Psalm 127, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Our Ability to Hear

When our daughter Jenna was five years old, I took her to get a bike. And Andrea, age three, decided she wanted one as well. I explained to her she was too young for a two-wheeler. That when she was older she would get a bike too. No luck. She still wanted a bike. She turned her head and said nothing. Finally I sighed and said this time her daddy knew best.

Her response?  She screamed it loud enough for everyone in the store to hear…“Then I want a new daddy!” Andrea, with three-year-old reasoning powers, couldn’t believe that a new bike would be anything less than ideal for her. And the one to grant that bliss was sitting on his hands.

If you’ve heard the silence of God, you may learn that the problem is not as much in God’s silence as it is in your ability to hear and your capacity to understand!

From Dad Time

Psalm 127

If God doesn’t build the house,

    the builders only build shacks.

If God doesn’t guard the city,

    the night watchman might as well nap.

It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,

    and work your worried fingers to the bone.

Don’t you know he enjoys

    giving rest to those he loves?

3-5 Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?

    the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?

Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows

    are the children of a vigorous youth.

Oh, how blessed are you parents,

    with your quivers full of children!

Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;

    you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.

128 1-2 All you who fear God, how blessed you are!

    how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!

You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming.

    Enjoy the blessing! Soak in the goodness!

3-4 Your wife will bear children as a vine bears grapes,

    your household lush as a vineyard,

The children around your table

    as fresh and promising as young olive shoots.

Stand in awe of God’s Yes.

    Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God!

5-6 Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem

    every day of your life.

And enjoy your grandchildren.

    Peace to Israel!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Corinthians 11:23–28

 Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,

This is my body, broken for you.

Do this to remember me.

After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:

This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.

Each time you drink this cup, remember me.

What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.

27-28 Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.

Insight

The Greek word epaineo means “to applaud—commend, laud, praise.” The word is used six times in the New Testament; it occurs four times in 1 Corinthians 11, where it’s translated “praise” (vv. 2, 17, 22 [2x]). Paul “praised” the Corinthians for their mindfulness of him and for following his teaching (vv. 2–16), but there was no such commendation (vv. 17–34) for the way they observed the Lord’s Supper. The self-centered indulgence that was going on among them was inconsiderate and harmful (vv. 18–22). What they were (supposedly) commemorating was the self-giving sacrifice of Jesus, yet they’d lost sight of it. Such irony and inconsistency compelled Paul to write, “So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat” (v. 20). His warning—for the Corinthians and for us—is that those who take Communion without due consideration for Christ and others do so in an unworthy manner. By: Arthur Jackson

Remembering the Sacrifice

Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:26

Following the Sunday morning worship service, my Moscow host took me to lunch at a restaurant outside the Kremlin. Upon arrival, we noticed a line of newlywed couples in wedding garb approaching the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin wall. The happiness of their wedding day intentionally included remembering the sacrifices others had made to help make such a day possible. It was a sobering sight as the couples took pictures by the memorial before laying wedding flowers at its base.  

All of us have cause to be thankful for others who’ve made sacrifices to bring a measure of fullness to our lives. None of those sacrifices are unimportant, but neither are those sacrifices the most important. It’s only at the foot of the cross where we see the sacrifice Jesus made for us and begin to understand how thoroughly our lives are indebted to the Savior.

Coming to the Lord’s Table to take Communion reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice—pictured in the bread and cup. Paul wrote, “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). May our times at His Table remind us to live every day in remembrance and gratitude of all Jesus has done in us and for us. By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

When you approach the Lord’s Table, how do you view it? How can you use it as an opportunity to give thanks for Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf?

Loving God, nothing could ever repay the priceless display of love evidenced in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Help me to display my gratitude for what He’s done for me. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow

…what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." —John 12:27-28

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. The Place of Help, 1005 R

Bible in a Year: Job 3-4; Acts 7:44-60

2 Thessalonians 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What Pleases a Father

When our daughters were young, Denalyn went away for a couple of days and left me alone with the girls. Though the time was not without the typical children’s quarrels and occasional misbehavior, it went fine.

“How were the girls?” Denalyn asked when she got home. “Good. No problem at all.” Jenna overheard me. “We weren’t good, Daddy,” she objected. “We fought once; we didn’t do what you said once. We weren’t good.”

Jenna and I had different perceptions of what pleases a father. She thought it depended on what she did. It didn’t. We think the same about God. We think His love rises and falls with our performance. It doesn’t. I didn’t love Jenna for what she did. I loved her—and love her still—for whose she is. She’s mine. God loves you for the same reason. He loves you for whose you are; and you are His child!

From Dad Time

2 Thessalonians 3

Those Who Are Lazy

 One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these troublemakers who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers. But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.

4-5 Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you’re doing everything we told you and will continue doing it. May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God’s love and Christ’s endurance.

6-9 Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don’t permit them to freeload on the rest. We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it. We didn’t sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn’t be burdened with taking care of us. And it wasn’t because we didn’t have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.

10-13 Don’t you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” And now we’re getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you. This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately—no excuses, no arguments—and earn their own keep. Friends, don’t slack off in doing your duty.

14-15 If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don’t let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he’ll think twice. But don’t treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.

16 May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!

17 I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.

18 The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 6:5–13

 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”

8-9 One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”

10-11 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

12-13 When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

Insight

Stating there were twelve baskets of leftovers (John 6:13) is a remarkable detail in an account that begins with the seeming impossibility of feeding the crowd. The disciple Philip notes that it would take “more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (v. 7). Even if they had the means to buy that much bread, it would likely have been impossible to find that much available from local villages and towns, which wouldn’t have been expecting so many buyers.

The miracle has some parallels to the account in 2 Kings 4:42–44. There, during a time of famine (v. 38), God multiplied twenty loaves of barley bread. Like the disciple Andrew (John 6:8-9), Elisha’s servant questioned putting a small amount of food before so many. But in both miracles, there was enough for all—with leftovers (2 Kings 4:44; John 6:12–13)! By: Monica La Rose

He Makes Us New

Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. John 6:12

As a traveling executive, Shawn Seipler wrestled with an odd question. What happens to leftover soap in hotel rooms? Thrown out as trash for landfills, millions of soap bars could instead find new life, Seipler believed. So he launched Clean the World, a recycling venture that has helped more than eight thousand hotels, cruise lines, and resorts turn millions of pounds of discarded soap into sterilized, newly molded soap bars. Sent to people in need in more than one hundred countries, the recycled soap helps prevent countless hygiene-related illnesses and deaths.

As Seipler said, “I know it sounds funny, but that little bar of soap on the counter in your hotel room can literally save a life.”

