Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S TRUTH DEFINES ALL PEOPLE
Every person you see was created by God to bear his image and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Imagine the impact this promise would have on the society that embraced it. What civility it would engender. What kindness it would foster. Racism will not flourish when people believe their neighbors bear God’s image.
Will society write off the indigent, the mentally ill, the inmate or the refugee? Not if we believe, truly believe, that every human being is God’s idea. And he has no bad ideas. High IQ or low standing—doesn’t matter. First string or cut from the squad—doesn’t matter. You are a diamond, a rose, and a jewel, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 13
In the eighteenth year of the rule of King Jeroboam, Abijah took over the throne of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
2-3 War broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah started out with 400,000 of his best soldiers; Jeroboam countered with 800,000 of his best.
4-7 Abijah took a prominent position on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and gave this speech: “Listen, Jeroboam and all Israel! Don’t you realize that God, the one and only God of Israel, established David and his sons as the permanent rulers of Israel, ratified by a ‘covenant of salt’—God’s kingdom ruled by God’s king? And what happened? Jeroboam, the son of Solomon’s slave Nebat, rebelled against his master. All the riffraff joined his cause and were too much for Rehoboam, Solomon’s true heir. Rehoboam didn’t know his way around—besides he was a real wimp; he couldn’t stand up against them.
8-9 “Taking advantage of that weakness, you are asserting yourself against the very rule of God that is delegated to David’s descendants—you think you are so big with your huge army backed up by the golden-calf idols that Jeroboam made for you as gods! But just look at what you’ve done—you threw out the priests of God, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests to suit yourselves, priests just like the pagans have. Anyone who shows up with enough money to pay for it can be a priest! A priest of No-God!
10-11 “But for the rest of us in Judah, we’re sticking with God. We have not traded him in for the latest model—we’re keeping the tried-and-true priests of Aaron to lead us to God and the Levites to lead us in worship by sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and aromatic incense to God at the daily morning and evening prayers, setting out fresh holy bread on a clean table, and lighting the lamps on the golden Lampstand every night. We continue doing what God told us to in the way he told us to do it; but you have rid yourselves of him.
12 “Can’t you see the obvious? God is on our side; he’s our leader. And his priests with trumpets are all ready to blow the signal to battle. O Israel—don’t fight against God, the God of your ancestors. You will not win this battle.”
13-18 While Abijah was speaking, Jeroboam had sent men around to take them by surprise from the rear: Jeroboam in front of Judah and the ambush behind. When Judah looked back, they saw they were attacked front and back. They prayed desperately to God, the priests blew their trumpets, and the soldiers of Judah shouted their battle cry. At the battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The army of Israel scattered before Judah; God gave them the victory. Abijah and his troops slaughtered them—500,000 of Israel’s best fighters were killed that day. The army of Israel fell flat on its face—a humiliating defeat. The army of Judah won hands down because they trusted God, the God of their ancestors.
19-21 Abijah followed up his victory by pursuing Jeroboam, taking the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron with their surrounding villages. Jeroboam never did recover from his defeat while Abijah lived. Later on God struck him down and he died. Meanwhile Abijah flourished; he married fourteen wives and ended up with a family of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 The rest of the history of Abijah, what he did and said, is written in the study written by Iddo the prophet.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 14, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 16
A miktama of David.
1 Keep me safe,c my God,
for in you I take refuge.d
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;e
apart from you I have no good thing.”f
3 I say of the holy peopleg who are in the land,h
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
4 Those who run after other godsi will sufferj more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their namesk on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portionl and my cup;m
you make my lotn secure.
6 The boundary lineso have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.p
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;q
even at nightr my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand,s I will not be shaken.t
9 Therefore my heart is gladu and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,v
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,w
nor will you let your faithfulb onex see decay.y
11 You make known to me the path of life;z
you will fill me with joy in your presence,a
with eternal pleasuresb at your right hand.c
Insight
Several of David’s inspired songs operate on two levels. The first level describes the emotional weight of David’s own experience, whether good or bad, and the second level looks forward to David’s greater Son (Jesus) and what He would experience on earth during His incarnation. We see a clear example of this in Psalm 22, where David’s experiences of suffering and persecution perfectly anticipate Christ’s crucifixion—even to the point where David says his foes pierced his hands and feet (v. 16).
A similar thing occurs in Psalm 16:8–11, which Peter quotes in Acts 2:25–28 as part of his Pentecost sermon. Peter said that David’s words anticipated the resurrection of Jesus. This is a marvelous picture of divine inspiration of the Scriptures. While David couldn’t have been aware of the future implications of his words, hindsight now makes their reality clear.
When Life Is Hard
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:2
Physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted, I curled up in my recliner. Our family had followed God’s leading and had moved from California to Wisconsin. After we arrived, our car broke down and left us without a vehicle for two months. Meanwhile, my husband’s limited mobility after an unexpected back surgery and my chronic pain complicated our unpacking. We uncovered costly problems with our new-to-us, old home. Our senior dog suffered with health issues. And though our new pup brought great joy, raising a furry ball of energy was far more work than anticipated. My attitude soured. How was I supposed to have unshakable faith while traveling on a bumpy road of hardships?
As I prayed, God reminded me of the psalmist whose praise didn’t depend on circumstances. David poured out his emotions, often with great vulnerability, and sought refuge in the presence of God (Psalm 16:1). Acknowledging God as provider and protector (vv. 5–6), he praised Him and followed His counsel (v. 7). David affirmed that he would “not be shaken” because he kept his eyes “always on the Lord” (v. 8). So, he rejoiced and rested secure in the joy of God’s presence (vv. 9–11).
We too can delight in knowing our peace doesn’t depend on our present situation. As we thank our unchanging God for who He is and always will be, His presence will fuel our steadfast faith. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How can offering God praise for His unchanging character and wondrous works increase your faith during challenging circumstances? What situations do you need to place in God’s trustworthy hands?
Thanks for being You, Father!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 14, 2020
The Discipline of Hearing
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27
Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.
After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”? Disciples Indeed, 389 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 14, 2020
Life-Saving Kits with Nothing Inside - #8635
During our college years, my wife spent part of a summer as a counselor at a Bible camp that was buried deep in the mountains. I mean like deep in the mountains - deep enough in the mountains that the rattlesnakes are plentiful. One day as she was hiking with her girls through the woods, they all heard what they thought was just a branch or a stick breaking. Until they realized that one of the girls had been struck in the leg by a rattlesnake. Now my wife was someone you wanted to have around you when there was a crisis - really cool head. She ran to the nearby camp and immediately went for the box in the infirmary that said Snake Bite Kit on it. But her heart sank when she opened it; the life-saving kit was empty. Thankfully, they were able to get that girl to a hospital in time to save her life, no thanks to the empty snake bite kit!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life-Saving Kits with Nothing Inside."
It's a terrible thing to realize that the thing that claims to be able to save your life really has nothing that can help. As you read the pages of the Bible, you discover that the religions of the world are much like that. Every religion motivates its followers with the same promise - some form of heaven, eternal life if you're a good follower of "whatever" or "whoever." But sadly, religion does not, for the most part, offer a cure for the deadly infection we have: that's sin and its eternal death penalty.
There may be no more famous verse in all the Bible than John 3:16. It says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Interestingly enough, the verses that immediately precede that description of God's plan for saving us talk about a snake. In John 3:14-15, our word for today from the Word of God, He says, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. God so loved the world..."
In order to understand this snake thing, and more importantly, to understand the only way your sins can be forgiven and you can go to heaven, is to go back to Numbers 21 in the Old Testament where this snake incident took place. Venomous snakes have attacked God's people in the desert, and many of those people are dying. So God says to Moses, "'make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live'" (Numbers 21:8-9). Their only hope was to look at what God had lifted up to save them.
For us, that is Jesus, God's Son, dying on that cross. We've all been bitten by the deadly snake called sin. None of the great moralities, none of the great religions can possibly pay the death penalty for our sin. Getting to heaven isn't just about putting enough good on one side of the scale to balance the bad on the other; it's about satisfying a death penalty, and it took Jesus Christ's death to do that. You have to look to Him as the only One who can save you.
Have you ever done that? If you don't know you've given yourself to Jesus, you probably haven't. And you are risking an eternity away from God, paying an eternal death penalty that Jesus already paid on the cross. But listen, this could be your day to look away from any other hope of heaven and say, "Jesus, You're my only hope of having my sins forgiven, my only hope of going to heaven. And Jesus, I'm Yours beginning today!"
This would be the right day t
o go to our website. Because I can walk you through there; the steps to being sure you belong to Jesus from now on, your sins are forgiven and you're going to heaven. That website is ANewStory.com.
Please don't depend on something that promises life but can't possibly give it to you. Depend on the One who loves you so much that He died so you don't have to.
Friday, February 14, 2020
Thursday, February 13, 2020
2 Corinthians 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WHEN IT’S TIME TO GROW UP
Children have a tendency to say, “Look at me!” On the tricycle– “Look at me go!” On the trampoline– “Look at me bounce!” On the swing set– “Look at me swing!” Such behavior is acceptable for children. Yet many adults spend their grown-up years saying the same thing. “Look at me drive this fancy car!” “Look at me make money!” “Look at me wear provocative clothes, or use big words, or flex my muscles. Look at me!”
Isn’t it time we grew up? We were made to live a life that says, “Look at God!” People are to look at us and see not us but the image of our Maker. This is God’s plan. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We…are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 3
Does it sound like we’re patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we’re not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.
4-6 We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!
7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?
9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?
12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.
16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 18:3–6, 16–19
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,t
and I have been saved from my enemies.u
4 The cords of deathv entangled me;
the torrentsw of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of deathx confronted me.
6 In my distressy I called to the Lord;z
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;a
my cry cameb before him, into his ears.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.a
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,b
from my foes, who were too strong for me.c
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,d
but the Lord was my support.e
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;f
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Insight
Poetry is compact language which says a lot using few words. The poets who wrote much of the Old Testament spoke Hebrew. Hebrew poetry is slightly different than poetry written in modern languages, so we need to ask how poetry worked in that ancient Near Eastern culture.
Today we might be familiar with poetry that has rhyme and meter (a patterned rhythm). Hebrew poetry, on the other hand, doesn’t use either rhyme or meter. We learn how to read it when we become familiar with the tools the ancient poet used, particularly parallelism, imagery, and acrostics.
Parallelism is used throughout Psalm 18. It’s a term that describes the echoing effect within a single poetic line or verse by way of contrast or repetition. It may be the single most important poetic tool because it’s used so frequently in Hebrew poetry. Tremper Longman
Freed from Our Cage
[God] brought me out into a spacious place. Psalm 18:19
While out taking walks, writer Martin Laird would often encounter a man with four Kerry Blue Terriers. Three of the dogs ran wild through the open fields, but one stayed near its owner, running in tight circles. When Laird finally stopped and asked about this odd behavior, the owner explained that it was a rescue dog that had spent most of his life locked in a cage. The terrier continued to run in circles as though contained inside a confined box.
The Scriptures reveal that we’re trapped and hopeless unless God rescues us. The psalmist spoke of being afflicted by an enemy, entrapped by “the snares of death” with the “cords of death . . . coiled around” him (Psalm 18:4–5). Enclosed and shackled, he cried to God for help (v. 6). And with thundering power, He “reached down . . . and took hold” of him (v. 16).
God can do the same for us. He can break the chains and release us from our confining cages. He can set us free and carry us “out into a spacious place” (v. 19). How sad it is, then, when we keep running in small circles, as if we’re still confined in our old prisons. In His strength, may we no longer be bound by fear, shame, or oppression. God has rescued us from those cages of death. We can run free. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What are the cages that have you confined? How are you living as though an old cage still traps and holds you?
