Max Lucado Daily: PATH OF FORGIVENESS
Resentment sucks satisfaction from the soul. Bitterness consumes it. Revenge has a monstrous appetite. One act of retaliation is never enough. Grudges send us on a downward spiral.
Some people perceive the path of forgiveness to be impossibly steep. So let’s be realistic. Forgiveness does not pardon the offense, excuse the misdeed, or ignore it. Forgiveness is not even necessarily reconciliation. The phrase “forgive and forget” sets an unreachable standard. Painful memories are not like old clothing, easily shed.
Forgiveness is simply the act of changing your attitude toward the offender; it’s moving from a desire to harm toward an openness to be at peace. A step in the direction of forgiveness is a decisive step toward happiness.
Psalm 106
Hallelujah!
Thank God! And why?
Because he’s good, because his love lasts.
But who on earth can do it—
declaim God’s mighty acts, broadcast all his praises?
You’re one happy man when you do what’s right,
one happy woman when you form the habit of justice.
4-5 Remember me, God, when you enjoy your people;
include me when you save them;
I want to see your chosen succeed,
celebrate with your celebrating nation,
join the Hallelujahs of your pride and joy!
6-12 We’ve sinned a lot, both we and our parents;
We’ve fallen short, hurt a lot of people.
After our parents left Egypt,
they took your wonders for granted,
forgot your great and wonderful love.
They were barely beyond the Red Sea
when they defied the High God
—the very place he saved them!
—the place he revealed his amazing power!
He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot
—he paraded them right through!
—no one so much as got wet feet!
He saved them from a life of oppression,
pried them loose from the grip of the enemy.
Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors;
there wasn’t a single survivor.
Then they believed his words were true
and broke out in songs of praise.
13-18 But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing,
wouldn’t wait to be told what to do.
They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert,
provoked God with their insistent demands.
He gave them exactly what they asked for—
but along with it they got an empty heart.
One day in camp some grew jealous of Moses,
also of Aaron, holy priest of God.
The ground opened and swallowed Dathan,
then buried Abiram’s gang.
Fire flared against that rebel crew
and torched them to a cinder.
19-22 They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb
and worshiped the statue they’d made.
They traded the Glory
for a cheap piece of sculpture—a grass-chewing bull!
They forgot God, their very own Savior,
who turned things around in Egypt,
Who created a world of wonders in the Land of Ham,
who gave that stunning performance at the Red Sea.
23-27 Fed up, God decided to get rid of them—
and except for Moses, his chosen, he would have.
But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God’s anger,
prevented it from destroying them utterly.
They went on to reject the Blessed Land,
didn’t believe a word of what God promised.
They found fault with the life they had
and turned a deaf ear to God’s voice.
Exasperated, God swore
that he’d lay them low in the desert,
Scattering their children hither and yon,
strewing them all over the earth.
28-31 Then they linked up with Baal Peor,
attending funeral banquets and eating idol food.
That made God so angry
that a plague spread through their ranks;
Phinehas stood up and pled their case
and the plague was stopped.
This was counted to his credit;
his descendants will never forget it.
32-33 They angered God again at Meribah Springs;
this time Moses got mixed up in their evil;
Because they defied God yet again,
Moses exploded and lost his temper.
34-39 They didn’t wipe out those godless cultures
as ordered by God;
Instead they intermarried with the heathen,
and in time became just like them.
They worshiped their idols,
were caught in the trap of idols.
They sacrificed their sons and daughters
at the altars of demon gods.
They slit the throats of their babies,
murdered their infant girls and boys.
They offered their babies to Canaan’s gods;
the blood of their babies stained the land.
Their way of life stank to high heaven;
they lived like whores.
40-43 And God was furious—a wildfire anger;
he couldn’t stand even to look at his people.
He turned them over to the heathen
so that the people who hated them ruled them.
Their enemies made life hard for them;
they were tyrannized under that rule.
Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned—
until finally their sins destroyed them.
44-46 Still, when God saw the trouble they were in
and heard their cries for help,
He remembered his Covenant with them,
and, immense with love, took them by the hand.
He poured out his mercy on them
while their captors looked on, amazed.
47 Save us, God, our God!
Gather us back out of exile
So we can give thanks to your holy name
and join in the glory when you are praised!
48 Blessed be God, Israel’s God!
Bless now, bless always!
Oh! Let everyone say Amen!
Hallelujah!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 21, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 6:47–59
ery truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Insight
Of all the “signs” (miracles) Jesus performed, John only records seven that point to Jesus as God’s Son (John 20:30–31). The miracle of the multiplication of the fish and loaves in 6:1–14 is one of those. (It also appears in the other gospels—Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17.) The additional miracles John includes are changing water into wine (2:1–11), healing the official’s son (4:46–54), healing the paralyzed man (5:1–15), walking on water (6:16–21), healing the man born blind (9:1–7), and raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1–45). By: Arthur Jackson
A Feast of Love
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. John 6:51
In the Danish film Babette’s Feast, a French refugee appears in a coastal village. Two elderly sisters, leaders of the community’s religious life, take her in, and for fourteen years Babette works as their housekeeper. When Babette comes into a large sum of money, she invites the congregation of twelve to join her for an extravagant French meal of caviar, quail in puff pastry, and more.
As they move from one course to the next, the guests relax; some find forgiveness, some find love rekindled, and some begin recalling miracles they’d witnessed and truths they’d learned in childhood. “Remember what we were taught?” they say. “Little children, love one another.” When the meal ends, Babette reveals to the sisters that she spent all she had on the food. She gave everything—including any chance of returning to her old life as an acclaimed chef in Paris—so that her friends, eating, might feel their hearts open.
Jesus appeared on earth as a stranger and servant, and He gave everything so that our spiritual hunger might be satisfied. In John’s gospel, He reminds His listeners that when their ancestors wandered hungry in the wilderness, God provided quail and bread (Exodus 16). That food satisfied for a time, but Jesus promises that those who accept Him as the “bread of life” will “live forever” (John 6:48, 51). His sacrifice satisfies our spiritual cravings. By: Amy Peterson
Reflect & Pray
How has God satisfied your hunger? What might it look like for you to give sacrificially?
Jesus, thank You for giving Your body and blood for us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 21, 2019
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith… —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman— an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises— human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God— but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people— and this is not learned in five minutes.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ. My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 21, 2019
Out Of Control, Heading Downhill - #8551
My friend was used to handling heavy equipment, but he wasn't used to what happened that particular day. He had his trailer hitched to his dump truck. Now, you've got to kind of picture this: He was driving his backhoe onto the trailer. One little problem - guess it might be a physics problem. As the weight of my friend and his backhoe pressed on the back of the trailer, the rear wheels of the dump truck were suddenly lifted up into the air, which means there were no brakes on a downhill slope yet! So try to picture this: this man riding on a backhoe which is riding on a trailer, which is hitched to a truck that is heading straight downhill out-of-control. I said, "Man, what did you say?" His answer was pretty simple, "Oh no! Oh no!!" I guess he had absolutely no control. So how did he live to tell about it? Well, he threw that backhoe in reverse and he backed off as fast as he could. Balance was restored and the truck and the trailer - well, they jackknifed. And honestly I am not making any of this up!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Out Of Control, Heading Downhill."
That had to be one scary feeling, man, no brakes, racing downhill, you're out-of-control. Well it's a feeling too many of us know all too well when we're faced with one of those temptations that pull at us so hard. In fact, there might be someone listening today who is shall we say, losing your brakes, spiritually, morally. You're losing control and you're headed for a crash.
You might be in the greatest danger if you're slipping and you can't even see it. Satan seldom destroys us through explosion, he does it through erosion...just slowly getting you to compromise a little bit more, to lower your guard, to get a little closer to the flame. It's getting harder and harder, maybe, to resist what you know is wrong. Your brakes are slipping. And you can be sure the Biblical equation will prove tragically correct in your life as it does in every life. James 1:15 - "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
If you're starting to lose control, if your downhill slide is accelerating, you've got to do what my friend did to save himself - back out fast! Our word for today from the Word of God provides a powerful example of the action that is going to save you a lot of scars and a lot of shame. Joseph has been taken as a slave to Egypt where he earns the top position in the household of a powerful official. But one day he's faced with the mega-temptation of a beautiful woman just offering herself to him. It was his master's wife!
In Genesis 39, beginning with verse 7, the Bible says, "After a while, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, 'Come to bed with me!' But he refused." That was hard enough, but I mean this lady was there every day! And God tells us the very practical secret for putting on the brakes. Listen, "And though she spoke to Joseph day after day" - this is a relentless temptation - "he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her." Joseph, you see, remained pure by totally backing away from the source of his temptation. "He refused even to be with her" it says.
That's what it's going to take for you, too. Think about what it is or who it is that's pulling you away from God's best - that's weakening your resistance to sin. You've got to back out fast - out of that relationship, out of that group of people, out of that music, out of those websites, out of the things you've been reading or watching, out of those fantasies.
You've got to start fleeing the evil that you've been flirting with, avoiding the temptation that you've been reaching for a little bit, because it's all downhill from here. A crash is where this goes unless you back out now.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Sunday, October 20, 2019
1 Thessalonians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily:Our Strongholds
Does a stronghold have a strong hold on you? Do you feel nothing but despair? Do you think thoughts of defeat? A stronghold is a false premise that denies God's promise. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says "it sets itself up against the knowledge of God." It attempts to magnify the problem and minimize God's ability to solve it.
God could never forgive me- That's the stronghold of guilt.
Bad things always happen to me- That's the stronghold of self-pity.
I have to be in charge- The stronghold of pride.
I don't deserve to be loved- The stronghold of rejection.
Most Christians don't recognize strongholds. But we don't have to be among them. Our weapons are from God and have divine power to demolish strongholds. Isn't that what you want? Keep God at center stage. Turn off the computer and open the Bible more! And turn to God for help.
From Glory Days
1 Thessalonians 1
I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace!
2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
7-10 Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 16:3–13
Greet Priscilla[a] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[b] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Footnotes:
Romans 16:3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
Romans 16:7 Or are esteemed by
Insight
In Paul’s letters, he shows his appreciation for his fellow workers in the gospel by naming them, which gives us a window into his pastoral heart. He wasn’t just a great theologian; he was also a mentor and dependable friend. As he concludes his letter to the Romans (ch. 16), Paul specifically names those who tirelessly co-labored with him in the gospel. That many of these were women attests to the significant roles women played in the church. In Colossians, Paul warmly singled out ten associates—Jews and gentiles, slaves and free men, men and women (4:7–18). In the book of Acts and Paul’s New Testament letters combined, he expressed his appreciation and concern for some eighty fellow workers (see 2 Timothy 1:15–18; 4:9–22; Titus 3:12–13).
