Ecclesiastes 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Mis-use of the Mouth

There are those in God's family who find a controversy and stake their claim to it. Every church has at least one stubborn soul who has mastered a minutiae of the message and made a mission out of it.

As long as Christians split hairs, Christians will split churches. Religious leaders thought they could manipulate Jesus with their controversies. But they were wrong. He was not trapped by their trickery, flattered by their flattery, or fooled by their hypotheses.

Perhaps we should take note. I'd like to say to you what I need someone to say to me when I get territorial about my opinions.  I challenge you to look around you. Let go of your territory for a while. Scout some new regions. Explore some new reefs.  Much is gained by closing your mouth and opening your eyes every so often.

From And the Angels Were Silent

Ecclesiastes 11

Be generous: Invest in acts of charity.

Charity yields high returns.

2 Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around.

Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.

3-4 When the clouds are full of water, it rains.

When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls.

Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work.

Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life.

5 Just as you’ll never understand

    the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman,

So you’ll never understand

    the mystery at work in all that God does.

6 Go to work in the morning

    and stick to it until evening without watching the clock.

You never know from moment to moment

    how your work will turn out in the end.

Before the Years Take Their Toll

7-8 Oh, how sweet the light of day,

And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!

Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.

Take delight in each light-filled hour,

Remembering that there will also be many dark days

And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

9 You who are young, make the most of your youth.

Relish your youthful vigor.

Follow the impulses of your heart.

If something looks good to you, pursue it.

But know also that not just anything goes;

You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

10 Live footloose and fancy-free—

You won’t be young forever.

Youth lasts about as long as smoke.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:11–16

God’s Confirmation

11 Solomon completed building The Temple of God and the royal palace—the projects he had set his heart on doing. Everything was done—success! Satisfaction!

12-18 God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, “I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’

Insight

In 2 Chronicles 7, during the dedication of the temple, King Solomon prayed for favor and blessing on his people. God responded and reiterated His promises of blessing according to the covenant He made with their fathers: “If my people . . . will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive” (v. 14). As one commentator states, “God had plans to bless them from the very beginning, and . . . had contingencies in place for their lapses in obedience. [He] was providing for their eventual return, assuming that the human heart is prone to wander and cannot help but stray.” This if-then conditional statement makes it clear: If the people repent, then God will forgive. We see an example of this enacted in the story of Hezekiah (32:24–26). Hezekiah and the people repented, and God forgave and delayed His judgment. By: Alyson Kieda

Revival Comes

If my people . . . will humble themselves . . . , then I will hear from heaven. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Aurukun is a small town in northern Australia—its Aboriginal population drawn from seven clans. While the gospel came to Aurukun a century ago, eye-for-eye retribution sometimes remained. In 2015, clan tensions grew, and when a murder happened, payback required someone from the offender’s family to die in return.

But something remarkable happened in early 2016. The people of Aurukun started seeking God in prayer. Repentance followed, then mass baptisms, as revival began sweeping the town. People were so joyful they danced in the streets, and instead of enacting payback, the family of the murdered man forgave the offending clan. Soon 1,000 people were in church each Sunday—in a town of just 1,300!

We see revivals like this in Scripture, as in Hezekiah’s day when crowds joyfully returned to God (2 Chronicles 30), and on the day of Pentecost when thousands repented (Acts 2:38–47). While revival is God’s work, done in His time, history shows prayer precedes it. “If my people . . . will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,” God told Solomon, “I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

As the people of Aurukun found, revival brings joy and reconciliation to a town. How our own cities need such transformation! Father, bring revival to us too. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

While there’s no “formula” for revival, what do you think helps lead to it? How can you respond to God today to help revival come?

Dear Father, please bring revival to our land, starting with me.

For further study, read How to Have a Revival.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Taking the Initiative Against Drudgery

Arise, shine… —Isaiah 60:1

When it comes to taking the initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us— He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives us His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue— a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed.

Drudgery is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery— washing fishermen’s feet. He then says to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer’s body has become “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Seeing is never believing: we interpret what we see in the light of what we believe. Faith is confidence in God before you see God emerging; therefore the nature of faith is that it must be tried.  He Shall Glorify Me, 494 R

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 25; Mark 1:23-45

Ecclesiastes 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: How Quickly We Forget

Take this quiz. Name the ten wealthiest men in the world. Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners. Name eight people who've won the Nobel prize. How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture? Or the last decade's worth of World Series winners? How'd you do? I didn't do well either. Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it? And what I've mentioned are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one. Think of three people you enjoy spending time with. Name ten people who've taught you something worthwhile. Name five friends who've helped you in a difficult time. List a few teachers who aided your journey through high school. Easier? It was for me, too.

The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the most credentials, but the ones with the most concern.

And the Angels Were Silent

Ecclesiastes 10

Dead flies in perfume make it stink,

And a little foolishness decomposes much wisdom.

2 Wise thinking leads to right living;

Stupid thinking leads to wrong living.

3 Fools on the road have no sense of direction.

The way they walk tells the story: “There goes the fool again!”

4 If a ruler loses his temper against you, don’t panic;

A calm disposition quiets intemperate rage.

* * *

5-7 Here’s a piece of bad business I’ve seen on this earth,

An error that can be blamed on whoever is in charge:

Immaturity is given a place of prominence,

While maturity is made to take a backseat.

I’ve seen unproven upstarts riding in style,

While experienced veterans are put out to pasture.

* * *

8 Caution: The trap you set might catch you.

Warning: Your accomplice in crime might double-cross you.

9 Safety first: Quarrying stones is dangerous.

Be alert: Felling trees is hazardous.

10 Remember: The duller the ax the harder the work;

Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle.

11 If the snake bites before it’s been charmed,

What’s the point in then sending for the charmer?

* * *

12-13 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.

15 A decent day’s work so fatigues fools

That they can’t find their way back to town.

* * *

16-17 Unlucky the land whose king is a young pup,

And whose princes party all night.

Lucky the land whose king is mature,

Where the princes behave themselves

And don’t drink themselves silly.

* * *

18 A shiftless man lives in a tumbledown shack;

A lazy woman ends up with a leaky roof.

19 Laughter and bread go together,

And wine gives sparkle to life—

But it’s money that makes the world go around.

20 Don’t bad-mouth your leaders, not even under your breath,

And don’t abuse your betters, even in the privacy of your home.

Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around.

Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Today's Scripture

Ephesians 6:10–20

A Fight to the Finish

10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

19-20 And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.

Insight

In daily living, it’s easy to get swept up in the things we can see and touch and to forget that there’s an unseen realm. The apostle Paul gives this warning in Ephesians 6:12: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Prayer is such a key element of our spiritual armor because we’re not dealing with “flesh and blood” but with “spiritual forces.” Through prayer, we connect with the invisible God who is Lord over both the seen and unseen.

