Jeremiah 31, bible reading and devotionals.

A Hope We Cannot Resist-by Max Lucado

In a concentration camp, a guard announced a shovel was missing. Screaming at the men, he kept insisting someone had stolen it.  He shouldered his rifle, ready to kill one prisoner at a time until a confession was made. As the story continues, a Scottish soldier broke ranks, stood stiffly at attention, and said, “I did it.”  The guard killed the man. As they returned to camp, the shovels were counted. The guard had made a mistake.  No shovel was missing after all.

Who does that?  What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn’t do? When you find the adjective, attach it to Jesus. Isaiah 53:6 says, “God has piled all our  sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on Him.”

Christ lived the life we could not live and took the punishment we could not take, to offer the hope we cannot resist!

from Facing Your Giants

Jeremiah 31

New International Version (NIV)

31 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”
² This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword
    will find favor in the wilderness;
    I will come to give rest to Israel.”

³ The Lord appeared to us in the past,^[a] saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
⁴ I will build you up again,
    and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
    and go out to dance with the joyful.
⁵ Again you will plant vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.
⁶ There will be a day when watchmen cry out
    on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ This is what the Lord says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;
    shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
    ‘Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ See, I will bring them from the land of the north
    and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
    expectant mothers and women in labor;
    a great throng will return.
⁹ They will come with weeping;
    they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
    on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
    proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
    and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
¹¹ For the Lord will deliver Jacob
    and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
    they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
    the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
    and they will sorrow no more.
¹³ Then young women will dance and be glad,
    young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
    I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
¹⁴ I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
    and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁵ This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
    “They will return from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
    “Your children will return to their own land.

¹⁸ “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
    ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
    and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
    because you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ After I strayed,
    I repented;
after I came to understand,
    I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰ Is not Ephraim my dear son,
    the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
    I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
    I have great compassion for him,”
declares the Lord.

²¹ “Set up road signs;
    put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
    the road that you take.
Return, Virgin Israel,
    return to your towns.
²² How long will you wander,
    unfaithful Daughter Israel?
The Lord will create a new thing on earth—
    the woman will return to^[b] the man.”

²³ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity,^[c] the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ ²⁴ People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. ²⁵ I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
²⁶ At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.
²⁷ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. ²⁸ Just as I watchedover them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster,so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband to^[d] them,^[e]”
declares the Lord.
³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
    and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
³⁴ No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”

³⁵ This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints the sun
    to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
    to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
    so that its waves roar—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:
³⁶ “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
    declares the Lord,
“will Israel ever cease
    being a nation before me.”

³⁷ This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured
    and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
    because of all they have done,”
declares the Lord.

³⁸ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰ The whole valleywhere dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Our Daily Bread Reading and Devotional
Read: Proverbs 3:1-12

New International Version (NIV)

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

3 My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
² for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.

³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.^[a]

⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
    and nourishment to your bones.

⁹ Honor the Lord with your wealth,
    with the firstfruits of all your crops;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
    and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not resent his rebuke,
¹² because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    as a father the son he delights in.^[b]

The Joy Of Disappointment

August 14, 2013 — by Bill Crowder

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. —Proverbs 3:5

While in Bible college, I auditioned for one of the school’s traveling musical teams. I was excited about the thought of being able to be involved in that ministry, but was crushed when I failed to make the team. In my disappointment, I could only trust that God’s purposes were greater than mine.
Months later, I had the opportunity to join a different musical team, but as the Bible teacher. The results were more than I could have imagined. Not only was my future wife a part of that team, allowing us to serve Christ together, but it also gave me many opportunities to preach over the next 3 years—priceless preparation for a life of ministry in the Word.
Many times we struggle with the reality that our Father knows what is best. We assume our way is right. But, as we rest in Him, His purposes always prove to be for our good and His praise. To be honest, that’s easy to see when the outcome is better than we had hoped, but difficult when we can’t see the good right now or maybe won’t till heaven.
As wise King Solomon said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand. —Williams

God’s purpose for today’s events may not be seen until tomorrow.

My Utmost for His Highest-by Oswald Chambers

August 14th

The Discipline of the Lord

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him —Hebrews 12:5

It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, “Oh, that must be from the devil.”
“Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, “Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
“. . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!
Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me— sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

A Word With You by Ron Hutchcraft
Leaving a Trail of Gifts - #6938

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My wife is one of the most generous people I know. We've never had a whole lot to spend on gifts, but somehow she usually finds a way to give them. Over the years God has blessed us with some friends who have been very generous with us. They have invited us to get away to their cabin or their cottage or their farm. I can remember occasions where I've been all packed and ready to go and anxious to leave, and my wife hasn't come out yet. I'll go back inside and I'll say, "Honey, what are you doing?" You know where she is? She's rummaging through her gift box or her gift closet, and she'll say, "Wait a minute, Honey, I'm looking for a gift."

Sure enough she almost always left a gift behind for those friends. She finds something of hers that she can give. I can't tell you how many times she's done that for a dinner host, for a sick friend, for a new mom. She just leaves a gift in so many lives.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Leaving a Trail of Gifts."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 1:11. Paul says to the Roman Christians, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong." Whoa! That reminds me of my wife! "I want to be with you. And when I am, I'll leave you with a gift."

What kind of trail do you leave with the people you touch? It's exciting to live like Paul describes here, consciously asking as you're with a person, "Lord, what spiritual gift could I give him or her? How could I leave this person a little better off than they were before I was with them?" Whether you're on the phone or on the Internet with them, or you're in an appointment, or whether it's a casual contact, or it's with your mate, or your roommate, or your son or your daughter, or you parents, what kind of gift could I give them on this occasion? I want to impart to you some spiritual gift.