Not Second Rate
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles. Romans 16:7
the leaders of the early church, most of us would list Peter, Paul, and Timothy as a handful possessing well-documented gifts. But in Romans 16, Paul lists nearly forty people of diverse backgrounds—men, women, slaves, Jews, and gentiles—all of whom contributed to the life of the church in diverse ways.
And far from considering them second-rate members of the church, it’s clear that Paul held these people in the highest regard. He describes them as outstanding among the apostles (v. 7)—people to be celebrated for their service for Jesus.
Many of us feel that we’re too ordinary to be leaders in the church. But the truth is that each of us has gifts that can be used to serve and help others. In God’s strength, let’s use our gifts to His honor! By: Peter Chin
Reflect & Pray
As a member of the body of Christ, why should you never feel like you’re unimportant? What are some ways you can serve the people in your church?
Jesus, help me to remember that I am an important part of the body of Christ!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification… —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
Does a stronghold have a strong hold on you? Do you feel nothing but despair? Do you think thoughts of defeat? A stronghold is a false premise that denies God's promise. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says "it sets itself up against the knowledge of God." It attempts to magnify the problem and minimize God's ability to solve it.
God could never forgive me- That's the stronghold of guilt.
Bad things always happen to me- That's the stronghold of self-pity.
I have to be in charge- The stronghold of pride.
I don't deserve to be loved- The stronghold of rejection.
Most Christians don't recognize strongholds. But we don't have to be among them. Our weapons are from God and have divine power to demolish strongholds. Isn't that what you want? Keep God at center stage. Turn off the computer and open the Bible more! And turn to God for help.
From Glory Days
1 Thessalonians 1
I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace!
2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
7-10 Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 16:3–13
Greet Priscilla[a] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[b] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Footnotes:
Romans 16:3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
Romans 16:7 Or are esteemed by
Insight
In Paul’s letters, he shows his appreciation for his fellow workers in the gospel by naming them, which gives us a window into his pastoral heart. He wasn’t just a great theologian; he was also a mentor and dependable friend. As he concludes his letter to the Romans (ch. 16), Paul specifically names those who tirelessly co-labored with him in the gospel. That many of these were women attests to the significant roles women played in the church. In Colossians, Paul warmly singled out ten associates—Jews and gentiles, slaves and free men, men and women (4:7–18). In the book of Acts and Paul’s New Testament letters combined, he expressed his appreciation and concern for some eighty fellow workers (see 2 Timothy 1:15–18; 4:9–22; Titus 3:12–13).
Not Second Rate
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles. Romans 16:7
the leaders of the early church, most of us would list Peter, Paul, and Timothy as a handful possessing well-documented gifts. But in Romans 16, Paul lists nearly forty people of diverse backgrounds—men, women, slaves, Jews, and gentiles—all of whom contributed to the life of the church in diverse ways.
And far from considering them second-rate members of the church, it’s clear that Paul held these people in the highest regard. He describes them as outstanding among the apostles (v. 7)—people to be celebrated for their service for Jesus.
Many of us feel that we’re too ordinary to be leaders in the church. But the truth is that each of us has gifts that can be used to serve and help others. In God’s strength, let’s use our gifts to His honor! By: Peter Chin
Reflect & Pray
As a member of the body of Christ, why should you never feel like you’re unimportant? What are some ways you can serve the people in your church?
Jesus, help me to remember that I am an important part of the body of Christ!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification… —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Psalm 105 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Here's What You Need to Know
Here's what you need to know about the walls of Jericho. They were immense. They wrapped around the city like a suit of armor. Here's what you need to know about Jericho's inhabitants. They were ferocious and barbaric. They withstood all sieges and repelled all invaders. Until the day Joshua showed up. Until the day his army marched in. Until the day everything shook. Until mighty Jericho crumbled.
But here's what you need to know about Joshua. He didn't bring the walls down. The shaking, quaking of the thick, impervious walls? God did that for him. And God will do that for you! Your Jericho is your fear, your anger, your bitterness, your guilt about the past. It stands between you and your Glory Days. And its walls must fall! Life will always bring challenges. But God will always give strength to face them.
From Glory Days
Psalm 105
Hallelujah!
Thank God! Pray to him by name!
Tell everyone you meet what he has done!
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,
you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—
O seed of Abraham, his servant,
O child of Jacob, his chosen.
7-15 He’s God, our God,
in charge of the whole earth.
And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—
for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.
It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,
the same oath he swore to Isaac,
The very statute he established with Jacob,
the eternal Covenant with Israel,
Namely, “I give you the land.
Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”
When they didn’t count for much,
a mere handful, and strangers at that,
Wandering from country to country,
drifting from pillar to post,
He permitted no one to abuse them.
He told kings to keep their hands off:
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,
don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”
16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country,
he broke every last blade of wheat.
But he sent a man on ahead:
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They put cruel chains on his ankles,
an iron collar around his neck,
Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,
and God confirmed his promise.
God sent the king to release him.
The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
He appointed him master of his palace,
put him in charge of all his business
To personally instruct his princes
and train his advisors in wisdom.
23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,
Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
God gave his people lots of babies;
soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
He turned the Egyptians against his people;
they abused and cheated God’s servants.
Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he also chose.
They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,
miracles in the Land of Ham.
He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—
they couldn’t see what they were doing.
He turned all their water to blood
so that all their fish died;
He made frogs swarm through the land,
even into the king’s bedroom;
He gave the word and flies swarmed,
gnats filled the air.
He substituted hail for rain,
he stabbed their land with lightning;
He wasted their vines and fig trees,
smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
With a word he brought in locusts,
millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
They consumed every blade of grass in the country
and picked the ground clean of produce;
He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of their virile powers.
He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,
and not one among his tribes even stumbled.
Egypt was glad to have them go—
they were scared to death of them.
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
and a fire to light their way through the night;
They prayed and he brought quail,
filled them with the bread of heaven;
He opened the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through that desert—
All because he remembered his Covenant,
his promise to Abraham, his servant.
43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;
his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
He made them a gift of the country they entered,
helped them seize the wealth of the nations
So they could do everything he told them—
could follow his instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:1–11
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Insight
In the account in John 8:1–11, it’s interesting that the religious leaders bring only the woman caught in the act of adultery. Women were particularly drawn to Jesus and were more courageous in following Him than most of His disciples. Only John stayed with Jesus all the way to the cross, but Matthew tells us “many women were there” (27:55–56). Women weren’t drawn to Jesus because He was physically attractive (see Isaiah 53:2). They loved Him because He saw them as fully human. He treated them with the respect other men didn’t show them. Today’s story is one example of that, as Jesus protects the woman’s dignity as a human being. By: Tim Gustafson
Steel and Velvet
Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7
Poet Carl Sandburg wrote of former US president Abraham Lincoln, “Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, . . . who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.” “Steel and velvet” described how Lincoln balanced the power of his office with concern for individuals longing for freedom.
Only one person in all history perfectly balanced strength and gentleness, power and compassion. That man is Jesus Christ. In John 8, when confronted by the religious leaders to condemn a guilty woman, Jesus displayed both steel and velvet. He showed steel by withstanding the demands of a bloodthirsty mob, instead turning their critical eyes upon themselves. He said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). Then Jesus modeled the velvet of compassion by telling the woman, “Neither do I condemn you . . . . Go now and leave your life of sin” (v. 11).
Reflecting His “steel and velvet” in our own responses to others can reveal the Father’s work of conforming us to be like Jesus. We can show His heart to a world hungry for both the velvet of mercy and the steel of justice. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
How does your response to the brokenness of this world compare to Christ’s balance of mercy and justice? Where do you need God’s help to enable you to show His compassion to others?
Dear Father, I thank You for Your Son, whose strength and tenderness perfectly reveal Your heart for our lost world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 19, 2019
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R
Here's what you need to know about the walls of Jericho. They were immense. They wrapped around the city like a suit of armor. Here's what you need to know about Jericho's inhabitants. They were ferocious and barbaric. They withstood all sieges and repelled all invaders. Until the day Joshua showed up. Until the day his army marched in. Until the day everything shook. Until mighty Jericho crumbled.
But here's what you need to know about Joshua. He didn't bring the walls down. The shaking, quaking of the thick, impervious walls? God did that for him. And God will do that for you! Your Jericho is your fear, your anger, your bitterness, your guilt about the past. It stands between you and your Glory Days. And its walls must fall! Life will always bring challenges. But God will always give strength to face them.
From Glory Days
Psalm 105
Hallelujah!
Thank God! Pray to him by name!
Tell everyone you meet what he has done!
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
translate his wonders into music!
Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,
you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—
O seed of Abraham, his servant,
O child of Jacob, his chosen.
7-15 He’s God, our God,
in charge of the whole earth.
And he remembers, remembers his Covenant—
for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.
It’s the Covenant he made with Abraham,
the same oath he swore to Isaac,
The very statute he established with Jacob,
the eternal Covenant with Israel,
Namely, “I give you the land.
Canaan is your hill-country inheritance.”
When they didn’t count for much,
a mere handful, and strangers at that,
Wandering from country to country,
drifting from pillar to post,
He permitted no one to abuse them.
He told kings to keep their hands off:
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my anointed,
don’t hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets.”
16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country,
he broke every last blade of wheat.
But he sent a man on ahead:
Joseph, sold as a slave.
They put cruel chains on his ankles,
an iron collar around his neck,
Until God’s word came to the Pharaoh,
and God confirmed his promise.
God sent the king to release him.
The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
He appointed him master of his palace,
put him in charge of all his business
To personally instruct his princes
and train his advisors in wisdom.
23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,
Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
God gave his people lots of babies;
soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
He turned the Egyptians against his people;
they abused and cheated God’s servants.
Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he also chose.
They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,
miracles in the Land of Ham.
He spoke, “Darkness!” and it turned dark—
they couldn’t see what they were doing.
He turned all their water to blood
so that all their fish died;
He made frogs swarm through the land,
even into the king’s bedroom;
He gave the word and flies swarmed,
gnats filled the air.
He substituted hail for rain,
he stabbed their land with lightning;
He wasted their vines and fig trees,
smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
With a word he brought in locusts,
millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
They consumed every blade of grass in the country
and picked the ground clean of produce;
He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of their virile powers.
