Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 18
Water for the Soul
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
John 7:37 (NKJV)
Are you anyone? If so, then step up to the well. You qualify for his water.
All ages are welcome. Both genders invited. No race excluded. Scoundrels. Scamps. Rascals and rubes. All welcome. You don’t have to be rich to drink, religious to drink, successful to drink; you simply need to follow the instructions on what—or better, who—to drink. Him. In order for Jesus to do what water does, you must let him penetrate your heart. Deep, deep inside.
Internalize him. Ingest him. Welcome him into the inner workings of your life. Let Christ be the water of your soul.
Judges 1
Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
2 The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."
3 Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.
4 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
9 After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.
11 From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). 12 And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.
14 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him [a] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"
15 She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16 The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms [b] with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.
17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed [c] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. [d] 18 The men of Judah also took [e] Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron—each city with its territory.
19 The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots. 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21 The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.
22 Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, 32 and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion [f] Pass to Sela and beyond.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 17
Water From the Rock
1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."
Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?"
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"
4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."
5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah [a] and Meribah [b] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
December 18, 2008
Desert Pete
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READ: Exodus 17:1-7
The word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith. —Hebrews 4:2
In the 1960s, the Kingston Trio released a song called “Desert Pete.” The ballad tells of a thirsty cowboy who is crossing the desert and finds a hand pump. Next to it, Desert Pete has left a note urging the reader not to drink from the jar hidden there but to use its contents to prime the pump.
The cowboy resists the temptation to drink and uses the water as the note instructs. In reward for his obedience, he receives an abundance of cold, satisfying water. Had he not acted in faith, he would have had only a jar of unsatisfying, warm water to drink.
This reminds me of Israel’s journey through the wilderness. When their thirst became overwhelming (Ex. 17:1-7), Moses sought the Lord. He was told to strike the rock of Horeb with his staff. Moses believed and obeyed, and water gushed from the stone.
Sadly, Israel would not consistently follow Moses’ example of faith. Ultimately, “the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith” (Heb. 4:2).
Sometimes life can seem like an arid desert. But God can quench our spiritual thirst in the most unlikely circumstances. When by faith we believe the promises of God’s Word, we can experience rivers of living water and grace for our daily needs. — Dennis Fisher
Drink deep of God’s goodness, His faithfulness too,
Leave no room for doubting and fear;
His Word is the water of life pure and true,
Refreshing and cooling and clear. —Hess
Only Jesus, the Living Water, can satisfy our thirst for God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 18, 2008
Test of Faithfulness
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READ:
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Island of Light In a Sea of Darkness - #5724 - December 18, 2008
Category: Your Mission
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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One Christmas season I saw what might have been the most impressive Christmas decorations I've ever seen. Now, they weren't in midtown Manhattan or one of the many special displays I've seen over the years. They were in a little village on an Indian reservation in the Southwest. This particular tribe is one of the most spiritually unreached in this country. They're pretty isolated and they are a long way from anything else. When I drove through this reservation on a night in the Christmas season, I was struck by the absence of hardly any Christmas lights or decorations until I reached this one particular village. Against the backdrop of near total darkness, the church there was ablaze with Christmas lights outlining the church buildings, along with the windows and the doors.
The missionary who lives there told me that quite a few people were drawn to the church because of the lights. Native folks kept dropping by to thank them for the lights and even to ask questions. I can't tell you what a stunningly beautiful sight this was to see driving along a dark reservation highway toward a village with basically no lights of Christmas, and then suddenly you see this one island of light in that sea of darkness. You just couldn't miss it!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Island Of Light In a Sea of Darkness."
That picture - an attractive island of light in an otherwise dark place - is a powerful picture of you and me; at least I hope it is. Spiritually speaking, you may be in a pretty dark environment at your school, where you work, in that group you're in, in your neighborhood, maybe even where you live. And maybe lately you've been feeling a little beat down, intimidated, kind of embarrassed to talk about your most important relationship; sort of quietly fitting into the darkness instead of offering an alternative with your life and with your words.
But listen to what Jesus says you are in our word for today from the Word of God from Matthew 5:14-16. "You are the light of the world. (Now, I'm thinking about that church glowing with light against the darkness that surrounds it) A city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. (That's what happens when you allow your environment to compromise or to silence your witness for Christ) Instead (Jesus said) they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Those lights in that Native village were attracting people. In fact, the darkness around them made them show up even more. Now, if God's planted you in a dark place, he has you there to be His winsome light. Notice what Jesus said the kind of light it would be that would attract them: "your good deeds." Not all your don'ts and beliefs, the meetings you go to or what you're against, but the positive things they see in you that make you stand out in your setting. Are you known as the one to go to, to find unconditional love, to find total truthfulness, kindness in a harsh world? Do they find gentleness when they come to you? Do they find peace in stressful times? Have they heard you pray for them in their moment of need? Do they know you are the place in their world where Jesus can be found?
Now, if the church in that little Indian village had turned off its lights, the village would have been almost totally dark because the light wasn't on. Don't let that happen where you are. If it's totally dark, don't blame the darkness. It's because the light isn't shining! Without you, without your Jesus, there is nothing but darkness. With you and with your Jesus, you can be the light that illuminates the darkness, and it is a beautiful sight.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Joshua 24, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 17
The Bridge of Confession
I said, “I will confess my sins to the LORD,” and you forgave my guilt.
Psalm 32:5 (NCV)
Once there were a couple of farmers who couldn't get along with each other. A wide ravine separated their two farms, but as a sign of their mutual distaste for each other, each constructed a fence on his side of the chasm to keep the other out.
In time, however, the daughter of one met the son of the other, and the couple fell in love. Determined not to be kept apart by the folly of their fathers, they tore down the fence and used the wood to build a bridge across the ravine.
Confession does that. Confessed sin becomes the bridge over which we can walk back into the presence of God.
Joshua 24
The Covenant Renewed at Shechem
1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River [b] and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
5 " 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen [c] as far as the Red Sea. [d] 7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.
8 " 'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11 " 'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
19 Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you."
21 But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD."
22 Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD."
"Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.
23 "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."
24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.
27 "See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God."
Buried in the Promised Land
28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah [e] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
32 And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver [f] from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (New International Version)
Wisdom From the Spirit
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"[a]— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.[b] 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?"[c] But we have the mind of Christ.
December 17, 2008
Discovery
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READ: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. —1 Corinthians 2:10
Imagine Christmas morning without wrapping paper! The joy would be short-lived, for much of the excitement is the anticipation of finding out what’s in the package.
Apparently God created us with a “normal” setting that causes us to enjoy the process of discovery, because finding something is often more exciting than having it. That is, after all, why we wrap presents.
Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept. In Proverbs we read of wisdom: “Those who seek me diligently will find me” (8:17). And the prophet Jeremiah wrote of the Lord: “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (29:13).
God could have revealed all truth to all people at the very beginning of time, but He chose to reveal Himself gradually (1 Cor. 2:7-8). Perhaps that’s because we value things more when we have to search and wait for them.
God is not playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek. He is allowing us to enjoy the process of discovering who He is and what He is up to in the universe.
So don’t be discouraged over what you don’t know about God. Be excited about unwrapping all there is yet to discover. — Julie Ackerman Link
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt
God’s gift of Himself to us is a present we will always be unwrapping.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 17, 2008
Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies
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READ:
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him . . . —1 Corinthians 2:14
The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you . . ." (Matthew 7:7 ). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.
Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" ( John 12:32 ). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is "lifted up," the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" ( John 6:63 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Unchanging Address - #5723 - December 17, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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In just one year, a whole lot changed for my wife and me. We sold our home of 24 years, and we disposed of a quarter century of accumulated "stuff"! We relocated to a home way out in the country in another state after our Board decided to relocate the entire ministry to that part of the country. So, we got a new personal address, we got a new ministry address, we all have new phone numbers, and new license plates, and new co-workers. But with all the changes, there was one thing that didn't change - our e-mail address. No matter where we are, our e-mail address is always the same!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Unchanging Address."
Now you may or may not have an e-mail address. You may be in the computer Stone Age like I am. You may not even know what e-mail is! But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you have an address that never changes no matter how many other things in your life are moving around.
That address where you can always be found is mentioned repeatedly in our word for today from the Word of God. It's Ephesians 1:3-7. Listen for it. "God has blessed us...with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world, He predestined us to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through His blood." Then God talks about what "He purposed in Christ" for us, that "in Him" we were also chosen," that we were "the first to hope in Christ," that you were included "in Christ."
Unless you have gone totally deaf, you now know your unchanging spiritual address. You are always what? Say it with me, "in Christ." That's right. In just twelve verses, God says you are "in Christ" eight times! You are, whether you know it or not, whether you feel like it or not, no matter where else you are, permanently in Christ! You're anchored in an unloseable relationship with this Jesus who loves you eternally, who has planned this relationship with you since before there was a world, who makes all His spiritual fortune available to you for what you're facing right now.
Now, if I ask you where you are right now, there are a number of answers you might give me. Maybe you're "in the hospital," or "in pain," or "in love," or "in over your head," or "in a new place." Or it's possible that you're "in doubt," or "in between," or maybe you're "in debt," or "in trouble," "in danger." But wherever your situation has located you, your anchor address is that you are in Christ. Paul could remain at peace inside, whether he was in jail, in pain, or in trouble because he didn't draw his sense of wellbeing or who he was from his surroundings. Wherever you put him, he was in Christ and nothing and no one could touch that!
I hope that is your anchor, too. You know it could be that even though you're religious and have a lot of Christianity, somewhere along the way there has never been that time when you have grabbed on to Jesus to be your rescuer from your sin, just as people would grab a life guard if they were drowning. This could be that day for you. See, without that kind of turnover of you to Him, you're not in Christ; you're still outside of Christ. He's got to come in at your invitation before you are in Him. So this could be the day for that. This could be your spiritual birthday to be born into His family. Just say, "Jesus, I am yours beginning this day because you died in my place.
And I would love to help you walk down that road and be sure you've begun a relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can today. Or I'll send you my booklet about that. It's called Yours For Life. Just call toll free at 877-741-1200 and ask for it, because you're standing on the edge of a complete, totally dependable security. Do you realize how secure you are no matter what has changed when you are in Christ and you're never moving!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 17
The Bridge of Confession
I said, “I will confess my sins to the LORD,” and you forgave my guilt.
Psalm 32:5 (NCV)
Once there were a couple of farmers who couldn't get along with each other. A wide ravine separated their two farms, but as a sign of their mutual distaste for each other, each constructed a fence on his side of the chasm to keep the other out.
In time, however, the daughter of one met the son of the other, and the couple fell in love. Determined not to be kept apart by the folly of their fathers, they tore down the fence and used the wood to build a bridge across the ravine.
Confession does that. Confessed sin becomes the bridge over which we can walk back into the presence of God.
Joshua 24
The Covenant Renewed at Shechem
1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
2 Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River [b] and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
5 " 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought you out. 6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen [c] as far as the Red Sea. [d] 7 But they cried to the LORD for help, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; he brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.
8 " 'I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11 " 'Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.'
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
19 Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you."
21 But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD."
22 Then Joshua said, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD."
"Yes, we are witnesses," they replied.
23 "Now then," said Joshua, "throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."
24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.
27 "See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God."
Buried in the Promised Land
28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah [e] in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
32 And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver [f] from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (New International Version)
Wisdom From the Spirit
6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"[a]— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.[b] 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?"[c] But we have the mind of Christ.
December 17, 2008
Discovery
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. —1 Corinthians 2:10
Imagine Christmas morning without wrapping paper! The joy would be short-lived, for much of the excitement is the anticipation of finding out what’s in the package.
Apparently God created us with a “normal” setting that causes us to enjoy the process of discovery, because finding something is often more exciting than having it. That is, after all, why we wrap presents.
Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept. In Proverbs we read of wisdom: “Those who seek me diligently will find me” (8:17). And the prophet Jeremiah wrote of the Lord: “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (29:13).
God could have revealed all truth to all people at the very beginning of time, but He chose to reveal Himself gradually (1 Cor. 2:7-8). Perhaps that’s because we value things more when we have to search and wait for them.
God is not playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek. He is allowing us to enjoy the process of discovering who He is and what He is up to in the universe.
So don’t be discouraged over what you don’t know about God. Be excited about unwrapping all there is yet to discover. — Julie Ackerman Link
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. —Hewitt
God’s gift of Himself to us is a present we will always be unwrapping.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 17, 2008
Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him . . . —1 Corinthians 2:14
The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you . . ." (Matthew 7:7 ). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.
Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" ( John 12:32 ). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is "lifted up," the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" ( John 6:63 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Unchanging Address - #5723 - December 17, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
In just one year, a whole lot changed for my wife and me. We sold our home of 24 years, and we disposed of a quarter century of accumulated "stuff"! We relocated to a home way out in the country in another state after our Board decided to relocate the entire ministry to that part of the country. So, we got a new personal address, we got a new ministry address, we all have new phone numbers, and new license plates, and new co-workers. But with all the changes, there was one thing that didn't change - our e-mail address. No matter where we are, our e-mail address is always the same!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Unchanging Address."
Now you may or may not have an e-mail address. You may be in the computer Stone Age like I am. You may not even know what e-mail is! But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you have an address that never changes no matter how many other things in your life are moving around.
That address where you can always be found is mentioned repeatedly in our word for today from the Word of God. It's Ephesians 1:3-7. Listen for it. "God has blessed us...with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world, He predestined us to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through His blood." Then God talks about what "He purposed in Christ" for us, that "in Him" we were also chosen," that we were "the first to hope in Christ," that you were included "in Christ."
Unless you have gone totally deaf, you now know your unchanging spiritual address. You are always what? Say it with me, "in Christ." That's right. In just twelve verses, God says you are "in Christ" eight times! You are, whether you know it or not, whether you feel like it or not, no matter where else you are, permanently in Christ! You're anchored in an unloseable relationship with this Jesus who loves you eternally, who has planned this relationship with you since before there was a world, who makes all His spiritual fortune available to you for what you're facing right now.
Now, if I ask you where you are right now, there are a number of answers you might give me. Maybe you're "in the hospital," or "in pain," or "in love," or "in over your head," or "in a new place." Or it's possible that you're "in doubt," or "in between," or maybe you're "in debt," or "in trouble," "in danger." But wherever your situation has located you, your anchor address is that you are in Christ. Paul could remain at peace inside, whether he was in jail, in pain, or in trouble because he didn't draw his sense of wellbeing or who he was from his surroundings. Wherever you put him, he was in Christ and nothing and no one could touch that!
I hope that is your anchor, too. You know it could be that even though you're religious and have a lot of Christianity, somewhere along the way there has never been that time when you have grabbed on to Jesus to be your rescuer from your sin, just as people would grab a life guard if they were drowning. This could be that day for you. See, without that kind of turnover of you to Him, you're not in Christ; you're still outside of Christ. He's got to come in at your invitation before you are in Him. So this could be the day for that. This could be your spiritual birthday to be born into His family. Just say, "Jesus, I am yours beginning this day because you died in my place.
