Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday
Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.
It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.
Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
from Six Hours One Friday
Isaiah 7
During the time that Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.
3-6 Then God told Isaiah, “Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don’t be afraid. And don’t panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there’s nothing to them. Aram, along with Ephraim’s son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They’ve conspired against you, saying, ‘Let’s go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.’
7-9 But God, the Master, says,
“It won’t happen.
Nothing will come of it
Because the capital of Aram is Damascus
and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.
As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years
it will be rubble, nothing left of it.
The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.
If you don’t take your stand in faith,
you won’t have a leg to stand on.”
10-11 God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
12 But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”
13-17 So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”
18-19 That’s when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt’s Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. They’ll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There’ll be no getting away from them.
20 And that’s when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He’ll shave off your beards while he’s at it.
21-22 It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. At least they’ll have plenty of milk! Whoever’s left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods—curds, whey, and honey.
23-25 But that’s not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won’t be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 15:5–8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;y apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.z 7 If you remain in mea and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.b 8 This is to my Father’s glory,c that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Insight
It’s important to consider the full revelation of God in Scripture when trying to understand the meaning of any passage. Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “Apart from me, you can do nothing,” are similar to Paul’s statements in Acts 17:28, “In him we live and move and have our being,” and Colossians 1:17, “in him all things hold together.” All of these verses emphasize the necessity of Christ to our very existence.
In John 15, Jesus is speaking specifically to His followers. He’s talking about the fruit that comes from the branch connected to the vine. When Jesus says that without Him we can do nothing, He means that without the source of life—the vine—the branch can’t even produce a leaf or a flower, let alone the fruit that brings God honor.
Fruit Juice
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. John 15:5
A thrift-store bargain, the lamp seemed perfect for my home office—the right color, size, and price. Back at home, however, when I plugged in the cord, nothing happened. No light. No power. No juice.
No problem, my husband assured me. “I can fix that. Easy.” As he took the lamp apart, he saw the trouble immediately. The plug wasn’t connected to anything. Without wiring to a source of power, the “perfect” pretty lamp was useless.
The same is true for us. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” But then he added this reminder: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
This teaching was given in a grape-growing region, so His disciples readily understood it. Grapevines are hardy plants, and their branches tolerate vigorous pruning. Cut off from their life source, however, the branches are worthless deadwood. So it is with us.
As we remain in Jesus and let His words dwell in us, we’re wired to our life source—Christ Himself. “This is to my Father’s glory,” said Jesus, “that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (v. 8). Such a fruitful outcome needs daily nourishment, however. Freely, God provides it through the Scriptures and His love. So plug in and let the juice flow! By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
What does it mean for you to remain in Jesus? How has He equipped you to bear fruit for Him?
All-powerful God, empower me to remain in You and allow Your loving Word to yield good fruit in me.
To learn more about growing spiritually, visit christianuniversity.org/SF104.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits
You also be ready… —Luke 12:40
A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.
Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle— we must be spiritually real.
If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Acts 20:1-16 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Spiritual MRI
We can't live with foreign objects buried in our bodies or our souls. What would an X-ray of your interior reveal? Remorse over a poor choice? Shame about the marriage that didn't work, the temptation you couldn't resist? Guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating. Sometimes so deeply embedded you don't know the cause.
And you can be touchy, you know. Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul. Would you like an extraction? Here's what you do. Confess! Ask God to help you. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Confession. You see, confessors find a freedom that deniers don't. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins! He will cleanse us. Not might, could, would, or should. He WILL!
From Grace
Acts 20:1-16
With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus. Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia. Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.
2-4 Then he came to Greece and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria, the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia, and gave them the slip. His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5-6 They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week.
7-9 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.
10-12 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.
13-16 In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Kings 6:1–7
An Axhead Floats
6 The companyl of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threwm it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Insight
Most of Israel had turned against God, but a faithful remnant of seven thousand had not worshiped the pagan god Baal (1 Kings 19:18). These included at least three schools of prophets. Scholars believe these schools (perhaps the equivalent of Bible seminaries today) were started by Samuel (1 Samuel 19:20). At the time of Elisha, “the company of the prophets” could be found in three cities: Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), Jericho (v. 5), and Gilgal (4:38). In 2 Kings 6:1–7, Elisha was teaching the students who were training for ministry. Because their meeting place was too small, they decided to build a bigger classroom (vv. 1–2). While cutting a tree, the iron ax fell into the Jordan River. The loss of the borrowed ax would be extremely costly for that student because very few tools at that time were made of iron. Elisha saved that man from debt, if he were unable to compensate for such a huge loss, and possible servitude.
The Would-Be Woodcutter
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
One year when I was in college, I cut, stacked, sold, and delivered firewood. It was a hard job, so I have empathy for the hapless logger in the 2 Kings 6 story.
Elisha’s school for prophets had prospered, and their meeting place had become too small. Someone suggested they go into the woods, cut logs, and enlarge their facilities. Elisha agreed and accompanied the workers. Things were going remarkably well until someone’s axhead fell into the water (v. 5).
Some have suggested that Elisha simply probed in the water with his stick until he located the axhead and dragged it into sight. That would hardly be worth mentioning, however. No, it was a miracle: The axhead was set in motion by God’s hand and began to float so the man could retrieve it (vv. 6–7).
The simple miracle enshrines a profound truth: God cares about the small stuff of life—lost axheads, lost keys, lost glasses, lost phones—the little things that cause us to fret. He doesn’t always restore what’s lost, but He understands and comforts us in our distress.
Next to the assurance of our salvation, the assurance of God’s care is essential. Without it we would feel alone in the world, exposed to innumerable worries. It’s good to know He cares and is moved by our losses—small as they may be. Our concerns are His concerns. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What “little” things are troubling you that you can cast on God right now? How does it encourage you to know that you can be assured of His daily care for you?
Loving God, here are my concerns. Please take them, provide as You see best, and give me Your peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8
ust because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44
We can't live with foreign objects buried in our bodies or our souls. What would an X-ray of your interior reveal? Remorse over a poor choice? Shame about the marriage that didn't work, the temptation you couldn't resist? Guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating. Sometimes so deeply embedded you don't know the cause.
And you can be touchy, you know. Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul. Would you like an extraction? Here's what you do. Confess! Ask God to help you. Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Confession. You see, confessors find a freedom that deniers don't. If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins! He will cleanse us. Not might, could, would, or should. He WILL!
From Grace
Acts 20:1-16
With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus. Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia. Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.
2-4 Then he came to Greece and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria, the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia, and gave them the slip. His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
5-6 They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week.
7-9 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.
10-12 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.
13-16 In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Kings 6:1–7
An Axhead Floats
6 The companyl of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.”
And he said, “Go.”
3 Then one of them said, “Won’t you please come with your servants?”
“I will,” Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”
6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threwm it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
Insight
Most of Israel had turned against God, but a faithful remnant of seven thousand had not worshiped the pagan god Baal (1 Kings 19:18). These included at least three schools of prophets. Scholars believe these schools (perhaps the equivalent of Bible seminaries today) were started by Samuel (1 Samuel 19:20). At the time of Elisha, “the company of the prophets” could be found in three cities: Bethel (2 Kings 2:3), Jericho (v. 5), and Gilgal (4:38). In 2 Kings 6:1–7, Elisha was teaching the students who were training for ministry. Because their meeting place was too small, they decided to build a bigger classroom (vv. 1–2). While cutting a tree, the iron ax fell into the Jordan River. The loss of the borrowed ax would be extremely costly for that student because very few tools at that time were made of iron. Elisha saved that man from debt, if he were unable to compensate for such a huge loss, and possible servitude.
The Would-Be Woodcutter
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
One year when I was in college, I cut, stacked, sold, and delivered firewood. It was a hard job, so I have empathy for the hapless logger in the 2 Kings 6 story.
Elisha’s school for prophets had prospered, and their meeting place had become too small. Someone suggested they go into the woods, cut logs, and enlarge their facilities. Elisha agreed and accompanied the workers. Things were going remarkably well until someone’s axhead fell into the water (v. 5).
Some have suggested that Elisha simply probed in the water with his stick until he located the axhead and dragged it into sight. That would hardly be worth mentioning, however. No, it was a miracle: The axhead was set in motion by God’s hand and began to float so the man could retrieve it (vv. 6–7).
The simple miracle enshrines a profound truth: God cares about the small stuff of life—lost axheads, lost keys, lost glasses, lost phones—the little things that cause us to fret. He doesn’t always restore what’s lost, but He understands and comforts us in our distress.
Next to the assurance of our salvation, the assurance of God’s care is essential. Without it we would feel alone in the world, exposed to innumerable worries. It’s good to know He cares and is moved by our losses—small as they may be. Our concerns are His concerns. By: David H. Roper
Reflect & Pray
What “little” things are troubling you that you can cast on God right now? How does it encourage you to know that you can be assured of His daily care for you?
Loving God, here are my concerns. Please take them, provide as You see best, and give me Your peace.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?
"Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "…are You going there again?" —John 11:7-8
ust because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.
Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
Bible in a Year: Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44
Friday, March 27, 2020
2 Chronicles 32, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: I WILL GIVE YOU PEACE
There is a story in the Bible about some men in a boat who were caught in the midst of a big storm. They are afraid for their lives. All hope seems lost. But then they call on Jesus who is in the boat with them. He answers their call and speaks peace to the storm. He calms the raging sea around them, and most importantly, the fear in their hearts.
God wants to bring peace into the storms in our lives. He doesn’t want us living in fear or losing our hope. When the storm rages around us, we can find comfort knowing that we are not alone. The God of Peace is in the boat with us. We are not alone. We are not facing the storm alone. He is with us and he is for us, if we will call on him.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 32
And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege, determined to take them.
2-4 When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib’s strategy was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city; they thought it was a good idea. There was a great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear down the aqueduct. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria march in and be furnished with running water?”
5-6 Hezekiah also went to work repairing every part of the city wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive rampart (the Millo) of the old City of David. He also built up a large store of armaments—spears and shields. He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the people and got them all together at the public square in front of the city gate.
6-8 Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!”
Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines.
9-15 Later on, Sennacherib, who had set up camp a few miles away at Lachish, sent messengers to Jerusalem, addressing Judah through Hezekiah: “A proclamation of Sennacherib king of Assyria: You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead. Wasn’t it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines and told you, ‘There is only one legitimate place to worship’? Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors—what kind of odds does that give your god?”
16 The messengers felt free to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God and God’s servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib continued to send letters insulting the God of Israel: “The gods of the nations were powerless to help their people; the god of Hezekiah is no better, probably worse.”
18-19 The messengers would come up to the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lumped the God of Jerusalem in with the handmade gods of other peoples.
20-21 King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him.
22-23 God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and everyone else. And he continued to take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem bringing offerings for the worship of God and expensive presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed—Hezekiah’s stock soared.
24 Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign.
25-26 But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived.
27-31 Hezekiah ended up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and valuables, barns for the grain, new wine, and olive oil, stalls for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks. He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and rerouting the water to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
32-33 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself—it’s written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the upper part of the King David cemetery. Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He was buried in great honor.
Manasseh his son was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:12–19
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodnessa to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the nameb of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vowsc to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sightd of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.e
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;f
I serve you just as my mother did;g
you have freed me from my chains.h
17 I will sacrifice a thank offeringi to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vowsj to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtsk of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.l
Praise the Lord.