He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,
and not one among his tribes even stumbled.
Egypt was glad to have them go—
they were scared to death of them.
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
and a fire to light their way through the night;
They prayed and he brought quail,
filled them with the bread of heaven;
He opened the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through that desert—
All because he remembered his Covenant,
his promise to Abraham, his servant.
43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;
his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
He made them a gift of the country they entered,
helped them seize the wealth of the nations
So they could do everything he told them—
could follow his instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 8:1–11
but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Insight
In the account in John 8:1–11, it’s interesting that the religious leaders bring only the woman caught in the act of adultery. Women were particularly drawn to Jesus and were more courageous in following Him than most of His disciples. Only John stayed with Jesus all the way to the cross, but Matthew tells us “many women were there” (27:55–56). Women weren’t drawn to Jesus because He was physically attractive (see Isaiah 53:2). They loved Him because He saw them as fully human. He treated them with the respect other men didn’t show them. Today’s story is one example of that, as Jesus protects the woman’s dignity as a human being. By: Tim Gustafson
Steel and Velvet
Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. John 8:7
Poet Carl Sandburg wrote of former US president Abraham Lincoln, “Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, . . . who holds in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect.” “Steel and velvet” described how Lincoln balanced the power of his office with concern for individuals longing for freedom.
Only one person in all history perfectly balanced strength and gentleness, power and compassion. That man is Jesus Christ. In John 8, when confronted by the religious leaders to condemn a guilty woman, Jesus displayed both steel and velvet. He showed steel by withstanding the demands of a bloodthirsty mob, instead turning their critical eyes upon themselves. He said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). Then Jesus modeled the velvet of compassion by telling the woman, “Neither do I condemn you . . . . Go now and leave your life of sin” (v. 11).
Reflecting His “steel and velvet” in our own responses to others can reveal the Father’s work of conforming us to be like Jesus. We can show His heart to a world hungry for both the velvet of mercy and the steel of justice. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
How does your response to the brokenness of this world compare to Christ’s balance of mercy and justice? Where do you need God’s help to enable you to show His compassion to others?
Dear Father, I thank You for Your Son, whose strength and tenderness perfectly reveal Your heart for our lost world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, October 19, 2019
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation….For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R
Friday, October 18, 2019
Psalm 104, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WORDS OF POWER
When we stand at the altar of Christ on the final day, we will appreciate the influence of those who stepped out and spoke up to help us.
You can do this. Do not shrink back. Step out and speak up. After all, you are an ambassador for Christ. Can the ambassador stay silent? You are a coheir with Christ. Can the heir remain silent while blessings are available? Of course not.
After Jesus admonished Martha, he did the unthinkable. He went to the tomb, wept for his friend, and then shouted for the dead Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus did! He exited the tomb. But don’t think for a second that Lazarus was the only miracle that day. Jesus resurrected the brother from the dead, but he also resurrected Martha’s heart from despair. And he did both with words of power.
This is how happiness happens.
Psalm 104
O my soul, bless God!
God, my God, how great you are!
beautifully, gloriously robed,
Dressed up in sunshine,
and all heaven stretched out for your tent.
You built your palace on the ocean deeps,
made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.
You commandeered winds as messengers,
appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.
You set earth on a firm foundation
so that nothing can shake it, ever.
You blanketed earth with ocean,
covered the mountains with deep waters;
Then you roared and the water ran away—
your thunder crash put it to flight.
Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out
in the places you assigned them.
You set boundaries between earth and sea;
never again will earth be flooded.
You started the springs and rivers,
sent them flowing among the hills.
All the wild animals now drink their fill,
wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Along the riverbanks the birds build nests,
ravens make their voices heard.
You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns;
earth is supplied with plenty of water.
You make grass grow for the livestock,
hay for the animals that plow the ground.
14-23 Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,
wine to make people happy,
Their faces glowing with health,
a people well-fed and hearty.
God’s trees are well-watered—
the Lebanon cedars he planted.
Birds build their nests in those trees;
look—the stork at home in the treetop.
Mountain goats climb about the cliffs;
badgers burrow among the rocks.
The moon keeps track of the seasons,
the sun is in charge of each day.
When it’s dark and night takes over,
all the forest creatures come out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
clamoring to God for their supper.
When the sun comes up, they vanish,
lazily stretched out in their dens.
Meanwhile, men and women go out to work,
busy at their jobs until evening.
24-30 What a wildly wonderful world, God!
You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.
Oh, look—the deep, wide sea,
brimming with fish past counting,
sardines and sharks and salmon.
Ships plow those waters,
and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.
All the creatures look expectantly to you
to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around;
you open your hand and they eat from it.
If you turned your back,
they’d die in a minute—
Take back your Spirit and they die,
revert to original mud;
Send out your Spirit and they spring to life—
the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.
31-32 The glory of God—let it last forever!
Let God enjoy his creation!
He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake,
points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.
33-35 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long,
sing hymns to my God as long as I live!
Oh, let my song please him;
I’m so pleased to be singing to God.
But clear the ground of sinners—
no more godless men and women!
O my soul, bless God!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 18, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:25–34
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Insight
Who was Paul? Paul, also known as Saul of Tarsus, was a zealous persecutor of the early church—until his dramatic conversion to Christ (Acts 7:58; 8:3; 9:1–19; Galatians 1:13–14). He describes himself as “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5). Paul’s birthplace was in Tarsus, a city which lay on a major trade route in the province of Cilicia in Asia Minor. He was a Jew but also a Roman citizen by birth, which meant Paul probably received a Greek education as a youth. He was also well educated in the Old Testament and the Law through his training under the great teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). By: Alyson Kieda
When We Praise
At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. Acts 16:26
When nine-year-old Willie was abducted from his front yard in 2014, he sang his favorite gospel song Every Praise over and over again. During the three-hour ordeal, Willie ignored the kidnapper’s repeated orders to keep silent as they drove around. Eventually, the kidnapper let Willie out of the car unharmed. Later, Willie described the encounter, saying that while he felt his fear give way to faith, the abductor seemed agitated by the song.
Willie’s response to his dire situation is reminiscent of the experience shared by Paul and Silas. After being flogged and thrown into jail, they reacted by “praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:25–26).
Upon witnessing this awesome demonstration of power, the jailer believed in the God of Paul and Silas, and his entire household was baptized along with him (vv. 27–34). Through the avenue of praise, both physical and spiritual chains were broken that night.
We may not always experience a visibly dramatic rescue like Paul and Silas, or like Willie. But we know that God responds to the praises of His people! When He moves, chains fall apart. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
What lessons do you learn from the prayer session held by Paul and Silas? How can you apply these principles to the difficult circumstances you experience?
“[God], You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3 (nkjv)
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 18, 2019
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
…they went forth for His name’s sake… —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. Conformed to His Image, 357 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 18, 2019
Unseen, Unbeatable Security - #8550
Because of my strong love for Native Americans, I was especially interested in a story author Leonard Sweet told in a book of his. It's about a rite of passage that one tribe had for its boys when they turned 13. On that birthday, a warrior blindfolded the boy and took him several miles from camp. Then the warrior took off the blindfold and left this young teenager in this dark, dense forest. The young man was expected to stay there for the night and fend for himself. When it got dark, it got really dark. The trees were so dense he couldn't see the moon, he couldn't see the stars. Oh, but he could sure hear those eerie sounds of the wind, the howls of the wild animals nearby, and the rustling of the leaves that sounded like an approaching enemy. For most boys, it was a night without sleep. And then the dawn began to break. And then the young man could see the forest as it really was; the flowers were blooming, the majestic trees swaying in the wind, and the wildlife scurrying around for food. And then, the biggest surprise of all. The boy would see an imposing male figure, standing in the woods only a few yards away. He'd be startled at first, until he recognized the man. Unbeknownst to this frightened young warrior, his father had been there the whole time, ready to protect his son against anything that might harm him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unseen, Unbeatable Security."
A father who's there even when you're unaware of His presence and His protection; a father who can defend you against anything that comes against you. Now that's security. And in an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable world, security is hard to come by. With all the unsettling possibilities on the road ahead of you - medically, financially, relationally - even to the end of your life when it comes. A strong protector who will never leave you; that's something worth hoping for, it's worth searching for.
There is such a Father. He created you, and His heart's desire for you is to have an intimate love relationship with Him. A love you can never lose. Listen to His promise to those who belong to Him in Isaiah 43, verses 1-3: "This is what the Lord says: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned...for I am the Lord your God." Well, listen, if the Lord is your God, you have that ironclad security, from here, through every dark and lonely stretch of your life, and all the way to eternity.
But without an act of God, we can't belong to Him. In the words of Ephesians 2:12, we are "without God and without hope in this world." We're without God because we've basically turned our backs on Him so we could do with our lives what we wanted to do, which means we're infected with this thing called sin - which God can't touch and heaven can't allow. But because of His great love for you, God launched a rescue mission on your behalf. He sent His Son, Jesus, as the Bible says, "to carry our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). And now He makes this promise, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Isn't it time that you surrendered the controls of your life and turned them over to the one who should have been in charge all along? Aren't you ready for some unloseable security - the kind that only a Heavenly Father can give you? One who gave His Son for you? Then tell Him that: "God, I've lived long enough without You in my heart. I'm putting all my trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross and I am giving me to You."
Boy, if that's what you want, that's what our website's about. I invite you to go there as quickly as you can today - ANewStory.com. ANewStory.com will help, I believe, your new story get started.
No more fear of abandonment. No more fear of the unknown. No matter how dark, no matter how lonely, you will have a Father watching over you who has promised He will never leave you. For all the days of your life, and for all eternity, you will be safe.
When we stand at the altar of Christ on the final day, we will appreciate the influence of those who stepped out and spoke up to help us.
You can do this. Do not shrink back. Step out and speak up. After all, you are an ambassador for Christ. Can the ambassador stay silent? You are a coheir with Christ. Can the heir remain silent while blessings are available? Of course not.
After Jesus admonished Martha, he did the unthinkable. He went to the tomb, wept for his friend, and then shouted for the dead Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus did! He exited the tomb. But don’t think for a second that Lazarus was the only miracle that day. Jesus resurrected the brother from the dead, but he also resurrected Martha’s heart from despair. And he did both with words of power.
This is how happiness happens.
Psalm 104
O my soul, bless God!
God, my God, how great you are!
beautifully, gloriously robed,
Dressed up in sunshine,
and all heaven stretched out for your tent.
You built your palace on the ocean deeps,
made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings.
