Numbers 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: JESUS KNOWS HOW YOU FEEL - November 5, 2025

Remember when you sought a night’s rest and got a colicky baby? Remember when you sought to catch up at the office and got even further behind? You can add to the list of interruptions sorrow, excitement, and bedlam. Sound familiar? Take comfort—it happened to Jesus too.

You may have trouble believing that. You probably believe Jesus knows what it means to endure heavy-duty tragedies. You’re no doubt convinced Jesus is acquainted with sorrow and has wrestled with fear. Most people accept that. But can God relate to the hassles and headaches of my life? Of your life? For some reason this is harder to believe. Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He has had to climb out of bed with a sore throat. He has been kept awake late and gotten up early. Jesus knows how you feel.

The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Numbers 34

Land Inheritance

1–2  34 God spoke to Moses: “Command the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter Canaan, these are the borders of the land you are getting as an inheritance:

3–5  “Your southern border will take in some of the Wilderness of Zin where it touches Edom. It starts in the east at the Dead Sea, curves south of Scorpion Pass and on to Zin, continues south of Kadesh Barnea, then to Hazar Addar and on to Azmon, where it takes a turn to the northwest to the Brook of Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea.

6  “Your western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.

7–9  “Your northern border runs on a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor, and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath, connects to Zedad, continues to Ziphron, and ends at Hazar Enan. This is your northern border.

10–12  “Your eastern border runs on a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. The border goes south from Shepham to Riblah to the east of Ain, and continues along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee. The border then follows the Jordan River and ends at the Dead Sea.

“This is your land with its four borders.”

13–15  Moses then commanded the People of Israel: “This is the land: Divide up the inheritance by lot. God has ordered it to be given to the nine and a half tribes. The tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance; the two tribes and the half-tribe got their inheritance east of Jordan-Jericho, facing the sunrise.”

16–19  God spoke to Moses: “These are the men who will be in charge of distributing the inheritance of the land: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. Assign one leader from each tribe to help them in distributing the land. Assign these:

19–28  Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon;

Elidad son of Kislon from the tribe of Ben-jamin;

Bukki son of Jogli, leader from the tribe of Dan;

Hanniel son of Ephod, leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;

Kemuel son of Shiphtan, leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph;

Elizaphan son of Parnach, leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

Paltiel son of Azzan, leader from the tribe of Issachar;

Ahihud son of Shelomi, leader from the tribe of Asher;

Pedahel son of Ammihud, leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”

29  These are the men God commanded to hand out the assignments of land-inheritance to the People of Israel in the country of Canaan.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, November 05, 2025

by Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Matthew 4:23-25

From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.

Today's Insights

In Matthew 4:23, we’re told that Jesus’ ministry in Galilee consisted of “teaching,” “proclaiming the good news,” and “healing every disease and sickness.” The term translated “good news” (Greek, euangelion) points to the way Matthew’s gospel subverted the idea that the Roman Empire had ultimate authority. “Good news” was commonly used by the empire as part of its propaganda to celebrate events like a Roman military victory or the birth of an emperor. Matthew’s description of Christ’s widespread healing ministry would’ve also challenged Rome’s claim to have brought health and prosperity. By describing Jesus proclaiming good news while healing diseases and casting out demons, Matthew’s gospel undermined Roman propaganda by insisting that real hope was to be found in Christ, who was victorious over death. Let’s respond in worship to Jesus who defeated death, the ultimate enemy.

The Victorious Jesus

[Jesus] went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil. Acts 10:38

On January 14, 1973, when Super Bowl VII was played, perfection was on the line. Up until that point in the American football season, the Miami Dolphins had a perfect record—sixteen games without a loss. And when the Super Bowl was over, the victorious Dolphins would go down in sports history as the only team in professional football with a perfect record.

Victorious. That’s also a designation that fits Jesus. A close look at His ministry reveals one victory after another. Matthew’s record of Christ’s ministry in Galilee (Matthew 4:23-9:38) includes summary statements on the front and back ends: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (4:23; see 9:35). Christ was victorious over demons, disease, and death (see Mark 5:1-43). And what looked like a crushing defeat—His death on the cross—turned out to be the final victory. He defeated the ultimate enemy, death, by His own resurrection (see Acts 2:24).

Victors—whether in sports or other fields of endeavor—are showered with awards and gifts. What’s the appropriate response to Jesus, whose life, death, and resurrection have secured forgiveness and a right relationship with God for all who embrace Him? Nothing less than worshipful allegiance!

Reflect & Pray

What amazes you about the victories of Jesus? What can you do to celebrate His past and present victories?  

Precious Jesus, please forgive me for not seeing how amazing You are. Open my eyes to see and my heart to worship You. 

For further study, listen to The Struggle Is Real.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 05, 2025

Participants in His Sufferings

Rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ. —1 Peter 4:13

If you are going to be used by God, he will take you through a multitude of difficult experiences, asking you to participate in the sufferings of Christ. These experiences aren’t meant to enrich you or benefit you personally. They’re meant to make you useful in God’s hands and to enable you to understand what occurs in other people’s souls, so that you will never be surprised by what you encounter. If you don’t go willingly through these experiences, you might often find yourself saying, “I can’t deal with that person.” You should never feel this way about another soul. God has given you ample opportunity to come before him and soak up his wisdom about others.

It might seem pointless to spend time soaking before God in this way; you have to get to the place where you are able to understand how he deals with us, and this is only done by being rightly related to Jesus Christ and participating in his sufferings. The sufferings of Christ aren’t those of ordinary life. He suffered “according to God’s will” (1 Peter 4:19), not because his individual desires or pride were thwarted. It is part of Christian culture to know what God’s will is, yet in the history of the church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with Christ’s sufferings. People have tried to carry out God’s will using shortcuts. God’s way is always the “long, long trail,” the way of suffering.

Are you participating in Christ’s sufferings? Are you prepared for God to entirely stamp out your personal ambitions and destroy your individual determination? It doesn’t mean you’ll know exactly why God is taking you a certain way. In the moment, it’s never clear; you go through more or less blindly. Then, suddenly, you come to a luminous place and say, “Why, God was there all along, and I didn’t know it!”

Jeremiah 34-36; Hebrews 2

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, November 05, 2025

BRINGING LIGHT TO THEIR DARKNESS - #10128

Three feet of snow! That was a weather record I didn't really want to participate in. But, sure enough, we woke up that cold New Jersey morning to three feet of snow that had literally buried the metropolitan New York area. Even New York, the city that never sleeps, had been effectively shut down by the storm. Our little guy really wanted to go out in the snow that blanketed our backyard. So we bundled him up and we watched as he ventured out into that white stuff. And he promptly disappeared! I went out after him and, as short as I am, I just about disappeared myself. It took quite a while for that snow to become manageable and for life to get back to normal. And it wasn't the last snow dump of the winter. But for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word: spring.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bringing Light to Their Darkness."

You can make it through the winter because you know winter never lasts forever; there's going to be a spring! In fact, spring has never failed to come, no matter how brutal the winter may have been.

God comes to us with an interesting self-description in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 15:13. He calls Himself "the God of hope." Because of Him, there will always be a spring. Because of Him we can make it through the darkest days of emotional and spiritual winter. I guess you could describe hopelessness as always winter. But hope goes like this: every winter will be followed by a spring.

