Max Lucado Daily: He Will Get You Home
“I have not lost any of the ones you gave me.” John 18:9
Satan falls in the presence of Christ . . . Satan is powerless against the protection of Christ.
When Jesus says he will keep you safe, he means it. Hell will have to get through him to get to you. Jesus is able to protect you. When he says he will get you home, he will get you home.
1 Samuel 8
Israel Asks for a King
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.[c] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead[d] us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[e] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Exodus 5:1-14,22-23
Bricks Without Straw
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”
6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”
10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”
From Bad To Worse
Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn
I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians . . . and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. —Exodus 6:6
It happened again. I got the urge to clean my office. Before I could resist, I had created an even bigger mess than I started with. One pile turned into many piles when I started sorting books, papers, and magazines. As the mess mushroomed, I lamented that I had started. But there was no going back.
When God recruited Moses to rescue the Hebrews from slavery, their situation went from bad to worse as well. There was no doubt that the job needed to be done. The people had been crying out to God to help them (Ex. 2:23). Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Moses agreed to appeal to Pharaoh on behalf of the Hebrews. The encounter did not go well. Instead of releasing the people, Pharaoh increased his unreasonable demands. Moses questioned whether he should have started (5:22-23). Only after a lot more trouble for a lot of people did Pharaoh let the people leave.
Whenever we set out to do something good, even when we’re certain that God wants us to do it, we shouldn’t be surprised when the situation gets worse before it gets better. This doesn’t prove that we’re doing the wrong thing; it just reminds us that we need God to accomplish everything. —Julie Ackerman Link
There is only One who knows
All the answers to my woes;
He will all my needs supply
When in faith to Him I cry. —Morgan
The supreme need in every hour of difficulty is a vision of God. —G. C. Morgan
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 25th, 2011
The "Go" of Preparation
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift—Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “. . . go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. . . .” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
1 Samuel 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Put On Christ
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27 NKJV
You read it right. We have “put on” Christ. When God looks at us He doesn’t see us; He sees Christ. We “wear” Him. We are hidden in Him; we are covered by Him. As the songs says, “Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”
Presumptuous, you say? Sacrilegious? It would be if it were my idea. But it isn’t; it’s His.
1 Samuel 7
1 So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. 2 The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD. 3 So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the LORD for you.” 6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Now Samuel was serving as leader[a] of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[b] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. 14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 96
1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Serious Business
September 23, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously. —Psalm 96:10
Recently I was called for jury duty. It meant extraordinary inconvenience and lots of lost time, but it was also serious business. During the first day’s orientation, the judge lectured us on the responsibility at hand and the important nature of the task. We were going to sit in judgment of people who either had disputes (civil court) or were charged with crimes (criminal court). I felt a great sense of inadequacy for the task at hand. Passing judgment on another person, with serious life consequences riding on the decision, is not a simple thing. Because we’re flawed human beings, we may not always make the right judgments.
While the justice systems of our world might struggle and falter because of the inherent failings of the humans that manage them, we can always trust our God to excel in wisdom and fairness. The psalmist sang, “The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously” (Ps. 96:10). God judges according to righteousness—defined by His own perfect justice and flawless character.
We can trust God now when life seems unfair, knowing that He will one day make all things right in His final court (2 Cor. 5:10).
The best of judges on this earth
Aren’t always right or fair;
But God, the righteous Judge of all,
Wrongs no one in His care. —Egner
One day God will right every wrong.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24th, 2011
The Missionary’s Goal
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?”. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . .” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”
“. . . there they crucified Him . . .” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ “
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Someone Talked - #6445
Friday, September 23, 2011
Some years ago for my wife's birthday, she was given a gift of dinner at a restaurant that is themed to look like an Air Force base during World War II. So we went out to dinner because it was a gift and we had a great time, and everybody there kind of gets into the atmosphere.
You know, the dress is appropriate. They're wearing Red Cross aprons there like army nurses. And the music is 1940s music, and all the decorations are '40s and sort of World War II things. So when I told our boys we went to a restaurant that was set in the time that we were born, they said, "Oh, the Civil War?" Oh boy! No, that wasn't the war! It was World War II, boys.
Well, the posters on the wall reminded G.I.s of that generation not to talk about troop movements, assignments, schedules, and their destination. In fact during World War II the motto was, "Loose lips sink ships." And that's true. If word got out to the enemy, even indirectly where the troop movements were going to be, it could very well be that that carrier would be torpedoed or hit by a Kamikaze and it could cost many lives.
I'll tell you, I saw this one poster in the restaurant that has haunted me ever since. It was a drawing of a G.I. drowning in the ocean. He's just barely got his head above water. He's desperately pointing one finger toward us and saying two words, "Someone talked." Boy, that was heavy. Someone had and he was the victim of someone's loose lips. Well, that war is long over, but loose lips? Oh, they're still causing fatalities.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Talked."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Proverbs 18:21. It's a short statement, it's a powerful statement, it's a convicting statement, "The tongue has the power of life and death." That's an awesome power described in the Word of God that you can, with a few words, deeply wound another person. In a sense, you can emotionally sink them or kill them. You can with a few words ruin a reputation, destroy a close relationship, maybe ruin your own reputation, or leave a scar on somebody that may never heal.
I can still see the desperate image of that drowning G.I. shouting, "Someone talked!" Could it be that you've sunk another person because you talked? You talked too much, you talked too critically. Think of the damage we do when we disobey Jesus' command to take our problems only to the person we have the problem with. Maybe we've spread the poison to other people and we've victimized our brother with our loose lips; the gossip about another person that marks their most precious possession, their reputation; those critical words spoken behind someone's back; those angry words that were spoken to someone's face.
We can sink people's lives with our words. World War II G.I.s were warned not to say the things they could say, because they were wanting to save lives. See, that's still an important warning and maybe it's a time for us to pray as the Holy Spirit points this out inside us, "Lord, help me to stop this tongue of mine before more hurting words come out." "The tongue has the power of life and death."
Loose lips do sink ships and people. May we never be the guilty party to the sinking of another person. To be that someone who talked. That someone who knew better.
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27 NKJV
You read it right. We have “put on” Christ. When God looks at us He doesn’t see us; He sees Christ. We “wear” Him. We are hidden in Him; we are covered by Him. As the songs says, “Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”
Presumptuous, you say? Sacrilegious? It would be if it were my idea. But it isn’t; it’s His.
1 Samuel 7
1 So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. 2 The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the LORD. 3 So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the LORD for you.” 6 When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Now Samuel was serving as leader[a] of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,[b] saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines. 14 The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 96
1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Serious Business
September 23, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously. —Psalm 96:10
Recently I was called for jury duty. It meant extraordinary inconvenience and lots of lost time, but it was also serious business. During the first day’s orientation, the judge lectured us on the responsibility at hand and the important nature of the task. We were going to sit in judgment of people who either had disputes (civil court) or were charged with crimes (criminal court). I felt a great sense of inadequacy for the task at hand. Passing judgment on another person, with serious life consequences riding on the decision, is not a simple thing. Because we’re flawed human beings, we may not always make the right judgments.
While the justice systems of our world might struggle and falter because of the inherent failings of the humans that manage them, we can always trust our God to excel in wisdom and fairness. The psalmist sang, “The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously” (Ps. 96:10). God judges according to righteousness—defined by His own perfect justice and flawless character.
We can trust God now when life seems unfair, knowing that He will one day make all things right in His final court (2 Cor. 5:10).
The best of judges on this earth
Aren’t always right or fair;
But God, the righteous Judge of all,
Wrongs no one in His care. —Egner
One day God will right every wrong.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 24th, 2011
The Missionary’s Goal
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?”. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . .” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”
“. . . there they crucified Him . . .” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ “
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Someone Talked - #6445
Friday, September 23, 2011
Some years ago for my wife's birthday, she was given a gift of dinner at a restaurant that is themed to look like an Air Force base during World War II. So we went out to dinner because it was a gift and we had a great time, and everybody there kind of gets into the atmosphere.