You commandeered winds as messengers,
appointed fire and flame as ambassadors.
You set earth on a firm foundation
so that nothing can shake it, ever.
You blanketed earth with ocean,
covered the mountains with deep waters;
Then you roared and the water ran away—
your thunder crash put it to flight.
Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out
in the places you assigned them.
You set boundaries between earth and sea;
never again will earth be flooded.
You started the springs and rivers,
sent them flowing among the hills.
All the wild animals now drink their fill,
wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Along the riverbanks the birds build nests,
ravens make their voices heard.
You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns;
earth is supplied with plenty of water.
You make grass grow for the livestock,
hay for the animals that plow the ground.
14-23 Oh yes, God brings grain from the land,
wine to make people happy,
Their faces glowing with health,
a people well-fed and hearty.
God’s trees are well-watered—
the Lebanon cedars he planted.
Birds build their nests in those trees;
look—the stork at home in the treetop.
Mountain goats climb about the cliffs;
badgers burrow among the rocks.
The moon keeps track of the seasons,
the sun is in charge of each day.
When it’s dark and night takes over,
all the forest creatures come out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
clamoring to God for their supper.
When the sun comes up, they vanish,
lazily stretched out in their dens.
Meanwhile, men and women go out to work,
busy at their jobs until evening.
24-30 What a wildly wonderful world, God!
You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.
Oh, look—the deep, wide sea,
brimming with fish past counting,
sardines and sharks and salmon.
Ships plow those waters,
and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.
All the creatures look expectantly to you
to give them their meals on time.
You come, and they gather around;
you open your hand and they eat from it.
If you turned your back,
they’d die in a minute—
Take back your Spirit and they die,
revert to original mud;
Send out your Spirit and they spring to life—
the whole countryside in bloom and blossom.
31-32 The glory of God—let it last forever!
Let God enjoy his creation!
He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake,
points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt.
33-35 Oh, let me sing to God all my life long,
sing hymns to my God as long as I live!
Oh, let my song please him;
I’m so pleased to be singing to God.
But clear the ground of sinners—
no more godless men and women!
O my soul, bless God!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, October 18, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Acts 16:25–34
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
Insight
Who was Paul? Paul, also known as Saul of Tarsus, was a zealous persecutor of the early church—until his dramatic conversion to Christ (Acts 7:58; 8:3; 9:1–19; Galatians 1:13–14). He describes himself as “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5). Paul’s birthplace was in Tarsus, a city which lay on a major trade route in the province of Cilicia in Asia Minor. He was a Jew but also a Roman citizen by birth, which meant Paul probably received a Greek education as a youth. He was also well educated in the Old Testament and the Law through his training under the great teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). By: Alyson Kieda
When We Praise
At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. Acts 16:26
When nine-year-old Willie was abducted from his front yard in 2014, he sang his favorite gospel song Every Praise over and over again. During the three-hour ordeal, Willie ignored the kidnapper’s repeated orders to keep silent as they drove around. Eventually, the kidnapper let Willie out of the car unharmed. Later, Willie described the encounter, saying that while he felt his fear give way to faith, the abductor seemed agitated by the song.
Willie’s response to his dire situation is reminiscent of the experience shared by Paul and Silas. After being flogged and thrown into jail, they reacted by “praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:25–26).
Upon witnessing this awesome demonstration of power, the jailer believed in the God of Paul and Silas, and his entire household was baptized along with him (vv. 27–34). Through the avenue of praise, both physical and spiritual chains were broken that night.
We may not always experience a visibly dramatic rescue like Paul and Silas, or like Willie. But we know that God responds to the praises of His people! When He moves, chains fall apart. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
What lessons do you learn from the prayer session held by Paul and Silas? How can you apply these principles to the difficult circumstances you experience?
“[God], You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3 (nkjv)
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 18, 2019
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
…they went forth for His name’s sake… —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. Conformed to His Image, 357 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, October 18, 2019
Unseen, Unbeatable Security - #8550
Because of my strong love for Native Americans, I was especially interested in a story author Leonard Sweet told in a book of his. It's about a rite of passage that one tribe had for its boys when they turned 13. On that birthday, a warrior blindfolded the boy and took him several miles from camp. Then the warrior took off the blindfold and left this young teenager in this dark, dense forest. The young man was expected to stay there for the night and fend for himself. When it got dark, it got really dark. The trees were so dense he couldn't see the moon, he couldn't see the stars. Oh, but he could sure hear those eerie sounds of the wind, the howls of the wild animals nearby, and the rustling of the leaves that sounded like an approaching enemy. For most boys, it was a night without sleep. And then the dawn began to break. And then the young man could see the forest as it really was; the flowers were blooming, the majestic trees swaying in the wind, and the wildlife scurrying around for food. And then, the biggest surprise of all. The boy would see an imposing male figure, standing in the woods only a few yards away. He'd be startled at first, until he recognized the man. Unbeknownst to this frightened young warrior, his father had been there the whole time, ready to protect his son against anything that might harm him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unseen, Unbeatable Security."
A father who's there even when you're unaware of His presence and His protection; a father who can defend you against anything that comes against you. Now that's security. And in an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable world, security is hard to come by. With all the unsettling possibilities on the road ahead of you - medically, financially, relationally - even to the end of your life when it comes. A strong protector who will never leave you; that's something worth hoping for, it's worth searching for.
There is such a Father. He created you, and His heart's desire for you is to have an intimate love relationship with Him. A love you can never lose. Listen to His promise to those who belong to Him in Isaiah 43, verses 1-3: "This is what the Lord says: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned...for I am the Lord your God." Well, listen, if the Lord is your God, you have that ironclad security, from here, through every dark and lonely stretch of your life, and all the way to eternity.
But without an act of God, we can't belong to Him. In the words of Ephesians 2:12, we are "without God and without hope in this world." We're without God because we've basically turned our backs on Him so we could do with our lives what we wanted to do, which means we're infected with this thing called sin - which God can't touch and heaven can't allow. But because of His great love for you, God launched a rescue mission on your behalf. He sent His Son, Jesus, as the Bible says, "to carry our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). And now He makes this promise, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Isn't it time that you surrendered the controls of your life and turned them over to the one who should have been in charge all along? Aren't you ready for some unloseable security - the kind that only a Heavenly Father can give you? One who gave His Son for you? Then tell Him that: "God, I've lived long enough without You in my heart. I'm putting all my trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross and I am giving me to You."
Boy, if that's what you want, that's what our website's about. I invite you to go there as quickly as you can today - ANewStory.com. ANewStory.com will help, I believe, your new story get started.
No more fear of abandonment. No more fear of the unknown. No matter how dark, no matter how lonely, you will have a Father watching over you who has promised He will never leave you. For all the days of your life, and for all eternity, you will be safe.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Acts 17:16-34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE PATH OF FAITH
The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment. The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time.
Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment. He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years. I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister. When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work. Dennis would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love. Let your healing happen in this room. Satan, you must leave. You’re a liar, and your words have no merit. This child is bought by God. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.”
This is the job of the church: to take struggling followers and lead them back to the path of faith. And this is how happiness happens.
Acts 17:16-34
The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.
17-18 He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: “What an airhead!” But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: “That’s a new slant on the gods. Tell us more.”
19-21 These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, “This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.” Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.
22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ezekiel 2:4–3:
The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
Insight
Ezekiel isn’t the only prophet instructed by God to eat “the scroll” of lament and judgment (2:9–3:3). The apostle John on Patmos Island was similarly ordered to eat a scroll. Because John prophesied bitter judgment and untold suffering for God’s people, the scroll “[turned his] stomach sour” (Revelation 10:9). And yet because it was God’s Word, it “tasted as sweet as honey in [his] mouth” (v. 10). This is the consistent testimony of people who love God: His Word is “more precious than gold, . . . sweeter than honey . . . from the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).
Truth: Bitter or Sweet?
So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel 3:3
I’d had the spot on my nose for the better part of a year when I went to the doctor. The biopsy results came back days later with words I didn’t want to hear: skin cancer. Though the cancer was operable and not life-threatening, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
God commanded Ezekiel to swallow a bitter pill—a scroll containing words of lament and woe (Ezekiel 2:10; 3:1–2). He was “to fill [his] stomach with it” and share the words with the people of Israel, whom God considered “obstinate and stubborn” (2:4). One would expect a scroll filled with correction to taste like a bitter pill. Yet Ezekiel describes it being “as sweet as honey” in his mouth (3:3).
Ezekiel seems to have acquired a taste for God’s correction. Instead of viewing His rebuke as something to avoid, Ezekiel recognized that what is good for the soul is “sweet.” God instructs and corrects us with lovingkindness, helping us live in a way that honors and pleases Him.
Some truths are bitter pills to swallow while others taste sweet. If we remember how much God loves us, His truth will taste more like honey. His words are given to us for our good, providing wisdom and strength to forgive others, refrain from gossip, and bear up under mistreatment. Help us, God, to recognize Your wisdom as the sweet counsel it truly is! By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
What truth has God shown you recently? Did you receive it as a bitter pill or sweet honey?
God, Your truth is sweet.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 17, 2019
The Key of the Greater Work
…I say to you, he who believes in Me,…greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do…” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Thanks. A Lot. - #8549
Our grandson wants to major in philosophy in college. A few days ago, we got to sample what kind of philosophy we might expect from his one-of-a-kind brain. It's not exactly Socrates. But it's interesting and within the reach of the common man. He received some gifts for graduation, and here's the philosophical gem he spoke to his mother: "You live. You die. And in the middle, you write thank you cards."
I'm Ron Hutchcrat and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanks. A Lot."
Profound in its own way what he said. Then I got to thinking about what he said. And how, in a way, it is true. Or should be. Oh, not necessarily the cards. But the "thank yous." We're all like that infamous turtle on top of the fencepost. There's no way he could have gotten there on his own. Someone had to help him get there.
Woven generously through the tapestry of my life are those people who God has used to elevate my life. Like my Mom and Dad, who made me feel valued and who celebrated the gifts God has given me. Above all, my precious Karen. No man could have asked for a wife more loyal, more willing to love me in those times when honestly there wasn't much to love. And who faithfully was God's mirror to show me the me I didn't always want to see, so I could become more like Jesus.
I am - look, we all are - a river made up of hundreds of people who were the tributaries to make us what we are today. My "loyal like Mom" children and grandchildren, from whom I am constantly learning. Faithful friends, "cheerleaders," prayer warriors, pastors, youth leaders, loyal siblings, teachers - the more I think, the more I have to thank.
