Job 24 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER - June 24, 2021

The question is not “Did you get hurt?” The question is “Are you going to let the hurt harden you?” Wouldn’t you prefer to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another”? Try these steps:

Decide what you need to forgive. Be specific. Narrow it down to the identifiable offense.

Ask yourself why it hurts. Why does this offense sting? What about it leaves you wounded?

Take it to Jesus. Talk to Jesus about the offense until the anger subsides. And when it returns, talk to Jesus again.

Tell your offender. If it feels safe, simply explain the offense and the way it makes you feel.

Pray for your offender. You cannot force reconciliation, but you can offer intercession.

Conduct a funeral. Bury the offense in the cemetery known as “Moving on with Life.”

This is how happiness happens.

Job 24

An Illusion of Security

“But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,
    why are we kept in the dark?
There are people out there getting by with murder—
    stealing and lying and cheating.
They rip off the poor
    and exploit the unfortunate,
Push the helpless into the ditch,
    bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
The poor, like stray dogs and cats,
    scavenge for food in back alleys.
They sort through the garbage of the rich,
    eke out survival on handouts.
Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;
    they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,
    they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;
    the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
They go about patched and threadbare;
    even the hard workers go hungry.
No matter how backbreaking their labor,
    they can never make ends meet.
People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.
    The wretched cry out for help
    and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!

13-17 “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,
    who scorn the light-filled path.
When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—
    kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,
    thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’
Burglars do their work at night,
    but keep well out of sight through the day.
    They want nothing to do with light.
Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;
    they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.

18-25 “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—
    useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,
    sinners disappear in the grave.
The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—
    nothing that is evil lasts.
Unscrupulous,
    they prey on those less fortunate.
However much they strut and flex their muscles,
    there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.
They may have an illusion of security,
    but God has his eye on them.
They may get their brief successes,
    but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.
Like yesterday’s newspaper,
    they’re used to wrap up the garbage.
You’re free to try to prove me a liar,
    but you won’t be able to do it.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Read: 2 Corinthians 12:5–10

 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

INSIGHT
Responding to false teachers who said he wasn’t a genuine apostle because he didn’t have ecstatic spiritual experiences, Paul deliberately boasted about the many visions he had (2 Corinthians 12:1–4; see Acts 9:1–9; 16:6–10). Paul considered such boasting utterly distasteful (2 Corinthians 12:1, 6) but necessary to appropriately respond to his critics’ misguided spirituality and pride. Paul preferred to boast about his weaknesses (v. 5), speaking of “a thorn in [his] flesh” (v. 7). The word thorn was used for anything pointed such as a stake, the sharp end of a fishhook, or a splinter. The implication is that Paul endured physical pain. Some think he may have had an eye affliction (Galatians 4:14–15; 6:11), a weakness resulting from his being blinded on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:9), or a chronic ailment like migraine headaches or epilepsy. While we don’t know what the thorn was, its purpose was to keep Paul humble (2 Corinthians 12:7).

By Amy Boucher Pye
Sharing Your Faith

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

When author and evangelist Becky Pippert lived in Ireland, she longed to share the good news of Jesus with Heather, who’d done her nails for two years. But Heather hadn’t seemed remotely interested. Feeling unable to start a conversation, Becky prayed before her appointment.

While Heather worked on her nails, Becky flipped through an old magazine and paused at a picture of one of the models. When Heather asked why she was so riveted, Becky told her the photograph was of a close friend who’d years before been a Vogue cover model. Becky shared some of her friend’s story of coming to faith in God, which Heather listened to with rapt attention.

Becky left for a trip, and later when she returned to Ireland, she learned that Heather had moved to a new location. Becky reflected, “I had asked God to provide an opportunity to share the gospel, and He did!”

Becky looked to God for help in her weakness, inspired by the apostle Paul. When Paul was weak and pleaded with God to remove the thorn in his flesh, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul had learned to rely on God in all things—the big and the small.

When we depend on God to help us love those around us, we too will find opportunities to share our faith authentically.

When has God helped you to share your faith with someone? How could you pray for someone today whom you wish would come to know God?

Loving Jesus, You work through my weaknesses to bring glory to Your Father. Move in my life today, that I might share Your good news of grace.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin

This is your hour, and the power of darkness. —Luke 22:53

Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.  The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

Bible in a Year: Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Everything You Need - #8989

Nobody thought Gladys Aylward was good enough. During the 1920s, she had heard about the great spiritual need of China, and she sensed God's strong call on her life to go there. But she was only a chambermaid. When she applied to China Inland Mission in London, they rejected her because she wasn't educated enough and she was probably too old to learn the language they said. But Gladys Aylward made it to China and she made such a difference there that a number of books have been written about her life. Hollywood even based a movie on her life, "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" got an Academy Award winning actress in it too.

In her later years, as she told her story to audiences in many places, they were surprised to hear the commanding speech coming from this very tiny lady who had to stand on a box to even be seen over the pulpit. She said to them: "As I was growing up, I had two great sorrows. First, as my friends kept getting taller, I stopped growing. Secondly, as my friends grew beautiful blonde curly hair, mine was straight black. Then I went to China. And as I looked over the people to whom Jehovah God had sent me, I said to myself, 'These people have hair as black and straight as mine...and they stopped growing when I did.' I bowed my head and I said, 'Lord God, you know what you are doing!'" Yes, He does.

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

Much to her surprise, and much to everyone's surprise, little Gladys Aylward had been equipped with God for everything she needed to carry out His plan for her life. And so have you. I know that because He says so in Ephesians 2:10, our word for today from the Word of God: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

That's the message I've given to each of my grandchildren on the day they were born. It's the message I hope will grip your heart and help shape the rest of your life. God has created you for a destiny, and whether or not anyone else can see it, whether or not you've seen it, you are God's workmanship. And don't tell me that God makes things with parts missing or mistakes in them. There are some things God put you on this planet to do for Him. He's had them planned since before there was a you, and He's wired you with everything you need to get it done - everything.

Maybe you're thinking of all the things you're not, all the things you don't have that others have. Stop it! Everything you need for carrying out God's mission for you, you have. And what you don't have, you don't need! Moses argued with God that he wasn't qualified to go to Pharaoh and rescue God's people. But what kind of person did God need? Well, let's see. Someone who knew Egypt, who knew the Jews, and who knew the wilderness. Well, that's three different guys right there. Wrong! Moses was a Jew who had been raised by the Egyptians and who had spent many ye

ars in the wilderness. Moses was perfectly equipped to make a difference for the Lord, and so are you. When Moses continued to plead his inadequacy, he asked, "Who am I that I should go?" God's answer was: "I will be with you...go; I will help you" (Exodus 3:11-12; 4:12).

