Jeremiah 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SELECTIVE LISTENING - March 26, 2024

Two types of thoughts continuously vie for your attention. One says, “Yes, you can.” The other says, “No, you can’t.” One says, “God will help you.” The other lies, “God has left you.” One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures.

Here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear. Why give ear to pea-brains and scoffers when you can, with the same ear, listen to the voice of God?

Turn a deaf ear to the old voices. Open a wide eye to the new choices. The scripture says, “God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NCV).

Jeremiah 6

A City Full of Lies

1–5  6 “Run for your lives, children of Ben-jamin!

Get out of Jerusalem, and now!

Give a blast on the ram’s horn in Blastville.

Send up smoke signals from Smoketown.

Doom pours out of the north—

massive terror!

I have likened my dear daughter Zion

to a lovely meadow.

Well, now ‘shepherds’ from the north have discovered her

and brought in their flocks of soldiers.

They’ve pitched camp all around her,

and plan where they’ll ‘graze.’

And then, ‘Prepare to attack! The fight is on!

To arms! We’ll strike at noon!

Oh, it’s too late? Day is dying?

Evening shadows are upon us?

Well, up anyway! We’ll attack by night

and tear apart her defenses stone by stone.’ ”

6–8  God-of-the-Angel-Armies gave the orders:

“Chop down her trees.

Build a siege ramp against Jerusalem,

A city full of brutality,

bursting with violence.

Just as a well holds a good supply of water,

she supplies wickedness nonstop.

The streets echo the cries: ‘Violence! Rape!’

Victims, bleeding and moaning, lie all over the place.

You’re in deep trouble, Jerusalem.

You’ve pushed me to the limit.

You’re on the brink of being wiped out,

being turned into a ghost town.”

9  More orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Time’s up! Harvest the grapes for judgment.

Salvage what’s left of Israel.

Go back over the vines.

Pick them clean, every last grape.

Is Anybody Listening?

10–11  “I’ve got something to say. Is anybody listening?

I’ve a warning to post. Will anyone notice?

It’s hopeless! Their ears are stuffed with wax—

deaf as a post, blind as a bat.

It’s hopeless! They’ve tuned out God.

They don’t want to hear from me.

But I’m bursting with the wrath of God.

I can’t hold it in much longer.

11–12  “So dump it on the children in the streets.

Let it loose on the gangs of youth.

For no one’s exempt: Husbands and wives will be taken,

the old and those ready to die;

Their homes will be given away—

all they own, even their loved ones—

When I give the signal

against all who live in this country.”

God’s Decree.

13–15  “Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar,

little people and big people alike.

Prophets and priests and everyone in between

twist words and doctor truth.

My people are broken—shattered!—

and they put on Band-Aids,

Saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.’

But things are not ‘just fine’!

Do you suppose they are embarrassed

over this outrage?

No, they have no shame.

They don’t even know how to blush.

There’s no hope for them. They’ve hit bottom

and there’s no getting up.

As far as I’m concerned,

they’re finished.”

God has spoken.

Death Is on the Prowl

16–20  God’s Message yet again:

“Go stand at the crossroads and look around.

Ask for directions to the old road,

The tried-and-true road. Then take it.

Discover the right route for your souls.

But they said, ‘Nothing doing.

We aren’t going that way.’

I even provided watchmen for them

to warn them, to set off the alarm.

But the people said, ‘It’s a false alarm.

It doesn’t concern us.’

And so I’m calling in the nations as witnesses:

‘Watch, witnesses, what happens to them!’

And, ‘Pay attention, Earth!

Don’t miss these bulletins.’

I’m visiting catastrophe on this people, the end result

of the games they’ve been playing with me.

They’ve ignored everything I’ve said,

had nothing but contempt for my teaching.

What would I want with incense brought in from Sheba,

rare spices from exotic places?

Your burnt sacrifices in worship give me no pleasure.

Your religious rituals mean nothing to me.”

21  So listen to this. Here’s God’s verdict on your way of life:

“Watch out! I’m putting roadblocks and barriers

on the road you’re taking.

They’ll send you sprawling,

parents and children, neighbors and friends—

and that will be the end of the lot of you.”

22–23  And listen to this verdict from God:

“Look out! An invasion from the north,

a mighty power on the move from a faraway place:

Armed to the teeth,

vicious and pitiless,

Booming like sea storm and thunder—tramp, tramp, tramp—

riding hard on war horses,

In battle formation

against you, dear Daughter Zion!”

24–25  We’ve heard the news,

and we’re as limp as wet dishrags.

We’re paralyzed with fear.

Terror has a death grip on our throats.

Don’t dare go outdoors!

Don’t leave the house!

Death is on the prowl.

Danger everywhere!

26  “Dear Daughter Zion: Dress in black.

Blacken your face with ashes.

Weep most bitterly,

as for an only child.

The countdown has begun …

six, five, four, three …

The Terror is on us!”

27–30  God gave me this task:

“I have made you the examiner of my people,

to examine and weigh their lives.

They’re a thick-headed, hard-nosed bunch,

rotten to the core, the lot of them.

Refining fires are cranked up to white heat,

but the ore stays a lump, unchanged.

It’s useless to keep trying any longer.

Nothing can refine evil out of them.

Men will give up and call them ‘slag,’

thrown on the slag heap by me, their God.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Today's Scripture

Matthew 22:23–33

That same day, Sadducees approached him. This is the party that denies any possibility of resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow and get her with child. Here’s a case where there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no child, and his wife passed to his brother. The second brother also left her childless, then the third—and on and on, all seven. Eventually the wife died. Now here’s our question: At the resurrection, whose wife is she? She was a wife to each of them.”

29–33  Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.” Hearing this exchange the crowd was much impressed.

Insight

Matthew 22 contains one of the many examples in the Gospels of a “shame/honor contest.” Much of the Eastern world today is still rooted in the concept of shame and honor because those cultures are more defined by community expectations than by individual rights. In Western culture, however, the individual is more prominent. In a shame/honor contest, the goal is to take honor from someone and bring shame on them. This requires an audience—the community.

