Max Lucado Daily: ASK YOUR FATHER FOR HELP
In his fine book, The Dance of Hope, Bill Frey remembers the day he tried to pull a stump out of the Georgia dirt. One of his chores as a twelve-year-old was to search for stumps of pine trees that had been cut down and chop them into kindling. But there was one root system he just couldn’t pull out of the ground. He was still struggling when his father came over to watch.
“I think I see your problem,” the dad said. “What’s that?” the son asked. “You’re not using all your strength.” Bill exploded and told him how hard he’d been working. “No,” the dad said, “You’re not using all your strength.” When Bill cooled down he asked what his father meant, and the dad said, “You haven’t asked me to help you.” You don’t have to do it alone, friend. Present the challenge to your Father, and ask for help. Will he solve the issue? Yes, he will.
Isaiah 25
God, you are my God.
I celebrate you. I praise you.
You’ve done your share of miracle-wonders,
well-thought-out plans, solid and sure.
Here you’ve reduced the city to rubble,
the strong city to a pile of stones.
The enemy Big City is a non-city,
never to be a city again.
Superpowers will see it and honor you,
brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence.
They’ll see that you take care of the poor,
that you take care of poor people in trouble,
Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,
provide a cool place when it’s hot.
Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard
and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert.
But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun,
shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies.
6-8 But here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will throw a feast for all the people of the world,
A feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines,
a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts.
And here on this mountain, God will banish
the pall of doom hanging over all peoples,
The shadow of doom darkening all nations.
Yes, he’ll banish death forever.
And God will wipe the tears from every face.
He’ll remove every sign of disgrace
From his people, wherever they are.
Yes! God says so!
9-10 Also at that time, people will say,
“Look at what’s happened! This is our God!
We waited for him and he showed up and saved us!
This God, the one we waited for!
Let’s celebrate, sing the joys of his salvation.
God’s hand rests on this mountain!”
10-12 As for the Moabites, they’ll be treated like refuse,
waste shoveled into a cesspool.
Thrash away as they will,
like swimmers trying to stay afloat,
They’ll sink in the sewage.
Their pride will pull them under.
Their famous fortifications will crumble to nothing,
those mighty walls reduced to dust.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 104:10–18, 24–26
He makes springss pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give watert to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeysu quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the skyv nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.w
13 He waters the mountainsx from his upper chambers;y
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.z
14 He makes grass growa for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth foodb from the earth:
15 winec that gladdens human hearts,
oild to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustainse their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lordf are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanong that he planted.
17 There the birdsh make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;i
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.j
How many are your works,u Lord!
In wisdom you madev them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.w
25 There is the sea,x vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.y
26 There the shipsz go to and fro,
and Leviathan,a which you formed to frolicb there.
Insight
Though the psalmist in Psalm 104 makes reference to various creatures in the earth, sky, and sea, only one creature is referenced using its proper name—Leviathan (v. 26). This is one of five times that Leviathan is mentioned in Scripture (see also Job 3:8; 41:1–34; Psalm 74:14; Isaiah 27:1). Who or what was Leviathan? All biblical references are in poetic passages, and Leviathan is cast in both literal and figurative roles. In Psalm 104, Leviathan is a sea creature: “There is the sea . . . and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there” (vv. 25–26). Similarly, in Job 41 Leviathan is depicted as a large, intimidating sea animal (vv. 31–34). On the other hand, references like Psalm 74:14 and Isaiah 27:1 figuratively depict Leviathan as being a threat to God’s people and being marked for overthrow by the Almighty.
A World of Provision
There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number. Psalm 104:25
It’s 2 a.m. when Nadia, a farmer of sea cucumbers, walks into a roped-off pen in the ocean shallows near her Madagascar village to harvest her “crop.” The early hour doesn’t bother her. “Life was very hard before I started farming,” she says. “I didn’t have any source of income.” Now, as a member of a marine-protection program called Velondriake, meaning “to live with the sea,” Nadia sees her income growing and stabilizing. “We thank God that this project appeared,” she adds.
It appeared in large part because God’s creation provided what their project needs—a natural supply of sea life. In praise of our providing God, the psalmist wrote, “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate” (Psalm 104:14). As well, “there is the sea . . . teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small” (v. 25).
It’s a wonder, indeed, how God’s wondrous creation also provides for us. The humble sea cucumber, for example, helps form a healthy marine food chain. Careful harvesting of sea cucumbers, in turn, grants Nadia and her neighbors a living wage.
Nothing is random in God’s creation. He uses it all for His glory and our good. Thus, “I will sing to the Lord all my life,” says the psalmist (v. 33). We too can praise Him today as we ponder all that He provides. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
In what ways does God provide for you through His creation? How can you thank Him for that today?
O Creator God, we’re humbled by Your vast creation and all the ways You provide for our needs.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
The Light That Never Fails
We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18
A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me….But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.
Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).
We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.” The Shadow of an Agony, 1166 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Why Your World's Being Shaken - #8683
You learn a lot about eagles when you spend time with Native Americans. Like how their babies learn to fly. When Mama builds their nest, she lays a foundation of rocks and sticks - then covers it with leaves and feathers and foliage. And the baby eaglets love hanging out there.
Until one day Mama starts pulling all that soft stuff out of the nest. Oh, it's not comfy anymore. Why? Because she wants those little eagles to learn to fly! Which requires getting them out of the nest. Which requires messing with the nest, making it not comfortable. But fear not, junior eagles! This isn't a bad thing. You weren't made to stay in a comfy little nest. You were born to fly! Uh...so were you!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Your World's Being Shaken"
Right now, everybody's nest is being shaken! By what I call the coronaquake - the fiercely contagious virus that has caused our schools to close, the stock market to tank, major world events to be cancelled, the economy to explode, futures to be rewritten...basically, it's just rocked our world - or our nest - as never before.
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 32, beginning with verse 10. God's referring to His people here simply as "him." But this isn't about just one guy - it's about God's people. For me, it's really shed light on the bigger picture behind all these life-changing events we're trying to navigate.
"He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye." Okay, cool. You and I are being shielded, cared for, and guarded by the Most High God in the middle of all this mayhem.
Now here's where it gets really interesting. "Like an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft...He made him ride on the heights of the land."
Let's look at all the shaking things going on in our lives right now through this Biblical lens. God is using it to disturb the comfort and complacency of our status quo - so we'll take some steps we'd never otherwise take... Not so we'll crash, but so we'll finally fulfill our destiny and touch the sky! Which we might never do if He didn't "stir up the nest."
So, here's a peek behind the curtain at the life-enlarging ways of God. God shakes us up to wake us up to take us up higher than we've ever flown before!
Proverbs 19:21 says: "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." All those plans we had - they're somewhere between doubtful to devastated, right? But not the Lord's purpose in all of this. His purposes are untouched and unhindered by all the upheaval in our world right now.
But sometimes He needs to hit the brakes hard to get our attention and turn our hearts totally - even desperately to Him. So, what might some of His purposes be?
To bring us closer together
To prune things we really don't need in our life
To expose our idols - the things in our life that have become more important than Him
To rearrange our priorities - so the things that really matter become our focus
To open hearts to Jesus.
Maybe that's what He's doing in your life. Suddenly your security isn't secure. Your "go to's" have gotten up and gone. Your heart is fearful and searching. You need an anchor that no storm can move. That's Jesus. Who loved you enough to die for your sin. Who's powerful enough to walk out of His grave. He's waiting for you to open the door of your heart and let Him come in today.
If you want to finally put your life in the only truly safe hands there are, tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." And check out our website - ANewStory.com - to find the information there that will help you be sure you belong to Him. Check it out today!
You have nothing to fear from your future when Jesus takes the wheel!
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Isaiah 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: START WITH JESUS
We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath! This was the reassuring message from the miracle of the bread and the fish. In an event crafted to speak to the anxious heart, Jesus told his disciples to do the impossible: feed five thousand people.
Now you aren’t facing five thousand hungry bellies, but you are facing a deadline in two days, a loved one in need of a cure. On one hand you have a problem. On the other you have a limited quantity of wisdom, patience, or time. Typically you’d get anxious. You’d tell God, “You’ve given me too much to handle.” This time, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Turn to your Heavenly Father for help.
Isaiah 24
Danger ahead! God’s about to ravish the earth
and leave it in ruins,
Rip everything out by the roots
and send everyone scurrying:
priests and laypeople alike,
owners and workers alike,
celebrities and nobodies alike,
buyers and sellers alike,
bankers and beggars alike,
the haves and have-nots alike.
The landscape will be a moonscape,
totally wasted.
And why? Because God says so.
He’s issued the orders.
4 The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
5-13 Earth is polluted by its very own people,
who have broken its laws,
Disrupted its order,
violated the sacred and eternal covenant.
Therefore a curse, like a cancer,
ravages the earth.
Its people pay the price of their sacrilege.
They dwindle away, dying out one by one.
No more wine, no more vineyards,
no more songs or singers.
The laughter of castanets is gone,
the shouts of celebrants, gone,
the laughter of fiddles, gone.
No more parties with toasts of champagne.
Serious drinkers gag on their drinks.
The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns.
Every house is boarded up, condemned.
People riot in the streets for wine,
but the good times are gone forever—
no more joy for this old world.
The city is dead and deserted,
bulldozed into piles of rubble.
That’s the way it will be on this earth.
This is the fate of all nations:
An olive tree shaken clean of its olives,
a grapevine picked clean of its grapes.
14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.
Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.
Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.
Every island of the sea
Will broadcast God’s fame,
the fame of the God of Israel.
From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:
“All praise to the Righteous One!”
16-20 But I said, “That’s all well and good for somebody,
but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom.”
All of them at one another’s throats,
yes, all of them at one another’s throats.
Terror and pits and booby traps
are everywhere, whoever you are.
If you run from the terror,
you’ll fall into the pit.
If you climb out of the pit,
you’ll get caught in the trap.
Chaos pours out of the skies.
The foundations of earth are crumbling.
Earth is smashed to pieces,
earth is ripped to shreds,
earth is wobbling out of control,
Earth staggers like a drunk,
sways like a shack in a high wind.
Its piled-up sins are too much for it.
It collapses and won’t get up again.
21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpet
rebel powers in the skies and
Rebel kings on earth.
They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,
Corralled and locked up in a jail,
and then sentenced and put to hard labor.
Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,
red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,
Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,
ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,
Splendid and glorious
before all his leaders.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 5:6–11
You see, at just the right time,s when we were still powerless,t Christ died for the ungodly.u 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.v
9 Since we have now been justifiedw by his blood,x how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrathy through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies,z we were reconcileda to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!b 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Insight
Reconciliation restores those who’ve been alienated. Paul uses the word reconcile more than any other New Testament author, often multiple times in a passage; for example, he uses it three times in Romans 5:10–11. He also uses it in Romans 11:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18–19, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 (related to human reconciliation).
Today’s passage highlights the necessity of Jesus’ death for our reconciliation to God. But that isn’t the end. Our reconciliation through His death leads to our salvation through His life. Paul writes, “How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10). Notice that there are two different tenses used: we have been reconciled and we shall be saved. Paul says that both the death of Jesus and His resurrected life are necessary to our salvation.
Friends Again
How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10
A mother and her young daughter are sitting in church one day. During the service, opportunity is given for people to publicly receive God’s forgiveness. Every time someone walks forward to do so, the little girl begins to clap. “I’m so sorry,” the mother later tells the church leader. “I explained to my daughter that repentance makes us friends with God again, and she just wanted to cheer for everyone.”
