Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 9
Something Deep Within
There are things about him that people cannot see. ... But since the beginning of the world those things have been made easy to understand by what God has made.
Romans 1:20 (NCV)
God's judgment [on the day Christ returns] is based upon humanity's response to the message received. He will never hold us accountable for what he doesn't tell us. At the same time, he will never let us die without telling us something. Even those who never heard of Christ are given a message about the character of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1 NIV)....
Nature is God's first missionary. Where there is no Bible, there are sparkling stars. Where there are no preachers, there are springtimes.... If a person has nothing but nature, then nature is enough to reveal something about God. As Paul says...: "God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within [people] that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God's yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman" (Rom. 2:15-16 MSG).
From: When Christ Comes
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1999)
Max Lucado
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
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 6 my God.
My [c] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
11 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 my God.
November 9, 2009
The Heat Of Our Desire
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 42
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. —Psalm 42:1
Pastor A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) read the great Christian theologians until he could write about them with ease. He challenges us: “Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.”
The writer of Psalm 42 had the kind of longing for the Lord that Tozer spoke about. Feeling separated from God, the psalmist used the simile of a deer panting with thirst to express his deep yearning for a taste of the presence of God. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (vv.1-2). The heat of his desire for the Lord was so great and his sorrow so intense, he did more weeping than eating (v.3). But the psalmist’s longing was satisfied when he placed his hope in God and praised Him for His presence and help (vv.5-8).
O that we would have a longing and thirsting for Him that is so intense that others would feel the heat of our desire for Him! — Marvin Williams
My heart’s desire is to know You, Lord,
To walk close beside You today;
To know Your grace, Your love, Your power,
For You are my life and my way. —Cetas
Only Jesus, the Living Water, can satisfy the thirsty soul.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 9, 2009
Sacred Service
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . . —Colossians 1:24
The Christian worker has to be a sacred "go-between." He must be so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, "What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!" then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Pretty Poison - #5956
Monday, November 9, 2009
The last time I saw a frog, I was with one of my grandchildren. She loved it when I picked up that little bug-eyed green fellow and held him close so she could get a better look at him. It was one of Kermit's cousins, you know. I didn't have any second thoughts about picking up a frog. They're harmless! Well, most of the time - unless it's what they call a poisonous dart frog. I don't think we have those, but they're about one and one-half inches long, and they live in tropical rain forests in Central and South America. And they are the good-lookers of the frog kingdom. They're not a boring ol' green. The dart frog is really very brightly colored. He looks very interesting, but he can be carrying enough poison to kill 20,000 mice. Or more important to you and me - ten people!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Pretty Poison."
Here's a creature who looks so good and kills so dead. Just like sin; maybe the sin that's been looking pretty good to you lately. So many people have reached out and touched what they should have never touched, and they paid a painful price that they could have never imagined. Sin may be pretty, but it's pretty poison!
Listen to this eye-opening revelation from our word for today from the Word of God in James 1:14-15. "Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death." That is a sledgehammer verse. It traces a moral disaster from the first desire for something that's wrong to the sinful choice to get what looks so good, to its final result. When that "baby" called sin finally is born, what you get is death because sin always kills. It kills families, it kills marriages, it kills reputations, and it kills ministries. Sin kills your self-respect, people's trust in you and even your closeness to the God that you can't live without.
The story of this attractive killer goes all the way back to the very first humans God ever created, Adam and Eve. With all the beauty of the Garden of Eden available for his enjoyment, God gave Adam this one prohibition: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Satan came to Eve and told her the exact opposite: "You will not surely die." And "when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it" (Genesis 2:17; 3:4, 6). And they learned the hard way that no matter how much you think you have to gain from going outside God's boundaries, you have so much more to lose. They lost Eden, they lost walking with God, they gained so much pain and they died.
It may be that the same devil is lying to you right now about the sin that looks so good to you. "It won't hurt," "Everybody's doing it," "Hey, you deserve it," "You need this," "Only a little," "Ah, just this once." Anything to get you to bite. Anything to get you to take the deadly poison of sin. But it looks like you have so much to gain if you'll just lie a little, cheat a little, flirt a little, try a little, or take just one look. But you have so much to lose. You won't know that until it's too late unless you listen to what God says.
First sin fascinates you, and then it assassinates you. And God, in His love, has come to you today to wave you away from a choice that will take you where you never wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. Don't walk away from that sin - run away from it. Sin looks so good and it kills so dead.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Joshua 23, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 8
The LORD said, "I have loved you."
Malachi 1:2 (NCV)
Father, your love never ceases. Never.
Though we spurn you, ignore you, disobey you, you will not change. Our evil cannot diminish your love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. You don't love us less if we fail. You don't love us more if we succeed.
Your love never ceases.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
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
1 Peter 4:12-19 (New International Version)
Suffering for Being a Christian
12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"[a]
19So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
November 8, 2009
The Persecuted Church
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Peter 4:12-19
If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. —1 Peter 4:16
One October morning in 2006, a woman and her six children were forced to witness an attack on their husband and father. His assailants tried to force him to deny Jesus but he refused. He continued to proclaim Christ as Lord and died praying for his family. The family is determined to follow Christ, even in their grief.
Another man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for allegedly insulting another religion. He’s an outspoken Christian with a passion for Christ. He and his wife and children continue to be faithful and refuse to deny Him.
Persecution for the Christian faith is as real in our world as it was for the Jewish believers in the early church to whom Peter wrote. He prayed, “May the God of all grace, . . . after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).
Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. These prayer points from Open Doors USA, a ministry that’s committed to encouraging persecuted Christians, can help guide us as we pray:
• Pray for the safety and faith of the secret believers in countries where it is illegal to share about Christ.
• Pray for the health, perseverance, and encouragement of believers who are imprisoned for the gospel.
• Pray that those whose loved ones have died due to martyrdom will rely on God for their strength.
Together, let’s bring our fellow believers before the Lord in prayer. — Anne Cetas
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. —Tertullian
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 8, 2009
The Unrivaled Power of Prayer
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered —Romans 8:26
We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.
"He," the Holy Spirit in you, "makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" ( Romans 8:27 ). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. ". . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . ." (1 Corinthians 6:19 ). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, ". . . He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple" ( Mark 11:16 ). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer . . . . But you have made it a ’den of thieves’ " (Mark 11:17 ).
Have we come to realize that our "body is the temple of the Holy Spirit"? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a "temple of the Holy Spirit." He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 8
The LORD said, "I have loved you."
Malachi 1:2 (NCV)
Father, your love never ceases. Never.
Though we spurn you, ignore you, disobey you, you will not change. Our evil cannot diminish your love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidity jeopardizes it. You don't love us less if we fail. You don't love us more if we succeed.
Your love never ceases.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
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
1 Peter 4:12-19 (New International Version)
Suffering for Being a Christian
12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"[a]
19So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
November 8, 2009
The Persecuted Church
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Peter 4:12-19
If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. —1 Peter 4:16
One October morning in 2006, a woman and her six children were forced to witness an attack on their husband and father. His assailants tried to force him to deny Jesus but he refused. He continued to proclaim Christ as Lord and died praying for his family. The family is determined to follow Christ, even in their grief.
Another man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for allegedly insulting another religion. He’s an outspoken Christian with a passion for Christ. He and his wife and children continue to be faithful and refuse to deny Him.
Persecution for the Christian faith is as real in our world as it was for the Jewish believers in the early church to whom Peter wrote. He prayed, “May the God of all grace, . . . after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).
Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. These prayer points from Open Doors USA, a ministry that’s committed to encouraging persecuted Christians, can help guide us as we pray:
• Pray for the safety and faith of the secret believers in countries where it is illegal to share about Christ.
• Pray for the health, perseverance, and encouragement of believers who are imprisoned for the gospel.
• Pray that those whose loved ones have died due to martyrdom will rely on God for their strength.
Together, let’s bring our fellow believers before the Lord in prayer. — Anne Cetas
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. —Tertullian
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 8, 2009
The Unrivaled Power of Prayer
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered —Romans 8:26
We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.
"He," the Holy Spirit in you, "makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" ( Romans 8:27 ). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. ". . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . ." (1 Corinthians 6:19 ). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, ". . . He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple" ( Mark 11:16 ). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer . . . . But you have made it a ’den of thieves’ " (Mark 11:17 ).
Have we come to realize that our "body is the temple of the Holy Spirit"? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a "temple of the Holy Spirit." He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Joshua 6, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 7
God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.
Philippians 2:13 (TLB)
As a result of being saved, what do we do?
We obey God with deep reverence and shrink back from all that might displease Him. Practically put, we love our neighbor and refrain from gossip. We refuse to cheat on taxes and spouses and do our best to love people who are tough to love.
Do we do this in order to be saved? No. These are the good things that result from being saved.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
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 Thessalonians 4
Living to Please God
1Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
November 7, 2009
How Was I To Know?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Thess. 4:1-12
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. —Ephesians 4:30
It was high-school concert season, and the music students were preparing for the big Christmas extravaganza. The teacher had clearly communicated every detail to the students and to the parents—on two different occasions—and the time for mandatory rehearsal was clearly spelled out.
But on rehearsal day one panicky mother called during practice to see what time her teenager was supposed to show up. Another called to say, “Oh, we’re taking Tommy to Grandma’s. It’s okay if he misses rehearsal, right?” When the teacher reminded the parents that this required practice had already started, she heard, “Why didn’t somebody tell me? How was I to know?”
Just as this teacher was troubled that her clear instructions were ignored, is it possible that God is troubled by our tendency to ignore His clear instructions? In 1 Thessalonians, Paul reminds us that his God-inspired message tells us “how to live in order to please God” and that those instructions have “the authority of the Lord Jesus” (4:1-2 niv). The Lord is grieved, Paul explains, when we ignore His teaching and live our own way (Eph. 4:30–5:2).
Let’s make a point to read God’s instructions and then live by them—with no excuses. — Dave Branon
God’s Word was given for our good
And we are to obey,
Not choose the parts that we like best,
Then live in our own way. —Hess
There is no good excuse for ignoring God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 7, 2009
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 7
God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.
Philippians 2:13 (TLB)
As a result of being saved, what do we do?
We obey God with deep reverence and shrink back from all that might displease Him. Practically put, we love our neighbor and refrain from gossip. We refuse to cheat on taxes and spouses and do our best to love people who are tough to love.
Do we do this in order to be saved? No. These are the good things that result from being saved.
From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado
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 Thessalonians 4
Living to Please God
1Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
November 7, 2009
How Was I To Know?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 Thess. 4:1-12
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. —Ephesians 4:30
It was high-school concert season, and the music students were preparing for the big Christmas extravaganza. The teacher had clearly communicated every detail to the students and to the parents—on two different occasions—and the time for mandatory rehearsal was clearly spelled out.
But on rehearsal day one panicky mother called during practice to see what time her teenager was supposed to show up. Another called to say, “Oh, we’re taking Tommy to Grandma’s. It’s okay if he misses rehearsal, right?” When the teacher reminded the parents that this required practice had already started, she heard, “Why didn’t somebody tell me? How was I to know?”
Just as this teacher was troubled that her clear instructions were ignored, is it possible that God is troubled by our tendency to ignore His clear instructions? In 1 Thessalonians, Paul reminds us that his God-inspired message tells us “how to live in order to please God” and that those instructions have “the authority of the Lord Jesus” (4:1-2 niv). The Lord is grieved, Paul explains, when we ignore His teaching and live our own way (Eph. 4:30–5:2).
Let’s make a point to read God’s instructions and then live by them—with no excuses. — Dave Branon
God’s Word was given for our good
And we are to obey,
Not choose the parts that we like best,
Then live in our own way. —Hess
There is no good excuse for ignoring God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 7, 2009
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Joshua 5, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 6
The Master Builder
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Psalm 23:3 (NKJV)
It's hard to see things grow old. The town in which I grew up is growing old. . . . Some of the buildings are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down. . . . The old movie house where I took my dates has "For Sale" on the marquee. . . .
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets. . . but I can't.
I can't. But God can. "He restores my soul," wrote the shepherd. He doesn't reform; he restores. He doesn't camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigor. He will restore the energy. He will restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
From: The Applause of Heaven
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1990)
Max Lucado
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
Exodus 13:14-16 (New International Version)
14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."
November 6, 2009
Where History Comes Alive
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 13:14-16
When your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” . . . you shall say, “It is the Passover.” —Exodus 12:26-27
The movie Night at the Museum portrays the humorous experiences of a security guard at a natural history museum. The excitement begins for him when the displays come to life at night.
Inspired by this movie, directors of a real museum created a similar experience. The staff portrayed historic figures such as knights in armor, Victorian ladies, and Egyptian royalty. When children arrived at the museum, they were told that the people in the exhibits had come alive and needed to be led back to their proper place. As the children responded, history came alive for them.
Children need not be bored by history. This is especially true of Bible stories. Take Moses, for example. He escaped death as a child, was educated as a prince, worked miracles, and received the Ten Commandments on tablets. What exciting story elements that teach children about God!
Biblical stories have been shared with children for generations—all the way back to the times of Exodus (ch.12–13) and Deuteronomy (ch.6). Moses described times when children were retold vital stories from Jewish history.
Why not set a time to read Bible stories to the children in your life? Then watch their excitement as biblical history comes alive! — Dennis Fisher
The stories in the Word of God
Are there for us to see
How God has worked in people’s lives
Throughout all history. —Sper
The Bible’s treasures are found by those who dig for them.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 6, 2009
Intimate Theology
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READ:
Do you believe this? —John 11:26
Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27 ).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— "Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Bread for Tomorrow - #5955
Friday, November 6, 2009
They took good care of the little girl in the orphanage. But apparently there was never quite enough food, and the children were hungry most of the time. It's a country where there are a lot of orphans to take care of and not a lot of money to take of them with. We heard recently about the couple who adopted the little four-year-old girl I just mentioned. We heard their story of how, in their first weeks of having that girl as a part of their family, she has, in their words, "been eating everything in sight." Eating, in fact, until she makes herself sick. It's pretty heartbreaking to think of how fearful she must be of never having enough to eat. Well, mom and dad had an idea. They make sure that she has a slice of bread she can hold onto whenever she wants and, you know, that has helped a lot.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Bread for Tomorrow."
A child, who because of her past experiences, fears that she won't have what she needs - and now she's finding a new security. What's she going to need in the future is already in her hands. That is a picture of you if you are a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What you're going to need tomorrow is as good as already in your hands. Your Heavenly Father promised many places in the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God.
Here are the familiar, and comforting, words of Psalm 23:1, maybe just the promise you need right now. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Your Lord is the Shepherd who makes sure that His sheep always have what they need, when they need it. Since He knows all your needs, I think it's safe for you to say, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want for what I need physically, financially, maritally, emotionally, parentally, or spiritually."