Insight
We don’t know who penned this psalm, but we readily identify with the writer’s humanity. A life-threatening ordeal—perhaps some disease or an event in battle—had brought the author face to face with death and closer to God as a consequence. “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me” (Psalm 116:3). This terror prompted the author to call on the Almighty: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ ” (v. 4). Yet ultimately, death isn’t to be feared. The most quoted section of the psalm is, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Might the motivation for this declaration have been the death of the writer’s God-fearing mother? For in the very next line the psalmist says, “I serve you just as my mother did” (v. 16).
Precious Departure
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15
Sculptor Liz Shepherd’s 2018 exhibition The Wait was described by a Boston Globe correspondent as “evok[ing] the precious, exposed, and transcendent in life.” Inspired by the time Shepherd spent at her dying father’s bedside, the exhibition attempts to convey yearning, the emptiness of loss, and the fragile sense that loved ones are just out of reach.
The idea that death is precious might seem counterintuitive; however, the psalmist declares, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15). God treasures the death of His people, for in their passing He welcomes them home.
Who are these faithful servants (“saints” nkjv) of God? According to the psalmist, they are those who serve God in gratitude for His deliverance, who call on His name, and who honor the words they speak before Him (Psalm 116:16–18). Such actions represent deliberate choices to walk with God, accept the freedom He offers, and cultivate a relationship with Him.
In so doing, we find ourselves in the company of Jesus, who is “chosen by God and precious to him . . . . For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ ” (1 Peter 2:4–6). When our trust is in God, our departure from this life is precious in His sight. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
How does your perception of death compare with God’s view of the passing of His people? To what extent is your perception influenced by what the Bible says about death?
Dear God, help me to trust You even in the challenges and losses of life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 27, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 27, 2020
Why "More" is Never Enough - #8665
There was this little song from a children's TV show. It goes, "One of these things is not like the other; one of these things doesn't belong." That's how I look in the middle of twenty or thirty professional football players. That's where I've ended up a number of times when I've spoken for NFL chapel services. Every professional football team actually has a chapel meeting before their game. Often, I was invited to join the players for the team meal after the chapel. Of course, their game day meal was this massive buffet, designed to help them power up for this grueling afternoon they have ahead. After one chapel, I had the privilege of visiting for some time with one of the players who had actually played in three Super Bowls and had been named the Most Valuable Player in one of them. I said, "So you have three Super Bowl rings?" He said, "Yep, but it's still not enough. I've got ten fingers. I won't be happy until I've got a Super Bowl ring on all of them!" Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why 'More' is Never Enough."
Here's a man who has won one of the most coveted prizes in professional sports - three times! But it's not enough? I remember hearing the story of one player who had just experienced the fulfillment of his lifelong dream. He played on a national champion college football team. The morning after, his team and his name were all over the front pages, announcing they had won the championship. But he said he couldn't get over this deep feeling of depression that morning. And here were his words: He had everything he'd been living for, "Now what?"
John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in American history was asked by a reporter once, "How much money is enough money?" He smiled and answered simply, "A little bit more." It's true, isn't it? Whatever we've looked for in our life, there never seems to be enough of it to satisfy our restless heart. If you're still climbing whatever is your own "Mt. Happiness," you figure you're not satisfied because you're not there yet. But the people who are already at the top of that mountain are saying, "I'm here and I don't have it. Now what?"
Thousands of years ago, King Solomon, the richest and most sought after man of his time, reached this conclusion, recorded in the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." That says it, doesn't it - chasing the wind.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, our word for today from the Word of God, Solomon actually puts his finger on why happiness is so elusive: He says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." And that's it! We're made for something that will last forever, and nothing that doesn't last forever could ever fill the hole in our hearts. In fact, we were made for a personal relationship with God, the only One who's big enough to fill that hole because that hole was made for Him. The Bible describes our hearts as being "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest...there is no peace," it says (Isaiah 57:20-21).
But we haven't made our Creator the center of our lives. We've marginalized Him. We've minimized Him. We've pushed Him to the edges of our life, and we've confining Him to a little compartment marked "religion." We're lonely for God. We're away from God; so far away that it took the death of God's only Son to bridge the gap between us.
Our self-run lives (and the Bible calls that sin) place us under the death penalty for all rebels against God. But the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, and His resurrection from the dead three days later, was to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done and to open the door to love and life that will never end, and for that eternity you were made for.
The Bible bottom lines what Jesus did for you on the cross in these words: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5). The Bible says you can be, "complete in Him." Don't you want that finally? If you're tired of
searching and you're ready to place your total trust in Jesus to forgive your sin, to bring you to God, tell Him that right now, "Jesus, beginning right now, I'm Yours."
Get to our website. It's there literally to help you at this crossroads. The website is ANewStory.com. Your heart's been looking for home for a long time. Guess what? Today home has come looking for you.
There is a story in the Bible about some men in a boat who were caught in the midst of a big storm. They are afraid for their lives. All hope seems lost. But then they call on Jesus who is in the boat with them. He answers their call and speaks peace to the storm. He calms the raging sea around them, and most importantly, the fear in their hearts.
God wants to bring peace into the storms in our lives. He doesn’t want us living in fear or losing our hope. When the storm rages around us, we can find comfort knowing that we are not alone. The God of Peace is in the boat with us. We are not alone. We are not facing the storm alone. He is with us and he is for us, if we will call on him.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 32
And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege, determined to take them.
2-4 When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib’s strategy was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city; they thought it was a good idea. There was a great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear down the aqueduct. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria march in and be furnished with running water?”
5-6 Hezekiah also went to work repairing every part of the city wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive rampart (the Millo) of the old City of David. He also built up a large store of armaments—spears and shields. He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the people and got them all together at the public square in front of the city gate.
6-8 Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!”
Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines.
9-15 Later on, Sennacherib, who had set up camp a few miles away at Lachish, sent messengers to Jerusalem, addressing Judah through Hezekiah: “A proclamation of Sennacherib king of Assyria: You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead. Wasn’t it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines and told you, ‘There is only one legitimate place to worship’? Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors—what kind of odds does that give your god?”
16 The messengers felt free to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God and God’s servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib continued to send letters insulting the God of Israel: “The gods of the nations were powerless to help their people; the god of Hezekiah is no better, probably worse.”
18-19 The messengers would come up to the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lumped the God of Jerusalem in with the handmade gods of other peoples.
20-21 King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him.
22-23 God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and everyone else. And he continued to take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem bringing offerings for the worship of God and expensive presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed—Hezekiah’s stock soared.
24 Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign.
25-26 But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived.
27-31 Hezekiah ended up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and valuables, barns for the grain, new wine, and olive oil, stalls for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks. He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and rerouting the water to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
32-33 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself—it’s written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the upper part of the King David cemetery. Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He was buried in great honor.
Manasseh his son was the next king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, March 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 116:12–19
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodnessa to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the nameb of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vowsc to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sightd of the Lord
is the death of his faithful servants.e
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;f
I serve you just as my mother did;g
you have freed me from my chains.h
17 I will sacrifice a thank offeringi to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vowsj to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtsk of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.l
Praise the Lord.
Insight
We don’t know who penned this psalm, but we readily identify with the writer’s humanity. A life-threatening ordeal—perhaps some disease or an event in battle—had brought the author face to face with death and closer to God as a consequence. “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me” (Psalm 116:3). This terror prompted the author to call on the Almighty: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ ” (v. 4). Yet ultimately, death isn’t to be feared. The most quoted section of the psalm is, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (v. 15). Might the motivation for this declaration have been the death of the writer’s God-fearing mother? For in the very next line the psalmist says, “I serve you just as my mother did” (v. 16).
Precious Departure
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15
Sculptor Liz Shepherd’s 2018 exhibition The Wait was described by a Boston Globe correspondent as “evok[ing] the precious, exposed, and transcendent in life.” Inspired by the time Shepherd spent at her dying father’s bedside, the exhibition attempts to convey yearning, the emptiness of loss, and the fragile sense that loved ones are just out of reach.
The idea that death is precious might seem counterintuitive; however, the psalmist declares, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15). God treasures the death of His people, for in their passing He welcomes them home.
Who are these faithful servants (“saints” nkjv) of God? According to the psalmist, they are those who serve God in gratitude for His deliverance, who call on His name, and who honor the words they speak before Him (Psalm 116:16–18). Such actions represent deliberate choices to walk with God, accept the freedom He offers, and cultivate a relationship with Him.
In so doing, we find ourselves in the company of Jesus, who is “chosen by God and precious to him . . . . For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ ” (1 Peter 2:4–6). When our trust is in God, our departure from this life is precious in His sight. By: Remi Oyedele
Reflect & Pray
How does your perception of death compare with God’s view of the passing of His people? To what extent is your perception influenced by what the Bible says about death?
Dear God, help me to trust You even in the challenges and losses of life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 27, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Character
Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place… —Revelation 4:1
A higher state of mind and spiritual vision can only be achieved through the higher practice of personal character. If you live up to the highest and best that you know in the outer level of your life, God will continually say to you, “Friend, come up even higher.” There is also a continuing rule in temptation which calls you to go higher; but when you do, you only encounter other temptations and character traits. Both God and Satan use the strategy of elevation, but Satan uses it in temptation, and the effect is quite different. When the devil elevates you to a certain place, he causes you to fasten your idea of what holiness is far beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear or achieve. Your life becomes a spiritual acrobatic performance high atop a steeple. You cling to it, trying to maintain your balance and daring not to move. But when God elevates you by His grace into heavenly places, you find a vast plateau where you can move about with ease.
Compare this week in your spiritual life with the same week last year to see how God has called you to a higher level. We have all been brought to see from a higher viewpoint. Never allow God to show you a truth which you do not instantly begin to live up to, applying it to your life. Always work through it, staying in its light.
Your growth in grace is not measured by the fact that you haven’t turned back, but that you have an insight and understanding into where you are spiritually. Have you heard God say, “Come up higher,” not audibly on the outer level, but to the innermost part of your character?
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…?” (Genesis 18:17). God has to hide from us what He does, until, due to the growth of our personal character, we get to the level where He is then able to reveal it.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Our danger is to water down God’s word to suit ourselves. God never fits His word to suit me; He fits me to suit His word. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R
Bible in a Year: Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 27, 2020
Why "More" is Never Enough - #8665
There was this little song from a children's TV show. It goes, "One of these things is not like the other; one of these things doesn't belong." That's how I look in the middle of twenty or thirty professional football players. That's where I've ended up a number of times when I've spoken for NFL chapel services. Every professional football team actually has a chapel meeting before their game. Often, I was invited to join the players for the team meal after the chapel. Of course, their game day meal was this massive buffet, designed to help them power up for this grueling afternoon they have ahead. After one chapel, I had the privilege of visiting for some time with one of the players who had actually played in three Super Bowls and had been named the Most Valuable Player in one of them. I said, "So you have three Super Bowl rings?" He said, "Yep, but it's still not enough. I've got ten fingers. I won't be happy until I've got a Super Bowl ring on all of them!" Wow!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why 'More' is Never Enough."
Here's a man who has won one of the most coveted prizes in professional sports - three times! But it's not enough? I remember hearing the story of one player who had just experienced the fulfillment of his lifelong dream. He played on a national champion college football team. The morning after, his team and his name were all over the front pages, announcing they had won the championship. But he said he couldn't get over this deep feeling of depression that morning. And here were his words: He had everything he'd been living for, "Now what?"
John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in American history was asked by a reporter once, "How much money is enough money?" He smiled and answered simply, "A little bit more." It's true, isn't it? Whatever we've looked for in our life, there never seems to be enough of it to satisfy our restless heart. If you're still climbing whatever is your own "Mt. Happiness," you figure you're not satisfied because you're not there yet. But the people who are already at the top of that mountain are saying, "I'm here and I don't have it. Now what?"
