uses people to change the world. People! Crooks, creeps, lovers, and liars—he uses them all!
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world, just look at those he has already used, and take heart. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God can use you. Because you’re imperfect, you can speak of making mistakes. Because you’re a sinner, you can speak of forgiveness. God restores the broken and the brittle, then parades them before the world as trophies of his love and strength. And when the world sees the ungodly turn godly, they know God must love them too.
God can use you, my friend!
John 3:1-15
Born from Above
3 1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”
3 Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”
4 “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”
5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.
7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”
9 Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”
10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?
13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 25:37-40
“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
Insight
Matthew’s gospel presents Jesus’s surprising vision of the kingdom of God. From His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) to His teaching on the sheep and the goats (25:31–33), Jesus turned the religious thinking of His day upside down and inside out. Instead of condemning sinners and praising those known for defending the law of Moses, He left the impression that judgment day would bring some of the biggest surprises of all (25:45–46). Then, in a stunning turn of events beginning with chapter 26, the unthinkable happens: Jesus allows Himself to be judged, condemned, and crucified.
By His resurrection He shows that what He’s been saying all along is true. The kingdom of God is found in a different kind of King. His citizens are a different kind of people, whose joy and goodness are found in hearts changed by His Spirit and love.
Jesus Is Right Behind You
By John Blase
My daughter was ready for school a little earlier than usual, so she asked if we could stop by the coffee shop on our way. I agreed. As we approached the drive-thru lane, I said, “Do you feel like spreading some joy this morning?” She said, “Sure.”
We placed our order, then pulled up to the window where the barista told us what we owed. I said, “We’d like to pay for the young woman’s order behind us too.” My daughter had a huge smile on her face.
In the grand scheme of things, a cup of coffee may not seem like a big deal. Or is it? I wonder, could this be one way we carry out Jesus’s desire for us to care for those He called “the least of these”? (Matthew 25:40). Here’s a thought: How about simply considering the person behind us or next in line a worthy candidate? And then do “whatever”—maybe it’s a cup of coffee, maybe it’s something more, maybe something less. But when Jesus said “whatever you did” (v. 40) that gives us a great deal of freedom in serving Him while serving others.
As we drove away we caught the faces of the young woman behind us and the barista as she handed over the coffee. They were both grinning from ear to ear.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these . . . you did for me. Matthew 25:40
Today's Reflection
Lord, help me not to overthink serving others. Sometimes the small, simple things mean more than I’ll ever know. And help me to remember that whatever I do for others, I’m doing for You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Have You Ever Been Alone with God? (1)
When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34
Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?
We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
Friday, January 11, 2019
2 Samuel 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WORRY STOPPERS TO BRING PEACE
Here are eight worry-stoppers, found in the letters of the word P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L.
Pray, first. “Casting the whole of your care upon Him …”
Easy, now. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”
Act on it. Be a doer, not a stewer.
Compile a worry list. Keep a list of things that trouble you. How many have turned into a reality?
Evaluate your worry categories. Pray specifically about them.
Focus on today. God meets daily needs daily.
Unleash a worry army. Ask a few loved ones to pray with you and for you.
Let God be enough. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.”
Eight steps. P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 12
But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, 12 1-3 and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
5-6 David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
7-12 “You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
13-14 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God.”
Nathan pronounced, “Yes, but that’s not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won’t die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die.”
15-18 After Nathan went home, God afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he came down sick. David prayed desperately to God for the little boy. He fasted, wouldn’t go out, and slept on the floor. The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn’t budge. Nor could they get him to eat anything. On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him. They said, “What do we do now? While the child was living he wouldn’t listen to a word we said. Now, with the child dead, if we speak to him there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
19 David noticed that the servants were whispering behind his back, and realized that the boy must have died.
He asked the servants, “Is the boy dead?”
“Yes,” they answered. “He’s dead.”
20 David got up from the floor, washed his face and combed his hair, put on a fresh change of clothes, then went into the sanctuary and worshiped. Then he came home and asked for something to eat. They set it before him and he ate.
21 His servants asked him, “What’s going on with you? While the child was alive you fasted and wept and stayed up all night. Now that he’s dead, you get up and eat.”
22-23 “While the child was alive,” he said, “I fasted and wept, thinking God might have mercy on me and the child would live. But now that he’s dead, why fast? Can I bring him back now? I can go to him, but he can’t come to me.”
24-25 David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son. When he was born they named him Solomon. God had a special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God’s Beloved).
26-30 Joab, at war in Rabbah against the Ammonites, captured the royal city. He sent messengers to David saying, “I’m fighting at Rabbah, and I’ve just captured the city’s water supply. Hurry and get the rest of the troops together and set up camp here at the city and complete the capture yourself. Otherwise, I’ll capture it and get all the credit instead of you.” So David marshaled all the troops, went to Rabbah, and fought and captured it. He took the crown from their king’s head—very heavy with gold, and with a precious stone in it. It ended up on David’s head. And they plundered the city, carrying off a great quantity of loot.
31 David emptied the city of its people and put them to slave labor using saws, picks, and axes, and making bricks. He did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 11, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 3:16-21
14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
Insight
Ephesians 3:16–21 is actually a prayer that flows out of the context of Ephesians 2, where Paul outlines what God has done for us. Though we were dead in our sins, God gave us new life (2:1–10) and brought Jews and Gentiles together to form His church (2:11–22). In Ephesians 3 Paul builds on that by saying, “For this reason . . .” (3:1). But then he interrupts himself to explain his own unique role in sharing the “mystery” of the church with them (vv. 2–6). All of this sets the stage for verses 16–21, as he returns to the phrase of 3:1, “For this reason . . .” (v. 14). Throughout Ephesians we see the theme of God’s lavish and unmerited grace and “glorious riches” (v. 16) extended to His people.
Infinite Dimensions
By Elisa Morgan
I pray that you . . . [will] grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Ephesians 3:17–18
I lay still on the vinyl-covered mat and held my breath on command as the machine whirred and clicked. I knew lots of folks had endured MRIs, but for claustrophobic me, the experience required focused concentration on something—Someone—much bigger than myself.
In my mind, a phrase from Scripture—“how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18)—moved in rhythm with the machine’s hum. In Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church, he described four dimensions to God’s love in order to stress the unending parameters of His love and presence.
My position while lying down for the MRI provided a new image for my understanding. Wide: the six inches on either side of where my arms were tightly pinned to my body within the tube. Long: the distance between the cylinder’s two openings, extending out from my head and feet. High: the six inches from my nose up to the “ceiling” of the tube. Deep: the support of the tube anchored to the floor beneath me, holding me up. Four dimensions illustrating God’s presence surrounding and holding me in the MRI tube—and in every circumstance of life.
God’s love is ALL around us. Wide: He extends His arms to reach all people everywhere. Long: His love never ends. High: He lifts us up. Deep: He dips down, holding us in all situations. Nothing can separate us from Him! (Romans 8:38–39).
What situations cause you to question God’s love? How will you choose to trust Him?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 11, 2019
What My Obedience to God Costs Other People
As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. —Luke 23:26
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 11, 2019
Life-Saving Love - #8350
It was 3:00 A.M. in the multi-family house in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a fire started as fifteen residents slept. A Deputy Fire Chief was first on the scene. He arrived alone in his car and discovered a building ablaze with its residents unaware of that deadly danger. The chief realized he didn't have time to put on his usual protective gear. Minutes were precious at a time like this, so he rushed into that burning building and began pounding on doors, and screaming for people to get up and get out. One older man was unable to get out by himself, so this valiant rescuer carried him down the stairs, out to the street and then went in for more. All fifteen people got out alive. The man who saved their lives did not.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Love."