Many times there was something I thought I should have that He didn't give me, because, as I know now, it would have not been for my good. I was wrong about what I needed; He never is. Other times, I thought I needed something now, when God's timing was different and ultimately better. And still other times, He will supply a need before you've even realized how much you're going to need it. So God's care and provision is always based on what He knows will be best for me to have and will be the best time for me to have it.
But His promise is that the bread is in your hand, the guarantee that what you will need for tomorrow is, in essence, already yours because He's already got it for you. He's promised that "your strength will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25), that "His grace will always be sufficient for your situation" (2 Corinthians 12:9). He's promised that you can go anytime to His throne room and "find grace to help in your time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). He's promised that your "God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). There is no greater security than that. You have His Word on it. The Bible is full of promises like that.
Maybe you've been let down by others in the past, and maybe you're often anxious about whether you'll have what you need and you'll have it when you need it. With God as your Heavenly Father, with you as His child purchased with the life of His Son, that's unnecessary worry. And in a sense, it's an insult to the God you belong to. You are living with the greatest security in the world. You are living from hand to mouth. From His hand to your mouth, and what you need for tomorrow is as good as already in your hand.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 6
The Master Builder
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Psalm 23:3 (NKJV)
It's hard to see things grow old. The town in which I grew up is growing old. . . . Some of the buildings are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down. . . . The old movie house where I took my dates has "For Sale" on the marquee. . . .
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets. . . but I can't.
I can't. But God can. "He restores my soul," wrote the shepherd. He doesn't reform; he restores. He doesn't camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigor. He will restore the energy. He will restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
From: The Applause of Heaven
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1990)
Max Lucado
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
Exodus 13:14-16 (New International Version)
14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.' 16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."
November 6, 2009
Where History Comes Alive
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Exodus 13:14-16
When your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” . . . you shall say, “It is the Passover.” —Exodus 12:26-27
The movie Night at the Museum portrays the humorous experiences of a security guard at a natural history museum. The excitement begins for him when the displays come to life at night.
Inspired by this movie, directors of a real museum created a similar experience. The staff portrayed historic figures such as knights in armor, Victorian ladies, and Egyptian royalty. When children arrived at the museum, they were told that the people in the exhibits had come alive and needed to be led back to their proper place. As the children responded, history came alive for them.
Children need not be bored by history. This is especially true of Bible stories. Take Moses, for example. He escaped death as a child, was educated as a prince, worked miracles, and received the Ten Commandments on tablets. What exciting story elements that teach children about God!
Biblical stories have been shared with children for generations—all the way back to the times of Exodus (ch.12–13) and Deuteronomy (ch.6). Moses described times when children were retold vital stories from Jewish history.
Why not set a time to read Bible stories to the children in your life? Then watch their excitement as biblical history comes alive! — Dennis Fisher
The stories in the Word of God
Are there for us to see
How God has worked in people’s lives
Throughout all history. —Sper
The Bible’s treasures are found by those who dig for them.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 6, 2009
Intimate Theology
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Do you believe this? —John 11:26
Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27 ).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— "Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Bread for Tomorrow - #5955
Friday, November 6, 2009
They took good care of the little girl in the orphanage. But apparently there was never quite enough food, and the children were hungry most of the time. It's a country where there are a lot of orphans to take care of and not a lot of money to take of them with. We heard recently about the couple who adopted the little four-year-old girl I just mentioned. We heard their story of how, in their first weeks of having that girl as a part of their family, she has, in their words, "been eating everything in sight." Eating, in fact, until she makes herself sick. It's pretty heartbreaking to think of how fearful she must be of never having enough to eat. Well, mom and dad had an idea. They make sure that she has a slice of bread she can hold onto whenever she wants and, you know, that has helped a lot.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Bread for Tomorrow."
A child, who because of her past experiences, fears that she won't have what she needs - and now she's finding a new security. What's she going to need in the future is already in her hands. That is a picture of you if you are a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What you're going to need tomorrow is as good as already in your hands. Your Heavenly Father promised many places in the Bible, including our word for today from the Word of God.
Here are the familiar, and comforting, words of Psalm 23:1, maybe just the promise you need right now. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Your Lord is the Shepherd who makes sure that His sheep always have what they need, when they need it. Since He knows all your needs, I think it's safe for you to say, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want for what I need physically, financially, maritally, emotionally, parentally, or spiritually."
Many times there was something I thought I should have that He didn't give me, because, as I know now, it would have not been for my good. I was wrong about what I needed; He never is. Other times, I thought I needed something now, when God's timing was different and ultimately better. And still other times, He will supply a need before you've even realized how much you're going to need it. So God's care and provision is always based on what He knows will be best for me to have and will be the best time for me to have it.
But His promise is that the bread is in your hand, the guarantee that what you will need for tomorrow is, in essence, already yours because He's already got it for you. He's promised that "your strength will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25), that "His grace will always be sufficient for your situation" (2 Corinthians 12:9). He's promised that you can go anytime to His throne room and "find grace to help in your time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). He's promised that your "God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). There is no greater security than that. You have His Word on it. The Bible is full of promises like that.
Maybe you've been let down by others in the past, and maybe you're often anxious about whether you'll have what you need and you'll have it when you need it. With God as your Heavenly Father, with you as His child purchased with the life of His Son, that's unnecessary worry. And in a sense, it's an insult to the God you belong to. You are living with the greatest security in the world. You are living from hand to mouth. From His hand to your mouth, and what you need for tomorrow is as good as already in your hand.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Joshua 4, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 5
Heaven’s Solution
I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them.
John 17:13 (NCV)
What Jesus dreamed of doing and what he seemed able to do were separated by an impossible gulf. So Jesus prayed.
We don't know what he prayed about. But I have my guesses.... He prayed for the impossible to happen.
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he didn't ask for anything. Maybe he just stood quietly in the presence of Presence and basked in the Majesty. Perhaps he placed his war-weary self before the throne and rested.
Maybe he lifted his head out of the confusion of earth long enough to hear the solution of heaven. Perhaps he was reminded that hard hearts don't faze the Father. The problem people don't perturb the Eternal One.
From: In the Eye of the Storm
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1991)
Max Lucado
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
Psalm 139:1-10; Psalm 139:23-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 139:1-10
Listen to this passage
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
November 5, 2009
A Good Grooming
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 139:1-10, 23-24
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes. —Psalm 26:2-3
Our dog, Dolly, is a 7-year-old West Highland Terrier. She loves to dig in the dirt, which means she gets very dirty. We bathe her every week or so at home, but occasionally she gets so grimy and tangled that we have to take her to a professional groomer.
She used to hate to go to the groomer because the woman was always in a rush and inclined to be bad-tempered and harsh. Getting Dolly through the door was a struggle. Just the sight of the shop made her want to run away.
Last year we decided to try another groomer and discovered that our dog, though not always overjoyed at the prospect, was less reluctant to go. That’s because the groomer is kind to her even though she must wash Dolly thoroughly, causing discomfort.
When sin and defilement accumulate in our hearts, we need to be cleansed. Like the psalmist David, we must ask God to “examine” and “try” our minds and hearts, and to point out our wicked thoughts, attitudes, and ways (Ps. 139:23-24). Our Lord may cause discomfort, for exposure is often difficult, but we can approach Him without fear.