Too often we look at it the other way, "What gift can they give me?" We go looking to them for some attention, or information, or affection. What connection does this person have that I could use? What promotion could they give me? What money could they give me? Well, this doesn't talk about living for you to impart to me. It's about me imparting to you.

Or maybe, you too often impart a gripe instead of a gift. There are some people who just tend to drop bad news or some burden on everybody they meet. You walk away and they are feeling down or suddenly heavier than before you were with them.

Because Jesus lives in you, people should feel richer after they have been with you. Do they? What gift could you give them? A word of encouragement maybe, or just to put your arm around them and pray with them if that would be appropriate right now, or a testimony of how God is at work in your life right now that might help them see how He can work in theirs. Maybe you could share with them just something you're thankful for that God has done for you; a God-sighting you've had today, or maybe some good news about a friend instead of bad news; a verse that came alive for you recently. Maybe just give them a chance to laugh when it's been mostly tears.

The gifts will differ with the person's need, but your mission - your attitude - should always be "What gift can I leave today?" I remember singing that song "Make me a blessing to someone today." Well, you will be a blessing if you approach folks as a giver and not a taker.

I've watched the blessing a person can leave because she's always looking for a gift to give. Why don't you try that as a lifestyle? I think you'll like it, and they'll love it.

Hebrews 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:

Forgiving is Not Excusing

Forgiveness is not excusing! Nor is it pretending. To forgive is to move on, not to think about the offense anymore. You don’t excuse him, endorse her, or embrace them. You just route thoughts about them through heaven. Revenge is God’s job.

By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? It’s a huge issue in the Bible. Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners. In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace.

In the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18:32, the master calls the servant in.  “You wicked servant, he said, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? It’s a good question.  We’ve been given grace….shouldn’t we freely give it?

from Facing Your Giants

Hebrews 7
New International Version (NIV)
Melchizedek the Priest

7 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Jesus Like Melchizedek

11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind:
    ‘You are a priest forever.’”[b]
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion


Read: Luke 18:9-14

New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Looking Down

August 13, 2013 — by Anne Cetas

I say . . . to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly. —Romans 12:3

After I had minor eye surgery, the nurse told me, “Don’t look down for the next 2 weeks. No cooking or cleaning.” The last part of those instructions was a little easier to take than the first part! The incisions needed to heal, and she didn’t want me to put any unnecessary pressure on them by looking down.

C. S. Lewis wrote about another kind of looking down that we may have a problem with: “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. . . . As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you” (Mere Christianity).

Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee who felt superior to others. In a prideful prayer, he thanked God that he was not like other men (Luke 18:11). He looked down on extortioners, the unjust, adulterers, and the tax collector who was also praying in the temple. By contrast, the tax collector knew he was a sinner before God and asked for His mercy (v.13).

Pride can be an issue for all of us. May we not look down on others but instead see the God who is far above us all.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride. —Watts
Spiritual pride is the most arrogant of all kinds of pride.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 13, 2013

“Do Not Quench the Spirit”

Do not quench the Spirit —1 Thessalonians 5:19

The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. This sense of restraint will always come as a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), so faint that no one except a saint of God will notice it.

Beware if in sharing your personal testimony you continually have to look back, saying, “Once, a number of years ago, I was saved.” If you have put your “hand to the plow” and are walking in the light, there is no “looking back”— the past is instilled into the present wonder of fellowship and oneness with God (Luke 9:62 ; also see 1 John 1:6-7). If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it. Beware of trying to cover up your present refusal to “walk in the light” by recalling your past experiences when you did “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). When-ever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it.

Suppose God brings you to a crisis and you almost endure it, but not completely. He will engineer the crisis again, but this time some of the intensity will be lost. You will have less discernment and more humiliation at having disobeyed. If you continue to grieve His Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, because you have totally quenched Him. But if you will go on through the crisis, your life will become a hymn of praise to God. Never become attached to anything that continues to hurt God. For you to be free of it, God must be allowed to hurt whatever it may be.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Paralyzed Parents - #6937

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

I was once held hostage by a dragonfly. This is very embarrassing, but it is true. I was just a little guy and my cousin and I were sitting on these swings in her backyard. I believed everything she said. And a dragonfly started to circle us on the swings. He was a big old guy; at least he looked big compared to the size I was then. And then he landed on the swing, and my cousin said to me, "You know, if they get mad at you they'll drill a hole through you."

I took one look at him and he kind of dived back and forth and started to dive bomb us. I started imagining him boring a hole in me, and it seemed reasonable. So I was frozen to the swing; I must have been there for a half hour... maybe an hour, I don't know. I didn't move until the crazy dragonfly left. Did I mention this is embarrassing? Well, today I know a dragonfly is nothing to fear, but my cousin that day made me afraid of something that I didn't need to be afraid of. That might be happening at your house.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Paralyzed Parents."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from 2 Timothy 1:7. "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." This is a great verse for parents isn't it? Parents especially who are raising children in a very pagan, out-of-control world. In fact, earlier in this chapter Paul talks about Timothy's Mother, Eunice, and how her faith was passed on to her son. She had an unbelieving husband, the Bible tells us, she was raising Timothy in a lost culture, and yet she turned out a son who was a great spiritual leader.

Now, one of the keys is in this seventh verse, "don't parent out of fear." You know, I'm a Dad of three kids that grew up in this kind of a world, and I know that we tend to look at a world where lies are taught as truth and where wrong is promoted as the right thing to do, and where sex outside of marriage is expected. That's the kind of world we're living in no doubt about it. Sin is boasted about. Our tendency is to grab our child and run to a cave with him or her and try to keep that child from ever rubbing shoulders with that nasty world.