One man gave his life so others would not die. I owe my life to someone like that. The rescuer who gave His life so I-and many others like me-would not have to die eternally for the wrong things I've done. It's what the Bible calls sin; -rebellion against the God who made us.
It's a spiritual death penalty that hangs over the head of every one of us, because the Bible says that by God's holy standards, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). Which kicks in the head the false hope of somehow I'm going to pay for my sin by doing a lot of good things. It will never be enough. That's why God sent the Rescuer. Because God is holy, this sin couldn't just be ignored or the penalty excused. If any human judge did that, he wouldn't be worthy to be a judge any more.
But because God is love, He didn't want you and me to pay that awful, hellish penalty, even though we deserve it. So He sent the only one who could be perfect and have no sin of His own to pay for. He sent His only Son, Jesus. And He went into that burning building we were in, and He did what it took to get us out and laid down His life to do it.
Listen to how Jesus Himself describes His rescue mission for you and me in John 10, beginning with verse 10, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I lay down my life; no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Let's get this straight, no one killed the Son of God. He made the tree He was hanging on. He made the men who put Him there. No, He thought you were worth laying down His life for. And in the greatest act of love in human history, He submitted to that cross to bear in His body and in His soul all the guilt, all the shame, all the pain, and all the hell of your sin and mine.
Then He rose from the dead to prove He can be our Life-Giver. He says about those whom He died for and who belong to Him, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." That can be you today.
You and I are that man in the burning building who can't get ourselves out. We have to let Jesus carry us to safety. Which means you have to reach for Him, put your arms around Him, and trust only Him to save you. Have you ever done that? Well, if not, you're still in sin's burning building with time running out. It isn't enough just to know He died to save you. No, you've got to put your total trust in Him to save you. And this could be your day of rescue. This could be the day every sin you've ever done could be forgiven. This is the day your hell could be cancelled.
Grabbing Jesus to save you means you tell Him, "Jesus, you're my only hope, and I'm Yours." If you've never done that, please don't wait another day. That act of faith brings you to safety in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Look, it's why we put our website together--ANewStory.com. Because we wanted you to have a landing place where you could come away knowing you belong to Him. Get there today, please.
The greatest tragedy of all would be if Jesus gave His life so you could live, and you lived and died without Him, paying a penalty He already paid. The Rescuer has come to you. He's knocking on the door of your heart. Grab Him while you can.
Here are eight worry-stoppers, found in the letters of the word P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L.
Pray, first. “Casting the whole of your care upon Him …”
Easy, now. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”
Act on it. Be a doer, not a stewer.
Compile a worry list. Keep a list of things that trouble you. How many have turned into a reality?
Evaluate your worry categories. Pray specifically about them.
Focus on today. God meets daily needs daily.
Unleash a worry army. Ask a few loved ones to pray with you and for you.
Let God be enough. “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else.”
Eight steps. P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 12
But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, 12 1-3 and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
5-6 David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
7-12 “You’re the man!” said Nathan. “And here’s what God, the God of Israel, has to say to you: I made you king over Israel. I freed you from the fist of Saul. I gave you your master’s daughter and other wives to have and to hold. I gave you both Israel and Judah. And if that hadn’t been enough, I’d have gladly thrown in much more. So why have you treated the word of God with brazen contempt, doing this great evil? You murdered Uriah the Hittite, then took his wife as your wife. Worse, you killed him with an Ammonite sword! And now, because you treated God with such contempt and took Uriah the Hittite’s wife as your wife, killing and murder will continually plague your family. This is God speaking, remember! I’ll make trouble for you out of your own family. I’ll take your wives from right out in front of you. I’ll give them to some neighbor, and he’ll go to bed with them openly. You did your deed in secret; I’m doing mine with the whole country watching!”
13-14 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God.”
Nathan pronounced, “Yes, but that’s not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won’t die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die.”
15-18 After Nathan went home, God afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he came down sick. David prayed desperately to God for the little boy. He fasted, wouldn’t go out, and slept on the floor. The elders in his family came in and tried to get him off the floor, but he wouldn’t budge. Nor could they get him to eat anything. On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him. They said, “What do we do now? While the child was living he wouldn’t listen to a word we said. Now, with the child dead, if we speak to him there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
19 David noticed that the servants were whispering behind his back, and realized that the boy must have died.
He asked the servants, “Is the boy dead?”
“Yes,” they answered. “He’s dead.”
20 David got up from the floor, washed his face and combed his hair, put on a fresh change of clothes, then went into the sanctuary and worshiped. Then he came home and asked for something to eat. They set it before him and he ate.
21 His servants asked him, “What’s going on with you? While the child was alive you fasted and wept and stayed up all night. Now that he’s dead, you get up and eat.”
22-23 “While the child was alive,” he said, “I fasted and wept, thinking God might have mercy on me and the child would live. But now that he’s dead, why fast? Can I bring him back now? I can go to him, but he can’t come to me.”
24-25 David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son. When he was born they named him Solomon. God had a special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God’s Beloved).
26-30 Joab, at war in Rabbah against the Ammonites, captured the royal city. He sent messengers to David saying, “I’m fighting at Rabbah, and I’ve just captured the city’s water supply. Hurry and get the rest of the troops together and set up camp here at the city and complete the capture yourself. Otherwise, I’ll capture it and get all the credit instead of you.” So David marshaled all the troops, went to Rabbah, and fought and captured it. He took the crown from their king’s head—very heavy with gold, and with a precious stone in it. It ended up on David’s head. And they plundered the city, carrying off a great quantity of loot.
31 David emptied the city of its people and put them to slave labor using saws, picks, and axes, and making bricks. He did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, January 11, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ephesians 3:16-21
14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
Insight
Ephesians 3:16–21 is actually a prayer that flows out of the context of Ephesians 2, where Paul outlines what God has done for us. Though we were dead in our sins, God gave us new life (2:1–10) and brought Jews and Gentiles together to form His church (2:11–22). In Ephesians 3 Paul builds on that by saying, “For this reason . . .” (3:1). But then he interrupts himself to explain his own unique role in sharing the “mystery” of the church with them (vv. 2–6). All of this sets the stage for verses 16–21, as he returns to the phrase of 3:1, “For this reason . . .” (v. 14). Throughout Ephesians we see the theme of God’s lavish and unmerited grace and “glorious riches” (v. 16) extended to His people.
Infinite Dimensions
By Elisa Morgan
I pray that you . . . [will] grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Ephesians 3:17–18
I lay still on the vinyl-covered mat and held my breath on command as the machine whirred and clicked. I knew lots of folks had endured MRIs, but for claustrophobic me, the experience required focused concentration on something—Someone—much bigger than myself.
In my mind, a phrase from Scripture—“how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18)—moved in rhythm with the machine’s hum. In Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church, he described four dimensions to God’s love in order to stress the unending parameters of His love and presence.
My position while lying down for the MRI provided a new image for my understanding. Wide: the six inches on either side of where my arms were tightly pinned to my body within the tube. Long: the distance between the cylinder’s two openings, extending out from my head and feet. High: the six inches from my nose up to the “ceiling” of the tube. Deep: the support of the tube anchored to the floor beneath me, holding me up. Four dimensions illustrating God’s presence surrounding and holding me in the MRI tube—and in every circumstance of life.
God’s love is ALL around us. Wide: He extends His arms to reach all people everywhere. Long: His love never ends. High: He lifts us up. Deep: He dips down, holding us in all situations. Nothing can separate us from Him! (Romans 8:38–39).
What situations cause you to question God’s love? How will you choose to trust Him?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 11, 2019
What My Obedience to God Costs Other People
As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon…, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. —Luke 23:26
If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).