And I would love to help you walk down that road and be sure you've begun a relationship with Him if you'd just go to our website. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can today. Or I'll send you my booklet about that. It's called Yours For Life. Just call toll free at 877-741-1200 and ask for it, because you're standing on the edge of a complete, totally dependable security. Do you realize how secure you are no matter what has changed when you are in Christ and you're never moving!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Joshua 23, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 16
The Shepherd Leads
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)
In the second verse of the Twenty-third Psalm, David the poet becomes David the artist. His quill becomes a brush, his parchment a canvas, and his words paint a picture. A flock of sheep on folded legs, encircling a shepherd. Bellies nestled deep in the long shoots of grass. A still pond on one side, the watching shepherd on the other. “He makes me to like down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs. He makes me…He leads me…
Who is the active one? Who is in charge? The shepherd. The shepherd selects the trail and prepares a pasture. The sheep’s job—our job—is to watch the Shepherd.
Joshua 23
Joshua's Farewell to the Leaders
1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea [a] in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.
9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.
14 "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 112
1[a] Praise the LORD. [b]
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.
2 His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. [c]
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn [d] will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed,
he will gnash his teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
December 16, 2008
The Task Remains
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 112
He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. —Psalm 112:7
Our life had always been rather simple. When my wife and I were first married, we were not looking for riches or fame—just a way to glorify God with whatever He gave us to do. In all arenas of our life, that purpose stayed clear. As our children grew and I began working at RBC Ministries, our goal continued to center around glorifying God.
But then, in 2002, came bad news of the worst kind. Our third child, 17-year-old Melissa, was unexpectedly ushered into heaven. Suddenly, we were forced to rethink things. Could we, in our new identity as bereaved parents, still find a way to glorify God? Or did this unbearable circumstance alter our perspective and goal?
We’ve spent a lot of time pondering that question. When the One you’ve entrusted with your children allows one of them to be taken, it would be easy to stop trusting, serving, and pointing others to God. But the psalmist’s words showed us the way. He said that the person who fears God “will never be shaken . . . . His heart is steadfast” (Ps. 112:6-7). And so we—and you, no matter what you are facing—can continue to be “steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”
Even in the face of “evil tidings,” the task remains: Glorify God. — Dave Branon
Griefs bravely borne may serve Him
And richly glorify,
As quiet waters mirror
The beauty of the sky. —Nicholson
Trust through sorrow brings triumph over sadness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 16, 2008
Wrestling Before God
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Take up the whole armor of God . . . praying always . . . —Ephesians 6:13,18
You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25 ). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because "we are more than conquerors through Him . . ." ( Romans 8:37 ). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— "take up the whole armor of God . . . ."
Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." ( Romans 8:28 )— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, "Yes, it is the Lord’s will." We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Answering Person Or An Answering Machine? - #5722 - December 16, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I know telephone answering machines are efficient, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. Actually, some of those machines can be entertaining. Some of my friends do major productions or comedy monologs on theirs. But those machines just don't respond. They record, but they don't respond. One friend captured how I feel in a tongue-in-cheek recording he leaves on his machine. You call, the machine picks up, and you hear my friend's voice saying, "In a world of cold and uncaring humans, isn't it refreshing to be greeted by a warm and friendly answering machine?" No! You just can't automate a personal response!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Answering Person or An Answering Machine?"
Actually, when it comes to the needs around you, you're probably one or the other: an answering person or an unresponsive answering machine. Jesus was trying to point that out in Luke 10:30-34. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead."
"A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine..."
It's a great story, huh? Yeah, it's a troubling story, too, though. It's the professional God-lovers - the priest and the Levite - who don't stop for this obvious human need. And it's a Samaritan, one considered a spiritual reject by the Jews, who responds as Jesus would with above and beyond love.
Like me, you may be very involved in Christian activities and programs, and that can become a trap. I believe the priest and the Levite knew about meeting needs. I believe they knew about helping wounded people. But they may have confined their response to programs for helping, to meetings to plan programs, to theological concepts about love and mercy and compassion. Tragically, the longer you've been around Christian things, the more you tend to replace personal acts of love with programs and structures.
You know, it goes like this: "We have a program that ministers to the poor, the homeless, the brokenhearted, and the hurting. We have meetings that present Christ to lost and dying people. We're having a seminar on reaching people for the Lord." Answering machines; machines to answer the calls of men and women in need. Now I'm very much in favor of organized, large-scale efforts to respond to the desperate people around us. But they are no substitute for you being a good Samaritan yourself, for the natural flow of love and mercy that stops for someone who needs money, or a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a chance to hear about Christ's love.
Like the Good Samaritan, I hope you don't lose that beautiful characteristic of your Master. I would call it a breakable heart. Sometime this week, you will almost surely encounter someone who is wounded or without Christ. Will you excuse yourself because you're busy in a lot of Christian activity - your answering machines? Or will you stop and be the answer with a loving, personal, above-and-beyond response? When the people around you call, they need an answering person, not an answering machine!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 16
The Shepherd Leads
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)
In the second verse of the Twenty-third Psalm, David the poet becomes David the artist. His quill becomes a brush, his parchment a canvas, and his words paint a picture. A flock of sheep on folded legs, encircling a shepherd. Bellies nestled deep in the long shoots of grass. A still pond on one side, the watching shepherd on the other. “He makes me to like down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs. He makes me…He leads me…
Who is the active one? Who is in charge? The shepherd. The shepherd selects the trail and prepares a pasture. The sheep’s job—our job—is to watch the Shepherd.
Joshua 23
Joshua's Farewell to the Leaders
1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea [a] in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.
9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.
14 "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 112
1[a] Praise the LORD. [b]
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.
2 His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. [c]
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn [d] will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed,
he will gnash his teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
December 16, 2008
The Task Remains
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 112
He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. —Psalm 112:7
Our life had always been rather simple. When my wife and I were first married, we were not looking for riches or fame—just a way to glorify God with whatever He gave us to do. In all arenas of our life, that purpose stayed clear. As our children grew and I began working at RBC Ministries, our goal continued to center around glorifying God.
But then, in 2002, came bad news of the worst kind. Our third child, 17-year-old Melissa, was unexpectedly ushered into heaven. Suddenly, we were forced to rethink things. Could we, in our new identity as bereaved parents, still find a way to glorify God? Or did this unbearable circumstance alter our perspective and goal?
We’ve spent a lot of time pondering that question. When the One you’ve entrusted with your children allows one of them to be taken, it would be easy to stop trusting, serving, and pointing others to God. But the psalmist’s words showed us the way. He said that the person who fears God “will never be shaken . . . . His heart is steadfast” (Ps. 112:6-7). And so we—and you, no matter what you are facing—can continue to be “steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”
Even in the face of “evil tidings,” the task remains: Glorify God. — Dave Branon
Griefs bravely borne may serve Him
And richly glorify,
As quiet waters mirror
The beauty of the sky. —Nicholson
Trust through sorrow brings triumph over sadness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 16, 2008
Wrestling Before God
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Take up the whole armor of God . . . praying always . . . —Ephesians 6:13,18
You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25 ). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because "we are more than conquerors through Him . . ." ( Romans 8:37 ). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— "take up the whole armor of God . . . ."
Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." ( Romans 8:28 )— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, "Yes, it is the Lord’s will." We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Answering Person Or An Answering Machine? - #5722 - December 16, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I know telephone answering machines are efficient, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. Actually, some of those machines can be entertaining. Some of my friends do major productions or comedy monologs on theirs. But those machines just don't respond. They record, but they don't respond. One friend captured how I feel in a tongue-in-cheek recording he leaves on his machine. You call, the machine picks up, and you hear my friend's voice saying, "In a world of cold and uncaring humans, isn't it refreshing to be greeted by a warm and friendly answering machine?" No! You just can't automate a personal response!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Answering Person or An Answering Machine?"
