Genesis 29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BRING EVERYONE IN - April 28, 2025

The book of Titus 2:11 (NCV) assures us that “God’s grace that can save everyone has come.” We humans aren’t prone to this “whoever” policy. We’re prone to pecking orders. We love the high horse. The affluent over the destitute. The educated over the dropout. The old-timer over the newcomer. The Jew over the Gentile.

An impassable gulf yawned between Jews and Gentiles. No Jew would have anything to do with a Gentile. Unless that Jew, of course, was Jesus. Suspicions of a new order began to surface because of his curious conversation with a Canaanite woman. Her daughter was dying, and her prayer was urgent, yet her ancestry was Gentile. Even so, Jesus healed the woman’s daughter and made his position clear. He was more concerned about bringing people in than shutting certain people out.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Genesis 29

Jacob set out again on his way to the people of the east. He noticed a well out in an open field with three flocks of sheep bedded down around it. This was the common well from which the flocks were watered. The stone over the mouth of the well was huge. When all the flocks were gathered, the shepherds would roll the stone from the well and water the sheep; then they would return the stone, covering the well.

4  Jacob said, “Hello friends. Where are you from?”

They said, “We’re from Haran.”

5  Jacob asked, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?”

“We do.”

6  “Are things well with him?” Jacob continued.

“Very well,” they said. “And here is his daughter Rachel coming with the flock.”

7  Jacob said, “There’s a lot of daylight still left; it isn’t time to round up the sheep yet, is it? So why not water the flocks and go back to grazing?”

8  “We can’t,” they said. “Not until all the shepherds get here. It takes all of us to roll the stone from the well. Not until then can we water the flocks.”

9–13  While Jacob was in conversation with them, Rachel came up with her father’s sheep. She was the shepherd. The moment Jacob spotted Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, saw her arriving with his uncle Laban’s sheep, he went and single-handedly rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. Then he kissed Rachel and broke into tears. He told Rachel that he was related to her father, that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. When Laban heard the news—Jacob, his sister’s son!—he ran out to meet him, embraced and kissed him and brought him home. Jacob told Laban the story of everything that had happened.

14–15  Laban said, “You’re family! My flesh and blood!”

When Jacob had been with him for a month, Laban said, “Just because you’re my nephew, you shouldn’t work for me for nothing. Tell me what you want to be paid. What’s a fair wage?”

16–18  Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the younger. Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful. And it was Rachel that Jacob loved.

So Jacob answered, “I will work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

19  “It is far better,” said Laban, “that I give her to you than marry her to some outsider. Yes. Stay here with me.”

20  So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few days, he loved her so much.

21–24  Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife; I’ve completed what we agreed I’d do. I’m ready to consummate my marriage.” Laban invited everyone around and threw a big feast. At evening, though, he got his daughter Leah and brought her to the marriage bed, and Jacob slept with her. (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.)

25  Morning came: There was Leah in the marriage bed!

Jacob confronted Laban, “What have you done to me? Didn’t I work all this time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat me?”

26–27  “We don’t do it that way in our country,” said Laban. “We don’t marry off the younger daughter before the older. Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and then we’ll give you the other one also. But it will cost you another seven years of work.”

28–30  Jacob agreed. When he’d completed the honeymoon week, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.) Jacob then slept with her. And he loved Rachel more than Leah. He worked for Laban another seven years.

31–32  When God realized that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and had a son. She named him Reuben (Look-It’s-a-Boy!). “This is a sign,” she said, “that God has seen my misery; and a sign that now my husband will love me.”

33–35  She became pregnant again and had another son. “God heard,” she said, “that I was unloved and so he gave me this son also.” She named this one Simeon (God-Heard). She became pregnant yet again—another son. She said, “Now maybe my husband will connect with me—I’ve given him three sons!” That’s why she named him Levi (Connect). She became pregnant a final time and had a fourth son. She said, “This time I’ll praise God.” So she named him Judah (Praise-God). Then she stopped having children.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, April 28, 2025

by Alyson Kieda

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

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

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

Today's Insights

In 2 Thessalonians 2, some believers in Jesus had quit their jobs and were living off the generosity of the church because they’d been misled by false teachers that Jesus had already returned (v. 2). These freeloaders had become “busybodies” and threatened the unity of the community (3:11). Paul told the church to withdraw fellowship (v. 6) and withhold food from these idlers who disobeyed the church’s teaching and rejected the apostle’s example of working for a living (vv. 7-10). The church must continue to do “what is good” and help those who are unable to work (v. 13). But Paul says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (v. 10). The apostle commanded these idlers to get back to fruitful employment and productivity: “Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat” (v. 12). By doing so, they imitated Paul, who sought to imitate Jesus.

Imitate Me

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

As his daddy cast his fishing line out into the lake, two-year-old Thomas mimicked his father’s actions with his own toy fishing pole. Later, as he stood on the shallow edge of the lake, Thomas also tried imitating his father’s example of throwing fish back into the water by dipping his pole in the water and “catching” weeds. After each “catch,” Thomas held the weeds up for his daddy to admire before releasing them back into the lake.

We tend to learn—both what’s good and wholesome and what’s definitely not—through observing and imitating others. Perhaps that’s why in the New Testament, followers of Jesus are often encouraged to look to faithful servants of the gospel as role models (see 2 Thessalonians 3:9; Hebrews 13:7; 3 John 1:11).

In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul told his readers not to imitate idle, disruptive, and meddling lifestyles (vv. 6, 11) and told his readers to imitate instead the examples of integrity found in him and the other leaders (vv. 7-10). And he encouraged them to “never tire of doing what is good” (v. 13).

But Paul knew that ultimately his example was only worth imitating insofar as it pointed to reliance on Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Only by rooting our lives in Christ’s faith and power can we grow in grace and wisdom.

Reflect & Pray

Who has been a godly role model in your life? Who might you influence in turn?  

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for the dear people You’ve placed in my life who’ve pointed me to You and are helping me learn what it means to live in Your power and love.

God calls us to make disciples of all nations. Learn how God gives the power to fulfill the Great Commission by to Follow Me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, April 28, 2025

What You Will Get

Wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. — Jeremiah 45:5

The scribe Baruch was seeking much more than his life from God; he wanted great things for himself and was full of self-pity that he hadn’t gotten them. “Woe to me!” he lamented. “The Lord has added sorrow to my pain” (Jeremiah 45:3). God told Baruch to stop seeking great things for himself, highlighting the futility of earthly blessings: “For I will bring disaster on all people” (v. 5). Yet God didn’t send Baruch away empty-handed. Instead, he said, “I will let you escape with your life.”