You know, the dress is appropriate. They're wearing Red Cross aprons there like army nurses. And the music is 1940s music, and all the decorations are '40s and sort of World War II things. So when I told our boys we went to a restaurant that was set in the time that we were born, they said, "Oh, the Civil War?" Oh boy! No, that wasn't the war! It was World War II, boys.
Well, the posters on the wall reminded G.I.s of that generation not to talk about troop movements, assignments, schedules, and their destination. In fact during World War II the motto was, "Loose lips sink ships." And that's true. If word got out to the enemy, even indirectly where the troop movements were going to be, it could very well be that that carrier would be torpedoed or hit by a Kamikaze and it could cost many lives.
I'll tell you, I saw this one poster in the restaurant that has haunted me ever since. It was a drawing of a G.I. drowning in the ocean. He's just barely got his head above water. He's desperately pointing one finger toward us and saying two words, "Someone talked." Boy, that was heavy. Someone had and he was the victim of someone's loose lips. Well, that war is long over, but loose lips? Oh, they're still causing fatalities.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Talked."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Proverbs 18:21. It's a short statement, it's a powerful statement, it's a convicting statement, "The tongue has the power of life and death." That's an awesome power described in the Word of God that you can, with a few words, deeply wound another person. In a sense, you can emotionally sink them or kill them. You can with a few words ruin a reputation, destroy a close relationship, maybe ruin your own reputation, or leave a scar on somebody that may never heal.
I can still see the desperate image of that drowning G.I. shouting, "Someone talked!" Could it be that you've sunk another person because you talked? You talked too much, you talked too critically. Think of the damage we do when we disobey Jesus' command to take our problems only to the person we have the problem with. Maybe we've spread the poison to other people and we've victimized our brother with our loose lips; the gossip about another person that marks their most precious possession, their reputation; those critical words spoken behind someone's back; those angry words that were spoken to someone's face.
We can sink people's lives with our words. World War II G.I.s were warned not to say the things they could say, because they were wanting to save lives. See, that's still an important warning and maybe it's a time for us to pray as the Holy Spirit points this out inside us, "Lord, help me to stop this tongue of mine before more hurting words come out." "The tongue has the power of life and death."
Loose lips do sink ships and people. May we never be the guilty party to the sinking of another person. To be that someone who talked. That someone who knew better.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Luke 18, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: The Same Hands
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 21:4
Someday God will wipe away your tears. The same hands that stretched the heavens will touch your cheeks. The same hands that formed the mountains will caress your face. The same hands that curled in agony as the Roman spike cut through will someday cup your face and brush away your tears.
Luke 18
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Little Children and Jesus
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 5:35-47
35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[b]?
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Beyond The Status Quo
September 22, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. —John 5:40
Dr. Jack Mezirow, professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, believes that an essential element in adult learning is to challenge our own ingrained perceptions and examine our insights critically. Dr. Mezirow says that adults learn best when faced with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma”—something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired” (Barbara Strauch, The New York Times). This is the opposite of saying, “My mind is made up—don’t confuse me with the facts.”
When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He challenged the deeply held beliefs of many religious leaders, and they sought to silence Him (John 5:16-18). Jesus said to them: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (vv.39-40).
Oswald Chambers observed, “God has a way of bringing in facts which upset a man’s doctrines if these stand in the way of God getting at his soul.”
Unsettling experiences that cause us to question our assumptions about the Lord can also lead us to a deeper understanding and trust in Him—if we’re willing to think it through and come to Him.
My mind cries its questions,
My longing heart, joining.
O Father, please hear me!
O Spirit, keep teaching! —Verway
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22nd, 2011
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . .—John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “. . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . .” (Matthew 23:8).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord . . .”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . .” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it—a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
High Water and High Walls - #6444
Thursday, September 22, 2011
It all depended on the levees. So many Americans have been watching record high flood waters rising all around them this past spring, and desperately hoping that the wall between them and all that water was high enough to hold it back.
Now, it would be crazy for some town to suddenly say, "Oh no! Man the water's rising! We'd better build a wall here fast!" No, no. See, it's too late when the waters are surging. You've got to build your walls high before the flood comes around a town, around your family, around your marriage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "High Water and High Walls."
Now, we are living in a time when we have all seen marriages getting washed away. Couples who promised "til death do us part," who parted long before that. And let's not kid ourselves. There's a lot of high water threatening every one of our marriages: huge financial pressures, medical crises, schedules so busy that they turn lovers into strangers, sexual images everywhere, so many opportunities to look for love in all the wrong places, so many detours, and so many landmines. There's so many ways for disillusionment to set in, and disappointment and despair to come in and steal away what was once a very committed love.
But thank God it doesn't have to be that way. Our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 4:26 gives us a great example of one of the walls we need to build high around our marriage. It says, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." See, harbored anger is a "bitter root" in the words of the Bible that "grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). And if you let that resentment smolder, you let the sun go down on it, then it gets fueled by wounds that are not dealt with quickly, and that will one day be the fire that incinerates a marriage.
Flood-proof love needs another high wall that says, "I will set before my eyes no vile thing." That's Psalm 101:3. See, there's plenty of vile to look at these days. I don't have to tell you that: websites, movies, TV shows, lots of skin. We just can't afford to feed the monster of desire that has devoured so many. And then there's that wall that says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." It's in James 1:19.
Some of the floods that ravage a marriage don't come from outside. They come from feelings and needs that got stuffed inside because the one who loves that person wasn't listening. We can't be close for long if we don't take time, regular time, to know each other's hurts--to know each other's hearts.
And we've found at our house that there's no more important wall to build than the one that reads, "Seek first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). Two people living for themselves, or even for each other, honestly it just isn't enough to hold back the flood. It takes two people living together for the God who loves them. Praying together often, drawing closer to each other as they draw close to Him. He's a God whose love runs strong when our love runs low. He pours out His inexhaustible, unconditional love, so we then have it to give to the one we've pledged our life to.
There really can be a love that lasts a lifetime. That gets stronger with time. That defies the flood, if you build your walls high.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 21:4
Someday God will wipe away your tears. The same hands that stretched the heavens will touch your cheeks. The same hands that formed the mountains will caress your face. The same hands that curled in agony as the Roman spike cut through will someday cup your face and brush away your tears.
Luke 18
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
The Little Children and Jesus
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 5:35-47
35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God[b]?
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Beyond The Status Quo
September 22, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. —John 5:40
Dr. Jack Mezirow, professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, believes that an essential element in adult learning is to challenge our own ingrained perceptions and examine our insights critically. Dr. Mezirow says that adults learn best when faced with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma”—something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired” (Barbara Strauch, The New York Times). This is the opposite of saying, “My mind is made up—don’t confuse me with the facts.”
When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He challenged the deeply held beliefs of many religious leaders, and they sought to silence Him (John 5:16-18). Jesus said to them: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (vv.39-40).
Oswald Chambers observed, “God has a way of bringing in facts which upset a man’s doctrines if these stand in the way of God getting at his soul.”
Unsettling experiences that cause us to question our assumptions about the Lord can also lead us to a deeper understanding and trust in Him—if we’re willing to think it through and come to Him.
My mind cries its questions,
My longing heart, joining.
O Father, please hear me!
O Spirit, keep teaching! —Verway
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22nd, 2011
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . .—John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “. . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . .” (Matthew 23:8).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
“You call Me Teacher and Lord . . .”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . .” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it—a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
High Water and High Walls - #6444
Thursday, September 22, 2011
It all depended on the levees. So many Americans have been watching record high flood waters rising all around them this past spring, and desperately hoping that the wall between them and all that water was high enough to hold it back.