Actually, when it comes to the needs around you, you're probably one or the other: an answering person or an unresponsive answering machine. Jesus was trying to point that out in Luke 10:30-34. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead."
"A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine..."
It's a great story, huh? Yeah, it's a troubling story, too, though. It's the professional God-lovers - the priest and the Levite - who don't stop for this obvious human need. And it's a Samaritan, one considered a spiritual reject by the Jews, who responds as Jesus would with above and beyond love.
Like me, you may be very involved in Christian activities and programs, and that can become a trap. I believe the priest and the Levite knew about meeting needs. I believe they knew about helping wounded people. But they may have confined their response to programs for helping, to meetings to plan programs, to theological concepts about love and mercy and compassion. Tragically, the longer you've been around Christian things, the more you tend to replace personal acts of love with programs and structures.
You know, it goes like this: "We have a program that ministers to the poor, the homeless, the brokenhearted, and the hurting. We have meetings that present Christ to lost and dying people. We're having a seminar on reaching people for the Lord." Answering machines; machines to answer the calls of men and women in need. Now I'm very much in favor of organized, large-scale efforts to respond to the desperate people around us. But they are no substitute for you being a good Samaritan yourself, for the natural flow of love and mercy that stops for someone who needs money, or a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a chance to hear about Christ's love.
Like the Good Samaritan, I hope you don't lose that beautiful characteristic of your Master. I would call it a breakable heart. Sometime this week, you will almost surely encounter someone who is wounded or without Christ. Will you excuse yourself because you're busy in a lot of Christian activity - your answering machines? Or will you stop and be the answer with a loving, personal, above-and-beyond response? When the people around you call, they need an answering person, not an answering machine!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Joshua 6, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 15
Found, Called, and Adopted
It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. . . . I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.
Matthew 9:12-13 (NCV)
God didn't look at our frazzled lives and say, "I'll die for you when you deserve it."
No, despite our sin, in the face of our rebellion, he chose to adopt us. And for God, there's no going back. His grace is a come-as-you-are promise from a one-of-a-kind King. You've been found, called, and adopted; so trust your Father and claim this verse as your own: "God showed his love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners" (Rom. 5:8). And you never again have to wonder who your father is--you've been adopted by God and are therefore an "heir of God through Christ" (Gal.4:7).
Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7 And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted [m] to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute [n] and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
"At the cost of his firstborn son
will he lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest
will he set up its gates."
27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Kings 8:54-61 (New International Version)
54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
56 "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. 61 But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."
December 15, 2008
Never Disappointed
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Kings 8:54-61
There has not failed one word of all His good promise. —1 Kings 8:56
As an avid baseball fan, my favorite team is the Chicago Cubs. The interesting thing about being a Cubs fan is that the team has a way of letting us down. They have not won a World Series since 1908. And while they often have great promise at the beginning of the season, they usually disappoint their loyal fans in the end. One die-hard fan had it right when he said, “If they didn’t disappoint us, they wouldn’t be our Cubs!”
Thankfully, God is not like the Cubs! You can count on Him. He will not disappoint you in the end. He always keeps His promises, and His Word provides comfort, hope, and wise advice that never fails.
When King Solomon dedicated the temple, he attested to the fact that God had not let His people down: “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise” (1 Kings 8:56).
Thousands of years later, those words still ring true. And better yet, we are heirs of the greatest fulfilled promise of all time—Jesus! The longer you know Him, the more compelling He becomes.
So if you are looking for someone who won’t disappoint you, look no further. Jesus never fails! — Joe Stowell
All that I need He will always be,
All that I need till His face I see;
All that I need through eternity,
Jesus is all I need. —Rowe
Looking for someone who won’t disappoint you? Look to Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 15, 2008
"Approved to God"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth —2 Timothy 2:15
If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, "I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else," then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.
Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Hands Tell it All - #5721 - December 15, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, December , 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I've got to confess that sometimes my attention wanders a little when I'm listening to someone speak in a public meeting. I'm sure someone who's been in a meeting where I was the speaker is saying right now, "Oh, that's pretty funny. That's what happened when I heard you speak." One of the things that's almost sure to divert my attention is someone who is providing sign language interpretation of that talk for the deaf. There is something really beautiful and thought-provoking about the visual representations of words that I've heard many times. In fact, the signing version of certain words can give even deeper meaning to them. Well, with one word in particular.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hands Tell it All."
I love the way that our deaf friends say the name of Jesus. The signer takes one finger and puts it into the palm of the other hand, and then puts a finger into the other palm. It's clearly a symbol of what might well be the most identifying characteristics of Jesus if you met Him today - the nail prints in His hands. In a sense, His hands tell it all. His hands bring home the central issue you and I have to deal with when it comes to Jesus. The thing God considers decisive in where we will spend eternity.
Many people have a fondness for Jesus. He is the one person revered by most of the great religions of the world. Many people are aware of the awful death Jesus died on the cross. You may be one of millions who celebrate Jesus' death in the sacraments or the ceremonies of your church. That's all good, just not enough.
That's what one of Jesus' closest associates discovered after Jesus' resurrection that first Easter. Thomas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, had not been in the room when the other disciples were visited in person by their risen Master. Thomas didn't buy it. In John 20, beginning with verse 25, our word for today from the Word of God, Thomas says: "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it." Thomas had been with Jesus for three years, he'd heard every sermon, he'd seen every miracle. But like many who've been around Jesus for years, Thomas had never yet really committed himself to Him.
But the following week, Thomas was there when Jesus appeared again to His friends. The Bible says, "Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.' Thomas said to Him, 'My Lord and my God.'" That little two-letter word is the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, between an eternity in heaven and an eternity in hell. It's the word "my." Jesus may have been a Lord, or even the Lord, to you. But you've never made Him your Lord and your God, and that could happen this very day. If you'll put yourself in the Good Friday picture and walk up Skull Hill to the foot of that cross where God's Son is dying to pay for your sin and you say those two words that change everything, "For me. You died here for me."
If you've never welcomed the Savior as your Savior, don't stop one step short of being forgiven; one step short of heaven. Like Thomas after that first Easter, let those wounds, suffered for you, finally capture your heart. Bow before Jesus and tell Him, "Beginning today, you are my Lord, you're my Savior from my sin. I'm placing all my trust in you." This can be the day you actually begin your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We've got some help at our website. A lot of people have gone there and found out how to be sure you belong to Him; that you've been forgiven by Him. Let me urge you to go there today. It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be happy to send you the little booklet that's got the same information in it. I wrote it and want to send it to you if you'll just call toll free at 877-741-1200.
Jesus wants to be with you every remaining day of your life. And He wants you to be with Him forever. Could you reach out to Him today? And when you've taken your last breath, you'll meet Him at last. And you'll know Him when you see Him by the print of the nails in His hands.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 15
Found, Called, and Adopted
It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. . . . I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.
Matthew 9:12-13 (NCV)
God didn't look at our frazzled lives and say, "I'll die for you when you deserve it."
No, despite our sin, in the face of our rebellion, he chose to adopt us. And for God, there's no going back. His grace is a come-as-you-are promise from a one-of-a-kind King. You've been found, called, and adopted; so trust your Father and claim this verse as your own: "God showed his love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners" (Rom. 5:8). And you never again have to wonder who your father is--you've been adopted by God and are therefore an "heir of God through Christ" (Gal.4:7).
Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7 And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted [m] to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute [n] and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."
20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her." 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.
24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:
"At the cost of his firstborn son
will he lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest
will he set up its gates."
27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Kings 8:54-61 (New International Version)
54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:
56 "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. 61 But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."
