John 19:1-22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We’re Made Whole

Sin sees the world with no God in it! Where we might think of sin as slip-ups or missteps, God views sin as a godless attitude that leads to godless actions.

Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.”  Sin proclaims, “It’s your life, right?  Pump your body with drugs, your mind with greed, your nights with pleasure.”  The godless life is a a me-dominated, childish life, a life of doing what we feel like doing, whenever we feel like doing it.

God says to love.  I choose to hate. God instructs, forgive.  I opt to get even.  God calls for self-control.  I promote self-indulgence.  This is sin.

Jesus took the punishment for that sin, and made us whole. God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong on him.

Trust his work for you, then trust His work in you.

From Come Thirsty

John 19:1-22

The Thorn Crown of the King

1–3  19 So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.

4–5  Pilate went back out again and said to them, “I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.” Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.

Pilate announced, “Here he is: the Man.”

6  When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate told them, “You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him.”

7  The Jews answered, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8–9  When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, “Where did you come from?”

Jesus gave no answer.

10  Pilate said, “You won’t talk? Don’t you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to—crucify you?”

11  Jesus said, “You haven’t a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That’s why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault.”

12  At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: “If you pardon this man, you’re no friend of Caesar’s. Anyone setting himself up as ‘king’ defies Caesar.”

13–14  When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king.”

15  They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said, “I am to crucify your king?”

The high priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

16–19  Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:

jesus the nazarene

the king of the jews.

20–21  Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. “Don’t write,” they said to Pilate, “ ‘The King of the Jews.’ Make it, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

22  Pilate said, “What I’ve written, I’ve written.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, August 08, 2026

By Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-10

Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. Don’t add a word to what I command you, and don’t remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.

Keep them. Practice them. You’ll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what’s going on, they’ll say, “What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We’ve never seen anything like it.”

7–8  Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I’m setting before you today?

9  Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.

10  That day when you stood before God, your God, at Horeb, God said to me, “Assemble the people in my presence to listen to my words so that they will learn to fear me in holy fear for as long as they live on the land, and then they will teach these same words to their children.”

Today's Insights

The Israelites were to pass on God’s truth to the next generation (Deuteronomy 4:9). In the New Testament, the apostle Paul writes to Timothy, who’d been impacted by women of faith from two different generations: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5). The apostle also noted how God’s truth had contributed to Timothy’s development: “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:15). Today, we can ask God to help us nurture the spiritual lives of future generations.

Impacting Generations

Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

During basketball practice, Enrique’s dad asked him and his friend to show the team how to pass the ball correctly. Enrique had practiced for weeks but feared messing up. He prayed, completed the drill, and said, “Thank You, God!” Later his dad said, “I’m proud of you for working hard, son. But I’m prouder that you prayed and praised God.” Enrique shrugged and said, “I just did what you do.”

Throughout history, God has worked through healthy, cross-generational relationships. Sharing His decrees and laws with the Israelites, He said not to add to them nor subtract from them (Deuteronomy 4:1-2). “Observe them carefully,” God said, “for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations” (v. 6). But God wasn’t only interested in how others perceived His people. He said, “Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (v. 9). Why? So that they “may learn to revere” God and teach “their children” about Him (v. 10).

We don’t have to be parents or serve in children’s ministry to share our Spirit-empowered faith with younger people. Whether we’re praying for a younger person or a young family, providing resources to nurture spiritual growth, or offering encouragement, God uses our healthy, cross-generational relationships to impact generations to come.

Reflect & Pray

How has God used older people to nurture you spiritually? How can you invest in the spiritual lives of a younger person or a young family?

Father God, please help me value, serve, and share You with people from all generations.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, August 08, 2026

The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. — Luke 1:35

If I have been born again from above, the Son of God himself has been born into my mortal flesh. What was true of the virgin Mary in the introduction of God’s Son into this earth is true in every saved soul: the Son of God is born into us by the direct act of God.

As a child of God, I have to exercise the right of a child to always be face-to-face with my Father. Am I giving the Son’s holy innocence and simplicity and oneness with the Father a chance to manifest themselves in me? Am I continually responding with amazement to what my common sense tells me to do, saying to it, “Why are you trying to warn me off? Don’t you know that I have to be in my Father’s house?” Whatever my external circumstances, the holy, innocent, eternal Child within me must remain in contact with the Father.

Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is he getting his way with me? Is God realizing that his Son has been formed in me, or have I put the Lord to the side?

Oh, the uproar of these days! Everyone is clamoring—for what? For the Son of God to be put to death. There’s no room for the Son of God, no room for quiet, holy communion with the Father.

Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to him? Is he ministering in me as he did when he walked among us in the flesh? Is the Son of God in me going through his passion for his own purposes? The more one knows of the inner life of God’s most devoted servants, the more one sees God’s purpose: to “fill up . . . what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” (Colossians 1:24). There is always more “filling up” to be done.

Psalms 74-76; Romans 9:16-33

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Biblical Ethics, 99 R

Psalm 65, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DIVINE BOOT CAMP - August 7, 2026

God told Elijah to “hide in the Kerith Ravine…I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there” (1 Kings 17:2-4 NIV).

Why would God do this? To protect Elijah from Ahab and Jezebel for one thing. The crown had posted an APB. Search parties were dispatched. What better place for Elijah to hide than in the rugged landscape of his homeland?

And God sent Elijah to Kerith to prepare him for the future. Remember, the world had gone crazy. Abhorrent behavior—child sacrifice, worship of idols, temple prostitution—had been normalized. God needed a steadfast prophet to stand against such a tide.

To prepare Elijah for his assignment, God led him into the wilderness. It was there the prophet learned to radically trust God. Call it divine boot camp. Be patient. God is working on you.

Unbreakable Courage

Psalm 65

A David Psalm

1–2  65 Silence is praise to you,

Zion-dwelling God,

And also obedience.

You hear the prayer in it all.

2–8  We all arrive at your doorstep sooner

or later, loaded with guilt,

Our sins too much for us—

but you get rid of them once and for all.

Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest

at home in your place!

We expect our fill of good things

in your house, your heavenly manse.

All your salvation wonders

are on display in your trophy room.

Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,

Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,

Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,

of mobs in noisy riot—

Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,

they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.

Dawn and dusk take turns

calling, “Come and worship.”

9–13  Oh, visit the earth,

ask her to join the dance!

Deck her out in spring showers,

fill the God-River with living water.

Paint the wheat fields golden.

Creation was made for this!

Drench the plowed fields,

soak the dirt clods

With rainfall as harrow and rake

bring her to blossom and fruit.

Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,

scatter rose petals down your paths,

All through the wild meadows, rose petals.

Set the hills to dancing,

Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,

a drape of flax across the valleys.

Let them shout, and shout, and shout!

Oh, oh, let them sing!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, August 07, 2026

By Bill Crowder

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Peter 5:6-11

So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

He Gets the Last Word

8–11  Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

Today's Insights

What does the New Testament tell us about our “enemy the devil” (1 Peter 5:8)? First, it gives him a variety of names: “Satan,” which means “accuser” or “adversary” (Revelation 12:9-10); “Beelzebul, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24); “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4); “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2); “the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3); “the great dragon” (Revelation 12:9); and the “ancient serpent” (20:2; see 2 Corinthians 11:3).