Do you know what we're communicating? We're saying, "You know, that darkness out there is really big and strong, and I'm not sure Jesus is strong enough to compete with it." We're giving the Devil and we're giving the darkness a lot of credit when we teach our children to be afraid of it. Yes, we need to teach them to live in a dark world, but not to be afraid of it. We serve a Christ who blew the doors off of death. We serve a Jesus to whom demons surrender. Let's not hide from the darkness. He empowers His children to change the darkness.

Many days our kids came home from school with words they heard or ideas or questions. And, well, we found that those are the moments to seize, not to freeze. We can say to our kids, "You know, I'm glad that came up. Let me show you how much better Jesus' idea is." See, Jesus called us to be salt and light, and they have to be in contact with something if they're going to change it. Right? But we forfeit a whole generation if our kids withdraw from the people who've never touched Jesus. They're not sacrificial lambs. They're people who can make a difference and raise their kids on two words: GO MAD! Go make a difference! You need to change them. Don't let them change you. You are their hope of another way to be.

I sat on a swing one day as a boy, paralyzed by something I didn't need to fear. As Christian parents let's not do that or cause our children to do it. Teach them the dangers of a lost world for sure; expose the darkness. And then outfit them with a strong deathly version...Jesus who doesn't run from the darkness. He challenges the darkness.

Jeremiah 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Projects

See your enemies, not as failures, but as God’s projects!  God occupies the only seat on the supreme court of heaven. He wears the robe and refuses to share the gavel.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:19:  “Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do.  ‘I’ll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I’ll take care of it.’”

Vigilantes displace and replace God.  They say, “I’m not sure you can handle this one, Lord.  You may punish too little or too slowly.  I’ll take this matter into my hands, thank you.” No one had a clearer sense of right and wrong that the perfect Son of God.

Only God assesses accurate judgments. Vengeance is His job. Give grace, but if need be, keep your distance. You can forgive the abusive husband without living with him. Forgiveness is not foolishness. Forgiveness is simply choosing to see your offender with different eyes.

from Facing Your Giants

Jeremiah 30
New International Version (NIV)
Restoration of Israel

30 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity[a] and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

4 These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Cries of fear are heard—
    terror, not peace.
6 Ask and see:
    Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,
    every face turned deathly pale?
7 How awful that day will be!
    No other will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
    but he will be saved out of it.
8 “‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,
    ‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
    no longer will foreigners enslave them.
9 Instead, they will serve the Lord their God
    and David their king,
    whom I will raise up for them.
10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
    do not be dismayed, Israel,’
declares the Lord.
‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
11 I am with you and will save you,’
    declares the Lord.
‘Though I completely destroy all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’
12 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wound is incurable,
    your injury beyond healing.
13 There is no one to plead your cause,
    no remedy for your sore,
    no healing for you.
14 All your allies have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
    and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
    and your sins so many.
15 Why do you cry out over your wound,
    your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
    I have done these things to you.
16 “‘But all who devour you will be devoured;
    all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
    all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
17 But I will restore you to health
    and heal your wounds,’
declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,
    Zion for whom no one cares.’
18 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
    and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
    and the palace will stand in its proper place.
19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving
    and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
    and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
    and they will not be disdained.
20 Their children will be as in days of old,
    and their community will be established before me;
    I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their leader will be one of their own;
    their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
    for who is he who will devote himself
    to be close to me?’
declares the Lord.
22 “‘So you will be my people,
    and I will be your God.’”
23 See, the storm of the Lord
    will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
    on the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand this.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 2 Peter 3:10-18

New International Version (NIV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

The Blessed Hope

August 12, 2013 — by C. P. Hia

[We look] for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. —Titus 2:13

So many predictions of the end of the world have come and gone. Those predictions are unsettling and often fill people with fear. Yet the Bible does refer to a time called “the day of the Lord” when He will return. It will happen, but only God knows when.

It’s a day that Jesus’ followers can look forward to. In light of that time to come, the apostle Peter tells us how the believer can live with a joyful purpose (2 Peter 3:10-18). We can look upward by living Christ-honoring lives (v.11). We can look inward by making every effort to be found at peace with God (v.14). And we can look outward by being on guard so we aren’t carried away by the wrong influence of others (v.17).

How do we do this? By “grow[ing] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (v.18). When we grow in character through His written Word, we begin to relate more closely to Jesus, the Living Word. The Holy Spirit takes God’s Word and guides us in the way to live.

The day of the Lord shouldn’t be a fearful day for Jesus’ followers. Our King will return to make all things right and to rule forever. We wait for that time with great anticipation. It is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).

And for the hope of His return,
Dear Lord, Your name we praise;
With longing hearts we watch and wait
For that great day of days! —Sherwood
One day Jesus will return to rule and reign!


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 12, 2013

The Theology of Resting in God

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? —Matthew 8:26

When we are afraid, the least we can do is pray to God. But our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His name have an underlying confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the ones who are reliable. Yet our trust is only in God up to a certain point, then we turn back to the elementary panic-stricken prayers of those people who do not even know God. We come to our wits’ end, showing that we don’t have even the slightest amount of confidence in Him or in His sovereign control of the world. To us He seems to be asleep, and we can see nothing but giant, breaking waves on the sea ahead of us.

“. . . O you of little faith!” What a stinging pain must have shot through the disciples as they surely thought to themselves, “We missed the mark again!” And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize that we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, in spite of what we were facing.

There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.

We have been talking quite a lot about sanctification, but what will be the result in our lives? It will be expressed in our lives as a peaceful resting in God, which means a total oneness with Him. And this oneness will make us not only blameless in His sight, but also a profound joy to Him.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Dirty Hands - #6936

Monday, August 12, 2013

It's a nice deal when your auto mechanic is also your good friend. And I've had that opportunity - Christian brothers. What I've really appreciated about my friend, the auto mechanic, was the fact that he worked long, and hard, and professionally.