Now, it would be crazy for some town to suddenly say, "Oh no! Man the water's rising! We'd better build a wall here fast!" No, no. See, it's too late when the waters are surging. You've got to build your walls high before the flood comes around a town, around your family, around your marriage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "High Water and High Walls."
Now, we are living in a time when we have all seen marriages getting washed away. Couples who promised "til death do us part," who parted long before that. And let's not kid ourselves. There's a lot of high water threatening every one of our marriages: huge financial pressures, medical crises, schedules so busy that they turn lovers into strangers, sexual images everywhere, so many opportunities to look for love in all the wrong places, so many detours, and so many landmines. There's so many ways for disillusionment to set in, and disappointment and despair to come in and steal away what was once a very committed love.
But thank God it doesn't have to be that way. Our word for today from the Word of God in Ephesians 4:26 gives us a great example of one of the walls we need to build high around our marriage. It says, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." See, harbored anger is a "bitter root" in the words of the Bible that "grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). And if you let that resentment smolder, you let the sun go down on it, then it gets fueled by wounds that are not dealt with quickly, and that will one day be the fire that incinerates a marriage.
Flood-proof love needs another high wall that says, "I will set before my eyes no vile thing." That's Psalm 101:3. See, there's plenty of vile to look at these days. I don't have to tell you that: websites, movies, TV shows, lots of skin. We just can't afford to feed the monster of desire that has devoured so many. And then there's that wall that says, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." It's in James 1:19.
Some of the floods that ravage a marriage don't come from outside. They come from feelings and needs that got stuffed inside because the one who loves that person wasn't listening. We can't be close for long if we don't take time, regular time, to know each other's hurts--to know each other's hearts.
And we've found at our house that there's no more important wall to build than the one that reads, "Seek first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). Two people living for themselves, or even for each other, honestly it just isn't enough to hold back the flood. It takes two people living together for the God who loves them. Praying together often, drawing closer to each other as they draw close to Him. He's a God whose love runs strong when our love runs low. He pours out His inexhaustible, unconditional love, so we then have it to give to the one we've pledged our life to.
There really can be a love that lasts a lifetime. That gets stronger with time. That defies the flood, if you build your walls high.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
1 Samuel 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Which Do You See?
“The Lord will be your confidence.” Proverbs 3:26 NKJV
The temple builders and the Savior seekers. You’ll find them both in the same church, on the same pew – at times, even in the same suit. One sees the structure and says, “What a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “What a great Christ!”
Which do you see?
1 Samuel 6
The Ark Returned to Israel
1 When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”
4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. 5 Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. 6 Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
7 “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[g] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 21:1-7
A New Heaven and a New Earth
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
A Lesson In Crying
September 21, 2011 — by David H. Roper
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. —Matthew 5:4
Has your heart ever been broken? What broke it? Cruelty? Failure? Unfaithfulness? Loss? Perhaps you’ve crept into the darkness to cry.
It’s good to cry. “Tears are the only cure for weeping,” said Scottish preacher George MacDonald. A little crying does one good.
Jesus wept at His friend Lazarus’ grave (John 11:35), and He weeps with us (v.33). His heart was broken as well. Our tears attract our Lord’s lovingkindness and tender care. He knows our troubled, sleepless nights. His heart aches for us when we mourn. He is the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). And He uses His people to comfort one another.
But tears and our need for comfort come back all too frequently in this life. Present comfort is not the final answer. There is a future day when there will be no death, no sorrow, no crying, for all these things will “have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). There in heaven God will wipe away every tear. We are so dear to our Father that He will be the one who wipes the tears away from our eyes; He loves us so deeply and personally.
Remember, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
Think of a land of no sorrow,
Think of a land of no fears,
Think of no death and no sickness,
Think of a land of no tears. —Anon.
God cares and shares in our sorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21st, 2011
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16
— “For God so loved the world. . . .”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
You Can Chase Me, But You Can't Have Me - #6443
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Over the years, two words that could really stir up some action at our house go like this, "Let's romp!" Yeah, uh-huh. You have to understand I was a father of two sons, and that meant that Dad is ready for some "rough housing" with one or maybe two sons. But I learned I had to be careful, because then one day they got to be my size. So I didn't say that much any more.
That was a key to a lot of fun, "Let's romp!" But when they were small, I would sort of antagonize them until they took after me. And they'd pursue me through the house. And much to my wife's dismay, I can hear her yelling three words, "Save the furniture!" Well, the boys would jump me; they'd make loud noises and growl and try to keep me down. Of course I acted real scared and I acted like I was almost beat, but it was no contest. They were after me, but they couldn't really hurt me. Just like some attackers who may be chasing you right now.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Can Chase Me, But You Can't Have Me."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 14. It's a story about people who are being chased. They are the Jews who have just gotten out of Egypt. The Egyptians are not real happy that they've just lost their entire slave work force, so this familiar story finds the Egyptians pursuing them until the Israelites have their back up against the Red Sea. So the pursuers are people who used to be their masters. It's going to be important for you to remember that in just a minute.
Let's read from Exodus 14:23-25. "The Egyptians pursued them, and all of Pharaohs chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of the chariots come off so they had difficulty driving." (I guess you would.) "And the Egyptians said, 'Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'" And the rest is history, as the waters of the Red Sea swallowed the Egyptian army.
Now, we're looking, not just at a historical picture here; there's a spiritual picture. See, you and I used to be as slaves, but you are, if you know Christ, no longer a slave to something that used to own you--that used to control you. But I'll bet it's still chasing you. See, our old slave masters always pursue us. The difference is that you have Christ in control of that area in your life right now. You can say to that old slave master, "Hey, you can chase me, but you can't have me." Just like when my boys were little chasing me. Yeah, they could chase me, but they couldn't conquer me.
Think of what used to be your Egypt. Was it that habit that once mastered you? Was it that depressed way of thinking, or a temptation, a destructive attitude? Maybe it was a sexual sin, or an uncontrollable temper. It could have been a selfish way of getting your own way. But that was all B.C.--before Christ--before that came under the all-powerful lordship of a risen Christ.
But that old master hasn't given up has he? No, just like Pharaoh in the Old Testament, the old master's pursuing you right now, trying to bring you back to that old slavery. Well, you go to your new Master and once again you give Him that part of you that was the enslaved part of you. Turn Him loose to fight for you. You've lived in Egypt long enough; you don't ever have to go back to that slavery again. Oh, you'll be pursued, but in Christ you don't ever need to be a prisoner again.
You'll hear the noise of the chariots, you'll feel the pressure. But turn and face your enemy and tell him, "Because of Jesus, you can chase me, but you can't have me."
“The Lord will be your confidence.” Proverbs 3:26 NKJV
The temple builders and the Savior seekers. You’ll find them both in the same church, on the same pew – at times, even in the same suit. One sees the structure and says, “What a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “What a great Christ!”
Which do you see?
1 Samuel 6
The Ark Returned to Israel
1 When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”
4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”
They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. 5 Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. 6 Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
7 “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, 9 but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
10 So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. 11 They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. 12 Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
17 These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. 18 And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[g] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Revelation 21:1-7
A New Heaven and a New Earth
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
A Lesson In Crying
September 21, 2011 — by David H. Roper
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. —Matthew 5:4
Has your heart ever been broken? What broke it? Cruelty? Failure? Unfaithfulness? Loss? Perhaps you’ve crept into the darkness to cry.
It’s good to cry. “Tears are the only cure for weeping,” said Scottish preacher George MacDonald. A little crying does one good.
Jesus wept at His friend Lazarus’ grave (John 11:35), and He weeps with us (v.33). His heart was broken as well. Our tears attract our Lord’s lovingkindness and tender care. He knows our troubled, sleepless nights. His heart aches for us when we mourn. He is the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4). And He uses His people to comfort one another.
