Max Lucado Daily: You are Unique
Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:26, The Message
There are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them.
In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.
Psalm 52
For the director of music. A maskil[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”
1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast all day long,
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,
your tongue plots destruction;
it is like a sharpened razor.
3 You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than speaking the truth.[c]
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh at you, saying,
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold
but trusted in his great wealth
and grew strong by destroying others!”
8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
9 For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Philemon 1:12-22
12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
One Heart At A Time
October 21, 2011 — by Dennis Fisher
. . . no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother. —Philemon 1:16
Quaker John Woolman was an itinerant preacher who waged his own personal campaign to end slavery in colonial America. Woolman met with slave-holders to speak of the injustice of holding other human beings as property. Although Woolman did not eradicate slavery completely, he did persuade many masters to free their slaves. His success was due to individual, personal persuasion.
The book of Philemon contains a similar one-on-one appeal. Onesimus was a runaway slave who had escaped from his Christian master Philemon. Onesimus had come to faith through Paul’s ministry, and now Paul was sending him back to Philemon with these words: “Perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother” (vv.15-16). Although we don’t know if Onesimus was set free from slavery, his new faith in Jesus had changed his relationship with his Christian master. He was now also a brother in Christ. Paul was influencing his world one heart at a time.
By the transforming power of the gospel, people and situations can change. Like Woolman and like Paul, let’s seek to influence our world one heart at a time.
If I can help some wounded heart,
If I can by my love impart
Some blessing that will help more now—
Lord, just show me how. —Brandt
The kindest thing you can do for another is to show him the truth.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, October 21, 2011
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Watching Him Drown - #6465
Friday, October 21, 2011
It was a 911 call that alerted the first responders. A man was slowly wading out into San Francisco Bay, inching his way to ending his life there. Pretty soon a group of firefighters, along with a crowd of 75 people, were watching as this desperate man went a little deeper and a little deeper, and sadly occasionally glancing back at the shore. They stood there watching for an hour...and they watched him die, without anyone making a move to help him.
I can only imagine this man looking back at those spectators, wondering if anyone cared if he lived or died. And I wonder how life-changing it might have been if someone had been willing to try to save him. It's just kind of sickening.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Watching Him Drown."
You know, understandably, everyone was pretty quick to jump on those firefighters and onlookers who did nothing while a man died in front of them. And you know they all had their reasons; some maybe more valid than others. But I'm seeing something else in this horribly sad incident. I see something of myself and so many of my fellow Jesus-followers in that scene by the bay. Because all too often, we stand idly by as people around us go steadily to their death. Oh, this is an eternal death, forever away from God, because that is the penalty for hijacking the running of our life from Him, and every single human has done that.
God tells us that He has "given us eternal life and this life is in His Son" because His Son did the dying for all our sinning. Now our word for today from the Word of God is in 1 John 5:11-12. Here's what they say: "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." In other words, there is no way the people we care about will get into heaven without Jesus. And He has left us with that life-or-death information that their eternity depends on.
So, our orders from God in Proverbs 24:11 are to "rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter." See, to remain silent about my Jesus to someone without Him is the equivalent to watching them slowly die in front of me when I have, hidden in my heart, what could save them.
I'm sure those people on the shore each had their reasons, or excuses, for doing nothing. But is there an excuse for standing by when it is within your power to save someone who's dying--certainly spiritually? We all know the reasons or the excuses that we offer for our silence about the Rescuer who came from heaven.
The fear of offending, or the fear of damaging a relationship, the fear of not being liked, the fear of messing it up. If you notice, those fears all have one thing in common. They're all about me. Isn't it time I had a greater fear than what might happen to me if I go in for the rescue; the fear of what will happen to them if I don't. Because life now without Jesus is hard, and life forever without Him is horrible; it's unthinkable.
I know this: I know that Jesus jumped in to rescue me at the cost of His life. How can I, then, stay on the shore any longer and watch people I know slip away without Him; without a chance to live forever? And I am their chance.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Luke 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Holiness
God, examine me and know my heart…Lead me on the road to everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24
You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
Luke 22
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
1 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
The Last Supper
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 37:23-26
23 The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.[a]
My Fingernails Or His Hand?
October 20, 2011 — by Dave Branon
The Lord upholds him with His hand. —Psalm 37:24
Tough times can cause us to get our perspective turned around. I was reminded of this recently as I talked to a fellow-griever—another parent who, like Sue and me, lost a teenage daughter to death suddenly and without warning.
She told me she had been missing her daughter terribly, and she told God she felt as if she were hanging on by her fingernails. Then she felt as if God reminded her that His hand of protection was there to hold her up—that she could let go, and He would catch her.
That’s a better perspective, isn’t it? This picture reminds us that when troubles come and we feel least able to hold on to our faith, it’s not up to us. It’s up to God to support us with His mighty hand.
Psalm 37:23-24 says: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord . . . . Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” And Psalm 63:8 tells us: “My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”
In tough times, we can become so preoccupied with our role in “clinging to God” that we forget about His promised protection. It’s not our fingernails that sustain us—it’s His loving, upholding hand.
God’s hand that holds the ocean’s depths
Can hold my small affairs;
His hand that guides the universe,
Can carry all my cares. —Anon.
No one is more secure than the one who is held in God’s hand.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification . . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Surprises in the Storm - #6464
Thursday, October 20, 2011
It was some years ago, but I remember when they closed our local airport. Yeah, there was a violent storm at Newark airport, and thousands of people had their plans suddenly changed. Storms have a way of doing that. Did you ever notice that? There's a snow storm, for example, and schools and businesses oh, they all had their plans made for the day, and suddenly all those plans are out the window. Meetings that had to be today are amazingly rescheduled. Planes and ships are diverted or blown off course. You see, a storm is a classic embodiment of that familiar phrase, "Due to circumstances beyond our control..." Maybe you're in the middle of a storm right now. Your life, your plans are being blown around, and it seems like everything is out of control. I've got good news for you today.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprises in the Storm."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Acts 27. It's about surprises in the storm. Now, I don't know where your storm is right now, but maybe there's something that is just blowing your life out of control. By the way, if you're not in a storm, well just stay tuned; you'll have yours pretty soon. That's just the way life is. You're just waiting and yours is on the way, because we all get them. Now maybe in your life right now things are just suddenly out of control financially or at work. Or there's a family situation that you just can't seem to change. Or it could be that your health has suddenly become turbulent. Somehow there's an out-of-control time in your life. Well, you'll be able to relate to Paul's storm in Acts 27.
What was happening was that he was being taken by Roman soldiers on a grain ship from Israel to Rome. They had a lot of water to cross to get from where Israel is and to cross the ocean and to get over to Italy where they needed to be, and in the middle of all this they encountered a terrible storm that lasted for fourteen days. Hurricane strength, we're told in Acts 27:20, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved."
Now, if you've ever felt like all your points of reference were gone, you couldn't see the sun, the moon, the stars--all the things you usually count on, the storm was that bad. The things you were able to hang on to before, they're not there. Well, maybe you're there right now, and you know what, it is easy to give up hope. Well the outcome of the story you need to take note of. It says, "Everyone reached land in safety." They were blown into the rocks after two weeks, but it says they were on an island. And in chapter 28 we found out the island was called Malta. Do you know where Malta is? It's on the southern coast of Italy.
It's right where they had been heading all the time. Oh, they'd been out of control for two weeks or so it seemed, but the whole time they had been out of control they had been right on course and so are you. Nahum 1:3 says, "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm."
Now it may feel like you're either going nowhere right now or you're on the verge of disaster; maybe on the verge of being blown on the rocks. But remember, the surprise in the storm is this: that God uses these out-of-control times. He uses them to blow His children right where they were supposed to go all along. I know it feels like your life is out of control, but you know what? You're really right on course.
God, examine me and know my heart…Lead me on the road to everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24
You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.
Luke 22
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
1 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
The Last Supper
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 37:23-26
23 The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.[a]
My Fingernails Or His Hand?
October 20, 2011 — by Dave Branon
The Lord upholds him with His hand. —Psalm 37:24
Tough times can cause us to get our perspective turned around. I was reminded of this recently as I talked to a fellow-griever—another parent who, like Sue and me, lost a teenage daughter to death suddenly and without warning.
She told me she had been missing her daughter terribly, and she told God she felt as if she were hanging on by her fingernails. Then she felt as if God reminded her that His hand of protection was there to hold her up—that she could let go, and He would catch her.
That’s a better perspective, isn’t it? This picture reminds us that when troubles come and we feel least able to hold on to our faith, it’s not up to us. It’s up to God to support us with His mighty hand.
