Max Lucado Daily: A SATISFIED THIRST
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood,” Jesus explained, holding up the wine. These words recorded in Luke 22:20 must have puzzled the disciples. For generations, the Jews had observed the Passover by sacrificing lambs. It was enough to fulfill the law. But it was not enough to take away sins. Only God could offer an eternal solution.
Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” So the thirsty come. A ragged lot we are, bound together by broken dreams and collapsed promises. We thirst for righteousness…a clean conscience, a fresh start, and a clean slate. We pray for a hand which will enter the dark cavern of our soul and do for us the one thing we can’t do for ourselves—make us right again.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Acts 2:1-21
When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
5-11 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;
Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;
Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;
Even Cretans and Arabs!
“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”
12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn’t make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: “What’s going on here?”
13 Others joked, “They’re drunk on cheap wine.”
14-21 That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:
“In the Last Days,” God says,
“I will pour out my Spirit
on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy,
also your daughters;
Your young men will see visions,
your old men dream dreams.
When the time comes,
I’ll pour out my Spirit
On those who serve me, men and women both,
and they’ll prophesy.
I’ll set wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth below,
Blood and fire and billowing smoke,
the sun turning black and the moon blood-red,
Before the Day of the Lord arrives,
the Day tremendous and marvelous;
And whoever calls out for help
to me, God, will be saved.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 John 4:13-19
6 This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.
17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
Insight
Apart from being known in Scripture as the son of Zebedee and the brother of James (Matthew 4:21), as well as one of the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), John has also been dubbed “the apostle of love.” Why this title? Several things could factor into this. In the gospel that bears his name, John describes himself as the disciple “Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7, 20). Furthermore, it doesn’t take long to see that love is a major theme of his writing. The noun and verb forms of agape (love) appear numerous times, the first time in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” The apostle who received love came to understand love as the defining characteristic of those in the family of God.
Bear Hug
God is love. 1 John 4:16
“Bear” was a gift for my grandchild—a heaping helping of love contained in a giant stuffed animal frame. Baby D’s response? First, wonder. Next, an amazed awe. Then, a curiosity that nudged a daring exploration. He poked his pudgy finger at Bear’s nose, and when the Bear tumbled forward into his arms he responded with joy joy JOY! Baby D laid his toddler head down on Bear’s fluffy chest and hugged him tightly. A dimpled smile spread across his cheeks as he burrowed deeply into Bear’s cushiony softness. The child had no idea of Bear’s inability to truly love him. Innocently and naturally, he felt love from Bear and returned it with all his heart.
In his first of three letters to early Christians, the apostle John boldly states that God Himself is love. “We know and rely on the love God has for us,” he writes. “God is love” (1 John 4:16).
God loves. Not in the pillow of a pretend animal but rather with the outstretched arms of a real human body encasing a beating but breaking heart (John 3:16). Through Jesus, God communicated His extravagant and sacrificial love for us.
John goes on, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). When we believe we’re loved, we love back. God’s real love makes it possible for us to love God and others—with all our hearts. By Elisa Morgan
Reflect & Pray
What do you find is most amazing about God’s love for you? How will you reveal His love to others today?
Dear God, help me to let You love me and then help me to love You back—with all my heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 16, 2019
The Habit of Recognizing God’s Provision
…you may be partakers of the divine nature… —2 Peter 1:4
We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.” And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges— always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.
Before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; as the psalmist said, “All my springs are in You” (Psalm 87:7). If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you…may have an abundance…” (2 Corinthians 9:8)— then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time.
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
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Why Your Big Bowl Suddenly Got Small - #8439
Once upon a time, the Hutchcraft family had a very little fantail goldfish, and what did our daughter name him? Well, of course, Fanny. And the time came for Fanny's murky old fishbowl water to get changed. Of course, he had to be in water while that was happening or he would have developed, shall we say, severe respiratory difficulties. So, we put Fanny into this cramped, tiny little bowl and we put it in the kitchen sink...poor little fish. He would try to swim as usual, and he just kept bumping into the sides of the bowl because the sides of the bowl came a lot sooner than usual! It really, obviously, was not fun being in that shrunken little environment, but hey, the purpose was to improve his world...right!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Your Big Bowl Suddenly Got Small."
If you think about the goldfish, frustrated in a world that suddenly got smaller, you might be able to see a picture of yourself and what God is doing all of this for.
Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 23:1, familiar words, describes some of the wonderful ways that God provides for us, and leads us, and restores us. You know these words, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." In Jesus, you have a Shepherd who knows exactly what you need and when you need it. Now here comes one of His methods for meeting your needs, "He makes me lie down in green pastures." That part - that's got a little sting in it, those words, "He makes me lie down." Like I hadn't planned to stop. I may not want to stop. "Hey, someone just hit the brakes! My world suddenly shrank!"
You could be in a time like that right now because of an injury, a change at work, a burden that's been added to you that's really slowed you down, or maybe a health setback, a financial setback, or maybe because of a closed door or a lost relationship. If you were a goldfish, you might be saying, "Hey, I was swimming along in a much bigger bowl. Why did my world suddenly get smaller?"
Here's part of the answer in Psalm 23:3, "He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." God wants to restore your soul. He wants to give you specific guidance, and maybe neither one can happen as long as you're swimming full speed in your fast-moving world. Our goldfish probably didn't realize it, but we put him temporarily in a little bowl so we could improve his world. After his frustrating, but brief time in a little bowl, he returned to a better, brighter world in his big, clean bowl.
We're like that. For us to have the better perspective, the closer walk, the inner power that Jesus wants to give us - look, I've experienced it - He often has to slow us down and temporarily shrink our world. Years ago when my very active wife was bedridden for seven months recovering from hepatitis, here's what she said, "You know, God used this time to do something wonderful. He has cleansed my schedule." Hard process, but a liberating result. You know, that is often God's way.
He makes us lie down. He makes us slow down. He makes us quiet down so He can restore our beat-up soul that He could never restore at the pace we usually travel, and to give us some direction in our stressed-out mind. We can't hear His voice sometimes until He slows us down. Isn't it interesting that the Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God." So don't worry if you suddenly find yourself in a smaller bowl. God is calling you to a timeout so he can return you to a better and brighter world!
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Proverbs 15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE BANDIT OF JOY
The bandit of joy is Fear. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of God, and fear of tomorrow. His arsenal is vast. His goal? To create cowardly, joyless souls.
We try unsuccessfully to face our fears with power, possessions, or popularity. Only inward character creates courage. And it is those inward convictions Jesus is building in the Beatitudes. The result of this process is courage—“they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). No longer shall the earth and its fears dominate us, for we follow the one who dominates the earth.
If you are in Christ, you are guaranteed that your sins will be filtered through, hidden in, and screened out by the sacrifice of Jesus. That means failure is not a concern for you. Your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous?
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 15
A gentle response defuses anger,
but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.
2 Knowledge flows like spring water from the wise;
fools are leaky faucets, dripping nonsense.
3 God doesn’t miss a thing—
he’s alert to good and evil alike.
4 Kind words heal and help;
cutting words wound and maim.
5 Moral dropouts won’t listen to their elders;
welcoming correction is a mark of good sense.
6 The lives of God-loyal people flourish;
a misspent life is soon bankrupt.
7 Perceptive words spread knowledge;
fools are hollow—there’s nothing to them.
8 God can’t stand pious poses,
but he delights in genuine prayers.
9 A life frittered away disgusts God;
he loves those who run straight for the finish line.
10 It’s a school of hard knocks for those who leave God’s path,
a dead-end street for those who hate God’s rules.
11 Even hell holds no secrets from God—
do you think he can’t read human hearts?
12 Know-it-alls don’t like being told what to do;
they avoid the company of wise men and women.
13 A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face;
a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.
14 An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth;
fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.
15 A miserable heart means a miserable life;
a cheerful heart fills the day with song.
16 A simple life in the Fear-of-God
is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.
17 Better a bread crust shared in love
than a slab of prime rib served in hate.
18 Hot tempers start fights;
a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.
19 The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers;
the diligent walk down a smooth road.
20 Intelligent children make their parents proud;
lazy students embarrass their parents.
21 The empty-headed treat life as a plaything;
the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it.
22 Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;
take good counsel and watch them succeed.
23 Congenial conversation—what a pleasure!
The right word at the right time—beautiful!
24 Life ascends to the heights for the thoughtful—
it’s a clean about-face from descent into hell.
25 God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant;
he stands with those who have no standing.
26 God can’t stand evil scheming,
but he puts words of grace and beauty on display.
27 A greedy and grasping person destroys community;
those who refuse to exploit live and let live.
28 Prayerful answers come from God-loyal people;
the wicked are sewers of abuse.
29 God keeps his distance from the wicked;
he closely attends to the prayers of God-loyal people.
30 A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart,
and good news makes you feel fit as a fiddle.
31 Listen to good advice if you want to live well,
an honored guest among wise men and women.
32 An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny;
an obedient, God-willed life is spacious.
33 Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living—
first you learn humility, then you experience glory.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 22:1-5
A David Psalm
God, God . . . my God!
Why did you dump me
miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God
all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.
3-5 And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
they cried for your help and you gave it;
they trusted and lived a good life.
Insight
Psalm 22 is a song of lament in which David pours out his heart to God during a time of great heartache and struggle. Yet in his pain David’s words anticipated the cosmic struggle of Jesus on the cross. Christ claimed the opening words of Psalm 22 during His own suffering (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), but that’s only the beginning of the song’s anticipations of the cross. The mockery David experienced (Psalm 22:8) looks ahead to the words that targeted Jesus (Matthew 27:39–44). David spoke poetically of piercings (Psalm 22:16), which Jesus experienced literally through the nails of crucifixion (Luke 24:39–40). And the sadness of oppressors’ gambling for David’s garments (Psalm 22:18) finds echoes in the soldiers at the foot of the cross gambling for Jesus’s seamless robe (Matthew 27:35). The Holy Spirit utilized the poetry of an Old Testament psalm to prepare the way for the experience of Christ in His passion.
When All Seems Lost
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22:1
In just six months, Gerald’s life fell apart. An economic crisis destroyed his business and wealth, while a tragic accident took his son’s life. Overcome by shock, his mother had a heart attack and died, his wife went into depression, and his two young daughters remained inconsolable. All he could do was echo the words of the psalmist, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).
The only thing that kept Gerald going was the hope that God, who raised Jesus to life, would one day deliver him and his family from their pain to an eternal life of joy. It was a hope that God would answer his desperate cries for help. In his despair, like the psalmist David, he determined to trust God in the midst of his suffering. He held on to the hope that God would deliver and save him (vv. 4–5).
That hope sustained Gerald. Over the years, whenever he was asked how he was, he could only say, “Well, I’m trusting God.”
God honored that trust, giving Gerald the comfort, strength, and courage to keep going through the years. His family slowly recovered from the crisis, and soon Gerald welcomed the birth of his first grandchild. His cry is now a testimony of God’s faithfulness. “I’m no longer asking, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ God has blessed me.”
When it seems there’s nothing left, there’s still hope. By Leslie Koh
Reflect & Pray
What will help you to remember and cling to God’s sure and certain hope of deliverance? How has trusting in God sustained you in a difficult challenge?
Whenever I feel abandoned and alone, I cling to the hope You’ve given me through Christ’s resurrection, that I will be delivered to eternal joy one day.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
The Habit of Rising to the Occasion
…that you may know what is the hope of His calling… —Ephesians 1:18
Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.
You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.
God is the Master Designer, and He allows adversities into your life to see if you can jump over them properly— “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). God will never shield you from the requirements of being His son or daughter. First Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you….” Rise to the occasion— do what the trial demands of you. It does not matter how much it hurts as long as it gives God the opportunity to manifest the life of Jesus in your body.
May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality— a readiness to face anything He brings our way. The only proper goal of life is that we manifest the Son of God; and when this occurs, all of our dictating of our demands to God disappears. Our Lord never dictated demands to His Father, and neither are we to make demands on God. We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
The Tragedy of Doing Nothing - #8438
We love it when we hear those stories in the news about ordinary people who come upon someone in danger and they risk their own lives to save them. And then there's the kind of story that came from Mount Everest some years ago. A British mountaineer became desperate for oxygen on his descent from that mountain. And you know, it is a legendary mountain. Ultimately, he collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. He was dying. And more than 40 climbers are thought to have seen him as he lay dying, and they passed him by. He died there of oxygen deficiency. But you know what? He sure didn't have to die.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tragedy of Doing Nothing."