In Matthew 22, the religious leaders attack Jesus in front of the crowds with a series of questions intended to dishonor Him in the eyes of the people (v. 15). Christ answers with irrefutable wisdom, and the religious leaders fail in their attempts to shame Him. By: Bill Crowder

Missing the Basics

You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Matthew 22:29

For decades, McDonald’s ruled fast food with their Quarter Pounder burger. In the 1980s, a rival chain cooked up an idea to dethrone the company with the golden arches. A&W offered the Third Pound Burger—larger than McDonald’s—and sold it for the same price. Even more, A&W’s burger won numerous blind taste tests. But the burger bombed. Nobody bought it. Eventually, they dropped it from the menu. Research revealed that consumers misunderstood the math and thought the Third Pound Burger was smaller than the Quarter Pounder. A grand idea failed because people missed the basics.

Jesus warned of how easy it is to miss the basics. Religious leaders, scheming to trap and discredit Him during the week He was crucified, posed a strange, hypothetical scenario about a woman who was widowed seven times (Matthew 22:23–28). Jesus responded, insisting that this knotty dilemma wasn’t a problem at all. Rather, their problem was how they didn’t “know the Scriptures or the power of God” (v. 29). The Scriptures, Jesus insisted, aren’t first intended to answer logical or philosophical puzzles. Rather, their primary aim is to lead us to know and love Jesus and to “have eternal life” in Him (John 5:39). These are the basics the leaders missed.

We often miss the basics too. The Bible’s main aim is an encounter with the living Jesus. It would be heartbreaking to miss it. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

How do you miss Scripture’s basics? How can you return to the basics . . . to Jesus?

Dear God, sometimes I get lost even amid good things. Please help me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8

Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart” who “see God.”

God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.

A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.

The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Joshua 22-24; Luke 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Avoiding Life's Biggest Mistake - #9707

When my wife got a headache I would try to be sympathetic. But occasionally I'd just say, "Well, honey, you know pain always attacks at the weakest point." Sensitive guy, huh? Well, one time my wife was having headaches every day, and burning eyes, and stinging eyes and I really was sympathetic. And she attributed it to the long hours that she'd been working, and she had been. She barely even noticed that her vision was slowly becoming worse. Some time went by. She finally took the time to go to the optometrist, and he said, "Lady, you need glasses." She said that was the day her eyes stopped burning. The headaches stopped, and the road signs suddenly cleared up. She only had one regret. She said, "Why did I wait so long?"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Avoiding Life's Biggest Mistake."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from this incredible incident in Exodus 8:9-10. Let me give you the scene: God's people, the Jews, have been slaves in Egypt for centuries. God sends Moses to give Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, this message, "Let my people go!" Pharaoh resists God's mandate, and God has sent a series of plagues on Egypt as a result.

As we enter these verses, Egypt has been overrun with frogs everywhere. Finally, he's had enough. Here's what he said, "Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people and I'll let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.' Moses said to Pharaoh, 'I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs.'" Listen to Pharaoh's answer, "Tomorrow." What?

Pharaoh chooses another night with the frogs! He's not alone. Many, many people over the years have had an offer from God in front of them and they have said, "Tomorrow." They have, in essence, chosen another night, another month, another year with the frogs.

Listen to Jesus, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest." It could be that Jesus has knocked on the door of your heart so many times and He's been saying, "Give your life to Me, and you'll finally have that peace that has eluded you for so long." And you've just said, "Tomorrow."

Jesus stands ready to fill that hole in your heart with the relationship with Him that you were made for. He stands ready to replace the death penalty of hell that we all deserve with eternal life in heaven that none of us deserves. It's just like Moses of old, Jesus says, "You pick the time. I will do all of that this day if you will open the door of your heart to let Me in - to trust Me as your personal Savior from your personal sin." And over and over you have picked the time, "Later."

So many who have said "yes" to Jesus have only one regret. "Why didn't I do this sooner?" Why postpone the relief that only Dr. Jesus can give you? One warning here: Pharaoh rejected several more times until the Bible says, "His heart was hardened and he could no longer respond to God's mercy." That's the deadly outcome of saying over and over again to Jesus, "Tomorrow."

If you've never given yourself to the man who gave His life to take you to heaven, to erase the sin that will keep you out of heaven, I hope today you will say, "Jesus, I am yours." I want to invite you to visit our website. There you will be able to find out how you can be sure you belong to Jesus and know that, this day, when He died on the cross it was to give you life forever. That website is ANewStory.com.

God's command is clear. Listen to God's word: "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." Are you hearing His voice? You feeling the tug? Don't let your heart get harder with one more "no." One more tomorrow could be one too many.

Acts 27:1-26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: NEVERTHELESS - March 25, 2024

“If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things” (1 John 3:20 NKJV). When you feel unforgiven, evict the feelings. Emotions don’t get a vote. God’s Word holds rank over self-criticism and self-doubt.

Satan loves to dump buckets of diminishment and discouragement on us.  He taunts us with the lie that we’ll never overcome our bad habits and our addictions. He specializes in telling us what we’ll never do.

But then God comes along, offering freedom with an even more powerful word: nevertheless. “Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless he came to a deep and abiding faith.” We all need a nevertheless. And God has plenty to go around.

Acts 27:1-26

A Storm at Sea

1–2  27 As soon as arrangements were complete for our sailing to Italy, Paul and a few other prisoners were placed under the supervision of a centurion named Julius, a member of an elite guard. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was bound for Ephesus and ports west. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

3  The next day we put in at Sidon. Julius treated Paul most decently—let him get off the ship and enjoy the hospitality of his friends there.

4–8  Out to sea again, we sailed north under the protection of the northeast shore of Cyprus because winds out of the west were against us, and then along the coast westward to the port of Myra. There the centurion found an Egyptian ship headed for Italy and transferred us on board. We ran into bad weather and found it impossible to stay on course. After much difficulty, we finally made it to the southern coast of the island of Crete and docked at Good Harbor (appropriate name!).