Simplified for a child’s mind, the mother’s words were a good explanation of the gospel. Once God’s enemies, we have been reconciled to Him through Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 5:9–10). Now we’re indeed God’s friends. Since we were the ones to break the friendship (v. 8), repentance is our part in completing the restoration process. And the little girl’s response couldn’t have been more appropriate. Since all heaven claps when just one person repents (Luke 15:10), she was unknowingly echoing its applause.
Jesus described His reconciling work in similar terms. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). As a result of this sacrificial act of friendship toward us, we can now be friends with Him. “I no longer call you servants . . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (15:15).
Once God’s enemies, we are now God’s friends. It’s an overwhelming thought. And one worth clapping about. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
How often do you describe your relationship with God as one of friendship? In practical terms, how is your friendship with Him going today?
God, thank You for loving me when I was still Your enemy. I repent of everything that disappoints You and celebrate being Your friend.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Don’t Hurt the Lord
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
When God's Moving Too Slow - #8682
There's this two-lane highway that's a main link between communities. And when they had to close one lane for a short-term road project, it created some delays for all of us tremendously patient people. It was one of those projects where one flagger stops the traffic in one lane while another flagger allows the traffic for the other lane to proceed. All day long, open your lane, close your lane, open your lane, close your lane. They had a car with a "pilot car" sign on it that led the proceeding traffic to the end of the one-lane area. Then the pilot of the pilot car (How you doing with all this?) got to turn around and drive back with the traffic following him from the other side. That's got to be exciting work! One lady apparently was short on patience that day. Oh, she waited until her lane was open and the pilot car came. She happened to be the first in line, but her patience ended as soon as she started to follow the pilot car. She decided to floor it and pass the pilot car. Bad idea! She crashed right into their heavy equipment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When God's Moving Too Slow."
Running ahead of the one you're supposed to be following can lead to a crash. Just ask Moses. He ran ahead of the Pilot - Jehovah God - and the results were not happy. We need to look at his mistake because there's got to be someone listening who's in the process of repeating that mistake. I can save you, I think, a lot of hurt and heartache if you'll look for yourself in our word for today from the Word of God.
Acts 7, beginning with verse 23, unfolds the story from a New Testament perspective. Moses' people, the Jews, had been slaves to the Egyptian Pharaohs for many years. God had miraculously spared Moses as a baby and arranged for him to be raised in Pharaoh's court. The story picks up there. "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites." That day he witnessed a Jewish worker being mistreated by an Egyptian master. And the Bible says, "He went to his defense ... by killing the Egyptian."
The Bible goes on to explain, "Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Ultimately, Moses had to flee to a remote wilderness where he spent the next 40 years, until it was God's time for him to deliver his people. What had been so wrong 40 years before, was so right when it was God's plan and God's time.
Moses had the right idea. He was supposed to deliver his people, but he couldn't wait for God to do it His way. How many times have I made that mistake? How many times have you? Like Moses, we get impatient and we run ahead of the "pilot car" - the leading of our Lord. And like Moses, the results a crash.
There's something you've been waiting for God to do; to give you that person, that job, some financial relief, some love, some work for Him. And it's not happening. You're going to help God a little bit. You're going to figure out your own way to meet the need, to get it done now. You're tempted to pass Him because He's moving too slowly. Don't. You'll ruin it by trying to rush it. You'll get the bill for your impatience instead of the will of God.
There may be nothing that has cost more people God's best than impatience. We move so fast, we push so hard, we push right past God. He will, as He promised, make everything beautiful "in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And it's not time yet.
If you're tired of waiting and you're revving your engine, ready to pass God's "pilot car," get your foot off the accelerator. You're about to ruin the beautiful thing God's putting together by running ahead of Him.
Making something happen sooner is definitely not worth the pain. Waiting for God to do it His way, in His time, is definitely worth the wait.
We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath! This was the reassuring message from the miracle of the bread and the fish. In an event crafted to speak to the anxious heart, Jesus told his disciples to do the impossible: feed five thousand people.
Now you aren’t facing five thousand hungry bellies, but you are facing a deadline in two days, a loved one in need of a cure. On one hand you have a problem. On the other you have a limited quantity of wisdom, patience, or time. Typically you’d get anxious. You’d tell God, “You’ve given me too much to handle.” This time, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, start with Jesus. Start with his wealth, his resources, and his strength. Before you lash out in fear, look up in faith. Turn to your Heavenly Father for help.
Isaiah 24
Danger ahead! God’s about to ravish the earth
and leave it in ruins,
Rip everything out by the roots
and send everyone scurrying:
priests and laypeople alike,
owners and workers alike,
celebrities and nobodies alike,
buyers and sellers alike,
bankers and beggars alike,
the haves and have-nots alike.
The landscape will be a moonscape,
totally wasted.
And why? Because God says so.
He’s issued the orders.
4 The earth turns gaunt and gray,
the world silent and sad,
sky and land lifeless, colorless.
5-13 Earth is polluted by its very own people,
who have broken its laws,
Disrupted its order,
violated the sacred and eternal covenant.
Therefore a curse, like a cancer,
ravages the earth.
Its people pay the price of their sacrilege.
They dwindle away, dying out one by one.
No more wine, no more vineyards,
no more songs or singers.
The laughter of castanets is gone,
the shouts of celebrants, gone,
the laughter of fiddles, gone.
No more parties with toasts of champagne.
Serious drinkers gag on their drinks.
The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns.
Every house is boarded up, condemned.
People riot in the streets for wine,
but the good times are gone forever—
no more joy for this old world.
The city is dead and deserted,
bulldozed into piles of rubble.
That’s the way it will be on this earth.
This is the fate of all nations:
An olive tree shaken clean of its olives,
a grapevine picked clean of its grapes.
14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.
Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.
Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.
Every island of the sea
Will broadcast God’s fame,
the fame of the God of Israel.
From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:
“All praise to the Righteous One!”
16-20 But I said, “That’s all well and good for somebody,
but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom.”
All of them at one another’s throats,
yes, all of them at one another’s throats.
Terror and pits and booby traps
are everywhere, whoever you are.
If you run from the terror,
you’ll fall into the pit.
If you climb out of the pit,
you’ll get caught in the trap.
Chaos pours out of the skies.
The foundations of earth are crumbling.
Earth is smashed to pieces,
earth is ripped to shreds,
earth is wobbling out of control,
Earth staggers like a drunk,
sways like a shack in a high wind.
Its piled-up sins are too much for it.
It collapses and won’t get up again.
21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpet
rebel powers in the skies and
Rebel kings on earth.
They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,
Corralled and locked up in a jail,
and then sentenced and put to hard labor.
Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,
red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,
Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,
ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,
Splendid and glorious
before all his leaders.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Romans 5:6–11
You see, at just the right time,s when we were still powerless,t Christ died for the ungodly.u 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.v
9 Since we have now been justifiedw by his blood,x how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrathy through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies,z we were reconcileda to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!b 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Insight
Reconciliation restores those who’ve been alienated. Paul uses the word reconcile more than any other New Testament author, often multiple times in a passage; for example, he uses it three times in Romans 5:10–11. He also uses it in Romans 11:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18–19, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 (related to human reconciliation).
Today’s passage highlights the necessity of Jesus’ death for our reconciliation to God. But that isn’t the end. Our reconciliation through His death leads to our salvation through His life. Paul writes, “How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10). Notice that there are two different tenses used: we have been reconciled and we shall be saved. Paul says that both the death of Jesus and His resurrected life are necessary to our salvation.
Friends Again
How much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10
A mother and her young daughter are sitting in church one day. During the service, opportunity is given for people to publicly receive God’s forgiveness. Every time someone walks forward to do so, the little girl begins to clap. “I’m so sorry,” the mother later tells the church leader. “I explained to my daughter that repentance makes us friends with God again, and she just wanted to cheer for everyone.”
Simplified for a child’s mind, the mother’s words were a good explanation of the gospel. Once God’s enemies, we have been reconciled to Him through Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 5:9–10). Now we’re indeed God’s friends. Since we were the ones to break the friendship (v. 8), repentance is our part in completing the restoration process. And the little girl’s response couldn’t have been more appropriate. Since all heaven claps when just one person repents (Luke 15:10), she was unknowingly echoing its applause.
Jesus described His reconciling work in similar terms. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). As a result of this sacrificial act of friendship toward us, we can now be friends with Him. “I no longer call you servants . . . . Instead, I have called you friends” (15:15).
Once God’s enemies, we are now God’s friends. It’s an overwhelming thought. And one worth clapping about. By: Sheridan Voysey
Reflect & Pray
How often do you describe your relationship with God as one of friendship? In practical terms, how is your friendship with Him going today?
God, thank You for loving me when I was still Your enemy. I repent of everything that disappoints You and celebrate being Your friend.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Don’t Hurt the Lord
Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9
Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
When God's Moving Too Slow - #8682
There's this two-lane highway that's a main link between communities. And when they had to close one lane for a short-term road project, it created some delays for all of us tremendously patient people. It was one of those projects where one flagger stops the traffic in one lane while another flagger allows the traffic for the other lane to proceed. All day long, open your lane, close your lane, open your lane, close your lane. They had a car with a "pilot car" sign on it that led the proceeding traffic to the end of the one-lane area. Then the pilot of the pilot car (How you doing with all this?) got to turn around and drive back with the traffic following him from the other side. That's got to be exciting work! One lady apparently was short on patience that day. Oh, she waited until her lane was open and the pilot car came. She happened to be the first in line, but her patience ended as soon as she started to follow the pilot car. She decided to floor it and pass the pilot car. Bad idea! She crashed right into their heavy equipment.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When God's Moving Too Slow."
Running ahead of the one you're supposed to be following can lead to a crash. Just ask Moses. He ran ahead of the Pilot - Jehovah God - and the results were not happy. We need to look at his mistake because there's got to be someone listening who's in the process of repeating that mistake. I can save you, I think, a lot of hurt and heartache if you'll look for yourself in our word for today from the Word of God.
Acts 7, beginning with verse 23, unfolds the story from a New Testament perspective. Moses' people, the Jews, had been slaves to the Egyptian Pharaohs for many years. God had miraculously spared Moses as a baby and arranged for him to be raised in Pharaoh's court. The story picks up there. "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites." That day he witnessed a Jewish worker being mistreated by an Egyptian master. And the Bible says, "He went to his defense ... by killing the Egyptian."
The Bible goes on to explain, "Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Ultimately, Moses had to flee to a remote wilderness where he spent the next 40 years, until it was God's time for him to deliver his people. What had been so wrong 40 years before, was so right when it was God's plan and God's time.
Moses had the right idea. He was supposed to deliver his people, but he couldn't wait for God to do it His way. How many times have I made that mistake? How many times have you? Like Moses, we get impatient and we run ahead of the "pilot car" - the leading of our Lord. And like Moses, the results a crash.
There's something you've been waiting for God to do; to give you that person, that job, some financial relief, some love, some work for Him. And it's not happening. You're going to help God a little bit. You're going to figure out your own way to meet the need, to get it done now. You're tempted to pass Him because He's moving too slowly. Don't. You'll ruin it by trying to rush it. You'll get the bill for your impatience instead of the will of God.
There may be nothing that has cost more people God's best than impatience. We move so fast, we push so hard, we push right past God. He will, as He promised, make everything beautiful "in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And it's not time yet.
If you're tired of waiting and you're revving your engine, ready to pass God's "pilot car," get your foot off the accelerator. You're about to ruin the beautiful thing God's putting together by running ahead of Him.
Making something happen sooner is definitely not worth the pain. Waiting for God to do it His way, in His time, is definitely worth the wait.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Isaiah 23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: AS NEAR AS OUR NEXT BREATH
God repeatedly pledges his presence to his people. To Abram, God said, “Do not be afraid. . .I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1). God told Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). In the ultimate declaration of communion, God called himself Immanuel, which means, God with us. He became flesh. He became sin. He defeated the grave. He is still with us. In the form of his Spirit, he comforts, teaches, and convicts.
