Psalm 107, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DEEP IN HIS LOVE

My friend Keith took his wife, Sarah, to Cozumel, Mexico, to celebrate their anniversary.  Sarah loves to snorkel.  Down she swims, searching for the mysteries below.  Keith’s idea of snorkeling also includes a bellyboard.  The surface satisfies him.  Sarah, however, convinced him to plunge into the water where she showed him a twenty-foot-tall submerged cross.  “If I’d had another breath,” he confessed, “the sight would have taken it away.”

Jesus beckons you to descend and see the same.  Take a breath and descend so deeply into his love that you see nothing else.  Join the psalmist in saying:

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. . . .(Psalm 73:25–26)

Psalm 107

 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
    His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
    Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
    from the four winds, from the seven seas.

4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
    looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
    staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
    He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
    that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great drafts of water down parched throats;
    the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

10-16 Some of you were locked in a dark cell,
    cruelly confined behind bars,
Punished for defying God’s Word,
    for turning your back on the High God’s counsel—
A hard sentence, and your hearts so heavy,
    and not a soul in sight to help.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He led you out of your dark, dark cell,
    broke open the jail and led you out.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
    he snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!

17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
    your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
    so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
    that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
    tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

23-32 Some of you set sail in big ships;
    you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
    saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
    an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
    your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
    you didn’t know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
    put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
    and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
    shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

33-41 God turned rivers into wasteland,
    springs of water into sunbaked mud;
Luscious orchards became alkali flats
    because of the evil of the people who lived there.
Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water,
    arid earth into springs of water,
Brought in the hungry and settled them there;
    they moved in—what a great place to live!
They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards,
    they reaped a bountiful harvest.
He blessed them and they prospered greatly;
    their herds of cattle never decreased.
But abuse and evil and trouble declined
    as he heaped scorn on princes and sent them away.
He gave the poor a safe place to live,
    treated their clans like well-cared-for sheep.

42-43 Good people see this and are glad;
    bad people are speechless, stopped in their tracks.
If you are really wise, you’ll think this over—
    it’s time you appreciated God’s deep love.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, March 05, 2021
Read: Ecclesiastes 6:12; 7:13–14

For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

Consider what God has done:

Who can straighten
    what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
    but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
    as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
    anything about their future.

INSIGHT
Today’s text might make us conclude that the author of Ecclesiastes, the “Teacher” (1:1), is a fatalist. Gloomy thoughts seem to dominate his writing: Life is “meaningless” and our days pass like a “shadow” (6:12); good and bad stuff happen (7:14). But some Bible scholars offer another perspective by pointing us to the writer’s call to “consider what God has done” (7:13)—reminding us to look carefully at how He works and has worked in the world. “Who can straighten what [God] has made crooked?” (v. 13). Who can fix the difficulties in our lives? No one except God. When we consider His character and acts, we see that “in all things” He works “for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). When we trust in God’s goodness, we can be happy (joyful) “when times are good.” And when “times are bad,” we can remember that God has given us those days as well (Ecclesiastes 7:14).

Who Knows? - By Po Fang Chia
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Ecclesiastes 7:14

According to Chinese legend, when Sai Weng lost one of his prized horses, his neighbor expressed sorrow for his loss. But Sai Weng was unconcerned. He said, “Who knows if it may be a good thing for me?” Surprisingly, the lost horse returned home with another horse. As the neighbor congratulated him, Sai Weng said, “Who knows if it may be a bad thing for me?” As it turned out, his son broke his leg when he rode on the new horse. This seemed like a misfortune, until the army arrived at the village to recruit all able-bodied men to fight in the war. Because of the son’s injury, he wasn’t recruited, which ultimately could have spared him from death.

This is the story behind the Chinese proverb which teaches that a difficulty can be a blessing in disguise and vice versa. This ancient wisdom has a close parallel in Ecclesiastes 6:12, where the author observes: “Who knows what is good for a person in life?” Indeed, none of us know what the future holds. An adversity might have positive benefits, and prosperity might have ill effects.

Each day offers new opportunities, joys, struggles, and suffering. As God’s beloved children, we can rest in His sovereignty and trust Him through the good and bad times alike. God has “made the one as well as the other” (7:14). He’s with us in all the events in our lives and promises His loving care.

Can you think of an example where a misfortune turned out to be a blessing? How can you keep your focus on God in good times as well as in bad times?

Sovereign God, thank You for ordering my life. Help me to praise You in both good and bad times, believing that You work all things for the ultimate good of those who love You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, March 05, 2021
Is He Really My Lord?

…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;…  The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 537 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, March 05, 2021
Mess Prevention - #8910

It was a pretty amusing billboard; a cartoon drawing of a wide-eyed, bewildered-looking squirrel, holding a broken cable in his paws. The sign just said, "Call before you dig" and he gave a toll-free phone number. The utility folks have this problem. I'm not sure if it's with squirrels; it certainly is with people. They start digging and they cut right into their lines and their cables. I mean, those could be gas lines, phone lines, or phone cables. And in the process, the happy diggers make a big mess for the utility company and their customers. A mess that could have easily been avoided.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mess Prevention."

It really is a good idea to check with the people in the know before you just start plowing ahead. It's our failure to check with the person who's really in the know that explains many of our costly mistakes, that causes some of the biggest messes in our life.

Consider the example in Joshua 9:14-15. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Here's the story: The Jews have been winning one victory after another over the Canaanites as they take possession of the Promised Land that God was giving them. They are about to come upon Gibeon, one of the royal cities of Canaan. The Gibeonites have heard about the fall of the other cities that the Jews have gone against. They know they're going down next unless they can trick God's people somehow into making a peace treaty with them, which seems unlikely in light of the fact that God's orders are to remove every tribe from the land and not to coexist with them.

But the Gibeonites are shrewd. They sent a delegation to see Joshua, with donkeys loaded with cracked wineskins and worn-out sacks. They wore patched sandals and old clothes, and they carried dry and moldy bread with them. The whole scam was to make it look like they were from far away and that they had come on a long journey.

Here's how Joshua and his men decided what to do with these Gibeonites, "The men of Israel sampled their provisions (so they made sure the bread was really dry and moldy) but they did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live." Do you know, within days, the Jews learned that the Gibeonites were not from far away; they were from close by. But because they had been tricked into this treaty, they could not by honor, remove them as God had commanded.

As a result, the hands of the Jews were tied for years to come, and the treaty actually sparked a major battle with other armies. How did this mess happen? They didn't call before they dug. They decided on the basis of what seemed right to them, but they made the fatal mistake so many of us have made so many times - they didn't check with heaven! And they blew it. So do we.

So much unnecessary pain, so many unnecessary complications and difficulties and conflicts, all because of our failure to seek God's direction. We neglect to check with God for a lot of reasons. We're in too big of a hurry, we're feeling pressured by other people, we compromise for the sake of convenience, or we just plain know how we want it to be and we stubbornly blaze ahead with our own will.

Sometimes, we might even be doing God's thing, but it's not God's time or it's not God's way. We "lean on our own understanding," as the Bible puts it, which can only see part of the picture. When you consult with the Lord, you're getting direction from the only One who can see the whole picture.