But have I? Before they're gone? A call, a note, a text, a card - maybe my thank you would be just the encouragement they need to get back in the ring for another round. Or to remind them that their life, in fact, has made a difference. In a sense, my whole life should be a walking, talking thank you card. The return on their investment in me. "To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48).
But no one has invested in me more than my Jesus. "He loved me," the Bible says, "and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). In the Bible's words, "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The shedding of holy blood. The thorns. The nails. The spear. And the unspeakable soul-agony of His Father turning His back on His Son so He would never have to turn His back on me.
And if that weren't enough, "Out of the fullness of His grace," the Bible says, "we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16). Every day - all through each day - there have been God-sightings if I have eyes to see them. The text that came just at the right time. The flowers beautifying the yard reminding me of the Artist who made them. The Scripture or the song that goes right to my need. Just waking up healthy, or just waking up.
Every day, is a "day the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Not the weather. Not the doctor. Not the demands. Not the finances. The Lord. He designs each day as threads - some darker, some brighter - in this grand tapestry He is weaving in your life and mine.
So I get it. What David said. It's our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 34:1, "I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises." Yes, there is always something to trust Him for. But there's always something to thank Him for.
And the real "thank you card" is my life. I guess some thank you cards have legs to walk in His footsteps and hands to do what He would do in someone's life. And lips to tell the Hope Story of my life that only a Savior like Jesus could have written. A life lived as my "thank you" to Jesus is my little gift to Him for His incalculable gift to me.
The Bible reveals that heaven is filled with praises for the One who is called "the Lamb who was slain." So I might as well get used to living my thanks to Him. I guess you could call it heaven practice.
So, my philosopher grandson made me laugh at first with what he said, and now made me think. "We live. We die. And in between a thank you card" - called my life.
The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment. The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time.
Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment. He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years. I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister. When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work. Dennis would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love. Let your healing happen in this room. Satan, you must leave. You’re a liar, and your words have no merit. This child is bought by God. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.”
This is the job of the church: to take struggling followers and lead them back to the path of faith. And this is how happiness happens.
Acts 17:16-34
The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.
17-18 He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: “What an airhead!” But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: “That’s a new slant on the gods. Tell us more.”
19-21 These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, “This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.” Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.
22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ezekiel 2:4–3:
The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.
3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
Insight
Ezekiel isn’t the only prophet instructed by God to eat “the scroll” of lament and judgment (2:9–3:3). The apostle John on Patmos Island was similarly ordered to eat a scroll. Because John prophesied bitter judgment and untold suffering for God’s people, the scroll “[turned his] stomach sour” (Revelation 10:9). And yet because it was God’s Word, it “tasted as sweet as honey in [his] mouth” (v. 10). This is the consistent testimony of people who love God: His Word is “more precious than gold, . . . sweeter than honey . . . from the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).
Truth: Bitter or Sweet?
So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel 3:3
I’d had the spot on my nose for the better part of a year when I went to the doctor. The biopsy results came back days later with words I didn’t want to hear: skin cancer. Though the cancer was operable and not life-threatening, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
God commanded Ezekiel to swallow a bitter pill—a scroll containing words of lament and woe (Ezekiel 2:10; 3:1–2). He was “to fill [his] stomach with it” and share the words with the people of Israel, whom God considered “obstinate and stubborn” (2:4). One would expect a scroll filled with correction to taste like a bitter pill. Yet Ezekiel describes it being “as sweet as honey” in his mouth (3:3).
Ezekiel seems to have acquired a taste for God’s correction. Instead of viewing His rebuke as something to avoid, Ezekiel recognized that what is good for the soul is “sweet.” God instructs and corrects us with lovingkindness, helping us live in a way that honors and pleases Him.
Some truths are bitter pills to swallow while others taste sweet. If we remember how much God loves us, His truth will taste more like honey. His words are given to us for our good, providing wisdom and strength to forgive others, refrain from gossip, and bear up under mistreatment. Help us, God, to recognize Your wisdom as the sweet counsel it truly is! By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
What truth has God shown you recently? Did you receive it as a bitter pill or sweet honey?
God, Your truth is sweet.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 17, 2019
The Key of the Greater Work
…I say to you, he who believes in Me,…greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do…” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Thanks. A Lot. - #8549
Our grandson wants to major in philosophy in college. A few days ago, we got to sample what kind of philosophy we might expect from his one-of-a-kind brain. It's not exactly Socrates. But it's interesting and within the reach of the common man. He received some gifts for graduation, and here's the philosophical gem he spoke to his mother: "You live. You die. And in the middle, you write thank you cards."
I'm Ron Hutchcrat and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanks. A Lot."
Profound in its own way what he said. Then I got to thinking about what he said. And how, in a way, it is true. Or should be. Oh, not necessarily the cards. But the "thank yous." We're all like that infamous turtle on top of the fencepost. There's no way he could have gotten there on his own. Someone had to help him get there.
Woven generously through the tapestry of my life are those people who God has used to elevate my life. Like my Mom and Dad, who made me feel valued and who celebrated the gifts God has given me. Above all, my precious Karen. No man could have asked for a wife more loyal, more willing to love me in those times when honestly there wasn't much to love. And who faithfully was God's mirror to show me the me I didn't always want to see, so I could become more like Jesus.
I am - look, we all are - a river made up of hundreds of people who were the tributaries to make us what we are today. My "loyal like Mom" children and grandchildren, from whom I am constantly learning. Faithful friends, "cheerleaders," prayer warriors, pastors, youth leaders, loyal siblings, teachers - the more I think, the more I have to thank.
But have I? Before they're gone? A call, a note, a text, a card - maybe my thank you would be just the encouragement they need to get back in the ring for another round. Or to remind them that their life, in fact, has made a difference. In a sense, my whole life should be a walking, talking thank you card. The return on their investment in me. "To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48).
But no one has invested in me more than my Jesus. "He loved me," the Bible says, "and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). In the Bible's words, "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The shedding of holy blood. The thorns. The nails. The spear. And the unspeakable soul-agony of His Father turning His back on His Son so He would never have to turn His back on me.
And if that weren't enough, "Out of the fullness of His grace," the Bible says, "we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16). Every day - all through each day - there have been God-sightings if I have eyes to see them. The text that came just at the right time. The flowers beautifying the yard reminding me of the Artist who made them. The Scripture or the song that goes right to my need. Just waking up healthy, or just waking up.
Every day, is a "day the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Not the weather. Not the doctor. Not the demands. Not the finances. The Lord. He designs each day as threads - some darker, some brighter - in this grand tapestry He is weaving in your life and mine.
So I get it. What David said. It's our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 34:1, "I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises." Yes, there is always something to trust Him for. But there's always something to thank Him for.
And the real "thank you card" is my life. I guess some thank you cards have legs to walk in His footsteps and hands to do what He would do in someone's life. And lips to tell the Hope Story of my life that only a Savior like Jesus could have written. A life lived as my "thank you" to Jesus is my little gift to Him for His incalculable gift to me.
The Bible reveals that heaven is filled with praises for the One who is called "the Lamb who was slain." So I might as well get used to living my thanks to Him. I guess you could call it heaven practice.
So, my philosopher grandson made me laugh at first with what he said, and now made me think. "We live. We die. And in between a thank you card" - called my life.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Psalm 102, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WORDS OF HOPE AND PRAYERS OF FAITH
I recently met a ten-year-old boy by the name of Joshua. His mother explained that Joshua’s father was no longer a part of the boy’s life. I squatted down eye level with Joshua and I asked, “Do you know the story of your namesake?” He nodded. “You will do what he did,” I admonished. “You will bring down Jericho’s walls and pray prayers of great faith.”
He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. But his mom? She was wiping away tears.
Strugglers don’t need our opinions. They don’t need our philosophies on suffering. They need someone to admonish them with truth. Spread words of hope and pray prayers of faith. The Bible says, “Prayers offered in faith will restore them from sickness and bring them to health…” (James 5:15 The Voice).
This is how happiness happens.
Psalm 102
A Prayer of One Whose Life Is Falling to Pieces, and Who Lets God Know Just How Bad It Is
God, listen! Listen to my prayer,
listen to the pain in my cries.
Don’t turn your back on me
just when I need you so desperately.
Pay attention! This is a cry for help!
And hurry—this can’t wait!
3-11 I’m wasting away to nothing,
I’m burning up with fever.
I’m a ghost of my former self,
half-consumed already by terminal illness.
My jaws ache from gritting my teeth;
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
I’m like a buzzard in the desert,
a crow perched on the rubble.
Insomniac, I twitter away,
mournful as a sparrow in the gutter.
All day long my enemies taunt me,
while others just curse.
They bring in meals—casseroles of ashes!
I draw drink from a barrel of my tears.
And all because of your furious anger;
you swept me up and threw me out.
There’s nothing left of me—
a withered weed, swept clean from the path.
12-17 Yet you, God, are sovereign still,
always and ever sovereign.
You’ll get up from your throne and help Zion—
it’s time for compassionate help.
Oh, how your servants love this city’s rubble
and weep with compassion over its dust!
The godless nations will sit up and take notice
—see your glory, worship your name—
When God rebuilds Zion,
when he shows up in all his glory,
When he attends to the prayer of the wretched.
He won’t dismiss their prayer.
18-22 Write this down for the next generation
so people not yet born will praise God:
“God looked out from his high holy place;
from heaven he surveyed the earth.
He listened to the groans of the doomed,
he opened the doors of their death cells.”
Write it so the story can be told in Zion,
so God’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets
And wherever people gather together
along with their rulers to worship him.
23-28 God sovereignly brought me to my knees,
he cut me down in my prime.
“Oh, don’t,” I prayed, “please don’t let me die.
You have more years than you know what to do with!
You laid earth’s foundations a long time ago,
and handcrafted the very heavens;
You’ll still be around when they’re long gone,
threadbare and discarded like an old suit of clothes.
You’ll throw them away like a worn-out coat,
but year after year you’re as good as new.