Psalm 37:23-24 says: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord . . . . Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” And Psalm 63:8 tells us: “My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”
In tough times, we can become so preoccupied with our role in “clinging to God” that we forget about His promised protection. It’s not our fingernails that sustain us—it’s His loving, upholding hand.
God’s hand that holds the ocean’s depths
Can hold my small affairs;
His hand that guides the universe,
Can carry all my cares. —Anon.
No one is more secure than the one who is held in God’s hand.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Is God’s Will My Will?
This is the will of God, your sanctification . . . —1 Thessalonians 4:3
Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, “Oh, I am longing to be sanctified.” No, you are not. Recognize your need, but stop longing and make it a matter of action. Receive Jesus Christ to become sanctification for you by absolute, unquestioning faith, and the great miracle of the atonement of Jesus will become real in you.
All that Jesus made possible becomes mine through the free and loving gift of God on the basis of what Christ accomplished on the cross. And my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound, humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness). It is a holiness based on agonizing repentance, a sense of inexpressible shame and degradation, and also on the amazing realization that the love of God demonstrated itself to me while I cared nothing about Him (see Romans 5:8). He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul said that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God, and it is accomplished only through the magnificent atonement of Christ. Never confuse the effect with the cause. The effect in me is obedience, service, and prayer, and is the outcome of inexpressible thanks and adoration for the miraculous sanctification that has been brought about in me because of the atonement through the Cross of Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Surprises in the Storm - #6464
Thursday, October 20, 2011
It was some years ago, but I remember when they closed our local airport. Yeah, there was a violent storm at Newark airport, and thousands of people had their plans suddenly changed. Storms have a way of doing that. Did you ever notice that? There's a snow storm, for example, and schools and businesses oh, they all had their plans made for the day, and suddenly all those plans are out the window. Meetings that had to be today are amazingly rescheduled. Planes and ships are diverted or blown off course. You see, a storm is a classic embodiment of that familiar phrase, "Due to circumstances beyond our control..." Maybe you're in the middle of a storm right now. Your life, your plans are being blown around, and it seems like everything is out of control. I've got good news for you today.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Surprises in the Storm."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Acts 27. It's about surprises in the storm. Now, I don't know where your storm is right now, but maybe there's something that is just blowing your life out of control. By the way, if you're not in a storm, well just stay tuned; you'll have yours pretty soon. That's just the way life is. You're just waiting and yours is on the way, because we all get them. Now maybe in your life right now things are just suddenly out of control financially or at work. Or there's a family situation that you just can't seem to change. Or it could be that your health has suddenly become turbulent. Somehow there's an out-of-control time in your life. Well, you'll be able to relate to Paul's storm in Acts 27.
What was happening was that he was being taken by Roman soldiers on a grain ship from Israel to Rome. They had a lot of water to cross to get from where Israel is and to cross the ocean and to get over to Italy where they needed to be, and in the middle of all this they encountered a terrible storm that lasted for fourteen days. Hurricane strength, we're told in Acts 27:20, "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved."
Now, if you've ever felt like all your points of reference were gone, you couldn't see the sun, the moon, the stars--all the things you usually count on, the storm was that bad. The things you were able to hang on to before, they're not there. Well, maybe you're there right now, and you know what, it is easy to give up hope. Well the outcome of the story you need to take note of. It says, "Everyone reached land in safety." They were blown into the rocks after two weeks, but it says they were on an island. And in chapter 28 we found out the island was called Malta. Do you know where Malta is? It's on the southern coast of Italy.
It's right where they had been heading all the time. Oh, they'd been out of control for two weeks or so it seemed, but the whole time they had been out of control they had been right on course and so are you. Nahum 1:3 says, "The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm."
Now it may feel like you're either going nowhere right now or you're on the verge of disaster; maybe on the verge of being blown on the rocks. But remember, the surprise in the storm is this: that God uses these out-of-control times. He uses them to blow His children right where they were supposed to go all along. I know it feels like your life is out of control, but you know what? You're really right on course.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Psalm 56, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: The Holy One
I am the Holy One, and I am among you. Hosea 11:9
You can claim courage from God’s promises. May I give you a few examples?
When you are confused: “‘I know what I am planning for you’ says the Lord. ‘I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
On those nights when you wonder where God is: “I am the Holy One, and I am among you” (Hosea 11:9).
Psalm 56
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not[c] let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll[d]—
are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Investing In The Future
October 19, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. —Matthew 6:20
Jason Bohn was a college student when he made a hole-in-one golf shot that won him a million dollars. While others may have squandered that money, Bohn had a plan. Wanting to be a pro golfer, he used the money as a living-and-training fund to improve his golf skills. The cash became an investment in his future—an investment that paid off when Bohn won the PGA Tour’s 2005 B.C. Open. Bohn’s decision to invest in the future instead of living for the moment was a wise one indeed.
In a sense, that is what Jesus calls us to do. We have been entrusted with resources—time, ability, opportunity— and we decide how to use them. Our challenge is to see those resources as an opportunity to invest long-term. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” is how Jesus put it in Matthew 6:20. Those protected treasures cannot be destroyed nor taken away, Jesus assures us.
Think of your resources: talent, time, knowledge. These are temporal and limited. But if you invest them with an eye toward eternity, these temporary things can have enduring impact. What is your focus? Now or forever? Invest in the future. It will not only have an eternal impact, but it will also change the way you view life each day.
Whatever is done in love for Christ
Will one day have heaven’s reward;
Today let’s do what we can for Him,
Our loving Savior and Lord. —Hess
The richest people on earth
are those who invest their lives in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 19th, 2011
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Spiritual Termites - #6463
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Let's say that someone steps on the wooden backstairs of your house. Imagine what they do when all of a sudden one of those stairs caves in. Okay, whose fault is it the stair caved in? Well you could blame it on your friend and say, "'Bout time you went on a diet, isn't it buddy?" Or could it be that it wasn't their weight that really made it collapse? Could it be that those little bugs got in and ate it from the inside; and it was already weakened? In fact, even a skinny friend might have made it cave in.
Well, when they call termites a pest, they are really right about that. If you've ever had them in your house, you know what it means to try to get rid of them and you know the damage they can do. You seldom if ever see them, but they quietly, subversively eat away at that wood; and one day beams can cave in, houses can sag, steps can collapse. Not so much because of the weight put on them, but because of the weakness on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Termites."
Our word for today from the Word of God about spiritual termites is found in the book of Joshua 7, where they had a problem with them, and I'm reading in verse 8. You need to know the context first. The Israelites have been winners at the battle of Jericho when the walls caved in. They have then gone on to the battle of Ai and have been defeated by a much smaller force, and a number of their people have been killed. What many of them don't realize is that there is among them a family that has disobeyed God's orders. God's orders were to take no loot out of the city of Jericho, but Achan and his family did it and hid it. And that is ultimately the reason for Israel's defeat.
Joshua is now on his knees and saying, "Lord, what's happened, how come we lost? I thought we were going to be given this Promised Land," and here's what he says. "O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies. The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for your own great name?" The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" and then in three words He tells what the real problem is. It's not the Canaanites; it's not military defeat; that's what Joshua thinks the problem is. Here's the three word summary of the problem; God simply says, "Israel has sinned" (Joshua 7:8-11).
See, Joshua was doing what we do a lot of times; he was misinterpreting the setback in his life. He thought it was the situation, it was the pressure, it was the enemy that was the problem, but it's not the enemy's strength. It's the not the problem without that defeats us, it's the weakness within--like that stair that collapses because of the termite damage. It's a sin that we've been tolerating and it suddenly becomes noticeable when there's a major setback or a defeat, and you have been weakened, eaten away, corroded by that sin. That's the reason things are collapsing.
Don't blame the pressure. Don't blame the problem. Don't blame the people. It might be a mistake to be looking at the financial problem or the medical problem or the personnel problem or whatever the frustration is as being the issue. It's the result not the cause. Maybe you have, without realizing it, become careless with the truth. Or you've been putting things ahead of people, neglecting some people. Or it could be that you've been slowly seduced by materialism, and your values are all inverted. There's a sin maybe you just won't repent of, or you've been flirting with immorality. Whatever it is, the termites of sin have weakened you.
And the defeat you're experiencing--it's not to bury you, it's to draw your attention to the sin you've consistently ignored. So exterminate the sin; do a little rebuilding, and you'll be stronger than ever. With the weakness inside corrected, you can be a winner again.