However, it was unfortunate that when I stopped by his station, I was usually all dressed up on my way someplace. Now, instinctively, what would we do with a friend? We'd extend our hands to shake. Well, we would immediately hesitate and both of us would look at the layers of grease on his hand and then we'd look at my suit and my white shirt and my clean hands. Yeah, pretty boy over here. I didn't have any time to clean up, and he would say, "We'd better not." Now, I'd love to shake with my buddy, but it just might be a problem. It's actually best to get the dirt off your hand before you reach for a totally clean one.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dirty Hands."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Timothy 2:8. Guess what it's about? Hands. "I want men everywhere," Paul says, "to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing." Now, we could probably get into a little debate on that most cosmic theological issue of all, "Should we pray with upraised hands?" You say, "Ron, I pray with my hands in my pocket." Well, listen, I'm not going to get into that. There's a much larger point that Paul is making here.

Whether you lift up your hands to God literally or symbolically to offer praise to the Lord, to get something you need from the Lord, the bigger issue is this: What kind of hands are you lifting up? He says here, "Lift up holy hands to the Lord." Make sure your hands are clean before you reach up for a holy God.

The failure to do that? Well, that just might explain why God hasn't reached back toward you yet with the answer you've been seeking. You've praised Him. You've petitioned Him over and over again, but you haven't heard anything back. Could it be that you haven't cleaned up a part of you that in His eyes is giving you unholy hands? See, a sinless God cannot bless your sin. He can't respond to sin.

And so if you could hear His voice, He might be saying, "I see you reaching for Me, and I've got something I want to give you, but what's that in your hand? See, I can't have that." So, before you reach out to God, on a 24-hour day basis, review the last 24 hours. Where did you get some dirt on your spiritual hands? You might need to look at the last hour. Has there been some dishonesty; you've told something less than the truth? Did you display a little less than total integrity? Have there been impure thoughts, impure motives? Have you hurt someone in these last hours? Have you neglected someone?

Whatever the dirt; deal with the dirt first. In fact, this scripture talks about anger and disputing. It suggests that maybe what we need to take care of is some broken relationships before we ever lift up our hands, so our hands will be holy. The Bible says, "If you have something against your brother, or your brother has something against you, leave the altar. Leave your sacrifice there and go and make it right with him." David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." There's so much He wants to do for you; so much He has to bless you with. But He can't hand it to you while your hands are dirty with sin.

Whether you reach for God literally or symbolically, would you be sure your hand is emptied of anything sinful. If you want God to put His hand in yours, be sure you're not offering Him a dirty hand.

Jeremiah 51, bible reading and devotionals.

Max Lucado Daily: The Answer for Weariness

“The teaching I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light.” Mathew 11:30

Jesus says he is the solution for weariness of soul.

Go to him. Be honest with him. Admit you have soul secrets you’ve never dealt with. He already knows what they are. He’s just waiting for you to ask him to help . . .

Go ahead. You’ll be glad you did. Those near to you will be glad as well.

Jeremiah 51
New International Version (NIV)
51 This is what the Lord says:

“See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer
    against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.[a]
2 I will send foreigners to Babylon
    to winnow her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
    in the day of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,
    nor let him put on his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
    completely destroy[b] her army.
4 They will fall down slain in Babylon,[c]
    fatally wounded in her streets.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
    by their God, the Lord Almighty,
though their land[d] is full of guilt
    before the Holy One of Israel.
6 “Flee from Babylon!
    Run for your lives!
    Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the Lord’s vengeance;
    he will repay her what she deserves.
7 Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand;
    she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
    therefore they have now gone mad.
8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
    Wail over her!
Get balm for her pain;
    perhaps she can be healed.
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
    but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to our own land,
    for her judgment reaches to the skies,
    it rises as high as the heavens.’
10 “‘The Lord has vindicated us;
    come, let us tell in Zion
    what the Lord our God has done.’
11 “Sharpen the arrows,
    take up the shields!
The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
    because his purpose is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,
    vengeance for his temple.
12 Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!
    Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,
    prepare an ambush!
The Lord will carry out his purpose,
    his decree against the people of Babylon.
13 You who live by many waters
    and are rich in treasures,
your end has come,
    the time for you to be destroyed.
14 The Lord Almighty has sworn by himself:
    I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,
    and they will shout in triumph over you.
15 “He made the earth by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom
    and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
    they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
20 “You are my war club,
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter nations,
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,
    with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.
24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia[e] for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.

25 “I am against you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,”
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:
    Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.
29 The land trembles and writhes,
    for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand—
to lay waste the land of Babylon
    so that no one will live there.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
    they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
    they have become weaklings.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
    the bars of her gates are broken.
31 One courier follows another
    and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
    that his entire city is captured,
32 the river crossings seized,
    the marshes set on fire,
    and the soldiers terrified.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
    at the time it is trampled;
    the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
    he has thrown us into confusion,
    he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
    and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
    and then has spewed us out.
35 May the violence done to our flesh[f] be on Babylon,”
    say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
    says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“See, I will defend your cause
    and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
    and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
    a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
    a place where no one lives.
38 Her people all roar like young lions,
    they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
    like lambs to the slaughter,
    like rams and goats.
41 “How Sheshak[g] will be captured,
    the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate Babylon will be
    among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
    its roaring waves will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
    a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
    through which no one travels.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon
    and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
    And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out of her, my people!
    Run for your lives!
    Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart or be afraid
    when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
    rumors of violence in the land
    and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
    when I will punish the idols of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced
    and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
    will shout for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north
    destroyers will attack her,”
declares the Lord.
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
    just as the slain in all the earth
    have fallen because of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,
    leave and do not linger!
Remember the Lord in a distant land,
    and call to mind Jerusalem.”
51 “We are disgraced,
    for we have been insulted
    and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
    the holy places of the Lord’s house.”
52 “But days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
    the wounded will groan.
53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens
    and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
    I will send destroyers against her,”
declares the Lord.
54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction
    from the land of the Babylonians.[h]
55 The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay in full.
57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,”
    declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
58 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled
    and her high gates set on fire;
the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’”