Thousands of years ago, King Solomon, the richest and most sought after man of his time, reached this conclusion, recorded in the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." That says it, doesn't it - chasing the wind.
In Ecclesiastes 3:11, our word for today from the Word of God, Solomon actually puts his finger on why happiness is so elusive: He says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of men." And that's it! We're made for something that will last forever, and nothing that doesn't last forever could ever fill the hole in our hearts. In fact, we were made for a personal relationship with God, the only One who's big enough to fill that hole because that hole was made for Him. The Bible describes our hearts as being "like the tossing sea, which cannot rest...there is no peace," it says (Isaiah 57:20-21).
But we haven't made our Creator the center of our lives. We've marginalized Him. We've minimized Him. We've pushed Him to the edges of our life, and we've confining Him to a little compartment marked "religion." We're lonely for God. We're away from God; so far away that it took the death of God's only Son to bridge the gap between us.
Our self-run lives (and the Bible calls that sin) place us under the death penalty for all rebels against God. But the death of Jesus Christ on that cross, and His resurrection from the dead three days later, was to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done and to open the door to love and life that will never end, and for that eternity you were made for.
The Bible bottom lines what Jesus did for you on the cross in these words: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5). The Bible says you can be, "complete in Him." Don't you want that finally? If you're tired of
searching and you're ready to place your total trust in Jesus to forgive your sin, to bring you to God, tell Him that right now, "Jesus, beginning right now, I'm Yours."
Get to our website. It's there literally to help you at this crossroads. The website is ANewStory.com. Your heart's been looking for home for a long time. Guess what? Today home has come looking for you.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
2 Chronicles 31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: DO NOT FEAR
In times like these, it is easy to let fear grip our hearts. Fear of sickness. Fear of lack. Fear of the unknown. But when fear and anxiety try to plague our every thought, we can remember this one important truth— God is with us. He his with us. He is for us. He loves us. And he invites us to enter into his rest.
We are not alone. When the storm rages, he offers us peace and refuge in the midst of it. He promises hope and strength to those who turn to him. What is God saying in this crisis?” Among the answers must be this promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will surely help you” (Isaiah 41:10). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 31
After the Passover celebration, they all took off for the cities of Judah and smashed the phallic stone monuments, chopped down the sacred Asherah groves, and demolished the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines and local god shops. They didn’t stop until they had been all through Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then they all went back home and resumed their everyday lives.
2 Hezekiah organized the groups of priests and Levites for their respective tasks, handing out job descriptions for conducting the services of worship: making the various offerings, and making sure that thanks and praise took place wherever and whenever God was worshiped.
3 He also designated his personal contribution for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings for the morning and evening worship, for Sabbaths, for New Moon festivals, and for the special worship days set down in The Revelation of God.
4 In addition, he asked the people who lived in Jerusalem to be responsible for providing for the priests and Levites so they, without distraction or concern, could give themselves totally to The Revelation of God.
5-7 As soon as Hezekiah’s orders had gone out, the Israelites responded generously: firstfruits of the grain harvest, new wine, oil, honey—everything they grew. They didn’t hold back, turning over a tithe of everything. They also brought in a tithe of their cattle, sheep, and anything else they owned that had been dedicated to God. Everything was sorted and piled in mounds. They started doing this in the third month and didn’t finish until the seventh month.
8-9 When Hezekiah and his leaders came and saw the extent of the mounds of gifts, they praised God and commended God’s people Israel. Hezekiah then consulted the priests and Levites on how to handle the abundance of offerings.
10 Azariah, chief priest of the family of Zadok, answered, “From the moment of this huge outpouring of gifts to The Temple of God, there has been plenty to eat for everyone with food left over. God has blessed his people—just look at the evidence!”
11-18 Hezekiah then ordered storerooms to be prepared in The Temple of God. When they were ready, they brought in all the offerings of tithes and sacred gifts. They put Conaniah the Levite in charge with his brother Shimei as assistant. Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were project managers under the direction of Conaniah and Shimei, carrying out the orders of King Hezekiah and Azariah the chief priest of The Temple of God. Kore son of Imnah the Levite, security guard of the East Gate, was in charge of the Freewill-Offerings of God and responsible for distributing the offerings and sacred gifts. Faithful support out in the priestly cities was provided by Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. They were even-handed in their distributions to their coworkers (all males thirty years and older) in each of their respective divisions as they entered The Temple of God each day to do their assigned work (their work was all organized by divisions). The divisions comprised officially registered priests by family and Levites twenty years and older by job description. The official family tree included everyone in the entire congregation—their small children, wives, sons, and daughters. The ardent dedication they showed in bringing themselves and their gifts to worship was total—no one was left out.
19 The Aaronites, the priests who lived out on the pastures that belonged to the priest-cities, had reputable men on hand to distribute regular rations to every priest—everyone listed in the official family tree of the Levites.
20-21 Hezekiah carried out this work and kept it up everywhere in Judah. He was the very best—good, right, and true before his God. Everything he took up, whether it had to do with worship in God’s Temple or the carrying out of God’s Law and Commandments, he did well in a spirit of prayerful worship. He was a great success.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 3:1–6
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilatei was governor of Judea, Herodj tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,k the word of God came to Johnl son of Zechariahm in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.n 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ”
Insight
Luke, the writer of the third gospel, has an impressive resume. His credits include theologian, physician (Colossians 4:14), researcher, and historian. His attention to historical detail appears early in the book (see Luke 1:3–5; 2:1–2). This pattern continues in Luke 3:1–2 where he briefly notes the secular and religious ruling authorities during the ministry of John the Baptist. The Roman emperor Tiberius (ruled ad 14–37) was over the entire empire. Pontius Pilate (in office ad 26–36) was a provincial ruler who governed in Judea. Three men (Herod [Antipas], Philip, and Lysanias) are said to be tetrarchs. Literally the word tetrarch means “ruler of a fourth,” but it actually referred to a “ruler of lower rank.” These subordinate leaders were over particular territories. Religious leaders—Annas and Caiaphas—also come into view (v. 2). Though Caiaphas actually held the office of high priest, clearly Annas shared the power of that office with him.
Seeing Salvation
All people will see God’s salvation. Luke 3:6
At fifty-three, the last thing Sonia expected to do was abandon her business and her country to join a group of asylum seekers journeying to a new land. After gangs murdered her nephew and tried to force her seventeen-year-old son into their ranks, Sonia felt escape was her only option. “I pray to God. . . . I will do whatever is necessary,” Sonia explained. “I will do anything so [my son and I] don’t die of hunger. . . I prefer to see him suffer here than end up in a bag or canal.”
Does the Bible have anything to say to Sonia and her son—or to so many who have suffered injustice and devastation? When John the Baptist proclaimed the arrival of Jesus, he announced good news to Sonia, to us, to the world. “Prepare the way for the Lord,” John proclaimed (Luke 3:4). He insisted that when Jesus arrived, God would enact a powerful, comprehensive rescue. The biblical word for this rescue is salvation.
Salvation encompasses both the healing of our sinful hearts and—one day—the healing of all the world’s evils. God’s transforming work is for every story, every human system, and is available to everyone. “All people will see God’s salvation,” John said (v. 6).
Whatever evil we face, Christ’s cross and resurrection assure us we’ll see God’s salvation. One day we’ll experience His final liberation. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
Where do you need to see God’s salvation in your life? How has God called you to be part of His transforming work on earth?
God, You promise that all people will see Your salvation. I claim this promise. Show me Your rescue and healing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8
Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.”
God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.
A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 22-24; Luke 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Antidote for the Overwhelming - #8664
When my ministry teammate, Donna, showed me how it started, I wasn't very impressed. It began with a Mason jar lid and a little cloth circle she made with it. Great. A little cloth circle. O.K. Donna then sort of gathered that round piece of cloth into a puckered little circle called a "quilted yo-yo." Finally, she had that piece finished and looking like what she wanted. Great. A little piece of cloth that's now a little quilted yo-yo. But she kept making those pieces, and then she began putting them together in a pattern I didn't see. When she was finished, she had this large American flag creation, made from all those little pieces into something really impressive.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Antidote for the Overwhelming."
My friend showed me a quilt she made the same way - one little piece at a time. No single piece of her creations is all that impressive, I think. But when you see the whole tapestry, that's amazing. And assembled, not all at once, but one little piece at a time. She didn't work on a flag or a quilt. She worked on one piece at a time.
Which is exactly how God weaves the amazing tapestry of your life and mine. He sees the whole thing; He sees the finished product. We see the piece in front of us. It's this little 24-hour thing we call a day. God's modus operandi should be clear to us from the very day the world began, as recorded in our word for today from the Word of God.
Genesis 1:3-5 tells us, for example, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light...God called the light 'day,' and the darkness He called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." From the very genesis of our world, God sets things up to be done as "days" - one small piece of the big tapestry at a time.
That way of doing life is reinforced over and over again in Scriptures. Lamentations 3:23 tells us to experience God by discovering that "His mercies are new every morning." The psalmist said that He "daily carries our burdens" (Psalm 68:19). Jesus told us His provision would come to us as "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11), His renewing of our soul would come "day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16), and Jesus said the way to follow Him our whole life is to "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23). See, He does the big tapestry. Our job is to do this little piece called today.
Maybe you're overwhelmed right now by the size of what's in front of you. You're overwhelmed by the undone, by your responsibilities, by the expectations, by that massive challenge, that unsolvable problem, that unfixable situation. It's time you bowed before the Lord Jesus each new day and crown Him Lord of your undone, your undoable, or your unbearable. You've been trying to figure it out, to worry about the whole huge tapestry. That is His problem. He'll put together the big thing through you doing each day faithfully. He does the tapestry. You do today.
When folks casually tell you to "have a nice day," they probably have no idea they're reinforcing God's instructions for a life that doesn't overwhelm you. Your job is to do one day prayerfully, obediently, wholeheartedly, lovingly, joyfully. When you let the "mights" and the "coulds" and the "what ifs" of your tomorrow leak into your todays, you start to sink, because you're trying to do God's job instead of your job.
The big future is up to God. You just do the day. And when you reach the end of your day, you leave in His hands all you didn't get done, all you need to do, and all you can't possibly do.
You know what? That's a pretty liberating way to live. You do today's piece, God's doing the big tapestry. Then, on that day when you see Jesus, you can lay at His feet a whole life you lived for Him one faithful day at a time.
In times like these, it is easy to let fear grip our hearts. Fear of sickness. Fear of lack. Fear of the unknown. But when fear and anxiety try to plague our every thought, we can remember this one important truth— God is with us. He his with us. He is for us. He loves us. And he invites us to enter into his rest.
We are not alone. When the storm rages, he offers us peace and refuge in the midst of it. He promises hope and strength to those who turn to him. What is God saying in this crisis?” Among the answers must be this promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will surely help you” (Isaiah 41:10). Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 31
After the Passover celebration, they all took off for the cities of Judah and smashed the phallic stone monuments, chopped down the sacred Asherah groves, and demolished the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines and local god shops. They didn’t stop until they had been all through Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then they all went back home and resumed their everyday lives.
2 Hezekiah organized the groups of priests and Levites for their respective tasks, handing out job descriptions for conducting the services of worship: making the various offerings, and making sure that thanks and praise took place wherever and whenever God was worshiped.
3 He also designated his personal contribution for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings for the morning and evening worship, for Sabbaths, for New Moon festivals, and for the special worship days set down in The Revelation of God.
4 In addition, he asked the people who lived in Jerusalem to be responsible for providing for the priests and Levites so they, without distraction or concern, could give themselves totally to The Revelation of God.