I am the Holy One, and I am among you. Hosea 11:9
You can claim courage from God’s promises. May I give you a few examples?
When you are confused: “‘I know what I am planning for you’ says the Lord. ‘I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
On those nights when you wonder where God is: “I am the Holy One, and I am among you” (Hosea 11:9).
Psalm 56
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not[c] let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll[d]—
are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Investing In The Future
October 19, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. —Matthew 6:20
Jason Bohn was a college student when he made a hole-in-one golf shot that won him a million dollars. While others may have squandered that money, Bohn had a plan. Wanting to be a pro golfer, he used the money as a living-and-training fund to improve his golf skills. The cash became an investment in his future—an investment that paid off when Bohn won the PGA Tour’s 2005 B.C. Open. Bohn’s decision to invest in the future instead of living for the moment was a wise one indeed.
In a sense, that is what Jesus calls us to do. We have been entrusted with resources—time, ability, opportunity— and we decide how to use them. Our challenge is to see those resources as an opportunity to invest long-term. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” is how Jesus put it in Matthew 6:20. Those protected treasures cannot be destroyed nor taken away, Jesus assures us.
Think of your resources: talent, time, knowledge. These are temporal and limited. But if you invest them with an eye toward eternity, these temporary things can have enduring impact. What is your focus? Now or forever? Invest in the future. It will not only have an eternal impact, but it will also change the way you view life each day.
Whatever is done in love for Christ
Will one day have heaven’s reward;
Today let’s do what we can for Him,
Our loving Savior and Lord. —Hess
The richest people on earth
are those who invest their lives in heaven.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 19th, 2011
The Unheeded Secret
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world —John 18:36
The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). It is a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others, while it is the innermost, personal area that reveals the power of a person’s life.
We must get rid of the plague of the spirit of this religious age in which we live. In our Lord’s life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others.
It is not the practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College— its entire strength lies in the fact that here you are immersed in the truths of God to soak in them before Him. You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God’s redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will remain true to Him whatever happens.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Spiritual Termites - #6463
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Let's say that someone steps on the wooden backstairs of your house. Imagine what they do when all of a sudden one of those stairs caves in. Okay, whose fault is it the stair caved in? Well you could blame it on your friend and say, "'Bout time you went on a diet, isn't it buddy?" Or could it be that it wasn't their weight that really made it collapse? Could it be that those little bugs got in and ate it from the inside; and it was already weakened? In fact, even a skinny friend might have made it cave in.
Well, when they call termites a pest, they are really right about that. If you've ever had them in your house, you know what it means to try to get rid of them and you know the damage they can do. You seldom if ever see them, but they quietly, subversively eat away at that wood; and one day beams can cave in, houses can sag, steps can collapse. Not so much because of the weight put on them, but because of the weakness on the inside.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Spiritual Termites."
Our word for today from the Word of God about spiritual termites is found in the book of Joshua 7, where they had a problem with them, and I'm reading in verse 8. You need to know the context first. The Israelites have been winners at the battle of Jericho when the walls caved in. They have then gone on to the battle of Ai and have been defeated by a much smaller force, and a number of their people have been killed. What many of them don't realize is that there is among them a family that has disobeyed God's orders. God's orders were to take no loot out of the city of Jericho, but Achan and his family did it and hid it. And that is ultimately the reason for Israel's defeat.
Joshua is now on his knees and saying, "Lord, what's happened, how come we lost? I thought we were going to be given this Promised Land," and here's what he says. "O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies. The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for your own great name?" The Lord said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?" and then in three words He tells what the real problem is. It's not the Canaanites; it's not military defeat; that's what Joshua thinks the problem is. Here's the three word summary of the problem; God simply says, "Israel has sinned" (Joshua 7:8-11).
See, Joshua was doing what we do a lot of times; he was misinterpreting the setback in his life. He thought it was the situation, it was the pressure, it was the enemy that was the problem, but it's not the enemy's strength. It's the not the problem without that defeats us, it's the weakness within--like that stair that collapses because of the termite damage. It's a sin that we've been tolerating and it suddenly becomes noticeable when there's a major setback or a defeat, and you have been weakened, eaten away, corroded by that sin. That's the reason things are collapsing.
Don't blame the pressure. Don't blame the problem. Don't blame the people. It might be a mistake to be looking at the financial problem or the medical problem or the personnel problem or whatever the frustration is as being the issue. It's the result not the cause. Maybe you have, without realizing it, become careless with the truth. Or you've been putting things ahead of people, neglecting some people. Or it could be that you've been slowly seduced by materialism, and your values are all inverted. There's a sin maybe you just won't repent of, or you've been flirting with immorality. Whatever it is, the termites of sin have weakened you.
And the defeat you're experiencing--it's not to bury you, it's to draw your attention to the sin you've consistently ignored. So exterminate the sin; do a little rebuilding, and you'll be stronger than ever. With the weakness inside corrected, you can be a winner again.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
1 Samuel 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Come to Jesus
Come to me, ... and you will find rest for your lives. Matthew 11:28-29
Come to me…
The people came… They brought him the burdens of their existence, and he gave them not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest.
They found anchor points for their storm-tossed souls. And they found that Jesus was the only man to walk God’s earth who claimed to have an answer for man’s burdens.
“Come to me.”
1 Samuel 22
David at Adullam and Mizpah
1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. 2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” 4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
Saul Kills the Priests of Nob
6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. 7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”
9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelek inquired of the LORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”
“Yes, my lord,” he answered.
13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”
16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”
But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David. 21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family. 23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 5:1-10
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
Papa Didn’t Say “Oh!”
October 18, 2011 — by David H. Roper
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. —Psalm 145:8
I have a friend who was working in his home office one evening, trying to get some necessary paperwork done. His little girl, who was about 4 years old at the time, was playing around his desk, puttering about, moving objects here and there, pulling out drawers, and making a good deal of noise.
My friend endured the distraction with stoic patience until the child slammed a drawer on one of her fingers and screamed in pain. Reacting in exasperation he shouted, “That’s it!” as he escorted her out of the room and shut the door.
Later, her mother found her weeping in her bedroom and tried to comfort her. “Does your finger still hurt?” she asked. “No,” the little girl sniffled. “Then why are you crying?” her mother asked. “’Cause,” she whimpered, “when I pinched my finger, Papa didn’t say, ‘Oh!’”
Sometimes that’s all we need, isn’t it? Someone who cares and who will respond with kindness and compassion, someone who will say, “Oh!” We have One named Jesus who does that for us.
Jesus loves us, understands our sorrows, and gave Himself for us (Eph. 5:2). Now we are to “walk in love” and imitate Him.
Knowing God—what comfort there,
Drawn by His eternal care;
Love from God—what joy we share,
Drawn into His mercies rare. —Branon
God’s whisper of comfort quiets the noise of our trials.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 18th, 2011
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Doomsday Buzz - #6462
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Several months ago I was watching the news and they were talking about doomsday, and it made me sad. Oh, not because I'm nervous about Jesus fulfilling all His prophecies about earth's final chapter. But because millions were laughing about something that they desperately needed to take seriously.
A Christian radio pastor had widely announced that May 21 would be the beginning of the end of time, with a cataclysmic event that would ultimately usher in the coming of Jesus. Now listen, there is nothing I look forward to more than that moment when Jesus will break through the clouds, come in power and great glory and erase every doubt that He is King of kings.
I just don't believe we know when that's going to be, because Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven..." (Matthew 24:36). No matter how you parse His words, they say that the time of His coming cannot be predicted.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Doomsday Buzz."
You know as a junior high boy nosing around in the church library, I read these old World War II books written about end times prophecy. Hey, and they had it all figured out--who was the antichrist, who was the restored Roman Empire, the talk about Israel having a nation. And I smiled. Reading it years later, it was obvious that they had it wrong, and Jesus did not come back on their timetable.
Unfortunately, naming a date inadvertently gives people a reason not to take the clear-cut prophecies of Scripture seriously. The Bible has told us that "in the last days, scoffers will come...They will say, 'Where is this coming He promised?'" (2 Peter 3:3-4). It hurts to think that our date-naming and other teaching that reaches beyond what the Bible reveals would give those scoffers any more ammunition. You know, a major news anchor asked, during the time of those predictions, after reporting in that doomsday story, "Who believes this stuff?"
Well, she and everyone needs to believe that Jesus is, in fact, coming back; that every person will see Him. That there will come a day when the mightiest of earth will call as the Bible says, "to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne...'" (Revelation 6:15-16). It will be a day where there will be no more choosing Jesus. No, only "every knee bowing at His Name" (Philippians 2:9-10), many realizing it's forever too late to know Him.