The words of Jeremiah end here.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 51:1-17

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.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

“I’m . . . Uh . . . Sorry”

August 11, 2013 — by Dave Branon

Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. —Psalm 51:1-2

The news is quick to report all the details of famous people’s wrongdoings and their subsequent confessions. Perhaps it’s an athlete who was arrested for driving while drunk. Or it could be a politician caught in an indiscretion. Only God knows the heart, but when we hear a stuttered “I’m . . . uh . . . sorry,” we may wonder if they are truly repentant or just sorry they got caught.

When we read the confession of the famous King David we see what looks like genuine contriteness. In his public discussion of his sins in Psalm 51, this disgraced monarch—who had an embarrassing record of flagrant sins which he had kept hidden (2 Sam. 12:1-13; Ps. 32:3-5)—pleads for mercy.

He recognized that his sin was an affront to God—not just to people—and that God alone can judge him (Ps. 51:1-6). He realized that he must be cleansed by God (vv.7-10), and he celebrated his restoration through service and worship (vv.11-17).

All of us sin and fall short of God’s glory. When we feel the heavy burden of sin weighing us down, we have the blessing of confession and forgiveness (1 John 1:9) to lift us up. Isn’t it just like our great God to turn even our sins into an opportunity to grow in His grace and power and love!

Dear Lord, please give me a humble heart
and the courage to confess my sins before You
and others. Thank You for Your promise to be
faithful to forgive my sins and to cleanse me.
Confession is agreeing with God about our sin.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 11, 2013

This Experience Must Come

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more —2 Kings 2:11-12

It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ ” Yet God says you must continue.

Alone at Your “Jordan” (2 Kings 2:14). The Jordan River represents the type of separation where you have no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one else can take your responsibility from you. You now have to put to the test what you learned when you were with your “Elijah.” You have been to the Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are facing it alone. There is no use in saying that you cannot go— the experience is here, and you must go. If you truly want to know whether or not God is the God your faith believes Him to be, then go through your “Jordan” alone.

Alone at Your “Jericho” (2 Kings 2:15). Jericho represents the place where you have seen your “Elijah” do great things. Yet when you come alone to your “Jericho,” you have a strong reluctance to take the initiative and trust in God, wanting, instead, for someone else to take it for you. But if you remain true to what you learned while with your “Elijah,” you will receive a sign, as Elisha did, that God is with you.

Alone at Your “Bethel” (2 Kings 2:23). At your “Bethel” you will find yourself at your wits’ end but at the beginning of God’s wisdom. When you come to your wits’ end and feel inclined to panic— don’t! Stand true to God and He will bring out His truth in a way that will make your life an expression of worship. Put into practice what you learned while with your “Elijah”— use his mantle and pray (see 2 Kings 2:13-14). Make a determination to trust in God, and do not even look for Elijah anymore.

Hebrews 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God, Your Refuge

He has a price on his head.  No place to lay his head. But somehow he keeps his head.  He turns his focus to God and finds refuge! Refuge is a favorite word of David’s in the Psalms. But never did David use the word more poignantly than in Psalm 57—a song of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. On his face, lost in shadows and thought, nowhere to turn. But then he remembers he is not alone.  And from the recesses of the cave his voice floats:

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me.
For my soul rests in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge.”

Make God your refuge. Not your job, your spouse, your reputation, or your retirement account. Make God your refuge! Let Him encircle you. Let Him be the foundation upon which you stand! And that foundation will support you right into eternity.

from Facing Your Giants

Hebrews 6
New International Version (NIV)
6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites,[b] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Isaiah 42:1-9

The Servant of the Lord

42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4     he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

The Power Of Compassion

August 10, 2013 — by David C. McCasland

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench. —Isaiah 42:3

Francis Schaeffer, author and Christian apologist, struggled to spell words correctly because of dyslexia. At the college he attended, spelling errors lowered the grade on all written assignments. During his first year, a professor told Schaeffer, “This is the best philosophy paper I’ve ever read, but it’s the worst spelling. What am I going to do? I can’t pass you.”

Francis Schaeffer

Francis replied, “Sir, I could never spell. Could you please just read what I’m saying and not worry about the spelling?”

After a long pause, the professor replied, “You know, Mr. Schaeffer, I think we’ll do that.” His wise, compassionate response encouraged a gifted young man who would later help many of the searching generation during the 1960s and 70s to find their way to faith in Christ.

Isaiah said of the promised Messiah, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth” (Isa. 42:3). The image is of a gentle, yet powerful Person who sets prisoners free and encourages those who are fainthearted and tempted to despair.

Jesus came to free us from sin, not to condemn us for our condition. Today, He offers salvation and encouragement to all who turn to Him.

No condemnation now I dread,
I am my Lord’s and He is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine. —Wesley
When we come to Christ in our brokenness, He makes us whole.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 10, 2013

The Holy Suffering of the Saint

Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good . . . —1 Peter 4:19

Choosing to suffer means that there must be something wrong with you, but choosing God’s will— even if it means you will suffer— is something very different. No normal, healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he simply chooses God’s will, just as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. And no saint should ever dare to interfere with the lesson of suffering being taught in another saint’s life.