Don’t assume God is watching from a distance. Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret. Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath. And because the Lord is near, we can be anxious for nothing.
Isaiah 23
Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
When the ships returned from Cyprus,
they saw the destruction.
Hold your tongue, you who live on the seacoast,
merchants of Sidon.
Your people sailed the deep seas,
buying and selling,
Making money on wheat from Shihor,
grown along the Nile—
multinational broker in grains!
Hang your head in shame, Sidon. The Sea speaks up,
the powerhouse of the ocean says,
“I’ve never had labor pains, never had a baby,
never reared children to adulthood,
Never gave life, never worked with life.
It was all numbers, dead numbers, profit and loss.”
5 When Egypt gets the report on Tyre,
what wailing! what wringing of hands!
6-12 Visit Tarshish, you who live on the seacoast.
Take a good, long look and wail—yes, cry buckets of tears!
Is this the city you remember as energetic and alive,
bustling with activity, this historic old city,
Expanding throughout the globe,
buying and selling all over the world?
And who is behind the collapse of Tyre,
the Tyre that controlled the world markets?
Tyre’s merchants were the business tycoons.
Tyre’s traders called all the shots.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies ordered the crash
to show the sordid backside of pride
and puncture the inflated reputations.
Sail for home, O ships of Tarshish.
There are no docks left in this harbor.
God reached out to the sea and sea traders,
threw the sea kingdoms into turmoil.
God ordered the destruction
of the seacoast cities, the centers of commerce.
God said, “There’s nothing left here to be proud of,
bankrupt and bereft Sidon.
Do you want to make a new start in Cyprus?
Don’t count on it. Nothing there will work out for you either.”
13 Look at what happened to Babylon: There’s nothing left of it. Assyria turned it into a desert, into a refuge for wild dogs and stray cats. They brought in their big siege engines, tore down the buildings, and left nothing behind but rubble.
14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
15-16 For the next seventy years, a king’s lifetime, Tyre will be forgotten. At the end of the seventy years, Tyre will stage a comeback, but it will be the comeback of a worn-out whore, as in the song:
“Take a harp, circle the city,
unremembered whore.
Sing your old songs, your many old songs.
Maybe someone will remember.”
17-18 At the end of the seventy years, God will look in on Tyre. She’ll go back to her old whoring trade, selling herself to the highest bidder, doing anything with anyone—promiscuous with all the kingdoms of earth—for a fee. But everything she gets, all the money she takes in, will be turned over to God. It will not be put in banks. Her profits will be put to the use of God-Aware, God-Serving-People, providing plenty of food and the best of clothing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 20, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 42:1–5
As the deerf pants for streams of water,g
so my soul pantsh for you, my God.
2 My soul thirstsi for God, for the living God.j
When can I gok and meet with God?
3 My tearsl have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”m
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:n
how I used to go to the house of Godo
under the protection of the Mighty Oned
with shouts of joyp and praiseq
among the festive throng.r
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?s
Why so disturbedt within me?
Put your hope in God,u
for I will yet praisev him,
my Saviorw and my God.
Insight
Psalms 42 and 43 fit together seamlessly and may have been written as one song. The concluding verse of Psalm 43 mirrors Psalm 42 verses 5 and 11. In these psalms we gain a window into the human spirit as it engages in profound emotional struggle. The author copes with his personal crisis by first acknowledging his desperate need of God. Then he outlines his problem. He’s in a dark place (42:3) and so he recalls better days (v. 4). Aware of God’s unfailing goodness to him in the past, he challenges himself: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? . . . Put your hope in God” (vv. 5, 11; 43:5). Yet questions linger (42:9; 43:2). In our spiritual struggles, our emotions must be acknowledged. It’s healthy to be completely honest before God, and it’s vital to keep our focus on Him in our emotional anguish.
The Singing Revolution
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5
What does it take to ignite a revolution? Guns? Bombs? Guerrilla warfare? In late-1980s Estonia, it took songs. After the people had lived under the burden of Soviet occupation for decades, a movement began with the singing of a series of patriotic songs. These songs birthed the “Singing Revolution,” which played a key role in restoring Estonian independence in 1991.
“This was a non-violent revolution that overthrew a very violent occupation,” says a website describing the movement. “But singing had always been a major unifying force for Estonians while they endured fifty years of Soviet rule.”
Music can also play a significant part in helping us through our own hard times. I wonder if that’s why we so readily identify with the psalms. It was in a dark night of the soul that the psalmist sang, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5). It was in a season of deep disillusionment that Asaph, the worship leader, reminded himself, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1).
In our own challenging times, may we join the psalmists with a singing revolution for our hearts. Such a revolution overwhelms the personal tyranny of despair and confusion with faith-fueled confidence in God’s great love and faithfulness. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
How do you respond when life is overwhelming? What songs bring you the most comfort and why?
Father, I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Empower me to sing the song of Your great love—even when I must sing it through my tears.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 20, 2020
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.
The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.
Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 20, 2020
The Pressure, The Pain, and The Prescription - #8681
A cold is no big deal, unless it decides to expand its coverage from your nose to your ears. And even then it's no big deal unless you're coming down from 30,000 feet up in a commercial airliner. This is not a medical news bulletin - it's my personal testimony. I could feel a little something in my ears before I took off, but I didn't have any idea how the altitude ups and downs of my flight were going to totally block my ears and cause me some nasty pain on the way down. The poor lady next to me was telling me some of her heartaches and I kept yawning just to keep my head from exploding. And as my ears got more and more clogged, it was like somebody had turned down the volume knob on what she was saying. She must have thought I was a really great listener. Well, it was a painful afternoon, but the changing pressure in that plane let me know that I had a problem and it drove me to do what I usually try to avoid, go to the doctor. I'm glad I did - he really helped me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Pressure, The Pain, and The Prescription."
Increased pressure actually showed me an infection I really needed to deal with. You know, pressure has a way of exposing a lot of problems that need attention. Maybe the words "increasing pressure" describe your "flight" right now, pressure that's causing some significant pain. It could be that the pressure and the pain is in your marriage or maybe your work. Or for you, the squeeze might be financial or it could be something in an important relationship, but the stress is building. And you don't like what the pressure is doing to you. And, like the pressure I experienced on that flight, there is pain. Could it be there's a purpose in what's happening to get you to the Doctor?
Our word for today from the Word of God; it's in Psalm 32:1 and following. The great Jewish King David was having a painful flight, and he was feeling the pressure. But it's getting him to face some things he might otherwise not have faced. These words from his personal diary start out with what he learned from this hurting time. He says, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered."
Now it was the pain and pressure that got him to the point of spiritual and emotional freedom. Here is what he says, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand" - He's talking to God - "was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."
Wait a minute! You know some of those feelings - like there's this heavy hand on you, extended times of sadness. There's a stress that's draining you, maybe even physical symptoms. My pain and my pressure on that flight exposed a deeper problem and it led me to healing. David's pain and pressure exposed his spiritual need and it led him to healing. You might be at that same threshold. Now David's had a happy ending, one which may be exactly where you will find your happy ending. He says, "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' - and You forgave the guilt of my sin."
God sometimes actually lets the pressure build so we will finally deal with what is really wrong inside us - the sin that we've never taken care of. David went to the Soul Doctor and came away a man who was forgiven and clean. That could happen to you - that same liberation - if you'll finally let go of your pride and go to the Forgiving Place. It's that cross where Jesus loved you so much that He died for all the sins you've ever committed. When He said, "Father, forgive them" on that cross, He was forgiving you.
If you'll put your total trust in Jesus Christ to be your Savior from your sin, you will be clean. All this pressure and all this pain has been to let you know there's something wrong deep down inside, the deadly infection of sin that only Jesus can cure. This could be your time to finally be forgiven. Don't you want that? Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
I hope you'll go to our website, because I've really set it up to help you be sure that you've begun a relationship with Jesus. It's called ANewStory.com. Would you go there?
In this most painful and stressful time, you are suddenly on the edge of the healing that your soul has always needed, because you are face-to-face with Dr. Jesus.
God repeatedly pledges his presence to his people. To Abram, God said, “Do not be afraid. . .I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1). God told Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). In the ultimate declaration of communion, God called himself Immanuel, which means, God with us. He became flesh. He became sin. He defeated the grave. He is still with us. In the form of his Spirit, he comforts, teaches, and convicts.
Don’t assume God is watching from a distance. Isolation creates a downward cycle of fret. Choose instead to be the person who clutches the presence of God with both hands. We can calmly take our concerns to God because he is as near as our next breath. And because the Lord is near, we can be anxious for nothing.
Isaiah 23
Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
When the ships returned from Cyprus,
they saw the destruction.
Hold your tongue, you who live on the seacoast,
merchants of Sidon.
Your people sailed the deep seas,
buying and selling,
Making money on wheat from Shihor,
grown along the Nile—
multinational broker in grains!
Hang your head in shame, Sidon. The Sea speaks up,
the powerhouse of the ocean says,
“I’ve never had labor pains, never had a baby,
never reared children to adulthood,
Never gave life, never worked with life.
It was all numbers, dead numbers, profit and loss.”
5 When Egypt gets the report on Tyre,
what wailing! what wringing of hands!
6-12 Visit Tarshish, you who live on the seacoast.
Take a good, long look and wail—yes, cry buckets of tears!
Is this the city you remember as energetic and alive,
bustling with activity, this historic old city,
Expanding throughout the globe,
buying and selling all over the world?
And who is behind the collapse of Tyre,
the Tyre that controlled the world markets?
Tyre’s merchants were the business tycoons.
Tyre’s traders called all the shots.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies ordered the crash
to show the sordid backside of pride
and puncture the inflated reputations.
Sail for home, O ships of Tarshish.
There are no docks left in this harbor.
God reached out to the sea and sea traders,
threw the sea kingdoms into turmoil.
God ordered the destruction
of the seacoast cities, the centers of commerce.
God said, “There’s nothing left here to be proud of,
bankrupt and bereft Sidon.
Do you want to make a new start in Cyprus?
Don’t count on it. Nothing there will work out for you either.”
13 Look at what happened to Babylon: There’s nothing left of it. Assyria turned it into a desert, into a refuge for wild dogs and stray cats. They brought in their big siege engines, tore down the buildings, and left nothing behind but rubble.
14 Wail, ships of Tarshish,
your strong seaports all in ruins!
15-16 For the next seventy years, a king’s lifetime, Tyre will be forgotten. At the end of the seventy years, Tyre will stage a comeback, but it will be the comeback of a worn-out whore, as in the song:
“Take a harp, circle the city,
unremembered whore.
Sing your old songs, your many old songs.
Maybe someone will remember.”
17-18 At the end of the seventy years, God will look in on Tyre. She’ll go back to her old whoring trade, selling herself to the highest bidder, doing anything with anyone—promiscuous with all the kingdoms of earth—for a fee. But everything she gets, all the money she takes in, will be turned over to God. It will not be put in banks. Her profits will be put to the use of God-Aware, God-Serving-People, providing plenty of food and the best of clothing.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, April 20, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 42:1–5
As the deerf pants for streams of water,g
so my soul pantsh for you, my God.
2 My soul thirstsi for God, for the living God.j
When can I gok and meet with God?
3 My tearsl have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”m
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:n
how I used to go to the house of Godo
under the protection of the Mighty Oned
with shouts of joyp and praiseq
among the festive throng.r
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?s
Why so disturbedt within me?
Put your hope in God,u
for I will yet praisev him,
my Saviorw and my God.