I heard that the Center for Disease Control was trying to make the most of all that doomsday talk. They were using it to encourage people to have a disaster plan for emergencies--to be ready. That's exactly Jesus' warning in His prophecies for what He called the "last days" world. Prophecies that do paint a picture that, well, increasingly seem very much like our world today. He said, "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44). He said He would rise from the dead after three days. That's exactly what He did. He said He would return to this earth as its' Judge and its' King, and that's exactly what He will do.
You can only be ready if your sins have been erased from God's book. And only the Man who died for those sins can do that. That's why the Bible says, "Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the day to make the King of kings your king.
If you never have, would you say, "Jesus, I want to belong to You. I know that You can come for me and bring my life to a close at any time. You can come back to this earth any time, and I want to be ready. And I can only be ready with my sins forgiven, and only You can do that. Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. I think you'll find help there and encouragement in beginning with Jesus. It's YoursForLife.net.
A friend of ours was desperately cleaning her totaled room; she was getting ready for the anticipated arrival of her guy the next day. She heard a knock at the door, and it was her guy a day earlier than expected. And there she stood amid the piles, dressed in her grubbies, her hair matted with sweat. All she could do was exclaim, "I wasn't expecting you now!" She waited too long to get cleaned up. Time was up.
That's a mistake you do not want to make with Jesus.
Come to me, ... and you will find rest for your lives. Matthew 11:28-29
Come to me…
The people came… They brought him the burdens of their existence, and he gave them not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest.
They found anchor points for their storm-tossed souls. And they found that Jesus was the only man to walk God’s earth who claimed to have an answer for man’s burdens.
“Come to me.”
1 Samuel 22
David at Adullam and Mizpah
1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. 2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?” 4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.
Saul Kills the Priests of Nob
6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. 7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”
9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob. 10 Ahimelek inquired of the LORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king. 12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.”
“Yes, my lord,” he answered.
13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”
14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household? 15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”
16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”
17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.”
But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David. 21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family. 23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will be safe with me.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Ephesians 5:1-10
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
Papa Didn’t Say “Oh!”
October 18, 2011 — by David H. Roper
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. —Psalm 145:8
I have a friend who was working in his home office one evening, trying to get some necessary paperwork done. His little girl, who was about 4 years old at the time, was playing around his desk, puttering about, moving objects here and there, pulling out drawers, and making a good deal of noise.
My friend endured the distraction with stoic patience until the child slammed a drawer on one of her fingers and screamed in pain. Reacting in exasperation he shouted, “That’s it!” as he escorted her out of the room and shut the door.
Later, her mother found her weeping in her bedroom and tried to comfort her. “Does your finger still hurt?” she asked. “No,” the little girl sniffled. “Then why are you crying?” her mother asked. “’Cause,” she whimpered, “when I pinched my finger, Papa didn’t say, ‘Oh!’”
Sometimes that’s all we need, isn’t it? Someone who cares and who will respond with kindness and compassion, someone who will say, “Oh!” We have One named Jesus who does that for us.
Jesus loves us, understands our sorrows, and gave Himself for us (Eph. 5:2). Now we are to “walk in love” and imitate Him.
Knowing God—what comfort there,
Drawn by His eternal care;
Love from God—what joy we share,
Drawn into His mercies rare. —Branon
God’s whisper of comfort quiets the noise of our trials.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 18th, 2011
The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion
. . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . . —3 John 7
Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.
Faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the supernatural work of redemption that has been performed in me by the Holy Spirit— “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (Romans 5:5). And it is that love in me that effectively works through me and comes in contact with everyone I meet. I remain faithful to His name, even though the commonsense view of my life may seemingly deny that, and may appear to be declaring that He has no more power than the morning mist.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God. External detachment is often an actual indication of a secret, growing, inner attachment to the things we stay away from externally.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Doomsday Buzz - #6462
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Several months ago I was watching the news and they were talking about doomsday, and it made me sad. Oh, not because I'm nervous about Jesus fulfilling all His prophecies about earth's final chapter. But because millions were laughing about something that they desperately needed to take seriously.
A Christian radio pastor had widely announced that May 21 would be the beginning of the end of time, with a cataclysmic event that would ultimately usher in the coming of Jesus. Now listen, there is nothing I look forward to more than that moment when Jesus will break through the clouds, come in power and great glory and erase every doubt that He is King of kings.
I just don't believe we know when that's going to be, because Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven..." (Matthew 24:36). No matter how you parse His words, they say that the time of His coming cannot be predicted.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Doomsday Buzz."
You know as a junior high boy nosing around in the church library, I read these old World War II books written about end times prophecy. Hey, and they had it all figured out--who was the antichrist, who was the restored Roman Empire, the talk about Israel having a nation. And I smiled. Reading it years later, it was obvious that they had it wrong, and Jesus did not come back on their timetable.
Unfortunately, naming a date inadvertently gives people a reason not to take the clear-cut prophecies of Scripture seriously. The Bible has told us that "in the last days, scoffers will come...They will say, 'Where is this coming He promised?'" (2 Peter 3:3-4). It hurts to think that our date-naming and other teaching that reaches beyond what the Bible reveals would give those scoffers any more ammunition. You know, a major news anchor asked, during the time of those predictions, after reporting in that doomsday story, "Who believes this stuff?"
Well, she and everyone needs to believe that Jesus is, in fact, coming back; that every person will see Him. That there will come a day when the mightiest of earth will call as the Bible says, "to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne...'" (Revelation 6:15-16). It will be a day where there will be no more choosing Jesus. No, only "every knee bowing at His Name" (Philippians 2:9-10), many realizing it's forever too late to know Him.
I heard that the Center for Disease Control was trying to make the most of all that doomsday talk. They were using it to encourage people to have a disaster plan for emergencies--to be ready. That's exactly Jesus' warning in His prophecies for what He called the "last days" world. Prophecies that do paint a picture that, well, increasingly seem very much like our world today. He said, "You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Matthew 24:44). He said He would rise from the dead after three days. That's exactly what He did. He said He would return to this earth as its' Judge and its' King, and that's exactly what He will do.
You can only be ready if your sins have been erased from God's book. And only the Man who died for those sins can do that. That's why the Bible says, "Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the day to make the King of kings your king.
If you never have, would you say, "Jesus, I want to belong to You. I know that You can come for me and bring my life to a close at any time. You can come back to this earth any time, and I want to be ready. And I can only be ready with my sins forgiven, and only You can do that. Jesus, I'm Yours." Go to our website. I think you'll find help there and encouragement in beginning with Jesus. It's YoursForLife.net.
A friend of ours was desperately cleaning her totaled room; she was getting ready for the anticipated arrival of her guy the next day. She heard a knock at the door, and it was her guy a day earlier than expected. And there she stood amid the piles, dressed in her grubbies, her hair matted with sweat. All she could do was exclaim, "I wasn't expecting you now!" She waited too long to get cleaned up. Time was up.
That's a mistake you do not want to make with Jesus.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Luke 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: He Cares
Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you. I Peter 5:7
Maybe you don’t want to trouble God with your hurts. After all, he’s got famines and pestilence and wars; he won’t care about my little struggles, you think.
Why don’t you let him decide that? He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter’s tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers.
Luke 21:20-38
New International Version (NIV)
20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Peter 1:1-11
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Character At Play
October 17, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. —2 Peter 1:3
A college football coach in the Bronx (New York) built his team around good character qualities. Instead of displaying their names on the back of their jerseys, the Maritime College players displayed words like family, respect, accountability, and character. Before each game, coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes reminded his team to play by those principles on the field.
The apostle Peter had his own list of Christian qualities (2 Peter 1:5-7) that he encouraged believers to add to their life of faith:
Virtue. Fulfilling God’s design for a life with moral excellence.
Knowledge. Studying God’s Word to gain wisdom to combat falsehood.
Self-control. Revering God so much that we choose godly behavior.
Perseverance. Having a hopeful attitude even in difficulties because we’re confident in God’s character.
Godliness. Honoring the Lord in every relationship in life.
Brotherly kindness. Displaying a warmhearted affection for fellow believers.
Love. Sacrificing for the good of others.
Let’s develop these qualities in increasing measure and integrate them into every part of our life.
