John 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD GAVE US HIMSELF - November 23, 2022

For thousands of years, God gave us his voice. Prior to Bethlehem, he gave us his messengers, his teachers, his words. But in the manger, God gave us himself.

Many people have trouble with such a teaching. Some teach that God is One who sends others—angels, prophets, books, but God is too holy to come to us himself. For God to touch the earth would be what is called a “shirk.” People who claim that God has touched the earth shirk God’s holiness. They make him gross; they blaspheme him.

Christianity, by contrast, celebrates God’s great descent. His nature does not trap him in heaven, but leads him to earth. In God’s great gospel, he not only sends, he becomes. He not only talks to us, he lives with us, as one of us.

John 17

Jesus’ Prayer for His Followers

Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:

Father, it’s time.

Display the bright splendor of your Son

So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.

You put him in charge of everything human

So he might give real and eternal life to all in his care.

And this is the real and eternal life:

That they know you,

The one and only true God,

And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

I glorified you on earth

By completing down to the last detail

What you assigned me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,

The very splendor I had in your presence

Before there was a world.

* * *

6-12 I spelled out your character in detail

To the men and women you gave me.

They were yours in the first place;

Then you gave them to me,

And they have now done what you said.

They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,

That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,

For the message you gave me, I gave them;

And they took it, and were convinced

That I came from you.

They believed that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world

But for those you gave me,

For they are yours by right.

Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,

And my life is on display in them.

For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;

They’ll continue in the world

While I return to you.

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life

That you conferred as a gift through me,

So they can be one heart and mind

As we are one heart and mind.

As long as I was with them, I guarded them

In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;

I even posted a lookout.

And not one of them got away,

Except for the rebel bent on destruction

(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

* * *

13-19 Now I’m returning to you.

I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing

So my people can experience

My joy completed in them.

I gave them your word;

The godless world hated them because of it,

Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,

Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.

I’m not asking that you take them out of the world

But that you guard them from the Evil One.

They are no more defined by the world

Than I am defined by the world.

Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;

Your word is consecrating truth.

In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,

I give them a mission in the world.

I’m consecrating myself for their sakes

So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

* * *

20-23 I’m praying not only for them

But also for those who will believe in me

Because of them and their witness about me.

The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—

Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

So they might be one heart and mind with us.

Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.

The same glory you gave me, I gave them,

So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—

I in them and you in me.

Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,

And give the godless world evidence

That you’ve sent me and loved them

In the same way you’ve loved me.

* * *

24-26 Father, I want those you gave me

To be with me, right where I am,

So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,

Having loved me

Long before there ever was a world.

Righteous Father, the world has never known you,

But I have known you, and these disciples know

That you sent me on this mission.

I have made your very being known to them—

Who you are and what you do—

And continue to make it known,

So that your love for me

Might be in them

Exactly as I am in them.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Today's Scripture Ecclesiastes 10:12–14

The words of a wise person are gracious.

The talk of a fool self-destructs—

He starts out talking nonsense

And ends up spouting insanity and evil.

14 Fools talk way too much,

Chattering stuff they know nothing about.

Insight

The book of Ecclesiastes is perfectly suited for a postmodern world like ours. Why? Because it looks at life through a rather cynical perspective until the very end of the book when faith in God is once again lifted up. The keys to understanding this book are found in its opening chapters where the author, believed to have been Solomon, used repetitive phrases to lay the foundation of his argument. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” (1:2) speaks of both the brevity and emptiness of life, and “under the sun” (v. 3) refers to life lived according to the values and priorities of this world system as opposed to the values and priorities of God Himself. The author’s own disgruntled worldview is captured in 2:17, where he wrote, “So I hated life.” The response to such despair? “Remember your Creator” (12:1). By: Bill Crowder

Trusting Our Future to God

No one knows what is coming. Ecclesiastes 10:14

In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the first purchase with bitcoin (a digital currency then worth a fraction of a penny each), paying 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas ($25). In 2021, at its highest value during the year, those bitcoins would have been worth well more than $500 million. Back before the value skyrocketed, he kept paying for pizzas with coins, spending 100,000 bitcoins total. If he’d kept those bitcoins, their value would’ve made him a billionaire sixty-eight times over and placed him on the Forbes’ “richest people in the world” list. If only he’d known what was coming.

Of course, Hanyecz couldn’t possibly have known. None of us could have. Despite our attempts to comprehend and control the future, Ecclesiastes rings true: “No one knows what is coming” (10:14). Some of us delude ourselves into thinking we know more than we do, or worse, that we possess some special insight about another person’s life or future. But as Ecclesiastes pointedly asks: “who can tell someone else what will happen after them?” (v. 14). No one.

Scripture contrasts a wise and a foolish person, and one of the many distinctions between the two is humility about the future (Proverbs 27:1). A wise person recognizes that only God truly knows what’s over the horizon as they make decisions. But foolish people presume knowledge that isn’t theirs. May we have wisdom, trusting our future to the only One who actually knows it. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where do you see temptation to control the future? How can you better trust God with your coming days?

Dear God, help me to simply trust You today.  

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

The Distraction of Contempt

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. —Psalm 123:3

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 20-21; James 5

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

DROPPING EVERYTHING FOR THE RESCUE - #9358

It was the night before Thanksgiving. Boy, the Hutchcraft house was a busy place! We were cleaning house like crazy. Everybody - I mean all five of us cleaning house. We were decorating the house for the holiday weekend, hustling around getting ready to go get Grandma at the airport, a couple of folks in the kitchen working on one of the elements of our dinner tomorrow, including my mincemeat pie. I'm the only one who will eat it. Isn't that wonderful?

Well, I think my oldest son was about six at the time. I remember that he called to us from the top of that winding staircase that went up to his room, and his Mom went to the bottom of the stairs. And he said, "What do you want me to do with this big nail I found in my room?" And Mom said, "Just bring it down here." And so she turned away, and as she did, he slipped, tumbled down the stairs, landed head first. By the time he hit at the bottom of the stairs he was bleeding all over the place. You know about head wounds.

Well, I want you to know, there were some pretty anxious moments. We didn't know if the nail had gone into his skull. We didn't know what had caused the bleeding. Now, as it turned out, he had only hit a corner of a file cabinet at the bottom. That was bad enough. But he needed two stitches in the emergency room. Thank the Lord he was okay. But I'll tell you one thing, when he fell, the pies stopped, the decorating was forgotten. We made other arrangements for getting Grandma. No one was thinking Thanksgiving Dinner. Everybody dropped everything!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dropping Everything For the Rescue."