But let's say it's winter season in your life right now - it's cold, it's dark, you're feeling discouragement, you're feeling despair. Here's what the God of hope says He wants to do for you: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Wow!

Well, let's break this down. God wants to fill you with joy and peace when joy and peace are nowhere to be found in your circumstances. If you dwell on your burdens, on your fears, on your wounds, on how people are treating you, you're going to be filled with discouragement instead of joy and you'll be filled with stress instead of peace. But if you dwell on your all-powerful, all-loving God of hope, you can have a positiveness and a peace that's humanly unexplainable. The problems are still there, but God's joy and God's peace are the wind beneath your wings that enables you to soar when otherwise you would be grounded. You get that joy and peace, it says, "as you trust in Him." That means not as you trust in your feelings, not in what humans can do, not in what you can see, but in Him. Maybe it's winter all around you, but it will be spring inside you!

And it gets better. That joy and peace you download from your God of hope will enable you "to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That's awesome! You will not only have enough hope to sustain you, you'll have enough hope to give away to others who are also going through a long winter. God wants you to be a hope receiver so you can be a hope generator! And as you encourage others, even as you're in your own winter season, your hope will grow as you give it to others. In the words of the Bible, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25).

And, as 1 Peter 3:15 says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." If you can be an island of hope in a sea of despair, people are going to want to know the reason. And the reason is Jesus. Which means you can use the winter you're going through to help someone who's watching you go to heaven with you someday!

Spring inside you, even with winter all around you - that's the hope God wants to give you - the hope He wants to give you to give to others. You can be their breath of spring in the dark of their winter!

Luke 1:39-56, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WHAT UNITES US - November 4, 2025

The church names we banter about? They don’t exist in heaven. Because it’s not the denomination that saves you. And I wonder, if there are no denominations in heaven, why do we have denominations on earth?

I know this is a crazy thought, but what would happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their names to simply “church?” And then when people chose which church to attend, they wouldn’t do so by the sign outside, they’d do so by the hearts of the people inside. And then when people were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn’t be a label but just a location. And then we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us—our common Father.

Crazy idea? Perhaps. But I think God would like it. It was his to begin with!

The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Luke 1:39-56

Blessed Among Women

39–45  Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You’re so blessed among women,

and the babe in your womb, also blessed!

And why am I so blessed that

the mother of my Lord visits me?

The moment the sound of your

greeting entered my ears,

The babe in my womb

skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.

Blessed woman, who believed what God said,

believed every word would come true!

46–55  And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;

I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.

God took one good look at me, and look what happened—

I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!

What God has done for me will never be forgotten,

the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

His mercy flows in wave after wave

on those who are in awe before him.

He bared his arm and showed his strength,

scattered the bluffing braggarts.

He knocked tyrants off their high horses,

pulled victims out of the mud.

The starving poor sat down to a banquet;

the callous rich were left out in the cold.

He embraced his chosen child, Israel;

he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

It’s exactly what he promised,

beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

56  Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, November 04, 2025

by Anne Cetas

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 38:1-6

Time Spent in Death’s Waiting Room

1  38 At that time, Hezekiah got sick. He was about to die. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and said, “God says, ‘Prepare your affairs and your family. This is it: You’re going to die. You’re not going to get well.’ ”

2–3  Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and, facing the wall, prayed to God: “God, please, I beg you: Remember how I’ve lived my life. I’ve lived faithfully in your presence, lived out of a heart that was totally yours. You’ve seen how I’ve lived, the good that I have done.” And Hezekiah wept as he prayed—painful tears.

4–6  Then God told Isaiah, “Go and speak with Hezekiah. Give him this Message from me, God, the God of your ancestor David: ‘I’ve heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll add fifteen years to your life. And I’ll save both you and this city from the king of Assyria. I have my hand on this city.

Today's Insights

In Isaiah 36-37, Hezekiah is portrayed as a man of faith, but after the miraculous defeat of the Assyrian army and Hezekiah’s miraculous healing, he becomes more characterized by pride. In fact, that pride would lead to disaster for the nation. Hezekiah proudly took representatives of Babylon to see the treasure storehouses of the kingdom, and that act would lead to divine discipline. In 39:5-8, the prophet Isaiah declares that everything in Hezekiah’s treasures and all the treasures of the land would be carried away to Babylon, which resulted in the Babylonian captivity. The flaw of Hezekiah’s heart is seen when, in spite of the prophet’s dire warning, he was happy that his own life would know “peace and security” (v. 8). God answered Hezekiah’s prayers, but his pride would bring calamity to the nation. Today, God invites us to bring our concerns to Him in prayer. We can be assured that He hears us (38:5) and will answer according to His plan.

God Hears Our Prayers

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. Isaiah 38:2

My friend Christine and her husband sat down to dinner at their aunt and uncle’s house. Her aunt had recently been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Before anyone started to eat, her uncle asked, “Does anyone have anything to say?” Christine smiled because she knew he meant, “Does anyone want to pray?” He wasn’t a believer in Jesus, but he knew Christine was, so this was his way to invite prayer. Speaking from her heart, she gave thanks to God for His care and requested that He would perform a miracle for her aunt.

King Hezekiah became ill and had something on his heart to say to God after the prophet Isaiah told him he was going to die (Isaiah 38:1). He “wept bitterly” and pleaded, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion” (v. 3). His was an honest, desperate appeal for deliverance. Even though healing isn’t dependent on our “goodness,” and God doesn’t always heal, He chose to extend the king’s life by fifteen years (v. 5). After his recovery, Hezekiah thanked and praised Him (v. 16).

God invites us to pray—whether it’s for an urgent need or to thank Him for something small or significant. He hears our prayers, sees our tears, and will answer according to His plan. Our place is to “walk humbly all [our] years” with Him (v. 15).

Reflect & Pray

What concerns do you have to bring to God? How can you place your trust in Him?

Loving Father, thank You for wanting to hear my heart. I trust that You’re powerful and able to bring about Your good will in my life and in those I love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, November 04, 2025

Acting on His Truth

Come near to God and he will come near to you. —James 4:8

It’s essential for us, as ministers of the gospel, to give people a chance to act on the truth of God. We might wish we could act for them, but no individual can act for another. Our role is to share the evangelical message, a message which can and should lead to action. But the ultimate responsibility must be left with the individual. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves people exactly where they were before. Once they act, they are never the same again.

Acting on the truth of God can look like foolishness in the eyes of the world. Because of this, many who have been convicted by the Holy Spirit refuse to act. And yet the very second I act, I live; all the rest is mere existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.

Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it—not necessarily physically, but in your will. Record it with ink or with blood. The weakest saint is emancipated the instant she acts. In that instant, all the power of God Almighty is on her side.

We back down from acting on God’s truth all the time. We come up to the truth, confess we are wrong, then turn back. We do this over and over again, until we learn that we have no business going back. We have to transact business with our Lord on the truth he is showing us, whatever it may be. When he tells us, “Come,” he really means “transact with me.”

“Come near to God.” The last thing we’ll do is come to God, but all who do come know that the instant they come, the supernatural life of God invades them. The dominating power of the world and the flesh and the devil is paralyzed, not by their act of coming but because that act has linked them to God and his redemptive power.

Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. 

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, November 04, 2025

HOPE WHEN YOU'RE GROUNDED - #10127

If you're a teenager, it's got to be one of the ugliest sentences in the English language. You ready? "You're grounded!" Or if you're a traveler who flies very much, it's not a very nice word for you either. "All flights have been grounded." And if you're a Christian, it's not a fun word either. But there's a way to be grounded without being ground under.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes to us from somebody who was really grounded. I'm in Philippians 1:13, and the Apostle Paul is in prison. It is not his choice, of course. It is, however, his new assignment from the Lord. He is there for reasons he doesn't deserve to be. He has been following Christ, serving Christ, and he is there on trumped up charges. But listen to his perspective.

He says, "As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Paul had a lot of assignments in his life, a lot of places God sent him to minister, a lot of places to preach, a lot of enemies to oppose. But this was probably the toughest assignment the Apostle Paul ever had - to be in chains. But look how he put it. "I am in chains for Christ."

Now listen, it's a lot easier and a lot more fun to be in charge for Christ. And most of his life Paul had been in charge, but now he's in chains. He's used to being the one who makes it happen wherever he goes, and now he's in a situation where it appears he can make nothing happen. He's chained all day to one of the Praetorian guards. He can't see the people he loves. He can't be with the people he's reached for Christ. He can't go and witness, he can't stay and preach a sermon to people who need to know what Christ has done.

Maybe you know something about being in chains yourself. You've been, well, we could say, grounded by the Lord. Oh, they may not be the chains of a prisoner - they could be the chains that have been imposed by an illness or the limitations imposed by finances or by having to wait or by any kind of circumstances that are beyond your control. Can I share with you how Paul was in chains for Christ, because I think you can be that way in your chains for Christ.

First of all, trust the One who gives you the assignment. He's assigned you to this limited playing field. So, trust Him. Number two - look for the ways that God can use your inactivity. Paul found that the gospel was advanced right into Caesar's throne room through the guards that he was chained to.

When my wife was grounded with hepatitis for nine months in bed, she said it cleansed her schedule, gave her a chance to get closer to the Lord, to be a witness from her bed to the grace of God when an active woman is down. She looked for the ways that God could use your inactivity.

Number three, remember your mission is the same wherever you are. Oh your surroundings change, your situation changes, but your mission - your assignment - never does. Paul says in this passage "It served to advance the gospel." Well, that's your mission wherever you are...to advance the gospel. It's the same whether you're in charge or you're in chains. It's the reason you're there.

And fourthly, capture your environment for Christ. That's what Paul did. He said, "Well, I'm going to make this a Jesus' place, even though it's not the place I'd like to be."

To be in chains is a burden. But to be in chains for Christ gives your chains meaning. You may be grounded, but you can be grinning too.

Numbers 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED - November 3, 2025

One morning, my wife Denalyn was with me in the car. “I’m about to remind you why you married me,” I told her as we drew near to the intersection. “See that long line of cars?  See that humdrum of humanity? Not for me. Hang on!” I swerved from the six-lane onto the one-lane and shared with my sweetheart my secret expressway to freedom.

“What do you think?” I asked, awaiting her worship. “I think you broke the law.” “What?” “You just went the wrong way on a one-way street!”

I did. I missed the “Do Not Enter” sign. Before coming to Christ, we all had our share of shortcuts. What we consider shortcuts God sees as disasters. He doesn’t give laws for our pleasure. He gives them for our protection. He knows what we need.

The Lucado Inspirational Reader

Numbers 33

Campsites from Rameses to Jordan-Jericho

1–2  33 These are the camping sites in the journey of the People of Israel after they left Egypt, deployed militarily under the command of Moses and Aaron. Under God’s instruction Moses kept a log of every time they moved, camp by camp:

3–4  They marched out of Rameses the day after the Passover. It was the fifteenth day of the first month. They marched out heads high and confident. The Egyptians, busy burying their firstborn whom God had killed, watched them go. God had exposed the nonsense of their gods.

5–36  The People of Israel:

left Rameses and camped at Succoth;

left Succoth and camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness;

left Etham, circled back to Pi Hahiroth east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol;

left Pi Hahiroth and crossed through the Sea into the wilderness; three days into the Wilderness of Etham they camped at Marah;

left Marah and came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; they camped there;

left Elim and camped by the Red Sea;

left the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin;

left the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah;

left Dophkah and camped at Alush;

left Alush and camped at Rephidim where there was no water for the people to drink;

left Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai;

left the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah;

left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth;

left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah;

left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez;

left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah;

left Libnah and camped at Rissah;

left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah;

left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher;

left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah;

left Haradah and camped at Makheloth;

left Makheloth and camped at Tahath;

left Tahath and camped at Terah;

left Terah and camped at Mithcah;

left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah;

left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth;

left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan;

left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad;

left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah;

left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah;

left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber;

left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.

37–39  After they left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor at the border of Edom, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor at God’s command and died there. It was the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the People of Israel had left Egypt. Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40  The Canaanite king of Arad—he ruled in the Negev of Canaan—heard that the People of Israel had arrived.

41–47  They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah;

left Zalmonah and camped at Punon;

left Punon and camped at Oboth;

left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim on the border of Moab;

left Iyim and camped at Dibon Gad;

left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim;

left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim (Across-the-River), within sight of Nebo.

48–49  After they left the mountains of Abarim they camped on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho. On the Plains of Moab their camp stretched along the banks of the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim (Acacia Meadow).

50–53  God spoke to Moses on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho: “Tell the People of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the country of Canaan, drive out the native population before you, destroy their carved idols, destroy their cast images, level their worship-mounds so that you take over the land and make yourself at home in it; I’ve given it to you. It’s yours.

54  “Divide up the land by lot according to the size of your clans: Large clans will get large tracts of land, small clans will get smaller tracts of land. However the lot falls, that’s it. Divide it up according to your ancestral tribes.

55–56  “But if you don’t drive out the native population, everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a splinter in your foot. They’ll give you endless trouble right in your own backyards. And I’ll start treating you the way I planned to treat them.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, November 03, 2025

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 2:12-22

had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

14–15  The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

16–18  Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

19–22  That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

Today's Insights

The joining together of Jews and gentiles through Jesus is the clear focus of Ephesians 2:12-20. This passage moves from estrangement (“separate,” “excluded,” “foreigners,” “without hope and without God,” “far away,” vv. 12-13) to reconciliation (v. 16). Using body and building metaphors (vv. 16, 19-22), Paul captures the unifying work of Christ. Of note are two rarely used Greek New Testament words: akrogoniaios (“chief cornerstone,” v. 20) and synarmologeo (“joined together,” v. 21). Jesus is the chief cornerstone who holds the whole building—Jews and gentiles—together.

Joined by Jesus

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2:21

Andy Goldsworthy’s Grand Rapids Arch sits on the side of a road as if striding alongside travelers. The artist created the eighteen-foot-tall, free-standing arch with thirty-six blocks of Scottish sandstone without using mortar or pins. The ascending angled stones, each one different and cut to fit together, depend on pressure created by a wedge-shaped keystone—the top center stone—to remain perfectly intact. The keystone is essential to holding the structure together, much like a cornerstone.

