Romans 3 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado Daily: Just for You

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
Psalm 65:7-9

I’m about to tell you something that may stretch your imagination! You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to buy it. Just think about it!

If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean would still have its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings, and spray light on the desert in the mornings.

If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree. He’s waiting for you to stumble into the den, rub the sleep from your eyes, and see the bright red bike he assembled just for you!

He’s waiting for your eyes to pop and your heart to stop! In the silence he leans forward and whispers… “I did it just for you!”

Romans 3
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Faithfulness

3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:

“So that you may be proved right when you speak
    and prevail when you judge.”[a]
5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

No One Is Righteous

9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”[b]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”[c]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[d]
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[e]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[f]
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[g]
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Hebrews 10:19-25

A Call to Persevere in Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hope Is For . . .

March 23, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. —Hebrews 10:23

Although I try not to be shocked by the things I see these days, I was caught off-balance by the message on the woman’s T-shirt as she walked past me in the mall. The bold letters declared: “Hope Is For Suckers.” Certainly, being naïve or gullible can be foolish and dangerous. Disappointment and heartache can be the tragic offspring of unfounded optimism. But not allowing oneself to have hope is a sad and cynical way to view life.

Biblical hope is unique; it’s a confident trust in God and what He is doing in the world and in our lives. That’s something everyone needs! The writer to the Hebrews clearly stated the importance of hope when he wrote, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23).

Having biblical hope is not foolish, because it has a strong foundation. We hold fast to the hope we have received in Christ because our God is faithful. He can be trusted with anything and everything we will ever face—both for today and forever. Our hope is grounded in the trustworthy character of the God who loves us with an everlasting love. So, the T-shirt had it wrong. Hope is not for suckers; it’s for you and for me!

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. —Mote
Hope that has its foundation in God will not crumble under the pressures of life.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 23, 2013

Am I Carnally Minded?

Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal . . . ? —1 Corinthians 3:3

The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. But Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In other words, carnality will disappear.

Are you quarrelsome and easily upset over small things? Do you think that no one who is a Christian is ever like that? Paul said they are, and he connected these attitudes with carnality. Is there a truth in the Bible that instantly awakens a spirit of malice or resentment in you? If so, that is proof that you are still carnal. If the process of sanctification is continuing in your life, there will be no trace of that kind of spirit remaining.

If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He doesn’t ask you to make it right; He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. But a child of the darkness will say, “Oh, I can explain that.” When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it. If, however, you try to vindicate yourself, you prove yourself to be a child of the darkness.

What is the proof that carnality has gone? Never deceive yourself; when carnality is gone you will know it-it is the most real thing you can imagine. And God will see to it that you have a number of opportunities to prove to yourself the miracle of His grace. The proof is in a very practical test. You will find yourself saying, “If this had happened before, I would have had the spirit of resentment!” And you will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.

Isaiah 33 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Get Ready for a Surprise

Have you got God figured out? Get ready, you may be in for a surprise. Hear the rocks meant for the body of the adulterous woman drop to the ground. Listen as Jesus invites a death-row convict to ride with Him to the Kingdom in the front seat of the limo. Listen as the Messiah whispers to the Samaritan woman, “I who speak to you am He.” And listen to the surprise as Mary’s name is spoken by a man she had buried.

God appearing in the strangest of places. Doing the strangest of things. Stretching smiles where there had hung only frowns. Hanging a bright star in a dark sky. Many more knees will bow. And many more seekers will celebrate.

“For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him!” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 33

Distress and Help

33 Woe to you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
    you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
    you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.
2 Lord, be gracious to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
    our salvation in time of distress.
3 At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee;
    when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.[a]
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
    no travelers are on the roads.
The treaty is broken,
    its witnesses[b] are despised,
    no one is respected.
9 The land dries up and wastes away,
    Lebanon is ashamed and withers;
Sharon is like the Arabah,
    and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
10 “Now will I arise,” says the Lord.
    “Now will I be exalted;
    now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff,
    you give birth to straw;
    your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;
    like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done;
    you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;
    trembling grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
15 Those who walk righteously
    and speak what is right,
who reject gain from extortion
    and keep their hands from accepting bribes,
who stop their ears against plots of murder
    and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,
    whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
Their bread will be supplied,
    and water will not fail them.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty
    and view a land that stretches afar.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:
    “Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
    Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
19 You will see those arrogant people no more,
    people whose speech is obscure,
    whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals;
    your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
    It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.
No galley with oars will ride them,
    no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
    the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
    it is he who will save us.
23 Your rigging hangs loose:
    The mast is not held secure,
    the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
    and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;
    and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

English Standard Version (ESV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,[a] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Going For The Prize

March 22, 2013 — by Dennis Fisher

Everyone who competes for the prize . . . [does] it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. —1 Corinthians 9:25

Every March, the Iditarod Trail Race is held in Alaska. Sled dogs and their drivers, called “mushers,” race across a 1,049-mile route from Anchorage to Nome. The competing teams cover this great distance in anywhere from 8 to 15 days. In 2011, a record time was set by musher John Baker who covered the entire route in 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, and 39 seconds. The teamwork between dogs and driver is remarkable, and those who compete are tenacious in their efforts to win. The first-place winner receives a cash prize and a new pickup truck. But after so much perseverance in extreme weather conditions, the accolades and prizes may seem insignificant and transient.