In 2 Chronicles 18:4, King Jehoshaphat gave King Ahab this advice before he went running off into battle: "First, seek the counsel of the Lord." By the way, King Ahab didn't, and he died in that battle. You can avoid a lot of problems and a lot of pain if you'll instinctively check with heaven first or call before you dig.

Revelation 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CHOOSE GOD’S LOVE

Does a branch ever release the vine?  Only at the risk of death.  Would you say the branch is vine dependent?  I would. How well do you pass the vine test?  Do you ever release yourself from the love of Christ?  Do you ever go unnourished?  You do so at the certain risk of a parched heart.

From the file entitled “It Ain’t Gonna Happen,“ I pull and pose this suggestion.  Let’s make Christ’s command a federal law:  No person may walk out into the world to begin the day until he or she has stood beneath the cross to receive God’s love.  Wild idea?  I agree.  God’s love cannot be legislated, but it can be chosen.  For Christ’s sake, and yours, choose it. The prayer is as powerful as it is simple– “Lord, I receive your love.  Nothing can separate me today from your love.”

Revelation 9

The fifth Angel trumpeted. I saw a Star plummet from Heaven to earth. The Star was handed a key to the Well of the Abyss. He unlocked the Well of the Abyss—smoke poured out of the Well, billows and billows of smoke, sun and air in blackout from smoke pouring out of the Well.

3-6 Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions. They were given their orders: “Don’t hurt the grass, don’t hurt anything green, don’t hurt a single tree—only men and women, and then only those who lack the seal of God on their foreheads.” They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting. When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way—death will have gone into hiding.

7-11 The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had gold crowns, human faces, women’s hair, the teeth of lions, and iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was the sound of horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. Their tails were equipped with stings, like scorpion tails. With those tails they were ordered to torture the human race for five months. They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon—“Destroyer.”

12 The first doom is past. Two dooms yet to come.

13-14 The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God: “Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at the great River Euphrates.”

15-19 The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race. The number of the army of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the count and saw both horses and riders in my vision: fiery breastplates on the riders, lion heads on the horses breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone. With these three weapons—fire and smoke and brimstone—they killed a third of the human race. The horses killed with their mouths and tails; their serpentlike tails also had heads that wreaked havoc.

20-21 The remaining men and women who weren’t killed by these weapons went on their merry way—didn’t change their way of life, didn’t quit worshiping demons, didn’t quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn’t see or hear or move. There wasn’t a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, March 04, 2021
Read: John 14:8–11

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

INSIGHT
Jesus’ response to Philip’s request to “show us the Father” (John 14:8) likely echoes Moses’ request in Exodus 33:18 (“show me your glory”). In response to Moses’ request, God promised to “cause all [His] goodness to pass” before Moses, but Moses wasn’t permitted to see His face (Exodus 33:20). Jesus’ response to Philip in John 14:9—“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”—makes it clear that Jesus is the fullest possible encounter with God’s glory. Echoes of Moses’ request can also be heard in John 1:14, which describes witnessing in Christ “the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father.” John explains, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (v. 18).

Knowing the Father -By Con Campbell
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9

According to legend, British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once saw a distinguished-looking woman in a hotel foyer. Believing he knew her but unable to remember her name, he paused to talk with her. As the two chatted, he vaguely recollected that she had a brother. Hoping for a clue, he asked how her brother was doing and whether he was still working at the same job. “Oh, he’s very well,” she said, “And still king.”

A case of mistaken identity can be embarrassing, as it was for Sir Beecham. But at other times it may be more serious, as it was for Jesus’ disciple Philip. The disciple knew Christ, of course, but he hadn’t fully appreciated who He was. He wanted Jesus to “show [them] the Father,” and Jesus responded, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). As God’s unique Son, Christ reveals the Father so perfectly that to know one is to know the other (vv. 10–11).

If we ever wonder what God is like in His character, personality, or concern for others, we only need to look to Jesus to find out. Christ’s character, kindness, love, and mercy reveal God’s character. And although our amazing, awesome God is beyond our complete comprehension and understanding, we have a tremendous gift in what He’s revealed of Himself in Jesus.

How well do you know God’s character? How does it match your perception of who Jesus is?

Dear God, help me to grow in my knowledge and appreciation of who You are.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, March 04, 2021
Is This True of Me?

None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself… —Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.

What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.  The Place of Help, 1051 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 31-33; Mark 9:1-29

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, March 04, 2021
Driving Hard On the Wrong Road - #8909

So this guy was heading from northern Arizona to Phoenix, which is in southern Arizona. He called his wife from Flagstaff. That's a two-hour, 75-mile-an-hour drive. "See you in a couple of hours," he said. So he got on the Interstate and took full advantage of those Western speed limits. He had a lot on his mind that day - apparently not including where he was going. By the time he realized what road he was on, he was almost in California; nowhere near Phoenix! Nowhere near home! The guy? Yeah, that was me. I was lost. I didn't even know it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Driving Hard On the Wrong Road."

Poor guy! Poor me; driving hard on what I was sure was the right road, but there was no way it was going to get me home. It wasn't a fatal mistake, though. When you make that mistake with God, it costs you your eternity. The Bible reveals that a lot of people are driving on a road they think will get them to God and that will get them heaven, and there's no way. It's not going to get them home. However sincere they may be in believing they're on the right road, they are in God's eyes, totally lost.

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Proverbs 14:12. It's what I'd call a wakeup call from God. It says in no uncertain terms, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." When it comes to God, "seems right" won't get you there. It's got to be right according to God; not according to us, or our feelings, or what our religion says. This is the one thing you cannot afford to be wrong about, because eternity is a very long time.

Matthew 7 records that Jesus said many are on the road to destruction, thinking it's the right road (Matthew 7:13-14). A few verses later He describes one of those ways that seemed right to folks but led them to death. He said on Judgment Day, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons or perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you'" (Matthew 7:22-23). On Judgment Day there will be people who knew lots of Christian things, did lots of Christian things, who didn't know Jesus. They had the religion, but they missed the relationship. They had Christianity, but they missed Christ.

It doesn't matter how hard you're driving on the wrong road - how dedicated you might be to it - if it isn't God's road, you will be forever lost. And contrary to what so many think, being good is not the way to go to heaven. That's what God says. He says, for example, "No one will be declared righteous in His sight (or, fit for heaven) by observing the law." No one, no matter how good. Because goodness can't pay the death penalty that we deserve because of our sin.

Then, in Romans 3, God spells out the road that will get us to Him. We "are justified (that means made right with God) through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:20, 24). And that came when Jesus hung on that cross and absorbed all the guilt and all the hell of all of my sin and all of yours.

That's why God says this about Jesus in words that are hard to misunderstand: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

God says it all comes down to what you do with Jesus. Trust Him and Him alone to get you to heaven or put your trust in something else and never get there. It's a choice every one of us has to make, and our eternity hangs in the balance.

I truly believe God's speaking to someone who's listening right now and He's saying, "You're on the wrong road, man. But today is your day to get on the road that will bring you home. This is your day to give yourself to My Son who gave His life for you." And I pray you'll listen to that invitation in your heart. Everything depends on it. Tell Him, "Jesus, from this day on I'm Yours ." He doesn't point the way to heaven; He is the way.