The gathering up of something used or dirty to give it new life is also one of the most loving traits of our Savior, Jesus. In that manner, after He fed a crowd of five thousand with five small barley loaves and two small fish, He still said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” (John 6:12).

In our lives, when we feel “washed up,” God sees us not as wasted lives but as His miracles. Never throwaways in His sight, we have divine potential for new kingdom work. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). What makes us new? Christ within us. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt you possessed little value? How has Jesus given you new life?

When I feel worthless, dear Father, help me see my new life in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is an easy thing to argue from precedent because it makes everything simple, but it is a risky thing to do. Give God “elbow room”; let Him come into His universe as He pleases. If we confine God in His working to religious people or to certain ways, we place ourselves on an equality with God.  Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L

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

Psalm 125 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:WORRY IS OPTIONAL - June 23, 2023 Some of us have postgraduate degrees from the University of Anxiety. We go to sleep worried that we won’t wake up. We wake up worried that we didn’t sleep. We worry that someone will discover that lettuce was fattening all along. Wouldn’t you love to stop worrying? Could you use a strong shelter from life’s harsh elements?

God offers you just that. The possibility of a worry-free life. Not just less worry, but no worry. Philippians 4:7 says, “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Worry is an option, not an assignment. Be quick to pray. Rather than worry about anything, Scripture says, “pray about everything.” Focus less on the problems ahead and more on the victories behind. In everything let your requests be made known to God! Do your part, and God will for sure do his.

Psalm 125

Those who trust in God
    are like Zion Mountain:
Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain
    you can always depend on.
Mountains encircle Jerusalem,
    and God encircles his people—
    always has and always will.
The fist of the wicked
    will never violate
What is due the righteous,
    provoking wrongful violence.
Be good to your good people, God,
    to those whose hearts are right!
God will round up the backsliders,
    corral them with the incorrigibles.
Peace over Israel!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion Today's Scripture:

Exodus 14:21–23, 26–31 

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God, with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split.

22–25  The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left. The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea.

God said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and the waters will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, over their horsemen.”

27–28  Moses stretched his hand out over the sea: As the day broke and the Egyptians were running, the sea returned to its place as before. God dumped the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The waters returned, drowning the chariots and riders of Pharaoh’s army that had chased after Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29–31  But the Israelites walked right through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall to the right and to the left. God delivered Israel that day from the oppression of the Egyptians. And Israel looked at the Egyptian dead, washed up on the shore of the sea, and realized the tremendous power that God brought against the Egyptians. The people were in reverent awe before God and trusted in God and his servant Moses.

Insight

Some critics attempt to read a contradiction into Exodus 14:21, claiming that it first says Moses parted the sea, and then the text says God did it. However, there’s no contradiction. It was God who commanded Moses, “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water” (v. 16). God did something similar in Exodus 4, when Moses’ staff became a snake (vv. 2–4). God often used the staff or hand of Moses or Aaron to initiate the plagues (see chs. 7–10). But it was always God who accomplished these supernatural acts.

By: Tim Gustafson

God’s Mighty Power

When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord . . . [they] put their trust in him.

Exodus 14:31

The seemingly impossible happened when hurricane-force winds changed the flow of the mighty Mississippi River. In August 2021, Hurricane Ida came ashore on the coast of Louisiana, and the astonishing result was a “negative flow,” meaning water actually flowed upriver for several hours.

Experts estimate that over its life cycle a hurricane can expend energy equivalent to ten thousand nuclear bombs! Such incredible power to change the course of flowing water helps me understand the Israelites’ response to a far more significant “negative flow” recorded in Exodus.

While fleeing the Egyptians who’d enslaved them for centuries, the Israelites came to the edge of the Red Sea. In front of them was a wide body of water and behind them was the heavily armored Egyptian army. In that seemingly impossible situation, “the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land . . . and the Israelites went through the sea” (Exodus 14:21–22). Rescued in that incredible display of power, “the people feared the Lord” (v. 31).

Responding with awe is natural after experiencing the immensity of God’s power. But it didn’t end there; the Israelites also “put their trust” in Him (v. 31).

As we experience God’s power in creation, we too can stand in awe of His might and place our trust in Him.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

When have you experienced a display of God’s power in creation? How did that lead to a greater trust in Him?

Creator God, please help me to trust You more when I see awesome displays of Your power.

For further study, read Get Outside: Knowing God Through His Creation. https://discoveryseries.org/Q1128

My Utmost to his highest devotional

“Acquainted With Grief”

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.  Biblical Ethics, 99 R

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

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft 

WORTH THE WEIGHT - #9510

I think there's like this five-year-old kid that comes out in everybody when they get to Disney World. I'm going to have to confess that the little boy inside of me is still alive and even though it's been awhile since I've been like in Disney World, I mean, we did enjoy the times when our family visited the Magic Kingdom some years ago.

Now, it's good to get to places like that early. I mean, all the attractions are great, but you've got to wait for them, even though you probably don't want to spend your time just standing in long lines most of the time. I remember when I was there years ago, one of the most exciting rides we used to take was called Space Mountain. It was one of our favorite things to do. But there was this warning you had to read before you took the ride. Something like this, "If you have a heart condition, bad back, ingrown toenail, or whatever, don't get on this ride."

It's a wild ride through this outer space environment, in total darkness. So, you look at the line, and you see it's one of the longest lines in the park. At least it was then. And you go, "How long is this wait?" They say, "About an hour." No! Are we going to wait an hour? We did, and we even went back other times. It was great! It was worth it! You've got to wait for the best that they have.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Worth the Weight."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. There are only a few chapters, but there's a lot in it. He told God's children back in that day that he was actually struggling with God's calling. He wanted justice. He's going, "God, why don't you stop the sin in our nation? How come it's taking so long?" And God says, "I'm going to answer your prayer in My time." Then the dreaded word in chapter 2, verse 3, "For the revelation awaits an appointed time." There's that word!

Well, Habakkuk learns a beautiful lesson, because He says near the end of the book in chapter 3, verse 16, "I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Savior."

Habakkuk has learned a solid gold lesson about following the Lord. Doing God's best is a lot like riding the best ride in a place like Disney World. You have to wait to get the best. The Bible is full of instances where people couldn't wait for God's answer. Like Abraham. He goes with Hagar, his wife's handmaid. He cannot wait for the promised son to come through him and Sarah, and he causes a horrible situation. Ishmael comes along, and today the descendants of Isaac, who would later come as the son of Abraham and Sarah, and Ishmael the descendant of Abraham and Hagar are still today fighting it out in the Middle East because Abraham couldn't wait.