9–10  By this time we had lost a lot of time. We had passed the autumn equinox, so it would be stormy weather from now on through the winter, too dangerous for sailing. Paul warned, “I see only disaster ahead for cargo and ship—to say nothing of our lives!—if we put out to sea now.”

12,11  But it was not the best harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more suitable. The centurion set Paul’s warning aside and let the ship captain and the shipowner talk him into trying for the next harbor.

13–15  When a gentle southerly breeze came up, they weighed anchor, thinking it would be smooth sailing. But they were no sooner out to sea than a gale-force wind, the infamous nor’easter, struck. They lost all control of the ship. It was a cork in the storm.

16–17  We came under the lee of the small island named Clauda, and managed to get a lifeboat ready and reef the sails. But rocky shoals prevented us from getting close. We only managed to avoid them by throwing out drift anchors.

18–20  Next day, out on the high seas again and badly damaged now by the storm, we dumped the cargo overboard. The third day the sailors lightened the ship further by throwing off all the tackle and provisions. It had been many days since we had seen either sun or stars. Wind and waves were battering us unmercifully, and we lost all hope of rescue.

21–22  With our appetite for both food and life long gone, Paul took his place in our midst and said, “Friends, you really should have listened to me back in Crete. We could have avoided all this trouble and trial. But there’s no need to dwell on that now. From now on, things are looking up! I can assure you that there’ll not be a single drowning among us, although I can’t say as much for the ship—the ship itself is doomed.

23–26  “Last night God’s angel stood at my side, an angel of this God I serve, saying to me, ‘Don’t give up, Paul. You’re going to stand before Caesar yet—and everyone sailing with you is also going to make it.’ So, dear friends, take heart. I believe God will do exactly what he told me. But we’re going to shipwreck on some island or other.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, March 25, 2024

Today's Scripture

Matthew 25:31–40

The Sheep and the Goats

31–33  “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

34–36  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room,

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me.’

37–40  “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

Insight

In the parable typically referred to as “the sheep and the goats,” Jesus describes separating people when He returns as one would separate “the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). The two groups are separated based on their care of others. The group identified as “righteous” (v. 37) and the other group both address Jesus as “Lord” (vv. 37, 44). This would have reminded hearers of Christ’s words in Matthew 7:21—that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” By: Monica La Rose

Love God by Loving Others

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40

The Alba family experienced the rare occurrence of birthing two sets of identical twins just thirteen months apart. How did they juggle their parental responsibilities as well as their jobs? Their community of friends and family stepped in. Grandparents on both sides took a set of twins during the day so the parents could work and pay for health insurance. One company gave a year’s supply of diapers. The couple’s coworkers donated their personal sick days. “We couldn’t have done it without our community,” they agreed. In fact, during a live interview, the cohost removed her mic and ran after one renegade toddler, continuing the communal investment!

In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus tells a parable to make the point that when we serve others, we serve God. After listing acts of service, including providing food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, lodging for the homeless, clothes for the naked, and healing for the sick (vv. 35–36), Jesus concludes, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).

Imagining Jesus as the ultimate recipient of our kindness is true motivation to serve in our neighborhoods, families, churches, and world. When He prompts us to sacrificially invest in the needs of others, we serve Him. When we love others, we love God. By:  Elisa Morgan

Reflect & Pray

How might you serve Jesus in your community today? How can you love God by loving others in your path?

Loving God, please open my eyes to the needs of others around me so I can help meet them and love You better.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, March 25, 2024

Maintaining the Proper Relationship

…the friend of the bridegroom… —John 3:29

Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.

To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times when a crisis arises, we have to find out what God’s will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship— being the “friend of the bridegroom.” Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person’s focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends “of the bridegroom,” we may become amateur providences of God to someone else, working against Him while we use His weapons.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The measure of the worth of our public activity for God is the private profound communion we have with Him.… We have to pitch our tents where we shall always have quiet times with God, however noisy our times with the world may be. My Utmost for His Highest, January 6, 736 R

Bible in a Year: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, March 25, 2024

Surprises in the Storm - #9706

It was some years ago, but I remember when they closed our local airport. There was a violent storm at Newark airport, and thousands of people had their plans suddenly changed. Storms have a way of doing that, don't they? There's a snow storm, for example, and schools and businesses oh, they all had their plans made for the day, and suddenly all those plans are out the window. Meetings that had to be today are amazingly rescheduled. Planes and ships are diverted or blown off course. You see, a storm is a classic embodiment of that familiar phrase, "Due to circumstances beyond our control..." Maybe you're in the middle of a storm right now. Your life, your plans are being blown around, and it seems like everything is out of control. I've got good news for you today.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprises in the Storm."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Acts 27. It's about surprises in the storm. Now, I don't know where your storm is right now, but maybe there's something that is just blowing your life out of control. By the way, if you're not in a storm, well just stay tuned - you'll have yours pretty soon. That's just the way life is. Now maybe in your life right now things are just suddenly out of control financially or at work. Or there's a family situation that you just can't seem to change. Or it could be that your health has suddenly become turbulent. Somehow there's an out-of-control time in your life. Well, you'll be able to relate to Paul's storm in Acts 27.

What was happening was that he was being taken by Roman soldiers on a grain ship from Israel to Rome. They had a lot of water to cross to get from where Israel is and to cross the ocean and to get over to Italy where they needed to be, and in the middle of all this they encountered a terrible storm that lasted for 14 days. Hurricane strength, we're told in Acts 27:20, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved."

Now, if you've ever felt like all your points of reference were gone, you couldn't see the sun, the moon, the stars - all the things you usually count on, the storm was that bad. The things you were able to hang on to before, they're not there. Well, maybe you're there right now, and you know what, it is easy to give up hope. Well the outcome of the story you need to take note of. It says, "Everyone reached land in safety." They were blown into the rocks after two weeks, but it says they were on an island. And in chapter 28 we found out the island was called Malta. Do you know where Malta is? It's on the southern coast of Italy.

It's right where they had been heading all the time. Oh, they'd been out of control for two weeks or so it seemed, but the whole time they had been out of control they had been right on course and so are you. Nahum 1:3 says, "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm."