But tears and our need for comfort come back all too frequently in this life. Present comfort is not the final answer. There is a future day when there will be no death, no sorrow, no crying, for all these things will “have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). There in heaven God will wipe away every tear. We are so dear to our Father that He will be the one who wipes the tears away from our eyes; He loves us so deeply and personally.
Remember, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
Think of a land of no sorrow,
Think of a land of no fears,
Think of no death and no sickness,
Think of a land of no tears. —Anon.
God cares and shares in our sorrow.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 21st, 2011
The Missionary’s Predestined Purpose
Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant . . . —Isaiah 49:5
The first thing that happens after we recognize our election by God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our preconceived ideas, our narrow-minded thinking, and all of our other allegiances— we are turned solely into servants of God’s own purpose. The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sin has diverted the human race onto another course, but it has not altered God’s purpose to the slightest degree. And when we are born again we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, namely, that He created us for Himself. This realization of our election by God is the most joyful on earth, and we must learn to rely on this tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do is force the interests of the whole world through the channel of our hearts. The love of God, and even His very nature, is introduced into us. And we see the nature of Almighty God purely focused in
John 3:16
— “For God so loved the world. . . .”
We must continually keep our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose, and never confuse or cloud it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to force our intentions aside no matter how much it may hurt. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified. Once we realize that it is through the salvation of Jesus Christ that we are made perfectly fit for the purpose of God, we will understand why Jesus Christ is so strict and relentless in His demands. He demands absolute righteousness from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.
Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
You Can Chase Me, But You Can't Have Me - #6443
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Over the years, two words that could really stir up some action at our house go like this, "Let's romp!" Yeah, uh-huh. You have to understand I was a father of two sons, and that meant that Dad is ready for some "rough housing" with one or maybe two sons. But I learned I had to be careful, because then one day they got to be my size. So I didn't say that much any more.
That was a key to a lot of fun, "Let's romp!" But when they were small, I would sort of antagonize them until they took after me. And they'd pursue me through the house. And much to my wife's dismay, I can hear her yelling three words, "Save the furniture!" Well, the boys would jump me; they'd make loud noises and growl and try to keep me down. Of course I acted real scared and I acted like I was almost beat, but it was no contest. They were after me, but they couldn't really hurt me. Just like some attackers who may be chasing you right now.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Can Chase Me, But You Can't Have Me."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 14. It's a story about people who are being chased. They are the Jews who have just gotten out of Egypt. The Egyptians are not real happy that they've just lost their entire slave work force, so this familiar story finds the Egyptians pursuing them until the Israelites have their back up against the Red Sea. So the pursuers are people who used to be their masters. It's going to be important for you to remember that in just a minute.
Let's read from Exodus 14:23-25. "The Egyptians pursued them, and all of Pharaohs chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of the chariots come off so they had difficulty driving." (I guess you would.) "And the Egyptians said, 'Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'" And the rest is history, as the waters of the Red Sea swallowed the Egyptian army.
Now, we're looking, not just at a historical picture here; there's a spiritual picture. See, you and I used to be as slaves, but you are, if you know Christ, no longer a slave to something that used to own you--that used to control you. But I'll bet it's still chasing you. See, our old slave masters always pursue us. The difference is that you have Christ in control of that area in your life right now. You can say to that old slave master, "Hey, you can chase me, but you can't have me." Just like when my boys were little chasing me. Yeah, they could chase me, but they couldn't conquer me.
Think of what used to be your Egypt. Was it that habit that once mastered you? Was it that depressed way of thinking, or a temptation, a destructive attitude? Maybe it was a sexual sin, or an uncontrollable temper. It could have been a selfish way of getting your own way. But that was all B.C.--before Christ--before that came under the all-powerful lordship of a risen Christ.
But that old master hasn't given up has he? No, just like Pharaoh in the Old Testament, the old master's pursuing you right now, trying to bring you back to that old slavery. Well, you go to your new Master and once again you give Him that part of you that was the enslaved part of you. Turn Him loose to fight for you. You've lived in Egypt long enough; you don't ever have to go back to that slavery again. Oh, you'll be pursued, but in Christ you don't ever need to be a prisoner again.
You'll hear the noise of the chariots, you'll feel the pressure. But turn and face your enemy and tell him, "Because of Jesus, you can chase me, but you can't have me."
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
1 Samuel 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Come and See
“Can anything good from Nazareth?” Philip answered, “Come and see.” John 1:46
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see.
See Wilberforce fighting to free slaves in England . . .
Journey into the jungles and hear the drums beating in praise . . .
Venture into the gulags and dungeons of the world and hear the songs of the saved refusing to be silent.
Come and see.
1 Samuel 5
The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron
1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.[d] 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.[e] 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” 11 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it[f] will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. 12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Peter 3:1-13
The Day of the Lord
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Are You Ready?
September 20, 2011 — by C. P. Hia
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. —2 Peter 3:9
Many will remember the fall season of 2008 as the beginning of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. In the months to follow, many lost their jobs, homes, and investments. In a BBC interview a year later, Alan Greenspan, former head of the US Federal Reserve, indicated that the average person doesn’t believe it will happen again. He said, “That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue.”
Assuming that things will continue as they always have is not just 21st-century-type thinking. In the first century, Peter wrote of people who thought that life would continue as it was and that Jesus would not return. He said, “Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Jesus said He would come back, but the people continued to live in disobedience as though He would never return. But His delay is only because of God’s patience with us, for He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v.9).
Paul tells us that Christians ought to live “soberly, righteously, and godly” in the light of Christ’s certain return. (Titus 2:12). Are you ready to meet Him?
Faithful and true would He find us here
If He should come today?
Watching in gladness and not in fear,
If He should come today? —Morris
Jesus may come any time, so we should be ready all the time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20th, 2011
The Divine Commandment of Life
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. “. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wait Till You See Your Senior Picture - #6442
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
My daughter's college French class finished early one day, so she pulled out all her pictures for some strange reason. And there was her senior picture. Well, as her Father my opinion was, "She's beautiful, she's radiant." But then a lot of other people said that about her too.
And then there was her 7th grade picture, with her hair parted down the middle, pulled back, big glasses, braces. Apparently the guy next to her was pretty outspoken. He said, "Man! How ugly!" (Guys are great aren't they?) She said, "Well, that's okay. I don't mind, as long as it's not that way now."
And he said, "Oh, no way! Are you kidding?" And then they took the pictures up to their French teacher to see. And she looked at the 7th grade picture and said, "Hum..." Then the 8th grade picture and said, "Well, I see some progress." And then she compared 7th grade to my daughter's senior picture. And in French she said, "What a miracle!" Well, caterpillars do grow up to be butterflies. And, it's always a miracle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wait Till You See Your Senior Picture."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Philippians 1:6. Before we do, let's get something straight. We're talking about your development and caterpillars becoming butterflies, but we're not talking so much physical here, though you may need to be patient until you get through that caterpillar stage. But you may feel like you're in one of those stages right now.
Let's take a look at the big picture of who you're becoming as a total person. Here's the verse: "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." In other words, God has started something in you, and you're going to love the finished product. But on the way to our, shall we say, senior picture, where we're going to look beautiful, well there may be some braces, some awkward stages, some blemishes, some ugly moments. Maybe you feel like you're in there right now, wondering if it's always going to be like this.
Well, Philippians 1:6 says, "No, it won't!" God has started something. There is an active, dynamic process going on, and you won't always be in 7th grade. You won't always act like this; be like this, because He isn't finished with you yet. We certainly wouldn't judge Leonardo da Vinci on a half-finished Mona Lisa would we? You say, "Well, that doesn't look too good." Wait till He's done.