Insight
Psalms 42 and 43 fit together seamlessly and may have been written as one song. The concluding verse of Psalm 43 mirrors Psalm 42 verses 5 and 11. In these psalms we gain a window into the human spirit as it engages in profound emotional struggle. The author copes with his personal crisis by first acknowledging his desperate need of God. Then he outlines his problem. He’s in a dark place (42:3) and so he recalls better days (v. 4). Aware of God’s unfailing goodness to him in the past, he challenges himself: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? . . . Put your hope in God” (vv. 5, 11; 43:5). Yet questions linger (42:9; 43:2). In our spiritual struggles, our emotions must be acknowledged. It’s healthy to be completely honest before God, and it’s vital to keep our focus on Him in our emotional anguish.
The Singing Revolution
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5
What does it take to ignite a revolution? Guns? Bombs? Guerrilla warfare? In late-1980s Estonia, it took songs. After the people had lived under the burden of Soviet occupation for decades, a movement began with the singing of a series of patriotic songs. These songs birthed the “Singing Revolution,” which played a key role in restoring Estonian independence in 1991.
“This was a non-violent revolution that overthrew a very violent occupation,” says a website describing the movement. “But singing had always been a major unifying force for Estonians while they endured fifty years of Soviet rule.”
Music can also play a significant part in helping us through our own hard times. I wonder if that’s why we so readily identify with the psalms. It was in a dark night of the soul that the psalmist sang, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5). It was in a season of deep disillusionment that Asaph, the worship leader, reminded himself, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (73:1).
In our own challenging times, may we join the psalmists with a singing revolution for our hearts. Such a revolution overwhelms the personal tyranny of despair and confusion with faith-fueled confidence in God’s great love and faithfulness. By: Bill Crowder
Reflect & Pray
How do you respond when life is overwhelming? What songs bring you the most comfort and why?
Father, I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Empower me to sing the song of Your great love—even when I must sing it through my tears.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 20, 2020
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.
The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.
Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“I have chosen you” (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you. My Utmost for His Highest, October 25, 837 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 20, 2020
The Pressure, The Pain, and The Prescription - #8681
A cold is no big deal, unless it decides to expand its coverage from your nose to your ears. And even then it's no big deal unless you're coming down from 30,000 feet up in a commercial airliner. This is not a medical news bulletin - it's my personal testimony. I could feel a little something in my ears before I took off, but I didn't have any idea how the altitude ups and downs of my flight were going to totally block my ears and cause me some nasty pain on the way down. The poor lady next to me was telling me some of her heartaches and I kept yawning just to keep my head from exploding. And as my ears got more and more clogged, it was like somebody had turned down the volume knob on what she was saying. She must have thought I was a really great listener. Well, it was a painful afternoon, but the changing pressure in that plane let me know that I had a problem and it drove me to do what I usually try to avoid, go to the doctor. I'm glad I did - he really helped me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Pressure, The Pain, and The Prescription."
Increased pressure actually showed me an infection I really needed to deal with. You know, pressure has a way of exposing a lot of problems that need attention. Maybe the words "increasing pressure" describe your "flight" right now, pressure that's causing some significant pain. It could be that the pressure and the pain is in your marriage or maybe your work. Or for you, the squeeze might be financial or it could be something in an important relationship, but the stress is building. And you don't like what the pressure is doing to you. And, like the pressure I experienced on that flight, there is pain. Could it be there's a purpose in what's happening to get you to the Doctor?
Our word for today from the Word of God; it's in Psalm 32:1 and following. The great Jewish King David was having a painful flight, and he was feeling the pressure. But it's getting him to face some things he might otherwise not have faced. These words from his personal diary start out with what he learned from this hurting time. He says, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered."
Now it was the pain and pressure that got him to the point of spiritual and emotional freedom. Here is what he says, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand" - He's talking to God - "was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."
Wait a minute! You know some of those feelings - like there's this heavy hand on you, extended times of sadness. There's a stress that's draining you, maybe even physical symptoms. My pain and my pressure on that flight exposed a deeper problem and it led me to healing. David's pain and pressure exposed his spiritual need and it led him to healing. You might be at that same threshold. Now David's had a happy ending, one which may be exactly where you will find your happy ending. He says, "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' - and You forgave the guilt of my sin."
God sometimes actually lets the pressure build so we will finally deal with what is really wrong inside us - the sin that we've never taken care of. David went to the Soul Doctor and came away a man who was forgiven and clean. That could happen to you - that same liberation - if you'll finally let go of your pride and go to the Forgiving Place. It's that cross where Jesus loved you so much that He died for all the sins you've ever committed. When He said, "Father, forgive them" on that cross, He was forgiving you.
If you'll put your total trust in Jesus Christ to be your Savior from your sin, you will be clean. All this pressure and all this pain has been to let you know there's something wrong deep down inside, the deadly infection of sin that only Jesus can cure. This could be your time to finally be forgiven. Don't you want that? Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."
I hope you'll go to our website, because I've really set it up to help you be sure that you've begun a relationship with Jesus. It's called ANewStory.com. Would you go there?
In this most painful and stressful time, you are suddenly on the edge of the healing that your soul has always needed, because you are face-to-face with Dr. Jesus.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Ephesians 5:1-16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Resentment
Resentment is a prison. When you’ve put someone in your jail cell of hatred, you are stuck guarding the door. If you’re out to settle a score, you are never going to rest. How can you? For one thing, your enemy may never pay up.
As much as you think you deserve an apology, your debtor may not agree. The racist may never repent. The chauvinist may never change. As justified as you are in your quest for vengeance, you may never get a penny’s worth of justice. And if you do, will it be enough?
You see, resentment is a prison. Jesus doesn’t question the reality of your wounds. He just doubts whether resentment is going to heal you. What are you going to do? Spend your life guarding the prison jail cell? Or entrust your wounds to Jesus?
from The Great House of God
Ephesians 5:1-16
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
3-4 Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.
5 You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.
6-7 Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.
8-10 You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 23:16–22
This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Do not listeni to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visionsj from their own minds,
not from the mouthk of the Lord.
17 They keep sayingl to those who despise me,
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’m
And to all who follow the stubbornnessn of their hearts
they say, ‘No harmo will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the councilp of the Lord
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the stormq of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwindr swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The angers of the Lord will not turn backt
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not sendu these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,v
they would have proclaimedw my words to my people
and would have turnedx them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.
Insight
In Jeremiah 23, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah against the “shepherds” (kings and priests, vv. 1–2) and prophets (vv. 9–40) for their continued disobedience and for leading the people astray. The shepherds were called to be godly leaders who guided and protected; instead, they’d destroyed and scattered “the sheep of [God’s] pasture” (v. 1). And rather than speaking God’s truths, the prophets “prophesied by Baal and led [God’s] people Israel astray” (v. 13). They “live[d] a lie” and strengthened “the hands of evildoers” so that they didn’t turn back “from their wickedness” (v. 14). God warned the people not to listen to the false prophets who weren’t speaking for God and offered only “false hopes” (v. 16). Because of their refusal to listen, Judah would be exiled at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet God wouldn’t forsake them forever (vv. 3–8).
The Forecaster’s Mistake
Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. Jeremiah 23:28
At noon on September 21, 1938, a young meteorologist warned the U.S. Weather Bureau of two fronts forcing a hurricane northward toward New England. But the chief of forecasting scoffed at Charles Pierce’s prediction. Surely a tropical storm wouldn’t strike so far north.
Two hours later, the 1938 New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island. By 4:00 p.m. it had reached New England, tossing ships onto land as homes crumbled into the sea. More than six hundred people died. Had the victims received Pierce’s warning—based on solid data and his detailed maps—they likely would have survived.
The concept of knowing whose word to heed has precedent in Scripture. In Jeremiah’s day, God warned His people against false prophets. “Do not listen [to them],” He said. “They fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16). God said of them, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (v. 22).
“False prophets” are still with us. “Experts” dispense advice while ignoring God altogether or twisting His words to suit their purposes. But through His Word and Spirit, God has given us what we need to begin to discern the false from the true. As we gauge everything by the truth of His Word, our own words and lives will increasingly reflect that truth to others. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What’s the standard I use when I decide whether something is true? What in my attitude needs to change toward those who disagree with me?
God, so many claim to speak for You these days. Help us learn what You really have to say. Make us sensitive to Your Spirit, not the spirit of this world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.
We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15:1-10
Resentment is a prison. When you’ve put someone in your jail cell of hatred, you are stuck guarding the door. If you’re out to settle a score, you are never going to rest. How can you? For one thing, your enemy may never pay up.
As much as you think you deserve an apology, your debtor may not agree. The racist may never repent. The chauvinist may never change. As justified as you are in your quest for vengeance, you may never get a penny’s worth of justice. And if you do, will it be enough?
You see, resentment is a prison. Jesus doesn’t question the reality of your wounds. He just doubts whether resentment is going to heal you. What are you going to do? Spend your life guarding the prison jail cell? Or entrust your wounds to Jesus?
from The Great House of God
Ephesians 5:1-16
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
3-4 Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.
5 You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.
6-7 Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.
8-10 You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 23:16–22
This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Do not listeni to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visionsj from their own minds,
not from the mouthk of the Lord.
17 They keep sayingl to those who despise me,
‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’m
And to all who follow the stubbornnessn of their hearts
they say, ‘No harmo will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the councilp of the Lord
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the stormq of the Lord
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwindr swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The angers of the Lord will not turn backt
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not sendu these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,v
they would have proclaimedw my words to my people
and would have turnedx them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.
Insight
In Jeremiah 23, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah against the “shepherds” (kings and priests, vv. 1–2) and prophets (vv. 9–40) for their continued disobedience and for leading the people astray. The shepherds were called to be godly leaders who guided and protected; instead, they’d destroyed and scattered “the sheep of [God’s] pasture” (v. 1). And rather than speaking God’s truths, the prophets “prophesied by Baal and led [God’s] people Israel astray” (v. 13). They “live[d] a lie” and strengthened “the hands of evildoers” so that they didn’t turn back “from their wickedness” (v. 14). God warned the people not to listen to the false prophets who weren’t speaking for God and offered only “false hopes” (v. 16). Because of their refusal to listen, Judah would be exiled at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet God wouldn’t forsake them forever (vv. 3–8).
The Forecaster’s Mistake
Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. Jeremiah 23:28
At noon on September 21, 1938, a young meteorologist warned the U.S. Weather Bureau of two fronts forcing a hurricane northward toward New England. But the chief of forecasting scoffed at Charles Pierce’s prediction. Surely a tropical storm wouldn’t strike so far north.
Two hours later, the 1938 New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island. By 4:00 p.m. it had reached New England, tossing ships onto land as homes crumbled into the sea. More than six hundred people died. Had the victims received Pierce’s warning—based on solid data and his detailed maps—they likely would have survived.
The concept of knowing whose word to heed has precedent in Scripture. In Jeremiah’s day, God warned His people against false prophets. “Do not listen [to them],” He said. “They fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16). God said of them, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (v. 22).
“False prophets” are still with us. “Experts” dispense advice while ignoring God altogether or twisting His words to suit their purposes. But through His Word and Spirit, God has given us what we need to begin to discern the false from the true. As we gauge everything by the truth of His Word, our own words and lives will increasingly reflect that truth to others. By: Tim Gustafson
Reflect & Pray
What’s the standard I use when I decide whether something is true? What in my attitude needs to change toward those who disagree with me?
God, so many claim to speak for You these days. Help us learn what You really have to say. Make us sensitive to Your Spirit, not the spirit of this world.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.
We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15:1-10
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Isaiah 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
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 22
A Message concerning the Valley of Vision:
What’s going on here anyway?