The Lord’s examination of us, though sometimes painful, is gentle and kind. — David H. Roper
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. —Orr
Repentance is the hurt that leads to healing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 5, 2009
Partakers of His Suffering
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19 ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
God's Strange Road to Power - #5954
Thursday, November 5, 2009
He's got a black belt in three different martial arts. That's the highest level of achievement in a martial art. Of course, I told him I have a black belt, too. I wear it with my dark suit. He didn't seem to be impressed by that, but I decided I definitely wanted him on my side. He told me that his training gives him the ability to fight back and defend himself from any position he's in - well, except one. That's face down on the ground. He said that is the one position in which he's totally powerless.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Strange Road to Power."
Being in a powerless position makes you so weak, so vulnerable, so unable to do anything about the situation. But it is also, in the strange ways of God, the most powerful position on earth. Just ask General Joshua from the book in the Old Testament that bears his name.
In Joshua 5, beginning with verse 13, Joshua is in what may be the most intimidating, potentially fearful situation of his life at that point. He has bravely led God's people into Canaan, only to be confronted with the massive walled city of Jericho, looming before God's people as a seemingly impossible obstacle between them and the land that God has promised. As their commanding General, Joshua has gone to scout out his mission impossible.
The Bible says: "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and he 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?' '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" - there it is. That's that position of total powerlessness - "and (he) asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?' 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."
Many Bible scholars believe that this Commander of the Lord's forces is actually the Son of God making one of several pre-Bethlehem appearances in Old Testament times. No angel would have accepted worship, and Joshua calls him "my Lord." And Joshua falls on the ground, facedown. This is a man who was very competent, very successful and skilled. He had never surrendered to anybody. But this day he surrenders, and it's going to be the secret of winning. From this moment of total surrender, of total powerlessness before the Lord comes God's unusual plan for conquering Jericho. But before there could be the conquest of Jericho, there had to be the conquest of Joshua.
And before there can be the conquest of the Jericho that looms before you right now, there must be the conquest of you. God allows things into our life that will bring us to the end of ourselves where all your experience, and your talent, your wisdom, your connections, and your persuasion are useless in getting an answer. God has brought you to this moment of total helplessness, not so you would give up, but so you would give over the controls to Him totally, unconditionally. There is no condition God can do more with than our admission of powerlessness. Now you're out of the way finally, and now you can see what God can do!
And as you stand facing the walls of a Jericho that you cannot possibly conquer, it's time for your unconditional surrender to your Lord. Admit your powerlessness. Don't be afraid to be broken. Often it's the breaking of a man that is the making of a man. Let God shine His holy light on the dark corners of you that you've never let Him touch. And tear up that contract you want God to sign; the one with all the ways you've wanted things to be. Give Him a blank piece of paper, pre-signed by you to do whatever He writes on it. You're at the end of your power and at the beginning of His. Surrendering is the way to winning, and powerlessness is the most powerful position in the world.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 5
Heaven’s Solution
I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them.
John 17:13 (NCV)
What Jesus dreamed of doing and what he seemed able to do were separated by an impossible gulf. So Jesus prayed.
We don't know what he prayed about. But I have my guesses.... He prayed for the impossible to happen.
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he didn't ask for anything. Maybe he just stood quietly in the presence of Presence and basked in the Majesty. Perhaps he placed his war-weary self before the throne and rested.
Maybe he lifted his head out of the confusion of earth long enough to hear the solution of heaven. Perhaps he was reminded that hard hearts don't faze the Father. The problem people don't perturb the Eternal One.
From: In the Eye of the Storm
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1991)
Max Lucado
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
Psalm 139:1-10; Psalm 139:23-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 139:1-10
Listen to this passage
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
November 5, 2009
A Good Grooming
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Psalm 139:1-10, 23-24
Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes. —Psalm 26:2-3
Our dog, Dolly, is a 7-year-old West Highland Terrier. She loves to dig in the dirt, which means she gets very dirty. We bathe her every week or so at home, but occasionally she gets so grimy and tangled that we have to take her to a professional groomer.
She used to hate to go to the groomer because the woman was always in a rush and inclined to be bad-tempered and harsh. Getting Dolly through the door was a struggle. Just the sight of the shop made her want to run away.
Last year we decided to try another groomer and discovered that our dog, though not always overjoyed at the prospect, was less reluctant to go. That’s because the groomer is kind to her even though she must wash Dolly thoroughly, causing discomfort.
When sin and defilement accumulate in our hearts, we need to be cleansed. Like the psalmist David, we must ask God to “examine” and “try” our minds and hearts, and to point out our wicked thoughts, attitudes, and ways (Ps. 139:23-24). Our Lord may cause discomfort, for exposure is often difficult, but we can approach Him without fear.
The Lord’s examination of us, though sometimes painful, is gentle and kind. — David H. Roper
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. —Orr
Repentance is the hurt that leads to healing.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 5, 2009
Partakers of His Suffering
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19 ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
God's Strange Road to Power - #5954
Thursday, November 5, 2009
He's got a black belt in three different martial arts. That's the highest level of achievement in a martial art. Of course, I told him I have a black belt, too. I wear it with my dark suit. He didn't seem to be impressed by that, but I decided I definitely wanted him on my side. He told me that his training gives him the ability to fight back and defend himself from any position he's in - well, except one. That's face down on the ground. He said that is the one position in which he's totally powerless.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Strange Road to Power."
Being in a powerless position makes you so weak, so vulnerable, so unable to do anything about the situation. But it is also, in the strange ways of God, the most powerful position on earth. Just ask General Joshua from the book in the Old Testament that bears his name.
In Joshua 5, beginning with verse 13, Joshua is in what may be the most intimidating, potentially fearful situation of his life at that point. He has bravely led God's people into Canaan, only to be confronted with the massive walled city of Jericho, looming before God's people as a seemingly impossible obstacle between them and the land that God has promised. As their commanding General, Joshua has gone to scout out his mission impossible.
The Bible says: "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and he 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?' '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" - there it is. That's that position of total powerlessness - "and (he) asked him, 'What message does my Lord have for his servant?' 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."
Many Bible scholars believe that this Commander of the Lord's forces is actually the Son of God making one of several pre-Bethlehem appearances in Old Testament times. No angel would have accepted worship, and Joshua calls him "my Lord." And Joshua falls on the ground, facedown. This is a man who was very competent, very successful and skilled. He had never surrendered to anybody. But this day he surrenders, and it's going to be the secret of winning. From this moment of total surrender, of total powerlessness before the Lord comes God's unusual plan for conquering Jericho. But before there could be the conquest of Jericho, there had to be the conquest of Joshua.
And before there can be the conquest of the Jericho that looms before you right now, there must be the conquest of you. God allows things into our life that will bring us to the end of ourselves where all your experience, and your talent, your wisdom, your connections, and your persuasion are useless in getting an answer. God has brought you to this moment of total helplessness, not so you would give up, but so you would give over the controls to Him totally, unconditionally. There is no condition God can do more with than our admission of powerlessness. Now you're out of the way finally, and now you can see what God can do!
And as you stand facing the walls of a Jericho that you cannot possibly conquer, it's time for your unconditional surrender to your Lord. Admit your powerlessness. Don't be afraid to be broken. Often it's the breaking of a man that is the making of a man. Let God shine His holy light on the dark corners of you that you've never let Him touch. And tear up that contract you want God to sign; the one with all the ways you've wanted things to be. Give Him a blank piece of paper, pre-signed by you to do whatever He writes on it. You're at the end of your power and at the beginning of His. Surrendering is the way to winning, and powerlessness is the most powerful position in the world.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Joshua 3, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 4
God Gets Into Our Lives
I do not live anymore--it is Christ who lives in me.
