Acts 16:22-40 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MIDDLE C - May 4, 2023

When author Lloyd Douglas attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse with a retired music professor who lived on the first floor. Douglas would stick his head in the door and ask, “Well, what’s the good news?” The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tape it on the side of his chair and say, “That’s middle C. It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!”

You and I need a middle C. A still point in a turning world. An unchanging shepherd. A God who can still the storm. A Lord who can declare the meaning of life. And, according to David in Psalm 23, you have one. The Lord is your shepherd – your middle C!

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Acts 16:22-40

When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

22-24 The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

25-26 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.

27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”

29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”

32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.

35-36 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, “Release these men.” The jailer gave Paul the message, “The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!”

37 But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, “They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.”

38-40 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 20:1–12

Some time later the Moabites and Ammonites, accompanied by Meunites, joined forces to make war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat received this intelligence report: “A huge force is on its way from beyond the Dead Sea to fight you. There’s no time to waste—they’re already at Hazazon Tamar, the oasis of En Gedi.”

3-4 Shaken, Jehoshaphat prayed. He went to God for help and ordered a nationwide fast. The country of Judah united in seeking God’s help—they came from all the cities of Judah to pray to God.

5-9 Then Jehoshaphat took a position before the assembled people of Judah and Jerusalem at The Temple of God in front of the new courtyard and said, “O God, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven above and ruler of all kingdoms below? You hold all power and might in your fist—no one stands a chance against you! And didn’t you make the natives of this land leave as you brought your people Israel in, turning it over permanently to your people Israel, the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived here and built a holy house of worship to honor you, saying, ‘When the worst happens—whether war or flood or disease or famine—and we take our place before this Temple (we know you are personally present in this place!) and pray out our pain and trouble, we know that you will listen and give victory.’

10-12 “And now it’s happened: men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have shown up. You didn’t let Israel touch them when we got here at first—we detoured around them and didn’t lay a hand on them. And now they’ve come to kick us out of the country you gave us. O dear God, won’t you take care of them? We’re helpless before this vandal horde ready to attack us. We don’t know what to do; we’re looking to you.”

Insight

When the people of ancient Israel thought about time, they reasoned that they couldn’t know the future, but they did know what had already happened and so reflected on God’s faithfulness in the past. That sense of time is key to understanding the way Jehoshaphat prayed in 2 Chronicles 20. He looked back at everything God did from Abraham until the present day (vv. 5–9). He recognized that the future wasn’t sure, but by setting “his face to seek the Lord” (v. 3 esv), he was looking to God’s salvation in the past as confidence in His ability to save again (v. 12). By: Jed Ostoich

Operating with Prayer

Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 20:3

When my son needed orthopedic surgery, I was grateful for the doctor who performed the operation. The doctor, who was nearing retirement, assured us he’d helped thousands of people with the same problem. Even so, before the procedure, he prayed and asked God to provide a good outcome. And I’m so grateful He did.

Jehoshaphat, an experienced national leader, prayed too during a crisis. Three nations had united against him, and they were coming to attack his people. Although he had more than two decades of experience, he decided to ask God what to do. He prayed, “[We] will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us” (2 Chronicles 20:9). He also asked for guidance, saying, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12).

Jehoshaphat’s humble approach to the challenge opened his heart to God’s involvement, which came in the form of encouragement and divine intervention (vv. 15–17, 22). No matter how much experience we have in certain areas, praying for help develops a holy reliance on God. It reminds us that He knows more than we do, and He’s ultimately in control. It puts us in a humble place—a place where He’s pleased to respond and support us, no matter what the outcome may be. By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray

How has prayer helped you? What current challenge in your life might benefit from prayer?

Dear God, thank You for listening and responding to prayer. I worship You as the all-knowing, all-powerful God. Please help me in each challenge I face today.

Learn how to pray effectively.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Vicarious Intercession

…having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus… —Hebrews 10:19

Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Spiritual stubbornness is the most effective hindrance to intercession, because it is based on a sympathetic “understanding” of things we see in ourselves and others that we think needs no atonement. We have the idea that there are certain good and virtuous things in each of us that do not need to be based on the atonement by the Cross of Christ. Just the sluggishness and lack of interest produced by this kind of thinking makes us unable to intercede. We do not identify ourselves with God’s interests and concerns for others, and we get irritated with Him. Yet we are always ready with our own ideas, and our intercession becomes only the glorification of our own natural sympathies. We have to realize that the identification of Jesus with sin means a radical change of all of our sympathies and interests. Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.

Am I stubborn or substituted? Am I spoiled or complete in my relationship to God? Am I irritable or spiritual? Am I determined to have my own way or determined to be identified with Him?

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: 1 Kings 16-18; Luke 22:47-71

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, May 04, 2023

WHEN POWER IS ABUSED - #9474

We'll put up with a lot from our politicians, but not everything. See, we really don't like it when someone in power abuses that power for personal gain, to cover up wrongdoing, to exploit other people.

I remember some years ago, there was a former governor allegedly using his position to feather his own financial nest. At least that's what he was accused of. And at the same time, there were accusations flying about another governor who some say had used his power to punish people and intimidate people. But accusations sometimes are all it takes to turn public opinion.

Now on the other hand, the press can abuse its power, right? Slanting the news to serve their view of how the world, they think, should be.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Power is Abused."

My first brush with the abuse of power was Boomer. Yeah, he was our neighborhood bully. I'm not sure if his mother predestined him to be a bully by naming him Boomer or if he just earned it. He was the biggest kid on the block. So he intimidated and threatened and ripped off all of us little kids; got away with it just because he was big. We hated it. We still do...all of us.

I find it very easy to see power being abused when it's someone else, but not so much when it's me doing it. Because, in one way or another, most of us have some kind of position that gives us some kind of power in people's lives. You know, being a husband. Well, then I would have the power to elevate my wife or push her down. As a parent, well it gives me all kinds of power to make my children feel very special or very small.

As an employer, well that puts me in a driver's seat where I can dominate or develop people. There are men who use their power to use and abuse and diminish women. Thus exposing what small men they are. There are women who use their power to manipulate and control, and therefore forfeiting the tenderness and the selflessness that makes a woman really beautiful.

There are parents who use the incalculable power they have to crush, to criticize, to belittle their children. Or to use a son or daughter to fulfill what they once were or what they never were and want to be and birthing a robot or a rebel in the process. There are leaders who feel their position entitles them to ignore the rules, be entitled, and treat people as things. Thus failing as humans no matter how high they rise. Power is a trust, not a weapon, not a platform for your personal agenda, not a license to live for yourself.

In my lifetime, there have been people I had to follow just because they were in the power position. Then there have been those that I wanted to follow whether they had the position or not because of their character; leading, not using. Leaving you encouraged, not diminished. Making other people feel important instead of acting like they were important.

That's power. Not being a control freak, which is often why we covet power; to be in control. Tragically, that puts us in the danger zone with the very God who has all the power there is. See, we'd like to be God for us. We've decided we'll take charge of a life that God created. It's called sin. We hijack it from Him.