Your servants’ children will have a good place to live
and their children will be at home with you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Thessalonians 4:9–12
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Insight
Paul’s first letter to the believers in Christ at Thessalonica was one of his most pastoral letters. In chapter 2, he repeatedly refers to them with affection, calling them “brothers and sisters” (vv. 1, 14, 17). Additionally, the apostle describes his own care for them in vivid terms, saying he and his team didn’t come to them authoritatively, but as “young children” (v. 7). Also in verse 7, Paul actually describes himself as being like a “nursing mother” who lovingly nurses her children. As further evidence of his great love for them, Paul speaks of his labor for them in the gospel and ultimately closes the loop of family descriptors by portraying himself as a father caring for his children (vv. 8–11). All of these examples combine not only to make this one of Paul’s most pastoral letters, but one of his most personal as well. By: Bill Crowder
Finding a Quiet Life
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. 1 Thessalonians 4:11
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” We all heard that question as children and sometimes even as adults. The question is born in curiosity, and the answer is often heard as an indication of ambition. My answers morphed over the years, starting with a cowboy, then a truck driver, followed by a soldier, and I entered college set on becoming a doctor. However, I can’t recall one time that someone suggested or I consciously considered pursuing “a quiet life.”
Yet that’s exactly what Paul told the Thessalonians. First, he urged them to love one another and all of God’s family even more (1 Thessalonians 4:10). Then he gave them a general admonition that would cover whatever specific plow they put their hand to. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” (v. 11). Now what did Paul mean by that exactly? He clarified: “You should mind your own business and work with your hands” so outsiders respect you and you’re not a burden on anyone (vv. 11–12). We don’t want to discourage children from pursuing their giftedness or passions but maybe we could encourage them that whatever they choose to do, they do with a quiet spirit.
Considering the world we live in, the words ambitious and quiet couldn’t seem further apart. But the Scriptures are always relevant, so perhaps we should consider what it might look like to begin living quieter. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
How does Paul’s phrase—“mind your own business”—sit with you? Who comes to mind of someone who lives a quiet life that you might emulate?
Jesus, living a quiet life sounds so inviting, but I know it won’t come easily. I ask for the grace to mind my own business, not so I can close myself off from the world, but that I won’t add to the noise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest….” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Lying Scales and Twisted Scriptures - #8548
Every morning I have a date with my bathroom scale. Some days it makes me smile. Other days, I'm sad. So I need comfort food. Like donuts.
But years ago, our son had an unusually uplifting scale. He was working in youth ministry on a reservation and living in a trailer. He urged Karen and me to weigh on his scale in the morning. Karen was thrilled - she'd lost 15 pounds in a day! And so had I! Of course, we got wildly different results every time we weighed.
Oh, how I wanted to believe that scale. But no matter how welcome the news is on a wacko scale, it won't fool my heart; it sure won't fool my hips. Or my doctor. You know, he's got one of those "whole truth, however ugly" scales. And there, in numbers that will drive you to lunches of celery and water, is the truth. The inconvenient, but uncompromising, truth. And then there's the Bible. The scale that doesn't lie.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lying Scales and Twisted Scriptures."
"All Scripture is inspired by God," the Bible says. In the original language, it's "God-breathed" and it says "is useful for teaching what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives" (2 Timothy 3:16). Here's the problem. Many times God's Book doesn't tell us what we want to be true. It tells us what is true. Like it or not. Often, not.
I call it inconvenient truth. Now, where the "lying scales" often tell us what we'd like to be true. And Scripture tells us truth that means we need to (guess what?) change. It may be the inconvenient truth about marriage or divorce. About what it means to be a husband or a wife, a parent. About sex or forgiving or our money. About loving our enemy or blessing those who curse us. About Jesus being the only way to God. Our responsibility to the poor. Maybe our prejudice, or maybe about what God says about an unwanted pregnancy. About reconciling or loving our enemies or being unashamed of our Jesus. Or even about the very origins of us and of our world.
Somewhere in a list like that is going to be some divine truth that makes you squirm, and that may mean changing. That may mean paying a price. The temptation is to try to do an end run around what God has said. And all across the Christian landscape, people are twisting and turning, rationalizing and redefining to create a loophole that just isn't there. "Times have changed." "Well, if you understood the culture when that was written..." "God is love - He would never be like that."
The idea is this: if you're out of bounds, just move the boundaries. But God's not moving. No, listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 119:89. "Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." Cultures change. Polls change. God's Word does not. It's just always the truth, whether millions believe it or no one believes it.
Telling someone the truth - especially if it's unwelcome truth - is not unloving. Oh, it can be delivered unlovingly, as all too often it is these days. But parents know that loving your child sometimes means giving them the truth they don't want to hear. But they need to hear. About playing in the street or bad friends or Internet relationships or texting while driving, sexual predators charmingly disguised. We love them enough to tell them the truth.
That's how much God loves us. He sees the big picture, where certain choices will end up. His boundaries aren't to deprive us, they're to protect us. That's why compromising His life instructions is patently unloving.
In a Roman prison, awaiting execution, in Paul's final written words he gives us warning, and it's about lying scales. "A time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear."
That's convenient truth. Funny thing about the real truth, though. It will always be true. And one day, I'll face the consequences for not believing it. So, as everything is changing and our culture, our friends, our mentors, and even some spiritual brothers and sisters find a scale that means we don't have to change, remember the real truth is "all Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:23-24).
The stormy crosswinds of conflicting ideas and moralities, they're going to intensify. Without an anchor, we'll be blown out to sea. And there is one, the unchanging, forever true Word of Almighty God.
I recently met a ten-year-old boy by the name of Joshua. His mother explained that Joshua’s father was no longer a part of the boy’s life. I squatted down eye level with Joshua and I asked, “Do you know the story of your namesake?” He nodded. “You will do what he did,” I admonished. “You will bring down Jericho’s walls and pray prayers of great faith.”
He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. But his mom? She was wiping away tears.
Strugglers don’t need our opinions. They don’t need our philosophies on suffering. They need someone to admonish them with truth. Spread words of hope and pray prayers of faith. The Bible says, “Prayers offered in faith will restore them from sickness and bring them to health…” (James 5:15 The Voice).
This is how happiness happens.
Psalm 102
A Prayer of One Whose Life Is Falling to Pieces, and Who Lets God Know Just How Bad It Is
God, listen! Listen to my prayer,
listen to the pain in my cries.
Don’t turn your back on me
just when I need you so desperately.
Pay attention! This is a cry for help!
And hurry—this can’t wait!
3-11 I’m wasting away to nothing,
I’m burning up with fever.
I’m a ghost of my former self,
half-consumed already by terminal illness.
My jaws ache from gritting my teeth;
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
I’m like a buzzard in the desert,
a crow perched on the rubble.
Insomniac, I twitter away,
mournful as a sparrow in the gutter.
All day long my enemies taunt me,
while others just curse.
They bring in meals—casseroles of ashes!
I draw drink from a barrel of my tears.
And all because of your furious anger;
you swept me up and threw me out.
There’s nothing left of me—
a withered weed, swept clean from the path.
12-17 Yet you, God, are sovereign still,
always and ever sovereign.
You’ll get up from your throne and help Zion—
it’s time for compassionate help.
Oh, how your servants love this city’s rubble
and weep with compassion over its dust!
The godless nations will sit up and take notice
—see your glory, worship your name—
When God rebuilds Zion,
when he shows up in all his glory,
When he attends to the prayer of the wretched.
He won’t dismiss their prayer.
18-22 Write this down for the next generation
so people not yet born will praise God:
“God looked out from his high holy place;
from heaven he surveyed the earth.
He listened to the groans of the doomed,
he opened the doors of their death cells.”
Write it so the story can be told in Zion,
so God’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets
And wherever people gather together
along with their rulers to worship him.
23-28 God sovereignly brought me to my knees,
he cut me down in my prime.
“Oh, don’t,” I prayed, “please don’t let me die.
You have more years than you know what to do with!
You laid earth’s foundations a long time ago,
and handcrafted the very heavens;
You’ll still be around when they’re long gone,
threadbare and discarded like an old suit of clothes.
You’ll throw them away like a worn-out coat,
but year after year you’re as good as new.
Your servants’ children will have a good place to live
and their children will be at home with you.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
1 Thessalonians 4:9–12
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Insight
Paul’s first letter to the believers in Christ at Thessalonica was one of his most pastoral letters. In chapter 2, he repeatedly refers to them with affection, calling them “brothers and sisters” (vv. 1, 14, 17). Additionally, the apostle describes his own care for them in vivid terms, saying he and his team didn’t come to them authoritatively, but as “young children” (v. 7). Also in verse 7, Paul actually describes himself as being like a “nursing mother” who lovingly nurses her children. As further evidence of his great love for them, Paul speaks of his labor for them in the gospel and ultimately closes the loop of family descriptors by portraying himself as a father caring for his children (vv. 8–11). All of these examples combine not only to make this one of Paul’s most pastoral letters, but one of his most personal as well. By: Bill Crowder
Finding a Quiet Life
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. 1 Thessalonians 4:11
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” We all heard that question as children and sometimes even as adults. The question is born in curiosity, and the answer is often heard as an indication of ambition. My answers morphed over the years, starting with a cowboy, then a truck driver, followed by a soldier, and I entered college set on becoming a doctor. However, I can’t recall one time that someone suggested or I consciously considered pursuing “a quiet life.”
Yet that’s exactly what Paul told the Thessalonians. First, he urged them to love one another and all of God’s family even more (1 Thessalonians 4:10). Then he gave them a general admonition that would cover whatever specific plow they put their hand to. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” (v. 11). Now what did Paul mean by that exactly? He clarified: “You should mind your own business and work with your hands” so outsiders respect you and you’re not a burden on anyone (vv. 11–12). We don’t want to discourage children from pursuing their giftedness or passions but maybe we could encourage them that whatever they choose to do, they do with a quiet spirit.
Considering the world we live in, the words ambitious and quiet couldn’t seem further apart. But the Scriptures are always relevant, so perhaps we should consider what it might look like to begin living quieter. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
How does Paul’s phrase—“mind your own business”—sit with you? Who comes to mind of someone who lives a quiet life that you might emulate?
Jesus, living a quiet life sounds so inviting, but I know it won’t come easily. I ask for the grace to mind my own business, not so I can close myself off from the world, but that I won’t add to the noise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest….” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Lying Scales and Twisted Scriptures - #8548
Every morning I have a date with my bathroom scale. Some days it makes me smile. Other days, I'm sad. So I need comfort food. Like donuts.
But years ago, our son had an unusually uplifting scale. He was working in youth ministry on a reservation and living in a trailer. He urged Karen and me to weigh on his scale in the morning. Karen was thrilled - she'd lost 15 pounds in a day! And so had I! Of course, we got wildly different results every time we weighed.