God, You say You set the captives free. Help me to believe it. Help me to live it. I want to be free. I want to be in Your spacious place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 13, 2020
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Big Issues - Bite-Size Chunks - #8634
First, our kids couldn't feed themselves. Then they slowly began to learn to do it themselves. Right? Yeah. And then they got really good at it. But in those very early days of teaching them to feed themselves, we didn't just hand them this big slab of meat to eat and say, "Go for it kid." Every parent knows the drill: you cut the big piece into bite-size chunks so it's manageable. I got so used to doing it, it was kind of embarrassing when I'd got out to lunch with a businessman and I started cutting up his meat up for him!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Issues - Bite-Size Chunks."
I love our word for today from the Word of God in Zephaniah 3:5. It's just seven reassuring words, but in those words, God points us to the way He wants us to handle this "big piece of meat" called our life. It simply says, "Every new day He does not fail." Come on, isn't that great? God says instead of trying to do weeks and months and years, would you do life in these 24-hour increments that He's obviously wired us for? Do days.
We try to drag yesterday, with all of its baggage and its failures into today, we start to sink. We try to drag tomorrow into today, with its worries and its fears, we run ahead of His resources, which are issued each new day for that day. I've got Thursday's resources for Thursday's needs. When I start worrying about Friday, or a week from Friday, I'm on my own and I'm going down.
There has never been and there never will be a day that our Lord has failed us. On different days our spouse might fail us, our family might fail us, our boss, our friends, our coworkers, the folks at church, our income, even our health. But "every new day, He does not fail." That's called days without fear.
And here is your Lord's guarantee for each new day. He's promised new mercies for every battle. Surrounded by the collapse of everything around him, Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3, "I remember my affliction and my wandering" In other words, on many new days, he had failed - just like you and me. But then he goes on to say, "I remember the bitterness and the gall ... my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Wow!
God knows how to balance the grief with His goodness. He knows just when you need to have an encouragement, and He sends it. He knows just when you need a hopeful sign, or some comfort, when you need some rest, an extra shot of strength, or even a miracle. And He sends it right on time.
God knows when you've had all you can take and He raises His almighty hand and says, "Enough! No more!" He's promised to never let you have "more than you can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13). "Because of the Lord's great love," you are "not consumed." You serve the God of daily bread, the God of what the Bible calls the "strength that will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25). The God of whom you can say every new day, "This is the day my Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Not the day my condition has made, or my boss has made, or my frustrations have made, or my spouse has made. My Lord made this day and He's promised me everything I'll need to live it. Hallelujah!
Don't even try to handle that
big piece of life you've got in front of you right now. Your Heavenly Father cuts it into bite-size chunks so it's manageable, and those bite-size chunks are called "every new day"!
Children have a tendency to say, “Look at me!” On the tricycle– “Look at me go!” On the trampoline– “Look at me bounce!” On the swing set– “Look at me swing!” Such behavior is acceptable for children. Yet many adults spend their grown-up years saying the same thing. “Look at me drive this fancy car!” “Look at me make money!” “Look at me wear provocative clothes, or use big words, or flex my muscles. Look at me!”
Isn’t it time we grew up? We were made to live a life that says, “Look at God!” People are to look at us and see not us but the image of our Maker. This is God’s plan. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We…are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Corinthians 3
Does it sound like we’re patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we’re not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.
4-6 We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!
7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?
9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?
12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.
16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 18:3–6, 16–19
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,t
and I have been saved from my enemies.u
4 The cords of deathv entangled me;
the torrentsw of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of deathx confronted me.
6 In my distressy I called to the Lord;z
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;a
my cry cameb before him, into his ears.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.a
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,b
from my foes, who were too strong for me.c
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,d
but the Lord was my support.e
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;f
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Insight
Poetry is compact language which says a lot using few words. The poets who wrote much of the Old Testament spoke Hebrew. Hebrew poetry is slightly different than poetry written in modern languages, so we need to ask how poetry worked in that ancient Near Eastern culture.
Today we might be familiar with poetry that has rhyme and meter (a patterned rhythm). Hebrew poetry, on the other hand, doesn’t use either rhyme or meter. We learn how to read it when we become familiar with the tools the ancient poet used, particularly parallelism, imagery, and acrostics.
Parallelism is used throughout Psalm 18. It’s a term that describes the echoing effect within a single poetic line or verse by way of contrast or repetition. It may be the single most important poetic tool because it’s used so frequently in Hebrew poetry. Tremper Longman
Freed from Our Cage
[God] brought me out into a spacious place. Psalm 18:19
While out taking walks, writer Martin Laird would often encounter a man with four Kerry Blue Terriers. Three of the dogs ran wild through the open fields, but one stayed near its owner, running in tight circles. When Laird finally stopped and asked about this odd behavior, the owner explained that it was a rescue dog that had spent most of his life locked in a cage. The terrier continued to run in circles as though contained inside a confined box.
The Scriptures reveal that we’re trapped and hopeless unless God rescues us. The psalmist spoke of being afflicted by an enemy, entrapped by “the snares of death” with the “cords of death . . . coiled around” him (Psalm 18:4–5). Enclosed and shackled, he cried to God for help (v. 6). And with thundering power, He “reached down . . . and took hold” of him (v. 16).
God can do the same for us. He can break the chains and release us from our confining cages. He can set us free and carry us “out into a spacious place” (v. 19). How sad it is, then, when we keep running in small circles, as if we’re still confined in our old prisons. In His strength, may we no longer be bound by fear, shame, or oppression. God has rescued us from those cages of death. We can run free. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
What are the cages that have you confined? How are you living as though an old cage still traps and holds you?
God, You say You set the captives free. Help me to believe it. Help me to live it. I want to be free. I want to be in Your spacious place.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 13, 2020
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Big Issues - Bite-Size Chunks - #8634
First, our kids couldn't feed themselves. Then they slowly began to learn to do it themselves. Right? Yeah. And then they got really good at it. But in those very early days of teaching them to feed themselves, we didn't just hand them this big slab of meat to eat and say, "Go for it kid." Every parent knows the drill: you cut the big piece into bite-size chunks so it's manageable. I got so used to doing it, it was kind of embarrassing when I'd got out to lunch with a businessman and I started cutting up his meat up for him!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Big Issues - Bite-Size Chunks."
I love our word for today from the Word of God in Zephaniah 3:5. It's just seven reassuring words, but in those words, God points us to the way He wants us to handle this "big piece of meat" called our life. It simply says, "Every new day He does not fail." Come on, isn't that great? God says instead of trying to do weeks and months and years, would you do life in these 24-hour increments that He's obviously wired us for? Do days.
We try to drag yesterday, with all of its baggage and its failures into today, we start to sink. We try to drag tomorrow into today, with its worries and its fears, we run ahead of His resources, which are issued each new day for that day. I've got Thursday's resources for Thursday's needs. When I start worrying about Friday, or a week from Friday, I'm on my own and I'm going down.
There has never been and there never will be a day that our Lord has failed us. On different days our spouse might fail us, our family might fail us, our boss, our friends, our coworkers, the folks at church, our income, even our health. But "every new day, He does not fail." That's called days without fear.
And here is your Lord's guarantee for each new day. He's promised new mercies for every battle. Surrounded by the collapse of everything around him, Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3, "I remember my affliction and my wandering" In other words, on many new days, he had failed - just like you and me. But then he goes on to say, "I remember the bitterness and the gall ... my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Wow!
God knows how to balance the grief with His goodness. He knows just when you need to have an encouragement, and He sends it. He knows just when you need a hopeful sign, or some comfort, when you need some rest, an extra shot of strength, or even a miracle. And He sends it right on time.
God knows when you've had all you can take and He raises His almighty hand and says, "Enough! No more!" He's promised to never let you have "more than you can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13). "Because of the Lord's great love," you are "not consumed." You serve the God of daily bread, the God of what the Bible calls the "strength that will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25). The God of whom you can say every new day, "This is the day my Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Not the day my condition has made, or my boss has made, or my frustrations have made, or my spouse has made. My Lord made this day and He's promised me everything I'll need to live it. Hallelujah!
Don't even try to handle that
big piece of life you've got in front of you right now. Your Heavenly Father cuts it into bite-size chunks so it's manageable, and those bite-size chunks are called "every new day"!
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
2 Chronicles 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: YOU ARE WORTH DYING FOR
Has someone called you a lost cause? A failure? Has someone dismissed you as insignificant? Don’t listen to them. They don’t know what they’re talking about. You were conceived by God before you were conceived by your parents. You were loved in heaven before you were known on earth. You aren’t an accident.
When you say yes to God you are being made into God’s image. Print that on your resume! In the eyes of God you are worth dying for. Would you let this truth define the way you see yourself? Would you let this truth define the way you see other people? Every person you see was created by God to bear his image and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. This is God’s plan. This is God’s promise. And he will fulfill it! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 12
By the time Rehoboam had secured his kingdom and was strong again, he, and all Israel with him, had virtually abandoned God and his ways.
2-4 In Rehoboam’s fifth year, because he and the people were unfaithful to God, Shishak king of Egypt invaded as far as Jerusalem. He came with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry, and soldiers from all over—the Egyptian army included Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. They took the fortress cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem itself.
5 Then the prophet Shemaiah, accompanied by the leaders of Judah who had retreated to Jerusalem before Shishak, came to Rehoboam and said, “God’s word: You abandoned me; now I abandon you to Shishak.”
6 The leaders of Israel and the king were repentant and said, “God is right.”
7-8 When God saw that they were humbly repentant, the word of God came to Shemaiah: “Because they are humble, I’ll not destroy them—I’ll give them a break; I won’t use Shishak to express my wrath against Jerusalem. What I will do, though, is make them Shishak’s subjects—they’ll learn the difference between serving me and serving human kings.”
9 Then Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He plundered the treasury of The Temple of God and the treasury of the royal palace—he took everything he could lay his hands on. He even took the gold shields that Solomon had made.
10-11 King Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze shields and gave them to the guards who were posted at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to God’s Temple, the guards went with him carrying the shields, but they always returned them to the guardroom.
12 Because Rehoboam was repentant, God’s anger was blunted, so he wasn’t totally destroyed. The picture wasn’t entirely bleak—there were some good things going on in Judah.
13-14 King Rehoboam regrouped and reestablished his rule in Jerusalem. He was forty-one years old when he became king and continued as king for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God chose out of all the tribes of Israel as the special presence of his Name. His mother was Naamah from Ammon. But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king—God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God.
15-16 The history of Rehoboam, from start to finish, is written in the memoirs of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer that contain the family trees. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam the whole time. Rehoboam died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Abijah ruled after him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 1:15–20
When you spread out your handsh in prayer,
I hidei my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.j
Your handsk are full of blood!l
16 Washm and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;n
stop doing wrong.o
17 Learn to do right;p seek justice.q
Defend the oppressed.a r
Take up the cause of the fatherless;s
plead the case of the widow.t
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”u
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;v
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.w
19 If you are willing and obedient,x
you will eat the good things of the land;y
20 but if you resist and rebel,z
you will be devoured by the sword.”a
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.b
Insight
The imagery in Isaiah 1:15–20 stands as a testimony to the universal accessibility of the Bible’s wisdom. Isaiah uses the dual analogies of snow and wool to convey the idea of flawless and complete cleanliness of heart (1:18). Fresh fallen snow transforms a bleak winter landscape with its blanket of white, but readers who have never been to a cold climate can’t fully grasp that experience. However, such people would likely be familiar with the brilliant whiteness of freshly shorn sheep’s wool. In this way Isaiah clearly communicated to everyone in the world that our sins, though as red as the blood on the hands of a killer (v. 15), can be washed away. Although Isaiah prophesied to Judah specifically, the deep soul-cleansing described here applies to all and requires the blood of Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb. By: Tim Gustafson
The Miracle of White Snow
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18
In the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton used a prism to study how light helps us see different colors. He found that when light passes through an object, the object appears to possess a specific color. While a single ice crystal looks translucent, snow is made up of many ice crystals smashed together. When light passes through all of the crystals, snow appears to be white.
The Bible mentions something else that has a certain color—sin. Through the prophet Isaiah, God confronted the sins of the people of Judah and described their sin as “like scarlet” and as “red as crimson.” But God promised they would “be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). How? Judah needed to turn away from wrongdoing and seek God’s forgiveness.