Just as the body grows in strength
With exercise each day,
Our spirit grows in godliness
By living life God’s way. —D. De Haan
Godly exercise is the key to godly character.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 17th, 2011
The Key of the Greater Work
. . . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . .” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Missing You - #6461
Monday, October 17, 2011
We say a lot of things we don't really mean. For example, when we sign our letters, sincerely yours--now have you really been sincere about everything you said sincerely yours about? Or how about this one, the check is in the mail--well, sometimes yes, sometimes no; maybe just an intention. Here's a classic one that we often don't really mean, "Hey, let's get together sometime; we'll give you a call." How many times have you been told that, and then how many times did it really happen?
Often we'll say it and perhaps we even mean it at the time, but you know you get busy an hour later and you forget that you said that. "Hey, let's get together sometime." Well, it never happens. But you know there's someone who really means it when He says it. Well, you can tell by the tears in His eyes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Missing You."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in Matthew 23:37. The scene, we are told in the Gospels, is that Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives which overlooks the city of Jerusalem. He says, "You who killed the prophets and stoned those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."
Now that's Matthew's account; Luke tells us that Jesus wept when he said that. That's only one of two times recorded in the Gospels where Jesus wept. One was at the tomb of Lazarus; the other was when he said this about the people that he loved in the city of Jerusalem. He says, "Oh how I wanted to be together with you. Let's get together sometime." He said it over and over again, but they never were willing. You say, "Well those terrible people in Jerusalem. How could they stand Him up like that; He wanted to be together with them, and they weren't willing? Well we need to look in the mirror for a minute because maybe that's us too.
It's interesting that when Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come in and supp with him and He with Me" (Revelation 3:20). He was speaking to the church when He said that. He said, "I want to be with My people; I want to be with the believers, but I can't get in." I wonder how many mornings He's wanted to be with you, but you were too busy; and He said, "Oh how I've longed to be with you, but you were not willing."
In a little booklet called "My Heart--Christ's Home," it pictures opening up your life to Christ as being like opening up the rooms of your house, and the man in the story meets Jesus in his study every morning until he gets too busy. And he just misses a day because he's on his way out to a busy schedule, and then another day, and pretty soon he hasn't been in there for a month. And one day he runs in there on his way out--he's grabbing his briefcase--he sees Jesus sitting there and he says, "Jesus, what are you doing here?" And Jesus very gently says to him, "Oh I've been here every morning, waiting for you." See, Jesus always shows up, and when you don't make it, the Bible doesn't care if you don't show up, but Jesus does.
Isn't it time for you to renew a regular time to be with the One who loves you the most; to listen to Him as He speaks to you through His word, to talk about your real feelings and your real needs with Jesus? He cares enough about you that He can actually shed tears when His people won't take the love and the peace He offers and the time to be with Him. Could it be that the Lord Jesus is asking you, "Let's get together again?" Maybe He's been missing you and it's been long enough.
Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you. I Peter 5:7
Maybe you don’t want to trouble God with your hurts. After all, he’s got famines and pestilence and wars; he won’t care about my little struggles, you think.
Why don’t you let him decide that? He cared enough about a wedding to provide the wine. He cared enough about Peter’s tax payment to give him a coin. He cared enough about the woman at the well to give her answers.
Luke 21:20-38
New International Version (NIV)
20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 2 Peter 1:1-11
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Character At Play
October 17, 2011 — by Anne Cetas
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. —2 Peter 1:3
A college football coach in the Bronx (New York) built his team around good character qualities. Instead of displaying their names on the back of their jerseys, the Maritime College players displayed words like family, respect, accountability, and character. Before each game, coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes reminded his team to play by those principles on the field.
The apostle Peter had his own list of Christian qualities (2 Peter 1:5-7) that he encouraged believers to add to their life of faith:
Virtue. Fulfilling God’s design for a life with moral excellence.
Knowledge. Studying God’s Word to gain wisdom to combat falsehood.
Self-control. Revering God so much that we choose godly behavior.
Perseverance. Having a hopeful attitude even in difficulties because we’re confident in God’s character.
Godliness. Honoring the Lord in every relationship in life.
Brotherly kindness. Displaying a warmhearted affection for fellow believers.
Love. Sacrificing for the good of others.
Let’s develop these qualities in increasing measure and integrate them into every part of our life.
Just as the body grows in strength
With exercise each day,
Our spirit grows in godliness
By living life God’s way. —D. De Haan
Godly exercise is the key to godly character.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 17th, 2011
The Key of the Greater Work
. . . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father —John 14:12
Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).
Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . .” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Missing You - #6461
Monday, October 17, 2011
We say a lot of things we don't really mean. For example, when we sign our letters, sincerely yours--now have you really been sincere about everything you said sincerely yours about? Or how about this one, the check is in the mail--well, sometimes yes, sometimes no; maybe just an intention. Here's a classic one that we often don't really mean, "Hey, let's get together sometime; we'll give you a call." How many times have you been told that, and then how many times did it really happen?
Often we'll say it and perhaps we even mean it at the time, but you know you get busy an hour later and you forget that you said that. "Hey, let's get together sometime." Well, it never happens. But you know there's someone who really means it when He says it. Well, you can tell by the tears in His eyes.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Missing You."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in Matthew 23:37. The scene, we are told in the Gospels, is that Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives which overlooks the city of Jerusalem. He says, "You who killed the prophets and stoned those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."
Now that's Matthew's account; Luke tells us that Jesus wept when he said that. That's only one of two times recorded in the Gospels where Jesus wept. One was at the tomb of Lazarus; the other was when he said this about the people that he loved in the city of Jerusalem. He says, "Oh how I wanted to be together with you. Let's get together sometime." He said it over and over again, but they never were willing. You say, "Well those terrible people in Jerusalem. How could they stand Him up like that; He wanted to be together with them, and they weren't willing? Well we need to look in the mirror for a minute because maybe that's us too.
It's interesting that when Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come in and supp with him and He with Me" (Revelation 3:20). He was speaking to the church when He said that. He said, "I want to be with My people; I want to be with the believers, but I can't get in." I wonder how many mornings He's wanted to be with you, but you were too busy; and He said, "Oh how I've longed to be with you, but you were not willing."
In a little booklet called "My Heart--Christ's Home," it pictures opening up your life to Christ as being like opening up the rooms of your house, and the man in the story meets Jesus in his study every morning until he gets too busy. And he just misses a day because he's on his way out to a busy schedule, and then another day, and pretty soon he hasn't been in there for a month. And one day he runs in there on his way out--he's grabbing his briefcase--he sees Jesus sitting there and he says, "Jesus, what are you doing here?" And Jesus very gently says to him, "Oh I've been here every morning, waiting for you." See, Jesus always shows up, and when you don't make it, the Bible doesn't care if you don't show up, but Jesus does.
Isn't it time for you to renew a regular time to be with the One who loves you the most; to listen to Him as He speaks to you through His word, to talk about your real feelings and your real needs with Jesus? He cares enough about you that He can actually shed tears when His people won't take the love and the peace He offers and the time to be with Him. Could it be that the Lord Jesus is asking you, "Let's get together again?" Maybe He's been missing you and it's been long enough.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Psalm 34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: What About Struggling?
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. Colossians 2:6
Struggling with life’s difficulties makes us a little wiser, a little more capable, enabling us to comfort others who experience pain.
Any difficulties we face in life are short-lived; all rewards are eternal. A divine inheritance will be our reward for faithfulness to our heavenly Father.
Psalm 34
Psalm 34[a][b]
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:14-26
14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
The Wooden Rule
October 16, 2011 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
The body is not one member but many. —1 Corinthians 12:14
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had an interesting rule for his teams. Whenever a player scored, he was to acknowledge the person on the team who had assisted. When he was coaching high school, one of his players asked, “Coach, won’t that take up too much time?” Wooden replied, “I’m not asking you to run over there and give him a big hug. A nod will do.”
To achieve victory on the basketball court, Wooden saw the importance of teaching his players that they were a team—not “just a bunch of independent operators.” Each person contributed to the success of everyone else.
That reminds me of the way the body of Christ should work. According to 1 Corinthians 12:19-20, each of us is a separate part of one body. “If they were all one member, where would the body be? But . . . there are many members, yet one body.” Is the success of a pastor, a Bible study, or a church program based solely on one person’s accomplishments? How many people contribute to the smooth operation of a church, a Christian organization, a family?
Coach Wooden’s rule and 1 Corinthians 12 are both rooted in the principle of seeing our need for one another. Let’s use our gifts within the body of Christ to build up, strengthen, and help to carry out God’s purposes (vv.1-11).
All Christians have been gifted
By grace from God above,
Equipped to build and strengthen
The church in faith and love. —Fitzhugh
There are no unimportant people in the body of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 16th, 2011
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . .” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. Colossians 2:6
Struggling with life’s difficulties makes us a little wiser, a little more capable, enabling us to comfort others who experience pain.