All this partying and noisemaking,
Shouting and cheering in the streets,
the city noisy with celebrations!
You have no brave soldiers to honor,
no combat heroes to be proud of.
Your leaders were all cowards,
captured without even lifting a sword,
A country of cowards
captured escaping the battle.
4-8 In the midst of the shouting, I said, “Let me alone.
Let me grieve by myself.
Don’t tell me it’s going to be all right.
These people are doomed. It’s not all right.”
For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is bringing a day noisy with mobs of people,
Jostling and stampeding in the Valley of Vision,
knocking down walls
and hollering to the mountains, “Attack! Attack!”
Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth—
weapons and chariots and cavalry.
Your fine valleys are noisy with war,
chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.
God has left Judah exposed and defenseless.
8-11 You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory. You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool. You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall. You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water.
You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.
12-13 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
called out on that Day,
Called for a day of repentant tears,
called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning.
But what do you do? You throw a party!
Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets!
You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast—
slabs of meat, kegs of beer.
“Seize the day! Eat and drink!
Tomorrow we die!”
14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies whispered to me his verdict on this frivolity: “You’ll pay for this outrage until the day you die.” The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says so.
15-19 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important. God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!
20-24 “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.
25 “And then the Day will come,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies, “when that nail will come loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall—and everything hanging on it will go with it.” That’s what will happen. God says so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.b A song.
1 God is our refugem and strength,n
an ever-presento helpp in trouble.q
2 Therefore we will not fear,r though the earth give ways
and the mountains fallt into the heart of the sea,u
3 though its waters roarv and foamw
and the mountains quakex with their surging.c
4 There is a rivery whose streamsz make glad the city of God,a
the holy place where the Most Highb dwells.c
5 God is within her,d she will not fall;e
God will helpf her at break of day.
6 Nationsg are in uproar,h kingdomsi fall;
he lifts his voice,j the earth melts.k
7 The Lord Almightyl is with us;m
the God of Jacobn is our fortress.o
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,p
the desolationsq he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes warsr cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bows and shatters the spear;
he burns the shieldsd with fire.t
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;u
I will be exaltedv among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacobw is our fortress.
Insight
Given the dire language of its introduction, this psalm was likely written during a significant crisis. But which crisis? Many scholars believe it occurred during the reign of Hezekiah when the Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem. The situation looked dismal for God’s people, but the city had two advantages the Assyrians knew nothing of. Hezekiah had protected the spring of Gihon, located outside the city, by tunneling through stone to the water source. Then he concealed the spring. This life-giving spring may be the inspiration for the line, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4). Most important, however, the psalmist knew the ultimate source of the city’s safety. Jerusalem enjoyed the presence of the one true God. His miraculous intervention on behalf of the city meant they had only to be still and await His deliverance. He’s the life-sustaining Spring.
Being Cared For
The Lord Almighty is with us. Psalm 46:11
Debbie, the owner of a housecleaning service, was always searching for more clients to build up her business. On one call she talked with a woman whose response was, “I won’t be able to afford that now; I’m undergoing cancer treatment.” Right then Debbie decided that “no woman undergoing cancer treatment would ever be turned away. They would even be offered a free housecleaning service.” So in 2005 she started a nonprofit organization where companies donated their cleaning services to women battling cancer. One such woman felt a rush of confidence when she came home to a clean house. She said, “For the first time, I actually believed I could beat cancer.”
A feeling of being cared for and supported can help sustain us when we’re facing a challenge. An awareness of God’s presence and support can especially bring hope to encourage our spirit. Psalm 46, a favorite of many people going through trials, reminds us: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” and “Be still, and know that I am God; . . . I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us” (vv. 1, 10–11).
Reminding ourselves of God’s promises and His presence with us can be a means to help renew our hearts and give us the courage and confidence to go through hard times. By: Anne Cetas
Reflect & Pray
For what trials are you depending on God for strength? What Bible verses help you?
I’m grateful, God, for Your presence and Your promises. May I live out an attitude of confidence in You and Your ability to sustain me.
To learn more about why life can sometimes feel unfair, visit bit.ly/2YeZilB.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Readiness
God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35
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 22
A Message concerning the Valley of Vision:
What’s going on here anyway?
All this partying and noisemaking,
Shouting and cheering in the streets,
the city noisy with celebrations!
You have no brave soldiers to honor,
no combat heroes to be proud of.
Your leaders were all cowards,
captured without even lifting a sword,
A country of cowards
captured escaping the battle.
4-8 In the midst of the shouting, I said, “Let me alone.
Let me grieve by myself.
Don’t tell me it’s going to be all right.
These people are doomed. It’s not all right.”
For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
is bringing a day noisy with mobs of people,
Jostling and stampeding in the Valley of Vision,
knocking down walls
and hollering to the mountains, “Attack! Attack!”
Old enemies Elam and Kir arrive armed to the teeth—
weapons and chariots and cavalry.
Your fine valleys are noisy with war,
chariots and cavalry charging this way and that.
God has left Judah exposed and defenseless.
8-11 You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory. You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool. You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall. You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water.
You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.
12-13 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
called out on that Day,
Called for a day of repentant tears,
called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning.
But what do you do? You throw a party!
Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets!
You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast—
slabs of meat, kegs of beer.
“Seize the day! Eat and drink!
Tomorrow we die!”
14 God-of-the-Angel-Armies whispered to me his verdict on this frivolity: “You’ll pay for this outrage until the day you die.” The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says so.
15-19 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important. God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!
20-24 “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.
25 “And then the Day will come,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies, “when that nail will come loose and fall out, break loose from that solid wall—and everything hanging on it will go with it.” That’s what will happen. God says so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 46
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.b A song.
1 God is our refugem and strength,n
an ever-presento helpp in trouble.q
2 Therefore we will not fear,r though the earth give ways
and the mountains fallt into the heart of the sea,u
3 though its waters roarv and foamw
and the mountains quakex with their surging.c
4 There is a rivery whose streamsz make glad the city of God,a
the holy place where the Most Highb dwells.c
5 God is within her,d she will not fall;e
God will helpf her at break of day.
6 Nationsg are in uproar,h kingdomsi fall;
he lifts his voice,j the earth melts.k
7 The Lord Almightyl is with us;m
the God of Jacobn is our fortress.o
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,p
the desolationsq he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes warsr cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bows and shatters the spear;
he burns the shieldsd with fire.t
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;u
I will be exaltedv among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacobw is our fortress.
Insight
Given the dire language of its introduction, this psalm was likely written during a significant crisis. But which crisis? Many scholars believe it occurred during the reign of Hezekiah when the Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem. The situation looked dismal for God’s people, but the city had two advantages the Assyrians knew nothing of. Hezekiah had protected the spring of Gihon, located outside the city, by tunneling through stone to the water source. Then he concealed the spring. This life-giving spring may be the inspiration for the line, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4). Most important, however, the psalmist knew the ultimate source of the city’s safety. Jerusalem enjoyed the presence of the one true God. His miraculous intervention on behalf of the city meant they had only to be still and await His deliverance. He’s the life-sustaining Spring.
Being Cared For
The Lord Almighty is with us. Psalm 46:11
Debbie, the owner of a housecleaning service, was always searching for more clients to build up her business. On one call she talked with a woman whose response was, “I won’t be able to afford that now; I’m undergoing cancer treatment.” Right then Debbie decided that “no woman undergoing cancer treatment would ever be turned away. They would even be offered a free housecleaning service.” So in 2005 she started a nonprofit organization where companies donated their cleaning services to women battling cancer. One such woman felt a rush of confidence when she came home to a clean house. She said, “For the first time, I actually believed I could beat cancer.”
A feeling of being cared for and supported can help sustain us when we’re facing a challenge. An awareness of God’s presence and support can especially bring hope to encourage our spirit. Psalm 46, a favorite of many people going through trials, reminds us: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” and “Be still, and know that I am God; . . . I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us” (vv. 1, 10–11).
Reminding ourselves of God’s promises and His presence with us can be a means to help renew our hearts and give us the courage and confidence to go through hard times. By: Anne Cetas
Reflect & Pray
For what trials are you depending on God for strength? What Bible verses help you?
I’m grateful, God, for Your presence and Your promises. May I live out an attitude of confidence in You and Your ability to sustain me.
To learn more about why life can sometimes feel unfair, visit bit.ly/2YeZilB.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Readiness
God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4
When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.
Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35
Friday, April 17, 2020
Isaiah 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: LET YOUR GENTLENESS BE EVIDENT TO ALL
How many disasters have been averted because one person refused to buckle under the strain? It’s this kind of composure Paul is summoning when he says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:5-6).
The Greek word translated here as “gentleness” describes a temperament that’s seasoned and mature. It envisions an attitude fitting to the occasion, levelheaded and tempered. This gentleness is “evident to all.” Family members take note. Your friends sense a difference. Coworkers benefit from it.
The gentle person is sober minded and clear thinking. The contagiously calm person is the one who reminds others, “God is in control.” Pursue this gentleness. The Lord is near—you are not alone. You may feel alone. You may think you’re alone. But there is never a moment in which you face life without help. God is near—be anxious for nothing!
Isaiah 21
A Message concerning the desert at the sea:
As tempests drive through the Negev Desert,
coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
A hard vision is given me:
The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered.
Attack, Elam!
Lay siege, Media!
Persians, attack!
Attack, Babylon!
I’ll put an end to
all the moaning and groaning.
Because of this news I’m doubled up in pain,
writhing in pain like a woman having a baby,
Baffled by what I hear,
undone by what I see.
Absolutely stunned,
horror-stricken,
I had hoped for a relaxed evening,
but it has turned into a nightmare.
5 The banquet is spread,
the guests reclining in luxurious ease,
Eating and drinking, having a good time,
and then, “To arms, princes! The fight is on!”
6-9 The Master told me, “Go, post a lookout.
Have him report whatever he spots.
When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,
lines of donkeys and columns of camels,
Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,
note every whisper, every rumor.”
Just then, the lookout shouted,
“I’m at my post, Master,
Sticking to my post day after day
and all through the night!
I watched them come,
the horses and wagons in battle formation.
I heard them call out the war news in headlines:
‘Babylon fallen! Fallen!
And all its precious god-idols
smashed to pieces on the ground.’”
10 Dear Israel, you’ve been through a lot,
you’ve been put through the mill.
The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.
11-12 A Message concerning Edom:
A voice calls to me
from the Seir mountains in Edom,
“Night watchman! How long till daybreak?
How long will this night last?”
The night watchman calls back,
“Morning’s coming,
But for now it’s still night.
If you ask me again, I’ll give the same answer.”
13-15 A Message concerning Arabia:
You’ll have to camp out in the desert badlands,
you caravans of Dedanites.
Haul water to the thirsty,
greet fugitives with bread.
Show your desert hospitality,
you who live in Tema.
The desert’s swarming with refugees
escaping the horrors of war.
16-17 The Master told me, “Hang on. Within one year—I’ll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs.” The God of Israel says so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 2:14–18
Since the children have flesh and blood,g he too shared in their humanityh so that by his death he might break the poweri of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devilj—15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their feark of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.l 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,k m fully human in every way, in order that he might become a mercifuln and faithful high priesto in service to God,p and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.q 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Insight
The New Testament letter to the Hebrews was written to help Jewish believers in Jesus understand the danger of taking their eyes off the One who came to rescue them and all humanity from our universal fear of death (2:1, 14–15). Only Christ can give us the courage to freely live without the fear of dying. Nothing less than the public record of His life, death, and resurrection can overcome Satan’s twisted suggestion that God can’t be trusted because He isn’t as good as He wants us to believe. It took Jesus’ suffering and death to reveal a God who’s merciful enough to forgive the worst of our wrongs. It took His resurrection from the dead and the changed lives of His witnesses to expose the lie that when we’ve taken our last breath, all hope is gone.