Learn more about how to pray effectively. By: Bill Crowder

Prayer Cards

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:18

During a writing conference where I served as a faculty member, Tamy handed me a postcard with a handwritten prayer on the back. She explained that she read the faculty biographies, wrote specific prayers on each card, and prayed as she delivered them to us. In awe over the details in her personal message to me, I thanked God for encouraging me through Tamy’s gesture. Then I prayed for her in return. When I struggled with pain and fatigue during the conference, I pulled out the postcard. God refreshed my spirit as I reread Tamy’s note.

The apostle Paul recognized the life-affirming impact of prayer for others. He urged believers to prepare for battle “against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). He encouraged ongoing and specific prayers, while emphasizing the need to intervene for one another in what we call intercessory prayer. Paul also requested bold prayers on his behalf. “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains” (vv. 19–20).

As we pray for one another, the Holy Spirit comforts us and strengthens our resolve. He affirms that we need Him and one another, assuring us that He hears every prayer—silent, spoken, or scribbled on a prayer card—and He answers according to His perfect will. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

How has God ministered to you through the intercessory prayers of others? Who can you encourage with a prayer card today?

Dear God, please help me approach You with confident prayers for myself and others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Taking the Initiative Against Despair

Rise, let us be going. —Matthew 26:46

In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, “Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can’t change that. But get up, and let’s go on to the next thing.” In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him.

There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had done a downright unthinkable thing— they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, “Get up, and do the next thing.” If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption.

Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them.  Biblical Psychology, 189 L

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 23-24; Mark 1:1-22 

Acts 10:1-23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MAKE A LIST - February 17, 2023

Everyone likes a list. Lists are reassuring. They comfort us. To list is to understand and solve, even control. Moses brought a list down the mountain. There are lists of the gifts of the Spirit, lists of good fruit and bad. I’ve compiled a list. Some God-given, time-tested truths that define the way to navigate your life. Can I share it with you?

Here it is: When no one is watching, live as if someone is. Succeed at home first. Pray twice as much as you fret. Listen twice as much as you speak. God has forgiven you; you’d be wise to do the same. Once a week, let a child take you on a walk. Only harbor a grudge when God does. Never let the important be the victim of the trivial.

Just some ideas on my list. Why don’t you compile your own?

Acts 10:1-23

Peter’s Vision

 There was a man named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea, captain of the Italian Guard stationed there. He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer. One day about three o’clock in the afternoon he had a vision. An angel of God, as real as his next-door neighbor, came in and said, “Cornelius.”

4-6 Cornelius stared hard, wondering if he was seeing things. Then he said, “What do you want, sir?”

The angel said, “Your prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God’s attention. Here’s what you are to do. Send men to Joppa to get Simon, the one everyone calls Peter. He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is down by the sea.”

7-8 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two servants and one particularly devout soldier from the guard. He went over with them in great detail everything that had just happened, and then sent them off to Joppa.

9-13 The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray. It was about noon. Peter got hungry and started thinking about lunch. While lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the skies open up. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at its four corners settled on the ground. Every kind of animal and reptile and bird you could think of was on it. Then a voice came: “Go to it, Peter—kill and eat.”

14 Peter said, “Oh, no, Lord. I’ve never so much as tasted food that was not kosher.”

15 The voice came a second time: “If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.”

16 This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the skies.

17-20 As Peter, puzzled, sat there trying to figure out what it all meant, the men sent by Cornelius showed up at Simon’s front door. They called in, asking if there was a Simon, also called Peter, staying there. Peter, lost in thought, didn’t hear them, so the Spirit whispered to him, “Three men are knocking at the door looking for you. Get down there and go with them. Don’t ask any questions. I sent them to get you.”

21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I think I’m the man you’re looking for. What’s up?”

22-23 They said, “Captain Cornelius, a God-fearing man well-known for his fair play—ask any Jew in this part of the country—was commanded by a holy angel to get you and bring you to his house so he could hear what you had to say.” Peter invited them in and made them feel at home.

God Plays No Favorites

23-26 The next morning he got up and went with them. Some of his friends from Joppa went along. A day later they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had his relatives and close friends waiting with him. The minute Peter came through the door, Cornelius was up on his feet greeting him—and then down on his face worshiping him! Peter pulled him up and said, “None of that—I’m a man and only a man, no different from you.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, February 17, 2023

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 64:1–8

Can We Be Saved?

Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend,

    make the mountains shudder at your presence—

As when a forest catches fire,

    as when fire makes a pot to boil—

To shock your enemies into facing you,

    make the nations shake in their boots!

You did terrible things we never expected,

    descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.

Since before time began

    no one has ever imagined,

No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you

    who works for those who wait for him.

You meet those who happily do what is right,

    who keep a good memory of the way you work.

But how angry you’ve been with us!

    We’ve sinned and kept at it so long!

    Is there any hope for us? Can we be saved?

We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated.

    Our best efforts are grease-stained rags.

We dry up like autumn leaves—

    sin-dried, we’re blown off by the wind.

No one prays to you

    or makes the effort to reach out to you

Because you’ve turned away from us,

    left us to stew in our sins.

8-12 Still, God, you are our Father.

    We’re the clay and you’re our potter:

    All of us are what you made us.

Don’t be too angry with us, O God.

    Don’t keep a permanent account of wrongdoing.

    Keep in mind, please, we are your people—all of us.

Your holy cities are all ghost towns:

    Zion’s a ghost town,

    Jerusalem’s a field of weeds.

Our holy and beautiful Temple,

    which our ancestors filled with your praises,

Was burned down by fire,

    all our lovely parks and gardens in ruins.

In the face of all this,

    are you going to sit there unmoved, God?

Aren’t you going to say something?

    Haven’t you made us miserable long enough?

Insight

The potter-clay motif is an image used by the prophet Isaiah to depict the strained relationship God had with His people. This metaphor points to a sovereign Creator and submissive creature relationship. As clay, we’re the intricate work of the Father’s hand (Isaiah 64:8). Choosing to go our own way, we reject God’s authority over our lives and “turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!” (29:16). It’s like the pot telling the potter what to do. Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker” (45:9). As our Maker, He has every right to do what He pleases (vv. 10–12). Some sixty years after these words from Isaiah were written, the prophet Jeremiah went to a potter’s house to give God’s people this same message: “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel” (Jeremiah 18:6). By: K. T. Sim

Cleansed Completely

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6

Recently, my wife and I were cleaning our house before having guests over. I noticed some dark stains on our white kitchen tile floor—the kind that required getting on my knees to scrub.