Any difficulties we face in life are short-lived; all rewards are eternal. A divine inheritance will be our reward for faithfulness to our heavenly Father.
Psalm 34
Psalm 34[a][b]
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: 1 Corinthians 12:14-26
14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
The Wooden Rule
October 16, 2011 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
The body is not one member but many. —1 Corinthians 12:14
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had an interesting rule for his teams. Whenever a player scored, he was to acknowledge the person on the team who had assisted. When he was coaching high school, one of his players asked, “Coach, won’t that take up too much time?” Wooden replied, “I’m not asking you to run over there and give him a big hug. A nod will do.”
To achieve victory on the basketball court, Wooden saw the importance of teaching his players that they were a team—not “just a bunch of independent operators.” Each person contributed to the success of everyone else.
That reminds me of the way the body of Christ should work. According to 1 Corinthians 12:19-20, each of us is a separate part of one body. “If they were all one member, where would the body be? But . . . there are many members, yet one body.” Is the success of a pastor, a Bible study, or a church program based solely on one person’s accomplishments? How many people contribute to the smooth operation of a church, a Christian organization, a family?
Coach Wooden’s rule and 1 Corinthians 12 are both rooted in the principle of seeing our need for one another. Let’s use our gifts within the body of Christ to build up, strengthen, and help to carry out God’s purposes (vv.1-11).
All Christians have been gifted
By grace from God above,
Equipped to build and strengthen
The church in faith and love. —Fitzhugh
There are no unimportant people in the body of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 16th, 2011
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. “Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . .” In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person— Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, “Oh, but I have a special work to do!” No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, “a servant [who] is not greater than his master” (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
1 Samuel 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: True Humility
The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God is plenty and honor and a satisfying life. Proverbs 22:4, The Message
True humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but thinking accurately of yourself. The humble heart does not say, “I can’t do anything.” But rather, “I can’t do everything.”
I know my part and am happy to do it!
1 Samuel 21
David at Nob
1 [c]David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever[d] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
David at Gath
10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 16:1-16
Personal Greetings
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ send greetings.
A Debt Of Gratitude
October 15, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
[They] risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. —Romans 16:4
Dave Randlett was someone of whom I can say, “Because of him, my life will never be the same.” Dave, who went to heaven in October 2010, became a mentor to me when I was a new follower of Jesus in my college years. He not only invested time in me, but he took risks by giving me opportunities to learn and grow in ministry. Dave was God’s instrument to give me the opportunity to be a student preacher and travel with a college music team. As a result, he helped shape and prepare me for a life of teaching God’s Word. I’m glad I was able to express thanks to him on a number of occasions.
Just as I am thankful for Dave’s influence in my life, the apostle Paul was grateful for Aquila and Priscilla, who served the Lord with him. He said they “risked their own necks for my life.” In gratitude, he thanked them, as did “all the churches of the Gentiles” (Rom. 16:4).
You too may have people in your life who have taken risks by giving you opportunities to serve or who have greatly influenced you spiritually. Perhaps pastors, ministry leaders, friends, or family members have given of themselves to move you further along for Christ. The question is, have you thanked them?
Consider what the Lord has done
Through those who’ve shown you love;
And thank Him for each faithful one—
A blessing from above. —Sper
For those who have helped you, take time to give them thanks.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the “remissionary” aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. “. . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . .” (Luke 24:47). The greatest message of limitless importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . .” The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God is plenty and honor and a satisfying life. Proverbs 22:4, The Message
True humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but thinking accurately of yourself. The humble heart does not say, “I can’t do anything.” But rather, “I can’t do everything.”
I know my part and am happy to do it!
1 Samuel 21
David at Nob
1 [c]David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”
4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”
5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever[d] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.
7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.
8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”
9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”
David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”
David at Gath
10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”
12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 16:1-16
Personal Greetings
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla[c] and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among[d] the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the churches of Christ send greetings.
A Debt Of Gratitude
October 15, 2011 — by Bill Crowder
[They] risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. —Romans 16:4
Dave Randlett was someone of whom I can say, “Because of him, my life will never be the same.” Dave, who went to heaven in October 2010, became a mentor to me when I was a new follower of Jesus in my college years. He not only invested time in me, but he took risks by giving me opportunities to learn and grow in ministry. Dave was God’s instrument to give me the opportunity to be a student preacher and travel with a college music team. As a result, he helped shape and prepare me for a life of teaching God’s Word. I’m glad I was able to express thanks to him on a number of occasions.
Just as I am thankful for Dave’s influence in my life, the apostle Paul was grateful for Aquila and Priscilla, who served the Lord with him. He said they “risked their own necks for my life.” In gratitude, he thanked them, as did “all the churches of the Gentiles” (Rom. 16:4).
You too may have people in your life who have taken risks by giving you opportunities to serve or who have greatly influenced you spiritually. Perhaps pastors, ministry leaders, friends, or family members have given of themselves to move you further along for Christ. The question is, have you thanked them?
Consider what the Lord has done
Through those who’ve shown you love;
And thank Him for each faithful one—
A blessing from above. —Sper
For those who have helped you, take time to give them thanks.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2)
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world —1 John 2:2
The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— that is limitless (John 1:29). The missionary’s message is the limitless importance of Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins, and a missionary is someone who is immersed in the truth of that revelation.
The real key to the missionary’s message is the “remissionary” aspect of Christ’s life, not His kindness, His goodness, or even His revealing of the fatherhood of God to us. “. . . repentance and remission of sins should be preached . . . to all nations . . .” (Luke 24:47). The greatest message of limitless importance is that “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins . . . .” The missionary’s message is not nationalistic, favoring nations or individuals; it is “for the whole world.” When the Holy Spirit comes into me, He does not consider my partialities or preferences; He simply brings me into oneness with the Lord Jesus.
A missionary is someone who is bound by marriage to the stated mission and purpose of his Lord and Master. He is not to proclaim his own point of view, but is only to proclaim “the Lamb of God.” It is easier to belong to a faction that simply tells what Jesus Christ has done for me, and easier to become a devotee of divine healing, or of a special type of sanctification, or of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Paul did not say, “Woe is me if I do not preach what Christ has done for me,” but, “. . . woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). And this is the gospel— “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Friday, October 14, 2011
1 Samuel 20, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Friendship
I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father. John 15:15
John is the only one of the twelve who was at the cross. He came to say good-bye. By his own admission he hadn’t quite put the pieces together yet. But that didn’t really matter. As far as he was concerned, his closest friend was in trouble and he came to help…
John teaches us that the…greatest webs of loyalty are spun, not with airtight theologies or foolproof philosophies, but with friendships; stubborn, selfless, joyful friendships.
1 Samuel 20
David and Jonathan
1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”
2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”
3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”
9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”
10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.
12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness like the LORD’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. 23 And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,[a] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” 27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”
32 “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.
42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.[b]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 11:13-23
13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
22 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him— 23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.
The Way We Walk
October 14, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
A television program that I enjoy watching has a segment called Ambush Makeover. Two women are chosen to undergo 3 hours of pampering to update their hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The change is often dramatic. When the women step from behind a curtain, the audience gasps. Friends and family members sometimes start to cry. After all of this, the person with the new look finally gets to see herself. Some are so shocked that they keep looking in the mirror as if to find proof that it’s really them.
As the women walk across the set to join their companions, the former self becomes evident. Most do not know how to walk in their new shoes. Although they look chic, their clumsy walk gives them away. Their transformation is incomplete.
This is true in our Christian lives as well. God does the work in us to give us a new start, but to walk in the way of the Lord (Deut. 11:22) requires time, effort, and lots of practice. If we just stand still and smile, we can pass as being transformed. But the way we walk tells how far along we are in living out that transformation. Being changed means giving up our previous way of life and learning a new way to walk (Rom. 6:4).
The new life in Christ has begun—
The past with its darkness is gone;
Look closer to see what the Savior has done,
For change is beginning to dawn. —Hess
A change in behavior begins with a change in the heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14th, 2011
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . .” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . .”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore . . . .” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . .” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . .” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Worth the Wait - #6460
Friday, October 14, 2011
The San Diego Zoo? Oh, it's one of the largest in the world, and our family had a chance to visit there. And we were told that the best way to see all of these terrific animal exhibits was to take the tour bus. Well, they were right, but when we got to the tour bus there were two lines.
One was very long, and one was very short. Of course the problem was that the short one was going to the lower level of the bus so you could get on quickly. If you wanted to wait a little longer you had to wait in that long line. Those people got to the top of the bus.