December 15, 2008
Never Disappointed
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Kings 8:54-61
There has not failed one word of all His good promise. —1 Kings 8:56
As an avid baseball fan, my favorite team is the Chicago Cubs. The interesting thing about being a Cubs fan is that the team has a way of letting us down. They have not won a World Series since 1908. And while they often have great promise at the beginning of the season, they usually disappoint their loyal fans in the end. One die-hard fan had it right when he said, “If they didn’t disappoint us, they wouldn’t be our Cubs!”
Thankfully, God is not like the Cubs! You can count on Him. He will not disappoint you in the end. He always keeps His promises, and His Word provides comfort, hope, and wise advice that never fails.
When King Solomon dedicated the temple, he attested to the fact that God had not let His people down: “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise” (1 Kings 8:56).
Thousands of years later, those words still ring true. And better yet, we are heirs of the greatest fulfilled promise of all time—Jesus! The longer you know Him, the more compelling He becomes.
So if you are looking for someone who won’t disappoint you, look no further. Jesus never fails! — Joe Stowell
All that I need He will always be,
All that I need till His face I see;
All that I need through eternity,
Jesus is all I need. —Rowe
Looking for someone who won’t disappoint you? Look to Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 15, 2008
"Approved to God"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth —2 Timothy 2:15
If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, "I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else," then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.
Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Hands Tell it All - #5721 - December 15, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, December , 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I've got to confess that sometimes my attention wanders a little when I'm listening to someone speak in a public meeting. I'm sure someone who's been in a meeting where I was the speaker is saying right now, "Oh, that's pretty funny. That's what happened when I heard you speak." One of the things that's almost sure to divert my attention is someone who is providing sign language interpretation of that talk for the deaf. There is something really beautiful and thought-provoking about the visual representations of words that I've heard many times. In fact, the signing version of certain words can give even deeper meaning to them. Well, with one word in particular.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hands Tell it All."
I love the way that our deaf friends say the name of Jesus. The signer takes one finger and puts it into the palm of the other hand, and then puts a finger into the other palm. It's clearly a symbol of what might well be the most identifying characteristics of Jesus if you met Him today - the nail prints in His hands. In a sense, His hands tell it all. His hands bring home the central issue you and I have to deal with when it comes to Jesus. The thing God considers decisive in where we will spend eternity.
Many people have a fondness for Jesus. He is the one person revered by most of the great religions of the world. Many people are aware of the awful death Jesus died on the cross. You may be one of millions who celebrate Jesus' death in the sacraments or the ceremonies of your church. That's all good, just not enough.
That's what one of Jesus' closest associates discovered after Jesus' resurrection that first Easter. Thomas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, had not been in the room when the other disciples were visited in person by their risen Master. Thomas didn't buy it. In John 20, beginning with verse 25, our word for today from the Word of God, Thomas says: "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it." Thomas had been with Jesus for three years, he'd heard every sermon, he'd seen every miracle. But like many who've been around Jesus for years, Thomas had never yet really committed himself to Him.
But the following week, Thomas was there when Jesus appeared again to His friends. The Bible says, "Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.' Thomas said to Him, 'My Lord and my God.'" That little two-letter word is the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, between an eternity in heaven and an eternity in hell. It's the word "my." Jesus may have been a Lord, or even the Lord, to you. But you've never made Him your Lord and your God, and that could happen this very day. If you'll put yourself in the Good Friday picture and walk up Skull Hill to the foot of that cross where God's Son is dying to pay for your sin and you say those two words that change everything, "For me. You died here for me."
If you've never welcomed the Savior as your Savior, don't stop one step short of being forgiven; one step short of heaven. Like Thomas after that first Easter, let those wounds, suffered for you, finally capture your heart. Bow before Jesus and tell Him, "Beginning today, you are my Lord, you're my Savior from my sin. I'm placing all my trust in you." This can be the day you actually begin your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We've got some help at our website. A lot of people have gone there and found out how to be sure you belong to Him; that you've been forgiven by Him. Let me urge you to go there today. It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be happy to send you the little booklet that's got the same information in it. I wrote it and want to send it to you if you'll just call toll free at 877-741-1200.
Jesus wants to be with you every remaining day of your life. And He wants you to be with Him forever. Could you reach out to Him today? And when you've taken your last breath, you'll meet Him at last. And you'll know Him when you see Him by the print of the nails in His hands.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Joshua 5, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 14
We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.
Romans 8:28 (NCV)
Everything? Everything.
Chicken-hearted disciples. A two-timing Judas. A pierced side. Spineless Pharisees. A hardhearted high priest. In everything
God worked.
I dare you to find one element of the cross that he did not manage for good or recycle for symbolism. Give it a go. I think you'll find what I found—every dark detail was actually a golden moment in the cause
of Christ.
Can't he do the same for you?
Joshua 5
Circumcision at Gilgal
1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. [i]
4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. 5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal [j] to this day.
10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after [k] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.
The Fall of Jericho
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord [l] have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 40
Comfort for God's People
1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
December 14, 2008
The Glory Of Humility
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 40:1-5
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. —Isaiah 40:5
I remember sitting one Christmas season in London listening to Handel’s Messiah, with a full chorus singing about the day when “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” I had spent the morning viewing remnants of England’s glory—the crown jewels, the Lord Mayor’s gilded carriage—and it occurred to me that just such images of wealth and power must have filled the minds of Isaiah’s contemporaries who first heard that promise.
The Messiah who showed up, however, wore a different kind of glory—the glory of humility. The God who roared, who if He so desired could order armies and empires about like pawns, this God emerged in Bethlehem as a baby who could not speak or eat solid food. This God who created all things became dependent on a teenager for shelter, food, and love.
Rulers stride through the world with bodyguards, fanfare, and flashing jewelry. In contrast, God’s visit to earth took place in a shelter for animals, with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn King but a feed trough. Indeed, the event that divided history into two parts may have had more animal than human witnesses. As Phillips Brooks put it:
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heaven.
In most religions, fear is the primary emotion when approaching God. In Jesus, God made a way of relating to us that did not involve fear. — Philip Yancey
In Christ, God veiled His deity to serve and to save humanity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 14, 2008
The Great Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled . . . —John 14:27
Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.
God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, "as the world gives," but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.
My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 14
We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.
Romans 8:28 (NCV)
Everything? Everything.
Chicken-hearted disciples. A two-timing Judas. A pierced side. Spineless Pharisees. A hardhearted high priest. In everything
God worked.
I dare you to find one element of the cross that he did not manage for good or recycle for symbolism. Give it a go. I think you'll find what I found—every dark detail was actually a golden moment in the cause
of Christ.
Can't he do the same for you?
Joshua 5
Circumcision at Gilgal
1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again." 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. [i]
4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt. 5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal [j] to this day.
10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after [k] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.
The Fall of Jericho
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord [l] have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 40
Comfort for God's People
1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
December 14, 2008
The Glory Of Humility
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 40:1-5
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. —Isaiah 40:5
I remember sitting one Christmas season in London listening to Handel’s Messiah, with a full chorus singing about the day when “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” I had spent the morning viewing remnants of England’s glory—the crown jewels, the Lord Mayor’s gilded carriage—and it occurred to me that just such images of wealth and power must have filled the minds of Isaiah’s contemporaries who first heard that promise.
The Messiah who showed up, however, wore a different kind of glory—the glory of humility. The God who roared, who if He so desired could order armies and empires about like pawns, this God emerged in Bethlehem as a baby who could not speak or eat solid food. This God who created all things became dependent on a teenager for shelter, food, and love.
Rulers stride through the world with bodyguards, fanfare, and flashing jewelry. In contrast, God’s visit to earth took place in a shelter for animals, with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn King but a feed trough. Indeed, the event that divided history into two parts may have had more animal than human witnesses. As Phillips Brooks put it:
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heaven.