Oh, how I wanted to believe that scale. But no matter how welcome the news is on a wacko scale, it won't fool my heart; it sure won't fool my hips. Or my doctor. You know, he's got one of those "whole truth, however ugly" scales. And there, in numbers that will drive you to lunches of celery and water, is the truth. The inconvenient, but uncompromising, truth. And then there's the Bible. The scale that doesn't lie.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lying Scales and Twisted Scriptures."
"All Scripture is inspired by God," the Bible says. In the original language, it's "God-breathed" and it says "is useful for teaching what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives" (2 Timothy 3:16). Here's the problem. Many times God's Book doesn't tell us what we want to be true. It tells us what is true. Like it or not. Often, not.
I call it inconvenient truth. Now, where the "lying scales" often tell us what we'd like to be true. And Scripture tells us truth that means we need to (guess what?) change. It may be the inconvenient truth about marriage or divorce. About what it means to be a husband or a wife, a parent. About sex or forgiving or our money. About loving our enemy or blessing those who curse us. About Jesus being the only way to God. Our responsibility to the poor. Maybe our prejudice, or maybe about what God says about an unwanted pregnancy. About reconciling or loving our enemies or being unashamed of our Jesus. Or even about the very origins of us and of our world.
Somewhere in a list like that is going to be some divine truth that makes you squirm, and that may mean changing. That may mean paying a price. The temptation is to try to do an end run around what God has said. And all across the Christian landscape, people are twisting and turning, rationalizing and redefining to create a loophole that just isn't there. "Times have changed." "Well, if you understood the culture when that was written..." "God is love - He would never be like that."
The idea is this: if you're out of bounds, just move the boundaries. But God's not moving. No, listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 119:89. "Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." Cultures change. Polls change. God's Word does not. It's just always the truth, whether millions believe it or no one believes it.
Telling someone the truth - especially if it's unwelcome truth - is not unloving. Oh, it can be delivered unlovingly, as all too often it is these days. But parents know that loving your child sometimes means giving them the truth they don't want to hear. But they need to hear. About playing in the street or bad friends or Internet relationships or texting while driving, sexual predators charmingly disguised. We love them enough to tell them the truth.
That's how much God loves us. He sees the big picture, where certain choices will end up. His boundaries aren't to deprive us, they're to protect us. That's why compromising His life instructions is patently unloving.
In a Roman prison, awaiting execution, in Paul's final written words he gives us warning, and it's about lying scales. "A time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear."
That's convenient truth. Funny thing about the real truth, though. It will always be true. And one day, I'll face the consequences for not believing it. So, as everything is changing and our culture, our friends, our mentors, and even some spiritual brothers and sisters find a scale that means we don't have to change, remember the real truth is "all Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:23-24).
The stormy crosswinds of conflicting ideas and moralities, they're going to intensify. Without an anchor, we'll be blown out to sea. And there is one, the unchanging, forever true Word of Almighty God.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Psalm 100, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily:UNSHEATHE GOD’S SWORD
“His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what” (Hebrews 4:12–13 MSG).
Unsheathe God’s sword, the Word of God, and brandish its glimmering blade in the face of evil. When you read or quote a scripture in the face of pain or doubt or evil, you activate a weapon of the Spirit. Say… I know a verse in the Bible that might help. Or… A scripture that means much to me is… (your selection).
My go-to list includes scriptures like these:
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
“I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
This is how happiness happens.
Psalm 100
A Thanksgiving Psalm
On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Corinthians 1:8–11
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Footnotes:
2 Corinthians 1:8 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 8:1; 13:11
Insight
Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, more than any of his other New Testament letters, expresses his willingness to do whatever it took to share the heart of Christ (1:3–11; 2:4; 4:7–12; 6:3–10; 11:16–29; 12:6–10). While knowing that some would accuse him of boasting, he wanted his readers to know how deeply he cared for them in the Spirit of Christ who had suffered not only for him, but also for them. In the process, he became a living reflection of the God who, at His own expense, sacrificially intervened, mediated, and interceded for us, so that we in turn could lead and intercede on behalf of others. His prayer is that his readers would join him in discovering for themselves hope in the face of death, strength in weakness, courage in fear, and joy in answered prayer. By: Mart DeHaan
Haystack Prayers
You help us by your prayers. 2 Corinthians 1:11
Samuel Mills and four of his friends often gathered together to pray for God to send more people to share the good news of Jesus. One day in 1806, after returning from their prayer meeting, they got caught in a thunderstorm and took refuge in a haystack. Their weekly prayer gathering then became known as the Haystack Prayer Meeting, which resulted in a global mission movement. Today the Haystack Prayer Monument stands at Williams College in the US as a reminder of what God can do through prayer.
Our heavenly Father is delighted when His children approach Him with a common request. It’s like a family gathering where they’re united in purpose, sharing a common burden.
The apostle Paul acknowledges how God helped him through the prayers of others during a time of severe suffering: “He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers” (2 Corinthians 1:10–11). God has chosen to use our prayers—especially our prayers together—to accomplish His work in the world. No wonder the verse continues: “Then many will give thanks . . . [for the] answer to the prayers of many.”
Let’s pray together so we can also rejoice together in God’s goodness. Our loving Father is waiting for us to come to Him so He can work through us in ways that reach far beyond anything we could ever imagine. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
What request can you and others pray for? How has your faith been strengthened when you pray with others?
Father, help us to pray together even as we work together.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
The Key to the Missionary’s Message
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the “remissionary” aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. “…repentance and remission of sins should be preached…to all nations…” (Luke 24:47). The greatest message of limitless importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins….” The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
The Trouble With Life's Great Catches - #8547
In his classic, "Old Man and the Sea," Ernest Hemingway told about a very weary old fisherman who, like most of his village, had had hard times most of his life. He's barely eking out a living, goes out one day and decides to travel farther than usual to fish. And to his amazement, he hooks the largest fish he's ever seen in his life - so big he can't even bring it into his boat. So he begins to tow his prize fish behind his boat, excited about what this catch could mean and how it might be the beginning of a wonderful turn of his fortunes. It's the dream catch of his life! But as he comes into the harbor and up to the dock, his joy turns back to an even greater despair than ever before. All the while that he's been towing his prize; the other creatures of the sea have been feeding on it. And all that's left of his dream is bones.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trouble With Life's Great Catches."
Maybe one reason that story has enduring interest is that it's a mirror of many of our lives. We pursue what we think will give us what we've needed. We catch it, but our great catches all too often turn out to be just carcasses in the end. They gave us hope for a while and then they let us down.
So we go back out, fishing for something else that will be our answer. And ultimately, our next catch disappoints us, too. The trail behind us from our days like even as a teenager is littered with the pieces of things that were supposed to make us happy but ultimately did not. I noticed a comment in Johnny Carson's biography, the long-time host of the Tonight Show. Something was said after the great entertainer's death. I mean, he was lauded as the best in his field, we laughed at what he did so many times, he was a giant in television. Here's what his biographer said: "I can't say that Johnny was ever a truly happy man. I don't think he would ever say he was a happy man." Wow! Well, he's not alone.
In a few sledgehammer words, Jesus Christ exposed all our futile expeditions to find answers for our life and the only place really worth looking for it. It's in Mark 8:36. It's our word for today from the Word of God, where Jesus said, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"
You can catch everything this world has to offer. You can get its acclaim, its wealth, its pleasures, its success - and lose the only thing that really matters, which is your soul. It's your soul that's always hungry for something you've never been able to find. And your soul is like forever restless because you're away from the One you were made by; the One you were made for. In God's own words, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2).
We've got this God-sized hole, and we've tried to fill it with things and people that can't begin to take His place. If we live like this, we'll live without peace and we'll live without meaning. If we die like this, we'll spend eternity without God, without His love. He didn't leave us separated from Him, though. He could have. He didn't. He pursued us. He sent His Son, Jesus, to sacrifice His life for yours and mine; to take the rap for all our sin, that defiant self-rule of our lives.
So what gaining the whole world could never do, Jesus can do. He said, "He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). That could be you, beginning today. Beginning the moment that you admit your need for His forgiveness and that you're ready to turn the driver's seat over to Him, you're willing to put your complete trust in Him and Him alone as your only hope; this crucified and, then, risen from the dead Savior. This is quite simply the end of your search.
For some people that search has ended with the information they found at our website, which I want to invite you to go to. Nothing there for you to join, just information that will help you know you belong to Jesus. And that site is ANewStory.com.
You've been so busy fishing for things that can't save or can't satisfy your soul. Maybe you've neglected your soul, but not today. This is the day you could find Jesus and you can finally find what your soul has been looking for for so long.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Psalm 99 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: SPEAK UP
Not only did Jesus not make it to the deathbed of Lazarus, he didn’t make it to the burial. He was four days late. Martha was forthright. “Lord, if only you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). Martha was to Jesus what your hurting friend is to you. How can we respond when our friend is undone?
Here is what Jesus did. He looked Martha in the face and said these starchy words: “I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Do you believe this?” (vv. 25–26). The Bible’s word for such a response is admonishment. Above all, admonishment is truth spoken into a difficult circumstance. Yes, we hold the hand of the struggler. And yes, yes, yes, we speak words of truth into moments of despair.
Psalm 99
God rules. On your toes, everybody!
He rules from his angel throne—take notice!
God looms majestic in Zion,
He towers in splendor over all the big names.
Great and terrible your beauty: let everyone praise you!
Holy. Yes, holy.
4-5 Strong King, lover of justice,
You laid things out fair and square;
You set down the foundations in Jacob,
Foundation stones of just and right ways.
Honor God, our God; worship his rule!
Holy. Yes, holy.
6-9 Moses and Aaron were his priests,
Samuel among those who prayed to him.
They prayed to God and he answered them;
He spoke from the pillar of cloud.
And they did what he said; they kept the law he gave them.
And then God, our God, answered them
(But you were never soft on their sins).
Lift high God, our God; worship at his holy mountain.
Holy. Yes, holy is God our God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 59:1, 14–17
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
Psalm 59:14-17 New International Version (NIV)
14 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.
Insight
In Psalm 59, the author uses the word fortress four times to underscore his view of God during life’s difficulties (vv. 1, 9, 16, 17). A fortress is a place of safety and security. It’s both a place of defense and rest, as well as a place where needs are met. It’s also where the enemy can be safely engaged. In verse 1, God is a fortress who protects from attacks. Verse 9 provides its own unique perspective to the idea of God as fortress. There the author says, “I watch for you.” When danger looms, the psalmist looks in confident expectation for the deliverance of God. He understands that when there’s a threat, nothing provides safety like Him. In recognition of this, we can join him in celebration and praise to God (vv. 16–17).