Second, Satan’s mission is “to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is opposed to God and seeks to drive a wedge between Him and humans. Satan hopes to tear down our confidence and trust in God and deter us from our mission of spreading the gospel. James says, “Submit yourselves . . . to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The Holy Spirit will help us resist the devil and stand strong in Christ.

Learn more about spiritual warfare.

God Is Greater

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Before he became famous, the Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan (ca. ad 1162-1227) killed his own half brother to advance his position in the family. As he solidified his power, he began to build an empire more expansive than Alexander the Great’s, stretching from Asia’s Pacific coast to Eastern Europe. Ruthless in his tactics, the khan and his army left a trail of death and destruction everywhere they advanced. His devastating military forays are unparalleled in recorded history.

Today we face a vicious foe even more intimidating than a marauding army—an enemy who wants to conquer and devastate our souls. The apostle Peter cautioned, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This enemy is cunning and dangerous like a great warrior and is much more than we can handle on our own. But we have great reason for hope. The apostle John wrote, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This “one who is in you” is the Holy Spirit Himself. We need not fear the enemy of our souls.

As we rely on the Holy Spirit, we gain confidence that our lives are guarded from the one who’s trying to conquer our souls. Our God is greater. We can trust Him to be with us in everything.

Reflect & Pray

When have you sensed the enemy’s opposition? How did you respond?

Loving God, thank You that You’re greater than my enemy and have already defeated him. Please help me rely on Your Spirit.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, August 07, 2026

Prayer in the Father’s House

Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? — Luke 2:49

Our Lord’s childhood wasn’t immature adulthood. His childhood is an eternal fact, the permanent state of his relationship to his Father. Am I so identified with my Lord and Savior that I, too, am a holy, innocent child of God? Do I look upon life as a permanent state of dwelling in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God dwelling in his Father’s house inside me?

The abiding reality is God; he is not changeable or fleeting. Yet he makes his order known in fleeting moments. When we are saved, we receive the power and the privilege of exhibiting the redemption in the passing moments of our lives. But to do this, we must remain in contact with abiding reality. Am I always in contact with reality, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong? I have to learn to identify myself with my Lord in holy communion in ways I haven’t even thought of yet, to live out each moment going about my Father’s business within my Father’s house.

If I consider my individual circumstances, what do I see? Am I so identified with the life of the eternal Child of God that I, too, am simply his child, continually talking to him and realizing that all things come from him? Are the graces of his ministry working through me in my home, my business, and my community? Am I wondering why I’m going through the things I’m going through right now? It isn’t that I have to go through them; it’s that they have been chosen specifically for me by God’s providence, with an eye to my growth in grace.

Let God have his way, while you keep yourself in perfect union with him. The life our Lord lived on earth is to become your vital life. The way he worked and lived must be the way he lives in you.

Psalms 72-73; Romans 9:1-15

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t. 

Conformed to His Image, 357 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, August 07, 2026

The Sign On Your Life - #10325

Scripture:  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I remember the last time I bought a house. It was a while ago, but I still remember that nervous feeling of stepping out on a limb that night to say to the owner, "We'll buy it." I was thinking, "Where in the world are we going to get the money for this?" And then the handshake, the signature on that document that committed most of my working life to paying for it.

But the story was really told in two signs on the front yard. One was there when I came to look at the house. It said "For Sale." Then after we committed ourselves to buy it, they changed the sign. Of course it said: "Sold." I felt pretty good when I drove by there and said, "Hey, I know who that's sold to. That house is mine." And I knew that no one else was going to be able to drive up there and say, "Well, that's a nice house. I'd like this house." Nope! It was sold by right of purchase, and no one could have it but me!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sign On Your Life."

Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Listen to these words: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Okay, there's a sign on your life. It doesn't say like it did on the house that I bought: "Sold." The sign on your life and mine says: Bought. You are a purchased person. You belong to the person who paid for you. Are you living that way? Are you living for the One who gave His life so you could have hope, so you could have a life, so your life could have meaning, so you could have an eternity in heaven, who paid with His life for yours?

One way to tell: what are you doing with your body? That's a specific area that this passage highlights. You have no right to expose that body that He purchased, to devalue it, to degrade it, to neglect it. No, no, no, He paid for it. It cost Him His life to purchase you, including that body of yours. "Therefore," it says, "to glorify God in that body." Honor God with your body.

It's almost like there's another sign on you that says: "Reserved For Jesus." You know, like a table at a restaurant, you can't have that table; it's reserved for someone else. As you're tempted to look at something or listen to something today that's dirty, remember you are a purchased person. You can't allow that garbage to pollute a mind that was bought by the blood of the Son of God.

So many of our daily choices come into focus and are made a lot clearer when we remember - okay, here's a word that I'm making up - our boughtness. Our boughtness! We've been bought. It's not my money, it's not my car, it's not my house, it's not my business, it's not my body, it's not my talent. It isn't my right; I don't have the right to plan my own future. I've been purchased by the Son of God! You and I were purchased at the highest price in history. The Prince of Glory bled and died to buy you back from sin; to buy you back from being owned by this world; to buy you back from the Devil's plans for your life.

Don't let anyone have what Jesus paid so much for. The sign on you says: "Bought By Jesus."

Psalm 62, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SPIRITUAL MUSCLE - August 6, 2026

Spiritual muscle is developed not by sitting but by acting. Not by listening but by doing.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like” (James 1:22-24 NLT).

You turn away, pause, and wonder, Did I comb my hair? Such a question would betray one truth, and that is lack of attention. James indicts us for doing the same. We go to church. We hear a message, enjoy a few songs, but are we changed? Do we worry less and pray more? Are we less concerned about our will and more concerned about God’s? Let’s not be lookers. Let’s be doers.

Unbreakable Courage

Psalm 62

A David Psalm

1–2  62 God, the one and only—

I’ll wait as long as he says.

Everything I need comes from him,

so why not?

He’s solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

An impregnable castle:

I’m set for life.

3–4  How long will you gang up on me?

How long will you run with the bullies?

There’s nothing to you, any of you—

rotten floorboards, worm-eaten rafters,

Anthills plotting to bring down mountains,

far gone in make-believe.

You talk a good line,

but every “blessing” breathes a curse.

5–6  God, the one and only—

I’ll wait as long as he says.

Everything I hope for comes from him,

so why not?

He’s solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

An impregnable castle:

I’m set for life.

7–8  My help and glory are in God

—granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—

So trust him absolutely, people;

lay your lives on the line for him.

God is a safe place to be.

9  Man as such is smoke,

woman as such, a mirage.

Put them together, they’re nothing;

two times nothing is nothing.

10  And a windfall, if it comes—

don’t make too much of it.

11  God said this once and for all;

how many times

Have I heard it repeated?

“Strength comes

Straight from God.”