But defying God has a high price tag. In our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah 59:2 it says, "Your sins have separated you from your God." Haven't you felt that wall between you and God? Living with that wall means never knowing the purpose and the love you were made for. Dying with it means it'll be there forever.

Our power grab of our life would have cost us everything except for the amazing intervention of the very God we've rebelled against. The Bible says, "He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Picture that cross; Jesus dying there. And you could stand there and say, "For me, Jesus, this is for me." And once you have Him, you have the person who walked out of his grave under his own power, and He's bigger than any Boomer you'll ever face.

Begin a relationship with Him. Go to our website and check out how to get that done. It's ANewStory.com. There's no reason to live one more day without the person who loves you the most.

Psalm 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AN UNCHANGING GOD - May 3, 2023

You and I are governed. The weather determines what we wear, gravity dictates our speed, and health determines our strength. We may change these forces, alter them slightly, but we never remove them.

God, however, is an unchanging God, an uncaused God, and an ungoverned God. He doesn’t check the weather; he makes it. He doesn’t defy gravity; he created it. He isn’t affected by health, since he has no body. Jesus said, “God is spirit.” And since God has no body, he has no limitations—he’s equally active in Cambodia as he is in Connecticut.

“Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?” asked David. God unchanging, God uncaused, God ungoverned. Only a fraction of God’s qualities, but aren’t they enough to give you a glimpse of your Father?

Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Read more Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 10

God, are you avoiding me?

    Where are you when I need you?

Full of hot air, the wicked

    are hot on the trail of the poor.

Trip them up, tangle them up

    in their fine-tuned plots.

3-4 The wicked are windbags,

    the swindlers have foul breath.

The wicked snub God,

    their noses stuck high in the air.

Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:

    “Catch us if you can!” “God is dead.”

5-6 They care nothing for what you think;

    if you get in their way, they blow you off.

They live (they think) a charmed life:

    “We can’t go wrong. This is our lucky year!”

7-8 They carry a mouthful of spells,

    their tongues spit venom like adders.

They hide behind ordinary people,

    then pounce on their victims.

9 They mark the luckless,

    then wait like a hunter in a blind;

When the poor wretch wanders too close,

    they stab him in the back.

10-11 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,

    the unlucky victim is brutally axed.

He thinks God has dumped him,

    he’s sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

12-13 Time to get up, God—get moving.

    The luckless think they’re Godforsaken.

They wonder why the wicked scorn God

    and get away with it,

Why the wicked are so cocksure

    they’ll never come up for audit.

14 But you know all about it—

    the contempt, the abuse.

I dare to believe that the luckless

    will get lucky someday in you.

You won’t let them down:

    orphans won’t be orphans forever.

15-16 Break the wicked right arms,

    break all the evil left arms.

Search and destroy

    every sign of crime.

God’s grace and order wins;

    godlessness loses.

17-18 The victim’s faint pulse picks up;

    the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood

    as you put your ear to their lips.

Orphans get parents,

    the homeless get homes.

The reign of terror is over,

    the rule of the gang lords is ended.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, May 03, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:5

8 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

5 1-5 For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

Insight

The apostle Paul wrote four letters to the believers in Jesus at Corinth. The books known as 1 and 2 Corinthians are the second and fourth letters he wrote to the house churches there. Commenting on the background of 2 Corinthians, William Baker states: “Despite the fact that the earliest converts were Jewish (according to Acts 18:4–8), none of the issues Paul addresses in the letter appear to stem from Jewish-Christian controversies. Rather, all the issues derive from the Corinthian culture and society in which they lived.” Paul addressed issues that focused on what it means to live for Jesus within one’s own culture. He compared what Corinthian society did with how believers in Christ should live (see 1 Corinthians 6:12–13). By: J.R. Hudberg

Tired Tents

While we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened. 2 Corinthians 5:4

“The tent is tired!” Those were the words of my friend Paul, who pastors a church in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2015, the congregation has worshiped in a tentlike structure. Now, Paul writes, “Our tent is worn out and it is leaking when it rains.”

My friend’s words about their tent’s structural weaknesses remind us of the apostle Paul’s words regarding the frailty of our human existence. “Outwardly we are wasting away . . . . While we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened” (2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:4).

Though the awareness of our fragile human existence happens relatively early in life, we become more conscious of it as we age. Indeed, time picks our pockets. The vitality of youth surrenders reluctantly to the reality of aging (see Ecclesiastes 12:1–7). Our bodies—our tents—get tired.

But tired tents need not equate to tired trust. Hope and heart needn’t fade as we age. “Therefore we do not lose heart,” the apostle says (2 Corinthians 4:16). The One who has made our bodies has made Himself at home there through His Spirit. And when this body can no longer serve us, we’ll have a dwelling not subject to breaks and aches—we’ll “have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven” (5:1). By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

How does it make you feel that Christ resides in you by His Spirit (5:5)? When you find yourself “groaning,” how does prayer help you?

Father, thank You for Your continual presence. When I’m physically uncomfortable, help me to trust You even as I anticipate an eternal dwelling that will last forever.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, May 03, 2023

Vital Intercession

…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… —Ephesians 6:18

As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to a totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God’s interest and concern for others and step into having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, “I will not allow that thing to happen.” And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.

Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own “sad and pitiful self.” You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with them.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child.  Not Knowing Whither, 882 L

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 14-15; Luke 22:21-46

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, May 03, 2023

THE MOST IMPORTANT MISSION YOU'LL EVER HAVE - #9473

Who would think you'd miss a fleet of big brown trucks? If they say UPS on the side, you'll miss them if you're off the streets for long! I mean, Americans found out a few years ago when the UPS drivers went on strike. Within hours in some cases, days in almost every case, thousands of UPS customers were in a crisis. At that time they said 80% of America's packages were carried by UPS! It's probably changed by now, but that's how it was then. Apparently, all the other guys were fighting it out for the other 20%.

On the first day back after the strike, I'll bet some of those drivers were greeted with a standing ovation by some of their customers, "You're back! We're saved!" What a mess! I mean, businesses were almost on the ropes in a few days. They were manufacturing their product; the folks on the other end needed their product, but it wasn't happening. A sender and a receiver are not enough. Not if the person delivering it isn't doing their job!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Important Mission You'll Ever Have."

There's an ongoing strike that's affecting many lives, in fact, it's cost many lives. Some of the people are not getting their delivery. Might be folks you know, folks you love.

Our word for today from the Word of God - 2 Kings 7 - God's people, the Jews, are under siege in their capital city of Samaria. Their food supplies have been cut off by an invading enemy and no one's coming in,and no one's going out. The siege got so long and the starvation in the city so desperate, people were spending big money for even a morsel of food. There had even been incidents of cannibalism.

Enter the four lepers. Because of their disease, they are forced to live outside the city walls. So they are really starving. In one last act of desperation, they decide to walk over to the enemy camp, surrender, and throw themselves on the mercy of those soldiers. They figure they're going to die either way. But they don't know that God's carrying out this miraculous deliverance that scatters the enemy army and leaves their camp totally untended, food and all.