5-7 As soon as Hezekiah’s orders had gone out, the Israelites responded generously: firstfruits of the grain harvest, new wine, oil, honey—everything they grew. They didn’t hold back, turning over a tithe of everything. They also brought in a tithe of their cattle, sheep, and anything else they owned that had been dedicated to God. Everything was sorted and piled in mounds. They started doing this in the third month and didn’t finish until the seventh month.
8-9 When Hezekiah and his leaders came and saw the extent of the mounds of gifts, they praised God and commended God’s people Israel. Hezekiah then consulted the priests and Levites on how to handle the abundance of offerings.
10 Azariah, chief priest of the family of Zadok, answered, “From the moment of this huge outpouring of gifts to The Temple of God, there has been plenty to eat for everyone with food left over. God has blessed his people—just look at the evidence!”
11-18 Hezekiah then ordered storerooms to be prepared in The Temple of God. When they were ready, they brought in all the offerings of tithes and sacred gifts. They put Conaniah the Levite in charge with his brother Shimei as assistant. Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were project managers under the direction of Conaniah and Shimei, carrying out the orders of King Hezekiah and Azariah the chief priest of The Temple of God. Kore son of Imnah the Levite, security guard of the East Gate, was in charge of the Freewill-Offerings of God and responsible for distributing the offerings and sacred gifts. Faithful support out in the priestly cities was provided by Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. They were even-handed in their distributions to their coworkers (all males thirty years and older) in each of their respective divisions as they entered The Temple of God each day to do their assigned work (their work was all organized by divisions). The divisions comprised officially registered priests by family and Levites twenty years and older by job description. The official family tree included everyone in the entire congregation—their small children, wives, sons, and daughters. The ardent dedication they showed in bringing themselves and their gifts to worship was total—no one was left out.
19 The Aaronites, the priests who lived out on the pastures that belonged to the priest-cities, had reputable men on hand to distribute regular rations to every priest—everyone listed in the official family tree of the Levites.
20-21 Hezekiah carried out this work and kept it up everywhere in Judah. He was the very best—good, right, and true before his God. Everything he took up, whether it had to do with worship in God’s Temple or the carrying out of God’s Law and Commandments, he did well in a spirit of prayerful worship. He was a great success.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Luke 3:1–6
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilatei was governor of Judea, Herodj tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,k the word of God came to Johnl son of Zechariahm in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.n 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ”
Insight
Luke, the writer of the third gospel, has an impressive resume. His credits include theologian, physician (Colossians 4:14), researcher, and historian. His attention to historical detail appears early in the book (see Luke 1:3–5; 2:1–2). This pattern continues in Luke 3:1–2 where he briefly notes the secular and religious ruling authorities during the ministry of John the Baptist. The Roman emperor Tiberius (ruled ad 14–37) was over the entire empire. Pontius Pilate (in office ad 26–36) was a provincial ruler who governed in Judea. Three men (Herod [Antipas], Philip, and Lysanias) are said to be tetrarchs. Literally the word tetrarch means “ruler of a fourth,” but it actually referred to a “ruler of lower rank.” These subordinate leaders were over particular territories. Religious leaders—Annas and Caiaphas—also come into view (v. 2). Though Caiaphas actually held the office of high priest, clearly Annas shared the power of that office with him.
Seeing Salvation
All people will see God’s salvation. Luke 3:6
At fifty-three, the last thing Sonia expected to do was abandon her business and her country to join a group of asylum seekers journeying to a new land. After gangs murdered her nephew and tried to force her seventeen-year-old son into their ranks, Sonia felt escape was her only option. “I pray to God. . . . I will do whatever is necessary,” Sonia explained. “I will do anything so [my son and I] don’t die of hunger. . . I prefer to see him suffer here than end up in a bag or canal.”
Does the Bible have anything to say to Sonia and her son—or to so many who have suffered injustice and devastation? When John the Baptist proclaimed the arrival of Jesus, he announced good news to Sonia, to us, to the world. “Prepare the way for the Lord,” John proclaimed (Luke 3:4). He insisted that when Jesus arrived, God would enact a powerful, comprehensive rescue. The biblical word for this rescue is salvation.
Salvation encompasses both the healing of our sinful hearts and—one day—the healing of all the world’s evils. God’s transforming work is for every story, every human system, and is available to everyone. “All people will see God’s salvation,” John said (v. 6).
Whatever evil we face, Christ’s cross and resurrection assure us we’ll see God’s salvation. One day we’ll experience His final liberation. By: Winn Collier
Reflect & Pray
Where do you need to see God’s salvation in your life? How has God called you to be part of His transforming work on earth?
God, You promise that all people will see Your salvation. I claim this promise. Show me Your rescue and healing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8
Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.”
God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.
A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 22-24; Luke 3
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Antidote for the Overwhelming - #8664
When my ministry teammate, Donna, showed me how it started, I wasn't very impressed. It began with a Mason jar lid and a little cloth circle she made with it. Great. A little cloth circle. O.K. Donna then sort of gathered that round piece of cloth into a puckered little circle called a "quilted yo-yo." Finally, she had that piece finished and looking like what she wanted. Great. A little piece of cloth that's now a little quilted yo-yo. But she kept making those pieces, and then she began putting them together in a pattern I didn't see. When she was finished, she had this large American flag creation, made from all those little pieces into something really impressive.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Antidote for the Overwhelming."
My friend showed me a quilt she made the same way - one little piece at a time. No single piece of her creations is all that impressive, I think. But when you see the whole tapestry, that's amazing. And assembled, not all at once, but one little piece at a time. She didn't work on a flag or a quilt. She worked on one piece at a time.
Which is exactly how God weaves the amazing tapestry of your life and mine. He sees the whole thing; He sees the finished product. We see the piece in front of us. It's this little 24-hour thing we call a day. God's modus operandi should be clear to us from the very day the world began, as recorded in our word for today from the Word of God.
Genesis 1:3-5 tells us, for example, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light...God called the light 'day,' and the darkness He called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." From the very genesis of our world, God sets things up to be done as "days" - one small piece of the big tapestry at a time.
That way of doing life is reinforced over and over again in Scriptures. Lamentations 3:23 tells us to experience God by discovering that "His mercies are new every morning." The psalmist said that He "daily carries our burdens" (Psalm 68:19). Jesus told us His provision would come to us as "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11), His renewing of our soul would come "day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16), and Jesus said the way to follow Him our whole life is to "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23). See, He does the big tapestry. Our job is to do this little piece called today.
Maybe you're overwhelmed right now by the size of what's in front of you. You're overwhelmed by the undone, by your responsibilities, by the expectations, by that massive challenge, that unsolvable problem, that unfixable situation. It's time you bowed before the Lord Jesus each new day and crown Him Lord of your undone, your undoable, or your unbearable. You've been trying to figure it out, to worry about the whole huge tapestry. That is His problem. He'll put together the big thing through you doing each day faithfully. He does the tapestry. You do today.
When folks casually tell you to "have a nice day," they probably have no idea they're reinforcing God's instructions for a life that doesn't overwhelm you. Your job is to do one day prayerfully, obediently, wholeheartedly, lovingly, joyfully. When you let the "mights" and the "coulds" and the "what ifs" of your tomorrow leak into your todays, you start to sink, because you're trying to do God's job instead of your job.
The big future is up to God. You just do the day. And when you reach the end of your day, you leave in His hands all you didn't get done, all you need to do, and all you can't possibly do.
You know what? That's a pretty liberating way to live. You do today's piece, God's doing the big tapestry. Then, on that day when you see Jesus, you can lay at His feet a whole life you lived for Him one faithful day at a time.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Acts 19:21-41, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE UNCHANGING CREATOR IS FOR US
Everything is changing! Flight schedules are changing. The economy is changing.The school schedule is changing. Changes, everywhere.
But what hasn’t changed? God’s love for us. The four most welcome words in the Bible are God is for us. GOD is for us— the unchanging Creator is FOR us. His love for us is constant and unchanging. He’s not plotting to take us down. He wants to build us up. He hasn’t turned away from us. He has turned toward us and is inviting us to run to him for peace and strength.
Among all the changes in this season, find comfort in this steadfast promise from Christ. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
Acts 19:21-41
After all this had come to a head, Paul decided it was time to move on to Macedonia and Achaia provinces, and from there to Jerusalem. “Then,” he said, “I’m off to Rome. I’ve got to see Rome!” He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on to Macedonia and then stayed for a while and wrapped things up in Asia.
23-26 But before he got away, a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way.” A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, “Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province.
27 “Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!”
28-31 That set them off in a frenzy. They ran into the street yelling, “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” They put the whole city in an uproar, stampeding into the stadium, and grabbing two of Paul’s associates on the way, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. Prominent religious leaders in the city who had become friendly to Paul concurred: “By no means go near that mob!”
32-34 Some were yelling one thing, some another. Most of them had no idea what was going on or why they were there. As the Jews pushed Alexander to the front to try to gain control, different factions clamored to get him on their side. But he brushed them off and quieted the mob with an impressive sweep of his arms. But the moment he opened his mouth and they knew he was a Jew, they shouted him down: “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!”—on and on and on, for over two hours.
35-37 Finally, the town clerk got the mob quieted down and said, “Fellow citizens, is there anyone anywhere who doesn’t know that our dear city Ephesus is protector of glorious Artemis and her sacred stone image that fell straight out of heaven? Since this is beyond contradiction, you had better get hold of yourselves. This is conduct unworthy of Artemis. These men you’ve dragged in here have done nothing to harm either our temple or our goddess.
38-41 “So if Demetrius and his guild of artisans have a complaint, they can take it to court and make all the accusations they want. If anything else is bothering you, bring it to the regularly scheduled town meeting and let it be settled there. There is no excuse for what’s happened today. We’re putting our city in serious danger. Rome, remember, does not look kindly on rioters.” With that, he sent them home.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Ephesians 6:10–20
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lords and in his mighty power.t 11 Put on the full armor of God,u so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,v but against the rulers, against the authorities,w against the powersx of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.y 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God,z so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,a with the breastplate of righteousness in place,b 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.c 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,d with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.e 17 Take the helmet of salvationf and the sword of the Spirit,g which is the word of God.h
18 And pray in the Spiriti on all occasionsj with all kinds of prayers and requests.k With this in mind, be alert and always keep on prayingl for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me,m that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlesslyn make known the mysteryo of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassadorp in chains.q Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Insight
Four times in Ephesians 6:18–20 Paul asks the Ephesian believers to pray, twice asking them to pray he won’t be fearful. What might make him fearful? The answer is in the preceding verses where he clarifies against whom we fight our battles. The battle isn’t against our visible enemies—those who may give us tangible resistance. Instead, we fight against our enemies in the spiritual realm. Paul, however, has also outlined the way to combat those spiritual forces—by putting on the armor of God (vv. 10–17). God provides the armor, but He works through our prayers.
It’s Time to Pray . . . Again
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:18
I pulled into my driveway, waving at my neighbor Myriam and her little girl Elizabeth. Over the years, Elizabeth had grown accustomed to our spontaneous chats lasting longer than the promised “few minutes” and morphing into prayer meetings. She climbed the tree planted in the center of their front yard, dangled her legs over a branch, and busied herself while her mother and I spoke. After a while, Elizabeth hopped down from her roost and ran to where we stood. Grabbing our hands, she smiled and almost sang, “It’s time to pray . . . again.” Even at an early age, Elizabeth seemed to understand how important prayer was in our friendship.
After encouraging believers to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10), the apostle Paul offered special insight on the crucial role of continual prayer. He described the necessary armor God’s people would need during their spiritual walk with the Lord, who provides protection, discernment, and confidence in His truth (vv. 11–17). However, the apostle emphasized this God-given strength grew from deliberate immersion in the life-giving gift of prayer (vv. 18–20).