When you ask, "Who am I, Lord?" He answers, "Wrong question. Who am I?" It's not about who you are. It's about who He is. And all your abilities, your experiences, your battles, your weaknesses, and your strengths - they're all a divine tapestry to make you everything you need to be to do everything He put you here to do. Maybe you've been under-living!

You're His workmanship; you're His masterpiece. This day, open yourself up to Moses' God, to Gladys Aylward's God - the One who loves to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things for Him. Make this the day that you surrender to everything He wants you to be, everything He wants you to do. And let the adventure begin!

Job 23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: WASH FEET - June 23, 2021

Jesus has seen every backstreet, backseat, backhanded moment of our lives. And he has resolved My grace is enough. I can cleanse these people. I will wash away their betrayals. For that reason we must make the Upper Room of Mercy our home address.

Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14–15).

You are the creation of a good God, you are made in his image. You are destined to reign in an eternal kingdom. Secure in who you are, you can do what Jesus did.  Throw aside the robe of rights and expectation and make the most courageous of moves: wash feet. This is how happiness happens.

Job 23

Job’s Defense
I’m Completely in the Dark

Job replied:

“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
    My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—
    it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him,
    I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,
    give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,
    discover what’s going on in his head.
Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?
    No, he’d take me seriously.
He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;
    my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.

8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;
    then West, but not a trace;
I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;
    then South, but not even a glimpse.

10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.
    He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.
I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,
    not once swerving from his way.
I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,
    and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.

13-17 “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?
    He does what he wants, when he wants to.
He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,
    and whatever else he determines to do.
Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?
    Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.
God makes my heart sink!
    God Almighty gives me the shudders!
I’m completely in the dark,
    I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Read: Isaiah 65:17–25

New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes
Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

INSIGHT
Along with the portrayal of the new heavens and earth found in Isaiah 65, we catch another glimpse in 11:6–9 of this glorious place where animals and mankind live together in peace. Revelation 21–22 echoes many of these wonders and tells us more: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (21:4). “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face . . . . And they will reign for ever and ever” (22:3–5).

By Arthur Jackson
Imagine This!

I will create new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17

During the course of a popular home renovation television program, viewers often hear the host say, “Imagine this!” Then she unveils what could be when old things are restored and drab walls and floors are painted or stained. In one episode, after the renovation the homeowner was so overjoyed that, along with other expressions of elation, the words “That’s beautiful!” gushed from her lips three times.

One of the stunning “Imagine this!” passages in the Bible is Isaiah 65:17–25. What a dazzling re-creation scene! The future renovation of heaven and earth is in view (v. 17), and it’s not merely cosmetic. It’s deep and real, life-altering and life-preserving. “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit” (v. 21). Violence will be a thing of the past: “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain” (v. 25).

While the reversals envisioned in Isaiah 65 will be realized in the future, the God who will orchestrate universal restoration is in the business of life-change now. The apostle Paul assures us, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In need of restoration? Has your life been broken by doubt, disobedience, and pain? Life-change through Jesus is real and beautiful and available to those who ask and believe.

What changes can you imagine the God of restoration making in your life? What’s keeping you from believing in Jesus for life-change today?

God of restoration and renovation, You know what changes are needed in my life for me to look more like You. Please work in my heart and life today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
“Acquainted With Grief”

He is…a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. —Isaiah 53:3

We are not “acquainted with grief” in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin— and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.  Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Bible in a Year: Esther 9-10; Acts 7:1-21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Night Lights That Know When to Shine - #8988

I guess we got in the habit when our kids were little. Like night lights. Yeah, we put one in their room. Actually I heard it keeps the monsters in the closet. I hope that's true. Well, we always had one in the bathroom so you wouldn't fall in if you had to go there in the middle of the night. Actually, we always had a night light in the bathroom years later. The new and improved kind. It only went on when the lights went out. But, of course, that's when you need it, right, when it's dark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Night Lights That Know When to Shine."

It's nice to have a light that turns on when it gets dark - especially if that light is a person. Because when you're going through a dark time, you really need someone who brings some light into your life; sort of a human night light. Which I hope you are; which someone you know probably needs right now.

It's the kind of friend described in our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 17:17. God says, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." In other words, a real friend, a real brother is one who's walking in when everybody else is walking out! And that takes the kind of love Jesus has, the kind of love Jesus can give you to give someone else. It's called unconditional love - the kind that has absolutely nothing to do with how the other person is acting, how the other person is treating you, or what the other person can do for you.

But I'm guessing there's someone you know who really needs you to be their night light right now. But you might be holding back. Maybe they've experienced a big hurt, and frankly, you don't know what to say. So, you're avoiding them. They just need your presence, not your words; they need your hug, not your talk; they need your help with some of the everyday stuff that's become too much for them in their dark time.

Or maybe the person who needs you isn't acting very loveable right now. They're angry, they're negative, they're lashing out, they're withdrawn, they're sending off "leave me alone" signals that don't exactly make people feel like trying to reach out to them. But often when people are the least loveable, they need our love the most.

It may, in fact, be a child of yours, another family member, who is acting pretty ugly right now. You can almost bet that it's because they've been wounded somehow, and they're bleeding all over the people close to them. Someone has to disregard all those negative vibes and reach out to them with some love, some tenderness. I'm suspecting that God's "someone" who is supposed to love them might be you.

It's possible there's a fellow believer who has made some serious mistakes, and they've been pretty much written off by other Christians. Maybe God's calling on you to extend the hand of Jesus to them in spite of what they've done. Not to condone it, not to bless what God can't bless, but to let them know there's someone they're safe with.

There are lots of reasons not to be that friend who, according to the Bible, "loves at all times," not to be that brother or sister who is "born for adversity." But here's the real bottom line. It's the nature of Jesus to pursue the most unlovable, the most hurting, and often even the most undeserving. And it's supposed to be the nature of those of us who carry His name.

It's time for that phone call, that text, that email, that letter. It's time for that listening ear. It's time to extend a helping hand. It's time for that visit. It's time for someone to bring the healing love of Jesus into their darkness. Because when it's dark, when the lights have gone out, you need a night light. It's time for you to shine.

Job 22 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS CHRIST FORGAVE YOU - June 22, 2021

The Scripture says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

It was the eve of the Crucifixion and Jesus’ final meal with his followers. He stood up, he hung his cloak on a hook, and he wrapped a towel around his waist, and he poured water into a basin. He washed feet. Jesus used some of his precious final moments in this silent sacrament of humility.