What more do we want than life? It is the essential thing. So many of us are caught up in the show of things—not necessarily in possessions, but in blessings. Both blessings and possessions will go one day, but there is something grander that will never go: the life that is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Are you prepared to let God take you into union with him? Are you prepared to stop paying attention to the things you consider “great”? To abandon entirely and let go? The test of abandonment lies in refusing to say, “But what about this?” Beware of such questions. They mean that you don’t really trust God—not enough to abandon yourself to him. The moment you truly abandon yourself to God, you no longer worry about what he is going to do. Abandonment means refusing yourself the luxury of asking questions.

The reason people are tired of life is that God hasn’t given them anything; they haven’t received their life from him. The way out is abandonment. When you do abandon yourself to him, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth: God has got you absolutely and has given you your life! If you’re not in this place, it is because of either disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough.

1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. 

The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, April 28, 2025

NO SECRETS - #9991

When our oldest grandson was 15 months old, he was our favorite entertainer. Who needed TV? Who needs some show you have to buy a ticket for? No, the show he put on was free! It seemed like he had a new trick every day. His parents used to throw a blanket over his head and ask, "Where's Jason?" He would pull that blanket off, flash a big smile, and his parents would say excitedly, "There's Jason!"

Now Jason took that to another level. He doesn't need the blanket. All we have to say is, "Where's Jason?" And he promptly puts both his little hands over his face. Of course, he's peeking between his fingers a little bit. I guess he thought he was hiding. Then, he pulls his hands away and shrieks with surprise and excitement. And we responded on cue, "There's Jason!" We loved it! Let me tell you a little secret. The whole time Jason thought he was hiding - we knew exactly where he was.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 4:13, and it exposes our little games of hide-and-seek with God. We cover our face and we think He doesn't know where we are - and He knows all the time. God's Word says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" So, there's nothing you've done that God hasn't seen. There's nothing you've thought that God doesn't know. And there's nothing you are that God isn't aware of.

In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus has a message for each of seven churches, and in a sense, for all believers. All seven messages follow the same pattern. He reviews what people see when they look at these folks and then He tells what He sees, which is often very different from the image everyone else sees.

Take the church at Sardis, for example. Here is Jesus' blunt spiritual X-ray: "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." Ask anyone else about these folks and they would tell you, "Oh, they're really alive over there!" Ask Jesus and He says, "I know they're really dead."

Those two sobering words are used with every group of believers - "I know." And what Jesus knows about you, that's the real you. That's the real deal. That's the untouched photos. That's the truth. Among these people in Revelation are some who are busy for the Lord. But Jesus looks underneath and says, "You don't love Me like you used to." He sees another group who appear to be totally together and successful but He says they're settling for spiritual mediocrity and "lukewarmness." As Samuel said so perceptively, "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

So, hide-and-seek games don't work with God. He knows where you really are all the time. Now at first that might seem like bad news, because there are some things you're not very proud of. But the good news is there is one Person in your life with whom you have nothing to hide - nothing you can hide.

You can experience the wonderful freedom of coming to your Heavenly Father with the real you. You don't have to hide yourself in spiritual God-talk; in saying what you're supposed to say, feeling like you're supposed to feel. You come as you really are, feeling like you really feel, needing what you really need - to a Savior whose love (thank God!) is totally unconditional! And as you bring the real you to Him, you'll find Him becoming more and more real to you. And you'll find yourself experiencing His forgiving, His cleansing, His healing in parts of you you've never opened up to Him before.

This God who knows all about you, this Savior who knows all about you and loves you anyway... isn't it time that you made the Savior your Savior if you never have? By going to His cross where He died for you, to say, "Jesus, for me" - those two words, "for me" - "you're doing this for me, and I'm Yours."

Our website will help you be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com.

Take off the mask. Quit trying to cover your face. God already knows exactly where you are and He's ready to change you. 

Matthew 18:21-35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Lu-KAH-doh or Lu-KAY-doh?

My last name has created some awkward moments. A woman said, “Max Lu-KAH-do—I’ve been wanting to meet you.”  I let it go thinking that was the end of it.  But then a man said to me, “My wife and I’ve been trying to figure out how you say your name.  Is it Lu-KAY-doh or Lu-KAH-doh! I felt trapped…as I looked at my new friend who had been mispronouncing my name.

On an infinitely grander scale, God faces with humankind a similar issue I faced with the woman. How can He be both just and kind?  How can He redeem the sinner without endorsing the sin?  From our perspective there are only two equally unappealing solutions. From God’s perspective, however, there is a third. It’s called the Cross of Christ!  And that’s one phrase you want to say correctly!

From He Chose the Nails

Matthew 18:21-35

A Story About Forgiveness

21  At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”

22  Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

23–25  “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

26–27  “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

28  “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’

29–31  “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

32–35  “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, April 27, 2025

by Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Lamentations 3:19-26

It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God

19–21  I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,

the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.

I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—

the feeling of hitting the bottom.

But there’s one other thing I remember,

and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22–24  God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,

his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

They’re created new every morning.

How great your faithfulness!

I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).

He’s all I’ve got left.

25–27  God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

to the woman who diligently seeks.

It’s a good thing to quietly hope,

quietly hope for help from God.

Today's Insights

As its English title suggests, the book of Lamentations is a book of lament. Though the author is anonymous, Jewish tradition upholds Jeremiah’s authorship. The Septuagint (the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible translated into Greek), adds these words at the beginning: “And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, that Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary). Jeremiah is lamenting over the fall of Jerusalem to the siege of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies. In the Hebrew Bible, book titles were often based on the first word or phrase of the book. The original name of Lamentations in Hebrew is ’Ekah, which means “how”—taken from the book’s opening word. It laments at how the people of God have fallen so far from His protection and care. Nevertheless, central to the book is its well-known affirmation of hope in God’s mercy and faithfulness found in Lamentations 3:22-23. These two things reflect His “great love” for His people (v. 22).

God’s Love Never Runs Out

His mercies never cease. Lamentations 3:22 nlt

When Josie’s ill and aging father moved in with her, she felt overwhelmed by the daily needs of caring for him. The medications she needed to buy were expensive. The caregiving tasks and the wisdom needed to guide her decision-making for his worsening health condition, aside from her other “full-time” job, were wearing her down. She said, “How could I keep gathering and giving out strength, practical resources, wisdom, and love?”

Josie found hope in Lamentations, a book about the grief Jeremiah and God’s people felt. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Jews now faced the uncertain days of exile ahead. The suffering was overwhelming, but God promised that “because of [His] great love we are not consumed” (Lamentations 3:22). His covenant love would remain with them, even if they were no longer in the promised land: “for his mercies never cease” (v. 22 nlt).

God’s love for His children has no limits. “God is my portion, my personal source of everything,” Josie realized, echoing verse 24. “I can gather and give out what’s needed each day because I draw my strength from Him, whose love never runs out.”