It's almost amusing to think of these four lepers just expecting an arrow at any moment. Then they wander around this empty camp, looking for someone to surrender to, and realizing they are now the new owners of enough food to feed an army! That's when it stops being amusing. They're gorging themselves. They're totally forgetting about the people who are dying in their city. The package was there loaded with food, the people who needed the food were there, desperate for food, but they went on dying. Why? Because the people who should have been delivering it were on strike.

2 Kings 7:9, a word for those overstuffed lepers and for us overstuffed Christians, surrounded by people dying of spiritual starvation. The Bible says, "Then they said to each other, 'We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait, punishment will overtake us." Thankfully, the delivery guys finally woke up; they realized they couldn't wait any longer to bring life to the people who were dying without that food that they had so much of. You get the picture.

Let me just say, it could be the place where you work, where you live, where you go to school, where you exercise. And at that place, there's no one delivering Jesus to them. God paid with the life of His only Son for the eternal life He really wants them to have. And the people you know are so in need of a Savior. Right? But none of that matters if the person assigned by God to be the one delivering Jesus to them is on strike. That could be you.

This is a day of good news - we cannot keep this to ourselves. You are the precious link between your Savior and someone He died for. Please, be sure the delivery gets through, whatever it takes. Lives depend on it!

Psalm 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 

Max Lucado Daily: BE READY FOR THE RACE - May 2, 2023

God wants to use you my friend, but how can he if you’re exhausted?

Getting ready for my run, the sun was out, but the wind was chilly.  Jacket or sweatshirt? The Boy Scout within me prevailed, and I wore both. Got my cell phone, my water bottle. So no one would steal my car, I pocketed my keys. I looked more like a pack mule than a runner. Within half a mile, I was pealing off the jacket. That kind of weight will slow you down.

What’s true in jogging is true in faith. God has a great race for you to run. But you have to drop some stuff. How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms are full with your own? For the sake of those you love, travel light. For the sake of the God you serve, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

Psalm 2

God charts the road you take.

The road they take leads to nowhere.

2 1-6 Why the big noise, nations?

Why the mean plots, peoples?

Earth-leaders push for position,

Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,

The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:

“Let’s get free of God!

Cast loose from Messiah!”

Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.

At first he’s amused at their presumption;

Then he gets good and angry.

Furiously, he shuts them up:

“Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet

Is spread for him on the holy summit.”

7-9 Let me tell you what God said next.

He said, “You’re my son,

And today is your birthday.

What do you want? Name it:

Nations as a present? continents as a prize?

You can command them all to dance for you,

Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash.”

10-12 So, rebel-kings, use your heads;

Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:

Worship God in adoring embrace,

Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!

Your very lives are in danger, you know;

His anger is about to explode,

But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, May 02, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 17:3–12

Jesus’ Prayer for His Followers

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

Father, it’s time.

Display the bright splendor of your Son

So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.

You put him in charge of everything human

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

And this is the real and eternal life:

That they know you,

The one and only true God,

And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

I glorified you on earth

By completing down to the last detail

What you assigned me to do.

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

The very splendor I had in your presence

Before there was a world.

* * *

6-12 I spelled out your character in detail

To the men and women you gave me.

They were yours in the first place;

Then you gave them to me,

And they have now done what you said.

They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,

That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,

For the message you gave me, I gave them;

And they took it, and were convinced

That I came from you.

They believed that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world

But for those you gave me,

For they are yours by right.

Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,

And my life is on display in them.

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

They’ll continue in the world

While I return to you.

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life

That you conferred as a gift through me,

So they can be one heart and mind

As we are one heart and mind.

As long as I was with them, I guarded them

In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;

I even posted a lookout.

And not one of them got away,

Except for the rebel bent on destruction

(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

* * *

Insight

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 echoes the theme stated at the beginning of the gospel: eternal life is experienced through Christ, the Word of God (1:1, 4; see 3:16). Throughout John’s gospel, we see that there’s an inseparable union between God and Jesus. To know Christ is to know God (1:14, 18). John 17:3 makes this connection clear: “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Through Christ, believers are drawn through the Spirit into experiencing the rich, joyous, and eternal life of the three-in-one God (Father, Son, and Spirit).

Learn more about Union with Christ. By: Monica La Rose

Life Everlasting

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3

“Don’t be afraid of death, Winnie,” said Angus Tuck, “be afraid of the unlived life.” That quote from the book-turned-film Tuck Everlasting is made more interesting by the fact that it comes from a character who can’t die. In the story, the Tuck family has become immortal. Young Jesse Tuck, who falls in love with Winnie, begs her to seek immortality too so they can be together forever. But wise Angus understands that simply enduring forever doesn’t bring fulfillment.

Our culture tells us that if we could be healthy, young, and energetic forever, we would be truly happy. But that’s not where our fulfillment is found. Before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for His disciples and for future believers. He said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Our fulfillment in life comes from a relationship with God through faith in Jesus. He’s our hope for the future and joy for this present day.

Jesus prayed that His disciples would take on the patterns of new life: that they would obey God (v. 6), believe that Jesus was sent by God the Father (v. 8), and be united as one (v. 11). As believers in Christ, we look forward to a future eternal life with Him. But during these days we live on earth, we can live the “rich and satisfying life” (10:10 nlt) that He promised—right here, right now. By:  Karen Pimpo

Reflect & Pray

Where’s your joy and contentment found in this life? In what ways do you exhibit new life in Christ?

Jesus, help me take hold of the abundant life that You’ve given to me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, May 02, 2023

The Patience To Wait for the Vision

Though it tarries, wait for it… —Habakkuk 2:3

Patience is not the same as indifference; patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults. Having the vision of God is the source of patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration. Moses endured, not because of his devotion to his principles of what was right, nor because of his sense of duty to God, but because he had a vision of God. “…he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue— he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it. Things come to you with greatness and add vitality to your life because everything is energized by God. He may give you a time spiritually, with no word from Himself at all, just as His Son experienced during His time of temptation in the wilderness. When God does that, simply endure, and the power to endure will be there because you see God.

“Though it tarries, wait for it….” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have already grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. The psalmist said, “What shall I render to the Lord…? I will take up the cup of salvation…” (Psalm 116:12-13). We are apt to look for satisfaction within ourselves and say, “Now I’ve got it! Now I am completely sanctified. Now I can endure.” Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. Paul said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…” (Philippians 3:12). If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 12-13; Luke 22:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, May 02, 2023

POWER WHEN YOU'RE POWERLESS - #9472

I've always been fascinated by eagles. I didn't get to see many of them around New York City. I mean, except for the ones that came from Philadelphia to play the Giants occasionally. But it's always been an exciting event for me to see an eagle. There's something very inspiring about them. When one of my Navajo friends and I were together, I asked him about eagles. And he sees a lot of them where he's from. And he told me about some amazing observations that he's made about them.

He's watched an eagle leave their cliff-top nest and then begin to drop immediately into that valley below. Now you would expect them to start flapping their wings madly. Right? No, they don't do that, not even to stop their fall. In fact, the eagle is virtually powerless to help himself. So if the eagle can't do it, how does he fly? Wind currents from the valley below literally lift that eagle. His job isn't to flap his wings; it's to wait for the wind.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Power When You're Powerless."