The sculpture reminded me of how Jesus serves as “the chief cornerstone” of His diverse church (Ephesians 2:20). The gentiles—all non-Jewish people—were once “excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Jesus made “the two groups one” and “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14). He created “one new humanity,” and “in one body [reconciled] both of them to God through the cross,” giving them all “access to the Father by one Spirit” (vv. 15-16, 18). 

Christ builds us up as a church “in which God lives by his Spirit” (v. 22). He sculpts each unique person, connects us to Him and to each other through Him, and walks with us. The church is joined by Jesus.

Reflect & Pray

What hinders you from connecting to Jesus as Messiah, the one who unites the church? How has He helped you connect to His diverse church?

Dear Jesus, please strengthen my connection with You and the members of Your diverse family.

Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, November 03, 2025

A Bond Servant of Jesus

I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. —Galatians 2:20

These words mean breaking my independence with my own hand and surrendering myself to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one else can do this for me; I must do it myself. God may bring me to the point of surrender three hundred sixty-five times a year, but he can’t push me through. Surrender means breaking the shell of my individual independence from God. It means the emancipation of my personality into oneness with him—not for any agenda of my own, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus. Very few of us know anything about this kind of loyalty. “Whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel . . .” (Mark 8:35): that is what makes an iron saint.

Has the break with my independence come? The one thing I must decide is, Will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, making no conditions? I must be broken of the desire for self-realization. Once this point is reached, supernatural identification with my Lord takes place immediately, and the witness of the Spirit of God within me is unmistakable: “I have been crucified with Christ.”

The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my rights and become a bond servant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I cannot begin to be a saint. When I have done it, God is able to help himself to my life. Will I let him? Or do I have my own ideas of what I’m going to be?

Jeremiah 30-31; Philemon

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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, 1032 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, November 03, 2025

THE HYPOCRITE HANG-UP - #10126

Seven years of junior high band concerts. Yep, that was the special joy Karen and I had since all three of the Hutchcraft kids were in junior high band. Oh, it wasn't always a supreme musical experience, but hey, it's our kids, right? Let's imagine you have never heard of the brilliant composer Ludwig von Beethoven before. And I say to you, "Beethoven was a genius. His music is some of the most beautiful ever written." You're a little skeptical because you've never heard any of his music, but I suggest a way you could remedy that. See, the junior high band is having a concert this week, and they're performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. So you go, and you come back to me and you say, "I thought you said this Beethoven guy was a genius! I just heard his music. It wasn't brilliant!" Now what's the problem here? It isn't Beethoven - it's the way the band played his music. Just because they don't play his music well doesn't mean the man who wrote the music wasn't a genius!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hypocrite Hang-up."

I've devoted my life to telling people about the Genius who can harmonize our lives, who wrote the music that's supposed to guide everything we do. His name is Jesus. But many people - maybe you - can't bring themselves to a point where they'll put their trust in Jesus Christ to be their own personal Savior from their personal sin. And one of the biggest reasons? Christians who are hypocrites.

That's why I'm so glad for today's word for today from the Word of God, where Jesus clarifies what, and who, is the real issue in this whole Christian thing. Mark 2:14, our word for today from the Word of God, "As Jesus walked along, He saw Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow Me', Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him."

Jesus sums up here the central decision we all have to make by issuing a clear, two-word invitation that He gave to so many people: "Follow Me." Jesus basically is saying, "I'm the issue. Your decision is about me." He repeated that invitation so many times when He was on earth. And listen, He's done it millions of times since then and I think He's extending it to you today.

As for those Christians who aren't a very good advertisement - well, they're like that junior high band trying to play the Beethoven symphony. Unfortunately, some of us don't play Jesus' music very well. But it has nothing to do with Jesus. He's still the Genius who forgives our failures, who loves us with a "never leave you" love. He promised, "I'll never leave you." And who can take us to heaven when we die because He walked out of his grave and conquered death.

Jesus never said, "Follow My followers." He never said, "Follow My leaders," or "Follow My religion" or "Follow My rules." He said, "Follow Me." The only reason not to be a Christian is if you have something against Jesus. And there wasn't a trace of hypocrisy in Him.

All that's going to matter when you keep your appointment with God is what you did with Jesus, God's one and only Son who died on the cross to pay...not for His sins, but for yours. Honestly, there's just no place to hide when it comes to Jesus. Either you commit yourself to this Man who died for you or you turn your back on Him and you walk away.

It's all about Jesus. And maybe you're ready to surrender all the baggage that has kept you from experiencing His love for yourself. Forget all those people that in your mind are between you and Him. It's Jesus and you, because it's Jesus you're trusting, not Christianity, not Christians. Maybe you're ready to begin this relationship you were created for. I hope you are.

Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours. You died for me. You're alive and I'm giving myself to You." And then, would you go to our website? I've laid out there how to be sure you belong to Him. It's ANewStory.com.

On Judgment Day, it will just be you and Jesus. Today it's you and Jesus. There's an old hymn that puts it this way: "What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For someday your heart will be asking, 'What will He do with me?'"

Numbers 32, bible reading and daily devotionals.

MaxLucado.com: The Holy Spirit

If I were to ask you to describe your heavenly Father, you’d give me a response.  If I were to ask you to tell me what Jesus did for you, you’d likely give a cogent answer.  But if I were to ask about the role of the Holy Spirit in your life. . .?  Eyes would duck.  Throats would be cleared.

John 14:17 says, “The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him.  But you know him, because he lives with you and he will be in you.”

What does the Spirit do? Scripture says He comforts the saved.  He convicts the lost.  He conveys the truth.  Have you ever been convicted? Ever sensed a stab of sorrow for your actions? Understood a new truth?  Then you’ve been touched by the Holy Spirit.

What do you know?  He’s been working in your life already.

From A Gentle Thunder

Numbers 32

Tribes East of the Jordan

1–4  32 The families of Reuben and Gad had huge herds of livestock. They saw that the country of Jazer and Gilead was just the place for grazing livestock. And so they came, the families of Gad and of Reuben, and spoke to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the congregation, saying, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—the country that God laid low before the community of Israel—is a country just right for livestock, and we have livestock.”

5  They continued, “If you think we’ve done a good job so far, give us this country for our inheritance. Don’t make us go across the Jordan.”

6–12  Moses answered the families of Gad and Reuben: “Do you mean that you are going to leave the fighting that’s ahead to your brothers while you settle down here? Why would you even think of letting the People of Israel down, demoralizing them just as they’re about to move into the land God gave them? That’s exactly what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to survey the country. They went as far as the Valley of Eshcol, took one look and quit. They completely demoralized the People of Israel from entering the land God had given them. And God got angry—oh, did he get angry! He swore: ‘They’ll never get to see it; none of those who came up out of Egypt who are twenty years and older will ever get to see the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They weren’t interested in following me—their hearts weren’t in it. None, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun; they followed me—their hearts were in it.’

13  “God’s anger smoked against Israel. He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until that entire generation that acted out evil in his sight had died out.

14–15  “And now here you are, just one more mob of sinners stepping up to replace your ancestors, throwing fuel on the already blazing anger of God against Israel. If you won’t follow him, he’ll do it again. He’ll dump them in the desert and the disaster will be all your fault.”