Now our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Genesis 14. I'm going to begin reading at verse 11. We'll be reading about Abram and his nephew Lot. "The four kings who were making war against Sodom and Gomorrah seized all the goods from Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom."

Well, that of course enrages and concerns his Uncle Abram. And we find out "When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit." By the way, they do end up engaging the enemy and they rescue Lot.

Lot had made a bad choice. He ended up living in Sodom; a place he never should have chosen. And as a result of his bad choices, he ended up in a mess. In spite of that, when he was in trouble, Abram dropped everything to rescue him. He applied all of his resources, got every man he could muster. He threw everything into helping recover a loved one in trouble.

There's a model there for you and me. When someone you love is in trouble, you do whatever it takes to rescue them. Just like our family when we changed all of our plans that Thanksgiving Eve because of one child who was in danger. Maybe someone close to you is in trouble right now; maybe not so much physical trouble like Lot, but maybe it's emotional trouble or spiritual danger.

The point is this: Have you rearranged your priorities to help bring them back, to meet their need? Maybe you're watching your marriage partner right now crying out in a lot of ways - directly or indirectly - for your love, for your time, for your attention. Maybe you have a child who is showing signs of withdrawing or wandering; making some bad choices. Don't attack them, don't nag them. Rearrange your life to be together more. Maybe you have a friend or coworker who's hurting. Or it could be you have a chance right now to return to one of your parents many of the sacrifices they made for you because they need you now.

Remember you serve a Savior who often stopped and dropped everything to meet needs. Don't wait for a crisis. It takes much less time to prevent the crash than to pick up the pieces. You may have to cancel some meetings, sacrifice some personal preferences, maybe limit your commitments, maybe rearrange your lifestyle. But someone you love...their life may depend on it and they're crying out for help. They're falling, they're hurting, they're bleeding like my son on those stairs that night.

And even if all the bleeding is inside, please drop everything to come running, and use your best resources to put that one you love back together again.

Psalm 141, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WITH THE ONES WE LOVE - November 22, 2022

Holiday travel. It isn’t easy. Then why do we do it? Why cram the trunks and endure the airports? You know the answer. We love to be with the ones we love. The four-year-old running up the sidewalk into the arms of Grandpa. The cup of coffee with Mom before the rest of the house awakes. That moment when, for a moment, everyone is quiet as we hold hands around the table and thank God for family and friends and pumpkin pie. We love to be with the ones we love.

May I remind you? So does God. How else do you explain what he did? Between him and us there was a distance—a great span—and he couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t stand it. So he did something about it. Philippians 2:7 reminds us, “He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.”

Psalm 141

God, come close. Come quickly!

    Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing!

Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising;

    my raised hands are my evening prayers.

3-7 Post a guard at my mouth, God,

    set a watch at the door of my lips.

Don’t let me so much as dream of evil

    or thoughtlessly fall into bad company.

And these people who only do wrong—

    don’t let them lure me with their sweet talk!

May the Just One set me straight,

    may the Kind One correct me,

Don’t let sin anoint my head.

    I’m praying hard against their evil ways!

Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff;

    make them face the music.

Like a rock pulverized by a maul,

    let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.

8-10 But God, dear Lord,

    I only have eyes for you.

Since I’ve run for dear life to you,

    take good care of me.

Protect me from their evil scheming,

    from all their demonic subterfuge.

Let the wicked fall flat on their faces,

    while I walk off without a scratch.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Today's Scripture

James 2:14–26

Faith in Action

14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

Insight

James 2:14–26 challenges the idea that faith can exist on its own apart from good actions. James said an opponent of this idea might argue that some believers in Jesus have faith, while other believers have works (v. 18). The opponent seems to be suggesting that either are valid strengths. James rejected the idea that faith and action can be put in separate categories, however, saying that true faith is impossible to verify without good actions (v. 18). He emphasized that true faith always flows into service on behalf of society’s marginalized and economically vulnerable (vv. 14–17). By: Monica La Rose

Faith in Action

Faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26

A tornado blew through a community on a June evening in 2021, destroying a family’s barn. It was a sad loss because the barn had been on the family property since the late 1800s. As John and Barb drove by on their way to church the next morning, they saw the damage and wondered how they might help. So they stopped and learned that the family needed assistance with cleanup. Turning their car around quickly, they headed back home to change clothes and returned to stay for the day to clean up the mess the violent winds had created. They put their faith into action as they served the family.

James said that “faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). He gives the example of Abraham, who in obedience followed God when he didn’t know where he was going (v. 23; see Genesis 12:1–4; 15:6; Hebrews 11:8). James also mentions Rahab, who showed her belief in the God of Israel when she hid the spies who came to check out the city of Jericho (James 2:25; see Joshua 2; 6:17).

“If someone claims to have faith but has no deeds” (James 2:14), it does them no good. “Faith is the root, good works are the fruits,” comments Matthew Henry, “and we must see to it that we have both.” God doesn’t need our good deeds, but our faith is proven by our actions. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

Why do you think it’s important that we do good deeds? What can you do out of your love for God?

May I serve You out of my faith in You and love for You today, dear God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher…” (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 18-19; James 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

TRYING TO BE SUPERMAN - #9357

Okay, I'm going to admit it. Sometimes I wear a Superman t-shirt to sleep. That's about as close to being Superman as I'll ever get. As far as leaping tall buildings in a single bound? Sometimes I have trouble getting off the floor.

But in some of the "Man of Steel" movies that were such box office hits, Superman is popping up or landing all over the place. And he would remind me of the sad reality that there really is no such thing as Superman.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Trying to be Superman."

Oh, if you're a man, you're supposed to be Superman. Never weak, life's bullets bouncing off you, the fixer, the solver, the answer man, the tower of strength, the conqueror. Above all - the conqueror. Because a man supposedly proves he's a man by conquests, right?. You win in sports, you win in business, in the gym, and with women. I'm learning, though, that those aren't the conquests that ultimately prove your manhood. No, here's the question: "Can you conquer yourself?"