The disciples pledged to stay with their Master. But later that night, when the soldiers marched in, the disciples ran out. And when they looked at their feet in shame, they realized Jesus forgave his betrayers before they betrayed him. Hasn’t he done the same for us? We each have a basin. We’ve each been wounded. But before we knew we needed grace, we were offered it. This is how happiness happens.

Job 22Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2
“Can a man be of benefit to God?
    Can even a wise person benefit him?
3
What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4
“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?
5
Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins endless?
6
You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7
You gave no water to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,
8
though you were a powerful man, owning land—
    an honored man, living on it.
9
And you sent widows away empty-handed
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10
That is why snares are all around you,
    why sudden peril terrifies you,
11
why it is so dark you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.

12
“Is not God in the heights of heaven?
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13
Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
    Does he judge through such darkness?
14
Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15
Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked have trod?
16
They were carried off before their time,
    their foundations washed away by a flood.
17
They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’
18
Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
    

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19
The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
    the innocent mock them, saying,
20
‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
    and fire devours their wealth.’

21
“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
    in this way prosperity will come to you.
22
Accept instruction from his mouth
    and lay up his words in your heart.
23
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24
and assign your nuggets to the dust,
    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25
then the Almighty will be your gold,
    the choicest silver for you.
26
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
    and will lift up your face to God.
27
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will fulfill your vows.
28
What you decide on will be done,
    and light will shine on your ways.
29
When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.
30
He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Read: Genesis 28:10–15, 20–22

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Footnotes
Genesis 28:13 Or There beside him
Genesis 28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

INSIGHT
The significance of the words, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14), must not be lost in the dynamics of Jacob’s dream. Jacob wasn’t the first to hear God’s promise concerning the destiny of his offspring. Similar words were communicated to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, in Genesis 12:3 (see also 22:16–18) and to Isaac (26:3–4). In the New Testament, Peter pointed to this promise in his preaching (Acts 3:25–26; see Genesis 22:18; 26:4). Paul’s writings similarly show that these promises found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus (Galatians 3:16).

By Tim Gustafson
God Is There

If God will be with me and watch over me . . . then the Lord will be my God. Genesis 28:20–21

Aubrey bought a fleece-lined coat for her aging father, but he died before he could wear it. So she tucked a note of encouragement with a $20 bill into the pocket and donated the jacket to charity.

Ninety miles away, unable to endure his family’s dysfunction any longer, nineteen-year-old Kelly left his house without grabbing a coat. He knew of only one place to turn—the home of his grandmother who prayed for him. Hours later he stepped off a bus and into his grandma’s arms. Shielding him from the winter wind, she said, “We’ve got to get you a coat!” At the mission store, Kelly tried on a coat he liked. Slipping his hands into the pockets he found an envelope—with a $20 bill and Aubrey’s note.

Jacob fled his dysfunctional family in fear for his life (Genesis 27:41–45). When he stopped for the night, God revealed Himself to Jacob in a dream. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go,” God told him (28:15). Jacob vowed, “If God will . . . give me food to eat and clothes to wear . . . , then the Lord will be my God” (vv. 20–21).

Jacob made a rudimentary altar and named the spot “God’s house” (v. 22). Kelly takes Aubrey’s note and that $20 wherever he goes. Each serves as a reminder that no matter where we run, God is there.

When you’ve had to “run,” whether literally or metaphorically, where did you go and to whom did you turn? How can you remind yourself of God’s presence in your life?

Father, You’re the One I can always run to. Help me turn to You first.
Read Who’s My Neighbor? at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0308.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

The Unchanging Law of Judgment

With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. —Matthew 7:2

This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution— “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God’s throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26).

Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”

Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.  My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

Bible in a Year: Esther 6-8; Acts 6

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Your "No Vacancy" Sign - #8987

You always have to hold your breath when your little children are with other adults, because you never know what they might reveal about life at home. It pays to live with nothing to hide. Right? A friend was babysitting his three-year-old grandson not long ago, and this little guy kept the conversation active with a stream of consciousness, a series of comments on a lot of subjects. Suddenly the three-year-old brought up things he wanted to do when he was an adult. One of them was potentially a little revealing. He said, "I'm going to have an office in my house, and I'm going to tell my children not to bother me." Oooo! His daddy has an office in the house. I wonder if this little guy learned that script at home?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your 'No Vacancy' Sign."

Over the years, you've probably driven to some motel all tired and very ready to stop, only to be greeted by that discouraging sign, "No Vacancy." Unfortunately, we sometimes do that to our children and our spouse. We hang out a "no vacancy" sign that says, "I don't have any room for you right now." If it happens pretty often, you could have one very sad, very frustrated, and maybe a very explosive family.

Honestly, there are those times when we do need to close the door and focus. But it can't help any child to be associated with the word "bother." You can explain why you need to work without interruption, as long as they know that you're available if they really need you, and as long as you let them know when you will be available. But in too many homes, this business of being unavailable to the people who need us most is not the exception. It's like a way of life. And without meaning to, we may be telling someone we love very much that whatever always takes you away is more important to you than they are. After all, you keep leaving them and excluding them to do it. Right?

There's a wonderful blueprint for human relationships in Ephesians, chapters 4 and 5. In chapter 5, beginning with verse 1, our word for today from the Word of God, we get a fundamental equation of what it means to love someone. It says, "Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a...sacrifice to God." The equation is simple but challenging: "love equals sacrifice." And sacrifice means giving something you really value for the person you love.

In your busy life, there might be nothing you have less of than time. And your time, your availability, is what your children and your spouse need most. To love them is to give them time you think you don't have because no one else on earth can be daddy or mommy to them; no one else can be husband or wife. It's really the only role in your life where you're irreplaceable and indispensable.

In a later verse, this passage tells us to "submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." That submit word means to put someone ahead of you. Then it proceeds to talk about husbands, wives, children, and parents - all of whom, as God's kind of person, will put the other ahead of themselves.

Your family needs your availability to them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It's best if you actually offer your availability to them right away, then they don't have to burn down the house or raise the roof to get your attention. You gave it willingly. Make it a goal to take time with each one to make them feel like the only person in the world at that moment. Think about each one's emotional ledger. Every time you're unavailable or gone, there's a debit in their life. So you need to consciously and as soon as possible, balance that account with the credit of some focused time with them.