12  Love to you, Lord God!

You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, August 06, 2026

by Kirsten Holmberg

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Judges 4:4-9, 14

 Deborah was a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth. She was judge over Israel at that time. She held court under Deborah’s Palm between Ramah and Bethel in the hills of Ephraim. The People of Israel went to her in matters of justice.

6–7  She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “It has become clear that God, the God of Israel, commands you: Go to Mount Tabor and prepare for battle. Take ten companies of soldiers from Naphtali and Zebulun. I’ll take care of getting Sisera, the leader of Jabin’s army, to the Kishon River with all his chariots and troops. And I’ll make sure you win the battle.”

8  Barak said, “If you go with me, I’ll go. But if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

9–10  She said, “Of course I’ll go with you. But understand that with an attitude like that, there’ll be no glory in it for you. God will use a woman’s hand to take care of Sisera.”

Deborah got ready and went with Barak to Kedesh.

14  Deborah said to Barak, “Charge! This very day God has given you victory over Sisera. Isn’t God marching before you?”

Barak charged down the slopes of Mount Tabor, his ten companies following him.

Today's Insights

The book of Judges bridges the times between Joshua and the beginning of the monarchy under Saul (see 1 Samuel 9). It’s characterized by what some scholars call the “cycle of apostasy.” Each cycle begins when Israel falls away from God. Then He sends a neighboring nation to discipline them, followed by God’s provision of a judge to deliver them from that nation, and then a season of spiritual revival. Twelve different judges, from Othniel to Samson, are God’s instruments of rescue. Deborah is the fourth of those judges (Judges 4), whose season of leadership over Israel lasted about forty years, second only to Ehud, who judged for eighty years. Through the leadership and example of the judges, the people returned to God, and He enabled them to trust Him and obey His law afresh. Their example can remind us today that He’ll give us the strength to trust and obey Him no matter the circumstance.

Part of God’s Story

Has not the Lord gone ahead of you? Judges 4:14

Archaeologist Jodi Magness and her team have been excavating a synagogue in the ancient village of Huqoq in Lower Galilee, where they’ve found an incredible collection of mosaics, paintings, and carvings. Particularly rare, however, is a mosaic telling the biblical story of Deborah and her role in Israel’s battle against the Canaanites; there’s no other known ancient depiction of this heroine.

During twenty years of oppression by Canaan, Deborah, a prophetess, “was leading Israel” (Judges 4:4). At God’s prompting, Deborah urged Israel’s general Barak to mount an attack on the Canaanite forces and their commander, Sisera. Barak heeded God’s instructions to “take . . . ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor” (v. 6), and Deborah lured the enemy’s army to the area. The Canaanite troops indeed fell in the battle, and though Sisera initially fled on foot, he too ultimately met his demise. “On that day God subdued . . . Canaan before the Israelites” (v. 23) through the courageous obedience of Deborah and Barak.

The Bible preserves for us a literary mosaic of historical events in the life of God’s people—collectively and individually. We can take courage from these examples to heed God’s instructions even in the face of hardship and struggle. We can trust Him to equip us with the strength to do so.

Reflect & Pray

When has God asked you to do something difficult? How did He equip and sustain you in that situation?

Heavenly Father, please give me the courage to heed Your instructions.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, August 06, 2026

The Cross in Prayer

In that day you will ask in my name. — John 16:26

We are too much given to thinking of the cross as something we have to get through, imagining it simply as the gateway to our salvation. We have to realize that we get through the cross only to get into it. The cross should stand for one thing only: complete and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our identification with the Lord is realized most strongly in prayer. Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Then why ask? So that you “may be one” as the Father and Son are one (John 17:22–23). Prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God.

If we think of prayer not as a oneness with God but rather as a way to get answers or blessings, we think wrongly. When we go to God for answers, we are bound to get irritated, because although God always responds, it isn’t always in the way we want. When a prayer seems to go unanswered, we must be careful not to blame someone else; that is a snare of Satan. If we look to God, we will find that there’s a reason which is a deep instruction for us, not for anyone else. We will see that our refusal to identify ourselves with our Lord in prayer is what has led to our irritation. We must remember that we are not here to prove that God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of his grace.

Have you, by the power of the cross, reached such oneness and intimacy with God that the only explanation for your life of prayer is Jesus Christ’s life of prayer? “In that day you will ask in my name.” You will be so identified with your Lord that there will be no distinction between his life and yours.

Psalms 70-71; Romans 8:22-39 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him.

Approved Unto God, 10 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, August 06, 2026

Carrying the Burden No More - #10324

Scripture:  Isaiah 53:4

I was speaking at a Christian workers' conference in Alaska, and a veteran missionary approached me afterward with some intriguing information. She and her husband have worked for many years with an Indian tribe in Alaska - a tribe that has an interesting custom, according to the missionary. If you're from that tribe, they said you grow up learning about your backpack. It's not a real backpack, but it's a symbol of a very real human experience. The idea is that whenever you do something wrong, a rock goes in your backpack and you carry on your back all the weight of all your mistakes all your life.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Carrying the Burden No More."

When I heard about that, I couldn't help but think what an accurate image that is no matter what tribe you are from. In a sense, we really do carry around with us the weight of the things we've done wrong, the people we've hurt, the failures, the sins. With our backpack comes this feeling of guilt, and shame, and regret. Many people carry their backpack till the day they die, but you don't have to be one of them.

In our word for today from the Word of God, there is a very moving statement of what God has done to liberate us from the load of a lifetime of our sin. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says in Isaiah 53:4, "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows . . . He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our inequities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him."

God says that Jesus, His one and only Son, took the backpack that was full of my sin, put it on Himself and carried it all the way to an old, rugged cross. He carried yours, too. If He hadn't, there would be absolutely no way you or I could have a chance of going to heaven. After all, when the Bible describes heaven, it says, "Nothing impure will ever enter it" (Revelation 21:27). You can't get into heaven if you've still got the backpack of your sin.

Some of us hope we might be good enough to get into heaven. Right? That's probably the main reason we get involved in our religion and our church. But the Bible makes two things very clear: One, every one of us has this backpack called sin. It says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Two, there is no good we can do that will pay for our sin. In God's own words now, "He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5). God's bottom line is this statement, Hebrews 9:22: "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness."

That's why Jesus allowed Himself to be pierced, and crushed, and nailed to a cross, to pay the penalty for every sin you and I have ever done, so we don't have to. I've been with a lot of people the day they finally put their total trust in Jesus to forgive their sin and make them right with God. And often they have described the feeling this way. They'll say, "I feel like a hundred pound weight's been lifted from my back." Well, it has. The deadly backpack of sin is gone.

Yours can be, too, today, if you will, in your heart, make your way up that hill where Jesus died and leave your backpack, full of the sins of a lifetime, at the foot of His cross. If you don't belong to Jesus, and you want to, oh for goodness sake, today, tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

I've actually set up our website to be a place of a new beginning where you can find right there in front of you the information from God's own Word about how to be sure every sin has been erased from God's Book, and you're going to heaven when you die. Our website is ANewStory.com. Please check it out soon today.