A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 11, 2019
Life-Saving Love - #8350
It was 3:00 A.M. in the multi-family house in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a fire started as fifteen residents slept. A Deputy Fire Chief was first on the scene. He arrived alone in his car and discovered a building ablaze with its residents unaware of that deadly danger. The chief realized he didn't have time to put on his usual protective gear. Minutes were precious at a time like this, so he rushed into that burning building and began pounding on doors, and screaming for people to get up and get out. One older man was unable to get out by himself, so this valiant rescuer carried him down the stairs, out to the street and then went in for more. All fifteen people got out alive. The man who saved their lives did not.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Love."
One man gave his life so others would not die. I owe my life to someone like that. The rescuer who gave His life so I-and many others like me-would not have to die eternally for the wrong things I've done. It's what the Bible calls sin; -rebellion against the God who made us.
It's a spiritual death penalty that hangs over the head of every one of us, because the Bible says that by God's holy standards, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). Which kicks in the head the false hope of somehow I'm going to pay for my sin by doing a lot of good things. It will never be enough. That's why God sent the Rescuer. Because God is holy, this sin couldn't just be ignored or the penalty excused. If any human judge did that, he wouldn't be worthy to be a judge any more.
But because God is love, He didn't want you and me to pay that awful, hellish penalty, even though we deserve it. So He sent the only one who could be perfect and have no sin of His own to pay for. He sent His only Son, Jesus. And He went into that burning building we were in, and He did what it took to get us out and laid down His life to do it.
Listen to how Jesus Himself describes His rescue mission for you and me in John 10, beginning with verse 10, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I lay down my life; no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Let's get this straight, no one killed the Son of God. He made the tree He was hanging on. He made the men who put Him there. No, He thought you were worth laying down His life for. And in the greatest act of love in human history, He submitted to that cross to bear in His body and in His soul all the guilt, all the shame, all the pain, and all the hell of your sin and mine.
Then He rose from the dead to prove He can be our Life-Giver. He says about those whom He died for and who belong to Him, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." That can be you today.
You and I are that man in the burning building who can't get ourselves out. We have to let Jesus carry us to safety. Which means you have to reach for Him, put your arms around Him, and trust only Him to save you. Have you ever done that? Well, if not, you're still in sin's burning building with time running out. It isn't enough just to know He died to save you. No, you've got to put your total trust in Him to save you. And this could be your day of rescue. This could be the day every sin you've ever done could be forgiven. This is the day your hell could be cancelled.
Grabbing Jesus to save you means you tell Him, "Jesus, you're my only hope, and I'm Yours." If you've never done that, please don't wait another day. That act of faith brings you to safety in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Look, it's why we put our website together--ANewStory.com. Because we wanted you to have a landing place where you could come away knowing you belong to Him. Get there today, please.
The greatest tragedy of all would be if Jesus gave His life so you could live, and you lived and died without Him, paying a penalty He already paid. The Rescuer has come to you. He's knocking on the door of your heart. Grab Him while you can.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
2 Samuel 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FIVE LOAVES, TWO FISH, …AND JESUS
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough.”
On one occasion, Jesus had taken the disciples on a retreat. Then came the hungry crowd and the disciples issued a command to Jesus. “Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus issued an assignment to them, “You give them something to eat.”
Do you suppose Jesus was hoping someone would count all the possibilities? We have “five loaves, two fish, and … Jesus!” Standing next to the disciples was the solution to their problems … but the disciples stopped their counting and worried. What about you? Are you counting your problems or are you counting on Christ?
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 11
David’s Sin and Sorrow
When that time of year came around again, the anniversary of the Ammonite aggression, David dispatched Joab and his fighting men of Israel in full force to destroy the Ammonites for good. They laid siege to Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2-5 One late afternoon, David got up from taking his nap and was strolling on the roof of the palace. From his vantage point on the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was stunningly beautiful. David sent to ask about her, and was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent his agents to get her. After she arrived, he went to bed with her. (This occurred during the time of “purification” following her period.) Then she returned home. Before long she realized she was pregnant.
Later she sent word to David: “I’m pregnant.”
6 David then got in touch with Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” Joab sent him.
7-8 When he arrived, David asked him for news from the front—how things were going with Joab and the troops and with the fighting. Then he said to Uriah, “Go home. Have a refreshing bath and a good night’s rest.”
8-9 After Uriah left the palace, an informant of the king was sent after him. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance, along with the king’s servants.
10 David was told that Uriah had not gone home. He asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come off a hard trip? So why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah replied to David, “The Chest is out there with the fighting men of Israel and Judah—in tents. My master Joab and his servants are roughing it out in the fields. So, how can I go home and eat and drink and enjoy my wife? On your life, I’ll not do it!”
12-13 “All right,” said David, “have it your way. Stay for the day and I’ll send you back tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem the rest of the day.
The next day David invited him to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. But in the evening Uriah again went out and slept with his master’s servants. He didn’t go home.
14-15 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he’s sure to be killed.”
16-17 So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters. When the city’s defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David’s soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.
18-21 Joab sent David a full report on the battle. He instructed the messenger, “After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle, if he flares in anger, say, ‘And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22-24 Joab’s messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report. He said, “The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate. But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king’s soldiers died.”
25 When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: “Why did you get so close to the city? Didn’t you know you’d be attacked from the wall? Didn’t you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn’t it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!”
“By the way,” said Joab’s messenger, “your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
Then David told the messenger, “Oh. I see. Tell Joab, ‘Don’t trouble yourself over this. War kills—sometimes one, sometimes another—you never know who’s next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.’ Encourage Joab.”
26-27 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 10:34-38
34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
Insight
The words “show favoritism” in Acts 10:34 are translated from the Greek prosopoleptes, a word which means to receive or show regard for someone because of rank, status, beauty, or popularity. This word is a combination of prosopon, which means “face” or “person”; and lambano, “to lay hold of.” Partiality (showing favoritism) does not characterize God, as we see in these verses: “As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism” (Galatians 2:6); “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him” (Ephesians 6:9). Neither should favoritism characterize the followers of Jesus, as James 2:1 reminds us: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” By: Arthur Jackson
Our Welcoming God
By Winn Collier
God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34
Our church meets in an old elementary school, one that closed in 1958 rather than obey a US court order to integrate (the act of having African-American students attend schools previously attended by only Caucasian students). The following year, the school reopened and Elva, now a member of our church, was one of those black students who were thrust into a white world. “I was taken out of my safe community, with teachers who were part of our life,” Elva recalls, “and placed in a scary environment in a class with only one other black student.” Elva suffered because she was different, but she became a woman of courage, faith, and forgiveness.
Her witness is profound because of how much evil she endured at the hands of some members of a society that denied the truth that every human being, regardless of race or heritage, is loved by God. Some members of the early church struggled with this same truth, believing that certain people were, by birth, loved by God while others were rejected. After receiving a divine vision, however, Peter stunned everyone who would listen with this astounding revelation: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35).
God opens His arms wide to extend love to everyone. May we do the same in His power.
Consider your neighborhood, your family, and your social sphere. Where do you find a temptation to exclude others? Why?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 10, 2019
The Opened Sight
I now send you, to open their eyes…that they may receive forgiveness of sins… —Acts 26:17-18
This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “…that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion— only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.
This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “…an inheritance among those who are sanctified….” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Beauty In Your Desert - #8349
We've got a close friend who moved from Arizona to the Midwest. She loves the green. There's not much of that in the semi-arid area that she's from. And she loves all the things that bloom in that new part of the country, but that's not to say she doesn't miss what she grew up with. She really misses the beauty of the Southwest. Some might travel through the long, largely barren stretches of her part of the country and not see much beauty, but it's there. Yeah, it's a different beauty from the lush, green parts of America, but there is a stark, wild, wide-open majesty in the desert. It's got a beauty all its own.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beauty In Your Desert."