The official cause of death was probably something like "oxygen deficiency." But apparently there was another cause of that climber's death - human indifference, people too busy climbing their mountain to stop and help someone who was dying.
Sadly, that happens more than we know. And the ones who are dying may be people we see everyday. Without the Bible, we'd never know the real spiritual condition of the folks that we know who don't belong to Jesus. But we have the Bible, and it describes every person without Christ in words like these: and I'll just quote from the Bible, they are "lost," according to Luke 19:10, they are "without hope and without God in this world," according to Ephesians 2:12. Some folks you see often, are in God's words, "condemned," according to John 3:18. And they're called in Proverbs 24, "those who are being led away to death."
My Bible tells me that neighbors and friends of mine who don't know Christ will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). There's no way anyone can get into heaven with their sin unforgiven. And the only One who can forgive their sin is the One who died for those sins. So we have dying people all around us. People whose eternal destination may hinge on whether or not we stop for them to tell them what Jesus did for them on the cross. Look you could live a good life in front of them for 50 years and they're not going to guess Jesus died for them. You have to tell them that.
Where are we in this disturbing story Jesus told in Luke 10:30-34, our word for today from the Word of God? "A man...fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him...beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side." And then another religious leader came along and it says he "passed by on the other side." Then it says, "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds...he took him to an inn and took care of him." What troubles me is that it's the really religious folks who just keep walking by this man who needs them - people like me, and maybe like you.
So many times I've met people who have come to Christ late in life, and they just regret so much that they did not know Him sooner. And I've heard so many say something like, "I was 52 years old...I was 45 years old before I ever heard what Jesus did for me." And it turns out, in retrospect, that they had known several folks along the way who were believers and who never told them about their Jesus.
Look around your personal world: those coworkers, the family members, your fellow students, your teammates, your fellow club members, your friends, your neighbors. If you'll let Jesus show you what He sees, you're going to see people who are slowly dying spiritually, who are headed for an unthinkable eternity without Christ while you're enjoying the glories of heaven. Silence is unacceptable. Silence is wrong.
Don't talk to them about religion. Don't talk to them about your church. Don't talk to them about their lifestyle. Tell them about the Man who loved them enough to die in their place. God put you in their life to be their chance at Jesus. Please, don't keep walking by their need. You know Jesus. They need your Jesus. Don't let them down. Don't let Him down.
The bandit of joy is Fear. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of God, and fear of tomorrow. His arsenal is vast. His goal? To create cowardly, joyless souls.
We try unsuccessfully to face our fears with power, possessions, or popularity. Only inward character creates courage. And it is those inward convictions Jesus is building in the Beatitudes. The result of this process is courage—“they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). No longer shall the earth and its fears dominate us, for we follow the one who dominates the earth.
If you are in Christ, you are guaranteed that your sins will be filtered through, hidden in, and screened out by the sacrifice of Jesus. That means failure is not a concern for you. Your victory is secure. How could you not be courageous?
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 15
A gentle response defuses anger,
but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.
2 Knowledge flows like spring water from the wise;
fools are leaky faucets, dripping nonsense.
3 God doesn’t miss a thing—
he’s alert to good and evil alike.
4 Kind words heal and help;
cutting words wound and maim.
5 Moral dropouts won’t listen to their elders;
welcoming correction is a mark of good sense.
6 The lives of God-loyal people flourish;
a misspent life is soon bankrupt.
7 Perceptive words spread knowledge;
fools are hollow—there’s nothing to them.
8 God can’t stand pious poses,
but he delights in genuine prayers.
9 A life frittered away disgusts God;
he loves those who run straight for the finish line.
10 It’s a school of hard knocks for those who leave God’s path,
a dead-end street for those who hate God’s rules.
11 Even hell holds no secrets from God—
do you think he can’t read human hearts?
12 Know-it-alls don’t like being told what to do;
they avoid the company of wise men and women.
13 A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face;
a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.
14 An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth;
fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.
15 A miserable heart means a miserable life;
a cheerful heart fills the day with song.
16 A simple life in the Fear-of-God
is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.
17 Better a bread crust shared in love
than a slab of prime rib served in hate.
18 Hot tempers start fights;
a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.
19 The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers;
the diligent walk down a smooth road.
20 Intelligent children make their parents proud;
lazy students embarrass their parents.
21 The empty-headed treat life as a plaything;
the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it.
22 Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;
take good counsel and watch them succeed.
23 Congenial conversation—what a pleasure!
The right word at the right time—beautiful!
24 Life ascends to the heights for the thoughtful—
it’s a clean about-face from descent into hell.
25 God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant;
he stands with those who have no standing.
26 God can’t stand evil scheming,
but he puts words of grace and beauty on display.
27 A greedy and grasping person destroys community;
those who refuse to exploit live and let live.
28 Prayerful answers come from God-loyal people;
the wicked are sewers of abuse.
29 God keeps his distance from the wicked;
he closely attends to the prayers of God-loyal people.
30 A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart,
and good news makes you feel fit as a fiddle.
31 Listen to good advice if you want to live well,
an honored guest among wise men and women.
32 An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny;
an obedient, God-willed life is spacious.
33 Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living—
first you learn humility, then you experience glory.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 22:1-5
A David Psalm
God, God . . . my God!
Why did you dump me
miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God
all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.
3-5 And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
they cried for your help and you gave it;
they trusted and lived a good life.
Insight
Psalm 22 is a song of lament in which David pours out his heart to God during a time of great heartache and struggle. Yet in his pain David’s words anticipated the cosmic struggle of Jesus on the cross. Christ claimed the opening words of Psalm 22 during His own suffering (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), but that’s only the beginning of the song’s anticipations of the cross. The mockery David experienced (Psalm 22:8) looks ahead to the words that targeted Jesus (Matthew 27:39–44). David spoke poetically of piercings (Psalm 22:16), which Jesus experienced literally through the nails of crucifixion (Luke 24:39–40). And the sadness of oppressors’ gambling for David’s garments (Psalm 22:18) finds echoes in the soldiers at the foot of the cross gambling for Jesus’s seamless robe (Matthew 27:35). The Holy Spirit utilized the poetry of an Old Testament psalm to prepare the way for the experience of Christ in His passion.
When All Seems Lost
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22:1
In just six months, Gerald’s life fell apart. An economic crisis destroyed his business and wealth, while a tragic accident took his son’s life. Overcome by shock, his mother had a heart attack and died, his wife went into depression, and his two young daughters remained inconsolable. All he could do was echo the words of the psalmist, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).
The only thing that kept Gerald going was the hope that God, who raised Jesus to life, would one day deliver him and his family from their pain to an eternal life of joy. It was a hope that God would answer his desperate cries for help. In his despair, like the psalmist David, he determined to trust God in the midst of his suffering. He held on to the hope that God would deliver and save him (vv. 4–5).
That hope sustained Gerald. Over the years, whenever he was asked how he was, he could only say, “Well, I’m trusting God.”
God honored that trust, giving Gerald the comfort, strength, and courage to keep going through the years. His family slowly recovered from the crisis, and soon Gerald welcomed the birth of his first grandchild. His cry is now a testimony of God’s faithfulness. “I’m no longer asking, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ God has blessed me.”
When it seems there’s nothing left, there’s still hope. By Leslie Koh
Reflect & Pray
What will help you to remember and cling to God’s sure and certain hope of deliverance? How has trusting in God sustained you in a difficult challenge?
Whenever I feel abandoned and alone, I cling to the hope You’ve given me through Christ’s resurrection, that I will be delivered to eternal joy one day.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
The Habit of Rising to the Occasion
…that you may know what is the hope of His calling… —Ephesians 1:18
Remember that you have been saved so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in your body (see 2 Corinthians 4:10). Direct the total energy of your powers so that you may achieve everything your election as a child of God provides; rise every time to whatever occasion may come your way.
You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.
God is the Master Designer, and He allows adversities into your life to see if you can jump over them properly— “By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). God will never shield you from the requirements of being His son or daughter. First Peter 4:12 says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you….” Rise to the occasion— do what the trial demands of you. It does not matter how much it hurts as long as it gives God the opportunity to manifest the life of Jesus in your body.
May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality— a readiness to face anything He brings our way. The only proper goal of life is that we manifest the Son of God; and when this occurs, all of our dictating of our demands to God disappears. Our Lord never dictated demands to His Father, and neither are we to make demands on God. We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
The Tragedy of Doing Nothing - #8438
We love it when we hear those stories in the news about ordinary people who come upon someone in danger and they risk their own lives to save them. And then there's the kind of story that came from Mount Everest some years ago. A British mountaineer became desperate for oxygen on his descent from that mountain. And you know, it is a legendary mountain. Ultimately, he collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. He was dying. And more than 40 climbers are thought to have seen him as he lay dying, and they passed him by. He died there of oxygen deficiency. But you know what? He sure didn't have to die.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Tragedy of Doing Nothing."
The official cause of death was probably something like "oxygen deficiency." But apparently there was another cause of that climber's death - human indifference, people too busy climbing their mountain to stop and help someone who was dying.
Sadly, that happens more than we know. And the ones who are dying may be people we see everyday. Without the Bible, we'd never know the real spiritual condition of the folks that we know who don't belong to Jesus. But we have the Bible, and it describes every person without Christ in words like these: and I'll just quote from the Bible, they are "lost," according to Luke 19:10, they are "without hope and without God in this world," according to Ephesians 2:12. Some folks you see often, are in God's words, "condemned," according to John 3:18. And they're called in Proverbs 24, "those who are being led away to death."
My Bible tells me that neighbors and friends of mine who don't know Christ will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). There's no way anyone can get into heaven with their sin unforgiven. And the only One who can forgive their sin is the One who died for those sins. So we have dying people all around us. People whose eternal destination may hinge on whether or not we stop for them to tell them what Jesus did for them on the cross. Look you could live a good life in front of them for 50 years and they're not going to guess Jesus died for them. You have to tell them that.
Where are we in this disturbing story Jesus told in Luke 10:30-34, our word for today from the Word of God? "A man...fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him...beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side." And then another religious leader came along and it says he "passed by on the other side." Then it says, "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds...he took him to an inn and took care of him." What troubles me is that it's the really religious folks who just keep walking by this man who needs them - people like me, and maybe like you.
So many times I've met people who have come to Christ late in life, and they just regret so much that they did not know Him sooner. And I've heard so many say something like, "I was 52 years old...I was 45 years old before I ever heard what Jesus did for me." And it turns out, in retrospect, that they had known several folks along the way who were believers and who never told them about their Jesus.
Look around your personal world: those coworkers, the family members, your fellow students, your teammates, your fellow club members, your friends, your neighbors. If you'll let Jesus show you what He sees, you're going to see people who are slowly dying spiritually, who are headed for an unthinkable eternity without Christ while you're enjoying the glories of heaven. Silence is unacceptable. Silence is wrong.
Don't talk to them about religion. Don't talk to them about your church. Don't talk to them about their lifestyle. Tell them about the Man who loved them enough to die in their place. God put you in their life to be their chance at Jesus. Please, don't keep walking by their need. You know Jesus. They need your Jesus. Don't let them down. Don't let Him down.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Proverbs 14, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE MEEK WILL SEE CHRIST
There is one word that describes the night Jesus came—ordinary. The sky, the sheep, the shepherds—all ordinary.
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. But you have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t go in standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees. So…while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 14
Lady Wisdom builds a lovely home;
Sir Fool comes along and tears it down brick by brick.
2 An honest life shows respect for God;
a degenerate life is a slap in his face.
3 Frivolous talk provokes a derisive smile;
wise speech evokes nothing but respect.
4 No cattle, no crops;
a good harvest requires a strong ox for the plow.
5 A true witness never lies;
a false witness makes a business of it.
6 Cynics look high and low for wisdom—and never find it;
the open-minded find it right on their doorstep!
7 Escape quickly from the company of fools;
they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words.
8 The wisdom of the wise keeps life on track;
the foolishness of fools lands them in the ditch.
9 The stupid ridicule right and wrong,
but a moral life is a favored life.
10 The person who shuns the bitter moments of friends
will be an outsider at their celebrations.
11 Lives of careless wrongdoing are tumbledown shacks;
holy living builds soaring cathedrals.