Moses tried to deliver the Jews by killing an Egyptian. He had the right idea, "My people should go free." God agreed, but not that way. He had to wander in the wilderness for forty years because he acted too soon. He acted his way... tried it his way. Created a forty year mess. See, God's best always comes after a wait. Look, a baby takes nine months.

Suppose you need an answer, but you can't wait for it. How different the result could be if you could get an instant answer. Wait! You don't want a premature answer. You want God's full term. Maybe you're tired of waiting, but God's answer is worth the wait; it's the best. You may have spent a whole life waiting for a love you couldn't lose. You've been waiting for a peace that would sustain you in every storm. You've been waiting for the assurance that when you die you will be in heaven.

Well, today God is coming your way with the offer of Jesus, His Son, who died to make all that happen. Who walked out of His grace to prove He can. Maybe you've never had a day when you've made Jesus your Savior. Maybe you've never opened your heart to Him. If you want to and you need to know how, would you come to our website and find that out? It's ANewStory.com. It could all begin there.

A lifetime of waiting for the love that will fill your heart could be over now and that love could begin today.

Psalm 124 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TRUST THE CAPTAIN - June 22, 2023

The sky is dark. Sudden waves of water tilt up our sailing vessel until we see nothing but sky and then downward until we see nothing but blue. I learned this about sailing: there is nothing swell about a swell! Eyes turned first to the thunderclouds, then to the captain. We looked to him. He was deliberate and decisive. He told some of us where to sit, others what to do, all of us to hang on. And we did what he said. Why? Because he knew best.

Such winds test our trust in our Captain. Does God know what he’s doing? Why did he allow the storm? The conditions sometime worsen, his instructions perplex. How do you respond? Can you say about God what I said about our captain? I know God knows what’s best. I know I don’t. I know he cares. Do you trust him?

Psalm 124

If God hadn’t been for us
    —all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn’t been for us
    when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
    by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
    drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
    in the wild, raging water.

6 

Oh, blessed be God!
    He didn’t go off and leave us.
He didn’t abandon us defenseless,
    helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.

7 

We’ve flown free from their fangs,
    free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
    we’re free as a bird in flight.

8 

God’s strong name is our help,
    the same God who made heaven and earth.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion 

Today's Scripture:

Romans 10:8–17 

So what exactly was Moses saying?

The word that saves is right here,

as near as the tongue in your mouth,

as close as the heart in your chest.

It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!”

11–13  Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”

14–17  But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims,

A sight to take your breath away!

Grand processions of people

telling all the good things of God!

But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.

Insight

In Romans 10, Paul explains why the Jews are still not saved. To these Jews, the way to have a right standing with God was to meticulously keep the law. But God’s way is that they must believe in Jesus (Romans 10:3–4). Paul spelled out God’s way of salvation: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (v. 9). It’s the same for all people—whether Jews or gentiles—for Christ “is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (v. 12). Paul reaffirms the necessity of believing in Jesus by saying, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v. 13).

By: K. T. Sim

Faith Comes from Hearing

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Romans 10:17

When Pastor Bob suffered an injury that affected his voice, he entered fifteen years of crisis and depression. What, he wondered, does a pastor do who can’t talk? He struggled with this question, pouring out his grief and confusion to God. He reflected, “I only knew one thing to do—to go after the Word of God.” As he spent time reading the Bible, his love for God grew: “I’ve devoted my life to absorbing and immersing myself in the Scripture because faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.”

We find the phrase “faith comes from hearing” in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul longed for all of his fellow Jewish people to believe in Christ and be saved (Romans 10:9). How would they believe? Through the faith that “comes from hearing the message . . . through the word about Christ” (v. 17).

Pastor Bob seeks to receive and believe in Christ’s message, especially as he reads the Bible. He can only speak for an hour a day and has constant pain when he does so, but he continues to find peace and contentment from God through his immersion in Scripture. So too we can trust that Jesus will reveal Himself to us in our struggles. He will increase our faith as we hear His message, whatever challenges we face.

By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

How could immersing yourself in Scripture strengthen your faith? How have you found contentment even when life is challenging?

Loving God, You give me hope even when I feel stuck and in pain. Shape me into the person You want me to be.

My Utmost to his highest devotional

June 22

The Unchanging Law of Judgment

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft

Who's Feeding You? - #9509

Well, first we had these Super 8 films of our kids when they were little. And then they became, of course, videos for modern times and then DVDs. And, you know, it's really kind of fun to flash back, especially to when they were babies and just like toddlers.

For example, our oldest son, we have got an old movie of his first birthday. And we managed to keep this on film for better or worse. In this picture he is is seated in this highchair, he's dressed in brand new birthday clothes it looks like, and he's surrounded by relatives who are probably saying lots of dumb things to him. And Mom comes along and there she sets in front of him on his highchair a big, beautiful, fudgy, chocolatey birthday cake (you know where I'm going) with one candle in it.

Well, he blew out the candle, of course. Now the movie continues. My son is simply staring at the cake, trying to figure out what you're supposed to do with it. By the end of the movie he is wearing the cake, because he did try to feed it to himself. It was pretty messy, but at least he was feeding himself.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who's Feeding You?"

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 5. I'll begin reading at verse 12. The writer says, "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

In essence, the writer here is saying, "You know, you've been around a while, guys. You should be into some serious spiritual issues. What are you doing still playing with entry level basics? You should be teaching others, but you still need someone to hold your hand." Now, we fed our son when he was first born, and that's pretty natural. But pretty soon he began to feed himself. In fact, we would have had cause to worry about him if he didn't feed himself.

See, God has a lot of underdeveloped kids who are still depending on someone else to feed them. You see, maturity means you feed yourself. So, who's spiritually feeding you most of the time? Now, we have a lot of folks giving us food: you know, radio programs, church services, websites, Bible studies, youth leaders, TV shows, and that's great. But it's all supposed to be supplemental. It's easy to be lazy about feeding yourself. The foundation of a relationship with Jesus Christ comes down to you and Jesus, alone in a room. You with a Bible in your hands digging out your personal word for today from the Word of God.

If that's not the center of your spiritual growth, you might be one of God's overgrown babies. It's what you discover first hand that really changes you inside. Isn't it time you set a regular time to feed yourself, to make that time with Jesus non-negotiable? Read it, and read it again to find something to do today because you read it. Write down what you're going to do and what you read. Get a journal going. And then, tell someone about what you got out of the Bible today. You say, "Well, I'm not really very good at feeding myself. I need professional feeders."