It may feel like you're either going nowhere right now or you're on the verge of disaster - maybe on the verge of being blown on the rocks. But remember, the surprise in the storm is this: that God uses these out-of-control times. He uses them to blow His children right where they were supposed to go all along. I know it feels like your life is out of control, but you know what? You're really right on course.

Jeremiah 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:Grace Chooses to See Forgiveness

Victoria Ruvolo doesn't remember the 18-year-old boy leaning out the window holding, of all things, a frozen turkey.  He threw it at her windshield. Crashing through the glass, it shattered Victoria's face like a dinner plate on concrete.

John 13:14-15 says, "Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet.  Do as I have done to you."

                                                        Forgiveness

Victoria Ruvolo did that.  Months later, she stood face to face with her offender in court.  No longer cocky, he was trembling, tearful, and apologetic.  Six months behind bars, five years' probation.  Everyone in the courtroom objected. He sobbed, and she spoke, "I forgive you. I want your life to be the best it can be." The reduced sentence was her idea. "God gave me a second chance at life, and I passed it on," she said!  Grace chooses to see God's forgiveness!

From GRACE

Jeremiah 5

Sins Are Piled Sky-High

1–2  5 “Patrol Jerusalem’s streets.

Look around. Take note.

Search the market squares.

See if you can find one man, one woman,

A single soul who does what is right

and tries to live a true life.

I want to forgive that person.”

God’s Decree.

“But if all they do is say, ‘As sure as God lives …’

they’re nothing but a bunch of liars.”

3–6  But you, God,

you have an eye for truth, don’t you?

You hit them hard, but it didn’t faze them.

You disciplined them, but they refused correction.

Hardheaded, harder than rock,

they wouldn’t change.

Then I said to myself, “Well, these are just poor people.

They don’t know any better.

They were never taught anything about God.

They never went to prayer meetings.

I’ll find some people from the best families.

I’ll talk to them.

They’ll know what’s going on, the way God works.

They’ll know the score.”

But they were no better! Rebels all!

Off doing their own thing.

The invaders are ready to pounce and kill,

like a mountain lion, a wilderness wolf,

Panthers on the prowl.

The streets aren’t safe anymore.

And why? Because the people’s sins are piled sky-high;

their betrayals are past counting.

7–9  “Why should I even bother with you any longer?

Your children wander off, leaving me,

Taking up with gods

that aren’t even gods.

I satisfied their deepest needs, and then they went off with the ‘sacred’ whores,

left me for orgies in sex shrines!

A bunch of well-groomed, lusty stallions,

each one pawing and snorting for his neighbor’s wife.

Do you think I’m going to stand around and do nothing?”

God’s Decree.

“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures

against a people like this?

Eyes That Don’t Really Look, Ears That Don’t Really Listen

10–11  “Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines,

but not all of them. Leave a few.

Prune back those vines!

That growth didn’t come from God!

They’ve betrayed me over and over again,

Judah and Israel both.”

God’s Decree.

12–13  “They’ve spread lies about God.

They’ve said, ‘There’s nothing to him.

Nothing bad will happen to us,

neither famine nor war will come our way.

The prophets are all windbags.

They speak nothing but nonsense.’ ”

14  Therefore, this is what God said to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Because they have talked this way,

they are going to eat those words.

Watch now! I’m putting my words

as fire in your mouth.

And the people are a pile of kindling

ready to go up in flames.

15–17  “Attention! I’m bringing a far-off nation

against you, O house of Israel.”

God’s Decree.

“A solid nation,

an ancient nation,

A nation that speaks another language.

You won’t understand a word they say.

When they aim their arrows, you’re as good as dead.

They’re a nation of real fighters!

They’ll clean you out of house and home,

rob you of crops and children alike.

They’ll feast on your sheep and cattle,

strip your vines and fig trees.

And the fortresses that made you feel so safe—

leveled with a stroke of the sword!

18–19  “Even then, as bad as it will be”—God’s Decree!—“it will not be the end of the world for you. And when people ask, ‘Why did our God do all this to us?’ you must say to them, ‘It’s tit for tat. Just as you left me and served foreign gods in your own country, so now you must serve foreigners in their own country.’

20–25  “Tell the house of Jacob this,

put out this bulletin in Judah:

Listen to this,

you scatterbrains, airheads,

With eyes that see but don’t really look,

and ears that hear but don’t really listen.

Why don’t you honor me?

Why aren’t you in awe before me?

Yes, me, who made the shorelines

to contain the ocean waters.

I drew a line in the sand

that cannot be crossed.

Waves roll in but cannot get through;

breakers crash but that’s the end of them.

But this people—what a people!

Uncontrollable, untameable runaways.

It never occurs to them to say,

‘How can we honor our God with our lives,

The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn

and maintains the rhythm of the seasons,

Who sets aside time each year for harvest

and keeps everything running smoothly for us?’

Of course you don’t! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this.

Your sins keep my blessings at a distance.

To Stand for Nothing and Stand Up for No One

26–29  “My people are infiltrated by wicked men,

unscrupulous men on the hunt.

They set traps for the unsuspecting.

Their victims are innocent men and women.

Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain,

like a hunter’s bag full of birds.

Pretentious and powerful and rich,

hugely obese, oily with rolls of fat.

Worse, they have no conscience.

Right and wrong mean nothing to them.

They stand for nothing, stand up for no one,

throw orphans to the wolves, exploit the poor.

Do you think I’ll stand by and do nothing about this?”

God’s Decree.

“Don’t you think I’ll take serious measures

against a people like this?

30–31  “Unspeakable! Sickening!

What’s happened in this country?

Prophets preach lies

and priests hire on as their assistants.

And my people love it. They eat it up!

But what will you do when it’s time to pick up the pieces?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Today's Scripture

John 12:23–26

Jesus answered, “Time’s up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

24–25  “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

26  “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.

Insight

In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus predicted His death at least three times. The first prediction followed Peter’s declaration of Jesus as the Messiah (reported in Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-32; Luke 9:21-22). The second and third instances are found in Matthew 17:22-23; 20:17-19; Mark 9:30-32; 10:32-34; and Luke 9:43-45; 18:31-34. These gospels all record Christ explicitly saying that He would die at the hand of the teachers of the law and would rise three days later.