Well, we debated for a minute. We said, "You know, we don't have a lot of time, but it seems like it'd be nicer if we were able to be on the top deck of that double-decker." So we took the long line. We reconsidered a couple of times because, man, it looked like a couple of buses were leaving with that other group in the shorter line, and we were still waiting for the top deck.
I'm so glad we did, because as we went around that great zoo we found out that if you really wanted to see the animals, you needed to be on the top deck, and you couldn't see nearly as much if you got in the short line and ended up on the lower deck. You know what we found out? The longer line led to the better view. Well you know what? That's sort of how life is; a lot of times the longer line leads to the better view.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Worth the Wait."
Well our word for today from the Word of God is found in Acts 7:23. "When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Well... And if you remember the rest of the story, Moses then has to be a fugitive; he flees to the wilderness--he's in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, he actually had the right idea, God's people needed deliverance. Oh, yeah, and he was to be the leader, but he got the jump on God. He did it the wrong way; he couldn't wait.
Listen to this: now 40 years later God speaks to him in the burning bush and He says, "I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come..." Basically He says, "Now is the time I'm going to move. Now is the right time." And He says, "I will send you back to Egypt." See, it made all the difference when God sent him as opposed to Moses sending himself. God's timing made all the difference. Moses had the right idea, but he couldn't wait.
See waiting, standing in the longer line, sometimes gives you a better perspective; a real solution instead of a half solution. A lot of us have got some buried Egyptians in the past of some remnants of some of the ways we tried to do it, and we couldn't wait for God to do it His way.
Maybe God's asking you to wait in the longer line right now. And you know what? It's tempting to speed up the process, isn't it? Maybe you want to be married now, but He's asking you to wait. Maybe He's asking you to wait on that financial solution, or that change in your job, or that family member to change, a door you want to open, a prayer that you fervently want answered. But see, God still wants to prepare you a little more. You're not ready yet for the answer. Or maybe the answer isn't ready for you yet. Maybe He wants to prepare some of the other people involved in the answer and they're not ready yet. So don't do the easy thing; don't do the impatient thing.
Probably there's nothing that's cost more people the perfect will of God than impatience. So, don't jump to the high-speed line. Remember that the longer line may very well lead to the better view.
I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father. John 15:15
John is the only one of the twelve who was at the cross. He came to say good-bye. By his own admission he hadn’t quite put the pieces together yet. But that didn’t really matter. As far as he was concerned, his closest friend was in trouble and he came to help…
John teaches us that the…greatest webs of loyalty are spun, not with airtight theologies or foolproof philosophies, but with friendships; stubborn, selfless, joyful friendships.
1 Samuel 20
David and Jonathan
1 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”
2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”
3 But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”
5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”
9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”
10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.
12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness like the LORD’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. 23 And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,[a] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.” 27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”
32 “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”
41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.
42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.[b]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Deuteronomy 11:13-23
13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
22 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him— 23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.
The Way We Walk
October 14, 2011 — by Julie Ackerman Link
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
A television program that I enjoy watching has a segment called Ambush Makeover. Two women are chosen to undergo 3 hours of pampering to update their hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The change is often dramatic. When the women step from behind a curtain, the audience gasps. Friends and family members sometimes start to cry. After all of this, the person with the new look finally gets to see herself. Some are so shocked that they keep looking in the mirror as if to find proof that it’s really them.
As the women walk across the set to join their companions, the former self becomes evident. Most do not know how to walk in their new shoes. Although they look chic, their clumsy walk gives them away. Their transformation is incomplete.
This is true in our Christian lives as well. God does the work in us to give us a new start, but to walk in the way of the Lord (Deut. 11:22) requires time, effort, and lots of practice. If we just stand still and smile, we can pass as being transformed. But the way we walk tells how far along we are in living out that transformation. Being changed means giving up our previous way of life and learning a new way to walk (Rom. 6:4).
The new life in Christ has begun—
The past with its darkness is gone;
Look closer to see what the Savior has done,
For change is beginning to dawn. —Hess
A change in behavior begins with a change in the heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 14th, 2011
The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1)
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ —Matthew 28:18-19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don’t go— He simply says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . .” He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.”
“Then the eleven disciples went . . . to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” (Matthew 28:16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him myself. I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . .”— that is the place to meet Jesus— “all you who labor and are heavy laden . . .” (Matthew 11:28)— and how many missionaries are! We completely dismiss these wonderful words of the universal Sovereign of the world, but they are the words of Jesus to His disciples meant for here and now.
“Go therefore . . . .” To “go” simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say in this verse, “Go into Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria,” but, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me in [all these places].” He takes upon Himself the work of sending us.
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you . . .” (John 15:7)— that is the way to keep going. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings.
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus . . .” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Worth the Wait - #6460
Friday, October 14, 2011
The San Diego Zoo? Oh, it's one of the largest in the world, and our family had a chance to visit there. And we were told that the best way to see all of these terrific animal exhibits was to take the tour bus. Well, they were right, but when we got to the tour bus there were two lines.
One was very long, and one was very short. Of course the problem was that the short one was going to the lower level of the bus so you could get on quickly. If you wanted to wait a little longer you had to wait in that long line. Those people got to the top of the bus.
Well, we debated for a minute. We said, "You know, we don't have a lot of time, but it seems like it'd be nicer if we were able to be on the top deck of that double-decker." So we took the long line. We reconsidered a couple of times because, man, it looked like a couple of buses were leaving with that other group in the shorter line, and we were still waiting for the top deck.
I'm so glad we did, because as we went around that great zoo we found out that if you really wanted to see the animals, you needed to be on the top deck, and you couldn't see nearly as much if you got in the short line and ended up on the lower deck. You know what we found out? The longer line led to the better view. Well you know what? That's sort of how life is; a lot of times the longer line leads to the better view.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Worth the Wait."
Well our word for today from the Word of God is found in Acts 7:23. "When Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not." Well... And if you remember the rest of the story, Moses then has to be a fugitive; he flees to the wilderness--he's in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, he actually had the right idea, God's people needed deliverance. Oh, yeah, and he was to be the leader, but he got the jump on God. He did it the wrong way; he couldn't wait.
Listen to this: now 40 years later God speaks to him in the burning bush and He says, "I have indeed seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come..." Basically He says, "Now is the time I'm going to move. Now is the right time." And He says, "I will send you back to Egypt." See, it made all the difference when God sent him as opposed to Moses sending himself. God's timing made all the difference. Moses had the right idea, but he couldn't wait.
See waiting, standing in the longer line, sometimes gives you a better perspective; a real solution instead of a half solution. A lot of us have got some buried Egyptians in the past of some remnants of some of the ways we tried to do it, and we couldn't wait for God to do it His way.
Maybe God's asking you to wait in the longer line right now. And you know what? It's tempting to speed up the process, isn't it? Maybe you want to be married now, but He's asking you to wait. Maybe He's asking you to wait on that financial solution, or that change in your job, or that family member to change, a door you want to open, a prayer that you fervently want answered. But see, God still wants to prepare you a little more. You're not ready yet for the answer. Or maybe the answer isn't ready for you yet. Maybe He wants to prepare some of the other people involved in the answer and they're not ready yet. So don't do the easy thing; don't do the impatient thing.
Probably there's nothing that's cost more people the perfect will of God than impatience. So, don't jump to the high-speed line. Remember that the longer line may very well lead to the better view.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Luke 21, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals (Click to listen)
Max Lucado Daily: Who Can We Trust
We can come before God’s throne where…we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16
Don’t we need someone to trust who is bigger than we are? Aren’t we tired of trusting the people of this earth for understanding? Aren’t we weary of trusting the things of this earth for strength? A drowning sailor doesn’t call on another drowning sailor for help… He knows he needs someone who is stronger than he is.
Jesus’ message is this: I am that person.
Trust Me.
Luke 21
The Widow’s Offering
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Too Busy To Know God?
October 13, 2011 — by Randy Kilgore
She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. —Luke 10:39
One day when I was waiting to board a plane, a stranger who had overheard me mention that I was a chaplain began to describe to me his life before he met Christ. He said it was marked by “sin and self-absorption. Then I met Jesus.”
I listened with interest to a list of changes he had made to his life and good deeds he had done. But because everything he told me was about his busyness for God and not his fellowship with God, I wasn’t surprised when he added, “Frankly, chaplain, I thought I’d feel better about myself by now.”