Able to Help
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
Joe’s eight-week “break” from his job as a crisis care worker at a New York City church was not a vacation. In his words, it was “to live again among the homeless, to become one of them, to remember what hungry, tired, and forgotten feel like.” Joe’s first stint on the streets had come nine years earlier when he arrived from Pittsburgh without a job or a place to stay. For thirteen days he lived on the streets with little food or sleep. That’s how God had prepared him for decades of ministry to needy people.
When Jesus came to earth, He also chose to share the experiences of those He came to save. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). From birth to death, nothing was missing from Christ’s human experience—except sin (4:15). Because He conquered sin, He can help us when we’re tempted to sin.
And Jesus doesn’t need to reacquaint Himself with our earthly cares. The One who saves us remains connected to us and is deeply interested in us. Whatever life brings, we can be assured that the One who rescued us from our greatest foe, the devil (2:14), stands ready to help us in our times of greatest need. By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
How does it encourage you to know that Jesus became one of us to identify with us and help us? What difference does knowing that He “walked in our shoes” make during this season in your life?
Father, help me to remember that You’re ready to help me in all areas of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 17, 2020
All or Nothing?
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 17, 2020
Pandemic Pressure and Sinking Hopes - #8680
At the time, the Thresher was the fastest and quietest nuclear submarine there was. Until that awful day in 1963 when it suddenly disappeared in the Atlantic. All 129 crew members were lost. When they finally located the doomed sub, they found it broken into six pieces. The cause of the deadliest submarine disaster in history, actually, has been hard to nail down. But ultimately it seems the Thresher collapsed because they were at a depth, for whatever reason, where the pressure on the outside became greater than the pressure on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Pandemic Pressure and Sinking Hopes."
For sure, the upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic seemed to shake almost every area of our lives. Our jobs, our kids' schooling, our family life, our sports, our entertainment, our ability to pay our bills, retirement plans, even our shopping - it's hard to think of an area of our lives that was not suddenly turned upside down. And with it, there's been a lot of fear. A lot of anxiety. A lot of discouragement. Even despair.
It's been a deep dive for all of us. And the pressure has revealed some things we normally don't see when life is speeding along. Social distance and staying home can uncover the cracks in our closest relationships. The almost overnight ravaging of our financial security has exposed that a lot we've called security isn't secure. And we're not in control, after all.
But there's evidence of a spiritual phenomenon taking place. Google reports an explosion of internet searches on the subject of prayer. Lifeway reported a 62% increase in Bible sales in one week. Usually we're too busy, too self-assured for God. But not when our "go to" things suddenly get up and go. Not when we feel - to use a word the Bible uses to describe us - we feel lost.
The pressure on the outside has become greater than the pressure on the inside. And that can sink you. Whatever or whoever we've been hanging onto suddenly isn't enough to withstand the stress. Or to provide any real hope.
When we're facing something much bigger than we are, we desperately need something - or someone - much bigger than what we're facing. And the Bible makes it clear that one thing hasn't changed - ever. And never will. Psalm 29:11, our hope-filled word for today from the Word of God says: "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace."
It's when we really need God, when we start to reach for Him, that we discover the distance between us and Him. In the Bible's stark words, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). In a way the word sin can be defined with just two words - "My way." God gave me my life. I acted like I'm God and I've done my life my way, not His way. So it's like there's a wall between me and a holy, sinless God.
Oh, but that same Bible has some mind-blowing good news. The God we've ignored and disobeyed loves us too much to leave that wall there. Listen to how incredibly God loves you - "He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross" (1 Peter 2:24). When Jesus was dying on that Good Friday, He was carrying the guilt, the shame, the hell for every wrong thing I've ever done. Then He walked out of His grave under His own power to offer the gift of eternal life.
The day you pin all your hopes on Him is the day you welcome Him into your life. And then you have anchored your life and your future to a hope and a love no loss on earth can touch.
If the pressure of our times has shown you how very much you need a relationship with God, let this be the day you tell Jesus, "I'm Yours." Let me give you our web address so you can go there today and find out how to be sure you belong to Jesus. It's ANewStory.com.
There will be things that are bigger than you can handle. But with Jesus in your life, you can be unsinkable!
How many disasters have been averted because one person refused to buckle under the strain? It’s this kind of composure Paul is summoning when he says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:5-6).
The Greek word translated here as “gentleness” describes a temperament that’s seasoned and mature. It envisions an attitude fitting to the occasion, levelheaded and tempered. This gentleness is “evident to all.” Family members take note. Your friends sense a difference. Coworkers benefit from it.
The gentle person is sober minded and clear thinking. The contagiously calm person is the one who reminds others, “God is in control.” Pursue this gentleness. The Lord is near—you are not alone. You may feel alone. You may think you’re alone. But there is never a moment in which you face life without help. God is near—be anxious for nothing!
Isaiah 21
A Message concerning the desert at the sea:
As tempests drive through the Negev Desert,
coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
A hard vision is given me:
The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered.
Attack, Elam!
Lay siege, Media!
Persians, attack!
Attack, Babylon!
I’ll put an end to
all the moaning and groaning.
Because of this news I’m doubled up in pain,
writhing in pain like a woman having a baby,
Baffled by what I hear,
undone by what I see.
Absolutely stunned,
horror-stricken,
I had hoped for a relaxed evening,
but it has turned into a nightmare.
5 The banquet is spread,
the guests reclining in luxurious ease,
Eating and drinking, having a good time,
and then, “To arms, princes! The fight is on!”
6-9 The Master told me, “Go, post a lookout.
Have him report whatever he spots.
When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation,
lines of donkeys and columns of camels,
Tell him to keep his ear to the ground,
note every whisper, every rumor.”
Just then, the lookout shouted,
“I’m at my post, Master,
Sticking to my post day after day
and all through the night!
I watched them come,
the horses and wagons in battle formation.
I heard them call out the war news in headlines:
‘Babylon fallen! Fallen!
And all its precious god-idols
smashed to pieces on the ground.’”
10 Dear Israel, you’ve been through a lot,
you’ve been put through the mill.
The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.
11-12 A Message concerning Edom:
A voice calls to me
from the Seir mountains in Edom,
“Night watchman! How long till daybreak?
How long will this night last?”
The night watchman calls back,
“Morning’s coming,
But for now it’s still night.
If you ask me again, I’ll give the same answer.”
13-15 A Message concerning Arabia:
You’ll have to camp out in the desert badlands,
you caravans of Dedanites.
Haul water to the thirsty,
greet fugitives with bread.
Show your desert hospitality,
you who live in Tema.
The desert’s swarming with refugees
escaping the horrors of war.
16-17 The Master told me, “Hang on. Within one year—I’ll sign a contract on it!—the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over, nothing much left of the Kedar toughs.” The God of Israel says so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 17, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Hebrews 2:14–18
Since the children have flesh and blood,g he too shared in their humanityh so that by his death he might break the poweri of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devilj—15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their feark of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.l 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,k m fully human in every way, in order that he might become a mercifuln and faithful high priesto in service to God,p and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.q 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Insight
The New Testament letter to the Hebrews was written to help Jewish believers in Jesus understand the danger of taking their eyes off the One who came to rescue them and all humanity from our universal fear of death (2:1, 14–15). Only Christ can give us the courage to freely live without the fear of dying. Nothing less than the public record of His life, death, and resurrection can overcome Satan’s twisted suggestion that God can’t be trusted because He isn’t as good as He wants us to believe. It took Jesus’ suffering and death to reveal a God who’s merciful enough to forgive the worst of our wrongs. It took His resurrection from the dead and the changed lives of His witnesses to expose the lie that when we’ve taken our last breath, all hope is gone.
Able to Help
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18
Joe’s eight-week “break” from his job as a crisis care worker at a New York City church was not a vacation. In his words, it was “to live again among the homeless, to become one of them, to remember what hungry, tired, and forgotten feel like.” Joe’s first stint on the streets had come nine years earlier when he arrived from Pittsburgh without a job or a place to stay. For thirteen days he lived on the streets with little food or sleep. That’s how God had prepared him for decades of ministry to needy people.
When Jesus came to earth, He also chose to share the experiences of those He came to save. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). From birth to death, nothing was missing from Christ’s human experience—except sin (4:15). Because He conquered sin, He can help us when we’re tempted to sin.
And Jesus doesn’t need to reacquaint Himself with our earthly cares. The One who saves us remains connected to us and is deeply interested in us. Whatever life brings, we can be assured that the One who rescued us from our greatest foe, the devil (2:14), stands ready to help us in our times of greatest need. By: Arthur Jackson
Reflect & Pray
How does it encourage you to know that Jesus became one of us to identify with us and help us? What difference does knowing that He “walked in our shoes” make during this season in your life?
Father, help me to remember that You’re ready to help me in all areas of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 17, 2020
All or Nothing?
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.
If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R
Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 17, 2020
Pandemic Pressure and Sinking Hopes - #8680
At the time, the Thresher was the fastest and quietest nuclear submarine there was. Until that awful day in 1963 when it suddenly disappeared in the Atlantic. All 129 crew members were lost. When they finally located the doomed sub, they found it broken into six pieces. The cause of the deadliest submarine disaster in history, actually, has been hard to nail down. But ultimately it seems the Thresher collapsed because they were at a depth, for whatever reason, where the pressure on the outside became greater than the pressure on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Pandemic Pressure and Sinking Hopes."
For sure, the upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic seemed to shake almost every area of our lives. Our jobs, our kids' schooling, our family life, our sports, our entertainment, our ability to pay our bills, retirement plans, even our shopping - it's hard to think of an area of our lives that was not suddenly turned upside down. And with it, there's been a lot of fear. A lot of anxiety. A lot of discouragement. Even despair.
It's been a deep dive for all of us. And the pressure has revealed some things we normally don't see when life is speeding along. Social distance and staying home can uncover the cracks in our closest relationships. The almost overnight ravaging of our financial security has exposed that a lot we've called security isn't secure. And we're not in control, after all.
But there's evidence of a spiritual phenomenon taking place. Google reports an explosion of internet searches on the subject of prayer. Lifeway reported a 62% increase in Bible sales in one week. Usually we're too busy, too self-assured for God. But not when our "go to" things suddenly get up and go. Not when we feel - to use a word the Bible uses to describe us - we feel lost.
The pressure on the outside has become greater than the pressure on the inside. And that can sink you. Whatever or whoever we've been hanging onto suddenly isn't enough to withstand the stress. Or to provide any real hope.
When we're facing something much bigger than we are, we desperately need something - or someone - much bigger than what we're facing. And the Bible makes it clear that one thing hasn't changed - ever. And never will. Psalm 29:11, our hope-filled word for today from the Word of God says: "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace."
It's when we really need God, when we start to reach for Him, that we discover the distance between us and Him. In the Bible's stark words, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). In a way the word sin can be defined with just two words - "My way." God gave me my life. I acted like I'm God and I've done my life my way, not His way. So it's like there's a wall between me and a holy, sinless God.
Oh, but that same Bible has some mind-blowing good news. The God we've ignored and disobeyed loves us too much to leave that wall there. Listen to how incredibly God loves you - "He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross" (1 Peter 2:24). When Jesus was dying on that Good Friday, He was carrying the guilt, the shame, the hell for every wrong thing I've ever done. Then He walked out of His grave under His own power to offer the gift of eternal life.
The day you pin all your hopes on Him is the day you welcome Him into your life. And then you have anchored your life and your future to a hope and a love no loss on earth can touch.