12-13 There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;
look again—it leads straight to hell.
Sure, those people appear to be having a good time,
but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.
14 A mean person gets paid back in meanness,
a gracious person in grace.
15 The gullible believe anything they’re told;
the prudent sift and weigh every word.
16 The wise watch their steps and avoid evil;
fools are headstrong and reckless.
17 The hotheaded do things they’ll later regret;
the coldhearted get the cold shoulder.
18 Foolish dreamers live in a world of illusion;
wise realists plant their feet on the ground.
19 Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good;
the wicked will respect God-loyal people.
20 An unlucky loser is shunned by all,
but everyone loves a winner.
21 It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need,
but compassion for the poor—what a blessing!
22 Isn’t it obvious that conspirators lose out,
while the thoughtful win love and trust?
23 Hard work always pays off;
mere talk puts no bread on the table.
24 The wise accumulate wisdom;
fools get stupider by the day.
25 Souls are saved by truthful witness
and betrayed by the spread of lies.
26 The Fear-of-God builds up confidence,
and makes a world safe for your children.
27 The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water
so you won’t go off drinking from poisoned wells.
28 The mark of a good leader is loyal followers;
leadership is nothing without a following.
29 Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding;
a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.
30 A sound mind makes for a robust body,
but runaway emotions corrode the bones.
31 You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless;
when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.
32 The evil of bad people leaves them out in the cold;
the integrity of good people creates a safe place for living.
33 Lady Wisdom is at home in an understanding heart—
fools never even get to say hello.
34 God-devotion makes a country strong;
God-avoidance leaves people weak.
35 Diligent work gets a warm commendation;
shiftless work earns an angry rebuke.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 4:7-15
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
Insight
In the prelude to today’s text, Jesus decided to leave Judea and head back to Galilee with His disciples (John 4:3). But instead of taking the longer route usually taken by the Jews to avoid meeting Samaritans, whom they detested, Jesus “had to go through Samaria” (v. 4). Jesus was compelled to go to Samaria, knowing that there He would meet a woman at a well who desperately needed “living water” (v. 11)—and that through her His message would extend to others (vv. 39–42).
A Kind Critique
The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
During a landscape painting class, the teacher, a highly experienced professional artist, assessed my first assignment. He stood silently in front of my painting, one hand cupping his chin. Here we go, I thought. He’s going to say it’s terrible.
But he didn’t.
He said he liked the color scheme and the feeling of openness. Then he mentioned that the trees in the distance could be lightened. A cluster of weeds needed softer edges. He had the authority to criticize my work based on the rules of perspective and color, yet his critique was truthful and kind.
Jesus, who was perfectly qualified to condemn people for their sin, didn’t use the Ten Commandments to crush a Samaritan woman He met at an ancient watering hole. He gently critiqued her life with just a handful of statements. The result was that she saw how her search for satisfaction had led her into sin. Building on this awareness, Jesus revealed Himself as the only source of eternal satisfaction (John 4:10–13).
The combination of grace and truth that Jesus used in this situation is what we experience in our relationship with Him (1:17). His grace prevents us from being overwhelmed by our sin, and His truth prevents us from thinking it isn’t a serious matter.
Will we invite Jesus to show us areas of our lives where we need to grow so we can become more like Him? By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How is Jesus using grace and truth to point out issues in your life? Where might He want you to make changes to honor Him more fully?
Jesus, thank You for freeing me from the consequences of sin. Help me to embrace Your correction and Your encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
The Habit of Enjoying Adversity
…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. —2 Corinthians 4:10
We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.
You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).
Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
The King Will Never Leave - #8437
When Queen Elizabeth's mother, affectionately known to the British as the "Queen Mum," died at the age of 101, reporters did a lot of reflecting on her very special place in British hearts. A lot of it was traced back to the way she stood by and supported her husband, the king, as well as the British people during the darkest days of World War II. Night after night, the German bombers would rain down destruction on England's largest cities. London lived largely underground at night, trying desperately to hold out against Hitler's determination to conquer their little nation. At one point, there was a rumor that Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, then just little girls, were going to be sent to another country for their safety. When the "Queen Mum" was asked about that, she gave a very famous reply: "The girls can't leave unless I leave and go with them, and I can't leave unless the King leaves. And the King will never leave."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The King Will Never Leave."
That's a powerful promise, especially when the hour is really dark. It's a promise you have, or you can have, beginning this very day from the King of all kings. One of the most amazing, most significant promises Jesus Christ ever made is contained in these eight little words from Hebrews 13:5, our word for today from the Word of God, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
No loopholes. No room for disappointment. No room for a change of heart. The Son of God promises to every person who belongs to Him that He will never leave them. Which may be the kind of unloseable love, the kind of anchor-relationship that you need, because there have been way too many people who did leave, right? Someone who's listening right now knows what it is to be abandoned, betrayed, or to be disappointed, or dropped, or ignored. Or maybe you've lost people close to you, maybe by their choice or maybe by their death.
All the people who have left have been preparing you for the One who will never leave, and that is Jesus Christ, He is God's Son. It's almost ironic that He's our never-leaving One because of all the times we have left Him. We have, according to the Bible, gone "our own way" (Isaiah 53:6) rather than His way. We've lied when we should have told the truth, we've made so many things more important than Him in our life, we've done things with our body, our mind, our mouth, to the people we love that we never should have done. But in spite of our turning our back on God and His plans for us, He has not turned His back on us. In fact, He sent Jesus, His One and only Son, to die to pay for everything we've done against Him!
Here's what He says in Isaiah 49: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." Think about that. Jesus looks at His hands and He sees there the nail prints that are there because of how much He loves you.
Isn't it time you resigned from running your own life and opened up to this never-leaving love of Jesus Christ? If you want to begin a personal relationship with Him, He's been waiting for that for a long time. Would you tell Him that right now? Tell Him right where you are, "Jesus, You died for me, for my sins. You walked out of your grave. You're alive! I want you to walk into my life today. I'm Yours beginning today."
If this is the day of beginning with Jesus and you want to make sure you belong to Him then please go to our website it's literally there for you for this moment. It's called ANewStory.com because this could be chapter one of your new story.
The bombs may be falling. The hour may be very dark. Maybe others are not there for you. But once you give yourself to King Jesus, the King will never leave! You have His word on it. You have His life on it.
There is one word that describes the night Jesus came—ordinary. The sky, the sheep, the shepherds—all ordinary.
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. But you have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t go in standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees. So…while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 14
Lady Wisdom builds a lovely home;
Sir Fool comes along and tears it down brick by brick.
2 An honest life shows respect for God;
a degenerate life is a slap in his face.
3 Frivolous talk provokes a derisive smile;
wise speech evokes nothing but respect.
4 No cattle, no crops;
a good harvest requires a strong ox for the plow.
5 A true witness never lies;
a false witness makes a business of it.
6 Cynics look high and low for wisdom—and never find it;
the open-minded find it right on their doorstep!
7 Escape quickly from the company of fools;
they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words.
8 The wisdom of the wise keeps life on track;
the foolishness of fools lands them in the ditch.
9 The stupid ridicule right and wrong,
but a moral life is a favored life.
10 The person who shuns the bitter moments of friends
will be an outsider at their celebrations.
11 Lives of careless wrongdoing are tumbledown shacks;
holy living builds soaring cathedrals.
12-13 There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;
look again—it leads straight to hell.
Sure, those people appear to be having a good time,
but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.
14 A mean person gets paid back in meanness,
a gracious person in grace.
15 The gullible believe anything they’re told;
the prudent sift and weigh every word.
16 The wise watch their steps and avoid evil;
fools are headstrong and reckless.
17 The hotheaded do things they’ll later regret;
the coldhearted get the cold shoulder.
18 Foolish dreamers live in a world of illusion;
wise realists plant their feet on the ground.
19 Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good;
the wicked will respect God-loyal people.
20 An unlucky loser is shunned by all,
but everyone loves a winner.
21 It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need,
but compassion for the poor—what a blessing!
22 Isn’t it obvious that conspirators lose out,
while the thoughtful win love and trust?
23 Hard work always pays off;
mere talk puts no bread on the table.
24 The wise accumulate wisdom;
fools get stupider by the day.
25 Souls are saved by truthful witness
and betrayed by the spread of lies.
26 The Fear-of-God builds up confidence,
and makes a world safe for your children.
27 The Fear-of-God is a spring of living water
so you won’t go off drinking from poisoned wells.
28 The mark of a good leader is loyal followers;
leadership is nothing without a following.
29 Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding;
a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.
30 A sound mind makes for a robust body,
but runaway emotions corrode the bones.
31 You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless;
when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.
32 The evil of bad people leaves them out in the cold;
the integrity of good people creates a safe place for living.
33 Lady Wisdom is at home in an understanding heart—
fools never even get to say hello.
34 God-devotion makes a country strong;
God-avoidance leaves people weak.
35 Diligent work gets a warm commendation;
shiftless work earns an angry rebuke.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 4:7-15
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
Insight
In the prelude to today’s text, Jesus decided to leave Judea and head back to Galilee with His disciples (John 4:3). But instead of taking the longer route usually taken by the Jews to avoid meeting Samaritans, whom they detested, Jesus “had to go through Samaria” (v. 4). Jesus was compelled to go to Samaria, knowing that there He would meet a woman at a well who desperately needed “living water” (v. 11)—and that through her His message would extend to others (vv. 39–42).
A Kind Critique
The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17
During a landscape painting class, the teacher, a highly experienced professional artist, assessed my first assignment. He stood silently in front of my painting, one hand cupping his chin. Here we go, I thought. He’s going to say it’s terrible.
But he didn’t.
He said he liked the color scheme and the feeling of openness. Then he mentioned that the trees in the distance could be lightened. A cluster of weeds needed softer edges. He had the authority to criticize my work based on the rules of perspective and color, yet his critique was truthful and kind.
Jesus, who was perfectly qualified to condemn people for their sin, didn’t use the Ten Commandments to crush a Samaritan woman He met at an ancient watering hole. He gently critiqued her life with just a handful of statements. The result was that she saw how her search for satisfaction had led her into sin. Building on this awareness, Jesus revealed Himself as the only source of eternal satisfaction (John 4:10–13).
The combination of grace and truth that Jesus used in this situation is what we experience in our relationship with Him (1:17). His grace prevents us from being overwhelmed by our sin, and His truth prevents us from thinking it isn’t a serious matter.
Will we invite Jesus to show us areas of our lives where we need to grow so we can become more like Him? By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How is Jesus using grace and truth to point out issues in your life? Where might He want you to make changes to honor Him more fully?
Jesus, thank You for freeing me from the consequences of sin. Help me to embrace Your correction and Your encouragement.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
The Habit of Enjoying Adversity
…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. —2 Corinthians 4:10
We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.
You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).
Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
The King Will Never Leave - #8437
When Queen Elizabeth's mother, affectionately known to the British as the "Queen Mum," died at the age of 101, reporters did a lot of reflecting on her very special place in British hearts. A lot of it was traced back to the way she stood by and supported her husband, the king, as well as the British people during the darkest days of World War II. Night after night, the German bombers would rain down destruction on England's largest cities. London lived largely underground at night, trying desperately to hold out against Hitler's determination to conquer their little nation. At one point, there was a rumor that Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, then just little girls, were going to be sent to another country for their safety. When the "Queen Mum" was asked about that, she gave a very famous reply: "The girls can't leave unless I leave and go with them, and I can't leave unless the King leaves. And the King will never leave."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The King Will Never Leave."
That's a powerful promise, especially when the hour is really dark. It's a promise you have, or you can have, beginning this very day from the King of all kings. One of the most amazing, most significant promises Jesus Christ ever made is contained in these eight little words from Hebrews 13:5, our word for today from the Word of God, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
No loopholes. No room for disappointment. No room for a change of heart. The Son of God promises to every person who belongs to Him that He will never leave them. Which may be the kind of unloseable love, the kind of anchor-relationship that you need, because there have been way too many people who did leave, right? Someone who's listening right now knows what it is to be abandoned, betrayed, or to be disappointed, or dropped, or ignored. Or maybe you've lost people close to you, maybe by their choice or maybe by their death.