Galatians 2:20 (NCV)
You have leaves to rake. A steering wheel to grip. A neighbor's hand to shake. Simply put, you have things to do.
So does God. Babies need hugs. Children need good-night tucks. AIDS orphans need homes. Stressed-out executives need hope. God has work to do. And he uses our hands to do it.
What the hand is to the glove, the Spirit is to the Christian....God gets into us. At times, imperceptibly. Other times, disruptively. God gets his fingers into our lives, inch by inch reclaiming the territory that is rightfully his.
Your tongue. He claims it for his message.
Your feet. He requisitions them for his purpose.
Your mind? He made it and intends to use it for his glory.
Your eyes, face, and hands? Through them he will weep, smile, and touch.
From: Come Thirsty
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2004)
Max Lucado
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
Galatians 6:7-10 (New International Version)
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
November 4, 2009
Seeds And Faith
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 6:7-10
Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. —Galatians 6:7
I read a fable about a man who was browsing in a store when he made the shocking discovery that God was behind a sales counter. So the man walked over and asked, “What are You selling?” God replied, “What does your heart desire?” The man said, “I want happiness, peace of mind, and freedom from fear . . . for me and the whole world.” God smiled and said, “I don’t sell fruit here. Only seeds.”
In Galatians 6, Paul stressed the importance of sowing seeds of God-honoring behavior, for “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (v.7). We can’t expect to experience the fruit of God’s blessings if we don’t recognize the importance of doing our part.
It helps to follow the example of others who have sown good seed. Author Samuel Shoemaker said that a good example can either inspire us or cause us to say, “Oh yes, he (or she) is like that. He is not troubled by temper or nerves or impatience or worry as I am; he is just a happier temperament.” Shoemaker continued, “It may not occur to us that perhaps he had to fight for his serenity, and that we might win if we would do the same.”
Are you weary of the way you are? Ask God for His help and begin sowing seeds of new actions and responses today. In due season the Spirit will give the increase. — Joanie Yoder
We’re always sowing seeds in life
By everything we do and say,
So let’s make sure the fruit we reap
Comes from the good we do each day. —Hess
The seeds we sow today determine the kind of fruit we’ll reap tomorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 4, 2009
The Authority of Truth
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. "Come to Me . . ." ( Matthew 11:28 ). His word come means "to act." Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unseen, Unbeatable Security - #5953
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Because of my strong connection to Native Americans, I was especially interested in a story author Leonard Sweet told in a book of his. It's about a rite of passage that one tribe had for its boys when they turned 13. On that birthday, a warrior blindfolded the boy and took him several miles from camp. The warrior then took off the blindfold and left this young teenager in this dark, dense forest. The young man was expected to stay there for the night and fend for himself. When it got dark, it got really dark. The trees were so dense he couldn't see the moon or the stars. Oh, but he could sure hear those eerie sounds of the wind, the howls of the wild animals nearby, and the rustling of the leaves that sounded like an approaching enemy. For most boys, it was a night without sleep. And then the dawn began to break. And the young man could then see the forest as it really was; the flowers blooming, the majestic trees swaying in the wind, and the wildlife scurrying around for food. And then, the biggest surprise of all. The boy would see an imposing male figure, standing in the woods only a few yards away. He'd be startled at first, until he recognized the man. Unbeknownst to this frightened young warrior, his father had been there the whole time, ready to protect his son against anything that might harm him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unseen, Unbeatable Security."
A father who's there even when you're unaware of His presence and His protection; a father who can defend you against anything that comes against you. Now that is security. And in an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable world, security is hard to come by. With all the unsettling possibilities on the road ahead of you - medically, financially, relationally - even the end of your life whenever it comes. A strong protector who will never leave you is something worth hoping for; worth searching for.
There is such a Father. He created you, and His heart's desire for you is to have an intimate love relationship with Him. A love you can never lose. Listen to His promise to those who belong to Him in Isaiah 43, verses 1-3, "This is what the Lord says: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned...for I am the Lord, your God." If the Lord is your God, you have that ironclad security, from here, through every dark and lonely stretch of your life, and all way to eternity.
But without an act of God, we can't belong to Him. In the words of Ephesians 2:12, we are "without God and without hope in this world." We're without God because we've basically turned our back on Him so we could do with our life what we wanted to do, which means we're infected with sin - which God can't touch and heaven can't allow. But because of His great love for you, God launched a rescue mission on your behalf. He sent His Son, Jesus, as the Bible says, "to carry our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). And now He makes this promise, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Isn't it time you surrendered the controls of your life and turned them over to the one who should have been in charge all along? Aren't you ready for some unloseable security - the kind that only a Heavenly Father can give you? One who gave His Son for you? Then tell Him that: "God, I've lived long enough without You in my heart. I'm putting all my trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross and I am giving me to You."
If that's what you want, then I want to encourage you with a place where a lot of people have found their roadmap to this personal relationship with God. It's our website. It's YoursForLife.net. I urge you to go there as soon as you can today.
No more fear of abandonment. No more fear of the unknown. No matter how dark, no matter how lonely, you will have a Father watching over you who has promised He'll never leave you. For all the days of your life, for all eternity, you'll be safe.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 4
God Gets Into Our Lives
I do not live anymore--it is Christ who lives in me.
Galatians 2:20 (NCV)
You have leaves to rake. A steering wheel to grip. A neighbor's hand to shake. Simply put, you have things to do.
So does God. Babies need hugs. Children need good-night tucks. AIDS orphans need homes. Stressed-out executives need hope. God has work to do. And he uses our hands to do it.
What the hand is to the glove, the Spirit is to the Christian....God gets into us. At times, imperceptibly. Other times, disruptively. God gets his fingers into our lives, inch by inch reclaiming the territory that is rightfully his.
Your tongue. He claims it for his message.
Your feet. He requisitions them for his purpose.
Your mind? He made it and intends to use it for his glory.
Your eyes, face, and hands? Through them he will weep, smile, and touch.
From: Come Thirsty
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2004)
Max Lucado
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
Galatians 6:7-10 (New International Version)
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
November 4, 2009
Seeds And Faith
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Galatians 6:7-10
Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. —Galatians 6:7
I read a fable about a man who was browsing in a store when he made the shocking discovery that God was behind a sales counter. So the man walked over and asked, “What are You selling?” God replied, “What does your heart desire?” The man said, “I want happiness, peace of mind, and freedom from fear . . . for me and the whole world.” God smiled and said, “I don’t sell fruit here. Only seeds.”
In Galatians 6, Paul stressed the importance of sowing seeds of God-honoring behavior, for “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (v.7). We can’t expect to experience the fruit of God’s blessings if we don’t recognize the importance of doing our part.
It helps to follow the example of others who have sown good seed. Author Samuel Shoemaker said that a good example can either inspire us or cause us to say, “Oh yes, he (or she) is like that. He is not troubled by temper or nerves or impatience or worry as I am; he is just a happier temperament.” Shoemaker continued, “It may not occur to us that perhaps he had to fight for his serenity, and that we might win if we would do the same.”