Don't make your child, your husband, your wife feel shut out of your life by an invisible but very real "no vacancy" sign. Just always have room for them even if it means sacrifice. People who know they're loved and important and listened to don't have to start looking somewhere else for what you didn't give them - somewhere that could scar their life and break your heart.

Matthew 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily:STEP TOWARD FORGIVENESS - June 21, 2021

Resentment sucks satisfaction from the soul. Bitterness consumes it. Revenge has a monstrous appetite. One act of retaliation is never enough. Grudges send us on a downward spiral.

Some people perceive the path of forgiveness to be impossibly steep, so let’s be realistic. Forgiveness does not pardon the offense, excuse the misdeed, or ignore it. Forgiveness is not even necessarily reconciliation. The phrase “forgive and forget” sets an unreachable standard. Painful memories are not like old clothing, easily shed. Forgiveness is simply the act of changing your attitude toward the offender. It’s moving from a desire to harm toward an openness to be at peace. A step in the direction of forgiveness is a decisive step toward happiness.


Matthew 11

John the Baptizer

When Jesus finished placing this charge before his twelve disciples, he went on to teach and preach in their villages.

2-3 John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

4-6 Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!”

7-10 When John’s disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A prophet? That’s right, a prophet! Probably the best prophet you’ll ever hear. He is the prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, ‘I’m sending my prophet ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you.’

11-14 “Let me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and introduce the Messiah.

15 “Are you listening to me? Really listening?

16-19 “How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a boozer, a friend of the misfits. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

The Unforced Rhythms of Grace
20 Next Jesus unleashed on the cities where he had worked the hardest but whose people had responded the least, shrugging their shoulders and going their own way.

21-24 “Doom to you, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had seen half of the powerful miracles you have seen, they would have been on their knees in a minute. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you. And Capernaum! With all your peacock strutting, you are going to end up in the abyss. If the people of Sodom had had your chances, the city would still be around. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you.”

25-26 Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”

27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, June 21, 2021
Read: Proverbs 21:21–31

Whoever pursues righteousness and love
    finds life, prosperity[a] and honor.

22 One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty
    and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues
    keep themselves from calamity.

24 The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name—
    behaves with insolent fury.

25 The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him,
    because his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves for more,
    but the righteous give without sparing.

27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!

28 A false witness will perish,
    but a careful listener will testify successfully.

29 The wicked put up a bold front,
    but the upright give thought to their ways.

30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
    that can succeed against the Lord.

31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but victory rests with the Lord.

Footnotes
Proverbs 21:21 Or righteousness

INSIGHT
In the ancient world, the horse and chariot were prized as superior weapons of war, a game changer in battles that determined either victory or defeat. Proverbs 21:30–31, set in the context of warfare, extols the sovereignty of God in human affairs. God’s purposes and plans will prevail, so it’s foolish to fight against or without Him. Victory and deliverance come only from God, who turns battles His way to fulfill His sovereign purposes. Despite the Egyptian’s mighty cavalry (Exodus 14:9) and the Canaanites’ many horses and chariots (Joshua 11:4–9), the forces raging against the Israelites were defeated, confirming that “victory rests with the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). In fact, Israel’s kings were specifically warned not to put their trust in horses but only in God (Psalm 20:7; 33:16–19; Isaiah 31:1).

By Patricia Raybon
He Will Fight for You

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord. Proverbs 21:31

The wounded horse was named Drummer Boy, one of 112 mounts carrying British soldiers into battle during the famed Charge of the Light Brigade. The animal showed such bravery and stamina that his assigned commander, Lieutenant Colonel de Salis, decided his horse deserved a medal as much as his valiant men. This was done even though their military action against enemy forces failed. Yet the cavalry’s valor, matched by the courage of their horses, established the clash as one of Britain’s greatest military moments, still celebrated today.

The confrontation, however, shows the wisdom of an ancient Bible proverb: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). Scripture affirms this principle clearly. “For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (Deuteronomy 20:4). Indeed, even against the sting of death, wrote the apostle Paul, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56–57).

Knowing this, our task still is to be prepared for life’s tough tests. To build a ministry, we study, work, and pray. To create beautiful art, we master a skill. To conquer a mountain, we secure our tools and build our strength. Then prepared, we’re more than conquerors through Christ’s strong love.

What battles or challenges are you preparing for now? If your victory rests in God, why should you prepare for this life test?

Heavenly Father, as I approach life’s great tests, inspire me to prepare my heart so that You get the victory.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, June 21, 2021
The Ministry of the Inner Life

You are…a royal priesthood… —1 Peter 2:9

By what right have we become “a royal priesthood”? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our “hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” although we say, “What a wonderful victory I have!” Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, “Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men.” Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: “Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now.”

How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.  The Highest Good, 544 R

Bible in a Year: Esther 3-5; Acts 5:22-42

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, June 21, 2021

Spending It All On the One He Loves - #8986

My oldest son had saved up for this baseball card show for months. He was about nine at the time, and he was already good at knowing which cards to buy; he was really a sharp investor. One of his biggest frustrations was that all of my '50s vintage baseball cards had been thrown out when we moved during my childhood, so he never quite forgave his grandmother for that. But imagine what they could have been worth by now! But I shared with him that when I was a kid I liked to turn in Coke bottles and get deposit money, and I'd get baseball cards with that myself.

I was trying to get the cards of all the players from the favorite team of my boyhood, the Chicago White Sox. I really wanted the whole team! Now, my hero was a star second baseman named Nellie Fox, who's in the Hall of Fame now. And wouldn't you know, I would get six or eight copies of other players, and I could never get a pack that had Nellie Fox in it. I had the entire White Sox team except for Nellie Fox.

Well, we got to this baseball card show. I looked around with my youngest son for a while. We even stopped at a table that had some Nellie Fox cards that were from my era. I turned my son loose for a little while to spend the money that he had carefully saved over all those months. And a few minutes later I felt a tug on my pant leg, and there was my oldest son, who was reaching up to me with something in his hand and tears in his eyes. He said, "Daddy, I know you always wanted Nellie Fox. I bought you some. I love you." I was overwhelmed! He had loved me enough to spend on me everything he had.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spending It All On the One He Loves."

If there are three words that I had the power to tattoo on your soul for the rest of your life, it would be these words, God Loves You. I don't know what the word "love" has meant in your life. Maybe you've loved and lost. Maybe there's never been enough love.

Maybe love has meant disappointment and hurt, rejection or abandonment. Maybe for all the love you've had, it's still never filled that hole in your heart. Well, that's because there's a love so big that only God can give it...that can alone fill the hole in your heart.