You want to get this settled once and for all? Let me encourage you to get to our website. There's a simple explanation there that will help you be sure you belong to Jesus. The website's ANewStory.com.

God does not want to lose you. That's why He's coming to you today to show you how you can get home to Him. The right road will give you everything. The wrong road will cost you everything.

Psalm 84 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MAKE CHRIST’S LOVE YOUR HOME

To abide in the love of Christ is to make his love your home.  You rest in him.  His fireplace warms you from the winters of life.  You abandon the old house of false love and move into his home of real love.

Adapting to this new home takes time.  You’ve lived a life in a house of imperfect love.  You think God is going to abandon you as your father did, or judge you as false religion did, or curse you as your friend did.  He won’t, but it takes time to be convinced.

For that reason abide in him.  Hang on to Christ the same way a branch clutches the vine.  According to Jesus:  “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).

Psalm 84

What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
    I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
    where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
    sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
    singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
    How blessed they are to live and sing there!

5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
    O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
    our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.

10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
    beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
    than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
    generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
    It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, March 03, 2021
Read: Deuteronomy 31:1–8

Joshua to Succeed Moses

Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. 4 And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

INSIGHT
God’s promise never to leave or forsake the Israelites as they enter the promised land (Deuteronomy 31:8) is in fulfillment of His promises to their ancestors (v. 7). God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan after four hundred years in slavery in Egypt (Genesis 15:13; 17:8). And He brought Israel out of slavery so they could trust Him as they entered the promised land.

Centuries later, those who are believers in Jesus are also regarded as children of Abraham and share in His inheritance of the whole world (Romans 4:13). Just as God promised to be with Israel as they took hold of their inheritance (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5), so He’ll be with us (Matthew 28:20).

Preserved -By James Banks
The Lord himself goes before you. Deuteronomy 31:8

While I was clearing out the garden in preparation for spring planting, I pulled up a large clump of winter weeds . . . and leapt into the air! A venomous copperhead snake lay hidden in the undergrowth just below my hand—an inch lower and I would have grabbed it by mistake. I saw its colorful markings as soon as I lifted the clump; the rest of it was coiled in the weeds between my feet.

When my feet hit the ground a few feet away, I thanked God I hadn’t been bitten. And I wondered how many other times He had kept me from dangers I never knew were there.

God watches over His people. Moses told the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8). They couldn’t see God, but He was with them nonetheless.

Sometimes difficult things happen that we may not understand, but we can also reflect on the number of times God has preserved us without our ever being aware!

Scripture reminds us that His perfect, providential care remains over His people every day. He’s always with us (Matthew 28:20).

How does the biblical truth that God watches over His people comfort you? Who can you tell about His faithfulness today?

Faithful Father, thank You for watching over me every day. Please give me grace to walk closely with You in everything I do today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 03, 2021
His Commission to Us

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ‘Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham.  The Highest Good, 548 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 28-30; Mark 8:22-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 03, 2021
The Freedom Chain - #8908

When she was in college, my daughter went on a trip to a part of the world that she brought home in her heart with her actually and brought into the hearts of our family. I was back when the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse, as it was known then the Communist Empire and the Iron Curtain was coming down. It was right at the beginning of that. She was on a Christian music team on a tour to Estonia and Latvia. They were actually pursuing some historic opportunities to present Christ in public settings. But what really impressed them was the Soviet believers. And that impressed them even more than the meetings that they were able to hold. And they saw in those people a hope of freedom.

About two weeks after the teams returned, those hopes of freedom were channeled into a very powerful demonstration. Now, it's 370 miles from the northern point in the Baltic States to the southern point. That's from the northern border of Estonia by the Gulf of Finland to the southern border of Lithuania. OK, there's your geography lesson for today. Amazingly, one million people formed an unbroken line (try to imagine this) hand-in-hand from one end of that 370 miles to the other, and they just passed one word from the first person in Estonia by the Gulf of Finland to that last person on the southern border of Lithuania. Each person turned to the next and simply said, "Freedom." Wow! Did you know you're in a line like that?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Freedom Chain."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 1, beginning at verse 6, where Paul says to Timothy, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." And then he talks to him about the freedom chain. "And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." Well, there's the chain.

Paul says, "God sent me to touch your life, Timothy, with the claims of Christ. Now I want you to pass that on to reliable men. They in turn will pass it on to others."

Thank the Lord that chain has made it across the centuries and it links you and me. It's really a freedom chain. Because of what Christ has done we can say to people, "You don't have to live as a slave to sin and selfishness. There's forgiveness that will release you from your guilt. There's love to release you from a lonely lifetime. There's a personal presence of God to release you from the darkness that's in you and all around you."

Over 2,000 years one person has turned to another and said, "There's freedom in Jesus." And someone turned to you and said it. Now, who are you saying it to? There's a long, long line of people who did what it says in Timothy, "Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord." They got the message to you. Whether it gets to your family, your friends, to your coworkers, to your personal world? I think that depends on you.

Haven't you been quiet long enough, ashamed long enough? Let God lay on your heart at least one person He wants you to turn to. Ask Him to get them ready for your message and to change your silence to boldness. And then, join God's freedom chain.

Someone grabbed your hand. Now, you grab someone else's and proclaim "Freedom!" because of what Jesus did.

Psalm 83, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE GOD-SANCTIONED GAUGE FOR LOVE

The sight of the healthy or successful prompts us to conclude, God must really love him.  He’s so blessed with health, money, good looks, and skill.  Or we gravitate to the other extreme. Lonely and frail in the hospital bed, we deduce, God does not love me. How could he?  Look at me.

Rebuff such thoughts!  Success signals God’s love no more than struggles indicate the lack of it.  The definitive, God-sanctioned gauge is not a good day or a bad break but the dying hours of his Son.  Consider them often. Let the gap between trips to the cross diminish daily.

Discover what David Brainerd, the eighteenth-century missionary to American Indians, meant when he said, “My heart was swallowed up in God most of the day.”  Accept this invitation of Jesus from John 15:9, “Abide in My love.”

Psalm 83

God, don’t shut me out;
    don’t give me the silent treatment, O God.
Your enemies are out there whooping it up,
    the God-haters are living it up;
They’re plotting to do your people in,
    conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.
“Let’s wipe this nation from the face of the earth,”
    they say; “scratch Israel’s name off the books.”
And now they’re putting their heads together,
    making plans to get rid of you.

6-8     Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    Moab and the Hagrites,
    Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia and the Tyrians,
    And now Assyria has joined up,
    Giving muscle to the gang of Lot.

9-12 Do to them what you did to Midian,
    to Sisera and Jabin at Kishon Brook;
They came to a bad end at Endor,
    nothing but dung for the garden.
Cut down their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb,
    their princes to nothings like Zebah and Zalmunna,
With their empty brags, “We’re grabbing it all,
    grabbing God’s gardens for ourselves.”