Are you weary of the way you are? Ask God for His help and begin sowing seeds of new actions and responses today. In due season the Spirit will give the increase. — Joanie Yoder
We’re always sowing seeds in life
By everything we do and say,
So let’s make sure the fruit we reap
Comes from the good we do each day. —Hess
The seeds we sow today determine the kind of fruit we’ll reap tomorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 4, 2009
The Authority of Truth
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. "Come to Me . . ." ( Matthew 11:28 ). His word come means "to act." Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unseen, Unbeatable Security - #5953
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Because of my strong connection to Native Americans, I was especially interested in a story author Leonard Sweet told in a book of his. It's about a rite of passage that one tribe had for its boys when they turned 13. On that birthday, a warrior blindfolded the boy and took him several miles from camp. The warrior then took off the blindfold and left this young teenager in this dark, dense forest. The young man was expected to stay there for the night and fend for himself. When it got dark, it got really dark. The trees were so dense he couldn't see the moon or the stars. Oh, but he could sure hear those eerie sounds of the wind, the howls of the wild animals nearby, and the rustling of the leaves that sounded like an approaching enemy. For most boys, it was a night without sleep. And then the dawn began to break. And the young man could then see the forest as it really was; the flowers blooming, the majestic trees swaying in the wind, and the wildlife scurrying around for food. And then, the biggest surprise of all. The boy would see an imposing male figure, standing in the woods only a few yards away. He'd be startled at first, until he recognized the man. Unbeknownst to this frightened young warrior, his father had been there the whole time, ready to protect his son against anything that might harm him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unseen, Unbeatable Security."
A father who's there even when you're unaware of His presence and His protection; a father who can defend you against anything that comes against you. Now that is security. And in an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable world, security is hard to come by. With all the unsettling possibilities on the road ahead of you - medically, financially, relationally - even the end of your life whenever it comes. A strong protector who will never leave you is something worth hoping for; worth searching for.
There is such a Father. He created you, and His heart's desire for you is to have an intimate love relationship with Him. A love you can never lose. Listen to His promise to those who belong to Him in Isaiah 43, verses 1-3, "This is what the Lord says: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned...for I am the Lord, your God." If the Lord is your God, you have that ironclad security, from here, through every dark and lonely stretch of your life, and all way to eternity.
But without an act of God, we can't belong to Him. In the words of Ephesians 2:12, we are "without God and without hope in this world." We're without God because we've basically turned our back on Him so we could do with our life what we wanted to do, which means we're infected with sin - which God can't touch and heaven can't allow. But because of His great love for you, God launched a rescue mission on your behalf. He sent His Son, Jesus, as the Bible says, "to carry our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). And now He makes this promise, "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Isn't it time you surrendered the controls of your life and turned them over to the one who should have been in charge all along? Aren't you ready for some unloseable security - the kind that only a Heavenly Father can give you? One who gave His Son for you? Then tell Him that: "God, I've lived long enough without You in my heart. I'm putting all my trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross and I am giving me to You."
If that's what you want, then I want to encourage you with a place where a lot of people have found their roadmap to this personal relationship with God. It's our website. It's YoursForLife.net. I urge you to go there as soon as you can today.
No more fear of abandonment. No more fear of the unknown. No matter how dark, no matter how lonely, you will have a Father watching over you who has promised He'll never leave you. For all the days of your life, for all eternity, you'll be safe.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Joshua 2, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 3
Because of Our Need
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:17 (NCV)
Can you imagine prospective parents saying, "We'd like to adopt Johnny, but first we want to know a few things. Does he have a house to live in? Does he have money for tuition? Does he have a ride to school every morning and clothes to wear every day? Can he prepare his own meals and mend his own clothes?"
No agency would stand for such talk. Its representative would lift her hand and say, "Wait a minute. You don't understand. You don't adopt Johnny because of what he has; you adopt him because of what he needs. He needs a home."
The same is true with God. He doesn't adopt us because of what we have. He doesn't give us his name because of our wit or wallet or good attitude.... Adoption is something we receive, not something we earn.
From: The Great House of God
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1997)
Max Lucado
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
Proverbs 9
Invitations of Wisdom and of Folly
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn out its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls
from the highest point of the city.
4 "Let all who are simple come in here!"
she says to those who lack judgment.
5 "Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of understanding.
7 "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through me your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
November 3, 2009
Helped By Fear
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Proverbs 9:1-12
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. —Proverbs 9:10
Fear means different things to different people. To professional golfer Padraig Harrington, it is a motivator to help him perform his very best. In 2008, when he won both the British Open and the PGA Championship, Harrington said, “Yes, fear is a big part of me. I’d like to say that I have all the trust and patience and I’m relaxed. No, that’s not my makeup. [Fear] pushes me on. Keeps me getting to the gym. I have to work with it and use it.”
Maybe it’s the fear of failure, or the fear of losing his edge, but Harrington finds fear to be a useful thing in his professional life.
The follower of Christ can also be helped by fear. We are challenged in the Scriptures to a reverential fear of God, which is the best type of fear that there is. It causes us to be concerned about disobeying Him or living in opposition to His ways. It’s being in awe of our great God, bowing to His perfect will, and seeking His wisdom for living. To that end, the proverb declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).
By fearing God rightly, we can live wisely in an uncertain world. — Bill Crowder
God dwells in light and holiness,
In splendor and in might;
And godly fear of His great power
Can help us do what’s right. —D. De Haan
Fear God, and you’ll have nothing else to fear.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 3, 2009
A Bondservant of Jesus
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READ:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, ". . . for My sake" ( Matthew 5:11 ). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ."
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Shaking the Snake That Stalks You - #5952
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The more I've learned about eagles, the more amazing I find them to be. They mate for life, they build nests that will last a lifetime, and they ride the storm instead of hiding from the storm. There's really only one enemy that is a serious danger to the eagle - a snake. That snake will attempt to climb wherever the eagle nest is and attack the inhabitants, especially the little eagles. But pity the poor snake that gets caught by Mama or Papa Eagle. They will show the serpent no mercy! They may pick it up with their beak and violently shake it to death. Or, better yet, they will pick it up in their talons, take off high into the air, and drop that snake to its death on the rocks below. They are not about to let that serpent have what he came for.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shaking the Snake That Stalks You."
It's no wonder the Bible encourages us to take note of "the way of an eagle" (Proverbs 30:19). The eagle shows the serpent no mercy and makes that serpent sorry he's ever attacked you. Like that eagle, we have a serpent that's trying to strike out at us. The devil's first appearance to humans came in the form of a snake in the Garden of Eden. In the last book of the Bible, God still calls him "that ancient serpent called the devil" (Revelation 11:9).
You may or not believe in the devil, but either way he's actively trying to ruin your life. In fact, he likes it better when you don't believe in him. You won't fight an enemy you don't even know is there. But those who anchor their life to the Word of God have no excuse for being blind to what the evil prince is up to. 1 Peter 5:8 describes him as "a roaring lion" who "prowls around...looking for someone to devour." Then it tells us what to do with him, "Resist him!"
Unfortunately, we're not always as smart as the eagles. If that old serpent pushes the right buttons - the same old buttons he's always pushed to bring you down - we actually go along with him! So much of our hurt, and heartache; the shame of your life and mine is because we've given into his subtle promptings and to his sinful opportunities. But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you belong to the One the Bible says came "to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8).
So show him no mercy when he comes crawling toward you; when he comes crawling toward your nest. In the words of Ephesians 6:13, "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Remember, Satan has no power over you except what you let him have! And every temptation the devil brings into your life is to do one of three things. Jesus said that, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10). Why in the world would you go along with any of those?
The next time the serpent comes your way, the Bible says, "Resist him." "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this again!" That's how you stand up to him. You claim the victory that Jesus Christ won over Satan when He died on the cross. Take your stand! Go to your Savior and unleash Jesus on that serpent. No compromise. No giving in. No accommodation.
Like the eagle, make that old serpent sorry that he ever got close to your nest!