Well, my son wasn't very good at it either at first. He made a mess! He missed his mouth, but he was trying. He was growing. He got better as he did it more, and so will you. The important thing is that you are daily allowing time with Jesus where you can learn to feed yourself.

When you're doing that, well congratulations, you're beyond spiritual Pampers and you're on the road to really growing up!

Psalm 123 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: BOUND WITH PEACE - June 20, 2023 

Why anyone would pester Hannah Lake is beyond me. If her sweet face doesn’t de-starch your shirt, her angelic voice will. But a grade school bully tried to stir some trouble. Intimidation. Pressure. But Hannah did not fold. And in the end, it was her faith that pulled her through! The older student warned Hannah, “Any day now I’m coming after you.” Hannah didn’t flinch or cry. She simply informed the perpetrator about the facts: “Do whatever you need to do,” she said. “Just know this: God is on my side.” Last word has it that no more threats have been made.

Elementary school bullies don’t await you, but job transfers and fair-weather friends do. Challenges pockmark the pathway of your life. Where do you find energy to face them? You know, God never promises the absence of distress. But he does promise the assuring presence of his Holy Spirit.

Psalm 123

 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God,
    look up to you for help.
Like servants, alert to their master’s commands,
    like a maiden attending her lady,
We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath,
    awaiting your word of mercy.
Mercy, God, mercy!
    We’ve been kicked around long enough,
Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,
    kicked when we’re down by arrogant brutes.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion Today's Scripture:

1 Peter 4:7–11

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Insight

Peter’s instruction in 1 Peter 4:7–11 includes basic but essential truth about believers in Jesus and spiritual gifts. One way to view spiritual gifts is to see them as channels for dispensing the multiple expressions of God’s favor to people in the church and the world. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (v. 10). God gives the gifts; believers receive them and utilize them as “stewards”—those who have household oversight with attendant responsibility and accountability. Rather than the itemization of gifts seen in Paul’s writing (Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11), Peter mentions the two major categories under which all gifts fall—speaking and serving (1 Peter 4:11). The abundance of God’s grace requires many outlets. Understanding these things can promote unity and prompt us to ask God to use us to serve Him.

By: Arthur Jackson

Step by Step

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

A dozen teams, each including three people standing shoulder to shoulder, prepared for the four-legged race. Each outside person bound to the person in the middle by colorful rags at their ankles and knees, every trio locked their eyes on the finish line. When the whistle blew, the teams lunged forward. Most of them fell and struggled to regain their footing. A few groups chose to hop instead of walk. Some gave up. But one team delayed their start, confirmed their plan, and communicated as they moved forward. They stumbled along the way but pressed on and soon passed all the teams. Their willingness to cooperate, step by step, enabled them to cross the finish line together.

Living for God within the community of believers in Jesus often feels as frustrating as trying to move forward during a four-legged race. We often stumble when interacting with people who hold different opinions from us.

Peter speaks of prayer, hospitality, and using our gifts to align ourselves in unity for life ahead. He urges believers in Jesus to “love each other deeply” (1 Peter 4:8), to be hospitable without complaining, and to “serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (v. 10). When we ask God to help us communicate and cooperate, we can lead the race in showing the world how to celebrate differences and live together in unity.

By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

When have you struggled to work with someone who was different from you? How has God helped you?

Mighty God, please help me communicate and cooperate with others as I learn to love like You. 

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft

UNFORGETTABLE YOU - #9508

June 21, 2023

I'm so glad we have lots of things around our house that bloom when spring pushes out Old Man Winter. Now, if you have allergies, you probably don't look forward to Spring, but I hope you can at least enjoy some of its extravagant beauty. And it isn't just things to see.

Every year, as I was rushing around the yard doing my chores, I would catch this beautiful scent every time I went past this one flowering bush. It's actually not far from our trash cans; not the most fragrant item in our yard. But, you know, I actually loved to catch the aroma of those flowers. I love it when the iris and the peonies start to bloom (I would have no idea what they were if my wife hadn't told me). They give off this inviting fragrance, like this fantastic yard perfume!

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

A dear friend of ours wore this distinctive perfume for all the years we knew her - it was her trademark scent really. You could close your eyes and you knew it was her. At her funeral, our pastor talked about that perfume and the fragrant trail she always left wherever she went with the life she lived. She touched ours and so many others with the fragrance of her life.

That's how it's supposed to be for anyone who belongs to Jesus Christ; leaving a trail of fragrant blessing wherever you go, with whomever you meet. How are you doing on that? Like those flowers in our yard, there should be this compelling beauty about your life that brings beauty into theirs. Even if there's a lot of trash in their life right now. The fact is, we all give off some kind of fragrance with the way we treat people, and the way we handle stress, and whether we make people feel more or less important, whether we bring sunshine into a situation or clouds. This would be a good day for you to evaluate: what kind of trail, what kind of life-fragrance do I leave?

One man who shows us the kind of trail we're supposed to leave is written about in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Acts 4:36-37. At a time when the just-birthed Christian community had a lot of needs it says, "Joseph...whom the disciples called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet." This man had left such a trail of encouragement the apostles actually changed his name to fit the impact he made. They called him "Mr. Encouragement." Listen, if people were to change your name to something that describes the effect you have on them, what would they call you?

That name should reflect at least one of the qualities of what the Bible calls the "fruit of the Spirit"; that is, the kind of person the Holy Spirit makes you. According to Galatians 5:22-23, you should be giving off a fragrance of "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." So how are you doing with that?

Do people feel that you care about their need? Do you stop to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? Are you calm in the midst of the frenzy or are you just another stress-carrier? Do people feel important when they're with you because you listen to them and focus on them? Do they feel lifted up or put down by being around you? People are so starved for praise, for appreciation. If you give it, you'll be a magnet.

And all this is so they will want to know why you're so different from everybody else in their busy, self-centered, self-promoting universe. A life with a beautiful fragrance gives you the opportunity to point them to the One who makes you that way because of how He has treated you, and that of course is Jesus. In the words of Matthew 5:16, they will "See your good works" and ultimately then they will "praise your Father in heaven." Your fragrant life can help lead them to eternal life.

When people pass your way, would you let them catch a whiff of Jesus so they, too, can experience His love. Jesus so they, too, can experience His love.

2 Thessalonians 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BOUND WITH PEACE - June 20, 2023

We used to have a backyard trampoline. One afternoon all three of our girls were bouncing on it. Like all siblings, they don’t always get along. But for some reason, that afternoon they were one another’s biggest fans. When one jumped, the other two applauded. My chest swelled with pride. After a few moments, you know what I did? I joined them. I couldn’t resist. Their alliance pleased me.