13-18 My God! I’ve had it with them!
    Blow them away!
Tumbleweeds in the desert waste,
    charred sticks in the burned-over ground.
Knock the breath right out of them, so they’re gasping
    for breath, gasping, “God.”
Bring them to the end of their rope,
    and leave them there dangling, helpless.
Then they’ll learn your name: “God,”
    the one and only High God on earth.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Read: Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

Footnotes
Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
Psalm 91:14 That is, probably the king

INSIGHT
In trying to get Jesus to sin in the wilderness, Satan told Him: “[God] will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). This is a quote from Psalm 91:11–12. Intriguingly, the next verse in Psalm 91 says, “You will trample the great lion and the serpent” (v. 13). The lion and the serpent are two images used in Scripture to refer to the devil (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9). Jesus countered the devil’s misuse of Scripture by quoting Scripture accurately, thus effectively “trampling” His enemy.

Safe and Still -By Xochitl Dixon
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

As a full-of-energy preschooler, my son Xavier avoided afternoon quiet time. Being still often resulted in an unwanted, though much-needed, nap. So, he’d wiggle in his seat, slide off the sofa, scoot across the hardwood floor, and even roll across the room to evade the quiet. “Mom, I’m hungry . . . I’m thirsty . . . I have to go to the bathroom . . . I want a hug.”

Understanding the benefits of stillness, I’d help Xavier settle down by inviting him to snuggle. Leaning into my side, he’d give in to sleep.

Early in my spiritual life, I mirrored my son’s desire to remain active. Busyness made me feel accepted, important, and in control, while noise distracted me from fretting over my shortcomings and trials. Surrendering to rest only affirmed my frail humanity. So I avoided stillness and silence, doubting God could handle things without my help.

But He’s our refuge, no matter how many troubles or uncertainties surround us. The path ahead may seem long, scary, or overwhelming, but His love envelops us. He hears us, answers us, and stays with us . . . now and forever into eternity (Psalm 91).

We can embrace the quiet and lean into God’s unfailing love and constant presence. We can be still and rest in Him because we’re safe under the shelter of His unchanging faithfulness (v. 4).

In what ways have you seen God’s protection in your life? How can you face difficulties knowing that God has you under His wings?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 02, 2021
Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?

He said to him the third time, "…do you love Me?" —John 21:17

Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ ” Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, “Lord, You know all things….” Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, “Look at this or that as proof of my love.” Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself.

Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ.  My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R

Bible in a Year: Numbers 26-27; Mark 8:1-21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, March 02, 2021
How to Avoid a Major Mess - #8907

Back in the 1950s, Walt Disney went to an amusement park he didn't like very much. It was a mess; there was litter all over the ground, dirty bathrooms. It just felt tacky. So he made up his mind that when he built the theme park he had dreamed of, it would never be a mess. If you've ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, you know he got what he wanted. Any time we've been there, it's been amazingly clean; I mean, considering the millions of people who go through there. I've been told that they have a simple strategy that makes Disney parks clean places. Take care of a mess right away. One day at Disney World I dropped my Coke cup and this guy with mouse ears made a flying leap and caught it before it hit the ground. OK, I'm exaggerating. But it almost feels like that. It really does stay clean there because they just won't let a mess get started.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Avoid a Major Mess."

The plan for keeping a park clean is the plan for keeping a life clean - don't let a mess get started. When you mess up, clean it up fast. There's not one of us who doesn't have things we wish we hadn't done or things we wish we had done. We've got things that make us feel dirty, ashamed, guilty, maybe unworthy. It all comes under the heading of what God calls sin.

The problem is that too often when we mess up, we give up, so we just keep giving in to more and more spiritual mistakes. So the darkness grows. The garbage starts piling up. But God has given us His spiritual recovery plan in clear, simple terms in our word for today from the Word of God. 1 John 1:8-9 tell us this, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

This is talking about immediate and heartfelt confession. That's the way to keep a mess from accumulating. When I was a kid, I had this inflatable boxer. When I punched him, he fell all the way backwards, but he didn't stay down. He came right back up again. That's what God has made it possible for you to do so you can begin to break a cycle of defeat and discouragement.

As soon as you've done what you know is wrong, don't run from God; run to God. Confess it to Him immediately. And what does it mean to confess your sin? It's much more than just feeling guilty or even feeling sorry for what you did. The original word in the Bible means to "say the same thing." In other words, you confess your sin when you say the same thing about it that God does. You see it for how ugly, how wrong it is; something so bad it took the death of God's Son to pay for it: immediate confession, immediate forgiveness and immediate cleansing. A spiritual shower as soon as you get dirty. As the Bible says, "His compassions never fail. They are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23-24). Imagine a clean start each new day! Don't carry yesterday's garbage into today.

But wait! How can a holy God forgive this junk that He hates? Soon after that "confess and be clean" verse, God says, "If anyone does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins." Being forgiven by God is a matter of taking what Jesus did on the cross and making it personal for you. It's standing at the cross and saying, "Jesus, You died for what I did. I have no other hope of being forgiven. I'm Yours."

Maybe you've carried the guilt and the shame of things you've done for a long time. The good news is you can go to sleep tonight knowing you are clean from all of that for the first time in your life, if you'll just invite the Savior who died for it all to be your personal Savior from your personal sin.

I've tried to put this whole thing in simple words at our website that I think could help you take this step. The website is ANewStory.com. Please go there.

You don't have to carry the sin and the mistakes on your back one more day. You could lay it down at the cross of Jesus and leave it there, and walk away clean.

Revelation 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Fountain of Love That Won’t Run Dry

You don’t influence God’s love. You can’t affect the love of God. If your actions altered his devotion, then God would not be love; instead, he would be a human, for this is human love. Don’t you need a fountain of love that won’t run dry? You’ll find one on a stone-cropped hill outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus hangs, cross-nailed and thorn-crowned.

When you feel unloved, ascend this mount and meditate long and hard on heaven’s love for you. Both eyes beaten shut, shoulders as raw as ground beef, lips bloody and split. Fists of hair yanked from his beard. Gasps of air escaping his lungs. As you peer into the crimsoned face of heaven’s only Son, remember this: “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).

Revelation 8

When the Lamb ripped off the seventh seal, Heaven fell quiet—complete silence for about half an hour.

Blowing the Trumpets
2-4 I saw the Seven Angels who are always in readiness before God handed seven trumpets. Then another Angel, carrying a gold censer, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a great quantity of incense so that he could offer up the prayers of all the holy people of God on the Golden Altar before the Throne. Smoke billowed up from the incense-laced prayers of the holy ones, rose before God from the hand of the Angel.

5 Then the Angel filled the censer with fire from the Altar and heaved it to earth. It set off thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake.

6-7 The Seven Angels with the trumpets got ready to blow them. At the first trumpet blast, hail and fire mixed with blood were dumped on earth. A third of the earth was scorched, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass—burned to a crisp.

8-9 The second Angel trumpeted. Something like a huge mountain blazing with fire was flung into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the living sea creatures died, and a third of the ships sank.

10-11 The third Angel trumpeted. A huge Star, blazing like a torch, fell from Heaven, wiping out a third of the rivers and a third of the springs. The Star’s name was Wormwood. A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from the poisoned water.

12 The fourth Angel trumpeted. A third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were hit, blacked out by a third, both day and night in one-third blackout.