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 3
Because of Our Need
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:17 (NCV)
Can you imagine prospective parents saying, "We'd like to adopt Johnny, but first we want to know a few things. Does he have a house to live in? Does he have money for tuition? Does he have a ride to school every morning and clothes to wear every day? Can he prepare his own meals and mend his own clothes?"
No agency would stand for such talk. Its representative would lift her hand and say, "Wait a minute. You don't understand. You don't adopt Johnny because of what he has; you adopt him because of what he needs. He needs a home."
The same is true with God. He doesn't adopt us because of what we have. He doesn't give us his name because of our wit or wallet or good attitude.... Adoption is something we receive, not something we earn.
From: The Great House of God
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1997)
Max Lucado
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
Proverbs 9
Invitations of Wisdom and of Folly
1 Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn out its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls
from the highest point of the city.
4 "Let all who are simple come in here!"
she says to those who lack judgment.
5 "Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of understanding.
7 "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through me your days will be many,
and years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
November 3, 2009
Helped By Fear
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Proverbs 9:1-12
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. —Proverbs 9:10
Fear means different things to different people. To professional golfer Padraig Harrington, it is a motivator to help him perform his very best. In 2008, when he won both the British Open and the PGA Championship, Harrington said, “Yes, fear is a big part of me. I’d like to say that I have all the trust and patience and I’m relaxed. No, that’s not my makeup. [Fear] pushes me on. Keeps me getting to the gym. I have to work with it and use it.”
Maybe it’s the fear of failure, or the fear of losing his edge, but Harrington finds fear to be a useful thing in his professional life.
The follower of Christ can also be helped by fear. We are challenged in the Scriptures to a reverential fear of God, which is the best type of fear that there is. It causes us to be concerned about disobeying Him or living in opposition to His ways. It’s being in awe of our great God, bowing to His perfect will, and seeking His wisdom for living. To that end, the proverb declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10).
By fearing God rightly, we can live wisely in an uncertain world. — Bill Crowder
God dwells in light and holiness,
In splendor and in might;
And godly fear of His great power
Can help us do what’s right. —D. De Haan
Fear God, and you’ll have nothing else to fear.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 3, 2009
A Bondservant of Jesus
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, ". . . for My sake" ( Matthew 5:11 ). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ."
The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Shaking the Snake That Stalks You - #5952
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The more I've learned about eagles, the more amazing I find them to be. They mate for life, they build nests that will last a lifetime, and they ride the storm instead of hiding from the storm. There's really only one enemy that is a serious danger to the eagle - a snake. That snake will attempt to climb wherever the eagle nest is and attack the inhabitants, especially the little eagles. But pity the poor snake that gets caught by Mama or Papa Eagle. They will show the serpent no mercy! They may pick it up with their beak and violently shake it to death. Or, better yet, they will pick it up in their talons, take off high into the air, and drop that snake to its death on the rocks below. They are not about to let that serpent have what he came for.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shaking the Snake That Stalks You."
It's no wonder the Bible encourages us to take note of "the way of an eagle" (Proverbs 30:19). The eagle shows the serpent no mercy and makes that serpent sorry he's ever attacked you. Like that eagle, we have a serpent that's trying to strike out at us. The devil's first appearance to humans came in the form of a snake in the Garden of Eden. In the last book of the Bible, God still calls him "that ancient serpent called the devil" (Revelation 11:9).
You may or not believe in the devil, but either way he's actively trying to ruin your life. In fact, he likes it better when you don't believe in him. You won't fight an enemy you don't even know is there. But those who anchor their life to the Word of God have no excuse for being blind to what the evil prince is up to. 1 Peter 5:8 describes him as "a roaring lion" who "prowls around...looking for someone to devour." Then it tells us what to do with him, "Resist him!"
Unfortunately, we're not always as smart as the eagles. If that old serpent pushes the right buttons - the same old buttons he's always pushed to bring you down - we actually go along with him! So much of our hurt, and heartache; the shame of your life and mine is because we've given into his subtle promptings and to his sinful opportunities. But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you belong to the One the Bible says came "to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8).
So show him no mercy when he comes crawling toward you; when he comes crawling toward your nest. In the words of Ephesians 6:13, "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Remember, Satan has no power over you except what you let him have! And every temptation the devil brings into your life is to do one of three things. Jesus said that, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10). Why in the world would you go along with any of those?
The next time the serpent comes your way, the Bible says, "Resist him." "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this again!" That's how you stand up to him. You claim the victory that Jesus Christ won over Satan when He died on the cross. Take your stand! Go to your Savior and unleash Jesus on that serpent. No compromise. No giving in. No accommodation.
Like the eagle, make that old serpent sorry that he ever got close to your nest!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Joshua 1, bible reading and devotions
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 2
Finding Good in the Bad
Wish good for those who harm you; wish them well and do not curse them.
Romans 12:14 (NCV)
It would be hard to find someone worse than Judas. Some say he was a good man with a backfired strategy. I don't buy that. The Bible says, "Judas . . . was a thief" (John 12:6). The man was a crook. Somehow he was able to live in the presence of God and experience the miracles of Christ and remain unchanged. In the end he decided he'd rather have money than a friend, so he sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. . . . Judas was a scoundrel, a cheat, and a bum. How could anyone see him any other way?
I don't know, but Jesus did. Only inches from the face of his betrayer, Jesus looked at him and said, "Friend, do what you came to do" (Matt. 26:50). What Jesus saw in Judas as worthy of being called a friend, I can't imagine. But I do know that Jesus doesn't lie, and in that moment he saw something good in a very bad man. . . .
He can help us do the same with those who hurt us.
From: Just Like Jesus
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1998)
Max Lucado
Joshua 1
The LORD Commands Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 3:19-29 (New International Version)
19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[a] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Sons of God
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
November 2, 2009
Prisoners Of Sin
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READ: Galatians 3:19-29
The Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. —Galatians 3:22
A 2008 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said, “At any given time there are more than 10 million people imprisoned worldwide.” Since some prisoners are being released while new ones are being sentenced every day, there are more than 30 million total prisoners worldwide each year. Statistics like these have caused many people to work for prison reform and a reexamination of sentencing laws.
From a spiritual perspective, the Bible offers an even more staggering statistic: “The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin” (Gal. 3:22 niv). In what is sometimes considered a difficult passage to understand, Paul says that although the Old Testament law could not impart life (v.21), it was an effective teacher in showing us that we need a Savior who can give life (v.24). The bad news is that “the Scripture has confined all under sin,” and the good news is “that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (v.22).
When we give our lives to Christ, who has fulfilled the requirements of the law, we are no longer imprisoned by sin. Instead, we enter a fellowship of people from every nationality and social status.
In Christ, we are free indeed! — David C. McCasland
The law reveals the mind of God,
The prophets too made clear His will;
But Christ alone brings life and peace,
His words our deepest needs fulfill. —D. De Haan
Deliverance from sin is the greatest of all freedoms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 2, 2009
Obedience or Independence?
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READ:
If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an "If," meaning, "You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so." "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . ." ( Luke 9:23 ). In other words, "To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me." Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26 ). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Waiting for Your Father - #5951
Monday, November 2, 2009
I had promised to take my three-year-old grandson out to lunch, and apparently he was really looking forward to it. Here's how I know that. He was ready a few minutes early, and I was a few minutes late. As I was about to leave, an e-mail came through with a picture of him that had just been taken. It broke my heart. It showed the back of our little guy as he sat on the floor in the doorway, looking down the stairs expectantly, propping the door open with one foot. I made record time driving to his house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting for Your Father."