As we live in obedience to God, we can have hope, no matter what lies ahead. In His perfect wisdom, He knows what we need and will provide for us as He sees best.

Reflect & Pray

How does God’s perfect love give you comfort and confidence? How can you trust His wisdom in providing what you need?

Dear God, my hope is in You. I’ll wait for You.

Learn more about how the poet of Lamentations makes a final appeal to Yahweh’s unfailing love and great faithfulness, even in his season of despair. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. — Jeremiah 45:5

Are you seeking great things for yourself? Not seeking to become a great man or woman, but seeking great gifts from God? God wants your relationship with him to be closer than a relationship based on receiving his gifts. He wants you to get to know him. Nothing is easier than getting into a right relationship with God, except when you’re only looking for what you can get out of it.

If, in your walk in faith, you’ve only come as far as asking God for blessings, you haven’t begun to approach full abandonment to him. You’ve become a Christian, but you’ve become one on your own terms rather than his. “I asked God for the Holy Spirit,” you say, “but he did not give me the peace I expected.” God puts his finger on the reason at once: you aren’t seeking him at all; you’re seeking things for yourself.

Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Luke 11:9). You cannot ask if you are not asking for a right thing. Are you asking God for the great gift of the Holy Spirit? If he has not given it, it is because you are not abandoned enough: there is still something you will not do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what you want from God and why you want it? “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why ask? So that you may get to know him. When you draw near to God, you will stop asking for anything other than him.

God ignores present perfection for ultimate perfection. He isn’t concerned about making you blessed and happy right now. He is working out his ultimate perfection: “That they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11).

1 Kings 1-2; Luke 19:28-48

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself. 

The Moral Foundations of Life, 728 L

Genesis 28 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We Row

“He went into the hills to pray.” Mark 6:46

What does Jesus do while we are in the storm? You’ll love this. He prays for us . . .

So where does that leave us? While Jesus is praying and we are in the storm, what are we to do? Simple. We do what the disciples did. We row . . .

Much of life is spent rowing . . . Getting out of bed. Fixing lunches . . . More struggle than strut.

Genesis 28

So Isaac called in Jacob and blessed him. Then he ordered him, “Don’t take a Caananite wife. Leave at once. Go to Paddan Aram to the family of your mother’s father, Bethuel. Get a wife for yourself from the daughters of your uncle Laban.

3–4  “And may The Strong God bless you and give you many, many children, a congregation of peoples; and pass on the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants so that you will get this land in which you live, this land God gave Abraham.”

5  So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6–9  Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan Aram to get a wife there, and while blessing him commanded, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” and that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan Aram. When Esau realized how deeply his father Isaac disliked the Canaanite women, he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. This was in addition to the wives he already had.

10–12  Jacob left Beer-sheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.

13–15  Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”

16–17  Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”

18–19  Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.

20–22  Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, April 26, 2025

by Tom Felten

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Joshua 1:1-9

After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses’ assistant:

“Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel. I’m giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on—just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you. I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”

Today's Insights

Joshua first appeared as the military commander who “overcame the Amalekite army with the sword” (Exodus 17:13), and he was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to survey the promised land (Numbers 13:1-16). His name was changed from Hoshea, meaning “salvation,” to Joshua, meaning “Yah [Yahweh] saves” (vv. 8, 16). In Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8, the Greek equivalent for Joshua is Iesous or Jesus (Matthew 1:21). Joshua succeeded Moses as national leader when he was already an octogenarian (Joshua 14:10). He died at age 110, some 25 years after he entered the promised land. His epitaph reads, “The servant of the Lord” (24:29)—a servant who clearly kept his eyes on God.

Action—Not Distraction

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Joshua 1:7

A school bus driver passed out at the wheel, and his large vehicle loaded with sixty students was careening out of control. Seventh grader Dillon Reeves burst from his seat, rushed to the front of the bus, and slowly stepped on the brake in the nick of time. While most students were busy texting or playing games on their phones, Dillon—who didn’t have a phone—had his head up and reacted. He knew to depress the brake slowly as he’d seen the driver do many times. Remaining alert and not distracted helped him save the lives of all aboard, including the driver who later revived.

Joshua had to step up courageously after his leader, Moses, was no longer “in the driver’s seat”—leading the people of Israel. God said to him, “Moses my servant is dead. Now . . . get ready” (Joshua 1:2). What’s more, He instructed, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to . . . not turn from [the Book of the Law] to the right or to the left” (v. 7). God was telling Joshua not to get distracted and to keep his focus, and to keep his eyes on the instructions He’d given—meditating on them “day and night” (v. 8).

We can be distracted by screens and other things that cause us to take our eyes off God and the wisdom found in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Instead, as we remain alert “by keeping our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2 nlt), we can spring into action when God calls.

Reflect & Pray

Why is it vital to keep your eyes on Christ? How can you be ready for His call today?

Dear Jesus, please help me to avoid distractions as I follow You.

Learn how to listen for God's voice by reading Ways to Hear From God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Supreme Devotion

Take your son. . . . Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you. — Genesis 22:2

Character determines how a person interprets God’s will. When Abraham received the command to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, Abraham interpreted it to mean that God wanted Isaac put

to death; he was convinced of it. And yet when God sent an angel to stay his hand, Abraham obeyed. This is the great point of Abraham’s faith: he was prepared to do anything for God, even something that went against his own beliefs. If Abraham had placed his beliefs over his devotion to God, he would have slain Isaac, then claimed that the voice of the angel who came to stop him was the voice of the devil (Genesis 22:11). That is the reasoning of a fanatic.

It took the pain of a tremendous ordeal to set Abraham right. God couldn’t purify his faith in any other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere beliefs, God will break us from beliefs that misrepresent him. There are many traditional beliefs that misrepresent God—for instance, the belief that God permits the death of a child because the mother loves the child too much. This is a devil’s lie, and a travesty of the true nature of God.

If we remain true to God, he will lead us straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of knowledge of himself. The devil will always try to hold us back. There will always be a point along the way where we must give up sincere beliefs and traditions. Don’t ask God to test you. Don’t declare that you’ll never fail him. Abraham didn’t make declarations. He simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.

2 Samuel 23-24; Luke 19:1-27

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. 

My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L

Genesis 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WHOEVER POLICY - April 25, 2025

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” What a wonderful promise from John 3:16!

Whoever. Mathew 10:32 has Jesus saying, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Mathew 10:39: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Mark 3:35 says, “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” And Mark 16:16: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” John 6:37: “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Don’t you love the word “whoever?” God’s gospel has a “whoever” policy.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Genesis 27

When Isaac had become an old man and was nearly blind, he called his eldest son, Esau, and said, “My son.”

“Yes, Father?”

2–4  “I’m an old man,” he said; “I might die any day now. Do me a favor: Get your quiver of arrows and your bow and go out in the country and hunt me some game. Then fix me a hearty meal, the kind that you know I like, and bring it to me to eat so that I can give you my personal blessing before I die.”

5–7  Rebekah was eavesdropping as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. As soon as Esau had gone off to the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob. “I just overheard your father talking with your brother, Esau. He said, ‘Bring me some game and fix me a hearty meal so that I can eat and bless you with God’s blessing before I die.’

8–10  “Now, my son, listen to me. Do what I tell you. Go to the flock and get me two young goats. Pick the best; I’ll prepare them into a hearty meal, the kind that your father loves. Then you’ll take it to your father, he’ll eat and bless you before he dies.”

11–12  “But Mother,” Jacob said, “my brother Esau is a hairy man and I have smooth skin. What happens if my father touches me? He’ll think I’m playing games with him. I’ll bring down a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

13  “If it comes to that,” said his mother, “I’ll take the curse on myself. Now, just do what I say. Go and get the goats.”

14  So he went and got them and brought them to his mother and she cooked a hearty meal, the kind his father loved so much.

15–17  Rebekah took the dress-up clothes of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. She took the goatskins and covered his hands and the smooth nape of his neck. Then she placed the hearty meal she had fixed and fresh bread she’d baked into the hands of her son Jacob.

18  He went to his father and said, “My father!”

“Yes?” he said. “Which son are you?”

19  Jacob answered his father, “I’m your firstborn son Esau. I did what you told me. Come now; sit up and eat of my game so you can give me your personal blessing.”

20  Isaac said, “So soon? How did you get it so quickly?”

“Because your God cleared the way for me.”

21  Isaac said, “Come close, son; let me touch you—are you really my son Esau?”

22–23  So Jacob moved close to his father Isaac. Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s.

23–24  But as he was about to bless him he pressed him, “You’re sure? You are my son Esau?”

“Yes. I am.”

25  Isaac said, “Bring the food so I can eat of my son’s game and give you my personal blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate. He also brought him wine and he drank.

26  Then Isaac said, “Come close, son, and kiss me.”

27–29  He came close and kissed him and Isaac smelled the smell of his clothes. Finally, he blessed him,

Ahhh. The smell of my son

is like the smell of the open country

blessed by God.

May God give you

of Heaven’s dew

and Earth’s bounty of grain and wine.

May peoples serve you

and nations honor you.

You will master your brothers,

and your mother’s sons will honor you.

Those who curse you will be cursed,

those who bless you will be blessed.

30–31  And then right after Isaac had blessed Jacob and Jacob had left, Esau showed up from the hunt. He also had prepared a hearty meal. He came to his father and said, “Let my father get up and eat of his son’s game, that he may give me his personal blessing.”

32  His father Isaac said, “And who are you?”

“I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

33  Isaac started to tremble, shaking violently. He said, “Then who hunted game and brought it to me? I finished the meal just now, before you walked in. And I blessed him—he’s blessed for good!”

34  Esau, hearing his father’s words, sobbed violently and most bitterly, and cried to his father, “My father! Can’t you also bless me?”

35  “Your brother,” he said, “came here falsely and took your blessing.”

36  Esau said, “Not for nothing was he named Jacob, the Heel. Twice now he’s tricked me: first he took my birthright and now he’s taken my blessing.”

He begged, “Haven’t you kept back any blessing for me?”

37  Isaac answered Esau, “I’ve made him your master, and all his brothers his servants, and lavished grain and wine on him. I’ve given it all away. What’s left for you, my son?”

38  “But don’t you have just one blessing for me, Father? Oh, bless me my father! Bless me!” Esau sobbed inconsolably.

39–40  Isaac said to him,

You’ll live far from Earth’s bounty,

remote from Heaven’s dew.

You’ll live by your sword, hand-to-mouth,

and you’ll serve your brother.

But when you can’t take it any more

you’ll break loose and run free.

41  Esau seethed in anger against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him; he brooded, “The time for mourning my father’s death is close. And then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.”

42–45  When these words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she called her younger son Jacob and said, “Your brother Esau is plotting vengeance against you. He’s going to kill you. Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I’ll then send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you the same day?”

46  Rebekah spoke to Isaac, “I’m sick to death of these Hittite women. If Jacob also marries a native Hittite woman, why live?”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, April 25, 2025

by Anne Cetas

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

James 1:1-12

I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the

twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!

Faith Under Pressure

2–4  Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

5–8  If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

9–11  When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don’t ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that’s a picture of the “prosperous life.” At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

12  Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

Today's Insights

Poverty and the mistreatment of the poor by the wealthy and powerful might be part of what James has in mind by “trials” and “testing of your faith” (James 1:2-3). In verses 9-12, he encourages “believers in humble circumstances . . . to take pride in their high position,” suggesting God is with the poor, while emphasizing “the rich will fade away” (v. 11). James warned against showing favoritism to wealthy persons: “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith . . . ?” (2:5). “Is it not the rich who are exploiting you?” (v. 6). As we grow in Christ, He’ll help us avoid favoritism.

Steps of Faith

You know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:3

Four of us hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen Gorge in New York. At times we stood together in awe as we gazed in wonder at waterfalls and two-hundred-foot cliffs. Other times, we had to stop to catch our breath and rest our hurting legs as we climbed wet rocks and endless steps. When we neared the top, a hiker heading back down said, “You’ve got only 10 steps to go of your 832.” Maybe it was best we hadn’t known how difficult the journey would be because we might have stayed back and missed the beauty of it all.

The journey of life has difficult steps too. Jesus and Paul warned believers about trouble and persecution (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12), and this requires some perspective. James said, “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). Why pure joy instead of pure agony? God knows and we “know that the testing of [our] faith produces perseverance” (v. 3). But to what end? So that we may be “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4).

If we’ll stop and look, despite the pain, we may see the beautiful strength of character God is producing in us and those around us. And we’ll learn to appreciate the truth that one day we’ll “receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). Let’s keep climbing together.

Reflect & Pray

What troubles are you facing? You might not see it yet, but which character traits could God want to grow in you?

Thank You, God, that You understand everything going on in my life and have good plans for me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, April 25, 2025

Prepared in Season

Be prepared in season and out of season. — 2 Timothy 4:2

In this verse, the word season doesn’t refer to a time of year; it refers to our emotional state. To be prepared “in season and out of season” is to be ready whether we feel like it or not. If we only ever do what we feel like doing, we may do nothing, forever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain—spiritually decrepit people who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the great dangers is making a fetish of rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, do you say, “Now I’ll always be like this”? You won’t; God will make sure of it. Such times are entirely a gift from him. You can’t give them to yourself. If you say that your plan is always to be your best, you become an intolerable burden on God. It’s as though you’re telling him that you’ll never do anything unless he keeps you consciously inspired.