What about that volcano temper that erupts briefly but scars permanently? How about that chainsaw mouth that rips even the people we love. That selfishness that insists "I'm more important than you are." The passions that cheapen sex, imprison your imagination. Those dark feelings that take us to some very bad places. The addiction that's calling the shots.

The Bible presents a man's conquest of himself as decisive in his manhood. In our word for today from the Word of God, Proverbs 16:32, God says, "It is better to be patient than powerful; it is better to have self-control than to conquer a city." And young men are praised for proving that they are strong by the evil they've overcome (1 John 2:14).

Every man has his Kryptonite. Denying our weakness only guarantees it's going to bring us down. Stuffing our pain just hastens an explosion. Pretending we've got it all together only sentences us to a very dangerous strain of lonely. Yeah, manhood is conquest - of myself. And that begins with taking off the Superman mask of invulnerability, admitting when I'm hurting, when I'm not sure, when I need someone.

A lot of men had a dad who always had to be tough, and right, and in control. But the son would have given anything to know if his dad was proud of him...to hear him apologize...to hear him say, "I love you." Even today there are scars from a dad's criticism, a dad's anger.

So I'm seeing now that "man up" may mean something quite different from the macho myths we were raised on. It means being man enough to say three of the most healing words in the English language "I was wrong" or "I forgive you."

Manhood is saying those words we thought showed weakness but actually prove strength. Like, "I need help" and saying them before the explosion comes, before I hurt more people, before I'm hooked and I can't get free. I can't conquer me alone. The man in the mirror is my biggest battle. But maybe if I swallow my stubborn pride, it could be my biggest conquest.

I have to agree with that guy in the Bible who said, "I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. Who will free me?" You can't be rescued until you admit you can't save yourself, and you're willing to pin all your hopes on somebody who can rescue you.

And "who will free me?" Well, the Bible's answers this way: "Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ" (Romans 7:15, 24-25). Because the animal inside us - sin, God calls it - can only be tamed by the Man who turned its fury on Himself. That's what Jesus did on the cross, to beat our sin and to be able to forgive us of it having paid our death penalty.

I am one of an army of men who have surrendered our lives to this amazing Jesus. Who've discovered that a man can finally conquer his darkness by being conquered - by the Son of God. I'll tell you how to get started with Him. Just go to our website. It's ANewStory.com.

Jesus has the power to conquer what has always conquered you. And you can trust Him because He loved you enough to die for you.

Psalm 140, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: THE SECRET OF SATISFACTION - November 21, 2022

Are you in prison? You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it – you are in prison, the prison of want.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, you have a visitor. And your visitor has a message that can get you released. Make your way into the receiving room, take your seat in the chair, and look across the table at the psalmist David. He motions for you to lean forward. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers. “The secret of satisfaction: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It’s as if he is saying, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in life.” You think you and I could learn to say the same?

Psalm 140

 God, get me out of here, away from this evil;

    protect me from these vicious people.

All they do is think up new ways to be bad;

    they spend their days plotting war games.

They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt,

    speak venomous words that maim and kill.

God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones,

    protect me from these vicious people;

All boast and swagger, they plot ways to trip me up,

    determined to bring me down.

These crooks invent traps to catch me

    and do their best to incriminate me.

6-8 I prayed, “God, you’re my God!

    Listen, God! Mercy!

God, my Lord, Strong Savior,

    protect me when the fighting breaks out!

Don’t let the wicked have their way, God,

    don’t give them an inch!”

9-11 These troublemakers all around me—

    let them drown in their own verbal poison.

Let God pile hellfire on them,

    let him bury them alive in crevasses!

These loudmouths—

    don’t let them be taken seriously;

These savages—

    let the Devil hunt them down!

12-13 I know that you, God, are on the side of victims,

    that you care for the rights of the poor.

And I know that the righteous personally thank you,

    that good people are secure in your presence.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, November 21, 2022

Today's Scripture

John 2:13–22

Tear Down This Temple?.?.?.

13-14 When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”

20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

Insight

John’s gospel is commonly accepted as the last of the gospel accounts to be written. The apostle wrote to a specific group of readers—believers in Jesus with a Hellenistic (Greek) background—and spent time reflecting on the life of Jesus. John 2:13–22 provides an important insight into faith. John linked the belief of the first disciples with Jesus’ resurrection. After He rose from the dead, the disciples’ belief in Him was confirmed and solidified in a way that reinforced Christ’s own words (vv. 19–22).

Those early disciples didn’t have all the pieces to their puzzle of faith. We, however, have been given a fuller account of Jesus and can see the relationship between His life and His actions. John said the point of his gospel is that we “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in his name” (20:31). By: J.R. Hudberg

Reading Backwards

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. John 2:22

Reading the last chapter of a mystery novel first may sound like a bad idea to those who love the suspense of a good story. But some people enjoy reading a book more if they know how it ends.

In Reading Backwards, author Richard Hays shows how important the practice is for our understanding of the Bible. By illustrating how the unfolding words and events of Scripture anticipate, echo, and throw light on one another, Professor Hays gives us reason to read our Bibles forward and backward.

Hays reminds readers that it was only after Jesus’ resurrection that His disciples understood His claim to rebuild a destroyed temple in three days. The apostle John tells us, “The temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:21). Only then could they understand a meaning of their Passover celebration never before understood (see Matthew 26:17–29). Only in retrospect could they reflect on how Jesus gave fullness of meaning to an ancient king’s deep feelings for the house of God (Psalm 69:9; John 2:16–17). Only by rereading their Scriptures in light of the true temple of God (Jesus Himself) could the disciples grasp how the ritual of Israel’s religion and Messiah would throw light on one another.

And now, only by reading these same Scriptures backward and forward, can we see in Jesus everything that any of us has ever needed or longed for.  By:  Mart DeHaan

Reflect & Pray

What difficulties concern you about your future? When reflecting on your life, how are you learning to understand and believe God’s story that's best understood and loved when read with eternity in view?

Father in heaven, thank You for letting me live long enough to see Your ability to show up and reveal the wonder of Your presence in ways I could not have foreseen.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, November 21, 2022

“It is Finished!”

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus…for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor…” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.

Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 16-17; James 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, November 21, 2022

THE GOOD THING ABOUT BAD STORMS - #9356

When my wife would get her hands on the TV's remote control, which was seldom, she'd usually choose something educational. One night she was watching a feature on what the host called "good things hurricanes do." Well, I've seen some of the bad things hurricanes do, I was intrigued to hear about this. The feature told about these Australian pine trees that somehow had taken root in a place in Florida that hosted attractive plants which, in turn, attracted many beautiful birds and small animals. Well, as those pines grew and got tall, they literally created a canopy over those plants, and blocked out the sun. What had once been an area thriving with plant and animal life became this stretch of sterile underbrush - until the hurricane hit. The storm literally snapped those trees in two and I'm sure did a lot of terrible things. But the sun was back. For this little area, well, it had become a beautiful park with pools, greenery, flowers, herons, and lots of interesting wildlife. But it took a hurricane.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Good Thing About Bad Storms."

The storm blew in and removed what didn't belong there. Strangely, I understand that. You see, God has sent or allowed storms to come roaring into my life over the years, and they did damage. But it also had that same effect. It's true in nature, it's true in our lives - what devastates can also be God's tool to cleanse, to improve, and ultimately to make something beautiful! I've seen it even through losing the love of my life.

There's a picture of that in Acts 27, beginning with verse 14. It's our word for today from the Word of God. The Apostle Paul is being transported to Rome for trial on a large cargo ship that's carrying 276 passengers. They suddenly get hit by a massive storm system that batters and threatens to destroy them for two weeks.

The Bible says, "A wind of hurricane force...swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm...and we were driven along...We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands."

Eventually, Paul is visited by an angelic messenger. And here's how Paul reported that visit to his fellow passengers: "Keep up your courage, because only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you'."

Storms have a way of clarifying the things that really matter and the things that really don't. In this case, they threw overboard cargo they thought they needed but apparently they didn't really need. That might be what God's trying to get you to do as the storm is battering you - set some new priorities, get rid of some cargo you've accumulated, even some sin you've taken on. Maybe there's stuff that needs to go.

Just as God clarified for Paul what really mattered in that night during the storm. It was his life mission and the people on the ship. That's what really mattered. Not the cargo, not the ship. It could be that God wants to use your personal hurricane to get you to focus on the things that really matter. The ship might not make it, but it's the people who matter! Maybe people you've been neglecting because you've been all about the ship and the voyage. And your life mission is what matters; the things God's given you to do that also may have been marginalized. And that, too, will survive the storm.

The hurricanes of God seem devastating sometimes, and they can hurt. But He sends them to accomplish things that might not happen any other way as well - the cleansing that your life needs. The new priorities your life needs. He's removing what has blocked the sun so something beautiful can grow there.

Psalm 139, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Intercessory Prayer

What can you do? When the challenge is greater than you are. When you feel helpless and impotent. Where can you turn? In Luke 11:10 Jesus says, "Everyone who seeks me, finds me. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Intercessory prayer at its purest is your acknowledgement:

"I can't heal them, but, God, you can."

"I can't forgive them, but, God, you can."

"I can't help them, but, God, you can."

Before you say amen. . .this simple prayer gets God's attention: "Father you are good. They need help. I can't, but you can!" He never sleeps. He is never irritated. When you knock, he responds quickly and fairly!

Here's my challenge for you today! Sign on at BeforeAmen.com. Take the brief Prayer Strengths Assessment you'll find there. It only takes a minute. But it will encourage you and give you a building block for your growth in prayer.

From Before Amen

Psalm 139

God, investigate my life;

    get all the facts firsthand.

I’m an open book to you;

    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;

    I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

    before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

    I can’t take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?

    to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there!

    If I go underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings

    to the far western horizon,

You’d find me in a minute—

    you’re already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!

    At night I’m immersed in the light!”

It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;

    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

    you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

    I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

    you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

    before I’d even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!

    God, I’ll never comprehend them!

I couldn’t even begin to count them—

    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.

Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!

And you murderers—out of here!—

    all the men and women who belittle you, God,

    infatuated with cheap god-imitations.

See how I hate those who hate you, God,

    see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;

I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.

    Your enemies are my enemies!

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,

    find out everything about me;

Cross-examine and test me,

    get a clear picture of what I’m about;

See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—

    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Today's Scripture

1 Peter 3:13–18

If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

Insight

First Peter 3:15 is often presented as a challenge to be prepared for opportunities to share one’s faith: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” But sharing our faith might be the secondary aspect. First, we’re to live a life of hope in a world that is largely hopeless. Notice that Peter said that people will ask about the hope we have. As we live hope-filled lives in this broken world, those around us will see the difference. Then we’re to be ready to answer them about the hope that marks our lives. Our hope distinguishes believers in Jesus from those without Christ, whom Paul described as “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). He is our hope, and we’re challenged to live like it. By: Bill Crowder

The Socratic Club

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone . . . for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15

In 1941, the Socratic Club was established at England’s Oxford University. It was formed to encourage debate between believers in Jesus and atheists or agnostics.

Religious debate at a secular university isn’t unusual, but what is surprising is who chaired the Socratic Club for fifteen years—the great Christian scholar C. S. Lewis. Willing to have his thinking tested, Lewis believed that faith in Christ could stand up to great scrutiny. He knew there was credible, rational evidence for believing in Jesus.

In a sense, Lewis was practicing Peter’s advice to believers scattered by persecution when he reminded them, “In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Peter makes two key points: we have good reasons for our hope in Christ and we’re to present our reasoning with “gentleness and respect.”

Trusting Christ isn’t religious escapism or wishful thinking. Our faith is grounded in the facts of history, including the resurrection of Jesus and the evidence of the creation bearing witness to its Creator. As we rest in God’s wisdom and the strength of the Spirit, may we be ready to share the reasons we have for trusting our great God.

By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

How might you share your faith with someone? What evidence for the resurrection of Jesus makes it reasonable, even though it’s clearly miraculous?

Almighty God, thank You for giving me credible evidence to support my faith in You.

For further study, read Why We Believe: Evidences for Christian Faith.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, November 20, 2022

The Forgiveness of God

In Him we have…the forgiveness of sins… —Ephesians 1:7

Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.

Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.

The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 14-15; James 2

John 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Guilt-Free You

If you are in Christ, your sin is gone. It was last seen on the back of your Sin Bearer as he headed out to Death Valley. When Jesus cried on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"-he entered the wilderness on your behalf. He carried your sin away.