13 I looked hard; I heard a lone eagle, flying through Middle-Heaven, crying out ominously, “Doom! Doom! Doom to everyone left on earth! There are three more Angels about to blow their trumpets. Doom is on its way!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, March 01, 2021
Read: Joshua 1:1–9

Joshua Installed as Leader

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

INSIGHT
We have limited background information about Joshua the son of Nun, but he was clearly a man who trusted God. Joshua is first referenced in Exodus 17:9, when Moses instructed him to lead Israel’s troops into battle against the Amalekites. In Exodus 24:13, Joshua is portrayed as Moses’ assistant and companion. When the time came to explore the promised land, Joshua was among the men sent for that purpose (Numbers 13–14). Most significantly, it was Joshua whom God selected to replace Moses and lead the people of Israel into the promised land (Deuteronomy 3:28).

Never Give Up - By Patricia Raybon
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips. Joshua 1:8

“Time went by. War came in.” That’s how Bishop Semi Nigo of the Keliko people of South Sudan described delays in his church’s long struggle to get the Bible in their own language. Not one word, in fact, had ever been printed in the Keliko language. Decades earlier, Bishop Nigo’s grandfather had courageously started a Bible translation project, but war and unrest kept halting the effort. Yet, despite repeated attacks on their refugee camps in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the bishop and fellow believers kept the project alive.

Their persistence paid off. After nearly three decades, the New Testament Bible in Keliko was delivered to the refugees in a rousing celebration. “The motivation of the Keliko is beyond words,” said one project consultant.

The commitment of the Keliko reflects the perseverance God asked of Joshua. As God told him, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8). With equal persistence, the Keliko pursued the translation of Scripture. Now, “when you see them in the camps, they are smiling,” said one translator. Hearing and understanding the Bible “gives them hope.” Like the Keliko people, may we never give up seeking the power and wisdom of Scripture.

What will help you persist in reading Scripture? How could another person help you better understand it?

Loving God, stir up in me a greater hunger to seek, study, and know the Bible, never giving up my quest to understand Your wisdom.

To learn more about how to study the Bible, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF106.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, March 01, 2021
The Piercing Question

Do you love Me? —John 21:17

Peter’s response to this piercing question is considerably different from the bold defiance he exhibited only a few days before when he declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:35; also see Matthew 26:33-34). Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8).

Unless we are experiencing the hurt of facing every deception about ourselves, we have hindered the work of the Word of God in our lives. The Word of God inflicts hurt on us more than sin ever could, because sin dulls our senses. But this question of the Lord intensifies our sensitivities to the point that this hurt produced by Jesus is the most exquisite pain conceivable. It hurts not only on the natural level, but also on the deeper spiritual level. “For the Word of God is living and powerful…, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…”— to the point that no deception can remain (Hebrews 4:12). When the Lord asks us this question, it is impossible to think and respond properly, because when the Lord speaks directly to us, the pain is too intense. It causes such a tremendous hurt that any part of our life which may be out of line with His will can feel the pain. There is never any mistaking the pain of the Lord’s Word by His children, but the moment that pain is felt is the very moment at which God reveals His truth to us.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically.  Disciples Indeed, 387 R

Bible in a Year: Numbers 23-25; Mark 7:14-37

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, March 01, 2021
Looking at Something Better - #8906

Some friends of ours were at Universal Studios, and they wanted to see behind the scenes of TV and movies. So they went on the tram that takes you on their backstage tour. They had their preschooler with them, and they weren't really too excited about him being terrorized by King Kong and the shark from "Jaws." So, when King Kong appeared on one side of the dark tunnel, they just turned their child's attention to the tunnel and said, "Ooo, look at this dark tunnel! What's this inside your hat?" It worked. He never saw King Kong. Never saw "Jaws." As the shark was jumping out of the water near his father's back, the little guy was studying the scenery on the other side. Whew! He never saw the shark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking at Something Better."

Now, we could discuss whether this couple should have taken their preschooler on that tour or not, but they did do something smart. When there was something their child shouldn't experience, they creatively turned his attention to something else. That's not a bad strategy for parents who are raising their children in a world that's increasingly filled with monsters that can hurt them and destructive things that they shouldn't experience.

It's a strategy actually directed by God in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 11, beginning with verse 16. Like us, these parents were trying to raise their children in a culture where sin was cool and temptation was everywhere. God says, "Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds, teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land."

God is calling godly parents to play offense, not just defense, especially if you're in a spiritually hostile culture. Don't just try to keep your children from touching wrong things. No, help them look in the other direction and find better things to experience - God's things!

You can't just say no to everything; you have to offer alternatives and positive reasons. For example, sex is something that is too beautiful to ruin by taking it out of the Creator's fence called marriage. Heavy dating can be morally dangerous, but why not be for guys and girls having some great times as friends in mixed groups? In fact, why don't you help set some of those things up? In fact, why not at your house?

If you don't want your kids listening to destructive music, invest in music they can listen to. Invest in constructive interests and constructive friendships they have. Make your house a fun place, a welcoming place for their friends so they don't have to go to other homes where it's easier to get in trouble. Have great parties for your kids and for their friends.

And maybe you can give them the two words I gave my kids as they left for school each day, "GO MAD!" Now before you think that's nuts, that has nothing to do with having insane children. That's another discussion. No, "GO MAD" means "Go Make A Difference!" I wanted them to see they didn't have to follow their friends down roads to nowhere; they could lead their friends to experiences that leave no scars and no regrets.

We need to show our children that what we're against is because of what we're for: things like living without guilt, relationships without regrets, the specialness of sex, the value of life, a good reputation, protecting the worth that God gave you.

We can't just be against the monsters and predators - the sharks and the gorillas - that are around our children. We've got to direct their attention to all of God's good stuff!

Psalm 82, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God in a Real World ·

God calls us in a real world. He doesn’t communicate by performing tricks. He’s not a genie, a magician, a good luck charm, or the man upstairs. He is the Creator of the universe who is right here in the thick of our day-to-day world.

And God speaks in our world.  We just have to learn to hear him. Listen for him amidst the ordinary. Do you need affirmation of his care?  Let the daily sunrise proclaim his loyalty. Could you use an example of his power?  Spend an evening reading how your body works. Are you wondering if his Word is reliable?  Make a list of the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible and promises in your life.

Don’t they say only two things in life are certain: death and taxes? Knowing God, he may speak through something as common as the second to give you the answer for the first!

From And the Angels Were Silent

Psalm 82

“Enough! You’ve corrupted justice long enough,
    you’ve let the wicked get away with murder.
You’re here to defend the defenseless,
    to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
    and prosecute all those who exploit them.”

5 Ignorant judges! Head-in-the-sand judges!
    They haven’t a clue to what’s going on.
And now everything’s falling apart,
    the world’s coming unglued.

6-7 “I appointed you judges, each one of you,
    deputies of the High God,
But you’ve betrayed your commission
    and now you’re stripped of your rank, busted.”