16–19  They came close to him and said, “All we want to do is build corrals for our livestock and towns for our families. Then we’ll take up arms and take the front lines, leading the People of Israel to their place. We’ll be able to leave our families behind, secure in fortified towns, safe from those who live in the land. But we won’t go back home until every Israelite is in full possession of his inheritance. We won’t expect any inheritance west of the Jordan; we are claiming all our inheritance east of the Jordan.”

20–22  Moses said, “If you do what you say, take up arms before God for battle and together go across the Jordan ready, before God, to fight until God has cleaned his enemies out of the land, then when the land is secure you will have fulfilled your duty to God and Israel. Then this land will be yours to keep before God.

23–24  “But if you don’t do what you say, you will be sinning against God; you can be sure that your sin will track you down. So, go ahead. Build towns for your families and corrals for your livestock. Do what you said you’d do.”

25–27  The families of Gad and Reuben told Moses: “We will do as our master commands. Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will stay behind here in the towns of Gilead. But we, every one of us fully armed, will cross the river to fight for God, just as our master has said.”

28–30  So Moses issued orders for them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the ancestral tribes of the People of Israel. Moses said, “If the families of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan River with you and before God, all armed and ready to fight, then after the land is secure, you may give them the land of Gilead as their inheritance. But if they don’t cross over with you, they’ll have to settle up with you in Canaan.”

31–32  The families of Gad and Reuben responded: “We will do what God has said. We will cross the Jordan before God, ready and willing to fight. But the land we inherit will be here, to the east of the Jordan.”

33  Moses gave the families of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan—the land, its towns, and all the territories connected with them—the works.

34–36  The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities; they also built corrals for their animals.

37–38  The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, also Nebo and Baal Meon and Sibmah. They renamed the cities that they rebuilt.

39–40  The family of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who lived there. Moses then gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh. They moved in and settled there.

41  Jair, another son of Manasseh, captured some villages and named them Havvoth Jair (Jair’s Tent-Camps).

42  Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding camps. He renamed it after himself, Nobah.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, November 02, 2025

by Dave Branon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Acts 7:59–8:8

As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, “Master Jesus, take my life.” Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, “Master, don’t blame them for this sin”—his last words. Then he died.

1  Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.

Simon the Wizard

1–2  8 That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All, that is, but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral—not many dry eyes that day!

3–8  And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city!

Today's Insights

Stephen was one of seven men “full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3) chosen to distribute food to the widows (v. 1), freeing up the twelve apostles to focus on prayer and teaching the gospel (vv. 1-5). Stephen was “a man full of God’s grace and power” who did great miracles (v. 8). He came to the attention of unbelieving Jews and was falsely accused and brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews (vv. 9-14). Stephen seized the opportunity to talk about the Jews’ history of rejecting God, including the prophets and now Jesus (ch. 7). Incensed, the crowd stoned Stephen. Saul (also referred to as Paul) was among the crowd and “approved of their killing him” (8:1). Later Saul, a zealous persecutor, was converted (ch. 9) and became one of the persecuted. Yet he considered it a joy to suffer for Christ (Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When we suffer persecution today, God can turn it into something precious.

The Paradox of Persecution

There was great joy in that city. Acts 8:8

Something unusual happens in ten short verses starting with Acts 7:59. The story turns quickly from Stephen’s horrific death by stoning to other believers in Christ being scattered and “preach[ing] the word,” leading to these amazing words: “There was great joy in that city” (8:8).

That’s the paradox of persecution.

European pastor Hristo Kulichev experienced the miracle of good coming from evil. In the 1980s, he was arrested for preaching and thrown in prison. While there, he spoke openly about the gospel of Jesus. Upon his release eight months later, he said, “We had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church. God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free.”

From persecution to great joy—just like in the early church. When “great persecution broke out” (Acts 8:1), “those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (v. 4). As a result, there was “great joy” in a city in Samaria (v. 8).

When forces in our world stand against the truths and teachings of Scripture—especially the gospel—that’s not the time to give up. God moves in powerful ways when the church faces such difficulties.

Peter said, “Do not be surprised” at such fiery trials (1 Peter 4:12). In such cases you’re “blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (v. 14). God has the power to turn persecution into something precious.

Reflect & Pray

How does persecution both trouble you and encourage you? Why do you think it can lead to joy?

Dear God, please help me remain faithful to You.

Discover the rich story of how the Church sprung up from these circumstances.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, November 02, 2025

Authority and Independence

If you love me, keep my commands. —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists on obedience. He tells us emphatically what we should do, but he never forces us to do it. Our reason for obeying him must be a oneness of spirit, not fear or coercion. When our Lord talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an option, an “if ”: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24 kjv). And, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). In these verses, our Lord isn’t talking of eternal positions but of being of value to him here, in this order of things; that is why he sounds so stern. Never interpret these words apart from the one who spoke them.

“If you love me, keep my commands.” Our Lord doesn’t give us rules; he simply makes his standards clear. If my relationship to him is one of love, I’ll do what he says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone else—myself—in competition with him. I have to give up my right to myself to become one with Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ won’t help me obey him; I have to obey him of my own free will. When I do obey, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty problems, things which seem entirely random and meaningless. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the midst of them, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God.

When I stand face-to-face with God, I discover that through my obedience, thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates; his redemption pushes through me to other lives, because behind the act of obedience is the reality of the almighty God.

Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Numbers 31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: He Gives Us What We Need

One morning Denalyn was with me in the car.  "I'm about to remind you why you married me," I told her as we drew near to the intersection.  "See that long line of cars?  See that humdrum of humanity?  It's not for me…hang on!"  I swerved from the six-lane onto the one-lane and shared with my sweetheart my secret expressway to freedom.

"What do you think?" I asked, awaiting her worship.

"I think you broke the law,"  she responded.

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"You just went the wrong way on a one-way street!" she answered.

I did.  She was right.  I had missed the "do not enter" sign.

Before coming to Christ, we all had our share of shortcuts. What we consider shortcuts God sees as disasters. He doesn't give laws for our pleasure.  He gives them for our protection. He knows what we need!

 from Lucado Inspirational Reader

Numbers 31

The Midianite War

1–2  31 God spoke to Moses: “Avenge the People of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you will go to be with your dead ancestors.”

3–4  Moses addressed the people: “Recruit men for a campaign against Midian, to exact God’s vengeance on Midian, a thousand from each tribe of Israel to go to war.”

5–6  A fighting force of a thousand from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand in all—was recruited. Moses sent them off to war, a thousand from each tribe, and also Phinehas son of Eleazar, who went as priest to the army, in charge of holy vessels and the signaling bugles.

7–12  They attacked Midian, just as God had commanded Moses, and killed every last man. Among the fallen were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. The People of Israel took the Midianite women and children captive and took all their animals and herds and goods as plunder. They burned to the ground all the towns in which Midianites lived and also their tent camps. They looted and plundered everything and everyone—stuff and people and animals. They took it all—captives and booty and plunder—back to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the company of Israel where they were camped on the Plains of Moab, at Jordan-Jericho.

13–18  Moses, Eleazar, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet the returning army outside the camp. Moses was furious with the army officers—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—as they came back from the battlefield: “What’s this! You’ve let these women live! They’re the ones who, under Balaam’s direction, seduced the People of Israel away from God in that mess at Peor, causing the plague that hit God’s people. Finish your job: kill all the boys. Kill every woman who has slept with a man. The younger women who are virgins you can keep alive for yourselves.