Open yourself to the idea of a guilt-free you. This may be difficult. You have dragged around your past for so long you can't imagine yourself with it. Jesus sees a revision of your script. Give God your guilt! Pray this simple "pocket prayer."

"Father you are good. I need help. Forgive me. Place your guilt on the back of your Sin Bearer!

Before amen-comes the power of a simple prayer! My challenge to you? Every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes-a simple prayer. Join me at BeforeAmen.com-it'll change your life forever!

From Before Amen

John 16

“I’ve told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them.

The Friend Will Come

4-7 “I didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead, the longer I’ve talked, the sadder you’ve become. So let me say it again, this truth: It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.

8-11 “When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

12-15 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’

16 “In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”

Joy Like a River Overflowing

17-18 That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

19-20 Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.

21-23 “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.

23-24 “This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

25-28 “I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.”

29-30 His disciples said, “Finally! You’re giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won’t have to put up with our questions anymore. We’re convinced you came from God.”

31-33 Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, November 19, 2022

Today's Scripture

Psalm 139:1–12

God, investigate my life;

    get all the facts firsthand.

I’m an open book to you;

    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.

You know when I leave and when I get back;

    I’m never out of your sight.

You know everything I’m going to say

    before I start the first sentence.

I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

    I can’t take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?

    to be out of your sight?

If I climb to the sky, you’re there!

    If I go underground, you’re there!

If I flew on morning’s wings

    to the far western horizon,

You’d find me in a minute—

    you’re already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!

    At night I’m immersed in the light!”

It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;

    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

Insight

In Psalm 139:1–12, David wrote about two of God’s fundamental attributes. Verses 1–6 capture a picture of His omniscience, which simply means He knows everything. In verses 7–12, the psalmist reflected on His omnipresence—that God is everywhere. Later in the psalm, David spoke of God’s omnipotence when he described His unlimited power displayed in the creation of humanity (vv. 13–18). Intriguingly, these ideas are captured in a very personal way. Psalms are songs or prayers that express personal thoughts, emotions, and situations to God. David understood that He knew him personally and He was everywhere. Despite His unimaginable knowledge, God’s concern is still focused on humanity. That’s what Jesus referred to in Matthew 6:25–34 when He noted that God cares even for the birds, so He knows our needs and cares for us as well. By: J.R. Hudberg

God Knows You

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. Psalm 139:1

It seems my mother can sense trouble from a mile away. Once, after a rough day at school, I tried to mask my frustration hoping that no one would notice. “What’s the matter?” she asked. Then she added, “Before you tell me it’s nothing, remember I’m your mother. I gave birth to you, and I know you better than you know yourself.” My mom has consistently reminded me that her deep awareness of who I am helps her be there for me in the moments I need her most.

As believers in Jesus, we’re cared for by a God who knows us intimately. The psalmist David praised Him for His attentiveness to the lives of His children saying, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:1–2). Because God knows who we are—our every thought, desire, and action—there’s nowhere we can go where we’re outside the bounds of His abundant love and care (vv. 7–12). As David wrote, “If I settle on the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me” (vv. 9–10). We can find comfort knowing that no matter where we are in life, when we call out to God in prayer, He’ll offer us the love, wisdom, and guidance we need. By:  Kimya Loder

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt like no one else could understand how you were truly feeling? How does the reality of God’s presence help and encourage you during such times?

Loving God, many times I feel misunderstood and alone. Thank You for reminding me of Your presence in my life. I know You see me, hear me, and love me even when it seems like no one else does.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, November 19, 2022

“When He Has Come”

When He has come, He will convict the world of sin… —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— “Against You, You only, have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 11-13; James 1

Psalm 138, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: EXHIBIT THE GLORY OF GOD - November 18, 2022

God endows us with gifts so we can make him known. God endues the Olympian with speed, the salesman with savvy, the surgeon with skill. Why? The big answer is to make a big to-do out of God. Brandish him. Herald him. Magnify your maker!

Scripture says, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11).

So exhibit God with your uniqueness. When you magnify your Maker with your strengths, when your contribution enriches God’s reputation, your days grow suddenly sweet!

Psalm 138

Thank you! Everything in me says “Thank you!”

    Angels listen as I sing my thanks.

I kneel in worship facing your holy temple

    and say it again: “Thank you!”

Thank you for your love,

    thank you for your faithfulness;

Most holy is your name,

    most holy is your Word.

The moment I called out, you stepped in;

    you made my life large with strength.

4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,

    all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”

They’ll sing of what you’ve done:

    “How great the glory of God!”

And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below;

    no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,

    keep me alive in the angry turmoil.

With one hand

    strike my foes,

With your other hand

    save me.

Finish what you started in me, God.

    Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, November 18, 2022

Today's Scripture & Insight: Acts 12:4–11

Peter Under Heavy Guard

That’s when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He murdered James, John’s brother. When he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he arrested Peter—all this during Passover Week, mind you—and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.

5 All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.

6 Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!

7-9 Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: “Hurry!” The handcuffs fell off his wrists. The angel said, “Get dressed. Put on your shoes.” Peter did it. Then, “Grab your coat and let’s get out of here.” Peter followed him, but didn’t believe it was really an angel—he thought he was dreaming.

10-11 Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. That’s when Peter realized it was no dream. “I can’t believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to.”

Insight

Imprisoned by King Herod (Acts 12:1–4)—Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1)—Peter’s situation looked grim. Herod had just executed James the son of Zebedee (Acts 12:2). He was planning to “bring [Peter] out for public trial after the Passover” (v. 4), perhaps planning to publicly execute him then. Peter was held securely, bound by two chains, each connected to a soldier, while other soldiers stood guard (v. 6). His sudden deliverance by God’s angel was so unexpected that he appears initially to be in a daze, not sure it was really happening (vv. 9, 11). By: Monica La Rose

Thoughts and Prayers

Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Acts 12:5

“You’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.” If you hear those words, you might wonder if the person really means it. But you never had to wonder when Edna Davis said them. Everyone in the small, one stoplight town knew of “Ms. Edna’s” yellow legal pad—page after page, lined with name after name. Early each morning the aging woman prayed out loud to God. Not everyone on her list received the answer to prayer they wanted, but several testified at her funeral that something God-sized had happened in their lives, and they credited it to the earnest prayers of Ms. Edna.