8 O God, give them what they’ve got coming!
    You’ve got the whole world in your hands!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Read: Lamentations 3:19–26

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

INSIGHT
The writer of Lamentations isn’t named, but there are reasons to believe that Jeremiah wrote this book. Having prophesied for some forty-seven years (627–580 bc) to a disobedient, disbelieving Judah, Jeremiah writes as an eyewitness, lamenting the destruction and devastation of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian army. For two years (588–586 bc), Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Second Kings 25:1–4 tells of the desperate conditions within the besieged city. Jeremiah witnessed the eventual destruction of the city and temple (Jeremiah 52:12–27). In Lamentations, in five emotionally charged dirges or funeral laments, the prophet describes the sufferings of the people and the reasons for them. But he also writes of their hope in the midst of despair. God, who rightly judged their unfaithfulness, is still the God of hope, compassion, faithfulness, and salvation (Lamentations 3:21–33).

New Every Morning- By Amy Boucher Pye

[God’s] compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22–23

My brother Paul grew up battling severe epilepsy, and when he entered his teenage years it became even worse. Nighttime was excruciating for him and my parents, as he’d experience continuous seizures for often more than six hours at a time. Doctors couldn’t find a treatment that would alleviate the symptoms while also keeping him conscious for at least part of the day. My parents cried out in prayer: “God, oh God, help us!”

Although their emotions were battered and their bodies exhausted, Paul and my parents received enough strength from God for each new day. In addition, my parents found comfort in the words of the Bible, including the book of Lamentations. Here Jeremiah voiced his grief over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, remembering “the bitterness and the gall” (3:19). Yet Jeremiah didn’t lose hope. He called to mind the mercies of God, that His compassions “are new every morning” (v. 23). So too did my parents.

Whatever you’re facing, know that God is faithful every morning. He renews our strength day by day and gives us hope. And sometimes, as with my family, He brings relief. After several years, a new medication became available that stopped Paul’s continuous nighttime seizures, giving my family restorative sleep and hope for the future.

When our souls are downcast within us (v. 20), may we call to mind the promises of God that His mercies are new every morning.

How has God sustained you through the trials you’ve faced? How could you support someone who’s enduring a challenging time?

God, Your love will never leave me. When I feel spent and without hope, remind me of Your mercies and compassion.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 28, 2021
“Do You Now Believe?”

"By this we believe…." Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?" —John 16:30-31

“Now we believe….” But Jesus asks, “Do you…? Indeed the hour is coming…that you…will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return.

We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus on a much deeper level than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to “walk in the light” of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to “walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation— just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R

Bible in a Year: Numbers 20-22; Mark 7:1-13

Psalm 81, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Life is Not Fair

May I gently but firmly remind you of something you know but may have forgotten?  Life is not fair. That's not pessimism, it's a fact.  It's not a complaint, it's just the way things are. I don't like it. Neither do you. Ever since the kid down the block got a bike and we didn't, we've been saying the same thing, "That's not fair!"
At some point someone needs to say to us, "Who ever told you life was going to be fair?" God didn't. In James 1:2, he didn't say, "If you have many kinds of troubles," he said, "When you have many kinds of troubles." Troubles are part of the package.
Jesus said, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36)."
When all of earth turns against you, all of heaven turns toward you.  To keep your balance in this crooked world, think of home!
From And the Angels Were Silent

Psalm 81

A song to our strong God!
    a shout to the God of Jacob!
Anthems from the choir, music from the band,
    sweet sounds from lute and harp,
Trumpets and trombones and horns:
    it’s festival day, a feast to God!
A day decreed by God,
    solemnly ordered by the God of Jacob.
He commanded Joseph to keep this day
    so we’d never forget what he did in Egypt.

    I hear this most gentle whisper from One
    I never guessed would speak to me:

6-7 “I took the world off your shoulders,
    freed you from a life of hard labor.
You called to me in your pain;
    I got you out of a bad place.
I answered you from where the thunder hides,
    I proved you at Meribah Fountain.

8-10 “Listen, dear ones—get this straight;
    O Israel, don’t take this lightly.
Don’t take up with strange gods,
    don’t worship the popular gods.
I’m God, your God, the very God
    who rescued you from doom in Egypt,
Then fed you all you could eat,
    filled your hungry stomachs.

11-12 “But my people didn’t listen,
    Israel paid no attention;
So I let go of the reins and told them, ‘Run!
    Do it your own way!’

13-16 “Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now?
    Israel, will you follow my map?
I’ll make short work of your enemies,
    give your foes the back of my hand.
I’ll send the God-haters cringing like dogs,
    never to be heard from again.
You’ll feast on my fresh-baked bread
    spread with butter and rock-pure honey.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Read: Galatians 2:14–21

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[b]

Footnotes
Galatians 2:16 Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of
Galatians 2:21 Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.

INSIGHT
The book of Galatians is significant for understanding the content of the gospel and showing us how to live in accordance with it. The word gospel is mentioned more times (twelve) in Galatians than in any other New Testament book except Romans (thirteen times). Paul’s defense of the gospel of God’s grace in and through Jesus—apart from conformity to the law, including circumcision—is the highlight of the letter. The great apostle’s godly zeal was such that his defense included challenging Cephas (Peter), one of the pillars of the early church (2:11). Paul’s boast was in Christ’s work alone (6:14).

No Longer Yourself - By Glenn Packiam

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

In the summer of 1859, Monsieur Charles Blondin became the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope—something he would go on to do hundreds of times. Once he did it with his manager Harry Colcord on his back. Blondin gave Colcord these instructions: “Look up, Harry . . . you are no longer Colcord, you are Blondin. . . . If I sway, sway with me. Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself. If you do, we will both go to our death.”

Paul, in essence, said to the Galatian believers: You can’t walk the line of living a life that is pleasing to God apart from faith in Christ. But here’s the good news—you don’t have to! No amount of attempting to earn our way to God will ever cut it. So are we passive in our salvation? No! Our invitation is to cling to Christ. Clinging to Jesus means putting to death an old, independent way of living; it’s as if we ourselves have died. Yet, we go on living. But “the life [we] now live in the body, [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave himself for [us]” (Galatians 2:20).

Where are we trying to walk the tightrope today? God hasn’t called us to walk out on the rope to Him; He’s called us to cling to Him and walk this life with Him.

How can you stop trying to please God on your own? Where do you need to cling to Jesus today, trusting His righteousness?

Dear Jesus, thank You for doing for me what I could never do for myself. I turn away from trying to please You on my own. I’m so glad I don’t need to earn Your love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, February 27, 2021
The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus

Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11

“The well is deep” — and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.” Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.” The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.

The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R

Bible in a Year: Numbers 17-19; Mark 6:30-56

Revelation 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S MARVELOUS LOVE

In his letter to Ephesians Paul urged, “May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves,…” (Ephesians 3:17-18).

Let God love you. Let Him love you dearly, let Him love you daily, let Him love you deeply. Grab hold of His love and never let go. “God is love” (1 John 4:16). One word into the passage reveals the supreme surprise of God’s love—it has nothing to do with you. Some people love you because of you. Not God – He loves you because He is He. He loves you because he decides to. Self-generated, uncaused, spontaneous. His constant-level love depends on his choice to give it.


Revelation 7

The Servants of God

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, February 26, 2021

Immediately I saw Four Angels standing at the four corners of earth, standing steady with a firm grip on the four winds so no wind would blow on earth or sea, not even rustle a tree.