All the people who have left have been preparing you for the One who will never leave, and that is Jesus Christ, He is God's Son. It's almost ironic that He's our never-leaving One because of all the times we have left Him. We have, according to the Bible, gone "our own way" (Isaiah 53:6) rather than His way. We've lied when we should have told the truth, we've made so many things more important than Him in our life, we've done things with our body, our mind, our mouth, to the people we love that we never should have done. But in spite of our turning our back on God and His plans for us, He has not turned His back on us. In fact, He sent Jesus, His One and only Son, to die to pay for everything we've done against Him!
Here's what He says in Isaiah 49: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." Think about that. Jesus looks at His hands and He sees there the nail prints that are there because of how much He loves you.
Isn't it time you resigned from running your own life and opened up to this never-leaving love of Jesus Christ? If you want to begin a personal relationship with Him, He's been waiting for that for a long time. Would you tell Him that right now? Tell Him right where you are, "Jesus, You died for me, for my sins. You walked out of your grave. You're alive! I want you to walk into my life today. I'm Yours beginning today."
If this is the day of beginning with Jesus and you want to make sure you belong to Him then please go to our website it's literally there for you for this moment. It's called ANewStory.com because this could be chapter one of your new story.
The bombs may be falling. The hour may be very dark. Maybe others are not there for you. But once you give yourself to King Jesus, the King will never leave! You have His word on it. You have His life on it.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Proverbs 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE GLORY IN THE ORDINARY
God’s most powerful tools are the simplest. Consider the rod of Moses. God made a stick become a snake, then become a stick again. Perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and stiff-necked people.
Consider five smooth stones and an ordinary leather sling. The soldiers gasped. Goliath jeered. David swung. And God made his point. Anyone who underestimates what God can do with the ordinary has rocks in his head.
Consider the saliva and mud that became a balm for the blind. Once again, the mundane became majestic.
We can learn a lesson from the rod, the rock, and the saliva. They didn’t question God’s wisdom. God’s power is seen not through the ability of the instrument, but through its availability.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 13
Intelligent children listen to their parents;
foolish children do their own thing.
2 The good acquire a taste for helpful conversation;
bullies push and shove their way through life.
3 Careful words make for a careful life;
careless talk may ruin everything.
4 Indolence wants it all and gets nothing;
the energetic have something to show for their lives.
5 A good person hates false talk;
a bad person wallows in gibberish.
6 A God-loyal life keeps you on track;
sin dumps the wicked in the ditch.
7 A pretentious, showy life is an empty life;
a plain and simple life is a full life.
8 The rich can be sued for everything they have,
but the poor are free of such threats.
9 The lives of good people are brightly lit streets;
the lives of the wicked are dark alleys.
10 Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord,
but wise men and women listen to each other’s counsel.
11 Easy come, easy go,
but steady diligence pays off.
12 Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around.
13 Ignore the Word and suffer;
honor God’s commands and grow rich.
14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells!
15 Sound thinking makes for gracious living,
but liars walk a rough road.
16 A commonsense person lives good sense;
fools litter the country with silliness.
17 Irresponsible talk makes a real mess of things,
but a reliable reporter is a healing presence.
18 Refuse discipline and end up homeless;
embrace correction and live an honored life.
19 Souls who follow their hearts thrive;
fools bent on evil despise matters of soul.
20 Become wise by walking with the wise;
hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
21 Disaster entraps sinners,
but God-loyal people get a good life.
22 A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren;
ill-gotten wealth ends up with good people.
23 Banks foreclose on the farms of the poor,
or else the poor lose their shirts to crooked lawyers.
24 A refusal to correct is a refusal to love;
love your children by disciplining them.
25 An appetite for good brings much satisfaction,
but the belly of the wicked always wants more.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 13, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Deuteronomy 34:1-5
Moses climbed from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah facing Jericho. God showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, all Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh; all Judah reaching to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev and the plains which encircle Jericho, City of Palms, as far south as Zoar.
4 Then and there God said to him, “This is the land I promised to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the words ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I’ve let you see it with your own eyes. There it is. But you’re not going to go in.”
5-6 Moses died there in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of God, just as God said. God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. No one knows his burial site to this very day.
Insight
The final chapter of Deuteronomy recounts how Moses wouldn’t be allowed to enter the promised land because of his disobedience to God at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:1–13; Psalm 106:32–33). However, he was permitted to see it from the vantage point of Mount Nebo in Moab (modern-day Jordan), east of the River Jordan (Deuteronomy 34:1–4).
The first generation of Israelites aged twenty and over had all died in the wilderness, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb (Numbers 32:11–12). Moses was preparing the second generation to enter Canaan when the Israelites complained against Moses because they had no water to drink (20:1–13). God told Moses to “speak to that rock . . . and it will pour out its water” (v. 8). But instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it twice (v. 11). By doing so, he publicly demonstrated his lack of faith in God to provide for His people and thus dishonored Him (v. 12).
A Longing in Stone
I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it. Deuteronomy 34:4
“Ah, every pier is a longing in stone!” says a line in Fernando Pessoa’s Portuguese poem “Ode MarÃtima.” Pessoa’s pier represents the emotions we feel as a ship moves slowly away from us. The vessel departs but the pier remains, an enduring monument to hopes and dreams, partings and yearnings. We ache for what’s lost, and for what we can’t quite reach.
The Portuguese word translated “longing” (saudade) refers to a nostalgic yearning we feel—a deep ache that defies definition. The poet is describing the indescribable.
We might say that Mount Nebo was Moses’s “longing in stone.” From Nebo he gazed into the promised land—a land he would never reach. God’s words to Moses—“I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it” (Deuteronomy 34:4)—might seem harsh. But if that’s all we see, we miss the heart of what’s happening. God is speaking immense comfort to Moses: “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants’” (v. 4). Very soon, Moses would leave Nebo for a land far better than Canaan (v. 5).
Life often finds us standing on the pier. Loved ones depart; hopes fade; dreams die. Amid it all we sense echoes of Eden and hints of heaven. Our longings point us to God. He is the fulfillment we yearn for. By Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What are your unfulfilled longings? What places in life are you trying to satisfy with wrong things? How can you find true fulfillment in God alone?
The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing—to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all beauty came from. C. S. Lewis
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 13, 2019
The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience
…strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. —Acts 24:16
God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.
Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).
God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. Biblical Psychology, 189 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 13, 2019
I was speaking at a church in New York, and a couple who originally came from India greeted me very warmly. They seemed to be very much in love with the Lord and obviously in love with each other. When I asked them how long they'd been married, they said, "28 years." They didn't look old enough to have been married 28 years. Then came the second and by far the biggest surprise. They said, "It was an arranged marriage." Jokingly, I said, "Well, it will probably never last." But after thinking about what they had said for a moment, I told them, "Maybe we all should have an arranged marriage."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beauty of an Arranged Marriage."
The best marriages in the world are the ones that have been arranged, by God, that is. Like Isaac's marriage to a woman named Rebekah. We read about how they got together in Genesis 24:44, our word for today from the Word of God. Abraham's servant is sent to find the woman that God has for his son Isaac, and here's the key factor in the search for Isaac's wife. The verse says, "Let her be the one the Lord has chosen." Listen, if you're single, wouldn't that make a wonderful verse to put somewhere you'll see it every day, "Let her" or "Let him be the one the Lord has chosen."
That's the kind of "arranged" marriage that's worth waiting for - arranged by a Heavenly Father who knows all your needs, all your potential, all your weaknesses, all your strengths, and exactly the kind of partner you need. After all, He's got some promises to keep, remember? Like Philippians 4:19, "My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." How about Psalm 23:1 - "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Now you may say, "Well, God is sure taking His time." Only as much time as it takes to have you ready for your partner and your partner ready for you, or as much time as it takes to lead you to an unmarried life where He will still keep His promise to meet all your needs. What you don't want to do is run ahead into a relationship that you've arranged. Impatience may be the greatest enemy of God's best. Remember, there is a far more lonely loneliness than not being married, and that's being married to the wrong person.
Now you may be a married person who's thinking, "Well, I think I'm in a marriage God didn't arrange." Well, once you have made a lifetime commitment with a person and become physically one through sexual love, your marriage has become God's will for the rest of your life. He's the One who says marriage is for life and says these pointed words, "I hate divorce" (that's in Malachi 2:16). If God does arranged marriages, then Satan does arranged divorces. But your calling is to throw everything you've got into building and fighting for the marriage you're in for life.
If God created you to be married, then don't settle for a relationship that you arrange. Please, let your Heavenly Father arrange it. Let it be the one the Lord has chosen. I can't help but remember the plaque my daughter had up in her room in high school: "God reserves His very best for those who leave the choice to Him."
If you're struggling in the marriage you're in, let God rearrange your relationship by helping you love your partner with the kind of unconditional love that He showed you at the cross. He still does marriage miracles. The best marriages in the world are "Designer marriages" conceived, controlled, and restored by the One who has designed you.
God’s most powerful tools are the simplest. Consider the rod of Moses. God made a stick become a snake, then become a stick again. Perhaps he can do something with stubborn hearts and stiff-necked people.
Consider five smooth stones and an ordinary leather sling. The soldiers gasped. Goliath jeered. David swung. And God made his point. Anyone who underestimates what God can do with the ordinary has rocks in his head.
Consider the saliva and mud that became a balm for the blind. Once again, the mundane became majestic.
We can learn a lesson from the rod, the rock, and the saliva. They didn’t question God’s wisdom. God’s power is seen not through the ability of the instrument, but through its availability.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 13
Intelligent children listen to their parents;
foolish children do their own thing.
2 The good acquire a taste for helpful conversation;
bullies push and shove their way through life.
3 Careful words make for a careful life;
careless talk may ruin everything.
4 Indolence wants it all and gets nothing;
the energetic have something to show for their lives.
5 A good person hates false talk;
a bad person wallows in gibberish.
6 A God-loyal life keeps you on track;
sin dumps the wicked in the ditch.
7 A pretentious, showy life is an empty life;
a plain and simple life is a full life.
8 The rich can be sued for everything they have,
but the poor are free of such threats.
9 The lives of good people are brightly lit streets;
the lives of the wicked are dark alleys.
10 Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord,
but wise men and women listen to each other’s counsel.
11 Easy come, easy go,
but steady diligence pays off.
12 Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around.
13 Ignore the Word and suffer;
honor God’s commands and grow rich.
14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells!
15 Sound thinking makes for gracious living,
but liars walk a rough road.
16 A commonsense person lives good sense;
fools litter the country with silliness.
17 Irresponsible talk makes a real mess of things,
but a reliable reporter is a healing presence.
18 Refuse discipline and end up homeless;
embrace correction and live an honored life.
19 Souls who follow their hearts thrive;
fools bent on evil despise matters of soul.
20 Become wise by walking with the wise;
hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
21 Disaster entraps sinners,
but God-loyal people get a good life.
22 A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren;
ill-gotten wealth ends up with good people.
23 Banks foreclose on the farms of the poor,
or else the poor lose their shirts to crooked lawyers.
24 A refusal to correct is a refusal to love;
love your children by disciplining them.
25 An appetite for good brings much satisfaction,
but the belly of the wicked always wants more.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, May 13, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Deuteronomy 34:1-5
Moses climbed from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah facing Jericho. God showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, all Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh; all Judah reaching to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev and the plains which encircle Jericho, City of Palms, as far south as Zoar.
4 Then and there God said to him, “This is the land I promised to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the words ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I’ve let you see it with your own eyes. There it is. But you’re not going to go in.”
5-6 Moses died there in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of God, just as God said. God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. No one knows his burial site to this very day.
Insight
The final chapter of Deuteronomy recounts how Moses wouldn’t be allowed to enter the promised land because of his disobedience to God at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:1–13; Psalm 106:32–33). However, he was permitted to see it from the vantage point of Mount Nebo in Moab (modern-day Jordan), east of the River Jordan (Deuteronomy 34:1–4).
The first generation of Israelites aged twenty and over had all died in the wilderness, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb (Numbers 32:11–12). Moses was preparing the second generation to enter Canaan when the Israelites complained against Moses because they had no water to drink (20:1–13). God told Moses to “speak to that rock . . . and it will pour out its water” (v. 8). But instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it twice (v. 11). By doing so, he publicly demonstrated his lack of faith in God to provide for His people and thus dishonored Him (v. 12).