God demonstrated the power of prayer in Peter’s prison experience. After the apostle was seized by Herod’s men, thrown into prison, and then “guarded by four squads of four soldiers each” (Acts 12:4), his prospects looked bleak. But “the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (v. 5). They had Peter in their thoughts and prayers. What God did is simply miraculous! An angel appeared to Peter in prison, released him from his chains, and led him to safety beyond the prison gates (vv. 7–10).

It’s possible some may use “thoughts and prayers” without really meaning it. But our Father knows our thoughts, listens to our prayers, and acts on our behalf according to His perfect will. To be prayed for and to pray for others is no small thing when we serve the great and powerful God.

By:  John Blase

eflect & Pray

When was the last time you knew someone remembered you and prayed earnestly for you? Who is someone you can pray that way for today?

Jesus, thank You that I can bring every care to You and that You listen.

Learn more about the basics of prayer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, November 18, 2022

Winning into Freedom

If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. —John 8:36

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments…and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.

“If the Son makes you free….” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20 when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “…you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.

The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 8-10; Hebrews 13

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, November 18, 2022

NERVOUS ABOUT ETERNITY - #9355

Class reunions are interesting. It gives you a chance to see people you haven't seen for years and they haven't seen you. And you go hoping you'll recognize them. More than that, you go hoping they'll recognize you after all these years. And usually they'll say something like, "Hey, I remember you with hair. Didn't you used to have teeth?" It's interesting these class reunions. The conversations can be pretty superficial because honestly you don't have much in common any more. Right?

But once in a while you stop impressing each other enough to get into something important. That actually happened to a doctor friend of mine at his 45th high school reunion. My doctor friend, a committed follower of Jesus, and he was catching up with a highly successful orthodontist, who is an atheist by his own description. But this atheist orthodontist said to my doctor friend, "So, would you talk to me about what you believe?" My friend was pretty surprised to hear that from this particular fellow. This man gave his reason for asking. He just said, "Frankly, I'm nervous about eternity."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nervous About Eternity."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 9:27. It actually gives us a glimpse of the beginning of eternity for all of us. "Man is destined to die once," it says "and after that to face judgment." Well this man said, "That's what I was afraid of." See, the Bible confirms we have an undeniable, uncancelable, unpostponable appointment with God for judgment.

This orthodontist was refreshingly honest. He said, "I'm nervous about eternity." Most of us know that feeling. Sometimes that nervous about eternity feeling hits when a friend dies or a coworker or a family member and for a little while we think about eternity. I've seen teenagers ask me at a funeral, "What if that was me?" Or sometimes we'll think about eternity when we've had a close call or in those quiet moments when thoughts that we usually try to bury come to center stage.

Actually, it's a pretty good idea to be nervous about eternity, because it's going to last a lot longer than these 70 years, or whatever, that we think about all the time. People everywhere seem to just know in their soul that there's something between them and God; something's wrong. We know there's this moral reckoning, this moral bill to be paid for the sin of our life. The judgment is coming and the Bible says when we feel that way we're right. Wouldn't it be great to know there was nothing to fear; that your eternity is secure?

This may be the best news you've ever heard. Romans 5:8 - "God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were still sinners..." Okay the wall between God and us right there because we've run our life. It goes on to say, "Christ died for us." The Bible says, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Wow! See, sin is what will keep you out of heaven, and Jesus paid for that sin when He died on the cross. If you put your trust in Him and His death for you, you can trade your death penalty for eternal life.

John 5:24 says it so beautifully, "When you come to Christ you have crossed over from death to life." Wow! The old Plains Indians used to set prairie fires to burn their fields between their village and the approaching fire. They said, "The fire cannot go where the fire has already been." Why don't you go to the place where the fire of God's judgment for your sin fell on God's Son - the cross. You can claim His forgiveness there.

That's what my friend asked, "If you died tonight, and God asked you 'why should I let you into My heaven?', what would you tell Him?" Well, that's a good question. You could say, "Lord..." Here's the only right answer: "I trusted in the work that Your only Son did on the cross for me."

Have you ever done that? Has there ever been a day when you made personal what Jesus died on the cross for to forgive your sin? You say, "Well, I'm not sure." Make sure. The stakes are so high to not be sure you're ready for eternity. If you'll go to our website, listen, right there I've briefly explained to you how to begin this relationship. You could do it today. It's ANewStory.com. That's the site.

Once you've been to the cross, and you've taken what Jesus did there for you, you don't ever have to be nervous about eternity again.

Psalm 110, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MEDITATE ON HEAVEN’S LOVE - November 17, 2022

You’ve had enough of human love, haven’t you? Enough tabloids telling you that true love is just a diet away. Enough mornings smelling like the mistakes you made while searching for love the night before.

Don’t you need a fountain of love that won’t run dry? You’ll find one on a stone-cropped hill outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus hangs, cross-nailed and thorn-crowned. When you feel unloved, ascend this mount. Meditate long and hard on heaven’s love for you. Both eyes beaten shut, shoulders as raw as ground beef, lips bloody and split. Fists of hair yanked from his beard. Gasps of air escaping his lungs. As you peer into the crimsoned face of heaven’s only Son, remember this: “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Psalm 110

The word of God to my Lord:

    “Sit alongside me here on my throne

    until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.”

You were forged a strong scepter by God of Zion;

    now rule, though surrounded by enemies!

Your people will freely join you, resplendent in holy armor

    on the great day of your conquest,

Join you at the fresh break of day,

    join you with all the vigor of youth.

4-7 God gave his word and he won’t take it back:

    you’re the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest.

The Lord stands true at your side,

    crushing kings in his terrible wrath,

Bringing judgment on the nations,

    handing out convictions wholesale,

    crushing opposition across the wide earth.

The King-Maker put his King on the throne;

    the True King rules with head held high!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Today's Scripture

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13; 4:9–12

May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.

Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! You’re already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.

11-12 Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

Insight

The apostle Paul cared about the reputation of the gospel. In his letter to the Thessalonian church, he wanted to remove any obstacle that would prevent the hope of Jesus from impacting the city. He had good reason too. When the apostle first visited Thessalonica, his proclamation of the gospel caused quite the stir, which devolved into riots, shouting, and arrests (Acts 17:1–9).

In his letter to the church that grew after he left, Paul told the people to not just show love for each other but to also live quietly and mind their own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Why? Verse 12 says that by doing so “your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.” The apostle wanted the fledgling church to know that peace and respectability were their greatest assets in advancing the message of Jesus in the world. 