Thanks to Jesus, we have permanent access to God’s forgiveness. Jesus called Himself “the light of the world” and said whoever follows Him “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). When we confess our sins, God forgives us and we’re seen through the light of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. This means that God sees us as He sees Jesus—blameless.
We don’t have to wallow in the guilt and shame of what we’ve done wrong. Instead, we can hold on to the truth of God’s forgiveness, which makes us “white as snow.” By: Linda Washington
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to be completely forgiven? What helps you remember that God has forgiven you?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the forgiveness You freely offer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." —Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Too Good to Keep - #8633
She's only four years old, and she wasn't supposed to tell. I was talking to one of my good friends on the phone. His little girl hears me on the radio, so she said, "Daddy, can I talk to him?" So we had a great conversation on the phone. For once I didn't get to say much. And believe it or not, she got on the phone and it was non-stop four-year-old girl talk. And in the course of telling me all about her family, she just blurted out, "And mommy has a baby in her tummy." Well, my friend came back on the phone rather sheepishly and said, "Ron, that's really not public news yet. We just found out! Grandma and grandpa don't even know. It wouldn't be good if you knew before they do. She wasn't going to tell that." I said, "Well, listen; I don't even know what she said. I forget." I just made it a point to forget it. "I'll really be happy when you tell me the news. Does that work?" So, actually, I think that little girl is great. She just can't sit on good news.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Good To Keep."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Kings 7. It comes out of the time of Elisha when the capital city of Samaria is surrounded by the Aramean troops. And in chapter 7, beginning in verse 3, we find out there are some men who really had nothing to eat, even more so than the people in the city, who had been besieged by this enemy army. These guys were desperate for food. They were starving to death. Day after day in the city and outside the walls, more and more people were dying of starvation.
And it says here, "Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, 'Why stay here until we die?" And they decide to surrender to the enemy army. And they say, "If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, we die." They're like, "We're going to die either way, so we might as well give it a chance." Well, verse 8 says, "The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents."
What they don't know is this. God has performed a miracle and scattered the enemy army, and they have left their tents and their provisions. So it says, "They ate and drank and carried away silver and gold and clothes and went off and hid them. And they returned and entered another tent. Took some things from it and hid them. Then they said to each other, 'We are not doing right. This is the day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this.'"
You get the message here? These people - these lepers - are saying, "We've got all this food. We're stuffed! We can't sit on this kind of good news." Sounds like a little four-year-old girl that we just talked about, huh? We can't sit on the good news. People are starving to death in our city. What a picture of American Christianity sometimes! We are spiritually in America the richest Christians in history. We've got more books, and concerts, and seminars, and recordings, and videos, and websites, and TV. But like the four lepers, we're stuffed.
Now, Jesus taught us in Luke 12:48, "To whom much is given" - well, you know the rest - "much is required." That's us. It's easy to be as the late singer Keith Green said, "Asleep in the light"...going to the meetings, holding offices, quoting verses, reading all the Christian best sellers, but having no meaningful impact on the people around us who are spiritually dying.
Here's my question, "When was the last time you personally shared what Christ did on the cross with someone else who doesn't know Him?" When was the last time you played a part in changing someone's eternity from hell to heaven? Maybe when you first became a Christian you did. Could it be you've just settled into the comfort zone now? You may be very busy...very busy in Christian work, but you're sitting on the Good News. You're enjoying the fellowship, but you're not accepting the responsibility.
A little girl with a brother or sister on the way has a lot to teach us. She knows some good news is too good to keep. And you have the only news that can
change where people will spend their forever. Isn't that news too good to keep?
Has someone called you a lost cause? A failure? Has someone dismissed you as insignificant? Don’t listen to them. They don’t know what they’re talking about. You were conceived by God before you were conceived by your parents. You were loved in heaven before you were known on earth. You aren’t an accident.
When you say yes to God you are being made into God’s image. Print that on your resume! In the eyes of God you are worth dying for. Would you let this truth define the way you see yourself? Would you let this truth define the way you see other people? Every person you see was created by God to bear his image and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. This is God’s plan. This is God’s promise. And he will fulfill it! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 12
By the time Rehoboam had secured his kingdom and was strong again, he, and all Israel with him, had virtually abandoned God and his ways.
2-4 In Rehoboam’s fifth year, because he and the people were unfaithful to God, Shishak king of Egypt invaded as far as Jerusalem. He came with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry, and soldiers from all over—the Egyptian army included Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. They took the fortress cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem itself.
5 Then the prophet Shemaiah, accompanied by the leaders of Judah who had retreated to Jerusalem before Shishak, came to Rehoboam and said, “God’s word: You abandoned me; now I abandon you to Shishak.”
6 The leaders of Israel and the king were repentant and said, “God is right.”
7-8 When God saw that they were humbly repentant, the word of God came to Shemaiah: “Because they are humble, I’ll not destroy them—I’ll give them a break; I won’t use Shishak to express my wrath against Jerusalem. What I will do, though, is make them Shishak’s subjects—they’ll learn the difference between serving me and serving human kings.”
9 Then Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He plundered the treasury of The Temple of God and the treasury of the royal palace—he took everything he could lay his hands on. He even took the gold shields that Solomon had made.
10-11 King Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze shields and gave them to the guards who were posted at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to God’s Temple, the guards went with him carrying the shields, but they always returned them to the guardroom.
12 Because Rehoboam was repentant, God’s anger was blunted, so he wasn’t totally destroyed. The picture wasn’t entirely bleak—there were some good things going on in Judah.
13-14 King Rehoboam regrouped and reestablished his rule in Jerusalem. He was forty-one years old when he became king and continued as king for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God chose out of all the tribes of Israel as the special presence of his Name. His mother was Naamah from Ammon. But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king—God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God.
15-16 The history of Rehoboam, from start to finish, is written in the memoirs of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer that contain the family trees. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam the whole time. Rehoboam died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Abijah ruled after him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Isaiah 1:15–20
When you spread out your handsh in prayer,
I hidei my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.j
Your handsk are full of blood!l
16 Washm and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;n
stop doing wrong.o
17 Learn to do right;p seek justice.q
Defend the oppressed.a r
Take up the cause of the fatherless;s
plead the case of the widow.t
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”u
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;v
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.w
19 If you are willing and obedient,x
you will eat the good things of the land;y
20 but if you resist and rebel,z
you will be devoured by the sword.”a
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.b
Insight
The imagery in Isaiah 1:15–20 stands as a testimony to the universal accessibility of the Bible’s wisdom. Isaiah uses the dual analogies of snow and wool to convey the idea of flawless and complete cleanliness of heart (1:18). Fresh fallen snow transforms a bleak winter landscape with its blanket of white, but readers who have never been to a cold climate can’t fully grasp that experience. However, such people would likely be familiar with the brilliant whiteness of freshly shorn sheep’s wool. In this way Isaiah clearly communicated to everyone in the world that our sins, though as red as the blood on the hands of a killer (v. 15), can be washed away. Although Isaiah prophesied to Judah specifically, the deep soul-cleansing described here applies to all and requires the blood of Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb. By: Tim Gustafson
The Miracle of White Snow
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18
In the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton used a prism to study how light helps us see different colors. He found that when light passes through an object, the object appears to possess a specific color. While a single ice crystal looks translucent, snow is made up of many ice crystals smashed together. When light passes through all of the crystals, snow appears to be white.
The Bible mentions something else that has a certain color—sin. Through the prophet Isaiah, God confronted the sins of the people of Judah and described their sin as “like scarlet” and as “red as crimson.” But God promised they would “be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). How? Judah needed to turn away from wrongdoing and seek God’s forgiveness.
Thanks to Jesus, we have permanent access to God’s forgiveness. Jesus called Himself “the light of the world” and said whoever follows Him “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). When we confess our sins, God forgives us and we’re seen through the light of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. This means that God sees us as He sees Jesus—blameless.
We don’t have to wallow in the guilt and shame of what we’ve done wrong. Instead, we can hold on to the truth of God’s forgiveness, which makes us “white as snow.” By: Linda Washington
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to be completely forgiven? What helps you remember that God has forgiven you?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the forgiveness You freely offer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Are You Listening to God?
They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." —Exodus 20:19
We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.
“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”
Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Too Good to Keep - #8633
She's only four years old, and she wasn't supposed to tell. I was talking to one of my good friends on the phone. His little girl hears me on the radio, so she said, "Daddy, can I talk to him?" So we had a great conversation on the phone. For once I didn't get to say much. And believe it or not, she got on the phone and it was non-stop four-year-old girl talk. And in the course of telling me all about her family, she just blurted out, "And mommy has a baby in her tummy." Well, my friend came back on the phone rather sheepishly and said, "Ron, that's really not public news yet. We just found out! Grandma and grandpa don't even know. It wouldn't be good if you knew before they do. She wasn't going to tell that." I said, "Well, listen; I don't even know what she said. I forget." I just made it a point to forget it. "I'll really be happy when you tell me the news. Does that work?" So, actually, I think that little girl is great. She just can't sit on good news.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Good To Keep."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Kings 7. It comes out of the time of Elisha when the capital city of Samaria is surrounded by the Aramean troops. And in chapter 7, beginning in verse 3, we find out there are some men who really had nothing to eat, even more so than the people in the city, who had been besieged by this enemy army. These guys were desperate for food. They were starving to death. Day after day in the city and outside the walls, more and more people were dying of starvation.
And it says here, "Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, 'Why stay here until we die?" And they decide to surrender to the enemy army. And they say, "If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, we die." They're like, "We're going to die either way, so we might as well give it a chance." Well, verse 8 says, "The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents."
What they don't know is this. God has performed a miracle and scattered the enemy army, and they have left their tents and their provisions. So it says, "They ate and drank and carried away silver and gold and clothes and went off and hid them. And they returned and entered another tent. Took some things from it and hid them. Then they said to each other, 'We are not doing right. This is the day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this.'"
You get the message here? These people - these lepers - are saying, "We've got all this food. We're stuffed! We can't sit on this kind of good news." Sounds like a little four-year-old girl that we just talked about, huh? We can't sit on the good news. People are starving to death in our city. What a picture of American Christianity sometimes! We are spiritually in America the richest Christians in history. We've got more books, and concerts, and seminars, and recordings, and videos, and websites, and TV. But like the four lepers, we're stuffed.
Now, Jesus taught us in Luke 12:48, "To whom much is given" - well, you know the rest - "much is required." That's us. It's easy to be as the late singer Keith Green said, "Asleep in the light"...going to the meetings, holding offices, quoting verses, reading all the Christian best sellers, but having no meaningful impact on the people around us who are spiritually dying.
Here's my question, "When was the last time you personally shared what Christ did on the cross with someone else who doesn't know Him?" When was the last time you played a part in changing someone's eternity from hell to heaven? Maybe when you first became a Christian you did. Could it be you've just settled into the comfort zone now? You may be very busy...very busy in Christian work, but you're sitting on the Good News. You're enjoying the fellowship, but you're not accepting the responsibility.
A little girl with a brother or sister on the way has a lot to teach us. She knows some good news is too good to keep. And you have the only news that can
change where people will spend their forever. Isn't that news too good to keep?
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
2 Chronicles 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: YOUR RESEMBLANCE TO HIM
Pop psychology is wrong when it tells you to look inside yourself and find your value! According to the Bible you are good simply because God made you in his image. Period. He cherishes you because you bear a resemblance to him. And you will only be satisfied when you engage in your role as an image bearer of God. Such was the view of King David. “As for me,” he wrote, “I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).
How much sadness would evaporate if every person simply chose to believe this– I was made for God’s glory and am being made into his image. Why does God love you with an everlasting love? It has everything to do with whose you are. You are his! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 11
When Rehoboam got back to Jerusalem he called up the men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 of their best soldiers, to go to war against Israel and recover the kingdom.
2-4 At the same time the word of God came to Shemaiah, a holy man, “Tell this to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, along with all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, This is God’s word: Don’t march out; don’t fight against your brothers the Israelites. Go back home, every last one of you; I’m in charge here.” And they did it; they did what God said and went home.