The excitement of a race was a familiar concept to the apostle Paul, but he used competition to illustrate something eternal. He wrote, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Cor. 9:25).

Sometimes we are tempted to place our emphasis on temporal rewards, which perish with the passing of time. The Scriptures, however, encourage us to focus on something more permanent. We honor God by seeking spiritual impact that will be rewarded in eternity.

Here we labor, here we pray,
Here we wrestle night and day;
There we lay our burdens down,
There we wear the victor’s crown. —Anon.
Run the race with eternity in view.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 22, 2013

The Burning Heart

Did not our heart burn within us . . . ? —Luke 24:32

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.

Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin, but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be what they will. We cannot stay forever on the “mount of transfiguration,” basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9). But we must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter what the cost.

We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides, The spirit bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Job Description For a Jesus Follower - #6835

Friday, March 22, 2013

The basis of a good working relationship is a clear job description. All of the good management people will tell you that. When you take a job, you should be able to get an answer to the question, "So what do you expect me to do?" When you're in college, they give you this syllabus with all that's going to be expected of you. Here's when the papers are due, here's all the reading you have to do. And even though it's a little overwhelming, it is sort of a job description for a college student. Here's what we're going to expect of you. When you go to football practice and you work on the plays, the coach lets you know that we're in this situation, this is your job; this is where you're supposed to be. That's your job description.

Now, knowing what you are supposed to do is vital when it comes to being employed. You're going to have the best working relationship when your employer has written your job description very clearly. One guy said, "I found out what my job description was the day I was fired." "Okay, that's what I was supposed to be doing, huh? I see!" Well, a lot of people carry out their most important assignment without ever consulting their job description.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Job Description For a Jesus Follower."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Mark 3. I'm going to begin reading at verse 13. "Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve, designating them apostles..." Now, stand by; here comes the job description. Three responsibilities: "...that they might be with Him, that He might send them out to preach, and to have authority to drive out demons." I think this job description really applies to anyone who really wants to follow Jesus closely as a modern day disciple. If you want to be the kind of person whom God can use, well this is kind of the job description.

Notice the first part. Isn't that a surprising first thing to do? "All right, guys, your first job is: Be with Me. Not to do anything. Spend time with Me." That's your first responsibility, to be with Jesus. You get in the huddle as a football player before you make any plays. You get in the huddle with your Lord, Jesus Christ, on a daily basis before you head out to the field. That's where the power comes from. You fill up with Jesus before you head into your responsibilities. That sums up your number one priority for this job, "Be with Me" Jesus said. "I chose you to be with Me."

Then He says, "I want you to go and tell. I want you to go and preach." That's the second responsibility you and I have: To leave the safety of our little Christian cocoon and then literally go and tell people verbally, not just with our lives, but verbally tell them what happened on that middle cross was for them. Tell them what He told you when you were with Him.

And then the third responsibility it talks about is exercising authority over the devil. So the third part is to push back the darkness. Jesus said, "I am in the business of reclaiming lives and pushing back the darkness, and I want you with the way you live to do the same thing." There are people you know, lives that Satan has. Go in Jesus' power. Bring Christ into every situation and push back the darkness, and challenge Him for lives he now controls.

The job description for us as followers of Christ isn't rules, or meetings, or offices to hold, or activities. It's three exciting lifetime assignments: Be with Jesus, go and tell, and push back the darkness. If you're doing those, you're doing the job and your Master is ready to say these precious words to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Isaiah 32 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: The Father’s Outstretched Arms

The prodigal son. Going home a changed man.  No longer demanding he get what he deserved, but willing to take whatever he could get. How many years had it been? As the boy came around the bend that led to his house, he rehearsed his speech one more time. He turned to open the gate, but the father already had.

“Father I have sinned,” he said. (Luke 15:21).  The two wept.  Words were unnecessary.  Forgiveness had been given.

If there’s a scene that deserves to be framed, it’s the one of the Father’s outstretched hands. His hands call us home. Imagine those hands.  Stretching open like a wide gate, leaving entrance as the only option. He forced His arms so wide apart that it hurt. And to prove that those arms would never fold and those hands would never close, He had them nailed open.