Learn more about the life of the apostle Paul.

By: Jed Ostoich

Onwards! Unswerving

[We encouraged] . . . you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

1 Thessalonians 2:12

In the poem “Rest,” the poet gently challenges our tendency to separate “leisure” time from “work,” asking, “Is not true leisure / One with true toil?” If you want to experience true leisure, instead of trying to avoid life’s duties, the author urges, “Still do thy best; Use it, not waste it,— / Else ’tis not rest. / Wouldst behold beauty / Near thee? all round? / Only hath duty / Such a sight found.”

The poet concludes that true rest and joy are both found through love and service—an idea that brings to mind Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians. After describing his calling to encourage believers “to live lives worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:12), the apostle gives more specifics.

And the picture he paints of such a life is one of quiet integrity, love, and service. Paul prays that God would “make [their] love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else” (3:12). And he urges believers in Jesus to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,” to “mind your own business and work with your hands” (4:11). It’s that kind of life, quietly loving and serving in whatever ways God has enabled us, that reveals to others the beauty of a life of faith (v. 12).

Or, as the writer puts it, true joy is “loving and serving / The highest and best; / ’Tis onwards! Unswerving— / And that is true rest.”

By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

How does God’s presence help you experience true joy? How are rest and service united in God’s kingdom?

Loving God, thank You that I don’t need to avoid the duties and rhythms of daily life to experience Your beauty. Help me to know the joy of a quiet life lived with You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, November 17, 2022

The Eternal Goal

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself…

At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.

’Tis because I am ordinary,

Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man.  Disciples Indeed, 388 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 5-7; Hebrews 12

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, November 17, 2022

LETTING GO OF YOUR LITTLE ONES - #9354

It's common to most every religious tradition; there's some ceremony or service where you dedicate or you commit a new child to God. In some Christian traditions, it takes the form of baptism. Others have a brief baby dedication. The last baby we dedicated was our youngest child, and that was more than a few years ago. I held the little guy in my hands. Well, times have changed. I don't pick him up anymore, I'd hurt myself seriously. He picks me up - literally sometimes. He's greeted me at the airport, picked me up off the ground and spun me around. That's my baby! A lot of things have changed. One thing never has.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Letting Go of Your Little Ones."

Well, all three of our children grew up. But the transaction that took place that day we dedicated each of them to God is one thing that is still being repeated today. We can't physically hold them in our hands anymore. But we can - we must - keep giving them over to the One who gave them to us, and their children as well. The problem is that, all too often, we actually try to keep them in our hands, don't we?

There's no more beautiful "release your child" model in all the Bible than Hannah, the woman who prayed fervently for years that God would bless her infertility with a child. God answered that prayer by giving her a boy named Samuel, who was destined to become one of the great leaders of Israel. In obedience to God, Hannah brought her young son to the temple to be trained for spiritual leadership. Part of her prayer is in 1 Samuel 1:27-28. It's our word for today from the Word of God. She says of this child for whom she waited so long: "So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life, he will be given over to the Lord."

Do you know how often we moms and dads need to tell God that? How about every day for the rest of your life - no matter how old or young your children are. No matter how close to God or how far from God they are. But be careful, we're talking here about releasing our son or daughter to God, which means helping them become the person God created them to be, not trying to shape them into the person we want them to be. It means talking to God far more about your child than talking to your child about God, as important as that is.

For some of us who tend to be controllers, we have to make sure we're not trying to "play God" ourselves in our child's life. Parents who truly place their son or daughter in God's hands can lay off the nagging, the manipulating, the meddling, and the criticizing. What we try to control we often end up crushing. Our job is to say to God each new day, "You gave me this child, Lord. Again, for this new day, I'm giving her, I'm giving him, back to You. I'm available for anything You want me to do to join You in what you're doing in their life, whether You ask me to speak up, or remain silent, to apologize, to forgive, to correct, to praise, to sacrifice, or even if You want me to change."

A surrendered parent is a parent at peace; a parent who knows that this treasure God has entrusted to them has this day been placed again in God's all-powerful hands. A God who knows the plans He has for that boy, for that girl - plans for good and not for evil, to give them a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). No matter how big your little ones get, remember Whose they really are.

Psalm 109 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 

Max Lucado Daily: SAYING YES TO THE RIGHT THING - November 16, 2022

After Christ’s forty-day pause in the wilderness, the people of Capernaum tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43). He resisted the undertow of the people by anchoring to the rock of his purpose, employing his uniqueness to make a big deal out of God everywhere he could. And aren’t you glad he did?

Suppose he had heeded the crowd and set up camp in Capernaum, reasoning, “I thought the whole world was my target and the cross my destiny. But the entire town tells me to stay in Capernaum. Could all these people be wrong?” Yes they could! In defiance of the crowd, Jesus said no to good things so he could say yes to the right thing: his unique call. Praying we do the same. 

Psalm 109

 My God, don’t turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.

    Liars are pouring out invective on me;

Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,

    barking their hate, nipping my heels—and for no reason!

I loved them and now they slander me—yes, me!—

    and treat my prayer like a crime;

They return my good with evil,

    they return my love with hate.

6-20 Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge;

    dispatch Satan to prosecute him.

When he’s judged, let the verdict be “Guilty,”

    and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.

Give him a short life,

    and give his job to somebody else.

Make orphans of his children,

    dress his wife in widow’s black;

Turn his children into begging street urchins,

    evicted from their homes—homeless.

May the bank foreclose and wipe him out,

    and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.

May there be no one around to help him out,

    no one willing to give his orphans a break.

Chop down his family tree

    so that nobody even remembers his name.

But erect a memorial to the sin of his father,

    and make sure his mother’s name is there, too—

Their sins recorded forever before God,

    but they themselves sunk in oblivion.

That’s all he deserves since he was never once kind,

    hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.

Since he loved cursing so much,

    let curses rain down;

Since he had no taste for blessing,

    let blessings flee far from him.

He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes;

    he drank curses, took his baths in curses.

So give him a gift—a costume of curses;

    he can wear curses every day of the week!

That’s what they’ll get, those out to get me—

    an avalanche of just deserts from God.

21-25 Oh, God, my Lord, step in;

    work a miracle for me—you can do it!

Get me out of here—your love is so great!—

    I’m at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.