In most religions, fear is the primary emotion when approaching God. In Jesus, God made a way of relating to us that did not involve fear. — Philip Yancey
In Christ, God veiled His deity to serve and to save humanity.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 14, 2008
The Great Life
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled . . . —John 14:27
Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.
God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, "as the world gives," but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.
My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Joshua 4, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 13
Everything (God) does is good and fair; all his orders can be trusted.
Psalm 111:7 (NCV)
There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Jesus.
There were those who mocked Him. There were those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There were those who revered Him. But there was not one person who considered Him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to touch.
There was not one person who was reluctant to
approach Him for fear of being rejected.
Joshua 4
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been [g] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22 tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea [h] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 1:1
Listen to this passage
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:20-27
Listen to this passage
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
December 13, 2008
Whodunit?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 1:1,20-27
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26
The word whodunit is actually in the dictionary. It means “detective story.” The most important whodunit of all time is the question of creation.
Some people wish the Bible said, “In the beginning, God wasn’t needed.” To them, it’s unacceptable to say, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), or “Let Us make man in Our image” (v.26).
Instead, they believe that after an explosion of energy and matter, somehow an atmosphere conducive to life was formed. Then, single-celled organisms morphed into the exceedingly complex life forms we have today.
No need for God, they say, for it all happened naturally. On an earth and in an atmosphere not of anyone’s making, forces with a blueprint designed by no one joined together to place the earth perfectly for life to thrive.
What we do with “In the beginning God” is at the center of it all. We must either believe His Word—and everything His Word claims—or we must believe that our meaningless lives resulted from an accidental, mindless chain reaction. What a stark contrast to “Let Us make man in Our image”!
In the beginning. Was it God? Or was it chance? Our answer to this whodunit reveals whether or not we truly worship the awesome God of creation. — Dave Branon
For Further Study
Why should we believe an ancient book? Does it conflict with science? Read Can I Really Trust The Bible? on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0402
Only God could create the cosmos out of nothing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 13, 2008
Intercessory Prayer
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . men always ought to pray and not lose heart —Luke 18:1
You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to "fill up . . . [with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" ( Colossians 1:24 ), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, "It is putting yourself in someone else’s place." That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.
As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.
Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.
What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply "patched up." We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 13
Everything (God) does is good and fair; all his orders can be trusted.
Psalm 111:7 (NCV)
There is not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Jesus.
There were those who mocked Him. There were those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There were those who revered Him. But there was not one person who considered Him too holy, too divine, or too celestial to touch.
There was not one person who was reluctant to
approach Him for fear of being rejected.
Joshua 4
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been [g] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22 tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea [h] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Genesis 1:1
Listen to this passage
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:20-27
Listen to this passage
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
December 13, 2008
Whodunit?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Genesis 1:1,20-27
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26
The word whodunit is actually in the dictionary. It means “detective story.” The most important whodunit of all time is the question of creation.
Some people wish the Bible said, “In the beginning, God wasn’t needed.” To them, it’s unacceptable to say, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), or “Let Us make man in Our image” (v.26).
Instead, they believe that after an explosion of energy and matter, somehow an atmosphere conducive to life was formed. Then, single-celled organisms morphed into the exceedingly complex life forms we have today.
No need for God, they say, for it all happened naturally. On an earth and in an atmosphere not of anyone’s making, forces with a blueprint designed by no one joined together to place the earth perfectly for life to thrive.
What we do with “In the beginning God” is at the center of it all. We must either believe His Word—and everything His Word claims—or we must believe that our meaningless lives resulted from an accidental, mindless chain reaction. What a stark contrast to “Let Us make man in Our image”!
In the beginning. Was it God? Or was it chance? Our answer to this whodunit reveals whether or not we truly worship the awesome God of creation. — Dave Branon
For Further Study
Why should we believe an ancient book? Does it conflict with science? Read Can I Really Trust The Bible? on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0402
Only God could create the cosmos out of nothing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 13, 2008
Intercessory Prayer
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . men always ought to pray and not lose heart —Luke 18:1
You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to "fill up . . . [with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" ( Colossians 1:24 ), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, "It is putting yourself in someone else’s place." That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.
As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.
Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.
What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply "patched up." We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Joshua 3, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 12
He Wore Our Coat
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:14 (NCV)
God has only one requirement for entrance into heaven: that we be clothed in Christ.
Listen to how Jesus describes the inhabitants of heaven: "They will walk with me and wear white clothes, because they are worthy...." (Rev. 3:4).
Listen to the description of the elders: "Around the throne there were . . . twenty-four elders ....They were dressed in white and had golden crowns on their heads" (Rev. 4:4)....
All are dressed in white. The saints. The elders .... How would you suppose Jesus is dressed? In white? . . . "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).
Why is Christ's robe not white? Why is his cloak not spotless? Why is his garment dipped in blood?... Paul says simply, "He changed places with us" (Gal. 3:13)....
He wore our coat of sin to the cross.
Joshua 3
Crossing the Jordan
1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards [e] between you and the ark; do not go near it."
5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
6 Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' "
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea [f] ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 42
BOOK II : Psalms 42-72
1
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and
December 12, 2008
Ebenezer
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 42:1-5
Samuel took a stone . . . and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” —1 Samuel 7:12
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the central character is Ebenezer Scrooge. As a boy, I enjoyed watching the old black-and-white version of that movie with Alastair Sim portraying Scrooge. Sim did a phenomenal job presenting the heartless, miserly, self-centered Scrooge. I still look in the television schedule each Christmas to learn when I can watch that particular rendition of Dickens’ tale.
Years of watching the travails of Scrooge have spoiled something for me though—the name “Ebenezer.” I have associated it with Scrooge, but its original meaning was light-years away from that. In 1 Samuel, following a decisive battle with the Philistines, the Israelites erected a stone as a reminder of the Lord’s help in the battle. They named that stone Ebenezer, which means “Stone of Help,” to remind people of how God rescued them from their enemies (7:12).
What a contrast! A name that I had come to associate with man’s selfishness can actually serve as a reminder of the readily available help of God. As we move through life, may we focus on the faithfulness of the Lord and not the selfishness of man. Let’s look to Him as our true Ebenezer—our help in the challenges of life. — Bill Crowder
God’s faithfulness we’ve known throughout the years,
His oneness with us in our joys and tears;
So many times the Lord has helped us through,
Has answered prayer and given strength anew. —F. Hess
Our only hope here below is help from God above.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 12, 2008
Personality
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . —John 17:22
Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.
Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— "I and My Father are one" ( John 10:30 ). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— ". . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . ." Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Monster In Your Closet - #5720 - December 12, 2008
Category: Your Hard Times
Friday, December 12, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When you're the parent of a little child, you know that one of your great challenges could be getting that little one to sleep at night. When you are the little child, you know why it's hard to get to sleep at night. First, there's that prayer. You know, the one where your Mommy has you pray, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep." OK, so far, so good. Then, "If I should die before I wake..." OK, that's it! I am not going to sleep! Who in the world put that line in that prayer? Then there's another reason little kids have a hard time getting to sleep. The monsters, you know the ones in the closet. Oh, I know we had them in my room, how about yours? See, parents never really seem to get it. But all of us kids knew that once the lights all went out, there was a really scary monster waiting in that closet. So, you lie there with your eyes wide open, afraid of what that monster might do if you fall asleep.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Monster In Your Closet."
Well, fortunately we're all grown up now. Right? And in a sense, there is still a monster in our closet that makes it very hard for us to be at peace. And this one isn't imaginary. It is all too real; life's ultimate, inevitable reality. Our deep, nagging fear of that monster actually is expressed in the possibility raised in that childhood prayer, "If I should die before I wake..."
The monster of death actually comes out of the closet every time we have to go to a funeral. It comes really close to us when the person who has died is someone about our age. It's not meant to be a morbid thing, but the reality is that one day it will be me in that casket...it will be you. And we know it. And the longer we live, the more quickly our years seem to slip away, right? One day the monster will catch every one of us. Beyond our last heartbeat is a lot of unknown and whatever it is, it's forever.
Of course, the only one who can really speak with total authority about death is God. He's the only One who knows what's on the other side. And in our word for today from the Word of God, there is some very good news about the monster - the monster that lurks in all of our futures. Hebrews 2:14, "(Jesus) shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
Wow! "Held in slavery by their fear of death." Now, we know it's inevitable. We don't know where it will take us. But we can. If you will put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ, you can be liberated from the fear of death. Why? Because you will know for sure that death for you will mean heaven forever. How can you know that? By having the only thing that could keep you out of God's heaven removed forever, and that's your sins. There is no way you can enter heaven with your sins. And there is no way they can be forgiven by anyone but the One who died to pay for those sins.
This same Bible chapter says that Jesus tasted "death for everyone," that He made "atonement for the sins of the people." Your sins have been paid for. You don't ever have to pay for them if you give yourself to Jesus. And death will be just your graduation to eternal life in heaven. But if you have never totally trusted Jesus as your Savior from your sin, you have no hope of heaven.
So, I urge you, if you want to begin a relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that now while you know you've got the opportunity? Don't risk your eternity by waiting. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I resign. I am yours because you died for me. You drive from here on."
You know, a lot of people have found help beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ just by visiting our website. We've kind of set it up to mark the path for you so you can be sure that you belong to Him. Would you go there today? It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be happy to send you my booklet Yours For Life. Just call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
That monster of death was put to death when Jesus died on the cross. And you can finally be free from the fear that haunts us all our lives until we meet Jesus. Until we know that if we die before we wake, we will be in heaven forever with Him.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 12
He Wore Our Coat
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:14 (NCV)
God has only one requirement for entrance into heaven: that we be clothed in Christ.
Listen to how Jesus describes the inhabitants of heaven: "They will walk with me and wear white clothes, because they are worthy...." (Rev. 3:4).
Listen to the description of the elders: "Around the throne there were . . . twenty-four elders ....They were dressed in white and had golden crowns on their heads" (Rev. 4:4)....
All are dressed in white. The saints. The elders .... How would you suppose Jesus is dressed? In white? . . . "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).
Why is Christ's robe not white? Why is his cloak not spotless? Why is his garment dipped in blood?... Paul says simply, "He changed places with us" (Gal. 3:13)....
He wore our coat of sin to the cross.
Joshua 3
Crossing the Jordan
1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards [e] between you and the ark; do not go near it."
5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."
6 Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' "
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea [f] ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 42
BOOK II : Psalms 42-72
1
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and
December 12, 2008
Ebenezer
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 42:1-5
Samuel took a stone . . . and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” —1 Samuel 7:12
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the central character is Ebenezer Scrooge. As a boy, I enjoyed watching the old black-and-white version of that movie with Alastair Sim portraying Scrooge. Sim did a phenomenal job presenting the heartless, miserly, self-centered Scrooge. I still look in the television schedule each Christmas to learn when I can watch that particular rendition of Dickens’ tale.
Years of watching the travails of Scrooge have spoiled something for me though—the name “Ebenezer.” I have associated it with Scrooge, but its original meaning was light-years away from that. In 1 Samuel, following a decisive battle with the Philistines, the Israelites erected a stone as a reminder of the Lord’s help in the battle. They named that stone Ebenezer, which means “Stone of Help,” to remind people of how God rescued them from their enemies (7:12).
What a contrast! A name that I had come to associate with man’s selfishness can actually serve as a reminder of the readily available help of God. As we move through life, may we focus on the faithfulness of the Lord and not the selfishness of man. Let’s look to Him as our true Ebenezer—our help in the challenges of life. — Bill Crowder
God’s faithfulness we’ve known throughout the years,
His oneness with us in our joys and tears;
So many times the Lord has helped us through,
Has answered prayer and given strength anew. —F. Hess
Our only hope here below is help from God above.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 12, 2008
Personality
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . —John 17:22
Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.
Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— "I and My Father are one" ( John 10:30 ). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— ". . . that they may be one just as We are one . . . ." Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Monster In Your Closet - #5720 - December 12, 2008
Category: Your Hard Times
Friday, December 12, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
When you're the parent of a little child, you know that one of your great challenges could be getting that little one to sleep at night. When you are the little child, you know why it's hard to get to sleep at night. First, there's that prayer. You know, the one where your Mommy has you pray, "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep." OK, so far, so good. Then, "If I should die before I wake..." OK, that's it! I am not going to sleep! Who in the world put that line in that prayer? Then there's another reason little kids have a hard time getting to sleep. The monsters, you know the ones in the closet. Oh, I know we had them in my room, how about yours? See, parents never really seem to get it. But all of us kids knew that once the lights all went out, there was a really scary monster waiting in that closet. So, you lie there with your eyes wide open, afraid of what that monster might do if you fall asleep.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Monster In Your Closet."
Well, fortunately we're all grown up now. Right? And in a sense, there is still a monster in our closet that makes it very hard for us to be at peace. And this one isn't imaginary. It is all too real; life's ultimate, inevitable reality. Our deep, nagging fear of that monster actually is expressed in the possibility raised in that childhood prayer, "If I should die before I wake..."
The monster of death actually comes out of the closet every time we have to go to a funeral. It comes really close to us when the person who has died is someone about our age. It's not meant to be a morbid thing, but the reality is that one day it will be me in that casket...it will be you. And we know it. And the longer we live, the more quickly our years seem to slip away, right? One day the monster will catch every one of us. Beyond our last heartbeat is a lot of unknown and whatever it is, it's forever.
Of course, the only one who can really speak with total authority about death is God. He's the only One who knows what's on the other side. And in our word for today from the Word of God, there is some very good news about the monster - the monster that lurks in all of our futures. Hebrews 2:14, "(Jesus) shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
Wow! "Held in slavery by their fear of death." Now, we know it's inevitable. We don't know where it will take us. But we can. If you will put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ, you can be liberated from the fear of death. Why? Because you will know for sure that death for you will mean heaven forever. How can you know that? By having the only thing that could keep you out of God's heaven removed forever, and that's your sins. There is no way you can enter heaven with your sins. And there is no way they can be forgiven by anyone but the One who died to pay for those sins.
This same Bible chapter says that Jesus tasted "death for everyone," that He made "atonement for the sins of the people." Your sins have been paid for. You don't ever have to pay for them if you give yourself to Jesus. And death will be just your graduation to eternal life in heaven. But if you have never totally trusted Jesus as your Savior from your sin, you have no hope of heaven.
So, I urge you, if you want to begin a relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that now while you know you've got the opportunity? Don't risk your eternity by waiting. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I resign. I am yours because you died for me. You drive from here on."
You know, a lot of people have found help beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ just by visiting our website. We've kind of set it up to mark the path for you so you can be sure that you belong to Him. Would you go there today? It's YoursForLife.net. Or I'd be happy to send you my booklet Yours For Life. Just call us toll free at 877-741-1200.
That monster of death was put to death when Jesus died on the cross. And you can finally be free from the fear that haunts us all our lives until we meet Jesus. Until we know that if we die before we wake, we will be in heaven forever with Him.
Joshua 2, daily reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 11
An Undeserved Gift
Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 (NCV)
We take our free gift of salvation and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying “thank you” and accepting it.