God hears and cares about our concerns, whether they’re spoken boldly, sobbed silently, or secured deep in a hurting heart. He’s always ready to make us strong in His power, as He invites us to pray again and again and again. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How can ongoing prayer change our perspective, relationships, and day-to-day living? What would it mean for you to consider your time in prayer to be as vital as breathing?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of coming to You in prayer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Maintaining the Proper Relationship
…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29
Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.
To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Tsunami Heroes - #8663
If you're a parent, or even a grandparent, when your kid gets a great teacher, they become a hero to them and to you. But every once in a while, a teacher does something so unforgettable that we nominate them for the Heroes Hall of Fame. Robert Bailey - he was in the news a while back - is one of those. He's a 27-year-old British teacher, serving in a school in Japan. A school that suddenly was right in the path of a monster tsunami that swamped northern Japan. The students there had eight minutes to find a safe place after the tsunami sirens went off. He described the moment that earthquake hit this way: "We first heard a weird cracking noise, and then came the violent shaking."
Bailey said he immediately ushered the students outside onto the baseball field so they wouldn't be hit by falling debris. They found ground that was slightly elevated and then they just watched the water just keep coming toward them. Thankfully, they were able to avoid the killer wave as it passed through the valley below them, but their school was obliterated. Every other student, 137 of them, was unaccounted for. But the 42 in Robert Bailey's class? They survived because of one man who led them to safety.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tsunami Heroes."
See, when you lead people out of the path of destruction and to the safe place, you're really a hero. It's the kind of hero that God is summoning you to be. Here's what He says in Daniel 12:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God. "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."Okay, hold up a minute here. Every person on this planet, every person you know, is on one of two lists. Those headed for awesome eternity with God and those headed for awful eternity without God.
The next verse suggests what will make the difference. "...Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars for ever and ever." God's talking about those who point people to where the life is, where a saving relationship with Him is - in His Son, Jesus. It's the one thing you can do in this life that will still mean something a hundred million years from now. Those who rescue the dying on earth are going to be heaven's forever heroes.
And that's why He's put you where you are. It's no accident you are where you are. You've been divinely positioned to be God's tsunami warning system. And the warning is the difference between life and death. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, "I have made you a watchman...hear the word I speak. Give them warning from Me...I will hold you accountable..." (Ezekiel 3:16-18).
The tsunami of God's judgment is headed our way. The Bible says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). But the tsunami of God's judgment was already taken by Jesus when He died for the sins of the people you know. The high ground - the only safe place - is that cross where Jesus paid for our sins, and you know that. Some of the people you know don't know that.
Someone has to lead them to safety, and God's counting on you. You don't have to know hundreds of Bible verses. You don't have to have your life totally together. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to be able to point them to the safe place. Your mission is to walk with them up that hill called Skull Hill in the Bible; the one with the cross on top. Take them there. Tell them that the man who died there is dying for them. That it was their sins He was paying for. That He loves them that much. It's all about Jesus!
Maybe you're holding back because you're afraid. That's a normal feeling. Robert Bailey, who led those teenagers to safety in the face of that looming tsunami, was afraid. He actually said he was "terrified." But he said he had a duty to keep those kids safe. Heroism and courage aren't the absence of fear; they're the disregard of fear, because you don't want the people you're responsible for to die.
The tsunami of death and judgment is coming. The warning has been sounded. The lives of the people around you depend on someone leading them to the high ground of Jesus' cross. You're their chance. You're a candidate to be one of Heaven's Heroes.
Everything is changing! Flight schedules are changing. The economy is changing.The school schedule is changing. Changes, everywhere.
But what hasn’t changed? God’s love for us. The four most welcome words in the Bible are God is for us. GOD is for us— the unchanging Creator is FOR us. His love for us is constant and unchanging. He’s not plotting to take us down. He wants to build us up. He hasn’t turned away from us. He has turned toward us and is inviting us to run to him for peace and strength.
Among all the changes in this season, find comfort in this steadfast promise from Christ. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27). Turn to Him today.
Acts 19:21-41
After all this had come to a head, Paul decided it was time to move on to Macedonia and Achaia provinces, and from there to Jerusalem. “Then,” he said, “I’m off to Rome. I’ve got to see Rome!” He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on to Macedonia and then stayed for a while and wrapped things up in Asia.
23-26 But before he got away, a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way.” A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, “Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province.
27 “Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!”
28-31 That set them off in a frenzy. They ran into the street yelling, “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” They put the whole city in an uproar, stampeding into the stadium, and grabbing two of Paul’s associates on the way, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. Prominent religious leaders in the city who had become friendly to Paul concurred: “By no means go near that mob!”
32-34 Some were yelling one thing, some another. Most of them had no idea what was going on or why they were there. As the Jews pushed Alexander to the front to try to gain control, different factions clamored to get him on their side. But he brushed them off and quieted the mob with an impressive sweep of his arms. But the moment he opened his mouth and they knew he was a Jew, they shouted him down: “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!”—on and on and on, for over two hours.
35-37 Finally, the town clerk got the mob quieted down and said, “Fellow citizens, is there anyone anywhere who doesn’t know that our dear city Ephesus is protector of glorious Artemis and her sacred stone image that fell straight out of heaven? Since this is beyond contradiction, you had better get hold of yourselves. This is conduct unworthy of Artemis. These men you’ve dragged in here have done nothing to harm either our temple or our goddess.
38-41 “So if Demetrius and his guild of artisans have a complaint, they can take it to court and make all the accusations they want. If anything else is bothering you, bring it to the regularly scheduled town meeting and let it be settled there. There is no excuse for what’s happened today. We’re putting our city in serious danger. Rome, remember, does not look kindly on rioters.” With that, he sent them home.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight: Ephesians 6:10–20
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lords and in his mighty power.t 11 Put on the full armor of God,u so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,v but against the rulers, against the authorities,w against the powersx of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.y 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God,z so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,a with the breastplate of righteousness in place,b 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.c 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,d with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.e 17 Take the helmet of salvationf and the sword of the Spirit,g which is the word of God.h
18 And pray in the Spiriti on all occasionsj with all kinds of prayers and requests.k With this in mind, be alert and always keep on prayingl for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me,m that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlesslyn make known the mysteryo of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassadorp in chains.q Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Insight
Four times in Ephesians 6:18–20 Paul asks the Ephesian believers to pray, twice asking them to pray he won’t be fearful. What might make him fearful? The answer is in the preceding verses where he clarifies against whom we fight our battles. The battle isn’t against our visible enemies—those who may give us tangible resistance. Instead, we fight against our enemies in the spiritual realm. Paul, however, has also outlined the way to combat those spiritual forces—by putting on the armor of God (vv. 10–17). God provides the armor, but He works through our prayers.
It’s Time to Pray . . . Again
Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:18
I pulled into my driveway, waving at my neighbor Myriam and her little girl Elizabeth. Over the years, Elizabeth had grown accustomed to our spontaneous chats lasting longer than the promised “few minutes” and morphing into prayer meetings. She climbed the tree planted in the center of their front yard, dangled her legs over a branch, and busied herself while her mother and I spoke. After a while, Elizabeth hopped down from her roost and ran to where we stood. Grabbing our hands, she smiled and almost sang, “It’s time to pray . . . again.” Even at an early age, Elizabeth seemed to understand how important prayer was in our friendship.
After encouraging believers to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10), the apostle Paul offered special insight on the crucial role of continual prayer. He described the necessary armor God’s people would need during their spiritual walk with the Lord, who provides protection, discernment, and confidence in His truth (vv. 11–17). However, the apostle emphasized this God-given strength grew from deliberate immersion in the life-giving gift of prayer (vv. 18–20).
God hears and cares about our concerns, whether they’re spoken boldly, sobbed silently, or secured deep in a hurting heart. He’s always ready to make us strong in His power, as He invites us to pray again and again and again. By: Xochitl Dixon
Reflect & Pray
How can ongoing prayer change our perspective, relationships, and day-to-day living? What would it mean for you to consider your time in prayer to be as vital as breathing?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the privilege of coming to You in prayer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Maintaining the Proper Relationship
…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29
Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.
To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance. Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Tsunami Heroes - #8663
If you're a parent, or even a grandparent, when your kid gets a great teacher, they become a hero to them and to you. But every once in a while, a teacher does something so unforgettable that we nominate them for the Heroes Hall of Fame. Robert Bailey - he was in the news a while back - is one of those. He's a 27-year-old British teacher, serving in a school in Japan. A school that suddenly was right in the path of a monster tsunami that swamped northern Japan. The students there had eight minutes to find a safe place after the tsunami sirens went off. He described the moment that earthquake hit this way: "We first heard a weird cracking noise, and then came the violent shaking."
Bailey said he immediately ushered the students outside onto the baseball field so they wouldn't be hit by falling debris. They found ground that was slightly elevated and then they just watched the water just keep coming toward them. Thankfully, they were able to avoid the killer wave as it passed through the valley below them, but their school was obliterated. Every other student, 137 of them, was unaccounted for. But the 42 in Robert Bailey's class? They survived because of one man who led them to safety.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Tsunami Heroes."
See, when you lead people out of the path of destruction and to the safe place, you're really a hero. It's the kind of hero that God is summoning you to be. Here's what He says in Daniel 12:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God. "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."Okay, hold up a minute here. Every person on this planet, every person you know, is on one of two lists. Those headed for awesome eternity with God and those headed for awful eternity without God.
The next verse suggests what will make the difference. "...Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars for ever and ever." God's talking about those who point people to where the life is, where a saving relationship with Him is - in His Son, Jesus. It's the one thing you can do in this life that will still mean something a hundred million years from now. Those who rescue the dying on earth are going to be heaven's forever heroes.
And that's why He's put you where you are. It's no accident you are where you are. You've been divinely positioned to be God's tsunami warning system. And the warning is the difference between life and death. God said through the prophet Ezekiel, "I have made you a watchman...hear the word I speak. Give them warning from Me...I will hold you accountable..." (Ezekiel 3:16-18).
The tsunami of God's judgment is headed our way. The Bible says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). But the tsunami of God's judgment was already taken by Jesus when He died for the sins of the people you know. The high ground - the only safe place - is that cross where Jesus paid for our sins, and you know that. Some of the people you know don't know that.
Someone has to lead them to safety, and God's counting on you. You don't have to know hundreds of Bible verses. You don't have to have your life totally together. You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to be able to point them to the safe place. Your mission is to walk with them up that hill called Skull Hill in the Bible; the one with the cross on top. Take them there. Tell them that the man who died there is dying for them. That it was their sins He was paying for. That He loves them that much. It's all about Jesus!
Maybe you're holding back because you're afraid. That's a normal feeling. Robert Bailey, who led those teenagers to safety in the face of that looming tsunami, was afraid. He actually said he was "terrified." But he said he had a duty to keep those kids safe. Heroism and courage aren't the absence of fear; they're the disregard of fear, because you don't want the people you're responsible for to die.
The tsunami of death and judgment is coming. The warning has been sounded. The lives of the people around you depend on someone leading them to the high ground of Jesus' cross. You're their chance. You're a candidate to be one of Heaven's Heroes.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
2 Chronicles 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PEACE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY
Everything is being canceled. The NBA games. The NHL games. March Madness. Broadway plays. Flights. Cruises. Cancellations, everywhere!
But can I tell you the one thing that has not and WILL not be canceled? God will never cancel his promise to take care of us. Do not interpret the presence of problems as the absence of God. God has promised, “Never will I never leave you, never will I forsake you.” He is with us. He is for us. He offers us peace in the face of uncertainty, and hope in exchange for heaviness.