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 32

The Kingdom of Righteousness

32 See, a king will reign in righteousness
    and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
    and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
    and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,
    and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
    nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,
    their hearts are bent on evil:
They practice ungodliness
    and spread error concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty
    and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,
    they make up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
    even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble make noble plans,
    and by noble deeds they stand.
The Women of Jerusalem

9 You women who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen to me;
you daughters who feel secure,
    hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!
Strip off your fine clothes
    and wrap yourselves in rags.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines
13 and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers—
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.
14 The fortress will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
    the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert,
    his righteousness live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
    its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
    in secure homes,
    in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest
    and the city is leveled completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
    sowing your seed by every stream,
    and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Peter 4:1-8

English Standard Version (ESV)
Stewards of God's Grace

4 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,[a] arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Make It Count

March 21, 2013 — by Marvin Williams

Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. —1 Peter 4:1

In his battle with cancer, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., said: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” His suffering influenced the choices he made.

In contrast, the apostle Peter wanted to motivate his readers to use their suffering to make their lives count for eternity. And he wanted Jesus’ suffering and death to inspire them to accept the spiritual conflict and persecution that would result from bearing the name of Jesus. Because they loved Jesus, suffering was going to be normative. Jesus’ suffering was to serve as motivation to give up sinful passions and to be obedient to the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2). If their lives were going to count for eternity, they needed to stop indulging in fleeting pleasures and instead exhaust their lives on what pleased God.

Remembering that Jesus suffered and died to forgive our sins is the most important thought we have to inspire us to make godly choices today and to make our lives count for eternity.

Jesus, You have suffered and died to forgive our sin;
may Your death and resurrection inspire us to never
return to where we’ve been. Help us in our resolve
to live for Your will alone.
Jesus’ death forgave my past sins and inspires my present obedience.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 21, 2013

Identified or Simply Interested?

I have been crucified with Christ . . . —Galatians 2:20

The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ,” or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him”-but-”I have been identified with Him in His death.” Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished in me. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.

“. . . it is no longer I who live . . . .” My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.

“. . . and the life which I now live in the flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh-the life which others can see, “I live by faith in the Son of God . . . .” This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits-a faith that comes only from the Son of God.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Fine China - Not Paper Plates at Your House - #6834

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Oh, we have different kinds of meals at our house - 'paper plate' meals. Do you have those? You know, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs - if you want to be more frank. And then we have the 'fine china meals'. We don't have too many of those, but on some special occasions we break out the fine china. We don't break the fine china; we break out the fine china. Now, it's very different the way we treat those two kinds of plates when we're finished eating. For example, when we have paper plates, we don't wash them after we're done. That probably doesn't come as a great surprise to you. We don't put them in a nice careful place to keep them there. In fact, we just kind of wad them up and throw them away because they're disposable. You don't wash those. No big deal!

Now, I'm sure you won't be surprised when I tell you what we do with our china plates. We do wash those. In fact, we put them back in a special place where they are stored until another special occasion. You'd better not drop them or you might be out of the family. I think we know it's fine china because my wife took something and wrote on the back "Fine China". But it's kind of nice, and we reserve that fine china for special uses. Paper? You throw that away because you know it's not worth much. So many people I know feel as if they are paper plates and they're throwing themselves away.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Fine China - Not Paper Plates at Your House."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 4:29. It's a great family verse here: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen." This verse talks about two kinds of talk. There's the talk that tears people down, and there's the talk that builds people up.

There's been some recent social research that shows for every negative comment we get in our lives, we need seven positives to bring us back to zero. Is that pretty much the ratio at your house between you and your children; you and your husband or wife? So, I give you seven praises for every one criticism; seven positives for every one negative. Well, I don't know that we have to be legalistic about the ratio, but the point is God says here, "Don't let any tear-down talk come out of your mouth, but only what builds people up.

So, how is the praise ratio at your house? As parents it's up to us to communicate to our children that they are fine china, uniquely created, that they have valuable gifts in their life that they have to give, and they can't throw themselves away. See, we do that by building them up.

Too many kids I know feel like paper plates. They've been criticized so much, they've been told what's wrong with them, what needs improving, but not what's right with them. They're never told the strengths that they have. We parents tend to focus on what's weak instead of what's strong, because we figure that's what they need to work on. But, you know, they need to hear from us over and over again the great strengths that God has put into them. They hear what's wrong with them all day long in school, "It is cool to be cruel." So they need your praise; they need your compliments. Not for our glory, but it glorifies the Creator who creates only masterpieces.