But I soon had a sinking realization: the more I scrubbed, the more I noticed other stains. Each stain I eliminated only made the others that much more obvious. Our kitchen floor suddenly seemed impossibly dirty. And with each moment, I realized, No matter how hard I work, I can never get this floor completely clean.

Scripture says something similar about self-cleansing—our best efforts at dealing with sin on our own always fall short. Seeming to despair of God’s people, the Israelites, ever experiencing God’s salvation (Isaiah 64:5), the prophet Isaiah wrote, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (v. 6).

But Isaiah knew there is always hope through God’s goodness. So he prayed, “You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter” (v. 8). He knew that God alone can cleanse what we cannot, until the deepest stains are “white as snow” (1:18).

We can’t scrub away the smudges and smears of sin on our souls. Thankfully, we can receive salvation in the One whose sacrifice allows us to be cleansed completely (1 John 1:7).  By:  Adam Holz

Reflect & Pray

Why is it hard to accept God’s forgiveness? Why do you think you’re tempted to try to deal with sin on your own? 

Father, help me to rest in Your forgiveness instead of trying to earn what You’ve already freely given.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, February 17, 2023

Taking the Initiative Against Depression

Arise and eat. —1 Kings 19:5

The angel in this passage did not give Elijah a vision, or explain the Scriptures to him, or do anything remarkable. He simply told Elijah to do a very ordinary thing, that is, to get up and eat. If we were never depressed, we would not be alive— only material things don’t suffer depression. If human beings were not capable of depression, we would have no capacity for happiness and exaltation. There are things in life that are designed to depress us; for example, things that are associated with death. Whenever you examine yourself, always take into account your capacity for depression.

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things— things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.  The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 21-22; Matthew 28

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, February 17, 2023

ENTERTAINMENT FAITH - #9420

OK, try to picture this. Here's a group of maybe 100 teenagers in a seminar for two hours, sitting on concrete the whole time, taking notes the whole time, and asking for more when the seminar is dismissed. You say, "Whoa! What planet were you on?" It was in Haiti when I was there a few years ago, teaching in a workshop in the gymnasium. Now, the only place to sit was in the balcony, and in the balcony of that gym it was all concrete. They told me to take two hours. Wow! I said, "Oh, I could talk here all the time!" I could probably figure out something to say for two hours, and I did. Believe it or not, I was the first one finished! I know that's pretty hard for you to believe that I finished first, but I really did. Give me two hours and I can. Well, they quickly ran to the next seminar to get some more.

Now, I returned to America, and you know you'd better be done in 20 minutes here or you'll be talking to yourself. Unless, of course, you're funny enough to be like a Christian comedian or something. Let's not be too rough on our teenagers though; they happen to have a disease that afflicts the whole American church. And it is a disease that produces spiritual wimps.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God follows the feeding of the 5,000, where it says in John 6:14, "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the prophet who was to come into the world.'" Well, they chased Him all the way across the lake of Galilee, and when they found Him on the other side of the lake, it says they asked Him, "'Rabbi, when did you get here?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, you're looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.'" In verse 30 they asked Him, "What miraculous sign will You give that we may see it and believe You? What will you do?"

Finally, after Jesus begins to talk to them about the shedding of blood and a cross, in verse 66 it says, "From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." Now, here's a crowd, and they're ready to follow Jesus as long as there was a good show: miracles, excited crowds, cheers, surprises, songs, good feelings. But as soon as it got serious or demanding, as soon as it cost something, they checked out - the first known case of entertainitis. Yep, interest in spiritual input as long as it's easy to take.

I didn't realize how shallow our faith here is until I met Christians in other countries. They know how to pray powerfully, extensively. They're hungry, not for jokes and stories. They want solid, biblical teaching. They're interested in the substance of Christianity, not the style of the speaker. And while we're having socials, they're having revivals. While we accept mediocrity, they're expecting miracles.

Now, we're a product of a media culture; kind of a Sesame Street, Internet pop-up approach that changes the subject every 60 seconds. But compared to believers in the rest of the world, they have a Sesame Street faith. The first step toward the cure of entertainitis is to recognize the disease and to want a cure. We need to begin to re-train our hearts to look for the truth in a message, not the entertainment value; to look for the Bible in a song, not the beat; to quit expecting speakers to do all the work for us; to pack the auditorium for a sermon, not just for a concert or a special event; to understand this is a war, not a picnic.

Most important, we need to commit ourselves to the spiritual discipline of a personal Bible study, just plain ol' time with Jesus that starts your day every day. That is the anchor of an authentic Christian life. Maybe it's time we say, "Lord, I'm tired of being so deep into my shallow, entertaining faith. I want to get rid of this disease of shallowness, or entertainitis."

Remember what happened to the people who had it first? They eventually abandoned Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE BIG PICTURE - February 16, 2023

Would you buy a house if you were only allowed to see one of its rooms? Would you buy a car if you saw only its tires and taillights? Good judgment requires a broad picture.

One failure doesn’t make a person a failure; one achievement doesn’t make a person a success. “The end of the matter is better than its beginning,” penned the sage. “Be patient in affliction,” echoed the apostle Paul. We only have a fragment.

Life’s mishaps and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life’s storms until we know the whole story. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” He should know – he’s the Author of the story. And he has already written the final chapter.

Ecclesiastes 9

 Well, I took all this in and thought it through, inside and out. Here’s what I understood: The good, the wise, and all that they do are in God’s hands—but, day by day, whether it’s love or hate they’re dealing with, they don’t know.

Anything’s possible. It’s one fate for everybody—righteous and wicked, good people, bad people, the nice and the nasty, worshipers and non-worshipers, committed and uncommitted. I find this outrageous—the worst thing about living on this earth—that everyone’s lumped together in one fate. Is it any wonder that so many people are obsessed with evil? Is it any wonder that people go crazy right and left? Life leads to death. That’s it.

Seize Life!

4-6 Still, anyone selected out for life has hope, for, as they say, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” The living at least know something, even if it’s only that they’re going to die. But the dead know nothing and get nothing. They’re a minus that no one remembers. Their loves, their hates, yes, even their dreams, are long gone. There’s not a trace of them left in the affairs of this earth.

7-10 Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,

Drink wine with a robust heart.

Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!

Dress festively every morning.

Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.

Relish life with the spouse you love

Each and every day of your precarious life.

Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange

For the hard work of staying alive.

Make the most of each one!

Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!

This is your last and only chance at it,

For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think

In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.

* * *

11 I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is—

The race is not always to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor satisfaction to the wise,

Nor riches to the smart,

Nor grace to the learned.

Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.

12 No one can predict misfortune.

Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap,

So men and women are caught

By accidents evil and sudden.

Wisdom Is Better than Muscle

13-15 One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice. There was a small town with only a few people in it. A strong king came and mounted an attack, building trenches and attack posts around it. There was a poor but wise man in that town whose wisdom saved the town, but he was promptly forgotten. (He was only a poor man, after all.)

16 All the same, I still say that wisdom is better than muscle, even though the wise poor man was treated with contempt and soon forgotten.

17 The quiet words of the wise are more effective

Than the ranting of a king of fools.

18 Wisdom is better than warheads,

But one hothead can ruin the good earth.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 1:4–9

Everything was created through him;

    nothing—not one thing!—

    came into being without him.

What came into existence was Life,

    and the Life was Light to live by.

The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;

    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:

    Every person entering Life

    he brings into Light.

He was in the world,

    the world was there through him,

    and yet the world didn’t even notice.

He came to his own people,

    but they didn’t want him.

But whoever did want him,

    who believed he was who he claimed

    and would do what he said,

He made to be their true selves,

    their child-of-God selves.

These are the God-begotten,

    not blood-begotten,

    not flesh-begotten,

    not sex-begotten.

Insight

John 1:1–4 describes Jesus as God’s Word—the source of life and light for all humanity. Both life and light in Jewish tradition would’ve been associated with God’s revelation in Scripture. In Deuteronomy, for example, the Israelites were told that through obedience to God’s law they could “live and increase” (30:16). In Psalm 119:105, Scripture is described as a “lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Light was also understood as a symbol for holiness—being separated from the world and devoted to God’s purposes. Isaiah says Israel was called to be “a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (42:6–7). In describing Jesus as life and light, John teaches us that He’s God’s fullest revelation, the ultimate source of hope for all people. By: Monica La Rose

Reflecting Christ’s Light

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 1:4

To capture the beauty of reflective light in his landscape oil paintings, artist Armand Cabrera works with a key artistic principle: “Reflected light is never as strong as its source light.” He observes that novice painters tend to exaggerate reflected light. He says, “Reflected light belongs to the shadow and as such it must support, not compete with the lighted areas of your painting.”

We hear similar insight in the Bible concerning Jesus as “the light of all mankind” (John 1:4). John the Baptist “came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe” (v. 7). The gospel writer tells us, “He himself [John] was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light” (v. 8).

As with John, we’re chosen by God to reflect Christ’s light to those living in the shadows of an unbelieving world. This is our role, as one source says, “perhaps because unbelievers are not able to bear the full blazing glory of His light firsthand.”

Cabrera teaches his art students that “anything that has direct light falling on it in a scene becomes a source of light itself.” Similarly, with Jesus as “the true light that gives light to everyone” (v. 9), we can shine as witnesses. As we reflect Him, may the world be amazed to see His glory shine through us.

By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

How do you reflect the light of Christ? In what shadowy areas of the world can you shine His transforming light?

Shine on me, beautiful Light of God. Please help me to shine Your light in the shadows of an unbelieving world.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, February 16, 2023

The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative

Arise from the dead… —Ephesians 5:14

Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.

We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.  Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 19-20; Matthew 27:51-66

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, February 16, 2023

EVERY BABY'S A ROYAL BABY - #9419

Oh our pregnancies were big news to us. And then our kid's pregnancies, they were big news to us. Thankfully, the press didn't follow us everywhere; they couldn't have cared less. But then, we're not like British Royalty like William and Duchess Kate were when they had their first baby.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Every Baby's a Royal Baby."

Kate's first-trimester problems were front page news a few years ago, because that baby is an heir to the throne - a royal baby. But every baby is a royal baby, because only the King - of all kings - can start a human life. Long before ultrasound, God gave us a glimpse inside a mother's womb in this prayer from Psalm 139. "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous."

"You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb...Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:13-16). Wow! From the moment the egg and sperm come together to start a life, it's all God. Every child is a unique, precious creation of Almighty God.

On the day our grandchildren came into the world, I held them in my arms. I called them by name and I spoke these words to them. They're from Ephesians 2:10. "You are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works God prepared in advance for you to do." Those aren't my words; those are God's words.

I picture God, our Heavenly Father, holding every baby and telling them that. Born rich, born poor, born "planned," born an "accident," born "normal," born "special," born "wanted," born "unwanted" - all divine masterpieces, designed by God; loved by a Creator who makes no mistakes, who has a plan for every life. The worth of every human is conferred on them before they're even born. So no one on earth can give you your worth - and no one on earth can take it away.

Amazingly, when God visited our planet, He didn't beam down as a Conqueror on a white horse. He came as we all did - as a baby: embryo, fetus, protected by amniotic fluid, sustained by a placenta, pushing His way into the world. If there was any doubt of the sacredness of a baby, the Christmas Story declares, "Case closed."

The stunner from the Bible is that the Bethlehem baby is also "the Author of all life." That baby designed every baby with a purpose and destiny that revolves around Him. In our word for today from the Word of God, "All things were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). Jesus is the reason you're here. So the kids are right when they sing, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world." From the moment they're conceived - all the children, and every moment from then on.

We never really understand our worth, though, until we have a personal relationship with the One who gave us our worth in the first place. Jesus came and died because the relationship was broken by our sin; by our self-willed running of our own life; our way instead of God's way. "Created by Him, created for Him," yeah, but living for me. And facing an eternal death penalty for defying God's rule of a life that He created. And that's why Jesus came. It's why He died, to pay the price... not for sinning He had done, but for the sinning I have done and you have done.

He stands ready today to forgive every sin of your life and bring you into His love where you'll finally experience the worth you've had all along. If you're not sure you've ever begun that relationship with Jesus, tell Him today,"I'm yours, Jesus."

And go to our website. It will help you be sure you belong to Him. Our website is ANewStory.com. Today. Yeah, this is the day you could finally find your way home.

Ecclesiastes 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: STORMS OF DOUBT - February 15, 2023

Sometimes I wonder, how can our world get so chaotic? And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt. Do you ever get doubt storms? Turbulent days when the enemy is too big and the answers too few? Every so often a storm will come, and I’ll look up into the blackening sky and say, “God, a little light, please?”

The light came for Jesus’ disciples. A figure came to them walking on the water. It wasn’t what they expected. Maybe they were listening for a divine proclamation to still the storm. One thing’s for sure, they weren’t looking for Jesus to come walking on the water. “‘It’s a ghost,’ they said and cried out in fear” (Matthew 14:26). And since Jesus came in a way they didn’t expect, they almost missed seeing the answer to their prayers. And unless we look and listen closely, we risk making the same mistake.

Ecclesiastes 8

There’s nothing better than being wise,

Knowing how to interpret the meaning of life.

Wisdom puts light in the eyes,

And gives gentleness to words and manners.

No One Can Control the Wind

2-7 Do what your king commands; you gave a sacred oath of obedience. Don’t worryingly second-guess your orders or try to back out when the task is unpleasant. You’re serving his pleasure, not yours. The king has the last word. Who dares say to him, “What are you doing?” Carrying out orders won’t hurt you a bit; the wise person obeys promptly and accurately. Yes, there’s a right time and way for everything, even though, unfortunately, we miss it for the most part. It’s true that no one knows what’s going to happen, or when. Who’s around to tell us?

8 No one can control the wind or lock it in a box.

No one has any say-so regarding the day of death.

No one can stop a battle in its tracks.

No one who does evil can be saved by evil.

9 All this I observed as I tried my best to understand all that’s going on in this world. As long as men and women have the power to hurt each other, this is the way it is.

One Fate for Everybody

10 One time I saw wicked men given a solemn burial in holy ground. When the people returned to the city, they delivered flowery eulogies—and in the very place where wicked acts were done by those very men! More smoke. Indeed.

11 Because the sentence against evil deeds is so long in coming, people in general think they can get by with murder.

12-13 Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I’m still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a “good” life. No matter how many days he lives, they’ll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn’t fear God.

* * *

14 Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.

15 So, I’m all for just going ahead and having a good time—the best possible. The only earthly good men and women can look forward to is to eat and drink well and have a good time—compensation for the struggle for survival these few years God gives us on earth.

16-17 When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you’ll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you’re not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won’t get to the bottom of it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Today's Scripture

Exodus 23:1–9

“Don’t pass on malicious gossip.

“Don’t link up with a wicked person and give corrupt testimony. Don’t go along with the crowd in doing evil and don’t mess up your testimony in a case just to please the crowd. And just because someone is poor, don’t show favoritism in a dispute.

4-5 “If you find your enemy’s ox or donkey loose, take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don’t walk off and leave it. Help it up.

6 “When there is a dispute concerning your poor, don’t tamper with the justice due them.

7 “Stay clear of false accusations. Don’t contribute to the death of innocent and good people. I don’t let the wicked off the hook.

8 “Don’t take bribes. Bribes blind perfectly good eyes and twist the speech of good people.

9 “Don’t take advantage of a stranger. You know what it’s like to be a stranger; you were strangers in Egypt.

Insight

The law of Moses, summarized in the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue), sought to instruct the people of Israel in two vital areas—how to relate to God and how to relate to other people—whether fellow Israelites or foreigners. The Decalogue itself reflects those values, with the first part dealing with how they were to respond to God and the second part guiding their interpersonal relationships. Today’s reading (Exodus 23:1–9) reflects a further detailing of those interactions with other people. So, when Jesus said in Matthew 22:36–40 that all the law was reflected in two commandments—to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself”—He was reinforcing the law’s two great values. Loving God is the primary vertical relationship and gives context, significance, and value to all our horizontal (human) relationships. By: Bill Crowder

Juror Number 8

Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Exodus 23:2

“One man is dead. Another man’s life is at stake,” says the judge somberly in the classic 1957 film 12 Angry Men. The evidence against the young suspect appears overwhelming. But during deliberations, it’s the brokenness of the jury that’s exposed. One of the twelve—juror number 8—votes “not guilty.” A heated debate ensues, in which the lone juror is mocked as he points out discrepancies in the testimony. Emotions escalate, and the jury members’ own murderous and prejudicial tendencies come to light. One by one, the jurors switch their votes to not guilty.

When God gave His instructions to the new nation of Israel, He insisted on honest courage. “When you give testimony in a lawsuit,” God said, “do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd” (Exodus 23:2). Interestingly, the court was neither to “show favoritism to a poor person” (v. 3) nor to “deny justice to your poor people” (v. 6). God, the righteous judge, desires our integrity in all our proceedings.  

In 12 Angry Men, the second juror to vote “not guilty” said of the first, “It’s not easy to stand alone against the ridicule of others.” Yet that’s what God requires. Juror number 8 saw the real evidence, as well as the humanity of the individual on trial. With the gentle guidance of His Holy Spirit, we too can stand for God’s truth and speak for the powerless. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What tempts you to go along with the crowd? Where is God calling you to stand for truth and justice?

Father, help us show Your love to the world as we stand for Your truth.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”

None of us lives to himself… —Romans 14:7

Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God…” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).

“You shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “…lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 17-18; Matthew 27:27-50

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

MESSED UP BUT GETTING UP - #9418

It was the final event of the men's gymnastics competition in the 2004 Athens Olympics. American Paul Hamm's hopes for the gold medal seemed to come crashing down. He made a lopsided landing and actually toppled into the judges' tables. That gave him a disappointing 9.137 score that virtually doomed his chances for a first place finish. After some moments of what he described as "depression," he decided to fight back with what would have to be the best two performances of his life, just to win the bronze.

So, Paul took a deep breath and he began to move powerfully through the air with a routine that was filled with technical challenges. It was a nearly perfect performance with a solid landing at the end. His score: 9.837. At first, he didn't know what that meant in terms of a medal. Then he heard his coach screaming, "Olympic champion!" The gold medal was his.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Messed Up But Getting Up."

Paul Hamm messed up, but he didn't give up. He fell down, but he didn't stay down. Maybe that's a picture of you, or it's going to be a picture of you because you've messed up. You've made some mistakes. That failure could be final if you let it be. Or you can get up and you can make a defiant comeback. Which is exactly what the devil is counting on you not doing. He got you down. He's hoping you'll be discouraged, defeated, shamed. You'll stay down. Well, this is your day to say, "No way, Satan! I belong to Jesus, and in His strength, I am coming back!"

That kind of comeback defiance is powerfully expressed in our word for today from the Word of God in Micah 7, beginning with verse 8. "Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light." Getting up again, coming back - that's a choice, and it's one you need to make this very day. Serve notice that the devil's victory is a temporary victory, and you're not staying down.

Micah goes on to say, "Because I have sinned against you, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right." You can't recover unless you repent. The comeback trail really begins at the cross of Jesus where you acknowledge your sin and you remember that it took the death of God's Son to pay for it. How will He respond? Hebrews 7:25 says, "He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them." He pleads your case, and your sin is erased from God's Book. After a horrendous sin of immorality, here was David's turning point. He said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord...and You forgave me the guilt of my sin." Out of the darkness; back into the light.