The predictions in John’s gospel, however, are more subtle (12:7-8; 13:33; 14:25-29). In John 12:23-36, Christ’s death is predicted in somewhat poetic language. Jesus said that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (v. 23) and that seeds need to die to produce more grain (v. 24). Each of the gospel writers recorded their stories for a deliberate purpose and to serve an intentional end. By: J.R. Hudberg

Renaissance in Jesus

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24

We know Leonardo da Vinci as the renaissance man. His intellectual prowess led to advances across multiple fields of study and the arts. Yet Leonardo journaled of “these miserable days of ours” and lamented that we die “without leaving behind any memory of ourselves in the mind of men.”

“While I thought I was learning how to live,” said Leonardo, “I was learning how to die.” He was closer to the truth than he may have realized. Learning how to die is the way to life. After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday; see John 12:12–19), He said, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (v. 24). He spoke this about His own death but expanded it to include us all: “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (v. 25).

The apostle Paul wrote of being “buried” with Christ “through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:4–5).

Through His death, Jesus offers us rebirth—the very meaning of renaissance. He has forged the way to eternal life with His Father. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

How do you measure the value of your life? How might you need to change those values?

Dear Father, I can find meaning and purpose nowhere else but in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Decreasing for His Purpose

He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R

Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24

Jeremiah 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Just for You - March 22, 2024

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 65:7-9

I’m about to tell you something that may stretch your imagination! You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to buy it. Just think about it!

If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean would still have its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings, and spray light on the desert in the mornings.

If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree. He’s waiting for you to stumble into the den, rub the sleep from your eyes, and see the bright red bike he assembled just for you!

He’s waiting for your eyes to pop and your heart to stop! In the silence he leans forward and whispers… “I did it just for you!”

Jeremiah 4

“If you want to come back, O Israel,

you must really come back to me.

You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia

and not wander away from me anymore.

Then you can say words like, ‘As God lives …’

and have them mean something true and just and right.

And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing

and find something in Israel to write home about.”

3–4  Here’s another Message from God

to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Plow your unplowed fields,

but then don’t plant weeds in the soil!

Yes, circumcise your lives for God’s sake.

Plow your unplowed hearts,

all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—

for once it starts it can’t be put out.

Your wicked ways

are fuel for the fire.

God’s Sledgehammer Anger

5–8  “Sound the alarm in Judah,

broadcast the news in Jerusalem.

Say, ‘Blow the ram’s horn trumpet through the land!’

Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!—

‘Close ranks!

Run for your lives to the shelters!’

Send up a flare warning Zion:

‘Not a minute to lose! Don’t sit on your hands!’

Disaster’s descending from the north. I set it off!

When it lands, it will shake the foundations.

Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover,

ready to rip nations to shreds,

Leaving your land in wrack and ruin,

your cities in rubble, abandoned.

Dress in funeral black.

Weep and wail,

For God’s sledgehammer anger

has slammed into us head-on.

9  “When this happens”

—God’s Decree—

“King and princes will lose heart;

priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded.”

10  Then I said, “Alas, Master God!

You’ve fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem.

You assured them, ‘All is well, don’t worry,’

at the very moment when the sword was at their throats.”

11–12  At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem,

will be told in plain words:

“The northern hordes are sweeping in

from the desert steppes—

A wind that’s up to no good, a gale-force wind.

I ordered this wind.

I’m pronouncing

my hurricane judgment on my people.”

Your Evil Life Is Piercing Your Heart

13–14  Look at them! Like banks of storm clouds,

racing, tumbling, their chariots a tornado,

Their horses faster than eagles!

Woe to us! We’re done for!

Jerusalem! Scrub the evil from your lives

so you’ll be fit for salvation.

How much longer will you harbor

devious and malignant designs within you?

15–17  What’s this? A messenger from Dan?

Bad news from Ephraim’s hills!

Make the report public.

Broadcast the news to Jerusalem:

“Invaders from far off are

raising war cries against Judah’s towns.

They’re all over her, like a dog on a bone.

And why? Because she rebelled against me.”

God’s Decree.

18  “It’s the way you’ve lived

that’s brought all this on you.

The bitter taste is from your evil life.

That’s what’s piercing your heart.”

19–21  I’m doubled up with cramps in my belly—

a poker burns in my gut.

My insides are tearing me up,

never a moment’s peace.

The ram’s horn trumpet blast rings in my ears,

the signal for all-out war.

Disaster hard on the heels of disaster,

the whole country in ruins!

In one stroke my home is destroyed,

the walls flattened in the blink of an eye.

How long do I have to look at the warning flares,

listen to the siren of danger?

Experts at Evil

22  “What fools my people are!

They have no idea who I am.

A company of half-wits,

dopes and donkeys all!

Experts at evil

but klutzes at good.”

23–26  I looked at the earth—

it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness.

I looked at the skies,

and not a star to be seen.

I looked at the mountains—

they were trembling like aspen leaves,

And all the hills

rocking back and forth in the wind.

I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight,

and not a bird to be seen in the skies.

I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up.

All the towns were ghost towns.

And all this because of God,

because of the blazing anger of God.

27–28  Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:

“The whole country will be laid waste—

still it won’t be the end of the world.

The earth will mourn

and the skies lament

Because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back.

I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”

You’re Not Going to Seduce Anyone

29  Someone shouts, “Horsemen and archers!”

and everybody runs for cover.

They hide in ditches,

they climb into caves.

The cities are emptied,

not a person left anywhere.

30–31  And you, what do you think you’re up to?

Dressing up in party clothes,

Decking yourselves out in jewelry,

putting on lipstick and rouge and mascara!

Your primping goes for nothing.

You’re not going to seduce anyone. They’re out to kill you!

And what’s that I hear? The cry of a woman in labor,

the screams of a mother giving birth to her firstborn.

It’s the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath,

reaching out for help:

“Help, oh help me! I’m dying!