Every one of us gets to spend some time in the desert, or the wilderness, as it's often called in the Bible. It's not our permanent home, but it's part of the journey. Maybe you're in one of those difficult dry spells right now. It's time to remember that while the desert is hard, it does have a beauty all its own. There are things you see there that you can't see when you're in the green and blooming times.
God's ancient people learned that when they spent their time in the wilderness. God describes some of that in Deuteronomy 1:30-33. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "The Lord your God who is going before you will fight for you, as He did...before your very eyes in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son...The Lord your God...went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go."
Wilderness times can be tough for several reasons-you feel depleted, the devil's doing everything he can to exploit this vulnerable time with his lies, fear of what may happen starts to take over, and sometimes it just plain hurts.
But what we just read from God's Word about desert times reminds us of several very important encouragements which the dry time tends to make us forget. First, the desert is part of the plan. It's God who leads you into a wilderness time, knowing that it will take a wilderness to take you to your next level in Him. Even though the devil was all over Jesus when He spent forty days in the wilderness, the Bible makes it very clear that the Lord led Him into the wilderness. The God who loves you passionately has decided that wilderness is what will bring you the greatest good and Him the greatest glory at this point in your life.
Secondly, the wilderness is a place of miracles. It was in a wilderness that God's people saw manna from heaven, water come from rocks, and a pillar of cloud and fire providing daily guidance. If you'll remain faithful, even when you don't have the feelings, God will show you His power in the desert in ways you will never see in the Promised Land.
The third desert encouragement is that the wilderness is a growing time. Paul saw his greatest revelations of God (the things you read in the New Testament now) while he was in the desert. Jesus emerged from the wilderness it says, "full of the Holy Spirit and power" and He exploded into His public ministry. God wants to use the desert time to drive you more deeply into Him because He's all you've got there. And as you go deeper, you develop a new spiritual power that prepares you for a whole new level of impact on the other side of the wilderness.
Two other desert encouragements; the wilderness will not last forever. There's a Promised Land on the other side. And the desert is a place where God will carry you when you've got nothing left-like a daddy carries a tired little boy to places that little boy could never go in his own strength. And there's something very special about collapsing on the shoulder of your all-loving, all-powerful Heavenly Daddy.
Your assignment in the desert? Keep showing up, keep being faithful even when you don't feel it. If you're in a desert stretch, trust the One who's allowed or directed you to be there. And while you're there, don't miss the strange beauty of the desert.
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough.”
On one occasion, Jesus had taken the disciples on a retreat. Then came the hungry crowd and the disciples issued a command to Jesus. “Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus issued an assignment to them, “You give them something to eat.”
Do you suppose Jesus was hoping someone would count all the possibilities? We have “five loaves, two fish, and … Jesus!” Standing next to the disciples was the solution to their problems … but the disciples stopped their counting and worried. What about you? Are you counting your problems or are you counting on Christ?
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 11
David’s Sin and Sorrow
When that time of year came around again, the anniversary of the Ammonite aggression, David dispatched Joab and his fighting men of Israel in full force to destroy the Ammonites for good. They laid siege to Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2-5 One late afternoon, David got up from taking his nap and was strolling on the roof of the palace. From his vantage point on the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was stunningly beautiful. David sent to ask about her, and was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent his agents to get her. After she arrived, he went to bed with her. (This occurred during the time of “purification” following her period.) Then she returned home. Before long she realized she was pregnant.
Later she sent word to David: “I’m pregnant.”
6 David then got in touch with Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” Joab sent him.
7-8 When he arrived, David asked him for news from the front—how things were going with Joab and the troops and with the fighting. Then he said to Uriah, “Go home. Have a refreshing bath and a good night’s rest.”
8-9 After Uriah left the palace, an informant of the king was sent after him. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance, along with the king’s servants.
10 David was told that Uriah had not gone home. He asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come off a hard trip? So why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah replied to David, “The Chest is out there with the fighting men of Israel and Judah—in tents. My master Joab and his servants are roughing it out in the fields. So, how can I go home and eat and drink and enjoy my wife? On your life, I’ll not do it!”
12-13 “All right,” said David, “have it your way. Stay for the day and I’ll send you back tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem the rest of the day.
The next day David invited him to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. But in the evening Uriah again went out and slept with his master’s servants. He didn’t go home.
14-15 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he’s sure to be killed.”
16-17 So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters. When the city’s defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David’s soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.
18-21 Joab sent David a full report on the battle. He instructed the messenger, “After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle, if he flares in anger, say, ‘And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22-24 Joab’s messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report. He said, “The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate. But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king’s soldiers died.”
25 When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: “Why did you get so close to the city? Didn’t you know you’d be attacked from the wall? Didn’t you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn’t it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!”
“By the way,” said Joab’s messenger, “your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
Then David told the messenger, “Oh. I see. Tell Joab, ‘Don’t trouble yourself over this. War kills—sometimes one, sometimes another—you never know who’s next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.’ Encourage Joab.”
26-27 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 10:34-38
34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
Insight
The words “show favoritism” in Acts 10:34 are translated from the Greek prosopoleptes, a word which means to receive or show regard for someone because of rank, status, beauty, or popularity. This word is a combination of prosopon, which means “face” or “person”; and lambano, “to lay hold of.” Partiality (showing favoritism) does not characterize God, as we see in these verses: “As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism” (Galatians 2:6); “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him” (Ephesians 6:9). Neither should favoritism characterize the followers of Jesus, as James 2:1 reminds us: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” By: Arthur Jackson
Our Welcoming God
By Winn Collier
God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34
Our church meets in an old elementary school, one that closed in 1958 rather than obey a US court order to integrate (the act of having African-American students attend schools previously attended by only Caucasian students). The following year, the school reopened and Elva, now a member of our church, was one of those black students who were thrust into a white world. “I was taken out of my safe community, with teachers who were part of our life,” Elva recalls, “and placed in a scary environment in a class with only one other black student.” Elva suffered because she was different, but she became a woman of courage, faith, and forgiveness.
Her witness is profound because of how much evil she endured at the hands of some members of a society that denied the truth that every human being, regardless of race or heritage, is loved by God. Some members of the early church struggled with this same truth, believing that certain people were, by birth, loved by God while others were rejected. After receiving a divine vision, however, Peter stunned everyone who would listen with this astounding revelation: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35).
God opens His arms wide to extend love to everyone. May we do the same in His power.
Consider your neighborhood, your family, and your social sphere. Where do you find a temptation to exclude others? Why?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, January 10, 2019
The Opened Sight
I now send you, to open their eyes…that they may receive forgiveness of sins… —Acts 26:17-18
This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.
God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “…that they may receive forgiveness of sins….” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion— only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.
This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “…an inheritance among those who are sanctified….” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Beauty In Your Desert - #8349
We've got a close friend who moved from Arizona to the Midwest. She loves the green. There's not much of that in the semi-arid area that she's from. And she loves all the things that bloom in that new part of the country, but that's not to say she doesn't miss what she grew up with. She really misses the beauty of the Southwest. Some might travel through the long, largely barren stretches of her part of the country and not see much beauty, but it's there. Yeah, it's a different beauty from the lush, green parts of America, but there is a stark, wild, wide-open majesty in the desert. It's got a beauty all its own.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beauty In Your Desert."
Every one of us gets to spend some time in the desert, or the wilderness, as it's often called in the Bible. It's not our permanent home, but it's part of the journey. Maybe you're in one of those difficult dry spells right now. It's time to remember that while the desert is hard, it does have a beauty all its own. There are things you see there that you can't see when you're in the green and blooming times.