As my Navajo friend told me about where the power comes from for the eagle's flight, I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favorite passages in the Bible; maybe you're thinking of it too. Our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah 40, beginning at verse 28, "Do you know? Have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God? He's the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." Wow!

Now, here's a mighty God who is never tired, never weary and powerless people. Maybe that's where you get into the picture right now. Maybe weary is a good word for you. Maybe you're physically depleted or you're emotionally spent, or mentally shot. This is great news for people who don't have much left. Maybe you're weak like it says here. Your resources are just no match for the challenge. Your wisdom is not enough to figure this one out. Right? You can contribute little or nothing to an answer. Sounds like the eagle! This says you can soar on wings like eagles.

The eagle virtually has nothing to do with his ability to fly. He is lifted by a force outside of himself to do things he could never do on his own. And God says He wants to do that for you. This is great! God says, "Your flight in these powerless times has nothing to do with your strength. So when you're in a time of weakness, or weariness, you have every reason to be expectant, not depressed. This is a time when there's not much of you, but when there's going to be a whole lot of God.

Do you know, it's at the moments of powerlessness that we finally recognize, even the place where our relationship with God starts. Because that's when we realize we need someone else to lift us, even to ever get to heaven when we die, to ever have our sins forgiven, we can't do it. To ever have the emptiness in our heart filled, to find that love that's eluded us in every lifetime relationship. And when we realize we have nothing to contribute, we cannot possibly fly our way out of this flapping our wings, that's when we finally say, "Jesus, what you did on the cross is my hope, dying for my sins. And beginning today I am yours."

You are that one step of surrender away from experiencing the greatest love and the greatest power in the universe. I don't know if you've ever begun a relationship with Jesus. If you never have, and you want to get that settled, would you go to our website today. I've tried to spell that out there as simply as possible with statements from God's Word how that relationship with Him can begin for you today. Here's the website - ANewStory.com.

So those who hope in Him, the Bible says, will renew their strength. You fly on your own, you're going to crash. Maybe you're in a weak or weary time. Don't start flapping your wings madly. God says you're an eagle. You'll eventually soar if you do what you're supposed to do; trust your Creator's strength and ride on His wind.

Psalm 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: LEARNING TO TRAVEL LIGHT - May 1, 2023

I don’t know how to travel light, but I need to learn. You can’t enjoy a journey carrying so much stuff—so much luggage. Odds are, somewhere this morning between the first step on the floor and the last step out the door, you grabbed some luggage.

Don’t remember doing so? That’s because you did it without thinking. That’s because the bags we grab aren’t made of leather, they’re made of burdens. The suitcase of guilt. A duffel bag of weariness, a hanging bag of grief. A backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of fear. Lugging luggage is exhausting!

God is saying, “Set that stuff down. You are carrying burdens you don’t need to bear.” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all of you who’re weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Yes, I need to learn to travel light.

Psalm 1

How well God must like you—

    you don’t walk in the ruts of those blind-as-bats,

    you don’t stand with the good-for-nothings,

    you don’t take your seat among the know-it-alls.

2-3 Instead you thrill to God’s Word,

    you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

    bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

    always in blossom.

4-5 You’re not at all like the wicked,

    who are mere windblown dust—

Without defense in court,

    unfit company for innocent people.

6 God charts the road you take.

The road they take leads to nowhere.

2 1-6 Why the big noise, nations?

Why the mean plots, peoples?

Earth-leaders push for position,

Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,

The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:

“Let’s get free of God!

Cast loose from Messiah!”

Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.

At first he’s amused at their presumption;

Then he gets good and angry.

Furiously, he shuts them up:

“Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet

Is spread for him on the holy summit.”

7-9 Let me tell you what God said next.

He said, “You’re my son,

And today is your birthday.

What do you want? Name it:

Nations as a present? continents as a prize?

You can command them all to dance for you,

Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash.”

10-12 So, rebel-kings, use your heads;

Upstart-judges, learn your lesson:

Worship God in adoring embrace,

Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!

Your very lives are in danger, you know;

His anger is about to explode,

But if you make a run for God—you won’t regret it!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, May 01, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Peter 3:8–16

Suffering for Doing Good

8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life

    and see the day fill up with good,

Here’s what you do:

    Say nothing evil or hurtful;

Snub evil and cultivate good;

    run after peace for all you’re worth.

God looks on all this with approval,

    listening and responding well to what he’s asked;

But he turns his back

    on those who do evil things.

13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

Insight

Peter’s first letter was primarily written to believers in Jesus who’d been scattered among the five provinces of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), no doubt because of the persecution waged against the church at Jerusalem (see 1:1–2). However, it’s clear that the churches addressed were a mix of Jews and gentiles. The Bible Knowledge Commentary offers this insight: “This epistle could be understood as a handbook written for ambassadors to a hostile foreign land. The author, knowing persecution would arise, carefully prescribed conduct designed to bring honor to the One they represented. The purpose then of 1 Peter was to encourage believers to face persecution so that the true grace of Jesus Christ would be evidenced in them (5:12).” One of Peter’s major themes is that when believers in Christ suffer for Him, they’re to focus on the eternal and not on temporal suffering (3:8–4:19). By: Bill Crowder

Seeds of Faith

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

Last spring, the night before our lawn was to be aerated, a violent windstorm blew the seeds off our maple tree in one fell swoop. So when the aerating machine broke up the compacted soil by pulling small “cores” out of the ground, it planted hundreds of maple seeds in my yard. Just two short weeks later, I had the beginnings of a maple forest growing up through my lawn!

As I (frustratedly) surveyed the misplaced foliage, I was struck by the prolific abundance of new life a single tree had spawned. Each of the miniature trees became a picture for me of the new life in Christ that I—as merely one person—can share with others. We each will have countless opportunities to “give the reason for the hope that [we] have” (1 Peter 3:15) in the course of our lives.

When we “suffer for what is right” with the hope of Jesus (v. 14), it’s visible to those around us and might just become a point of curiosity to those who don’t yet know God personally. If we’re ready when they ask, then we may share the seed through which God brings forth new life. We don’t have to share it with everyone all at once—in some kind of spiritual windstorm. Rather, we gently and respectfully drop the seed of faith into a heart ready to receive it. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

Who in your life is sharing or asking about the reason for your hope? What will you share with them?

Jesus, thank You for growing the seed of faith in my life. Help me to share the reason for my hope—You—with those who ask and may they grow in their love for You.

Learn more about sharing and defending your faith.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, May 01, 2023

Faith— Not Emotion

We walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7

For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” Never live for those exceptional moments— they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard.