Ironic as it may appear, one of the hardest things to do is to be saved by grace. There’s something in us that reacts to God’s free gift. We have some weird compulsion to create laws, systems, and regulations that will make us “worthy” of our gift.
Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don’t like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren’t too keen on doing that either.
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Spies
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [b] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [c] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [d] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 4:10-17 (New International Version)
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
December 11, 2008
Absolutely Nobody
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 4:10-17
Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. —Proverbs 30:2
He wanted to be a nobody. In 1992, a Seattle man running for the office of Washington State’s lieutenant governor legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” As he entered the race, he said he wanted to greet the voters, saying, “Hi, I’m Absolutely Nobody. Vote for me.” He later admitted that the purpose of his campaign was to abolish the office of lieutenant governor.
This man used a name as a gimmick, but the Bible has a lot to say to those of us who present ourselves to others as a nobody. The right kind of humility is healthy. The songwriters of Israel knew how important it is to see our foolishness apart from God (Ps. 73:22; Prov. 30:2). Jesus Himself showed us that without God we won’t accomplish anything of lasting value (John 5:30; 15:5).
But we read a warning in the story of Moses. There’s a downside to insisting that we are “nobody” if it is to avoid doing what God commands (Ex. 4:1-17). Our motives make us into somebody who resists the loving purposes of God.
We may treat ourselves and others as having no worth. But remember, God doesn’t make nobodies. Like Moses, if we surrender to God, we can do anything God wants us to do—in His strength. — Mart De Haan
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr
Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 11, 2008
Individuality
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24 ). It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother" ( Matthew 5:24 ). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our friends live in a rugged and majestic area really in the American West. They call it "Big Sky Country" out there. Their house has been there for a long, long time - long before many other people settled where they are. Sitting in their living room, you can't help but admire these beautiful old logs in the walls. But for years, no one ever saw those logs. Over the years, they have been covered by first one layer of material, then another, then another. Our friends actually had to strip away five layers of stuff: plaster, sheet rock, even manure - layers that were covering up the original beauty of this house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Painful Road to Beauty."
Our friends had to strip away layer after layer of this accumulated junk to get what now looks so beautiful. There's a Master Builder who's working on you and me, and He's using that same method to help us display the beauty we were made for. In fact, some of what you're going through right now may be Jesus stripping away another layer of ugly or useless stuff; not to hurt you, but to make you into something more beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be.
In Malachi 3:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the process of His makeover miracles with another analogy, refining precious metal that really isn't very precious until it's refined. The Bible says the Lord Almighty "will be like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify...and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." God's method of getting people ready to do important things for Him is to put them through the fire; not to burn them, but to remove the impurities that keep them from being useful to Him and valuable to others. He strips away old attitudes, old pride, old sinful baggage and ways of doing things, old layers of selfishness, self-reliance and self-centeredness. Not to cause you pain, but to make you more precious and more powerful than you've ever been before.
That doesn't mean that having junk stripped away doesn't hurt. It usually does. God uses hard things in your life as tools to remove another ugly layer. Romans 5:2-4 provide this helpful perspective on the hard things we go through: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I like that part. I want to have the glory of God reflecting from my life like the glory of the sun reflects through the moon. I don't especially like the next part, though. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts."
Now why would we rejoice and be thankful for the hard things we're going through? Because we understand that they are the process by which the glory comes, by which the hope comes. I'm sure our friends in Big Sky Country must have gotten pretty tired of stripping away another layer after another layer. But I think I know what kept them going through the hard times. These words: "It's going to be worth it when it's done." And it is. I didn't see the process, but I sure saw the beauty that resulted.
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God. He knows what you can be, and He loves you too much to leave you like you are. Today's hard times are the tool of God to replace what's ugly and useless with something you will love and He can use. You won't always love the process, but you are going to love what He's making!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 11
An Undeserved Gift
Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 (NCV)
We take our free gift of salvation and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying “thank you” and accepting it.
Ironic as it may appear, one of the hardest things to do is to be saved by grace. There’s something in us that reacts to God’s free gift. We have some weird compulsion to create laws, systems, and regulations that will make us “worthy” of our gift.
Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don’t like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren’t too keen on doing that either.
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Spies
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [b] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [c] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [d] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 4:10-17 (New International Version)
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
December 11, 2008
Absolutely Nobody
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READ: Exodus 4:10-17
Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. —Proverbs 30:2
He wanted to be a nobody. In 1992, a Seattle man running for the office of Washington State’s lieutenant governor legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” As he entered the race, he said he wanted to greet the voters, saying, “Hi, I’m Absolutely Nobody. Vote for me.” He later admitted that the purpose of his campaign was to abolish the office of lieutenant governor.
This man used a name as a gimmick, but the Bible has a lot to say to those of us who present ourselves to others as a nobody. The right kind of humility is healthy. The songwriters of Israel knew how important it is to see our foolishness apart from God (Ps. 73:22; Prov. 30:2). Jesus Himself showed us that without God we won’t accomplish anything of lasting value (John 5:30; 15:5).
But we read a warning in the story of Moses. There’s a downside to insisting that we are “nobody” if it is to avoid doing what God commands (Ex. 4:1-17). Our motives make us into somebody who resists the loving purposes of God.
We may treat ourselves and others as having no worth. But remember, God doesn’t make nobodies. Like Moses, if we surrender to God, we can do anything God wants us to do—in His strength. — Mart De Haan
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr
Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 11, 2008
Individuality
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READ:
Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24 ). It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother" ( Matthew 5:24 ). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our friends live in a rugged and majestic area really in the American West. They call it "Big Sky Country" out there. Their house has been there for a long, long time - long before many other people settled where they are. Sitting in their living room, you can't help but admire these beautiful old logs in the walls. But for years, no one ever saw those logs. Over the years, they have been covered by first one layer of material, then another, then another. Our friends actually had to strip away five layers of stuff: plaster, sheet rock, even manure - layers that were covering up the original beauty of this house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Painful Road to Beauty."
Our friends had to strip away layer after layer of this accumulated junk to get what now looks so beautiful. There's a Master Builder who's working on you and me, and He's using that same method to help us display the beauty we were made for. In fact, some of what you're going through right now may be Jesus stripping away another layer of ugly or useless stuff; not to hurt you, but to make you into something more beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be.
In Malachi 3:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the process of His makeover miracles with another analogy, refining precious metal that really isn't very precious until it's refined. The Bible says the Lord Almighty "will be like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify...and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." God's method of getting people ready to do important things for Him is to put them through the fire; not to burn them, but to remove the impurities that keep them from being useful to Him and valuable to others. He strips away old attitudes, old pride, old sinful baggage and ways of doing things, old layers of selfishness, self-reliance and self-centeredness. Not to cause you pain, but to make you more precious and more powerful than you've ever been before.
That doesn't mean that having junk stripped away doesn't hurt. It usually does. God uses hard things in your life as tools to remove another ugly layer. Romans 5:2-4 provide this helpful perspective on the hard things we go through: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I like that part. I want to have the glory of God reflecting from my life like the glory of the sun reflects through the moon. I don't especially like the next part, though. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts."
Now why would we rejoice and be thankful for the hard things we're going through? Because we understand that they are the process by which the glory comes, by which the hope comes. I'm sure our friends in Big Sky Country must have gotten pretty tired of stripping away another layer after another layer. But I think I know what kept them going through the hard times. These words: "It's going to be worth it when it's done." And it is. I didn't see the process, but I sure saw the beauty that resulted.
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God. He knows what you can be, and He loves you too much to leave you like you are. Today's hard times are the tool of God to replace what's ugly and useless with something you will love and He can use. You won't always love the process, but you are going to love what He's making!
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