Right now maybe you're discouraged by the stage you're in. You're very aware of what you aren't, of your faults, your failures, your fears, your inadequacies. And maybe you're not getting a lot of affirmation and appreciation right now or much attention. It's a tough time, but you won't be like this forever. This is a stage on your way to beautiful. He has promised He will carry His process on to completion. It's like 7th grade in my daughter's life. It's a station, not a destination.
You're at a station right now, but God is taking you on to something more beautiful. Don't give up, don't quit trying, don't start withdrawing because you don't like the way it looks now. Focus on your Creator, because He only does masterpieces.
See, if your eyes are on what you are, you'll be discouraged. If your eyes are on what you're becoming, you'll have hope with anticipation. When you and all the people you know see God's finished product, God's senior picture of you, you'll testify together, "What a miracle!"
“Can anything good from Nazareth?” Philip answered, “Come and see.” John 1:46
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see.
See Wilberforce fighting to free slaves in England . . .
Journey into the jungles and hear the drums beating in praise . . .
Venture into the gulags and dungeons of the world and hear the songs of the saved refusing to be silent.
Come and see.
1 Samuel 5
The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron
1 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
6 The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.[d] 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.[e] 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” 11 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it[f] will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. 12 Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Peter 3:1-13
The Day of the Lord
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Are You Ready?
September 20, 2011 — by C. P. Hia
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. —2 Peter 3:9
Many will remember the fall season of 2008 as the beginning of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. In the months to follow, many lost their jobs, homes, and investments. In a BBC interview a year later, Alan Greenspan, former head of the US Federal Reserve, indicated that the average person doesn’t believe it will happen again. He said, “That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue.”
Assuming that things will continue as they always have is not just 21st-century-type thinking. In the first century, Peter wrote of people who thought that life would continue as it was and that Jesus would not return. He said, “Since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Jesus said He would come back, but the people continued to live in disobedience as though He would never return. But His delay is only because of God’s patience with us, for He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v.9).
Paul tells us that Christians ought to live “soberly, righteously, and godly” in the light of Christ’s certain return. (Titus 2:12). Are you ready to meet Him?
Faithful and true would He find us here
If He should come today?
Watching in gladness and not in fear,
If He should come today? —Morris
Jesus may come any time, so we should be ready all the time.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 20th, 2011
The Divine Commandment of Life
. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect —Matthew 5:48
Our Lord’s exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don’t like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), even those toward whom we have no affection.
The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. “. . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are “perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God’s interests in other people. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wait Till You See Your Senior Picture - #6442
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
My daughter's college French class finished early one day, so she pulled out all her pictures for some strange reason. And there was her senior picture. Well, as her Father my opinion was, "She's beautiful, she's radiant." But then a lot of other people said that about her too.
And then there was her 7th grade picture, with her hair parted down the middle, pulled back, big glasses, braces. Apparently the guy next to her was pretty outspoken. He said, "Man! How ugly!" (Guys are great aren't they?) She said, "Well, that's okay. I don't mind, as long as it's not that way now."
And he said, "Oh, no way! Are you kidding?" And then they took the pictures up to their French teacher to see. And she looked at the 7th grade picture and said, "Hum..." Then the 8th grade picture and said, "Well, I see some progress." And then she compared 7th grade to my daughter's senior picture. And in French she said, "What a miracle!" Well, caterpillars do grow up to be butterflies. And, it's always a miracle.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Wait Till You See Your Senior Picture."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Philippians 1:6. Before we do, let's get something straight. We're talking about your development and caterpillars becoming butterflies, but we're not talking so much physical here, though you may need to be patient until you get through that caterpillar stage. But you may feel like you're in one of those stages right now.
Let's take a look at the big picture of who you're becoming as a total person. Here's the verse: "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." In other words, God has started something in you, and you're going to love the finished product. But on the way to our, shall we say, senior picture, where we're going to look beautiful, well there may be some braces, some awkward stages, some blemishes, some ugly moments. Maybe you feel like you're in there right now, wondering if it's always going to be like this.
Well, Philippians 1:6 says, "No, it won't!" God has started something. There is an active, dynamic process going on, and you won't always be in 7th grade. You won't always act like this; be like this, because He isn't finished with you yet. We certainly wouldn't judge Leonardo da Vinci on a half-finished Mona Lisa would we? You say, "Well, that doesn't look too good." Wait till He's done.
Right now maybe you're discouraged by the stage you're in. You're very aware of what you aren't, of your faults, your failures, your fears, your inadequacies. And maybe you're not getting a lot of affirmation and appreciation right now or much attention. It's a tough time, but you won't be like this forever. This is a stage on your way to beautiful. He has promised He will carry His process on to completion. It's like 7th grade in my daughter's life. It's a station, not a destination.
You're at a station right now, but God is taking you on to something more beautiful. Don't give up, don't quit trying, don't start withdrawing because you don't like the way it looks now. Focus on your Creator, because He only does masterpieces.
See, if your eyes are on what you are, you'll be discouraged. If your eyes are on what you're becoming, you'll have hope with anticipation. When you and all the people you know see God's finished product, God's senior picture of you, you'll testify together, "What a miracle!"
Monday, September 19, 2011
1 Samuel 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: God Did
“The Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
When we create a redeemer, we keep him safely distant in his faraway castle. We allow him only the briefest of encounters with us. We permit him to swoop in and out with his sleigh before we can draw too near. We wouldn’t ask him to take up residence in the midst of a contaminated people. In our wildest imaginings we wouldn’t conjure a king who became one of us. But God did.
1 Samuel 4
1 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has[a] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led[b] Israel forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod,[c] saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Seasons Of Ups And Downs
September 19, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. —Ecclesiastes 3:4
Most of us would agree that life has its ups and downs. Wise King Solomon believed this and reflected on our responses to fluctuating circumstances. In Ecclesiastes, he wrote: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (3:1-4).
Solomon’s father, David, was called “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). Yet David’s life illustrates how life is filled with seasons of ups and downs. David wept over his and Bathsheba’s first child who was fatally ill (2 Sam. 12:22). Yet he also wrote songs of praise and joyous laughter (Ps. 126:1-3). With the death of his rebellious son Absalom, David experienced a time of deep mourning (2 Sam. 18:33). And when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, David, in spiritual ecstasy, danced before the Lord (2 Sam. 6:12-15).
We do a disservice to ourselves and others when we portray the Christian life as peaceful and happy all the time. Instead, the Bible portrays the believer’s life as consisting of seasons of ups and downs. In what season are you? Whether a time of joy or sadness, each season should motivate us to seek the Lord and trust Him.
Dear Lord, help us to turn to You not only in sadness
but also in joy. We know You give us both good times
and bad to draw us to You and help us grow.
May we learn to trust You in all seasons of life. Amen.
Every season needs faith to get us through it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19th, 2011
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “FollowMe” (Matthew 4:19)
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Loving Me Ugly - #6441
Monday, September 19, 2011
Some couples' wedding vows get tested sooner; some get tested later. My friends had theirs tested right away. When they went to Mexico for their honeymoon, they promptly picked up some Spanish speaking bug down there, and they got very, very sick in the middle of what was supposed to be their very romantic honeymoon. I think it was commonly called Montezuma's Revenge or something like that.
Well, in the middle of all of that, the power failed in the town they were honeymooning in, so they were left without lights and plumbing. And you thought you had problems! Well the good news is they loved each other through it all and they even finally found the grace to laugh through the mess they were in...even though neither of them looked very romantic or felt very romantic at all.
Oh, they did ok. They passed one of the most important tests of love. Remember those vows "in sickness and in health"? You know what? All of us are sick and ugly at certain times--unlovable. And we're pretty sure no one could love us this ugly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Loving Me Ugly."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 15:17-20. It's a familiar story. It's called the story of the prodigal son by most people. He's left his Dad, and now as you may remember, he's doing something that a good Jewish boy probably wouldn't want to do. He's feeding pigs; he's living with the pigs. Not exactly a kosher occupation.