Now, our word for today from the Word of God tells us how we know He loves us. Romans 8:32 says, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He also with Him not freely give us all things?" Delivered up His Son for us! There was nothing more valuable God had than His Son. So how do you know how much He loves you? He spent the best He had. He spent His Son to get you back.

Why was that necessary? Well, because you and I have made the same choice about our life. We've decided we would run it instead of the God who gave us our life. He's a holy God. He governs the entire universe. We're rebels. We've set out to do it my way instead of God's way. We're fine if He runs the universe. We won't let Him run us.

The Bible says there's a death penalty for that; an eternal, awful, unthinkable death penalty for running our own lives, being spiritual hijackers. But instead of us paying that price, God gave His only Son. In the words of the Bible, "God loved the world so much" - you could put your name there - "God loved (yeah, you) so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish (not have that death penalty) but have eternal life."

Today God sent me with that message to wherever you are so you could for the first time in your life experience the love you were made for. You want that? You want to begin this love relationship with your Creator? Would you say, "Jesus, I believe when You died, you were dying for my sin. And when you walked out of that grave under your own power, it meant you could walk into my life today. I'm yours from today on."

This would be a good time for you to check out our website, because what you're going to find there is the information that will help you be sure you have begun life's greatest love relationship. The website's ANewStory.com.

Nobody loves you like God does. No one was willing to pay the price for you that God paid.

Job 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:A Dad’s Commitment

When I was seven years old, I’d had enough of my father’s rules and decided I could make it on my own. With my clothes in a paper bag, I stormed out the back gate. I didn’t go far. I got to the end of the alley and remembered I was hungry. I remember rather sheepishly taking my seat at the supper table across from the very father I had, only moments before, disowned.

Did Dad know? I suspect he did. Fathers usually do. Was I still his son? Apparently so. No one was sitting in my place at the table. Suppose you’d asked, “Mr. Lucado, your son says he has no need of a father. Do you still consider him your son?” I don’t have to guess at his answer.  He called himself my father even when I didn’t call myself his son. His commitment to me was greater than my commitment to him!  Does that sound familiar?

From Dad Time

Job 21

Job’s Response
Why Do the Wicked Have It So Good?

Job replied:

“Now listen to me carefully, please listen,
    at least do me the favor of listening.
Put up with me while I have my say—
    then you can mock me later to your heart’s content.

4-16 “It’s not you I’m complaining to—it’s God.
    Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence?
Take a good look at me. Aren’t you appalled by what’s happened?
    No! Don’t say anything. I can do without your comments.
When I look back, I go into shock,
    my body is racked with spasms.
Why do the wicked have it so good,
    live to a ripe old age and get rich?
They get to see their children succeed,
    get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.
Their homes are peaceful and free from fear;
    they never experience God’s disciplining rod.
Their bulls breed with great vigor
    and their cows calve without fail.
They send their children out to play
    and watch them frolic like spring lambs.
They make music with fiddles and flutes,
    have good times singing and dancing.
They have a long life on easy street,
    and die painlessly in their sleep.
They say to God, ‘Get lost!
    We’ve no interest in you or your ways.
Why should we have dealings with God Almighty?
    What’s there in it for us?’
But they’re wrong, dead wrong—they’re not gods.
    It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!

17-21 “Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail,
    or disaster strikes,
    or they get their just deserts?
How often are they blown away by bad luck?
    Not very often.
You might say, ‘God is saving up the punishment for their children.’
    I say, ‘Give it to them right now so they’ll know what they’ve done!’
They deserve to experience the effects of their evil,
    feel the full force of God’s wrath firsthand.
What do they care what happens to their families
    after they’re safely tucked away in the grave?

Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings
22-26 “But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs?
    He’s dealing with matters that are way over our heads.
Some people die in the prime of life,
    with everything going for them—
    fat and sassy.
Others die bitter and bereft,
    never getting a taste of happiness.
They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery,
    where the worms can’t tell one from the other.

27-33 “I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to,
    the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down.
Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces,
    that the achievements of the wicked collapse.
Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it?
    Have you not listened to their stories
Of evil men and women who got off scot-free,
    who never had to pay for their wickedness?
Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes?
    Did they ever have to face the music?
Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals
    with all the trimmings,
Gently lowered into expensive graves,
    with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.

34 “So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense?
    Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Read: Luke 5:12–16

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[a] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Footnotes
Luke 5:12 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

INSIGHT
Due to His popularity, Jesus intentionally withdrew to “lonely places” to pray (Luke 5:16). This may be why He didn’t want the man healed of leprosy to tell anyone (v. 14). However, “the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came” (v. 15).

In the book of Luke we clearly see that Jesus’ time spent with His Father was a priority. He consistently went away to pray before major events such as when He chose the twelve apostles (6:12–16), before predicting His death (9:18), during the transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared to discuss Jesus’ departure (vv. 28–31), before His teaching on prayer (11:1), before His arrest (22:41), while being crucified (23:34), and just before He died (v. 46).

By John Blase
Spending Time with God

Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16

A River Runs Through It is Norman Maclean’s masterful story of two boys growing up in western Montana with their father, a Presbyterian minister. On Sunday mornings, Norman and his brother, Paul, went to church where they heard their father preach. Once Sunday evening rolled around, there was another service and their father would preach again. But between those two services, they were free to walk the hills and streams with him “while he unwound between services.” It was an intentional withdrawing on their father’s part to “restore his soul and be filled again to overflowing for the evening sermon.”

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is seen teaching multitudes on hillsides and cities, and healing the sick and diseased who were brought to Him. All this interaction was in line with the Son of Man’s mission “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). But it’s also noted that He “often withdrew to lonely places” (5:16). His time there was spent communing with the Father, being renewed and restored to step back once more into His mission.

In our faithful efforts to serve, it’s good for us to remember that Jesus often withdrew. If this practice was important for Jesus, how much more so for us? May we regularly spend time with our Father, who can fill us again to overflowing.


What comes to mind when you think of a “lonely” place? When and where can you withdraw to simply spend time with the Father?


Thank You for the reminder, Father, of my need for time spent with You. I need Your grace and strength to renew my often-weary soul.

 

To learn more about spending time with God in prayer, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF120.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, June 20, 2021

Have You Come to “When” Yet?

The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. —Job 42:10

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, “Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer— I will walk rightly before You if You will help me.” But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the “hundredfold” which Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29), and not getting insight into God’s Word, then start praying for your friends— enter into the ministry of the inner life. “The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.


WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.  Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

Bible in a Year: Esther 1-2; Acts 5:1-21

Job 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: My Father's Forgiveness

My father's salary wasn't abundant, so you can imagine my surprise when he put a credit card in my hand the day I left for college. His only instructions were, "Be careful how you use it." On an impulse one Friday, I skipped class to visit a girl on another campus. Because I left in a hurry, I forgot to take any money. Everything went fine until I rear-ended a car on the return trip.
My father took my collect call and heard my tale. My story wasn't much to boast about. I'd made a trip without his knowledge, without any money, and wrecked his car. "Well," he said after a long pause, "That's why I gave you the card. I hope you learned a lesson." I certainly did. I learned my father's forgiveness predated my mistake. He'd provided for my blunder before I blundered. Need I tell you God has done the same?
From Dad Time

Job 20

Zophar Attacks Job—The Second Round
Savoring Evil as a Delicacy

Zophar from Naamath again took his turn:

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!
    You’ve put my teeth on edge, my stomach in a knot.
How dare you insult my intelligence like this!
    Well, here’s a piece of my mind!

4-11 “Don’t you even know the basics,
    how things have been since the earliest days,
    when Adam and Eve were first placed on earth?
The good times of the wicked are short-lived;
    godless joy is only momentary.
The evil might become world famous,
    strutting at the head of the celebrity parade,
But still end up in a pile of dung.
    Acquaintances look at them with disgust and say, ‘What’s that?’
They fly off like a dream that can’t be remembered,
    like a shadowy illusion that vanishes in the light.
Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies,
    unnoticed, whether they come or go.
Their children will go begging on skid row,
    and they’ll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.
Right in the prime of life,
    and youthful and vigorous, they’ll die.

12-19 “They savor evil as a delicacy,
    roll it around on their tongues,
Prolong the flavor, a dalliance in decadence—
    real gourmets of evil!
But then they get stomach cramps,
    a bad case of food poisoning.
They gag on all that rich food;
    God makes them vomit it up.
They gorge on evil, make a diet of that poison—
    a deadly diet—and it kills them.
No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams
    with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks.
They spit out their food half-chewed,
    unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for.
And why? Because they exploited the poor,
    took what never belonged to them.

20-29 “Such God-denying people are never content with what they have or who they are;
    their greed drives them relentlessly.
They plunder everything
    but they can’t hold on to any of it.
Just when they think they have it all, disaster strikes;
    they’re served up a plate full of misery.
When they’ve filled their bellies with that,
    God gives them a taste of his anger,
    and they get to chew on that for a while.
As they run for their lives from one disaster,
    they run smack into another.
They’re knocked around from pillar to post,
    beaten to within an inch of their lives.
They’re trapped in a house of horrors,
    and see their loot disappear down a black hole.
Their lives are a total loss—
    not a penny to their name, not so much as a bean.
God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes
    and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see.
Life is a complete wipeout for them,
    nothing surviving God’s wrath.
There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked—
    what they have to look forward to.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Read: Job 40:15–24

“Look at Behemoth,
    which I made along with you
    and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
    what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
    the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
    yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce,
    and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
    hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
    the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it;
    it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
    or trap it and pierce its nose?

INSIGHT
In the midst of his pain (Job 1–3), Job seeks to understand why he has to suffer so much. Instead of explaining why He allowed evil to exist or human beings to suffer (chs. 4–37), God confronted and confounded Job and asked him if he knew how the world and its creatures were created, controlled, and cared for. Job 38–42 is not an explanation of why man has to suffer, but a revelation of who God is! God reveals Himself as Creator (ch. 38), Sustainer (ch. 39), and Controller of all creation (chs. 40–42). Job didn’t need to fully understand God’s ways, for no one can (Isaiah 55:8–9). He only needed to humble himself (Job 42:1–5), trust God fully, and fear and revere Him (37:23–24).

By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Bigger than Our Problems

Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. Job 40:15

What do you imagine dinosaurs looked like when they were alive? Big teeth? Scaly skin? Long tails? Artist Karen Carr recreates these extinct creatures in large murals. One of her panoramas is over twenty feet tall and sixty feet long. Because of its size, it required a crew of experts to install it in sections where it resides in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

It would be hard to stand in front of this mural without feeling dwarfed by the dinosaurs. I get a similar sensation when I read God’s description of the powerful animal called “Behemoth” (Job 40:15). This big guy munched grass like an ox and had a tail the size of a tree trunk. His bones were like iron pipes. He lumbered through the hills grazing, stopping occasionally to relax at the local swamp. When floodwaters surged, Behemoth never raised an eyebrow.

No one could tame this incredible creature—except its Maker (v. 19). God reminded Job of this truth during a time when Job’s problems had cast ominous shadows over his life. Grief, bewilderment, and frustration filled his field of vision until he began to question God. But God’s response helped Job see the real size of things. God was bigger than all his issues and powerful enough to handle problems that Job couldn’t resolve on his own. In the end, Job conceded, “I know that you can do all things” (42:2).

Which is bigger, your worst problem or the God who made everything? How does your view of God affect the way in which you handle problems?

Dear God, I believe You can help me with the things I’m facing today. Help me to be open to Your power and goodness when I feel overwhelmed by trouble.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, June 19, 2021
The Service of Passionate Devotion

…do you love Me?…Tend My sheep. —John 21:16

Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him. We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate…, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). In this verse, there is no argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in effect, “If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me.” A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says, “Now I see who Jesus is!”— that is the source of devotion.

Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not really want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend, and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way. Our Lord’s primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people— the saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a “doormat.” The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that “falls into the ground and dies”— it will spring up and change the entire landscape (John 12:24).
 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

If a man cannot prove his religion in the valley, it is not worth anything.  Shade of His Hand, 1200 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 12-13; Acts 4:23-37

Matthew 10:21-42 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: STEP OUT AND SPEAK UP - June 18, 2021

When we stand at the altar of Christ on the final day, we will appreciate the influence of those who stepped out and spoke up to help us. You can do this. Do not shrink back. Step out and speak up. After all, you are an ambassador for Christ. Can the ambassador stay silent? You are a coheir with Christ. Can the heir remain silent while blessings are available? Of course not.

After Jesus admonished Martha, he did the unthinkable. He went to the tomb, wept for his friend, and then shouted for the dead Lazarus to come out. And Lazarus did! He exited the tomb. But don’t think for a second that Lazarus was the only miracle that day. Jesus resurrected the brother from the dead, but he also resurrected Martha’s heart from despair. And he did both with words of power. This is how happiness happens.


Matthew 10:21-42

“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.