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: 1 Kings 10-11; Luke 21:20-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, May 01, 2023

STOPPING THE DEVIL AT THE DOOR - #9471

Well, there's an early part of my life where I didn't even know the word. Now everybody knows it - cholesterol. You'll see it in about ten commercials tonight. It's one of the most talked about words in our health and fitness vocabulary. Of course, my doctor gave me the alphabet soup...a seminar on LDL, HDL. You know. LDL is your bad cholesterol that clogs your arteries. You want to be low in that. But then there's your good cholesterol. Here we go - good guys and bad guys! Just like the old Westerns. Your good cholesterol is called your HDL; maybe that's happy. I don't know. And you want lots of that HDL. That's the good stuff. Now, my doctor says, "I'm not just concerned when a patient's bad cholesterol is high. I get concerned when you don't have enough good cholesterol."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stopping the Devil at the Door."

So, we've got our word for today from the Word of God, and it's ultimately a battle plan for stepping on Satan. Sound like something you'd like to do? Well, then you might be interested in the two-step battle plan outlined in Romans 16:19-20. It's all about getting rid of what's damaging to your spiritual health and loading up on what builds up your spiritual health. Here's what God says: "Be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Stay away from the bad elements in your system. Be innocent about what's evil and get a lot of what's good. Just like your physical wellbeing, your health depends on your diet - your mental and spiritual diet in this case.

So what are you filling up on? You do have to keep junk out of your heart or it's going to clog your heart. It will bring about spiritual heart trouble. The input you allow in creates the ideas you think about; and your ideas become your attitudes and your actions. So that means you've got to consciously and aggressively turn off the constant bombardment of impure ideas that are all around us. The videos, the movies, the Internet sites, the soap opera immorality, the music that makes you all too wise about what's evil. You've got to protect, you've got to restore your innocence. You can't afford even casual contact with the dark stuff.

But just like cholesterol, you can't just be against the bad input. You need to be making a conscious, daily effort to load up on God's ideas and attitudes. Jesus said if you clean out one evil spirit and you just leave an empty space there, seven spirits worse will come back and fill that space. So, you have to fill the space in your thinking and your emotions that the dark stuff was occupying.

For me, that means not just reading old news magazines but reading Christian magazines and books, making every effort to listen to Christian music and radio, and going to Christian websites. To make the last thing I read at night something about my Lord; to put the priority on reading things that have some eternal value. Be wise about what's good, and that means weaning yourself from a diet of mostly secular stuff to more things with spiritual value, with Christ at the center; using your wandering mind times to memorize or review some Scripture. As you start to load up on what's good, you start to become a more positive person, joyful, you become cleaner, you become lighter on the inside.

Does that mean you never read or listen to anything that isn't Christian? No, but you give the priority, the majority of space in your mind to God's ideas and God's way of thinking. Crushing Satan under your feet; that's a war on two fronts. You have to be against what's bad getting into your system, but that isn't enough. You have to take daily opportunities to become smarter about what's innocent. Cut the damaging stuff out of your heart-diet and go heavy on the healthy stuff!

Acts 16:1-21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God Wants Your List

God not only wants the mistakes we have made-He wants the ones we are making. Are you drinking too much? Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage? Mismanaging your life? Don't pretend nothing's wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross.

1 John 1:9 promises, "If we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away."

Start with your bad moments. And while you're there, give God your "mad" moments. There's a story about a man bitten by a dog. When he learned the dog had rabies, he began a list. The doctor said, "there's no need to make a will-you'll be fine." "Oh I'm not making a will," he said, "I'm making a list of all the people I want to bite!" God wants your list!  He wants you to leave it at the cross.

From He Chose the Nails

Acts 16:1-21

A Dream Gave Paul His Map

 Paul came first to Derbe, then Lystra. He found a disciple there by the name of Timothy, son of a devout Jewish mother and Greek father. Friends in Lystra and Iconium all said what a fine young man he was. Paul wanted to recruit him for their mission, but first took him aside and circumcised him so he wouldn’t offend the Jews who lived in those parts. They all knew that his father was Greek.

4-5 As they traveled from town to town, they presented the simple guidelines the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. That turned out to be most helpful. Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size.

6-8 They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.

9-10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.

11-12 Putting out from the harbor at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days.

13-14 On the Sabbath, we left the city and went down along the river where we had heard there was to be a prayer meeting. We took our place with the women who had gathered there and talked with them. One woman, Lydia, was from Thyatira and a dealer in expensive textiles, known to be a God-fearing woman. As she listened with intensity to what was being said, the Master gave her a trusting heart—and she believed!

15 After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, “If you’re confident that I’m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests.” We hesitated, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Beaten Up and Thrown in Jail

16-18 One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!” She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that.

19-22 When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

22-24 The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 18:1–8

Words Kill, Words Give Life

Loners who care only for themselves

    spit on the common good.

2 Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse;

    all they do is run off at the mouth.

3 When wickedness arrives, shame’s not far behind;

    contempt for life is contemptible.

4 Many words rush along like rivers in flood,

    but deep wisdom flows up from artesian springs.

5 It’s not right to go easy on the guilty,

    or come down hard on the innocent.

6 The words of a fool start fights;

    do him a favor and gag him.

7 Fools are undone by their big mouths;

    their souls are crushed by their words.

8 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;

    do you really want junk like that in your belly?

Insight

Using a food metaphor, Solomon describes the words of a gossip as “choice morsels” (Proverbs 18:8). This could literally be translated as “things greedily devoured,” a delicious treat. We love to hear and share gossip because it’s tasty and enjoyable. The Good News Translation describes it well: “Gossip is so tasty—how we love to swallow it!” Like food ingested into our inner organs, gossip is easily assimilated into our innermost thoughts. Thus, gossip is readily remembered and retained. Speaking of the damage gossip does to relationships, Solomon warns, “A gossip separates close friends” (16:28). Gossip is like fuel to a scorching fire that destroys everything in its path (26:20–21; James 3:5–6). Because “a gossip betrays a confidence,” we’re advised to “avoid anyone who talks too much” (Proverbs 20:19). For the person who gossips to you will likely gossip about you. By: K. T. Sim

Wagging Tails and Tongues

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels. Proverbs 18:8

The newspaper declared that Pep had taken the life of the cat belonging to the governor’s wife—but he didn’t do it. The only thing he may have been guilty of was chewing the sofa at the governor’s mansion.

Pep was a rambunctious young Labrador retriever owned by Pennsylvania’s governor Gifford Pinchot in the 1920s. The dog actually was sent to Eastern State Penitentiary, where his mug shot was taken with a prisoner identification number. When a newspaper reporter heard about it, he made up the cat story. Because his report appeared in the newspaper, many believed Pep really was a cat-killer.

Israel’s King Solomon knew well the power of misinformation. He wrote, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8). Sometimes our fallen human nature causes us to want to believe things about others that aren’t true.

Yet even when others believe untruths about us, God can still use us for good. In reality, the governor sent Pep to prison so he could be a friend to the inmates there—and he served for many years as a pioneer therapy dog.

God’s purposes for our lives still stand, regardless of what others say or think. When others gossip about us, remember that His opinion—and His love for us—is what matters most. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

How does it encourage you to know that God isn’t affected by what someone may say or think about you? How will you celebrate His perfect love today?