Jesus carried all your sins to His cross, so you don't ever have to carry them again.

Psalm 61, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: STRENGTH TO RIDE THE STORM - August 5, 2026

Do you feel it is you against the world? Not so, my friend. Outnumbered by foes and outdone by fear? Please reconsider. Surrounded by adversity? Perhaps. Yet, you are also encircled by divinity. With God’s help you can ride these raging rapids with unbreakable courage.

Immovable. Determined. Square-jawed and resolved. Like the prophet Elijah who “…went and did according to the word of the Lord…” (1 Kings 17:5 NKJV). Elijah affirms a positive answer to these questions: Can a person maintain faith in a world that has little? When a culture belittles belief, can a believer beget strength? Yes! With God’s help, we will discover strength to ride this storm, an unbreakable courage and steadfast faith.

Unbreakable Courage

Psalm 61

A David Psalm

1–2  61 God, listen to me shout,

bend an ear to my prayer.

When I’m far from anywhere,

down to my last gasp,

I call out, “Guide me

up High Rock Mountain!”

3–5  You’ve always given me breathing room,

a place to get away from it all,

A lifetime pass to your safe-house,

an open invitation as your guest.

You’ve always taken me seriously, God,

made me welcome among those who know and love you.

6–8  Let the days of the king add up

to years and years of good rule.

Set his throne in the full light of God;

post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,

And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory—

and live what I sing every day.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, August 05, 2026

By Arthur Jackson

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 14:5-11

Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6–7  Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

8  Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

9–10  “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

11–14  “Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works.

Today's Insights

The beginning of John’s gospel describes those who don’t see Jesus for who He is: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (1:10-11).

Yet Christ had expectations for those who were closest to Him—those who’d heard His words, who’d seen and experienced His works. He rebuked His disciple for not recognizing Him: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” (14:9). When we honestly and prayerfully evaluate the words and works of Christ as seen in the Gospels, the Spirit can open our eyes and hearts regarding His identity as God’s Son and the King of Kings, and we’ll be welcomed into the family of God (1:12-13). When we become children of God, He can help us make Jesus visible to others through our words and actions.

Family in God

Don’t you know me, Philip . . . ? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9

“What makes you smile when you think about your son?” That was my question for Clarence—a younger man I was mentoring. The proud father proceeded to share some of his bright four-year-old’s accomplishments. One particular detail left me amused. Not only does the child have his father’s first and last names, but he already looks so much like his father that he can unlock his father’s smartphone using facial recognition!

In John 14, Jesus made it clear how closely He resembled His Father. When an inquisitive Philip requested, “Lord, show us the Father” (v. 8), Jesus responded, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). How was it that the Father was revealed through the Son? It was through Jesus’ “words” (v. 10) and “works” (v. 11) that God’s love, mercy, grace, and more were brilliantly displayed.

Empowered by God’s Spirit, believers in Jesus are privileged to share family likeness. The invisible God becomes visible through His children. Regarding Christlike love, John reminds us, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12 nlt).

Reflect & Pray

What is it about your words and deeds that remind others of Jesus? How might you pray about the Holy Spirit working in and through you to bring honor to God the Father and Christ the Son?

Dear Father, please strengthen me to love Jesus, and to live like Him and for Him.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, August 05, 2026

The Baffling Call of God

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.” . . . The disciples did not understand. — Luke 18:31,34

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed like unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called his disciples to see him put to death; he led them to the place where their hearts were broken and baffled. Jesus Christ’s life was an absolute failure from every viewpoint but God’s. But what seemed like failure to the world was a tremendous triumph to God, because God’s purpose is never humanity’s.

The baffling call of God comes in our lives, too. The call of God can never be stated outright. It is like the call of the sea. No one hears the call of the sea but those who have the nature of the sea within them. Similarly, no one hears the call of God but those who have God dwelling within them by the power of his Holy Spirit.

It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to; he calls us to enter into a relationship with him for his own purpose. The test is to believe that, though we cannot understand him, God knows what he is doing. Nothing happens by chance, only by his decree.

When we are in communion with God and recognize that he is taking us up into his purpose, we will stop trying to find out what his purpose is. This gets simpler as we go on in Christian life, because we begin to see that behind everything lies the great compelling of God.

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” A Christian is one who trusts the wits and wisdom of God. If instead we trust our own wits and wisdom, if we go off pursuing our own ends, we will destroy the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize our lives as children of God.

Psalms 68-69; Romans 8:1-21

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, August 05, 2026

Leaving the Life-Saving Station - #10323

Scripture:  Luke 19:10

There's a stretch of the Outer Banks of North Carolina that's known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because hundreds of ships have been lost there over the centuries. So it was there that something called the United States Life-Saving Service was born. They established these white frame buildings called life-saving stations like seven miles apart along the very treacherous parts of the coast. The Life-Saving Service was actually a spawning ground for heroes. In one case, for example, this ship was in distress with four men staying alive by just hanging onto this mast for dear life. Six of the seven men from the closest station went out into a storm that could very well consume them. Before they went out they left a verbal will with the man who was left running the station. Twenty-two hours without food or sleep. Well, they finally brought back those four stranded men, and then they collapsed on the beach in exhaustion. It was incredible heroism. I mean, that was the norm for the men of the life-saving stations.

One interesting observation: never in the history of the Life-Saving Service did the drowning person ever come to the door of their station and ask to be rescued, "Excuse me, I'm drowning. Can you help me?" No, in every single rescue, the rescuers had to leave the safety of the life-saving station, go out into the surf and into the storm to keep someone from dying.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaving the Life-Saving Station."

It's the nature of rescue isn't it? You have to leave the comfort of the life-saving station to save the people who are dying outside. The life-saving station is a great place to get rescuers strong enough to go out into the storm to bring people in. And it's a great place to bring people after they've been rescued. But if we wait for dying people to come into the life-saving station to get rescued, most of them are going to die without a chance.

That's the nature of spiritual rescue. Over the years it's been known by many names - evangelism, soul-winning, witnessing. But maybe we've lost the urgency of what really is at stake here. Every lost person you know who has never begun a personal relationship with Christ, every lost person within the reach of your church is, in the words of the Bible, "perishing... staggering toward slaughter" (Proverbs 24:11), "without hope and without God" (Ephesians 2:12), and ultimately, someone who will be forever, in the Bible's words, "shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). They are spiritually dying people, and their only hope is rescue by someone who is close enough to save them.

Sadly, we've been waiting for them to come to one of our meetings, our programs, our religious place, our life-saving station. But Jesus said in Luke 19:10, our word for today from the Word of God, that "the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." He said that in the house of a reviled tax collector, where Jesus had been criticized for going. But Jesus shows us that you have to go where the lost people are to rescue them. You have to seek them if you want to save them.