5-12 Rehoboam continued to live in Jerusalem but built up a defense system for Judah all around: in Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron—a line of defense protecting Judah and Benjamin. He beefed up the fortifications, appointed commanders, and put in supplies of food, olive oil, and wine. He installed arms—large shields and spears—in all the forts, making them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were secure for the time.
13-17 The priests and Levites from all over Israel came and made themselves available to Rehoboam. The Levites left their pastures and properties and moved to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had dismissed them from the priesthood of God and replaced them with his own priests to preside over the worship centers at which he had installed goat and calf demon-idols. Everyone from all the tribes of Israel who determined to seek the God of Israel migrated with the priests and Levites to Jerusalem to worship there, sacrificing to the God of their ancestors. That gave a tremendous boost to the kingdom of Judah. They stuck with Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, loyal to the ways of David and Solomon for this period.
18-21 Rehoboam married Mahalath daughter of Jerimoth, David’s son, and Abihail daughter of Eliab, Jesse’s son. Mahalath bore him Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. Then he married Maacah, Absalom’s daughter, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Maacah was Rehoboam’s favorite wife; he loved her more than all his other wives and concubines put together (and he had a lot—eighteen wives and sixty concubines who produced twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters!).
22-23 Rehoboam designated Abijah son of Maacah as the “first son” and leader of the brothers—he intended to make him the next king. He was shrewd in deploying his sons in all the fortress cities that made up his defense system in Judah and Benjamin; he kept them happy with much food and many wives.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 27:1–10
Do not boastz about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.a
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.b
3 Stone is heavy and sandc a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?d
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.e
7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
8 Like a bird that flees its nestf
is anyone who flees from home.
9 Perfumeg and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.
10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disasterh strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.
Insight
The book of Proverbs consists of two main parts. After a preamble that introduces the book (1:1–7), the first nine chapters contain speeches. The text identifies the contents as the teaching of a father to his son. The second part of Proverbs (chs. 10–31) contains actual proverbs. Proverbs are short observations, encouragements, or prohibitions that often seem like simple, practical advice. It’s a mistake to read the individual proverbs without considering the theme of the whole book—the connection between wisdom and a relationship with God—for only a life empowered or guided by the Spirit can consistently live out this wisdom.
Adapted from Understanding the Bible: The Wisdom Books. Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0422.
Nearby Neighbors
Better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away. Proverbs 27:10
Our neighborhood, like many others, uses a website to help neighbors connect immediately with those surrounding them. In my community, members warn one another of mountain lion sightings and wildfire evacuation orders, as well as supply one another with child care when the need arises. It has even proven to be a resource for locating runaway pets. By leveraging the power of the internet, those living near one another are connecting again in ways that are often lost in today’s fast-paced world.
Being in relationship with those who live nearby was also important long ago in the days of King Solomon. While family relationships are truly important and can be a source of great support, Solomon indicates that the role of a friend is vital—especially when “disaster strikes” (Proverbs 27:10). Relatives might care deeply for their family members and desire to be of help in such circumstances. But if they’re far away, there’s little they can do in the moments when calamity strikes. Neighbors, however, because they’re close by, are likely to know of the need quickly and can assist more readily.
Because technology has made it easier than ever to remain connected with loved ones across the globe, we may be tempted to overlook those living nearby. Jesus, help us invest in relationships with the people You’ve placed around us! By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
Who has brought you aid in your times of need? How can you come alongside those living nearest you?
Thank You, God, for giving us neighbors to show care for one another.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Is Your Mind Stayed on God?
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).
Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature— the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.
“We have sinned with our fathers…[and]…did not remember…” (Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don’t say to yourself, “But God is not talking to me right now.” He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Realizing What Time It Is - #8632
Every year they have this annual White House Correspondents Dinner. I don't watch it often, but some years ago I actually did watch it and I was pretty amazed by what I heard. Reporters from all over the world are at this dinner, and the President of the United States is usually there - not always. He usually does an uncharacteristically humorous speech. I've seen several Presidents do that. Well, the President finished and then one of America's most popular comedians was introduced as the night's entertainment. But this man, who is known far more for being suggestive than being spiritual, made this statement: "I've been watching the evening news a lot lately with my Bible opened to the Book of Revelation. And as I'm hearing what's happened in the world, I just go 'check, check, check.'"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing What Time It Is."
That's a comedian - not a theologian - observing how closely current events seem to be following the Bible's description of the world's climactic events. But these days a lot of people are suddenly thinking about things like a future that's beyond our control and an eternity that's just one heartbeat away. There's this sense - both cosmically and personally - that our time might be shorter than we thought.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the first chapter of Revelation, and it's a reassuring note actually in a pretty unpredictable world. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus says, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, "I am the Alpha and the Omega...who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Then in Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
As countries rise and fall, as leaders come and go, as the world seems to be exploding or imploding, Jesus is the unchanging, undying Lord of human history. That was settled the day He walked out of His grave under His own power after His death for our sins on the cross. When every loved one is gone, when everything you've been depending on collapses, there stands Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He holds the keys!
He's your safe place in a dangerous world! A new follower of Christ was given a Bible and since no one showed him where to start reading, he started at the end with Revelation. A veteran Christian asked him if he understood anything he read there, and the new believer simply said, "Well, I understood one thing. We win!"
Well, actually Jesus wins. And that's in a world where we're so vulnerable, where things are so unpredictable, not to mention the fact that eternity is just a heartbeat away. This is a good time to be sure that you belong to the Lord of history, to the Conqueror of death – Jesus, the man who died for your sin so you could belong to Him.
If you've never begun this anchor relationship with Jesus Christ, you could do it this very day. You don't have to be inside stained glass windows. You could talk to Him right where you are. Just say, "Jesus, I want to be Yours from this day on. I have run my life. I've been a rebel against You and Your ways because I want to do it my way. I
now turn the wheel of my life over to You. I turn from running my own life and doing it my way. You died for me for everything I've done wrong; for everything I've done against You. And you're alive and I want you to walk into my life today. I'm Yours from today on."
He promised that at that point He would enter your life because of your personal invitation. If that's what you want, get it done today. Today is all you can be sure you have. And go to our website ANewStory.com.
Once you belong to Jesus Christ, you're secure no matter what collapses and you are ready for eternity, no matter when it comes.
Pop psychology is wrong when it tells you to look inside yourself and find your value! According to the Bible you are good simply because God made you in his image. Period. He cherishes you because you bear a resemblance to him. And you will only be satisfied when you engage in your role as an image bearer of God. Such was the view of King David. “As for me,” he wrote, “I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).
How much sadness would evaporate if every person simply chose to believe this– I was made for God’s glory and am being made into his image. Why does God love you with an everlasting love? It has everything to do with whose you are. You are his! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 11
When Rehoboam got back to Jerusalem he called up the men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 of their best soldiers, to go to war against Israel and recover the kingdom.
2-4 At the same time the word of God came to Shemaiah, a holy man, “Tell this to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, along with all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, This is God’s word: Don’t march out; don’t fight against your brothers the Israelites. Go back home, every last one of you; I’m in charge here.” And they did it; they did what God said and went home.
5-12 Rehoboam continued to live in Jerusalem but built up a defense system for Judah all around: in Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron—a line of defense protecting Judah and Benjamin. He beefed up the fortifications, appointed commanders, and put in supplies of food, olive oil, and wine. He installed arms—large shields and spears—in all the forts, making them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were secure for the time.
13-17 The priests and Levites from all over Israel came and made themselves available to Rehoboam. The Levites left their pastures and properties and moved to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had dismissed them from the priesthood of God and replaced them with his own priests to preside over the worship centers at which he had installed goat and calf demon-idols. Everyone from all the tribes of Israel who determined to seek the God of Israel migrated with the priests and Levites to Jerusalem to worship there, sacrificing to the God of their ancestors. That gave a tremendous boost to the kingdom of Judah. They stuck with Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, loyal to the ways of David and Solomon for this period.
18-21 Rehoboam married Mahalath daughter of Jerimoth, David’s son, and Abihail daughter of Eliab, Jesse’s son. Mahalath bore him Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. Then he married Maacah, Absalom’s daughter, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Maacah was Rehoboam’s favorite wife; he loved her more than all his other wives and concubines put together (and he had a lot—eighteen wives and sixty concubines who produced twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters!).
22-23 Rehoboam designated Abijah son of Maacah as the “first son” and leader of the brothers—he intended to make him the next king. He was shrewd in deploying his sons in all the fortress cities that made up his defense system in Judah and Benjamin; he kept them happy with much food and many wives.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Proverbs 27:1–10
Do not boastz about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.a
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.b
3 Stone is heavy and sandc a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?d
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.e
7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
8 Like a bird that flees its nestf
is anyone who flees from home.
9 Perfumeg and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.
10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disasterh strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.
Insight
The book of Proverbs consists of two main parts. After a preamble that introduces the book (1:1–7), the first nine chapters contain speeches. The text identifies the contents as the teaching of a father to his son. The second part of Proverbs (chs. 10–31) contains actual proverbs. Proverbs are short observations, encouragements, or prohibitions that often seem like simple, practical advice. It’s a mistake to read the individual proverbs without considering the theme of the whole book—the connection between wisdom and a relationship with God—for only a life empowered or guided by the Spirit can consistently live out this wisdom.
Adapted from Understanding the Bible: The Wisdom Books. Read it at discoveryseries.org/q0422.
Nearby Neighbors
Better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away. Proverbs 27:10
Our neighborhood, like many others, uses a website to help neighbors connect immediately with those surrounding them. In my community, members warn one another of mountain lion sightings and wildfire evacuation orders, as well as supply one another with child care when the need arises. It has even proven to be a resource for locating runaway pets. By leveraging the power of the internet, those living near one another are connecting again in ways that are often lost in today’s fast-paced world.
Being in relationship with those who live nearby was also important long ago in the days of King Solomon. While family relationships are truly important and can be a source of great support, Solomon indicates that the role of a friend is vital—especially when “disaster strikes” (Proverbs 27:10). Relatives might care deeply for their family members and desire to be of help in such circumstances. But if they’re far away, there’s little they can do in the moments when calamity strikes. Neighbors, however, because they’re close by, are likely to know of the need quickly and can assist more readily.
Because technology has made it easier than ever to remain connected with loved ones across the globe, we may be tempted to overlook those living nearby. Jesus, help us invest in relationships with the people You’ve placed around us! By: Kirsten Holmberg
Reflect & Pray
Who has brought you aid in your times of need? How can you come alongside those living nearest you?
Thank You, God, for giving us neighbors to show care for one another.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Is Your Mind Stayed on God?
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. —Isaiah 26:3
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).
Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature— the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.
“We have sinned with our fathers…[and]…did not remember…” (Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don’t say to yourself, “But God is not talking to me right now.” He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Realizing What Time It Is - #8632
Every year they have this annual White House Correspondents Dinner. I don't watch it often, but some years ago I actually did watch it and I was pretty amazed by what I heard. Reporters from all over the world are at this dinner, and the President of the United States is usually there - not always. He usually does an uncharacteristically humorous speech. I've seen several Presidents do that. Well, the President finished and then one of America's most popular comedians was introduced as the night's entertainment. But this man, who is known far more for being suggestive than being spiritual, made this statement: "I've been watching the evening news a lot lately with my Bible opened to the Book of Revelation. And as I'm hearing what's happened in the world, I just go 'check, check, check.'"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Realizing What Time It Is."
That's a comedian - not a theologian - observing how closely current events seem to be following the Bible's description of the world's climactic events. But these days a lot of people are suddenly thinking about things like a future that's beyond our control and an eternity that's just one heartbeat away. There's this sense - both cosmically and personally - that our time might be shorter than we thought.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the first chapter of Revelation, and it's a reassuring note actually in a pretty unpredictable world. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus says, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, "I am the Alpha and the Omega...who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Then in Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
As countries rise and fall, as leaders come and go, as the world seems to be exploding or imploding, Jesus is the unchanging, undying Lord of human history. That was settled the day He walked out of His grave under His own power after His death for our sins on the cross. When every loved one is gone, when everything you've been depending on collapses, there stands Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He holds the keys!