God's ancient people learned that when they spent their time in the wilderness. God describes some of that in Deuteronomy 1:30-33. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "The Lord your God who is going before you will fight for you, as He did...before your very eyes in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son...The Lord your God...went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go."
Wilderness times can be tough for several reasons-you feel depleted, the devil's doing everything he can to exploit this vulnerable time with his lies, fear of what may happen starts to take over, and sometimes it just plain hurts.
But what we just read from God's Word about desert times reminds us of several very important encouragements which the dry time tends to make us forget. First, the desert is part of the plan. It's God who leads you into a wilderness time, knowing that it will take a wilderness to take you to your next level in Him. Even though the devil was all over Jesus when He spent forty days in the wilderness, the Bible makes it very clear that the Lord led Him into the wilderness. The God who loves you passionately has decided that wilderness is what will bring you the greatest good and Him the greatest glory at this point in your life.
Secondly, the wilderness is a place of miracles. It was in a wilderness that God's people saw manna from heaven, water come from rocks, and a pillar of cloud and fire providing daily guidance. If you'll remain faithful, even when you don't have the feelings, God will show you His power in the desert in ways you will never see in the Promised Land.
The third desert encouragement is that the wilderness is a growing time. Paul saw his greatest revelations of God (the things you read in the New Testament now) while he was in the desert. Jesus emerged from the wilderness it says, "full of the Holy Spirit and power" and He exploded into His public ministry. God wants to use the desert time to drive you more deeply into Him because He's all you've got there. And as you go deeper, you develop a new spiritual power that prepares you for a whole new level of impact on the other side of the wilderness.
Two other desert encouragements; the wilderness will not last forever. There's a Promised Land on the other side. And the desert is a place where God will carry you when you've got nothing left-like a daddy carries a tired little boy to places that little boy could never go in his own strength. And there's something very special about collapsing on the shoulder of your all-loving, all-powerful Heavenly Daddy.
Your assignment in the desert? Keep showing up, keep being faithful even when you don't feel it. If you're in a desert stretch, trust the One who's allowed or directed you to be there. And while you're there, don't miss the strange beauty of the desert.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
2 Samuel 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FREE INDEED!
Do you know God’s grace? Then you can live boldly, live robustly. Nothing fosters courage like a clear grasp of grace. And nothing fosters fear like an ignorance of mercy.
May I speak candidly? If you haven’t accepted God’s forgiveness, you are doomed to fear. Only God’s grace can remove it. Have you accepted the forgiveness of Christ? If not, do so. Your prayer can be as simple as this: Dear Father, I need forgiveness. I admit that I have turned away from you. Please forgive me. I place my soul in your hands and my trust in your grace. Through Jesus I pray, amen.
Having received God’s forgiveness, live forgiven! When Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 10
Sometime after this, the king of the Ammonites died and Hanun, his son, succeeded him as king. David said, “I’d like to show some kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash—treat him as well and as kindly as his father treated me.” So David sent Hanun condolences regarding his father.
2-3 But when David’s servants got to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite leaders warned Hanun, their head delegate, “Do you for a minute suppose that David is honoring your father by sending you comforters? Don’t you think it’s because he wants to snoop around the city and size it up that David has sent his emissaries to you?”
4 So Hanun seized David’s men, shaved off half their beards, cut off their robes halfway up their buttocks, and sent them packing.
5 When all this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, for they were seriously humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow out. Only then come back.”
6 When it dawned on the Ammonites that as far as David was concerned they stunk to high heaven, they hired Aramean soldiers from Beth-Rehob and Zobah—twenty thousand infantry—and a thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.
7 When David heard of this, he dispatched Joab with his strongest fighters in full force.
8-12 The Ammonites marched out and arranged themselves in battle formation at the city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah took up a position out in the open fields. When Joab saw that he had two fronts to fight, before and behind, he took his pick of the best of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans. The rest of the army he put under the command of Abishai, his brother, and deployed them to confront the Ammonites. Then he said, “If the Arameans are too much for me, you help me. And if the Ammonites prove too much for you, I’ll come and help you. Courage! We’ll fight with might and main for our people and for the cities of our God. And God will do whatever he sees needs doing!”
13-14 But when Joab and his soldiers moved in to fight the Arameans, they ran off in full retreat. Then the Ammonites, seeing the Arameans run for dear life, took to their heels from Abishai and went into the city.
So Joab left off fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.
15-17 When the Arameans saw how badly they’d been beaten by Israel, they picked up the pieces and regrouped. Hadadezer sent for the Arameans who were across the River. They came to Helam. Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, led them. All this was reported to David.
17-19 So David mustered Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Arameans went into battle formation, ready for David, and the fight was on. But the Arameans again scattered before Israel. David killed seven hundred chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry. And he mortally wounded Shobach, the army commander, who died on the battlefield. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace and became Israel’s vassals. The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites ever again.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Read: John 6:47–51, 60–66
“I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”
John 6:60-67 The Message (MSG)
Too Tough to Swallow
60 Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”
61-65 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this throw you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”
66-67 After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”
INSIGHT
John 6 forms a critical turning point in Jesus’s public ministry. Following the feeding of the five thousand and walking on water, Jesus presents His “bread of life” message. While opposition from the religious community had been rising, Jesus’s followers responded to this message with a massive defection. They defected because of three factors. First, they demanded a sign from Him (vv. 30–31) after He had just given them a sign in the miraculous multiplication of bread and fish. Then they misunderstood Jesus’s origin (vv. 41–42), and finally they misunderstood the important realities of His message (v. 52). Because they didn't understand who He was, they would never be able to embrace what He did or taught. - Bill Crowder
What Kind of Savior Is He?
By Anne Cetas
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66
Last year, friends and I prayed for healing for three women battling cancer. We knew God had the power to do this, and we asked Him to do so every day. We’d seen Him work in the past and believed He could do it again. There were days in each one’s battle where healing looked like it was a reality, and we rejoiced. But they all died that fall. Some said that was “the ultimate healing,” and in a way it was. Still the loss hurt us deeply. We wanted Him to heal them all—here and now—but for reasons we couldn’t understand, no miracle came.
Some people followed Jesus for the miracles He performed and to get their needs met (John 6:2, 26). Some simply saw Him as the carpenter’s son (Matthew 13:55–58), and others expected Him to be their political leader (Luke 19:37–38). Some thought of Him as a great teacher (Matthew 7:28–29), while others quit following Him because His teaching was hard to understand (John 6:66).
Jesus still doesn’t always meet our expectations of Him. Yet He is so much more than we can imagine. He’s the provider of eternal life (vv. 47–48). He is good and wise; and He loves, forgives, stays close, and brings us comfort. May we find rest in Jesus as He is and keep following Him.
Thank You, Jesus, that You are the kind of Savior we need. Wrap us in Your love and bring us confident rest in You.
I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
The Power of One Changed Life - #8348
Sometimes these commercials crack me up. You know, the weight loss commercials, you've got this eating program, and this movie star type lady comes up and says, "I lost 50 pounds. You could look like me." I don't want to look like her. Oh, and then they've got the guy's version of it. Yeah. Oh, and then the pharmaceutical commercials - all the drugs. Yeah. And you see these happy people coasting through life, jogging, out running, biking, and then the last two-thirds of the commercial come along and tell you of the many ways you might die by taking that drug. But the point is, they all tell you all these great things that will happen to you if you buy their product.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of One Changed Life."
Look, let's face it, advertisers know how to sell a product: diet plan, exercise equipment, medication. Have someone who's living proof of their product's effectiveness tell their story. For two thousand years, that's what has motivated people to pursue the most important thing in life-a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's what will interest the people you know in Jesus, if you'll tell them your story.