Our alliance pleases Christ. Jesus promised, “When two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there” (Matthew 18:20). Do you desire the power of Jesus in your life? Paul said in Romans 12:18 it will come as you “do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible.” Work through your conflicts. Forgive offenses. Resolve disputes.  Scripture says, “Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, bind yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

2 Thessalonians 2

The Anarchist

2 1-3 Now, friends, read these next words carefully. Slow down and don’t go jumping to conclusions regarding the day when our Master, Jesus Christ, will come back and we assemble to welcome him. Don’t let anyone shake you up or get you excited over some breathless report or rumored letter from me that the day of the Master’s arrival has come and gone. Don’t fall for any line like that.

3-5 Before that day comes, a couple of things have to happen. First, the Apostasy. Second, the debut of the Anarchist, a partner in crime with Satan. He’ll defy and then take over every so-called god or altar. Having cleared away the opposition, he’ll then set himself up in God’s Temple as “God Almighty.” Don’t you remember me going over all this in detail when I was with you? Are your memories that short?

6-8 You’ll also remember that I told you the Anarchist is being held back until just the right time. That doesn’t mean that the spirit of anarchy is not now at work. It is, secretly and underground. But the time will come when the Anarchist will no longer be held back, but will be let loose. But don’t worry. The Master Jesus will be right on his heels and blow him away. The Master appears and—puff!—the Anarchist is out of there.

9-12 The Anarchist’s coming is all Satan’s work. All his power and signs and miracles are fake, evil sleight of hand that plays to the gallery of those who hate the truth that could save them. And since they’re so obsessed with evil, God rubs their noses in it—gives them what they want. Since they refuse to trust truth, they’re banished to their chosen world of lies and illusions.

13-14 Meanwhile, we’ve got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.

15-17 So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion 

Today's Scripture:

James 1:19–27 

Act on What You Hear

19–21  Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

22–24  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

25  But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

26–27  Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

Insight

Four men named James appear in the New Testament. Which one of them authored the book of James? James the brother of John was martyred in ad 44 (Acts 12:2). Most scholars believe the letter was written ad 48 or later. James the father of Judas (not Iscariot) is mentioned only once (Luke 6:16), so it’s unlikely he wrote it. Some think the author is James the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18). However, most scholars believe the writer to be James the half-brother of Jesus. Immediately after Jesus’ ascension to heaven (Acts 1:9–10), we find a reference to this James (v. 13). The text tells us that after the ascension, the disciples returned to an upstairs room along with “the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and . . . his brothers” (v. 14; see also Mark 6:3). James the brother of Jesus met a vital qualification of apostleship; he’d seen Jesus following His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7).

By: Tim Gustafson

True Religion

Religion that God our Father accepts . . . is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

James 1:27

The summer after my sophomore year of college, a classmate died unexpectedly. I’d seen him just a few days prior and he looked fine. My classmates and I were young and in what we thought was the prime of our lives, having just become sisters and brothers after pledging our respective sorority and fraternity.

But what I remember most about my classmate’s death was witnessing my fraternity friends live out what the apostle James calls “genuine religion” (James 1:27 nlt). The men in the fraternity became like brothers to the sister of the deceased. They attended her wedding and traveled to her baby shower years after her brother’s death. One even gifted her a cell phone to contact him whenever she needed to call.

True religion, according to James, is “to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (v. 27). While my friend’s sister wasn’t an orphan in the literal sense, she no longer had her brother. Her new “brothers” filled in the gap.

And that’s what all of us who want to practice true and pure life in Jesus can do—“do what [Scripture] says” (v. 22), including caring for those in need (2:14–17). Our faith in Him prompts us to look after the vulnerable as we keep ourselves from the negative influences of the world as He helps us. After all, it’s the true religion God accepts.

By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

How have you seen true religion played out? How can you display genuine faith to others?

Heavenly Father, open my eyes to see where I can help the most vulnerable as You lead me.

My Utmost to his highest devotional 

June 20

Have You Come to “When” Yet?

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The 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

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft

LIFE'S MOST EXPENSIVE REGRETS - #9507

My friend was telling me about the investment he'd bailed out of just before it really took off. He said, "I have a habit of doing that." I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, it kind of runs in the family." And then he told me an unforgettable story. He said, "My dad was approached by the founders of ServiceMaster, which is, of course, this huge multi-million dollar corporation in America. And they were neighbors, and they came to him when they were just starting and they said, 'Hey, would you like to get in on the ground floor and help us get started?' He said, 'Well, guys, why don't you just go clean your carpets. No thanks.'"

Well, that wasn't all. Another one of their neighbors was a man named Ray Croc. You might recognize that name; he was the founder of McDonald's! He came to this same man and said, "Would you be interested? We're opening our fourth little hamburger thing called McDonald's Golden Arches. Would you like to get in on the fourth store?" "No, I'm not into hamburgers." He came back to him another time and said, "Hey, it's going pretty well. You know we're opening our seventh one. Would you like to get in on it?" "No, I'm not interested."

How many times do you think he asked, "What did I miss?" I guess you just add those to the list of life's "if only's," huh? Of course, you've got your own list. Maybe not opportunities to make a million, but a lot of missed opportunities.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life's Most Expensive Regrets."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from Ephesians 5, and I'm going to read verse 15. "Be very careful about how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." I like those words, "making the most of every opportunity." Those turn out to be if you don't take them, life's "'if onlys' ... if only I had." It's interesting that this challenge to not miss opportunities is followed by a description of a spirit-filled family life: husbanding, wifeing, parenting, childing. And those are the "if only's" that you can't afford to miss.

How many times have I had a parent say to me, "Ron, what can I do to get my rebellious son or daughter back?" Maybe they've been rushed to the hospital with a suicide attempt, they're actively rebelling; breaking their parent's heart. Well, for me to give them the really honest answer, I might have to say, "What I'm going to tell you is something that needed to be done years ago." Remember? There was a song year's ago, Cat's In the Cradle and the Silver Spoon. Dad was too busy, and then when he had time later, the son was too busy for his Dad?

See, each day is filled with opportunities to listen, to hug, to debrief, to teach, and they'll never come again. It's true in marriage, too. Days without being close become weeks, and months, and years. And one day you wish you could have those days back. They're gone forever. The Bible says, "Make the most of every opportunity."

Your son or daughter is feeling feelings now that really need your perspective. But this will pass and become a part of who they are, whether they get to share it or not. They're making choices, they're making friends, they're developing a sense of humor. They're trying to find out where God fits in everyday life. They need you there. There'll be many things more urgent but none more important. Everyone else will scream for your attention; they'll just whisper.