24-25 “A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?

26-27 “Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.

28 “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

Forget About Yourself
29-31 “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.

32-33 “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?

34-37 “Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

38-39 “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

40-42 “We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, June 18, 2021

Read: Galatians 5:16–25

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[a] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

INSIGHT
The biblical teaching of the Holy Spirit is known as pneumatology (from the Greek pneuma). Pneuma means “wind,” “breath,” “air” and indicates an invisible but active entity or force. It’s a word used for the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity. In the book of Galatians, pneuma appears eighteen times as a reference to the Spirit and helps us in our understanding of the Spirit’s work. Chapter 5 alone includes eight references to God’s Spirit (vv. 5, 16, 17 [2x], 18, 22, 25 [2x]). The Spirit inspires hope (v. 5), and empowers us for God-honoring living (v. 16) and fruitfulness that includes “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv. 22–23).

By Our Daily Bread
The Life of Peace

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

In Perth, Australia, there’s a place called Shalom House where men struggling with addictions go to find help. At Shalom House, they’ll meet caring staff members who introduce them to God’s shalom (Hebrew for peace). Lives crushed under the weight of addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other destructive behaviors are being transformed by the love of God.

Central to this transformation is the message of the cross. The broken people of Shalom House discover that through the resurrection of Jesus, they can find their own lives resurrected. In Christ, we gain true peace and healing.

Peace isn’t merely the absence of conflict; it’s the presence of God’s wholeness. All of us need this shalom, and it’s only found in Christ and His Spirit. This is why Paul pointed the Galatians to the Spirit’s transformational work. As the Holy Spirit operates in our lives, He generates His fruit that includes love, joy, patience, and more (Galatians 5:22–23). He gives us that vital element of true, enduring peace.

As the Spirit enables us to live in God’s shalom, we learn to bring our needs and concerns to our heavenly Father. This in turn brings us “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”—the peace that “will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

In Christ’s Spirit, our hearts experience true shalom.

What things tend to rob you of God’s peace? How will you allow the Spirit to produce His peace in your heart?

God of shalom, thank You that Your desire is for peace to reign in my life. Thank You for the work of Jesus to make peace available and the work of the Spirit whose fruit in my life brings peace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 18, 2021
Keep Recognizing Jesus

…Peter…walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid… —Matthew 14:29-30

The wind really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn’t see them at first. He didn’t consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of Him, and “walked on the water.” Then he began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went. Why couldn’t our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves, as well as on top of them? He could have, yet neither could be done without Peter’s continuing recognition of the Lord Jesus.

We step right out with recognition of God in some things, then self-consideration enters our lives and down we go. If you are truly recognizing your Lord, you have no business being concerned about how and where He engineers your circumstances. The things surrounding you are real, but when you look at them you are immediately overwhelmed, and even unable to recognize Jesus. Then comes His rebuke, “…why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). Let your actual circumstances be what they may, but keep recognizing Jesus, maintaining complete reliance upon Him.

If you debate for even one second when God has spoken, it is all over for you. Never start to say, “Well, I wonder if He really did speak to me?” Be reckless immediately— totally unrestrained and willing to risk everything— by casting your all upon Him. You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. It is only through abandonment of yourself and your circumstances that you will recognize Him. You will only recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness— being willing to risk your all.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.” Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 10-11; Acts 4:1-22

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, June 18, 2021
Trying to Carry Your Father's Load - #8985

I saw this precious sight at the airport. There were a hundred bleary-eyed travelers waiting for luggage at the carousel. Maybe you've been one of those. That wasn't the precious sight I saw; nothing precious about that. But I heard this little exclamation behind me. It was a little boy barely old enough to be walking, and he was standing next to his Daddy. Now, his Dad had apparently just returned from a business trip, and next to him on the floor was his big old briefcase. Well, the little guy, using all his strength, fully extending his body is trying to push his Dad's big briefcase. The briefcase was just about bigger than the little boy was. There was no way he could pick it up, but he was trying; pushing and pulling with everything he had. It was something I'm sure his father could handle easily, but the little guy? He was just too weak to push it.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Trying to Carry Your Father's Load."

As David writes to us in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 55, he's pushing or trying to carry a very heavy load. Verse 2: "My thoughts trouble me." Now, you may be able to relate to some of what he says about his load. He says, "I've really got a lot of inner turmoil right now." Now verse 11, "There are destructive forces at work in the city." Hey, you may have some of those destructive forces in your life right now. Then in that same verse he says, "Threats and lies never leave its streets." Maybe you've got a little of that going on in your life.

And in verse 18 of Psalm 55 he talks about "the battle being waged against me. Many oppose me." Has that come up on any of your load yet? Then in verse 20 he says, "My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant." Maybe you can share in that part of the load where someone that you've trusted and loved has turned on you and hurt you, even violated a covenant.

That's a lot to push. That's a lot to carry. You might be doubled over right now with your load. I want you to hear David's bottom line in the midst of all this weighty problem he has. Verse 22: "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall." Man! Isn't that awesome! What a promise!

What are you doing pushing that load of yours; trying to carry it yourself? "Give it to Me" God says. "Cast your burden on Me." Maybe you're missing the peace that comes from release. And it's said so many times through the Old Testament, like when David was up against Goliath, David said, "The battle is David's." No, he did not. "The battle is the Lord's." You need to remember that in your battle. This isn't your battle. Send your Father to fight it. Let your Father carry it. This is a load you were never meant to carry.

David struggled to keep it released. He says in Psalm 55:17, "Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and He hears my voice." All day long you've got to have this repeated releasing of that load; the one you've tried to carry yourself. And your Father is looking at you like that father was looking at his little boy at the airport. Kind of saying, "Why do you insist on collapsing under a burden that I could carry so easily?"

There we are, the little guy trying to lift the load of responsibility that we are just too weak to carry. You can burn out trying to carry it by yourself. Here's the great news. Your Father stands ready to carry it for you.

Job 19 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: INVITE GOD TO BE GOD - June 17, 2021

The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment. The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time. Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment. He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years. I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister. When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work.

He would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love. Let your healing happen in this room. Satan, you must leave. You’re a liar, and your words have no merit. This child is bought by God. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.” This is the job of the church: to take struggling followers and lead them back to the path of faith. This is how happiness happens.

Job 19

Job Answers Bildad
I Call for Help and No One Bothers

Job answered:

“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,
    pounding me with these harangues?
Time after time after time you jump all over me.
    Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?
Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,
    what business is that of yours?
Why do you insist on putting me down,
    using my troubles as a stick to beat me?
Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,
    he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.