If you make a god of your times of inspiration, the Lord God will fade out of your life and never come back—not until you do the duty that lies nearest. This is how you show him you’ve committed to doing his will, in season and out.

2 Samuel 21-22; Luke 18:24-43

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. 

Facing Reality, 34 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, April 25, 2025

RUNNING FROM WHAT YOU SHOULD BE FACING - #9990

When you hear about the weather on the East Coast, you almost always hear about a place called Cape Hatteras. It's a barrier reef off the coast of North Carolina; it's been called the Graveyard of the Atlantic. And it's probably the storm center of the East Coast. In fact, when you look at the map or hear the weatherman in the morning he'll say, "There's a blizzard off of Cape Hatteras. There's a hurricane off of Cape Hatteras. There's a major storm system off of Cape Hatteras."

It's a place where most hurricanes coming up the East Coast make landfall. Oh, you have the ocean on the front side of this barrier reef, and then there's a quieter bay on its backside. When a hurricane hits, it can do a lot of damage. I talked to some people when I was there, and they told me a surprising reason why the hurricane does so much damage. Most of it doesn't come from the hurricane coming in from the ocean, which I would have thought; it comes after the hurricane leaves from all the water that was pushed back into the bay. It's that backlash that kills the island, not the front of the storm. It's sort of like postponed destruction.

Maybe you've faced some gale-force winds lately in your life. But because of the way you're handling it, you may face something worse than the storm, and that's the backlash from the bay.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Running From What You Should Be Facing."

Our word for today from the Word of God is about people under pressure; people who are being hit with perhaps emotional, or financial, or medical, or family hurricanes; storm centers like Cape Hatteras. Isaiah 30:15 talks about ways that we can handle that kind of pressure, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Listen to what He says, "'But you would have none of it. No, here's how I'll handle it.' You said, 'No, we will flee on horses. Therefore, you will flee.' You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift.'"

Now, what He's talking about here is handling pressure in that time-honored way, "Run for it! Escape! Get on a fast horse and get out of here." It may very well be that trouble has hit you, and you've been trying to run from it rather than face it. You haven't resorted to horses, but there are a lot of other ways to run. To run from your family problems, from personal doubts you've been having, maybe a problem you've been postponing dealing with or a confrontation you need to have. Perhaps you run to your friends, or you just turn up the music, or get real busy, or use drugs or alcohol, maybe just deception - you kid yourself, you run to your recreation, you get lost in your work. Or maybe you've been running from the Lord's personal dealings with you.

But see, the backlash from the bay is going to catch you. That's why the Bible says your pursuers will be swift. The backlash is building. You can't postpone it. The Bible says, "Your strength is not in running from it. Your strength is in repenting, in resting, being quiet, in trusting.

Stop running from what you should be facing. You've got to face the pressure, face the storm, face the issue, and if need be, face the Lord. Trade in that false and temporary security we feel by trying to escape. Trade that for the real security of the peace of Almighty God.

Matthew 18:1-20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH - April 24, 2025

“Jesus was full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Not just grace, but truth. Not just truth, but grace.

Grace told the adulterous woman, “I do not condemn you.” Truth told her, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Grace invited a swindler named Zacchaeus to lunch. Truth prompted him to sell half of his belongings and give to the poor (Luke 19:1–8). Grace washed the feet of the disciples. Truth told them, “Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Grace invited the woman at the well to drink everlasting water. Truth tactfully reminded her that she had gone through five husbands and was shacking up with a boyfriend (John 4:18).

Jesus shared truth, but graciously. And he offered grace, but truthfully. Grace and truth. Acceptance seeks to offer both.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Matthew 18:1-20

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

1  18 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”

2–5  For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.

6–7  “But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do.

8–9  “If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

10  “Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

Work It Out Between You

12–14  “Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.

15–17  “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.

18–20  “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, April 24, 2025

by Marvin Williams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Proverbs 28:9-13

God has no use for the prayers

of the people who won’t listen to him.

10  Lead good people down a wrong path

and you’ll come to a bad end;

do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.

11  The rich think they know it all,

but the poor can see right through them.

12  When good people are promoted, everything is great,

but when the bad are in charge, watch out!

13  You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;

you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

Today's Insights

The book of Proverbs is followed by Ecclesiastes, yet the two seem to conflict with each other. Proverbs provides advice for living and assumes a good outcome if we live by its counsel. In contrast, Ecclesiastes says, “The righteous . . . get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked . . . get what the righteous deserve” (8:14). But Proverbs and Ecclesiastes aren’t in conflict. These two books are wisdom literature and communicate general truth. For example, when Peter advises husbands to treat their wives with “respect . . . so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (1 Peter 3:7), he affirms the principle in Proverbs 28:9: “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.” Similarly, the principle of Proverbs 28:13 that “whoever conceals their sins does not prosper” is seen in Acts, where concealing sin cost Ananias and Sapphira their lives (5:1-11). And the writer of Ecclesiastes noted, “I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him” (8:12).

Confessing to Christ

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13

Hidden and ignored sources of toxins can have severe consequences. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, telecom companies have left behind more than two thousand lead-covered cables across the United States. The toxic lead runs underwater, “in the soil, and on poles overhead.” As the lead deteriorates, it ends up in places where people “live, work, and play.” Many telecom companies, some of which have known for years about the dangers of toxic exposure, are taking the potential risk of lead leaching into the environment very seriously.

The toxin of unconfessed and unaddressed sin can also pose serious consequences in our lives. When a person sins, there’s a natural tendency to try to cover up or conceal it from God and others. But it’s foolish to indulge in things that go against Him and His “instruction” (Proverbs 28:9)—attempting to ignore, hide, or excuse them. As the writer reveals, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (v. 13).

When we confess our sins to God, Scripture reveals that He will purify us from them in His abundant grace: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive . . . and purify us” (1 John 1:9). So let’s ask God to help us honestly confess our sins before the toxins leach into our hearts and into the lives of others.

Reflect & Pray

When are you tempted to conceal your sin? What are the consequences of doing so?

Dear God, please help me to confess my sins honestly and forsake them completely.

Discover how Proverbs invites us to carefully and deliberately consider the words on the page as we look for the character of God behind those words.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Spiritual Discipline

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. — Luke 10:20

As Christian disciples, worldliness isn’t our snare; sin isn’t our snare. Our snare—the thing that threatens to entrap us—is a lack of spiritual discipline. If we are spiritually undisciplined, we shamelessly strive to fit in with the religious age we live in, drawn by the lure of spiritual “success.”