The question of this crisis is simply this, what is God saying to us? Among the answers must be this promise from Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 30
Then Hezekiah invited all of Israel and Judah, with personal letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to The Temple of God in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God. The king and his officials and the congregation in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate Passover in the second month. They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough of the priests were yet personally prepared and the people hadn’t had time to gather in Jerusalem. Under these circumstances, the revised date was approved by both king and people and they sent out the invitation from one end of the country to the other, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north: “Come and celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God in Jerusalem.” No one living had ever celebrated it properly.
6-9 The king gave the orders, and the couriers delivered the invitations from the king and his leaders throughout Israel and Judah. The invitation read: “O Israelites! Come back to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he can return to you who have survived the predations of the kings of Assyria. Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God, the God of their ancestors who then brought them to ruin—you can see the ruins all around you. Don’t be pigheaded as your ancestors were. Clasp God’s outstretched hand. Come to his Temple of holy worship, consecrated for all time. Serve God, your God. You’ll no longer be in danger of his hot anger. If you come back to God, your captive relatives and children will be treated compassionately and allowed to come home. Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you—come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
10-12 So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren’t too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God.
13-17 It turned out that there was a tremendous crowd of people when the time came in the second month to celebrate the Passover (sometimes called the Feast of Unraised Bread). First they went to work and got rid of all the pagan altars that were in Jerusalem—hauled them off and dumped them in the Kidron Valley. Then, on the fourteenth day of the second month, they slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests and Levites weren’t ready; but now, embarrassed in their laziness, they consecrated themselves and brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings to The Temple of God. Ready now, they stood at their posts as designated by The Revelation of Moses the holy man; the priests sprinkled the blood the Levites handed to them. Because so many in the congregation had not properly prepared themselves by consecration and so were not qualified, the Levites took charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs so that they would be properly consecrated to God.
18-19 There were a lot of people, especially those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who did not eat the Passover meal because they had not prepared themselves adequately. Hezekiah prayed for these as follows: “May God who is all good, pardon and forgive everyone who sincerely desires God, the God of our ancestors. Even—especially!—these who do not meet the literal conditions stated for access to The Temple.”
20 God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
21-22 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover (Feast of Unraised Bread) for seven days, celebrated exuberantly. The Levites and priests praised God day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God.
22-23 When the feast and festival—that glorious seven days of worship, the making of offerings, and the praising of God, the God of their ancestors—were over, the tables cleared and the floors swept, they all decided to keep going for another seven days! So they just kept on celebrating, and as joyfully as they began.
24-26 Hezekiah king of Judah gave one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation’s worship; the officials gave an additional one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And there turned out to be plenty of consecrated priests—qualified and well-prepared. The whole congregation of Judah, the priests and Levites, the congregation that came in from Israel, and the resident aliens from both Israel and Judah, were all in on the joyous celebration. Jerusalem was bursting with joy—nothing like this had taken place in Jerusalem since Solomon son of David king of Israel had built and dedicated The Temple.
27 The priests and Levites had the last word: they stood and blessed the people. And God listened, listened as the ascending sound of their prayers entered his holy heaven.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 16:13–20
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;z others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”a
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”b
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,c but by my Father in heaven.d 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,b e and on this rock I will build my church,f and the gates of Hadesc will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keysg of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bed bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will bee loosed in heaven.”h 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyonei that he was the Messiah.
Insight
The place where Jesus questioned His disciples about His deity (Matthew 16:13)—Caesarea Philippi—is significant. It’s located at the base of Mt. Hermon, some twenty-five miles north of Capernaum. It was a center of idolatry, dedicated to the worship of various gods including Baal, the Canaanite fertility god of storm and rain; Pan, the Greek god of the forest; and the emperor Augustus Caesar. Jesus first asked His disciples what others were saying about Him (vv. 13–14). Then He made it personal by directing His question to His own disciples: “Who do you say I am?” (v. 15). To the world, Jesus was merely a great man—like John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah (vv. 14–16)—but He wasn’t God. Yet Jesus spoke of Himself as “the Son of Man” (v. 13), an exalted Messianic title used exclusively to refer to Himself (Matthew 9:6; 12:8; 13:41; 19:28; 24:30; 26:64; Luke 21:27).
The Bell
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18
Jackson dreamed of becoming a US Navy Seal from early childhood—an ambition that led to years of physical discipline and self-sacrifice. He eventually faced grueling tests of strength and endurance including what’s referred to by trainees as “hell week.”
Jackson was physically unable to complete the exhaustive training, and reluctantly rang a bell to inform the commander and other trainees of his choice to leave the program. For most, this would feel like failure. But in spite of the extreme disappointment, Jackson was later able to see his military failure as preparation for his life’s work.
The apostle Peter experienced his own form of failure. He boldly proclaimed that he would remain loyal to Jesus even to prison or death (Luke 22:33). Yet later he wept bitterly after he denied that he knew Jesus (vv. 60–62). But God had plans beyond his failure. Prior to Peter’s denial, Jesus informed him, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18; see also Luke 22:31–32).
Are you struggling with a failure causing you to feel unworthy or unqualified to move on? Don’t let the ringing bell of failure cause you to miss God’s greater purposes for you. By: evanmorgan
Reflect & Pray
What did you view as a failure in your life that God used to help you grow in Him? Why is it vital for us to find our identity in how God views us?
God, help me to use every circumstance, even my failures, for Your glory and honor!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Decreasing for His Purpose
He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30
If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”
Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.
Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L
Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
My Amazing Jewish Friend - #8662
Our boys wore clothes with labels way outside my budget, because of the generosity of a local doctor and his wife. He had first been a major medical blessing to us with the excellent care he provided. Then he and his wife blew us away with these bags full of cool clothes that their boys had outgrown.
There was a special connection that led us to being dinner guests in each other's home. I don't remember the dinner at their house, but I'll never forget the conversation. They knew we were Christians, and we knew they were Jewish. I thanked them that night "for how much your people have meant in our lives." Needless to say, they wanted to know more.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "My Amazing Jewish Friend."
I told them that the life of our family was governed and enriched by divine laws handed down from their people, the Jews. And that the roadmap for our life was full of Scriptures authored almost totally by inspired Jewish writers (in fact, Luke is the only Gentile writer of books in the Bible).
Most of all, the most important Person in our lives was a Jewish rabbi from Nazareth. I told them, "Our lives have been changed forever by Jesus, who we believe fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of Israel's Messiah. So we owe so much to the Jewish people - so many gifts in our life - so many of our treasures have come through them."
The doctor's response took me aback. "We have never met Christians like you." Well, I thought how sad that was. We had simply expressed respect and gratitude, which evidently they didn't often receive. I guess many of us who follow Yeshua Mashiach don't realize or don't appreciate how Jewish our faith is. Jesus was the only man who ever lived who could choose His ethnicity, and He was born Jewish.
The Torah's book of Deuteronomy says, "The Lord your God has chosen you of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you..." (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).
We who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have - or ought to have - a special love for His people. Not because Israel the country does everything right, or because of anything Israel does or doesn't do. But because of the divine specialness the Jews as a people have, as described by Paul, who was God's Jewish "apostle to the Gentiles."
Here's what he says in Romans 9:4, our word for today from the Word of God. "Theirs is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. And from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah." That's why my heart is heavy - along with Jehovah's heart - whenever Jewish people are singled out as targets of hate or violence or prejudice.
And I share Paul's sadness for his people. He agonized over, as he said, his "heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites...that they may be saved" (Romans 10:1). He knew what Jesus had done in his life. As I do in mine. And he wanted it for those he loved. As I do.
For me, one of the most moving passages in all of Scripture comes from the prophecy of the Jewish prophet Isaiah. It says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6).
That vividly portrays the death of the one called "the Lamb of God" (John 1:26). Jesus of Nazareth. From the tribe of Judah. God's Lamb. Who died for my sin so I don't have to. If you have never made this Savior who spent His life and blood for you, your Savior, today you can do that. Reach out to Him. This isn't about a religion. This is a relationship with Jehovah God.
Our website tells you how to go about that. It's ANewStory.com. No one has ever loved me like Jesus. Yeshua. Mashiach. Savior.
Everything is being canceled. The NBA games. The NHL games. March Madness. Broadway plays. Flights. Cruises. Cancellations, everywhere!
But can I tell you the one thing that has not and WILL not be canceled? God will never cancel his promise to take care of us. Do not interpret the presence of problems as the absence of God. God has promised, “Never will I never leave you, never will I forsake you.” He is with us. He is for us. He offers us peace in the face of uncertainty, and hope in exchange for heaviness.
The question of this crisis is simply this, what is God saying to us? Among the answers must be this promise from Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 30
Then Hezekiah invited all of Israel and Judah, with personal letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to The Temple of God in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God. The king and his officials and the congregation in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate Passover in the second month. They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough of the priests were yet personally prepared and the people hadn’t had time to gather in Jerusalem. Under these circumstances, the revised date was approved by both king and people and they sent out the invitation from one end of the country to the other, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north: “Come and celebrate the Passover to Israel’s God in Jerusalem.” No one living had ever celebrated it properly.
6-9 The king gave the orders, and the couriers delivered the invitations from the king and his leaders throughout Israel and Judah. The invitation read: “O Israelites! Come back to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he can return to you who have survived the predations of the kings of Assyria. Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God, the God of their ancestors who then brought them to ruin—you can see the ruins all around you. Don’t be pigheaded as your ancestors were. Clasp God’s outstretched hand. Come to his Temple of holy worship, consecrated for all time. Serve God, your God. You’ll no longer be in danger of his hot anger. If you come back to God, your captive relatives and children will be treated compassionately and allowed to come home. Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you—come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
10-12 So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren’t too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God.
13-17 It turned out that there was a tremendous crowd of people when the time came in the second month to celebrate the Passover (sometimes called the Feast of Unraised Bread). First they went to work and got rid of all the pagan altars that were in Jerusalem—hauled them off and dumped them in the Kidron Valley. Then, on the fourteenth day of the second month, they slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests and Levites weren’t ready; but now, embarrassed in their laziness, they consecrated themselves and brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings to The Temple of God. Ready now, they stood at their posts as designated by The Revelation of Moses the holy man; the priests sprinkled the blood the Levites handed to them. Because so many in the congregation had not properly prepared themselves by consecration and so were not qualified, the Levites took charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs so that they would be properly consecrated to God.
18-19 There were a lot of people, especially those from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who did not eat the Passover meal because they had not prepared themselves adequately. Hezekiah prayed for these as follows: “May God who is all good, pardon and forgive everyone who sincerely desires God, the God of our ancestors. Even—especially!—these who do not meet the literal conditions stated for access to The Temple.”
20 God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
21-22 All the Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated the Passover (Feast of Unraised Bread) for seven days, celebrated exuberantly. The Levites and priests praised God day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God.
22-23 When the feast and festival—that glorious seven days of worship, the making of offerings, and the praising of God, the God of their ancestors—were over, the tables cleared and the floors swept, they all decided to keep going for another seven days! So they just kept on celebrating, and as joyfully as they began.
24-26 Hezekiah king of Judah gave one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation’s worship; the officials gave an additional one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And there turned out to be plenty of consecrated priests—qualified and well-prepared. The whole congregation of Judah, the priests and Levites, the congregation that came in from Israel, and the resident aliens from both Israel and Judah, were all in on the joyous celebration. Jerusalem was bursting with joy—nothing like this had taken place in Jerusalem since Solomon son of David king of Israel had built and dedicated The Temple.