We keep having programs to rescue the dying - often few of them are ever there. The plan of God is for someone like you or me - an everyday follower of Jesus - to be the one to rescue the dying people around you. If we have to go where the lost people are to rescue them, well guess what? You already are where some of them are; you are every day. Don't just let them go on dying. Leave the safe spot, the comfortable spot where you've wanted to stay and take some risks to rescue them. You follow the Man who left the comfort zone of heaven to risk it all, to give it all to rescue you. Now He's asking you to join Him in rescuing some others who will die forever without Him.

There is nothing greater you could do with your influence, nothing greater you could do with your life than to rescue someone who would have otherwise died; to help someone else be rescued from hell and be in heaven with you forever.

John 18:19-40, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ENTER…ELIJAH - August 4, 2026

Ancient Israel had the scruffy hills of Gilead, and somewhere in this rugged land Elijah came to believe in a mighty Yahweh who refused to share his glory with others. He confronted Ahab and Jezebel with a surgical strike. Baal was regarded as the god of fertility, yet Baal’s veil was about to be yanked back. Jehovah has declared a drought.

Does Elijah have some encouragement for our generation? Absolutely! The story of Elijah offers us hope. Elijah shows us that one person following a living God is greater than hundreds of people praying to a lifeless one.

Unbreakable Courage

John 18:19-40

The Interrogation

19–21  Annas interrogated Jesus regarding his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, “I’ve spoken openly in public. I’ve taught regularly in meeting places and the Temple, where the Jews all come together. Everything has been out in the open. I’ve said nothing in secret. So why are you treating me like a conspirator? Question those who have been listening to me. They know well what I have said. My teachings have all been aboveboard.”

22  When he said this, one of the policemen standing there slapped Jesus across the face, saying, “How dare you speak to the Chief Priest like that!”

23  Jesus replied, “If I’ve said something wrong, prove it. But if I’ve spoken the plain truth, why this slapping around?”

24  Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to the Chief Priest Caiaphas.

25  Meanwhile, Simon Peter was back at the fire, still trying to get warm. The others there said to him, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”

He denied it, “Not me.”

26  One of the Chief Priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”

27  Again, Peter denied it. Just then a rooster crowed.

The King of the Jews

28–29  They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn’t enter the palace because they didn’t want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. “What charge do you bring against this man?”

30  They said, “If he hadn’t been doing something evil, do you think we’d be here bothering you?”

31–32  Pilate said, “You take him. Judge him by your law.”

The Jews said, “We’re not allowed to kill anyone.” (This would confirm Jesus’ word indicating the way he would die.)

33  Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”

34  Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?”

35  Pilate said, “Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?”

36  “My kingdom,” said Jesus, “doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king.”

37  Then Pilate said, “So, are you a king or not?”

Jesus answered, “You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice.”

38–39  Pilate said, “What is truth?”

Then he went back out to the Jews and told them, “I find nothing wrong in this man. It’s your custom that I pardon one prisoner at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the ‘King of the Jews’?”

40  They shouted back, “Not this one, but Barabbas!” Barabbas was a Jewish freedom fighter.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, August 04, 2026

By James Banks

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 1:7-14

 Regarding angels he says,

The messengers are winds,

the servants are tongues of fire.

8–9  But he says to the Son,

You’re God, and on the throne for good;

your rule makes everything right.

You love it when things are right;

you hate it when things are wrong.

That is why God, your God,

poured fragrant oil on your head,

Marking you out as king,

far above your dear companions.

10–12  And again to the Son,

You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations,

then crafted the stars in the sky.

Earth and sky will wear out, but not you;

they become threadbare like an old coat;

You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak,

and lay them away on the shelf.

But you’ll stay the same, year after year;

you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.

13  And did he ever say anything like this to an angel?

Sit alongside me here on my throne

Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.

14  Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?

Today's Insights

Hebrews says that angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (1:14). They were created by God to worship and praise Him (v. 6), to serve as messengers (Revelation 1:1), and to protect His people (Psalm 68:17). In 2 Kings 6, when the Arameans surrounded the Israelites, the prophet Elisha reassured his frightened servant, “Don’t be afraid . . . . Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 16). The servant’s eyes were opened, and he “saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (v. 17)—a vast army of angels.

Psalm 91:11-12 says, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Today, no matter what we’re going through, we can be assured that God loves and cares for us and will provide the help we need.

The Help God Provides

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:14

When commercial fisherman Scott Thompson fell out of his boat one moonless night in the Santa Barbara Channel off the California coast, he didn’t know if he’d survive. He swam hard after the boat, but the motor was running and he couldn’t reach it. So he attempted to swim to a distant oil platform in the darkness. Beginning to lose hope, Thompson heard a splash in the cold water near him. A harbor seal swam with him for a while, nudging him along toward the platform. Five hours later, Thompson completed the long swim and described the seal as “an angel” sent to help him.

The writer of the book of Hebrews describes angels as “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). The passage highlights the greatness of Jesus and emphasizes that angels—wonderful and glorious beings that they are—exist to further His purposes in saving us. Jesus sustains “all things by his powerful word” (v. 3).

All around us is an unseen reality in which God sends angels to aid those who have gladly received the good news of Jesus. Sometimes our nights may be long, and we may wonder if we can keep going. But He’ll always give us the help we need—help that will nudge us on in Him.

Reflect & Pray

In what ways has God sent you unexpected help? How might He use you to help others today?

I praise You today, loving God, knowing that because You sustain all things, I’ll one day be able to praise You forever!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, August 04, 2026

The Brave Comradeship of God

Jesus took the Twelve aside. — Luke 18:31

How brave is God in trusting us! You say, “God has been unwise to choose me. There’s nothing of value in me.” That is exactly why he chose you! As long as you believe that there’s something of value in you, God cannot choose you, because you have goals of your own to pursue. Only those who let God bring them to the end of their self-sufficiency are able to be chosen. These are the ones God will select to go with him to Jerusalem to fulfill his purpose.

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth” (1 Corinthians 1:26). We tend to believe that people with natural abilities will make good Christians. But it isn’t a question of our abilities; it’s a question of our poverty. The question isn’t what we bring with us; it’s what God puts into us. Our natural virtues, knowledge, experience, and strength of character are of no importance. The only thing that matters is that we are taken up into the compelling purpose of God.

When we are taken up by God, we become his comrades. The comradeship of God is made up of people who know their own poverty. He can do nothing with those who think themselves useful. As Christians, we are to have no cause of our own to serve. We are dedicated to serving God’s cause, which can never be our cause. We don’t know what God’s cause is; we only know that, no matter what, we have to maintain our relationship with him. We must never allow anything to injure this relationship. If it does get injured, we must take time to put it right. The main thing about Christianity isn’t the work we do but the relationship we maintain. That is all God asks us to look after, and it’s the one thing that is constantly under threat.

Psalms 66-67; Romans 7

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” 

So Send I You, 1325 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, August 04, 2026

Lost But Proud - #10322

Scripture:  2 Kings 5:1

It's a familiar scenario. A man is driving his family on vacation; let's say they're going from Chicago to California. His wife gently points out to him that she just saw a sign saying, "Welcome to Kentucky." OK, Kentucky is definitely not between Chicago and California. Repeatedly, the Mrs. suggests that Mr. stop and ask directions. Then she says that four-letter word, "I think we're lost." Oh, will he stop and ask for directions? No! Maybe it's something in the male chromosome. Like most men, he's too proud to admit he's lost, and he's probably not going to be getting to California.