Think about what's coming out of your mouth, and whether it's more build-up talk or tear-down talk. What's the ratio between the two? Check up on the kind of talk that's going on at your house, especially that's coming from you. You're building either paper plates or fine china. Tell the people you love what's good about them. They will be a lot more likely to say no to what's cheap and to stay reserved for the things that really matter.

Romans 2 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Jesus Unties the Knots

“We found this woman in bed with a man!  The law says to stone her.  What do you say Teacher?”

In her despair she looks at the Teacher.  His eyes don’t glare.  “Don’t worry,” they whisper, “it’s okay.”  Her feet were bare and muddy. Her heart ragged, torn as much by her own guilt as by the mob’s anger.  So, with the tenderness only a father can have, Jesus begins to untie the knots and repair the holes.

The woman’s accusers question, “Tell us teacher!  What do you want us to do with her?” Jesus just raised His head and offered an invitation. “I guess if you’ve never made a mistake, then you have a right to stone this woman.”

Silence. Then thud. . .thud. . .rocks fell to the ground. The crowd walked away.  Jesus said, “Go, sin no more!”  (John 8:11). Jesus saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be.

from Six Hours One Friday

Romans 2
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Righteous Judgment

2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

The Jews and the Law

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”[b]

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the[c] written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Matthew 5:38-48

English Standard Version (ESV)
Retaliation

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[a] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[b] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Thoughts On Rain

March 20, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. —Matthew 5:45

When torrential downpours beat on the heads of my newly planted petunias, I felt bad for them. I wanted to bring them inside to shelter them from the storm. By the time the rain stopped, their little faces were bowed to the ground from the weight of the water. They looked sad and weak. Within a few hours, however, they perked up and turned their heads skyward. By the next day, they were standing straight and strong.

What a transformation! After pounding them on the head, the rain dripped from their leaves, soaked into the soil, and came up through their stalks, giving them the strength to stand straight.

Because I prefer sunshine, I get annoyed when rain spoils my outdoor plans. I sometimes wrongly think of rain as something negative. But anyone who has experienced drought knows that rain is a blessing. It nourishes the earth for the benefit of both the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45).

Even when the storms of life hit so hard that we nearly break from the force, the “rain” is not an enemy. Our loving God has allowed it to make us stronger. He uses the water that batters us on the outside to build us up on the inside, so we may stand straight and strong.

Lord, we know that we don’t need to fear the storms
of life. Because You are good, we can trust You
to use even our hard times to build our faith in You.
We lean on You now.
The storms that threaten to destroy us God will use to strengthen us.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 20, 2013

Friendship with God

Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ? —Genesis 18:17

The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately.

The Difficulties of His Friendship. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He stopped because he still was lacking the level of intimacy in his relationship with God, which would enable him boldly to continue on with the Lord in prayer until his desire was granted. Whenever we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, “Well, I don’t know, maybe this is not God’s will,” then we still have another level to go. It shows that we are not as intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as Jesus would have us to be— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22). Think of the last thing you prayed about-were you devoted to your desire or to God? Was your determination to get some gift of the Spirit for yourself or to get to God? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). The reason for asking is so you may get to know God better. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). We should keep praying to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Snowballs...or Avalanches - #6833

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Honestly, snowball fights have always been a mismatch in our family. When our boys were little, they didn't stand a chance. Then they got bigger than I am; now I don't stand a chance. Actually, snowballs are fun unless you get too many of them. If you put thousands of snowballs together and roll them down a mountain, you've got an avalanche. That's not fun.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Snowballs...or Avalanches."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Matthew chapter 6, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 33. It's familiar territory. "But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus is giving some very practical advice here about how to handle life's burdens. He says, "Take your troubles in 24-hour chunks." Just the other day, I was trying to do it the way most of us do it a lot of the time. I found myself adding up all my responsibilities, all the deadlines, all the pressures of the next 30 days, looking at this monster To Do List, and I said, "There is no way I can get all this done! I can't meet all these expectations. I can't begin to address all these problems." I started to panic, and that usually leads to paralysis. It was going to be the Mission Impossible month. Well, you know, I'm running in panic because I see an avalanche. But the fact was I didn't have to do those 30 days on that day that I was doing all the worrying about all those days. I could only do one day that day.

That's what Jesus is saying, "Don't try to do tomorrow today; carry tomorrow's load today. Don't do that! You carry each day's load on a daily basis," because the Bible says that that's how you "take up your cross" daily. All I had to do was to have one good day. Make as much progress as possible, and then trust God for the undone to crown Him

Lord of the undone. You trust God that He will take 30 days like that, bless it, multiply it, and make up the difference for your inadequacies, and some of those problems solve before you get to them. Miraculously make the time you have enough. That's happened to me more times than I can count, and I have to keep learning this lesson over and over again. Even telling you about it helps me to hear it again.