The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. But the people used to strengthen us are never those who sympathize with us; in fact, we are hindered by those who give us their sympathy, because sympathy only serves to weaken us. No one better understands a saint than the saint who is as close and as intimate with Jesus as possible. If we accept the sympathy of another saint, our spontaneous feeling is, “God is dealing too harshly with me and making my life too difficult.” That is why Jesus said that self-pity was of the devil (see Matthew 16:21-23). We must be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy for us to tarnish God’s character because He never argues back; He never tries to defend or vindicate Himself. Beware of thinking that Jesus needed sympathy during His life on earth. He refused the sympathy of people because in His great wisdom He knew that no one on earth understood His purpose (see Matthew 16:23). He accepted only the sympathy of His Father and the angels (see Luke 15:10).

Look at God’s incredible waste of His saints, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His saints in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.” Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Making a Little a Lot - #6935

Friday, August 9, 2013

I'm convinced my wife could be a missionary just about anywhere in the world. She is so resourceful, and that's what missionaries need to be. We've sort of been missionaries in the United States over many years of ministry to teenagers and more recently to Native Americans, and our ministry budget - like most ministry budgets - has been somewhat limited over the years. That's where my wife's resourcefulness comes into play.

For example, I remember the time that we had a hundred teenagers show up for a gathering when we weren't really expecting that many. She only had enough ground beef to put into these sloppy Joe sandwiches for about 40 people. Now, you're gonna need a whip and a chair if you have some teenagers you can't feed! You don't really want to have those wild animals on the loose and unfed. So, she quickly found some dried bread crumbs, pulled out a recipe she had gotten from a home economist, and mixed all of that in with the ground beef. Well, not the recipe, but the rest. And it made that ground beef go a lot farther. In fact, we fed a hundred hungry teenagers with only enough for forty! We had some left over. Listen, sometimes you need someone who can make a little a lot.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Making a Little a Lot."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from that familiar story in Mark chapter 6. I'll begin reading at verse 37, after the disciples have concluded that this group of 5,000 people is not going to be fed. They're getting hungry. Jesus has been teaching quite a while, and here's their suggestion: "Send them away; the meeting's over." But Jesus answered, "You give them something to eat." It's not in here, but you can almost hear them going, "What? How in the world are we going to feed them? What do you think; we got a catering service here? How are we going to do this?"

"Well they said to Him, 'That would take eight months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?' 'How many loaves do you have?' He asked. Go and see.' When they found out, they said, 'Five and two fish.' Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven..." It says, "He gave thanks and broke the loaves, gave them to His disciples to set before the people. He divided the fish among them. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish."

That's kind of like our sloppy Joe situation we had there when we were trying to feed all those teenagers. It wasn't enough. We had a whole lot more need than we had resource. The disciples' solution to a "not enough" situation was to give up. But Jesus said, "Instead, I want you to round up all the 'not enough' that you can. It won't be enough; it won't cover it. But I want you to gather all that you can and I'll make it more than enough."

Okay, that brings us to your situation. What's your "not enough"? You say, "Well, I can't see where the money's going to come from. I can't see I'm going to have enough strength to face what I've got right now. I don't know where I'm going to find the time to get all this done. I don't know how I'm going to have the resources to do it all. I don't know how I'm going to find the resources to make this relationship work anymore." Do you hear the Lord saying, "Bring Me your 'not enough.' Find all you can."

So, what you do is number one, you give all your resources - not enough - but all your resources to Jesus. Number two, you act as if there will be enough. Jesus had them sit down. He said, "Get ready to eat lunch" even though there was no lunch for them. So you start to act as if it's going to be there. By faith in your Lord you do that, and then be grateful for the 'not enough' that you already have. That's the hard part to say, "Lord, I know this isn't enough, but I'm grateful for what I've got." The Bible says, "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

I'm married to a woman who can take a little and make it a lot. Better than that, my Lord - your Lord - can do that a thousand times over with any 'not enough.'

Jeremiah 50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We’re Made Whole

Sin sees the world with no God in it! Where we might think of sin as slip-ups or missteps, God views sin as a godless attitude that leads to godless actions.

Isaiah 53:6 says, “All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.”  Sin proclaims, “It’s your life, right?  Pump your body with drugs, your mind with greed, your nights with pleasure.”  The godless life is a a me-dominated, childish life, a life of doing what we feel like doing, whenever we feel like doing it.

God says to love.  I choose to hate. God instructs, forgive.  I opt to get even.  God calls for self-control.  I promote self-indulgence.  This is sin.

Jesus took the punishment for that sin, and made us whole. God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong on him.

Trust his work for you, then trust His work in you.