A Longing in Stone
I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it. Deuteronomy 34:4
“Ah, every pier is a longing in stone!” says a line in Fernando Pessoa’s Portuguese poem “Ode MarÃtima.” Pessoa’s pier represents the emotions we feel as a ship moves slowly away from us. The vessel departs but the pier remains, an enduring monument to hopes and dreams, partings and yearnings. We ache for what’s lost, and for what we can’t quite reach.
The Portuguese word translated “longing” (saudade) refers to a nostalgic yearning we feel—a deep ache that defies definition. The poet is describing the indescribable.
We might say that Mount Nebo was Moses’s “longing in stone.” From Nebo he gazed into the promised land—a land he would never reach. God’s words to Moses—“I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it” (Deuteronomy 34:4)—might seem harsh. But if that’s all we see, we miss the heart of what’s happening. God is speaking immense comfort to Moses: “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants’” (v. 4). Very soon, Moses would leave Nebo for a land far better than Canaan (v. 5).
Life often finds us standing on the pier. Loved ones depart; hopes fade; dreams die. Amid it all we sense echoes of Eden and hints of heaven. Our longings point us to God. He is the fulfillment we yearn for. By Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What are your unfulfilled longings? What places in life are you trying to satisfy with wrong things? How can you find true fulfillment in God alone?
The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing—to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all beauty came from. C. S. Lewis
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 13, 2019
The Habit of Keeping a Clear Conscience
…strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. —Acts 24:16
God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.
Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).
God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. Biblical Psychology, 189 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 13, 2019
I was speaking at a church in New York, and a couple who originally came from India greeted me very warmly. They seemed to be very much in love with the Lord and obviously in love with each other. When I asked them how long they'd been married, they said, "28 years." They didn't look old enough to have been married 28 years. Then came the second and by far the biggest surprise. They said, "It was an arranged marriage." Jokingly, I said, "Well, it will probably never last." But after thinking about what they had said for a moment, I told them, "Maybe we all should have an arranged marriage."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Beauty of an Arranged Marriage."
The best marriages in the world are the ones that have been arranged, by God, that is. Like Isaac's marriage to a woman named Rebekah. We read about how they got together in Genesis 24:44, our word for today from the Word of God. Abraham's servant is sent to find the woman that God has for his son Isaac, and here's the key factor in the search for Isaac's wife. The verse says, "Let her be the one the Lord has chosen." Listen, if you're single, wouldn't that make a wonderful verse to put somewhere you'll see it every day, "Let her" or "Let him be the one the Lord has chosen."
That's the kind of "arranged" marriage that's worth waiting for - arranged by a Heavenly Father who knows all your needs, all your potential, all your weaknesses, all your strengths, and exactly the kind of partner you need. After all, He's got some promises to keep, remember? Like Philippians 4:19, "My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." How about Psalm 23:1 - "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Now you may say, "Well, God is sure taking His time." Only as much time as it takes to have you ready for your partner and your partner ready for you, or as much time as it takes to lead you to an unmarried life where He will still keep His promise to meet all your needs. What you don't want to do is run ahead into a relationship that you've arranged. Impatience may be the greatest enemy of God's best. Remember, there is a far more lonely loneliness than not being married, and that's being married to the wrong person.
Now you may be a married person who's thinking, "Well, I think I'm in a marriage God didn't arrange." Well, once you have made a lifetime commitment with a person and become physically one through sexual love, your marriage has become God's will for the rest of your life. He's the One who says marriage is for life and says these pointed words, "I hate divorce" (that's in Malachi 2:16). If God does arranged marriages, then Satan does arranged divorces. But your calling is to throw everything you've got into building and fighting for the marriage you're in for life.
If God created you to be married, then don't settle for a relationship that you arrange. Please, let your Heavenly Father arrange it. Let it be the one the Lord has chosen. I can't help but remember the plaque my daughter had up in her room in high school: "God reserves His very best for those who leave the choice to Him."
If you're struggling in the marriage you're in, let God rearrange your relationship by helping you love your partner with the kind of unconditional love that He showed you at the cross. He still does marriage miracles. The best marriages in the world are "Designer marriages" conceived, controlled, and restored by the One who has designed you.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Acts 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: What Really Matters
A man once went to a minister for counseling.
"I've lost everything," he told the minister.
"Oh I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your faith," the minister responded.
"No," the man corrected him, "I haven't lost my faith."
"Well, then I'm sad to hear you've lost your character."
"I didn't say that," the man corrected. "I still have my character."
"I'm so sorry you've lost your salvation," said the minister.
"That's not what I said," the man objected.
"You have your faith, your character, and your salvation. Seems to me," the minister observed, "that you've lost none of the things that really matter."
You and I could pray like the Puritan. He sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, "All this and Jesus, too?" What will you gain with contentment? You may gain joy-and the faith to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!"
From Traveling Light
Acts 1
Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”
6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”
7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:
Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.
14 They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.
15-17 During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, “Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.
18-20 “As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow. It’s exactly what we find written in the Psalms:
Let his farm become haunted
So no one can ever live there.
“And also what was written later:
Let someone else take over his post.
21-22 “Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection.”
23-26 They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.
The Message (MSG)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 15:1-7
By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.
4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
Insight
This parable (Luke 15:1–7) is the first in a series of parables about lost things: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the well-known story of the prodigal son (vv. 11–32). What prompted Jesus to tell these stories was the indignation of the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law”—the religious leaders. We’re quick to judge these self-righteous leaders, but we might want to pause and consider why they were upset. They were irritated that Jesus was welcoming “tax collectors and sinners” (vv. 1–2), who did not even attempt to live up to the high standards the religious elite set for them. Tax collectors, for instance, extorted from their fellow Hebrews, effectively exploiting the power of the Roman occupation force in order to get money from their own countrymen. Jesus sees such people not as rabble to be avoided but as valuable “lost sheep” to be rescued.
Love Won’t Stop
Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. Luke 15:6
After I turned nineteen, and years before I owned a pager or a cell phone, I moved more than seven hundred miles away from my mom. One morning, I left early to run errands, forgetting our scheduled call. Later that night, two policemen came to my door. Mom had been worried because I’d never missed one of our chats. After calling repeatedly and getting a busy signal, she reached out to the authorities and insisted they check on me. One of the police officers turned to me and said, “It’s a blessing to know love won’t stop looking for you.”
When I picked up the phone to call my mom, I realized I had accidentally left the receiver off its base. After I apologized, she said she needed to spread the good news to the family and friends she had informed that I’d been missing. I hung up thinking she’d overreacted a bit, though it felt good to be loved that much.
Scripture paints a beautiful picture of God, who is Love, relentlessly beckoning His wandering children. Like a good shepherd, He cares about and seeks out every lost sheep, affirming the priceless value of every beloved child of God (Luke 15:1–7).
Love never stops looking for us. He will pursue us until we’ve returned to Him. We can pray for others who need to know that Love—God—never stops looking for them either. By Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How does it encourage you to know that God continually pursues you in love? How is He using you to reveal His love to others?
Heavenly Father, thank You for pursuing us with persistence and providing a safe place when we return to Your loving arms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 12, 2019
“Love One Another”
…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
A man once went to a minister for counseling.
"I've lost everything," he told the minister.
"Oh I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your faith," the minister responded.
"No," the man corrected him, "I haven't lost my faith."
"Well, then I'm sad to hear you've lost your character."
"I didn't say that," the man corrected. "I still have my character."
"I'm so sorry you've lost your salvation," said the minister.
"That's not what I said," the man objected.
"You have your faith, your character, and your salvation. Seems to me," the minister observed, "that you've lost none of the things that really matter."
You and I could pray like the Puritan. He sat down to a meal of bread and water. He bowed his head and declared, "All this and Jesus, too?" What will you gain with contentment? You may gain joy-and the faith to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!"
From Traveling Light
Acts 1
Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”
6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”
7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:
Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.
14 They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.
15-17 During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, “Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.
18-20 “As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow. It’s exactly what we find written in the Psalms:
Let his farm become haunted
So no one can ever live there.
“And also what was written later:
Let someone else take over his post.
21-22 “Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection.”
23-26 They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.
The Message (MSG)
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 15:1-7
By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.
4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
Insight
This parable (Luke 15:1–7) is the first in a series of parables about lost things: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the well-known story of the prodigal son (vv. 11–32). What prompted Jesus to tell these stories was the indignation of the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law”—the religious leaders. We’re quick to judge these self-righteous leaders, but we might want to pause and consider why they were upset. They were irritated that Jesus was welcoming “tax collectors and sinners” (vv. 1–2), who did not even attempt to live up to the high standards the religious elite set for them. Tax collectors, for instance, extorted from their fellow Hebrews, effectively exploiting the power of the Roman occupation force in order to get money from their own countrymen. Jesus sees such people not as rabble to be avoided but as valuable “lost sheep” to be rescued.
Love Won’t Stop
Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. Luke 15:6
After I turned nineteen, and years before I owned a pager or a cell phone, I moved more than seven hundred miles away from my mom. One morning, I left early to run errands, forgetting our scheduled call. Later that night, two policemen came to my door. Mom had been worried because I’d never missed one of our chats. After calling repeatedly and getting a busy signal, she reached out to the authorities and insisted they check on me. One of the police officers turned to me and said, “It’s a blessing to know love won’t stop looking for you.”
When I picked up the phone to call my mom, I realized I had accidentally left the receiver off its base. After I apologized, she said she needed to spread the good news to the family and friends she had informed that I’d been missing. I hung up thinking she’d overreacted a bit, though it felt good to be loved that much.
Scripture paints a beautiful picture of God, who is Love, relentlessly beckoning His wandering children. Like a good shepherd, He cares about and seeks out every lost sheep, affirming the priceless value of every beloved child of God (Luke 15:1–7).
Love never stops looking for us. He will pursue us until we’ve returned to Him. We can pray for others who need to know that Love—God—never stops looking for them either. By Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How does it encourage you to know that God continually pursues you in love? How is He using you to reveal His love to others?
Heavenly Father, thank You for pursuing us with persistence and providing a safe place when we return to Your loving arms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, May 12, 2019
“Love One Another”
…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Proverbs 12 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Power of Love
May I meddle for a moment? What's the one thing separating you from joy? How do you fill in this blank: "I will be happy when____?" When I'm healed…when I'm promoted…when I'm married…when I'm single…when I'm rich? With your answer firmly in mind, answer this. If your dream never comes true, if the situation never changes, would you be happy? If not, then you're sleeping in the cold cell of discontent.
You need to know what you have in your Shepherd. You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need!
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 12
If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it—
how shortsighted to refuse correction!
2 A good person basks in the delight of God,
and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers.
3 You can’t find firm footing in a swamp,
but life rooted in God stands firm.
4 A hearty wife invigorates her husband,
but a frigid woman is cancer in the bones.
5 The thinking of principled people makes for justice;
the plots of degenerates corrupt.
6 The words of the wicked kill;
the speech of the upright saves.
7 Wicked people fall to pieces—there’s nothing to them;
the homes of good people hold together.
8 A person who talks sense is honored;
airheads are held in contempt.
9 Better to be ordinary and work for a living
than act important and starve in the process.
10 Good people are good to their animals;
the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.
11 The one who stays on the job has food on the table;
the witless chase whims and fancies.
12 What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin,
while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life.
13 The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble;
the conversation of good people keeps them out of it.
14 Well-spoken words bring satisfaction;
well-done work has its own reward.
15 Fools are headstrong and do what they like;
wise people take advice.
16 Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly;
the prudent quietly shrug off insults.
17 Truthful witness by a good person clears the air,
but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit.
18 Rash language cuts and maims,
but there is healing in the words of the wise.
19 Truth lasts;
lies are here today, gone tomorrow.
20 Evil scheming distorts the schemer;
peace-planning brings joy to the planner.
21 No evil can overwhelm a good person,
but the wicked have their hands full of it.
22 God can’t stomach liars;
he loves the company of those who keep their word.
23 Prudent people don’t flaunt their knowledge;
talkative fools broadcast their silliness.
24 The diligent find freedom in their work;
the lazy are oppressed by work.
25 Worry weighs us down;
a cheerful word picks us up.
26 A good person survives misfortune,
but a wicked life invites disaster.
27 A lazy life is an empty life,
but “early to rise” gets the job done.
28 Good men and women travel right into life;
sin’s detours take you straight to hell.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 22:2-14
He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”
3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.
7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, “Father?”
“Yes, my son.”
“We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.
9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.
11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”
13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, “On the mountain of God, he sees to it.”