27 The priests and Levites had the last word: they stood and blessed the people. And God listened, listened as the ascending sound of their prayers entered his holy heaven.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 16:13–20
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;z others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”a
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”b
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,c but by my Father in heaven.d 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,b e and on this rock I will build my church,f and the gates of Hadesc will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keysg of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bed bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will bee loosed in heaven.”h 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyonei that he was the Messiah.
Insight
The place where Jesus questioned His disciples about His deity (Matthew 16:13)—Caesarea Philippi—is significant. It’s located at the base of Mt. Hermon, some twenty-five miles north of Capernaum. It was a center of idolatry, dedicated to the worship of various gods including Baal, the Canaanite fertility god of storm and rain; Pan, the Greek god of the forest; and the emperor Augustus Caesar. Jesus first asked His disciples what others were saying about Him (vv. 13–14). Then He made it personal by directing His question to His own disciples: “Who do you say I am?” (v. 15). To the world, Jesus was merely a great man—like John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah (vv. 14–16)—but He wasn’t God. Yet Jesus spoke of Himself as “the Son of Man” (v. 13), an exalted Messianic title used exclusively to refer to Himself (Matthew 9:6; 12:8; 13:41; 19:28; 24:30; 26:64; Luke 21:27).
The Bell
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18
Jackson dreamed of becoming a US Navy Seal from early childhood—an ambition that led to years of physical discipline and self-sacrifice. He eventually faced grueling tests of strength and endurance including what’s referred to by trainees as “hell week.”
Jackson was physically unable to complete the exhaustive training, and reluctantly rang a bell to inform the commander and other trainees of his choice to leave the program. For most, this would feel like failure. But in spite of the extreme disappointment, Jackson was later able to see his military failure as preparation for his life’s work.
The apostle Peter experienced his own form of failure. He boldly proclaimed that he would remain loyal to Jesus even to prison or death (Luke 22:33). Yet later he wept bitterly after he denied that he knew Jesus (vv. 60–62). But God had plans beyond his failure. Prior to Peter’s denial, Jesus informed him, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18; see also Luke 22:31–32).
Are you struggling with a failure causing you to feel unworthy or unqualified to move on? Don’t let the ringing bell of failure cause you to miss God’s greater purposes for you. By: evanmorgan
Reflect & Pray
What did you view as a failure in your life that God used to help you grow in Him? Why is it vital for us to find our identity in how God views us?
God, help me to use every circumstance, even my failures, for Your glory and honor!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Decreasing for His Purpose
He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30
If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”
Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.
Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L
Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
My Amazing Jewish Friend - #8662
Our boys wore clothes with labels way outside my budget, because of the generosity of a local doctor and his wife. He had first been a major medical blessing to us with the excellent care he provided. Then he and his wife blew us away with these bags full of cool clothes that their boys had outgrown.
There was a special connection that led us to being dinner guests in each other's home. I don't remember the dinner at their house, but I'll never forget the conversation. They knew we were Christians, and we knew they were Jewish. I thanked them that night "for how much your people have meant in our lives." Needless to say, they wanted to know more.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "My Amazing Jewish Friend."
I told them that the life of our family was governed and enriched by divine laws handed down from their people, the Jews. And that the roadmap for our life was full of Scriptures authored almost totally by inspired Jewish writers (in fact, Luke is the only Gentile writer of books in the Bible).
Most of all, the most important Person in our lives was a Jewish rabbi from Nazareth. I told them, "Our lives have been changed forever by Jesus, who we believe fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of Israel's Messiah. So we owe so much to the Jewish people - so many gifts in our life - so many of our treasures have come through them."
The doctor's response took me aback. "We have never met Christians like you." Well, I thought how sad that was. We had simply expressed respect and gratitude, which evidently they didn't often receive. I guess many of us who follow Yeshua Mashiach don't realize or don't appreciate how Jewish our faith is. Jesus was the only man who ever lived who could choose His ethnicity, and He was born Jewish.
The Torah's book of Deuteronomy says, "The Lord your God has chosen you of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you..." (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).
We who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have - or ought to have - a special love for His people. Not because Israel the country does everything right, or because of anything Israel does or doesn't do. But because of the divine specialness the Jews as a people have, as described by Paul, who was God's Jewish "apostle to the Gentiles."
Here's what he says in Romans 9:4, our word for today from the Word of God. "Theirs is the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. And from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah." That's why my heart is heavy - along with Jehovah's heart - whenever Jewish people are singled out as targets of hate or violence or prejudice.
And I share Paul's sadness for his people. He agonized over, as he said, his "heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites...that they may be saved" (Romans 10:1). He knew what Jesus had done in his life. As I do in mine. And he wanted it for those he loved. As I do.
For me, one of the most moving passages in all of Scripture comes from the prophecy of the Jewish prophet Isaiah. It says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6).
That vividly portrays the death of the one called "the Lamb of God" (John 1:26). Jesus of Nazareth. From the tribe of Judah. God's Lamb. Who died for my sin so I don't have to. If you have never made this Savior who spent His life and blood for you, your Savior, today you can do that. Reach out to Him. This isn't about a religion. This is a relationship with Jehovah God.
Our website tells you how to go about that. It's ANewStory.com. No one has ever loved me like Jesus. Yeshua. Mashiach. Savior.
Monday, March 23, 2020
2 Chronicles 29 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: HE IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH
In this season, talk of shortages is everywhere we turn. A shortage of hospital beds. A shortage of supplies in the grocery stores. A shortage of the needed vaccine. A shortage of answers for the questions everyone is asking.
But with all the talk of shortages, there is one thing of which we will never run short… We will never run short of God’s love. He is with us. He loves us. He is strengthening us. And he is watching over us. When it feels like we don’t have what we need, God promises to provide for us. When it feels like things are falling apart, God promises to be there for us.
What is God saying in this time? Among the answers must be this promise from Psalm 46:1: “He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.” Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.
3-9 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, “Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God’s anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.
10-11 “I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.”
12-17 The Levites stood at attention: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites; Shimri and Jeiel sons of Elizaphan; Zechariah and Mattaniah sons of Asaph; Jehiel and Shimei of the family of Heman; Shemaiah and Uzziel of the family of Jeduthun. They presented themselves and their brothers, consecrated themselves, and set to work cleaning up The Temple of God as the king had directed—as God directed! The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk—pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place—and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley. They began the Temple cleaning on the first day of the first month and by the eighth day they had worked their way out to the porch—eight days it took them to clean and consecrate The Temple itself, and in eight more days they had finished with the entire Temple complex.
18-19 Then they reported to Hezekiah the king, “We have cleaned up the entire Temple of God, including the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Table of the Bread of the Presence with their furnishings. We have also cleaned up and consecrated all the vessels which King Ahaz had gotten rid of during his misrule. Take a look; we have repaired them. They’re all there in front of the Altar of God.”
20-24 Then Hezekiah the king went to work: He got all the leaders of the city together and marched to The Temple of God. They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats to sacrifice as an Absolution-Offering for the royal family, for the Sanctuary, and for Judah as a whole; he directed the Aaronite priests to sacrifice them on the Altar of God. The priests butchered the bulls and then took the blood and sprinkled it on the Altar, and then the same with the rams and lambs. Finally they brought the goats up; the king and congregation laid their hands upon them. The priests butchered them and made an Absolution-Offering with their blood at the Altar to atone for the sin of all Israel—the king had ordered that the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Absolution-Offering be for all Israel.
25-26 The king ordered the Levites to take their places in The Temple of God with their musical instruments—cymbals, harps, zithers—following the original instructions of David, Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was God’s command conveyed by his prophets. The Levites formed the orchestra of David, while the priests took up the trumpets.
27-30 Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: The Whole-Burnt-Offering was offered on the Altar; at the same time the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang and the trumpeters played all during the sacrifice of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. When the offering of the sacrifice was completed, the king and everyone there knelt to the ground and worshiped. Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to God using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship.
31-35 Hezekiah then made this response: “The dedication is complete—you’re consecrated to God. Now you’re ready: Come forward and bring your sacrifices and Thank-Offerings to The Temple of God.”
And come they did. Everyone in the congregation brought sacrifices and Thank-Offerings and some, overflowing with generosity, even brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings, a generosity expressed in seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs—all for Whole-Burnt-Offerings for God! The total number of animals consecrated for sacrifice that day amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. They ran out of priests qualified to slaughter all the Whole-Burnt-Offerings so their brother Levites stepped in and helped out while other priests consecrated themselves for the work. It turned out that the Levites had been more responsible in making sure they were properly consecrated than the priests had been. Besides the overflow of Whole-Burnt-Offerings there were also choice pieces for the Peace-Offerings and lavish libations that went with the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The worship in The Temple of God was on a firm footing again!
36 Hezekiah and the congregation celebrated: God had established a firm foundation for the lives of the people—and so quickly!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 21:1–7
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”a m for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,n and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City,o the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,p prepared as a brideq beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.r They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.s 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.t There will be no more death’b u or mourning or crying or pain,v for the old order of things has passed away.”w
5 He who was seated on the thronex said, “I am making everything new!”y Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”z
6 He said to me: “It is done.a I am the Alpha and the Omega,b the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without costc from the spring of the water of life.d 7 Those who are victoriouse will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Insight
Revelation 21:1–7 gives us a glimpse of our life in eternity. While it’s of great comfort knowing there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (v. 4), the most important thing about heaven is that it’s the dwelling place of God “where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). In this final vision of eternity in Revelation 21–22, Jesus declares, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse (Genesis 3:14–19) will be completely and eternally removed (Revelation 21:4–5). Christ gives freely the “water of life” (v. 6) first offered to Israel (Isaiah 55:1), then to the Samaritan woman (John 4:10), and to anyone who thirsts (7:37).
For further study, read Knowing God through Revelation at discoveryseries.org/sb248.
Reunion
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people. Revelation 21:3
The little boy excitedly ripped open a big box from his serviceman daddy, whom he believed wouldn’t be home to celebrate his birthday. Inside that box was yet another giftwrapped box, and inside that box was another that simply held a piece of paper saying, “Surprise!” Confused, the boy looked up—just as his dad entered the room. Tearfully the son leapt into his father’s arms, exclaiming, “Daddy, I missed you” and “I love you!”
That tearful yet joyful reunion captures the heart of Revelation 21’s description of the glorious moment when God’s children see their loving Father face to face—in the fully renewed and restored creation. There, “[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes.” No longer will we experience pain or sorrow, because we’ll be with our heavenly Father. As the “loud voice” in Revelation 21 declares, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them” (vv. 3–4).
There’s a tender love and joy that followers of Jesus already enjoy with God, as 1 Peter 1:8 describes: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Yet imagine our incredible, overflowing joy when we see the one we’ve loved and longed for welcoming us into His open arms! By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
What do you most look forward to about life in God’s presence in the restored creation? How do you experience glimpses of that joy now?
Loving God, we anticipate with joy the day when we will be with You. Until then, help us to happily serve You as we wait.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 23, 2020
Am I Carnally Minded?
Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3
The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.
Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.
If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.
What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 23, 2020
Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger - #8661
Television at its best - which it all too seldom delivers - can take you to some fascinating places in the world that you might not see any other way. Like the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, for example. The ruins of that ancient city, high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru, are remarkably well preserved, almost as if the city was just abandoned a night long ago. A recent documentary showed burros making their way up this rugged, winding, perilous road to Machu Picchu, carrying the burdens of the humans who were leading them. You'd expect animals to be pretty skittish on a narrow trail and this deadly drop-off only feet away. Oh, but not those burros. No, they were remarkably calm the whole trip. Of course, there was a reason. They were blindfolded!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger."