Some call it their "testimony." I call it your personal hope story-the story only you can tell; the story of what Jesus Christ has done in your life. There's a great template for that story in our word for today from the Word of God in John 9:25. Jesus has healed a man who had been blind from birth. But the enemies of Jesus are trying to get the man to acknowledge that Jesus was a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath. (Talk about missing the point!) I love this guy's reply: "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
He's not going to get entangled in their religious questions. He just tells them the difference Jesus has made, and who can argue about that? They can't say you weren't blind. They can't say you can't see. His hope story is inarguable. That's what you need to tell the folks in your world--the difference Jesus has made. They're not all that interested in our theology and our beliefs. They want to know, "What difference does Jesus make? What does He do in your life?" And your life is the answer to that right in front of them if you'll tell your story.
You should take a little time and think through your Jesus-story; your "once I was (fill in the blank) _______ but now I (fill in the blank) _______." There you go! That's your story. Take a piece of paper and make three sections: "B. C."-who I was before Jesus began running my life. Then "The Turning Point"-how I began my relationship with Jesus; and that third part, "A. D."-the difference Jesus has made and He is making this very day.
Maybe you say, "Oh, I don't have a testimony. I was pre-natally nice." Well, you don't have a dramatic turn-around to tell about, but does that mean Jesus isn't making any difference in your life? Your assignment is to put these words at the top of a piece of paper, "If it weren't for Jesus..." Start writing the ways that your life would be different if there was no Jesus: how you handle your lonely times, your hurting times, your stressful times. How would you be different as a single person, a married person, a parent, a boss, or a friend if there were no Jesus? People just don't want to know about how you got started with Jesus. They want to know what difference He makes in your everyday life.
And that means you don't have just a testimony. You've got many testimonies, describing the difference Jesus makes in the parts of your life that might matter to the person you're with. It's your personal hope story that opens the door for you to then explain the Good News about Jesus, about His death for all the wrong things we've done, the way He's torn down the wall between us and the God we need so much. Your story then includes His story, which changed your story that could change their story forever.
You've got a story that's all yours that only you can tell. It's ultimately not a story about you; it's about the man who is making your life what it could have never been without Him. It's a story that could help someone you know be in heaven with you forever!
Do you know God’s grace? Then you can live boldly, live robustly. Nothing fosters courage like a clear grasp of grace. And nothing fosters fear like an ignorance of mercy.
May I speak candidly? If you haven’t accepted God’s forgiveness, you are doomed to fear. Only God’s grace can remove it. Have you accepted the forgiveness of Christ? If not, do so. Your prayer can be as simple as this: Dear Father, I need forgiveness. I admit that I have turned away from you. Please forgive me. I place my soul in your hands and my trust in your grace. Through Jesus I pray, amen.
Having received God’s forgiveness, live forgiven! When Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed.
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 10
Sometime after this, the king of the Ammonites died and Hanun, his son, succeeded him as king. David said, “I’d like to show some kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash—treat him as well and as kindly as his father treated me.” So David sent Hanun condolences regarding his father.
2-3 But when David’s servants got to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite leaders warned Hanun, their head delegate, “Do you for a minute suppose that David is honoring your father by sending you comforters? Don’t you think it’s because he wants to snoop around the city and size it up that David has sent his emissaries to you?”
4 So Hanun seized David’s men, shaved off half their beards, cut off their robes halfway up their buttocks, and sent them packing.
5 When all this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, for they were seriously humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow out. Only then come back.”
6 When it dawned on the Ammonites that as far as David was concerned they stunk to high heaven, they hired Aramean soldiers from Beth-Rehob and Zobah—twenty thousand infantry—and a thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.
7 When David heard of this, he dispatched Joab with his strongest fighters in full force.
8-12 The Ammonites marched out and arranged themselves in battle formation at the city gate. The Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah took up a position out in the open fields. When Joab saw that he had two fronts to fight, before and behind, he took his pick of the best of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans. The rest of the army he put under the command of Abishai, his brother, and deployed them to confront the Ammonites. Then he said, “If the Arameans are too much for me, you help me. And if the Ammonites prove too much for you, I’ll come and help you. Courage! We’ll fight with might and main for our people and for the cities of our God. And God will do whatever he sees needs doing!”
13-14 But when Joab and his soldiers moved in to fight the Arameans, they ran off in full retreat. Then the Ammonites, seeing the Arameans run for dear life, took to their heels from Abishai and went into the city.
So Joab left off fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.
15-17 When the Arameans saw how badly they’d been beaten by Israel, they picked up the pieces and regrouped. Hadadezer sent for the Arameans who were across the River. They came to Helam. Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, led them. All this was reported to David.
17-19 So David mustered Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Arameans went into battle formation, ready for David, and the fight was on. But the Arameans again scattered before Israel. David killed seven hundred chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry. And he mortally wounded Shobach, the army commander, who died on the battlefield. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace and became Israel’s vassals. The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites ever again.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Read: John 6:47–51, 60–66
“I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”
John 6:60-67 The Message (MSG)
Too Tough to Swallow
60 Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”
61-65 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this throw you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”
66-67 After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”
INSIGHT
John 6 forms a critical turning point in Jesus’s public ministry. Following the feeding of the five thousand and walking on water, Jesus presents His “bread of life” message. While opposition from the religious community had been rising, Jesus’s followers responded to this message with a massive defection. They defected because of three factors. First, they demanded a sign from Him (vv. 30–31) after He had just given them a sign in the miraculous multiplication of bread and fish. Then they misunderstood Jesus’s origin (vv. 41–42), and finally they misunderstood the important realities of His message (v. 52). Because they didn't understand who He was, they would never be able to embrace what He did or taught. - Bill Crowder
What Kind of Savior Is He?
By Anne Cetas
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66
Last year, friends and I prayed for healing for three women battling cancer. We knew God had the power to do this, and we asked Him to do so every day. We’d seen Him work in the past and believed He could do it again. There were days in each one’s battle where healing looked like it was a reality, and we rejoiced. But they all died that fall. Some said that was “the ultimate healing,” and in a way it was. Still the loss hurt us deeply. We wanted Him to heal them all—here and now—but for reasons we couldn’t understand, no miracle came.
Some people followed Jesus for the miracles He performed and to get their needs met (John 6:2, 26). Some simply saw Him as the carpenter’s son (Matthew 13:55–58), and others expected Him to be their political leader (Luke 19:37–38). Some thought of Him as a great teacher (Matthew 7:28–29), while others quit following Him because His teaching was hard to understand (John 6:66).
Jesus still doesn’t always meet our expectations of Him. Yet He is so much more than we can imagine. He’s the provider of eternal life (vv. 47–48). He is good and wise; and He loves, forgives, stays close, and brings us comfort. May we find rest in Jesus as He is and keep following Him.
Thank You, Jesus, that You are the kind of Savior we need. Wrap us in Your love and bring us confident rest in You.
I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
Prayerful Inner-Searching
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”
Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.
We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
The Power of One Changed Life - #8348
Sometimes these commercials crack me up. You know, the weight loss commercials, you've got this eating program, and this movie star type lady comes up and says, "I lost 50 pounds. You could look like me." I don't want to look like her. Oh, and then they've got the guy's version of it. Yeah. Oh, and then the pharmaceutical commercials - all the drugs. Yeah. And you see these happy people coasting through life, jogging, out running, biking, and then the last two-thirds of the commercial come along and tell you of the many ways you might die by taking that drug. But the point is, they all tell you all these great things that will happen to you if you buy their product.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of One Changed Life."
Look, let's face it, advertisers know how to sell a product: diet plan, exercise equipment, medication. Have someone who's living proof of their product's effectiveness tell their story. For two thousand years, that's what has motivated people to pursue the most important thing in life-a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's what will interest the people you know in Jesus, if you'll tell them your story.