Today is a snowball. You can handle a snowball coming at you. It's just that when you put many of those snowballs together and try to deal with them all at once, you're going to be trying to deal with an avalanche. That's not how God made you. He gives us strength for one day at a time. I know that from Deuteronomy 33:25. It says, "He will give you strength equal to your day." And there's a wonderful promise in the book of Zephaniah that says, "Every new day He does not fail." Maybe you're being paralyzed right now by all the "might's" and the "could's" and the "what if's". You're trying to handle a week, or a month, or a year today and you're melting down.

Relax! In God's word He promised that He will make sure that all these things will be given to you as well. He's in that process. He's already out there in the future getting it ready. Don't you try to deal with it. You work on today's snowball, and then you won't have to be buried in an avalanche.

Isaiah 31 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Good Luck Charm

For some, Jesus is a good luck charm. The “Rabbit’s Foot” Redeemer. Pocket sized. Handy. His specialty?  Getting you out of a jam. Need a parking place?  Need help on a quiz?  Pull out the rabbit’s foot.  No need to have a relationship with Him.  No need to love Him.  New jobs. New and improved spouses. Your wish is His command. Few demands, no challenges.  No need for sacrifice. No need for commitment.

That’s not the Redeemer of the New Testament. When the disciples were in the storm, He rescued them. When the multitudes were hungry, He fed them. Prayer, service, and instruction all mattered to His ministry but they fell short of a higher call.

“The Son of Man” scripture says, “came to serve others and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)  The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them!  Rabbit charm…hardly. Savior…absolutely!

from Six Hours One Friday

Isaiah 31

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
    who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
    and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
    or seek help from the Lord.
2 Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster;
    he does not take back his words.
He will rise up against that wicked nation,
    against those who help evildoers.
3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;
    their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
    those who help will stumble,
    those who are helped will fall;
    all will perish together.
4 This is what the Lord says to me:

“As a lion growls,
    a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
    is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
    or disturbed by their clamor—
so the Lord Almighty will come down
    to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
5 Like birds hovering overhead,
    the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
    he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”
6 Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. 7 For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.

8 “Assyria will fall by no human sword;
    a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.
They will flee before the sword
    and their young men will be put to forced labor.
9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror;
    at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,”
declares the Lord,
    whose fire is in Zion,
    whose furnace is in Jerusalem.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Chronicles 28:5-10

English Standard Version (ESV)
5 And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ 8 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.

David's Charge to Solomon

9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”

First Things First

March 19, 2013 — by David H. Roper

Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind. —1 Chronicles 28:9

When our granddaughter Sarah was very young, she told us she wanted to be a basketball coach like her daddy when she grew up. But she couldn’t be one yet, she said, because first she had to be a player; and a player has to be able to tie her shoelaces, and she couldn’t tie hers yet!

First things first, we say. And the first thing in all of life is to know God and enjoy Him.

Acknowledging and knowing God helps us to become what we were meant to be. Here is King David’s counsel to his son Solomon: “Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind” (1 Chron. 28:9).

Remember, God can be known. He is a Person, not a logical or theological concept. He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, and desires as any person does. A. W. Tozer writes, “He is a person and can be known in increasing degrees of intimacy as we prepare our hearts for the wonder of it.” Ah, there’s the rub: We must “prepare our hearts.”

The Lord is not playing hard to know; those who want to know Him can. He will not foist His love on us, but He does wait patiently, for He wants to be known by you. Knowing Him is the first thing in life.

He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joys we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
—C. Austin Miles © Renewal 1940. The Rodeheaver Company
The thought of God staggers the mind but to know Him satisfies the heart.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 19, 2013

Abraham’s Life of Faith

He went out, not knowing where he was going —Hebrews 11:8

In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.

Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason—a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day—in and day—out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith—a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God. . .” (Romans 4:3).


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Someone Else Shuts the Door - #6832

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

It might actually be an unwritten rule of flying commercially. The person who has the window seat in a row always seems to get there last. It's just got to be a rule; seems to always happen. It happened one day to me. I was lucky enough to be in the center seat. There was someone to my left sitting on the aisle seat, and we were all buckled in because they were about to close the door and begin the flight. I said, "All right! I'm going to get an empty seat next to me." No!