And now it says, "When he came to his senses he said, 'How many of my Father's hired men have food to spare, and here I'm starving to death. I will set out and go back to my Father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men."' So he got up and went to his Father. But while he was still a long way off, his Father saw him, was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
This son comes home and he tests whether his Dad's love is the kind of love that will love him in sickness and in health. He feels very unworthy of coming back. He has no successes to report, no fortune to show. He left with riches, and he comes home poor; he left home smelling like fine aftershave and comes home stinking like pigs. He left in the best of clothes; he comes back in rags. He's an embarrassment to his Father's name. He expects to be rejected, but his Father runs to him. Someone has said this is the only place in the Bible where God runs. That's God as the father running.
Sort of like my honeymoon friends, this young man was experiencing unconditional love: love when he was sick, love when he was down, love when he was ugly. Let's look at it again. God's the Father, and you're the child away from home. You never thought you'd end up doing what you've done, considering what you're considering, feeling like you're feeling. You feel like you've failed God; you're unworthy--He wouldn't want you back. How could He love me like this; how could He take me back after what I've done?
We've been raised to believe that we'll only be loved if we perform and please people, and meet their expectations. But God is committed to you in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and death will not part you. If He was ever going to turn His back on you, it would have been at the cross, and He didn't.
Why are you living away from home, from His "take you as you are" kind of love? Oh, maybe you're not in the pigpen yet. Well, don't wait until you hit the wall at the end of a dead-end street. And even if you have, head home.
And, you will find a Father running to meet you and to clean you up and hug you. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus at His cross and taken personally what He died to give you, His forgiveness, His eternal life, today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. There's so much there that will help you on your way to Him. The website is YoursForLife.net.
You can be sure if you start toward God, He will run to you. Never in your life have you been loved like He will love you.
“The Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
When we create a redeemer, we keep him safely distant in his faraway castle. We allow him only the briefest of encounters with us. We permit him to swoop in and out with his sleigh before we can draw too near. We wouldn’t ask him to take up residence in the midst of a contaminated people. In our wildest imaginings we wouldn’t conjure a king who became one of us. But God did.
1 Samuel 4
1 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has[a] come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led[b] Israel forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod,[c] saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Seasons Of Ups And Downs
September 19, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. —Ecclesiastes 3:4
Most of us would agree that life has its ups and downs. Wise King Solomon believed this and reflected on our responses to fluctuating circumstances. In Ecclesiastes, he wrote: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (3:1-4).
Solomon’s father, David, was called “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22). Yet David’s life illustrates how life is filled with seasons of ups and downs. David wept over his and Bathsheba’s first child who was fatally ill (2 Sam. 12:22). Yet he also wrote songs of praise and joyous laughter (Ps. 126:1-3). With the death of his rebellious son Absalom, David experienced a time of deep mourning (2 Sam. 18:33). And when the ark was brought to Jerusalem, David, in spiritual ecstasy, danced before the Lord (2 Sam. 6:12-15).
We do a disservice to ourselves and others when we portray the Christian life as peaceful and happy all the time. Instead, the Bible portrays the believer’s life as consisting of seasons of ups and downs. In what season are you? Whether a time of joy or sadness, each season should motivate us to seek the Lord and trust Him.
Dear Lord, help us to turn to You not only in sadness
but also in joy. We know You give us both good times
and bad to draw us to You and help us grow.
May we learn to trust You in all seasons of life. Amen.
Every season needs faith to get us through it.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 19th, 2011
Are You Going on With Jesus?
You are those who have continued with Me in My trials —Luke 22:28
It is true that Jesus Christ is with us through our temptations, but are we going on with Him through His temptations? Many of us turn back from going on with Jesus from the very moment we have an experience of what He can do. Watch when God changes your circumstances to see whether you are going on with Jesus, or siding with the world, the flesh, and the devil. We wear His name, but are we going on with Him? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66).
The temptations of Jesus continued throughout His earthly life, and they will continue throughout the life of the Son of God in us. Are we going on with Jesus in the life we are living right now?
We have the idea that we ought to shield ourselves from some of the things God brings around us. May it never be! It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations. They are His temptations, not temptations to us, but temptations to the life of the Son of God in us. Jesus Christ’s honor is at stake in our bodily lives. Are we remaining faithful to the Son of God in everything that attacks His life in us?
Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “FollowMe” (Matthew 4:19)
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Loving Me Ugly - #6441
Monday, September 19, 2011
Some couples' wedding vows get tested sooner; some get tested later. My friends had theirs tested right away. When they went to Mexico for their honeymoon, they promptly picked up some Spanish speaking bug down there, and they got very, very sick in the middle of what was supposed to be their very romantic honeymoon. I think it was commonly called Montezuma's Revenge or something like that.
Well, in the middle of all of that, the power failed in the town they were honeymooning in, so they were left without lights and plumbing. And you thought you had problems! Well the good news is they loved each other through it all and they even finally found the grace to laugh through the mess they were in...even though neither of them looked very romantic or felt very romantic at all.
Oh, they did ok. They passed one of the most important tests of love. Remember those vows "in sickness and in health"? You know what? All of us are sick and ugly at certain times--unlovable. And we're pretty sure no one could love us this ugly.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Loving Me Ugly."
Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 15:17-20. It's a familiar story. It's called the story of the prodigal son by most people. He's left his Dad, and now as you may remember, he's doing something that a good Jewish boy probably wouldn't want to do. He's feeding pigs; he's living with the pigs. Not exactly a kosher occupation.
And now it says, "When he came to his senses he said, 'How many of my Father's hired men have food to spare, and here I'm starving to death. I will set out and go back to my Father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men."' So he got up and went to his Father. But while he was still a long way off, his Father saw him, was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
This son comes home and he tests whether his Dad's love is the kind of love that will love him in sickness and in health. He feels very unworthy of coming back. He has no successes to report, no fortune to show. He left with riches, and he comes home poor; he left home smelling like fine aftershave and comes home stinking like pigs. He left in the best of clothes; he comes back in rags. He's an embarrassment to his Father's name. He expects to be rejected, but his Father runs to him. Someone has said this is the only place in the Bible where God runs. That's God as the father running.
Sort of like my honeymoon friends, this young man was experiencing unconditional love: love when he was sick, love when he was down, love when he was ugly. Let's look at it again. God's the Father, and you're the child away from home. You never thought you'd end up doing what you've done, considering what you're considering, feeling like you're feeling. You feel like you've failed God; you're unworthy--He wouldn't want you back. How could He love me like this; how could He take me back after what I've done?
We've been raised to believe that we'll only be loved if we perform and please people, and meet their expectations. But God is committed to you in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and death will not part you. If He was ever going to turn His back on you, it would have been at the cross, and He didn't.
Why are you living away from home, from His "take you as you are" kind of love? Oh, maybe you're not in the pigpen yet. Well, don't wait until you hit the wall at the end of a dead-end street. And even if you have, head home.
And, you will find a Father running to meet you and to clean you up and hug you. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus at His cross and taken personally what He died to give you, His forgiveness, His eternal life, today tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. There's so much there that will help you on your way to Him. The website is YoursForLife.net.
You can be sure if you start toward God, He will run to you. Never in your life have you been loved like He will love you.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Luke 17, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Shepherding
“‘I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 34:15, NKJV
What the shepherd does with the flock, our Shepherd will do with us. He will lead us to the high country. When the pasture is bare down here, God will lead us up there. He will guide us through the gate, out of the flatlands, and up the path of the mountain.
Luke 17:20-37
New International Version (NIV)
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [c]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 19:10-19
10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.”
Daddy!