Micah's announcement of a spiritual comeback continues: "He will bring me out into the light; I will see His righteousness. Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame." I love this! The devil's been trying to bury you in shame. You need to get up; remove whatever junk might bring you down again, and then declare, "Lord, I am going to make the devil sorry he ever messed with me. I'm going to push back the darkness. I'm going to take prisoners away from him! He's going to be the one who ends up covered with shame!"

You can be walking, talking proof of the grace, the love, and the restoring power of Jesus Christ; turning your fall into a mighty testimony for Jesus. That voice that's telling you, "It's over. What's the use? God doesn't love you after what you've done." That's the voice of hell. Those are lies! The truth is that according to the Bible, "where sin increased, grace increased all the more" (Romans 5:20).

And because of God's amazing grace, your fall doesn't have to be final. You went down. Yes, but you're not staying down. You're going to come back more of a winner, and more of a warrior than ever before!

Ecclesiastes 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: EYES FIXED ON THE UNSEEN - February 14, 2023

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “We do not lose heart…for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”

Hear what Paul called light and momentary. Not what I’d have called them, and I think you’ll agree: Imprisoned. Beaten. Stoned. Shipwrecked three times. In constant danger. Hungry and thirsty. Light and momentary troubles? How could Paul describe endless trials with that phrase? He tells us. He could see “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

And you, you’re tired. Understandably so, rightfully so. You want to go on, but some days the road seems so long. God never said the journey would be easy, but he did say that the arrival would be worth it!

Ecclesiastes 7

Don’t Take Anything for Granted

A good reputation is better than a fat bank account.

Your death date tells more than your birth date.

2 You learn more at a funeral than at a feast—

After all, that’s where we’ll end up. We might discover

    something from it.

3 Crying is better than laughing.

It blotches the face but it scours the heart.

4 Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving.

Fools waste their lives in fun and games.

5 You’ll get more from the rebuke of a sage

Than from the song and dance of fools.

6 The giggles of fools are like the crackling of twigs

Under the cooking pot. And like smoke.

7 Brutality stupefies even the wise

And destroys the strongest heart.

8 Endings are better than beginnings.

Sticking to it is better than standing out.

9 Don’t be quick to fly off the handle.

Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

10 Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?”

Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.

11-12 Wisdom is better when it’s paired with money,

Especially if you get both while you’re still living.

Double protection: wisdom and wealth!

Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.

13 Take a good look at God’s work.

Who could simplify and reduce Creation’s curves and angles

To a plain straight line?

14 On a good day, enjoy yourself;

On a bad day, examine your conscience.

God arranges for both kinds of days

So that we won’t take anything for granted.

Stay in Touch with Both Sides

15-17 I’ve seen it all in my brief and pointless life—here a good person cut down in the middle of doing good, there a bad person living a long life of sheer evil. So don’t knock yourself out being good, and don’t go overboard being wise. Believe me, you won’t get anything out of it. But don’t press your luck by being bad, either. And don’t be reckless. Why die needlessly?

18 It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.

19 Wisdom puts more strength in one wise person

Than ten strong men give to a city.

20 There’s not one totally good person on earth,

Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

21-22 Don’t eavesdrop on the conversation of others.

What if the gossip’s about you and you’d rather not hear it?

You’ve done that a few times, haven’t you—said things

Behind someone’s back you wouldn’t say to his face?

How to Interpret the Meaning of Life

23-25 I tested everything in my search for wisdom. I set out to be wise, but it was beyond me, far beyond me, and deep—oh so deep! Does anyone ever find it? I concentrated with all my might, studying and exploring and seeking wisdom—the meaning of life. I also wanted to identify evil and stupidity, foolishness and craziness.

26-29 One discovery: A woman can be a bitter pill to swallow, full of seductive scheming and grasping. The lucky escape her; the undiscerning get caught. At least this is my experience—what I, the Quester, have pieced together as I’ve tried to make sense of life. But the wisdom I’ve looked for I haven’t found. I didn’t find one man or woman in a thousand worth my while. Yet I did spot one ray of light in this murk: God made men and women true and upright; we’re the ones who’ve made a mess of things.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 62:1–5

Look, Your Savior Comes!

 Regarding Zion, I can’t keep my mouth shut,

    regarding Jerusalem, I can’t hold my tongue,

Until her righteousness blazes down like the sun

    and her salvation flames up like a torch.

Foreign countries will see your righteousness,

    and world leaders your glory.

You’ll get a brand-new name

    straight from the mouth of God.

You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand,

    a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God.

No more will anyone call you Rejected,

    and your country will no more be called Ruined.

You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight),

    and your land Beulah (Married),

Because God delights in you

    and your land will be like a wedding celebration.

For as a young man marries his virgin bride,

    so your builder marries you,

And as a bridegroom is happy in his bride,

    so your God is happy with you.

Insight

After prophesying that God would use the Assyrians and the Babylonians to discipline His people for their idolatrous unfaithfulness (Isaiah 1–39), Isaiah comforted the Israelites with the promise that God would restore and bless them once the discipline was complete (chs. 40–66). In chapter 62, God speaks of the vindication and restoration of Jerusalem or Zion. God will personally make a grand spectacle of Jerusalem, so much so that the world “will be blinded by [its] glory” (vv. 2–3 nlt). Instead of being known as an abandoned and forsaken city, Jerusalem will be renowned as “Hephzibah” (v. 4), which the New Living Translation renders as “The City of God’s Delight,” and as “Beulah” (meaning “married”), rendered as “The Bride of God.” God presents Himself as the faithful and loving Builder and Bridegroom who will establish, cherish, and protect His beloved (v. 5). By: K. T. Sim

Rejoicing Love

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5

Brendan and Katie beamed at each other. Looking at the pure joy on their faces, you would have never guessed the difficult ways so many of their wedding plans had been dramatically altered due to COVID-19 restrictions. Even with only twenty-five family members present, joy and peace radiated from the two as they said their vows because of their love for each other and expressed their gratefulness for God’s love sustaining them.

The image of a bride and groom delighting over each other is the picture the prophet Isaiah painted to describe the type of delight and love God has for His people. In a beautifully poetic description of His promised deliverance, Isaiah reminded his readers that the salvation He offered them reflected the reality of living in a broken world—comfort for the brokenhearted, joy for those who mourn, and provision for the needs of His people (Isaiah 61:1–3). God offered help to His people because, just like a bride and groom celebrate their love for each other, “so will your God rejoice over you” (62:5).

It’s a remarkable truth that God delights in us and wants a relationship with us. Even when we struggle because of the effects of living in a broken world, we have a God who loves us, not begrudgingly, but with a rejoicing, lasting love that “endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

What images remind you of God’s love? How does His rejoicing love bring you joy?