All of a sudden, huffing and puffing down the aisle comes a man who I would say didn't sit in his seat. He more collapsed into his seat, and I said, "Oh, it was a close call." And he said, "Oh, I already missed one." And I said, "Tell me the story." He said, "Well, the plane was there and I thought, 'I'm going to make it' as I ran through the airport. And I made it, but they'd just closed the door on the passageway out to the plane - the jet way." He got there and the agent said, "You know what? I think we can still make it." She opened the door and he said, "Wouldn't you know, just at that minute the plane just started to inch away. The jetway was just pulling in." He said, "I almost literally had one foot on the jetway, but I was a split second too late." Well, he missed his chance. It was close, but he missed it. I'm afraid you will.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else Shuts the Door."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Genesis chapter 7; it's the familiar story of Noah. It says in verse 7, "Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood." Verse 10 says, "After seven days the flood waters came on the earth." And we know that all of mankind was destroyed. But up until that time, for many, many years there had been opportunities to avoid that coming judgment. All you had to do was get into the ark.

Verse 16 says these sobering words, "Then the Lord shut him in." God shut the door on the place where they could avoid the judgment. This is more than ancient history we're

looking at here. This is an eternally important picture of someone who's listening today - maybe you. God offers to each of us a way to escape the judgment for our sin that we deserve. It's a penalty, though, that Christ took; a death penalty that He took on the cross. He's the ark.

There's an ark available to all of us sinners. Now, how do you get in? You go to the cross where Jesus died and you say, "Jesus, for me. I believe You died for me. Like those people who got into the ark, this is my only hope of safety from God's judgment. Not my religion, not my good works; nothing else will do it." But see, you can only come as long as God leaves the door open.

In John 6, Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him." You won't come to Christ; you can't unless God's Spirit wakes you up inside, pulls you toward Jesus, and gives you the faith to do it. Haven't you experienced that tug? What have you done with it? Postponed dealing with it, pretended you have, played along, agreed? Agreement isn't commitment.

Once again today, through this broadcast, He's stirring you. Some time will be the last time, and then the door is closed. It isn't smart to procrastinate when eternity is at stake. I know a man who very much wanted to be on an airplane, who went to the destination he wanted, but he went to the door too late. For him there was another flight, but if God shuts the door of grace because you've refused to respond, there's not another flight. Your only hope is gone.

Today if you want to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to invite you to join me at a website called YoursForLife.net. There you will find in simple terms how you can be sure you have been forgiven of your sins, you'll go to heaven when you die, and you have begun your relationship with God.

Today the door is open! God paid with the blood of His Son for you to go to heaven, but you've got to come while He's calling. You can meet Jesus at His cross today. He's been waiting for you there.

Isaiah 30 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Has God spoken to you lately if not click to listen to God's teaching?)

Max Lucado Daily: Nevertheless

Where does Satan have a stronghold within you?  It’s what David faced when he looked at Jerusalem.  Nevertheless, David took the stronghold.  Granted, the city was old.  The walls were difficult.  The voices discouraging.  Nevertheless, David took the stronghold.

Wouldn’t you love for God to write a nevertheless in your biography?  Born to alcoholics, nevertheless, she led a sober life.  Never went to college, nevertheless, he mastered a trade. Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless, he came to a deep and abiding faith.  We all need a nevertheless.

Paul said, “We use God’s mighty weapons to knock down the devil’s stronghold.” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

You and I?  We fight with toothpicks.  God comes with battering rams and cannons!

From Live Loved

Isaiah 30

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
    declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
    forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
    heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
    without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
    to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
    Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
    and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
    because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
    but only shame and disgrace.”
6 A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:

Through a land of hardship and distress,
    of lions and lionesses,
    of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
    their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7     to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
    Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
    inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
    it may be an everlasting witness.
9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
    children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers,
    “See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
    “Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
    prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
    get off this path,
and stop confronting us
    with the Holy One of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“Because you have rejected this message,
    relied on oppression
    and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
    like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
    that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
    shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
    for taking coals from a hearth
    or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
    Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
    Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
    at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
    you will all flee away,
till you are left
    like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
    like a banner on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
    Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

27 See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,
    with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;
his lips are full of wrath,
    and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,
    rising up to the neck.
He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;
    he places in the jaws of the peoples
    a bit that leads them astray.
29 And you will sing
    as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;
your hearts will rejoice
    as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice
    and will make them see his arm coming down
with raging anger and consuming fire,
    with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;
    with his rod he will strike them down.
32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them
    with his punishing club
will be to the music of timbrels and harps,
    as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33 Topheth has long been prepared;
    it has been made ready for the king.
Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,
    with an abundance of fire and wood;
the breath of the Lord,
    like a stream of burning sulfur,
    sets it ablaze.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Galatians 6:1-10

English Standard Version (ESV)
Bear One Another's Burdens

6 Brothers,[a] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.

6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Can’t Do Everything

March 18, 2013 — by Dave Branon

Let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. —Galatians 6:4

Four-year-old Eliana was helping her mom pick up some of Eliana’s things before bedtime. When Mommy told her to put away the clothes on her bed, Eliana hit her limit. She turned around, put her little hands on her hips, and said, “I can’t do everything!”