September 18, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. —2 Kings 19:16
Twenty-month-old James was leading his family confidently through the hallways of their large church. His daddy kept an eye on him the whole time as James toddled his way through the crowd of “giants.” Suddenly the little boy panicked because he could not see his dad. He stopped, looked around, and started to cry, “Daddy, Daddy!” His dad quickly caught up with him and little James reached up his hand, which Daddy strongly clasped. Immediately James was at peace.
Second Kings tells the story of King Hezekiah who reached up to God for help (19:15). Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had made threats against Hezekiah and the people of Judah, saying, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you . . . . You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?” (vv.10-11). King Hezekiah went to the Lord and prayed for deliverance so “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God” (vv.14-19). In answer to his prayer, the angel of the Lord struck down the enemy, and Sennacherib withdrew (vv.20-36).
If you’re in a situation where you need God’s help, reach up your hand to Him in prayer. He has promised His comfort and help (2 Cor. 1:3-4; Heb. 4:16).
When serving the Lord and you lose your way,
Just hold out your hand and let Jesus lead;
He’ll come to your aid, and you’ll hear Him say,
I’ll show you the way and meet every need. —Hess
God’s dawn of deliverance often comes
when the hour of trial is darkest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18th, 2011
His Temptation and Ours
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation “without sin,” and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
“‘I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 34:15, NKJV
What the shepherd does with the flock, our Shepherd will do with us. He will lead us to the high country. When the pasture is bare down here, God will lead us up there. He will guide us through the gate, out of the flatlands, and up the path of the mountain.
Luke 17:20-37
New International Version (NIV)
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[a]
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day[b] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [c]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Kings 19:10-19
10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.”
Daddy!
September 18, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. —2 Kings 19:16
Twenty-month-old James was leading his family confidently through the hallways of their large church. His daddy kept an eye on him the whole time as James toddled his way through the crowd of “giants.” Suddenly the little boy panicked because he could not see his dad. He stopped, looked around, and started to cry, “Daddy, Daddy!” His dad quickly caught up with him and little James reached up his hand, which Daddy strongly clasped. Immediately James was at peace.
Second Kings tells the story of King Hezekiah who reached up to God for help (19:15). Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had made threats against Hezekiah and the people of Judah, saying, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you . . . . You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?” (vv.10-11). King Hezekiah went to the Lord and prayed for deliverance so “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God” (vv.14-19). In answer to his prayer, the angel of the Lord struck down the enemy, and Sennacherib withdrew (vv.20-36).
If you’re in a situation where you need God’s help, reach up your hand to Him in prayer. He has promised His comfort and help (2 Cor. 1:3-4; Heb. 4:16).
When serving the Lord and you lose your way,
Just hold out your hand and let Jesus lead;
He’ll come to your aid, and you’ll hear Him say,
I’ll show you the way and meet every need. —Hess
God’s dawn of deliverance often comes
when the hour of trial is darkest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 18th, 2011
His Temptation and Ours
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin —Hebrews 4:15
Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation “without sin,” and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
1 Samuel 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: For Ours
“I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty.” Luke 23:14
A crook places himself between Jesus and the accusers and speaks on his behalf . . . “We are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41 NIV).
We are guilty and he is innocent.
We are filthy and he is pure.
We are wrong and he is right.
He is not on that cross for his sins. He is there for ours.
1 Samuel 3
The LORD Calls Samuel
1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,[l] and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Exodus 16:1-12
Manna and Quail
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
No Reverse
September 17, 2011
You shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. —Exodus 16:6
The first time I saw her, I fell in love. She was a beauty. Sleek. Clean. Radiant. As soon as I spied the 1962 Ford Thunderbird at the used-car lot, her shiny exterior and killer interior beckoned me. I knew this was the car for me. So I plunked down $800 and purchased my very first car.
But there was a problem lurking inside my prized possession. A few months after I bought my T-Bird, it suddenly became particular about which way I could go. It allowed me to go forward, but I couldn’t go backward. It had no reverse.
Although not having reverse is a problem in a car, sometimes it’s good for us to be a little like my old T-Bird. We need to keep going forward—without the possibility of putting life into reverse. In our walk with Jesus, we need to refuse to go backward. Paul said it simply: We need to “press toward the goal” (Phil. 3:14).
Perhaps the children of Israel could have used my T-Bird’s transmission. We read in Exodus 16 that they were in danger of putting life into reverse. Despite the many miracles God had performed, they longed for Egypt and failed to trust that He could guide them forward.
We need to keep moving ahead in our walk with God. Don’t back up. Look forward. Press on. —Dave Branon
When long and steep the path appears
Or heavy is the task,
Our Father says, “Press on, My child;
One step is all I ask.” —D. De Haan
When facing a crisis, trust God and move forward.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 17th, 2011
Is There Good in Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else–what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations–He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).
“I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty.” Luke 23:14
A crook places himself between Jesus and the accusers and speaks on his behalf . . . “We are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41 NIV).
We are guilty and he is innocent.
We are filthy and he is pure.
We are wrong and he is right.
He is not on that cross for his sins. He is there for ours.
1 Samuel 3
The LORD Calls Samuel
1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,[l] and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
READ: Exodus 16:1-12
Manna and Quail
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
No Reverse
September 17, 2011
You shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. —Exodus 16:6
The first time I saw her, I fell in love. She was a beauty. Sleek. Clean. Radiant. As soon as I spied the 1962 Ford Thunderbird at the used-car lot, her shiny exterior and killer interior beckoned me. I knew this was the car for me. So I plunked down $800 and purchased my very first car.
But there was a problem lurking inside my prized possession. A few months after I bought my T-Bird, it suddenly became particular about which way I could go. It allowed me to go forward, but I couldn’t go backward. It had no reverse.
Although not having reverse is a problem in a car, sometimes it’s good for us to be a little like my old T-Bird. We need to keep going forward—without the possibility of putting life into reverse. In our walk with Jesus, we need to refuse to go backward. Paul said it simply: We need to “press toward the goal” (Phil. 3:14).
Perhaps the children of Israel could have used my T-Bird’s transmission. We read in Exodus 16 that they were in danger of putting life into reverse. Despite the many miracles God had performed, they longed for Egypt and failed to trust that He could guide them forward.
We need to keep moving ahead in our walk with God. Don’t back up. Look forward. Press on. —Dave Branon
When long and steep the path appears
Or heavy is the task,
Our Father says, “Press on, My child;
One step is all I ask.” —D. De Haan
When facing a crisis, trust God and move forward.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 17th, 2011
Is There Good in Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we were already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
A person’s inner nature, what he possesses in the inner, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.
Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal— it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.
Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else–what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations–He sustains us in the midst of them (see Hebrews 2:18 and Hebrews 4:15-16).
Friday, September 16, 2011
1 Samuel 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Trust in Him
“God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever.” 2 Thessalonians 2:17
God loves those who need him most, who rely on him, depend on him, and trust in him in everything. Little he cares whether you’ve been as pure as John or as sinful as Mary Magdalene. All that matters is your trust in him.
1 Samuel 2
Hannah’s Prayer
1 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn[g] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest.
Eli’s Wicked Sons
12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD. 13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17 This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they[h] were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.
18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to[i] the LORD.” Then they would go home. 21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the LORD’s people is not good. 25 If one person sins against another, God[j] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the LORD, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.
Prophecy Against the House of Eli
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? 28 I chose your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. 29 Why do you[k] scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’
30 “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, 32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. 33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
34 “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. 36 Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.”’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Samuel 14:1-14
1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Be An Armor-Bearer
September 16, 2011 — by David C. Egner
Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you. —1 Samuel 14:7
The Israelites and the Philistines were at war. While Saul relaxed under a pomegranate tree with his men, Jonathan and his armor-bearer left camp quietly to see if the Lord would work on their behalf, believing that “nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6).