Loving God, thank You for rejoicing over me in love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 15-16; Matthew 27:1-26

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

CHARLIE BROWN VALENTINES - #9417

Poor ol' Charlie Brown; staring into his mailbox on Valentine's Day, hoping to find a Valentine. He never does. And when he yells "hello" into the mailbox, the only answer he gets back is his own echo. "Hello! Hello! Happy Valentine's Day!" Man, that's an oxymoron for Charlie, and for lots of real-life folks.

Like our friend Holly, for example, when she went through her first Valentine's Day a while back without Jack. It all happened so fast. He got the headaches, and then there was the emergency flight to better medical facilities, the hospital vigil and the final goodbyes. And that first morning of waking up and realizing your status has suddenly changed to "widow."

Three times in my life I came painfully close to losing my lifetime love. Thank God, He gave her back to me each of those times. And then there was the day that was her day to go to heaven. The undeniable reality is that in every close relationship some day one of them will be gone and the other one left. So you cherish each day.

No doubt Valentine's Day is special and romantic for lots of people. Just ask the local florist. And at that point, even Mr. "Nomance" at least coughs up some coins for a card or some candy. Maybe even a candlelight dinner at McDonald's, huh?

But for too many, a holiday about love is a taunting reminder that there's no one there to send you a Valentine. Maybe because they're gone, maybe because they left, or maybe because there just isn't anyone at this point.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Charlie Brown Valentines."

Love is wonderful. There's a problem with it. It's "loseable": desertion, divorce, dying. One way or another, every love sooner or later leaves.

Well, not every. In those moments after the love of my life was gone, I had an anchor from someone who had promised me, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Someone who has never broken that promise; someone who backed it up with His life.

Jesus made that promise (Hebrews 13:5). Not just to me, but to everyone who belongs to Him. We watched the video of that memorial service for our friend Jack. And while it was evident he will be greatly missed, hope was all over the place. All over the people he loved, because as they testified, they were being carried by that greater love. I know that feeling.

You can find love and romance and companionship in lots of places. But there's only one place you can find a love you cannot lose. The love you were made for, and that is in the arms of Jesus Christ. Of whom the Bible says in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:39, "Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I know He'ill never leave me, because if He was ever going to, it would have been when His love for me meant being nailed to a cross. But He went the distance. Because there was no other way I could ever know God; no way I could ever escape the hellish penalty for hijacking my life from God. And no other way I could be with Him in His heaven forever.

In the greatest act of love in human history, the Bible says, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). He didn't deserve that cross. I didn't deserve to have God's Son dying in my place. But He did. Then, three days later, He walked out of His grave. And when I invited Him, He walked into my life and will never walk out.

This could be the love you've spent your whole life looking for. This could be the day you experience that love for yourself. Open up to Him and say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to invite you to join me at our website as soon as you can get to it today and find out how you can be sure you belong to Jesus yourself. It's ANewStory.com.

There is an unloseable love, but only one. A love that will never desert you, never divorce you, never die on you. and His name is Jesus.

Acts 9:23-43, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR JOURNEY - February 13, 2023

A day transporting a family from one city to another is closely akin to God transporting us from our home to his. And some of life’s stormiest hours occur when the passenger and the driver disagree on what takes place during the trip. Can you imagine the chaos if a parent indulged every child’s wishes? Can you imagine the chaos if God indulged each of ours?

God’s overarching desire is that you reach that destiny. His itinerary includes stops that encourage your journey. He frowns on stops that deter you. When his sovereign plan and your earthly plan collide, a decision must be made: who’s in charge of this journey? If God must choose between your earthly satisfaction and your heavenly salvation, which do you hope he chooses? Me too.

Acts 9:23-43

After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.

26-27 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.

28-30 After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists—he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.

31 Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.

Tabitha

32-35 Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.

36-37 Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, “Gazelle” in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room.

38-40 Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha’s body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: “Tabitha, get up.”

40-41 She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.

42-43 When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, February 13, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 118:5–14

Pushed to the wall, I called to God;

    from the wide open spaces, he answered.

God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;

    who would dare lay a hand on me?

God’s my strong champion;

    I flick off my enemies like flies.

Far better to take refuge in God

    than trust in people;

Far better to take refuge in God

    than trust in celebrities.

Hemmed in by barbarians,

    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Hemmed in and with no way out,

    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;

Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;

    in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.

I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,

    when God grabbed and held me.

God’s my strength, he’s also my song,

    and now he’s my salvation.

Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs

    in the camp of the saved?

        “The hand of God has turned the tide!

        The hand of God is raised in victory!

        The hand of God has turned the tide!”

Insight

Many scholars believe Psalm 118 was written during the time when the ruined walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt (around 444 bc; see Nehemiah 12:27–43). As such, it would have been sung by the entire congregation as they gathered to dedicate the work. The triple repetition of verses 10, 11, and 12—“in the name of the Lord I cut them down”—lends itself well to a congregational response in worship. Such strong militaristic language would also be encouraging to a people long subjugated by oppressors and now keeping a watchful eye on those who opposed the efforts of rebuilding. Interestingly, the early church fathers, Cyprian and Augustine among them, viewed the entire psalm as a particular encouragement to believers who faced the danger of martyrdom for their faith in Christ. By: Tim Gustafson

When Hard Pressed

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. Psalm 118:6

Many years ago, a friend told me how intimidated she was while trying to cross a street where several roads intersected. “I’d never seen anything like this; the rules I’d been taught for crossing the street seemed ineffective. I was so frightened that I’d stand on the corner, wait for the bus, and ask the bus driver if he’d please allow me to ride to the other side of the street. It would take a long time before I successfully learned to navigate this intersection both as a pedestrian and later as a driver.”

As complicated as a dangerous traffic intersection can be, navigating life’s complexities can be even more menacing. Although the psalmist’s specific situation in Psalm 118 is uncertain, we know it was difficult and just right for prayer: “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord” (v. 5), the psalmist exclaimed. And his confidence in God was unmistakable: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. . . .  The Lord is with me; he is my helper” (vv. 6–7).

It’s not unusual to be fearful when we need to change jobs or schools or housing. Anxieties arise when health declines, relationships change, or dollars disappear. But these challenges needn’t be interpreted as abandonment by God. When hard pressed, may we find ourselves prayerfully pressing into His presence. By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

What difficulty has brought you closer to God? With whom can you share your experience of His gracious help? 

Gracious Father, please help me to trust You when I’m hard pressed.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, February 13, 2023

The Devotion of Hearing

Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." —1 Samuel 3:10

Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.