He's your safe place in a dangerous world! A new follower of Christ was given a Bible and since no one showed him where to start reading, he started at the end with Revelation. A veteran Christian asked him if he understood anything he read there, and the new believer simply said, "Well, I understood one thing. We win!"
Well, actually Jesus wins. And that's in a world where we're so vulnerable, where things are so unpredictable, not to mention the fact that eternity is just a heartbeat away. This is a good time to be sure that you belong to the Lord of history, to the Conqueror of death – Jesus, the man who died for your sin so you could belong to Him.
If you've never begun this anchor relationship with Jesus Christ, you could do it this very day. You don't have to be inside stained glass windows. You could talk to Him right where you are. Just say, "Jesus, I want to be Yours from this day on. I have run my life. I've been a rebel against You and Your ways because I want to do it my way. I
now turn the wheel of my life over to You. I turn from running my own life and doing it my way. You died for me for everything I've done wrong; for everything I've done against You. And you're alive and I want you to walk into my life today. I'm Yours from today on."
He promised that at that point He would enter your life because of your personal invitation. If that's what you want, get it done today. Today is all you can be sure you have. And go to our website ANewStory.com.
Once you belong to Jesus Christ, you're secure no matter what collapses and you are ready for eternity, no matter when it comes.
Monday, February 10, 2020
2 Chronicles 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS
We are all made in God’s image and in his likeness! Sin has distorted this image, but it has not destroyed it. Our moral purity has been tainted, but do not think for a moment that God has rescinded his promise or altered his plan. He still creates people in his image to bear his likeness and reflect his glory.
As we fellowship with God, read his Word, obey his commands, and seek to reflect his character, something wonderful emerges. We say things God would say. We do things God would do. We forgive, we share, and we love. In time an image begins to appear. God’s goal is simply to rub away anything that is not of him so the inborn image of God can be seen in us! Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 10
Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king. Jeroboam was then in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon’s death, he came back.
3-4 Summoned by Israel, Jeroboam and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said, “Your father made life hard for us—worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we’ll willingly serve you.”
5 “Give me,” said Rehoboam, “three days to think it over; then come back.” So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?”
7 They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.”
8-9 But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?”
10-11 The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’”
12-14 Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, “Give me three days to think it over; then come back.” The king’s answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders and went with the advice of the younger set: “If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it: my father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!”
15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh.
16-17 When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said,
Get lost, David!
We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse!
Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast!
From now on, David, mind your own business.
And with that they left. Rehoboam continued to rule only those who lived in the towns of Judah.
18-19 When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem as fast as he could. Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty ever since.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 12:9–16
Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere.v Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.w 10 Be devoted to one another in love.x Honor one another above yourselves.y 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,z serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,a patient in affliction,b faithful in prayer.c 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.d Practice hospitality.e
14 Bless those who persecute you;f bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.g 16 Live in harmony with one another.h Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.c Do not be conceited.i
Insight
Most of Paul’s letters were directed to churches he and his team had planted, but Rome (like Colossae) was an exception. So how did the church at Rome begin? One theory is that it got its start on the day of Pentecost—the day the church itself was born. On that day, as the uneducated disciples of Jesus began speaking of Him in languages previously unlearned, Luke records a list of places from which people had gathered to celebrate the feast in Jerusalem. Among them are “visitors from Rome” (Acts 2:10). The belief is that these hearers of the gospel message carried it with them back to their home and began to evangelize the city—the most powerful city in the world of that day. This resulted in the establishment of the church in Rome to whom Paul wrote his most theological letter, the book of Romans. By: Bill Crowder
In It Together
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
During a two-month period in 1994, as many as one million Tutsis were slain in Rwanda by Hutu tribe members bent on killing their fellow countrymen. In the wake of this horrific genocide, Bishop Geoffrey Rwubusisi approached his wife about reaching out to women whose loved ones had been slain. Mary’s reply was, “All I want to do is cry.” She too had lost members of her family. The bishop’s response was that of a wise leader and caring husband: “Mary, gather the women together and cry with them.” He knew his wife’s pain had prepared her to uniquely share in the pain of others.
The church, the family of God, is where all of life can be shared—the good and not-so-good. The New Testament words “one another” are used to capture our interdependence. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. . . . Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:10, 16). The extent of our connectedness is expressed in verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
While the depth and scope of our pain may pale in comparison with those affected by genocide, it’s nonetheless personal and real. And, as with the pain of Mary, because of what God has done for us it can be embraced and shared for the comfort and good of others. By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
When have you allowed someone else to share your sorrow? How does the body of Christ—the church—help you deal with the hard times in life?
Gracious God, forgive me for my reluctance to enter the pain of others. Help me to live more fully as a connected member of Your church.
Learn about loving as Jesus does at discoveryseries.org/q0208.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 10, 2020
Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things… —Isaiah 40:26
The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.
The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.
One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 10, 2020
Just Stuff - #8631
If it's spring in America, someone is going to get hit with floods unfortunately. Years ago, I think it was April 1997, North Dakota got hit hard - especially in the area around Grand Forks, North Dakota. One woman who had to flee her home was interviewed by a reporter. She was eating her lunch in a school shelter where hundreds of victims were bivouacked. She must have surprised that reporter when she said, "You know, I feel very fortunate." I mean, after all, what had been her home only a day before was now awash in sewage and fuel. Then she gave her reasons for feeling fortunate. And you often hear this after a disaster. She just said, "My children are all safe. The rest is just stuff."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Stuff."
Now, that's a woman who, in the midst of losing a lot, had sorted out some of life's really core values. That's what God is calling us to do in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 2:15. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ... The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
If God were teaching us in a classroom setting, He might draw a line down the center of the chalkboard and He'd put these headings at the top of each column: "Stuff that doesn't last" and "Stuff that does last." And He says to not get too attached to earth-stuff because it "passes away."
Our great love, our great passion, and our great pursuit should be for the "will of God" things that we can't lose. The rest is "just stuff." It's all part of Jesus' command to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33), even though we're surrounded by people who are totally consumed with getting possessions, getting promotions, getting prosperity, or getting prominence.
Actually, we've found that two of the most liberating words in the English language are these: "Earth stuff." Yep, over and over, my wife and I found ourselves saying those two words to regain our perspective in tough financial times, when something broke or got lost, or when we were trying to make some difficult choices. It just helps to stand back, look at what's really at stake, and be able to sort out what is "just earth stuff." It actually frees you from so much worry, anxiety and misplaced effort.
My life was profoundly affected by something that happened when I was becoming a teenager. Five American missionaries were martyred in their attempt to reach a tribe in the jungles of Ecuador; a tribe who had never heard the name of Jesus. Later, the widow of one and the sister of another went to that tribe to tell them about Jesus. Today, much of the Auca or Waodani Tribe knows Christ, and the murderers of the missionaries are the leaders of the Waodani church. Thousands of people are in God's work today, including me, because of the challenge of their example.
Jim Elliot, one of the martyred missionaries, sorted out the ultimate values in life in a powerful statement he wrote once. Here's what he said: "He is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Well, that's it right there.
Either you live for the things you cannot ultimately keep, or you live for the things you can never lose. So which ones are you pursuing?
We are all made in God’s image and in his likeness! Sin has distorted this image, but it has not destroyed it. Our moral purity has been tainted, but do not think for a moment that God has rescinded his promise or altered his plan. He still creates people in his image to bear his likeness and reflect his glory.
As we fellowship with God, read his Word, obey his commands, and seek to reflect his character, something wonderful emerges. We say things God would say. We do things God would do. We forgive, we share, and we love. In time an image begins to appear. God’s goal is simply to rub away anything that is not of him so the inborn image of God can be seen in us! Because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 10
Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king. Jeroboam was then in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon’s death, he came back.
3-4 Summoned by Israel, Jeroboam and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said, “Your father made life hard for us—worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we’ll willingly serve you.”
5 “Give me,” said Rehoboam, “three days to think it over; then come back.” So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: “What’s your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?”
7 They said, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.”
8-9 But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor, “What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father’s harsh ways—lighten up on us’?”
10-11 The young turks he’d grown up with said, “These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up’—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!’”
12-14 Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, “Give me three days to think it over; then come back.” The king’s answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders and went with the advice of the younger set: “If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it: my father thrashed you with whips; I’ll beat you bloody with chains!”
15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh.
16-17 When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said,
Get lost, David!
We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse!
Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast!
From now on, David, mind your own business.
And with that they left. Rehoboam continued to rule only those who lived in the towns of Judah.
18-19 When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem as fast as he could. Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty ever since.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, February 10, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 12:9–16
Love in Action
9 Love must be sincere.v Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.w 10 Be devoted to one another in love.x Honor one another above yourselves.y 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,z serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,a patient in affliction,b faithful in prayer.c 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.d Practice hospitality.e
14 Bless those who persecute you;f bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.g 16 Live in harmony with one another.h Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.c Do not be conceited.i
Insight
Most of Paul’s letters were directed to churches he and his team had planted, but Rome (like Colossae) was an exception. So how did the church at Rome begin? One theory is that it got its start on the day of Pentecost—the day the church itself was born. On that day, as the uneducated disciples of Jesus began speaking of Him in languages previously unlearned, Luke records a list of places from which people had gathered to celebrate the feast in Jerusalem. Among them are “visitors from Rome” (Acts 2:10). The belief is that these hearers of the gospel message carried it with them back to their home and began to evangelize the city—the most powerful city in the world of that day. This resulted in the establishment of the church in Rome to whom Paul wrote his most theological letter, the book of Romans. By: Bill Crowder
In It Together
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15
During a two-month period in 1994, as many as one million Tutsis were slain in Rwanda by Hutu tribe members bent on killing their fellow countrymen. In the wake of this horrific genocide, Bishop Geoffrey Rwubusisi approached his wife about reaching out to women whose loved ones had been slain. Mary’s reply was, “All I want to do is cry.” She too had lost members of her family. The bishop’s response was that of a wise leader and caring husband: “Mary, gather the women together and cry with them.” He knew his wife’s pain had prepared her to uniquely share in the pain of others.
The church, the family of God, is where all of life can be shared—the good and not-so-good. The New Testament words “one another” are used to capture our interdependence. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. . . . Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:10, 16). The extent of our connectedness is expressed in verse 15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
While the depth and scope of our pain may pale in comparison with those affected by genocide, it’s nonetheless personal and real. And, as with the pain of Mary, because of what God has done for us it can be embraced and shared for the comfort and good of others. By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
When have you allowed someone else to share your sorrow? How does the body of Christ—the church—help you deal with the hard times in life?
Gracious God, forgive me for my reluctance to enter the pain of others. Help me to live more fully as a connected member of Your church.
Learn about loving as Jesus does at discoveryseries.org/q0208.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, February 10, 2020
Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?
Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things… —Isaiah 40:26
The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.
The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.
One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, February 10, 2020
Just Stuff - #8631
If it's spring in America, someone is going to get hit with floods unfortunately. Years ago, I think it was April 1997, North Dakota got hit hard - especially in the area around Grand Forks, North Dakota. One woman who had to flee her home was interviewed by a reporter. She was eating her lunch in a school shelter where hundreds of victims were bivouacked. She must have surprised that reporter when she said, "You know, I feel very fortunate." I mean, after all, what had been her home only a day before was now awash in sewage and fuel. Then she gave her reasons for feeling fortunate. And you often hear this after a disaster. She just said, "My children are all safe. The rest is just stuff."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just Stuff."
Now, that's a woman who, in the midst of losing a lot, had sorted out some of life's really core values. That's what God is calling us to do in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 2:15. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him ... The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
If God were teaching us in a classroom setting, He might draw a line down the center of the chalkboard and He'd put these headings at the top of each column: "Stuff that doesn't last" and "Stuff that does last." And He says to not get too attached to earth-stuff because it "passes away."
Our great love, our great passion, and our great pursuit should be for the "will of God" things that we can't lose. The rest is "just stuff." It's all part of Jesus' command to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33), even though we're surrounded by people who are totally consumed with getting possessions, getting promotions, getting prosperity, or getting prominence.