Never court anything besides the approval of God. Take yourself “outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Hebrews 13:13). Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercial viewpoint, tallying up how many souls have been saved and sanctified on our watch. We forget that our work begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God’s sovereign grace. Our work is to disciple lives until they are entirely given over to God. One life wholly devoted to God is more valuable to him than a hundred lives reawakened by his Spirit. God brings his disciples to a standard of life by his grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others.

Unless we are living a life hidden with Christ in God, we are likely to become irritating dictators instead of indwelling disciples. Many of us are dictators. We dictate when we pray and when we preach, telling God what he must do, telling others how they must be. Jesus never dictated. When Jesus talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an “if,” not with a “must” (Matthew 16:24 kjv). Discipleship carries an option with it.

2 Samuel 19-20; Luke 18:1-23

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. 

Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, April 24, 2025

REALIZING WHAT YOU COST - #9989

Passages - that's how one author described life's major points of transition where you are moving from one life-stage to another. I remember when our daughter and son-in-law were in one of those passages. They were going to have their first child.

Actually, as our daughter experienced all the morning sickness, and afternoon sickness, and evening sickness, and as she experienced the impact of pregnancy on her body, it brought about some tender moments between her and her Mom. My daughter got real soft and she said to my wife, "Mom, I don't know how to thank you." Her Mom wasn't sure what she had done to be thanked for. Actually, it was something a long time ago. Our daughter said, "Mom, I really want to thank you because I never realized what you went through for me." Well, then there was a lot of hugging.

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

It does something to a relationship when you suddenly realize what that person has gone through for you. In fact, when it comes to life's most important relationship - a relationship with God - that realization may actually be what starts your God-relationship.

Our son-in-law once met a man on a plane, and the man told him about growing up in a Christian church, but deciding that what he heard wasn't for him. He related his years of sampling a lot of spiritual experiences and beliefs on the spirituality buffet. But none of them satisfied the yearning in his heart. Then one day he visited the church of his childhood; he saw a cross up front. He said, "You know, I had seen that cross hundreds of times. But something powerful happened that day, because I saw it again for the first time in many years. Suddenly, I was overcome with emotion as I looked at that cross and I found myself saying two words, 'For me.'"

Finally, he realized what Jesus went through was for him, and he was ready to embrace Jesus as his Savior. One Biblical writer - a man who had once bitterly opposed Christianity - writes in our word for today from the Word of God what captured his heart. It's in Galatians 2:20 - "I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." There are those two words again, "for me."

I wonder, have you ever in your heart stood at the cross of Jesus, and said those two life-changing, eternity-deciding words, "For me. Jesus, what You are doing on that cross is for me." After years of hearing about the cross, knowing about the cross, it finally hits you; some of those sins Jesus died for are the sins you've done. My daughter's relationship with her mother deepened when she realized what her mother went through for her.

Your relationship with God begins when you realize what the Son of God went through for you. Remember, this is the Son of God - the One who created every galaxy, who made the tree He was dying on, who made the soldiers who nailed Him there. He chose to die there for you. The thorns jammed into His head, the spikes driven into His hands, into His feet, the spear rammed into His side - for you.

But much more, Jesus was absorbing all the guilt and all the degradation of your sin; this One who had never sinned in His life. He was taking all the eternal agony of a hell you and I deserve, cut off from His Father so you would never have to be.

Maybe this is your "for me" day. "The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me." Isn't it time you gave yourself to Him? If you want to begin this relationship with Jesus, tell Him that right now. Stand there at Jesus' cross. Look at what He went through for you.

Let me encourage you to just go to our website as soon as you can today and let me walk you through exactly how to be sure you really do belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

When you stand at that cross in your mind, you'll realize how very much God loves you and how very urgent it is that you belong to Him, and why God is never going to forget what you do with His Son.

Genesis 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: APPRECIATE FUN - April 23, 2025

Jesus was a likable fellow, and his disciples should be the same. Now I’m not talking debauchery, drunkenness, and adultery. I’m not endorsing compromise, coarseness, or obscenity. I am simply crusading for the freedom to enjoy a good joke, enliven a dull party, and appreciate a fun evening. Jesus was a party lover. His foes accused him of eating too much, drinking too much, and hanging out with the wrong people. I must confess, it’s been a while since I’ve been accused of having too much fun. How about you?

Jesus laughed. He had fun. He was always invited to the party because people wanted to be near him. Who could be relied on to be the life of the party more than the One who came to give life with joy and abundance?

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Genesis 26

There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

2–5  God appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I’ll be with you and bless you. I’m giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings.”

6  So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.

7  The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful.”

8–9  One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So, she’s your wife. Why did you tell us ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac said, “Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her.”

10  Abimelech said, “But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us.”

11  Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: “Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.”

12–15  Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.

16  Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: “Leave. You’ve become far too big for us.”

17–18  So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.

19–24  One day, as Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, claiming, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” From there he went up to Beer-sheba. That very night God appeared to him and said,

I am the God of Abraham your father;

don’t fear a thing because I’m with you.

I’ll bless you and make your children flourish

because of Abraham my servant.

25  Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.

26–27  Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head of his troops. Isaac asked them, “Why did you come to me? You hate me; you threw me out of your country.”

28–29  They said, “We’ve realized that God is on your side. We’d like to make a deal between us—a covenant that we maintain friendly relations. We haven’t bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. So—God’s blessing be with you!”

30–31  Isaac laid out a feast and they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac said good-bye and they parted as friends.

32–33  Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, “We’ve struck water!” Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that’s the name of the city, Beer-sheba (Oath-Well), to this day.

34–35  When Esau was forty years old he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. They turned out to be thorns in the sides of Isaac and Rebekah.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

by Elisa Morgan

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Matthew 18:21-35

A Story About Forgiveness

21  At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”

22  Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

23–25  “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

26–27  “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

28  “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’

29–31  “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

32–35  “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”

Today's Insights

Throughout Matthew 18, Jesus used extreme examples to make His point—become like a child to be deemed “greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (v. 4); cut off your hand or foot to keep from sinning (v. 8). In this parable of the man who owed “ten thousand bags of gold” (v. 24), Bible commentator John D. Barry notes the monumental size of the debt: roughly 150,000 years of wages. Christ’s point is that our sin is a debt we can’t possibly repay. Since we’ve been forgiven such a great sum, our own willingness to forgive others is to be likewise limitless.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? Matthew 18:33

In the animated movie Toy Story, a child’s toys come to life whenever he leaves the room or falls asleep. One character, a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear, shouts his signature catchphrase while flying about the bedroom: “To infinity and beyond!”