The killers are on me!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Today's Scripture

1 Peter 2:11–12

Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Insight

In the books of 1 and 2 Peter, the apostle Peter writes to comfort and encourage Jewish believers in Jesus “who are living as foreigners” (1 Peter 1:1 nlt)—known as the Jewish diaspora—throughout Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and are now facing persecution because of their faith in Christ (vv. 1, 6). As a disciple of Jesus, Peter understood, for he too was persecuted and even jailed three times for sharing the gospel. The apostle most likely wrote his letters around ad 62-65 from Rome, where it’s believed he was martyred during Emperor Nero’s rule. At this time in the Roman Empire, Nero initiated a great persecution of believers in Jesus who were tortured and killed for their faith. Peter wrote to encourage believers in Jesus to live in such a way that nonbelievers would be drawn to Him—with lives characterized by good deeds, even though they were far from home and in difficult circumstances (2:12). By: Alyson Kieda

Extravagant Love

Live such good lives . . . [that] they may see your good deeds and glorify God. 1 Peter 2:12

My seatmate on the flight told me she was nonreligious and had immigrated to a town that was home to numerous Christians. When she mentioned that most of her neighbors went to church, I asked about her experience. She said she could never repay their generosity. When she brought her disabled father to her new country, her neighbors built a ramp to her house and donated a hospital bed and medical supplies. She said, “If being a Christian makes one so kind, everyone should be a Christian.”

Exactly what Jesus hoped she’d say! He told His disciples, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Peter heard Christ’s command and passed it on: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

Our neighbors who don’t have faith in Jesus may not understand what we believe and why we believe it. Don’t sweat it, as long as there’s one more thing they can’t understand: the extravagance of our love. My seatmate marveled that her Christian neighbors continue to care for her even though she isn’t, in her words, “one of them.” She knows she’s loved, for Jesus’ sake, and she gives thanks to God. She may not yet believe in Him, but she’s grateful that others do. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray

Who do you know who needs Jesus? How can you love them for His sake?

Heavenly Father, let Your light shine through me.

For further study, read Pray First: The Power of Prayer in Sharing the Gospel.

https://discoveryseries.org/Q0219

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Am I Carnally Minded?

Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal…? —1 Corinthians 3:3

The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.

Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.

If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.

What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it— it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R

Bible in a Year: Joshua 13-15; Luke 1:57-80

Jeremiah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ABIDING IN HIM - March 22, 2024

How do we disarm anxiety? Stockpile our minds with God thoughts. How might you do this? A friend described to me her ninety-minute commute. She smiled. “I turn my commute into a chapel.” And she described how she fills the hour and a half with worship and sermons. She listens to entire books of the Bible. She recites prayers.

Is there a block of time you can claim for God? Perhaps you could turn off the network news and open your Bible. Or set the alarm fifteen minutes earlier. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 ESV). Free from fear. Free from dread. And, yes, free from anxiety.

Jeremiah 3

Your Sex-and-Religion Obsessions

1  3 God’s Message came to me as follows:

“If a man’s wife

walks out on him

And marries another man,

can he take her back as if nothing had happened?

Wouldn’t that raise a huge stink

in the land?

And isn’t that what you’ve done—

‘whored’ your way with god after god?

And now you want to come back as if nothing had happened.”

God’s Decree.

2–5  “Look around at the hills.

Where have you not had sex?

You’ve camped out like hunters stalking deer.

You’ve solicited many lover-gods,

Like a streetwalking whore

chasing after other gods.

And so the rain has stopped.

No more rain from the skies!

But it doesn’t even faze you. Brazen as whores,

you carry on as if you’ve done nothing wrong.

Then you have the nerve to call out, ‘My father!

You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now?

Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?’

That’s your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop.”

Admit Your God-Defiance

6–10  God spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: “You have noticed, haven’t you, how fickle Israel has visited every hill and grove of trees as a whore at large? I assumed that after she had gotten it out of her system, she’d come back, but she didn’t. Her flighty sister, Judah, saw what she did. She also saw that because of fickle Israel’s loose morals I threw her out, gave her her walking papers. But that didn’t faze flighty sister Judah. She went out, big as you please, and took up a whore’s life also. She took up cheap sex-and-religion as a sideline diversion, an indulgent re-creation, and used anything and anyone, flouting sanity and sanctity alike, stinking up the country. And not once in all this did flighty sister Judah even give me a nod, although she made a show of it from time to time.” God’s Decree.

11–12  Then God told me, “Fickle Israel was a good sight better than flighty Judah. Go and preach this message. Face north toward Israel and say:

12–15  “ ‘Turn back, fickle Israel.

I’m not just hanging back to punish you.

I’m committed in love to you.

My anger doesn’t see the nonstop.

Just admit your guilt.

Admit your God-defiance.

Admit to your promiscuous life with casual partners,

pulling strangers into the sex-and-religion groves

While turning a deaf ear to me.’ ”

God’s Decree.

“Come back, wandering children!”

God’s Decree.

“I, yes I, am your true husband.

I’ll pick you out one by one—

This one from the city, these two from the country—

and bring you to Zion.

I’ll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way,

who rule you with intelligence and wisdom.

16  “And this is what will happen: You will increase and prosper in the land. The time will come”—God’s Decree!—“when no one will say any longer, ‘Oh, for the good old days! Remember the Ark of the Covenant?’ It won’t even occur to anyone to say it—‘the good old days.’ The so-called good old days of the Ark are gone for good.

17  “Jerusalem will be the new Ark—‘God’s Throne.’ All the godless nations, no longer stuck in the ruts of their evil ways, will gather there to honor God.

18  “At that time, the House of Judah will join up with the House of Israel. Holding hands, they’ll leave the north country and come to the land I willed to your ancestors.

19–20  “I planned what I’d say if you returned to me:

‘Good! I’ll bring you back into the family.

I’ll give you choice land,

land that the godless nations would die for.’

And I imagined that you would say, ‘Dear father!’

and would never again go off and leave me.

But no luck. Like a false-hearted woman walking out on her husband,

you, the whole family of Israel, have proven false to me.”