Abba, Father, thank You for making me Your child. Help me to share Your love with others today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Spontaneous Love

Love suffers long and is kind… —1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is not premeditated– it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, “Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe.” No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.

The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it “has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…” (Romans 5:5).

If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don’t love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21:1-19

2 Kings 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: You Are Included

It's nice to be included. You aren't always. Universities exclude you if you aren't smart enough. Businesses exclude you if you aren't qualified enough, and sadly, some churches exclude you if you aren't good enough. But though they may exclude you, Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched one hand to the right and the other hand to the left and had them nailed in that position so you would know He died loving you.

Surely there has to be a limit to this love. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But David, the adulterer, never found it. Paul, the murderer, never found it. Peter, the liar, never found it. When it came to life they hit bottom. But when it came to God's love they never did.

How wide is God's love?  Wide enough for the whole world. And you are included!

From He Chose the Nails

2 Kings 25

The revolt dates from the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar set out for Jerusalem immediately with a full army. He set up camp and sealed off the city by building siege mounds around it. The city was under siege for nineteen months (until the eleventh year of Zedekiah). By the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was so bad that there wasn’t so much as a crumb of bread for anyone. Then there was a breakthrough. At night, under cover of darkness, the entire army escaped through an opening in the wall (it was the gate between the two walls above the King’s Garden). They slipped through the lines of the Babylonians who surrounded the city and headed for the Jordan on the Arabah Valley road. But the Babylonians were in pursuit of the king and they caught up with him in the Plains of Jericho. By then Zedekiah’s army had deserted and was scattered. The Babylonians took Zedekiah prisoner and marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah, then tried and sentenced him on the spot. Zedekiah’s sons were executed right before his eyes; the summary murder of his sons was the last thing he saw, for they then blinded him. Securely handcuffed, he was hauled off to Babylon.

8-12 In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, on the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon’s chief deputy, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned The Temple of God to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off the city—burned the whole place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking down the city walls. Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had earlier deserted to the king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt farmers behind to tend the vineyards and what was left of the fields.

13-15 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze washstands, and the huge bronze basin (the Sea) that were in The Temple of God and hauled the bronze off to Babylon. They also took the various bronze-crafted liturgical accessories used in the services of Temple worship, as well as the gold and silver censers and sprinkling bowls. The king’s deputy didn’t miss a thing—he took every scrap of precious metal he could find.

16-17 The amount of bronze they got from the two pillars, the Sea, and all the washstands that Solomon had made for The Temple of God was enormous—they couldn’t weigh it all! Each pillar stood twenty-seven feet high, plus another four and a half feet for an ornate capital of bronze filigree and decorative fruit.

18-21 The king’s deputy took a number of special prisoners: Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the associate priest, three wardens, the chief remaining army officer, five of the king’s counselors, the accountant, the chief recruiting officer for the army, and sixty men of standing from among the people. Nebuzaradan the king’s deputy marched them all off to the king of Babylon at Riblah. And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon killed the lot of them in cold blood.

Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land.

22-23 Regarding the common people who were left behind in Judah, this: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as their governor. When veteran army officers among the people heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Among them were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and some of their followers.

24 Gedaliah assured the officers and their men, giving them his word, “Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Go back to your farms and families and respect the king of Babylon. Trust me, everything is going to be all right.”

25 Some time later—it was in the seventh month—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama (he had royal blood in him), came back with ten men and killed Gedaliah, the traitor Jews, and the Babylonian officials who were stationed at Mizpah—a bloody massacre.

26 But then, afraid of what the Babylonians would do, they all took off for Egypt, leaders and people, small and great.

27-30 When Jehoiachin king of Judah had been in exile for thirty-seven years, Evil-Merodach became king in Babylon and let Jehoiachin out of prison. This release took place on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. The king treated him most courteously and gave him preferential treatment beyond anything experienced by the other political prisoners held in Babylon. Jehoiachin took off his prison garb and for the rest of his life ate his meals in company with the king. The king provided everything he needed to live comfortably.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 145:9-13

God is good to one and all;

    everything he does is soaked through with grace.

10-11 Creation and creatures applaud you, God;

    your holy people bless you.

They talk about the glories of your rule,

    they exclaim over your splendor,

12 Letting the world know of your power for good,

    the lavish splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal;

    you never get voted out of office.

God always does what he says,

    and is gracious in everything he does.

Insight

The book of Psalms, the hymnbook of the Israelites, is a collection of 150 songs that were sung by God’s people as part of their personal and corporate worship. Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the final collection of songs penned by David (see Psalms 138–145). In this song of praise, he proclaims God as “my God the King” (145:1). David speaks of His “majesty” (v. 5) and “goodness” (v. 7). He exalts God in his greatness, mentioning His “mighty acts” (v. 4), “awesome works” and “great deeds” (v. 6), and “abundant goodness” and “righteousness” (v. 7). David also praises the King’s attributes: He’s “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. . . . He has compassion on all he has made” (vv. 8–9). He’s “trustworthy in all he promises” (v. 13) and “righteous in all his ways” (v. 17). Twice, David says God is “faithful in all he does” (vv. 13, 17). By: K. T. Sim

Always Trustworthy

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises. Psalm 145:13

I’m a worrier. Early mornings are the worst because I’m alone with my thoughts. So I taped this quote from Hudson Taylor on my bathroom mirror, where I can see it when I’m feeling vulnerable: “There is a living God. He has spoken in the Bible. He means what He says and will do all He has promised.”

Taylor’s words came from years of walking with God and remind us of who He is and all He can do through our times of illness, poverty, loneliness, and grief. He didn’t merely know that God is trustworthy-he’d experienced His trustworthiness. And because he’d trusted God’s promises and obeyed Him, thousands of Chinese people gave their lives to Jesus.

Experiencing God and His ways helped David know that He’s trustworthy. He wrote Psalm 145, a song of praise to the God he’d experienced to be good, compassionate, and faithful to all His promises. When we trust and follow God, we realize (or understand better) that He is who He says He is and that He’s faithful to His word (v. 13). And, like David, we respond by praising Him and telling others about Him (vv. 10-12).

When we face worrisome times, God can help us not to falter in our walk with Him, for He is trustworthy (Hebrews 10:23). By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

What have you been worried about lately, and which of God’s promises can you hold on to? How does knowing that Hudson Taylor’s and King David’s faith wasn’t in vain encourage you and give you hope?

Dear God, thank You for being trustworthy and keeping Your promises to me. Please help me to remember Your faithfulness as I trust and obey You each day.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Gracious Uncertainty

…it has not yet been revealed what we shall be… —1 John 3:2

Our natural inclination is to be so precise– trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next– that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life– gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God– it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “…unless you…become as little children…” (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “…believe also in Me” (John 14:1), not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in– but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end. Not Knowing Whither, 901 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47

2 Kings 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SOW GOOD SEEDS - April 28, 2023

Many aren’t proud of their family trees. The harvest was taken, but no seed was sown. Childhood memories bring more hurt than inspiration. If such is the case, put down the family scrapbook and pick up your Bible.