19–20  “Now here’s what you are to do: Pitch tents outside the camp. All who have killed anyone or touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. Purify every piece of clothing and every utensil—everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.”

21–24  Eleazar the priest then spoke to the soldiers who had fought in the battle: “This is the ruling from the Revelation that God gave Moses: Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—and anything else that can survive fire—must be passed through the fire; then it will be ritually purified. It must also be ritually washed in the Water-of-Cleansing. Further, whatever cannot survive fire must be put through that water. On the seventh day scrub your clothes; you will be ritually clean. Then you can return to camp.”

25–27  God said to Moses, “I want you and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders in the community to count the captives, people and animals. Split the plunder between the soldiers who fought the battle and the rest of the congregation.

28–30  “Then tax the booty that goes to the soldiers at the rate of one life out of five hundred, whether humans, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. It’s a God-tax taken from their half-share to be turned over to Eleazar the priest on behalf of God. Tax the congregation’s half-share at the rate of one life out of fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give this to the Levites who are in charge of the care of God’s Dwelling.”

31  Moses and Eleazar followed through with what God had commanded Moses.

32–35  The rest of the plunder taken by the army:

675,000 sheep

72,000 cattle

61,000 donkeys

32,000 women who were virgins

36–40  The half-share for those who had fought in the war:

337,500 sheep, with a tax of 675 for God

36,000 cattle, with a tax of 72 for God

30,500 donkeys, with a tax of 61 for God

16,000 people, with a tax of 32 for God

41  Moses turned the tax over to Eleazar the priest as God’s part, following God’s instructions to Moses.

42–46  The other half-share for the Israelite community that Moses set apart from what was given to the men who fought the war was:

337,500 sheep

36,000 cattle

30,500 donkeys

16,000 people

47  From the half-share going to the People of Israel, Moses, just as God had instructed him, picked one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of maintaining God’s Dwelling.

48–50  The military officers—commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—came to Moses and said, “We have counted the soldiers under our command and not a man is missing. We’ve brought offerings to God from the gold jewelry we got—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, ornaments—to make atonement for our lives before God.”

51–54  Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all that fine-crafted jewelry. In total, the gold from the commanders of thousands and hundreds that Moses and Eleazar offered as a gift to God weighed about six hundred pounds, all donated by the soldiers who had taken the booty. Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the commanders of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a reminder for the People of Israel before God.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, November 01, 2025

by Kirsten Holmberg

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Revelation 7:9-10, 13-17

I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:

Salvation to our God on his Throne!

Salvation to the Lamb!

13–14  Just then one of the Elders addressed me: “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?” Taken aback, I said, “O Sir, I have no idea—but you must know.”

14–17  Then he told me, “These are those who come from the great tribulation, and they’ve washed their robes, scrubbed them clean in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why they’re standing before God’s Throne. They serve him day and night in his Temple. The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes.”

Today's Insights

The Lamb, who is their shepherd (Revelation 7:17), is the theme of the words the diverse crowd is crying out (v. 10). This Shepherd/Lamb will be the center of the throne and will guide His flock to springs of living water. These words echo David’s “Shepherd Song” (Psalm 23) and Jesus’ teaching in John 10 that He’s “the good Shepherd” (vv. 11, 14). As we ponder the wonderful diversity of human beings in heaven, we’re also reminded that the focal point there will be the Lamb and God. The Lamb will guide us, and the Father will dry the very tears from our eyes (Revelation 7:17). The reality of the presence of the Lamb is the true key to what makes heaven so wonderful and what causes the crowd to worship. As we embrace the diversity of God’s children on earth, it’s a reminder that one day we’ll all worship the Lamb together in heaven.

A Great Multitude

There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Revelation 7:9

In 2010, nearly four thousand believers in Jesus gathered in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants from 198 countries were represented at the conference—a gathering considered to be the most representative meeting of the Christian church in the two thousand years since Jesus walked the earth.

There will come a day when a gathering needn’t be “representative” because all believers will be together. John, in a vision from God, describes it this way: “I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb . . . and they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne’ ” (Revelation 7:9-10).

Our local churches may not always reflect the diversity that exists in God’s eternal kingdom. Sometimes that’s the result of factors outside our control—other times we may be drawn to worship with those we perceive to be similar to ourselves culturally, generationally, politically, and economically.

But we honor God when we embrace—and even seek out—the beautiful differences He has endowed to His children. They offer a foretaste of that diverse, heavenly gathering when all those who trust in Jesus’ sacrifice will worship Him together.

Reflect & Pray

How can you better embrace those who are different from you? How might those differences grow your understanding of God?

Thank You, God, for the opportunity to worship You with those who are different from me—both now and in eternity.

For further study, watch Growing the Family Business.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, November 01, 2025

You Are Not Your Own

Know ye not that…ye are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There’s no such thing as a private life—a “world within the world”—for those who are brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ’s sufferings. God breaks up the private life of his saints and makes it a thoroughfare for the world on the one hand and for himself on the other. No human being can stand that without being fully identified with Jesus Christ.

God calls his saints into the fellowship of the gospel, and it is for this fellowship that we are sanctified, not for ourselves. In everything that happens, in every circumstance that arises, God is bringing us into fellowship with himself. We must let him have his way. If we don’t, we won’t be of the slightest use in his redemptive work in the world. Instead, we’ll be a hindrance.

The first thing God does with his saints is to get them based on rugged spiritual reality. When we are spiritually real, we don’t care what happens to us individually; we only care that God gets his way for the purpose of his redemption. Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreak? Heartbreaks are doorways that God is opening into fellowship with his Son. Most of us collapse at the first sign of heartbreak or pain. We sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose, then turn to the people around us for sympathy. So-called Christian sympathy will soothe us all the way to our deathbeds! God never soothes us when what we need is to be roused; God comes with the grip of the pierced hand of his Son and says, “Arise; shine. Enter into fellowship with me.”

If through a broken heart God can bring his purposes to pass in the world, thank him for breaking your heart.

Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. 

Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Luke 1:21-38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE IMMUTABLE QUALITIES OF GOD - October 31, 2025

Here is a practical idea. Quarry from your Bible a list of the immutable qualities of God and press them into your heart. When calamity strikes, recite them over and over. My list reads like this:

He is still sovereign. He still knows my name. Angels still respond to his call. The hearts of rulers still bend at his bidding. The death of Jesus still saves souls. The Spirit of God still indwells saints. Heaven is still only heartbeats away. The grave is temporary housing. God is still faithful. He is not caught off guard. He uses everything for his glory and my ultimate good. He uses tragedy to accomplish his will, and his will is right and holy and perfect. God bears fruit in the midst of affliction.

Welcome this truth into your heart: Jesus understands. Grip God’s sovereignty and never let it go.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Luke 1:21-38

Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn’t speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.

23–25  When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!” she said.

A Virgin Conceives

26–28  In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!

You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

29–33  She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,

be called ‘Son of the Highest.’

The Lord God will give him

the throne of his father David;

He will rule Jacob’s house forever—

no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

34  Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

35  The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth

will be called Holy, Son of God.