God’s Decree.

21–22  The sound of voices comes drifting out of the hills,

the unhappy sound of Israel’s crying,

Israel lamenting the wasted years,

never once giving her God a thought.

“Come back, wandering children!

I can heal your wanderlust!”

22–25  “We’re here! We’ve come back to you.

You’re our own true God!

All that popular religion was a cheap lie,

duped crowds buying up the latest in gods.

We’re back! Back to our true God,

the salvation of Israel.

The Fraud picked us clean, swindled us

of what our ancestors bequeathed us,

Gypped us out of our inheritance—

God-blessed flocks and God-given children.

We made our bed and now lie in it,

all tangled up in the dirty sheets of dishonor.

All because we sinned against our God,

we and our fathers and mothers.

From the time we took our first steps, said our first words,

we’ve been rebels, disobeying the voice of our God.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, March 22, 2024

Today's Scripture

1 John 3:16–18

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

When We Practice Real Love

18–20  My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.

Insight

In 1 John 3, the author focuses on the concept of love lived out in practicality. Like Cain, a lack of love-in-action is comparable to hatred and murder (v. 15). Instead, the author appeals to the example of Jesus, whose act of laying down His own life demonstrates the kind of love we should live out as His children. But what does that love look like practically? The letter makes it very simple: care for the physical needs of fellow believers (vv. 17-18).

And lest we think that the words of 1 John 3 are only a recommendation, it’s important to remember that God took Israel to task—destroying their wealth and sending them into exile—in part because the wealthy failed to care for the needy among them (see Amos 5:11–12). God deeply cares for the poor and marginalized, and we demonstrate Christlike love when we show them that same care. By: Jed Ostoich

Next Step of Love

Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

What would cause someone to help a competitor? For a restaurant owner named Adolfo in Wisconsin, it was the opportunity to encourage other struggling local restaurant owners adapting to Covid regulations. Adolfo knew firsthand the challenges of operating a business during a pandemic. Encouraged by another local business’ generosity, Adolfo spent his own money to purchase more than two thousand dollars in gift cards to give away to his customers to use at other restaurants in his community. That’s an expression of love that’s not just words but action.  

Building on the ultimate expression of love demonstrated by Jesus’ willingness to lay down His life for humanity (1 John 3:16), John encouraged his readers to also take the next step and put love into action. For John, to “lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (v. 16) meant demonstrating the same type of love exemplified by Jesus—and that would most often take the form of everyday, practical actions, such as sharing material possessions. It wasn’t enough to love with words; love required sincere, meaningful actions (v. 18).

Putting love into action can be hard because it often requires personal sacrifice or disadvantaging ourselves for another person. Enabled by God’s Spirit and remembering His lavish love for us, we can take the next step of love. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced love in action? How can you take the next step to love someone in a practical way?

Dear Jesus, please help me to follow Your example and take the next step to demonstrate genuine love in my actions today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, March 22, 2024

The Burning Heart

Did not our heart burn within us…? —Luke 24:32

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.

Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.

We cannot kindle when we will

The fire which in the heart resides,

The spirit bloweth and is still,

In mystery our soul abides;

But tasks in hours of insight willed

Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”?  Disciples Indeed, 389 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 10-12; Luke 1:39-56

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, March 22, 2024

Hold Your Fire - #9705

I realize now that I really wasn't ever going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. Actually, that's important in a lot of sports. For example: volleyball - you lose the point when you can't return the shot - ping-pong - oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot - well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.

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

Well, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2. I'll be reading verse 21. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps." Now let's stop for just a minute here. Peter is saying that this world needs more of Jesus. Now, there are a lot of people around you who are desperate to have Jesus walk among them, and He can. He can walk into your office. He can be in your school. He can be in your family through you, because He's in you.

Now, the Bible here says that Christ is our example, and the Greek word that's used there is the word that talked about a copy head on a school child's slate. And as they were learning their alphabet - alpha, beta, gamma, delta...the Greek alphabet - they would just simply copy the letter at the top and try to make their letter as much like the letter at the top as they could - an exact copy. Now, this says that Christ is our copy head. He's the one we're trying to make an exact replica of. We're trying to be as much like Him in our life as possible so that when people come in contact with us, they come in contact with Him.

Now, when is it hardest to follow that example? When is it hardest to be like Jesus? Well, when it's most important to be. Verse 23: "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly."

The real proof that shows a person's real character is what he does when he's being shot at. Now, you notice what happened to Jesus here? He was insulted, but there was no retaliation.

They hurt Him and yet there were no threats coming back. Our Master was abusively, horribly treated - He was deeply hurt. And boy did He have the power to hurt back like you and I never will, and He chose not to!

Now, when are you most likely to sin? Well, probably when someone is really attacking you, criticizing you, coming after you, when they're firing something at you. Maybe you've been betrayed recently, or you've been deeply wounded verbally, or maybe you've even been hurt physically. Everything in you cries out, "I'll fix him!" "I'll fix her!" Your mind starts racing through ways that you can retaliate - ways you can even the score. And now here comes the Jesus test. Does knowing Christ make any difference when it really counts?

In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; do not take revenge, but leave room for God's wrath." Let God even the score - He's much better at it than you are. Jesus turned to His Father for justice. An eye for an eye is not the way of Jesus. Even from His cross He says of those who have nailed Him to that cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." That's the example for us. When you refuse to return the shot, you refuse to shrink to the level of your attackers - you refuse to let them control you. And more importantly, you rise to the level of your Lord, who gives you the grace not to hurt back.

Life isn't tennis. In Christ you win if you don't return the shot. So, my brother and my sister, hold your fire!

Acts 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WAITING ROOM - March 21, 2024

Are you in God’s waiting room? Perhaps you are between jobs or in search of health, help, a house, or a spouse. If so, here is what you need to know: while you wait, God works. God never twiddles his thumbs. He never stops. He takes no vacations. “Be still and know that I am God” reads the sign on God’s waiting room wall. You can be glad because God is good. You can be still because he is active. You can rest because he is busy.