Strengthened in Song
I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress. Psalm 59:16
When French villagers helped Jewish refugees hide from the Nazis during World War II, some sang songs in the dense forest surrounding their town—letting the refugees know it was safe to come out from hiding. These brave townspeople of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon had answered the call of local pastor André Trocmé and his wife, Magda, to offer wartime refuge to Jews on their windswept plateau known as “La Montagne Protestante.” Their musical signal became just one feature of the villagers’ bravery that helped save up to 3,000 Jews from almost certain death.
In another dangerous time, David sang when his enemy Saul sent nighttime assassins to his house. His use of music wasn’t a signal; rather, it was his song of gratitude to God his refuge. David rejoiced, “I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble” (Psalm 59:16).
Such singing isn’t “whistling in the dark” during danger. Instead, David’s singing conveyed his trust in almighty God. “You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely” (v. 17).
David’s praise, and the villagers’ singing in Le Chambon, offer an invitation to bless God today with our singing, making melody to Him despite the worries of life. His loving presence will respond, strengthening our hearts. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How do you feel when you’re singing your favorite praise song? Why do praise songs inspire us to feel stronger?
Dear God, strengthen my heart with praises that transform my fears and worries into worship of You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 14, 2019
The Key to the Missionary’s Work
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…" —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations….” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went…to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me…”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden…” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore….” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “…you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus…” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 14, 2019
The View From Down Below - #8546
When our Native American outreach team went to Alaska, our only means of getting to remote Eskimo villages was by missionary aircraft. Man, those pilots - they were the best! I mean, many days we had to fly through low cloud ceilings and low visibility. On a day like that, our pilots were checking every hour on the weather at our end and at our destination. There was finally a break where we could fly, but it all looked pretty dismal when we took off. The pilot of the plane that I was in was instrument-rated, which actually enabled him to go to a higher altitude. The pilot of the plane accompanying us wasn't able to take the high road. No, my pilot kept in radio contact with the other pilot. Believe me, our planeload and the other planeload were seeing two totally different views. From where the other plane was flying - lower - it was dark, it was dismal, and it was really overcast. But we were above all that. We were enjoying this beautiful, sunny day with all those clouds beneath us.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The View From Down Below."
When your view is under the clouds, under the weather, everything looks dark and dismal. If you don't know better, you could assume that the sun was gone. But the view from higher up tells the real story. The sun's still shining and the clouds aren't nearly as big a deal.
When you have important decisions to make, the view from down below can really cause you to make some serious mistakes. God talks about both perspectives in what may be some of the most cherished verses on God's guidance in all the Bible. In fact, I can almost guarantee these are the favorite verses of someone who's listening as they were for my wife. But for all their familiarity, they might be exactly what you need for this time when you really need some guidance.
So here we are, our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 3:5-6. Two perspectives: one which leads to right conclusions, and the one which leads to wrong conclusions. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" or, as it says in the King James version, "He will direct your paths."
Now, the way to know God's way is to passionately as it says here "trust in the Lord." Notice what the opposite of trusting in the Lord is - "leaning on your own understanding." In other words, "This is what looks right from what I can see." But the word "understanding" tells you what's wrong with that. You're standing under the situation; yeah, your under-standing. You're seeing only what you can see from the ground, but that's not the whole picture. With a decision like you might be facing right now, you need over-standing - the view from over the whole situation - the big picture. What may look right from underneath may be an incomplete or distorted perspective.
The enemy of God's will, according to these verses, is "my own understanding." I need to submit that to the view from above - to what God says - what God sees. So how do you "trust in the Lord with all your heart"? Well it says you "acknowledge Him" in all your ways. In other words, you declare many times a day, "Jesus is Lord of this." "God's got this!"
Like the centurion who had the dying servant - the soldier whose faith, the Bible says, amazed Jesus. You say, "Jesus, You have the final say in this situation. I acknowledge Your total authority over what seems so hard and so impossible to me." That centurion simply said, "Say the word, Jesus. Say the word and my servant will be healed."
Keep submitting to His Lordship, trusting in Him with everything you've got, whether you can see His working or not. But you've got to refuse to run ahead, to force it, to fix it yourself, or to try to make it happen. Why? Because you've asked your Pilot to let you see what He sees, and that's the big picture view from up above the clouds.
Not only did Jesus not make it to the deathbed of Lazarus, he didn’t make it to the burial. He was four days late. Martha was forthright. “Lord, if only you had been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). Martha was to Jesus what your hurting friend is to you. How can we respond when our friend is undone?
Here is what Jesus did. He looked Martha in the face and said these starchy words: “I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Do you believe this?” (vv. 25–26). The Bible’s word for such a response is admonishment. Above all, admonishment is truth spoken into a difficult circumstance. Yes, we hold the hand of the struggler. And yes, yes, yes, we speak words of truth into moments of despair.
Psalm 99
God rules. On your toes, everybody!
He rules from his angel throne—take notice!
God looms majestic in Zion,
He towers in splendor over all the big names.
Great and terrible your beauty: let everyone praise you!
Holy. Yes, holy.
4-5 Strong King, lover of justice,
You laid things out fair and square;
You set down the foundations in Jacob,
Foundation stones of just and right ways.
Honor God, our God; worship his rule!
Holy. Yes, holy.
6-9 Moses and Aaron were his priests,
Samuel among those who prayed to him.
They prayed to God and he answered them;
He spoke from the pillar of cloud.
And they did what he said; they kept the law he gave them.
And then God, our God, answered them
(But you were never soft on their sins).
Lift high God, our God; worship at his holy mountain.
Holy. Yes, holy is God our God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, October 14, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 59:1, 14–17
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
Psalm 59:14-17 New International Version (NIV)
14 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.
Insight
In Psalm 59, the author uses the word fortress four times to underscore his view of God during life’s difficulties (vv. 1, 9, 16, 17). A fortress is a place of safety and security. It’s both a place of defense and rest, as well as a place where needs are met. It’s also where the enemy can be safely engaged. In verse 1, God is a fortress who protects from attacks. Verse 9 provides its own unique perspective to the idea of God as fortress. There the author says, “I watch for you.” When danger looms, the psalmist looks in confident expectation for the deliverance of God. He understands that when there’s a threat, nothing provides safety like Him. In recognition of this, we can join him in celebration and praise to God (vv. 16–17).
Strengthened in Song
I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress. Psalm 59:16
When French villagers helped Jewish refugees hide from the Nazis during World War II, some sang songs in the dense forest surrounding their town—letting the refugees know it was safe to come out from hiding. These brave townspeople of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon had answered the call of local pastor André Trocmé and his wife, Magda, to offer wartime refuge to Jews on their windswept plateau known as “La Montagne Protestante.” Their musical signal became just one feature of the villagers’ bravery that helped save up to 3,000 Jews from almost certain death.
In another dangerous time, David sang when his enemy Saul sent nighttime assassins to his house. His use of music wasn’t a signal; rather, it was his song of gratitude to God his refuge. David rejoiced, “I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble” (Psalm 59:16).
Such singing isn’t “whistling in the dark” during danger. Instead, David’s singing conveyed his trust in almighty God. “You, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely” (v. 17).
David’s praise, and the villagers’ singing in Le Chambon, offer an invitation to bless God today with our singing, making melody to Him despite the worries of life. His loving presence will respond, strengthening our hearts. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
How do you feel when you’re singing your favorite praise song? Why do praise songs inspire us to feel stronger?
Dear God, strengthen my heart with praises that transform my fears and worries into worship of You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, October 14, 2019
The Key to the Missionary’s Work
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…" —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations….” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went…to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me…”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden…” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore….” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “…you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus…” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, October 14, 2019
The View From Down Below - #8546
When our Native American outreach team went to Alaska, our only means of getting to remote Eskimo villages was by missionary aircraft. Man, those pilots - they were the best! I mean, many days we had to fly through low cloud ceilings and low visibility. On a day like that, our pilots were checking every hour on the weather at our end and at our destination. There was finally a break where we could fly, but it all looked pretty dismal when we took off. The pilot of the plane that I was in was instrument-rated, which actually enabled him to go to a higher altitude. The pilot of the plane accompanying us wasn't able to take the high road. No, my pilot kept in radio contact with the other pilot. Believe me, our planeload and the other planeload were seeing two totally different views. From where the other plane was flying - lower - it was dark, it was dismal, and it was really overcast. But we were above all that. We were enjoying this beautiful, sunny day with all those clouds beneath us.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The View From Down Below."
When your view is under the clouds, under the weather, everything looks dark and dismal. If you don't know better, you could assume that the sun was gone. But the view from higher up tells the real story. The sun's still shining and the clouds aren't nearly as big a deal.
When you have important decisions to make, the view from down below can really cause you to make some serious mistakes. God talks about both perspectives in what may be some of the most cherished verses on God's guidance in all the Bible. In fact, I can almost guarantee these are the favorite verses of someone who's listening as they were for my wife. But for all their familiarity, they might be exactly what you need for this time when you really need some guidance.
So here we are, our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 3:5-6. Two perspectives: one which leads to right conclusions, and the one which leads to wrong conclusions. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" or, as it says in the King James version, "He will direct your paths."
Now, the way to know God's way is to passionately as it says here "trust in the Lord." Notice what the opposite of trusting in the Lord is - "leaning on your own understanding." In other words, "This is what looks right from what I can see." But the word "understanding" tells you what's wrong with that. You're standing under the situation; yeah, your under-standing. You're seeing only what you can see from the ground, but that's not the whole picture. With a decision like you might be facing right now, you need over-standing - the view from over the whole situation - the big picture. What may look right from underneath may be an incomplete or distorted perspective.
The enemy of God's will, according to these verses, is "my own understanding." I need to submit that to the view from above - to what God says - what God sees. So how do you "trust in the Lord with all your heart"? Well it says you "acknowledge Him" in all your ways. In other words, you declare many times a day, "Jesus is Lord of this." "God's got this!"
Like the centurion who had the dying servant - the soldier whose faith, the Bible says, amazed Jesus. You say, "Jesus, You have the final say in this situation. I acknowledge Your total authority over what seems so hard and so impossible to me." That centurion simply said, "Say the word, Jesus. Say the word and my servant will be healed."
Keep submitting to His Lordship, trusting in Him with everything you've got, whether you can see His working or not. But you've got to refuse to run ahead, to force it, to fix it yourself, or to try to make it happen. Why? Because you've asked your Pilot to let you see what He sees, and that's the big picture view from up above the clouds.
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