Actually, we've found that two of the most liberating words in the English language are these: "Earth stuff." Yep, over and over, my wife and I found ourselves saying those two words to regain our perspective in tough financial times, when something broke or got lost, or when we were trying to make some difficult choices. It just helps to stand back, look at what's really at stake, and be able to sort out what is "just earth stuff." It actually frees you from so much worry, anxiety and misplaced effort.
My life was profoundly affected by something that happened when I was becoming a teenager. Five American missionaries were martyred in their attempt to reach a tribe in the jungles of Ecuador; a tribe who had never heard the name of Jesus. Later, the widow of one and the sister of another went to that tribe to tell them about Jesus. Today, much of the Auca or Waodani Tribe knows Christ, and the murderers of the missionaries are the leaders of the Waodani church. Thousands of people are in God's work today, including me, because of the challenge of their example.
Jim Elliot, one of the martyred missionaries, sorted out the ultimate values in life in a powerful statement he wrote once. Here's what he said: "He is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Well, that's it right there.
Either you live for the things you cannot ultimately keep, or you live for the things you can never lose. So which ones are you pursuing?
Sunday, February 9, 2020
2 Corinthians 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Thought Prevention
We are not a victim of our thoughts. We have a vote. We have a voice. We can exercise thought prevention!
"Don't talk to me," we say. "I'm in a bad mood." As if a mood were a place to which we were assigned, rather than an emotion we permit. Or we say, "Don't mess with her. She has a bad disposition." Is a bad disposition something we have like a cold or the flu? Or do we have a choice? Paul says we do. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 he says, "We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ."
Capture every thought-you get the impression we're the soldiers and the thoughts are our enemies. The minute they appear we go into action. Selfishness, step back! Envy, get lost! Find another home, Anger…you aren't allowed on this turf!
Capturing thoughts is serious business! But, you can do it!
From Max on Life
2 Corinthians 2
That’s why I decided not to make another visit that could only be painful to both of us. If by merely showing up I would put you in an embarrassingly painful position, how would you then be free to cheer and refresh me?
3-4 That was my reason for writing a letter instead of coming—so I wouldn’t have to spend a miserable time disappointing the very friends I had looked forward to cheering me up. I was convinced at the time I wrote it that what was best for me was also best for you. As it turned out, there was pain enough just in writing that letter, more tears than ink on the parchment. But I didn’t write it to cause pain; I wrote it so you would know how much I care—oh, more than care—love you!
5-8 Now, regarding the one who started all this—the person in question who caused all this pain—I want you to know that I am not the one injured in this as much as, with a few exceptions, all of you. So I don’t want to come down too hard. What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My counsel now is to pour on the love.
9-11 The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!
12-14 When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found the place wide open: God had opened the door; all I had to do was walk through it. But when I didn’t find Titus waiting for me with news of your condition, I couldn’t relax. Worried about you, I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you. And I got it, thank God!
14-16 In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.
16-17 This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No—but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 103:8–14
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,u
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;v
10 he does not treat us as our sins deservew
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his lovex for those who fear him;y
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressionsz from us.
13 As a father has compassiona on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,b
he remembers that we are dust.c
Insight
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8) echoes the description of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:6–7). God’s love (Hebrew hesed) is often paired in the psalms with the word faithfulness (see Psalm 100:5), but Psalm 103 connects God’s love with His compassion (vv. 8, 13). The psalmist insists that God’s anger isn’t a vengeful, vindictive one, but is related to His longing for human beings to find forgiveness, healing, joy, and satisfaction in Him (vv. 3–5). By: Monica La Rose
We Are Dust
He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:14
The young father was at the end of his rope. “Ice cream! Ice cream!” his toddler screamed. The meltdown in the middle of the crowded mall began drawing the attention of shoppers nearby. “Fine, but we just need to do something for mommy first, okay?” the father said. “Nooooo! Ice cream!” And then she approached them: a small, well-dressed woman with shoes that matched her handbag. “He’s having a big fit,” the father said. The woman smiled and responded, “Actually, it looks like a big fit is having your little boy. Don’t forget he’s so small. He needs you to be patient and stay close.” The situation didn’t magically resolve itself, but it was just the kind of pause the father and son needed in the moment.
Echoes of the wise woman’s words are heard in Psalm 103. David writes of our God who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8). He then continues by invoking the image of an earthly father who “has compassion on his children,” and even more so “the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (v. 13). God our Father “knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (v. 14). He knows we’re small and fragile.
We often fail and are overwhelmed by what this big world hands us. What an amazing assurance to know of our Father’s patient, ever-present, abounding love. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
When have you felt overwhelmed like a little child? How do you believe God the Father responded to you in that moment?
Thank You for being our patient, present Father who remembers who and what we are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 09, 2020
Are You Exhausted Spiritually?
The everlasting God…neither faints nor is weary. —Isaiah 40:28
Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep,” but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, “O Lord, I am so exhausted.” He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
We are not a victim of our thoughts. We have a vote. We have a voice. We can exercise thought prevention!
"Don't talk to me," we say. "I'm in a bad mood." As if a mood were a place to which we were assigned, rather than an emotion we permit. Or we say, "Don't mess with her. She has a bad disposition." Is a bad disposition something we have like a cold or the flu? Or do we have a choice? Paul says we do. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 he says, "We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ."
Capture every thought-you get the impression we're the soldiers and the thoughts are our enemies. The minute they appear we go into action. Selfishness, step back! Envy, get lost! Find another home, Anger…you aren't allowed on this turf!
Capturing thoughts is serious business! But, you can do it!
From Max on Life
2 Corinthians 2
That’s why I decided not to make another visit that could only be painful to both of us. If by merely showing up I would put you in an embarrassingly painful position, how would you then be free to cheer and refresh me?
3-4 That was my reason for writing a letter instead of coming—so I wouldn’t have to spend a miserable time disappointing the very friends I had looked forward to cheering me up. I was convinced at the time I wrote it that what was best for me was also best for you. As it turned out, there was pain enough just in writing that letter, more tears than ink on the parchment. But I didn’t write it to cause pain; I wrote it so you would know how much I care—oh, more than care—love you!
5-8 Now, regarding the one who started all this—the person in question who caused all this pain—I want you to know that I am not the one injured in this as much as, with a few exceptions, all of you. So I don’t want to come down too hard. What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Now is the time to forgive this man and help him back on his feet. If all you do is pour on the guilt, you could very well drown him in it. My counsel now is to pour on the love.
9-11 The focus of my letter wasn’t on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don’t think I’m carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I’m joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!
12-14 When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found the place wide open: God had opened the door; all I had to do was walk through it. But when I didn’t find Titus waiting for me with news of your condition, I couldn’t relax. Worried about you, I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you. And I got it, thank God!
14-16 In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.
16-17 This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No—but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 09, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 103:8–14
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,u
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;v
10 he does not treat us as our sins deservew
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his lovex for those who fear him;y
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressionsz from us.
13 As a father has compassiona on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,b
he remembers that we are dust.c
Insight
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8) echoes the description of God revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:6–7). God’s love (Hebrew hesed) is often paired in the psalms with the word faithfulness (see Psalm 100:5), but Psalm 103 connects God’s love with His compassion (vv. 8, 13). The psalmist insists that God’s anger isn’t a vengeful, vindictive one, but is related to His longing for human beings to find forgiveness, healing, joy, and satisfaction in Him (vv. 3–5). By: Monica La Rose
We Are Dust
He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:14
The young father was at the end of his rope. “Ice cream! Ice cream!” his toddler screamed. The meltdown in the middle of the crowded mall began drawing the attention of shoppers nearby. “Fine, but we just need to do something for mommy first, okay?” the father said. “Nooooo! Ice cream!” And then she approached them: a small, well-dressed woman with shoes that matched her handbag. “He’s having a big fit,” the father said. The woman smiled and responded, “Actually, it looks like a big fit is having your little boy. Don’t forget he’s so small. He needs you to be patient and stay close.” The situation didn’t magically resolve itself, but it was just the kind of pause the father and son needed in the moment.
Echoes of the wise woman’s words are heard in Psalm 103. David writes of our God who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8). He then continues by invoking the image of an earthly father who “has compassion on his children,” and even more so “the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (v. 13). God our Father “knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (v. 14). He knows we’re small and fragile.
We often fail and are overwhelmed by what this big world hands us. What an amazing assurance to know of our Father’s patient, ever-present, abounding love. By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
When have you felt overwhelmed like a little child? How do you believe God the Father responded to you in that moment?
Thank You for being our patient, present Father who remembers who and what we are.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 09, 2020
Are You Exhausted Spiritually?
The everlasting God…neither faints nor is weary. —Isaiah 40:28
Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep,” but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, “O Lord, I am so exhausted.” He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
Saturday, February 8, 2020
2 Chronicles 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Connected But Not Altered
When you give your life to Christ, He moves in, unpacks his bags and is ready to change you into His likeness. So why do I still have the hang-ups of Max?
Part of the answer is in the story of a wealthy but frugal lady living in a small house at the turn of the century. Friends were surprised when she had electricity put in her home. Weeks afterward, a meter reader appeared. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage,” he said. “Are you using your power?” “Certainly,” she answered. “Each evening I turn on my lights long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.”
She’s tapped into the power but doesn’t use it. Her house is connected but not altered. Don’t we make the same mistake? God is willing to change us into the likeness of the Savior. Shall we accept His offer?
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19a).
From Just Like Jesus
2 Chronicles 9
The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s reputation and came to Jerusalem to put his reputation to the test, asking all the tough questions. She made a showy entrance—an impressive retinue of attendants and camels loaded with perfume and much gold and precious stones. She emptied her heart to Solomon, talking over everything she cared about. And Solomon answered everything she put to him—nothing stumped him. When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials, the sharply dressed waiters, the cupbearers, and then the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at The Temple of God, it all took her breath away.
5-8 She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. Lucky the men and women who work for you, getting to be around you every day and hear your wise words firsthand! And blessed be your God who has taken such a liking to you, making you king. Clearly, God’s love for Israel is behind this, making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people.”
9-11 She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold and sack after sack of spices and precious stones. There hasn’t been a cargo of spices like the shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the royal palace, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since.
12 King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart’s desire—everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants.
13-14 Solomon received twenty-five tons of gold annually. This was above and beyond the taxes and profit on trade with merchants and traders. All kings of Arabia and various and assorted governors also brought silver and gold to Solomon.
15-16 King Solomon crafted two hundred body-length shields of hammered gold—about fifteen pounds of gold to each shield—and about three hundred small shields about half that size. He stored the shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17-19 The king made a massive throne of ivory with a veneer of gold. The throne had six steps leading up to it with an attached footstool of gold. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions. Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom.
20 King Solomon’s chalices and tankards were made of gold, and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap in the time of Solomon.
21 The king’s ships, manned by Hiram’s sailors, made a round trip to Tarshish every three years, returning with a cargo of gold, silver, and ivory, apes and peacocks.
22-24 King Solomon was richer and wiser than all the kings of the earth—he surpassed them all. Kings came from all over the world to be with Solomon and get in on the wisdom God had given him. Everyone who came brought gifts—artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, horses, and mules—parades of visitors, year after year.
25-28 Solomon collected horses and chariots. He had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen in barracks in the chariot-cities and in Jerusalem. He ruled over all the kings from the River Euphrates in the east, throughout the Philistine country, and as far west as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common as rocks and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills. He carried on a brisk horse-trading business with Egypt and other places.
29-31 The rest of Solomon’s life and rule, from start to finish, one can read in the records of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. Solomon died and was buried in the City of David his father. His son Rehoboam was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 48
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord,q and most worthy of praise,r
in the city of our God,s his holy mountain.t
2 Beautifulu in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphonb v is Mount Zion,w
the city of the Great King.x
3 God is in her citadels;y
he has shown himself to be her fortress.z
4 When the kings joined forces,
when they advanced together,a
5 they saw her and were astounded;
they fled in terror.b
6 Trembling seizedc them there,
pain like that of a woman in labor.d
7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshishe
shattered by an east wind.f
8 As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever.c g
9 Within your temple, O God,
we meditateh on your unfailing love.i
10 Like your name,j O God,
your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;k
your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion rejoices,
the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments.l
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
count her towers,m
13 consider well her ramparts,n
view her citadels,o
that you may tell of them
to the next generation.p
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guideq even to the end.