It’s a phrase that has confused many. Isn’t infinity as far as you can go? How can there be anything “beyond” infinity? Drawing on wisdom from ancient Greek philosophers, mathematician Ian Stewart suggests that what is beyond infinity are yet bigger infinities. On and on and on.

Jesus seems to employ such exponential effort in the realm of forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus about forgiving another person, “How many times must I forgive him . . . seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22 ncv). Jesus goes on to tell a parable comparing a merciful king and an unmerciful servant, making the point that when someone truly regrets their error, there is no limit to the number of times we’re to forgive. We’re to forgive others the way God forgives us (v. 33). Over and over, on and on.

That may seem impossible to us. That’s why we constantly need to ask God for His help.

Only in His strength can we do this. Forgiven people forgive people. To infinity and beyond!

Reflect & Pray

Who longs for your forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive another in a way that honors them and God?

Dear Father, please help me to be as generous and wise with forgiveness as You are.

Hear more on how finding the strength to forgive others can bring you peace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

The Worship of Work

For we are co-workers in God’s service. — 1 Corinthians 3:9

Beware of any work you do for God that allows you to avoid concentrating on him. A great many Christian workers worship their work. The one concern of a Christian worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the facets of life—physical, mental, moral, and spiritual—are free. They are free with the freedom of a child—a worshipping child, not a wayward child. A worker without this solemn, ruling note of concentration on God is likely to be crushed by work, to have no delight in life, no margin of freedom in body, mind, or spirit. The nerves, mind, and heart become so crushingly burdened that God’s blessing cannot settle.

Yet the opposite is just as true. Once your concentration is fixed on God, all the facets of your life are free because they are under God’s dominion. There is no responsibility on you for your work. The only responsibility you have is to keep in living, constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to interfere with your cooperation with him.

The freedom that follows sanctification is the freedom of the child. Once you are born again in the Spirit, you find that the things that used to keep your life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been set free for one thing only: to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to judge where we should be placed in God’s service. We have no right to our preconceived ideas about what God is preparing us for. God engineers everything. Wherever he puts us, our one great aim is to pour out wholehearted devotion to him in that particular work.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

2 Samuel 16-18; Luke 17:20-37

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Biblical Ethics, 125 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

HOW TO LIGHT UP YOUR NIGHT - #9988

When our oldest grandson was 14 months old, he had a ball discovering his world. I loved to take him in my arms and get him excited about something in God's world. I'd point to a tree, or a flower, or a dog, or a cow and I'd teach him the word for it. After that, whenever we'd be together, he'd start the pointing, and he'd give me his version of the word for whatever he was pointing to. But I think I saw the greatest wonder in him when he'd look up at the night sky. It didn't matter what was going on around him, he'd start looking up and pointing at the moon, the stars. Man, he loved the stars! He just couldn't miss those lights shining in that dark night sky.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Light Up Your Night."

Our word for today from the Word of God talks about lights that stand out attractively against a dark night sky. But this isn't about looking at the stars. No, it's about being the stars!

In Philippians 2:14 God says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing" - how are you doing on that one? - "so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." If it weren't for the stars some nights, it would be totally dark. If it weren't for you at your workplace, your neighborhood, at your school, it would be totally dark! God put you in a dark place to light up the night!

These verses help us see what kinds of characteristics will really show up in the middle of a moral night. He says we shouldn't complain. If you are the positive, uncomplaining person in an environment where there's a lot of negativity, you're going to be light in a dark place. God says here not to argue. If you're the peaceable person in a setting where there's anger and conflict and tension, you're going to illuminate the night sky.

God also tells us to be pure and blameless in crooked and depraved surroundings. So, you're the one who lives and talks pure when it comes to sex, even if no one else does; especially if no one else does. You're the one who always tells the truth in a world where lying is a way of life. You'll not compromise your integrity no matter how much compromise you're surrounded by. You'll be the one who is always building other people up in an environment where people are usually tearing each other down. Where everyone is pretty much looking out for themselves, you just keep putting other people first.

Believe me, you live that way and you will be the light where you are, keeping that place from being totally dark. And you will win the right to hold out the word of life to people - the good news about Jesus and what He did on the cross for them. Which means you may have the privilege of leading someone you know out of the darkness forever! And in the words of Daniel 12:3, "Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever."

Maybe you've been lamenting how dark it is where you work, where you go to school, where you live, or where you recreate. But you know what that means? You have an exciting opportunity! You can light up that night!

When my grandson used to look at a dusky, partially dark sky, he couldn't always see the stars. But the darker it got, the more the light showed up! The darkness around you should never dim your light. No, it should just make it show up brighter than ever!

Genesis 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AS CHRIST ACCEPTED YOU - April 22, 2025

One of the most difficult relationship questions is, “What do we do with Opposite You?” Your Opposite You is the person with whom you fundamentally disagree. You adhere to different codes of behavior, dress, and faith. How does God want us to respond to the Opposite Yous of the world?

I wonder if the best answer might be found in the short admonition to “accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7 NIV). This verb “accept”—paralambano—means more than tolerate or coexist. It means to welcome into one’s fellowship and heart. The word implies the warmth and kindness of genuine love.

Paul employed the verb when he urged Philemon to welcome the slave Onesimus (Philemon 17). And Jesus used it to describe the manner in which he receives us (John 14:3). Accept your opposite you.

Jesus, the God Who Knows Your Name

Genesis 25

Abraham married a second time; his new wife was named Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

3  Jokshan had Sheba and Dedan.

Dedan’s descendants were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.

4  Midian had Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah—all from the line of Keturah.

5–6  But Abraham gave everything he possessed to Isaac. While he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons he had by his concubines, but then sent them away to the country of the east, putting a good distance between them and his son Isaac.

7–11  Abraham lived 175 years. Then he took his final breath. He died happy at a ripe old age, full of years, and was buried with his family. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, next to Mamre. It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried next to his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived at Beer Lahai Roi.

The Family Tree of Ishmael

12  This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham.

13–16  These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order of their births: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—all the sons of Ishmael. Their settlements and encampments were named after them. Twelve princes with their twelve tribes.

17–18  Ishmael lived 137 years. When he breathed his last and died he was buried with his family. His children settled down all the way from Havilah near Egypt eastward to Shur in the direction of Assyria. The Ishmaelites didn’t get along with any of their kin.

Jacob and Esau

19–20  This is the family tree of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham had Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21–23  Isaac prayed hard to God for his wife because she was barren. God answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. But the children tumbled and kicked inside her so much that she said, “If this is the way it’s going to be, why go on living?” She went to God to find out what was going on. God told her,

Two nations are in your womb,

two peoples butting heads while still in your body.

One people will overpower the other,

and the older will serve the younger.