My friend watched his father miss some golden opportunities with golden arches. But that was only to make money. We're talking here about the opportunity to mark lives. And it happens in the little golden moments that don't seem that important at the time. "If only I had taken the time."

When it comes to your marriage partner, your children, your parents, those are life's most expensive "if onlys."

Psalms 122, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ELCOME GOD’S SPIRIT - June 19, 2023

As a Christian you have all the power you need for all the problems you face. The Bible says your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. The question isn’t, “How do I get more of the Spirit?” but rather, “How can you, Spirit, have more of me?” We’d expect a Mother Teresa-size answer! Build an orphanage. Memorize Leviticus. Bathe lepers. Do this and be filled, we think. Do this on your own and be tired, God corrects.

Do you desire God’s Spirit? Here’s what you do: He says everyone who asks will receive. You know how to give good things to your children; how much more your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Friend, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Welcome the Spirit into every part of your heart!

Psalm 122 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
    my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
    inside Jerusalem’s walls!

3-5 

Jerusalem, well-built city,
    built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
    all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
    this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
    are set there, famous David-thrones.

6-9 

Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!
    Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
Friendly insiders, get along!
    Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!
For the sake of my family and friends,
    I say it again: live in peace!
For the sake of the house of our God, God,
    I’ll do my very best for you.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Galatians 5:1–7, 13–15

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

2–3  I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

4–6  I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

7–10  You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?

13–15  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?

Insight

The book of Galatians addresses one of the toughest issues the early communities of believers in Jesus faced: how to understand and relate to the requirements of Mosaic law, especially for gentile believers. Should gentile believers be required to be circumcised and to follow other aspects of Mosaic law? Some were teaching this very thing. Paul’s encounter with the risen Jesus, however, convinced him that the law should be interpreted differently—as leading to and finding fulfillment in Christ (Galatians 2:19–21). To require believers to follow the law when Christ had already made them right with God and won their freedom (5:1, 4–6) would be “a different gospel . . . no gospel at all” (1:6–7).

By: Monica La Rose

Live in Freedom 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Galatians 5:1

In Texas, where I grew up, there were festive parades and picnics in Black communities every June 19. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learned the heartbreaking significance of Juneteenth (a word combining “June” and “nineteenth”) celebrations. Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation giving them their freedom—two-and-a-half years earlier. Enslaved people in Texas kept living in slavery because they didn’t know they’d been freed.

It’s possible to be free and yet live as slaves. In Galatians, Paul wrote about another kind of slavery: living life under the crushing demands of religious rules. In this pivotal verse, Paul encouraged his readers that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Believers in Jesus had been set free from external regulations, including what to eat and who to befriend. Many, however, still lived as if they were enslaved.  

Unfortunately, we can do the same thing today. But the reality is that Jesus set us free from living in fear of man-made religious standards the moment we trusted in Him. Freedom has been proclaimed. Let’s live it out in His power.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you been trapped by religious rules? How have you experienced freedom in Christ?

Jesus, thank You for setting me free from the burden of oppressive rules.

Learn more about finding your God-given calling 

My Utmost to his highest devotional 

June 19

The Service of Passionate Devotion

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft 

HOPE IN THE DARKEST HOUR - #9506

It was several years ago, and this particular Super Bowl Sunday there was kind of a dark cloud over it because there had come some news that had rocked Hollywood. It rocked Broadway, and then countless everyday folks who could not forget the compelling characters that this actor had created on the screen. Academy Award-winning actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman had been found dead in his apartment of a drug overdose at the age of 46.

Hoffman was considered one of the most gifted, most admired actors in show business. The sadness was compounded by a lot of reminders that he was so talented, so young, and the circumstances of his death were so wrenchingly tragic.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope in the Darkest Hour."

The autopsy revealed the exact cause of death. But there is no autopsy for a human soul to find out what went wrong there. Yes, this actor had admitted his addictions. Those close to him said he had beaten those problems in rehab. But on that Sunday, drugs allegedly killed him.

Comedian and actor, Jim Carrey - who is no stranger to success - in his response to Seymore's death, he said, "Dear Philip, a beautiful, beautiful soul. For the most sensitive among us the noise can be too much." I guess you don't have to be a star to know what he's talking about. So many people live in quiet desperation, closer to the edge than anybody knows.

Actor Val Kilmer suggested in his reaction that "addiction comes from trying to escape the pain of living. We all struggle with this" he said. The escapes are many: drugs or alcohol, or some have an affair, some have pornography, some are just running into a relentless schedule or a consuming workload.

But that "pain of living" afflicts virtually all of us humans. Sadly, escape is never an answer. Escape always seems to ultimately run into a wall. And wherever you go, you take you with you. But there was insight in Philip Seymour Hoffman's own words. He told the New York Times: "I try to live my life in such a way that I don't have profound regrets. That's probably why I work too much. I don't want to feel like I missed something important."

Look how many people slip away from this life, knowing they've missed something important and never knowing what it was. Like a source of untouchable peace that would sustain me when that "noise" becomes "too much." Or a source of strength that enables me to overcome "that pain of living." Rather than escaping into something that solves nothing, just creates more pain. Or a hope so strong that not even the darkest of days can erase it.

Where can I find the power to conquer my inner darkness when there's no script writer who's going to write a happy ending? I'm not going to find it in me. It's not going to be in my greatest achievements. It's not going to be my personal strength; even my deepest relationships. Life's too hard, my resources are too finite to find ultimate answers by looking in myself. Or around the people close to me.

Okay, now, our word for today from the Word of God, where the answer really is, where the hope is, Ephesians 2, beginning with verse 12 that describes people being "without hope and without God in the world." If I do not have a personal relationship with the God I was made by and made for, I'm without hope. But then it says, "In Christ Jesus, you who were once far away..." See, we've got a wall between us and God. "...you've been brought near through the blood of Christ." Jesus Christ died to tear down that wall.

And then it says, "He Himself is our peace." Peace isn't a pill. Peace is not an escape. Peace is a person. His name is Jesus. And the question I ask you today, "In the midst of the storm in your life is, do you know Him? Do you belong to Him?" If there's never been a day when you've begun a relationship with Jesus, would you make this that day?

You say, "Well, I need to know how." Go to our website and let me help you know how? It's ANewStory.com. The darkness has won long enough. It doesn't have to win any more. Not with this light that nothing can extinguish.

Psalms 121, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: No Matter What

The 1989 Armenian earthquake killed thirty thousand people. Moments after the tremor stopped, a father raced to an elementary school. As he arrived to nothing but a mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he'd made to his child: "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you." Other parents arrived as he began pulling at the rocks. "It's too late," they told the man. But the father refused. For thirty six hours he dug-his hands raw, but he refused to quit.

After thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder. "Arman!  Arman!" and a voice answered him, "Dad, it's me." Then the boy added these priceless words, "I told the others not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you'd save me, and when you saved me, they'd be saved, too. Because you promised, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"

From Dad Time

Psalm 121 

1-2 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

3-4 

He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

5-6 

God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

7-8 

God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Today's Scripture & Insight: Ephesians 3:12–19

The Message: The Bible 

When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

14–19  My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

Insight

At the end of his second missionary journey, Paul made a brief visit to Ephesus (Acts 18:19–22) and returned there at the start of his third missionary journey (19:1–21; 20:31). When he was imprisoned (see Ephesians 3:1), probably in Rome, he wrote the letter of Ephesians to encourage the believers to remain strong, telling them that he had persistently prayed for their growth and maturity (1:15–18).

The book of Ephesians contains two prayers. In the first one, which emphasizes knowledge (1:15–23), Paul prays that the church would have “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that [they] may know [God] better,” and “know the hope” to which God had called them (vv. 17–18). In the second prayer, which focuses on love, he prays that “being rooted and established in love” (3:17), they might “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (v. 18).

By: K. T. Sim

Fixing Go-Karts

I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

Ephesians 3:14–15

The garage of my childhood home holds many memories. On Saturday mornings, my dad would roll our car down the driveway so we had room to work—with my favorite project being a broken go-kart we’d found. On that garage floor, we gave it new wheels, attached a sporty, plastic windshield, and—with Dad on the street looking out for traffic—I would race down the driveway with such excitement! Looking back, I see more was going on in that garage than simply fixing go-karts. Instead, a young boy was being shaped by his dad—and getting a glimpse of God in the process.

Human beings have been patterned on God’s own nature (Genesis 1:27–28). Human parenting has its origin in Him too, for He’s “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (Ephesians 3:14–15). Just as parents imitate God’s life-giving abilities by bringing children into the world, when they nurture and protect their kids, they express qualities not sourced in themselves but in Father God. He’s the model all parenting is based on.

My father wasn’t perfect. Like every father and mother, his parenting sometimes failed to imitate heaven’s. But when it so often did imitate God, it gave me a glimpse of His own nurture and protection—right there, as we fixed go-karts on the garage floor.

By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

How do you see good parenting reflecting God’s nature? How can you reflect His nurture and protection to others today?

Father God, help me nurture and protect our children and others today, revealing Your good qualities to them.

My Utmost to his highest devotional 

June 18

Keep Recognizing Jesus

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L

Psalm 120, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Loving the Child Who Drops the Ball

Dropping a fly ball may not be a big deal to most people, but if you're thirteen years old and have aspirations of the big leagues, it's a big deal. I was halfway home when my dad found me. He didn't say a word.  Just pulled over to the side of the road, and opened the passenger door. We both knew the world had come to an end.

I went straight to my room.  He went straight to the kitchen. Presently he appeared in front of me with cookies and milk.  And somewhere in the dunking of the cookies, I began to realize that life and my father's love would go on. If you love the guy who drops the ball, then you really love him. My skill as a baseball player didn't improve, but my confidence in Dad's love did. He never said a word. He showed up. He listened up.

From Dad Time

Psalm 120 I’m in trouble. I cry to God,
    desperate for an answer:
“Deliver me from the liars, God!
    They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth.”

3-4 

Do you know what’s next, can you see what’s coming,
    all you bold-faced liars?
Pointed arrows and burning coals
    will be your reward.

5-7 

I’m doomed to live in Meshech,
    cursed with a home in Kedar,
My whole life lived camping
    among quarreling neighbors.
I’m all for peace, but the minute
    I tell them so, they go to war!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Today's Scripture & Insight:

Jeremiah 1:4–9

This is what God said:

5  “Before I shaped you in the womb,

I knew all about you.

Before you saw the light of day,

I had holy plans for you:

A prophet to the nations—

that’s what I had in mind for you.”

6  But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.

I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”

7–8  God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’

I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.

I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.

Don’t be afraid of a soul.

I’ll be right there, looking after you.”

God’s Decree.

9–10  God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,

“Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!

Insight

The account of God calling the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4–10) emphasizes that it’s God who calls and equips us. God emphasized that Jeremiah was called to his prophetic work even before conception (v. 5). Similarly, the apostle Paul described God calling him to his work before he was born (Galatians 1:15). Jeremiah responds much like Moses (Exodus 4:10) and questions whether he’s best suited for the work (Jeremiah 1:6). As with Moses, God responded by insisting on Jeremiah’s obedience and assuring him that His power would be with him (vv. 4–8). Then God “touched [Jeremiah’s] mouth,” which likely indicated purifying him, and put His own words in his mouth (v. 9). Finally, Jeremiah is told of the unique focus of his prophetic work, which would both “uproot and tear down” (v. 10).

By: Monica La Rose

The Power of Voice

I have put my words in your mouth.

Jeremiah 1:9

The most powerful orators in history are often those leaders who’ve used their voices to bring about positive change. Consider Frederick Douglass, whose speeches on abolition and liberty spurred a movement that helped lead to the end of slavery in the United States. What if he’d chosen to be silent? We all possess the capacity to use our voice to inspire and help others, but the fear of speaking out can be paralyzing. In the moments when we feel overwhelmed by this fear, we can look to God, our source of divine wisdom and encouragement.

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, he immediately began to doubt his own abilities. He cried out, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young” (Jeremiah 1:6). But God wouldn’t allow Jeremiah’s fear to get in the way of his divine calling to inspire a generation through his voice. Instead, He instructed the prophet to simply trust God by saying and doing whatever He commanded (v. 7). In addition to affirming Jeremiah, He also equipped him. “I have put my words in your mouth” (v. 9), He assured him.

When we ask God to show us how He wants to use us, He’ll equip us to carry out our purpose. With His help, we can boldly use our voice to make a positive impact on those around us.

By:  Kimya Loder

Reflect & Pray

When have you been afraid to use your voice? How might you rely on God’s strength and wisdom to speak up?

Heavenly Father, give me the strength to use the power of my words to influence those around me for the better.

My Utmost to his highest devotional 

June 17

Beware of Criticizing Others

By Oswald Chambers

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

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

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

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The 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: Nehemiah 7-9; Act

2 Thessalonians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HEIRS WITH CHRIST - June 15, 2023

You’ve been claimed. Adopted. God’s very own child! Romans 8:29: “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.”