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

When it comes to our eternal destination, I think most of us hope to end up in heaven. But do you know what will keep a lot of people from ending up where they hope to? Pride. The kind that's just too proud to admit you're lost - that you can't get there on your own.

There's a powerful picture of this in our word for today from the Word of God. It's a story I love. It's in 2 Kings 5:1. It's the story about a Syrian general named Naaman who discovers that he has the incurable disease of leprosy. None of his victories, none of his fame can help him. So he accepts advice to go to the prophet Elisha in Israel who prescribes something that is not Naaman's idea of how you get well. The prophet says, "Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

Naaman is furious! He says, "I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy." The general had brought money to pay for a cure, but the prophet wouldn't take the money. See, Naaman had his own idea of how he could get cured. It just wasn't God's idea. It wouldn't work. Finally, "he went down" the Bible says "and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young man."

Naaman would go on dying until he swallowed his pride and did it God's way. You and I go on carrying the death penalty for our sin until we swallow our pride and come to God His way. Which is to lay aside all of our attempts to get to Him through our own goodness, through our religion, through our spiritual connections, and we just go to the cross of Jesus and let Him wash away our sins.

And let me tell you, only Jesus can. He said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). That's because there was only one way to pay your death penalty. Somebody had to die, and Jesus did. We're drowning and we can't possibly swim to God. Our only hope is Jesus, the Rescuer. It's in abandoning every other hope of heaven and grabbing Him like He's your only hope, because He is your only hope.

Don't let your pride make you miss heaven; being too proud to admit you've never really given yourself to Jesus even though everyone thinks you have, too proud to come to your spouse's faith, too proud to lay aside depending on your religion. Please, let this be your Jesus-day.

If you're ready to finally put your total trust in Jesus to forgive you, to rescue you, tell Him that now where you are. Tell Him, "Jesus, you are my only hope. Only You died for my sin. I admit I am lost. You came back from the dead, you can come into my life. You came to find me, and I am Yours from this day on."

If that's where your heart is at, then our website ought to be your next stop online. That's what it's all about is making sure your sins are forgiven and you're ready to live and ready to die, and you've got Jesus. It's ANewStory.com, will you check that out?

If you're too proud to admit that you need Him, you will never end up in heaven. Pride can literally cost you your soul.

Psalm 58, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: AHAB AND JEZEBEL - August 3, 2026

“Ahab was king over Israel for twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before God than anyone yet—a new champion in evil!” (1 Kings 16:29-30 MSG).

There’s a reason parents don’t name their kids Ahab or Jezebel. Ahab not only neglected the faith of his fathers, but he also embraced the false gods of his enemies. Yet this evil king did more—he married Jezebel.  She was vile, she endorsed a religion that promoted temple prostitution and child sacrifice, she and her husband systematically killed the Lord’s prophets. The Ten Commandments were treated as ten suggestions, and the temple of worship was a relic of history.

God, however, will not sit idly while his covenants are trashed. He will not stay silent while his will is mocked. But he will act.

Unbreakable Courage

Psalm 58

A David Psalm

1–2  58 Is this any way to run a country?

Is there an honest politician in the house?

Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil,

behind closed doors you make deals with demons.

3–5  The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;

their first words out of the womb are lies.

Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,

drips from their forked tongues—

Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,

decades of wax built up in their ears.

6–9  God, smash their teeth to bits,

leave them toothless tigers.

Let their lives be buckets of water spilled,

all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand.

Let them be trampled grass

worn smooth by the traffic.

Let them dissolve into snail slime,

be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.

Before what they cook up is half-done, God,

throw it out with the garbage!

10–11  The righteous will call up their friends

when they see the wicked get their reward,

Serve up their blood in goblets

as they toast one another,

Everyone cheering, “It’s worth it to play by the rules!

God’s handing out trophies and tending the earth!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, August 03, 2026 By Winn Collier

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14

Light, space, zest— 

that’s God!

So, with him on my side I’m fearless,

afraid of no one and nothing.

2  When vandal hordes ride down

ready to eat me alive,

Those bullies and toughs 

fall flat on their faces.

3  When besieged,

I’m calm as a baby.

When all hell breaks loose,

I’m collected and cool.

13–14  I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth.

Stay with God!

Take heart. Don’t quit.

I’ll say it again: Stay with God.

Today's Insights

David’s anxious prayer in the second half of Psalm 27 (vv. 7-12) must be read against his unwavering proclamation at the beginning of the psalm: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life” (v. 1). The psalmist chose to focus on God rather than on his difficult circumstances. He speaks of Him as his light, which guides him safely into God’s presence and goodness. God is also his salvation, delivering him from dangers and death. He’s his stronghold, providing a strong, fortified place for his refuge and security. Knowing who God is, David rhetorically asks, “Of whom shall I be afraid?” (v. 1). The psalmist didn’t fear, for he knew God wouldn’t abandon him. Today, when we’re waiting on God, we can put our trust in Him and “be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (v. 14).

For further study, read The Sword, the Son, and a Rest for God’s People.

Waiting for God

The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. Lamentations 3:24

Kazuto and his wife, Migiwa, waited with trepidation for the ultrasound exam results. Migiwa’s liver had been failing for more than nine months, and she urgently needed a liver transplant. Kazuto could donate a portion of his liver to his wife, but there was one condition: Migiwa’s heart had to be strong. The last ultrasound had shown slight improvement to her heart. Would it show more this time?

To their disappointment, the results were the worst yet. Kazuto shared, “After I comforted my crying wife, I also cried by myself. But . . . as Henri Nouwen writes, waiting isn’t a waste of time because God is nurturing something wonderful . . . while we wait, even though we can’t see anything on the surface.”

Kazuto’s confidence in God paralleled that of King David, who wrote, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). Because God is our “light,” “salvation,” and “stronghold” (v. 1), we can trust Him to offer hope amid darkness (v. 3), comfort us during our trials (v. 13), and secure us safely in “his dwelling” (v. 5).

When God seems to delay in answering our prayers, we can still put our complete trust in His unchanging attributes. As we bring our heartaches to Him, let’s also instruct our hearts: “Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (v. 14). He is with us and always working for our good.

Reflect & Pray

What are you waiting for from God? Which of His attributes can you cling to as you wait?

 

Loving Father, please help me to be strong as I wait for You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, August 03, 2026

The Compelling Purpose of God

We are going up to Jerusalem. — Luke 18:31

In the life of our Lord, Jerusalem stands as the place where he reached the climax of his Father’s will. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Doing his Father’s will was our Lord’s compelling purpose throughout his life. Nothing he met with along the way—neither joy nor sorrow, success nor failure—deterred him: “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

The big thing to remember is that we go to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. In our worldly life, our ambitions are our own. In our Christian life, we have no aims of our own. It’s common to hear people talking about their decision to follow Jesus Christ, their determination to be Christian. In the New Testament, the emphasis is on God’s decision: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). We don’t have any conscious awareness of God’s decision; we are taken up into his purpose without any awareness at all. Nor do we have any conception of what he is aiming at. As we go on in our life with him, our understanding of his goal only gets more and more vague.