36–38  “And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:

I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me

just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, October 31, 2025

by Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 1:5-7

Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

7–10  Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!

Today's Insights

Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is a monument to God’s love for the church—His beloved children. The idea the apostle introduces in Ephesians 1:5-7 is unpacked more thoroughly in chapter 2. There, he not only explains the magnificent process that made our rescue possible but reminds us that we’re entrusted with great responsibility: “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v. 10). As God’s children, we’re given high purpose—to serve Him and others in His strength and grace. That grand idea is explored more fully in chapters 4-6, where Paul describes what the good works of God’s adopted children are to look like—works that impact our relationships at church, in our families, and in our work relationships. All of life is to look different because He has made us His children.

What Jesus Did for Us

In him we have redemption through his blood. Ephesians 1:7

Andres, the owner of an electronics company, was giving employees with outstanding sales records a day trip to a beach resort. Andres was also taking his seven-year-old son Jimmy. Before departure, he excitedly held his dad’s hand as everyone boarded the van. “You’re joining us? How many sales have you made?” one employee jokingly asked Jimmy. “None!” he replied, motioning to his dad. “He’s letting me join!”

Jimmy didn’t have to work to earn his inclusion on the trip because his dad was paying his way. As believers in Jesus, we also don’t rely on our good works as the basis of our inclusion in heaven. We’re granted access because of Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and Jesus’ own blood was the “payment,” releasing us from our debt to Him. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). He opened the way for whoever believes in Him to “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Christ’s work and our trust in that work allows us to be with Him for eternity.

When we believe in Jesus as Savior, we become God’s children. Such is His “glorious grace, which he has freely given us” (Ephesians 1:6). Like Jimmy, we can look to our heavenly Father and say with confidence, “He’s letting me join!”

Reflect & Pray

How does knowing that Jesus died for you make you feel? How does this truth impact your life?

Dear Jesus, thank You for dying for me. Because of Your grace and love, I’m forgiven. I can look forward to being with You forever.

Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, October 31, 2025

Discernment of Faith

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . . — Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith. This might be true in the initial stages of our walk with him, but we don’t earn anything by faith. Faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God his opportunity.

If you are walking with God, he will often knock the bottom out of your experience in order to bring you into immediate contact with him. God wants you to understand that it’s a life of faith, not of emotional enjoyment of his blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sunspot of experience that had as much sensibleness as faith in it; it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew his blessings—not all of them, just those you were conscious of—to teach you to walk by faith. Now you are worth far more to him than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tried. The real trial of faith isn’t that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of inexpressible isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life. Much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. In the Bible, faith means trusting God in the face of everything that contradicts him. Faith says, “No matter what God does, I will remain true to his character.” “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15): this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.

Jeremiah 22-23; Titus 1

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.”

Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, October 31, 2025

NO GREATER JOY - #10125

So this friend of mine pulled out his wallet and said, "Ron, can I show you my pride and joy?" And he did. There was a picture of a little dusting compound called Pride and a dishwashing detergent called Joy. So, here were these two household items. I was fully expecting to see his children, but then, of course, I have strange friends.

Actually, most people do produce a picture of their children or their grandchildren when they say, "Would you like to see my pride and joy?" That's the way it should be. But if we were to judge our greatest source of joy from the time we spend on things, maybe we should put a picture of our desk and say, "Here's my pride and joy, or our house, or our car. Or, "Here's a picture of my paycheck" or my name being in print. Or, "Here's my sporting equipment for what I spend so much of my time doing." Maybe we need to stop and evaluate what really is our greatest fulfillment factor... or what should be.

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

Now, our word for today from the Word of God. We're in the book of 3 John. Yes, Virginia, there is a third John after first and second John. And if you would like to read a book of the Bible pretty quickly, well you've got your choice right here. There are only about 13 or 14 verses in 3 John. So look it up! I'm reading to you from the fourth verse. It says: "I have no greater joy..." John says, okay, here's his pride and joy. Can you imagine him pulling out his wallet and saying, "Okay, I'm going to show you my pride and joy"? "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

We know that John here was talking about his spiritual children. But he was saying that the greatest fulfillment factor I have in my life is to know they're walking in the truth. Notice he didn't say it's that they know the truth or they're giving the right answers, or that they're quoting the truth. He says, "They're walking around in it. They're living it."

Now, if you're a parent as I am, you need to remember that God's value system puts the highest priority on the spiritual welfare of your children. How are they doing? Are they walking in the ways of Jesus? That's one way to find out how you're doing as a follower of Christ. Could it be that something else has replaced your children - pushed them to the edge a little bit? You didn't mean for it to happen. You're not even aware of it; it has been subtle. But somehow something has edged out your children as your main fulfillment factor. It could be your career. Maybe it's education or pursuing some goal in that area. Maybe it's just in improving your lifestyle. You're trying to do it for your kids, of course. But somehow it's taking so much time that your kids are crowded out. Maybe it's even church work that has left your kids virtual orphans a lot of the time.

Remember, somebody else could do that job at work - that job at church. It might be a very noble goal you're pursuing, but you are the only daddy. You are the only mommy they will ever really have. And they will reflect the amount of investment you have placed in them spiritually. No greater joy than them? Is it your greatest investment to see that you're doing all you can to see that your children walk in truth: Time to pray together, to apply the Bible together, to serve Christ together, to talk about Christian values, to talk about a Christian lifestyle together?

They are your greatest responsibility, don't let anything else take their place. They're supposed to be your greatest fulfillment. And, I hope, your very greatest joy.

Numbers 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GRAB HOLD OF GOD’S GOODNESS - October 30, 2025

Tragedy wages an all-out war on faith, so take some practical steps to grab hold of God’s goodness.

First, invite God to use your suffering for his glory. Most Christians ask God to remove the pain, not use the pain. The apostle Paul prayed for God to remove his thorn in the flesh. Later, he made this resolution: “I want to join [Christ] in his sufferings.” (Philippians 3:10 NIRV). Paul’s prayer changed from “remove this” to “use this.”

Also, resist the urge to demand a reason. If God gave one, would we understand it? Most important, guard your thoughts. Disallow any notion that runs counter to God’s truth. We may not understand the reasoning of God, but can we not trust the character of God? If he permits pain, it is for a higher purpose.

Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

Numbers 30

Vows

1–2  30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the People of Israel: “This is what God commands: When a man makes a vow to God or binds himself by an oath to do something, he must not break his word; he must do exactly what he has said.

3–5  “When a woman makes a vow to God and binds herself by a pledge as a young girl still living in her father’s house, and her father hears of her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then she has to make good on all her vows and pledges. But if her father holds her back when he hears of what she has done, none of her vows and pledges are valid. God will release her since her father held her back.

6–8  “If she marries after she makes a vow or has made some rash promise or pledge, and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her, then she has to make good on whatever she vowed or pledged. But if her husband intervenes when he hears of it, he cancels the vow or rash promise that binds her. And God will release her.

9  “Any vow or pledge taken by a widow or divorced woman is binding on her.