From Come Thirsty

Jeremiah 50
New International Version (NIV)
A Message About Babylon

50 This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians[a]:

2 “Announce and proclaim among the nations,
    lift up a banner and proclaim it;
    keep nothing back, but say,
‘Babylon will be captured;
    Bel will be put to shame,
    Marduk filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
    and her idols filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north will attack her
    and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
    both people and animals will flee away.
4 “In those days, at that time,”
    declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
    will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion
    and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the Lord
    in an everlasting covenant
    that will not be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep;
    their shepherds have led them astray
    and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
    and forgot their own resting place.
7 Whoever found them devoured them;
    their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,
    the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’
8 “Flee out of Babylon;
    leave the land of the Babylonians,
    and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 For I will stir up and bring against Babylon
    an alliance of great nations from the land of the north.
They will take up their positions against her,
    and from the north she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like skilled warriors
    who do not return empty-handed.
10 So Babylonia[b] will be plundered;
    all who plunder her will have their fill,”
declares the Lord.
11 “Because you rejoice and are glad,
    you who pillage my inheritance,
because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain
    and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother will be greatly ashamed;
    she who gave you birth will be disgraced.
She will be the least of the nations—
    a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited
    but will be completely desolate.
All who pass Babylon will be appalled;
    they will scoff because of all her wounds.
14 “Take up your positions around Babylon,
    all you who draw the bow.
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,
    for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Shout against her on every side!
    She surrenders, her towers fall,
    her walls are torn down.
Since this is the vengeance of the Lord,
    take vengeance on her;
    do to her as she has done to others.
16 Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.
Because of the sword of the oppressor
    let everyone return to their own people,
    let everyone flee to their own land.
17 “Israel is a scattered flock
    that lions have chased away.
The first to devour them
    was the king of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones
    was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
    as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture,
    and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
their appetite will be satisfied
    on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, at that time,”
    declares the Lord,
“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
    but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
    but none will be found,
    for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
21 “Attack the land of Merathaim
    and those who live in Pekod.
Pursue, kill and completely destroy[c] them,”
declares the Lord.
    “Do everything I have commanded you.
22 The noise of battle is in the land,
    the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and shattered
    is the hammer of the whole earth!
How desolate is Babylon
    among the nations!
24 I set a trap for you, Babylon,
    and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured
    because you opposed the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
    and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do
    in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against her from afar.
    Break open her granaries;
    pile her up like heaps of grain.
Completely destroy her
    and leave her no remnant.
27 Kill all her young bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe to them! For their day has come,
    the time for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon
    declaring in Zion
how the Lord our God has taken vengeance,
    vengeance for his temple.
29 “Summon archers against Babylon,
    all those who draw the bow.
Encamp all around her;
    let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
    do to her as she has done.
For she has defied the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets;
    all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,”
    declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
“for your day has come,
    the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall
    and no one will help her up;
I will kindle a fire in her towns
    that will consume all who are around her.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“The people of Israel are oppressed,
    and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
    refusing to let them go.
34 Yet their Redeemer is strong;
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause
    so that he may bring rest to their land,
    but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35 “A sword against the Babylonians!”
    declares the Lord—
“against those who live in Babylon
    and against her officials and wise men!
36 A sword against her false prophets!
    They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
    They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against her horses and chariots
    and all the foreigners in her ranks!
    They will become weaklings.
A sword against her treasures!
    They will be plundered.
38 A drought on[d] her waters!
    They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
    idols that will go mad with terror.
39 “So desert creatures and hyenas will live there,
    and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
    or lived in from generation to generation.
40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
    along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the Lord,
“so no one will live there;
    no people will dwell in it.
41 “Look! An army is coming from the north;
    a great nation and many kings
    are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42 They are armed with bows and spears;
    they are cruel and without mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
    as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
    to attack you, Daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
    and his hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped him,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets
    to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
    Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
    And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon,
    what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians:
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
    their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;
    its cry will resound among the nations.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: John 14:1-11

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

Belonging

August 9, 2013 — by Joe Stowell

In my Father’s house are many mansions . . . . I go to prepare a place for you. —John 14:2

My dad was full of stories about his hometown. So you can imagine how excited I was as a child when he took our family there every summer. We fished the St. Joseph River together and visited his boyhood farm where all of his stories came to life. Although that place was never really my home, whenever I visit that town—now with grown children and grandchildren of my own—it fills me with a nostalgic sense of belonging.

Jesus talked with His disciples about His home in heaven, which He left to come and live among us. What a joy it must have been for Him to tell His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions . . . . I go to prepare a place for you, . . . that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). No doubt Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2), was looking forward to returning to His heavenly home and taking His Father’s sons and daughters there to be with Him.

The thought of Jesus taking us to His Father’s home fills us with great anticipation and compels us to tell others the good news about the Son who came to rescue us from this fallen place.

Now I belong to Jesus;
Jesus belongs to me—
Not for the years of time alone,
But for eternity. —Clayton
Only Jesus can fill us with a sense of belonging like we’ve never known before.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 9, 2013

Prayer in the Father’s Hearing

Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ’Father, I thank You that You have heard Me’ —John 11:41

When the Son of God prays, He is mindful and consciously aware of only His Father. God always hears the prayers of His Son, and if the Son of God has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19) the Father will always hear my prayers. But I must see to it that the Son of God is exhibited in my human flesh. “. . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . . ” (1 Corinthians 6:19), that is, your body is the Bethlehem of God’s Son. Is the Son of God being given His opportunity to work in me? Is the direct simplicity of His life being worked out in me exactly as it was worked out in His life while here on earth? When I come into contact with the everyday occurrences of life as an ordinary human being, is the prayer of God’s eternal Son to His Father being prayed in me? Jesus says, “In that day you will ask in My name . . .” (John 16:26). What day does He mean? He is referring to the day when the Holy Spirit has come to me and made me one with my Lord.

Is the Lord Jesus Christ being abundantly satisfied by your life, or are you exhibiting a walk of spiritual pride before Him? Never let your common sense become so prominent and forceful that it pushes the Son of God to one side. Common sense is a gift that God gave to our human nature— but common sense is not the gift of His Son. Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son, and we should never put our common sense on the throne. The Son always recognizes and identifies with the Father, but common sense has never yet done so and never will. Our ordinary abilities will never worship God unless they are transformed by the indwelling Son of God. We must make sure that our human flesh is kept in perfect submission to Him, allowing Him to work through it moment by moment. Are we living at such a level of human dependence upon Jesus Christ that His life is being exhibited moment by moment in us?