Do you ever feel that way with the tasks God has called you to do? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with church involvement, witnessing, and raising a family. We might sigh in exasperation and pray, “Lord, I can’t do everything!”

Yet God’s instructions indicate that His expectations are not overwhelming. For instance, as we deal with others, He gives us this qualifier: “As much as depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). God understands our limitations. Or this: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Col. 3:23). He’s not asking for perfection that we might impress people, but simply to honor Him with the work we do. And one more: “Let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another” (Gal. 6:4). We are not doing our work as a competition with others, but simply to carry our own load.

In wisdom, God has equipped us to do just what He wants us to do—and that’s certainly not everything!

He gives me work that I may seek His rest,
He gives me strength to meet the hardest test;
And as I walk in providential grace,
I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace. —Gustafson
When God gives an assignment, it comes with His enablement.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 18, 2013

Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?

. . . perfecting holiness in the fear of God —2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, having these promises. . . .” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.

I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived-a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?

Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

The Power of Powerlessness - #6831

Monday, March 18, 2013

When you grow up in the Midwest, you don't get too much experience with hurricanes; a tornado maybe, but not hurricanes. We were vacationing out on the end of Long Island some summers ago, and the word came that there was a hurricane making its way up the East Coast and would probably go over Long Island. We were well up from the water and were not in any real danger, even though the people near the water were being evacuated.

So we went into town and every store had candles and batteries. We thought we might lose power during that time and evidently so did the whole town! We got everything out that we thought we'd need; all the batteries, a little hibachi grill in case we had to cook without a stove, we lined the refrigerator with newspaper like you're supposed to, we filled the bathtub with water so in case the electric goes out we'd still have some water. And then we all moved, as the storm was moving up the coast, from our upstairs bedrooms to the living room, and we all just kind of slept together on the floor there.

You know what? Everybody loved it! The kids said, "Is this a hurricane? This is cool!" Because we weren't in separate bedrooms; we were all kind of cozy together, and sure enough we lost the electric. It was knocked out for four days. So our nights were all by candle light, and it was great! We read, we cuddled, we got close, we made lifetime memories. That power outage gave us a whole new closeness; one of the best things that could happen for us turned out to be losing all our power.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Power of Powerlessness."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Chronicles 20:12. Jehoshaphat is the King of Judah, and Judah has already encountered enough difficulties, and they are now having a massive army coming toward them. And this is the testimony of Jehoshaphat to the Lord, "We have no power to face this vast enemy that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." Isn't that great?

Can you relate to those words, "no power"? You say, "Boy, when it comes to money right now, or my health, or my family, or people that I'm having trouble with, I feel like I have no power against it." Can you relate to those words, "a vast army"? You say, "Man, I'm overwhelmed by all that's going on. I'm paralyzed. Sometimes I'm about to panic." Well, that's good! You say, "Why is that good?" For the same reason no power was good for our family during that hurricane. Something happened between us that would never have happened if we had the power that we always depend on.

Right now you have the opportunity to run and wrap yourself around your Heavenly Father like a desperate child. And in that complete dependency His power takes over unobstructed by your efforts to do it. It's all God; it's none of you, because there's no more of you left to fight. And at that moment you are more powerful than you have ever been - powerless but powerful.

You've admitted you're a beggar and God is a billionaire. You have nothing to contribute to a victory, and so now the billionaire pours His resources into you. This vast army moving against you could be the greatest thing that ever happened to you if you do what Jehoshaphat says here, "Our eyes are upon You." Not on that army. "Our eyes are upon You." You say, "Lord, it's all Yours." Your power has been blown out by the storm, but it would and it could lead you to a deeper closeness with your Father than you have ever known.

By the way, an incredible victory was wrought by the power of God back in Jehoshaphat's day. And maybe that's going to happen in your life right now because you're powerless at last.

Romans 1 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click to listen to God’s teaching)
Max Lucado Daily: Such Passion

“I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love.” Ephesians 3:18

From the cradle in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem we’ve pondered the love of our Father. What can you say to that kind of emotion? Upon learning that God would rather die than live without you, how do you react? How can you begin to explain such passion?

Romans 1
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 12

For the director of music. According to sheminith.[b] A psalm of David.

1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;
    those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor;
    they flatter with their lips
    but harbor deception in their hearts.
3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips
    and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say,
    “By our tongues we will prevail;
    our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold[c] refined seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
    and will protect us forever from the wicked,
8 who freely strut about
    when what is vile is honored by the human race.

Who Owns My Lips?

March 17, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord. —Psalm 19:14

The difference between a compliment and flattery is often motive. A compliment offers genuine appreciation for a quality or action seen in another person. The goal of flattery is usually self-advancement through gaining the favor of someone else. Compliments seek to encourage; flattery attempts to manipulate.