I think the New Testament character Martha would have understood that stranger’s observation. Having invited Jesus to be a guest at her home, she set about doing what she thought were the important things. But this meant she couldn’t focus on Jesus. Because Mary wasn’t helping, Martha felt justified asking Jesus to chide her. It’s a mistake many of us make: We’re so busy doing good that we don’t spend time getting to know God better.
My advice to my new airplane friend came from the core of Jesus’ words to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. I said to him: “Slow down and invest yourself in knowing God; let His Word reveal Himself to you.” If we’re too busy to spend time with God, we’re simply too busy.
Savior, let me walk beside Thee,
Let me feel my hand in Thine;
Let me know the joy of walking
In Thy strength and not in mine. —Sidebotham
Our heavenly Father longs to spend time with His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13th, 2011
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, ” ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ ” (Exodus 3:10-11). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, “Who am I that I should go . . . ?” We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— “I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be “well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, “I know this is what God wants me to do.” But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Collapse Of a Two-Legged Bridge - #6459
Thursday, October 13, 2011
When a bridge collapses it's always inconvenient, and sometimes it's tragic. Some years ago, I remember a bridge on the New York throughway near Albany, collapsed. It collapsed actually, under the pressure of heavy floodwaters, and several vehicles plunged into that raging river and it took their occupants to their death. Now it isn't always that tragic, but whenever a bridge is out, and you've probably driven somewhere and suddenly you saw that sign "Bridge out." You go, "Oh great!" And whenever a bridge is out it just makes it much more difficult to get from one point to another. In fact, sometimes that bridge is the only way to get there. Oh, and sometimes the bridge is a person.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Collapse Of a Two-Legged Bridge."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from 2 Corinthians 5:19-20. This is the words of the Apostle Paul. Here's what he says: "God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." Now when you hear these verses I hope you get a mental picture. There's a great chasm, on one side is Jesus, on the other side I want you to picture someone who's close to you; someone who as far as you know does not yet know your Christ. Think about a lost person maybe somebody who lives right near you, who you drive by all the time or walk past, it could be somebody who works near you; you see them almost every day, somebody you go to school with, someone you're on the phone with or on the Internet with a lot, could be a family member, someone in a carpool with you. But they're on the other side.
Now the word here is reconciliation. We have the ministry, the responsibility, the trust of reconciliation. God has committed to us the message of and the ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean? It means that their needs to be a bridge from that person to Jesus across that chasm. Guess who the bridge is? The two-legged bridge is you. Now in that mental picture, is this person you know about moving toward Jesus because of you or are they as far from Him as they've ever been, and maybe they've known you for years? Is it possible that that person's bridge to Jesus has collapsed?
Sometimes it means you're just so busy. "I've got so many things to do in my life, I never get around to talking to you about Jesus", but the days become weeks, and the weeks become months, and the months become years, and the years become never, and they become lost forever. Sometimes it's fear, but the greatest fear shouldn't be of being rejected by that person.
Our greatest fear should be if that person I care about will be lost forever. Sometimes it's the pressure, the peer pressure that makes me start doing things that make them wonder if being a Christian is really anything that different. I'm confusing them. I'm keeping them from Jesus because I'm not a whole lot different from the people who don't know Him.
I remember the morning I woke up and heard on my clock radio that a young girl I'd gone to high school with - I was a freshman in college at the time - she'd been murdered as a college freshman. I thought back over all those conversations we had about everything except Jesus. Oh, I was the bridge, but the bridge was out. I collapsed for her, and I can't help but wonder if somewhere in the quarters of eternity someone we knew on earth won't cry out to us, "Why didn't you tell me? You knew about this all the time. We talked about everything. Man, why didn't you tell me about Christ?"
The good news is there's still time. Jesus is standing on one side with outstretched arms; that person you care about is restless in their heart where they are on the other side. What they need is a bridge, and that bridge is you.
We can come before God’s throne where…we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16
Don’t we need someone to trust who is bigger than we are? Aren’t we tired of trusting the people of this earth for understanding? Aren’t we weary of trusting the things of this earth for strength? A drowning sailor doesn’t call on another drowning sailor for help… He knows he needs someone who is stronger than he is.
Jesus’ message is this: I am that person.
Trust Me.
Luke 21
The Widow’s Offering
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Too Busy To Know God?
October 13, 2011 — by Randy Kilgore
She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. —Luke 10:39
One day when I was waiting to board a plane, a stranger who had overheard me mention that I was a chaplain began to describe to me his life before he met Christ. He said it was marked by “sin and self-absorption. Then I met Jesus.”
I listened with interest to a list of changes he had made to his life and good deeds he had done. But because everything he told me was about his busyness for God and not his fellowship with God, I wasn’t surprised when he added, “Frankly, chaplain, I thought I’d feel better about myself by now.”
I think the New Testament character Martha would have understood that stranger’s observation. Having invited Jesus to be a guest at her home, she set about doing what she thought were the important things. But this meant she couldn’t focus on Jesus. Because Mary wasn’t helping, Martha felt justified asking Jesus to chide her. It’s a mistake many of us make: We’re so busy doing good that we don’t spend time getting to know God better.
My advice to my new airplane friend came from the core of Jesus’ words to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. I said to him: “Slow down and invest yourself in knowing God; let His Word reveal Himself to you.” If we’re too busy to spend time with God, we’re simply too busy.
Savior, let me walk beside Thee,
Let me feel my hand in Thine;
Let me know the joy of walking
In Thy strength and not in mine. —Sidebotham
Our heavenly Father longs to spend time with His children.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 13th, 2011
Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth
. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens —Exodus 2:11
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, ” ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ ” (Exodus 3:10-11). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, “Who am I that I should go . . . ?” We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— “I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be “well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, “I know this is what God wants me to do.” But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Collapse Of a Two-Legged Bridge - #6459
Thursday, October 13, 2011
When a bridge collapses it's always inconvenient, and sometimes it's tragic. Some years ago, I remember a bridge on the New York throughway near Albany, collapsed. It collapsed actually, under the pressure of heavy floodwaters, and several vehicles plunged into that raging river and it took their occupants to their death. Now it isn't always that tragic, but whenever a bridge is out, and you've probably driven somewhere and suddenly you saw that sign "Bridge out." You go, "Oh great!" And whenever a bridge is out it just makes it much more difficult to get from one point to another. In fact, sometimes that bridge is the only way to get there. Oh, and sometimes the bridge is a person.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Collapse Of a Two-Legged Bridge."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God is from 2 Corinthians 5:19-20. This is the words of the Apostle Paul. Here's what he says: "God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." Now when you hear these verses I hope you get a mental picture. There's a great chasm, on one side is Jesus, on the other side I want you to picture someone who's close to you; someone who as far as you know does not yet know your Christ. Think about a lost person maybe somebody who lives right near you, who you drive by all the time or walk past, it could be somebody who works near you; you see them almost every day, somebody you go to school with, someone you're on the phone with or on the Internet with a lot, could be a family member, someone in a carpool with you. But they're on the other side.
Now the word here is reconciliation. We have the ministry, the responsibility, the trust of reconciliation. God has committed to us the message of and the ministry of reconciliation. What does that mean? It means that their needs to be a bridge from that person to Jesus across that chasm. Guess who the bridge is? The two-legged bridge is you. Now in that mental picture, is this person you know about moving toward Jesus because of you or are they as far from Him as they've ever been, and maybe they've known you for years? Is it possible that that person's bridge to Jesus has collapsed?
Sometimes it means you're just so busy. "I've got so many things to do in my life, I never get around to talking to you about Jesus", but the days become weeks, and the weeks become months, and the months become years, and the years become never, and they become lost forever. Sometimes it's fear, but the greatest fear shouldn't be of being rejected by that person.
Our greatest fear should be if that person I care about will be lost forever. Sometimes it's the pressure, the peer pressure that makes me start doing things that make them wonder if being a Christian is really anything that different. I'm confusing them. I'm keeping them from Jesus because I'm not a whole lot different from the people who don't know Him.
I remember the morning I woke up and heard on my clock radio that a young girl I'd gone to high school with - I was a freshman in college at the time - she'd been murdered as a college freshman. I thought back over all those conversations we had about everything except Jesus. Oh, I was the bridge, but the bridge was out. I collapsed for her, and I can't help but wonder if somewhere in the quarters of eternity someone we knew on earth won't cry out to us, "Why didn't you tell me? You knew about this all the time. We talked about everything. Man, why didn't you tell me about Christ?"
The good news is there's still time. Jesus is standing on one side with outstretched arms; that person you care about is restless in their heart where they are on the other side. What they need is a bridge, and that bridge is you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)