Insight
Psalm 48 is a hymn which may have been adopted as a celebration of Zion (Jerusalem). Scholars suggest it was used during the Feast of Tabernacles. God’s presence was declared to be in the city of Zion’s citadels as a fortress (v. 3). The picture of kings fleeing in terror at the sight of the city (vv. 4–5) held up Zion as a symbol of God’s protection. The call to “walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels” (vv. 12–13) would have allowed those present to see Zion’s structures and gain a tangible sense of God’s presence and protection—a physical act of worship that would strengthen their faith. By: Julie Schwab
Raise Praise
Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Psalm 48:10
You can generally tell where a map was drawn by what lies in its middle. We tend to think our home is the center of the world, so we put a dot in the middle and sketch out from there. Nearby towns might be fifty miles to the north or half a day’s drive to the south, but all are described in relation to where we are. The Psalms draw their “map” from God’s earthly home in the Old Testament, so the center of biblical geography is Jerusalem.
Psalm 48 is one of many psalms that praise Jerusalem. This “city of our God, his holy mountain” is “beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth” (vv. 1–2). Because “God is in her citadels,” He “makes her secure forever” (vv. 3, 8). God’s fame begins in Jerusalem’s temple and spreads outward to “the ends of the earth” (vv. 9–10).
Unless you’re reading this in Jerusalem, your home is not in the center of the biblical world. Yet your region matters immensely, because God will not rest until His praise reaches “to the ends of the earth” (v. 10). Would you like to be part of the way God reaches His goal? Worship each week with God’s people, and openly live each day for His glory. God’s fame extends “to the ends of the earth” when we devote all that we are and have to Him. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
How have you spread God’s fame this week? What else might you do?
Father, use me to spread Your fame to the ends of the earth.
To learn more about the Psalms, visit christianuniversity.org/OT222.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 08, 2020
The Cost of Sanctification
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself…” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R
When you give your life to Christ, He moves in, unpacks his bags and is ready to change you into His likeness. So why do I still have the hang-ups of Max?
Part of the answer is in the story of a wealthy but frugal lady living in a small house at the turn of the century. Friends were surprised when she had electricity put in her home. Weeks afterward, a meter reader appeared. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage,” he said. “Are you using your power?” “Certainly,” she answered. “Each evening I turn on my lights long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.”
She’s tapped into the power but doesn’t use it. Her house is connected but not altered. Don’t we make the same mistake? God is willing to change us into the likeness of the Savior. Shall we accept His offer?
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19a).
From Just Like Jesus
2 Chronicles 9
The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s reputation and came to Jerusalem to put his reputation to the test, asking all the tough questions. She made a showy entrance—an impressive retinue of attendants and camels loaded with perfume and much gold and precious stones. She emptied her heart to Solomon, talking over everything she cared about. And Solomon answered everything she put to him—nothing stumped him. When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon’s wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials, the sharply dressed waiters, the cupbearers, and then the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at The Temple of God, it all took her breath away.
5-8 She said to the king, “It’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. Lucky the men and women who work for you, getting to be around you every day and hear your wise words firsthand! And blessed be your God who has taken such a liking to you, making you king. Clearly, God’s love for Israel is behind this, making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people.”
9-11 She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold and sack after sack of spices and precious stones. There hasn’t been a cargo of spices like the shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the royal palace, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since.
12 King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart’s desire—everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants.
13-14 Solomon received twenty-five tons of gold annually. This was above and beyond the taxes and profit on trade with merchants and traders. All kings of Arabia and various and assorted governors also brought silver and gold to Solomon.
15-16 King Solomon crafted two hundred body-length shields of hammered gold—about fifteen pounds of gold to each shield—and about three hundred small shields about half that size. He stored the shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17-19 The king made a massive throne of ivory with a veneer of gold. The throne had six steps leading up to it with an attached footstool of gold. The armrests on each side were flanked by lions. Lions, twelve of them, were placed at either end of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom.
20 King Solomon’s chalices and tankards were made of gold, and all the dinnerware and serving utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver; silver was considered common and cheap in the time of Solomon.
21 The king’s ships, manned by Hiram’s sailors, made a round trip to Tarshish every three years, returning with a cargo of gold, silver, and ivory, apes and peacocks.
22-24 King Solomon was richer and wiser than all the kings of the earth—he surpassed them all. Kings came from all over the world to be with Solomon and get in on the wisdom God had given him. Everyone who came brought gifts—artifacts of gold and silver, fashionable robes and gowns, the latest in weapons, exotic spices, horses, and mules—parades of visitors, year after year.
25-28 Solomon collected horses and chariots. He had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen in barracks in the chariot-cities and in Jerusalem. He ruled over all the kings from the River Euphrates in the east, throughout the Philistine country, and as far west as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common as rocks and cedar as common as the fig trees in the lowland hills. He carried on a brisk horse-trading business with Egypt and other places.
29-31 The rest of Solomon’s life and rule, from start to finish, one can read in the records of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. Solomon died and was buried in the City of David his father. His son Rehoboam was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, February 08, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 48
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord,q and most worthy of praise,r
in the city of our God,s his holy mountain.t
2 Beautifulu in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphonb v is Mount Zion,w
the city of the Great King.x
3 God is in her citadels;y
he has shown himself to be her fortress.z
4 When the kings joined forces,
when they advanced together,a
5 they saw her and were astounded;
they fled in terror.b
6 Trembling seizedc them there,
pain like that of a woman in labor.d
7 You destroyed them like ships of Tarshishe
shattered by an east wind.f
8 As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever.c g
9 Within your temple, O God,
we meditateh on your unfailing love.i
10 Like your name,j O God,
your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;k
your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion rejoices,
the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments.l
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
count her towers,m
13 consider well her ramparts,n
view her citadels,o
that you may tell of them
to the next generation.p
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guideq even to the end.
Insight
Psalm 48 is a hymn which may have been adopted as a celebration of Zion (Jerusalem). Scholars suggest it was used during the Feast of Tabernacles. God’s presence was declared to be in the city of Zion’s citadels as a fortress (v. 3). The picture of kings fleeing in terror at the sight of the city (vv. 4–5) held up Zion as a symbol of God’s protection. The call to “walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels” (vv. 12–13) would have allowed those present to see Zion’s structures and gain a tangible sense of God’s presence and protection—a physical act of worship that would strengthen their faith. By: Julie Schwab
Raise Praise
Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Psalm 48:10
You can generally tell where a map was drawn by what lies in its middle. We tend to think our home is the center of the world, so we put a dot in the middle and sketch out from there. Nearby towns might be fifty miles to the north or half a day’s drive to the south, but all are described in relation to where we are. The Psalms draw their “map” from God’s earthly home in the Old Testament, so the center of biblical geography is Jerusalem.
Psalm 48 is one of many psalms that praise Jerusalem. This “city of our God, his holy mountain” is “beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth” (vv. 1–2). Because “God is in her citadels,” He “makes her secure forever” (vv. 3, 8). God’s fame begins in Jerusalem’s temple and spreads outward to “the ends of the earth” (vv. 9–10).
Unless you’re reading this in Jerusalem, your home is not in the center of the biblical world. Yet your region matters immensely, because God will not rest until His praise reaches “to the ends of the earth” (v. 10). Would you like to be part of the way God reaches His goal? Worship each week with God’s people, and openly live each day for His glory. God’s fame extends “to the ends of the earth” when we devote all that we are and have to Him. By: Mike Wittmer
Reflect & Pray
How have you spread God’s fame this week? What else might you do?
Father, use me to spread Your fame to the ends of the earth.
To learn more about the Psalms, visit christianuniversity.org/OT222.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 08, 2020
The Cost of Sanctification
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely… —1 Thessalonians 5:23
When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself…” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.
Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R
Friday, February 7, 2020
2 Chronicles 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE
We all ask the question, “Am I somebody important?” It’s easy to feel anything but important when your ex takes your energy, or old age takes your dignity. Somebody important? Hardly. But remember this promise of God: you were created by God, in God’s image, for God’s glory.
God spoke, “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature, so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth” (Genesis 1:26 MSG).
God never declared, “Let us make oceans in our image,” or “birds in our likeness.” The heavens above reflect the glory of God, but they are not made in the image of God. Yet you are! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 8
At the end of twenty years, Solomon had quite a list of accomplishments. He had:
built The Temple of God and his own palace;
rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given him and colonized them with Israelites;
marched on Hamath Zobah and took it;
fortified Tadmor in the desert and all the store-cities he had founded in Hamath;
built the fortress cities Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, complete with walls, gates, and bars;
built Baalath and store-cities;
built chariot-cities for his horses.
Solomon built impulsively and extravagantly—whenever a whim took him. And in Jerusalem, in Lebanon—wherever he fancied.
7-10 The remnants from the original inhabitants of the land (Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites—all non-Israelites), survivors of the holy wars, were rounded up by Solomon for his gangs of slave labor. The policy is in effect today. But true Israelites were not treated this way; they were used in his army and administration—government leaders and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also the project managers responsible for Solomon’s building operations—250 in all in charge of the workforce.
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to a house built especially for her, “Because,” he said, “my wife cannot live in the house of David king of Israel, for the areas in which the Chest of God has entered are sacred.”
12-13 Then Solomon offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings to God on the Altar of God that he had built in front of The Temple porch. He kept to the regular schedule of worship set down by Moses: Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual feasts of Unraised Bread (Passover), Weeks (Pentecost), and Booths.
14-15 He followed the practice of his father David in setting up groups of priests carrying out the work of worship, with the Levites assigned to lead the sacred music for praising God and to assist the priests in the daily worship; he assigned security guards to be on duty at each gate—that’s what David the man of God had ordered. The king’s directions to the priests and Levites and financial stewards were kept right down to the fine print—no innovations—including the treasuries.
16 All that Solomon set out to do, from the groundbreaking of The Temple of God to its finish, was now complete.
17-18 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. Hiram sent him ships and with them veteran sailors. Joined by Solomon’s men they sailed to Ophir (in east Africa), loaded on fifteen tons of gold, and brought it back to King Solomon.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Colossians 3:12–17
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselvesu with compassion, kindness, humility,v gentleness and patience.w 13 Bear with each otherx and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.y 14 And over all these virtues put on love,z which binds them all together in perfect unity.a
15 Let the peace of Christb rule in your hearts, since as members of one bodyc you were called to peace.d And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christe dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdomf through psalms,g hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.h 17 And whatever you do,i whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanksj to God the Father through him.
Insight
It appears that the faith community in Colossae was a sister church to the church at nearby Laodicea (the same Laodicea Jesus so strongly challenged in Revelation 3:14–22). Paul writes to the church at Colossae: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). Not only were these cities close geographically, but there was a solid relationship between them—even to the point of sharing their letters with one another. Additionally, the church at Colossae received a letter written to one of its leaders, Philemon. The Colossians would have had the benefit of no less than three letters from the apostle Paul. By: Bill Crowder
Does What We Do Matter?
Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
I dropped my forehead to my hand with a sigh, “I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done.” My friend’s voice crackled through the phone: “You have to give yourself some credit. You’re doing a lot.” He then listed the things I was trying to do—maintain a healthy lifestyle, work, do well in graduate school, write, and attend a Bible study. I wanted to do all these things for God, but instead I was more focused on what I was doing than how I was doing it—or that perhaps I was trying to do too much.
Paul reminded the church in Colossae that they were to live in a way that glorified God. Ultimately, what they specifically did on a day-to-day basis was not as important as how they did it. They were to do their work with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12), to be forgiving, and above all to love (vv. 13–14) and to “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 17). Their work wasn’t to be separated from Christlike living.