2-3 Then I saw another Angel rising from where the sun rose, carrying the seal of the Living God. He thundered to the Four Angels assigned the task of hurting earth and sea, “Don’t hurt the earth! Don’t hurt the sea! Don’t so much as hurt a tree until I’ve sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!”

4-8 I heard the count of those who were sealed: 144,000! They were sealed out of every Tribe of Israel: 12,000 sealed from Judah, 12,000 from Reuben, 12,000 from Gad, 12,000 from Asher, 12,000 from Naphtali, 12,000 from Manasseh, 12,000 from Simeon, 12,000 from Levi, 12,000 from Issachar, 12,000 from Zebulun, 12,000 from Joseph, 12,000 sealed from Benjamin.

* * *

9-12 I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:

Salvation to our God on his Throne!
Salvation to the Lamb!

All who were standing around the Throne—Angels, Elders, Animals—fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:

Oh, Yes!
The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The honor and power and strength,
To our God forever and ever and ever!
Oh, Yes!

13-14 Just then one of the Elders addressed me: “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?” Taken aback, I said, “O Sir, I have no idea—but you must know.”

14-17 Then he told me, “These are those who come from the great tribulation, and they’ve washed their robes, scrubbed them clean in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why they’re standing before God’s Throne. They serve him day and night in his Temple. The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes.”
 

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, February 26, 2021
Read: Psalm 56:3–11

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4     In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

5 All day long they twist my words;
    all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
    they watch my steps,
    hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not[a] let them escape;
    in your anger, God, bring the nations down.

8 Record my misery;
    list my tears on your scroll[b]—
    are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
    when I call for help.
    By this I will know that God is for me.

10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can man do to me?

Footnotes
Psalm 56:7 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text does not have do not.
Psalm 56:8 Or misery; / put my tears in your wineskin

INSIGHT
The prominent theme of Psalm 56:3–11 is David’s trust in God when he’s afraid. In Scripture, we see God repeatedly calling His people to trust in Him and not be fearful. He urged Abram, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Isaiah, and Daniel: “Do not be afraid” (Genesis 15:1; 21:17; 26:24; 46:2-3; Numbers 21:34; Joshua 1:9; Judges 6:23; Isaiah 43:5; Daniel 10:12, 19). And God has likewise instructed others to do the same. King David urged his son Solomon, “Do not be afraid or discouraged” (1 Chronicles 28:20), and King Hezekiah encouraged his followers with similar declarations (2 Chronicles 32:6–8). When Jesus walked the earth, He often calmed His disciples’ fears with those same words (Matthew 10:28, 31; 14:27; Mark 5:36).

Facing Fear -By Sheridan Voysey
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

Warren moved to a small town to pastor a church. After his ministry had some initial success, one of the locals turned on him. Concocting a story accusing Warren of horrendous acts, the man took the story to the local newspaper and even printed his accusations on pamphlets to distribute to local residents by mail. Warren and his wife started praying hard. If the lie was believed, their lives would be upended.

King David once experienced something similar. He faced an attack of slander by an enemy. “All day long they twist my words,” he said, “all their schemes are for my ruin” (Psalm 56:5). This sustained assault left him fearful and tearful (v. 8). But in the midst of the battle, he prayed this powerful prayer: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. . . . What can mere mortals do to me?” (vv. 3–4).

David’s prayer can be a model for us today. When I am afraid—in times of fear or accusation, we turn to God. I put my trust in you—we place our battle in God’s powerful hands. What can mere mortals do to me?—facing the situation with Him, we remember how limited the powers against us really are.

The newspaper ignored the story about Warren. For some reason, the pamphlets were never distributed. What battle do you fear today? Talk to God. He’s willing to fight it with you.

What real fears do you face? How can David’s prayer help you deal with them?

Loving God, I’m afraid—and so today I put my trust in You. What can mere mortals do to me when You’re fighting for me? Thank You for the coming victory.

For help in choosing hope instead of fear, read DiscoverySeries.org/Q0733.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 26, 2021
“What Is That to You?”

Peter…said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "…what is that to you? You follow Me." —John 21:21-22
One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.

Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 26, 2021
Discovering Your Global Positioning - #8905

He's not the youngest motorcycle rider in the pack, but he's got to be one of the most devoted. Take that away from him and you'd be taking away one of the great joys of his life. Problem: he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. And as that condition progresses, he can expect to begin to experience some disorientation, among other things. That's not a good thing for a fellow running around on his motorcycle. So he has installed a global positioning system on his bike which will always show him where he is going and where home is. That way, if one day he's out on his bike and forgets his way home, he'll be able to find his way home no matter where he goes.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Discovering Your Global Positioning."

Being able to get home is one of the strongest drives and deepest needs in every human heart. For most people, you can only be away from home for so long before your deep longing for home kicks in. Occasionally, we'll hear about a child or even an older person with failing mental faculties who has wandered away from home and can't find their way back. We've got a word for that: they're "lost."

I find it interesting that "lost" is the word that God frequently uses in the Bible to describe us humans. For example, Jesus Christ announced His personal mission on earth this way: "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). Spiritually, we're away from home and we don't know how to find home.

"Lost"- some years ago that was the name of that hit TV show that told the stories of plane crash survivors stranded on a strange island with no way to get home. In a way, that was a picture of all of us. "Lost" could be the title of a series based on our lives.

The exciting revelation in the Bible is we don't have to stay lost. We weren't put here to be lost, unable to find home. Home is a personal relationship with the God who made you. Having been made, in the Bible's words, "by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16), God is clearly the reason for our existence. He's the meaning for our life. But we've thought we could run our lives ourselves. So we've ended up acting in so many ways that have separated us from God; that have left us away from home - unable to find our way back.

Maybe you know this feeling of being lost on this planet, even if life is good. No real direction, no great purpose - wandering. Jesus has great news for you in our word for today from the Word of God. He wants us to be His sheep and He wants to be our Shepherd. In John 10, beginning with verse 3, He says, "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out...He goes on ahead of them and His sheep follow Him...My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Talk about security - belonging to the God of the universe now and forever! And talk about meaning! Being led by the One who put you here!

But it cost the Shepherd everything for you to find home. He had to leave home and come to this earth where He died on a cross to pay the penalty for all our sinning. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). That is how precious you are to Him. That is how much He loves you. He died so you could live this life with Him in your heart and so you could be with Him forever in heaven.

There's a plan. There's a destiny for your life; something so much bigger than just the scattered pieces of the puzzle of your life. God has the top of the box that shows you how to put the pieces together. And Jesus is the only way you can have the God of heaven be your God. And you will belong to Him from the moment you tell Him, "Lord, I'm lost because I've done my life my way instead of Your way. I want that to change. You could forgive my sins because you died for them. I want to belong to You. I'm pinning all my hopes on You today."

There's more information about how to begin this awesome love relationship with God. It's at our website, ANewStory.com. I hope you'll check it out.

You couldn't find home, but home has come looking for you. His name is Jesus. Because of Him, you don't have to be "lost" one more day.

Psalm 80, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD SEES YOU

Make a list of God’s mistakes. Pretty short, huh? Now make a list of the times he has forgiven you for yours. Who on earth has such a record?  You can depend on him. “[He] is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Trust him, trust him. Join with Isaiah, who resolved, “I will trust in him and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2).