7-12 “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;
    I call for help and no one bothers to stop.
God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;
    he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.
He destroyed my reputation,
    robbed me of all self-respect.
He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!
    Then he yanked out hope by the roots.
He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!
    He treats me like his worst enemy.
He has launched a major campaign against me,
    using every weapon he can think of,
    coming at me from all sides at once.

I Know That God Lives
13-20 “God alienated my family from me;
    everyone who knows me avoids me.
My relatives and friends have all left;
    houseguests forget I ever existed.
The servant girls treat me like a deadbeat off the street,
    look at me like they’ve never seen me before.
I call my attendant and he ignores me,
    ignores me even though I plead with him.
My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.
    I’m repulsive to my family.
Even street urchins despise me;
    when I come out, they taunt and jeer.
Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;
    my dearest loved ones reject me.
I’m nothing but a bag of bones;
    my life hangs by a thread.

21-22 “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.
    God has come down hard on me!
Do you have to be hard on me, too?
    Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?

23-27 “If only my words were written in a book—
    better yet, chiseled in stone!
Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—
    and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.
And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—
    see God myself, with my very own eyes.
    Oh, how I long for that day!

28-29 “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,
    get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’
Forget it. Start worrying about yourselves.
    Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,
    for judgment is most certainly on the way.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Read: Judges 7:1–8, 22

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

INSIGHT
Gideon showed remarkable growth in his faith. When God first asked him to deliver Israel from the Midianites, he requested multiple signs as evidence of God’s protection (Judges 6:11–39). Convinced of His protection, Gideon obeyed God and trimmed his fighting men from 32,000 to 300. Gideon’s faith was validated when the Midianites were defeated with this much smaller army. God “caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords” (7:22).

By Our Daily Bread
The Way of Faith

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me.” Judges 7:2

In a 2017 World Cup qualifying match that pitted the US against Trinidad and Tobago, the Soca Warriors shocked the world when they beat the US men’s national team, a team ranked considerably higher. The upset eliminated the US team from the 2018 World Cup.

Trinidad and Tobago’s victory was so unexpected in part because the United States’ population and resources dwarfed those of the small Caribbean nation. But those seemingly insurmountable advantages weren’t enough to defeat the passionate Soca Warriors.

The story of Gideon and the Midianites features a similar upset, one between a small group of fighters and a large army. The Israelite army actually had more than thirty-thousand fighters, but the Lord whittled the army down to just three hundred warriors so the nation would learn that their success was dependent on God—not the size of their army, the amount of money in their treasury, or the skill of their leaders (Judges 7:1–8).

It can be tempting to put our trust and confidence in things we can see or measure, but that’s not the way of faith. Though it’s often difficult, when we’re willing to depend on God, to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10), we can go into situations with courage and confidence, even when we feel overwhelmed and unqualified. His presence and power can do amazing things in and through us.

When have you faced seemingly insurmountable odds? Whether you tasted victory or defeat, how did you experience God’s provision for you?

God, when life gets challenging, help me learn to rely more and more on Your mighty power and grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Beware of Criticizing Others

Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1

Jesus’ instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He says, “Don’t.” The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm nothing is accomplished by it. The effect of criticism is the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others. Jesus says that as His disciple you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical. This will not happen quickly but must be developed over a span of time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus. If I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see Matthew 7:3-5). Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24). Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact, which we know nothing about, in every person’s situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of, or lose all hope for, after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 7-9; Acts 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 17, 2021

Gods That Die - #8984

I fell in love with a girl from Arkansas, and she informed me that the largest religion in the state was football; especially the University of Arkansas kind of football - the Razorbacks. So, guess who the most important man in the state would be? Not the governor. No, he'd be maybe number two. Probably the most important man is the football coach of the University of Arkansas. Now, years ago back in the '80s it was a man named Ken Hatfield; in this particular case, a follower of Jesus Christ.

He actually gave his testimony at Billy Graham's Little Rock Crusade some years ago, and I happened to be there that night. Everyone really listened because of who he was. He told us about the turning point in his life. It was 1964. He was playing for the University of Arkansas, and his dream came true. They had just defeated Nebraska for the national championship in college football - #1. He told us that he read those headlines the next morning how Arkansas was number one, and he realized he'd experienced his greatest achievement and it left him totally depressed. He summed it all up in four words that I haven't forgotten. He simply said, "My god had died." You know, they have a way of doing that.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Gods That Die."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Jonah 2. This is actually a prayer, and it's probably the only prayer we know ever prayed inside a fish. That's where Jonah is for his disobedience to God. He's reflecting on his detour from God's best. Here's what he says in his prayer. Verse 7, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you to your holy temple. 'Those who cling to worthless idols, forfeit the grace that could be theirs.' But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed, I will make good."

Notice, he's inside the great fish. He's talking about clinging to worthless idols. You have to wonder if he's not meaning here that there was something in his life too important to let go of when God said, "Go to Nineveh." Something he could not let go of.

Now, what would that be for you? Well, you may know Christ, but maybe there's a god you can't surrender to the control of your Savior. It could be your child, or a dream you have for your child, or it could be someone you love very much, or a dream you've cherished for yourself, or a position, a ministry, your home, an activity, your career.

In fact, we sometimes will release one god at one point in our life, and then unintentionally pick up another god at another point. It may be a different one at this point in your life. But every little "g" god has the same fate. "My god died" like the coach said. Maybe one of yours has died. You know, that's actually okay. Because that's what brings you back to the vows you made to the Lord. "What I have vowed, I make good now" is what Jonah said; to get back to the main road and get off of this detour.

It took a violent storm and near death for Jonah to wake up and let his false god die - whatever it was. See, when you cling to that false god, it says you forfeit the grace that could be yours. You're missing the best of God's gifts as long as you hang on to another god, a god that will die. Often when you're in a storm, you understand that what you've been basing your life on - what's been number one in your life - is not enough. And maybe those are the moments when your heart turns and says, "I believe I'm made for more." And that more, my friend, is Jesus Christ, who died for you and rose from his grave.

Go to our website, because a relationship with Him is what it's all about. And your storm may have been to blow you into the arms of Jesus. The website's ANewStory.com.

When His own follower, Peter, was in a violent storm and ready to drown, He reached out and all he could get out was, "Lord, save me!" You say that to Jesus today, and He'll do that for you. He's the God you were born to serve.

Don't wait until you're totally submerged to say to God, "I'm letting go." Say it now, and with Jonah, "What I vowed, Lord, I'll make good."