This documentary pointed out that the blindfold calmed the burros as they ascended this very dangerous road. They never realized the dangers that were all around them. They were just fine as long as they knew they were being led. You and I should be, too.
Maybe you've walked a pretty dangerous road lately, or there's a road ahead that you're hesitant to climb because of the dangers on it: financial danger, physical danger, risking your security, the danger of losing someone that's important to you, the risks of venturing from the known to the unknown, or the potential dangers of a change in your life; a changing season maybe. To be honest, there are many times that we let the dangers decide whether or not we'll actually make a move. That's a bad idea. God's ancient people turned away from the Promised Land and wandered 40 years in the wilderness because they let the dangers of Canaan decide what they were going to do.
No, the deciding factor shouldn't be how dangerous it looks, how risky, but rather that you're being led that direction by the guide who has never lost anyone. When He's leading you, no matter how steep the mountain, you're safe. In Matthew 14, we're in verse 28, we have a beautiful, flesh-and-blood example of how a follower of Jesus Christ ought to make every potentially dangerous decision.
In the midst of a turbulent storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus has appeared to the disciples, literally walking on the water toward them and calling them not to be afraid. The Bible says this: "'Lord, if it's You,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come,' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." That's amazing!
And Peter would have kept walking on the water all the way to Jesus except for the fact that, well, he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm and that sank him. But I love Peter's faith here. He didn't know how he would be supported when he got out in the water. There's no visible means of support there. He only needed to know one thing. He said, "Lord, if it's You..."
That should be the bottom line for any of us - not the storm, not the risks, not all the fearful things that might happen, not our capabilities. Now, look, we're not burros. We're the sheep of the Great Shepherd, and you need have no fear of any place that the Great Shepherd is leading you.
At times, honestly, I've been hesitant to take a step that God was asking me to take because I perceived it to be what I called a "risky obedience." As it turns out, that's an oxymoron. There's only a risky disobedience. Not going where Jesus is leading? That's the greatest danger of all! I love the hymn that says, "I will tell the saints and angels as I lay my burden down, Jesus led me all the way."
Remember, no matter how fearful the road may look, "Through many dangers,
toils, and snares, you have already come. T'was grace that brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home."
In this season, talk of shortages is everywhere we turn. A shortage of hospital beds. A shortage of supplies in the grocery stores. A shortage of the needed vaccine. A shortage of answers for the questions everyone is asking.
But with all the talk of shortages, there is one thing of which we will never run short… We will never run short of God’s love. He is with us. He loves us. He is strengthening us. And he is watching over us. When it feels like we don’t have what we need, God promises to provide for us. When it feels like things are falling apart, God promises to be there for us.
What is God saying in this time? Among the answers must be this promise from Psalm 46:1: “He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.” Turn to Him today.
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old and was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David.
3-9 In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah, having first repaired the doors of The Temple of God, threw them open to the public. He assembled the priests and Levites in the court on the east side and said, “Levites, listen! Consecrate yourselves and consecrate The Temple of God—give this much-defiled place a good housecleaning. Our ancestors went wrong and lived badly before God—they discarded him, turned away from this house where we meet with God, and walked off. They boarded up the doors, turned out the lights, and canceled all the acts of worship of the God of Israel in the holy Temple. And because of that, God’s anger flared up and he turned those people into a public exhibit of disaster, a moral history lesson—look and read! This is why our ancestors were killed, and this is why our wives and sons and daughters were taken prisoner and made slaves.
10-11 “I have decided to make a covenant with the God of Israel and turn history around so that God will no longer be angry with us. Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.”
12-17 The Levites stood at attention: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites; Shimri and Jeiel sons of Elizaphan; Zechariah and Mattaniah sons of Asaph; Jehiel and Shimei of the family of Heman; Shemaiah and Uzziel of the family of Jeduthun. They presented themselves and their brothers, consecrated themselves, and set to work cleaning up The Temple of God as the king had directed—as God directed! The priests started from the inside and worked out; they emptied the place of the accumulation of defiling junk—pagan rubbish that had no business in that holy place—and the Levites hauled it off to the Kidron Valley. They began the Temple cleaning on the first day of the first month and by the eighth day they had worked their way out to the porch—eight days it took them to clean and consecrate The Temple itself, and in eight more days they had finished with the entire Temple complex.
18-19 Then they reported to Hezekiah the king, “We have cleaned up the entire Temple of God, including the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Table of the Bread of the Presence with their furnishings. We have also cleaned up and consecrated all the vessels which King Ahaz had gotten rid of during his misrule. Take a look; we have repaired them. They’re all there in front of the Altar of God.”
20-24 Then Hezekiah the king went to work: He got all the leaders of the city together and marched to The Temple of God. They brought with them seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats to sacrifice as an Absolution-Offering for the royal family, for the Sanctuary, and for Judah as a whole; he directed the Aaronite priests to sacrifice them on the Altar of God. The priests butchered the bulls and then took the blood and sprinkled it on the Altar, and then the same with the rams and lambs. Finally they brought the goats up; the king and congregation laid their hands upon them. The priests butchered them and made an Absolution-Offering with their blood at the Altar to atone for the sin of all Israel—the king had ordered that the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the Absolution-Offering be for all Israel.
25-26 The king ordered the Levites to take their places in The Temple of God with their musical instruments—cymbals, harps, zithers—following the original instructions of David, Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was God’s command conveyed by his prophets. The Levites formed the orchestra of David, while the priests took up the trumpets.
27-30 Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: The Whole-Burnt-Offering was offered on the Altar; at the same time the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang and the trumpeters played all during the sacrifice of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. When the offering of the sacrifice was completed, the king and everyone there knelt to the ground and worshiped. Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to God using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship.
31-35 Hezekiah then made this response: “The dedication is complete—you’re consecrated to God. Now you’re ready: Come forward and bring your sacrifices and Thank-Offerings to The Temple of God.”
And come they did. Everyone in the congregation brought sacrifices and Thank-Offerings and some, overflowing with generosity, even brought Whole-Burnt-Offerings, a generosity expressed in seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs—all for Whole-Burnt-Offerings for God! The total number of animals consecrated for sacrifice that day amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. They ran out of priests qualified to slaughter all the Whole-Burnt-Offerings so their brother Levites stepped in and helped out while other priests consecrated themselves for the work. It turned out that the Levites had been more responsible in making sure they were properly consecrated than the priests had been. Besides the overflow of Whole-Burnt-Offerings there were also choice pieces for the Peace-Offerings and lavish libations that went with the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The worship in The Temple of God was on a firm footing again!
36 Hezekiah and the congregation celebrated: God had established a firm foundation for the lives of the people—and so quickly!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, March 23, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Revelation 21:1–7
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”a m for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,n and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City,o the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,p prepared as a brideq beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.r They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.s 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.t There will be no more death’b u or mourning or crying or pain,v for the old order of things has passed away.”w
5 He who was seated on the thronex said, “I am making everything new!”y Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”z
6 He said to me: “It is done.a I am the Alpha and the Omega,b the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without costc from the spring of the water of life.d 7 Those who are victoriouse will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Insight
Revelation 21:1–7 gives us a glimpse of our life in eternity. While it’s of great comfort knowing there will be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (v. 4), the most important thing about heaven is that it’s the dwelling place of God “where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). In this final vision of eternity in Revelation 21–22, Jesus declares, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse (Genesis 3:14–19) will be completely and eternally removed (Revelation 21:4–5). Christ gives freely the “water of life” (v. 6) first offered to Israel (Isaiah 55:1), then to the Samaritan woman (John 4:10), and to anyone who thirsts (7:37).
For further study, read Knowing God through Revelation at discoveryseries.org/sb248.
Reunion
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people. Revelation 21:3
The little boy excitedly ripped open a big box from his serviceman daddy, whom he believed wouldn’t be home to celebrate his birthday. Inside that box was yet another giftwrapped box, and inside that box was another that simply held a piece of paper saying, “Surprise!” Confused, the boy looked up—just as his dad entered the room. Tearfully the son leapt into his father’s arms, exclaiming, “Daddy, I missed you” and “I love you!”
That tearful yet joyful reunion captures the heart of Revelation 21’s description of the glorious moment when God’s children see their loving Father face to face—in the fully renewed and restored creation. There, “[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes.” No longer will we experience pain or sorrow, because we’ll be with our heavenly Father. As the “loud voice” in Revelation 21 declares, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them” (vv. 3–4).
There’s a tender love and joy that followers of Jesus already enjoy with God, as 1 Peter 1:8 describes: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Yet imagine our incredible, overflowing joy when we see the one we’ve loved and longed for welcoming us into His open arms! By: Alyson Kieda
Reflect & Pray
What do you most look forward to about life in God’s presence in the restored creation? How do you experience glimpses of that joy now?
Loving God, we anticipate with joy the day when we will be with You. Until then, help us to happily serve You as we wait.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 23, 2020
Am I Carnally Minded?
Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3
The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.
Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.
If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.
What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God. Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L
Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 23, 2020
Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger - #8661
Television at its best - which it all too seldom delivers - can take you to some fascinating places in the world that you might not see any other way. Like the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, for example. The ruins of that ancient city, high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru, are remarkably well preserved, almost as if the city was just abandoned a night long ago. A recent documentary showed burros making their way up this rugged, winding, perilous road to Machu Picchu, carrying the burdens of the humans who were leading them. You'd expect animals to be pretty skittish on a narrow trail and this deadly drop-off only feet away. Oh, but not those burros. No, they were remarkably calm the whole trip. Of course, there was a reason. They were blindfolded!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Moving Ahead, in Spite of the Danger."
This documentary pointed out that the blindfold calmed the burros as they ascended this very dangerous road. They never realized the dangers that were all around them. They were just fine as long as they knew they were being led. You and I should be, too.
Maybe you've walked a pretty dangerous road lately, or there's a road ahead that you're hesitant to climb because of the dangers on it: financial danger, physical danger, risking your security, the danger of losing someone that's important to you, the risks of venturing from the known to the unknown, or the potential dangers of a change in your life; a changing season maybe. To be honest, there are many times that we let the dangers decide whether or not we'll actually make a move. That's a bad idea. God's ancient people turned away from the Promised Land and wandered 40 years in the wilderness because they let the dangers of Canaan decide what they were going to do.
No, the deciding factor shouldn't be how dangerous it looks, how risky, but rather that you're being led that direction by the guide who has never lost anyone. When He's leading you, no matter how steep the mountain, you're safe. In Matthew 14, we're in verse 28, we have a beautiful, flesh-and-blood example of how a follower of Jesus Christ ought to make every potentially dangerous decision.
In the midst of a turbulent storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus has appeared to the disciples, literally walking on the water toward them and calling them not to be afraid. The Bible says this: "'Lord, if it's You,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come,' He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." That's amazing!
And Peter would have kept walking on the water all the way to Jesus except for the fact that, well, he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm and that sank him. But I love Peter's faith here. He didn't know how he would be supported when he got out in the water. There's no visible means of support there. He only needed to know one thing. He said, "Lord, if it's You..."
That should be the bottom line for any of us - not the storm, not the risks, not all the fearful things that might happen, not our capabilities. Now, look, we're not burros. We're the sheep of the Great Shepherd, and you need have no fear of any place that the Great Shepherd is leading you.
At times, honestly, I've been hesitant to take a step that God was asking me to take because I perceived it to be what I called a "risky obedience." As it turns out, that's an oxymoron. There's only a risky disobedience. Not going where Jesus is leading? That's the greatest danger of all! I love the hymn that says, "I will tell the saints and angels as I lay my burden down, Jesus led me all the way."
Remember, no matter how fearful the road may look, "Through many dangers,
toils, and snares, you have already come. T'was grace that brought you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home."
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