Some call it their "testimony." I call it your personal hope story-the story only you can tell; the story of what Jesus Christ has done in your life. There's a great template for that story in our word for today from the Word of God in John 9:25. Jesus has healed a man who had been blind from birth. But the enemies of Jesus are trying to get the man to acknowledge that Jesus was a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath. (Talk about missing the point!) I love this guy's reply: "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
He's not going to get entangled in their religious questions. He just tells them the difference Jesus has made, and who can argue about that? They can't say you weren't blind. They can't say you can't see. His hope story is inarguable. That's what you need to tell the folks in your world--the difference Jesus has made. They're not all that interested in our theology and our beliefs. They want to know, "What difference does Jesus make? What does He do in your life?" And your life is the answer to that right in front of them if you'll tell your story.
You should take a little time and think through your Jesus-story; your "once I was (fill in the blank) _______ but now I (fill in the blank) _______." There you go! That's your story. Take a piece of paper and make three sections: "B. C."-who I was before Jesus began running my life. Then "The Turning Point"-how I began my relationship with Jesus; and that third part, "A. D."-the difference Jesus has made and He is making this very day.
Maybe you say, "Oh, I don't have a testimony. I was pre-natally nice." Well, you don't have a dramatic turn-around to tell about, but does that mean Jesus isn't making any difference in your life? Your assignment is to put these words at the top of a piece of paper, "If it weren't for Jesus..." Start writing the ways that your life would be different if there was no Jesus: how you handle your lonely times, your hurting times, your stressful times. How would you be different as a single person, a married person, a parent, a boss, or a friend if there were no Jesus? People just don't want to know about how you got started with Jesus. They want to know what difference He makes in your everyday life.
And that means you don't have just a testimony. You've got many testimonies, describing the difference Jesus makes in the parts of your life that might matter to the person you're with. It's your personal hope story that opens the door for you to then explain the Good News about Jesus, about His death for all the wrong things we've done, the way He's torn down the wall between us and the God we need so much. Your story then includes His story, which changed your story that could change their story forever.
You've got a story that's all yours that only you can tell. It's ultimately not a story about you; it's about the man who is making your life what it could have never been without Him. It's a story that could help someone you know be in heaven with you forever!
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
2 Samuel 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: FEAR OF DISAPPOINTING GOD
“A person can request forgiveness only so many times,” contends our common sense. If the devil can convince us that God’s grace has limited funds, we’ll draw the logical conclusion. The account is empty; we have no access to God.
“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus spoke these words to a paraplegic in Matthew 9:2. Jesus was thinking about our deepest problem– sin. He was considering our deepest fear– the fear of failing God. God keeps no list of our wrongs. His love casts out fear because he casts out sin! I John 3:20 says, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 9
An Open Table for Mephibosheth
9 One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If so, I’d like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan.”
2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?”
Ziba told the king, “Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?”
“He’s living at the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 King David didn’t lose a minute. He sent and got him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (who was the son of Saul), came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David.
David spoke his name: “Mephibosheth.”
“Yes sir?”
7 “Don’t be frightened,” said David. “I’d like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. To begin with, I’m returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. Furthermore, from now on you’ll take all your meals at my table.”
8 Shuffling and stammering, not looking him in the eye, Mephibosheth said, “Who am I that you pay attention to a stray dog like me?”
9-10 David then called in Ziba, Saul’s right-hand man, and told him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and his family, I’ve handed over to your master’s grandson. You and your sons and your servants will work his land and bring in the produce, provisions for your master’s grandson. Mephibosheth himself, your master’s grandson, from now on will take all his meals at my table.” Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11-12 “All that my master the king has ordered his servant,” answered Ziba, “your servant will surely do.”
And Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, just like one of the royal family. Mephibosheth also had a small son named Mica. All who were part of Ziba’s household were now the servants of Mephibosheth.
13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, taking all his meals at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Read: Matthew 6:25–34
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “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.
INSIGHT
Matthew 6:19–34 emphasizes that true discipleship requires a lifestyle in which all we do is unified by our love for God. In verse 22, for example, Jesus suggests that, just as an eye defect distorts our whole vision, so our entire being becomes corrupted when our priorities are distorted. It’s impossible, He emphasizes, to be devoted to more than one “master” (v. 24).
This, Jesus suggests, is why worry can be so dangerous. It’s only natural to feel anxiety, but when worry is what drives us, devotion to our own peace of mind may have replaced a single-minded devotion to God and the just ways of His kingdom. - Monica Brands
An Alternative to Worry
By Dave Branon
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27
A law-abiding, honest man received a voicemail that said, “This is officer _______ from the police department. Please call me at this number.” Immediately the man began to worry—afraid that somehow he had done something wrong. He was afraid to return the call, and he even spent sleepless nights running through possible scenarios—worried that he was in some kind of trouble. The officer never called back, but it took weeks for the worry to go away.
Jesus asked an interesting question about worry: “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27). Perhaps this can help us rethink our tendency to worry, because it suggests that it doesn’t help the situation we’re concerned about.
When problems are on the horizon for us, maybe we can try the following two-step approach: Take action and trust in God. If we can do something to avoid the problem, let’s try that route. We can pray for God to guide us to an action we should take. But if there’s nothing we can do, we can take comfort in knowing that God never finds Himself in such a predicament. He can always act on our behalf. We can always turn our situation over to Him in trust and confidence.
When it feels like time to worry, may we turn to the inspired words of King David, who faced his own share of difficulties and worries, but concluded: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). What a great alternative to worry!
What worries do you need to give to God today?
Father, You know what faces me today. I am turning my cares over to You. Please strengthen me and help me to trust You with the struggles I face.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Is My Sacrifice Living?
Abraham built an altar…; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar… —Genesis 22:9
This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You…to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”
We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice”— to let Him have all your strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Going Back to Where You Started - #8347
Mackinaw Island in Michigan is one of the special places in America. It's a romantic island. It's surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. There are no cars, just bikes, horses and carriages. For my wife and me, it's a very special place. It's where we honeymooned many years ago, and again on a special anniversary when our kids gave it to us as a gift. They gave us some nights on our honeymoon island to celebrate that milestone anniversary. When we were newlyweds, we couldn't afford to stay in a hotel on the island. We could barely afford a cheap motel on the mainland. This time we actually stayed on Mackinaw Island, and we had a great time. Being there actually took us back to the very beginnings of our life together, when there were no children, no grandchildren, and a lot less responsibility. It was good to get back to where it started – one man and one woman in love.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going Back to Where You Started."
It's a good thing to stop the world for a little while and go back to where it all began. For couples, yeah, but even more for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ. In fact, maybe Jesus is inviting you even now to go back with Him to where it all began.
In Matthew 28:10, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus has just blasted out of His grave on Easter morning, and He has a message for His disciples: "Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me." And they did. It was there that Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:18-19).
Why this trip back to Galilee to be with Jesus? They were in Jerusalem. That's like a long 90-mile walk from Galilee. And Jesus would send them back to Jerusalem to start their mission. So why are we going back to Galilee? Well, I believe it was because that's where it all began. That's where they met Christ. That's where they abandoned everything to follow Christ. And that's where they needed to go after all the battles, the failures, the mountains, and the valleys that they had experienced since they met Jesus and before He launched them on a mission beyond belief.
I think Jesus may be asking you to go back to your Galilee, to remember the wonder of what He did to rescue you, the things about Him that captured your heart then; the time you surrendered fully to His purposes for your life. All of that tends to get obscured by all the knowledge you've acquired, all the responsibilities you've taken on, all the disappointments and disillusionment, all the complexities of your life. Jesus is saying, "Come back with Me to where we started, so you can remember again just who I am, who you are, and just what I've created you to do."