Hebrews 5 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Sanctuary

The purpose of the church is to provide bread and swords!  To the spiritually hungry, the church offers bread–spiritual nourishment.  To the fugitive, the church offers swords–weapons of truth:

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Food and equipment.  The church exists to provide both.  Does it always succeed? No, not always. People-helping is never a tidy trade, because people who need help don’t lead tidy lives. Jesus calls the church to lean in the direction of compassion.

At the end of the day, the question is not how many laws were broken but rather, how many desperate were nourished and equipped?  God’s sanctuary—where He gives food to the hungry and tools to the soldiers.  May your church provide both for you.  And may you be a part of a church that does the same for others.

from Facing Your Giants

Hebrews 5
New International Version (NIV)
5 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,

“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father.”[a]
6 And he says in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”[b]
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Psalm 34:1-10

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.

Reflections On Windows

August 8, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. —Psalm 119:18

Much of the scenery I saw during our vacation in Alaska was through the windows of moving vehicles. I was thankful for glass that allowed me to see the beauty while remaining warm and dry. But the windows also presented a challenge. When it rained, water drops on the outside obscured the view. When the temperature changed, condensation caused fog to develop on the inside.

Those challenges help me understand why it is impossible for us to see life the way God intended it. Sin obscures the beauty of life that God wants us to enjoy. Sometimes sin is inside—our selfishness creates a fog that makes us see ourselves as more important than we are and causes us to forget about others’ interests. Sometimes sin is outside. The injustice of others causes our tears to fall like rain, preventing us from seeing the goodness of God. Sin of any kind keeps us from seeing the wonder and glory of life as God designed it.

For now, even though “we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror” (1 Cor. 13:12 nlt), we see enough to know that God is good (Ps. 34:8). The many wonderful things that God has revealed will help us to forsake sin and work to minimize its consequences in the world.

Lord, improve our vision. Clear the fog that comes from
self-centered thinking. Help us to uphold justice,
to offer comfort to others, and to wipe away the tears
that have been left by the storms of life.
The only way to see life clearly is to focus on Christ.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 8, 2013


Prayer in the Father’s Honor

. . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God —Luke 1:35

If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise the right of a child— the right of always being face to face with my Father through prayer. Do I find myself continually saying in amazement to the commonsense part of my life, “Why did you want me to turn here or to go over there? ’Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ ” (Luke 2:49). Whatever our circumstances may be, that holy, innocent, and eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.

Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He having His wonderful way with me? Is God’s will being fulfilled in that His Son has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19), or have I carefully pushed Him to one side? Oh, the noisy outcry of today! Why does everyone seem to be crying out so loudly? People today are crying out for the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for God’s Son right now— no room for quiet, holy fellowship and oneness with the Father.

Is the Son of God praying in me, bringing honor to the Father, or am I dictating my demands to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the time of His manhood here on earth? Is God’s Son in me going through His passion, suffering so that His own purposes might be fulfilled? The more a person knows of the inner life of God’s most mature saints, the more he sees what God’s purpose really is: to “. . . fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). And when we think of what it takes to “fill up,” there is always something yet to be done.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

How to Free the Hostages - #6934

Thursday, August 8, 2013

I guess I'd call it one of the ugly words of our time - the word hostage. We've all seen our share of hostage situations haven't we? Some are right here in the United States. When someone has taken a hostage or several hostages, the first thing they do is they bring in the hostage negotiating team and they do their very best to use their psychology and human relations to talk that person into releasing their hostages.

Sometimes the person will give up and the hostages go free. But often the negotiations fail, and then it can get a little more violent. Well, in come the highly trained commando units, the SWAT teams, and if necessary they'll shoot the hostage taker, because that's the only way the hostages can be saved. Now, can you imagine just rushing in there to rescue the hostages without first dealing with the one who is holding them? We do it all the time.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Free the Hostages."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Mark chapter 3, and I'll begin reading at verse 26. Here's what Jesus says, "If Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house." Jesus says here that it's necessary, if we're going to take people back from the strong man, and we know from the context that strong man is Satan, that we first have to tie him up - to bind him to deal with the hostage taker. See, you don't negotiate with the Devil out of his hostages. You don't shoot the Devil, but you tie his hands. That's Jesus' strategy.

Now, who are these people that are referred to here as "his possessions?" Well, they're some people you know; those people in your life whose lives the Devil is pretty much having his way with. They may not know it's the Devil - probably don't. You can tell pretty much that they're away from the Lord. It might even be someone you love very much.

I know that you've prayed for those hostages. You want to have them freed. You talk to them sometimes about the Lord; you worry about them. But so often we miss what Jesus said is the first step - tying up the one who is holding the hostage. You can't neutralize the Devil with a program, or a committee, or words, or a task force, or marches, or demonstrations. He is bound only by the prayer of God's people. And I don't mean, "Now I lay me down to sleep" or "Bless the missionaries" kind of prayers. This is prayer that aims all the majestic power of Jesus Christ at the enemy who is holding the lives we care about.

The book of Revelation says "...they overcame him by the word of their testimony and by the blood of the Lamb." You plead the blood of Jesus; you come against the Devil's grip on those people. And you come under the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. The Devil's death warrant was signed in the blood of Jesus. This isn't a human struggle. It's a clash of supernatural kingdoms.

See the person you want to rescue from being a hostage of the enemy? You can't just go running in to try to bring them out. You've got to first fight on your knees. Deal with the one who is holding the hostage. Turn Jesus loose on them! It says in Mark 3:11, "Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus they fell down before Him and cried, 'You are the Son of God!'" They didn't even fight. They just fell down.

When the Devil is confronted with the presence, and the power, and the name of Jesus Christ, he surrenders and the hostages can go free.