I’m fading away to nothing, passing away,

    my youth gone, old before my time.

I’m weak from hunger and can hardly stand up,

    my body a rack of skin and bones.

I’m a joke in poor taste to those who see me;

    they take one look and shake their heads.

26-29 Help me, oh help me, God, my God,

    save me through your wonderful love;

Then they’ll know that your hand is in this,

    that you, God, have been at work.

Let them curse all they want;

    you do the blessing.

Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up,

    followed by cheers for me, your servant.

Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame,

    discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.

30-31 My mouth’s full of great praise for God,

    I’m singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,

For he’s always at hand to take the side of the needy,

    to rescue a life from the unjust judge.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Today's Scripture

Deuteronomy 4:1–9

Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. Don’t add a word to what I command you, and don’t remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.

3-4 You saw with your own eyes what God did at Baal Peor, how God destroyed from among you every man who joined in the Baal Peor orgies. But you, the ones who held tight to God, your God, are alive and well, every one of you, today.

5-6 Pay attention: I’m teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership. Keep them. Practice them. You’ll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what’s going on, they’ll say, “What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We’ve never seen anything like it.”

7-8 Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I’m setting before you today?

9 Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

Insight

The book of Deuteronomy (which means “second law”) is the final book of the Pentateuch—the five books of Moses. In Judaism, these books are referred to as Torah (literally “instruction, law”). In Deuteronomy, Moses repeated the law given to Israel at Sinai. Why the repetition? The generation that had first received (and agreed to) the law at Mount Sinai had died in the wilderness during their forty years of wandering. Now, the people were preparing to enter the promised land, and Moses repeated the law for this new generation so they’d accept it for themselves before they received the land.

By: Bill Crowder

Keep Your Guard Up

Be careful, and watch yourselves closely. Deuteronomy 4:9

A man and several friends went through a ski resort gate posted with avalanche warning signs and started snowboarding. On the second trip down, someone shouted, “Avalanche!” But the man couldn’t escape and perished in the cascading snow. Some criticized him, calling him a novice. But he wasn’t; he was an “avalanche-certified backcountry guide.” One researcher said that skiers and snowboarders with the most avalanche training are more likely to give in to faulty reasoning. “[The snowboarder] died because he was lulled into letting his guard down.”

As Israel prepared to go into the promised land, God wanted His people to keep their guard up—to be careful and alert. So He commanded them to obey all His “decrees and laws” (Deuteronomy 4:1–2) and remember His past judgment on those who disobeyed (vv. 3–4). They needed to “be careful” to examine themselves and keep watch over their inner lives (v. 9). This would help them keep their guard up against spiritual dangers from without and spiritual apathy from within.

It’s easy for us to let our guard down and fall into apathy and self-deception. But God can give us strength to avoid falling in life and forgiveness by His grace when we do. By following Him and resting in His wisdom and provision, we can keep our guard up and make good decisions!

By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

When do you tend to let your spiritual guard down? What will you do to follow God’s wisdom and remain alert to dangers to your faith?

Dear God, please help me to remain alert and follow You in loving obedience.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Still Human!

…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.

We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.

We want to be able to say, “Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!” But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.  Disciples Indeed, 386 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

BLACK FRIDAY BARGAIN FEVER - #9353

Get up crazy early. Stand in a long line. Spend hours in bone-chilling cold. Try to avoid being trampled by a stampeding crowd. Doesn't that sound like fun?

What a way to spend the day after Thanksgiving! Or any day for that matter. Guess what? More people than we can count, and that's what they're going to be doing on that "Black Friday" whenever it comes around. The news will be filled with countless stories of Americans doing just that. Although more and more are going online. But still, they'll hit the stores, and they're going to try to scoop up the "door-busting" bargains offered in the wee hours of Black Friday. For some people it will be more like a black and blue Friday maybe.

Now, Black Friday veterans have told me it's not just a crunch, it's a rush. It's all about recognizing these short-lived opportunities and aggressively going after them before they're gone. (I'll be sleeping.)

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Black Friday Bargain Fever."

You know that rush! Where we recognize short-lived opportunities, and go after them before they're gone. Why, that should be what it's like to tell people the Good News about Jesus. He can erase your sin. He'll love you without strings. He can guarantee you are going to heaven! It's all about recognizing the opportunities we all have regularly to bring up Jesus, and realizing that those windows of opportunity won't last long. Yeah, and going after those opportunities aggressively.

That's part of the Bible's description of how to live smart. Did you know that? It's in our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 5 beginning in verse 15. Here's what it says: "Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise..." Okay, that's living smart. Here's living wise: "making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Another translation talks about "buying up the time." Just like those Black Friday shoppers, going after it with the passionate sense of urgency. It's not going to be there long. Grab it while you can.

When the bargains are gone, you lose a little money. When the Jesus-sharing opportunities are gone, it can cost the eternity of someone you care about. Because in the words of the Bible, "He that has the Son (that's Jesus, the Son of God.) has life; he that does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). If you've got Jesus, you've got life forever in heaven. It's up to you to share that life with those around you who don't have Him, who don't have that life.

Okay, so what creates a natural opportunity to talk about your relationship with Jesus? It might be something happening in your life, or in their life, or something going on in the world. Anything that would legitimately provide a natural opportunity for you to reference some difference that having Jesus has made for you.

More than anything, I think what opens natural opportunities to talk about Jesus is praying for them. You can't be around me too long without learning about the 3-open prayer based on Colossians 4:3-4. Here's what Paul says, "Pray for us, that God will open a door for our message." And then he says, "Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I should."

So, you pray, "Lord, open a door." That's a natural opportunity to bring up Jesus. And then, "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, get them ready. And if you're going to get me ready to talk to them, get them ready to hear about Jesus." And then, "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the words, give me the courage, the approach.

If you start to pray that 3-open prayer, God's going to answer it. You don't have to say, "Lord, if it's Your will." It is. He wants to open a door, open their heart, and open your mouth. So, start praying that. Learn it right now: "Lord, open a door." "Lord, open their heart." "Lord, open my mouth." When you ask God for open doors, then you open your eyes to look for them. They'll be there, all over the place, because God really wants you to tell people about what His Son did for them.

It's exciting to live the adventure of discovering life-giving, life-saving opportunities. And it's costly to miss those opportunities - really costly.