Insight
By sending Abraham to the region of Moriah for the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:2), God prepared for future sacrifices. David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah for a sacrifice that would end a plague (2 Samuel 24:21–25). On that same site—Mount Moriah—David’s son Solomon built the temple where sacrifices would be offered for the nation (2 Chronicles 3:1).
The Lord Will Provide
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. Genesis 22:14
My anxiety increased throughout the summer between my undergraduate and graduate programs. I love to have everything planned out, and the idea of going out of state and entering graduate school without a job made me uncomfortable. However, a few days before I left my summer job, I was asked to continue working for the company remotely. I accepted and had peace that God was taking care of me.
God provided, but it was in His timing, not mine. Abraham went through a far more difficult situation with his son Isaac. He was asked to take his son and sacrifice him on a mountain (Genesis 22:1–2). Without hesitation, Abraham obeyed and took Isaac there. This three-day journey gave Abraham plenty of time to change his mind, but he didn’t (vv. 3–4).
When Isaac questioned his father, Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering” (v. 8). I wonder if Abraham’s anxiety grew with each knot he tied as he bound Isaac to the altar and with every inch he raised his knife (vv. 9–10). What a relief it must have been when the angel stopped him! (vv. 11–12). God did indeed provide a sacrifice, a ram, caught in the thicket (v. 13). God tested Abraham’s faith, and he proved to be faithful. And at the right time, to the very second, God provided (v. 14). By Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
What answer to prayer has been long in coming? When have you seen God provide at just the right moment?
Thank You, Lord, for Your provision. Help me to trust that You will provide, even when it seems I’ve been waiting for so long.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 11, 2019
“Love One Another”
…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R
May I meddle for a moment? What's the one thing separating you from joy? How do you fill in this blank: "I will be happy when____?" When I'm healed…when I'm promoted…when I'm married…when I'm single…when I'm rich? With your answer firmly in mind, answer this. If your dream never comes true, if the situation never changes, would you be happy? If not, then you're sleeping in the cold cell of discontent.
You need to know what you have in your Shepherd. You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need!
From Traveling Light
Proverbs 12
If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it—
how shortsighted to refuse correction!
2 A good person basks in the delight of God,
and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers.
3 You can’t find firm footing in a swamp,
but life rooted in God stands firm.
4 A hearty wife invigorates her husband,
but a frigid woman is cancer in the bones.
5 The thinking of principled people makes for justice;
the plots of degenerates corrupt.
6 The words of the wicked kill;
the speech of the upright saves.
7 Wicked people fall to pieces—there’s nothing to them;
the homes of good people hold together.
8 A person who talks sense is honored;
airheads are held in contempt.
9 Better to be ordinary and work for a living
than act important and starve in the process.
10 Good people are good to their animals;
the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.
11 The one who stays on the job has food on the table;
the witless chase whims and fancies.
12 What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin,
while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life.
13 The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble;
the conversation of good people keeps them out of it.
14 Well-spoken words bring satisfaction;
well-done work has its own reward.
15 Fools are headstrong and do what they like;
wise people take advice.
16 Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly;
the prudent quietly shrug off insults.
17 Truthful witness by a good person clears the air,
but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit.
18 Rash language cuts and maims,
but there is healing in the words of the wise.
19 Truth lasts;
lies are here today, gone tomorrow.
20 Evil scheming distorts the schemer;
peace-planning brings joy to the planner.
21 No evil can overwhelm a good person,
but the wicked have their hands full of it.
22 God can’t stomach liars;
he loves the company of those who keep their word.
23 Prudent people don’t flaunt their knowledge;
talkative fools broadcast their silliness.
24 The diligent find freedom in their work;
the lazy are oppressed by work.
25 Worry weighs us down;
a cheerful word picks us up.
26 A good person survives misfortune,
but a wicked life invites disaster.
27 A lazy life is an empty life,
but “early to rise” gets the job done.
28 Good men and women travel right into life;
sin’s detours take you straight to hell.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 22:2-14
He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”
3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.
7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, “Father?”
“Yes, my son.”
“We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.
9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.
11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”
13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, “On the mountain of God, he sees to it.”
Insight
By sending Abraham to the region of Moriah for the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:2), God prepared for future sacrifices. David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah for a sacrifice that would end a plague (2 Samuel 24:21–25). On that same site—Mount Moriah—David’s son Solomon built the temple where sacrifices would be offered for the nation (2 Chronicles 3:1).
The Lord Will Provide
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. Genesis 22:14
My anxiety increased throughout the summer between my undergraduate and graduate programs. I love to have everything planned out, and the idea of going out of state and entering graduate school without a job made me uncomfortable. However, a few days before I left my summer job, I was asked to continue working for the company remotely. I accepted and had peace that God was taking care of me.
God provided, but it was in His timing, not mine. Abraham went through a far more difficult situation with his son Isaac. He was asked to take his son and sacrifice him on a mountain (Genesis 22:1–2). Without hesitation, Abraham obeyed and took Isaac there. This three-day journey gave Abraham plenty of time to change his mind, but he didn’t (vv. 3–4).
When Isaac questioned his father, Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering” (v. 8). I wonder if Abraham’s anxiety grew with each knot he tied as he bound Isaac to the altar and with every inch he raised his knife (vv. 9–10). What a relief it must have been when the angel stopped him! (vv. 11–12). God did indeed provide a sacrifice, a ram, caught in the thicket (v. 13). God tested Abraham’s faith, and he proved to be faithful. And at the right time, to the very second, God provided (v. 14). By Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
What answer to prayer has been long in coming? When have you seen God provide at just the right moment?
Thank You, Lord, for Your provision. Help me to trust that You will provide, even when it seems I’ve been waiting for so long.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, May 11, 2019
“Love One Another”
…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7
Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself (see Luke 14:26). Initially, when “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.
The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, “…love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). He is saying, “I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you.” This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.
“The Lord…is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish…” (2 Peter 3:9). I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R
Friday, May 10, 2019
Proverbs 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: TOUCHES OF TENDERNESS
My child’s feelings are hurt. I tell her she’s special. My child is injured. I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child is scared. I won’t go to sleep until she is secure.
Moments of comfort from a parent come naturally, willingly and joyfully. So why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father do the same for me? Why do I think he wouldn’t want to hear about my problems? Why do I think he’s too busy for me?
When I am criticized, injured, or afraid, there is a Father who is ready to comfort me. The same goes for you, my friend. There is a Father who will hold us until we are better, help us until we can live with the hurt, and who won’t go to sleep when we’re afraid of the dark. Ever! And that’s enough.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 11
God hates cheating in the marketplace;
he loves it when business is aboveboard.
2 The stuck-up fall flat on their faces,
but down-to-earth people stand firm.
3 The integrity of the honest keeps them on track;
the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.
4 A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
but a principled life can stand up to the worst.
5 Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.
6 Good character is the best insurance;
crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.
7 When the wicked die, that’s it—
the story’s over, end of hope.
8 A good person is saved from much trouble;
a bad person runs straight into it.
9 The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
the common sense of the godly preserves them.
10 When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers;
when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.
11 When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes;
evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.
12 Mean-spirited slander is heartless;
quiet discretion accompanies good sense.
13 A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret,
but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence.
14 Without good direction, people lose their way;
the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.
15 Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned;
if you keep a cool head, you’ll avoid rash bargains.
16 A woman of gentle grace gets respect,
but men of rough violence grab for loot.
17 When you’re kind to others, you help yourself;
when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.
18 Bad work gets paid with a bad check;
good work gets solid pay.
19 Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live,
or chase after phantoms of evil and die.
20 God can’t stand deceivers,
but oh how he relishes integrity.
21 Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free,
and God’s loyal people will triumph.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful face on an empty head.
23 The desires of good people lead straight to the best,
but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
those who help others are helped.
26 Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!
Blessings on all who play fair and square!
27 The one who seeks good finds delight;
the student of evil becomes evil.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it,
what’s in store for the bad!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 10, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 13:1–8
Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.
5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?
7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.
Insight
Many of the letters of the New Testament close with what is called a hortatory section. Hortatory means “to exhort; to encourage the reader to do something or act in a certain way.” This is what we have at the end of the letter to the Hebrews.
In rapid succession, the writer lists a number of things the reader is to do, and very few of them are connected. What’s unique about this list is that a reason is usually given for each instruction. For example, we are to show hospitality to strangers (v. 2), because we may be entertaining angels. We’re to keep the marriage bed pure (v. 4), because God will judge. And we’re to be content with what we have (v. 5), because God is with us. We’re not given instruction for instruction’s sake, but for our good.
Minister of Loneliness
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1
Following her husband’s death, Betsy has spent most days in her flat, watching television and boiling tea for one. She’s not alone in her loneliness. More than nine million Brits (15 percent of the population) say they often or always feel lonely, and Great Britain has appointed a minister of loneliness to find out why and how to help.
Some causes of loneliness are well known: We move too often to put down roots. We believe we can take care of ourselves, and we don’t have a reason to reach out. We’re separated by technology—each of us immersed in our own flickering screens.
I feel the dark edge of loneliness, and you may too. This is one reason we need fellow believers. Hebrews concludes its deep discussion of Jesus’s sacrifice by encouraging us to meet together continually (10:25). We belong to the family of God, so we’re to love “one another as brothers and sisters” and “show hospitality to strangers” (13:1–2). If we each made an effort, everyone would feel cared for.
Lonely people may not return our kindness, but this is no reason to give up. Jesus has promised to never leave nor forsake us (13:5), and we can use His friendship to fuel our love for others. Are you lonely? What ways can you find to serve the family of God? The friends you make in Jesus last forever, through this life and beyond. By Mike Wittmer
Today's Reflection
Who needs your friendship? How might you serve someone in your church or neighborhood this week?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 10, 2019
Take the Initiative
…add to your faith virtue… —2 Peter 1:5
Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.
Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.
We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 10, 2019
Mom's Greatest Gift - #8435
Nine years old and I was oh so proud! I was proud of the gift I had just bought for my mom for Mother's Day. I picked it out myself. I paid for it with my own allowance. And I ruined it all by myself. It was a two-carnation corsage with a plastic bumblebee. I still remember it - it was really cool, especially the bumblebee. I was pushing the speed limit on my bicycle with the white florist box perched on my handlebars. You've probably got the rest right? I hit a bump, it went flying, I ran over my Mother's Day present. The flowers were crushed and so was I.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mom's Greatest Gift."
Maybe that's why I love the idea of a crushproof Mother's Day gift. And there is one. It might be the greatest gift Mom could ever receive. And it's intimately tied to an amazing gift a Mom can give her son or daughter. I know. If it weren't for those two gifts, the wife I've loved all these years might never have been born.
Bill was the apple of his mother's eye. He had a great job, a good income, and an insatiable appetite for alcohol. From the time he was nine years old, Bill entertained the men at the local store by lapping booze from a saucer like a kitten.
By the time Bill was in his 20s, his drinking cost him his great job, his dignity and almost some of the people he loved. After drinking heavily one night, he actually returned home, flew into a rage and chased his sisters with a butcher knife. Later, his drinking - and then his cocaine use - took him to jail and then federal prison. You talk about hopeless. Except for the gift his mother gave him - her relentless prayer for him. In 1907, Bill's mama wrote this on the back of a picture of him, dressed so fashionably at the time: "Will, O dear Will, when will you cease from your wandering ways and return to Jesus Christ? You may see this long after I am gone from this earth, but may you know that your mother always prayed for you."
One night those prayers reached all the way to her "Billy Boy" as she called him, walking down Chicago's South State Street. He was heading for Lake Michigan - he wanted to end his life that night. Then he heard the music - a hymn he remembered from his childhood. It was coming from a rescue mission. And it drew Bill inside. There, a mission worker reached out to him with these words that are our word for today from the Word of God, John 3:16. You may have never heard them before; you may have heard them a thousand times. Listen like your life depends on it. It does. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him (that's how they said it that night) shall not perish but have everlasting life."
On the night Bill planned to end his life, he gave his life to Jesus. And he would say, from that day on, "I was not a reformed man - I was a transformed man." He spent the rest of his life traveling this country, telling people about the Rescuer of "hopeless" lives. Living in a trailer, his "Little Church on Wheels" he called it, with John 3:16 emblazoned on the side. His Mama actually lived to see the miracle she prayed for. She saw his transformed life for ten wonderful years before she went Home to Jesus. She gave her son the gift of her never-give-up praying. And he gave her the greatest gift of all. He gave her a child who loved and lived for her Savior.