If the pressure of our times has shown you how very much you need a relationship with God, let this be the day you tell Jesus, "I'm Yours." Let me give you our web address so you can go there today and find out how to be sure you belong to Jesus. It's ANewStory.com.
There will be things that are bigger than you can handle. But with Jesus in your life, you can be unsinkable!
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Isaiah 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: IT IS WELL
Sometime ago I made a special visit to the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. I wanted to see the handwritten lyrics that hang on the wall, framed and visible for all to see. Horatio Spafford wrote them, never imagining they would become the words to one of the world’s best-loved hymns.
On December 2, 1873, he received a telegram from his wife that began, “Saved alone. What shall I do?” The ship she was on had collided with another ship and had sunk. Their four daughters drowned and Anna survived. While sailing on the ship to bring her home, Spafford wrote the lyrics to a song that would become an anthem to the providence of God. “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say. . .it is well with my soul!”
Isaiah 20
In the year the field commander, sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought and took it, God told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Go, take off your clothes and sandals,” and Isaiah did it, going about naked and barefooted.
3-6 Then God said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked around town naked and barefooted for three years as a warning sign to Egypt and Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria is going to come and take the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles. He’ll take young and old alike and march them out of there naked and barefooted, exposed to mockery and jeers—the bared buttocks of Egypt on parade! Everyone who has put hope in Ethiopia and expected help from Egypt will be thrown into confusion. Everyone who lives along this coast will say, ‘Look at them! Naked and barefooted, shuffling off to exile! And we thought they were our best hope, that they’d rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now what’s going to happen to us? How are we going to get out of this?’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 15:15–21
Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.p
You are long-sufferingq—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.r
16 When your words came, I ates them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,t
for I bear your name,u
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never satv in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your handw was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?x
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.y
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may servez me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.a
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wallb to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcomec you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”d
declares the Lord.
21 “I will savee you from the hands of the wickedf
and deliverg you from the grasp of the cruel.”
Insight
The prophet Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” One reason is that he openly weeps over his wayward Jewish brothers and sisters and the discipline their disobedience requires. The word weep appears twelve times in Jeremiah, including 9:1: “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.” Jeremiah also bears this title due to his book of laments, which we call Lamentations. In the book, Jeremiah uses the word weep three times, including Lamentations 2:11: “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed.”
Hungry for God
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight. Jeremiah 15:16
A new believer in Jesus was desperate to read the Bible. However, he’d lost his eyesight and both hands in an explosion. When he heard about a woman who read Braille with her lips, he tried to do the same—only to discover that the nerve endings of his lips had also been destroyed. Later, he was filled with joy when he discovered that he could feel the Braille characters with his tongue! He had found a way to read and enjoy the Scriptures.
Joy and delight were the emotions the prophet Jeremiah experienced when he received God’s words. “When your words came, I ate them,” he said, “they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16). Unlike the people of Judah who despised His words (8:9), Jeremiah had been obedient and rejoiced in them. His obedience, however, also led to the prophet being rejected by his own people and persecuted unfairly (15:17).
Some of us may have experienced something similar. We once read the Bible with joy, but obedience to God led to suffering and rejection from others. Like Jeremiah, we can bring our confusion to God. He answered Jeremiah by repeating the promise He gave him when He first called him to be a prophet (vv. 19-21; see 1:18–19). God reminded him that He never lets His people down. We can have this same confidence too. He’s faithful and will never abandon us. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
When have you experienced joy in reading the Scriptures? What can help you regain your hunger and thirst for God?
Faithful God, thank You for speaking to me through the words of the Bible. Help me to seek You earnestly and to obey You faithfully.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Who You Are and What You Do - #8679
Our four-year-old grandson loved that Sunday night program the church had for boys his age. He learned lots of Bible verses there, he made friends, and he participated enthusiastically in the special activities they offered. And then they announced that the next week the kids should come dressed as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Our daughter asked our grandson what he wanted to be. He said, "I want to be a grandfather." She shouldn't have told me. I know, that kind of made me melted grandfather all over our carpet. I expect his other grandfather probably felt the same way. They borrowed some of my clothes and they went to work making a grandson into a grandfather. He said, "I even smell like Grandpa!" I'm not sure what that meant. But it did feel good that a grandfather is what he wants to be.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who You Are and What You Do."
It could be that that four-year-old has actually figured out something about who we really are that has eluded some of us older folks. When he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he didn't answer with something he wants to do. That distinction is really easy to miss in a world that seems to be all about winning and achieving and doing. Years ago, people even got their name from what they did: baker, fisher, tanner, weaver. But God never meant for you to anchor your identity to the work you do, the position you hold, the milestones you accomplish.
Those sources of identity all have one thing in common: they're all "losable." Just ask anyone who's been downsized, or disabled, or demoted, or dumped. Now a daddy, or a granddaddy, that's something you are and no one can take that away from you. Generous, compassionate, honest, humble, and godly, those are things you are; things no one can take from you.
You have to go all the way back to the beginning to get a clear picture of what we're supposed to get our worth from and our identity, and it is not from our work. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the first book in the Bible, Genesis, and takes us back to the creation of the first human being. Genesis 1:27 says, "God created man in His own image ... male and female He created them." It is that image of God that ultimately defines who you are and that's something no one can take from you.
Then, in Genesis 2:18, "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." First, the vertical relationship with God, then horizontal relationships with others. It wasn't until after man sinned in Genesis 3 that God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life ... by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground." (Genesis 3:17-19) So, for a person to be defined by what they do is part of the curse of the fall.
But it's clear that your Creator meant for you to be defined by your relationships, not your occupation. You're a child of Almighty God. You're a son or daughter, a husband or wife, and in case my grandson is listening, a grandparent, a friend, an aunt or uncle. After all my dad did in his life, only two words sum up his life on his tombstone "Husband - father."
When you are what you do and you lose your job, or your capabilities, your sport, your career, then in fact, you've lost you. But, in fact, you've not even lost a tiny fraction of who you are. No one can take that from you unless you forget who you really are. And when you realize who you really are, then you know what really matters.
You know how to set your priorities, and you're anchored to a meaning in life that you cannot lose. Because it isn't about what you do, it's about who you are.
Sometime ago I made a special visit to the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. I wanted to see the handwritten lyrics that hang on the wall, framed and visible for all to see. Horatio Spafford wrote them, never imagining they would become the words to one of the world’s best-loved hymns.
On December 2, 1873, he received a telegram from his wife that began, “Saved alone. What shall I do?” The ship she was on had collided with another ship and had sunk. Their four daughters drowned and Anna survived. While sailing on the ship to bring her home, Spafford wrote the lyrics to a song that would become an anthem to the providence of God. “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say. . .it is well with my soul!”
Isaiah 20
In the year the field commander, sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought and took it, God told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Go, take off your clothes and sandals,” and Isaiah did it, going about naked and barefooted.
3-6 Then God said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked around town naked and barefooted for three years as a warning sign to Egypt and Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria is going to come and take the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles. He’ll take young and old alike and march them out of there naked and barefooted, exposed to mockery and jeers—the bared buttocks of Egypt on parade! Everyone who has put hope in Ethiopia and expected help from Egypt will be thrown into confusion. Everyone who lives along this coast will say, ‘Look at them! Naked and barefooted, shuffling off to exile! And we thought they were our best hope, that they’d rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now what’s going to happen to us? How are we going to get out of this?’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 15:15–21
Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.p
You are long-sufferingq—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.r
16 When your words came, I ates them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,t
for I bear your name,u
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never satv in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your handw was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?x
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.y
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may servez me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.a
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wallb to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcomec you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”d
declares the Lord.
21 “I will savee you from the hands of the wickedf
and deliverg you from the grasp of the cruel.”
Insight
The prophet Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” One reason is that he openly weeps over his wayward Jewish brothers and sisters and the discipline their disobedience requires. The word weep appears twelve times in Jeremiah, including 9:1: “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.” Jeremiah also bears this title due to his book of laments, which we call Lamentations. In the book, Jeremiah uses the word weep three times, including Lamentations 2:11: “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed.”
Hungry for God
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight. Jeremiah 15:16
A new believer in Jesus was desperate to read the Bible. However, he’d lost his eyesight and both hands in an explosion. When he heard about a woman who read Braille with her lips, he tried to do the same—only to discover that the nerve endings of his lips had also been destroyed. Later, he was filled with joy when he discovered that he could feel the Braille characters with his tongue! He had found a way to read and enjoy the Scriptures.
Joy and delight were the emotions the prophet Jeremiah experienced when he received God’s words. “When your words came, I ate them,” he said, “they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16). Unlike the people of Judah who despised His words (8:9), Jeremiah had been obedient and rejoiced in them. His obedience, however, also led to the prophet being rejected by his own people and persecuted unfairly (15:17).
Some of us may have experienced something similar. We once read the Bible with joy, but obedience to God led to suffering and rejection from others. Like Jeremiah, we can bring our confusion to God. He answered Jeremiah by repeating the promise He gave him when He first called him to be a prophet (vv. 19-21; see 1:18–19). God reminded him that He never lets His people down. We can have this same confidence too. He’s faithful and will never abandon us. By: Poh Fang Chia
Reflect & Pray
When have you experienced joy in reading the Scriptures? What can help you regain your hunger and thirst for God?
Faithful God, thank You for speaking to me through the words of the Bible. Help me to seek You earnestly and to obey You faithfully.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36
We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Who You Are and What You Do - #8679
Our four-year-old grandson loved that Sunday night program the church had for boys his age. He learned lots of Bible verses there, he made friends, and he participated enthusiastically in the special activities they offered. And then they announced that the next week the kids should come dressed as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Our daughter asked our grandson what he wanted to be. He said, "I want to be a grandfather." She shouldn't have told me. I know, that kind of made me melted grandfather all over our carpet. I expect his other grandfather probably felt the same way. They borrowed some of my clothes and they went to work making a grandson into a grandfather. He said, "I even smell like Grandpa!" I'm not sure what that meant. But it did feel good that a grandfather is what he wants to be.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who You Are and What You Do."
It could be that that four-year-old has actually figured out something about who we really are that has eluded some of us older folks. When he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he didn't answer with something he wants to do. That distinction is really easy to miss in a world that seems to be all about winning and achieving and doing. Years ago, people even got their name from what they did: baker, fisher, tanner, weaver. But God never meant for you to anchor your identity to the work you do, the position you hold, the milestones you accomplish.
Those sources of identity all have one thing in common: they're all "losable." Just ask anyone who's been downsized, or disabled, or demoted, or dumped. Now a daddy, or a granddaddy, that's something you are and no one can take that away from you. Generous, compassionate, honest, humble, and godly, those are things you are; things no one can take from you.
You have to go all the way back to the beginning to get a clear picture of what we're supposed to get our worth from and our identity, and it is not from our work. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the first book in the Bible, Genesis, and takes us back to the creation of the first human being. Genesis 1:27 says, "God created man in His own image ... male and female He created them." It is that image of God that ultimately defines who you are and that's something no one can take from you.
Then, in Genesis 2:18, "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." First, the vertical relationship with God, then horizontal relationships with others. It wasn't until after man sinned in Genesis 3 that God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life ... by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground." (Genesis 3:17-19) So, for a person to be defined by what they do is part of the curse of the fall.
But it's clear that your Creator meant for you to be defined by your relationships, not your occupation. You're a child of Almighty God. You're a son or daughter, a husband or wife, and in case my grandson is listening, a grandparent, a friend, an aunt or uncle. After all my dad did in his life, only two words sum up his life on his tombstone "Husband - father."