10–15  “When a woman who is living with her husband makes a vow or takes a pledge under oath and her husband hears about it but says nothing and doesn’t say she can’t do it, then all her vows and pledges are valid. But if her husband cancels them when he hears about them, then none of the vows and pledges that she made are binding. Her husband has canceled them and God will release her. Any vow and pledge that she makes that may be to her detriment can be either affirmed or annulled by her husband. But if her husband is silent and doesn’t speak up day after day, he confirms her vows and pledges—she has to make good on them. By saying nothing to her when he hears of them, he binds her to them. If, however, he cancels them sometime after he hears of them, he takes her guilt on himself.”

16  These are the rules that God gave Moses regarding conduct between a man and his wife and between a father and his young daughter who is still living at home.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, October 30, 2025

by Kenneth Petersen

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Genesis 45:12-15, 21-27

  “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Ben-jamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here, but don’t take all day—hurry up and get my father down here.”

14–15  Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Ben-jamin’s neck and wept, and Ben-jamin wept on his neck. He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.

21–23  And they did just that, the sons of Israel. Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand-new clothes, but he gave Ben-jamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back.

24  Then he sent his brothers off. As they left he told them, “Take it easy on the journey; try to get along with each other.”

25–28  They left Egypt and went back to their father Jacob in Canaan. When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived.

Today's Insights

Genesis 45 describes a beautiful experience of forgiveness and reconciliation. Joseph had risen from being a slave in Egypt to someone with incredible power as Pharaoh’s second in command (41:43). Joseph could have chosen to exact revenge on his brothers for selling him into slavery. Instead, he offered grace: “Do not be angry with yourselves” (45:5). The reason Joseph gives is that God had still brought about good even through their wrongdoing—saving the lives of His people (v. 7). His story is a reminder that even when people fail, God is still at work for good. Because Jesus has extended grace to us, we can offer grace to others.

Repurposed by God

[Joseph] kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Genesis 45:15

In the early 1930s, Cleo McVicker came up with a product that could be used as wallpaper cleaner. Back then, most homes were heated by coal, and walls became covered in soot. Cleo’s invention could be rolled over wallpaper and would pick up the grime. Well, the wallpaper cleaner never became popular, but decades later, a teacher used Cleo’s product in her classes to create Christmas ornaments. From that was born a new company—Rainbow Crafts—and the wallpaper cleaner was repurposed as a children’s toy: “Play-Doh.”

On a far greater scale, God has a way of repurposing people. We remember the biblical story of Joseph and his “coat of many colors.” As a young man, he was a lowly shepherd and was sold into slavery by his brothers. But God led Joseph through great difficulties and into the top ranks of government. Eventually Joseph became “repurposed” as “the ruler of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:26). Yet Joseph’s calling was not about power but about grace—something he extended to his brothers as he forgave them (v. 15).

In a sense, all of us are “failed products.” It’s through “the grace of a Son,” Jesus, that we are repurposed into greater things. As you do life today, think of your higher purpose and remember to extend grace to others, just as Christ does for us.

Reflect & Pray

How has God repurposed you in your life journey? What might you learn from the example of Joseph’s life?

Dear God, if I’ve forgotten the grace You’ve called me to, please remind me and help me extend it to others.

For further study, read No Model Family.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please God. —Hebrews 11:6

Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism; common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relationship. Common sense isn’t faith, and faith isn’t common sense. They stand in the relation of the natural to the spiritual, of impulse to inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense. His words are revelation sense; they reach the shore where common sense fails.

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Faith must be tested before it becomes real. If we love God and are called according to his purpose, we can rest assured that no matter what happens, the alchemy of his providence will transform the object of our faith—Jesus Christ—into an active, vital force in each of our lives. The whole purpose of God is to make faith real in the lives of his children. He does this for each one of us personally, working through our individual circumstances.

To turn head-faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God brings us into certain circumstances in order to test and educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction; we cannot have faith in him. But when we hear Jesus say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), we have something that is no longer abstract but real and limitless.

Faith is a tremendously active principle; it always puts Jesus Christ first. In any challenge, faith says, “This may seem foolish, Lord, but I’m going to venture forth on your word.” Faith knows that for every commonsense situation, there’s a revelation fact that can be drawn upon to prove in practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is the whole person rightly related to God by the power of Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 20-21; 2 Timothy 4

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, October 30, 2025

THE BIGGEST SPIRITUAL MISTAKE IN THE WORLD - #10124

I have to confess, I didn't exactly go storming into the Computer Age. I was sort of carried into it. Yeah, you know, back in the days when I was getting into that world, I was returning from my first trip to an Indian reservation, and I had a heart full that I wanted to write into a report. So, as usual in those days, I pulled out my trusty pen and paper and handwrote my report. It took the whole trip from Arizona to New Jersey. Well, after one of my friends read my report, he called my wife and said, "I don't want Ron wasting any more time writing things like this by hand. He has to get a computer." My wife agreed, but she indicated we didn't have the funds to get a computer. My doctor friend said, "That doesn't matter. I intend to buy a computer for him!" I was stunned, and shortly thereafter, the owner of a wonderful personal computer. Ever since then, what a difference, huh? I mean that's greatly impacted my life!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Biggest Spiritual Mistake In the World."

I couldn't have afforded to buy a computer. The only way I got one was that someone who cared about me gave it to me as a gift. Had I tried to pay my friend for it, had I tried to work for my friend to earn it somehow, it would have no longer been a gift. Right?

Tragically, most of the religious people on this planet are making the mistake of trying to earn from God what He says we can only have as a gift. In fact, I believe that's why so many people observe their religion's ceremonies, attend their religion's meetings, and try to live by their religion's rules. They are trying to earn eternal life in heaven by doing good things and being good people. And it's a good thing to live a good life, but it's a deadly thing to depend on your good life to get you into heaven.

That's the message of much of the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 6:23. God says, "The wages of sin is death." In other words, what we get paid for running our own lives is spiritual death--eternal separation from God. That's the bad news. But then God says, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Now, notice - eternal life isn't the reward of God that we earn with a good life. It's the gift of God which we cannot possibly earn. We can earn hell; we can't earn heaven.

In fact, God says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "It is by grace (which that's undeserved love) you have been saved. It is the gift of God - not by works..." Could it be any plainer? We can't get to heaven by Protestant works, or Catholic works, or Jewish works, or Moslem works, or Buddhist works, or Hindu works. God couldn't make it any clearer. It's not by works! The computer my friend gave me could have only been mine if someone else paid for it. The heaven you want to go to when you die can only be yours if someone else pays the death penalty for your sin - and someone did! Jesus, God's only Son!

All I could do to get what my friend had purchased was to accept it. All you could do to have the eternal life Jesus purchased with His life is to accept it. So the eternity-deciding question is this, "Has there ever been a time when you have told Jesus, 'Lord, You are my only hope of having my sins forgiven...of going to heaven when I die. I'm turning from the running of my own life and I'm welcoming You into my life right now - the One who died for me, the One who walked out of His grave under His own power. I know, Jesus, you have the power to change me. I know you love me enough to have paid for my sin. I'm putting all my trust in you.'"

If your trust is in anything else - including your religion or your goodness - you'll never see heaven. Only Jesus can take you there. So tell Him right now. Put your total trust in Him. Tell Him you're putting your trust in Him today.

Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. That's reason enough to go there isn't it? It's ANewStory.com.

Look, you'll never be able to earn heaven. It's a gift - one that God's Son paid for with His life. But the gift won't be yours until you reach out and receive it.