Without those gifts, my wife would not have ever been born. Because Bill - that young man saved by Jesus minutes before he planned to die - was her grandfather. The mother would not give up praying for her wandering child. As a result, she experienced the miracle a widowed mother long ago experienced at the funeral of her only son. Jesus touched that coffin and commanded her dead boy to "get up!" "The dead man sat up...and Jesus gave him back to his mother" (Luke 7:14-15). He is still the Savior who gives back lost sons and daughters to a mother who loves them.
There is no greater gift a mother can give her children than to pray them to the foot of Jesus' cross. There is no greater gift a child can give a mother than to live their life for Jesus. for most of my life I have had living proof of the power of those gifts. My wife, who many times I could say "Happy Mother's Day" because of the gift Bill gave his mother.
Maybe you're the son or daughter of a praying mother, but you've never given your heart to Jesus. He's waiting with open arms to welcome you so you can see that mom someday again. If you don't know Jesus, go to our website and find out how. ANewStory.com.
It's time to come home.
My child’s feelings are hurt. I tell her she’s special. My child is injured. I do whatever it takes to make her feel better. My child is scared. I won’t go to sleep until she is secure.
Moments of comfort from a parent come naturally, willingly and joyfully. So why am I so reluctant to let my heavenly Father do the same for me? Why do I think he wouldn’t want to hear about my problems? Why do I think he’s too busy for me?
When I am criticized, injured, or afraid, there is a Father who is ready to comfort me. The same goes for you, my friend. There is a Father who will hold us until we are better, help us until we can live with the hurt, and who won’t go to sleep when we’re afraid of the dark. Ever! And that’s enough.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 11
God hates cheating in the marketplace;
he loves it when business is aboveboard.
2 The stuck-up fall flat on their faces,
but down-to-earth people stand firm.
3 The integrity of the honest keeps them on track;
the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.
4 A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
but a principled life can stand up to the worst.
5 Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.
6 Good character is the best insurance;
crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.
7 When the wicked die, that’s it—
the story’s over, end of hope.
8 A good person is saved from much trouble;
a bad person runs straight into it.
9 The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
the common sense of the godly preserves them.
10 When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers;
when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.
11 When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes;
evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.
12 Mean-spirited slander is heartless;
quiet discretion accompanies good sense.
13 A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret,
but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence.
14 Without good direction, people lose their way;
the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.
15 Whoever makes deals with strangers is sure to get burned;
if you keep a cool head, you’ll avoid rash bargains.
16 A woman of gentle grace gets respect,
but men of rough violence grab for loot.
17 When you’re kind to others, you help yourself;
when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself.
18 Bad work gets paid with a bad check;
good work gets solid pay.
19 Take your stand with God’s loyal community and live,
or chase after phantoms of evil and die.
20 God can’t stand deceivers,
but oh how he relishes integrity.
21 Count on this: The wicked won’t get off scot-free,
and God’s loyal people will triumph.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful face on an empty head.
23 The desires of good people lead straight to the best,
but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger;
the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
those who help others are helped.
26 Curses on those who drive a hard bargain!
Blessings on all who play fair and square!
27 The one who seeks good finds delight;
the student of evil becomes evil.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
common sense tells you it’s a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it,
what’s in store for the bad!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 10, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 13:1–8
Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.
5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?
7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.
Insight
Many of the letters of the New Testament close with what is called a hortatory section. Hortatory means “to exhort; to encourage the reader to do something or act in a certain way.” This is what we have at the end of the letter to the Hebrews.
In rapid succession, the writer lists a number of things the reader is to do, and very few of them are connected. What’s unique about this list is that a reason is usually given for each instruction. For example, we are to show hospitality to strangers (v. 2), because we may be entertaining angels. We’re to keep the marriage bed pure (v. 4), because God will judge. And we’re to be content with what we have (v. 5), because God is with us. We’re not given instruction for instruction’s sake, but for our good.
Minister of Loneliness
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1
Following her husband’s death, Betsy has spent most days in her flat, watching television and boiling tea for one. She’s not alone in her loneliness. More than nine million Brits (15 percent of the population) say they often or always feel lonely, and Great Britain has appointed a minister of loneliness to find out why and how to help.
Some causes of loneliness are well known: We move too often to put down roots. We believe we can take care of ourselves, and we don’t have a reason to reach out. We’re separated by technology—each of us immersed in our own flickering screens.
I feel the dark edge of loneliness, and you may too. This is one reason we need fellow believers. Hebrews concludes its deep discussion of Jesus’s sacrifice by encouraging us to meet together continually (10:25). We belong to the family of God, so we’re to love “one another as brothers and sisters” and “show hospitality to strangers” (13:1–2). If we each made an effort, everyone would feel cared for.
Lonely people may not return our kindness, but this is no reason to give up. Jesus has promised to never leave nor forsake us (13:5), and we can use His friendship to fuel our love for others. Are you lonely? What ways can you find to serve the family of God? The friends you make in Jesus last forever, through this life and beyond. By Mike Wittmer
Today's Reflection
Who needs your friendship? How might you serve someone in your church or neighborhood this week?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 10, 2019
Take the Initiative
…add to your faith virtue… —2 Peter 1:5
Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.
Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.
We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, May 10, 2019
Mom's Greatest Gift - #8435
Nine years old and I was oh so proud! I was proud of the gift I had just bought for my mom for Mother's Day. I picked it out myself. I paid for it with my own allowance. And I ruined it all by myself. It was a two-carnation corsage with a plastic bumblebee. I still remember it - it was really cool, especially the bumblebee. I was pushing the speed limit on my bicycle with the white florist box perched on my handlebars. You've probably got the rest right? I hit a bump, it went flying, I ran over my Mother's Day present. The flowers were crushed and so was I.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mom's Greatest Gift."
Maybe that's why I love the idea of a crushproof Mother's Day gift. And there is one. It might be the greatest gift Mom could ever receive. And it's intimately tied to an amazing gift a Mom can give her son or daughter. I know. If it weren't for those two gifts, the wife I've loved all these years might never have been born.
Bill was the apple of his mother's eye. He had a great job, a good income, and an insatiable appetite for alcohol. From the time he was nine years old, Bill entertained the men at the local store by lapping booze from a saucer like a kitten.
By the time Bill was in his 20s, his drinking cost him his great job, his dignity and almost some of the people he loved. After drinking heavily one night, he actually returned home, flew into a rage and chased his sisters with a butcher knife. Later, his drinking - and then his cocaine use - took him to jail and then federal prison. You talk about hopeless. Except for the gift his mother gave him - her relentless prayer for him. In 1907, Bill's mama wrote this on the back of a picture of him, dressed so fashionably at the time: "Will, O dear Will, when will you cease from your wandering ways and return to Jesus Christ? You may see this long after I am gone from this earth, but may you know that your mother always prayed for you."
One night those prayers reached all the way to her "Billy Boy" as she called him, walking down Chicago's South State Street. He was heading for Lake Michigan - he wanted to end his life that night. Then he heard the music - a hymn he remembered from his childhood. It was coming from a rescue mission. And it drew Bill inside. There, a mission worker reached out to him with these words that are our word for today from the Word of God, John 3:16. You may have never heard them before; you may have heard them a thousand times. Listen like your life depends on it. It does. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him (that's how they said it that night) shall not perish but have everlasting life."
On the night Bill planned to end his life, he gave his life to Jesus. And he would say, from that day on, "I was not a reformed man - I was a transformed man." He spent the rest of his life traveling this country, telling people about the Rescuer of "hopeless" lives. Living in a trailer, his "Little Church on Wheels" he called it, with John 3:16 emblazoned on the side. His Mama actually lived to see the miracle she prayed for. She saw his transformed life for ten wonderful years before she went Home to Jesus. She gave her son the gift of her never-give-up praying. And he gave her the greatest gift of all. He gave her a child who loved and lived for her Savior.
Without those gifts, my wife would not have ever been born. Because Bill - that young man saved by Jesus minutes before he planned to die - was her grandfather. The mother would not give up praying for her wandering child. As a result, she experienced the miracle a widowed mother long ago experienced at the funeral of her only son. Jesus touched that coffin and commanded her dead boy to "get up!" "The dead man sat up...and Jesus gave him back to his mother" (Luke 7:14-15). He is still the Savior who gives back lost sons and daughters to a mother who loves them.
There is no greater gift a mother can give her children than to pray them to the foot of Jesus' cross. There is no greater gift a child can give a mother than to live their life for Jesus. for most of my life I have had living proof of the power of those gifts. My wife, who many times I could say "Happy Mother's Day" because of the gift Bill gave his mother.
Maybe you're the son or daughter of a praying mother, but you've never given your heart to Jesus. He's waiting with open arms to welcome you so you can see that mom someday again. If you don't know Jesus, go to our website and find out how. ANewStory.com.
It's time to come home.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Proverbs 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PRISONERS OF PRIDE
You’ve seen the prisoners of pride. The alcoholic who won’t admit his drinking problem. The woman who won’t talk about her fears. The businessman who rejects help while his dreams fall apart.
In 1 John 1:9, the apostle wrote “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just…” The biggest word in Scripture might be that two-letter one, if. For confessing sins—admitting failure—is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do.
The second beatitude says, “Blessed are those who mourn…” (Matthew 5:4). When you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option but to cast all your cares on him, and when there is truly no other name that you can call, then God bless you. You may feel weak. But you are closer to finding strength than ever before.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 10
The Wise Sayings of Solomon
Wise son, glad father;
stupid son, sad mother.
2 Ill-gotten gain gets you nowhere;
an honest life is immortal.
3 God won’t starve an honest soul,
but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked.
4 Sloth makes you poor;
diligence brings wealth.
5 Make hay while the sun shines—that’s smart;
go fishing during harvest—that’s stupid.
6 Blessings accrue on a good and honest life,
but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
7 A good and honest life is a blessed memorial;
a wicked life leaves a rotten stench.
8 A wise heart takes orders;
an empty head will come unglued.
9 Honesty lives confident and carefree,
but Shifty is sure to be exposed.
10 An evasive eye is a sign of trouble ahead,
but an open, face-to-face meeting results in peace.
11 The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well,
but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
12 Hatred starts fights,
but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.
13 You’ll find wisdom on the lips of a person of insight,
but the shortsighted needs a slap in the face.
14 The wise accumulate knowledge—a true treasure;
know-it-alls talk too much—a sheer waste.
15 The wealth of the rich is their bastion;
the poverty of the indigent is their ruin.
16 The wage of a good person is exuberant life;
an evil person ends up with nothing but sin.
17 The road to life is a disciplined life;
ignore correction and you’re lost for good.
18 Liars secretly hoard hatred;
fools openly spread slander.
19 The more talk, the less truth;
the wise measure their words.
20 The speech of a good person is worth waiting for;
the blabber of the wicked is worthless.
21 The talk of a good person is rich fare for many,
but chatterboxes die of an empty heart.
22 God’s blessing makes life rich;
nothing we do can improve on God.
23 An empty-head thinks mischief is fun,
but a mindful person relishes wisdom.
24 The nightmares of the wicked come true;
what the good people desire, they get.
25 When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked;
good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed.
26 A lazy employee will give you nothing but trouble;
it’s vinegar in the mouth, smoke in the eyes.
27 The Fear-of-God expands your life;
a wicked life is a puny life.
28 The aspirations of good people end in celebration;
the ambitions of bad people crash.
29 God is solid backing to a well-lived life,
but he calls into question a shabby performance.
30 Good people last—they can’t be moved;
the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow.
31 A good person’s mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom;
a foul mouth is a stagnant swamp.
32 The speech of a good person clears the air;
the words of the wicked pollute it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 4:1–12
Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
5 The fool sits back and takes it easy,
His sloth is slow suicide.
6 One handful of peaceful repose
Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—
More spitting into the wind.
7-8 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9-10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
Insight
After observing life in this world, the writer of Ecclesiastes concluded: “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (1:2). Meaningless is a translation of the Hebrew word hebel (used thirty-eight times in the book) that literally means “vapor” and figuratively speaks of things that are transitory, fleeting, purposeless. But readers are not left with despair. Solomon reminds us of the meaning and satisfaction we find in community with others (4:4–12).