To wait, biblically speaking, is not to assume the worst, worry, fret, make demands, or take control. Nor is waiting inactivity. Waiting is a sustained effort to stay focused on God through prayer and belief. To wait is to “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7 NASB).

Acts 26

“I Couldn’t Just Walk Away”

1–3  26 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: “Go ahead—tell us about yourself.”

Paul took the stand and told his story. “I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

4–8  “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they’d tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries—it’s because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me! For the life of me, I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.

9–11  “I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers—I had no idea they were God’s people!—into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.

12–14  “One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

15–16  “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

17–18  “ ‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.’

19–20  “What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

21–23  “It’s because of this ‘whole world’ dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing.”

24  That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!”

25–27  But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The king knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I’ve said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that—I know you believe.”

28  But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”

29  Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”

30–31  The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”

32  Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 58:6-12

 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:

to break the chains of injustice,

get rid of exploitation in the workplace,

free the oppressed,

cancel debts.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:

sharing your food with the hungry,

inviting the homeless poor into your homes,

putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,

being available to your own families.

Do this and the lights will turn on,

and your lives will turn around at once.

Your righteousness will pave your way.

The God of glory will secure your passage.

Then when you pray, God will answer.

You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

9–12  “If you get rid of unfair practices,

quit blaming victims,

quit gossiping about other people’s sins,

If you are generous with the hungry

and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,

your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

I will always show you where to go.

I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—

firm muscles, strong bones.

You’ll be like a well-watered garden,

a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,

rebuild the foundations from out of your past.

You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.

Insight

One of the more common accusations from the prophets to the people of Israel and Judah was that their religion was merely about performance. They were going through the motions of devotion to God without demonstrating it by their actions. Isaiah confronts the people for their display of piety without showing concern for their fellow Israelites. They were fasting, covering themselves in sackcloth and ashes, and bowing their heads in a show of humility (Isaiah 58:1-5). Yet God calls for a fast that frees the oppressed and cares for the needy, not a false show of piety. Jesus also warns about a false show of piety when He speaks of fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). By: J.R. Hudberg

Helping as God Helps Us

Help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness. Isaiah 58:10 nlt

Ole Kassow of Copenhagen loved bicycling. One morning, when he saw an elderly man sitting alone with his walker in a park, Ole felt inspired by a simple idea: why not offer elderly people the joy and freedom of a bike ride. So, one sunny day he stopped at a nursing home with a rented trishaw (a three-wheeled bike) and offered a ride to anyone there. He was delighted when a staff member and an elderly resident became the first riders of Cycling Without Age.

Now, more than twenty years later, Ole’s dream to help those who miss cycling has blessed some 575,000 elderly people with 2.5 million rides. Where? To see a friend, enjoy an ice cream cone, and “feel the wind in their hair.” Participants say they sleep better, eat better, and feel less lonely.

Such a gift brings to life God’s beautiful words to His people in Isaiah 58:10–11. “Help those in trouble,” He told them. “Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.” God promised, “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring” (nlt).

God told His people, “Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities” (v. 12 nlt). What might He do through us? As He helps us, may we always be ready to help others. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

In your town or city, who needs help? What simple assistance can you offer them today?

Dear God, please show me a simple way to help others so they can find life in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Identified or Simply Interested?

I have been crucified with Christ… —Galatians 2:20

The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ….” He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ,” or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him” —but— “I have been identified with Him in His death.” Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

“…it is no longer I who live….” My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.

“…and the life which I now live in the flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh— the life which others can see, “I live by faith in the Son of God….” This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son of God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits— a faith that comes only from the Son of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come.  Shade of His Hand, 1226 L

Bible in a Year: Joshua 7-9; Luke 1:21-38

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Someone Talked - #9704

Some years ago for my wife's birthday, she was given a gift of dinner at a restaurant that is themed to look like an Air Force base during World War II. So we went out to dinner because it was a gift and we had a great time, and everybody there kind of gets into the atmosphere.

You know, the dress is appropriate. They're wearing Red Cross aprons there like army nurses. And the music is 1940s music, and all the decorations are '40s and sort of World War II things. It was a lot of fun!

The posters on the wall though reminded us of G.I.s of that generation who were told not to talk about troop movements, assignments, schedules, and their destination. In fact during World War II the motto was, "Loose lips sink ships." And that's true. If word got out to the enemy, even indirectly where the troop movements were going to be, it could very well be that that carrier would be torpedoed or hit by a Kamikaze and it could cost many lives.

I'll tell you, I saw this one poster in the restaurant that has haunted me for a long time. It was a drawing of a G.I. drowning in the ocean. He's just barely got his head above water. He's desperately pointing one finger toward us and saying two words, "Someone talked." Boy, that was heavy. Someone had and he was the victim of someone's loose lips. Well, that war is long over, but loose lips? Oh, they're still causing fatalities.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Proverbs 18:21. It's a short statement, it's a powerful statement, it's a convicting statement: "The tongue has the power of life and death." That's an awesome power described in the Word of God that you can, with a few words, deeply wound another person. In a sense, you can emotionally sink them or kill them. You can with a few words ruin a reputation, destroy a close relationship, maybe ruin your own reputation, or leave a scar on somebody that may never heal.

I can still see the desperate image of that drowning G.I. shouting, "Someone talked!" Could it be that you've sunk another person because you talked? You talked too much, you talked too critically. Think of the damage we do when we disobey Jesus' command to take our problems only to the person we have the problem with. Maybe we've spread the poison to other people and we've victimized our brother with our loose lips - the gossip about another person that marks their most precious possession, their reputation - those critical words spoken behind someone's back - those angry words that were spoken to someone's face.

We can sink people's lives with our words. World War II G.I.s were warned not to say the things they could say, because they were wanting to save lives. See, that's still an important warning and maybe it's a time for us to pray as the Holy Spirit points this out inside us, "Lord, help me to stop this tongue of mine before more hurting words come out." "The tongue has the power of life and death."

Loose lips do sink ships and people. May we never be the guilty party to the sinking of another person. To be that someone who talked. That someone who knew better.