John 3:6 reminds us, “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” Your parents have given you genes, but God gives you grace. Didn’t have a good father? Galatians 4:7 says, “He will be your father.” Didn’t have a good role model? Ephesians 5:1 says, “You are God’s child whom he loves, so try to be like him.”

You cannot control the way your forefathers responded to God. But you can control the way you respond to him. Your past does not have to be your prison. Choose well and someday—generations from now—your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank God for the seeds you sowed!

2 Kings 24

It was during his reign that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the country. Jehoiakim became his puppet. But after three years he had had enough and revolted.

2-4 God dispatched a succession of raiding bands against him: Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite. The strategy was to destroy Judah. Through the preaching of his servants and prophets, God had said he would do this, and now he was doing it. None of this was by chance—it was God’s judgment as he turned his back on Judah because of the enormity of the sins of Manasseh—Manasseh, the killer-king, who made the Jerusalem streets flow with the innocent blood of his victims. God wasn’t about to overlook such crimes.

5-6 The rest of the life and times of Jehoiakim is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Jehoiakim died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin became the next king.

7 The threat from Egypt was now over—no more invasions by the king of Egypt—for by this time the king of Babylon had captured all the land between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River, land formerly controlled by the king of Egypt.

Jehoiachin of Judah

8-9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. His rule in Jerusalem lasted only three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he also was an evil king, no different from his father.

10-12 The next thing to happen was that the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and put it under siege. While his officers were laying siege to the city, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon paid a personal visit. And Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, officers, advisors, and government leaders, surrendered.

12-14 In the eighth year of his reign Jehoiachin was taken prisoner by the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar emptied the treasuries of both The Temple of God and the royal palace and confiscated all the gold furnishings that Solomon king of Israel had made for The Temple of God. This should have been no surprise—God had said it would happen. And then he emptied Jerusalem of people—all its leaders and soldiers, all its craftsmen and artisans. He took them into exile, something like ten thousand of them! The only ones he left were the very poor.

15-16 He took Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon. With him he took the king’s mother, his wives, his chief officers, the community leaders, anyone who was anybody—in round numbers, seven thousand soldiers plus another thousand or so craftsmen and artisans, all herded off into exile in Babylon.

17 Then the king of Babylon made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, his puppet king, but changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah of Judah

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he started out as king. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah. Her hometown was Libnah.

19 As far as God was concerned Zedekiah was just one more evil king, a carbon copy of Jehoiakim.

20 The source of all this doom to Jerusalem and Judah was God’s anger—God turned his back on them as an act of judgment. And then Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 28, 2023

Today's Scripture

Genesis 21:1–7

God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.

5-6 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

Sarah said,

    God has blessed me with laughter

    and all who get the news will laugh with me!

7 She also said,

    Whoever would have suggested to Abraham

    that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!

    Yet here I am! I’ve given the old man a son!

Insight

Genesis 17:17 is the first time that laughter is mentioned in the book of Genesis when Abraham laughs at the idea that his wife could have a child at age ninety. Some commentators have argued that Abraham’s laughter was one of joy; others believe it was skeptical laughter. Sarah is also described as laughing at the idea after overhearing visitors sent from God prophesy that she and Abraham would have a son (18:12–15). Later, the same Hebrew word is used to express the reaction of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. It’s translated “mocking” by the niv (21:9) but “laughing” in the esv, making the reason why Sarah reacted so angrily unclear and a matter of debate among scholars. Some have argued that Ishmael’s laughter was mocking or abusive behavior, while others suggest that Ishmael’s laughter was perceived by Sarah as Ishmael being a threat to Isaac’s role in the family. By: Monica La Rose

Laughing Out Loud

God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. Genesis 21:6

Comedian John Branyan said, “We didn’t think up laughter; that wasn’t our idea. That was given to us by [God who] knew we were going to need it to get through life. [Because] He knew we were going to have hardship, He knew we were going to have struggles, He knew . . . stuff was going to happen. . . . Laughter is a gift.”

A quick look at the creatures God made can bring laughter, whether because of their oddities (such as duck-billed platypuses) or antics (such as playful otters). He made mammals that live in the ocean and long-legged birds that can’t fly. God clearly has a sense of humor; and because we’re created in His image, we too have the joy of laughter.

We first see the word laughter in the Bible in the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised this elderly couple a child: “A son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir” (Genesis 15:4). And God had said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars . . . . So shall your offspring be” (v. 5). When Sarah finally gave birth at ninety, Abraham named their son Isaac, which means “laughter.” As Sarah exclaimed, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” (21:6). It amazed her that she could nurse a child at her age! God transformed her skeptical laughter when she’d heard she’d give birth (18:12) into laughter of sheer joy.

Thank God for the gift of laughter! By:  Alyson Kieda

Reflect & Pray

When has laughter been “good medicine”? How can finding humor in your life help even in the most difficult times?

Dear God, thank You for giving me the gift of laughter. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 28, 2023

What You Will Get

I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go. —Jeremiah 45:5

This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him– “I will give your life to you….” What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. “…your life…as a prize…” means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go– the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?” Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, “I will give your life to you as a prize….” The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything— they have not been given their life “as a prize.” The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To read the Bible according to God’s providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it, viz., in the blood and passion of personal life. Disciples Indeed, 387 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, April 28, 2023

WHY GOD IS TURNING UP THE VOLUME - #9470

Some people seem to have a special gift for sleeping. So much so that waking them up is more like a resurrection. We had one of those gifted people staying at our house for a few weeks. Greg was a young intern helping out and training in our ministry. And he did a good job - once you got him out of bed. He stayed at our house - so I got the joy of figuring out how to get him up each morning in time to start his work day. I started with just an alarm clock. Forget about that - no alarm so much as phases this boy. I tried shaking him, and then I tried shaking him violently. I tried bells. I tried water. Yes. If he ever did wake up, he just went back to sleep until I landed on the Extreme Wakeup Option - the pan. I got the biggest metal pan we had. I got the biggest metal spoon we had and I marched into his room playing percussion. If standing at the door clanging that pan didn't do it, I just moved progressively closer until he was up and out of bed. Look, I was a desperate man. Look, I'm really sorry it had to go that far, but he had to wake up, and it wasn't easy.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Is Turning Up The Volume."

Could it be you're one of God's hard-to-wake children? I think we all take our turn being spiritually asleep, oblivious to something He's trying to say or do in our life. And that may explain some of the pain, some of the struggle, some of the frustration that's been building lately. It's God trying to get your attention. And like me with our deep-sleeping friend, if one kind of wakeup call doesn't work, He will escalate His methods. He will not just let you sleep.

God's been having to turn up the pressure to wake His children for a long time. That's why He told His people about His Extreme Wakeup Options way back at the dedication of the magnificent temple that Solomon built. It's recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, our word for today from the Word of God. You might recognize 2 Chronicles 7:14. "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins and will heal their land." So much they need done in their lives that only God coul do - just like us. But first they've got to wake up and deal with their pride, their self-reliance, their casual relationship with God, and the things that they're not doing God's way.