Psalm 37:23–24 says God is directing your steps. He delights in every detail of your life. Doesn’t matter who you are. Potbellied pig or prized purebred, God sees no difference. But he sees you. In fact, that’s his car pulling over to the side of the road. That’s God opening the door. And that’s you climbing into the passenger seat to see how he will write the next chapter in your story.

Psalm 80

 Listen, Shepherd, Israel’s Shepherd—
    get all your Joseph sheep together.
Throw beams of light
    from your dazzling throne
So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh
    can see where they’re going.
Get out of bed—you’ve slept long enough!
    Come on the run before it’s too late.

3     God, come back!
    Smile your blessing smile:
    That will be our salvation.

4-6 God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano
    while your people call for fire and brimstone?
You put us on a diet of tears,
    bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink.
You make us look ridiculous to our friends;
    our enemies poke fun day after day.

7     God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
    Smile your blessing smile:
    That will be our salvation.

8-18 Remember how you brought a young vine from Egypt,
    cleared out the brambles and briers
    and planted your very own vineyard?
You prepared the good earth,
    you planted her roots deep;
    the vineyard filled the land.
Your vine soared high and shaded the mountains,
    even dwarfing the giant cedars.
Your vine ranged west to the Sea,
    east to the River.
So why do you no longer protect your vine?
    Trespassers pick its grapes at will;
Wild pigs crash through and crush it,
    and the mice nibble away at what’s left.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, turn our way!
    Take a good look at what’s happened
    and attend to this vine.
Care for what you once tenderly planted—
    the vine you raised from a shoot.
And those who dared to set it on fire—
    give them a look that will kill!
Then take the hand of your once-favorite child,
    the child you raised to adulthood.
We will never turn our back on you;
    breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name!

19     God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
    Smile your blessing smile:
    That will be our salvation.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Read: Matthew 23:37–24:2

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

INSIGHT
Scholars believe Jesus made the statements about the temple in Matthew 24 two days prior to His crucifixion. The temple was a source of great national pride for the Jewish people. Constructed by Herod the Great, it was twice as large as Solomon’s temple and served as the centerpiece of national faith. Not surprisingly, Jesus’ prophecy about the temple’s destruction was literally fulfilled. Josephus the historian, who was with the Romans at the temple’s destruction, has left us an eyewitness account of that event. The destruction was thorough, with only a portion of the Western Wall left standing.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, the miraculous tearing in two of the temple curtain signified the end of the system of animal sacrifice for sin (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), yet these ineffective sacrifices did continue for a time. The destruction of the temple in ad 70 put an end to the practice.

To Be Human -By Mart DeHaan

Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Matthew 23:37


“Mr. Singerman, why are you crying?” asked twelve-year-old Albert as he watched the master craftsman construct a wooden box.

“I cry,” he said, “because my father cried, and because my grandfather cried.” The woodworker’s answer to his young apprentice provides a tender moment in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. “Tears,” explained Mr. Singerman, “come with the making of a coffin.”

“Some men don’t cry because they fear it is a sign of weakness,” he said. “I was taught that a man is a man because he can cry.”

Emotion must have welled up in the eyes of Jesus as He compared His concern for Jerusalem to the care of a mother hen for her chicks (Matthew 23:37). His disciples were often confused by what they saw in His eyes or heard in His stories. His idea of what it meant to be strong was different. It happened again as they walked with Him from the temple. Calling His attention to the massive stone walls and magnificent decor of their place of worship (24:1), the disciples noted the strength of human accomplishment. Jesus saw a temple that would be leveled in ad 70.

Christ shows us that healthy people know when to cry and why. He cried because His Father cares and His Spirit groans for children who couldn’t yet see what breaks His heart.

In what situations in your life might you be avoiding grief? How can your faith in a Savior who cries (John 11:35) help you express your grief in a healthy way?

Father, please replace any cold illusions of strength I cling to with a growing understanding of the cares and concerns that break Your heart for children like me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, February 25, 2021
The Destitution of Service

…though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. —2 Corinthians 12:15

Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, “It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.

The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet— that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L

Bible in a Year: Numbers 12-14; Mark 5:21-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Divine Delays - #8904

You pay a lot more attention to a story on the news when it might involve someone you love. It was that way the night we saw a story about a major rockslide that closed a stretch of Interstate 70 in Colorado. Our son and daughter-in-law and little granddaughter were driving that very day through that part of Colorado. The rockslide had shattered the pavement, and it embedded boulders as deep as six feet into the highway and created craters in the road. Some of the boulders were said to be as big as a van. Obviously, it was going to take some time to get that stretch of the highway open again, which meant a 200-mile-plus detour around the closure. That was okay with our family. In fact, my son said they saw some spectacular scenery they wouldn't have seen any other way. Not long before the rockslide, a semi had jack-knifed just west of that area and the interstate was closed because of it. I've been in those miles-long traffic jams (maybe you have too), and you can really get frustrated, aggravated, and just ugly. But because of that frustrating delay, there was no traffic on the road when that avalanche of rocks came crashing down. You've got to figure that might have just saved lives.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Divine Delays."

If you're like me, patience is one of those areas in which you are, to say it nicely, under construction. We don't like to wait. Our lives are busy, they're full, and we hate delays. Many times the delay is actually part of the plan to protect you from something that could hurt you if you stayed "on schedule"; on your schedule, that is.

You can see God's protective delays at work in our word for today from the Word of God. While it's a chapter out of the lives of God's ancient people, it might shed light on why God seems to be taking you the long way around right now. The story is in Exodus 13:17-18. The Jews have just been miraculously delivered from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt, and they're ready to be on the interstate to the Promised Land.

Here's what happened and why. "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around the desert road toward the Red Sea."

So, God's people are purposely slowed down by God, and then that longer road leads to what appears to be a disaster. They're trapped at the Red Sea with the Egyptian Army bearing down on them. Now it might be that God is taking you the longer, slower way right now. You were, like those people on the interstate that was suddenly closed, speeding full speed ahead. Suddenly, all you can see is this ocean of red brake lights in front of you. You're waiting, and you don't know why.

It's because God knows what's up ahead and you don't. And He's protecting you from a battle up there that you're not ready to fight, from danger that might hurt you, from a temptation or a test for which you're just not yet strong enough. Remember, He's promised not to let you face more than He knows you can bear. Maybe you've prayed these words many times, "Lord, 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'" And the reason you're waiting or taking what seems to be a detour is because your Father, who art in heaven, is answering that prayer!

And if the delay and the detour bring you to a Red Sea, not to worry! He's leading you, not into a mess, but into a miracle you'll never forget! So learn to relax when God closes the road or suddenly slows you down. It's all about His love for you, a love that knows what's best for you, a love that knows what's going to happen if you keep going the same direction at the same speed. So don't sit there, pounding the steering wheel and fuming. You aren't late. In fact, you're right on time - God's time. And this isn't Plan B. This is what God's Plan A has been all the time.

So trust the One who plans the trip; who protects those who belong to Him. If you could see what's up ahead, you would be so grateful that God has made you wait.