Jonathan and his helper were about to cross a path between two high cliffs. Armed enemy soldiers were stationed above them on both sides. They were two men against who knows how many. When Jonathan suggested they climb up after them, the armor-bearer never flinched. “Do all that is in your heart,” he told Jonathan. “I am with you, according to your heart” (v.7). So the two climbed the cliff, and with God’s help they overcame the enemy (vv.8-14). We have to admire this courageous young armor-bearer. He lugged the armor up that cliff and stayed with Jonathan, following along behind and killing those Jonathan wounded.
The church needs strong leaders to face our spiritual foes, but they must not be left to face them alone. They need the help and support of everyone in the congregation—loyal “armor-bearers” like you and me who are willing to join them in battle against the “enemy of our souls.”
We give the help that pastors need
For burdens they must bear
When we entrust them to the Lord
And hold them up in prayer. —D. De Haan
Leaders are their best when people get behind them.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 16th, 2011
Praying to God in Secret
When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . . —Matthew 6:6
The primary thought in the area of religion is— keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer.
“When you pray, do not use vain repetitions . . .” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.
“Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “. . . you will ask what you desire. . .” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.” But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Personal Derby Run - #6440
Friday, September 16, 2011
Honest, we really didn't mean to be in northern Kentucky on Kentucky Derby weekend. But obviously, thousands of people did! In trying to avoid flooding as we traveled, that's exactly where we managed to be. So there we were in the middle of rampant Derby Fever. I didn't bet on anybody, and I refuse to wear one of those floppy hats.
The restaurant where we had dinner made sure the TV was on so everyone could watch the world's most famous horse race. Boy, I'll tell you, it is impressive! High-stakes horsemanship, a drama-packed "run for the roses"--over in two minutes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Personal Derby Run."
Now, actually that race is pretty amazing to watch. Those horses like explode with raw power and they've got this give-it-all intensity; they're driving with everything they've got to win their race.
So should I. So should you. Like the original thoroughbred Jesus-man, Paul. He talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Timothy 4, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 6, with Paul's final words of his final letter before he made the final sacrifice for Jesus. He will soon die for his allegiance to Christ. Here's what he wrote: "I am already being poured out...I have finished the race" (2 Timothy 4:6-7). Hey, when you pour out what's in a pitcher, it's empty; there's nothing left. Paul says, "Man, I've got nothing left at the finish line. That's the way I want it to be." It's just like his Master.
I've actually been thinking a lot lately about the fact that God calls our life in Him a race. Not a jog, but a race to a finish line. Are you running it with that kind of intensity? See, the thing is, we don't know how much longer we have before we get to the finish line. That's why we've got to run with everything we've got. We're talking about thoroughbred intensity here, not just casual, go-to-church, business-as-usual Christianity. Even if I live to be 108, there are so few days to make the eternity difference I was put here to make. There are no days to waste, no opportunities we can afford to miss. There's no time to say "maybe later" for the "I love you"...the "thank you"...the "here am I, Lord"...the "let me tell you about my Jesus."
I think it's time to make the prayer of Moses our prayer: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). I think that's saying, "Make every day count." That's what it means to live smart in our race to the finish line. Randy Alcorn said, "Thirty seconds after we die, we will know how we should have lived." A little late then. How about getting that figured out now instead of when it's too late?
Because my finish line...well, it's not a carpet of roses. My finish line is Jesus. And, you know, His "well done" is really the only prize that matters.
“God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever.” 2 Thessalonians 2:17
God loves those who need him most, who rely on him, depend on him, and trust in him in everything. Little he cares whether you’ve been as pure as John or as sinful as Mary Magdalene. All that matters is your trust in him.
1 Samuel 2
Hannah’s Prayer
1 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn[g] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest.
Eli’s Wicked Sons
12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD. 13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
17 This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they[h] were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.
18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to[i] the LORD.” Then they would go home. 21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the LORD’s people is not good. 25 If one person sins against another, God[j] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the LORD, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.
Prophecy Against the House of Eli
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? 28 I chose your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. 29 Why do you[k] scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’
30 “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, 32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. 33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
34 “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. 36 Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.”’”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Samuel 14:1-14
1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Be An Armor-Bearer
September 16, 2011 — by David C. Egner
Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you. —1 Samuel 14:7
The Israelites and the Philistines were at war. While Saul relaxed under a pomegranate tree with his men, Jonathan and his armor-bearer left camp quietly to see if the Lord would work on their behalf, believing that “nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6).
Jonathan and his helper were about to cross a path between two high cliffs. Armed enemy soldiers were stationed above them on both sides. They were two men against who knows how many. When Jonathan suggested they climb up after them, the armor-bearer never flinched. “Do all that is in your heart,” he told Jonathan. “I am with you, according to your heart” (v.7). So the two climbed the cliff, and with God’s help they overcame the enemy (vv.8-14). We have to admire this courageous young armor-bearer. He lugged the armor up that cliff and stayed with Jonathan, following along behind and killing those Jonathan wounded.
The church needs strong leaders to face our spiritual foes, but they must not be left to face them alone. They need the help and support of everyone in the congregation—loyal “armor-bearers” like you and me who are willing to join them in battle against the “enemy of our souls.”
We give the help that pastors need
For burdens they must bear
When we entrust them to the Lord
And hold them up in prayer. —D. De Haan
Leaders are their best when people get behind them.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 16th, 2011
Praying to God in Secret
When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . . —Matthew 6:6
The primary thought in the area of religion is— keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer.
“When you pray, do not use vain repetitions . . .” (Matthew 6:7). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.
“Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, “. . . you will ask what you desire. . .” (John 15:7). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, “Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask.” But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Personal Derby Run - #6440
Friday, September 16, 2011
Honest, we really didn't mean to be in northern Kentucky on Kentucky Derby weekend. But obviously, thousands of people did! In trying to avoid flooding as we traveled, that's exactly where we managed to be. So there we were in the middle of rampant Derby Fever. I didn't bet on anybody, and I refuse to wear one of those floppy hats.
The restaurant where we had dinner made sure the TV was on so everyone could watch the world's most famous horse race. Boy, I'll tell you, it is impressive! High-stakes horsemanship, a drama-packed "run for the roses"--over in two minutes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Personal Derby Run."
Now, actually that race is pretty amazing to watch. Those horses like explode with raw power and they've got this give-it-all intensity; they're driving with everything they've got to win their race.
So should I. So should you. Like the original thoroughbred Jesus-man, Paul. He talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Timothy 4, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 6, with Paul's final words of his final letter before he made the final sacrifice for Jesus. He will soon die for his allegiance to Christ. Here's what he wrote: "I am already being poured out...I have finished the race" (2 Timothy 4:6-7). Hey, when you pour out what's in a pitcher, it's empty; there's nothing left. Paul says, "Man, I've got nothing left at the finish line. That's the way I want it to be." It's just like his Master.
I've actually been thinking a lot lately about the fact that God calls our life in Him a race. Not a jog, but a race to a finish line. Are you running it with that kind of intensity? See, the thing is, we don't know how much longer we have before we get to the finish line. That's why we've got to run with everything we've got. We're talking about thoroughbred intensity here, not just casual, go-to-church, business-as-usual Christianity. Even if I live to be 108, there are so few days to make the eternity difference I was put here to make. There are no days to waste, no opportunities we can afford to miss. There's no time to say "maybe later" for the "I love you"...the "thank you"...the "here am I, Lord"...the "let me tell you about my Jesus."
I think it's time to make the prayer of Moses our prayer: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). I think that's saying, "Make every day count." That's what it means to live smart in our race to the finish line. Randy Alcorn said, "Thirty seconds after we die, we will know how we should have lived." A little late then. How about getting that figured out now instead of when it's too late?
Because my finish line...well, it's not a carpet of roses. My finish line is Jesus. And, you know, His "well done" is really the only prize that matters.
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