That picture is etched on my heart! As I looked at it later, I thought about how that is, in a way, the picture of the lives of many people - maybe you. They're sitting at the door, waiting; not for a grandfather, but for a father. And they've been waiting a long time. No one has come to be the father-person in their heart that they've yearned for so long.
Some have been so disappointed, either by the father they had or the father they didn't have, that they've just let their hurt turn hard so they don't get hurt anymore. Others have become desperate, trying all kinds of relationships and experiences to fill the hole that only a father can fill, and they've ended up with scars and regrets and still no father. You see, there's that special kind of loneliness, of emptiness, of loss when you've been waiting a long time at the door for that father who's never come. The father you need most, though, has come, and He's coming your direction this very day.
The God of the universe, who Jesus said we can call "Our Father in heaven," says in Psalm 68:5 that He is "a father to the fatherless." He's also a father to those who have a father, because no human father can possibly meet all the deepest needs of our heart. In our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the kind of relationship He wants to have with you. We're at 2 Corinthians 6:18, "'I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." Let those words sink into your soul, "I will be a Father to you." Not like the father you've had, but like the father you've always wished you had; that you needed to have. God is that Father, and He desires to have you as His son, His daughter, by spiritual birth into His family.
The problem is that God is sinless and holy totally perfect. And you and I, on the other hand, have a lifetime of sinning; of doing it our way instead of God's way. You can't get into His family unless something is done about your sin, and something has been done. In fact, God did it. That's how much He loves you and He does not want to lose you. He sent His Son, Jesus, to take your place, to take your punishment for your sin. He was doing your spiritual death penalty when He died on that cross, so you could be born into the family of the father you were made for - who you have looked for so long.
Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except by Me" (John 14:6). You enter God's family the moment you give yourself completely to Jesus Christ, telling Him you don't want to do the things that God is against anymore. Telling Him, "I'm Yours, Jesus." At that moment, every barrier between you and God is gone, and the God of the universe becomes your Heavenly Father. There's nothing like it. This is life's most awesome, most important relationship.
Our website is there to help you be sure that the wall between you and God is gone; that you belong to Jesus, and God is your Heavenly Daddy. Would you go to our website as soon as you can today? It's YoursForLife.net.
You've been looking and waiting for your father long enough. The ultimate Father has come to you, right where you are, to bring you into His family. Don't miss Him.
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 2
Finding Good in the Bad
Wish good for those who harm you; wish them well and do not curse them.
Romans 12:14 (NCV)
It would be hard to find someone worse than Judas. Some say he was a good man with a backfired strategy. I don't buy that. The Bible says, "Judas . . . was a thief" (John 12:6). The man was a crook. Somehow he was able to live in the presence of God and experience the miracles of Christ and remain unchanged. In the end he decided he'd rather have money than a friend, so he sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. . . . Judas was a scoundrel, a cheat, and a bum. How could anyone see him any other way?
I don't know, but Jesus did. Only inches from the face of his betrayer, Jesus looked at him and said, "Friend, do what you came to do" (Matt. 26:50). What Jesus saw in Judas as worthy of being called a friend, I can't imagine. But I do know that Jesus doesn't lie, and in that moment he saw something good in a very bad man. . . .
He can help us do the same with those who hurt us.
From: Just Like Jesus
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1998)
Max Lucado
Joshua 1
The LORD Commands Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."
16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Galatians 3:19-29 (New International Version)
19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ[a] that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Sons of God
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
November 2, 2009
Prisoners Of Sin
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READ: Galatians 3:19-29
The Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. —Galatians 3:22
A 2008 report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said, “At any given time there are more than 10 million people imprisoned worldwide.” Since some prisoners are being released while new ones are being sentenced every day, there are more than 30 million total prisoners worldwide each year. Statistics like these have caused many people to work for prison reform and a reexamination of sentencing laws.
From a spiritual perspective, the Bible offers an even more staggering statistic: “The Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin” (Gal. 3:22 niv). In what is sometimes considered a difficult passage to understand, Paul says that although the Old Testament law could not impart life (v.21), it was an effective teacher in showing us that we need a Savior who can give life (v.24). The bad news is that “the Scripture has confined all under sin,” and the good news is “that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (v.22).
When we give our lives to Christ, who has fulfilled the requirements of the law, we are no longer imprisoned by sin. Instead, we enter a fellowship of people from every nationality and social status.
In Christ, we are free indeed! — David C. McCasland
The law reveals the mind of God,
The prophets too made clear His will;
But Christ alone brings life and peace,
His words our deepest needs fulfill. —D. De Haan
Deliverance from sin is the greatest of all freedoms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 2, 2009
Obedience or Independence?
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READ:
If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an "If," meaning, "You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so." "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . ." ( Luke 9:23 ). In other words, "To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me." Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26 ). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Waiting for Your Father - #5951
Monday, November 2, 2009
I had promised to take my three-year-old grandson out to lunch, and apparently he was really looking forward to it. Here's how I know that. He was ready a few minutes early, and I was a few minutes late. As I was about to leave, an e-mail came through with a picture of him that had just been taken. It broke my heart. It showed the back of our little guy as he sat on the floor in the doorway, looking down the stairs expectantly, propping the door open with one foot. I made record time driving to his house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Waiting for Your Father."
That picture is etched on my heart! As I looked at it later, I thought about how that is, in a way, the picture of the lives of many people - maybe you. They're sitting at the door, waiting; not for a grandfather, but for a father. And they've been waiting a long time. No one has come to be the father-person in their heart that they've yearned for so long.
Some have been so disappointed, either by the father they had or the father they didn't have, that they've just let their hurt turn hard so they don't get hurt anymore. Others have become desperate, trying all kinds of relationships and experiences to fill the hole that only a father can fill, and they've ended up with scars and regrets and still no father. You see, there's that special kind of loneliness, of emptiness, of loss when you've been waiting a long time at the door for that father who's never come. The father you need most, though, has come, and He's coming your direction this very day.
The God of the universe, who Jesus said we can call "Our Father in heaven," says in Psalm 68:5 that He is "a father to the fatherless." He's also a father to those who have a father, because no human father can possibly meet all the deepest needs of our heart. In our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the kind of relationship He wants to have with you. We're at 2 Corinthians 6:18, "'I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." Let those words sink into your soul, "I will be a Father to you." Not like the father you've had, but like the father you've always wished you had; that you needed to have. God is that Father, and He desires to have you as His son, His daughter, by spiritual birth into His family.
The problem is that God is sinless and holy totally perfect. And you and I, on the other hand, have a lifetime of sinning; of doing it our way instead of God's way. You can't get into His family unless something is done about your sin, and something has been done. In fact, God did it. That's how much He loves you and He does not want to lose you. He sent His Son, Jesus, to take your place, to take your punishment for your sin. He was doing your spiritual death penalty when He died on that cross, so you could be born into the family of the father you were made for - who you have looked for so long.
Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except by Me" (John 14:6). You enter God's family the moment you give yourself completely to Jesus Christ, telling Him you don't want to do the things that God is against anymore. Telling Him, "I'm Yours, Jesus." At that moment, every barrier between you and God is gone, and the God of the universe becomes your Heavenly Father. There's nothing like it. This is life's most awesome, most important relationship.
Our website is there to help you be sure that the wall between you and God is gone; that you belong to Jesus, and God is your Heavenly Daddy. Would you go to our website as soon as you can today? It's YoursForLife.net.
You've been looking and waiting for your father long enough. The ultimate Father has come to you, right where you are, to bring you into His family. Don't miss Him.
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