When you started, it was pretty simple: one man or one woman following one Savior wherever He was going. Now with all the other voices in your life, it must still be that one man or woman following that one Savior. He wants to go back to that point where you sensed things that He was calling you to do. It's still His calling on your life, no matter what's happened to you since then.
And there was probably a time and a place where you totally surrendered to Him – no strings attached – maybe at a camp, a conference, in church,or just alone in your room. You didn't care where that commitment took you did you, how much money you had, what sacrifices would be required? You were all His for whatever He wanted you to be and whatever He wanted you to do. Maybe that unconditional surrender has become a conditional surrender, encumbered by your position, your possessions, your convenience, your comfort, a lot of stuff. And Jesus is calling you back to that original surrender where it all began.
It's time to go back to your Galilee – to rekindle your first love and remember that it's still all about Jesus. Jesus wants to bring you back to where it all started so He can take your life where it's never gone before!
“A person can request forgiveness only so many times,” contends our common sense. If the devil can convince us that God’s grace has limited funds, we’ll draw the logical conclusion. The account is empty; we have no access to God.
“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus spoke these words to a paraplegic in Matthew 9:2. Jesus was thinking about our deepest problem– sin. He was considering our deepest fear– the fear of failing God. God keeps no list of our wrongs. His love casts out fear because he casts out sin! I John 3:20 says, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
Read more Fearless
2 Samuel 9
An Open Table for Mephibosheth
9 One day David asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family? If so, I’d like to show him some kindness in honor of Jonathan.”
2 It happened that a servant from Saul’s household named Ziba was there. They called him into David’s presence. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?”
“Yes sir,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there anyone left from the family of Saul to whom I can show some godly kindness?”
Ziba told the king, “Yes, there is Jonathan’s son, lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?”
“He’s living at the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 King David didn’t lose a minute. He sent and got him from the home of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan (who was the son of Saul), came before David, he bowed deeply, abasing himself, honoring David.
David spoke his name: “Mephibosheth.”
“Yes sir?”
7 “Don’t be frightened,” said David. “I’d like to do something special for you in memory of your father Jonathan. To begin with, I’m returning to you all the properties of your grandfather Saul. Furthermore, from now on you’ll take all your meals at my table.”
8 Shuffling and stammering, not looking him in the eye, Mephibosheth said, “Who am I that you pay attention to a stray dog like me?”
9-10 David then called in Ziba, Saul’s right-hand man, and told him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and his family, I’ve handed over to your master’s grandson. You and your sons and your servants will work his land and bring in the produce, provisions for your master’s grandson. Mephibosheth himself, your master’s grandson, from now on will take all his meals at my table.” Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11-12 “All that my master the king has ordered his servant,” answered Ziba, “your servant will surely do.”
And Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, just like one of the royal family. Mephibosheth also had a small son named Mica. All who were part of Ziba’s household were now the servants of Mephibosheth.
13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, taking all his meals at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Read: Matthew 6:25–34
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “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.
INSIGHT
Matthew 6:19–34 emphasizes that true discipleship requires a lifestyle in which all we do is unified by our love for God. In verse 22, for example, Jesus suggests that, just as an eye defect distorts our whole vision, so our entire being becomes corrupted when our priorities are distorted. It’s impossible, He emphasizes, to be devoted to more than one “master” (v. 24).
This, Jesus suggests, is why worry can be so dangerous. It’s only natural to feel anxiety, but when worry is what drives us, devotion to our own peace of mind may have replaced a single-minded devotion to God and the just ways of His kingdom. - Monica Brands
An Alternative to Worry
By Dave Branon
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27
A law-abiding, honest man received a voicemail that said, “This is officer _______ from the police department. Please call me at this number.” Immediately the man began to worry—afraid that somehow he had done something wrong. He was afraid to return the call, and he even spent sleepless nights running through possible scenarios—worried that he was in some kind of trouble. The officer never called back, but it took weeks for the worry to go away.
Jesus asked an interesting question about worry: “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27). Perhaps this can help us rethink our tendency to worry, because it suggests that it doesn’t help the situation we’re concerned about.
When problems are on the horizon for us, maybe we can try the following two-step approach: Take action and trust in God. If we can do something to avoid the problem, let’s try that route. We can pray for God to guide us to an action we should take. But if there’s nothing we can do, we can take comfort in knowing that God never finds Himself in such a predicament. He can always act on our behalf. We can always turn our situation over to Him in trust and confidence.
When it feels like time to worry, may we turn to the inspired words of King David, who faced his own share of difficulties and worries, but concluded: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). What a great alternative to worry!
What worries do you need to give to God today?
Father, You know what faces me today. I am turning my cares over to You. Please strengthen me and help me to trust You with the struggles I face.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Is My Sacrifice Living?
Abraham built an altar…; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar… —Genesis 22:9
This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You…to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”
We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice”— to let Him have all your strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Going Back to Where You Started - #8347
Mackinaw Island in Michigan is one of the special places in America. It's a romantic island. It's surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. There are no cars, just bikes, horses and carriages. For my wife and me, it's a very special place. It's where we honeymooned many years ago, and again on a special anniversary when our kids gave it to us as a gift. They gave us some nights on our honeymoon island to celebrate that milestone anniversary. When we were newlyweds, we couldn't afford to stay in a hotel on the island. We could barely afford a cheap motel on the mainland. This time we actually stayed on Mackinaw Island, and we had a great time. Being there actually took us back to the very beginnings of our life together, when there were no children, no grandchildren, and a lot less responsibility. It was good to get back to where it started – one man and one woman in love.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going Back to Where You Started."
It's a good thing to stop the world for a little while and go back to where it all began. For couples, yeah, but even more for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ. In fact, maybe Jesus is inviting you even now to go back with Him to where it all began.
In Matthew 28:10, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus has just blasted out of His grave on Easter morning, and He has a message for His disciples: "Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me." And they did. It was there that Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:18-19).
Why this trip back to Galilee to be with Jesus? They were in Jerusalem. That's like a long 90-mile walk from Galilee. And Jesus would send them back to Jerusalem to start their mission. So why are we going back to Galilee? Well, I believe it was because that's where it all began. That's where they met Christ. That's where they abandoned everything to follow Christ. And that's where they needed to go after all the battles, the failures, the mountains, and the valleys that they had experienced since they met Jesus and before He launched them on a mission beyond belief.
I think Jesus may be asking you to go back to your Galilee, to remember the wonder of what He did to rescue you, the things about Him that captured your heart then; the time you surrendered fully to His purposes for your life. All of that tends to get obscured by all the knowledge you've acquired, all the responsibilities you've taken on, all the disappointments and disillusionment, all the complexities of your life. Jesus is saying, "Come back with Me to where we started, so you can remember again just who I am, who you are, and just what I've created you to do."
When you started, it was pretty simple: one man or one woman following one Savior wherever He was going. Now with all the other voices in your life, it must still be that one man or woman following that one Savior. He wants to go back to that point where you sensed things that He was calling you to do. It's still His calling on your life, no matter what's happened to you since then.
And there was probably a time and a place where you totally surrendered to Him – no strings attached – maybe at a camp, a conference, in church,or just alone in your room. You didn't care where that commitment took you did you, how much money you had, what sacrifices would be required? You were all His for whatever He wanted you to be and whatever He wanted you to do. Maybe that unconditional surrender has become a conditional surrender, encumbered by your position, your possessions, your convenience, your comfort, a lot of stuff. And Jesus is calling you back to that original surrender where it all began.
It's time to go back to your Galilee – to rekindle your first love and remember that it's still all about Jesus. Jesus wants to bring you back to where it all started so He can take your life where it's never gone before!
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