What we do matters, but how we do it, why, and who we do it for matters more. Each day we can choose to work in a stressed-out way or in a way that honors God and seeks out the meaning Jesus adds to our work. When we pursue the latter, we find satisfaction. By: Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you do things out of need or obligation rather than for God’s glory? How do you think meaning is found in Christ rather than accomplishments?
Jesus, forgive me for the times I stress over what I’m trying to accomplish. Help me to instead seek to accomplish things for Your glory.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 07, 2020
Spiritual Dejection
We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. —Luke 24:21
Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that has even a hint of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If I am depressed or burdened, I am to blame, not God or anyone else. Dejection stems from one of two sources— I have either satisfied a lust or I have not had it satisfied. In either case, dejection is the result. Lust means “I must have it at once.” Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today “the third day” and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore justified in being dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected, because dejection is a sign of sickness. This is also true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.
We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 07, 2020
A Father's Greatest Gift - #8630
Okay, so it was one of those times when our kids were going crazy that my wife would love to repeat one of her favorite sayings, "The apple falls not far from the tree." I never did hear her say that when they did something good. Actually, I have been credited or blamed for a number of things as their father. Supposedly, my daughter has her father's nose, and some people think she got some writing ability from me. My sons have been accused of having my sense of humor, which is totally scary. I wish I could find out who has their father's hair; more and more of it is missing. Well, if you're a father, your children do have a lot of you in them, let's face it. I hope they've inherited what really matters from you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Father's Greatest Gift."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 3:6. Moses is at the crossroads of his life. He is about to be directed by God to lead God's people out of slavery in Egypt. This is huge! God is making this awesome personal appearance to him, and He tells Moses how to approach this holy ground. And then, in a sense, He introduces Himself to this overwhelmed servant of God. Here's what the Bible says, "Then He said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'" Now that last part of God's signature was a title He used often in Old Testament times. But what's distinctive was that God begins by telling Moses he was the God of his father.
Deep inside Moses was this buried treasure that God was opening at the burning bush - a lifetime of knowing Jehovah God. Moses had lived in pagan affluence, he'd lived in a wilderness, but no matter where he went, he carried this spiritual treasure. And who put it there? His father!
But then, a lot of our attitude toward God comes from the kind of man Dad is. After all, God has asked us to call Him Father. And when we hear about God, we tend to call up our feelings about our earthly father. Sadly, those feelings are pretty painful and negative in some young people. I've often had to remind them that God is not the father you had on earth, but he's the father you always wished you had.
As a father, you have a lot of important roles, but none is so cosmic, so eternal as planting God in your son or daughter. Our culture has this idea that spiritual stuff is a mom's business, but that's dead wrong. God didn't introduce Himself as the God of your mother, even though she was a godly woman. In Ephesians 6:4, when God gives the New Testament instruction to raise your children in the Lord, it is introduced to fathers! The spiritual buck stops with the man!
Your child is learning how important this Heavenly Father is from your teaching or how unimportant He seems to be from your silence. Your son or daughter is learning about God from how you treat them. Is "father" forgiving or unforgiving; attentive or inattentive; affectionate or detached; pure or profane; truthful or untrustworthy. Is he fair or arbitrary? Is he there for you or not there for you?
What if God were to appear to your child in their moment of crisis and say, "I am the God of your father." What kind of God would they think He is? There was a five-year-old boy in a New York hospital who was dying of leukemia. One night his father was getting ready to leave, and the boy said, "Daddy, what is God like?" The father cleared his throat a couple of times and fumbled around for an answer. The little guy could tell his dad was uncomfortable, so he just said, "Daddy, that's OK. If God's like you, then I'm not afraid." Wow!
Dad, show them that kind of God. And if you can't because you don't know Him
yourself, maybe it's time to make God your Father by trusting Jesus to be your Savior. If you want to know how to have that relationship with Him, Dad, go to our website. It's ANewStory.com.
And make sure daily you give your precious son or daughter more of God, because all a child can get from a father, that is His greatest gift of all.
We all ask the question, “Am I somebody important?” It’s easy to feel anything but important when your ex takes your energy, or old age takes your dignity. Somebody important? Hardly. But remember this promise of God: you were created by God, in God’s image, for God’s glory.
God spoke, “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature, so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth” (Genesis 1:26 MSG).
God never declared, “Let us make oceans in our image,” or “birds in our likeness.” The heavens above reflect the glory of God, but they are not made in the image of God. Yet you are! And because God’s promises are unbreakable our hope is unshakable!
2 Chronicles 8
At the end of twenty years, Solomon had quite a list of accomplishments. He had:
built The Temple of God and his own palace;
rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given him and colonized them with Israelites;
marched on Hamath Zobah and took it;
fortified Tadmor in the desert and all the store-cities he had founded in Hamath;
built the fortress cities Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, complete with walls, gates, and bars;
built Baalath and store-cities;
built chariot-cities for his horses.
Solomon built impulsively and extravagantly—whenever a whim took him. And in Jerusalem, in Lebanon—wherever he fancied.
7-10 The remnants from the original inhabitants of the land (Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites—all non-Israelites), survivors of the holy wars, were rounded up by Solomon for his gangs of slave labor. The policy is in effect today. But true Israelites were not treated this way; they were used in his army and administration—government leaders and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also the project managers responsible for Solomon’s building operations—250 in all in charge of the workforce.
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to a house built especially for her, “Because,” he said, “my wife cannot live in the house of David king of Israel, for the areas in which the Chest of God has entered are sacred.”
12-13 Then Solomon offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings to God on the Altar of God that he had built in front of The Temple porch. He kept to the regular schedule of worship set down by Moses: Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual feasts of Unraised Bread (Passover), Weeks (Pentecost), and Booths.
14-15 He followed the practice of his father David in setting up groups of priests carrying out the work of worship, with the Levites assigned to lead the sacred music for praising God and to assist the priests in the daily worship; he assigned security guards to be on duty at each gate—that’s what David the man of God had ordered. The king’s directions to the priests and Levites and financial stewards were kept right down to the fine print—no innovations—including the treasuries.
16 All that Solomon set out to do, from the groundbreaking of The Temple of God to its finish, was now complete.
17-18 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. Hiram sent him ships and with them veteran sailors. Joined by Solomon’s men they sailed to Ophir (in east Africa), loaded on fifteen tons of gold, and brought it back to King Solomon.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Colossians 3:12–17
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselvesu with compassion, kindness, humility,v gentleness and patience.w 13 Bear with each otherx and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.y 14 And over all these virtues put on love,z which binds them all together in perfect unity.a
15 Let the peace of Christb rule in your hearts, since as members of one bodyc you were called to peace.d And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christe dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdomf through psalms,g hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.h 17 And whatever you do,i whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanksj to God the Father through him.
Insight
It appears that the faith community in Colossae was a sister church to the church at nearby Laodicea (the same Laodicea Jesus so strongly challenged in Revelation 3:14–22). Paul writes to the church at Colossae: “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). Not only were these cities close geographically, but there was a solid relationship between them—even to the point of sharing their letters with one another. Additionally, the church at Colossae received a letter written to one of its leaders, Philemon. The Colossians would have had the benefit of no less than three letters from the apostle Paul. By: Bill Crowder
Does What We Do Matter?
Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
I dropped my forehead to my hand with a sigh, “I don’t know how I’m going to get it all done.” My friend’s voice crackled through the phone: “You have to give yourself some credit. You’re doing a lot.” He then listed the things I was trying to do—maintain a healthy lifestyle, work, do well in graduate school, write, and attend a Bible study. I wanted to do all these things for God, but instead I was more focused on what I was doing than how I was doing it—or that perhaps I was trying to do too much.
Paul reminded the church in Colossae that they were to live in a way that glorified God. Ultimately, what they specifically did on a day-to-day basis was not as important as how they did it. They were to do their work with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12), to be forgiving, and above all to love (vv. 13–14) and to “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 17). Their work wasn’t to be separated from Christlike living.
What we do matters, but how we do it, why, and who we do it for matters more. Each day we can choose to work in a stressed-out way or in a way that honors God and seeks out the meaning Jesus adds to our work. When we pursue the latter, we find satisfaction. By: Julie Schwab
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you do things out of need or obligation rather than for God’s glory? How do you think meaning is found in Christ rather than accomplishments?
Jesus, forgive me for the times I stress over what I’m trying to accomplish. Help me to instead seek to accomplish things for Your glory.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 07, 2020
Spiritual Dejection
We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. —Luke 24:21
Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that has even a hint of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If I am depressed or burdened, I am to blame, not God or anyone else. Dejection stems from one of two sources— I have either satisfied a lust or I have not had it satisfied. In either case, dejection is the result. Lust means “I must have it at once.” Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today “the third day” and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore justified in being dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected, because dejection is a sign of sickness. This is also true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.
We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God’s power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everyday events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificent deity of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Am I learning how to use my Bible? The way to become complete for the Master’s service is to be well soaked in the Bible; some of us only exploit certain passages. Our Lord wants to give us continuous instruction out of His word; continuous instruction turns hearers into disciples. Approved Unto God, 11 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 07, 2020
A Father's Greatest Gift - #8630
Okay, so it was one of those times when our kids were going crazy that my wife would love to repeat one of her favorite sayings, "The apple falls not far from the tree." I never did hear her say that when they did something good. Actually, I have been credited or blamed for a number of things as their father. Supposedly, my daughter has her father's nose, and some people think she got some writing ability from me. My sons have been accused of having my sense of humor, which is totally scary. I wish I could find out who has their father's hair; more and more of it is missing. Well, if you're a father, your children do have a lot of you in them, let's face it. I hope they've inherited what really matters from you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Father's Greatest Gift."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 3:6. Moses is at the crossroads of his life. He is about to be directed by God to lead God's people out of slavery in Egypt. This is huge! God is making this awesome personal appearance to him, and He tells Moses how to approach this holy ground. And then, in a sense, He introduces Himself to this overwhelmed servant of God. Here's what the Bible says, "Then He said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'" Now that last part of God's signature was a title He used often in Old Testament times. But what's distinctive was that God begins by telling Moses he was the God of his father.
Deep inside Moses was this buried treasure that God was opening at the burning bush - a lifetime of knowing Jehovah God. Moses had lived in pagan affluence, he'd lived in a wilderness, but no matter where he went, he carried this spiritual treasure. And who put it there? His father!
But then, a lot of our attitude toward God comes from the kind of man Dad is. After all, God has asked us to call Him Father. And when we hear about God, we tend to call up our feelings about our earthly father. Sadly, those feelings are pretty painful and negative in some young people. I've often had to remind them that God is not the father you had on earth, but he's the father you always wished you had.
As a father, you have a lot of important roles, but none is so cosmic, so eternal as planting God in your son or daughter. Our culture has this idea that spiritual stuff is a mom's business, but that's dead wrong. God didn't introduce Himself as the God of your mother, even though she was a godly woman. In Ephesians 6:4, when God gives the New Testament instruction to raise your children in the Lord, it is introduced to fathers! The spiritual buck stops with the man!
Your child is learning how important this Heavenly Father is from your teaching or how unimportant He seems to be from your silence. Your son or daughter is learning about God from how you treat them. Is "father" forgiving or unforgiving; attentive or inattentive; affectionate or detached; pure or profane; truthful or untrustworthy. Is he fair or arbitrary? Is he there for you or not there for you?
What if God were to appear to your child in their moment of crisis and say, "I am the God of your father." What kind of God would they think He is? There was a five-year-old boy in a New York hospital who was dying of leukemia. One night his father was getting ready to leave, and the boy said, "Daddy, what is God like?" The father cleared his throat a couple of times and fumbled around for an answer. The little guy could tell his dad was uncomfortable, so he just said, "Daddy, that's OK. If God's like you, then I'm not afraid." Wow!
Dad, show them that kind of God. And if you can't because you don't know Him
yourself, maybe it's time to make God your Father by trusting Jesus to be your Savior. If you want to know how to have that relationship with Him, Dad, go to our website. It's ANewStory.com.
And make sure daily you give your precious son or daughter more of God, because all a child can get from a father, that is His greatest gift of all.
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