The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them.  Biblical Psychology, 189 L

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51-75

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, February 13, 2023

THE ONLY APPLAUSE THAT MATTERS - #9416

I happen to be the only member of our family who will eat mincemeat pie. That's fine with me. Don't feel bad for me. Certain holiday seasons of the year, someone in the family will indulge me with my very own mincemeat pie. And it is my very own! Sharing is really not an issue here. Now, what I do since I don't get it very often is I try to make it last, because I don't get a lot, you know. So, I take these small slices over an extended period of time and it's great! Well, one problem: If I make it last too long, it starts to lose something. It's called freshness. A lot of times by the time I get to the end of that pie, I kind of wish I'd eaten it faster. See, that's the sad thing about a treat like that. It starts spoiling the minute it comes out of the oven really. Maybe I should eat the whole pie at one sitting. Actually, a lot of life's rewards are like that...I mean spoiling.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Only Applause That Matters."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 6, and it begins with verse 15 after Jesus feeds the 5,000. It says, "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force..." Wait a minute. You'd think it would say here, "He went to meet them." No, it says, "He withdrew again to a mountain by himself." Verse 26, "When they chased Him across the lake of Galilee and they catch up with Him, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, you look for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval."

You notice here Jesus talks about food that spoils. He just gave them a lot of food, and now He's talking about food that spoils. One of the issues He seems to be referring to here is human approval. When they wanted to make Him king, they didn't really want Him to rule their lives. He refused to compromise to get human approval. In fact, He withdrew from them. Then He announces here that He can satisfy their souls, not just their stomachs. And He declares what food He's after...food that doesn't spoil - God's personal seal of approval.

In fact, in John 4:34 Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." Jesus knew what we all discover - that the approval of man is very short-lived. Oh, you can get a standing ovation one day, and you can be everybody's target the next. Like my mincemeat pie, people's applause starts to spoil from the moment it comes out of the oven.

The athlete who was cheered last game is jeered this game. Who cares about what you did last game? The newspaper that had your name in it yesterday, is wrapping somebody's garbage today. The position you held for so long was filled very quickly by someone else, and you're a memory in that place where you gave so much. It's food that spoils - human approval...human applause. We're approval junkies...addicted to approval. We make all kinds of sacrifices to get other people to like us, only to have them turn on us, or forget us, or disappoint us.

Jesus said, "Don't work for it." Once you arrive at the point where only God's approval matters, oh man, you are wise; you are free at last. You're wise because you'll make decisions based on what's good for a long time, not what will get you liked today. You're free because you don't have to complicate your life with riding the public opinion roller coaster. It's so satisfying to live for what's right, rather than for what will just get you through.

The only vote that matters ultimately is your Heavenly Father's smile. His goodies last. Psalm 16:11 says, "You will show me the path of life. At your right hand, are pleasures for evermore." The rewards men give you are goodies that spoil. But in the words of 1 John 2:15, "He that does the will of God abides forever."

Ecclesiastes 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Hucksters and Faith Peddlers

When religion is used for profit and prestige, people are exploited and God is infuriated! When Jesus entered Jerusalem the first day of Passover week, Matthew 21:12-13 says, "He went into the temple and threw out all the people who were buying and selling there.  He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. Jesus said to all the people there, 'It is written in the Scriptures, My temple will be called a house for prayer. But you are changing it into a hideout for robbers!'"

Hucksters. Faith peddlers. People making a franchise out of the faith. This was not a temper tantrum. It was an intentional message from Jesus. Cash in on my people and you've got me to answer to. God will never hold guiltless those who exploit the privilege of worship.

From And the Angels Were Silent

Ecclesiastes 6

Things Are Bad

 I looked long and hard at what goes on around here, and let me tell you, things are bad. And people feel it. There are people, for instance, on whom God showers everything—money, property, reputation—all they ever wanted or dreamed of. And then God doesn’t let them enjoy it. Some stranger comes along and has all the fun. It’s more of what I’m calling smoke. A bad business.

3-5 Say a couple have scores of children and live a long, long life but never enjoy themselves—even though they end up with a big funeral! I’d say that a stillborn baby gets the better deal. It gets its start in a mist and ends up in the dark—unnamed. It sees nothing and knows nothing, but is better off by far than anyone living.

6 Even if someone lived a thousand years—make it two thousand!—but didn’t enjoy anything, what’s the point? Doesn’t everyone end up in the same place?

7 We work to feed our appetites;

Meanwhile our souls go hungry.

8-9 So what advantage has a sage over a fool, or over some poor wretch who barely gets by? Just grab whatever you can while you can; don’t assume something better might turn up by and by. All it amounts to anyway is smoke. And spitting into the wind.

10 Whatever happens, happens. Its destiny is fixed.

You can’t argue with fate.

11-12 The more words that are spoken, the more smoke there is in the air. And who is any better off? And who knows what’s best for us as we live out our meager smoke-and-shadow lives? And who can tell any of us the next chapter of our lives?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 20:26–31

Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

27 Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”

28 Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”

29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

30-31 Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

Insight

Life is a central theme in the book of John. The book begins introducing Jesus as God’s Word and the source of life: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:4). Life is identified as being found in the Father and Son (5:25–26) and the Spirit (6:63). Jesus describes Himself as the “bread of life” (v. 35), coming to earth so that “they may have life, and have it to the full” (10:10). After the death of Lazarus, Jesus revealed Himself to Martha as “the resurrection and the life” (11:25) before raising Lazarus from the dead (v. 43). Nearing the close of the book, John emphasized once more that the purpose of all that’s recorded in his gospel is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:31). By: Monica La Rose

Information and Evidence

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. John 20:31

When Doris Kearns Goodwin decided to write a book about Abraham Lincoln, the fact that some fourteen thousand books had already been written about America’s sixteenth president intimidated her. What could be left to say about this beloved leader? Undeterred, Goodwin’s work resulted in A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Her fresh insights on Lincoln’s leadership style became a top-rated and top-reviewed book.

The apostle John faced a different challenge as he wrote his account of the ministry and passion of Jesus. The final verse of John’s gospel says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). John had more material than he could possibly use!

So John’s strategy was to focus on only a few selected miracles (signs) that supported Jesus’ “I am” claims throughout his account. Yet behind this strategy was this eternal purpose: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (v. 31). Out of the mountains of evidence, John provided plenty of reasons to believe in Jesus. Who can you tell about Him today? By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

How do you view the biblical evidence for Jesus and His claims? What does it mean for you to believe in Him?

Heavenly Father, please strengthen my faith with solid evidence so that I may truly live for Jesus.

Learn how to better defend your faith.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Are You Listening to God?

They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." —Exodus 20:19

We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.

“You speak with us,…but let not God speak with us….” We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, “Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth.”

Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, “Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?” This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L

Bible in a Year: Leviticus 13; Matthew 26:26-50