God’s aim looks like it’s missing the mark because we are too short-sighted to see his target. At the beginning of our life as Christians, we have our own ideas of God’s purpose. We think, “God has called me to do a special work,” and we go and do the work. Yet the work doesn’t satisfy the feeling of being compelled by his larger purpose.

“Jesus took the Twelve aside” (Luke 18:31). He is taking us aside for his purpose all the time. There’s more to his plan than we have yet understood.

Psalms 63-65; Romans 6

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence. 

Baffled to Fight Better, 51 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, August 03, 2026

The Legacy of a Lifetime - #10321

Scripture:  Psalms 127:1

In the past, the classic retirement scene went something like this, there was a dinner in the retiree's honor, there were some heart-warming but predictable speeches, and if you'd put in enough years, like a gold watch, or at least a plaque or a certificate. And then very quickly the hole that you left in the company closed up, and you wondered what was really accomplished for all those years of service. Well, now it's worse. You may not get to retire. You might be "downsized." You end up asking yourself the question, "What do I have to show for my years of service?" Frankly, I think you can do better than a gold watch or a severance check.

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

Let's think about, "What will l have to show for my life?" Good question. What do you want to have as your monument to show for your years? Certainly more than a gold watch, huh? A book you wrote, a fortune that you made, a house that's finally like you want it, a title, a work of art, a business you built? You may be aiming too low with all of those.

Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 127 - I'll begin at verse 1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Now, we're going to find out what kind of priorities there are in a house the Lord builds. "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise up early and stay up late toiling for food to eat, for He grants sleep to those He loves."

Here's a value that God really prizes, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord. Children are a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of the warrior, are sons born in one's youth." You know what God meant for your inheritance to be; your monument - what you're remembered for? Your inheritance is your children, your son, your daughter, or the children or young people you influenced and shaped, even if you're not their parent. They are to be the focus of your best time, your best energies in a house the Lord builds.

You may never communicate the values and experiences of your life in a book that a lot of people will read, but your children will be your book, and many people will read them.

They are your work of art, they are your fortune, the stocks that will appreciate and provide dividends long after you're gone and making many others rich for years to come.

The problem is it's really easy to be blinded, and detoured, and distracted by investments that are not nearly as valuable. Life's gold watches - sometimes they scream for our attention more loudly. They ask for us, they demand us. Often our children don't, and yet they are the top priority.

Maybe it's possible that your children are getting the leftovers of you because you're trying to make a name, or you're trying to make a business, or you're trying to make a fortune, or you're trying to make a point. Maybe you should be home more, and when you're home really be home. Maybe you've been driven away from those children who are what you have to show for your life because you thought you had something to prove outside the context of your family. Prove it there. Prove it at home! Make them your lifetime masterpiece.

If you want to make a mark that's immortal, mark your children with Christ, with character. See, they are meant to be the legacy of your lifetime.

Psalm 55, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Chapters in Life

Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary—like nostrils on the pre-born. Like suffering.  Loneliness.  Disease. Holocausts.  Martyrdom.  Hurricanes, earthquakes and monsoons.

If we assume this world exists just for pre-grave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so!  But what if this earth is the womb?  Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come?

The apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 4:17:  “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.”

Eternal glory?  I’d like a large cup of that,  wouldn’t you?

Everything in this life is preparing us for the next.

Psalm 55

A David Psalm

1–3  55 Open your ears, God, to my prayer;

don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking.

Come close and whisper your answer.

I really need you.

I shudder at the mean voice,

quail before the evil eye,

As they pile on the guilt,

stockpile angry slander.

4–8  My insides are turned inside out;

specters of death have me down.

I shake with fear,

I shudder from head to foot.

“Who will give me wings,” I ask—

“wings like a dove?”

Get me out of here on dove wings;

I want some peace and quiet.

I want a walk in the country,

I want a cabin in the woods.

I’m desperate for a change

from rage and stormy weather.

9–11  Come down hard, Lord—slit their tongues.

I’m appalled how they’ve split the city

Into rival gangs

prowling the alleys

Day and night spoiling for a fight,

trash piled in the streets,

Even shopkeepers gouging and cheating

in broad daylight.

12–14  This isn’t the neighborhood bully

mocking me—I could take that.

This isn’t a foreign devil spitting

invective—I could tune that out.

It’s you! We grew up together!

You! My best friend!

Those long hours of leisure as we walked

arm in arm, God a third party to our conversation.

15  Haul my betrayers off alive to hell—let them

experience the horror, let them

feel every desolate detail of a damned life.

16–19  I call to God;

God will help me.

At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh

deep sighs—he hears, he rescues.

My life is well and whole, secure

in the middle of danger

Even while thousands

are lined up against me.

God hears it all, and from his judge’s bench

puts them in their place.

But, set in their ways, they won’t change;

they pay him no mind.

20–21  And this, my best friend, betrayed his best friends;

his life betrayed his word.

All my life I’ve been charmed by his speech,

never dreaming he’d turn on me.

His words, which were music to my ears,

turned to daggers in my heart.

22–23  Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—

he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.

He’ll never let good people

topple into ruin.

But you, God, will throw the others

into a muddy bog,

Cut the lifespan of assassins

and traitors in half.

And I trust in you.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, August 02, 2026

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Proverbs 10:6-14

Blessings accrue on a good and honest life,

but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.

7  A good and honest life is a blessed memorial;

a wicked life leaves a rotten stench.

8  A wise heart takes orders;

an empty head will come unglued.

9  Honesty lives confident and carefree,

but Shifty is sure to be exposed.

10  An evasive eye is a sign of trouble ahead,

but an open, face-to-face meeting results in peace.

11  The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well,

but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.

12  Hatred starts fights,

but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.

13  You’ll find wisdom on the lips of a person of insight,

but the shortsighted needs a slap in the face.

14  The wise accumulate knowledge—a true treasure;

know-it-alls talk too much—a sheer waste.

Today's Insights

In Proverbs, Solomon offers basic wisdom for life and often uses a Hebrew poetic device called parallelism, where two or more lines of poetry correspond with one another. Parallelism and other poetic devices are normal features of Hebrew poetry, which doesn’t operate with rhyme and meter like Western poetry.

In synonymous parallelism, the idea in the first half of the verse is repeated in the second half but with different wording: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke” (3:11). Proverbs 10:9 is an example of antithetical parallelism, where two statements are contrasted with opposite language: “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” Solomon exposes the folly of ignoring God’s wisdom and shows the consequences of that folly. Today, God will help us live by His wisdom and be marked as people of character who walk in integrity.