Abandon you to a fatherless world? No way. Before you knew you needed adopting, he’d already filed the papers and selected the wallpaper for your room. Those who have access to God’s family Bible can read your name. He wrote it there. He covered the adoption fees. We don’t finance our adoption, but we do accept it. And the moment we accept his offer, we go from orphans to heirs!

Romans 8:17 says, “we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” No stepchildren or grandchildren. You and Christ share the same will. What he inherits, you inherit. You are headed home!

2 Thessalonians 1

I, Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, greet the church of the Thessalonian Christians in the name of God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. Our God gives you everything you need, makes you everything you’re to be.

Justice Is on the Way

3-4 You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure; it’s a must. We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully. Why, it’s only right that we give thanks. We’re so proud of you; you’re so steady and determined in your faith despite all the hard times that have broadsided you. We tell everyone we meet in the churches all about you.

5-10 All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You’re suffering now, but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he’ll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. His coming will be the break we’ve been waiting for. Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done. Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence. But on that very same day when he comes, he will be exalted by his followers and celebrated by all who believe—and all because you believed what we told you.

11-12 Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Today's Scripture: Philippians 1:3–6

I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Insight

Paul’s exuberance over the church at Philippi is made more remarkable by the fact that he wrote these words from prison (see Philippians 1:13–14). Amid confinement and, no doubt, a certain amount of mistreatment, he found joy and celebration as he considered his friends at Philippi. Why? Primarily because of their partnership with him in the work of the gospel (v. 5). The Greek word translated “partnership” is koinōnia—the word normally translated “fellowship.” This is a reminder that fellowship in the body of Christ is much more than just enjoying being together or building strong friendships with other believers in Jesus. It means to share something in common. Not only do we share a family relationship with one another through being part of God’s family, we also have a shared mission—to take the message of His love and forgiveness to the world (Matthew 28:18–20).

By: Bill Crowder

Putting the Pieces Together

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

While our family quarantined due to the global pandemic, we took on an ambitious project—an eighteen-thousand-piece puzzle! Even though we worked on it almost daily, often we felt like we weren’t making much progress. Five months after we began, we finally celebrated adding the final piece to the nine-by-six-foot puzzle that covered our dining room floor.

Sometimes my life feels a bit like a giant puzzle—many pieces in place, but a whole lot more still lying in a jumble on the floor. While I know that God is at work transforming me to be more and more like Jesus, sometimes it can be hard to see much progress.

I take great comfort in Paul’s encouragement in his letter to the Philippians when he said he prayed for them with joy because of the good work they were doing (1:3–4). But his confidence came not in their abilities but in God, believing that “he who began a good work . . . [would] carry it on to completion” (v. 6).

God has promised to finish His work in us. Like a puzzle, there may be sections that still need our attention, and there are times when we don’t seem to make much progress. But we can have confidence that our faithful God is still putting the pieces together.

By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How do you believe God is currently at work? What are some of the beautiful areas of your life He’s pieced together?

Heavenly Father, please give me eyes of faith to see how You’re at work in my life.

For further study, read Remade in the Image of Jesus.

https://discoveryseries.org/courses/remade-in-the-image-of-jesus/

My Utmost to his highest devotional June 15

Get Moving! (2)

By Oswald Chambers

Also…add to your faith… —2 Peter 1:5

In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, “Jesus…took a towel and…began to wash the disciples’ feet…” (John 13:3-5).

We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.

It is difficult for us to do the “adding” that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him.  Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L

Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 1-3; Acts 2:1-2

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft WHEN THINGS SEEM OUT OF CONTROL - #9504

Remember some years ago when the Olympics were in Russia? I liked that news a whole lot better than more recent news about Russia. Yeah, they had fireworks that ended the Russian Olympics. And now the fireworks are in Ukraine. And suddenly part of Ukraine was part of Russia. Hello? Russia flexing its expansionist muscles on the world's stage, I'm hearing those two words again that I haven't heard for a long time - Cold War.

See, that standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine, well that could just be a beginning. It's starting to feel pretty familiar and potentially explosive. It doesn't help that a Russian anchorman (who reportedly is called President Putin's "favorite") was a while back on State-controlled TV with a mushroom cloud as his backdrop. He was announcing, literally, Russia is the only country capable of turning the U.S. into (his words) "radioactive ash." And we've heard a lot more saber rattling from them haven't we? That's not what you want to watch right before bedtime.

I'm Ron Hutchraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Things Seem Out of Control."

Some of this feels like the opening act of a world that's growing even more unstable and more dangerous as time goes by. It's just a disturbing time in the world with almost every night's headline.You know, there's talk about a Cold War standoff with a resurgent Russia; fears of a growing and powerful China. Rekindled fears of terrorism. And then the growing prospect of weapons of mass destruction in some pretty scary hands. It just feels like one little spark sometimes could send things spinning out of control. Well, that's our control. I turn off the news and I reach for my Bible.

Then I read where David, the revered Jewish king, asked this question, "What can we do when the foundations are being destroyed?" Well I'll tell you, with so many "foundations" shaking these days, that's a good question today.

Here's our word for today from the Word of God. The answer in Psalm 11:3-4 - "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne." At first, that didn't sound like it answered the questions. But then I realized I was reading about the one unmoving anchor when everything else in the world is up for grabs.

Things might be out of our control. and they are. But they're never out of God's control. Nations may fall. Evil men can plot and even succeed. The doctor may stun us with bad news. The finances may seem impossible. The funeral seems like the end. Our family may look hopeless. But God has not vacated the throne from which the universe is governed. Proverbs 19:21 says, "It is the Lord's purpose that prevails"

You know, I was scared to death when I was on my first big roller coaster as a kid; pretty sure I was going to die at the age of nine. I was jerking every which-way. We were defying gravity. It seemed like we were out of control. But not out of control, because the whole time that car was flying all over, it was attached to the tracks and headed for a safe destination.

I'm not at the mercy of a roller coaster world. I am loved by the God who rules the galaxies; whose plans can't be derailed. I'm not afraid. However wild the ride, things are still on track.

The Bible says in the greatest insurance policy in the universe, "Who will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Which causes me to ask you to consider today what unloseable source of security do you have that is divorce-proof, terror-proof, recession-proof, unemployment-proof, death-proof? The Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." And this man who loved you enough to die for your sins was powerful enough to walk out of His grave. He's the one sure thing in a rapidly changing world.

If you don't belong to Him...if you're not sure you do, get that settled today. Anchor your life! Go to our website and find out how to begin with Him. It's ANewStory.com. Because, like the song says, "He's got the whole world in His hands."