The Best Strategy for Life
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. Ecclesiastes 4:12
As we watched my daughter’s basketball game from the bleachers, I heard the coach utter a single word to the girls on the court: “Doubles.” Immediately, their defensive strategy shifted from one-on-one to two of their players teaming against their tallest ball-holding opponent. They were successful in thwarting her efforts to shoot and score, eventually taking the ball down the court to their own basket.
When Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, grapples with the toils and frustrations of the world, he too acknowledges that having a companion in our labors yields “a good return” (4:9). While a person battling alone “may be overpowered, two can defend themselves” (v. 12). A friend nearby can help us up when we fall down (v. 10).
Solomon’s words encourage us to share our journey with others so we don’t face the trials of life alone. For some of us, that requires a level of vulnerability we’re unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. Others of us crave that kind of intimacy and struggle to find friends with whom to share it. Whatever the case, we mustn’t give up in the effort.
Solomon and basketball coaches agree: having teammates around us is the best strategy for facing the struggles that loom large on the court and in life. Lord, thank You for the people You put in our lives to encourage and support us. By Kirsten Holmberg
Today's Reflection
Who has helped you through a difficult time? Who could use your support and encouragement? How will you help them?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Reaching Beyond Our Grasp
Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18
There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.
Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?
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
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Sleeping Through Your Wakeup Call - #8434
I saw an ad for one motel chain that had an interesting slant. Apparently, they wanted to highlight how very restful a stay at their motel can be. So as you watch the front of one of their facilities, you would hear only the persistent ringing of a room phone. It would continue to go unanswered as the narrator would point out that you may sleep so soundly at their motel that you might sleep right through your wakeup call. Now, assuming the motel guest has a flight to catch or appointments to keep that day, is that really a good idea?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sleeping Through Your Wakeup Call."
Now, sleeping through a wakeup call from your motel can lead to some pretty serious consequences, like missing something you really can't afford to miss. Sleeping through a wakeup call from God can lead to deadly consequences, like missing the meaning of your life on earth and maybe missing the heaven that we hope to go to when we die.
Only hours before Jesus was crucified, He asked His close friends this haunting question, "Are you still sleeping?" (Mark 14:41). maybe that's a question Jesus is asking you today, "Are you still sleeping after the wakeup calls I've given you? After all the reminders and opportunities I've given you to get things settled with Me?"
Jesus loves you so much that He actually gave His life on that cross so you would not have to die for your sins. He is not asking you to join a religion or go through some rituals. He's asking you to commit your life to the One who gave His life for you. But you've been putting Him off, you've been pursuing other things, maybe hiding behind some excuses, or hoping that all the Christians and Christianity you know will somehow be enough. You can lock Jesus out rudely and you can do it politely. Either way, He's still not in your life and you're still what He calls "lost."
But because Jesus doesn't want to lose you, He's sent you wake-up calls. They may have been delivered through a Christian friend or maybe your spouse or a family member who knows Christ personally. But you keep putting them off. Those calls weren't from them. They were from Jesus. Sometimes, Jesus will even allow you to run into a wall to get your attention: a crisis, a loss, a medical emergency, a close call. Wakeup calls to show you your need for a Savior.
In Matthew 23:37, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus wept over the people of Jerusalem. Here's what He said: "How often I have longed to gather your children together, but you were not willing." He may be saying something like that to you right now. "How many times I've called you to Myself, but you were not willing."
I don't know how many more times He's going to call. I don't know - you don't know - when your time is going to be over. Bottom line: this is heaven or hell we're talking about here. Today, right now - Jesus is calling you one more time. You know you've got this time. Don't sleep through His call again. There's way too much to lose.
Open the door of your heart to this man who loves you more than anyone has ever loved you. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you want to finally belong to Him, that happens when you tell Him that. Something like this: "Jesus, I have been running my life. I know that's wrong. I know you were supposed to run it, and this very day I am accepting the forgiveness that you gave by dying for me on the cross. I did the sinning, you did the dying. This day I'm pinning all my hopes on you. I'm grabbing you like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard. You're my only hope." That moment of trusting in Jesus is the moment your relationship with Him begins. Yours sins are forgiven, erased from God's book, and your place in heaven in guaranteed.
Do you want to be sure you belong to Him? Would you pay a visit to our website as soon as you can today? It's called ANewStory.com and you're going to find out there the information you need to know you've got Jesus in your heart for good.
The Bible puts it this way, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). That implies you may not always be able to find Him. He may not always be near, but He's near right now. Please, grab Him while you can.
You’ve seen the prisoners of pride. The alcoholic who won’t admit his drinking problem. The woman who won’t talk about her fears. The businessman who rejects help while his dreams fall apart.
In 1 John 1:9, the apostle wrote “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just…” The biggest word in Scripture might be that two-letter one, if. For confessing sins—admitting failure—is exactly what prisoners of pride refuse to do.
The second beatitude says, “Blessed are those who mourn…” (Matthew 5:4). When you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option but to cast all your cares on him, and when there is truly no other name that you can call, then God bless you. You may feel weak. But you are closer to finding strength than ever before.
Read more Applause of Heaven
Proverbs 10
The Wise Sayings of Solomon
Wise son, glad father;
stupid son, sad mother.
2 Ill-gotten gain gets you nowhere;
an honest life is immortal.
3 God won’t starve an honest soul,
but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked.
4 Sloth makes you poor;
diligence brings wealth.
5 Make hay while the sun shines—that’s smart;
go fishing during harvest—that’s stupid.
6 Blessings accrue on a good and honest life,
but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
7 A good and honest life is a blessed memorial;
a wicked life leaves a rotten stench.
8 A wise heart takes orders;
an empty head will come unglued.
9 Honesty lives confident and carefree,
but Shifty is sure to be exposed.
10 An evasive eye is a sign of trouble ahead,
but an open, face-to-face meeting results in peace.
11 The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well,
but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
12 Hatred starts fights,
but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.
13 You’ll find wisdom on the lips of a person of insight,
but the shortsighted needs a slap in the face.
14 The wise accumulate knowledge—a true treasure;
know-it-alls talk too much—a sheer waste.
15 The wealth of the rich is their bastion;
the poverty of the indigent is their ruin.
16 The wage of a good person is exuberant life;
an evil person ends up with nothing but sin.
17 The road to life is a disciplined life;
ignore correction and you’re lost for good.
18 Liars secretly hoard hatred;
fools openly spread slander.
19 The more talk, the less truth;
the wise measure their words.
20 The speech of a good person is worth waiting for;
the blabber of the wicked is worthless.
21 The talk of a good person is rich fare for many,
but chatterboxes die of an empty heart.
22 God’s blessing makes life rich;
nothing we do can improve on God.
23 An empty-head thinks mischief is fun,
but a mindful person relishes wisdom.
24 The nightmares of the wicked come true;
what the good people desire, they get.
25 When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked;
good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed.
26 A lazy employee will give you nothing but trouble;
it’s vinegar in the mouth, smoke in the eyes.
27 The Fear-of-God expands your life;
a wicked life is a puny life.
28 The aspirations of good people end in celebration;
the ambitions of bad people crash.
29 God is solid backing to a well-lived life,
but he calls into question a shabby performance.
30 Good people last—they can’t be moved;
the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow.
31 A good person’s mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom;
a foul mouth is a stagnant swamp.
32 The speech of a good person clears the air;
the words of the wicked pollute it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ecclesiastes 4:1–12
Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them. So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive. But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
4 Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.
5 The fool sits back and takes it easy,
His sloth is slow suicide.
6 One handful of peaceful repose
Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—
More spitting into the wind.
7-8 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9-10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
11 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
Insight
After observing life in this world, the writer of Ecclesiastes concluded: “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (1:2). Meaningless is a translation of the Hebrew word hebel (used thirty-eight times in the book) that literally means “vapor” and figuratively speaks of things that are transitory, fleeting, purposeless. But readers are not left with despair. Solomon reminds us of the meaning and satisfaction we find in community with others (4:4–12).
The Best Strategy for Life
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. Ecclesiastes 4:12
As we watched my daughter’s basketball game from the bleachers, I heard the coach utter a single word to the girls on the court: “Doubles.” Immediately, their defensive strategy shifted from one-on-one to two of their players teaming against their tallest ball-holding opponent. They were successful in thwarting her efforts to shoot and score, eventually taking the ball down the court to their own basket.
When Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, grapples with the toils and frustrations of the world, he too acknowledges that having a companion in our labors yields “a good return” (4:9). While a person battling alone “may be overpowered, two can defend themselves” (v. 12). A friend nearby can help us up when we fall down (v. 10).
Solomon’s words encourage us to share our journey with others so we don’t face the trials of life alone. For some of us, that requires a level of vulnerability we’re unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. Others of us crave that kind of intimacy and struggle to find friends with whom to share it. Whatever the case, we mustn’t give up in the effort.
Solomon and basketball coaches agree: having teammates around us is the best strategy for facing the struggles that loom large on the court and in life. Lord, thank You for the people You put in our lives to encourage and support us. By Kirsten Holmberg
Today's Reflection
Who has helped you through a difficult time? Who could use your support and encouragement? How will you help them?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Reaching Beyond Our Grasp
Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18
There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.
Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?
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
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Sleeping Through Your Wakeup Call - #8434
I saw an ad for one motel chain that had an interesting slant. Apparently, they wanted to highlight how very restful a stay at their motel can be. So as you watch the front of one of their facilities, you would hear only the persistent ringing of a room phone. It would continue to go unanswered as the narrator would point out that you may sleep so soundly at their motel that you might sleep right through your wakeup call. Now, assuming the motel guest has a flight to catch or appointments to keep that day, is that really a good idea?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sleeping Through Your Wakeup Call."
Now, sleeping through a wakeup call from your motel can lead to some pretty serious consequences, like missing something you really can't afford to miss. Sleeping through a wakeup call from God can lead to deadly consequences, like missing the meaning of your life on earth and maybe missing the heaven that we hope to go to when we die.
Only hours before Jesus was crucified, He asked His close friends this haunting question, "Are you still sleeping?" (Mark 14:41). maybe that's a question Jesus is asking you today, "Are you still sleeping after the wakeup calls I've given you? After all the reminders and opportunities I've given you to get things settled with Me?"
Jesus loves you so much that He actually gave His life on that cross so you would not have to die for your sins. He is not asking you to join a religion or go through some rituals. He's asking you to commit your life to the One who gave His life for you. But you've been putting Him off, you've been pursuing other things, maybe hiding behind some excuses, or hoping that all the Christians and Christianity you know will somehow be enough. You can lock Jesus out rudely and you can do it politely. Either way, He's still not in your life and you're still what He calls "lost."
But because Jesus doesn't want to lose you, He's sent you wake-up calls. They may have been delivered through a Christian friend or maybe your spouse or a family member who knows Christ personally. But you keep putting them off. Those calls weren't from them. They were from Jesus. Sometimes, Jesus will even allow you to run into a wall to get your attention: a crisis, a loss, a medical emergency, a close call. Wakeup calls to show you your need for a Savior.
In Matthew 23:37, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus wept over the people of Jerusalem. Here's what He said: "How often I have longed to gather your children together, but you were not willing." He may be saying something like that to you right now. "How many times I've called you to Myself, but you were not willing."
I don't know how many more times He's going to call. I don't know - you don't know - when your time is going to be over. Bottom line: this is heaven or hell we're talking about here. Today, right now - Jesus is calling you one more time. You know you've got this time. Don't sleep through His call again. There's way too much to lose.
Open the door of your heart to this man who loves you more than anyone has ever loved you. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." If you want to finally belong to Him, that happens when you tell Him that. Something like this: "Jesus, I have been running my life. I know that's wrong. I know you were supposed to run it, and this very day I am accepting the forgiveness that you gave by dying for me on the cross. I did the sinning, you did the dying. This day I'm pinning all my hopes on you. I'm grabbing you like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard. You're my only hope." That moment of trusting in Jesus is the moment your relationship with Him begins. Yours sins are forgiven, erased from God's book, and your place in heaven in guaranteed.
Do you want to be sure you belong to Him? Would you pay a visit to our website as soon as you can today? It's called ANewStory.com and you're going to find out there the information you need to know you've got Jesus in your heart for good.
The Bible puts it this way, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). That implies you may not always be able to find Him. He may not always be near, but He's near right now. Please, grab Him while you can.
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