So, what does God do to wake them up? His "banging pan" is spelled out in the previous verse: "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, if My people who are called by My name," and so on. See, it's going to take serious pain to wake them up to what God wants them to do. Unfortunately, it's often that way with us, too.

As you're searching for answers and reasons for some of the painful or difficult things going on lately, consider the possibility this is God's tool to wake you up for what He wants to do. Not because He doesn't love you, but because He does. Hebrews 12 tells us, "Do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you...Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness." So, if you're going to get the pain, get the point. And sooner rather than later.

If God's been turning up the volume, don't just turn over and go back to sleep. The noise is only going to get louder. Because God loves you too much to stop trying to get your attention; to stop working on you to live the way He created you to live. The sooner you wake up, the sooner it will let up.

Galatians 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A CHOICE TO MAKE - April 27, 2023

Early in the reign of King Josiah he made a brave choice. 2 Kings 22:2 says, “He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right.” He flipped through his family scrapbook until he found an ancestor worthy of emulation. He found David and resolved, “I’m going to be like him.”

The principle? We can’t choose our parents, but we can choose our mentors. And since Josiah chose David, who had chosen God, things began to happen. Josiah broke up the idols. He broke down the altars. He was out to make a statement: “What my fathers taught, I don’t teach. What they embraced, I reject.” Josiah had found the God of David and made Him his own.

God has not left you on the sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take. Choose well.

Galatians 6

Nothing but the Cross

Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.

7-8 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

9-10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.

11-13 Now, in these last sentences, I want to emphasize in the bold scrawls of my personal handwriting the immense importance of what I have written to you. These people who are attempting to force the ways of circumcision on you have only one motive: They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ’s suffering and death. All their talk about the law is gas. They themselves don’t keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws they do observe. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible!

14-16 For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!

17 Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.

18 May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Today's Scripture

Galatians 5:13–26

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are contrary to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

* * *

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

Insight

Several themes are evident in Galatians 5: freedom in Christ, living by love instead of the law, and the vital importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in Jesus. Most critical of these is the role of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit we can’t enjoy our freedom, nor will we love others. We’ll instead demand our rights and “bite and devour each other” (v. 15). How are we to spurn our selfish ways? “Walk by the Spirit,” says Paul (v. 16). “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (v. 18). This is true freedom. By: Tim Gustafson

Watering The Weeds

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

This spring, weeds attacked our backyard like something out of Jurassic Park. One got so big that when I tried to pull it out, I feared I might injure myself. Before I could find a spade to whack it down, I noticed that my daughter was actually pouring water on it. “Why are you watering the weeds?!” I exclaimed. “I want to see how big it will get!” she replied with an impish grin.

Weeds aren’t something we intentionally nourish. But as I thought about it, I realized that sometimes we do water the “weeds” in our spiritual lives, feeding desires that strangle our growth.

Paul writes about this in Galatians 5:13–26, where he contrasts living by the flesh with living by the Spirit. He says trying to follow the rules alone won’t establish the kind of “weed-free” life we long for. Instead, to avoid watering the weeds, he instructs us to “walk by the Spirit.” He adds that being in regular step with God is what frees us from the impulse to “gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16).

It’s a lifelong process to fully understand Paul’s teaching. But I love the simplicity of his guidance: instead of growing something unwanted by nourishing our own self-focused desires, when we’re cultivating our relationship with God, we grow fruit and reap the harvest of a godly life (vv. 22–25).

By:  Adam Holz

Reflect & Pray

What areas of your spiritual life need some “weeding”? How can you surrender to God and walk with Him?

Father, sometimes I water the weeds in my life. Help me to instead experience being in step with You as You produce spiritual fruit in my life. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 27, 2023

What Do You Want?

Do you seek great things for yourself? —Jeremiah 45:5

Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.

If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.” And instantly God puts His finger on the reason– you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.

Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, “Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit”? If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He’s continually working out His ultimate perfection for you— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 27, 2023

NEW TERRITORY, NO MAP - #9469

Yeah, I have a lot in common with a guy from the first century B.C. Actually he was a Roman officer, leading his men on a mission that took them into uncharted territory. Back then, mapmakers drew dragons beyond the line of what was known and explored.

So, from "dragon land," the commander dispatched a courier back to headquarters with an urgent message. This is where I cross paths with this ancient warrior. He said, "We have just marched off the map. Please send new orders."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "New Territory, No Map."

I get that! I mean, doesn't it sometimes feel like we've marched off the map. It's crazy politically. It's hard to guess where our country might be headed, where the world might be headed. The economy seems to be an unexplored territory. It's hard to know how to plan for the future. And there are countries in the world that are like ticking time bombs in the nuclear way.

Nature's been doing her fair share of wild things, rewriting life stories in her wake. And medical care in the future; we've seen what viruses can do. Places we've always considered "safe zones" have, at times, become killing zones: malls, theaters, schools, offices, airports and lone wolf terrorists.

Our weather forecasts a few months ago warned of a "polar weather" system, and you could barely move at our local Wal-Mart. People didn't want to be caught unprepared for what was coming. Now, look, the weather's a whole lot easier to forecast than the world. It's increasingly hard to know what's coming and how to prepare, because there's so much we can't control or predict. But not everything.

Years ago, my wife and I read a book called Future Shock. It was a landmark book at the time by Alvin Toffler. Maybe this "new territory, no map" isn't so new after all. He talked about the "death of permanence" and the importance of creating "stability zones" in the middle of constant change. I like to call it "an island of sanity in an insane world."

My wife and I actually set out to create that "island" for us and our children. An environment where each family member could come each day to a place that they knew they were safe, not another battleground. Where you knew you'd be heard. You knew you'd be hugged. You knew you could talk about things without fear of rejection or condemnation.

Traditions help; predictable rhythms in a crazy world: dinnertime, family night, bedtime off-to-school rituals, family meetings to talk about family issues. It's a map to go by.

And while there are lots of unknowns, maybe about the economy, about the world, about government, we can try to make our personal finances a "stability zone" by putting away or throwing away our credit cards; sacrificing to get out of debt. It's cutting cords that tie us to a system that puts outside forces in control of our life.

Sanity factors: setting up boundaries so I won't be controlled by social media that intrudes or not over-committing. Leaving room for "Murphy." You know, knowing what can go wrong might go wrong. New orders for uncharted territory. Or maybe just rediscovering some old orders we've lost in the shuffle.

Old orders like our word for today from the Word of God, the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want." A Shepherd to follow in uncharted territory. Even "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" it says, "I will fear no evil because You are with me" (Psalm 23:4).

I remember how safe I felt when I heard that as a kid. And how much my dad wanted me to read it for him just before he went into the surgery he would never recover from. The Shepherd, Jesus, said, "I am the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Jesus did that for you, because we've all got this sin issue that separates us from God and keeps us from heaven. But for Jesus, there's no uncharted territory. He's been to the grave and back. And He's ready to lead you the rest of your life if you'll put your trust in Him. I've never gone wrong by following the Shepherd who knows every corner of the future.

If you don't have that anchor, would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this day on." Go to our website to find out how to know you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com. Jesus is the one who has the map for your uncharted territory.