Walking in Integrity

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely. Proverbs 10:9

By Winn Collier

An Uber driver named Esbon Kamau picked up a sixteen-year-old rider who was on his way to purchase a motorcycle—a gift from his father. After Kamau dropped the passenger off, he noticed the teen had left a bag in the back seat. There was $8,000 inside—the cash needed for the purchase of the motorcycle. Kamau quickly contacted Uber to try and locate the passenger. Soon Kamau delivered the cash back to the grateful, relieved young man. “Do the right thing at the right time,” Kamau said, “and don’t let selfishness overpower [you]."

Kamau displayed integrity. He resisted making a fast buck or taking advantage of someone’s mistake. Instead, he chose to simply do the right thing. “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,” Proverbs says (10:9). When we practice integrity, we never have to worry about remembering what we said to whom, because truth is our only concern. When we practice integrity, we don’t have to fear for our reputation or that our schemes will catch up with us (v. 23). We don’t have to be concerned about being a person whose “crooked paths will be found out” (v. 9). We simply live true—displaying wisdom (v. 13) that comes from God. We’re secure and free in Him.

We face numerous temptations to lie or manipulate in life, but God calls us to walk with Him. And as we do, we can lead “blameless” (v. 29) lives of integrity.  

Reflect & Pray

When has your integrity been challenged? How have you experienced others’ integrity?

Dear God, I want to live with integrity. Please help me be blameless in You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, August 02, 2026

The Discipline of Difficulty

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. — John 16:33

An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance in trouble, which is very different. If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to face. Jesus says not to be surprised when they come: “In this world you will have trouble.” But he also says that troubles are no match for him: “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Sometimes people who never wanted to complain or go on about their troubles before they were saved become frail in the face of trouble afterward. This happens because they had the wrong idea of what salvation meant. They thought it meant that God would allow them to triumph easily over all adversity. But God does not give us overcoming life; he gives us life as we overcome.

Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot—not unless you also accept the strain. The strain is the strength. Where there is no strain, there is no strength.

Overcome your timidity. Take the step God is telling you to take, and he will nourish you: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7). If you push yourself to your physical limits, you will become exhausted, but if you push yourself spiritually, you will get more strength. God never gives strength for tomorrow or for the next hour, only for the strain of the minute.

Face your troubles with courage and gladness, remembering that you have nothing to fear. The saint is filled with hilarity when crushed by difficulties, because the situation is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God. “If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you” (Psalm 91:9–10). No plague can come near the place where you are at one with God.

Psalms 60-62; Romans 5 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). 

Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R

Psalm 53, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Knows Just How You Feel

The next time your world goes from calm to chaos-ponder this: Jesus knows how you feel. His eyes have grown weary. His heart has grown heavy. He knows how you feel. 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 your life? For some reason this is harder to believe.

Listen to Hebrews 4:15, ". . .he Himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that He never sinned." The writer of Hebrews anticipates our objections. "God, it's easy for you up there. You don't know how hard it is from down here." Listen again. He has shared fully. Not nearly. Not to a large degree, but entirely! In all our experience, in every hurt and every ache. Why? So that when you hurt, you'll go to Him-who knows how you feel!

From In the Eye of the Storm

Psalm 53

A David Psalm

1–2  53 Bilious and bloated, they gas,

“God is gone.”

It’s poison gas—

they foul themselves, they poison

Rivers and skies;

thistles are their cash crop.

God sticks his head out of heaven.

He looks around.

He’s looking for someone not stupid—

one man, even, God-expectant,

just one God-ready woman.

3  He comes up empty. A string

of zeros. Useless, unshepherded

Sheep, taking turns pretending

to be Shepherd.

The ninety and nine

follow the one.

4  Don’t they know anything,

all these impostors?

Don’t they know

they can’t get away with this,

Treating people like a fast-food meal

over which they’re too busy to pray?

5  Night is coming for them, and nightmare—

a nightmare they’ll never wake up from.

God will make hash of these squatters,

send them packing for good.

6  Is there anyone around to save Israel?

God turns life around.

Turned-around Jacob skips rope,

turned-around Israel sings laughter.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, August 01, 2026

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 11:8-16

By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

11–12  By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.

13–16  Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

Today's Insights

Hebrews 11 has been referred to as the “Hall of Faith” because everyone listed in the chapter is presented as a model of faith. This makes sense because verse 6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Because our human effort to do good will always fall short of God’s standard (Ephesians 2:8-9), we’re dependent upon Him by faith. By faith we trust God now, and one day we’ll be in His eternal presence (John 3:16).

God's Better Country

Heb. 11:16-They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.

Michele experienced a mixture of emotions as her father neared the end of his life. She grieved when he said, “Honey, I won’t be here to walk you down the aisle.” But she assured him of her love, clinging to the hope she found in Hebrews 11 as she said, “You’re heading for a better country, a country in heaven.” Michele believed that her dad, when he died, would be with God forever. She reflected, “Heaven will be that good!”

The letter to the Hebrews was aimed at Jewish believers in Jesus experiencing persecution by state and religious opponents. Although it was written before the destruction of the temple in ad 70, the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans may have occurred soon after. In this climate of fear, the author urged the believers to hold firm to their faith as he highlighted a great “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). Each “did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance” (11:13). They lived by faith, “longing for a better country—a heavenly one,” and God was pleased to be called their God, and “prepared a city for them” (v. 16).

Although Michele ached with sadness when her father died, she embraced the promises of her heavenly Father. We too can welcome these same promises “from a distance” (v. 13), trusting in God.

Reflect & Pray

How can you embrace God’s help and trust Him more today? How does the thought of heaven inform your hopes, dreams, and actions?

Heavenly Father, please help me live knowing that You’re trustworthy and will one day welcome me home.

Learn more about God’s wonderful plan for heaven and earth.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, August 01, 2026

Something More about His Ways

When Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. — Matthew 11:1 kjv

He comes where he commands us to leave. If when God says, “Go,” you stay because you’re concerned about your people at home, you rob your loved ones of the teaching of Jesus himself. When you obey and go, trusting God with the consequences, the Lord himself ministers to those you leave behind, just as he came to “teach and preach” in the disciples’ cities after they’d set out in his service. As long as you refuse to obey, you’re in his way.

Watch out if your idea of duty begins to compete with your Lord’s commands. If you find yourself saying, “I know God told me to go, but my duty is at home,” it’s an indication that you don’t believe Jesus means what he says.

He teaches where he tells us not to. Are you teaching where God has told you not to, playing the amateur providence in other people’s lives? Are you so noisy in instructing others that God can’t get anywhere near them? We have to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct his children in the ways of his Son. He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration. We won’t let him, because we think we know what he’ll do. When we’re certain of the way God is going to work, he will never work in that way anymore.

He works where he sends us to wait. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Wait on God, and he will work. But don’t wait sulkily just because you can’t see an inch in front of you! Are you detached enough from your inner hysterics to wait patiently on God? Waiting on him doesn’t mean sitting on the sidelines with your hands folded. It means doing what you are told, in joyful obedience to him.

These are phases of God’s ways we rarely recognize.

Psalms 57-59; Romans 4

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.

Our Brilliant Heritage