When you are what you do and you lose your job, or your capabilities, your sport, your career, then in fact, you've lost you. But, in fact, you've not even lost a tiny fraction of who you are. No one can take that from you unless you forget who you really are. And when you realize who you really are, then you know what really matters.
You know how to set your priorities, and you're anchored to a meaning in life that you cannot lose. Because it isn't about what you do, it's about who you are.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Ephesians 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS NOT FINISHED
In the famous lace shops of Brussels, Belgium, certain rooms are dedicated to the spinning of the finest lace, with the most delicate of patterns. These rooms are completely dark, except for a shaft of natural light from a solitary window. Only one spinner sits in the room. The light falls on the pattern while the worker remains in the dark.
Has God permitted a time of darkness in your world? You look but you cannot see him. You see only the fabric of circumstances woven and interlaced. You might question the purpose behind this thread or that. But be assured, God has a pattern. He has a plan. The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” He is not finished. But when he is, the lace will be beautiful!
Ephesians 4
In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.
17-19 And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.
20-24 But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
25 What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
26-27 Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
28 Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
30 Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:9–18
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,l 10 for Demas,m because he loved this world,n has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.o Crescens has gone to Galatia,p and Titusq to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luker is with me.s Get Markt and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicusu to Ephesus.v 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas,w and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexanderx the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.y 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.z 17 But the Lord stood at my sidea and gave me strength,b so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.c And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.d 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attacke and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.f To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Insight
The book of 2 Timothy was written from Rome as Paul was awaiting execution. The clear sense of his impending death is seen in 2 Timothy 4:6: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.” His tone is very different in his prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon), where he’s under house arrest awaiting trial (see Acts 28:30–31). This difference of tone contributes to the view of many scholars that Paul experienced two imprisonments—the first leading to trial and the second (seen here) leading to execution.
From Pity to Praise
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. 2 Timothy 4:17
At a coat drive for children, excited kids searched gratefully for their favorite colors and proper sizes. They also gained self-esteem, an organizer said, with new coats boosting their acceptance by peers and school attendance on winter days.
The apostle Paul seemed to need a coat, as well, when he wrote Timothy, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas” (2 Timothy 4:13). Held in a cold Roman prison, Paul needed warmth but also companionship. “No one came to my support, but everyone deserted me,” he lamented, when he faced a Roman judge (v. 16). His words pierce our hearts with the honesty of this great missionary’s pain.
Yet in these final words of Paul’s last recorded letter—his closing thoughts after an astounding ministry—he moves from pity to praise. “But the Lord stood at my side,” he adds (v. 17), and his words rally our hearts. As Paul declared, “[God] gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death” (v. 17 nlt).
If you’re facing a crisis, lacking even the right clothing for warmth or close friends to help, remember God. He’s faithful to revive, provide, and deliver. Why? For His glory and for our purpose in His kingdom. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
In what “cold” area of your life do you need God’s great and warming strength? As you praise Him, how does your outlook change?
Our strong God, when life’s circumstances overwhelm us, stand with us, stir our praise, giving us Your strength to overcome.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The Failure To Pay Close Attention
The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.
Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Your Battle, Their Hope - #8678
It started out as a major battle for Jason. It turned out to be a major blessing for someone else. In early March, Jason's symptoms were just a mild cough and congestion. Then the headaches. Then the fever, the body aches, and the shortness of breath. And, you guessed it, by mid-March the test showed he had coronavirus. He isolated himself for ten days to protect his wife and his 11-month-old daughter. Finally, he was able to announce on social media that the medical folks said he had beaten it. It was about that time, there was another COVID patient, though, in his area who was in dire condition and not responding to medications. That's when they contacted Jason to see if he'd be willing to help with an experimental treatment - donating his plasma to be given to the endangered patient. Hoping Jason's antibodies from fighting COVID might help, they gave him those antibodies. They gave him that plasma. Last report - that patient was breathing better each day and starting to recover. Jason looked back on his COVID battle and said: "This thing ended up possibly saving someone's life."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Your Battle, Their Hope."
Hopefully, you haven't had to battle coronavirus. But I'm sure you've had plenty of battles. Haven't we all? Fighting loneliness or grief. Depression. Addiction. A lot of battles. Anger. A broken relationship. Maybe a disease or a disability or a divorce. Sometimes it's a battle to stop a habit or an attitude or a way we treat people.
Those kinds of battles are one reason the message of Jesus Christ is called "Gospel" which means "good news"! Because, in the Bible's words, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; a new life has begun" (2 Corinthians 5:17). That cross where Jesus died for the sin and the brokenness of your life...that empty tomb where Jesus proved His power to conquer every enemy - they have the power to change what no one else can change. To heal what no one else can heal. To bring hope where there was no hope.
So as a follower of Jesus, you are actually living proof of a living Savior! And there are battles in your life that couldn't have been won except for Jesus. Which means you represent hope to someone who battles a battle like yours - but they have no Savior to win those battles.
Just like a recovered COVID patient, you have what someone else needs to be healed. It's in what I call your Hope Story! Listen to this statement from the Bible that reveals what can open the heart of someone you care about to Jesus. It's in 1 Peter 3:15, our word for today from the Word of God.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Did you get that... "the hope that you have." Your story of how Jesus made all the difference in your battle. How what happened on that middle cross tore down the wall between you and God so you could have a love relationship with your Creator. And how that love has changed everything! Including the outcome of your battle.
Someone you care about needs to hear how Jesus' story changed your story - and could change their story forever! People can argue with your beliefs - but they can't argue with your personal Hope Story. And because you're talking about you, they don't have to get defensive.
It is your best possible way to explain the life-changing difference Jesus makes!
So start praying today for God to open doors - natural opportunities - for you to share His story through your story. Pray for God to open their heart - and your mouth. What was your battle can become their hope. Their hope of having their sins forgiven. Of winning their battle. Of going to heaven with you someday. You have a powerful tool in your hope story.
And one day maybe you'll be able to say, like that COVID patient said when he was able to give healing help to another person. You'll be able to say about that battle in your life - "This thing ended up saving someone's life!"
In the famous lace shops of Brussels, Belgium, certain rooms are dedicated to the spinning of the finest lace, with the most delicate of patterns. These rooms are completely dark, except for a shaft of natural light from a solitary window. Only one spinner sits in the room. The light falls on the pattern while the worker remains in the dark.
Has God permitted a time of darkness in your world? You look but you cannot see him. You see only the fabric of circumstances woven and interlaced. You might question the purpose behind this thread or that. But be assured, God has a pattern. He has a plan. The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” He is not finished. But when he is, the lace will be beautiful!
Ephesians 4
In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.
17-19 And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.
20-24 But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
25 What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
26-27 Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.
28 Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.
29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
30 Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted.
31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:9–18
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly,l 10 for Demas,m because he loved this world,n has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.o Crescens has gone to Galatia,p and Titusq to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luker is with me.s Get Markt and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicusu to Ephesus.v 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas,w and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexanderx the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done.y 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.z 17 But the Lord stood at my sidea and gave me strength,b so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.c And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.d 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attacke and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.f To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Insight
The book of 2 Timothy was written from Rome as Paul was awaiting execution. The clear sense of his impending death is seen in 2 Timothy 4:6: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.” His tone is very different in his prison letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon), where he’s under house arrest awaiting trial (see Acts 28:30–31). This difference of tone contributes to the view of many scholars that Paul experienced two imprisonments—the first leading to trial and the second (seen here) leading to execution.
From Pity to Praise
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. 2 Timothy 4:17
At a coat drive for children, excited kids searched gratefully for their favorite colors and proper sizes. They also gained self-esteem, an organizer said, with new coats boosting their acceptance by peers and school attendance on winter days.
The apostle Paul seemed to need a coat, as well, when he wrote Timothy, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas” (2 Timothy 4:13). Held in a cold Roman prison, Paul needed warmth but also companionship. “No one came to my support, but everyone deserted me,” he lamented, when he faced a Roman judge (v. 16). His words pierce our hearts with the honesty of this great missionary’s pain.
Yet in these final words of Paul’s last recorded letter—his closing thoughts after an astounding ministry—he moves from pity to praise. “But the Lord stood at my side,” he adds (v. 17), and his words rally our hearts. As Paul declared, “[God] gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death” (v. 17 nlt).
If you’re facing a crisis, lacking even the right clothing for warmth or close friends to help, remember God. He’s faithful to revive, provide, and deliver. Why? For His glory and for our purpose in His kingdom. By: Patricia Raybon
Reflect & Pray
In what “cold” area of your life do you need God’s great and warming strength? As you praise Him, how does your outlook change?
Our strong God, when life’s circumstances overwhelm us, stand with us, stir our praise, giving us Your strength to overcome.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The Failure To Pay Close Attention
The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.
Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Your Battle, Their Hope - #8678
It started out as a major battle for Jason. It turned out to be a major blessing for someone else. In early March, Jason's symptoms were just a mild cough and congestion. Then the headaches. Then the fever, the body aches, and the shortness of breath. And, you guessed it, by mid-March the test showed he had coronavirus. He isolated himself for ten days to protect his wife and his 11-month-old daughter. Finally, he was able to announce on social media that the medical folks said he had beaten it. It was about that time, there was another COVID patient, though, in his area who was in dire condition and not responding to medications. That's when they contacted Jason to see if he'd be willing to help with an experimental treatment - donating his plasma to be given to the endangered patient. Hoping Jason's antibodies from fighting COVID might help, they gave him those antibodies. They gave him that plasma. Last report - that patient was breathing better each day and starting to recover. Jason looked back on his COVID battle and said: "This thing ended up possibly saving someone's life."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I'd like to have A Word With You today about "Your Battle, Their Hope."
Hopefully, you haven't had to battle coronavirus. But I'm sure you've had plenty of battles. Haven't we all? Fighting loneliness or grief. Depression. Addiction. A lot of battles. Anger. A broken relationship. Maybe a disease or a disability or a divorce. Sometimes it's a battle to stop a habit or an attitude or a way we treat people.
Those kinds of battles are one reason the message of Jesus Christ is called "Gospel" which means "good news"! Because, in the Bible's words, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; a new life has begun" (2 Corinthians 5:17). That cross where Jesus died for the sin and the brokenness of your life...that empty tomb where Jesus proved His power to conquer every enemy - they have the power to change what no one else can change. To heal what no one else can heal. To bring hope where there was no hope.
So as a follower of Jesus, you are actually living proof of a living Savior! And there are battles in your life that couldn't have been won except for Jesus. Which means you represent hope to someone who battles a battle like yours - but they have no Savior to win those battles.
Just like a recovered COVID patient, you have what someone else needs to be healed. It's in what I call your Hope Story! Listen to this statement from the Bible that reveals what can open the heart of someone you care about to Jesus. It's in 1 Peter 3:15, our word for today from the Word of God.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Did you get that... "the hope that you have." Your story of how Jesus made all the difference in your battle. How what happened on that middle cross tore down the wall between you and God so you could have a love relationship with your Creator. And how that love has changed everything! Including the outcome of your battle.
Someone you care about needs to hear how Jesus' story changed your story - and could change their story forever! People can argue with your beliefs - but they can't argue with your personal Hope Story. And because you're talking about you, they don't have to get defensive.
It is your best possible way to explain the life-changing difference Jesus makes!
So start praying today for God to open doors - natural opportunities - for you to share His story through your story. Pray for God to open their heart - and your mouth. What was your battle can become their hope. Their hope of having their sins forgiven. Of winning their battle. Of going to heaven with you someday. You have a powerful tool in your hope story.
And one day maybe you'll be able to say, like that COVID patient said when he was able to give healing help to another person. You'll be able to say about that battle in your life - "This thing ended up saving someone's life!"
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