In Psalm 12, David lamented his society in which godly, faithful people had disappeared and been replaced by those who speak deceitfully “with flattering lips and a double heart” (v.2). They had said, “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?” (v.4).

The question “Who owns my lips?” is a good one to ask ourselves when we’re tempted to use insincere praise to get what we want. If my lips are my own, I can say what I please. But if the Lord owns my lips, then my speech will mirror His words, which the psalmist described as “pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (v.6).

Perhaps a good way to show who owns our lips would be to begin each day with David’s prayer from another psalm: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).

A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life;
A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless. —Anon.
He who guards his mouth preserves his life. —Proverbs 13:3


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 17, 2013

The Servant’s Primary Goal

We make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him —2 Corinthians 5:9

We make it our aim. . . .” It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only “to be well pleasing to Him.” It is not a lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but a lack of working to keep our eyes focused and on the right goal. At least once a week examine yourself before God to see if your life is measuring up to the standard He has for you. Paul was like a musician who gives no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from his Conductor.

Any goal we have that diverts us even to the slightest degree from the central goal of being “approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15) may result in our rejection from further service for Him. When you discern where the goal leads, you will understand why it is so necessary to keep “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul spoke of the importance of controlling his own body so that it would not take him in the wrong direction. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest . . . I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

I must learn to relate everything to the primary goal, maintaining it without interruption. My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?

Isaiah 29 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

(Click to listen to God’s teaching)

Max Lucado Daily: Courage

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. I Peter 3:13-14”

On April 18, 2007, three Christians in Turkey were killed for their beliefs. Necati Aydin, a 35 year-old pastor was one of them.

He nearly didn’t go the office that morning. He’d been traveling and his wife, Semse, wanted him to stay home and rest. He admitted his weariness, but went on to work. There was much to be done. Semse recalls, “As my dear husband walked out the door, he smiled at me one last time. I didn’t know that was the last smile.”

Later that morning, attackers came to Necati Aydin’s office insisting he pray: “There is no God except Allah!” When Necati refused, the torture began. The last word from the office was the cry of an unswerving Christian: Messiah! Messiah!

I ponder the martyrs of Malatya and wonder, Would I make the sacrifice? Would I cry out, “Messiah! Messiah! Would I give my life?

How do we prepare? Linger long and often in the presence of Christ. Meditate on his grace. Ponder his love. Memorize his words.

Courage comes as we live with Jesus!

Isaiah 29

Woe to David’s City

29 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city where David settled!
Add year to year
    and let your cycle of festivals go on.
2 Yet I will besiege Ariel;
    she will mourn and lament,
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.[e]
3 I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle you with towers
    and set up my siege works against you.
4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
    your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
    out of the dust your speech will whisper.
5 But your many enemies will become like fine dust,
    the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant,
6     the Lord Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
    with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
    that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,
    with a vision in the night—
8 as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Be stunned and amazed,
    blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
    stagger, but not from beer.
10 The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:
    He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
    he has covered your heads (the seers).
11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

13 The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[f]
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
15 Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us? Who will know?”
16 You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
    “You know nothing”?
17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
    and the fertile field seem like a forest?
18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
    and out of gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind will see.
19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
    the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The ruthless will vanish,
    the mockers will disappear,
    and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
    who ensnare the defender in court
    and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:

“No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
    no longer will their faces grow pale.
23 When they see among them their children,
    the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
    they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
    those who complain will accept instruction.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 51:1-13

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.

Broken Bones

March 16, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. —Psalm 51:8

Years ago, I played collegiate soccer as a goalkeeper. It was more fun than I can describe here, but all that fun came at a hefty price—one I continue to pay today. Being a goalie means that you are constantly throwing your body into harm’s way to prevent the other team from scoring, often resulting in injuries. During the course of one season, I suffered a broken leg, several cracked ribs, a separated shoulder, and a concussion! Today, especially on cold days, I am visited by painful reminders of those broken bones.

David also had reminders of broken bones, but his injuries were spiritual, not physical. After David’s moral collapse involving an affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, God firmly disciplined him. But then David turned to Him in repentance and prayed, “Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice” (Ps. 51:8).

God’s chastening was so crushing that David felt like his bones were broken. Yet he trusted that the God of grace could both repair his brokenness and rekindle his joy. In our own failure and sin, it’s a comfort to know that God loves us enough to pursue and restore us with His loving discipline.

Father, open my eyes to see my failings, open my heart
to receive Your discipline, and open my will to embrace
Your loving purposes. When I fall, I pray that You will
make me whole and restore my joy in You.
God’s hand of discipline is a hand of love.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
March 16, 2013

The Master Will Judge

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light. . .” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie.