2 Corinthians 13, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: JUST FOR YOU - November 2, 2023

Behold the sun! Every square yard of it is constantly emitting 130,000 horse power, the equivalent of 450 eight-cylinder car engines.

Consider the earth! Our globe’s weight is estimated at six sextillion tons—that’s a six with 21 zeros! Yet it’s precisely tilted at twenty-three degrees or our seasons would be lost in a melted polar flood.

If God is able to place the stars in their sockets and suspend the sky like a curtain, do you think it remotely possible God is able to guide your life? Next time a sunrise steals your breath, say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, “Do you like it? I did it just for you.”

2 Corinthians 13

He’s Alive Now!

1–4  13 Well, this is my third visit coming up. Remember the Scripture that says, “A matter becomes clear after two or three witnesses give evidence”? On my second visit I warned that bunch that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways that when I came back I wouldn’t go easy on them. Now, preparing for the third, I’m saying it again from a distance. If you haven’t changed your ways by the time I get there, look out. You who have been demanding proof that Christ speaks through me will get more than you bargained for. You’ll get the full force of Christ, don’t think you won’t. He was sheer weakness and humiliation when he was killed on the cross, but oh, he’s alive now—in the mighty power of God! We weren’t much to look at, either, when we were humiliated among you, but when we deal with you this next time, we’ll be alive in Christ, strengthened by God.

5–9  Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

10  I’m writing this to you now so that when I come I won’t have to say another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not have to spend time on reprimands.

11–13  And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.

14  The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, November 02, 2023

Today's Scripture

Acts 17:24–32

“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

30–31  “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32–34  At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.”

Insight

We often use Paul’s interaction with the people in Athens as a model for evangelism: know your audience and tailor your message to them. The apostle observed the religious behavior of the Athenians and demonstrated his knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and the life and work of Jesus. But we also see that Paul’s speech was a refutation of the Athenian approach to religion. In a place where they had many idols to which they offered sacrifices of food and drink, the apostle asserts that there’s only one God, and He doesn’t live in temples and doesn’t need to be served by humans. By: J.R. Hudberg

Everybody Worships

People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. Acts 17:22

I recently visited Athens, Greece. Walking around its ancient Agora—the marketplace where philosophers taught and Athenians worshiped—I found altars to Apollo and Zeus, all in the shadow of the Acropolis, where a statue of the goddess Athena once stood.

We may not bow to Apollo or Zeus today, but society is no less religious. “Everybody worships,” novelist David Foster Wallace said, adding this warning: “If you worship money and things . . . then you will never have enough. . . . Worship your body and beauty. . . and you will always feel ugly. . . . Worship your intellect . . . [and] you will end up feeling stupid.” Our secular age has its own gods, and they’re not benign.

“People of Athens!” Paul said while visiting the Agora, “I see that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22). The apostle then described the one true God as the Creator of all (vv. 24–26) who wants to be known (v. 27) and who has revealed Himself through the resurrection of Jesus (v. 31). Unlike Apollo and Zeus, this God isn’t made by human hands. Unlike money, looks, or intelligence, worshiping Him won’t ruin us.

Our “god” is whatever we rely on to give us purpose and security. Thankfully, when every earthly god fails us, the one true God is ready to be found (v. 27). By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

What other “gods” do you see society worshiping today? What do you rely on to give you purpose and security?

Father, forgive me for placing wealth, beauty, politics, or other things first. I take them off the altar of my heart and place You there instead.

Discover how Christianity differs from other world religions.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, November 02, 2023

Obedience or Independence?

If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, November 02, 2023

Searching Without Finding - #9604

My wife was on this airplane flight, and she was sitting in the aisle seat, and a mother was sitting next to her in the middle. And this little four-year-old girl, the daughter of that mom, was at the window. The daughter had never flown before, so she wanted to be where she could see. It was one of those cloud-covered days. This little girl occasionally glanced out the window.

But when they got above the clouds, oh, all of a sudden her nose was pressed to the glass; she's looking intently all over back and forth, and after a few minutes of inspecting the sky, she turned to her Mom. She said this with real concern, "Where are they? I can't see them, Mommy! Where are they?" And her Mom said, "Where are what, honey?" She said, "The angels. Mommy! Where are the angels?" The poor little girl! She thought she knew where to find these spiritual beings, but they weren't where she thought they would be.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Searching Without Finding."

That poor little girl! She searched, but she was disappointed. She didn't find what she was hoping for, what she expected she'd find. She's not the only one this has happened to. A lot of people are looking for spiritual reality today. They're looking intently, and they're not finding it where they thought they would. You look out that window spiritually and you go, "Where is God? Where is this spiritual peace? Where is eternal life? Where is the love I thought I'd find here?"

Jesus answers that in our word for today from the Word of God in John 6:35, where He declares, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry. And he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." Now, Jesus is addressing something that I think throbs inside of each one of us. It's a spiritual hunger and thirst. It's what the Bible calls eternity in our hearts.

I think you already know that we need something spiritual to fill the hole in our heart. Maybe you would classify yourself as a spiritual seeker. You've lived long enough to know that earth stuff and earth relationships are not enough to complete us. Jesus says He's the end of that search. We're always seeking; seems like we're never finding.

Maybe in a sense you've been looking out spiritual windows hoping to find some peace and some reality. You've looked in maybe this religion or that religion, maybe crystals, or horoscopes, or psychic powers, or whatever. So many windows you could look through today, but each view has ended up unsatisfying and disappointing.

There are reasons why all the roads except the one to Jesus and His cross leave us hollow inside. It's because what we really need is not spiritual experiences or warm feelings or beliefs, or even a caring group. We need to get rid of the sin that blocks us from the relationship with the Creator. That's why we can't see Him. There's this sin wall. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have separated you from your God." And what we're searching for is a bridge across that separation. How do we cross this Grand Canyon between us and God? We're trying hard. We're looking in all these things, but we haven't found a way to get to Him.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God proved His love for you in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." See, only one person can remove that wall. It's Jesus. Are you tired of looking out that window for spiritual reality and coming up disappointed? Where is God? Where is the love and peace? It begins at the cross where you say those two words with all your heart. As you observe Jesus' dying there, you say, "For me! This is for me."

If you want to know this Jesus, finally find what has eluded you in all your searching? Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." I invite you to go to our website, because it's there to give you what you need to know at this particular moment of being at the end of your search. Go to ANewStory.com.

No religion is going to do it for you, or an experience, or a group. You're looking for a love relationship with the One you were made by and made for. Why don't you look His way? Because Jesus is everything your heart has ever looked for.

Isaiah 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WORKSHOP OF THE HEAVENS - November 1, 2023

I remember knowing kids whose fathers were quite successful. One was a judge, the other a prominent physician. I attended church with the son of the mayor. “My father has an office at the courthouse,” he could claim. Well guess what you can claim? “My Father rules the universe!”

Scripture says, “The heavens tell the glory of God and the skies announce what his hands have made.” Nature is God’s workshop. The sky is his resume. You want to know who God is? See what he has done. You want to know his power? Take a look at his creation.

How vital that we pray armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. Pray with any lesser conviction and your prayers are timid and shallow and hollow. But spend some time walking the workshop of the heavens, seeing what God has done, seeing what your Father has done, and watch how your prayers are energized.

Isaiah 6

Holy, Holy, Holy!

1–8  6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,

Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

His bright glory fills the whole earth.

The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,

“Doom! It’s Doomsday!

I’m as good as dead!

Every word I’ve ever spoken is tainted—

blasphemous even!

And the people I live with talk the same way,

using words that corrupt and desecrate.

And here I’ve looked God in the face!

The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!”

Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,

“Look. This coal has touched your lips.

Gone your guilt,

your sins wiped out.”

And then I heard the voice of the Master:

“Whom shall I send?

Who will go for us?”

I spoke up,

“I’ll go.

Send me!”

9–10  He said, “Go and tell this people:

“ ‘Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it;

look hard, but you won’t catch on.’

Make these people blockheads,

with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes,

So they won’t see a thing,

won’t hear a word,

So they won’t have a clue about what’s going on

and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.”

11–13  Astonished, I said,

“And Master, how long is this to go on?”

He said, “Until the cities are emptied out,

not a soul left in the cities—

Houses empty of people,

countryside empty of people.

Until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off,

the land totally empty.

And even if some should survive, say a tenth,

the devastation will start up again.

The country will look like pine and oak forest

with every tree cut down—

Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps.

But there’s a holy seed in those stumps.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 14:25–33

Figure the Cost

25–27  One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

28–30  “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

31–32  “Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?

33  “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.

Insight

We can miss the strength of Jesus’ words and the shock the crowd would have felt when Christ said, “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). You only carried a cross for one reason—to be crucified on it—and that was the most terrifying death imaginable. As you read these words, imagine the crowd physically recoiling in horror at the thought that somehow following Jesus would be required to bear a personal cross. This is at least the second time Luke has recorded Christ using this disturbing imagery (see 9:23). These words are understood in the context of Jesus Himself bearing a literal Roman cross. By: Bill Crowder

Worth It to Follow Jesus

Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:33

Ronit came from a religious but non-Christian family. Their discussions about spiritual matters were dry and academic. “I kept praying all the prayers,” she said, “but I wasn’t hearing [from God].”

She began to study the Bible. Slowly, steadily, she inched toward faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Ronit describes the defining moment: “I heard a clear voice in my heart saying, ‘You’ve heard enough. You’ve seen enough. It’s time to just believe.’ ” But Ronit faced a problem: her father. “My dad responded as if Mount Vesuvius erupted,” she recalls.

When Jesus walked this earth, crowds followed Him (Luke 14:25). We don’t know exactly what they were looking for, but He was looking for disciples. And that comes with a cost. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple,” Jesus said (v. 26). He told a story about building a tower. “Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost . . . ?” He asked (v. 28). Jesus’ point wasn’t that we’re to literally hate family; rather, it’s that we must choose Him over everything else. He said, “You who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (v. 33).

Ronit loves her family deeply, yet she concluded, “Whatever the cost, I figured it’s worth it.” What might you need to give up to follow Jesus as He guides you? By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What’s your story of the moment Jesus became real to you? What has it cost you to follow Him?

Father, please help me choose Your Son over everything this world has to offer.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

“You Are Not Your Own”

Do you not know that…you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, November 01, 2023

The Faith of a Child - #9603

I was on an airplane flight and I overheard a conversation in the seats behind me. Eavesdropping? Maybe. In any case, there was this boy flying with his Dad and he was full of questions...I mean the little guy. He said, "Daddy, what are all those lights for? Daddy, why did part of the wing go down? Daddy, why is it called Lake Erie?" See, the pilot told us the name of it, but he didn't necessarily tell us why it's named that.

Most of the flight Dad just patiently answered each question. It was a kind of a nice sound to hear! What I especially noticed was the reaction of the boy to the answers that his Dad gave. Some of them, he obviously understood, others he obviously didn't. His Dad said, "Now, do you understand that?" "Well, no." I liked the one about how air holds up the plane. Of course I don't understand that, so how could a little boy be expected to? But each time, no matter whether he understood the answer or not he always seemed satisfied with the answer.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Faith of a Child."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 18. I'll begin reading at verse 1, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who's the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them and He said, 'I'll tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

Well, you know, for some strange reason, this passage came to my mind on that airplane flight when I heard a curious little boy asking his Daddy questions. He knew who to ask, he knew where to go for answers, and he believed what his Father told him. Even when he didn't understand the answer he got, he was satisfied with his Daddy's answers.

How about you and me? Jesus said we need to be like a little child in order to be in His kingdom. So, are you satisfied with your Daddy's answers? I'm talking now about your Heavenly Father, of course. Jesus said our faith had to be childlike. And that means, "I will see what my Father has to say about this and I will choose to be satisfied. I may not understand my Father's answers, but I'll be satisfied just because I trust Him."

Maybe you've prayed and you've said, "I'm not getting any answer to my prayer." Well, you know, actually, every prayer is answered. God says, "Call unto Me and I will answer you." And He's answering; maybe not in the way you want it; not in the time that you wanted. Could you settle back in your seat and relax in the answer that He's been giving?

Maybe God's Word speaks about the situation you're in right now or the choice you have to make. And it's pretty clear what you ought to do. But it goes against what you're feeling, or it's going against what your family, or your friends, or the conventional wisdom or our culture's telling you to do. You may not like it. Would you trust what your Father says and act on His answer?

See, you and I are still like that little boy, no matter how old we are. We're full of questions about "Why God?", and "God, how come...?", and "Father, when is it going to be?", and "Who?" I just hope you'll be like that boy in another way. When your Father gives an answer, be satisfied with your Daddy's answers.

Isaiah 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PURE GRACE - October 31, 2023

Each review of Jacob’s story leaves me amazed at his seeming inability to shape up, clean up, and stand up for everything decent and moral. He tricked and was tricked. His name was changed, but his heart seemed less so. Why couldn’t God replace him with someone more polished, more refined?

Yet, on the other hand, I’m so grateful God didn’t. I’ve wrestled with God, daring to think my might and muscles would impress him. I can be smarmy, wormy, and less than straightforward. I identify with Jacob – I limp.

Jacob’s story exists for the times that the Jacob within us wonders, “Can God use a person like me?” The reassuring and resounding answer is “Yes.”

Pure grace. Grace is God’s greatest idea. That he would treat us according to his heart and not ours. Amazing grace!

Isaiah 5

Looking for a Crop of Justice

1–2  5 I’ll sing a ballad to the one I love,

a love ballad about his vineyard:

The one I love had a vineyard,

a fine, well-placed vineyard.

He hoed the soil and pulled the weeds,

and planted the very best vines.

He built a lookout, built a winepress,

a vineyard to be proud of.

He looked for a vintage yield of grapes,

but for all his pains he got junk grapes.

3–4  “Now listen to what I’m telling you,

you who live in Jerusalem and Judah.

What do you think is going on

between me and my vineyard?

Can you think of anything I could have done

to my vineyard that I didn’t do?

When I expected good grapes,

why did I get bitter grapes?

5–6  “Well now, let me tell you

what I’ll do to my vineyard:

I’ll tear down its fence

and let it go to ruin.

I’ll knock down the gate

and let it be trampled.

I’ll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for—

thistles and thorns will take over.

I’ll give orders to the clouds:

‘Don’t rain on that vineyard, ever!’ ”

7  Do you get it? The vineyard of God-of-the-Angel-Armies

is the country of Israel.

All the men and women of Judah

are the garden he was so proud of.

He looked for a crop of justice

and saw them murdering each other.

He looked for a harvest of righteousness

and heard only the moans of victims.

You Who Call Evil Good and Good Evil

8–10  Doom to you who buy up all the houses

and grab all the land for yourselves—

Evicting the old owners,

posting no trespassing signs,

Taking over the country,

leaving everyone homeless and landless.

I overheard God-of-the-Angel-Armies say:

“Those mighty houses will end up empty.

Those extravagant estates will be deserted.

A ten-acre vineyard will produce a pint of wine,

a fifty-pound sack of seed, a quart of grain.”

11–17  Doom to those who get up early

and start drinking booze before breakfast,

Who stay up all hours of the night

drinking themselves into a stupor.

They make sure their banquets are well-furnished

with harps and flutes and plenty of wine,

But they’ll have nothing to do with the work of God,

pay no mind to what he is doing.

Therefore my people will end up in exile

because they don’t know the score.

Their “big men” will starve to death

and the common people die of thirst.

Sheol developed a huge appetite,

swallowing people nonstop!

Big people and little people alike

down that gullet, to say nothing of all the drunks.

The down-and-out on a par

with the high-and-mighty,

Windbag boasters crumpled,

flaccid as a punctured bladder.

But by working justice,

God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain.

By working righteousness,

Holy God will show what “holy” is.

And lambs will graze

as if they owned the place,

Kids and calves

right at home in the ruins.

18–19  Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,

who haul sin to market by the truckload,

Who say, “What’s God waiting for?

Let him get a move on so we can see it.

Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,

we’d like to check it out.”

20  Doom to you who call evil good

and good evil,

Who put darkness in place of light

and light in place of darkness,

Who substitute bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter!

21–23  Doom to you who think you’re so smart,

who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!

All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers

who collect trophies from drinking bouts

And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty

while you violate the rights of the innocent.

24  But they won’t get by with it. As fire eats stubble

and dry grass goes up in smoke,

Their souls will atrophy,

their achievements crumble into dust,

Because they said no to the revelation

of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

Would have nothing to do

with The Holy of Israel.

25–30  That’s why God flamed out in anger against his people,

reached out and knocked them down.

The mountains trembled

as their dead bodies piled up in the streets.

But even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

He raises a flag, signaling a distant nation,

whistles for people at the ends of the earth.

And here they come—

on the run!

None drag their feet, no one stumbles,

no one sleeps or dawdles.

Shirts are on and pants buckled,

every boot is spit-polished and tied.

Their arrows are sharp,

bows strung,

The hooves of their horses shod,

chariot wheels greased.

Roaring like a pride of lions,

the full-throated roars of young lions,

They growl and seize their prey,

dragging it off—no rescue for that one!

They’ll roar and roar and roar on that Day,

like the roar of ocean billows.

Look as long and hard as you like at that land,

you’ll see nothing but darkness and trouble.

Every light in the sky

will be blacked out by the clouds.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 61

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

1 O God, listen to my cry!

Hear my prayer!

2 From the ends of the earth,

I cry to you for help

when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the towering rock of safety,

3 for you are my safe refuge,

a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

4 Let me live forever in your sanctuary,

safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

Interlude

5 For you have heard my vows, O God.

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.

6 Add many years to the life of the king!

May his years span the generations!

7 May he reign under God’s protection forever.

May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him.

8 Then I will sing praises to your name forever

as I fulfill my vows each day.

Insight

In Psalm 61, David describes his longing for God’s presence with metaphors of a “rock that is higher than I” (v. 2), a “refuge” or “strong tower” (v. 3), a “tent” and “the shelter of [God’s] wings” (v. 4). The combined reference to God’s “tent” and the “shelter of [His] wings” may allude to the cherubim wings on the tabernacle (Exodus 25:20). During God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt, He gave instructions for the building of a tabernacle through which He’d dwell with His people in a powerful and tangible way (v. 8). Later, the temple, modeled after the tabernacle, would become the centralized place to experience His presence. It also contained sculpted cherubim with wings in the inner sanctuary (1 Kings 6:23–27). Today, believers in Jesus experience God’s presence through His Spirit who dwells within us (1 Corinthians 3:16). By: Monica La Rose

Under God’s Wings

I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Psalm 61:4

There are several Canada goose families with baby geese at the pond near our apartment complex. The little goslings are so fluffy and cute; it’s hard not to watch them when I go for a walk or run around the pond. But I’ve learned to avoid eye contact and give the geese a wide berth—otherwise, I risk a protective goose parent suspecting a threat and hissing and chasing me!

The image of a bird protecting her young is one that Scripture uses to describe God’s tender, protective love for His children (Psalm 91:4). In Psalm 61, David seems to be struggling to experience God’s care in this way. He’d experienced God as his “refuge, a strong tower” (v. 3), but now he called desperately “from the ends of the earth,” pleading, “lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (v. 2). He longed to once more “take refuge in the shelter of [God’s] wings” (v. 4).

And in bringing his pain and longing for healing to God, David took comfort in knowing that He’d heard him (v. 5). Because of God’s faithfulness, he knew he would “ever sing in praise of [His] name” (v. 8).

Like the psalmist, when we feel distant from God’s love, we can run back to His arms to be assured that even in our pain, He’s with us, protecting and caring for us as fiercely as a mother bird guards her young. By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

How does it encourage you to remember God’s protective care for you? How have you experienced His care?

Dear God, thank You for Your fierce, protective love for me. Help me to rest securely in Your tender care.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

The Trial of Faith

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you. —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. Disciples Indeed, 385 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 22-23; Titus 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Fireproof Fulfillment - #9602

The summer of '88 was a long time ago, but man, it left an indelible mark on Yellowstone National Park. Forest fires? They ravaged our national treasure. And you know, it left behind thousands of acres of charred landscape, displaced animals, dead animals. In fact, the fire almost reached that famous geyser called Old Faithful. It came really, really close to it.

There's a historic inn right nearby where people have stayed for almost a hundred years, and it was rescued from the wall of flames that was closing in on it, but it was close. A lot changed dramatically at Yellowstone when the fires hit. One thing didn't. No matter how hot the fire got, no matter how close; no matter what else was destroyed, Old Faithful went off right on time every day. The fire just could not affect her performance for one very simple reason.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4. It's a familiar story of Jesus talking to the woman of Samaria who has tried so many ways and so many men to fill that aching void in her life. They both meet at the same well for a drink on a hot afternoon and Jesus says to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water." I think we were just talking about that a moment ago, but it was a geyser, right? "...a spring of water" (in this case) "welling up to eternal life."

Jesus says, "I want to put in your life... In fact, I want to make you a faithful fountain and we'll be able to handle any fire, any storm, any hurt, any disappointment. Oh, you'll still be able to perform even with the fire closing in around you because of two words." Ready? He wants to put the source in you, which is different from it being something around you.

Old Faithful-that geyser that continued to function no matter how hot the fire got or how close? The source is underground and the fire cannot touch that source. Now, when you have Christ living in you and you're counting on Him-not on yourself-you believe He's your source of strength, you become an Old Faithful, or maybe a young faithful. See, your source is where it can't be touched. No depression, no bankruptcy, no election, no lost job, no illness, no personal loss, no national tragedy can touch that source of your strength because it's in you where it can't be touched.

Jesus spoke to a woman here who was depending on a source that she would lose; in her case, the men in her life. She'd been through a lot of guys, but always disappointed. Whenever your identity or your source of strength is something external-something you can lose-you're going to be up and down all the time. Your career can be touched by life's fires, your family can, your income, the body you've worked so hard to develop, your friendships, the person you love-you can lose those. The fire can get to them.

That's why Jesus makes you an offer of something that is everlasting. He said, "This will spring up into something eternal," what I'm about to plant in you, and it will be a life that will begin now but will last through all eternity. He's talking heaven there. Wouldn't this be a good time for you to open up to this Jesus and let Him, and your relationship to Him, be who you are; be where you get your security, be where you get your strength. Then you can be steady, you can be consistent no matter how hot the flames.

You say, "Well, Ron, I'm not sure I've ever begun a personal relationship with Jesus." Well, you can. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Our website's there to help you make sure you've gotten going with Him, how to belong to Him. Go there, please. Check out ANewStory.com.

A human "Old Faithful" with Christ as your underground source. Why, you could be counted on for fireproof faithfulness.

2 Corinthians 12, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD IS WOOING YOU - October 30, 2023

In 1890 Francis Thompson, a Roman Catholic poet, described God as “The Hound of Heaven.” He wrote:

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears

I hid from Him,…”

Thompson speaks of Jesus as “this tremendous Lover” who pursues us “with un-hurrying chase, an unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, and majestic instancy.”

Would you open your heart to this possibility? God is wooing you, pursuing you, romancing you. Refuse him if you wish. Ignore him if you desire. But he will not give up. Did he not promise to lead you home? And has he ever broken a promise? Not on your life.

This is the message of God, the aggressive promise of grace. Trust it.

2 Corinthians 12

Strength from Weakness

1–5  12 You’ve forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we’re at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don’t know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I’m not saying another word apart from the humiliations.

6  If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

7–10  Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

11–13  Well, now I’ve done it! I’ve made a complete fool of myself by going on like this. But it’s not all my fault; you put me up to it. You should have been doing this for me, sticking up for me and commending me instead of making me do it for myself. You know from personal experience that even if I’m a nobody, a nothing, I wasn’t second-rate compared to those big-shot apostles you’re so taken with. All the signs that mark a true apostle were in evidence while I was with you through both good times and bad: signs of portent, signs of wonder, signs of power. Did you get less of me or of God than any of the other churches? The only thing you got less of was less responsibility for my upkeep. Well, I’m sorry. Forgive me for depriving you.

14–15  Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don’t worry about it; you won’t have to put yourselves out. I’ll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what you have—only in you. Children shouldn’t have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I’d be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I’m loved?

16–18  And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where’s the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven’t we always been just as aboveboard, just as honest?

19  I hope you don’t think that all along we’ve been making our defense before you, the jury. You’re not the jury; God is the jury—God revealed in Christ—and we make our case before him. And we’ve gone to all the trouble of supporting ourselves so that we won’t be in the way or get in the way of your growing up.

20–21  I do admit that I have fears that when I come you’ll disappoint me and I’ll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces—quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam. I don’t look forward to a second humiliation by God among you, compounded by hot tears over that crowd that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways, who refuse to turn away from the pigsty of evil, sexual disorder, and indecency in which they wallow.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, October 30, 2023

Today's Scripture

Exodus 34:1–8

God spoke to Moses: “Cut out two tablets of stone just like the originals and engrave on them the words that were on the original tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb Mount Sinai and get set to meet me on top of the mountain. Not a soul is to go with you; the whole mountain must be clear of people, even animals—not even sheep or oxen can be grazing in front of the mountain.”

4–7  So Moses cut two tablets of stone just like the originals. He got up early in the morning and climbed Mount Sinai as God had commanded him, carrying the two tablets of stone. God descended in the cloud and took up his position there beside him and called out the name, God. God passed in front of him and called out, “God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Still, he doesn’t ignore sin. He holds sons and grandsons responsible for a father’s sins to the third and even fourth generation.”

8–9  At once, Moses fell to the ground and worshiped,

Insight

God’s revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6–7 takes place soon after the rebellion of His people through worshiping a golden calf, an act which so angered Moses that he broke the tablets containing God’s law (32:19). Chapters 33–34 describe a gradual process of restoring God’s rebellion-prone people. In chapter 33, after threatening not to accompany the people to the promised land (vv. 3–5), He promises once more to be faithful to them despite their sin (vv. 14, 17). Not only that, but He promises to reveal His character to Moses once more (v. 19) and to restore the tablets of the law that Moses broke (34:1). Despite their sin, God’s people would have a future because of who He is—“compassionate and gracious,” “slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (vv. 6–7). By: Monica La Rose

Smartphone Compassion

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6

Was the driver late with your food? You can use your phone to give him a one-star rating. Did the shopkeeper treat you curtly? You can write her a critical review. While smartphones enable us to shop, keep up with friends, and more, they have also given us the power to publicly rate each other. And this can be a problem.

Rating each other this way is problematic because judgments can be made without context. The driver gets rated poorly for a late delivery due to circumstances out of his control. The shopkeeper gets a negative review when she’d been up all night with a sick child. How can we avoid rating others unfairly like this?

By imitating God’s character. In Exodus 34:6–7, God describes Himself as “compassionate and gracious”—meaning He wouldn’t judge our failures without context; “slow to anger”—meaning He wouldn’t post a negative review after one bad experience; “abounding in love”—meaning His correctives are for our good, not to get revenge; and “forgiving [of] sin”—meaning our lives don’t have to be defined by our one-star days. Since God’s character is to be the basis of ours (Matthew 6:33), we can avoid the harshness smartphones enable by using ours as He would.

In the online age, we can all rate others harshly. May the Holy Spirit empower us to bring a little compassion today. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

How can you show more compassion to others? What characteristic of God do you most need to imitate when online?

Holy Spirit, please grow the fruit of godly character in me today, especially when I’m online.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, October 30, 2023

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please Him… —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. “We know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children.

For every detail of common sense in life, there is a truth God has revealed by which we can prove in our practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle that always puts Jesus Christ first. The life of faith says, “Lord, You have said it, it appears to be irrational, but I’m going to step out boldly, trusting in Your Word” (for example, see Matthew 6:33). Turning intellectual faith into our personal possession is always a fight, not just sometimes. God brings us into particular circumstances to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make the object of our faith very real to us. Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless. Faith is the entire person in the right relationship with God through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 20-21; 2 Timothy 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, October 30, 2023

Racing to Get There, Missing the View - #9601

It was another one of Daddy's great vacation adventures! I announced to the family that we were going to climb Panther Mountain that day. The idea was greeted with underwhelming enthusiasm, but off we went, hiking up the gentle uphill trail that would get us to our goal: the rock fortress I had been told was at the top. As we trudged up the trail, my wife kept pointing out nice things along the way, "Oh, look at the chipmunk! Look at that tree growing out of the rock! Oh, don't you love the sound of the wind blowing through the pines?" I would smile and politely acknowledge her little observations, all the while keeping my male mind firmly focused on the real reason for this activity-getting to the top of the mountain. You can imagine how un-thrilled I was when my wife suddenly said, "Well, the kids are getting tired, and this has been a really neat hike. Let's head back." What? Head back? We were only halfway to our goal? If we went back now, this would all have been a waste of time!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Racing To Get There, Missing the View."

I learned a lesson that day on Panther Mountain. My wife said, " Honey, this has been a great hike. We've seen a lot of neat things God made, we've had a nice time together as a family, there's no need to keep pushing." I objected, "But what about our goal? What about getting to the top?" That's when the wise woman I married pointed out something to me that I've never forgotten. She said, "Ron, it isn't just the result that matters. It's the process!"

The process is as important as the result? It's not just my wife who feels that way. Now I'm learning that the process is important to God; maybe more important than the result. Many of us are like I was the day we hiked up the mountain. We're so focused on getting to our goal that we miss the good things along the way to get to our goal. But I'm beginning to think that the process is more important to God than the result. He could answer your prayers and deliver you to your destination immediately if He wanted to.

But God has a process, a journey; and He wants to take us through that first and show us things that we've never seen before. But we miss those things because of our race to get there. We only care about the destination. God cares about the process and what we'll learn and what we'll become through that process.

He talks about that process in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 84 beginning with verse 5. "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca (now, here's the process), they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength 'til each appears before God in Zion" - okay, there's the goal. The Lord blesses those who enjoy the journey...who make a difference along the way...who look for Him in the process.

Most pregnant women? They'd probably like to shorten the process and have their baby in three months or six months; those nine months, that gets pretty long. But it's the process that makes the baby what he or she is. It's the time on the potter's wheel, spinning and being shaped that makes the pottery the masterpiece it becomes. It's the same for you and me.

You may be in God's waiting room right now, frustrated. Your answer hasn't come. The process is taking so long! But that's the plan! Take in the scenery, enjoy what God's doing along the way, look for "God sightings." Look for the lessons God is trying to teach you. Light up each spot along the way.

Here's a great prayer: "Lord, I'm not only trusting You for the result, I'm asking You to do it in the way that will bring You the greatest glory and make me what You want me to be." Whether or not you make it to that mountaintop, enjoy the great things that God wants to show you along the way!

Isaiah 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Pray About Everything

The moment you sense a problem, however large or small, take it to Christ.

“Max, if I take my problems to Jesus every time I have one, I’m going to be talking to Jesus all day long.”

Now you’re getting the point! An un-prayed for problem is an embedded thorn. It festers and infects the finger, then the hand, then the entire arm. Best to go straight to the person who has the tweezers. We can only wonder how many disasters would be averted if we would go first to Jesus?

Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.”

Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and every day for 4 weeks, pray 4 minutes—simple, powerful prayers.  It’ll change your prayer life forever!

Before Amen

Isaiah 4

That will be the day when seven women

will gang up on one man, saying,

“We’ll take care of ourselves,

get our own food and clothes.

Just give us a child. Make us pregnant

so we’ll have something to live for!”

God’s Branch

2–4  And that’s when God’s Branch will sprout green and lush. The produce of the country will give Israel’s survivors something to be proud of again. Oh, they’ll hold their heads high! Everyone left behind in Zion, all the discards and rejects in Jerusalem, will be reclassified as “holy”—alive and therefore precious. God will give Zion’s women a good bath. He’ll scrub the bloodstained city of its violence and brutality, purge the place with a firestorm of judgment.

5–6  Then God will bring back the ancient pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and mark Mount Zion and everyone in it with his glorious presence, his immense, protective presence, shade from the burning sun and shelter from the driving rain.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 9:7–10

God holds the high center,

he sees and sets the world’s mess right.

He decides what is right for us earthlings,

gives people their just deserts.

9–10  God’s a safe-house for the battered,

a sanctuary during bad times.

The moment you arrive, you relax;

you’re never sorry you knocked.

Insight

The NIV footnote on Psalms 9 and 10 tells us they “may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.”  Psalm 9 provides a musical notation that it’s to be sung “to the tune of ‘The Death of the Son.’ ” Apparently, this was a tune known to the Israelites at that time. Other psalms with musical notations include Psalms 22, 45, 56–60, 69, 75, and 80.

Psalm 9 can be divided into two parts—praise and proclamation. David gives thanks and praise to God who’d rescued and protected him from his enemies in response to his prayers (vv. 1–6). The psalmist also proclaims and exalts God as the Sovereign King who “rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity” (v. 8). By: K. T. Sim

You Can Trust God

Those who know your name trust in you. Psalm 9:10

When my cat Mickey had an eye infection, I put eye drops in his eyes daily. As soon as I placed him on the bathroom counter, he’d sit, look at me with frightened eyes, and brace himself for the spurt of liquid. “Good boy,” I’d murmur. Even though he didn’t understand what I was doing, he never jumped off, hissed, or scratched me. Instead, he would press himself closer against me—the person putting him through the ordeal. He knew he could trust me.

When David wrote Psalm 9, he’d probably already experienced much of God’s love and faithfulness. He’d turned to Him for protection from his enemies, and God had acted on his behalf (vv. 3-6). During David’s times of need, God hadn’t failed him. As a result, David came to know what He was like—He was powerful and righteous, loving and faithful. And so, David trusted Him. He knew God was trustworthy.

I’ve cared for Mickey through several illnesses since the night I found him as a tiny, starving kitten on the street. He knows he can trust me—even when I do things to him that he doesn’t understand. In a similar way, remembering God’s faithfulness to us and His character helps us trust Him when we can’t understand what He’s doing. May we continue to trust God through the difficult times in life. By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

Recall a tough situation when God showed you His love and faithfulness. What else did you learn about His character? How can this encourage you today?

Father, You’re always faithful. Help me trust You. Let difficult times draw me closer to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Substitution

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. —2 Corinthians 5:21

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made…to be sin….” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9, where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (see Galatians 4:19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Prayer Wimps Anonymous

I'm a card carrying member of the PWA: Prayer Wimps Anonymous. Can you relate? We pray-we pray to stay sober, centered, solvent. We pray when the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. We all pray-some.

But wouldn't we like to pray more? Like the disciples when they asked Jesus, "Teach us to pray!" Teach us to find strength in prayer. To banish fear in prayer.

Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and you!  A prayer as simple as this one:

Father, You are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me.

They need help. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Pray for 4 weeks, 4 minutes every day. Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and get ready to connect with God like never before!

Before Amen

 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Many a Long and Lonely Night

16–21  Let me come back to where I started—and don’t hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you’d rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn’t learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it’s a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn’t admit it to you, but our stomachs aren’t strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

21–23  Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can’t believe I’m saying these things. It’s crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I’m going to finish.)

23–27  I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28–29  And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30–33  If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I’m not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Peter 2:4–10

The Stone

4–8  Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:

Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,

a cornerstone in the place of honor.

Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation

will never have cause to regret it.

To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,

The stone the workmen threw out

is now the chief foundation stone.

For the untrusting it’s

… a stone to trip over,

a boulder blocking the way.

They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.

9–10  But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

Insight

Traditionally, a cornerstone was the first stone placed at the bottom corner of a building. All other stones were laid in reference to it. Old Testament prophecy points to Christ as “a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16). Yet, He’s the “stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (8:14). The psalmist wrote, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). Jesus quotes from this psalm to reference how His own people would reject Him as Messiah (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17) and to point to Him as the most important part of the church. He’s “the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). In 1 Peter 2:4–10, the apostle quotes all three Old Testament verses to emphasize our choice: either reject Him or choose Him as Savior. By: Alyson Kieda

More Precious than Gold

Come to [Jesus], the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him. 1 Peter 2:4

Have you ever looked through low-priced items at a yard sale and dreamed that you might find something of incredible value? It happened in Connecticut when a floral Chinese antique bowl purchased for just $35 at a yard sale was sold at a 2021 auction for more than $700,000. The piece turned out to be a rare, historically significant artifact from the fifteenth century. It’s a stunning reminder that what some people consider of little worth can actually have great value.

Writing to believers scattered throughout the known world, Peter explained that their faith in Jesus was belief in the One who’d been rejected by the wider culture. Despised by most of the religious Jewish leaders and crucified by the Roman government, Christ was deemed worthless by many because He didn’t fulfill their expectations and desires. But though others had dismissed Jesus’ worth, He was “chosen by God and precious to him” (1 Peter 2:4). His value for us is infinitely more precious than silver or gold (1:18–19). And we have the assurance that whoever chooses to trust Jesus will never be ashamed of their choice (2:6).

When others reject Jesus as worthless, let’s take another look. God’s Spirit can help us see the priceless gift of Christ, who offers to all people the invaluable invitation to become part of the family of God (v. 10). By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

Why do people miss the true value of Jesus? How might you share the blessings of trusting Him?

Dear Jesus, thank You for living a life of obedience so that I could become part of the family of God. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Justification by Faith

If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. —Romans 5:10

I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.

The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.  Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

Isaiah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ACCEPT YOUR ACCEPTANCE - October 27, 2023

“He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ—such being His gracious will and pleasure” (Ephesians 1:5). God moved you into his family. He changed your name, your address, he gave you a seat at the dining table.

A young woman once approached me after hearing a sermon on forgiveness. She had battled much rejection in her young life.  On this day she felt something different. She said, “I’ve made a discovery. I’m not an exception to acceptance.”

Neither are you. For heaven’s sake, accept your acceptance. No more self-recrimination. No more self-accusation. No more self-condemnation. Make grace your permanent address. God has made a covenant to love you with an everlasting love, and He will keep it. God never gives up on you.

Isaiah 2

Climb God’s Mountain

1–5  2 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

There’s a day coming

when the mountain of God’s House

Will be The Mountain—

solid, towering over all mountains.

All nations will river toward it,

people from all over set out for it.

They’ll say, “Come,

let’s climb God’s Mountain,

go to the House of the God of Jacob.

He’ll show us the way he works

so we can live the way we’re made.”

Zion’s the source of the revelation.

God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.

He’ll settle things fairly between nations.

He’ll make things right between many peoples.

They’ll turn their swords into shovels,

their spears into hoes.

No more will nation fight nation;

they won’t play war anymore.

Come, family of Jacob,

let’s live in the light of God.

6–9  God, you’ve walked out on your family Jacob

because their world is full of hokey religion,

Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,

a world rolling in wealth,

Stuffed with things,

no end to its machines and gadgets,

And gods—gods of all sorts and sizes.

These people make their own gods and worship what they make.

A degenerate race, facedown in the gutter.

Don’t bother with them! They’re not worth forgiving!

Pretentious Egos Brought Down to Earth

10  Head for the hills,

hide in the caves

From the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence.

11–17  People with a big head are headed for a fall,

pretentious egos brought down a peg.

It’s God alone at front-and-center

on the Day we’re talking about,

The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies

is matched against all big-talking rivals,

against all swaggering big names;

Against all giant sequoias

hugely towering,

and against the expansive chestnut;

Against Kilimanjaro and Annapurna,

against the ranges of Alps and Andes;

Against every soaring skyscraper,

against all proud obelisks and statues;

Against ocean-going luxury liners,

against elegant three-masted schooners.

The swelled big heads will be punctured bladders,

the pretentious egos brought down to earth,

Leaving God alone at front-and-center

on the Day we’re talking about.

18  And all those sticks and stones

dressed up to look like gods

will be gone for good.

19  Clamber into caves in the cliffs,

duck into any hole you can find.

Hide from the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence,

When he assumes his full stature on earth,

towering and terrifying.

20–21  On that Day men and women will take

the sticks and stones

They’ve decked out in gold and silver

to look like gods and then worshiped,

And they will dump them

in any ditch or gully,

Then run for rock caves

and cliff hideouts

To hide from the terror of God,

from his dazzling presence,

When he assumes his full stature on earth,

towering and terrifying.

22  Quit scraping and fawning over mere humans,

so full of themselves, so full of hot air!

Can’t you see there’s nothing to them?

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, October 27, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Chronicles 21:4–7, 16–20

But when Jehoram had taken over his father’s kingdom and had secured his position, he killed all his brothers along with some of the government officials.

5–7  Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. He imitated Israel’s kings and married into the Ahab dynasty. God considered him an evil man. But despite that, because of his covenant with David, God was not yet ready to destroy the descendants of David; he had, after all, promised to keep a light burning for David and his sons.

16 Some Philistines and Arabs lived near where some Ethiopiansi had settle along the coast. The Lord incited them to go to war against Jehoram. 17They invaded Judah, looted the royal palace, and carried off as prisoners all the king’s wives and sons except Ahaziah, his youngest son.

18 Then after all this, the Lord brought on the king a painful disease of the intestines. 19For almost two years it grew steadily worse until finally the king died in agony. His subjects did not light a bonfire in mourning for him as had been done for his ancestors.

20 Jehoram had become king at the age of 32 and had ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. Nobody was sorry when he died. They buried him in David’s City, but not in the royal tombs.

Insight

First and Second Chronicles cover the history of the Jewish people and monarchy in the Southern Kingdom of Judah from the death of Saul until the Babylonian exile—the same period covered in 2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings. Written after the Babylonian exile, the author of 1–2 Chronicles (Jewish tradition identifies Ezra) seeks to assure postexilic Jews that though they were unfaithful, Yahweh remains faithful to His covenant. In 2 Chronicles 21:7, the chronicler affirmed that God kept His promise that there would always be a descendant of David on the throne (see 2 Samuel 7:12–17), a promise that has its final fulfillment in Jesus (Matthew 1:1). By: K. T. Sim

Three Kings

His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors. 2 Chronicles 21:19

In the hit musical Hamilton, England’s King George III is humorously portrayed as a cartoonish, deranged villain. However, a new biography on King George said he was not the tyrant described in Hamilton or America’s Declaration of Independence. If George had been the brutal despot that Americans said he was, he would have stopped their drive for independence with extreme, scorched-earth measures. But he was restrained by his “civilized, good-natured” temperament.

Who knows if King George died with regret? Would his reign have been more successful if he’d been harsher with his subjects?

Not necessarily. In the Bible we read of King Jehoram, who solidified his throne by putting “all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel” (2 Chronicles 21:4). Jehoram “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 6). His ruthless reign alienated his people, who neither wept for his gruesome death nor made a “funeral fire in his honor” (v. 19).

Historians may debate whether George was too soft; Jehoram was surely too harsh. A better way is that of King Jesus, who is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Christ’s expectations are firm (He demands truth), yet He embraces those who fail (He extends grace). Jesus calls us who believe in Him to follow His lead. Then, through the leading of His Holy Spirit, He empowers us to do so. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

Who are you responsible to lead? How might you show both grace and truth to them?  

Dear Jesus, I aim to lead others by following You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, October 27, 2023

The Method of Missions

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… —Matthew 28:19

Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go…make disciples of all the nations….” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me” (see Luke 10:17-20). The missionary’s great essential is remaining true to the call of God, and realizing that his one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. Remember that there is a passion for souls that does not come from God, but from our desire to make converts to our point of view.

The challenge to the missionary does not come from the fact that people are difficult to bring to salvation, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, or that there is a barrier of callous indifference. No, the challenge comes from the perspective of the missionary’s own personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). Our Lord unwaveringly asks us that question, and it confronts us in every individual situation we encounter. The one great challenge to us is— do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God’s sight, but foolish enough according to the wisdom of the world, to trust in what Jesus Christ has said? Or am I abandoning the great supernatural position of limitless confidence in Christ Jesus, which is really God’s only call for a missionary? If I follow any other method, I depart altogether from the methods prescribed by our Lord— “All authority has been given to Me….Go therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ.  The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 12-14; 2 Timothy 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, October 27, 2023

I Want to Drive! - #9600

I know the flight attendant was trying to be polite. The kid wasn't! No. We're on this plane and everyone's eager to take off, everybody's got their seatbelt on and we're ready to go, except for this mother and her four-year-old boy who were standing in the aisle of the plane. The son wouldn't sit down. He's crying, he's yelling at his mother, and the flight attendant was making the announcement, "We'll be able to leave as soon as everyone is seated."

The mother was trying. Oh yeah, but this boy went rigid. He started yelling his reason for standing up. "I want to drive!" The more she pressured him the louder he got, "I want to drive!" This is a very big plane. He's a very little boy. He really shouldn't drive.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I Want to Drive!"

The boy wanted to "drive" that airplane. We wanted the pilot to "drive." The boy didn't seem to understand he wasn't capable of driving. Well, guess what? We've got the same problem.

Our word for today from the Word of God - Isaiah 53:6. Here we go, "We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." Life, kind of like that airplane, is too big for us to drive. We've taken over the cockpit anyway. Again in the Bible's words, "Everyone has turned to his own way."

God gave us our life. He's supposed to run it. He's doing a very good job of running a hundred billion galaxies, but we shake our fist and we say, "Excuse me, God, I'll pilot my own life." He's the only One who can pilot your life properly. But see, "We want to drive!" Like the little boy, if we try to fly, we're going to crash.

Maybe you're facing right now some of the wreckage of trying to run a life that God was supposed to run. Or maybe you're cruising along right now but you're headed for a crash. See, no one ultimately gets away with hijacking God's property. And that's what we all do.

I once asked a Navajo shepherdess what happens to sheep when they get away from the shepherd. She answered with one word. She said, "Coyotes." See, it always ends up in disaster when we get away from the Shepherd, or from the Pilot. "We all like sheep have gone astray." That means we're away from God. And you know what? Maybe you can even feel that loneliness right now. Maybe you can sense the confusion, the lostness of being away from God. Unless you're rescued, I'll tell you, it always leads to death.

The Bible puts it this way, "The wages of sin is death." But the Bible says, "God placed the penalty for all our wrong doing on Jesus Christ, His Son. God's only Son has paid the price for the sin you and I have done. Isaiah 53:5 says, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him." You and I did the sinning; Jesus did the dying.

If you can get yourself to that cross in your heart, get to that cross where Jesus paid your death penalty for your sin and give yourself to Him, you can trade death for life. Jesus Christ sacrificed His life, shed His blood. He was dying in exchange for your life; taking your death penalty. Why would anyone reject Him? Is it pride? Is it stubbornness? Is it thinking somehow our religion will get us there, our goodness? Well, if it could, He would have never gone to that cross.

This is the day to let go of that wheel and start to become who you were meant to be in the relationship you were made for. If you want to get that started today? Go to our website. I can help you there, I believe, know that you actually belong to Him from this day on. That's ANewStory.com.

Can you just picture Jesus reaching out a nail-pierced hand to you? Are you going to keep saying, "I want to drive!" Or are you going to say today, "Jesus, I don't want to drive. I want to live."