24–26  When her time to give birth came, sure enough, there were twins in her womb. The first came out reddish, as if snugly wrapped in a hairy blanket; they named him Esau (Hairy). His brother followed, his fist clutched tight to Esau’s heel; they named him Jacob (Heel). Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

27–28  The boys grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman. Jacob was a quiet man preferring life indoors among the tents. Isaac loved Esau because he loved his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29–30  One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stew—I’m starved!” That’s how he came to be called Edom (Red).

31  Jacob said, “Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the firstborn.”

32  Esau said, “I’m starving! What good is a birthright if I’m dead?”

33–34  Jacob said, “First, swear to me.” And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That’s how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

by Lisa M. Samra

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 10:14-19

Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now. So cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hard-headed. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he’s the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.

19–21  You must treat foreigners with the same loving care— remember, you were once foreigners in Egypt.

Today's Insights

In Deuteronomy 10, God commanded Moses to “chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones” (v. 1). These tablets contained God’s law and replaced the first tablets that were broken in anger by Moses in response to the people’s apostasy (Exodus 32:19). Israel is called once more to obey God’s law in a renewal of their covenant relationship with Him. In summarizing how God’s people were called to live, Moses emphasizes that they ought to “fear the Lord [their] God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love him, to serve the Lord [their] God with all [their] heart and with all [their] soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). He says that “you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (v. 19). Scripture shows that loving God and loving our neighbor are inseparable; it’s the heart of what God calls us to. Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 22:37-40.

Loving Others with God’s Love

You are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:19

The people of Le Chambon, France, risked everything to help save the lives of as many as five thousand individuals, many of them Jewish children, during the Nazi occupation. The refugees fleeing their homes were hidden in the community’s homes and farms. The townspeople were inspired by pastor André Trocmé, who called on his congregation to help by referencing the words of Deuteronomy 10:19, “You are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

This command given to the Israelites comes in a passage that begins with the reminder that the whole earth belongs to God, who is “mighty and awesome” (v. 17). Yet God chose to love the Israelites (v. 15). He also cares for people in vulnerable or unfamiliar situations (v. 18), including foreigners who weren’t part of the nation of Israel. As the Israelites settled in their new home, they were to imitate God’s love and care for those needing help, especially because they knew the unique struggles of being a foreigner (v. 19).

If we’ve been at a job a long time or lived in the same home for several years, God may give us the opportunity to show kindness to someone who feels like a “foreigner,” perhaps by providing helpful advice to a new coworker or assistance to a recently relocated family. When we do, we demonstrate God’s love to those in unfamiliar, and often vulnerable, situations.

Reflect & Pray

When did someone show you kindness recently? How might you care for someone else?

Heavenly Father, please help me to extend Your love and care to others.

Discover a personal relationship with God ? Learn More.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Now Don’t Hurt the Lord!

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” — John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astonished by us—by how un-simple we are. We complicate the simple things God shows us by adding in opinions of our own, and it is opinions of our own that lead us into

confusion. When we are simple, our sight is clear, and we discern what’s before us all the time.

Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the Person who was standing before him. Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). Philip couldn’t see what was right before his eyes. He couldn’t grasp that the mystery of God lies in what is, not in what will be. Philip expected the mystery to reveal itself soon, in some cataclysmic event; he didn’t expect it now. Jesus set him right, saying in essence, “God is here now—always here, or nowhere.”

We look for God to manifest himself to his children, but God only manifests himself in his children. Others see the manifestation; the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God, but we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and stay sane. If we are constantly asking God to give us conscious experiences, we are hurting our Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the simple questions of a child.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). Am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and his character, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing something to disturb my heart, asking myself morbid questions? I have to get to the steadfast relationship with Jesus that takes everything he gives as it comes.

God never guides soon, always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and his revelation is immediate.

2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. 

Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The Chainsaw In Your Mouth - #9987

The man in the Disney movie was an inventor. One of his inventions was a shrinking machine. There's been some suggestions that that's what happened to me - I got into a shrinking machine. Anyway, this actually did happen to his kids' baseball. It crashed through the window of his laboratory. It landed in dad's shrinking machine, turning it on as it landed, and the kids were amazed to see how their ball suddenly shrank. Thinking this machine was really cool, they started playing with it...until the machine suddenly shrank them to an almost invisible size. And the anguished cry of the father is the title of the movie "Honey, I shrunk the kids!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Chainsaw in Your Mouth."

Sadly, too many of us have a shrinking machine that is shrinking our kids, maybe our spouse, other people we love. That shrinking machine is in your mouth. It's a tongue that says things that repeatedly diminish some of the very people you love the most: angry things, cutting things, sarcastic or critical things, discouraging things.

It's almost as if we have this verbal chain saw in our mouth that keeps cutting people we care about. It may be that you've been doing this for so long you hardly even notice how destructive some of your words are. But the people who are hearing them are not only noticing your words, it's quite possible they will never forget them. We can still remember the names we were called decades ago, right? Some of us have even defined our self-worth, or our lack of self-worth, based on some of those shrinking things that someone said to us. That's how what you say impacts those you love. There's so much power in your words!

The Bible doesn't talk about a verbal chainsaw, but it does talk about a verbal sword. It says, in Proverbs 12:18, "Reckless words pierce like a sword." Proverbs 18:21 raises the stakes even higher: "The tongue has the power of life and death." Your words are either making the people around you feel more alive inside, or it's killing them inside. We replay people's failures over and over, we diminish people by constantly comparing them to someone else, we mark them, maybe for life, with the names we call them. We spew out reckless words to win the moment, but we scar someone for life.

Jesus said, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:35). A runaway mouth comes from something down deep inside; a dark, angry, wounded heart. Until the heart gets fixed, the mouth is just going to keep shrinking and scarring people we care about. It's all part of this sin thing the Bible talks about; our separation from God because we've pushed Him out to do the things we want to do the way we want to do them. The hurt we inflict comes from a sinful heart.

God knows that. That's why He sent His one and only Son to pay the price for our sin, to rise from the dead, to make it possible to be forgiven for every hurting thing, every unholy thing I've ever done or said.

Ezekiel 36:26-27, our word for today from the Word of God, makes this incredible promise: "I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit in you. I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness." A new heart, cleansed by Jesus' forgiveness, and filled with His love. And a new beginning for any man or woman who reaches out to Jesus in total faith, admitting their sin, surrendering their sin, and grabbing Jesus as their personal Rescuer from their personal sin.

If you have never done that, today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I want to invite you to as soon as you can today, get over to our website and walk with me into what it takes to actually know that you have begun your personal relationship with Jesus. Just go to ANewStory.com.

Because of Jesus, it doesn't have to be the way it's always been. He's been loving and changing people for a long, long time, and He's waiting to do that for you today. Letting Jesus into your life is the most loving thing you'll ever do for the people you love.